Chapter 114: A Phantom Roamed

Xu Hongru crossed the Grand Canal eastward with fifty thousand troops, and no one dared to intercept him along the way…

Tong Zhongkui didn’t stop him either.

He had only brought five hundred cavalry with him. In Juye City, there were nothing but less than ten thousand Garrison Soldiers and local militia. If they went out, they would be drowned by Xu Hongru’s army.

Xu Hongru had planned this move for a long time.

To avoid being slowed down by the elderly, weak, women, and children, the families of their main leaders were all sent to Mount Liang. Although the eight hundred li of lakes were no longer there, it was still a vast marshland, roughly stretching from Mount Liang County eastward to Dongping Prefecture City. He personally led the fifty thousand main force, and after brushing past Tong Zhongkui’s symbolic interception, they crossed the Grand Canal and turned south. The official armies in Jining and Yanzhou were so frightened they all closed their gates and stayed inside. This massive army absorbed more followers along the way and finally reached Zoucheng to join Zhang Dongbai here.

By this time, they had expanded to an army of one hundred thousand.

They also controlled the two county seats of Zou and Teng. Yixian County was recaptured by a local Xiucai who gathered militia after it was taken, but Zhang and Shen had firm control over Zou and Teng. Mainly because they, along with the poor in the cities, exterminated the Meng family in Zou County and the family of Yansui grand coordinator Dong Guoguang in Tengxian.

Therefore, local popular support was still quite solid.

To the west was the already forming South Four Lakes, though they weren’t called that yet. This chain of lakes cutting across Western Shandong had already formed. To the east were continuous high mountains, including the famous Baodao Valley, forming a defensive ring with Zou and Teng as northern and southern fortresses.

They could advance to attack or retreat to defend.

If things went badly, they could just enter the mountains.

Once up in Baodao Valley, no one could touch them.

When they ran short of food or money, they could come out and cut off the Grand Canal. This was originally Xu Hongru’s plan. In fact, it was because they occupied Xia Town, which was Weishan County Town, and seized the grain shipments that the Tianqi Emperor was forced to go all out, gathering all the troops he could muster. Commanded by the former Datong Regional Military Commander, Yang Zhaoji, a native of Linyi, they eventually recaptured Zoucheng using turncoats.

Ultimately, this location was too important.

But then, the eastern Yanzhou region was thrown into chaos again.

The Prince of Lu in Yanzhou City gritted his teeth and took out tens of thousands of taels of silver to reward the armies. Duke Yansheng Kong Shangxian announced as quickly as possible that he was going to the capital to worship at the Yue Fei Temple. This was definitely not fleeing; he was already planning to go anyway. In short, he directly left Qufu to Kong Yinzhi. Kong Yinzhi also gritted his teeth, took out silver, and recruited able-bodied men to defend the city. Tong Zhongkui, originally in Juye, quickly rushed to Jining. The Shandong grand coordinator also arrived in Yanzhou with reinforcements from the Shandong Regional Military Command in Qingzhou and other units to protect the Prince of Lu.

This place was full of important people!

The tragedy of the Meng Mansion could still be forgiven. After all, the Secondary Sage didn’t have high status in the Great Ming. He was almost thrown out by Zhu Yuanzhang back then. But if Qufu was lost again, it would be unacceptable, especially if Yanzhou was captured. Then all the military and administrative officials in Shandong would be in big trouble.

Losing a princely fiefdom was a truly serious crime.

Because the southern route was still waiting for the Grand Canal to thaw, the Zhejiang Army that had already reached Huaian was marching north on foot. Deputy General Qi Jin went south to Xuzhou to wait, taking command again of this army with which he had deep ties. The Sichuan Army, which had already landed at Pukou and marched north to Xuyi, also quickened its pace. In short, the Shandong battlefield could be said to be gathering massive armies. Even some Ming Army troops from Dengzhou were moving south. Moreover, the Wanli Emperor urgently appointed a Deputy Regional Military Commander stationed in Dengzhou. The famous coastal defense general from Zhejiang, Shen Yourong, was heading north…

Of course, not to deal with Xu Hongru.

Shen Yourong was going north to defend against Jiannu raids across the sea.

But Wanli did have enough troops at this time because Daišan’s army had just captured Pyongyang, and Wild Boar Skin had gained a lot in Joseon, reversing the low morale from being beaten by Yang Xin in Liaodong. So, looking at the Liaodong battlefield currently, there wouldn’t be any major warfare this year.

As for Joseon…

Wanli just had an excuse not to rescue them. Actually, he didn’t want to save them at this point. Unless the Ming Army landed at Zhenjiang, they couldn’t solve Joseon’s suffering. But given the current fighting capacity of the Ming Army, hardly anyone dared to provoke the enthusiastic Wild Boar Skin. In the original history, Mao Wenlong took Zhenjiang in one swoop because Wild Boar Skin was attacking Liaodong. But now the Jiannu army was in that direction. If he went again, it would be suicide. Anyway, Gwanghaegun and the Jiannu had been flirting with each other before. Now Wild Boar Skin was beating him, yet he still wanted the Great Ming to save him?

Wishful thinking!

Wanli was no kind-hearted person.

When the Joseon people themselves got rid of him and installed someone obedient to the Great Ming, then they could talk!

As for Yang Xin…

Speaking of which, where had Righteous Yang gone?

Night, Yi Mountain.

“The Kong family is really that rich?”

Beside the flickering campfire, an Incense-Smelling Sect follower said with a face full of shock.

This was one of the three main fortresses set up by Xu Hongru. The other two were the cities of Zou and Teng. But the Incense-Smelling Sect’s main mobile combat forces were deployed at the Yi Mountain camp. This way, no matter which city the official army attacked, the elite troops here would attack from the outside as support.

This man had a good military mind.

There had been frequent battles, big and small, between the two sides these past days, but without exception, the official armies returned defeated.

However, the Sichuan Army still hadn’t arrived.

Although the Zhejiang Army from the south had reached Taierzhuang, their supplies were still behind.

This army had more than half its troops using firearms. Without transporting those chariots, cannons, and such, the Zhejiang Army couldn’t possibly attack. And these could only be transported by water. Luckily, the Grand Canal was already thawing. They estimated it wouldn’t be long before they arrived.

Before that, neither Tong Zhongkui nor Qi Jin had much motivation to attack.

Those truly anxious were the Shandong grand coordinator, the Prince of Lu, and the local bullies and evil gentry of Yanzhou Prefecture.

The former feared Xu Hongru would continue to grow stronger and break through Yanzhou. A single crime of losing a princely fiefdom could ruin the Shandong grand coordinator. The latter, of course, were frightened by the tragedies of the Meng and Dong families. By this time, even the Gentry from secondary lines like Wenshang and other places were arriving with their militia. These past days, it was these irregular troops and Xu Hongru’s peasant army engaging in a battle of the incompetents. Among them, Guo Shiqi, grandson of the former Minister of Works Guo Chaobin, was especially fierce. The militia he recruited fought even better than the official army. One could say he already had a bit of the flair of Zeng the Head-Shaving General.

“Is that fake? This year alone, the Kong family offered that dog emperor a full one hundred thousand taels. I stole a piece when I was carrying their silver and was driven out. Originally, Kong Yinzhi wanted to chop my head off. Luckily, my uncle had worked for their family for many years. He kowtowed and pleaded for me, so I was only driven out of Qufu. Not only does their family have silver piled up like mountains, but grain is also piled mountain-high. All the granaries inside the Kong Mansion are full. The rice even spills outside. They have several hundred thousand mu of land. How much do you think they collect every year?”

Said the person beside him.

“Brother Yang Feng, Qufu City won’t be easy to take!”

A follower said.

“What’s hard about it? If we press forward with tens of thousands of troops, how many soldiers are there in Qufu City? Dig a hole in the city wall, stuff a few barrels of gunpowder in, and blow it open with one blast. We won’t attack anywhere else, just the Yangsheng Gate. Which common folks in Qufu would be willing to risk their lives to protect the Kong family?”

Yang Feng…

Uh, Yang Xin said disdainfully.

Now he had joined the glorious ranks of the peasant rebel army.

Now his identity was former Kong family menial, the recently driven-out, resentful Nishan Mountain native Yang Feng.

It was easy for him to infiltrate the Incense-Smelling Sect because Xu Hongru’s army of over a hundred thousand was basically divided by region. The sect leader from one place brought followers from that area, plus local poor people who joined voluntarily. As long as Yang Xin didn’t go to troops with accents from Juye, Yuncheng, Caozhou, and such places, with his language talent, learning the Qufu accent and joining troops from these areas was easy. This war was actually nearing its end. The reason Tong Zhongkui and Qi Jin were absent-mindedly going through the motions was just waiting for the Sichuan and Zhejiang Armies. As for the Shandong Garrison Soldiers plus militia fighting the Incense-Smelling Sect’s incompetents, to the two of them, it was just a joke.

Once the Sichuan and Zhejiang Armies arrived, completed rest, and had their equipment ready, all that remained was to push north from Taierzhuang in one battle to pacify everything.

And they would certainly succeed.

This hasty rebellion by Xu Hongru was much smaller in scale compared to the original history. In the original history, seventeen places rose up in response to him, including Jingzhou in Hebei, and there were even those who weren’t originally Incense-Smelling Sect followers but raised forces under the sect’s banner. But this time, it was just the forces from Yuncheng and Juye, plus the two forces of Zhang Dongbai and Shen Zhi. In the original history, they even campaigned as far as Yizhou and surrounding areas. But this time, they were limited to within Yanzhou Prefecture, not even reaching Taierzhuang.

It should be said Yang Xin’s goal had been achieved.

Before this poisonous sore grew to seriously harm the empire’s body, he lanced it and turned it into a local minor problem.

But, it wasn’t perfect enough!

“That Kong family, they are really rich!”

Half an hour later, beside another campfire, he spoke again with a Zaozhuang accent.

“I’ve been inside Qufu City. It’s really just like the Imperial Palace. Almost half of the entire Qufu City is their Kong Mansion. I heard they eat up to a hundred pigs every day. That Duke Yansheng has a hundred dishes per meal, all kinds of delicacies, eating in different ways. The gutters of the Kong family flow with oil! Several hundred thousand mu of good farmland, the entire Nishan Mountain is theirs. Even selling vegetables in Qufu City, you have to pay a tax to their family. If we could live even one day like them, that would truly be paradise!”

Yang Xin said with infinite longing.

The Incense-Smelling Sect followers from Yicheng around him listened, drooling.

Then another half an hour later, he slipped to another campfire, speaking with a Tengzhou accent.

He roamed like a phantom. With his linguistic talent and imagination that matched these people’s tastes, beside campfire after campfire, using different identities, he continuously described the Kong family’s wealth and luxury, painting pictures of mountains of gold, silver, and grain. His listeners then spread these contents among more people. Soon, the already bored Incense-Smelling Sect followers all knew a treasure trove was right at their fingertips, just seventy li away from their camp.

Seventy li!

If you hurried, you could get there in a day!

A treasure trove piled with mountains of gold and silver!

Why don’t we go raid it? Why continue watching here? With that gold, silver, and grain, why worry about not accomplishing great things?