knife

Chapter 521 We're all family, let's not talk like strangers.

The force consisting of three hundred cavalry, five hundred heavy infantry, over three thousand light infantry, and the remaining one thousand or so logistics and supply personnel was the team that Ke Wuji sent to support Feng Kuan.

Feng Kuan was very satisfied.

As an old hand in the military, he can usually tell at a glance whether an army is capable or not, and whether it can fight.

Putting aside equipment, their high morale alone is enough to crush Feng Kuan's current forces.

In war, morale must be the top priority.

With high morale, even a third-rate army can fight a first-rate battle.

Without morale, even a top-notch army can quickly collapse.

"This army is mainly composed of followers of the Hou Tu Qi sect, most of whom come from Yong'an County. How can their morale not be high when they can fight their way back to their hometown?" Ke Wuji said with a smile.

"I see!" Feng Kuan suddenly realized. "Old Ke really went all out this time."

Ke Wuji nodded and said, "Brother Feng is right. I had to plunder all the troops in two counties to gather these good things for you. This has made my brothers at home very unhappy. They say I am being unfair! But there is nothing I can do. The General is suspicious of me now. I can only do my best to let the General know my true intentions!"

Feng Kuan smiled, clasped his hands in a fist and bowed to Ke Wuji as a sign of apology.

"The rest is up to you, General Feng," Ke Wuji said. "I have already discussed it with Commander Zhan Qi. General Feng will be in charge of military matters. I believe our two armies can cooperate seamlessly and take Yong'an County with unstoppable momentum!"

"Isn't Elder Ke going with the army?" Feng Kuan asked.

"I'm going over there!" Ke Wuji pointed towards Yong'an County and laughed, "We'll advance on two fronts, one openly and one covertly. You command the army to fight, and I'll go over there to find some old friends and brothers. Of course, it's not just limited to Yong'an County. The world has changed drastically, truly a once-in-a-century transformation. We must seize this opportunity. If we can stir up another wave of uprisings in Chu and coordinate with the attack on Yong'an County, wouldn't that be wonderful?"

Feng Kuan was overjoyed.

Ke Wuji belonged to the Ruijin Banner of the Demonic Sect. The Ruijin Banner was in charge of combat and had previously played the role of a henchman in the Demonic Sect. Their specialty was instigating rebellions and causing trouble everywhere.

Now that he is about to attack Yong'an County, if Yong'an County is not able to withstand the attack, the surrounding Chu army will naturally come to its aid. However, Ke Wuji has gone around stirring up trouble, and the surrounding areas are about to fall into chaos. Those who want to support Yong'an County will have to think twice. What if their own forces fall into chaos after the army goes out?
In this way, the support that Yong'an County can receive will be greatly reduced, which will be of great help to take Yong'an County. Once Yong'an County is taken, the Jianghan Plain will be right at our fingertips.

"Thank you very much, Professor Ke. You'll have to work hard!" Feng Kuan thanked him repeatedly.

"We're all family, so let's not be so formal. This is our common cause!" Ke Wuji laughed. "General Feng, what about the bridge building I told you about the other day?"

Feng Kuan grinned and said, "We've already chosen our target. Let's start with the Zhu family. That bastard has several sons who are now officials in Danyang!"

"Brilliant! Take him down, and with a few tricks, we can drag a few more people into this mess. That way, the funding for the bridge construction will be almost secured!" Ke Wuji chuckled. "As for the missing refined iron and other such materials, Brother Feng can contact He Yiming directly later. Chang'an and Luoyang are still in chaos, so it's easy to get these goods out. We need to hurry. If we wait until Linghu Ye has completely taken control of these two places and restored order, it will be much harder to get such strategic materials out!"

"I'll get on it right away!" Feng Kuan said.

When Ke Wuji said he was going to incite the followers of the Chu sect to revolt, he wasn't lying; he genuinely intended to do so. Only when the area around Yong'an County was in chaos would they be hesitant to send too many troops to aid Yong'an County. This would allow them to mobilize as many troops as possible from Danyang, making it easier for those old fogies in Danyang to rise up against Jiang Qian!

As for whether Yong'an County won or lost, Ke Wuji didn't care much.

With Jiang Qian gone, these places naturally became precarious.

Of course, inciting the followers of the Chu region to rebel was just a side effect of Ke Wuji's trip. His real purpose was to create a safe escape route for Li Dachui afterward.

Li Dachui's identity is now obvious to the cunning old foxes in Chu. Even Jiang Qian probably knows it. The reason everyone is acting is just to achieve their own goals. It's good to be confused sometimes!

The current situation there is on an extremely fragile balance. Once this balance is broken, all parties will immediately break off relations.

Regardless of the final outcome of this upheaval, whether Jiang Qian wins or those old guys win, Li Dachui will definitely be the first target they want to take down afterward.

How to get out of there after it's all over is a big problem.

Compared to instigating rebellion, this is what Ke Wuji needs to rack his brains to accomplish.

After Ke Wuji left, a wave of anti-revolutionary purges suddenly swept through Xiangfan and other places.

Without any warning, Feng Kuan, the prefect of Xiangcheng, took drastic measures against the powerful Zhu family. Overnight, a large army was mobilized, surrounding all of the Zhu family's residences inside and outside the city, capturing all members of the Zhu family, confiscating all their wealth, and seizing all their houses, land, estates, and forests.

The charges against him included letters exchanged with the State of Chu, armor, weapons, and other items found in his home.

Before everyone could recover from the shock, several more wealthy families in the two regions were arrested, all on similar charges.

In an instant, tensions rose in both places, and many people fled to Yong'an. This gave Feng Kuan an even better excuse to carry out the confiscation of property and destruction with greater peace of mind.

These two places are connected to Yong'an County. Over the years, they have been under the strong oppression of the State of Chu. Which of these powerful families has not secretly been in contact with the people of Chu?

Didn't He Zudao know this before?
Of course I know, but He Zudao himself has been in constant contact with the State of Chu!
But sometimes reality is like this. He Zudao's dealings with the State of Chu were normal exchanges and negotiations between the two countries. But your private dealings with powerful families are an attempt to betray the country and plot treason. Naturally, you should be punished according to the law.

Whether you submit or not is not important; what matters is that we have a pretext to deal with you.

Feng Kuan did not report to He Zudao before doing these things, and He Zudao did not hold Feng Kuan accountable afterwards, which can be regarded as tacit approval.

Because Feng Kuan did find solid evidence, He Zudao also realized that these people did not really regard him as a reliable patron. Their current dependence on him was just a pretense. Once the time was right, they would abandon him without the slightest hesitation.

Perhaps, as Ke Wuji said, those who truly supported him were probably the peasants, the penniless proletarians.

(End of this chapter)