I served as an admonisher in the Song Dynasty

Chapter 169 It’s better to be killed than die of old age!The bloody nature of Northwest veterans

April 23, near noon.

On the banks of the Weishui River, a tributary of the big river, the sun is particularly warm.

The river water is clear, there are swarms of fish, and the air is filled with the fragrance of wild grass.

It is suitable for fishing, picnicking, boating and overlooking.

Su Liang and his party were taking a rest by the river.

Next, they will cross the Wei River and head north.

The destination is Qingzhou where Fan Zhongyan is located.

these days.

Su Liang heard more and more news about the troop reduction in the northwest through the inns on the official road and Cao Hu's information channels.

Fan Zhongyan's handling method was decisive and tough.

Anyone who meets the conditions for reducing troops will be reduced. Those who delay will be punished and those who show favoritism will be punished.

The chief officers of Fuyan Road, Huanqing Road, Jingyuan Road, and Qinfeng Road and the generals of each camp quickly made a list of soldiers to be reduced.

at the same time.

Fan Zhongyan demanded that the local and state government's pensions must be provided quickly, and that the land, positions, and monetary compensation should not be delayed even half a minute.

Anyone who dares to gather a crowd to cause trouble or rebel will still be severely punished in accordance with military regulations even if their military membership is revoked.

In addition to the additional penalty, those with serious crimes may even have their pensions revoked and be required to undergo hard labor reform.

The commander directly under the offending soldier and the chief official of the local state government will also be punished if they handle the situation improperly.

It can be said that military orders are like mountains, and they are carried out vigorously and resolutely.

Su Liang appreciated this way of handling it.

This is also the customary military style of the Northwest Forbidden Army.

The soldiers here have all seen the harm caused by Tibetan thieves who burned, killed and looted, so most of them would not "gather together to become thieves" and harm the people.

The Hebei Forbidden Army and Jingdong Road may be more difficult.

There are mostly soldiers and gangsters there.

There will definitely be some idle people who will cause trouble and cause trouble in order to obtain more pensions.

It all depends on how the local chief official handles it.

these two days.

Su Liang also met some soldiers who were released as civilians, most of whom were returning home from the Liao-Xia border.

Su Liang also chatted with them for a few words.

It was found that although these people were a little disappointed, they did not have strong objections.

after all.

Their age is there, their physical strength is there, and the pensions given to them by the court are pretty good.

……

at this time.

A burst of sand and dust suddenly rose in front of the river.

Then, a carriage rushed towards the riverside, followed closely by more than ten cavalrymen.

Cao Hu and others immediately became alert, escorted Su Liang into the carriage, and looked ahead warily.

When the carriage was about 200 meters away from Su Liang, the horse's hoof tripped on a stone and fell heavily to the ground.

The horse neighed.

"Boom!"

The carriage overturned and fell on the gravel ground by the river.

Followed by.

Four people got out of the carriage, four carrying luggage, and one carrying a simple knife.

Together with the horse driver, there were five people in total.

Just as the five were about to run, more than ten cavalrymen surrounded them.

The five people immediately stood back to back in a group, raising the simple swords in their hands.

Su Liang looked out of the window.

These five people were all wearing gray clothes and black cloth shoes. Three of them had gray hair, and two of them had one arm.

Judging from his temperament, he should be a veteran from the Northwest.

A young man headed by the cavalry pulled the horse rope and shouted: "Five of you, stop resisting. This time I will escort you back to your hometown!"

"Hometown? Our family is gone, what hometown do we have?"

"I have only one purpose in life, to kill Tibetan thieves and kill iron kites! You won't let me be a soldier. I admit it, but you can't stop me from killing Xixia thieves. Even if I am killed by Xixia thieves, it will be better than dying at home. Qiang, I am 53 this year, compared to my brothers, I have lived a long enough life!"

"Little bastards, get out of here! We don't harm the river. Don't worry, we will never burn, kill, loot, or do bad things. We are soldiers all our lives and will not do anything that harms the people or the country. Don't stop us. Go kill the Xixia thieves!"

The young cavalryman jumped off his horse.

"Five eldest brothers, I beg you, please go back! Let us kill the Tibetan thieves and destroy the iron kites. That day will come soon. You must believe in the court!"

"No, we must avenge the blood feud ourselves! In the Battle of Haoshuichuan, the Song Dynasty lost, but I did not lose!"

……

Hearing this, Su Liang couldn't help but get out of the carriage.

Soldiers and people in the northwest generally call Xixia soldiers Fan thieves or Qiang thieves.

The Iron Harrier is Xixia's ace cavalry.The young cavalry man advised again: "Five of you, if you don't listen to me, don't blame me for being tough!"

Swish!
More than a dozen cavalrymen immediately displayed their weapons.

At this time, a veteran with a broken arm suddenly put the knife on his neck and said angrily: "If you dare to arrest us, I... I will die on the banks of the Weishui River!"

"Don't...don't...don't!"

The young cavalry man quickly waved his hand to the soldiers on the side, signaling them to move back.

Followed by.

He continued to advise: "Five eldest brothers, don't be stubborn. If you commit suicide and die, then... wouldn't that embarrass Mr. Fan and General Di? This is the imperial court's troop reduction order. You must trust the imperial court and go to the border to fight. How many people can the Xixia people kill? They may even make mistakes, just leave the matter to us..."

A veteran stared and said: "I don't care! My father was killed by Xixia thieves, my mother was killed by Xixia thieves, my mother-in-law and my son were also killed by Xixia thieves, I want revenge, even if I die, I will You have to die in the battle, otherwise you won’t be able to see my father, my mother, my wife, and my seven-year-old son!”

The cavalry young man pointed at himself.

"Don't worry, we will avenge this...this revenge for you. Put down the knife first!" The young cavalryman took a step forward.

"You step back!"

A veteran raised his knife and made a cut on his arm.

For a while, blood flowed.

"Get out of here! Otherwise we will die here. We are not afraid of death, but we don't want to die without revenge, and we don't want to die in such a cowardly manner!"

At this time, Su Liang and Cao Hu walked over quickly.

The veterans and cavalry looked at them in confusion.

Su Liang took out the identity document from his arms and handed it to Cao Hu, who handed it to the young cavalryman.

The young cavalryman quickly raised his hands and said: "The troops stationed on Qinfeng Road all flew together to see Su Yushi!"

Su Liang nodded slightly and turned to look at the five veterans.

"Five brothers, I am Su Liang, the censor of the Yushitai Supervisory Committee. I have been ordered by the court to inspect the troop reduction in the northwest. If you have any feedback, please don't hurt yourself!"

After saying that, Su Liang looked at Cao Hu who was standing aside.

Cao Hu understood immediately and quickly ran to the carriage and took out the gold sore medicine and gauze he had reserved.

After Su Liang reported his name, he could tell from the reactions of the five veterans and the cavalry that these people did not recognize him.

Cao Hu handed the golden sore medicine and gauze to a veteran and asked him to bandage the injured.

These veterans have strong tempers and are masters who would rather break than bend.

If they were captured now, they would really dare to commit suicide with a knife.

A veteran looked at Su Liang.

"You...are you the censor? Can you see Mr. Fan and General Di?"

Su Liang nodded with a smile and said, "Yes, I am going to Qingzhou to see Mr. Fan."

The veteran lifted his chest.

"You... you tell Xianggong Fan and General Di that we are not going to rebel and make trouble, we... we just want to do what we want to do. Now that we have all been revoked from the military and become common people, the court is not calling us Can people move freely? Why should we restrict our freedom?"

The garrison on Qinfeng Road all stood in unison and couldn't help but said, "No one restricts your freedom, but you can't go to the border to make trouble?"

"What do you mean by looking for trouble? Can't we just go and take revenge? Even if we are killed by Xixia thieves, we will never embarrass the Song Dynasty!"

Qi Fei looked at Su Liang and said helplessly: "Su Yushi, you don't know something. These veterans have established a killing club. According to the crowd, there are at least a thousand people. They agreed to gather together and kill together." Xixia thief, this...isn't this a random act? Isn't it sabotaging the imperial court's strategy of reducing troops?"

Hearing this, Su Liang didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

He thought that only these five people had such thoughts.

It turns out that there are still a large number of veterans who are unwilling to return to work as farmers and want to continue working with the Xixia people!

Su Liang thought for a while, looked at the five veterans, and said: "Five brothers, do you think this can work? I will write to Fan Xianggong today and ask him to give you an explanation, but you also promise me that you can't do it again. Let's go to the border, how about it?"

One veteran shook his head.

"No! We still have to go our own way. If you can give us an explanation, just post the notice so that we can see it. If you can't give it, we will continue to do our own thing and no one will interfere with anyone."

"You put it lightly. There is no blood feud between you and the Xixia thieves, so why should we listen to you!" Another veteran glared.

He was very wary of civil servants.

"Okay, I promise you, you can continue moving forward and we won't stop you!" Su Liang said.

"Su Yushi, this..."

Before Qi Fei finished speaking, Su Liang interrupted him and said, "Don't worry, I will bear all the consequences."

"Then...then...let us go now!" said a veteran.

Su Liang nodded and said: "Hold up their carriage and set up the shaft. In addition, give them a good horse and give them the dry food in our carriage."

"Yes." Cao Hu immediately went to make arrangements.

After a while.

The five veterans drove the carriage toward the distance, and soon disappeared.

Su Liang looked at Qi Fei who was a little confused and said: "These veterans are willing to kill Xixia thieves. Even if they are sent back to their hometown, they will still sneak back. Force is useless, leave this matter to me. !”

"Little general, follow orders!"

Qi Fei bowed his hands towards Su Liang, and then left quickly with a group of cavalry.

aside.

Cao Hu couldn't help but praise: "These veterans are really bloody, and they have to avenge the blood feud. If all the soldiers of the Song Dynasty were like this, how could they be bullied by Liao Xia!"

"Yes! The attitude is commendable, but they are prone to doing stupid things. You send people to follow them and report any situation at any time." Su Liang thought that something would happen to the veterans in the northwest, but he did not expect that this would happen.

In a word, it was the incompetence of the Song Dynasty a few years ago that caused the people to commit major crimes.

Su Liang looked into the distance and murmured: I believe that those years of being bullied will be gone forever!
(End of this chapter)