Chapter 1277 Punishment for All
Although Gao Yu followed the advice of Helian Ziyue, Li Wenshi and others and left Yenan to fight in Taihang, the actual implementation of this plan was also difficult.
The winding and rugged Taihang Mountain trails can certainly block the powerful offensive of the Tang army, but it is also difficult for the Qi army to move in the mountains, and supplies are not available. The increasingly difficult situation will continue to hit morale and make the team lose their minds. Whether it will eventually achieve the situation envisioned by Li Wenshi and successfully go north to unite with local forces such as the Zhaojun Li family, the result is still unknown.
But now that things have come to this, no matter how much hesitation there is, it will only artificially add more danger to the already unfavorable situation, so Gao Yu and his party can only abandon the distractions in their hearts, strive to overcome various difficulties, and execute according to the established plan.
Fortunately, the Tang army may be because of the self-awareness of its own strength, so that the action is relatively slow, so most of the Qi army's personnel resources have been transferred to Linlu Mountain, and continue to move to the depths of Taihang Mountain.
Linlu Mountain belongs to the hilly area of the Taihang Mountain. The mountain is not very steep. The ultimate goal of the Qi army is to rely on the obstruction of the Taihang Mountain to continue to move northward, so there are not too many defensive offensives around Linlu Mountain.
Because this place is close to Ye City and has beautiful scenery, many dignitaries in Ye have built gardens and occupied mountains to build temples. Therefore, there are hundreds of gardens and temples of all sizes in the area.
Before Ye City was broken, many people from the capital fled here. After these people came here, they built their own camps and defended themselves. Due to the existence of the Yenan Great Wall and other reasons, the Tang army did not sweep here, so the situation was maintained.
This time, Gao Yu led his troops into the country, and the reactions of these people were different. Some people were enthusiastic to welcome the king's army, some people just watched coldly, and some people simply ignored it.
After all, with the situation developing to this point, it is difficult for everyone to have any optimistic views on the future of the Northern Qi Dynasty. Moreover, Gao Yu, the self-proclaimed emperor, is an incongruous existence. Now he is in a hurry, which makes it even more difficult for people to respect him. Especially those who hid in Linlu Mountain were not loyal ministers of the Northern Qi Dynasty, otherwise they would have died in Yedu long ago, and would not hide in the mountains and dare not show their heads.
After Gao Yu came to Linlu, he issued an order in the name of the emperor to call on the people in the country to devote themselves to the king's affairs and not to sit and wait for death, but there were not many people who really responded enthusiastically. Most people were afraid of the people in their hands, and only donated some materials or sent slaves to deal with things. Generally speaking, they still hoped that this group of plague gods would quickly pass through and leave, and not attract the Tang army here.
Gao Yu was naturally dissatisfied with the attitude of these Linlu people. He originally intended to save the country and restore the country, but he didn't expect these people to be perfunctory and unwilling to follow him with their families. He immediately ordered his troops to break through these gardens, towns, temples and monasteries and loot them.
However, when he had this idea, he was immediately advised by Shangshu Ling Helian Ziyue and others: "Now that the Qi family is in decline, it is normal for the common people to be afraid of difficulties and avoid them. If they are killed for this reason, the people will inevitably be frightened and the people will lose their hearts. Moreover, the enemy will arrive soon, and the army still needs to move to Taihang Mountain. If they stay here and miss the opportunity, they will be attacked by the enemy and it will be too late to regret it!"
Gao Yu didn't care much about the so-called public sentiment and people's hearts. At the moment, these two things were not very important to him. As for the latter point, it really made him feel cautious. Although they were lucky enough to be transferred to Linlu Mountain, there were still many soldiers who fled on the way, and the enemy was chasing them. Before the situation was not out of danger, it was indeed not advisable to cause more trouble and consume the physical strength of the soldiers and horses.
So he could only suppress his dissatisfaction and hurry up to transfer his people and resources. While his troops were moving quickly, the Tang army outside Linlu Mountain was also gathering quickly.
Although the strategy implemented by the Tang army outside the mountain was to surround but not fight, and to intimidate and expel them, Gao Yu and his people did not think so. They only felt that the Tang army was aggressive and chasing them very urgently. If they were a little lax, they might be trapped here and trapped in a desperate situation.
After the Tang army fought several small-scale battles, the Qi army left Linlu Mountain and went deep into Taihang Mountain. The Tang army behind them naturally entered Linlu smoothly.
With the arrival of the Tang army, some families in this area put on an attitude of welcoming the royal army, while others still kept their doors closed and tried to stay out of the matter. But soon, a written order was issued, which immediately made them panic.
After the main force of the Tang army entered the camp where Gao Yu had stopped before, they immediately sent soldiers to inform all directions, ordering the villagers to quickly report the situation when the bandits passed through the border. If there were villagers who helped the bandits, they would be investigated and investigated. Reporting would be rewarded, and concealing the crime would be punished!
As soon as this order was issued, there was an uproar. Some people may still be lucky, thinking that the law does not punish the masses, and everyone is more or less a little dirty. Does the Tang army still intend to slaughter all the people in this village?
But soon the reality gave them the answer. Although the Tang army would not massacre them, they would not be soft-hearted when they really dealt with them.
With the clues provided by the surrendered soldiers and captives as well as the reports from the villagers, one target after another was quickly locked on, and then swiftly defeated and captured. Most of the hundreds of gardens and villas, large and small, in the territory were cleared out within a few days, and the number of people suspected of aiding the bandits reached more than 7,000.
Although the Tang army relied on powerful military force to sweep the countryside, all their actions were targeted and they did not blindly oppress the innocent and good. They adhered to the series of punishment and reward orders issued by the court a few days ago for the scholars and civilians in Hebei. Among them, there were many regulations on punishments of varying severity for those who followed the bandits and caused chaos, so the Tang army had laws to follow.
When hearing these detained villagers questioning the king's harsh punishments and abuse of the masses, Han Xiong answered loudly: "We, the king's soldiers, are here to eliminate the bandits and spread the truth. The Qi family bandits stole the seals and hijacked the fortunes, and the world knows it. Even though they have millions of people, the king's army can still defeat them!
The court then issued orders to all directions to clarify right and wrong. You villagers are ignorant and refuse to obey the king's laws. You still follow the bandits. A million bandits can still be defeated. How can you say that the king's laws cannot educate the masses! The land is fertile and the heaven and earth provide abundant gifts. You have lost your virtues and do not obey the king's orders. There are righteous men here!"
In the final analysis, these people in Hebei still underestimated the determination of the Tang Dynasty court to reform Hebei, and believed that even if the Tang Dynasty ruled this land, it still needed to rely on the local village tyrants to establish effective rule.
But in fact, their right to choose and right to speak are very small. As Han Xiong said, the nobles and armed forces of the Northern Qi Dynasty who had ridden on their necks before have been defeated. Can they still expect the victors to bend over and ask them whether they like salty or light food?
These powerful families in Guandong have a long history and great influence. Especially when the central government of the Northern Wei Dynasty was declining and rebellions broke out everywhere, they once allowed these local forces to develop. And rely on them to quell the rebellion.
However, a series of subsequent developments also showed that these guys were just show-offs. The famous families such as Cui, Lu, Li and Zheng were killed by Erzhu Rong who went south that year. They suffered a severe political blow and had no ability to resist.
The powerful families such as Feng, Gao, Yang and Bi looked majestic, but in fact, none of them had the courage and ability to carry the banner. They were actually defeated by Gao Huan who wandered to Hebei with a group of poor people from the six towns. When they arrived in the Eastern Wei and Northern Qi, they had to bend down and drink the foot washing water of the town soldiers. It was simply a disgrace to their ancestors.
Now that the Tang Dynasty has finally conquered the Northern Qi Dynasty and the situation has gradually settled, it is naturally a bit whimsical for these people to jump out and want to share the right to speak in the local area.
If the Tang Emperor of the Tang Dynasty was somewhat implicit in the promulgation of some decrees out of his consciousness as the master of the world, then the cognition and likes and dislikes of Han Xiong and other Tang soldiers were more direct and strong. They did not blame the masses for the law. Since some people still wanted to die, they were not afraid to kill them. Hebei is a fertile land, and there are loyal and brave people living there!
Of course, the main task of the Tang army was not to punish local crimes. After they searched out these rural criminals, they sent troops to escort them to Yecheng. Yecheng would naturally judge them according to the severity of the crimes they were involved in.
Later, the Tang army continued to pursue along the route of Gao Yu's march. As for the criminals sent to Yecheng, they were interrogated and judged by Changsun Jian, the right servant of the Shangshu, who had just arrived in Yecheng.
Although the court had previously announced the punishment and reward order for people in Hebei, the personnel politics of the prefectures and counties in Hebei had not yet been put on track, and the efficiency of reporting all matters to the Guanzhong court was too slow, so the Shangshu You Pushe Changsun Jian went to Yecheng to preside over the execution of these orders.
Now Changsun Jian has popularized the content of the punishment and reward order in detail to the people of Yecheng and Hebei through the trial of more than 7,000 criminals, and demonstrated the court's determination to abide by the law!
This legal trial, coupled with the Tang army's vigorous military operations, naturally brought great deterrence to the Hebei trend. In particular, the subsequent trial of the Zhaojun Li family and other Hebei clans shocked the people of Hebei even more.