Chapter 405 Hu Yanzhuo sent troops to Qingzhou
It was already mid-October when Zhao Zhen straightened out Liangshan Prefecture.
During this period, although there were some twists and turns in the handover work, it was completed smoothly.
Take Yuncheng County where Zhao Zhen went as an example. After receiving the order, the county magistrate prepared various documents and household registration and tax accounts in advance for the handover.
The handover was naturally carried out by Zhu Wu and Liu Huiniang with their scribes. Under the recommendation of Lei Heng, Zhao Zhen took Hu Sanniang and met many people in Yuncheng County.
Zhao Neng and Zhao De, the two captains who had gained office by currying favor with the county magistrate, had Zhao Zhen removed from their posts, and others with bad records were also dismissed.
Many people in the county came to fawn over Lei Heng when they saw that he was gaining power. These days, Lei Heng was feeling very proud.
Fortunately, after experiencing the ups and downs of human relationships, I dare not excuse others on major issues of right and wrong.
As for Yuncheng County, Zhao Zhen discussed with Wu Yong and others. After all, this place is the hometown of Song Jiang, and I am afraid that the imperial court also wants to divert trouble to the east.
After all, according to what Lei Heng said, the county magistrate tore up the Song Jiang family's ancestral graves in order to please Cai Jing, and the Song family ancestral hall also removed the memorial tablets of Song Jiang's ancestors under the magistrate's strict order.
Wu Yong was quite critical of this, as the imperial court had never had any precedent of looting the ancestral tombs of thieves. Although officials had previously suggested digging graves and dumping the bodies, this was never implemented.
Because of this incident, Wu Yong told an incident from Renzong's time: Someone slandered Shi Jie that he had rebel intentions. Xia Song reported to Song Renzong and proposed to dig up Shi Jie's grave to verify whether it was true. death.
Song Renzong finally gave up the idea of digging the grave and breaking the coffin. Later, when the imperial court dealt with anti-bandit cases, it never took such extreme measures as digging up ancestral graves.
I’m afraid Song Jiang has already found out about this.
Zhao Zhen was helpless, so he took Lei Heng and the female cavalry led by Hu Sanniang to Songjia Village, Shuibao Township.
The Song Jiang family's land and house had no officials for a long time. Before coming, Zhu Tong once said to Zhao Zhen: "Master, there is a Buddhist temple built in the Songjiazhuang, and there is a cellar below. If you have time, the officials can go and see it." Look. Song Taigong and Song Qing left in a hurry that day. If there is anything valuable that cannot be taken away, they are probably hidden here."
Everyone in Songjia Village has the surname Song. Close relatives and friends. When he heard that the new magistrate was coming, Li Zheng and Song Ping hurriedly brought people out to receive him.
Zhao Zhen saw that all the villagers in Songping were panic-stricken and said: "My husband, don't worry. Song Jiang is a thief and he won't do what you are waiting for. I am here today not to arrest theft."
Lei Heng said from the side: "Song Laozhang, this husband is no one else, but the famous official from Xiaomengchang, Zhao Zhen and Zhao in Shandong and Hebei. You must have heard of the reputation of the official. The official is not the one in front. He regards the common people as careless, cunning and vicious. Now both Zhu Tong and I are working under the command of high officials."
After hearing this, the villagers started talking in low voices. Song Ping listened and said: "Lei. Dutou, when Song Jiang has not rebelled, it is best to be with you and Zhu Dutou. He is no different to the people in the Song family village and the people in the county. He will try his best to help anyone who is in trouble. Now that he is gone, the county government. People come here every once in a while to cause trouble. Every household in the village is missing three or two chickens and ducks. Please make the decision for us.”
"Don't worry, old man, the subordinate officials in the county are now being punished. In the future, no one will regard the Song family villagers as thieves. Of course, once it is found that the thieves are involved, they will not be lenient."
"I'm here. "I heard that Song Jiang's ancestral grave was dug up. This has never happened before. I wonder what his ancestral grave looks like now." Zhao Zhen asked.
Song Ping said: "My lord, the ancestral grave of the Song Jiang family has indeed been dug up, and the bones are scattered in the cemetery. The villagers are afraid of being implicated, so no one dares to restrain them. Now I am afraid that many of the bones have been picked up by wild dogs. "
Lei Heng said: "The official came here for this reason. Although Song Jiang committed a heinous crime, it is enough to remove this person from the family tree first. The human bones are allowed to be collected and put into the ground. Let's send two people to collect them today."
After hearing this, Song Ping did not dare to agree. He looked at Zhao Zhen and said: "Ms., this..."
Zhao Zhen nodded and said: "What Lei Dutou said is true, just send someone to do it."
Zhao Zhen continued: "When I come to Songjia Village today, I will also search the Song Taigong's residence again. I will wait with you. "Nothing to do, just make a living."
After that, Zhao Zhen went to Songjiazhuang under the guidance of Lei Heng.
I saw that the door of Songjiazhuang was closed and sealed. Lei Heng stepped forward and removed the seal, took out the key, and opened the door.
Everyone pushed the door open and saw that the courtyard was overgrown with weeds, but the houses were still neat. Zhao Zhen said: "After a search, the house here still needs to be used. It would be best if it can be purchased. If not, from now on, this place will be used as a garrison for rural soldiers. It will be like a moth-eaten and rat-eaten ruin."
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Lei Heng nodded and took note.
The female riders also dismounted and walked in, in groups of three and five, rummaging around Songjiazhuang.
After searching through it, except for some clumsy household items, other light household items had long been out of office, and the small and valuable things were also taken away by the searching subordinates.
Lei Heng led Zhao Zhen to the Buddhist hall. Sure enough, as Zhu Dian said, the third generation Buddha was enshrined in the Buddhist hall. Zhao Zhenrang moved the bed and knocked on the floor. Sure enough, there was a piece of floor that was alive. Lei Heng stepped forward and moved it away, and saw a rope head under the board. Pulling the head of the rope only, a hole appeared.
Lei Heng saw it and said, "Master, let me go down and take a look."
As he said that, Lei Heng looked around, took a few pieces of paper money from the altar table, rolled them into a ball, and lit them. Throw it down. Seeing that the paper money was burning smoothly, he made another torch and pulled the rope down.
Hearing an exclamation, Zhao Zhen quickly shouted: "Brother Lei Heng, are you in danger?"
Lei Heng said: "Official, there is indeed something down there."
Sister-in-law Gu on the side said: "Sir, I'll go down and have a look too." After saying that, he put down the two knives in his hands and went down the rope to the cellar with the torch.
As soon as she got down, Mrs. Gu also screamed. Then Sister-in-law Gu climbed up and said to Zhao Zhen: "Master, there are a lot of gold and silver down there."
Lei Heng also climbed up and said to Zhao Zhen: "Master, there are seven or eight wooden boxes down there. They are all copper coins. There are also seven silver winter melons and one golden winter melon. "
Zhao Zhen said: "It seems that Song Taigong did not take away the family property."
< br>After saying that, he asked people to borrow ropes from the village and put them into the basket. Lei Heng went down and put the money into the basket one by one, and Sister Gu lifted it up.
The heaviest thing turned out to be the stone mill that was pulled up at the end. The two millstones each weighed no less than 500 kilograms. In the cellar, Lei Heng tied a hemp rope, and Zhao Zhen, Mrs. Gu and Hu Sanniang pulled it together. Then it was pulled up.
Zhao Zhen had seen the two stone mills, but they were made of ordinary bluestone. However, there must be something extraordinary about allowing Song Taigong to be placed in the cellar.
Although he didn't understand it clearly, Zhao Zhen still had people load it into a truck and transport it away, and then restored the temple to its original state.
During this period, Song Jiang in Qingzhou also took advantage of the autumn harvest to plunder and loot, and most of Yanzhou fell.
In Bianjing City, Hu Yanzhuo recommended Han Tao, the training envoy of the Chenzhou regiment [Yumu General], as the main vanguard, and Peng Qi, the training envoy of the Yingzhou regiment, [Tianmu General], as the deputy vanguard.
Han Tao was born in martial arts and made a jujube tree. Peng Qi, the son of a general, made a three-pointed two-edged sword. Both of them are from Tokyo and have outstanding martial arts skills.
The three of them reported to Gao Qiu and went to the state to select 3,000 elite horse troops and 5,000 infantry troops. These three horse and infantry troops were all well-trained men, with strong men and strong horses.
Gao Qiu also opened the armor storehouse of the capital, and ordered Hu Yanzhuo and the others to select 3,000 pairs of iron armor, 5,000 pairs of cooked leather vests, 3,000 bronze and iron helmets, 2,000 spears, and 1,000 gun knives. Countless bows and arrows, and more than 500 cannons and iron cannons were loaded onto the vehicles. On the day of his departure, Lieutenant Gao allocated another three thousand war horses.
The armors, helmets, swords, flags, guns, pommels and horses brought by General Huyanzhuo were divided into three armies, and he also made a series of iron armors, weapons and other items.
Eight thousand horse infantry, all well-dressed and rewarded, with heads held high and morale high. I saw guns, knives, flowing water, and people and horses rushing around.
After Gao Qiu looked at it, he was secretly happy. After returning to the city, he couldn't help but praise Cai Jing's house.
After the reward for the army was completed, Hu Yanzhuo immediately urged the army to rise and arrange the troops and horses to leave the city. Han Tao of the front army opened the way, Hu Yanzhuo, the commander of the middle army, Peng Qi, the commander of the rear army, and eight thousand horse and infantry troops, etc., rushed to Qingzhou in a mighty manner.
(End of this chapter)