Chapter 29: Conquering Yanshan Prefecture (8)

  Cai Jing kept his promise and handed over the military power of Yanshan Prefecture to Zhao Tan, without any obstruction. The Song Dynasty's military system was quite complicated, if you only had an official position but no leadership rights, you could only watch with your eyes closed and couldn't intervene. This method indeed strengthened centralization, making it impossible for local officials to interfere with the officials dispatched by the central government, but also laid a hidden danger of failure for future wars.

  At this time, the drill ground was crowded with people, and 600,000 imperial guards stood in formation. Zhao Jing led Cai Jing and others onto the high platform of the drill ground, but at a glance, he was very disappointed. Except for the 200,000 elite soldiers standing in the front row, who were neat and majestic, the rest of the imperial guards had problems with their posture, either whispering to each other, scratching their ears and cheeks, or yawning repeatedly.

  Cai Jing also saw Zhao Yan's dissatisfaction, and his heart was extremely embarrassed. He stepped forward and whispered: "Your Highness doesn't know that the imperial guards stationed in this place are mostly converted from the palace guard, and some are even local militia, their combat effectiveness is relatively poor, of course, I also have the responsibility for being remiss in training, please forgive me."

  Although Zhao Kan was annoyed, he also knew that Cai Jing was telling the truth. Just as he was about to respond, someone stepped forward and said: "Brother Zhao Kan, I am Zhao He, the son of King Qi. Don't you remember me?"

  Zhao Kan looked at Zhao He and seemed to feel a bit of déjà vu, nodding his head.

  Zhao He saw Zhao Yi recognizing himself very self-satisfied, and then sorrowfully said: "The other day I heard that my father is seriously ill, I want to hurry back home to take care of my father, please ask the emperor for permission." After finishing, he knelt on one knee, his eyes already moist.

  Just as Zhao Yan was about to agree, he suddenly remembered that when he rescued Liang Fangxu yesterday, Liang Fangxu briefly reported the situation in Yanshan Prefecture, and among the few people mentioned, Zhao He was one of them. Zhao He had led troops to charge at the camp gate several times, causing hundreds of soldiers to be injured or killed. Moreover, Zhao Yan recalled that when Zhao He's gang was in Bianjing, they bullied men and women, did all sorts of evil deeds, and repeatedly bullied Zhao Yan himself. Perhaps it was because they heard that Zhao Yan had lost his memory after being injured that they dared to come up with such a shameless performance.

  Zhao Yan said faintly: "I don't know what disease King Qi is suffering from, and when he got sick."

  "That, I think it was a few days ago, but I'm not quite sure what the specific illness is." Zhao Hei hesitated for a moment before responding.

  "Yesterday I received news that King Qi has passed away, please restrain your grief." Zhao Yan said sorrowfully.

  "It's impossible, Father has always been in good health." Zhao He suddenly realized his slip of the tongue, and everyone looked at him with strange eyes.

  Zhao He was furious, stood up and patted the mud off his legs, looked at Zhao Yan with disdain and said: "I didn't expect you to have some progress, thinking back then you were so scared that your pants were wet."

  The Imperial Forest Army drew their swords and surrounded them with a menacing atmosphere, Zhao He's personal soldiers also picked up their weapons and confronted the Imperial Forest Army. Xue Zhao Ye calmly waved his hand to stop the Imperial Forest Army, the leading general Hou Yi gritted his teeth in anger, reluctantly retreated, if not for Xue Zhao Ye stopping him, he would have minced Zhao He into a pulp.

  "What's wrong, you still want to kill me? You're a useless coward, you were and still are. If you dare move me, you'll die too. Let me tell you, if you don't let us leave today..."

  "How dare you." Zhao Jin's icy tone cut off Zhao He, his gaze cold and unyielding, as if looking at a dead man. For a moment, Zhao He was intimidated by Zhao Jin's aura, his legs weakening with fear. But soon, anger welled up inside him, and he thought to himself: "I'm actually being scared into weakness by that former good-for-nothing? This is really humiliating. If I go back and those people find out, won't they laugh me to death?"

  Zhao He bellowed: "I have the golden pardon plaque given to me by my father, the king, from the emperor himself. Whoever dares to block my way will be executed along with their nine clans! Brother Emperor, are you going to rebel?" Zhao He took out a plaque carved with a golden dragon and sneered at Zhao Chan. As soon as the plaque appeared, it was as if the emperor had arrived in person. All the generals and soldiers knelt on one knee: "Long live Your Majesty, long live, long live forever!"

  Zhao He proudly led a group of officials and many guards, preparing to leave the city gate of Yanshan Prefecture in a grand manner. In fact, Zhao He could have taken out the golden token earlier, but he felt it was unnecessary, wanting to rely on his own strength to stand out in Yanshan Prefecture and have something to brag about when he returned. At this time, he had fallen behind and had no choice but to take out the golden token.

  Zhao He suddenly discovered that Zhao Yan did not kneel, still coldly looking at him. Cai Jing looked at Zhao Yan with concern and whispered: "Your Highness must not offend the imperial power, offending the imperial power is like rebelling." In his heart, Cai Jing knew that if he wanted to have a good career in the future, following Zhao Yan was the only way out. Otherwise, he would be accused of losing the title of Yanshan Prefecture and would either die or be exiled. Naturally, he hoped Zhao Yan would live as long as possible.

  Zhao Yi ignored Cai Jing, walked down the school field, and slowly approached Zhao He. Zhao He's personal soldiers tried to block him but were quickly seized and disarmed by the Imperial Guards who had been standing nearby. Zhao He's voice trembled slightly: "Y-you... what do you want to do? I am... the son of the king."

  Zhuo Kan drew his sword and shouted loudly: "This sword was bestowed upon me by the Emperor, it can behead any treacherous or corrupt person. The Emperor has ordered me to command all troops in Yanshan Prefecture, you dare to lead a rebellion, death is not enough to atone for your crime."

  Zhao He realized something was wrong, Zhao Jian didn't fall for it, and turned to escape, not even bothering with the gold medal in his hand. Zhao Jian's body had been modified by the Yin Yang Creation Pill, allowing him to move extremely fast, quickly rushing over and cutting off Zhao He's head from behind. The head rolled away, spewing fresh blood, a pungent smell of blood filling the air. Zhao Jian looked at the officials' sons who were pale with fear and said coldly: "Bring these people's heads to offer to our flag."

  The imperial guards rushed forward and roughly dragged away the officials' sons, their pleas for mercy and angry curses filling the air, but soon fell silent.

  Those who followed Zhao He's personal soldiers were also heartbroken, and Zhao Yin was like a devil in their eyes. Zhao Yin walked over and said lightly: "I'll give you a way out, swear to defend the city to the death in the upcoming siege, or you'll die."

  The guards nodded in agreement, although the city's defenders were less than one-tenth of their original number, having hope was better than being beheaded directly.

  Zhao Yan stepped forward again and loudly declared: "If there is any further disturbance of the military heart, disobedience to military orders, beheading without pardon. You all follow me together to defend the city."

  "Defend the city! Defend the city! Defend the city..." The Imperial Guards all shouted in unison.

  Zhao Kui removed 20,000 people from the 60,000-strong Forbidden Army, dispersing and reassigning them to tasks such as transportation and rescue of the wounded. He selected the strongest among them to join the Changsheng Army. Zhao Kui knew that this would put him at a numerical disadvantage compared to the Jin army, but he believed that having fewer but more elite soldiers was better than having many undisciplined ones, which would be disastrous in battle.

  Cai Jing accompanied Zhao Yan to inspect the arsenal, although the Song Dynasty army generally couldn't win battles, but the military equipment was complete, and the court was rich and generous. The geographical location of Yanshan Prefecture was very important, defending against foreign invasions from the west, so materials were abundant. Zhao Yan couldn't help but feel emotional, with such resources, as long as the general guarding the city had some ability, he believed that defending Yanshan Prefecture would not be difficult. Unfortunately, there was a Guo Yao Shi in history, which made Yanshan Prefecture fall without a fight.

  Killing Guo Yishi himself does not know whether it will change the history behind.

  "Your Highness?" Zhao Jiong seemed lost in thought, and Cai Jing stopped explaining to ask.

  Zhao Yan regained his composure and said, "Please continue, Your Honor."

  When the two men arrived at a dusty warehouse with several guards, Guo Jing only casually mentioned that there were Heaven-shaking Thunder Cannons inside before introducing the next warehouse. Zhao Zhen was shocked - the Heaven-shaking Thunder Cannon was a well-known weapon developed in the late Northern Song Dynasty, which used gunpowder and had an iron shell wrapped around it, with a fuse on top. When used, the length of the fuse would be adjusted according to the distance of the target. After detonation, the iron shell would shatter into pieces and pierce through armor. It was really a pity that such a practical weapon was left to gather dust here.

  Zhao Kui said: "Cai Zhi Fu, I heard that this fire device is very practical for defending the city, why did you abandon it in a high attic?"

  "Your Highness is unaware, this Thunderbolt Cannon, although practical, has a short range and often malfunctions with explosions, failing to harm the enemy but instead harming ourselves. Moreover, its actual combat effectiveness is mere hearsay, so soldiers dare not use it, hence it was abandoned."

  Zhao Kang picked up a Heaven-Shaking Thunderbolt and examined it repeatedly. Suddenly, he thought that many of these thunderbolts were made in the south, while Yan Mountain Prefecture was in the north. Due to differences in climate and air quality, it was possible that the thunderbolts would explode prematurely. Under Cai Jing's astonished gaze, Zhao Kang disassembled a thunderbolt into its components. He then picked up several more and took them apart, and as expected, the fuses inside were already damaged. Once lit, they would inevitably cause the thunderbolts to explode before they could be thrown. "Bring these thunderbolts to the drill ground," he ordered.

  Cai Jing stepped forward and said: "If Your Highness is interested in the Thunderbolt, there are dozens of Thunderclap cars in the warehouse next door."

  Zhao Mo has no words. With such a good weapon, he actually went to use bows and arrows to shoot at foreigners. Isn't this like going out for a trip and abandoning airplanes to ride bicycles?

  When Zhao Jie arrived at the drill ground, the Thunderbolt had been piled up like a small mountain. Zhao Jie picked one up, and all the Imperial Army soldiers took a step back. It turned out that when the Thunderbolt was first equipped to the army, many Imperial Army soldiers were killed by it, leaving a great shadow in their hearts.

  Zhao Kang disassembled the Thunderbolt, replaced the fuse, and reassembled it. He ordered someone to light a torch, ignite the fuse, and then threw the Thunderbolt at the target range where they were practicing spear thrusts. With a loud "boom", several straw men were blown to pieces.

  Many warriors showed a look of surprise, Zhao Jie's Thunderbolt did not blow himself up, could it be that Zhao Jie was blessed by the gods? Zhao Jie picked up the Thunderbolt and said: "In fact, it's not that the Thunderbolt has a problem, but the fuse inside can't withstand the changes in the weather, they all scattered randomly, causing the Thunderbolt to explode at one point. Now I order that all Thunderbolts be transported to the top of the city wall, preparing to defend against the Jin army's attack."

  "Hou Yi stepped forward and said: 'Your Highness, the scouts have reported that the vanguard of the Jin army is only three hours' journey away from Yan Mountain Prefecture.'"

  "We are about to face a battle of life and death, I cannot guarantee that each of you will survive after the war, but I promise that our sacrifices today will be recorded in history forever. As long as one of us is still breathing, we will pass on our spirit forever. We will change the era, let's fight, eliminate the enemy, protect my home."