Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 488 All Four Towns Rebel (A Long Chapter of 10,000 Words)
"Drive! Drive! Drive..."

In early February, people had already gathered in the fields to sow spring millet.

In the distance, the wheat fields are lush and green, and with just over two months until harvest time, the people are all smiles, hoping for a good summer and autumn harvest this year.

Even when fast horses galloped past on the official road, they could hardly attract the attention of the people until the horses got closer and closer to the city.

Pingzhou Lulong County, as an important node for resisting the Xi people and controlling Yingzhou and Liaodong, has been known for its fierce and valiant people since ancient times.

For this reason, Pingzhou often produced skilled archers and horsemen, and it was also one of the important recruitment sites for elite cavalry in Youzhou.

Pingzhou is currently governed by Zhang Gongsu, the governor of Pingzhou. Zhang Gongsu has been in Pingzhou for more than ten years and has trained many border guards and cavalry for Lulong Town. He is deeply loved by the army and his prestige is second only to Zhang Yunshen of Youzhou.

Under such circumstances, it would be impossible for Zhang Gongsu, who was only fifty years old, to say that he had no interest in the position of military governor of Lulong.

Furthermore, due to prevailing social norms, Zhang Gongsu's ambition to become the military governor of Lulong was never concealed.

Otherwise, Zhang Yunshen would not have started his scheme before his death. And Zhang Yunshen was not the only one who made the scheme; Zhang Gongsu had also planted many confidants and spies in various prefectures.

For this reason, after Zhang Yunshen fell seriously ill, someone sent news from Youzhou, but Zhang Gongsu was unsure of the situation and did not send troops.

After all, Zhang Yunshen had been seriously ill several times in the past few years, but each time he seemed to have managed to escape danger.

After waiting for several days, he finally received crucial intelligence.

"Zhang Jianhui led 30,000 government troops into Guizhou. It seems that old codger Zhang Yunshen is really dead!"

Inside the Pingzhou government office, a purple-robed nobleman, over fifty years old yet full of energy, held an urgent report in his hand with ambition, his eyes gleaming.

He had a rugged appearance, and even though he was over fifty, he was still strong and powerful, and you could vaguely see his burly figure under his robe.

The three military commanders standing in front of him bowed to him as soon as he spoke: "My lord, Zhang Jianhui is nothing but a playboy, and the imperial court is already clashing with Yanhai and Weibo."

"Thirty thousand troops are probably all the troops the court can send to Lulong. Our army has tens of thousands of cavalry, and tens of thousands of troops from the three prefectures of Tan, Yan, and Ji to support us, while Youzhou has only about ten thousand cavalry and infantry."

"As long as you lead your army to Youzhou and take it down with lightning speed, you will have 30,000 troops."

"That's right. When the north is stable, the two prefectures of Mo and Ying in the south will inevitably surrender."

"In this way, our army has 40,000 soldiers and has also obtained the armories of various states, so we can raise an army of 100,000 at any time."

"Even though Liu Jilong was at the height of his power, he still had to compromise with our army."

The three military commanders offered their self-righteous advice, and Zhang Gongsu was able to continuously expand his influence throughout the army right under Zhang Yunshen's nose, which naturally showed that he had his own abilities.

Faced with the three men's denigration of the government troops, Zhang Gongsu still had some foresight: "Liu Jilong defeated the government troops several times, and then pacified more than ten towns in half a year, which is enough to demonstrate his strength."

"Judging from his troops, even if they are not as good as ours, they are not much worse."

"Even if Lulong Town alone can repel these 30,000 government troops and recapture Guizhou, it is still too weak to fight alone. We still need to win over other towns."

"Hasn't Liu Jilong already started a war with Weibo? If that's the case, then let's drag Chengde into it too."

"If we combine the strength of our three towns, even if Liu Jilong's army of hundreds of thousands attacks, our three towns will remain unmoved."

As soon as Zhang Gongsu finished speaking, he looked at one of them and said, "Send someone to Jizhou to tell Chen Gongyan that after this battle, I will support him to become a military commander!"

"Furthermore, I will send someone with a letter from a certain person to Chengde. Even if Wang Jingchong is unwilling to raise an army, with both towns rising up, how can he possibly survive alone?"

"Yes!" The three military officers all responded. Upon seeing this, Zhang Gongsu turned to look at the "Map of Lulong Prefectures" hanging in the hall.

"After twenty-four years, the position of Military Governor of Lulong is rightfully mine!"

As he finished speaking, Cao Mao, who had been stationed in Huai Rong City and had been resting for three days, convened a military council in the yamen as a person in a superior position.

At that time, Cao Mao sat in the main seat, with the awkward Zhang Jianhui sitting next to him. To his left sat military officers such as Geng Huan, Chen Bingwen, and Dou Jing, while to his right sat Lu Long generals such as Li Maoxun and Li Keju.

Seeing the arrival of the crowd, Cao Mao looked at Li Maoxun and asked, "Commander Li, have you recruited enough civilian laborers for the army?"

In order to quickly enter Guizhou, Cao Mao and his men recruited only a small number of laborers, less than three thousand in number.

With just this number of laborers, it was simply impossible to support a large army to advance eastward and occupy Youzhou.

"General Cao, please forgive me. Guizhou is a military fortress with a population of only 20,000 and fewer than 5,000 laborers that can be recruited."

"If it weren't for the Duke of Yan's prior arrangements, the resources of Guizhou would have been insufficient to support the expenses of an army of 40,000."

Li Maoxun spoke truthfully, and Zhang Jianhui quickly added, "There are still 200,000 shi of grain in the granary, enough to feed 60,000 soldiers and civilians for half a year."

“Currently, Changping is garrisoned by troops arranged by Zhang Gongsu. If they obstruct us, we will certainly have difficulty passing through Jizhou Gate.”

"Why not wait here until the King of Han personally leads his army north before advancing eastward?"

Li Maoxun and Zhang Jianhui were not very supportive of Cao Mao's eastward advance to seize Youzhou. After all, inviting a wolf into the house was one thing, but internal strife was another.

Cao Mao had observed the attitudes of the two men, but after years of fighting the Tatars, he had already tempered his temperament.

Faced with the two men's excuses, Cao Mao insisted, "Since Your Highness has sent me here with the army, it is only to end this chaos."

"The essence of Lulong is mostly around Youyan and Moying. You all said before that Yanzhou is close to Zhang Gongsu, so our army must take Youzhou."

"Otherwise, with only the people of Guizhou, it would be difficult for a large army to advance eastward, let alone anything else."

"Only with the support of hundreds of thousands of people in Youzhou can our army confront Zhang Gongsu in the Youyan region."

"If the area east of Jizhou falls entirely to Zhang Gongsu, dealing with him will become extremely difficult!"

"Since there are not enough laborers, then we will take five thousand elite cavalry from Guanzhong and five thousand elite cavalry from Youzhou, and take advantage of the night to leave Jizhou and occupy Ji County."

"Things will be much easier once we take Ji County!"

Cao Mao didn't give anyone a chance to object, and waved his hand, saying, "The army will break camp in two hours. We only need to carry half a month's worth of military rations."

"Dou Jing, you will lead 10,000 infantrymen to assist Li Bingma in garrisoning Guizhou. Chen Bingwen, you will lead 5,000 infantrymen to defend Jizhou."

"Geng Huan, you will lead five thousand cavalry and infantry, recruit laborers from Guizhou, and transport as much grain as you can to Jizhou Gate to await orders."

"The military order has arrived. Immediately lead the army and laborers to Ji County."

"Your subordinate obeys!!"

Li Maoxun and Zhang Jianhui were about to say something when they saw Geng Huan and the others stand up, bow, and accept the order.

Cao Mao didn't give the two a chance to react and looked directly at Zhang Jianhui: "The matter of Guizhou will be left to Military Commissioner Li."

"It seems that Prefect Zhang will have to suffer and accompany me on a trip to Ji County."

“Uh… okay.” Zhang Jianhui didn’t dare to refuse, while Li Maoxun felt that Cao Mao was a bit arrogant.

Although he also felt that Cao Mao's troops were incredibly powerful, Zhang Gongsu had tens of thousands of elite cavalry and nearly ten thousand infantrymen, as well as support from various provinces. If the two sides were to fight, the outcome would be hard to predict.

However, this is also good. Let Cao Mao suffer a loss and see the skills of the Youzhou cavalry. In the future, he and his son will be more valued.

Lost in thought, Li Maoxun led Li Keju out of the yamen and instructed him: "You will lead five thousand elite cavalry with you, and do not be arrogant."

"If Cao Mao orders you to attack, then go ahead and send troops to attack. As long as you have armor and horses, you won't have trouble finding good cavalry in Lulong!"

"Yes." Li Keju was somewhat unhappy, but he also knew that he was now a member of the imperial court, and if the court was defeated, they would hardly survive alone.

Upon receiving the order, he quickly mustered his troops outside the city and, together with Cao Mao, formed a force of nearly ten thousand elite cavalry, galloping towards Jizhou Gate.

After they set off, Geng Huan, Chen Bingwen, Dou Jing and others mustered their troops and arranged the situation according to Cao Mao's instructions.

Cao Mao left 5,000 Youzhou cavalrymen for Zhang Gongsu and Li Maoxun, but left 15,000 infantrymen to guard against them.

They knew this was a precaution, but they could only pretend not to understand.

"Buzzing, rumbling..."

Almost simultaneously, large armies set off from both the east and west sides of Lulong Town, their target being Youzhou, located in the center of Lulong.

Guizhou is the closest to Youzhou, but the Jizhou Gate is difficult to traverse, making marching slow.

Pingzhou is the furthest from Youzhou, and the road is flat, allowing for free travel.

As day and night passed, Cao Mao and his group, who were closest to the city, were the first to arrive at Ji County, the capital of Youzhou.

Upon learning that Zhang Jianhui was leading tens of thousands of elite cavalry, the gates of Ji County were opened wide. Cao Mao ordered Zheng Huai to lead three thousand Guanzhong cavalry to escort Zhang Jianhui into the city. After securing the city's defenses, he left seven thousand troops outside the city and led Zhang Jianhui into Ji County himself.

It must be said that, under Zhang Yunshen's years of management, Ji County was a remarkable prefecture-level city, even by the standards of Guanzhong and the Central Plains.

Youzhou had a population of over 200,000, with more than 50,000 residing in and around Ji County alone.

Nearly 10,000 troops were stationed in Youzhou, but only 3,000 infantrymen were stationed in Jixian, the capital of the prefecture. The reason was that Zhang Yunshen had transferred the more than 10,000 elite cavalry originally stationed in Jizhou to Guizhou.

Now that Cao Mao has brought Zhang Jianhui and his elite cavalry back, the people of Ji County, who had been anxious because Zhang Yunshen had not shown up for many days, immediately calmed down.

"how?"

Inside the Duke of Yan's mansion, Cao Mao saw Zhang Jianhui return from the main hall with red and swollen eyes, and immediately asked him about it.

"Aye's body has been placed in a coffin and stored in the mansion's icehouse."

"There are more than 46,000 people in Jixian City, and several thousand more in the market towns outside the city. There are 3,000 soldiers, 8,000 armored soldiers, 20,000 leather armored soldiers, 100,000 arrows in the armory, and 300,000 shi of grain in the granary."

"So much?" Even Cao Mao was taken aback when he heard that Ji County still had so much grain.

After all, Zhang Yunshen had supplied no less than a million shi of grain to the imperial court over the years, and Guizhou alone had 200,000 shi of grain. He had assumed that Zhang Yunshen had emptied his coffers to achieve this.

In retrospect, the wealth accumulated by Lulong over the years is not a small amount; the 300,000 shi of grain in Jixian City alone is enough to solve the court's urgent needs.

Cao Mao couldn't help but show a hint of joy, and then asked Zhang Jianhui, "Are you sure that the two prefectures of Mo and Ying won't side with Zhang Gongsu?"

"This, this..." Zhang Jian hesitated for a moment. Seeing this, Cao Mao understood why Zhang Yunshen was so busy finding a way out for his descendants.

With Zhang Jianhui's limited abilities, he couldn't even manage the most basic self-cultivation, let alone lead a family of hundreds of people.

Seeing his reaction, Cao Mao roughly guessed that Mo and Ying provinces would likely become enemies, so he could only bring reinforcements into You province before they rebelled.

"I have a letter. Right now, Yichang should have nearly 20,000 troops. If Yichang can send troops to reinforce us, or contain Mozhou and Yingzhou, our chances of winning will be much greater."

Cao Mao did not delay and had Zhang Jian take him to his study. He then sent a fast horse to deliver the letter to Cangzhou.

Although they occupied Ji County, apart from Ji County, which Zhang Jianhui could control, all the other counties in Youzhou were loyal to Zhang Gongsu.

Right now, they control what can be described as an isolated city.

For this reason, Cao Mao hurriedly sent a fast horse to urge Geng Huan to lead cavalry, infantry, and laborers to Ji County. At the same time, he ordered three thousand infantrymen in the city to dig trenches and build defensive fortifications such as ram's horn walls outside the market town of Ji County.

His actions were quickly reported to Zhang Gongsu in the east by spies in the city.

"The court of dogs and rats, how could it be so swift!"

The following morning, when Zhang Gongsu led his army across the Huguan River (Baihe River) and was only about fifty li away from Ji County, he learned by fast horse that Cao Mao and Zhang Jianhui had already captured Ji County.

The two men's capture of Ji County forced Zhang Gongsu to take the matter seriously, as he knew that Ji County was well-fortified and had ample supplies.

Currently, the two sides are evenly matched in terms of troop strength. If they launch a rash attack, they could easily end up benefiting the enemy.

Thinking of this, he swallowed his anger and said, "Station in Luxian County, and send fast horses to all the prefectures and counties to say that Zhang Jianhui has brought a wolf into the house and is preparing to use the imperial army to intimidate the prefectures, following the example of the towns in the Central Plains, abolishing the generals and driving out the soldiers!"

"If the generals in the town trust me, then raise an army and join me in punishing Zhang Jianhui!"

"Yes!" The left and right military commanders responded, and then Zhang Gongsu led his army into Luxian County and rode away in all directions.

The journey from Ji County to Cangzhou is three hundred li, but for a fast horse, it takes only two days and nights.

At this time, the two prefectures of Cang and De in Yichang were respectively stationed with 5,000 elite cavalry, 8,000 infantry and 10,000 infantry, totaling 23,000 troops.

Upon learning that Cao Mao had requested assistance, Husi Guang immediately led Ma Yi and 5,000 elite cavalry northward, leaving 18,000 troops for Wang Jian and Zhang Yanhui to garrison Yichang, in order to guard against attacks from Chengde, Weibo, and Lulong.

Meanwhile, the envoys sent by Zhang Gongsu quickly persuaded the military commanders of various prefectures and counties. Apart from Li Maoxun and his son from Guizhou and the support from Ji County, Zhang Jianhui had no one else to support him, which shows how bad his reputation was in the town.

If it weren't for Zhang Yunshen's methods during his lifetime and Liu Jilong's military support, he would probably have been driven out of Lulong by Zhang Gongsu by now, or even beheaded.

When news from the north reached Huaizhou, Liu Jilong, who was at the front line, was sitting on the riverbank of the Yellow River, wearing his battle coat, holding a letter in his hand and chewing on some wild grass.

If it weren't for his appearance not resembling that of a farmer, people would probably think he was a farmer resting here.

"Now that Zhang Gongsu has already mobilized his troops, the remaining 40,000 soldiers in Lulong will probably all fall under his command."

"That fellow Husi Guang led five thousand elite cavalry north to provide reinforcements. This move was truly reckless. Fortunately, Wang Jian stayed behind to guard the area, so nothing bad will happen to Cang and De prefectures."

General Liu Jilong put away the disc and turned to look at Li Shangyin, who was sitting on the ground next to him.

After Liu Jilong led his troops across the river, Li Shangyin volunteered to follow Liu Jilong northward, and Liu Jilong, seeing that he was still in relatively good health, granted his request.

Seeing Liu Jilong's nonchalant manner, Li Shangyin couldn't help but say, "Zhang Gongsu has been able to endure for so many years, so he is clearly not a fool."

"Right now, he has probably already sent someone to contact Wang Jingchong in Chengde, preparing for all three towns to rebel against the imperial court. Is Your Highness not worried at all?"

Although Li Shangyin had been in Longyou for a long time, his impression of the three towns in Hebei was still based on the past, and he felt that the three towns were difficult to subdue.

Not only him, but many people in the government and the public felt the same way. So even though Liu Jilong had raised an army of 100,000 to deal with the three towns, they still felt that the odds of winning were hard to predict.

In response to Li Shangyin's question, Liu Jilong chuckled and said, "It would be better if he made a move. If he does, it will save me a lot of trouble."

He spoke very casually in front of Li Shangyin, and Li Shangyin did not correct him, but simply watched him explain.

Liu Jilong raised his hand and pointed, saying, "There are only two points to consider when marching and fighting a war."

"First, we need to calculate: the enemy's troop strength, their marching speed, their supplies and equipment, and their marching route."

"If we can calculate everything correctly, we've already won half the battle."

Li Shangyin found the idea quite novel and couldn't help but ask, "And what's the second one?"

Liu Jilong laughed heartily and continued to instruct, "Secondly, deceive the enemy, make them misunderstand your troop strength, supplies, and marching speed, and catch them off guard."

"As long as you do these two things, there is no battle you cannot win."

Before Li Shangyin could speak, Liu Jilong said, "If the three towns all rebel, then I know they have no fewer than 150,000 troops. But do they know how many tens of thousands of troops we have mobilized?"

"What they want to know is what I want them to know."

"For example, if our army were to gather 100,000 troops to besiege them in Hebei, they would think that we could only mobilize 100,000 troops to deal with them."

"The number of troops in each location depends on how much of our forces are exposed, while they will adjust their troop deployment according to the local conditions."

Li Shangyin listened to what Liu Jilong was saying, and he understood some of it, yet he also felt that he didn't quite understand it.

"Our troops are roughly equal in strength, so even if they knew that, what difference would it make?"

Li Shangyin asked, but Liu Jilong's eyes lit up: "You know that our military strength is not much different, but do they know that?"

"Their so-called 150,000 troops are of varying strengths. Although they seem to be of equal numbers, they are utterly devastating in a real battle."

"Currently, I have gathered 60,000 troops in the north, An Pohu's 30,000 troops are in Henan, and my 20,000 troops are in Huaizhou."

"With this arrangement, how do you think they'll perceive us as preparing to deal with them?"

Liu Jilong's question silenced Li Shangyin. After a long while, he finally spoke: "Shouldn't we first pacify Lulong, then deal with Weibo, and finally subdue Chengde?"

"Yes and no," Liu Jilong said with a smile, pointing out to Li Shangyin and jokingly adding:
"I do intend to attack Weibo, but the attack on Weibo is just a pretense. Although the troops in Weibo are not good at field battles, they are excellent at defending cities, such as Chengde."

"That's why all the talented people in the world think that I should first conquer Lulong, then attack Weibo, and finally launch a pincer attack on Chengde."

"But if I did that, how could I dare to boast about quickly conquering the three towns?"

"Then you are..." Li Shangyin asked, but Liu Jilong laughed and said, "First attack Weibo, then use swift and decisive measures to pacify Zhaoyi in the three prefectures of Hebei."

Li Shangyin frowned upon hearing this, because in his mind, this was not a particularly clever tactic. However, Liu Jilong had a smile on his face, clearly indicating that he had a backup plan that he had not yet told him.

Before he could speak, Liu Jilong raised his hand and said, "Yishan, just wait for my good news in Huaizhou. Once the good news arrives, you'll know what I'm planning to do."

"Yes." Li Shangyin could only suppress his curiosity, while Liu Jilong waved to Zhao Ying in the distance.
Zhao Ying hurried over, and then saw Liu Jilong order: "Tell An Pohu to leave 10,000 troops to garrison the three prefectures in Henan, and let him lead the six armies of the Northern Army to Qizhou and then north to Dezhou."

"After arriving in Dezhou, he was ordered to join forces with Wang Jian with 20,000 troops and march through Pingyuan County at a speed of 30 li per day to attack Qinghe County, the seat of Weibo Beizhou."

"Remember, thirty li a day, neither too fast nor too slow." "Yes!" Zhao Ying was equally puzzled, but he still agreed.

After he agreed, Liu Jilong looked at Li Shangyin and asked, "How are the laborers and provisions being prepared?"

"150,000 shi have already been transported, and the remaining amount will be transported within about ten days. The 50,000 laborers have been gathered."

"Good!" Liu Jilong nodded, stood up, patted his backside and hands, and then said, "Imperial order: break camp at Chenshi (7-9 AM) tomorrow and march on Weizhou!"

"Yes!"

With Liu Jilong's imperial edict issued, the entire Huojia County became bustling with activity.

Over a hundred grain transport ships carrying 20,000 shi of grain set off with the army the following day.

Liu Jilong led 5,000 elite cavalry, 5,000 infantry, and 10,000 infantry from Hezhong and Heyang to advance eastward.

The 20,000-strong army began its assault along the canal, while Han Junxiong dispatched Le Yanzhen with 3,000 elite soldiers and 20,000 state troops to garrison Weixian County, abandoning Xinxiang, Gongcheng, and Jixian Counties to the west of Weixian.

Le Yanzhen had already suffered losses at the hands of the government troops and knew the power of their gunpowder and their ability to breach rammed earth walls. Therefore, he moved the population of the three counties to Wei County, preparing to confront Liu Jilong in the more fortified Wei County.

In just three days, Xinxiang, Gongcheng, and Jixian were recovered by Liu Jilong, and the army marched toward Weixian.

Upon learning that Liu Jilong had taken the initiative to attack Weibo territory, Chengde Town, who was already feeling uneasy, began to hesitate.

At this time, Zhang Gongsu's handwritten letter was presented to Wang Jingchong.

"Lulong and Weibo have already been captured by Liu Jilong. If we don't respond soon, we'll probably be next after Lulong and Weibo!"

Inside the Zhao Prefecture government office, all the military officers and soldiers of the town had gathered, and they were all clearly feeling considerable pressure.

Li Honggui, Liang Gongru, Fu Xi, and a dozen others sat in their seats. Among them, Li Honggui, who served as the deputy commander of the highest military post in Chengde Town and was in charge of military affairs, spoke up to respond to the call of the two towns.

"Since Liu Jilong marched eastward, he has never given the generals and soldiers of the various towns a way out. If we surrender, even if we gain wealth and honor, what will happen to the brothers in the towns?"

"In my opinion, we should immediately respond to the call of the two towns, issue a public statement to the world, identify Liu Jilong as a traitor to the country, and call on all towns to attack him."

"it is good!"

"That's how it should be!"

"If that's the case, then let's publish the article tonight!"

Li Honggui's words immediately garnered a response from the crowd, which made Wang Jingchong feel somewhat embarrassed.

After all, he was the real military governor of Chengdu, while Li Honggui was only his deputy.

"General, I believe that we should not only send a formal letter, but also dispatch a fast horse to order Lu Kuang, the military governor of Zhaoyi, to respond together."

"If Lu Kuang does not respond, our army should first subdue Lu Kuang, then take Yiwu and seize Yichang!"

Song Wentong suddenly stood up, and his suggestion was undoubtedly a good stepping stone for Wang Jingchong at that moment.

“What the Song garrison commander said is correct; we must also get Zhaoyi to join in.”

Wang Jingchong nodded, and said to Li Honggui, "This matter will be entrusted to Vice Envoy Li."

"This subordinate obeys!" Li Honggui bowed in response, but did not stand up. Anyone could see that he was very dissatisfied with Wang Jingchong's arrangement.

Everyone pretended not to see it, and Song Wentong continued:
"When our army deals with Zhaoyi, we must send a fast horse north to deceive Zhang Gongsu, telling him that our army is about to attack Yiwu, so that he can send troops to recover Jixian and then go south to attack Yichang."

"As long as Liu Jilong is fighting the three towns of Yanhai, Lulong and Weibo at the same time, he will not have the energy to deal with our army, and our army can deal with Zhaoyi at ease."

"If Zhaoyi is willing to respond, then our army can send troops south to join forces with Weibo to defend the state and jointly attack Liu Jilong."

"I have heard that Liu Jilong has never been defeated since he raised his army, but now he only has 20,000 troops."

"If our three towns can gather their troops to attack Liu Jilong and defeat him, we will surely demoralize the government troops. At that time, we will not only be able to capture Heyang, but also directly threaten Luoyang, forcing Liu Jilong to flee west in a sorry state."

What Song Wentong said was basically the common tactic used during the unrest in the three towns of Hebei: threatening the capital in exchange for the court's continued leniency towards the three towns.

"Hmph!" Li Honggui suddenly snorted coldly, and then said, "It's easy to say, but don't forget that Liu Jilong is not easy to deal with, not to mention that he controls eight provinces in the world. At most, he can only mobilize a little over 100,000 troops. Does he not have any other troops?"

As he spoke, his gaze swept over the crowd: "How much armor and weaponry are still in the armories of each prefecture and county?"

Seeing this, everyone started talking at once, while Wang Jingchong's face turned ugly.

Before long, someone had calculated the amount of armor and weapons stored in Chengde Town: 20,000 pieces of lamellar armor, 30,000 pieces of leather armor, and 50,000 pieces of weaponry.

In addition, there were 800,000 shi of grain in the counties of the four prefectures of Chengde.

This is despite Hebei experiencing three consecutive years of severe drought; without the drought, Chengde Town would have had even more grain stored up.

"Right now, we should recruit 50,000 soldiers for training and ask Zhang Gongsu for another 5,000 fine horses."

"If it weren't for the restrictions imposed by Lulong and Daibei, how could my Chengde Cavalry only have five thousand left?"

"Take this opportunity to acquire more fine horses from Lulong, so that we can use these elite cavalry to attack Liu Jilong in the future."

Li Honggui, however, did not forget to take advantage of Zhang Gongsu, after all, Zhang Gongsu was not in a good situation.

If Chengde Town doesn't budge, even if he joins forces with Weibo, they will first have to jointly attack Cang and De prefectures before they can form a line and support each other.

"it is good!"

Everyone cheered, and Wang Jingchong could only nod with a dark face: "If that's the case, then let's leave it to Vice Envoy Li to do."

"This subordinate obeys!" Li Honggui raised his hand in a bow, his face full of arrogance.

Seeing his reaction, Wang Jingchong could no longer contain his anger and abruptly stood up and walked towards the main hall.

Upon seeing this, Song Wentong, Liang Gongru, and Fu Xi quickly got up and followed him, while the others in the hall continued to flatter Li Honggui with smiles.

In their eyes, Wang Jingchong was just a kid in his twenties, especially after he was defeated by Li Keyong, people looked down on him even more, a fact that Wang Jingchong was well aware of.

"This is outrageous! This is outrageous!!"

After returning to the main hall, Wang Jingchong kicked over the plant stand, shattering the white porcelain on the floor. He then picked up a piece of Tang Dynasty blue-and-white porcelain from the table and smashed it on the ground.

The scattered porcelain shards caused Song Wentong and the others who had rushed over to stop immediately. When Wang Jingchong saw them, he felt a little gratified, but at the same time, he couldn't help but sneer, "This Li Erlang is getting more and more arrogant!"

"General, there's no need to worry." Song Wentong, Liang Gongru, and Fu *** entered and reassured him.

"Li Erlang can only be arrogant for a short time. Once the military governor joins forces with Wei Bo and Zhao Yi to defeat Liu Jilong, it will be much harder for Li Honggui to suppress you."

"Would he let me lead the troops?" Wang Jingchong clearly knew that such credit could not possibly fall to him.

I'm afraid that once he asks to lead the troops, Li Honggui will use his loss to Li Keyong to mock him.

Thinking of this, Wang Jingchong's temper, which he had just suppressed, surged up again.

Upon seeing this, Song Wentong bowed and said, "General, rest assured, what I said in the main hall just now was what I wanted Li Honggui to hear."

"When Li Honggui hears this, he will certainly not allow the military commander to go south to lead the troops, but will instead take all the credit for himself to suppress the military commander."

"The military commander could outwardly contend with him, but in the end he would still lose to him, allowing him to lead his troops south."

"What's the reasoning?" Wang Jingchong frowned, but Song Wentong continued:
"Liu Jilong has been famous for a long time; how could he be mediocre?"

"Let Li Honggui lead his troops south to fight Liu Jilong, while you, General, train the newly recruited 20,000 armored soldiers and transfer those who are close to Li Honggui to train the other 30,000 light soldiers."

"When Li Honggui returns in defeat, your 20,000 armored soldiers will be the foundation of Chengde. Will you still need to be at his mercy?"

Upon hearing this, Wang Jingchong's eyes lit up, and he couldn't help but laugh heartily, "Young Master Song, you are truly my lucky general!"

"It's all thanks to the commander's discerning eye," Song Wentong replied modestly, then looked at Liang Gongru and Fu Xi.

"The 20,000 armored soldiers can be handed over to Liang's military commander and Fu's military commander for training."

Seeing that Song Wentong was willing to give up the credit, Liang Gongru and Fu Xi, who had initially complained a little, quickly said, "How can this be?"

"Both of you are veterans in the army, and it is only right that you two train me."

Song Wentong spoke respectfully, and the two men were very pleased, nodding in agreement.

Seeing this, Wang Jingchong immediately reassured Song Wentong: "If Lulong sends fine horses, we will definitely transfer them to Dingzhou first, with Song Lang as the master!"

"Thank you, General Xie..."

Song Wentong slowly bowed his head, but a hint of impatience flashed across his face as he did so.

When he got up, his expression returned to normal, as if nothing had happened.

At the same time, following Song Wentong's advice, Li Honggui began to send envoys to Zhaoyi in the south, preparing to persuade Zhaoyi to raise an army against Liu.

The journey from Zhao Prefecture south to Zhaoyi is only a little over a hundred li, so the envoy arrived in Xing Prefecture in just two days.

The seat of Zhaoyi was originally in Luzhou, but after Liu Jilong occupied the entire Hedong region, Lu Kuang moved east to Xingzhou, which was famous for Xing kiln, hence its prosperity.

Lu Kuang came from the Lu clan of Fanyang, which was known for its classical studies. Therefore, Lu Kuang always valued etiquette and law, and he treated the arrogant military leaders of Zhaoyi Town with both kindness and reward.

He didn't have much of an opinion about Liu Jilong taking control of Luoyang, after all, the decline of the Li Tang dynasty was very obvious, otherwise so many refugees and rebel armies wouldn't have emerged.

He did want to hold onto Zhaoyi Town to raise his price, but Liu Jilong remained silent, and the local military leaders disliked Liu Jilong, so he was able to maintain the stalemate.

However, the situation changed too quickly. After news spread that Liu Jilong was simultaneously fighting in the south and north, and even intending to deal with the three towns, the military leaders in Zhaoyi Town went wild.

Now that Chengde and Weibo have both sent him letters, their words filled with threats and inducements, if he doesn't make a statement, the people in Zhaoyi Town will probably start to disobey him.

What are your thoughts on this matter?

Lu Kuang, who was over fifty years old and sat in the main seat of the yamen, looked at the military officers in the hall and took the initiative to ask questions.

"The imperial court is not giving us a way out, so naturally we have no choice but to fight!"

"Previously, the imperial court allocated money and grain to us every year, but now they want us to transport money and grain to the court. They won't give us money and grain and they even want to annihilate us. Of course we have to fight!"

"That's right, only fighting..."

The generals' words were surprisingly unanimous. Lu Kuang sighed inwardly after reading them; he had long known that these people had this attitude.

Now that Wang Jingchong and Han Junxiong's letters are right in front of him, he can't delay any longer even if he wants to.

If he wanted to resign and leave, this group of people would surely attack him en masse, leaving him in a dilemma.

"If that's the case, then let Meng Fangli and An Jingsi lead their troops to respond to Weibo and send 8,000 soldiers south to aid Weizhou."

Lu Kuang felt that he had done enough, but one of the generals questioned, "May I ask, Your Excellency, where is the memorial?"

Lu Kuang frowned. He didn't want to publish an article, since doing so would mean that he personally opposed Liu Jilong.

He didn't believe Zhaoyi had the strength of the three towns of Hebei. If he submitted a memorial, Liu Jilong would definitely hold him accountable afterward.

Seeing the unfriendly looks on the faces of his generals, he could only nod reluctantly and say, "I will publish the article tomorrow."

"it is good!"

"Lord Lu is truly a fine man!"

When everyone saw that he was willing to submit a written petition, they immediately started flattering him again. After all, if he was willing to submit a petition, they could hand him over to save their lives if they couldn't defeat Liu Jilong later.

If the military governors were not capable, they were either killed and replaced by their subordinates or used as scapegoats. This had long been the prevailing practice in the various towns of Hebei.

"If that's the case, then all of you may leave!"

Lu Kuang's expression was not good, but the generals were even more smug, chatting and laughing as they left, making Lu Kuang involuntarily clench his handrail.

Fortunately, he was good at calming himself down, and after a few breaths he regained his composure.

Urged by his generals, he issued a memorial entitled "Petition Against the Treacherous Minister Liu Jilong" the following day.

After he sent out his memorial, Chengde Town was the first to receive the news and sent it by fast horse to Luxian County, Youzhou.

Within just two days, Zhang Gongsu learned that the other three towns in Hebei had all rebelled, with only Lulong remaining unresponsive.

"How are things in the other prefectures within the town? Is there any news?"

Inside the Lu County government office, Zhang Gongsu tried to appear calm, but his hands, resting on the table, trembled uncontrollably.

The tall general standing before him raised his hand in a gesture of respect and said with a smile, "Rest assured, General, except for Gui Prefecture, the other eight prefectures have all expressed their support for you!"

The title of "Commander" filled Zhang Gongsu with joy, but he tried his best to calm himself down and said in a nonchalant tone, "The matter is not yet settled, so it cannot be considered a success."

"Rest assured, General, troops from various prefectures have already been dispatched north. Including the seven thousand troops from Youzhou who are supporting you, our army now numbers seventeen thousand, and at least another fifteen thousand are on their way."

"At that time, 32,000 troops will be more than enough to deal with the mere 20,000 troops in Ji County..."

Before he could finish speaking, he heard the rustling sound of armor plates colliding.

Another military envoy strode in from outside the door, his face anxious: "My lord, the Khitans have invaded Yingzhou. Should we return to reinforce Yingzhou?"

"The Khitans, you dogs and rats!" Upon hearing that the Khitans had invaded Yingzhou, Zhang Gongsu immediately ignored the man's address to him and simply got up and paced back and forth.

Seeing his reaction, the two military commanders dared not speak, and Zhang Gongsu only pondered for a moment before saying:
"Yingzhou is 800 li away from here. Even if I lead my troops there, I will not be able to save Yingzhou. It would be better to deal with that little beast Zhang Jianhui first, and then gather troops to take revenge later!"

"The General is wise!"

Seeing that Zhang Gongsu had made up his mind, the two could only bow and clasp their hands in greeting. Zhang Gongsu then gave them instructions:

"Send orders to all prefectures to open their armories, recruit soldiers to garrison the cities, and send all remaining veteran soldiers to Lu County!"

Clearly, Zhang Gongsu felt that having more than 30,000 troops was not safe, and planned to gather all the old soldiers in Lulong Town to defeat Cao Mao and Zhang Jianhui in Ji County.

"Yes!" the two replied, with the first soldier saying:
"General, should we agree to Chengde Town's request? Five thousand fine horses are quite a lot for us."

"Here you go!" Zhang Gongsu gritted his teeth and agreed. As long as he could become the military governor of Lulong, five thousand fine horses were nothing.

Seeing this, the two military commanders had no choice but to agree, and then left the yamen to make the arrangements.

After the two left, Zhang Gongsu pondered the way they addressed him and couldn't help but murmur the words "General".

While he was savoring the moment, Cao Mao, who was stationed in Ji County, successfully received Geng Huan's five thousand cavalry and infantry, but Geng Huan also brought some bad news.

"The Xi Jie tribe and the Xi clan marched south to harass Guizhou and besieged Longmen City. Their numbers were no less than 30,000, and Li Guochang and his son were among them."

At the gates of Ji County, upon hearing the intelligence brought by Geng Huan, before Cao Mao could say anything, Zhang Jianhui reacted somewhat nervously: "The Xi people are heading south?"

He hurriedly looked at Cao Mao and couldn't help but ask, "Young Master Cao, what should we do?"

"It would be better to abandon Guizhou, withdraw the 20,000 troops there to Youzhou, defeat Zhang Gongsu first, and then retake it later!"

For Zhang Jianhui, defeating Zhang Gongsu was the most important thing, while Guizhou was not important to him.

This applies to him, not to Cao Mao.

Cao Mao remained calm, but asked Geng Huan, "Who sent the message? Is it reliable?"

"According to the information obtained by Li Maoxun, Dou Jing sent his cavalry to investigate and indeed found 30,000 Hu people besieging Longmen City. Perhaps it was the idea of ​​Li Guochang and his son."

Seeing Geng Huan's response, Cao Mao continued, "How many soldiers and civilians are inside Longmen, and how long can they hold out?"

"We have two thousand garrison troops and more than five thousand civilians. We have enough food to last for three months, but if we are breached, the entire Guizhou region is at risk of being invaded. We must either withdraw our troops or not move any more troops."

Geng Huan only gave Cao Mao two choices, and Zhang Jianhui urged him even more: "Naturally, abandon Guizhou and fight for Youzhou. Anyway, with Jimen Pass in our hands, they can't break in!"

"No!" Cao Mao interrupted Zhang Jianhui decisively, looking at him with displeasure: "Guizhou cannot be abandoned. If Guizhou falls, although the Hu tribes cannot enter Youzhou, they can attack Yunzhou."

"But if we don't withdraw our troops, we'll only have less than 20,000 men left. How can we fight this battle?"

Zhang Jian was both anxious and angry, but dared not lose his temper for fear of angering Cao Mao and being reprimanded.

Faced with his eagerness, Cao Mao did not answer, but his mind was filled with a thousand thoughts.

After a long pause, he suddenly looked up at the two of them:

"There are ways to fight with 20,000 troops. No matter how many troops Zhang Gongsu brings to attack, I have my own methods to deal with them!"

(End of this chapter)