After a fierce battle, the Revolutionary Army suffered heavy losses. There were only seven infantry companies in total, and one of them was crippled. There were only five cavalry companies, but they were constantly depleted in the repeated reconnaissance and concealment battles with Hwang Tae-gil's Plain White Flag. In the end, Zhou Qingfeng decided to take turns to fight them. After a certain amount of losses, they would rest and reorganize in Gaizhou, and then bring in new troops to train.
To move a city in Liaoyang, it would take at least a month or two. The Revolutionary Army, on the other hand, relied on their strong organization and logistics supply ability to stabilize their stronghold in the Tiger Skin Inn. The cavalry that constantly set off from Tigerskin Inn effectively monitored the battlefield, stopping the Kennu from probing their side in the wide Liaohe Plains.
Hwang Tae-gil was half dead with anger, but he had to succumb to the power of winter. He had no choice but to stop and return to his previous defensive position. In his opinion, the Revolutionary Army was beating themselves up to their own limits, and it was a waste of effort.
Zhou Qingfeng didn't think about attacking the city. He stayed at Tigerskin Inn, waiting to evacuate Liaoyang. It wasn't until Wang Kai arrived that he remembered he still had a windfall left in the wilderness — more than three hundred Kennu heads, and they were all real Tatars.
The Revolutionary Army didn't want them, but the Ming Army did.
Wang Kai followed the cavalry to Shahepu, where the battle took place, and saw the snow-covered pile of Jing Guan corpses on the side of the road that looked like an ordinary slope. Pushing away the thick snow, he revealed the twisted and horrifying frozen corpses. He was shocked when he saw the corpses, but he understood why Hwang Tae-gil didn't collect the corpses of his men.
More than three hundred corpses were frozen into a big lump, difficult to move. If it wasn't for the benefits, Wang Kai wouldn't have thought about these corpses. For these hard corpses, he could only call for some militia to slowly roast them, and when they were soft, he would pull them off and chop off their heads.
This process took a long time, and Wang Kai was a businessman, so he couldn't wait. Thereupon he turned around and went to Jinzhou, southwest of Liaoyang, where the Ming Army was stationed. His original intention was to contact Liu Gu or Du Song. Who would have thought that he could easily get in touch with Inspector Li Weihan who had returned 'defeated'?
Inspector Li was now a defeated general, and in order to live, he gave Liaoyang to Zhou Qingfeng. Once he reached Jinzhou, he did not dare to go to Shanhai Pass, for fear that Liaodong Commissioner Yang Gao would use his head to boost morale. In fact, when the news of his defeat reached the capital, memorials to impeach him flew out like snowflakes. The imperial censors and the imperial censors all said that he lost the city and deserved to be killed.
Under such circumstances, Li Weihan found out that Zhou Qingfeng wanted to sell more than 300 Kennu heads. She even asked him … Do you want it?
Over three hundred? Great victory!
Later on, Yuan Chonghuan, the Great Hoodwinker Yuan's "Ningyuan Victory" was said to have killed and injured nearly 20,000 Kennu soldiers. With a single cannon blast, he had ravaged dozens of miles and even killed Nurhachi. There were only around two hundred heads that could be chopped off. This had already caused a sensation in the court. Even the old Emperor was extremely excited. Of course, if it was said that they killed and injured nearly 20,000, but there were only around two hundred heads, he would definitely be blamed for asking too much.
Although Daming had not suffered enough at the hands of Kennu, Zhou Qingfeng taking out more than three hundred heads in one go was still a shocking matter. Li Weihan asked in detail and found out that this was not from defending the city, but from fighting in the wilderness on a snowy night. This was even more shocking.
"According to the court's rules, the head of a bandit slave is fifty taels per head." Li Weihan received Wang Kai in Jinzhou. When he heard this, he was so excited that he almost slammed the table. These heads came at the right time.
As long as he took out these heads, Li Weihan was sure that he would be safe and sound, and no one in the court would blame him. At most, he would have to think of a good excuse to explain the origin of these heads. At that time, he would not be defeated in Liaoyang. Instead, he would be defeated with glory, and he could even return victorious. In any case, when scholars opened their mouths, they could make up stories.
"As long as the Young Marshal's heads are real, I will take them all." Li Weihan thought, "Even if I have to borrow money, I will take these heads." He was still worried, so he clenched his teeth and said, "I want to personally inspect them. Not a single one can be fake."
Personally inspect? No problem!
The corpses were all in Shahepu, north of Liaoyang. It would only take two to three days to get there by sleigh.
Wang Kai said that the Kennu corpses were all frozen in the wilderness. In order to protect his position, Li Weihan was extremely anxious. He was even worried about letting his subordinates go, so he simply said, "I am willing to go personally."
Beep …
Li Weihan, Lord Li, really took Tan Feng as a guard and a few capable servants to follow Wang Kai to the front line of the Imperial Guard. Along the way, not only did he see the fierceness and tyranny of the Revolutionary Army in Liaoyang, but he also saw the hidden potential of the Imperial Guard, as well as the large pile of Jingguan corpses.
It was not easy for Wang Kai to go back and forth in the winter. He was full of hope that the Imperial Guard had already chopped up all the corpses and were waiting for him to receive them. But when he arrived, he found that there were only a few militias burning firewood, roasting the corpses, and chopping off the heads. He had been gone for almost a week, and there were only about fifty heads chopped off.
"How can it be so slow?" Wang Kai almost jumped up and scolded. "How dare you slack off on what the Young Marshal has ordered?"
The militias were very helpless. They said that the weather was too cold, and it was too difficult to collect firewood around. In addition, the Imperial Guard at Tigerskin Station was not interested in this matter, and the Young Marshal personally led the team north yesterday for god knows what. In short, it was this slow, or you can do it yourself.
Wang Kai was helpless. The militias were not under his control. They were Li Shuwei's men. He could only turn around and say to Li Weihan, who ran all the way here, "Lord Li, I am so sorry. The corpses are real, but the weather is too cold. Why don't you take these fifty heads back first, and I will settle the payment with you later. "
Go back first? How could he go back first?
Li Weihan stood in front of the huge pile of corpses with Tan Feng and his servants as if he had seen a peerless treasure. On the way here, he actually had doubts. He felt that how could the Revolutionary Army, which had only been formed for a year at most, chop off more than three hundred Kennu heads? It was too unbelievable.
It was not until he personally stood in front of the pile of more than three hundred people that Li Weihan realized that there was really such a magical thing in this world. When he heard Wang Kai say 'take the fifty heads first', Lord Li flatly refused, "I personally came to the frontline this time, how can I only bring back fifty heads? Isn't it just a fire to defrost? You guys just leave it, I will do it myself, I will do it myself. "
Li Weihan was bewitched. He stood in front of the pile of corpses and danced with joy. It was only because a few servants held him back that he did not rush forward and hug the hideous corpses affectionately. When he finally regained his senses, he found that the corpses were really hard to decapitate. When Zhou Qingfeng piled up the pile of corpses, he did not think about decapitating them. The corpses were piled up in a mess.
Li Weihan immediately ordered Tan Feng and his servants, "Master's life depends on how many heads I can get now. Why aren't you guys helping me?"
Tan Feng, who had followed Li Weihan here, was also in a daze. But when he thought that Lord Li ate the meat, he should also be able to drink the soup, he immediately felt his heart burning. He borrowed a few axes from the Imperial Guard and began to chop with all his might.
However, the frozen corpses were as hard as iron. Lord Li and Tan Feng stayed at the Tigerskin Inn at night and came to burn the corpses during the day. But in less than two days, another group of people came — "Lord Li, the Brocade Guards from the imperial court have been looking for you everywhere. I didn't expect you to be here. You can't keep this batch of heads to yourself! "
Li Weihan looked back and immediately complained in his heart. The person who came was Yan Mingtai, the advisor of the Liaodong Garrison Division, and he was Liaodong Governor Yang Gao's subordinate. This guy's appearance, for example, meant that the matter of the heads had been leaked. No wonder he hadn't seen Wang Kai these days. The fat man must have seen that he was too impatient and felt that he was a rare commodity, so he found a few more people to raise the price.
"Lord Yan, please be merciful and let me go." Li Weihan's face was bitter. He still wanted to plead. Yan Mingtai, however, was already paying attention to the big pile of corpses. He clicked his tongue and walked around the pile of corpses three times. He even ignored the horror of the corpses, climbed on top of the pile of corpses, and pushed away the thick layer of snow to carefully examine them.
After the inspection, Yan Mingtai had to sigh and said, "My Daming's army has tens of thousands of soldiers in Liaodong, but they can only retreat in the strong city. This rebel actually dares to fight the enemy in the field and can even behead so many people. It's really amazing! "
Li Weihan suppressed his panic and asked Yan Mingtai, "Lord Yan, did you also come for these heads this time? You are Commissioner Yang's man. What do you want these heads for? Don't fight with me. "
Yan Mingtai scolded, "Lord Li, your appetite is too big. There are more than three hundred heads here. Can you swallow them all? If you want to monopolize this credit, aren't you afraid that your colleagues in Liaodong will join forces to accuse you of deceiving the emperor? "
He said angrily and sternly. After that, he shouted in a low voice, "Do you think you're the only one who wants the heads? Commissioner Yang's life is not good either. The court scolds him for wasting the army's resources, so he needs some Kennu heads. I'll give you ten of the heads here. "
"Only ten?"
Li Weihan was really angry. He looked like he was going to risk his life. "Yan, you're too greedy. If I didn't give up Liaoyang to the young marshal of the Revolutionary Army, how could we have such a great victory? Now that we have the heads, you come to snatch the credit. How can there be such a reason? No, no, I'll take at least a hundred. "
"Fifteen at most. There's no more." Yan Mingtai was like an old lady bargaining in the market, biting the bottom line and not letting go. "Now that the colleagues in Liaodong are missing the heads, there are countless people who want a share of the profits. You can laugh if you can protect yourself with fifteen. Commissioner Yang has already made arrangements for the others. "
Li Weihan, however, was not so easy to deal with. He shouted sternly, "Lord Yan, speak clearly. What the hell is going on? Who else wants this batch of heads? If you don't make it clear, I'd rather join the Revolutionary Army. Tell them that Commissioner Yang has long planned to attack after the beginning of spring. Let's see if they will still sell the heads to you. "
Li Yan and Zhao Mingtai argued for a long time before they finally figured out the distribution of the heads.
Naturally, Wang Kai would not only look for Li Weihan. The news of the heads had spread throughout Liaodong. When Commissioner Yang Gao of Liaodong learned that the Revolutionary Army wanted to sell the heads of Kennu to the Ming Army, his first thought was that it was the biggest joke in the world. But then he thought about it and realized that he couldn't stop them anyway, so he might as well plan this matter properly and save himself some trouble.
Yang Gao strictly ordered the departments under him not to contact Wang Kai alone. He must come forward to negotiate. He would come to share the profits after the negotiation. Anyway, he was the Commissioner of Liaodong. No matter how many heads were cut, it was all due to his good command. He even personally went to Jinzhou and sent someone to call Wang Kai to negotiate.
Finally, the two sides agreed that one head could be exchanged for ten thousand catties of iron. More than three hundred heads could be exchanged for 1,500 to 2,000 tons of pig iron. The Revolutionary Army felt that this was a good deal. The useless heads could be exchanged for the urgently needed iron. And the Liaodong officialdom felt that they had made a big deal. Wouldn't it be better to let those laborers dig and refine more iron? The heads could not be obtained!
Everyone was happy!
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