The Suppression Journey (Part 3)

The suppression of the rebellion in Fucheng County went very smoothly. Not only did Gao Yuan's troops suffer no casualties, but they also expanded by more than two thousand men. Naturally, the various supplies in the Fucheng County County treasury also fell into Gao Yuan's hands.

Considering that he would surely have more prisoners and spoils of war later, Gao Yuan decided to temporarily use Fucheng County County as his base.

Leaving a thousand men behind to continue guarding Fucheng County, Gao Yuan led his troops to continue his journey of suppressing the rebellion.

Based on the intelligence obtained earlier and the suggestion of the Leader of the rebels, Gao Yuan set his sights on the two rebel forces in Long Prefecture and Wen Prefecture.

According to the Leader of the rebels, both of these rebel forces were quite strong. Moreover, they were mutually defiant, both thinking of annexing the other, which led to frequent friction.

"My Lord, although these two rebel forces claim to have over a hundred thousand troops on the surface, most of them are actually commoners who were coerced. The true combat soldiers only number five or six thousand. It's a pity..."

Gao Yuan understood what the Leader of the rebels meant by "it's a pity." According to the imperial court's strategy for dealing with rebels, regardless of whether they were coerced or not, once the rebel force was determined to be a hundred thousand strong, a hundred thousand heads had to be delivered.

The best outcome for these coerced commoners would be to be demoted to pariahs, becoming the property and slaves of others for generations.

It was even possible that they would simply become a cold number in the history books, a contribution to someone else's achievements:

On a certain day of a certain month in the first year of new era name, so-and-so suppressed the Long Prefecture rebellion, beheading over a hundred thousand.

Gao Yuan patted the shoulder of the Leader of the rebels.

"Instead of sighing here, why not join me in rescuing them and bringing them to a safe place, giving them a place to live a stable life?"

The eyes of the Leader of the rebels lit up, and he revealed a smile, cupping his fists in a salute to Gao Yuan.

"This humble general understands."

"Wait!"

Seeing the Leader of the rebels about to leave, Gao Yuan called out to him.

"In my report to the imperial court, the rebel leader Leader of the rebels and his associates are already dead. Do you understand?"

The Leader of the rebels immediately understood Gao Yuan's meaning and replied.

"This humble general understands. The rebel leader Leader of the rebels is dead; This humble general shall be called Wu Ban from now on."

Wu Ban left, leaving Gao Yuan somewhat speechless. How did changing a name end up referencing a Three Kingdoms character?

"Speaking of which, this guy wouldn't happen to have a beautiful widowed sister, would he... No, no, what am I thinking? I'm not the Prime Minister."

The rebel leader of Long Prefecture was named Dong Tiankui. He was originally a local bully and wealthy man who usually kept a large number of scoundrels and ruffians.

Taking advantage of the chaos in the Jiannan Circuit, this fellow led his family servants and wicked slaves, joined forces with bandits from several mountains, and coordinated from within to kill the County Magistrate and the County Defender, seizing Jiangyou County.

Since then, this band of wicked bandits had entrenched themselves in Jiangyou and its vicinity, spending their days in debauchery and extorting the commoners. Their subordinates also looted the countryside throughout Long Prefecture, committing all sorts of evil.

The officials of several other counties, being cowardly and afraid of trouble, actually kept their city gates tightly shut, watching helplessly as the commoners suffered.

In fact, these rebels causing trouble everywhere were only in groups of a hundred or so, some even as few as dozens. If any official had a bit of backbone and led the guards and bailiffs out, they could have easily wiped them out.

Some county guards, even if not many, still numbered in the dozens. Moreover, their equipment was fairly good—at least they were Jiannan Army soldiers with leather armor. Dealing with these rebels would have been as easy as pie.

After entering Long Prefecture, Gao Yuan ordered Xian Chong, Zhao Meng, and Wu Ban to each lead a detachment of troops to clear out these rebels in various places.

In just three days, Gao Yuan wiped out over thirty groups of marauding rebels, totaling more than four thousand men.

Upon interrogation, it was discovered that some of these people were originally ordinary commoners who had been oppressed. After being harmed, they didn't choose to resist but instead joined in and became perpetrators themselves.

"My Lord, how should we handle these people?"

Gao Yuan walked among the prisoners, looking at those who had turned from victims into perpetrators, his expression cold and stern.

It was true that he needed people, but he didn't need these wicked men. So, after thinking for a moment, he made a decision.

"Take them all into custody. Once this is over, bring them back for strict interrogation. Based on the severity of their crimes, put them to work. Those whose crimes are heinous shall be sent to the mines until they die;"

"As for the commoners who were abducted, follow their own wishes. Those willing to come with us will be settled in Fucheng County first. Those who wish to stay will be given grain and allowed to leave on their own."

"Yes!"

In Jiangyou City, Dong Tiankui and a group of his subordinates were already dead drunk, completely unaware that the situation outside the city had taken a sudden turn.

Even when Gao Yuan's army arrived beneath the walls of Jiangyou, these rebel leaders were still fast asleep.

At this moment, only about a thousand rebels remained in the city. Seeing the elite troops in bright armor and the fluttering battle flags outside, they were all scared out of their wits. They held out for only a moment before scattering in a panic.

The commoners in the city had long since had enough of their extortion. Seeing them collapse, they joined forces to open the city gates.

Seeing the gates swing open, Gao Yuan waved his hand.

"Order the army to enter the city. Ensure they do not disturb the commoners. Try to capture the rebels alive if possible, but all rebel leaders can be executed on the spot."

"Yes!"

The army's entry into the city was met with a warm welcome from the commoners lining the streets. Under their guidance, the Beiwei Army began capturing the fleeing rebels, while Xian Chong personally led men to surround the county yamen.

The commotion finally woke Dong Tiankui. He pushed aside the young woman lying on him, walked out with his chest bared, and shouted in a drunken rage.

"What's all the noise about? Don't you know I haven't finished sleeping?"

Before he could continue his display of bravado, a spear was already pressed against his throat.

Dong Tiankui was shocked. Just as he was about to speak, he saw the young general in iron armor before him. His soul nearly left his body in terror. Forgetting all about his bravado, he knelt directly on the ground.

"General, spare my life! General, spare my life! I'm just a..."

Unfortunately, before he could finish fabricating an identity, a disheveled woman in the room spoke up.

"He is Dong Tiankui! It's him! He killed my husband and seized... *sob sob*... All of them were... *sob sob*..."

With a wave of Xian Chong's hand, the Beiwei Army soldiers rushed in, tied up all the rebel leaders who were still in their dreams like New Year pigs, and dragged them out.

Seeing those who were still lording it over them yesterday now locked in prisoner carts and paraded through the streets, the entire city was in an uproar. The commoners took to the streets to vent their anger.

However, there were no vegetable leaves or rotten eggs like in movies or TV shows. Life was so hard; how could they be so extravagant? The only things they could throw were clods of dirt and stones.

After executing Dong Tiankui and the other rebel leaders, Gao Yuan left Wu Ban with a thousand men to garrison Jiangyou. Besides helping to restore order, they were to continue hunting down any potential stragglers.

After a quick resupply of provisions, Gao Yuan led his army further north. Their destination was the final stop of this northern suppression campaign: Wen Prefecture.

Unlike the other regions, Wen Prefecture was near the Western Liang area. The terrain was mostly mountainous, with a mix of various ethnic groups and a fierce local culture. The entire prefecture had only two county seats—Qushui and Changsong.

The county seats here hadn't fallen, but they had been isolated by the rebels. The commoners outside the county seats had all been coerced by the rebels, totaling around forty to fifty thousand people.

Another difference from the other regions was that the rebel leader here, Ge Changsheng, was a genuine former officer of the official army.

This man was originally a Brigade Commander under the Jiannan Army. Because of a disagreement with his superior, he killed the man in a fit of rage and then fled into the mountains with a group of followers, frequently harassing the local neighbors.

Taking advantage of the opportunity when most of the garrison had been transferred away, he joined forces with the local qiang people to start a rebellion. They were currently besieging Qushui City.