On April 20th, the weather was a bit sultry. At noon, Zhang Xing and Wei Xuanding led a small number of people to ride horses into Yucheng, which smelled a little burnt.

On the way here, a lot of things happened around Zhang Xing.

Some expressed their loyalty, some remonstrated, and some quarreled... Most of the disputes actually revolved around the handling of the Meng rebels, because the head of Meng Shanggong brought huge trouble to the deposed dragon army.

You know, no matter how self-righteous this guy is, and how ridiculous his death is, as the unique core of the powerful Meng family in the surrounding area, and the former captain of a county, he is one of the few people in this world who can hold up the situation.

.

It is because of his presence that the Meng rebels are qualified to maintain their independent posture.

Now his death is easy, but where will the Meng family's rebel army that he established with his family as the main line go?

Zhang Xing allowed Meng Shanggong to seize the four counties to the west of Liang County on his own in order to establish a buffer zone and protective film for Jiyin. But now that he has been defeated and killed, he still has two counties and a younger brother, including his family.

Chuqiu County is basically ordinary... On the contrary, when the Dragon-Deposed Army was fighting, it was natural for them to advance into Yucheng, and they would soon enter Dang County. This in turn caused the Dragon-Deposed Army to move to the periphery and become the outpost of the Meng rebel army.

At the same time, the Meng Zhi ghost came back to his senses and had already secretly left in the chaos. Before leaving, he told the people of the Deposed Dragon Army that he would go back to Chuqiu to find his nephew. Frankly speaking, he still wanted to maintain a family.

It means that the industry will not be annexed.

This is very confusing.

Therefore, at this point, Zhang Xing must make a decision, whether he should continue to support Meng Shanggong's brother and son, or whether he should be ruthless and annex the other party. Otherwise, he will have to give up the buffer zone of these two counties.

.

But to be honest, it seems pointless to support a Meng Zhi ghost who only has family inheritance in his mind, and taking advantage of the situation and annexing it may also cause trouble. Not only is the influence of the Meng family in Chuqiu, there will also be some dissatisfaction in the world.

What a good influence. Don’t forget that to this day, the Deposed Dragon Gang still has a distinct Jianghu color... This is the social rule that rebels in the previous court must follow. It naturally affects the current situation and cannot be simply rejected or ignored.

Therefore, the main dispute along the way was that Wei Xuanding and some people firmly suggested that Zhang Xing annex the Meng rebel army. Some people even recommended themselves on the spot, saying how to fight without bloodshed or how to use bloody swords to help Zhang Dalong end the matter. At the same time,

Some people actually suggested that Zhang Xing should take the initiative to support Meng Shanggong's underage sons to preserve their territory and the continuation of family power, so that people can win over him.

Taoist Wei has always been mean-mouthed, and Xu Shiying led the troops to Dang County first. As the chief Wei, he could actually end the quarrel, but at this time, even he couldn't open his mouth and say something harsh.

words come out.

Because Chief Wei also knew in his heart that the Deposed Dragon Gang could be established, and that he, a poor Taoist priest who couldn't afford clean shoes, could reach his current position with the Deposed Dragon Gang, and his survival was more or less based on the spirit of the world.

Some words are difficult to refute.

In addition, this is not only a problem of the Meng rebels, but also involves some knights in white. After this battle, many people changed their minds and thought about progress, but it was Jiyin and the two counties of Dongjun.

The pits were all filled, so they couldn't wait... It's not that Zhang Xing and Taoist Wei didn't understand.

Ever since, along the way, Zhang Dalongtou could hear the quarrel between power and loyalty.

However, all this came to an abrupt end after they entered Yucheng.

Because there is more than just the corpse of Meng Shanggong in Yucheng, and it is even more than just the corpse.

"How many houses were burned down?" Zhang Xing stopped at the first intersection inside the city gate, looked around, and then looked at Guo Jingke who came to greet him.

However, Guo Jingke looked around but did not reply. He just lowered his head in fear.

Zhang Xing was stunned for a moment, then realized immediately that the other party, a horse dealer turned rebel, did not have the ability and awareness at all, so he immediately dropped the question and continued to ask: "Have the fires been put out?"

"Yes." Guo Jingke nodded. "It was destroyed last night."

"Have the corpses been identified and packed away?" Zhang Xing continued to ask.

"Not yet... not yet." Guo Jingke began to sweat on his forehead. "I'll go right away..."

"Those who have been decapitated should put their torso and head together as much as possible and let their family members identify them. The naked female body should be wrapped in a mat. At the same time, the number of corpses and the number of burned houses should be clearly counted." Zhang Xing ordered, and comforted his head.

Guo Jingke, who was already buried under his neck. "I don't blame you for this. I came late yesterday and marched all day and hunted all night. I'm so tired... But there is no need to fight now, so we still have to cheer up as soon as possible."

disposed of.”

Guo Jingke felt relieved and nodded immediately.

Seeing this, Zhang Xingfu turned to look at Taoist Wei again:

"Chief Hardworking, you choose your own people. You can command Chief Guo's subordinates as you please. I ask you to help as many living people as possible, and then encourage the surviving people to go to the county government office to complain to me, and then bring as many prisoners as possible from yesterday. I remember

We should organize prisoner identification and on-site execution at the county government office... We don’t expect it to be accurate and comprehensive, but we should provide basic relief to the people and let the local people vent their anger first and cry when they should."

Taoist Wei was also in a daze, and then he immediately nodded without giving a second thought. He also immediately called a bunch of people and left with Guo Jingke.

After the people left, Zhang Xing looked around. He was no longer as calm as before, but was in a daze... Even though he was mentally prepared, he still underestimated the violent and destructive power of the army, especially the impact of the organic army on the city.

Collective violence.

According to the military report, there should have been about 2,000 officers and soldiers staying here all afternoon yesterday. They only procrastinated out of the city to support according to military orders yesterday evening. As a result, they ran into each other face to face on the official road at night and were directly deposed by the Dragon Army.

Several waves of organized troops of a thousand men were overwhelmed. When they first heard the news, the people of the Dragon Gang were thankful that they arrived late, otherwise the battle yesterday evening might not have been so devastating.

But at that time, no one expected that two thousand tribesmen staying in the city for just one afternoon would be so destructive.

What they saw upon entering the city were the burned houses, smashed shops, headless male corpses, naked female corpses, and the helpless and crying old and weak members. The members of the Deposed Dragon Gang who had just entered the city instantly changed from yesterday's victory to today's.

Returning to reality amidst the power and loyalty on the road.

However, it is worth noting that whether it was Zhang Xing or others, they only lost their composure for a moment and quickly recovered their posture. This shows that everyone has a little "reasonable" psychological preparation and has long imagined this scene in their hearts.

, some people have even seen similar scenes in reality.

At this time, there were already people who were willing to follow the trend and spread it out. In just half a day in Yucheng, it was already like this. So what about Dang County?

Zhang Xing even went so far as to say that the saint himself gave up the north and went to the south to eat and wait for death, but he still brought such a huge and elite military force out of selfish motives. It is hard to say how he himself will die by then.

However, once this elite military force, which is almost unique on paper, loses control, or becomes internally corrupted, it will inevitably leave a legacy to the world.

Of course, it will definitely become a powerful disruptor.

Putting away his unnecessary thoughts and dissipating some self-comfort from yesterday's victory, Zhang Xing entered the county government office with the rest of his entourage amidst the smell of burnt heat and the sound of crying.

This thing that represented the authority of the Wei Dynasty seemed to go beyond the framework of the Wei Dynasty itself in a sense. It was actually clean... Those organized soldiers and bandits were committing murders, raping women, and looting large areas along the streets.

, actually all avoided this building.

Zhang Xing came here and ordered the gate and courtyard wall of the county government to be demolished. Then he moved to the front of the hall and did nothing else for the whole day except ordering people to kill people.

In the face of organized collective crime, or fair execution is the most effective.

But the situation in Yucheng is here, soothing the emotions of the people is the priority, but there is nothing to control... In fact, those who survived arson, looting, rape, and killing are not willing to distinguish between things at all, and often

They made hysterical judgments pointing to the latest batch of prisoners of war who were closest to them or who had just been brought up.

At most, when multiple people gather together, they discuss who is taller or shorter, and choose a relatively taller or shorter person to kill.

At this time, the reaction of the captured officers and soldiers was also very interesting... Many of them cried out for injustice at first, but it was useless. Then they started to yell and curse, then begged, and in the end they were dragged all over the ground by the people of the Deposed Dragon Gang.

At the crossroads of blood, hysteria often breaks out.

"Zhang Gong wants to do great things, why should he kill strong men?"

Another officer, who was well built and obviously had some Qi cultivation, was dragged down by Jia Yue himself. He performed a routine performance and finally shouted out the unique lines that only the elites had.

"the fourth."

After being busy all afternoon, Zhang Xing shouted these words in a low voice in the strange eyes of Taoist Wei who had just come over. Then he suddenly raised his head and raised his voice in response, as if dealing with an official official. His voice was loud and resounded throughout the whole room.

The scene of the trial and execution. "Your Excellency, you are overthinking! The deposed Dragon Gang raised the troops for the sake of the common people. I, Zhang, came to rebel personally, just to calm the world and bring justice to the people. You have done such a shameful thing on your own, and why?

If you come to beg me, isn't it putting the cart before the horse?! Kill him quickly!"

At the end of the sentence, I really got serious.

And Jia Yue also dragged this man to an intersection full of red.

Seeing that he was covered in blood, there was a strong man waiting in front of him holding a big knife. This man became more and more frightened and couldn't help but continue to struggle for survival. His words became sharper: "Mr. Zhang is also from Dongdu.

Or did the Fifth Army escape from death several times, why are you so confused? Even if you want to stabilize the world, you have to rely on strength! Even if a great master builds a tower, it will take civilians to lift bricks! Victory or defeat only depends on strength, regardless of guilt.

If it’s not illegal, why don’t you use strong men like us and rely on these powerless people to fight and win for you?”

"There are a lot of clean strong men in the world." Zhang Xing was impatient and just urged. "And it's not you who has the final say on the difference between strong and weak...send him on his way quickly."

Jia Yue dragged the man to Wang Xiongdan, then stepped on the man's back. Wang Xiongdan waved his sword and cut off the man who was still trying to say something in a pool of blood.

The head rolled down, and the blood flowed from the severed part of the torso for a while, and then gradually eased... Just looking at the headless corpse, it seemed to be no different from the locals of Yucheng who had been killed for crime, and no different from the prisoners who had been beheaded before.

, the blood is red.

"I thought the blood of such a hero was green." Zhang Xing frowned slightly, then looked at Taoist Wei. "Do you have any explanation?"

"Three to four hundred people died, of which about two to three hundred were women...mainly along the street." Taoist Wei hesitated for a moment and responded in a low voice. "But a few of them said that there were also rapes and robberies last night.

matter."

Although Zhang Xing was surprised, it was only for a moment, and he immediately asked seriously: "What is the minority?"

"Seven or eight... and the people below said that Guo Jingke reportedly took all the gold and silver he captured to himself, and the gold and silver were robbed by the officers and soldiers in Yucheng yesterday." Wei Xuanding said uneasily.

."Do we need to investigate these seven or eight things?"

"Yes...but not now, nor can it be investigated openly. Guo Jingke's matter is not that simple." Zhang Xing had no choice but to respond. "We must communicate with Xu Dalang, and let him pay attention to similar incidents in Dang County and provide rescue as soon as possible.

People, maintain military discipline... I still have to work hard for you. Follow Zhang Jinshu and Guan Xu and catch up with Xu Dalang in person. Make preparations. I will stay here all night and wait for Xu Dalang's reply tomorrow to calm people's hearts and give Guo Jingke a beating.

, I’ll see you tomorrow and the day after tomorrow.”
To be continued...