Qiu Yizi pushed the door open and walked out of the study, then took his twenty horsemen and returned along the original route, heading towards the main gate of the county government office.
As soon as he left the county office, he saw Huaiyang County Magistrate Sun Papi, leading a hundred yamen runners and soldiers guarding the city. He heard Sun Papi shouting, "Rebel! Do you think my Huaiyang County Office is a restaurant? You can come and go as you please? Why don't you get off your horse and surrender!"
Qiu Yizi saw that among the hundred people, there were about twenty people with swollen noses and swollen faces, hiding at the back of the crowd, obviously they were beaten just now, so he laughed loudly and said, "Sun Bapi, you are willing to be my enemy, but I still want to ask if your men have the courage to fight for you?" After that, he raised his hand and waved forward, saying, "Brothers, charge!"
Although these few yamen runners and soldiers in Huaiyang County were fed with imperial food, they were no different from a mob. After a slight attack from the elite cavalry under Qiu Yizi, they were defeated and fled in all directions, leaving only Sun Baopi, who was very conspicuous in his official uniform and had nowhere to hide.
Qiu Yizi did not make things difficult for him and said to him, "County Magistrate Sun, the troops I lead are just ordinary troops from Youyan Road, but in the eyes of your government troops, they are like divine soldiers sent from the sky. If you resist stubbornly, I am afraid both you and me will be destroyed. Also, don't forget what I said just now. Two hundred dan of grain is nothing big, you should quickly deliver it to the Bianzhou camp. I am doing this for your own good!" After saying this, he turned his horse's head and left the county in a blink of an eye.
After leaving Huaiyang County, Qiu Yizi was about to ride his horse to the southwest, but he heard someone shouting from behind: "Wait! Master, wait!"
Qiu Yizi looked back and saw that it was Wang Laowu who was shouting at him and galloping towards him. He smiled, stopped his horse and asked, "It turned out to be Wang Laowu! You came late and didn't see the excitement just now. It's a pity."
Wang Laowu was really fast. He ran to Qiu Yizhi while he was talking. He didn't breathe a breath, but his face was flushed. He said, "I saw it, I saw it! The master broke into the county government office and beat up the police officers twice. I saw it all! The master is really an upright person who stands up for the people!"
Qiu Yizi was about to speak when he heard Yuchi Lianghong whisper in his ear: "This bachelor has natural good legs. If you take him in, I will teach him some Qinggong skills. It will be useful in the future!"
Qiu Yizhi nodded secretly after hearing this, and then smiled and asked Wang Laowu: "Wang Laowu, I think you are a man. When will you stop farming in Henan? It would be better for you to follow me to fight in the war and make meritorious deeds. It would be your good fortune to earn a reputation! By the way, your father can also go with me."
Wang Laowu was the most outspoken. He said, "Since the master likes me, it will be an honor for me, Wang Laowu, so I will follow the master!"
Qiu Yizi smiled and said, "Why are you in such a hurry? Now is not the time yet. It will take no more than two or three years, or even a year at most. It won't be too late for me to come and take you away when I'm done!" After that, she pointed her whip at Wang Laowu and said, "You stay here for a while, we will meet again if we are destined!" Then she drove her Ferghana horse and led everyone away along the road south.
The local Jiedu Army in Henan was defeated by the Tianzun Rebel Army at the beginning of this year. They had just recruited refugees and poor peasants to supplement their troops, but before they were fully trained, they were pulled to the front line to fight against the Youyan army.
Therefore, the hinterland of Henan was very empty. Qiu Yi's horse kept marching towards the southwest, attacking seven or eight counties including Fugu, Yanling, Xuchang, and Changge, without encountering any obstacles at all.
After entering the county government office, Qiu Yizi deliberately created momentum and interrogated the county magistrate first. If the county magistrate was a good official, he would comfort him with some words; if he was a corrupt official, he would inevitably threaten him after beating and scolding him. In short, the rumor that Dai Luanxiang was in collusion with Youyan King Zheng Rong spread all over Henan.
After a few words, regardless of whether the county magistrate was truly surrendering or just pretending to shirk his responsibilities, Qiu Yizhi did not stay long and went to attack the next county. He did this very smoothly. In less than a month, he had traveled to several counties in western Henan, including Zhengzhou, Haizhou, Qingzhou, and finally settled in Jizhou.
At the same time, after receiving the military order from his father, King Zheng Rong, Zheng Miao, the commander of the eastern camp, immediately dispatched several elite teams with different tasks to break through the imperial guards' defense in Bianzhou. They followed Qiu Yizi's method and attacked county towns in various parts of Henan.
The eastern part of Henan Province was all plains. Although the cavalry sent by Zheng Miao was not as capable as the one led by Qiu Yizhi himself, they were faster in marching and attacking. After just half a month of operation, they had already attacked all the county offices without missing a single one. One of the cavalry, which was fast on foot, even fought all the way to Shandong Province before turning back.
This was done very efficiently. By the time the imperial court realized what was happening and wanted to send troops to chase and intercept them, the troops that had been sent out had already returned to their teams for rest and recuperation. Some of the troops that didn't have time to come back simply followed the strategy that Zheng Miao had personally taught them when they set out, and robbed a few bandit strongholds in the local area, then stayed indoors and became mountain kings, which was also a good way to hide from others.
In short, after more than a month of turmoil, the news that Dai Luanxiang had secretly defected to the court had spread throughout Henan, around Tongguan, and north and south of the Yellow River.
At this time, Qiu Yizi had passed through the border of Jizhou and entered Yanzhou Prefecture in Guannei Road. He also attacked several remote counties. He then changed his luggage, no longer showed up, sneaked into Linzhou, lurked under Tongguan, ready to enter the pass at any time.
Because the Youyan Road was being developed with the imperial court, the number of merchants traveling to and from Tongguan had decreased by more than half. Although the flow of people in the town below Tongguan was more than half of that before, it was still bustling with people. The news that the former commander Dai Luanxiang was secretly communicating with the King of Youyan also spread through this group of merchants who traveled all over the country.
On this day, Qiu Yizi took a rare break from her busy schedule, so she changed her clothes and took a rest in the teahouse with Yuchi Lianghong and Zhao Chengxiao. Then she heard people at the next table discussing this matter.
I only heard one of the young men say, "Marshal Dai is secretly communicating with Prince Youyan. Have you heard about this?"
A middle-aged man with a beard sitting next to him replied, "You are right. I heard that Henan Road has been occupied by Prince Youyan. I have a childhood friend who works in Jizhou. I heard that the prince's messengers who are asking for grain have come twice."
An old man with a white beard sitting at the same table said, "Don't talk nonsense. Marshal Dai is a well-known loyal man. How could he rebel against the court so easily?"
The middle-aged man said disapprovingly: "Then tell me, how was Prince Youyan's loyalty inferior to Marshal Dai? Didn't he still take the lead in raising the flag of rebellion?"
The old man said: "It was the court that treated His Majesty unfairly, and His Majesty had no other choice, so he had no choice but to go against the court!"
The young man next to him interrupted, "That's right. If the court can mistreat Prince Youyan, why wouldn't it mistreat Marshal Dai? I heard that before Marshal Dai went to war, someone even submitted a memorial to impeach him!"
The middle-aged man said, "I have heard about it, too. Do you know the reason for the impeachment?" He suddenly lowered his voice, "It is said that Marshal Dai used to have a good relationship with the prince, and they are afraid that he will not fight with the prince seriously, and they are also afraid that he will surrender to the prince in the battle. Alas, in the final analysis, the court still does not trust Marshal Dai!"
The white-bearded old man sighed and said, "The court is in a dilemma. Those who can fight are not reliable, and those who can fight are not reliable. Sigh!"
After all, the young man was full of vigor and vitality. He said bitterly, "Even the good people in the current court have been persecuted. In my opinion, we really need someone like Prince Youyan to clean up the situation!"
He was halfway through his words when a team of patrol soldiers walked up to the table where the old man, the young man and the middle-aged man were sitting outside the teahouse and shouted, "What? You dare to curse the court here? Do you think this tea is not tasty and want to go to jail to drink thin porridge?"
The three men finally stopped talking, and when the pair of soldiers walked away, they cursed in unison, "Running dogs!" and then began whispering again.
Qiu Yizhi was sitting at the side, listening with great interest, when he saw a man hurriedly running up to him, sitting down at his table, and handing him a note saying, "The prince has sent a letter, and I want Your Highness Yi to open it personally."
Qiu Yizi recognized the man as Tietou Jiao, one of the 18 bandits under Zhao Chengxiao, so he took the note, poured him a glass of water himself, and looked around. Seeing that there was indeed no one peeking nearby, he unfolded the paper and began to read.
On the paper was Zheng Rongji's handsome handwriting, and he wrote: The news that Dai Luanxiang was going to surrender to Youyan has spread all over the city, and the people in the imperial guards are even more uneasy; and in recent days, Dai Luanxiang has been uncharacteristically aggressive, and it seems that someone is urging him, but our army's defense is very strict, and the imperial guards were shot back by crossbows before they could get close. It can be seen that Qiu Yizhi's plan has begun to work, and Zheng Rong's words in the letter also reveal an unconcealable joy, so he asked Qiu Yizhi to act according to the plan and not make any mistakes.
Now is the time when the two armies are fighting. Qiu Yizhi and others are behind the enemy. Although they look stable, they are actually in danger. Therefore, Qiu Yizhi strictly ordered the 18 soldiers under his command to take turns on duty at night and to be fully armed and ready to go at any time during the day.
Therefore, at Qiu Yi's command, the eighteen men rode their war horses and filed out from the dilapidated temple in the countryside where they were hiding, and headed quickly towards Tongguan.
Although the number of merchants and travelers passing through Tongguan decreased significantly due to the war, the inspection at Tongguan was stricter than usual, so the queue in front of the pass was not much shorter than before.
Zhao Chengxiao saw that the soldiers guarding Tongguan were checking very carefully, even opening and checking everyone's luggage one by one. He couldn't help but feel a little worried, so he asked Qiu Yizhi: "Your Highness Yi, Tongguan is checked so carefully. How can we pass when we are all holding swords and riding horses?"
Qiu Yizi said with a relaxed look: "Brother Zhao, don't worry, just watch how I get through!" As he said that, he gently kicked the horse's belly and passed the long snake-like team and went straight to the front of the pass.
It turned out that Qiu Yizi had already observed it these days. Today, the captain named Ruan Wenlong, the cousin of Ruan Wenyuan, a clerk under Zhong Li Kuang, was on duty. He rode his horse up to him and smiled without saying a word.
Ruan Wenlong had also met Qiu Yizhi once, but at that time Qiu Yizhi was just a nephew of the wealthy businessman Zhou Cijing, and was not conspicuous in the caravan. Ruan Wenyuan was also a man who saw many faces every day, and he felt that Qiu Yizhi looked a little familiar, so he asked: "Sir, what do you want to see Ruan for?"
Qiu Yizi smiled and took out a piece of paper from his arms, handed it to Ruan Wenlong and said, "I came here via Youyan Road. Ruan Qianzong's brother, Ruan Shuban, has a letter from home and asked me to bring it." This letter was taken from Zhongli Kuang by Qiu Yizi before he went south to Henan to do business.
Ruan Wenlong was already shocked when he heard that the young man in front of him was from Youyan. When he heard that he had a letter from his cousin who worked under the chief strategist of Youyan Palace, he was even more frightened. He quickly stood up, took the letter from Qiu Yizi's hand, opened it hastily, and read it carefully.
Qiu Yizi waited patiently for him to finish reading the letter, then smiled and said, "Since it is your brother's letter, could you please make it easier for me?" (To be continued)