Without money, what is the point of being a traitor?

Chapter 489 Qi Yanming's New Identity

Song Yan, Mi Bin and others were stunned and found it difficult to accept the change in their status for a while.

I have an irreconcilable relationship with Luojiao, and the words are still fresh in my mind...

Chen Toutie didn't care about that. When everyone was gathered, he started to conduct joint training on the flat ground in the mountains.

A large portion of the weapons they replaced were of illegal origin.

The channel was mainly the group of people who madly rushed into the black market when the front-line army in Huguang was disbanded. In addition, there were also some people from the Jiangxi bandit-suppression chief Chen Jin's department, the Shandong anti-Japanese war chief Shi Yong's department, and the major forts in Nanzhili.

When the Huguang front was disbanded, a large number of weapons and equipment were sold at extremely low prices. When Chen Toutie heard about this way, he spent a lot of money to buy a batch of them.

Although other miscellaneous items are from the black market, they are not cheap.

There are several nice pieces of armor that are very expensive, and their origins are extraordinary, as they were bought at high prices from the "Four Outer Armies".

In short, don't be afraid of being checked.

Chen Toutie was a Jinyiwei who specialized in torture, so naturally he didn't know much about how to train soldiers.

When there are fewer people, I can still give orders.

When there are too many people, things often become chaotic.

Sometimes, I can't remember everything and I might give some confusing orders to a certain unit of soldiers.

It just so happened that Chen Toutie's military advisor, Zhitou Dajiu Tian Fu, had gone to Beijing to take the exam, which made Chen Toutie very upset.

After practicing for two days, Chen Toutie felt like he was having a hard time.

After thinking for a long time, Chen Toutie suddenly remembered Qi Yanming, the bandit leader of Bazhou who was sent to him by Captain Pei.

Qi Yanming led his army across the country, wreaking havoc in the north. With a group of unorganized rabble, he was able to capture cities and flee at the speed of fire. He really was born to do this.

As soon as this idea came to his mind, Chen Toutie felt a little itchy.

He specifically asked someone to find Pei Yuan to ask, and got Pei Yuan's promise that "you can give it a try".

Then, Qi Yanming, who had been idle for a long time, was pulled out to help Chen Toutie train his troops.

A tough guy like Qi Yanming has been idle for several months and his bones are itching from boredom.

Seeing this opportunity, I immediately agreed.

With Qi Yanming's help, this large group of soldiers indeed became able to advance and retreat in an orderly manner in the subsequent exercises, and their offensive rotations were quite organized.

When Pei Yuan arrived at Tai'an Prefecture and witnessed the joint training of various armies, he was also very satisfied.

The Bazhou thief commander who has commanded large-scale battles and made a name for himself is indeed worthy of his reputation.

Chen Toutie was very envious of Qi Yanming's prestige. Out of the simple emotion of "I also want to show off", he also wanted to ask Pei Yuan for advice in private.

It’s a pity that Pei Yuan is not able to handle such a systematic and comprehensive organizational work as large-scale combat.

Except for people like Wang Shouren who have not yet shown their talents.

So far, Pei Yuan has seen only one person who does the best job.

——Lu Wan.

For an army of more than 200,000, just completing the scheduling, logistics and military supplies is a huge project.

Let alone fighting a war, just being able to arrange the four items of "eating, drinking, defecating and urinating" in an orderly manner requires strong organizational skills.

With the combined attack from multiple directions, Lu Wan was able to organize a tight defense line that forced the Bazhou army to have nowhere to escape. This level of ability was already better than many commanders of this era.

If Lu Wan had been the commander-in-chief of the rebels instead of an insider during the Ning Wang Rebellion, the Ning Wang Rebellion might have had a different ending.

Fortunately, Pei Yuan did not mobilize many troops this time. Chen Xinjian and the five Hundred Households each had 200 elite soldiers from Xuzhou. In addition, they were equipped with more than 800 strong Luo sect members in a ratio of one to two.

The total number of people added up to 1,200, which was like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut to deal with Zhang Yong's team.

Pei Yuan mobilized such a large force this time, not only to ensure that no one was left alive, but also to conduct a military exercise in a small area to run in the combat power at hand.

Chen Xinjian and Chen Toutie were both very happy to see each other.

After the two of them whispered for a while, Chen Toutie ran over with Qi Yanming and said to Pei Yuan with some concern, "Captain, Qi Yanming has invaded Shandong several times. He looks fierce and has an extraordinary physique. I'm afraid he will be remembered."

"What if after a while, someone recognizes me?"

Pei Yuan glanced at Qi Yanming, who scratched his head awkwardly, also feeling that his identity was a nuisance.

Pei Yuan looked back at Chen Toutie and asked calmly, "Why didn't you think about this before you used him?"

"Uh." Chen Toutie hesitated for a moment and told the truth, "Anyway, Qianhu has a way."

Pei Yuan was so angry at this answer that he almost laughed. It turned out that he was counting on me to clean up the mess.

Pei Yuan sighed and commented, "If he were half as smart as your brother..."

Pei Yuan didn't say anything else. Chen Toutie lowered his head in shame.

The reason why Pei Yuan swallowed his words halfway was that he suddenly thought that if Chen Toutie had half the smartness of Chen Xinjian, Pei Yuan would never let him be in charge of such a huge cult organization.

Even though Chen Toutie was a bit stubborn, Pei Yuan also arranged for someone like Tian Fu, who had both an open and hidden identity, to help interfere in the various affairs of the Luo Sect.

Moreover, Pei Yuan also divested himself of the huge manpower and wealth, thus ensuring that Luo Sect could not operate without him.

In addition, those Xuzhou soldiers who were closely loyal to Pei Yuan were also used in large numbers in Shandong by Pei Yuan.

Some of them followed Chen Toutie to become the backbone of Luo Sect, while others turned into five nails driven into the five prefectures.

If the Luo Sect is in danger of getting out of control, these five branches will immediately cut off their connections with each other and contact those forces still loyal to Pei Yuan to launch a cleanup operation.

Pei Yuan hopes that this meeting and joint operation will make them realize their respective roles.

Pei Yuan interrupted his thoughts and reminded Chen Toutie, "Think about who you are."

"Me?" Chen Toutie was stunned for a moment, then said firmly with a loyal look on his face, "I am Qian Hu's dog!"

This answer almost hurt Pei Yuan internally. After a while, he couldn't help but complain, "Chen Toutie, you are really a talent."

Seeing Chen Toutie's convinced look, Pei Yuan couldn't help but remind him silently, "You are a cult leader, a cult leader!"

Chen Toutie still didn't understand what Pei Yuan meant.

Pei Yuan simply said, "Recognize it if you can."

"You might as well tell those believers that this is the dead Qi Yanming. It's just that you used your great magic power to transform him into a ghost general. He will be under your command and will be invincible!"

When Chen Toutie heard Pei Yuan's words, his mouth opened wide.

Is this okay for riding on a horse? !

Qi Yanming looked at Pei Yuan in bewilderment, "Captain, I'm listening."

Pei Yuan scolded, "Listen, why don't you hurry up and do something?" Qi Yanming was still confused, "Then what should I do?"

Pei Yuan said, "Since you are a refined ghost general, you should wear black clothes and black armor from now on, and wear a large helmet with a mask on your head. Don't laugh at others normally."

"Of course, it's not appropriate for the military to call you by your name in the future, to avoid causing trouble."

Qi Yanming became more and more uneasy, "What's my name then?"

Pei Yuan subconsciously wanted to say "My son Fengxian", but then he thought it didn't seem very auspicious.

Thinking about the tall and strong Qi Yanming wearing black clothes and armor, and riding a black horse on the battlefield, he immediately changed his words and said, "Let them call you the Death Knight from now on."

Qi Yanming felt awkward for a while, but suddenly felt that it was not bad.

Pei Yuan patted Qi Yanming on the shoulder and said, "Aqi, work hard for me. I will restore your name and make you famous in the world in the future."

Qi Yanming was in a complicated mood for a while, and sighed, "You saved my life, so whatever you say is what it is. Besides, working with you is much more reliable than following Sixth Brother and Seventh Brother."

With Pei Yuan personally in charge, everything seemed to be easily sorted out.

Not only did the Xuzhou elite cooperate more seamlessly during training, but even the Luo believers were able to integrate smoothly under the influence of this atmosphere.

Qi Yanming, dressed in black, looked even more majestic.

His mere appearance on the battlefield was enough to visibly boost morale.

Although Song Yan, Mi Bin and others had some guesses in their minds, they did not dare to ask more questions.

Pei Yuan saw that the five people were hesitant, but he didn't intend to explain to them.

Pei Yuan had the friendship to let them die for him, and he also had the order to let them die for him.

In many cases, not everyone is eligible to choose.

As the team's training became more and more smooth, Pei Yuan also began to pay close attention to Zhang Yong's movements.

After Zhang Yong happily collected a large sum of money, perhaps because all the money that could be collected had been collected, he slowly began to increase the speed.

When passing through Liaocheng, the ceremony he received was far less than he expected. The team heading south also changed their previous procrastination and chose to head south quickly.

Zhang Yong couldn't wait to enter the territory of Nanzhili to gain more benefits.

After weighing the pros and cons, Pei Yuan decided to wait until Zhang Yong passed Yanggu before taking action.

From Yanggu to the south is the former territory of Liangshan Lake, which belonged to Dongping Prefecture. Beyond Liangshan Lake is Jining Prefecture, and beyond Jining Prefecture is the important town of Xuzhou.

If we take action after Zhang Yong leaves Jining and enters Xuzhou, it will be easy to throw the trouble to Xuzhou Wei and Xuzhou Zuowei.

Xuzhou Wei was the source of troops in Pei Yuan’s plan, and Xuzhou Zuo Wei was Pei Yuan’s own people.

Between Xuzhou and Yanggu are Jining Prefecture and Dongping Prefecture.

If we choose to take action in Jining Prefecture, it would be difficult to completely cover up our tracks in a place like Jining where there is frequent commercial exchanges.

Looking further ahead, we will reach the Liangshan Lake area of ​​Dongping Prefecture.

The name itself carries a story background, and it is easy to mislead people in the direction of the case under the stereotype.

Moreover, Dongping Prefecture only has one thousand-household garrison, so if anything unexpected happens, there is room for response.

After selecting the place, Pei Yuan organized his men and quickly moved south.

The distance from Tai'an Prefecture to Liangshan Lake is not far, but in order to march secretly, they have to hide during the day and move at night, and then use some villages controlled by Luojiao to rest and advance to the preset location as soon as possible.

Fortunately, in this era, the mobility of the registered population was very poor. On the official roads, there were usually only some traveling merchants, civil servants, and a small number of scholars who traveled to study.

Those village roads that are separated from the official roads can be almost completely isolated from information as long as confidentiality is ensured.

Pei Yuan and others all had official identities, and with the help of some covert care, they managed to enter Dongping Prefecture and lurk in the Liangshan Lake area by relying on several strongholds and villages without alerting outsiders. Miraculously, they did so.

Qi Yanming had attacked Shandong several times and had some impression of the general environment. He was also an expert at robbing and looting.

Pei Yuan went with him to scout the area again and selected a dense forest for an ambush.

In order to determine the exact time to launch the attack, Pei Yuan asked Chen Xinjian to take a small number of people and march north along the official road to look for the traces of Zhang Yong and his party.

The Jinyiwei were good at gathering intelligence, and they quickly contacted the stalkers and locked down the location of Zhang Yong and his group.

Pei Yuan roughly estimated the time and led his men to ambush in the selected forest before dawn.

In order to ensure that no one was left alive, Qi Yanming divided his troops into several groups and deployed them in key positions.

Chen Xinjian also brought a small team of people wearing official uniforms, acting as the Embroidered Uniform Guards, to control the merchant groups entering the ambush area.

From morning to noon, a total of seven or eight merchant caravans came along the official road. Before they entered the ambush area, they were stopped by Chen Xinjian and the Jinyiwei, and then led into the roadside woods and killed.

Among them was a group of people including a prefect who was going to Luzhou to take up his post, and he was also ruthlessly dealt with.

The soldiers lying in ambush nearby could vaguely see what was happening on the official road ahead.

Seeing Chen Xinjian leading his troops to stop people again and again, and leading people to the woods beside the road to kill them again and again, everyone was affected by the cruel and cold-blooded atmosphere.

Even those Luo believers who were doing this for the first time were gripped by inexplicable emotions.

After a while, someone came running hurriedly from a distance.

Chen Xinjian immediately went up to him, and after a few words, Chen Xinjian waved his hands towards the forest.

Pei Yuan immediately reminded the soldiers lying in ambush beside him, "Here they come! Everyone, cheer up!"

The soldiers of Xuzhou Guard had fought in tough battles before, so they just looked a little more serious. Luo Jiao's auxiliary soldiers became slightly agitated.

Shandong had just experienced several rounds of abuses by the Bazhou Army, and many places had spontaneously organized militia to protect themselves.

When these people were gathered for training, they didn't realize anything.

After all, this is the way the world is. You have to be able to protect yourself in order to live a good life.

Liang Ci's massacre of more than 200 people in the village was caused by his impoliteness to the officials who came to the scene, which angered them.

Otherwise, such a small matter will not even be worth a penny.

However, when they saw their people constantly intercepting and killing people on the official road, many Luo believers knew that something was wrong.

But the more this happened, the less they dared to talk.

Song Yan bravely asked what he should do, but Pei Yuan was too lazy to answer him and just told him to wait for orders.

Song Yan had experienced the battle of Yanggu and was well aware of Captain Pei's powerful power, so he dared not say anything more.

After a while, dust was seen on the official road in the distance, and a large group of soldiers and officers were slowly approaching with dozens of carriages.

Song Yan looked at the government troops, and his heart seemed to drop suddenly, and then rise suddenly.

(End of this chapter)