Destroy Jin and conquer Song, and carry the Northern Expedition through to the end

Chapter 593 Unaware of the Taste of Rotten Rats

Although the position of Yashi was only a minor official at the county level, and a clerk below the rank of official, it was a position with low rank but great power, responsible for handling all the documents in the county.

In other words, all the original archives of Licheng County had to be reviewed by Deng Yu.

Moreover, since the clerk was an official who dealt directly with the local people, he had to be tough enough, have a good reputation, and be respected by both the legitimate and criminal worlds.

Otherwise, if subordinates sabotage the process, taxes won't be collected in full, bandits won't be caught, and the entire county will be paralyzed.

Therefore, outsiders simply couldn't handle the position of ya si (a type of clerk), and it was mostly filled by the sons of local powerful families.

Just like Song Jiang, the clerk in "Water Margin", Deng Yu, the clerk, also came from the Deng family of Licheng and was a well-known figure in the local area.

Of course, Shandong was in such a chaotic situation, and Licheng was an important town on the Ji River. The Ji River runs through the east and west of Shandong and is a vital passage between Shandong and Hebei. Without some military force, it would be impossible to control the situation. Therefore, Deng Yu had nearly a thousand households under his control. If you include the underworld figures who do business on the Ji River, it wouldn't be a problem for Deng Yu to command three or four thousand able-bodied men.

Since Huyan Nanxian wanted to take Licheng without bloodshed, Deng Yu couldn't possibly refuse to win him over.

However, this deal was not initially made by Hu Yananxian, but by Deng Yu, who contacted the Loyal Army.

This was not uncommon, because the Jin dynasty treated the Han people of Shandong equally in its exploitation of them. Whether they were landlords, powerful families, or ordinary people, none of them could escape being replaced by the Meng'an and Mouke households. Therefore, some large landlords also rebelled against the Jin.

Some people, like Wang Youzhi, raised the flag of rebellion on their own, while others, who were less daring, would contact various powerful forces for support.

To say that all powerful families are evil is certainly biased. Each case should be analyzed individually. The most typical example is Wang Shilong's family. Although they came from a powerful family, they still honestly act as loyal ministers and generals. Their family also carefully follows the rules of the Loyal Army in their business and farming, and they are extremely safe.

"To be honest, General Huyan, the situation these past few days has indeed been tense." Deng Yu kept talking throughout the journey, recounting the recent situation as he rode alongside Huyan Nanxian: "Hebei is in complete chaos, with fighting everywhere. Coupled with a year of neglected farming, there are refugees and bandits everywhere. Many refugees have arrived in Jinan Prefecture, only to suffer countless deaths and injuries because the government cannot provide relief. Seeing the weather growing colder day by day, we couldn't bear it and tried to resettle the people according to Liu Dalangjun's method, but it's still yielding little result..."

Hu Yanan nodded slowly. At this moment, he could already see the shacks under the city wall of Jinan Prefecture.

Most of the officials in Jinan Prefecture were inactive, and the few officials and powerful figures who wanted to do something were powerless to stop the massive influx of refugees.

Many things cannot be done simply by wanting to. For example, providing disaster relief requires knowledge of how to resettle disaster victims, where to resettle them, and how to maximize the use of grain and fodder. These are all matters that require the cooperation of the entire bureaucracy.

Nowadays, the officials and powerful families in Jinan Prefecture are simply incapable of doing this. They don't even have a complete management system, nor do they know how to deal with so many refugees. They can only follow the old method, allocating a piece of land outside the city for them and providing them with porridge regularly to keep them from starving.

If things had unfolded as they always have, these refugees would either have mostly died and dispersed in the spring, or they would have been taken in as farmers, tenants, and servants by various powerful figures, or they would have risen up in rebellion under the leadership of a strongman and become a peasant army.

After all, this was a feudal era, a time of chaos. How many ways could farmers who suffered disasters possibly survive?
Huyan Nanxian stared blankly at the shacks for a moment before laughing out loud on his horse: "Deng Yashi, do you know that I have had ambitions?"

Deng Yu was pointing at Licheng and saying that a certain city gate was guarded by his own brothers, and that it was absolutely foolproof, when he heard Hu Yananxian's seemingly random remark and was immediately stunned.

However, Deng Yu soon realized the meaning behind Hu Yananxian's words and immediately shut up, no longer daring to respond.

Is it a good thing to say that a military leader has ambitions? Can you just casually accept that kind of statement?

Seeing Deng Yu's appearance, Hu Yan Nanxian's smile became even brighter: "But I still submitted to Liu Dalang in the end, willingly becoming his lackey. Do you know why?"

Deng Yu looked around and saw that everyone else was quite far away, so no one was sure to come to his rescue. He could only bite the bullet and answer, "Because Flying Tiger Gentleman is a great hero who personally captured the Emperor of Jin?"

Hu Yanan shook his head.

Seeing this, Deng Yu was speechless, but still continued to guess: "Is it because Flying Tiger Gentleman has shown the General a great favor?"

"Or is it Flying Tiger Gentleman who can accept Wu Chengjun?"

"Or perhaps he can treat everyone equally?"

After offering a few guesses, Deng Yu saw that Hu Yananxian was just shaking his head repeatedly, and he was completely helpless: "General Hu Yanan, please stop keeping me in suspense, I really can't guess."

Hu Yananxian sighed before saying, "I shook my head not to be perfunctory, but because I genuinely didn't know why I was so sincerely impressed by Liu Dalang. Was it respect for heroes? Gratitude for being taken in? Perhaps it was a combination of both. But only after seeing this scene did I truly understand why I had given up all my ambitions."

Deng Yu's breathing became somewhat rapid for some reason, but then he saw Hu Yan Nanxian pointing to the huge refugee camp, revealing the answer: "This messed-up world, I can't change it, and neither can you. We ordinary people can only be dogs in times of peace or bandits in times of chaos."

As she spoke, Hu Yananxian turned to look at Deng Yu, her eyes gleaming: "But this world shouldn't be like this. It shouldn't be ravaged by war, nor should it be plagued by famine. It shouldn't be a situation where those above are greedy and tyrannical, while the people below suffer. And it certainly shouldn't be a situation where good people are forced into becoming thieves."

"Although I knew before that the world was not right, I was born in a chaotic era and did not understand what a peaceful world was like." "It was not until I betrayed the Jin Dynasty and followed the Duke of Wei that I realized that the old could be cared for and the young could be supported; that collecting taxes did not have to drive people to ruin; that as long as the superiors were fair, even if the harvest was small, everyone could still be fed; that when the army was mobilized, the people behind it did not have to be tortured to death; that everyone could have a way to survive and that wealth and honor could be obtained openly and honestly."

"The Jin invaders will only bring ruin to the world. Even if they win, they will only turn the world into a cesspool. What's the point of becoming a king and tyrant in a cesspool?"

"Commander Deng, don't collude with the Jurchen invaders. Why don't you join us and work together to bring peace to the world?"

After speaking, Hu Yanan remained calm, while Deng Yu was already drenched in sweat.

After a long silence, Deng Yu forced a smile and said, "General Huyan's words make it sound as if I am not sincerely willing to serve you."

As he spoke, Deng Yu scratched his hair and subtly gestured to his confidants behind him.

The confidant, who was more than ten steps behind, watched this scene from afar, immediately put a whistle in his mouth, and blew it with all his might.

"squeak!"

Among the powerful figures, many blew their whistles or shouted, "Kill the traitors!"

Along with this signal, a commotion suddenly broke out in the refugee camp, and countless infantrymen swarmed out and rushed towards Huyan Nanxian.

Five or six hundred paces away, a large golden banner fluttered on the city gate, which was wide open, as if cavalrymen were about to charge out from it.

Hu Yananxian shook his head and sighed. Although he could not hide his disappointment, he did not show any panic.

Firstly, they were in enemy territory, and their knights were already fully armored and on guard. They had never truly trusted these powerful figures.

Secondly, Huyan Nanxian never even entered the ambush area.

At this point, it becomes clear that Deng Yu intends to lure Huyan Nanxian to the area between the city gate and the refugee camp, then use the complex terrain in front of the city gate to suppress the mobility of the armored cavalry, and finally attack from both sides to kill Huyan Nanxian on the spot.

However, after Huyan Nanxian inexplicably uttered this long string of words, Deng Yu, who was already somewhat flustered due to the hasty response, completely lost his composure. Ignoring the fact that Huyan Nanxian was hundreds of steps away from both the city gate and the refugee camp, he launched an attack directly.

"Kill the traitors!" Ji Cheng, who was already carrying a long sword, swung it around in a wide arc when he saw the situation, knocking away several powerful private soldiers in front of him. Then he retreated with his own banner.

Once they had retreated to a gentle slope, Ji Cheng led several guards to a stand, raised a flag, and sounded the bugle to assemble the troops.

These powerful families actually had some armor at home. After all, during the great chaos in Shandong last year, many Meng'an and Mouke households were wiped out. The weapons and horses of these Jin military households had basically fallen into the hands of local powerful families. However, today the matter arose in haste, and they dared not wear armor to greet him, otherwise Huyan Nanxian would immediately become suspicious.

Even those few who wore lining chainmail were no match for the proper armored cavalry and were quickly scattered and killed.

The Wu Cheng army knights were about to continue fighting when they heard the horn signaling the troop to gather. They dared not delay and quickly created distance, retreating.

Neither Huyan Nanxian nor Deng Yu acted immediately. They simply stared at each other for a long time until the city gates were fully opened and the drawbridge was lowered. Only then did Huyan Nanxian sigh and say, "So, you're still on the side of the Jin invaders. You killed so many Meng'an and Mouke households last year. Do you really think the Jin invaders will let you go?"

Deng Yu put on an iron turban, pulled out two extended iron rulers from his horse, and then said to Huyan Nanxian, "The new emperor of the Jin Kingdom has promised that past transgressions will be forgiven!"

Upon hearing this, Hu Yananxian completely lost interest in speaking, regarding the man as an utterly foolish idiot.

He drew his hand blade, squeezed the horse's belly with both legs, and the warhorse neighed and leaped forward two zhang (approximately 6.6 meters). Then he raised his hand blade high.

Deng Yu was terrified and raised his fork-like iron ruler to meet the attack, attempting to disarm Hu Yananxian using methods similar to those used by constables to apprehend thieves in a folk brawl.

But the next moment he realized just how vast the difference was between bandits and generals in command of troops.

With a loud bang, Deng Yu felt a numbness in his hands, and the two iron rulers slipped from his grasp and fell to the ground.

Hu Yananxian's knife swerved and struck Deng Yu's iron turban horizontally. While Deng Yu was still dazed and confused, Hu Yananxian reached out with his left hand, grabbed Deng Yu's belt, and captured him directly onto the horse.

"go!"

Looking at Licheng, which was so close at hand, Hu Yananxian felt a little resentful, but still turned around and left.

(End of this chapter)