"Iron Head Dragon" had just won and was very excited. After hearing Qiu Yizhi's words, he echoed: "Why don't you surrender? Do you think your necks are harder than my knife?"
This group of enemy troops had just witnessed the power of "Iron Head Jiao" and his men, and had become frightened birds. After hearing the scolding from "Iron Head Jiao", they were so scared that they quickly dropped their weapons. Many of them even knelt down in the narrow space, shouting "Mercy!"
Seeing this scene, Qiu Yizhi had already guessed the identities of the soldiers in front of him, so he asked loudly: "Are you the defeated army from Jiangnan Road who were defeated by the Lingnan Army? Who is leading your troops? Come out and speak quickly!"
Qiu Yizi asked several times, but no one dared to answer.
Qiu Yizi was not a patient person and had no patience to tangle with these people in this damp and narrow valley, so he shouted: "Is there no one who can speak up? What's the point of keeping such courage? Just let me kill you all!"
As he spoke, Qiu Yizhi waved his hand and said to the Iron Head Dragon: "Did you hear that? These people are here to test your swords."
Qiu Yizi's words were just to scare the soldiers in front of him, but "Iron Head Dragon" took them seriously and was very excited. He wiped the Bohai sword in his hand and agreed with a joyful tone: "Okay! Thank you, sir! With so many heads, I can get a lot of reward silver!"
Seeing the "Iron Head Dragon" sharpening his sword and looking murderous, the enemy became even more frightened. Finally, someone raised his hand and said, "Our army has been defeated. Please don't kill us! Don't kill us..."
After hearing this, Qiu Yizi hurriedly ordered the "Iron Head Dragon" to stop and asked, "Who are you? Please come forward and talk!"
The man hesitated for a moment, then pushed through the crowd, bowed to Qiu Yizhi, and said, "I am Zhang Qi, the inspector of Lin'an County, Hangzhou Prefecture... Please show mercy and let us live..."
Qiu Yizhi saw that the man in front of him was wearing dirty and tattered clothes, and he could barely make out the uniform of a military officer. He also saw that he was a sturdy military officer, so he believed it and said, "General Zhang, please don't be polite. Please look up when you speak."
Zhang Qi slowly raised his head and looked at Qiu Yizi, a little surprised and puzzled, and said: "How come you are a seventh-rank official... But you look familiar, I seem to have seen you somewhere..."
Qiu Yizhi sneered and said, "What? Didn't you expect that the thousands of men under your command would be defeated by two hundred militiamen under the command of a small seventh-rank county magistrate? Since you are the inspector of Jiangnan, you must have heard of the reputation of Qiu Yizhi of Shanyin County, right?"
Zhang Qi was shocked when he heard this, and he looked Qiu Yi up and down several times, and suddenly he realized, "No wonder, no wonder! It turned out to be Master Qiu. Back then, I followed the former Governor Yin and led tens of thousands of people but still couldn't defeat Master Qiu... No wonder I was defeated by Master Qiu again today."
Qiu Yizi sneered: "Humph! Since you know this is Shanyin County and that I am the county magistrate here, why do you dare to lead your troops to trespass into my county without informing me?"
Zhang Qi wiped the sweat off his forehead and replied, "How can I have the guts to do this? These are not all my soldiers, and they don't even know that this is Lord Qiu's defense zone..."
Qiu Yizhi was curious after hearing his three denials, and asked, "You are a military commander after all, how did you lead the troops? You asked me three questions and said you don't know. What's the reason? Tell me in detail."
Zhang Qi hurriedly said, "Your Excellency is right, your Excellency is right. I was ordered by the governor of this state and the General of the Central Army to defend Quzhou City. But the Prince of Lingnan was too powerful. He defeated me and several other friendly troops in a few moves and quickly captured Quzhou City. Since the city has been taken, our reinforcements outside the city can no longer continue to fight. But I have the highest rank and the most seniority here, so I was recommended to be the commander to find a way out for everyone."
Zhang Qi took a breath, licked his dry and cracked lips, and continued, "I thought that most of the Jiangnan Road had been conquered by the Lingnan prince, and there was a Yangtze River blocking the north. The only correct way was to run west to Huguang Road and seek refuge with the Right General Wei Hu. That's why I ran all the way west and ran to Lord Qiu's territory without thinking..."
Qiu Yi nodded seriously and said, "Your idea is not bad, but you don't understand why you need to send people to scout ahead when marching. Fortunately, you met me, otherwise you guys would have been wiped out now, do you understand?"
Zhang Qi sighed and said, "I am also a military scholar. No matter how dumb I am, how could I not understand this truth? Now we are all defeated generals. Who is willing to take the risk and go out to explore the way? We have no choice but to stick together and advance and retreat together."
Zhang Qi choked up a little when he said this: "This time I have offended your majesty, and you can kill me or chop me up. But please spare their lives and let them go to General Wei for the sake of these brothers who are also soldiers of the imperial court!"
Qiu Yizhi was not a bloodthirsty person, but when he saw the ragged and hungry soldiers in front of him, he immediately felt pity for them and said, "I feel sorry for you. Let's not talk about anything else for now. How about you come to my Shanyin County and have a good meal first?"
Not only the big soldiers, but even the leader Zhang Qi was starving. After hearing Qiu Yizhi's suggestion, he quickly agreed: "Okay! Thank you, Lord Qiu, for the meal!"
Qiu Yizhi nodded and shouted forward, "Where is Zhao Chengxiao?"
Zhao Chengxiao was just ahead of the mountain road, only a hundred steps away from Qiu Yizi. When he heard Qiu Yizi's call, he separated the Jiangnan army in front of him and walked through the crowd alone, holding his precious sword in his hand. He bowed to Qiu Yizi and said, "What do you want, sir?"
Qiu Yizhi said, "These are not enemy troops, but defeated soldiers from Jiangnan Road. You lead the way and let them camp in the open space west of the county town. Then send someone to inform Mr. Lin in the city and ask him to prepare food for 3,000 people."
Zhao Chengxiao nodded, and seeing that Qiu Yizi had no more instructions, he went back to make arrangements.
Qiu Yizhi turned to Zhang Qi and said, "I'm not afraid that General Zhang will be offended. We were enemies just now. I'm afraid that there will be an accidental discharge of weapons and that the relationship will be damaged. I would like to ask you to hand over your weapons and let us keep them for the time being. I will return them to you after you have eaten and drunk your fill. How about that?"
When Zhang Qi heard that there was food to be eaten, and considering that he could not beat Qiu Yizi even with weapons, he had no choice but to agree.
Qiu Yizhi added: "Although these dead and wounded brothers were killed by friendly forces, it was also the fault of the King of Lingnan. You should first count these people and bury them on the spot. After the rebellion is quelled in the future, the court will provide pensions according to the number of casualties. I will speak to you then."
Zhang Qi was surprised after hearing this: Qiu Yizi is too arrogant. What does he mean by "I can speak for myself"? He is just a seventh-rank official, but he speaks in such a big tone, as if the court must listen to him
However, he was now under Qiu Yizi's roof and had to bow his head. He dared not speak nonsense in his mind and had to nod and agree.
So Qiu Yizi asked Zhao Chengxiao to lead the way in front, while he himself led the army to cover the rear, escorting the defeated soldiers in front of him all the way to Shanyin County.
When Lin Shuhan in Shanyin County received an order from Qiu Yizi to prepare meals for thousands of people, he was a little confused and thought: Qiu Yizi wants me to prepare food for thousands of people. Could it be that he brought two hundred people to fight the enemy and could capture thousands of people alive
But he knew that Qiu Yizi was always an unexpected person, and might actually win a great victory, so he called Xu Rong and summoned the owners and managers of several restaurants in the city, asking them to set up the pots and cook, and prepare the food before Qiu Yizi's men returned to the city.
Qiu Yizi had great prestige in Shanyin County, so these bosses and shopkeepers heard it was his order and agreed on the spot without even asking how to settle the meal. They went back to get the largest pot in the store, lit the stove and started steaming rice.
In an instant, the entire Shanyin County was filled with the aroma of food, making people salivate.
Qiu Yizi smelled the aroma of rice from afar, and was delighted. He called Zhang Qi and said, "Shanyin County is ahead. Food has been prepared for you. You must be careful to observe military discipline and don't rush around. After eating, camp outside the city. No one can enter the city without my order. Do you understand?"
Zhang Qi's life was now in Qiu Yizi's hands, so how could he dare to disobey his orders? In addition, Qiu Yizi's words made a lot of sense, so he quickly agreed.
After walking for another half an hour, Shanyin County came into view. Wisps of smoke were seen rising from the newly renovated city walls, and laughter could be heard. In such a situation where most of Jiangnan had fallen, this place seemed like a paradise.
Because the area in front of the east gate of the county town was a temporary residence for refugees who had gathered from all over the place, Qiu Yizi specially led his troops around half of the city and came to the west gate. He also sent people into the city to pass on the order, asking Lin Shuhan to deliver the prepared food to the outside of the west gate.
The defeated soldiers escorted by Qiu Yizi had been walking for a whole day and had suffered a defeat in which they had no chance to fight back. They were exhausted both physically and mentally. When they saw that there were no more enemy troops around, they finally relaxed completely. Regardless of the damp and cold ground, some lay, some squatted, and some sat on the open space in front of the west gate of the county town, waiting for food to be delivered from the city.
Qiu Yizhi grew up in the old Youyan army, and was used to the strict temperament and tenacious style of the Youyan army. He would grit his teeth and stand in line even if he was injured, not to mention tired. Now seeing these defeated soldiers in front of him like a mob, he was furious and called Zhang Qi over, "Zhang Qi, look at these soldiers under your command! They are so chaotic, what a mess, why don't you tell them to stand up and line up for dinner?"
Zhang Qi agreed, and then said awkwardly: "I also think this is not right, but these people are not my direct soldiers. If they don't speak firmly, I really can't control them!"
Just as Qiu Yizi was about to speak, the west gate of the county town was already opened. Lin Shuhan and Xu Rong, leading the people in the city, came out of the west gate one after another, pushing countless carts and pushcarts of various shapes and colors, loaded with freshly steamed rice.
The defeated soldiers who had been resting listlessly on the ground just now saw the food coming, and like hungry wolves seeing blood, they were afraid that they would be too late and would not be able to grab the food. They stood up one by one and rushed towards the west gate.
The people of Shanyin County were used to the strict military discipline of Qiu Yizhi's troops, and thought that all the armies in the world were harmless. However, they did not expect that there would be such an unreasonable and unruly team like hungry wolves. They were frightened and retreated back to the city. Even several carts loaded with rice were overturned.