Chapter 49

Gushijiang quickly rode back on his horse.

Cheng Ping, the commander of Weilin Fort, did not quite believe him. Gushijiang swore to the heavens and to his deceased parents, and only then did Cheng Ping believe him.

What a rare opportunity, he had just arrived from the capital and had already achieved a great feat...

Perhaps because of this feat, he could be immediately promoted and become wealthy, and even be reassigned back to the capital.

Therefore, he hurriedly led seventy or eighty men and charged towards Wang Family Fort. When they arrived at Wang Family Fort, the Wang Family Fort was already fighting the Western Xia soldiers with the Guiniang tribe. First, they had to cut off heads, then find the military tokens. With the heads and military tokens, they would have evidence.

At this moment, only the elderly, the sick, and a group of women remained in the fort.

They silently watched the Song soldiers cutting off heads and searching for military tokens. This was not a problem; no matter how the soldiers claimed credit, the court was unlikely to reward the common people in the fort.

If it had ended there, everyone would have been fine.

However, Cheng Ping was not satisfied.

There were still the weapons and armor that the villagers had seized. Taking advantage of the ongoing battle, Cheng Ping forced the villagers to hand over the spoils of war, claiming that they needed to wait for more heads to be taken.

The spoils of war were also money.

The captured bows and arrows, though not as good as the black lacquered bows they had bought, were still better than the mulberry wood bows used by the villagers. How much was a bow worth? Moreover, this battle had frightened everyone. If they had had more good bows, would fewer villagers have died?

Furthermore, according to the old rules, whether it was the battle with the mules or the battle on the mountain path, the dead were always aided by the entire village, with money for coffins and some compensation for the families. These spoils of war were the compensation.

The villagers refused to hand them over.

Cheng Ping was afraid of the Western Xia army, but he was not afraid of a group of Han villagers.

He ordered the forced seizure of the spoils of war. Dozens of fierce women resisted, and he had them tied up and whipped.

The villagers were stunned. They dared to kill the Western Xia soldiers, but did they dare to kill the imperial soldiers?

Seeing the situation was not good, Aunt Second secretly ran out to inform Wang Quan and the others.

"These are the fine soldiers the court has raised," the elder brother sighed deeply.

Wang Ju sneered.

The military discipline of the Song army had never been good. Even Wang Shao's subordinates had the habit of killing the Tangut people to claim credit. Except for Yue Fei...

So when the Song army arrived in Bashu, they became bandits and robbers. This included Wang Quanbin's subordinates, Wang Jien's subordinates, and Lei Youzhong's subordinates.

"Back to the fort."

Everyone quickly returned to the fort.

However, it was indeed a bit difficult. Even Wang Ju, what could he do about the Song imperial soldiers, especially since Weilin Fort was so close to Wang Family Fort.

But when he entered the fort, he saw a scene that made him furious.

Wang Lao Liu lay in a pool of blood.

Many villagers had died in Wang Family Fort, but not Wang Lao Liu. He had been with ten other villagers on the mountaintop. Some Western Xia soldiers had not drowned, and Wang Ju, fearing an accident, had asked a few women to inform Wang Lao Liu not to join the pursuit but to capture prisoners at the small lake below.

"What happened?" Wang Ju asked an old man beside him.

The old man told the truth.

Cheng Ping had ordered the women to be whipped, and the whipping was brutal. Some women were whipped until their skin split open, including Wang Lao Liu's old wife. Wang Lao Liu rushed forward to stop it, pushed a few times, and was then stabbed to death by several Song soldiers.

These able-bodied men returned hastily, almost all of them having just participated in the battle, with bloodstains on their bodies, which also frightened Cheng Ping.

Wang Lao Liu's death made these able-bodied men's eyes flash with anger.

But they were Song imperial soldiers. Though they were furious, they were more helpless.

Cheng Ping understood. These brats were also afraid of them, so he shouted, "Are you holding weapons to rebel?"

Wang Ju glanced at "Brother" and whispered, "Uncle Shi, the word 'rebellion' has been said. Today, it will not end well. If we do not resist, we will die. If we resist, we might die even more. They might even use the villagers' heads to claim credit."

Shi Gaoshou was speechless.

What Wang Ju said was not a possibility but a certainty.

Unless the women in the fort had not clashed with the soldiers.

Wang Ju said, "Fellow villagers, form groups of three. The front row crouches, the middle row kneels, and the back row stands. Draw your bows and arrows, and follow my orders. The front row shoots the legs, the middle row shoots the chests, and the back row shoots the heads."

"Boy, do you want to die?" Cheng Ping rushed over with a whip.

"Front row, shoot."

Dozens of arrows were shot.

"Front row, shoot again."

Another dozen arrows were shot.

"Front row, shoot one last time. Middle row, prepare."

Three rounds of arrows were released, and all the Song soldiers were hit.

Shi Gaoshou was stunned, "Little brother, things are not good."

"Brother, did you think things would end well today?"

Cheng Ping, holding his thigh, was also stunned. He ignored the pain and shouted, "Little brother, let's talk this out."

"Talk about what? Drop your weapons and surrender, or the middle row will shoot."

The middle row shooting would target the chest. These wealthy soldiers from the capital did not have the courage to bet on whether the villagers would dare to shoot. Before Wang Ju finished speaking, they all threw their weapons to the ground.

"Bind them."

The villagers rushed forward and tied them up.

"Uncle Sangu, go to the Zhu family and report the situation. Have the Zhu family inform Cheng Gong and Hu Qianpan."

They bypassed the Security Army directly, but Weilin Fort was under the jurisdiction of Yanzhou, not the Security Army.

"Bring towels." Wang Ju had the villagers untie the women. These soldiers were brutal to their own people, and almost all the women were whipped until their skin split open.

"Pad the towels and hit hard."

With towels, even if they were severely injured, it would not be visible from the outside.

"Isn't this a bit too much?"

"No problem. I have already sent someone to inform Cheng Gong in Yanzhou. We will see how he handles it. Uncle Shi, we are citizens of the Song Dynasty. You have been looking for someone for a long time and have stayed in Yanzhou for a long time. You know the poverty and suffering of the border region's people. We live in constant danger and bear heavy military and labor duties for the court, as well as pay taxes. However, the court cannot effectively protect our safety. The court owes the border region's people, not the other way around. The last batch of Weilin Fort soldiers turned into the Black Bee Bandits, and this batch is even worse, openly becoming bandits. If we cannot survive, we can only seek refuge in Western Xia."

"Seek refuge in Western Xia, but you just killed Western Xia soldiers."

"That was just a group of bandits. If we were not Song people, I believe Western Xia would welcome us warmly," Wang Ju said.

This was not a lie.

The Song Dynasty had a system that limited Wang Ju's potential. In Western Xia, he could use his past life's memories and have more opportunities.

However, he had a narrow ethnic mindset and deep-seated aversion to Western Xia.

But if pushed to the brink, why not for survival?

Brother Shi looked troubled.

This demonic youth would find it very difficult to develop in the Song Dynasty, unless he became famous at Donghua Gate. But in Western Xia, once he grew up, he would be even more monstrous than Zhang Yuan.

No, I must persuade Cheng Gong when he arrives.

Each had their own thoughts.

However, these vicious Song soldiers and officers were beaten badly by the villagers, some even spitting blood.

Brother Shi thought, evil must be punished by evil.

PS: Thanks for the 788 Qidian coins from "Ten Minutes of Waiting."

I'll mention two things. The ratio of clicks to recommendations for this book is still relatively normal, at least not like some new books with strange ratios of 50:1 or 100:1. Of course, this is thanks to everyone's recommendations.

However, the clicks have made me depressed. Although the earlier parts were laying the groundwork, it shouldn't be that depressing. I really don't understand. I didn't have the mood to write last night, and I watched a Thai drama, which left me feeling miserable.

Secondly, regarding the background, the Qingjian City soldiers forcibly leased land from the villagers, Wang Shao's subordinates killed the Tangut people to claim credit, and Pang Ji, due to poor military discipline, was so angry that he cut off hands and feet, and even killed soldiers. So this part is not exaggerated. However, I would like to ask everyone if this level of exaggeration is acceptable, or if it can be even more exaggerated. Please let me know.

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