knife

Chapter 680 Catch them all in one fell swoop

"Zhou Yi, tell everyone about the Lu family of Fanyang!" Xiao Changche said to Zhou Yi, "This matter was originally handled by your Zhi Qiu Academy."

Zhou Yi said, "Many years ago, when Tai'an City had just begun to improve, we urgently needed some scarce goods from within the pass to fill our market and establish our brand. However, Linghu Ye controlled these goods very strictly. Even though Tai'an City had a city lord in charge, he could only guarantee survival. It was extremely difficult to become rich, which was also Linghu Ye's consistent stance. Therefore, we needed to find another way."

"Is this the lineage of the Lu family of Fanyang?" Ma Dacheng asked, somewhat surprised.

“We must find a family that can withstand Linghu Ye’s pressure!” Zhou Yi said. “The Lu family of Fanyang was originally very powerful, but it gradually declined. The Cui family of Boling took the opportunity to seize a lot of their resources, and the Lu family was once in a predicament. We hit it off with the Lu family. From then on, the Lu family brought a large amount of scarce and strategic materials from within the pass, which we sold to outside the pass. The profits were split between the two parties according to a certain ratio. At first, the Lu family wanted to take the lion’s share, but later, it was our Tai’an City that took the lion’s share.”

Only then did everyone suddenly realize.

"The rise of Tai'an City was due to our cooperation with the Lu family, but many things have been kept secret!" Zhou Yi said. "The outside world only thinks that the Lu family of Fanyang and we have a financial relationship, but in reality, the cooperation between the two sides is quite deep. After you successfully tricked Linghu Ye and the Beiting Protectorate was rebuilt, Lu Xin, the head of the Lu family, personally came to the border and had a deep and frank conversation with the city lord and you. As for what they talked about, I don't know, but you said that you can regard the Lu family of Fanyang as an ally in the future!"

"It is precisely because of this relationship that I am going to attack Huxiaoyuan!" Xiao Changche said. "Huxiaoyuan stretches for hundreds of miles, giving it a strategic advantage over both Boling and Fanyang. This is why the two families have been fighting over it for so long. Although the Cui family of Boling has gained the upper hand in recent years, taking over seventy or eighty percent of Huxiaoyuan, the Lu family of Fanyang still holds onto several strongholds and struggles to prevent their opponents from completely occupying Huxiaoyuan, thus keeping them in check. This time, we are going to contact the Lu family and use Huxiaoyuan as a starting point to begin dealing with Boling County!"

"If we can quickly take Tiger Roar Plain, it will be like a sword hanging over Boling County's head!" Everyone looked at the map with joy on their faces. With the Lu family of Fanyang as their inside man, even though they only had a few strongholds on Tiger Roar Plain, having any was a good start.

As everyone began to discuss how to proceed, Tu Jiaojiao tiptoed in, placed a letter in front of Xiao Changche, and whispered, "It was sent back by the Protector using a divine eagle. There were three eagle feathers stuck to it, but I have already opened it and dealt with them."

Xiao Changche's gaze narrowed slightly. The presence of three eagle feathers on the letter indicated its highest level of importance, demanding immediate attention. These letters were written in coded language, and currently, only Tu Jiaojiao in the entire Yangguan region knew this code.

Opening the letter and glancing at its contents, Xiao Changche's eyes narrowed, and a smile inadvertently crept onto his face.

"Gentlemen!" Xiao Changche tapped the table. "I have some good news to share with you all!"

The room fell silent.

"Li Du has brought news that the enemy in Boling will leave their defensive line and launch an attack on Yangguan!" Xiao Changdao said.

A commotion erupted in the room; everyone was incredulous. Just moments ago, they had all been saying that the enemy wouldn't be so stupid, but the other side had immediately proven them wrong.

"Are they really that brave?" Ma Dacheng asked, his eyes wide. "Wasn't Li Guohua supposed to be coming to Boling too? Or has that guy lost his mind?"

Everyone looked at Xiao Changche, quite curious about the contents of the letter. They couldn't understand what kind of unexpected event could have caused the enemy to change course, abandon their advantages, and instead attempt to attack Yangguan.

"This time, the force preparing to attack our Yangguan Pass is not Linghu Ye's troops, but the private army of aristocratic families led by the Cui family of Boling!" Xiao Changche said. "Currently, the Cui family of Boling has successfully persuaded about twenty aristocratic families to form an elite army of more than 50,000 men, which is rushing to Boling County to assemble. The core of these 50,000 men consists of 5,000 armored soldiers from the Cui family of Boling, 3,000 elite soldiers from the Li family of Guanzhong, and 2,000 White Feather soldiers from the Yang family of Hongnong."

Upon hearing this, Ma Liang raised an eyebrow and laughed, "What exactly did Protector Li do in the pass this time? To make these aristocratic families so desperate that they even took out their most treasured assets? Could it be that he stole something from someone else, just like in Jiangnan..." Ma Dacheng coughed repeatedly.

Ma Liang suddenly realized what was happening, and his face turned deathly pale. He looked at the other people in the room; some were frantically flipping through files in front of them, some were straightening their clothes, and some were fiddling with their nails. But no one was looking at him.

"I need to pee, let's discuss this first!" Ma Liang stood up and, under Xiao Changche's cold gaze, took a few steps out of the room. The moment the door closed, Ma Liang's legs went weak and he almost fell to the ground.

As the door slammed shut, the quiet room instantly came alive again.

Ma Dacheng chuckled dryly a few times and said, "With these 50,000 men arriving, plus Linghu Zhishu's troops here, the enemy will exceed 100,000. Protector, do we need to mobilize troops?"

"Although the enemy is numerous, they are internally divided. The Protector-General said in his letter that the main force of the attack will definitely be these private armies, while Linghu Ye's direct troops will probably be in the rear to hold the line. If the aristocratic families win, Linghu's army will naturally advance."

"What if I lose?"

"If they lose, these aristocratic families will become mere accessories and lackeys of Linghu Ye, and will never again be qualified to stand on equal footing with him!"

"I see!" everyone exclaimed in realization.

This is a strategy of using one tiger to devour another.

"Now that we know the enemy wants to use us to achieve their goals, we naturally can't let them have their way!" An Xuan tugged at his long beard, looking somewhat troubled. "But no matter whether we win or lose, we'll still help that Linghu Ye. What should we do?"

"What's so difficult about it?" Xiao Changche said calmly, "Don't Li Guohua and Linghu Zhishu want to sit on the sidelines and watch the tigers fight, then let's have a showdown and the fisherman reap the benefits? Then let's catch them all in one fell swoop and take them all down!"

Gu Xiaoman pondered for a moment, then turned to look at the map again, and said hesitantly, "Protector, do you intend to launch the battle at Tiger Roar Plain at the same time as we are fighting them?"

Xiao Changche nodded.

"I'm afraid our forces are insufficient!" Gu Xiaoman said. "Should we send more troops?"

“If we mobilize more troops, Mao Daxian will go crazy!” Xiao Changche shook his head: “Our original intention was just to draw the enemy’s forces away and relieve the pressure on Jiangnan. Now that we are suddenly launching such a large-scale war, Mao Daxian will definitely not be willing. Besides, Yangguan now has 40,000 men, which is enough.”

(End of this chapter)