The Ming Dynasty: Starting with the border troops, it was overthrown and the Qing Dynasty was destro

Chapter 10 The Liu Family in the North of the City
Wu Zimian's body lay scattered, his head rolled to the side, and blood soaked the yellow earth, a horrifying sight.

The soldiers watching this scene were initially silent, but then erupted into a deafening cheer that soared into the sky.

Jiang Han stood before Wu Zimian's body, scanned the crowd, and said loudly:
"Brothers, Wu Zimian just confessed—he sold all our warhorses to the Liu family in Pingshan County!"

"I know that many of those warhorses are old comrades who have gone through thick and thin with everyone, and we've grown attached to them!"

"Those are our dearest relatives and friends, our brothers and sisters!"

He paused, his eyes gleaming:

"Moreover—a horse these days costs at least fifteen taels of silver, yet Wu Zimian sold it to the Liu family without permission!"

"Brothers! Are you willing to join me in a raid on the Liu family and bring our warhorses back?!"

The soldiers raised their weapons and shouted in unison, "We swear to follow Lord Jiang to the death!"

Seeing that the army's morale was high, Jiang Han nodded and waved his hand, "Break camp and head straight for Liu Family Village in the north of the city!"

Upon receiving the order, the men quickly gathered their armor and weapons and prepared their gear.

Jiang Han led Dong Erzhu and Hei Zi to the central command tent, where Wu Zimian had hidden all his money, which could not be stolen by the soldiers.

He had promised a considerable reward; if he couldn't pay it, wouldn't he be breaking his promise?

Seeing that Jiang Han was a little anxious, Hei Zi chimed in, trying to take credit:

"Don't worry, Commander Qi, I've already arranged for people to guard the main tent. Not even a fly can get in!"

Upon hearing this, a hint of admiration flashed in Jiang Han's eyes: "Good lad, you're sensible!"

As they spoke, the three entered the main tent, where they saw more than a dozen boxes of gold and silver neatly stacked in the center.

Jiang Han stepped forward, casually lifted a box, and found it filled to the brim with gleaming gold and silver jewelry, so dazzling that he could barely open his eyes.

Jiang Han was dumbfounded. In both his lives combined, he had never seen so much gold and silver treasure. He couldn't even imagine having more than a dozen boxes of it.

"Waaah...waaah."

Just as Jiang Han was inspecting the boxes of gold and silver, a faint whimper suddenly came from the corner, like a muffled groan from someone whose mouth was gagged.

Jiang Han looked in the direction of the sound and saw a person tied up in a corner, being thrown on the ground like a sack of potatoes.

Jiang Han looked closely and realized it was Wang Jun, the head of the brigade.
Oh no, how could I have forgotten about him?

Poor Commander Wang was tied up for almost a day and a night; after the mutiny, he got nothing.

Jiang Han waved his hand and instructed Dong Erzhu and Hei Zi to untie Wang Jun and help him up.

Wang Jun took deep breaths of fresh air, stretched his aching limbs, and gave a wry smile:
"Jiang Han, I can't thank you enough! If it weren't for you, I would probably be labeled as the mastermind behind the mutiny!"

"My death is a small matter. If my brothers are really slaughtered by that scoundrel Wu Zimian, I will be guilty of a thousand deaths!"

Jiang Han shook his head, his tone calm:

"Thanks to the warning from heaven, otherwise how could I, a mere flag bearer, command so many brothers?"

His gaze shifted slightly, but he refused to admit that he was the mastermind behind the mutiny, insisting that it was a warning from heaven and that he was simply acting in accordance with the will of heaven.

"A warning from heaven? What's going on?" Wang Jun asked, puzzled.

He had been tied up for a day and knew nothing about what was happening outside. He originally thought that Jiang Han was the mastermind behind the mutiny.

Seeing this, Jiang Han had no choice but to give a brief explanation of what had happened that day.

Upon hearing this, Wang Jun was filled with lingering fear and breathed a long sigh of relief: "Luckily, Heaven gave us a warning..."

He was silent for a moment, then looked up at Jiang Han and asked:
"What should we do next? Where should we go?" He was very confused. The governor of the army sent to Yansui to support the emperor had been angered to death by the general, and now the general had died in a mutiny. With both of the main officers dead, how could they possibly go to support the emperor?
Jiang Han shrugged and spread his hands:
"What else can we do? Go back to Shaanxi."

"The deputy commander-in-chief did not come, and several lieutenant generals and captains also died in the chaos. Now our Yansui garrison is leaderless and can only return to Shaanxi."

Jiang Han continued thoughtfully:

"However, I heard from Wu Zimian's personal guards that a commander surnamed Li saw that things were not going well and ran away in advance."

Jiang Han immediately summoned Wu Zimian's personal guards and inquired in detail about the situation of the escaped Commander Li.

The guard, looking apprehensive, answered nervously:

"The escaped commander is named Li Xuan. He is the commander of Suide Guard and has a very good relationship with Lord Wu."

"But after the mutiny, Commander Li took advantage of the chaos to kill the guards, steal Lord Wu's mount, and then led his soldiers straight to the north of the city."

"North of the city? Is that where the Liu family lives?"

Jiang Han immediately sensed something was wrong and became alert.
"Damn it, why did Li Xuan run towards the north of the city? Could it be that he also wants to take advantage of the situation?"

With this in mind, he immediately stepped out of the main tent and gave an order to Dong Erzhu beside him:
"Zhu Zi, take a few men and load the silver onto the cart. Make sure you keep a close eye on it."

"That's our lifeline! If we lose it, we're all doomed!"

Dong Erzhu nodded in response and left to carry out the order; Jiang Han turned to Hei Zi, who was standing to the side, and instructed him:
"Hei Zi, go beat the drum and get everyone together! Hurry up! Otherwise, we won't even get a sip of soup!"

Jiang Han then found a cavalryman from the central army who had scouted the terrain of Pingshan County. After questioning him and confirming that the man knew the way, he left him at the front of the column to lead the way.

The army marched in a mighty procession, heading straight for Liujiazhuang under the cover of night.

Meanwhile, Liu Family Village was engulfed in flames. Li Xuan and his soldiers had already breached the village and were looting it extensively.

The riotous soldiers were like wolves and tigers, killing anyone they saw and robbing anyone they found. Cries and screams rose and fell, and the air was filled with the smell of blood and gunpowder.

Just as Li Xuan and his men were getting into the swing of things, a sentry suddenly reported:
"My lord, something terrible has happened! A large army is chasing us!"

Upon hearing this, Li Xuan frowned, somewhat surprised.

"What's going on? Where did this large army come from?"

He quickly climbed the gate tower and looked into the distance. He saw a fiery dragon stretching across the night sky, menacingly charging towards Liu Family Village.

Li Xuan never imagined that the army chasing after him would be the Yansui garrison that had recently staged a mutiny.

He had carefully considered the situation before seizing Liujiazhuang, and the mutiny in Yansui Town would only have two possible outcomes.

The first scenario is a successful coup, with Wu Zimian already dead, completely changing the situation.

The second possibility is that Wu Zimian suppressed the mutiny, but this possibility is extremely slim.

However, regardless of the circumstances, the newly mutinous army will need some time to clean up the mess.

He could then take advantage of the chaos to loot Liu Family Village and then pin all the blame on the mutinous troops.

But what Li Xuan never expected was that these soldiers were so poor that they were pretending to be worried about warhorses, but their real concern was for money!
After all, a warhorse is worth at least fifteen taels of silver, which is a year and a half's salary for soldiers in the Northwest Frontier Army.

Under Jiang Han's leadership, the newly mutinous army quickly assembled and marched swiftly towards Liu Family Village.

Li Xuan waved his hand to summon his personal guards and gave them instructions:

"Go, beat the drums! Tell the brothers to stop fighting and assemble immediately!"

"Send a few more men over there to see which army is coming."

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(End of this chapter)