The number of Mongolian cavalrymen before him continued to decrease. As the Mongolian soldiers fell one by one, the commander gritted his teeth, pointed at a seemingly weak link, and shouted: "Charge! Break through a gap!"
The remaining dozens of people fought desperately to break open a gap and urged their horses to gallop faster. After the battle, only twenty or thirty people escaped back to Mongolia.
"Aoao!" The remaining Song army cheered and celebrated their victory.
Far behind, Zhou Guitong and Liu Dutou could only stare in amazement at the powerful Han family army.
The commander of the Song army obviously also saw Zhou Guitong. He turned his horse's head and walked towards Zhou Guitong.
Zhou Guitong was the newly appointed magistrate of Kui County, and the commander did not know him.
The commander clasped his fists and asked, "Who is this?"
Zhou Guitong dismounted and returned the greeting: "I am Zhou Guitong, the newly appointed magistrate of Kui County, and this is Liu Dutou of the Yamen."
Liu Dutou quickly saluted, and the commander dismounted and said, "I am Yang Lin from Hengshuigou, a subordinate of Marshal Han."
"It's General Yang. I've heard so much about you!" Zhou Guitong said seriously, "General Yang, I have something important to discuss with Marshal Han."
Yang Lin was stunned. "Oh? I don't know why County Magistrate Zhou wants to see my Marshal. How do you know the Marshal is in Hengshuigou?"
The military and politics were separated, and except for the provincial capital, local county magistrates and generals generally had little contact, so Yang Lin needed to ask clearly.
Zhou Guitong was overjoyed when he heard this. He rushed forward and shook Yang Lin's hand tightly. "So Marshal Han is in Hengshuigou! Great! Take me to see him quickly. I already know the mastermind behind the military leak."
This was a big deal. Yang Lin was shocked: "Follow me!"
Hengshuigou Camp.
Han Shizhong frowned. "Are you saying there weren't any spies at all? The Mongols guessed there wouldn't be any troops stationed along the Kuixian route, so they dared to come and plunder?"
Zhou Guitong nodded and said, "That's right, Marshal Han. If the Mongols occupy Kui County, you can divide your forces to surround and annihilate them. But the cavalry is fast, they will just grab and run. As long as you set up a barrier between Hengshuigou and Taoxian Town, the Mongols will never dare to come again."
"Hahaha..." Han Shizhong laughed heartily. "Amazing! Amazing! I never thought a county magistrate could figure out the answer I'd been so desperately trying to figure out. You're right, it was my negligence."
"Marshal Han, I have another favor to ask of you." Zhou Guitong said with a fist salute.
Han Shizhong held out his hand and said, "You can talk as long as I can do it."
"Marshal, in order to investigate the military leak case, not only Kui County, but the entire Qinghe Prefecture has arrested thousands of innocent civilians. They just conducted some life transactions with the Mongols in private, but the new envoy accused them of treason by collaborating with the enemy. I am a low-ranking official with little influence, so please write a letter by hand and pass it to the emperor in Bian Jing to avoid an injustice that will be passed down through the ages." Zhou Guitong was almost in tears when he said this.
"Hmph!" Han Shizhong was furious. "These civil servants seem to be good for nothing except causing trouble for their own people! Don't worry, I'll take care of this matter!"
Zhou Guitong was overjoyed: "Thank you, Marshal Han!"
In Qinghe Prefecture, the legal advisor rushed over from Kui County and explained the whole incident to Li Qingyuan, the imperial envoy, and Zhao Kangping, the prefectural governor. They were immediately horrified.
After a brief moment of surprise, Zhao Kangping began to clap and laugh. "Great! Great, great! This way, these smugglers are cleared of suspicion. Zhou Guitong is great! The Imperial Envoy gave him two weeks, and he solved the case in less than two days."
Li Qingyuan said coldly, "Even if none of the Mongols leaked the secret, these unruly people disregarded the imperial law and engaged in smuggling transactions with the Mongols. How can I let them off so easily?"
"Well, I wonder how the envoy wants to deal with them?" Zhao Kangping asked carefully.
Li Qingyuan had originally intended to come here and perform a great deed, hoping to be greatly rewarded by the emperor. However, he had never imagined that things would escalate to this point, where he saw no benefit at all, and so he became furious.
"Interrogate! Seriously torture them! Everyone needs to be rigorously interrogated. I simply don't believe any of them colluded with the Mongols. Once anyone is found guilty, they will be executed without mercy!"
Zhao Kangping and the Kui County magistrate looked at each other in shock; the magistrate's words carried little weight. Zhao Kangping was the prefect, after all. He continued, "Lord Li, calm down! These are just ordinary people trading privately with the Mongols. How could they possibly know military secrets? They probably can't even get through the gates of the barracks. Some don't even know where the barracks are. How can they be collaborating with the enemy?"
Li Qingyuan, unwilling to live a life of mediocrity, sneered: "Although these unscrupulous people have no direct evidence, they must have made up stories!"
Zhao Kangping was even more alarmed: "Sir, if he is tortured into a confession, the people will be deeply resentful and it will be difficult to explain to the court if they investigate."
Li Qingyuan's eyes revealed a hint of murderous intent: "What's so difficult to explain? When I came to Qinghe, His Majesty personally instructed that the leak case be thoroughly investigated. Confession under torture? Why would they confess if they don't?"
The master could no longer bear it: "Sir, how can you convince the world with just three words like 'don't do this'?"
Li Qingyuan looked at him coldly: "How dare you! You are just a mere Kui County clerk, and you dare to yell at me! Come here, come here!"
Li Qingyuan's power was no different from that of a local emperor. At this time, two officials came in from outside and said, "Sir."
"Drag him away and give him twenty lashes of the cane!" Li Qingyuan pointed at the Kuixian lawyer.
"No, Your Excellency," Zhao Kangping hurriedly tried to stop him. "Master Liu was just giving you a friendly reminder, but his tone was a little hasty. Please forgive me, Your Excellency."
"Please forgive me? Since I came to Qinghe, all the officials, from you Zhao Kangping on down, have been secretly disobeying me. What do you want to do? I am the envoy of appeasement, just like the emperor himself. If you disrespect me, you are disrespecting the emperor!" Li Qingyuan clasped his fists and raised them high.
Damn it, this is simply putting a 'random' hat on someone's head. No one can bear the accusation of disrespect. Zhao Kangping panicked and knelt down to beg for mercy: "I dare not."
"Humph!" Li Qingyuan swung his sleeves. "Drag this master away and give him a good beating!"
The officers were all masters of following orders, and they obeyed whoever was more senior. Two officers then carried Mr. Liu to the government office. Since the envoy had ordered a severe beating, they did not dare to show favoritism.
"Bang! Bang! ... " The master was beaten with the stick one after another, and the pain was so severe that he was almost dead.
Zhao Kangping rushed out of the lobby in a panic. Seeing his master beaten to a bloody pulp, he was terrified.
Li Qingyuan behind him had a sneer on his face. It seemed that only torture could make these people obedient.
The twenty big boards are divided into light and heavy ones. The light ones are like a feather caressing the buttocks, and the heavy ones are like Mount Tai pressing down on the head.
After twenty strokes of the board, Master Liu's buttocks were all red and he fainted from the pain.
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