Chapter 67

Xu Yun and Wang Huan came to Muzhou together, but their missions were entirely different and unrelated. They each had their own subordinates and lived in different courtyards. After meeting the Prefect He Jian, they went their separate ways.

Wang Huan came to Muzhou this time to find evidence against Chen Qing. It was not only at the request of his cousin Wang Bo but also a hint from Chancellor Qin.

Early in the morning, Wang Huan dispatched seven or eight subordinates, dividing them into several groups to gather information about Chen Qing from various angles.

By noon, the subordinates returned one by one, but the news they brought was disappointing to Wang Huan.

"No soldiers looting the people? It can't be that none of them did it!"

"Reporting to the Censor, indeed none did. Chen Qing strictly enforces military discipline. Looting and raping are capital offenses, and the soldiers are very afraid, so no one dares to act recklessly. Moreover, I heard that the soldiers are exhausted every day, so they probably don't have the energy to go out and loot."

Wang Huan then asked another subordinate, "What about embezzling military pay? Did Chen Qing take any military supplies to resell?"

"Reporting to the Censor, I questioned two clerks from the county office who were assigned to manage the military pay and supplies. Their records are clear, and Chen Qing did not embezzle a single coin of military pay or take any supplies to resell. I also heard that Chen Qing eats the same food as the soldiers, so the soldiers are all convinced of his integrity. These are the words of the two clerks."

"Truly a bunch of useless people!"

Wang Huan angrily cursed. At that moment, two subordinates responsible for investigating the killing of prisoners rushed in, "Reporting to the Censor, we have some findings."

Wang Huan was overjoyed and quickly had them sit down to explain.

"We questioned some local militia. Although Chen Qing did not kill prisoners, he executed wounded soldiers who were hit by arrows. These wounded soldiers wanted to surrender, but he did not accept their surrender and killed hundreds of them."

Wang Huan's spirits lifted. This was indeed a significant finding, showing Chen Qing's cruelty and bloodthirstiness. Although there was no mass execution, the killing of surrendered soldiers was confirmed.

"Anything else?"

Another subordinate said, "He collected the spoils of war from the dead bandits, at least several thousand strings of coins and several hundred taels of silver. I heard he distributed the spoils to his subordinates, but I don't know how much he kept for himself."

Wang Huan narrowed his eyes. This was another charge. According to regulations, spoils of war should be turned over to the government, and the court would then reward the soldiers. As a mere commander, Chen Qing had no right to distribute the spoils on his own.

"Go and investigate further. Look for other issues, such as using the heads of ordinary people to pass off as bandits."

"Understood!"

The two subordinates rushed off, and Wang Huan sneered inwardly. How could there be no problems? They were censors, and if they wanted to investigate, they could find issues even in a mosquito's leg.

"Hmph! Several thousand strings of coins, Chen Qing and his subordinates must have taken at least half!"

......

Suan County was a small county located in the mountains, remote and impoverished, with a dilapidated and small city wall and a population of only a few thousand, a few hundred households, and generally poor conditions.

Zhang Kui had not looted Suan County before because it was too poor and had little to offer. He also wanted to use Suan County as his base.

Now things were different. Zhang Kui had decided to move to Quzhou. Although Suan County had little to offer, even a broken ship has three pounds of nails. He could still loot some grain and women.

More importantly, only by looting Suan County would his subordinates be willing to follow him.

Zhang Kui's stronghold was about eighty miles from Suan County. If he took the official road, he would have to go through Chun'an County first, then travel southwest along the official road, adding sixty miles to the journey.

Zhang Kui led three thousand subordinates along a small path toward Suan County. The group moved intermittently and reached a forest about ten miles from Suan County at dusk the next day.

Zhang Kui ordered his subordinates to rest in the forest and sent people to investigate the situation in Suan County.

Zhang Kui was well aware of the situation in Suan County. The city wall was old and low, barely able to keep out wild animals. In several places, it was only as high as two people, and a human ladder could easily scale it.

There were no local militia, only a dozen old bailiffs responsible for opening and closing the city gates.

For them, it was a completely defenseless county, ripe for the taking.

As night fell, the subordinates he sent out returned and reported to Zhang Kui, "Reporting to the General, there are no troops in the county. Last month, heavy rain caused the southeast corner of the city wall to collapse, and it is currently only covered with old mats, not yet repaired."

Zhang Kui was overjoyed and immediately ordered the entire army to prepare and head to the county for the night!

The three thousand bandits were in high spirits, hastily gathering their belongings and following their leader toward the county, eager for wine, meat, and women.

The army marched about three miles, entering a wide area. On the left was the Suan River, and on the right was a dense forest. The outline of the county was faintly visible ahead.

The soldiers completely forgot the surrounding dangers, each one eagerly anticipating the county.

At that moment, a series of drum beats sounded from the forest, "Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Arrows suddenly rained down from the forest, like a storm, shooting at the bandits. The thousands of bandits were caught off guard, many falling to the arrows, and cries of pain filled the air.

"Kill—"

Commander Chen Qing led the charge.

"Kill—"

Two thousand soldiers roared and followed, the month of night training finally paying off.

Chen Qing charged into the crowd, his long spear sweeping, blood splattering, and three bandits' heads were severed.

Chen Qing became even more excited, swinging his spear toward a denser crowd. Wherever his horse went, people fell, and the surrounding bandits were like weeds, dying or being crushed, countless bandits were killed by Chen Qing.

The commander was like a god of death, invincible, and the two thousand soldiers were even more spirited, fighting with all their might.

The three thousand bandits were hit by a rain of arrows, killing hundreds, especially at night, not knowing the number of enemies. The enemy commander was incredibly strong, causing panic among the bandits, and the army fell into chaos.

Two bandit leaders who had secretly surrendered to Chen Qing, Yang Ke and Wang Yun, knew it was time to redeem themselves. They ordered their subordinates to shout, "The government troops are here! Drop your weapons and run for your lives!"

The internal betrayal caused even more panic among the bandits, who discarded their armor and weapons, fleeing in a frenzy, pushing and trampling each other, and many even jumped into the river to escape.

Zhang Kui was furious, cutting down Yang Ke, who was inciting the soldiers to flee, but he could not stop the chaotic retreat.

Seeing the situation was hopeless, Zhang Kui had no intention of fighting to the death. It was time to retreat.

He shouted to his several hundred trusted soldiers, "Break through to the west, we're going to Quzhou!"

Zhang Kui's several hundred trusted soldiers were elite troops he had brought from Lin'an, with strong combat capabilities. They quickly organized and began to break through to the west.

These several hundred trusted soldiers were also Chen Qing's focus. He saw that in the chaos, several hundred bandits were marching in neat formation, well-equipped, and heading west, clearly trying to escape. The third camp led by Liu Qiong was on the west side and might not be able to stop them.

Chen Qing shouted, "First camp, follow me!"

He personally led five hundred soldiers to attack, flanking Liu Qiong's army, and the three armies engaged in fierce battle.

Chen Qing saw that these several hundred bandits were incredibly fierce, ready to die, and even if they were killed, they would take their enemies with them. His thousand soldiers suffered heavy casualties and seemed unable to overcome them.

Chen Qing turned and saw that the other bandits had completely collapsed, and he could leave the cleanup to Zheng Ping.

He shouted, "Hu Yan Tong, quickly bring the second camp to reinforce!"

A soldier suddenly shouted, "Commander, be careful!"

Chen Qing heard the whistling of an arrow. He turned his head, and a strong wolf-tooth arrow grazed his helmet.

Chen Qing was enraged, turned around, and saw the enemy commander who had shot the arrow, with a long scar on his face, a fierce expression, and no one else but Zhang Kui.

Chen Qing spurred his horse and charged at Zhang Kui.

At this moment, Hu Yan Tong also led the second camp of five hundred soldiers to attack, surrounding the three hundred bandits from the north. The situation became five against one, and the three hundred bandits could no longer hold, showing signs of defeat.

Zhang Kui was desperate, and the only way out was to kill the enemy commander and break through during the chaos.

Zhang Kui roared and swung his long spear at Chen Qing. He was skilled in martial arts and had excellent spear techniques, but he faced Chen Qing, who ignored his complex spear moves. Chen Qing pressed down with his spear and thrust straight at Zhang Kui's chest, a move that simplified thousands of techniques, using unparalleled speed and strength to suppress the enemy's moves.

Zhang Kui was shocked and tried to block with his spear, but Chen Qing's spear was abnormally heavy, and he could not deflect it. It only slightly lifted, and the spear tip pointed at his neck, already in front of him. Zhang Kui had no time to dodge.

"Thud!" The spear pierced Zhang Kui's neck, his eyes bulging, and he died instantly.

Chen Qing swung his spear to cut off Zhang Kui's head, lifted it with the spear tip, and shouted, "Zhang Kui is dead!"

"Zhang Kui is dead!"

The soldiers shouted, and Zhang Kui's trusted soldiers did not surrender, but Chen Qing's soldiers were highly motivated, fighting even more fiercely, gradually overwhelming the remaining hundred soldiers.

Zhang Kui's deputy, Li Shizong, fled in panic. He had once been the deputy commander of the Wenzhou army and had surrendered to Zhang Kui. If he escaped, the Wenzhou area would not have peace.

Chen Qing led a dozen soldiers to chase after him. They rode for less than two miles, and ahead was a crossroad on the official road. Li Shizong was about to rush onto the official road when suddenly a man rode down from the official road.

The man was about twenty years old, very strong, riding a powerful white horse, wearing silver armor and helmet, and holding a bright silver spear, with a very heroic appearance.

This was not the standard Song army armor but a civilian armor. The man shouted and thrust his spear at Li Shizong, who was frightened and tried to block with his sword but was deflected by the silver spear. The man then reached out and grabbed Li Shizong's sash, dragging him off his horse.

The man threw Li Shizong in front of Chen Qing, bowed, and smiled, "I was traveling north and stayed in Suan County last night. I heard the government troops were fighting bandits and came to help!"

Chen Qing ordered his men to bind Li Shizong and saw the man ride away.

Chen Qing hurriedly caught up and asked, "May I ask your name?"

The young man chuckled, "I am Yang Zaixing from Taiyuan. If we meet again, we will surely see each other again!"

With that, he spurred his horse onto the official road and galloped away.

Ah! It was the fierce general Yang Zaixing. Chen Qing hurriedly followed the official road and saw Yang Zaixing and two subordinates heading north.

Yang Zaixing was still a subordinate of the southern bandit leader Cao Cheng. He did not want to be a bandit and had left Cao Cheng, but his identity had not been cleared. Although he had helped Chen Qing, he did not want to meet the government troops.

Chen Qing could not catch up with Yang Zaixing and was quite disappointed, so he returned to the battlefield.

The battle lasted only an hour. Over a thousand bandits were killed, and about seventeen hundred surrendered, but two or three hundred escaped.

The government troops also suffered nearly three hundred casualties, mainly during the fierce battle with Zhang Kui's three hundred trusted soldiers.

Chen Qing immediately ordered Zheng Ping to lead a thousand soldiers to search for the escaped bandits in all directions.

Hu Yan Tong was puzzled, "Commander, they should have fled to their homes!"

Chen Qing shook his head, "If they fled home, it would be fine, but I'm worried that some small leaders might lead people to escape and regroup, forming new bandit forces."

"But... some might have fled far away."

Chen Qing looked at the bodies around him and said calmly, "We will do our best!"

..........