Poor Taoist Qiu Chuji

Chapter 80: The murderous aura that permeates Chang'an

Although Peng Sanxiang was a hero who killed Jin people, cursed Jin dogs, and occasionally robbed the rich to help the poor, he had a legitimate identity as a member of the Jin Kingdom.

So as the king of ideas and one of the few people among the heroes who had a legitimate identity of the Jin Kingdom, he led a team of ten people formed around him and entered Chang'an City first.

This ancient capital, after experiencing the vicissitudes of time, has lost its former splendor.

When the Jin people broke through here, the original landlords and gentry in the city had either moved south with the Song court or were slaughtered by the Jin people. Now, it is obvious that the Jin people occupy more wealth and status in this ancient capital.

Because of this, this ancient capital, which once represented Han civilization, now seems to have a lot more exotic atmosphere.

Long lines of slave transporters would occasionally pass through the streets, waving rattan whips that lashed the air and the skin of the slaves, but also the hearts of some Han people who lowered their heads and dared not look.

Those slaves were also their compatriots.

The nobles among the Jin people consumed a huge number of Han slaves, so there were many Jin slave-catching teams in the Central Plains, and the Jin soldiers provided these teams with "as much help as they could".

"Damned golden dogs, we will kill them all sooner or later." A young hero from the Iron Sword Sect in the team said hatefully.

Peng Sanxiang immediately covered his mouth: "Pei Dongling! Be careful with your words. This place is different from other places. There are spies everywhere."

"What are you afraid of? The worst that can happen is we can just fight." The young man was very indignant. He struggled to free his mouth and continued speaking.

Peng Sanxiang looked at his fellow martial artists around him who agreed with his opinion, and immediately felt the heavy responsibility on his shoulders.

Fortunately! What they had to do was not to seize control of the city gate, open the city gate, or break into the granary, but to scout the area, wait until the uprising started, set fire to the mansions of the Jin nobles, and spread rumors in the city in advance.

After the mission was accomplished, they also helped transport food and goods.

For a mission like this, there are four or five teams carrying out the task at the same time, so even if something goes wrong with one part, it can still be ensured to proceed smoothly.

Rumors are like leeks in the field; they can grow quickly, especially when they have a suitable breeding ground for development.

So, when the Jin general Ha Ci in Chang'an City heard that Qiu Chuji was about to go north to assassinate the seriously ill Marshal Du, his first reaction was disbelief, but as he received more and more news, he had some ideas in his mind.

Sometimes, truth or falsehood doesn’t matter.

What matters is attitude.

He admitted that he wanted to take a gamble.

Anyway, he still has the power to suppress bandits in all surrounding areas. It is no big deal to lead a group of soldiers to the foot of Zhongnan Mountain for show.

Even if I was reported by the military supervisor, it would be a good thing.

If no one reports his "loyalty" to the higher-ups, how can the Du Marshal know about it?

As for Marshal Du being seriously ill, is this a rotten ship that is destined to sink?

It is because it is about to sink that we have to rush to get on it and reap the last bit of benefits.

As long as he gets the benefits, he can defect when the right opportunity arises. If the Jin emperor wants to keep his throne in the Central Plains, he needs the help of many, many people to maintain it. Even the surrendered Song people can be entrusted with important tasks by the Jin emperor, let alone a Jin general like him?
The more Haci thought about it, the more excited he became, and he made up his mind completely.

Upon hearing the news that two-thirds of the defenders of Chang'an City had left the city and headed for Mount Zhongnan, Qiu Chuji was surprised at how "easy" it was.

In order to transfer some of the garrison troops in Chang'an City, he prepared more than one trick.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he made his move, his opponent followed suit, without giving him any chance to show off his skills afterwards.

Are the Jin people really that stupid?

In fact, if you analyze it carefully, it is not difficult to understand.

The Song court was broken-hearted. They were already thankful that the Jin people did not move south. How dare they launch a surprise attack from the north?

Moreover, if there is a large-scale military mobilization, it is impossible for the Jin people's spies to not get wind of it. As for those small anti-Jin forces, they can only fight guerrilla warfare with the Jin people in the Central Plains. It is simply unrealistic to expect them to capture cities and strongholds.

Under such circumstances, who could have imagined that there was such a group of gangsters so bold as to rob the entire Chang'an city's treasury and granary?
Moreover, even if only one-third of the defenders were left to defend the city normally, 10,000 or 20,000 people would not be able to capture it in a short period of time. Haci was fearless.

"Since the Jin people are so cooperative, let's speed up the process and act according to the plan."

“When the Jin army is about to reach Mount Zhongnan, spread the word that I have arrived in Luzhou, and let them run and get some good exercise.” Qiu Chuji flipped through Wu Mu’s posthumous letter and spoke to Huang Yaoshi, who was currently in charge of overall coordination.

Huang Yaoshi asked: "Your strategy is to tire out the enemy, why don't you move it further away?"

"Anything further than that is beyond Haci's jurisdiction. He is willing to put on a show for promotion, but that doesn't mean he is willing to make enemies with his colleagues for it."

"When the time comes, I will still ask you to disguise yourself as me in front of Haci's spies and show up briefly, then lead them towards Daming Prefecture and make as many circles as possible." Qiu Chuji said to Huang Yaoshi.

Huang Yaoshi is already an excellent martial artist, and Qiu Chuji has recently learned the "Lingbo Weibu" from him. Huang Yaoshi's martial arts and disguise skills are improving rapidly. He is not good at fighting hard battles, but walking the dog is fine.

······
It was a dark night, with no stars or moon.

Several figures quietly climbed up the thick walls of Chang'an City.

The specially made soft insoles combined with the agile martial arts skills made the footsteps of these figures almost inaudible.

At least the ordinary Jin soldiers wearing helmets could not hear any unusual sounds.

The two teams of gangsters, their faces covered with carbon ash and dressed in night clothes, completely blended into the darkness.

There were torches and braziers on the city walls that lit up the walls. The shadows in the dark night swayed desperately in the firelight, stretching everything in the shadows into something like a monster.

Suddenly, these figures rushed out, directly behind the soldiers standing on the wall, and stabbed the daggers in their hands into their throats.

The soldiers, whose mouths were covered at the same time, were unable to utter a single cry. Their bodies gradually became weak and then they collapsed to the ground.

There were only seventeen people, two teams, responsible for climbing up the wall in the dark to assassinate.

They are all elites carefully selected by Wang Chongyang, and they are all good at light skills and killing with one blow.

After dealing with the soldiers guarding a small area, the heroes who were responsible for clearing a small section of the wall all breathed a sigh of relief.

Qiu Chuji's plan has already secured for them the greatest convenience in their actions. If it still fails, they will have no face to stay in the underworld in the future.

Because only one third of the defenders were left, the patrol time of a team of soldiers that used to come every incense stick or so was extended to about half an hour.

A long rope was thrown down from the top of the wall.

The heroes, who were also wearing night clothes, grabbed the ropes and began to climb up. After reaching the top of the wall, they began to spread out in groups, hiding in the night and harvesting the lives of the Jin soldiers on the wall.

In less than a quarter of an hour, the bodies of the Jin soldiers on the city wall fell to the ground.

The man, who was good at imitating animal sounds, stood on a high place and used his inner strength to imitate the call of an owl, with three long and one short sounds.

About a cup of tea later, fires broke out all over the city!

It was the heroes of the martial arts world who had been lurking in ambush in advance who set fire to the mansions of the nobles and officials in the city, making this originally peaceful night completely noisy.

The sound of the gong immediately resounded in the darkness.

Under the command of their superiors, the Jin soldiers rushed towards the fire areas.

They shouldn't have been responsible for putting out the fire, but... who made it so that the fire was in the mansions of nobles and officials?

In the midst of the chaos, no one had yet realized that there was anything wrong with what was happening.

The thick city gate was opened easily.

Thousands of heroes armed with weapons and full of murderous aura emerged from the darkness like a tide, and rushed into the chaotic Chang'an City through several open city gates.

"Now we will split our troops into two groups. One group will go to plunder the mansions of the Jin nobles and be responsible for attracting the attention of the troops in the city."

"The other part, follow me and charge towards the granary and empty it! Remember... everyone has only two hours. You will meet at the city gate in two hours and then return to Zhongnan Mountain. If anyone is greedy and delays the time, we will certainly follow the moral code of the martial arts world and take care of your families. But you still have to take care of your own lives... by yourselves." Qiu Chuji, still wearing a dark green Taoist robe, shouted with the long mace in his hand.

Thus, all the heroes, with desire and murderous intent in their eyes, rushed towards their destinations.

The money and grain storage area in Chang'an City was located in the northwest of the city, and was also the military camp.

Even though two-thirds of the soldiers had been withdrawn, there were still nearly a thousand elite Jin soldiers stationed in the military camp.

When Qiu Chuji led one or two thousand heroes to attack, most of the Jin soldiers, who had just been awakened, were met with a devastating attack.

How could the Jin soldiers, who were not fully armored and not on horseback, possibly be a match for the martial artists with extraordinary martial arts skills?

In this situation, even a second- or third-rate martial arts hero can defeat ten people at once.

The battle was one-sided. Only a small number of Jin soldiers in armor who were on night watch caused some trouble to these martial artists, but they were easily dealt with by masters such as Qiu Chuji and Wang Chongyang.

When the Jin people's grain warehouse was opened, everyone was stunned by the abundance of various grains, rice and flour piled on the ground.

There was not only food, but also jars of fine wine and animal fats, as well as mountains of air-dried bacon.

Looking at this, the heroes began to swallow their saliva subconsciously.

"Hurry! Move it quickly. Take away whatever can be taken away. For those that cannot be taken away, pour wine and oil on them and burn them." The person who said this was Wang Chongyang.

If we don't occupy this place, then distributing the food that cannot be taken away to the poor in the city would actually be a sin.

The Jin soldiers' war horses had new uses. They were harnessed with reins and carried large amounts of supplies to be transported outside the city.

There are many small boats prepared in advance on the Wei River outside the city, which can transport the food along the river to a safe place and then to Zhongnan Mountain.

The granary gave Qiu Chuji and others a big surprise, but when they opened the silver vault, everyone felt less satisfied.

"Chang'an City is so big, and it also manages several prefectures nearby. How come there are only a dozen boxes of silver and money?" said a hero in the martial arts world dissatisfiedly.

With such a small amount of silver, the heroes who came to attack Chang'an City at night took one or two silver ingots each and divided it up.

"What else could it be because of?"

"All crows are black. The masters of our Song Dynasty are good at taking advantage of others, and these masters of the Jin Dynasty are also following suit!" The heroes of the martial arts world quickly adjusted their mood.

Tonight's harvest is already good. Although the silver and money harvested have not yet reached expectations, if there is still time later, we can rob the mansions of some Jin officials and nobles. I think that will be a considerable harvest.

And this is also the "freedom" that Qiu Chuji promised to give everyone.

These heroes of the martial arts world were all deceived by Qiu Chuji with a banquet and the incentive of profit.

If they are not allowed to gain anything, internal strife and infighting will break out before they even leave the city.

No matter when, no matter how smooth the situation is, we should not have too many illusions about the integrity of these "heroes" in the world.

At this time, those who have made preparations in advance can show their value.

With these people leading the way, the heroes took advantage of the chaos, broke into the mansions of many Jin nobles, and began to do their familiar work.

What is Wulin?
What is the Jianghu?
To put it in a higher sense, they are a group of hermits who practice martial arts and fly high in the sky, they are knights who plead for fame, and they are a touch of freedom and elegance in this vast mountain and river.

But to put it simply, they are nothing more than monks and Taoists hiding in the mountains to preach, black gangs who block the water and land routes and help with travel between the north and the south, and green forest bandits who gather in the mountains and rob houses.

Among them, green forest accounts for more than 60%.

For example, the number one person on the list, the father and son of Lu Jiazhuang, who helped Guo Jing and Huang Rong defend Xiangyang, did the work of Taihu Lake bandits, or in other words, they were outlaws.

As for those martial arts families who own land, shops, family background, and manor servants, some of them have retired from the bandits, while others are in collusion with government officials and local gentry, and are the black gloves of these forces. They account for a relatively small proportion of the overall martial arts world, but their names are relatively famous, and they have always been one of the superstructures of the martial arts world.

One night of killing dyed half of Chang'an city red.

But Chang'an doesn't care. After thousands of years of wind and rain, it has experienced too much blood and killing, and it doesn't care about this little trace.

The heroes who returned with a full load, riding on boats and horses, sang loudly in the morning light to express their joy.

Master Wang Chongyang and his apprentice, who were also sitting at the bow, also smiled deeply as they looked at these people from the martial arts world who were all happy.

"Master! The effect of our training this time should be quite good!"

“More than not bad, after tonight, the list of these people will definitely be leaked by themselves. It will be difficult for them to move freely in the Jin people’s territory, and in the end they can only come to join our Quanzhen Sect.” Wang Chongyang smiled, stroking his beard.

"Master! Your smile is very cunning!" Qiu Chuji complained.

Wang Chongyang twitched the corner of his mouth, then looked at Qiu Chuji seriously: "This is a flexible method to resist the Jin army. You are still young and have a lot to learn."

(End of this chapter)