Chapter 73: Departure, Heading South (Seeking Follow-up Reading)
Day three.

The weather was not very good.

The snow, which had not fallen for a long time, began to fall from the gray sky again.

At this time, most of the people in Lianhua County were already in their houses before dawn, looking out the door.

"Here they come!" An ordinary citizen cheered softly.

Then, the sound of neat horse hooves and footsteps came from the county government office.

Soon, it was getting closer and closer.

The first one to ride out on horseback was Lu Yuan, who had a lazy look on his face.

Beside him was Li Qi, the counselor of the Tianxing Army, who kept smiling and bowing to the common people who popped their heads out of the houses.

Behind them followed more than a dozen sergeants and captains on horseback.

Next, more than two thousand soldiers, wearing cotton-padded clothes and thick straw sandals, lined up neatly and trotted out.

The city of Lianhua County was attacked, and even the county magistrate and the officials guarding the city fled. This move chilled the hearts of all the people in the city.

Therefore, many young men in the city volunteered and brought their own food to join this long-distance army.

The entire army expanded to nearly three thousand people.

Each of them had a cloth bag weighing nearly 20 kilograms tied to their body.

These cloth bags are filled with rice cakes and dried bacon made these days.

This time, they are heading south to Muzhou, marching thousands of miles. In order to avoid the government, they cannot take the official road, they must take the small roads, and even cross mountains and ridges.

Generally speaking, people would not make fires and cook during the march, leaving no traces.

Therefore, these rice cakes and bacon that can be eaten right away are easy to preserve and will not spoil, making them the most suitable food for marching.

Many soldiers had excited looks on their faces.

Some people standing in the house recognized their own family members among the pawns who ran out, and waved to them with tears in their eyes.

They didn't dare to step forward.

Although he was disappointed with the imperial court, if he went out to see him off openly and left any evidence, he might get into big trouble.

So everyone said goodbye to their relatives who passed by their houses from a distance.

When nearly three thousand soldiers marched out of the South Gate, Chen Yuanwai, who was already waiting at the gate, bowed deeply to Lu Yuan who was still moving forward, and then said loudly:
"My Chen family wishes Lord Lu a bright future and a triumphant return! Recover Youzhou!"

He had already settled all his relatives in different places, and even he himself would leave soon, so he was not afraid of leaving any evidence and worrying about the court looking for him.

Moreover, if the imperial court really wanted to find someone, they should first look for the county magistrate and other talents who abandoned the city and fled from Lianhua County.

So at this moment, he congratulated Lu Yuan loudly without any hesitation.

Lu Yuan just waved his hand without stopping for a moment. He rode his horse, led two thousand soldiers, out of the south gate, and headed towards the white sky where it was still snowing.

Youzhou, Zhiyuan government office.

A middle-aged man in an official robe sat in the lobby of the government office.

Next to him sat a military commander wearing fine iron armor, looking very mighty.

At this time, a messenger bowed and reported to the master:

"Your Excellency the prefect, your Excellency the county governor, according to the scouts, the Tianxing Rebellion Brigade in Lianhua County has left this morning." The middle-aged man in the official robe nodded and waved his hand to let the messenger go.

The brigade of the Tianxing Army led by Zhao Hu from Huizhou had been committing evil in Zhiyuan Prefecture for nearly half a year, causing disaster to several counties. As the prefect of Zhiyuan Prefecture, he naturally had a headache.

But he did not have military power, so even if he wanted to do something, he could not do it.

You can only keep an eye on the other party's movements.

Ever since the news of the internal strife among the rebel troops spread from Lianhua County some time ago, he has been extremely concerned.

He turned to look at the garrison commander stationed at Zhiyuan Prefecture and said:
"Sir Wei, it is said that after the civil strife, all the elite soldiers of the Tianxing Army were killed, and even Zhao Hu's head was cut off.

Now, his combat effectiveness must have been greatly reduced. Lord Wei might as well take advantage of this opportunity to dispatch troops to pursue him, and he will be able to be killed by surprise.

If we can kill the bandit leader, it will be a great achievement!"

The officer called Lord Wei remained unmoved and said calmly:

"Your Excellency the Prefect is wrong. Although this rebellious army has gone through civil strife, its combat effectiveness has not necessarily been reduced.

It was no small feat for the new bandit leader to kill Zhao Hu. It was also said that this man had the strength to move mountains.

With such a strong man in charge, the rebel army also recruited many residents in Lianhua County to serve as soldiers. At this moment, their morale is probably boosted.

If I send troops forward, I don’t know whether I can stop the enemy. Even if I can, I’m afraid it will consume a lot of manpower.

If this is the case, the garrison force of Zhiyuan Prefecture, which had already been diverted, would be weakened further. If there was any mistake, the sin would be much greater than the merit.

I wonder if the prefect, Mr. Prefect, would you be willing to share the blame with me?"

The prefect of Zhiyuan Prefecture was very unhappy when he saw that the people around him completely ignored his suggestions.

Zhiyuan Prefecture was ravaged by bandits. If anyone in the court reported him for such a crime, his future would be ruined.

He had proposed several times before that he should send troops to defeat Zhao Hu, but each time was rejected by the other party.

At this time, the other party refused again with the same reason, which made him even more unhappy.

But as a prefect, he had no right to issue any orders to Lord Wei who was stationed here.

So he could only vent his anger on the people of Lianhua County, saying bitterly:
"Those peasants in Lianhua County actually dared to aid the rebel army. I will never let them off easily for such a capital crime and will definitely report them to the police!"

Hearing this, Lord Wei looked disdainful and said:
"Capital crime? The county magistrate, county lieutenant, and the garrison commander of Lianhua County abandoned the city and fled from the battlefield. Which of these crimes would not be a capital crime of killing all nine generations of the clan?

The army that day was in chaos. During the time they were in Lianhua County, they probably received support from half of the people. If we were to take them to heart, would they want to massacre the whole city?
By then, will the people be more resentful of our Daqian and completely side with the rebel army?"

The prefect of Zhiyuan Prefecture was refuted again by the other party. He was completely embarrassed and raised his voice:

"Master Wei, are you just going to let this chaotic group leave like this? And do nothing?

Several counties in Zhiyuan Prefecture were captured by this riotous army. Your duty is to garrison Zhiyuan Prefecture. If the court wants to punish you, your guilt may not be less than mine!"

"The crime of losing a city is far greater than dereliction of duty. Besides, there is no need for us to do anything. This chaotic group is already courting their own death."

"oh??".

"Going south to Muzhou, crossing three states, a thousand miles of land, with more than two thousand rebel soldiers, there is no way that there would be no trace left behind.

By then, the garrisons in each state will have tens of thousands of soldiers and will certainly not let go of this group of rioters who are obviously heading for the man from Muzhou.

You say, how can these two thousand people not be on the road to death? "

(End of this chapter)