Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 551: Breaking the Cup
Soon, all the generals arrived.

Xu Xiancheng's eyes swept towards the people sitting below. During the days he was inspecting Dengzhou, Xu Xiancheng was not wasting time. He had a thorough understanding of the situation in Dengzhou and even the situation in the army.

He had met every one of the generals present, and had talked with many of them, so he was very clear about their identities and origins. When he was sure that all the people who needed to come had come, Xu Xiancheng remained calm on the surface, but secretly heaved a sigh of relief. It was good that everyone was here, and it was not a big deal if not everyone was here. If one or two were missing, it would be troublesome.

Everyone originally thought that Sun Yuanhua would announce the start of the meeting and explain the next military arrangements, but unexpectedly, it was Li Xin instead of Sun Yuanhua who spoke first.

Seeing that the time was almost up and everyone had arrived, Li Xin cleared his throat and announced the start of the meeting. Then Li Xin first informed everyone about Kong Youde's rebellion, and told everyone that Kong Youde's troops had successively captured Linyi, Lingxian, Shanghe, Qingcheng cities, and led the troops straight to Dengzhou.

"Kong Youde rebelled and plundered the local area, causing great harm. As a military general of the court, he did not think of serving the country, but instead led his troops to rebel. Now he is leading his troops straight to Dengzhou. His crime is unforgivable!" Li Xin said in a decisive tone, looking at everyone with a sharp gaze, and a murderous aura was revealed on his body.

"Lord Li is right!" As soon as Li Xin finished speaking, Geng Zhongming stood up and clasped his fists and said, "Although I have an old friendship with Kong Youde, I am not ashamed of his behavior. Kong Youde repays kindness with enmity, rebels against the court, massacres local people, and harms the people. This is simply unkind. I am ashamed to associate with such a person. It is a good opportunity for Kong Youde to come to Dengzhou. I would like to ask him to lead the troops out of the city and compete with Kong Youde. I will definitely capture this official alive to repay the emperor's kindness!"

"I am also willing to go to the battlefield and kill Kong Youde! Please allow me to use Kong Youde's head to sacrifice to the people who were harmed by him!" As soon as Geng Zhongming finished speaking, a man stood up beside him. This man was the guerrilla general Zhang Tao.

Then, the other generals also expressed their attitude, scolding the rebellious Kong Youde and the chaotic army, and patting their chests to assure Sun Yuanhua that they would make sure that Kong Youde, the bastard, would never return.

Seeing this scene, Sun Yuanhua, who had been expressionless and livid before, couldn't help but be moved. A look of relief flashed across his face, and he even looked at Xu Xiancheng standing aside. Although he didn't say anything, there was a hint of meaning in his eyes.

The implication was clearly to question Xu Xiancheng, "Don't you, Xu Xiancheng, distrust me?" He also said that Liao generals were also untrustworthy. Now look at what attitude these Liao generals have? What is their stance?
As the army of the Ming Dynasty, whether it is the Liao army or the Shandong army, they are all official armies of the Ming Dynasty. We cannot knock down the whole ship just because of Kong Youde! Kong Youde is Kong Youde, and the others are others. How can we doubt the loyalty of others just because of Kong Youde?

He did nothing wrong. It was also right for him to trust and use the Liao generals and the Liao army. If there was a problem, it was only that he trusted Kong Youde wrongly.

Feeling Sun Yuanhua's gaze towards him, Xu Xiancheng remained unmoved and continued to pay attention to the behavior of those generals.

To be honest, Xu Xiancheng was now doubting whether his judgment was a little too sensitive, but as soon as this thought came to his mind, it was suppressed.

Xu Xiancheng didn't dare to gamble because he couldn't afford to lose. In this situation, even the smallest probability would still happen. Once he made a wrong move, he would be doomed. Even if he wronged these people now, it would be better than regretting it later.

If you are wronged now, you still have a chance to make amends. But if you trust the wrong person and make the wrong decision, then it will be impossible to change it.

Thinking of this, Xu Xiancheng looked resolute and no longer considered Sun Yuanhua's thoughts. He immediately nodded slightly to Li Xin. Li Xin naturally understood what was going on. After everyone's emotions had calmed down a little, Li Xin spoke a lot of words of encouragement and gratitude, and also expressed his trust in everyone on behalf of the court and Sun Yuanhua.

Then, Li Xin told everyone that Sun Yuanhua had decided to fight the rebels in Dengzhou. Considering that Kong Youde's troops were not weak in combat, Laiden was prepared to adopt a two-pronged attack tactic, and Zhang Keda, the general of Laizhou, would lead his troops to reinforce Dengzhou. The order had been issued, and according to the time calculation, Zhang Keda would lead his troops to come tomorrow at the latest.

As for Dengzhou, except for leaving two thousand people to garrison, the rest of the troops in Dengzhou went out of the city and fought together with Zhang Keda, tying down Kong Youde's army on one route and directly cutting off Kong Youde's retreat on the other.

As long as Kong Youde's retreat is cut off, the two armies will attack the rebels from the front and back. By then, the troops in Dengzhou City will also seize the opportunity and attack at the critical moment, defeating Kong Youde's army in one fell swoop.

This arrangement is quite standard and does not have too many problems. It is also the best solution for the current situation. You should know that Kong Youde is a rebel. Although he has captured various cities, he has no foundation in Shandong and Leiden. His purpose of attacking Dengzhou is nothing more than to take Dengzhou's food and ships in the port. As long as he takes Dengzhou, he can hold on. If that doesn't work, he can also take a boat to the north.

If Kong Youde did not attack Dengzhou, he would have nowhere to go in the heartland of the Ming Dynasty. Ming troops would be everywhere. No matter how powerful his troops were, they were insufficient in number and lacked food. The only outcome left for him was defeat.

The generals present were all experienced and could understand Kong Youde's intentions. Moreover, Sun Yuanhua's countermeasures were not problematic in general. Zhang Keda's Shandong army plus the troops that went out of Dengzhou to fight were more than twice the number of Kong Youde's troops. Even if their combat effectiveness was slightly weaker, they were still enough to suppress the other side.

Moreover, once Kong Youde's retreat was cut off and he was attacked from both sides, the morale of the rebels was already low, and the chances of winning this battle were very high. Therefore, everyone had no idea about this plan, but as to who would go to the battle, everyone rushed to express their willingness to go, and the most anxious person among them was Geng Zhongming.

However, Li Xin disagreed with Geng Zhongming's request. He smiled and said that Geng Zhongming was a lieutenant general of the Central Army and should be stationed in Dengzhou. It was unreasonable to send the Central Army to fight. So he thought it would be more appropriate to send someone else. In terms of the rank of the Central Army present, apart from Geng Zhongming, there was also the guerrilla general Zhang Tao. Zhang Tao was also a fierce general, so it would be more appropriate for him to fight.

Zhang Tao was very happy to hear that he was given the task of fighting. Although Geng Zhongming was a little disappointed, he quickly calmed down and said that since Sun Yuanhua had already made arrangements, he, as the lieutenant general of the central army, would execute the order and ensure that Dengzhou City was safe.

Then, Li Xin selected a few more people, all of whom were generals of the Liao army, and asked them to assist Zhang Tao and Geng Zhongming in fighting and defending the city. When they heard this arrangement, the remaining Shandong army generals looked very unhappy. In their opinion, Kong Youde, a Liao general, had already rebelled. It was incredible that Sun Yuanhua not only did not guard against these Liao generals at this time, but also still reused them. But the problem was that they could not object. The Ming Dynasty was originally a country where civil officials were valued and military officials were despised. Sun Yuanhua was the governor. Not to mention these low-level officers, even the general Zhang Keda could not disobey Sun Yuanhua's orders. Since Sun Yuanhua had decided so, they could only listen to his arrangements.

After the explanation, the Liao generals present were all very excited. Some of them subconsciously exchanged glances with a complicated look on their faces, and no one knew what they were thinking.

Then, Li Xin had someone bring wine and personally poured it for all the generals to show his respect and also to congratulate them on their success and achievements in the next battle.

Li Xin, as the head of the Ministry of War, personally poured the wine, so naturally no one would refuse. Moreover, it was an honor for such rough guys like them to have a civil servant pour wine for them.

Geng Zhongming and others immediately stood up, took the poured wine from Li Xin one by one with a smile on their faces, and then once again assured all the adults to rest assured that as long as they took action, it would be no problem to deal with Kong Youde and suppressing the rebellion would be a piece of cake.

"In that case, I'll leave Leiden to you generals!" Li Xin said with a smile, raising his glass.

"You are too polite, sir. I will definitely take off Kong Youde's head. Please rest assured." Everyone felt very fortunate and quickly raised their glasses in response.

"Come! Let's drink together!"

"Drink together!"

Li Xin raised his glass with a smile and put it to his lips. At this time, all the generals also raised their glasses and put them to their lips.

Suddenly, Li Xin's hand loosened, and the wine glass he was holding fell to the ground. There was a crisp clang, and the white porcelain wine glass instantly shattered on the blue bricks on the ground.

The noise made everyone stunned. Before they could come to their senses, suddenly more than a dozen fully armed Jinyiwei appeared from everywhere. These Jinyiwei were agile and had clear goals when they appeared. They saw the cold light of swords flashing, and all the Liao generals present had weapons around their necks, leaving everyone else stunned.

"This... why is this happening?" Geng Zhongming was the first to come to his senses. There were knives on both sides of his neck. The blades were so sharp that if he dared to move, his throat would be cut directly.

"Sir Sun! What are you doing? Why are you treating me like this?" Zhang Tao also shouted anxiously. They had never expected such a thing to happen. Then the other Liao generals also panicked, fearing that Sun Yuanhua would directly attack them and take their lives.

"Why don't you know yet?" Xu Xiancheng stood up and said coldly, "Kong Youde is a Liao general and has now rebelled. As Kong Youde's colleagues and brothers, isn't it normal for you to do this?"

"Unfair! Unfair!" Geng Zhongming shouted, "Kong Youde is Kong Youde, and I am Geng Zhongming. How can his rebellion outside be related to us? Although Kong Youde and I are indeed former colleagues, we are also Ming Dynasty soldiers! Moreover, since we went to Pi Island to seek refuge with the governor, we have been highly valued by him. We are so grateful that we don't have time to learn from him, Kong Youde, to betray the court and the governor!"

"General Geng is right. How can Kong Youde's rebellion be related to us? If Lord Xu says so, then no one in the Ming army can be trusted. Wouldn't all the generals be arrested and punished? How can this be justified?"

"Yes, yes, yes! We are wronged! Wronged! Your Excellency the Governor, we are wronged!"

All the Liao generals immediately shouted that they were wronged. After listening to their words, several Shandong generals hesitated to speak, as if they wanted to plead for them. After all, Kong Youde's rebellion had nothing to do with these people. Although they were all Liao soldiers, they couldn't drag the entire Liao army into it because of Kong Youde's problem, right? This was really too much.

Sun Yuanhua looked even more miserable. He had originally trusted these Liao generals, and he didn't believe they would betray him like Kong Youde. Now Xu Xiancheng suddenly broke the cup as a signal to attack without any evidence, and directly controlled these Liao generals. Wouldn't this behavior chill the hearts of the generals?

Facing this situation, Xu Xiancheng looked calm. He said calmly: "Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. Regardless of whether you have committed any crime or not, I dare not gamble. Many of you have close ties with Kong Youde. Some are Kong Youde's old colleagues, some are his subordinates, and some are even his sworn brothers."

"Kong Youde has started a rebellion and has already reached Dengzhou. A major war is about to begin. At this time, do I dare to hand over the army to you? I have always been timid and I don't have the heart to gamble. To be on the safe side, I can only temporarily inconvenience you. After defeating Kong Youde and putting down the rebellion, I will naturally investigate thoroughly. If you have no connection with Kong Youde and are indeed innocent, I will personally apologize to you generals."

After saying these words, Xu Xiancheng no longer looked at these people. He waved his hand and the Jinyiwei who controlled these people tied up Geng Zhongming and others tightly with great skill. In order to avoid trouble, he stuffed hemp seeds in their mouths so that they could not even make a sound. Then they were dragged and sent to the back for detention and guard.

(End of this chapter)