Red Mansion: Seizing Jiangdong, starting with pirates

Chapter 172: Juyong Pass is broken

At Guo Bai's command, the gates of Hejian city opened wide, and the officials and gentry in the city all looked forward to welcoming him.

The leader was the Cui family of Hejian, who had previously sent their daughter Cui Si to show their affection to Fang Yong.

Fang Yong was actually not interested in women, and all those rumors outside were just hearsay. However, as the saying goes, one should not hit a smiling person. He was afraid that if he did not accept her, the other party would misunderstand him, so he accepted Cui Si reluctantly.

In this way, Fang Yong entered Hejian city effortlessly.

After the army entered the city, Guo Bai talked about the purpose of their visit and hoped that Fang Yong could pause his march northward and lead the Huaiyin army to wait in Hejian first.

Fang Yong was puzzled by this.

"What does Zisheng mean?"

Guo Baidao:
"General, if you want to conquer the world, don't you know the principle that the mantis stalks the cicada while the oriole waits behind?"

Fang Yong was slightly stunned.

Guo Bai grinned wickedly. At this moment, his expression was very similar to when he was offering loyal advice to Emperor Longqing. He said:
"The grassland army is now trapped outside Juyong Pass, and it is difficult to break through the pass easily. If the general is eager to go north, he may enter the capital from the grassland first. At that time, the general will become the target of public criticism, which is not good for the general's cause!"

"Why not temporarily preserve our strength, station troops in Hejian, and wait for the grasslands to break through the pass and enter the capital. When both the imperial court and the general are defeated, then the general can send troops north. Wouldn't that be a way to reap the benefits?"

At this time, since Guo Bai had left Beijing too early and did not know about Zhao Shihong, in his eyes, it would take some time for the grassland to be defeated, so he advised Fang Yong to stay in Hejian.

Fang Yong pondered over Guo Bai's words.

After thinking for a moment, he shook his head.

If we look at it from the perspective of interests alone, Guo Bai is right.

But sometimes, things cannot be considered only from the perspective of interests.

He already had a certain responsibility for the grassland people's attack on the capital, so how could he sit idly by and watch the grassland people break into the capital just for the sake of profit?

The people in the capital were already living in extreme hardship. How could he bear to let them suffer the ravages of foreign races?
The most important thing is that Fang Yong is confident that he has the ability to solve all of this fairly.

When I didn't have enough ability, I had to resort to some conspiracies and tricks. Now that I have the ability, I naturally have to act uprightly and walk the straight path!
Fang Yong expressed his thoughts and rejected Guo Bai's proposal.

Guo Bai didn't expect Fang Yong would refuse for this reason.

He came here with the intention of seeking credit.

How could anyone refuse something that has only advantages and no disadvantages?
Those people are all citizens of Daxi. Emperor Longqing doesn't care about their lives or deaths, so why should Fang Yong care so much?
Guo Bai said without giving up:

"General, do you know that if you insist on heading north to the capital now, you will probably first encounter the imperial army, then the reinforcements from Duke Zhongguo, and finally the grassland army that breaks through the pass? Do you want to watch your soldiers bleed and die? Don't you regard them all as your relatives?"

Fang Yong heard this and said:
"Yes, I really do regard every soldier as my own family!"

Guo Baidao:
"In that case, how can the lives of those strangers be compared to the lives of your soldiers?"

Fang Yongdao:
"The people on both sides of the river are my relatives, the people on both sides of the river are my brothers and sisters, the people on this land of Zhongxia are my brothers and sisters, I have no bias towards them!"

Guo Bai stopped talking after hearing this.

He felt that Fang Yong was using him to put on a show and was deliberately saying some high-sounding words.

How is it possible to do such a thing...

Soon, the Huaiyin army set out towards Jinhai.

Juyongguan.

Zhao Shihong came to deliver food in the name of imperial envoy.

At the same time, he was ordered to inspect the defense situation inside Juyong Pass.

Niu Jizong and Ma Shang did not dare to delay and hurried to greet them.

Zhao Shihong entered the city with guards and food.

At the beginning, Niu Jizong and Ma Shang were very vigilant.

After all, Zhao Shihong is Gao Zhi's uncle... But soon, looking at the carts of food and fodder delivered by Zhao Shihong, Niu Jizong checked them. Although the quantity was not too much, if they were eaten sparingly, it would be enough for the army to consume for half a month.

Niu Jizong's worries of the past few days suddenly dissipated. With these grains, he was confident that he could stop the grassland Tatars outside Juyong Pass and prevent them from setting foot inside the pass.

Niu Jizong's mood couldn't help but become much better, and his vigilance towards Zhao Shihong also decreased a lot.

Afterwards, Niu Jizon and Ma Shang led Zhao Shihong to inspect the defense of Juyongguan in accordance with the order.

During the inspection, Zhao Shihong exclaimed:

"The two generals' arrangements are indeed meticulous and without omission. On behalf of His Majesty, I would like to thank the two generals for their service to the country and the people. When I return to the court, I will definitely commend the two generals to His Majesty!"

Niu Jizong was very happy to hear this, and Ma Shang also smiled.

The two men's vigilance towards Zhao Shihong greatly decreased.

After the inspection, several people went down the city wall, and Zhao Shihong suddenly said:
"This time, in addition to delivering military rations, I also have a secret decree to announce!"

Niu Jizon and Ma Shang did not suspect anything and thought it was an important instruction from Emperor Longqing, so they dismissed their attendants.

Zhao Shihong took out the imperial edict, and Niu Jizon and Ma Shang knelt down to listen to it without any defense.

Several followers around Zhao Shihong took the opportunity to step forward and hold down Niu Jizong and Ma Shang.

The two men knelt, unable to exert any strength.

Zhao Shihong quickly announced:
The emperor was sent to heaven to carry the order, and the edict said:
Niu Jizon and Ma Shang secretly colluded with the Huaiyin bandits, betrayed the grace of Heaven, committed heinous crimes, and committed acts of treason, which is truly an unforgivable crime.

I now order the cabinet to assist the Grand Secretary Zhao Shihong in supervising the execution of the traitor and exterminate his three clans, in order to uphold the law and serve as a warning to others...

After saying this, without giving Niu Jizon and Ma Shang a chance to explain, his men drew their swords, two sword lights flashed, and two huge heads fell down.

Until their death, Niu Jizong and Ma Shang were still in disbelief and died with their eyes open.

Blood spurted out from the neck of the headless corpse, and the blood rose up to more than three feet. It seemed as if a bloody wind was blowing in the air, and the buzzing sound was like the cry of a hero.

Afterwards, Zhao Shihong supervised the city as an imperial envoy and ordered the soldiers to withdraw their defenses in the name of seeking peace.

A small number of soldiers were unwilling to believe what Zhao Shihong said. After spending some time together, they did not think that Niu Jizon and Ma Shang were traitors, so they were unwilling to withdraw their defenses.

In response, Zhao Shihong, in the name of the imperial envoy, slandered these people as traitors who were disrupting the peace talks and put them all in jail.

Seeing this, the other soldiers did not dare to resist and obediently withdrew their defenses.

They had no source of information and did not know the truth. They only knew that Zhao Shihong was an imperial envoy of the court, so they thought what he said must be correct.

Not long after, Juyongguan City was captured.

The gates of this most important pass in the world, Zhongxia, were once again opened from the inside.

Zhao Shihong looked at Kah Khan who was sitting high up, knelt deeply and submitted to him.

He didn't want to do that if he could.

But Emperor Longqing forced him.

He devoted most of his life's efforts and worked hard to become the Governor-General of Zhili. He also worked hard and risked his life to suppress the rebellion of Jin bandits for the court. Only then was he awarded the title of marquis and entered the cabinet. He could have left his name in history, but because of Gao Zhi's affair, Emperor Longqing wanted to implicate him and dismiss him from office and remove his title.

If he had not bribed Guo Bai in time and asked him to plead for mercy, he would have nothing now.

But even so, Emperor Longqing still imposed extremely severe punishment on him, demoting him but retaining his position. If nothing unexpected happened, he would be dismissed after the political situation was stabilized.

How could he be willing to do this!
Just at this time, his nephew Gao Zhi sent a letter, as long as he cooperated...

There is no way, the grassland has given too much.

Zhao Shihong doesn't want to be a traitor.

He was forced into this!

(End of this chapter)