On the 22nd of the winter lunar month, Qingzhou, Shandong. It snowed today, and fine snowflakes continued to fall from the sky, almost turning the entire city white.
Qingzhou Governor Ma Guizheng walked into the government office through the snow, with a murderous look in his eyes, because he had received an order from the court to immediately capture and execute the local prefect Huang Wenbing and his gang!
After Sun Tu led the Shandong Army to Jiangnan to quell the chaos and never looked back, the imperial court spent several years continuously placing civil and military officials at all levels in the prefectures and counties of Shandong, and tried every means to recruit Sun Tu's remaining subordinates into military and political service. Get squeezed out of business. Qingzhou, as the real place of Sun Tu's fortune, was a top priority. Ma Gui was responsible for seizing the military power of the city and guarding the Sun Tu party members headed by Huang Wenbing.
In the past few years of collision, Ma Gui has indeed completed the tasks assigned to him by the court very well. At least now he has nearly 10,000 soldiers and horses in the city under his control. The government orders of Huang Wenbing, the prefect, cannot leave the yamen at all. It can be said that There is almost no threat left.
But since the court issued a strict order this time for Ma Gui to kill Huang Wenbing, he naturally had no choice but to obey the order and immediately rushed to the government office in the snow. Seeing the guards inside and outside the government office looking at him with fear and awe, Ma Gui felt even more at ease. As soon as he stepped into the door, he decisively ordered: "Seal all doors and do not let anyone leave. Only those who dare to force Any intruders will be shot without mercy!" As he spoke, he drew his sword with a cry and headed straight for the second hall.
And just when he arrived in front of the arch of the second hall, he saw Huang Wenbing, who seemed to be aware of it, coming out with an uneasy look on his face. After seeing Ma Gui, Huang Wenbing was stunned for a moment, and then asked: "I wonder if Ma Dujian has anything to do when he comes to visit today?"
Ma Gui kept walking, but said: "I don't dare to accept orders. I have just received an order from the imperial court and came here to carry out errands."
"The imperial court? What is the imperial court's order?" Huang Wenbing seemed to feel the murderous aura in Ma Gui's body. As he spoke, Huang Wenbing stepped back again, his eyes fixed on the steel knife in his hand: "Ma Dujian, this order will never be delivered. Do you need to come with a knife?"
"If you are just delivering orders, you don't need to hold a knife, but it is different when you take people." Ma Gui said and paused, then ordered: "We are ordered by the imperial court to arrest the rebellious comrades Huang Wenbing and others. Anyone who dares to resist will be arrested on the spot. Execution! Give it to me!" As soon as the sword was swung, the twenty or thirty soldiers who had entered the second hall with him had decisively pounced on Huang Wenbing and were about to catch Huang Wenbing on the spot.
Huang Wenbing's expression changed again, and he immediately retreated into the hall, shouting: "I am the fifth-grade magistrate of Qingzhou, and you want to take me down with just one word. Do you still have the king's method?"
"Wang Fa? Whoever has the military power here is Wang Fa!" Ma Gui laughed ferociously, and even he rushed forward with a lunge, obviously wanting to experience with his own hands the pleasure of using a military officer to capture a civilian official. After all, Such opportunities were rare in the Song Dynasty.
The other subordinates naturally became more energetic when they saw this, and rushed to Huang Wenbing while yelling and cursing. Then, they heard a familiar sound of bowstrings, and were stunned for a moment when a row of black shadows came in front of them. Before they could react, dozens of short arrows were shot into their bodies one after another, and the first ten were shot into their bodies. Many soldiers fell down immediately, and those behind them, like Ma Gui, exclaimed and hurriedly tried their best to
He waved the weapon in his hand to block the barrage of arrows.
It was only then that Ma Gui discovered that on the roof of the second hall, there were twenty or thirty men in white coats holding small crossbows and firing arrows downward. It turned out that the other party had set an ambush here early in the morning, and was just waiting for him to come to the door. And because he was too careless, the other party treacherously hid in the snow in white clothes. As a result, he did not know of their existence until they fired the arrows, and he was caught off guard.
"Charge over to me and take down Huang Wenbing first!" After fending off two arrows, Ma Gui saw that Huang Wenbing had withdrawn and retreated into the hall. He was so anxious that he roared repeatedly and started to pursue him with his steps at the same time.
However, this burst of arrows was too fast and dense, and the waves came with almost no pause. In addition, the distance between the two sides was too short. Maybe he, Ma Gui, could handle it, but his soldiers could only barely parry, so for a while, He had to rush into the open hall door alone, and several more screams were heard from behind.
But just when Ma Gui thought he had found an opportunity and was about to attack Huang Wenbing with his sword, strong winds struck from both sides of the hall at the same time, and there was an ambush inside! This made him quickly stop and dodge, and the knife in his hand faced the weapon on the left.
Suddenly, at the moment when the two weapons intersected, with a roar, a sword slashed across from the front. There were more than two people ambush here, and the last person was more skilled in martial arts and the best at seizing opportunities. He took advantage of Ma Gui's full effort to parry and exposed the flaw in the middle door to strike suddenly.
This time, Ma Gui was completely too late to respond. He could only scream strangely and quickly pull away and retreat. However, he apparently forgot one thing. The second hall of the Yamen he entered had a half-foot-high threshold. As he hurriedly stepped back, his heel hit the threshold, causing his body to stiffen suddenly and he fell back.
Facing a three-person attack, Ma Gui lost his balance again. Even though Ma Gui had good martial arts skills, he couldn't stop him. At that moment, there was a scream, his lower abdomen had been cut open with a knife, and his right rib was stabbed with a knife, causing him to fall down immediately.
"You..." Ma Gui spurted out a mouthful of blood, while his eyes were fixed on Huang Wenbing, who was standing in front of Shi Shiran, who no longer looked anxious. He already understood that all the other party's actions just now were to lure him into ambush. However, how could Huang Wenbing have expected his actions, and where did these people come from? In order to deal with him, he had sealed off the four gates of Qingzhou three days ago to prevent any suspicious person from entering.
Feeling the confusion from Ma Gui, Huang Wenbing only responded with a cold smile: "Do you think what you saw must be the truth? Qingzhou City, which General Sun has worked hard for many years, can't be solved by just sending a few officials from the imperial court. Completely seizing power? I have endured many concessions and retreats in the past few years, just to make you relax and numb. Now, since General Sun has raised troops to clear the emperor's side, how can I, the Shandong soldiers, be willing to stay here anymore? "
After hearing this, Ma Gui finally realized how ridiculous his self-confidence had been over the past few years. With a sad laugh, he vomited out blood again, but he couldn't say a word. After a while of twitching, he finally lost his breath.
And the subordinates who came with him outside had all been killed by random arrows at this moment, and no one survived. To know for
Kill all these people. This time Huang Wenbing took out the crossbow that had been hidden. Coupled with the joint sneak attack by Chao Gai and others, it was naturally foolproof.
Chao Gai looked calm as he wiped off the bloodstains on the knife. He turned to look at Huang Wenbing: "Prefect Huang, what should we do next?" In the past few years, he has been living a happy and wealthy life in Qingzhou, and it seems that he has already He no longer had the gangster spirit of the leader of Liangshan, but there was still a glint in his eyes that no one dared to despise.
Huang Wenbing smiled and said: "The King of Heaven does not need to be anxious. Now that Ma Gui has been crowned, no one in Qingzhou City can pose a threat to us. Over at the military camp, General Qi and Judge Chai Tong, who have just returned, are in charge of the overall situation. It won’t take long to get everyone to our side!”
Yes, Qi Desheng had been sent back to Shandong by Sun Tu a few months ago, and he was waiting for today. As a former lieutenant general of the Qingzhou Army, Qi Desheng was not low in terms of ability and reputation. Even if he could not compare with generals such as Dong Ping and Yue Fei who emerged later, his influence in the Shandong Army was still there. Coupled with the help of Chai Jin, who has always been generous and well-rounded, it is not difficult for them to get the military camp without Ma Gui to take charge of the overall situation.
This is indeed the case. At the same time in the Qingzhou military camp, Qi Desheng was making an impassioned speech: "Brothers, do you still remember how happy and proud we were when General Sun was here? At that time, we were the most popular among the people. A great hero can be praised by the villagers wherever he goes. Who would not be proud to join our Qingzhou Army? But now, what has become of us since Na Magui arrived? Do you still want to follow the ten Like years ago, will it turn into a pile of mud that is trampled under the soles of people's feet and cannot even lift their heads
"Now, our chance to stand up has finally arrived! General Sun not only defeated the Liao people in the north and recaptured the Sixteenth Prefecture of Youyun, he also led his army southward to seek justice for us and other soldiers, justice for a century of humiliation. ! Do you know the banner under which General Sun raised his troops this time? In order to eliminate thieves from the country and clear the emperor's side, the soldiers of the Song Dynasty should strengthen themselves! Isn't this what our Qingzhou Army has always been proud of? So soldiers, it's time to stand up Hold your chest high, let the world know once again how powerful our Qingzhou Army is, and go join General Sun!"
Chai Jin immediately followed up: "As for the money and food matters that you are worried about, I, Chai Jin, will use all my family property to support you! I know you have all suffered in the past few years, but now, everything is over!"
After these words, all the soldiers immediately became excited. The soldiers who were fed up with the grievances of Ma Gui and others finally roared: "We are willing to follow General Sun, take back everything we deserve, go to Tokyo, and kill all those people." Corrupt officials!"
When this flame is ignited again, everything will be completely different. Not to mention that Ma Gui had been killed, even if he escaped alive, the Qingzhou officers and soldiers at this time would no longer be able to obey his command. After all, this was the place where Sun Tu rose to prominence, so how could it be completely controlled by just a few officials sent by the imperial court
But before launching an army, Huang Wenbing and the others still had something to do, which was to capture all the officials sent by the court in the city and behead them in public. Hundreds of heads fell to the ground overnight.
Qingzhou, Shandong, there is blood today!