Sui and Tang Dynasty Generals

Chapter 47 Zhou Hao's Transformation

In the prison of Xin County.

"You, Bao Gaoyi, come out quickly!"

"Pan Yanping, come out!"

A jailer held a bamboo slip and kept looking at it. He came to each cell and called out a name.

As the jailer spoke, the prisoners in the cell were in a commotion, not understanding what was happening, especially when they saw other jailers pulling people out of the cell one by one and then locking them up with iron chains.

"Please spare my life, sir! I have parents and children to take care of, please spare my life, sir!"

At first, they thought they were going to be dragged out and beheaded, and many prisoners knelt down, crying and begging.

"Don't worry, you are lucky. Maybe not only will you not die, but you can go home. Among those of you whose family members are implicated, they can also be acquitted and leave the cell!"

The jailer said something impatiently, then he was too lazy to pay attention and continued to follow the chief clerk's request to take all the eligible prisoners out of the city.

"What? You can let them out?"

"Really? Sir, why aren't we here, Sir?!"

Upon hearing that they could live and even regain their freedom, all the prisoners in the cells lay on the wooden bars, looking at the jailers and begging.

soon.

On the streets of Xin County, many people saw densely packed prisoners, wearing iron chains, walking out of the city under the supervision of Sui Dynasty officials.

The people who saw this scene were all puzzled and didn't know what was going on. However, some people were quick to react and soon thought of what happened in Qinghe County.

"Are you planning to send these people to Qinghe County?"

"What? Send the prisoners to Qinghe County. Aren't you afraid that these people will turn against us?"

Seeing countless prisoners walking out of the city, the people of Xin County were all horrified.

However, there were exceptions. Some women, children, the elderly and the weak, when they saw their family members among the prisoners, all came forward crying, talking as they followed.

It was freezing cold in Xin County in December.

On the plain outside the city of Xin County, Zhou Hao followed Fu Zihou and watched him select people. This time he did not speak.

Using prisoners to supplement soldiers was something that happened decades ago and is recorded in history. But now, seeing it happen with his own eyes, Zhou Hao felt a little nervous.

After all, there are too many uncertainties with prisoners. Once they flee or even mutinied, and turned around and attacked Qinghe County with Zhang Jincheng, the consequences would be disastrous. This is why the Sui Dynasty never used prisoners to supplement its troops.

But now, thinking about the situation in Qinghe County, where it might not even survive until tomorrow, Zhou Hao decided to go for it.

Since the young man proposed it and he also had the token of trust from the Cui brothers and sisters, he would believe the young man this time.

There is no other way anyway.

And for some reason, when Zhou Hao saw the prisoners selected by the young man, he felt inexplicably at ease.

The prisoners selected by Fu Zihou were all people he was concerned about. If they were sent to Qinghe, at most the army would be defeated, but there would not be any major chaos.

“My benefactor! My benefactor!!”

Suddenly, when he was looking at the prisoners, he heard a shout behind him. Zhou Hao turned around and saw four soldiers in armor among the defeated soldiers behind him. They looked at each other in the crowd, then stepped forward and came in front of Fu Zihou.

"Thank you for your words in the past! If it weren't for your reminder, Cao Yong would probably not have come back alive!"

Cao Yong came in front of Fu Zihou, bowed to him with gratitude, then turned around and told Xiong Ruixiang, Kong Yan and Du Lang that this was the benefactor who had reminded him before.

Xiong Ruixiang, Kong Yan and Du Lang were following Cao Yong. When they heard what Cao Yong said, they looked at Fu Zihou with curiosity. They had heard Cao Yong say that his benefactor was very young, but they were still shocked when they saw him with their own eyes.

At this moment, Xiong Ruixiang and the other two were very curious about how Fu Zihou had been able to see that they were bound to fail, and how he had told Cao Yong that if he wanted to go, he should stay with them.

"I don't deserve your kindness! Now that you warriors have come back alive, do you still have the courage to follow me to Qinghe and fight the rebel army once more?"

Fu Zihou was also a little surprised to see Cao Yong alive. Then he looked at the four people in front of him and asked with a smile.

"Cao Yong! I'm willing to follow you, my benefactor!"

Cao Yong nodded without any hesitation and raised his hand and said.

Cao Yong needed money. He had already put his life and death aside, so instead of following other people, he might as well follow the benefactor who had saved his life.

Behind Cao Yong, Xiong Ruixiang, Kong Yan and Du Lang recalled the previous defeat and how they almost died in Qinghe. They were still frightened, but looking at Cao Yong and thinking of what Cao Yong said, they all vaguely felt that Fu Zihou was not an ordinary person.

Finally, the three of them looked at each other, and after a few breaths, they all looked at Fu Zihou and raised their hands to salute Fu Zihou.

"I'm willing to wait too!"

The three of them said to Fu Zihou.

Zhou Hao stood aside, looking at the scene with confusion. After waiting for a while, he saw Fu Zihou give clear instructions and continued to select prisoners.

Zhou Hao couldn't help but step forward and ask Cao Yong what had happened before out of curiosity.

soon.

When Zhou Hao heard from Cao Yong what had happened in the city before, he was immediately surprised.

"You mean... Zihou knew they would lose, and told you to follow the three of them?"

Zhou Hao was stunned. At this moment, he finally realized that something was wrong.

"Reporting to the chief clerk, if it weren't for that benefactor's reminder, I'm afraid Cao Yong would have died and returned alive!"

Cao Yong reported to Zhou Hao, his tone full of relief.

Xiong Ruixiang, Kong Yan, and Du Lang also nodded, thinking back to the danger that day, when they almost died. In fact, the young man not only saved Cao Yong, but also saved the three of them in disguise. If it weren't for Cao Yong's bravery that day, the three of them would not have been able to come back alive and well.

"This……"

Zhou Hao looked at Cao Yong, and thinking of Cao Yong's words, his breathing suddenly became a little rapid. He looked at the four people in front of him, and then looked at Fu Zihou who was selecting people in front of him.
Maybe... there really is a chance to rescue Qinghe!
At this moment, looking at the back of the young man in front of him, a glimmer of hope ignited faintly in Zhou Hao's heart.

Night is coming.

Because of the famine and food shortage in that year, the number of prisoners in Xin County far exceeded Fu Zihou's expectations.

Fu Zihou did not select all the prisoners, but only selected more than 600 prisoners. These people either had wives and children who were implicated and lost their freedom, or had wives and children at home.

At first, there were more than 800 prisoners in total, but after Fu Zihou told them the situation in Qinghe County and made his promise, he asked everyone loudly again and again in front of everyone whether they were willing to fight to the death and exchange victory for their lives and money. Every time the prisoners opened their mouths to answer, Fu Zihou would bring out the yamen officials and jailers to take out the prisoners who showed the slightest hesitation in their tone.

Many of those prisoners were not afraid of death, but they had a moment of thinking or a moment of distraction during the questioning, and all of them were brought out.

Looking at the prisoners who were kneeling down to beg and struggling, their hope turned into despair. The other hundreds of prisoners, in the subsequent repeated questioning, all had firm and sharp tones, which gradually became instinctive.

Everyone is afraid of losing hope and returning to that smelly cell.

Subsequently.

Accompanied by Zhou Hao, Fu Zihou selected more than 300 men from the defeated men who escaped from the battle, totaling nearly 1,000 people.

Originally, Zhou Hao, Xiong Ruixiang, Kong Yan, Du Lang and others thought that Cao Yong would be kept by Fu Zihou. However, when they heard Fu Zihou's words, everyone, even Zhou Hao, was shocked.

Because Fu Zihou asked Cao Yong to select prisoners whose families were imprisoned, and after arriving at Qinghe County, he took those prisoners with him as the supervising soldiers of the army. Anyone who dared to charge slowly or hesitated would be killed directly.

So cruel!

This was the only thought in Zhou Hao's mind.

As night is about to fall soon.

Fu Zihou saw that the yamen officials had prepared all the necessary clothes and armor, and he was glad that the Sui Dynasty was so full of military virtue that even Xin County had so many military equipment. No wonder Taiyuan could easily come up with 400,000 clothes and armor in the future.

Under Zhou Hao's instructions, Fu Zihou took the map and found the locations of Xin County and Qinghe County on it.

"Zhou Zhubu, wait for Zihou to lead his men to leave overnight. You still need to find two confidants. These two people will lead all the remaining troops and split into two groups. One group will go from Zhangnan and Wucheng to Qinghe County, and the other group will secretly go from Zaoqiang County, bypass Gaojibo, and then arrive at the north of Qinghe!"

After looking at the location on the map, Fu Zihou stepped forward, pointed at the map, and said to Zhou Hao.

"Split into two groups? Why?"

When Zhou Hao heard what Fu Zihou said, he frowned and looked at him with some confusion.

From the time the young man wanted to use prisoners to the time he met Cao Yong and his gang, Zhou Hao had already put away his contempt for the young man. Even in his current desperate situation, he had placed all his hopes on Fu Zihou.

"To be honest with Master Zhou, Zihou doesn't trust people from Gaojibo, and even less from Wucheng!"

Under Zhou Hao's gaze, Fu Zihou looked at the map and saw two official roads leading from Xin County to Qinghe. One was to go west from Xin County to Zaoqiang, and then continue west to bypass Gaojipo and then go south to reach Qinghe County. The other was to go southwest directly to Qinghe, but it was necessary to pass through Zhangnan and Wucheng on the way.

"Zhou Zhubu has never thought about why every time the troops sent by Xin County to help Qinghe County, they always returned empty-handed. Either they were at a disadvantage in the battle, or they were ambushed by Zhang Jincheng..."

Fu Zihou asked softly.

When Zhou Hao heard Fu Zihou's words, his expression became solemn.

Zhou Hao could understand why Fu Zihou suspected Gaojipo. After all, the rebel forces in Gaojipo were all Gao Shida's men. Even the troops under Dou Gong hated and feared Yang Shanhui, the magistrate of Qinghe County, and wished that Yang Shanhui would die. He could understand that.

But the people of Wucheng were all officials of the Sui Dynasty. During the siege and rescue of Qinghe County, Wucheng contributed money and manpower.

"That Zihou...?"

Zhou Hao finally chose not to argue with Fu Zihou. It was getting late, and he wondered whether Qinghe County could hold out until tomorrow. If Fu Zihou didn't leave, it might be too late.

Since Zhou Hao is willing to hand the people over to the young man for an attempt, then how to deploy the troops will be decided by the young man.

"I'll take this route!"

When Fu Zihou heard Zhou Hao's question, he immediately put his hand on the third road between Xin County and Qinghe.

"Yongji Canal!"

Zhou Hao was shocked when he saw the place Fu Zihou pointed at. Waterway!

Zhou Hao soon realized that the Yongji Canal had already frozen at this time!
An hour later.

On the top of the city wall of Xin County, Zhou Hao looked at the dark night scene in the south, feeling a little melancholy.

"Sir, the troops have been gathered!"

The trusted clerk came up behind Zhou Hao and reported.

Zhou Hao nodded when he heard this.

"Let them follow the plan and set out in two groups overnight!"

Zhou Hao said softly.

Zhou Hao didn't know whether Fu Zihou could succeed, but he had tried his best. Fortunately, as the chief clerk of Xin County, he was responsible for recruiting soldiers, and County Magistrate Wang had gone to Li's house to discuss with the Cui family members, and gave all power to him before leaving.

Otherwise, I'm afraid it may not be too late.

"May you return victorious!"

Zhou Hao stood on the top of the city wall of Xin County, looking at the dark south, and spoke softly, his eyes full of prayer.

(End of this chapter)