Destroy Jin and conquer Song, and carry the Northern Expedition through to the end

Chapter 598 Winning Hearts Before Attacking the Army

The letter arrived in Geng Jing's hands at night.

Around the same time, the military envoy who had detoured from Tai'an Prefecture also arrived near Xucheng and made contact with the Tianping Army's night scouts without any trouble.

With their assistance, the two military envoys, carrying Liu Huai's secret letter, arrived at the foot of Xucheng City and climbed onto the city wall using baskets hanging from the top.

"We are here to deliver a message on the orders of Lord Flying Tiger." On the dark city wall, the envoy had just finished speaking when he felt a sharp pain in his back and collapsed.

The other military envoy was horrified and hurriedly tried to draw his sword, but was tackled by three soldiers. The sharp knife plunged into his wrist without warning, and blood gushed out. He soon fell silent.

Kong Duanqi emerged from the shadows, with Shao Jin standing beside him, his face pale.

"Mr. Kong...you...you...why did you kill them?"

Faced with Shao Jin's trembling question, Kong Duan frowned and rebuked him directly: "Now that things have come to this, do we have any way out? Or is it that Geng Jiedu's most favored concubine has not satisfied you?"

Shao Jin's face turned even paler.

He was indeed greedy and lustful, but he truly dared not lay a hand on Geng Jing's family.

Who would have thought that Kong Duanqi was truly unethical? In order to drag him down, he took advantage of his drunken state to strip Geng Jing's concubine naked and stuff her into Shao Jin's bed.

When Shao Jin woke up the next day, he was dumbfounded. To make matters worse, the concubine was crying so hard that she attracted a lot of old women and servants, which made Shao Jin even more at a loss.

At the critical moment, Kong Duanqi stepped forward, intimidated the others, persuaded the concubine not to make a fuss, and in doing so, dragged Shao Jin into the mess as well.

As for why the concubine submitted so quickly, the reason is simple: she was a concubine's younger sister from Zhang Nan's wife's side, originally sent to marry Geng Jing. The saying goes, "She may have any man, but her father only has one," what could a mere woman like her do against her family's orders?
The methods don't have to be old, as long as they work.

Kong Duanqi's simple deception would be utterly useless if used in the homes of the literati.

Concubines have no rights; they can be given to you if you like.

However, the core members of the Taiping Army still had some of the gangsters' swagger. If something like sleeping with someone's sister-in-law happened, they would really be stabbed three times and stabbed six times.

With Shao Jin's assistance, Kong Duanqi and other powerful figures in Dongping Prefecture became even more unscrupulous, either winning over or purging out those loyal to Geng Jing in Xucheng.

This matter is relatively simple, because almost all of Geng Jing's core troops have followed him to attack Daming Prefecture. The more than 6,000 soldiers guarding Xucheng are mostly from powerful and wealthy families, and the few confidants of Geng Jing can't cause any trouble at all.

After receiving the message from Yiladao, Heshilie Liangbi, who was outside the city, also suspended his attack on Xucheng and surrounded the city tightly, preventing any news from getting out.

Kong Duanqi snatched the wooden box from the dead military envoy's hands. Just as he was about to open it, he hesitated upon seeing the sealing wax and the seal.

After pondering for a moment, Kong picked up the wooden box and stuffed it into his bosom, then pointed to two guards: "You two come with me to report to the Left Prime Minister."

After saying this, Kong Duan sat down on the large basket that the military envoy had just been riding in, and was lowered down by the soldiers on the city wall.

Before long, this fellow had made contact with the Jin army. The Jin army outside the besieged camp also received orders to bring Kong Duanqi to the central command tent.

"Left Prime Minister! A military envoy from the Jingnan rebels has just arrived with a letter, written in Liu's own handwriting." Kong Duanqi knelt down and kowtowed upon seeing Heshi Lieliangbi: "I dared not delay for a moment and came to report to the Left Prime Minister immediately!"

He Shi Lie Liangbi was behind his desk, writing and drawing on documents. Hearing this, he didn't even lift his eyelids: "Get up and speak."

Kong Duanqi immediately stood up, but still dared not stand up straight. He simply bent over and held the wooden box above his head with both hands.

This posture was extremely agonizing, and soon Kong Duanqi was already swaying precariously.

"Bring it here." He Shi Lie Liangbi finally finished reviewing a document and nodded upon seeing this scene: "Come closer."

Kong Duanqi quickly presented the wooden box, but Heshi Lieliangbi merely took it and frowned upon seeing the half-dried bloodstains on it. However, he remained calm and only opened it after checking the sealing wax and seals.

After carefully reading the letter, Heshi Lieliangbi asked Kong Duanqi, "Who delivered this to you?"

Kong Duanqi immediately bowed and replied, "They are two military envoys from the Jingnan rebels."

Where are they now?

"They've all been killed!"

"Killed him?" A smile finally appeared on Heshi Lieliangbi's face as he beckoned to Kong Duanqi: "Come closer."

Kong Duanqi thought that his firm stance had aroused the Left Prime Minister's interest in talent, so he immediately bowed and took another step forward.

"left……"

Before he could finish speaking, a slap landed squarely on the man's face, knocking him to the ground.

Kong Duanqi felt dizzy and saw stars, and for a moment he could not even see clearly in front of him. He could only hear Heshi Lie Liangbi's stern rebuke.

"You idiot! What do you think I've set up this huge formation for? More than 20,000 regular soldiers are just sitting here doing nothing, are they just here to eat for free?"

Heshi Lieliangbi finally stood up, pointed his halberd at Kong Duanqi, and cursed loudly: "Isn't this all to catch that bastard Geng Jing off guard?! I told you before not to reveal your secret in front of the Dongping Army commander, but I forgot to tell you one more thing: don't reveal your secret in front of the Jingnan rebels, and you've already exposed yourself. You're the biggest idiot of all!"

Kong Duanqi covered his face, finally realizing what had happened, and hurriedly explained, "Prime Minister, I have already eliminated all potential threats; there is absolutely no way anyone could have leaked the secret!"

He Shi Lie Liangbi was already furious that his plans of the past few days had come to naught. Hearing that Kong Duanqi dared to argue, he became even angrier. He stepped forward and kicked Kong Duanqi to the ground: "You're a fool, and you still don't believe me. The Jingnan rebels marched from Yidu Prefecture. Even if they have already arrived in Jinan Prefecture, if they want to contact Dongping Prefecture, do you think they would only send two military envoys? Where are the others? Are they in Xucheng?"

"What will they do when they see their comrades gone and never to return? Tell me, what will they do?!"

Heshi Lieliangbi didn't keep them in suspense and said directly, "They will go to that scoundrel Geng Jing! They will make that scoundrel Geng Jing suspicious of you!"

Kong Duanqi hesitated and dared not speak.

He wanted to say that these were all speculations by Heshi Lieliangbi, but he ultimately didn't dare.

Military matters must be handled with strict discipline.

Heshi Lieliangbi, panting heavily, closed his eyes for a long time before calming down and slowly said, "Get up. The situation that was originally advantageous has been ruined by your stupidity. If you still want to be the ruler of Shandong, you will have to continue to put in more effort."

"The army will be setting off in the next two days to wipe out Geng Jing. You will personally lead the troops here and follow me! Do you know what to do?"

Kong Duanqi immediately knelt down and kowtowed: "Prime Minister, I will certainly atone for my sins with good deeds!"

"Then go quickly!"

"Yes Yes!"

After Kong Duanqi scrambled away, Heshi Lieliangbi regained his calm and collected demeanor.

Tu Danzhen, who had been in the command tent and oblivious to everything that was happening, finally spoke up: "The Left Prime Minister has lost his composure."

Heshi Lieliangbi shook his head and handed the letter to Tudanzhen: "Kong Duanqi is a scoundrel. He won't learn unless he's beaten. Threats are much more effective than favors. How did Geng Jing treat him? He still betrayed us without hesitation. However, I reprimanded him not only because the traitor Geng would discover that Xucheng had already rebelled. Take a look at this letter, Azhen."

Tu Danzhen took the letter, read it, and frowned, saying, "Liu the traitor actually wants to take Jinan Prefecture within twenty days. I remember that Pusanhuntan has already deployed defenses in Jinan Prefecture. He is also an old general. With him guarding it, how can Licheng be taken so easily?"

Heshi Lieliangbi remained silent, only looking into Tudanzhen's eyes.

Tu Danzhen felt a little uncomfortable under his gaze and finally told the truth: "But this Flying Tiger is no ordinary general. Since he dared to boast that he would take Jinan Prefecture within twenty days and come to Dongping Prefecture to participate in the battle, he must have a certain degree of confidence."

"Our army has only a little over 20,000 troops, and the combined number of the Loyal and Righteous Bandits and the Jingnan Bandits is about the same. This battle will not be easy."

There were only two people in the command tent, so Tu Danzhen wasn't afraid of damaging morale and stated the conclusion directly.

Heshi Lieliangbi nodded and sighed, saying, "I just did a mental calculation. Jia Gu Qingchen is trapped in Bozhou. In the worst-case scenario, it would be our 20,000-plus troops fighting against the combined forces of Liu and Geng. If it comes to that, it will be very difficult to win this battle."

“I had an agreement with Pusanhuntan to hold out until around December 15th, giving me time to deal with Dongping Prefecture and the Tianping Army. But now it seems time is running out. I’ve made up my mind: I will kill the traitor Geng this month, and then deal with the traitor Liu!”

Tu Danzhen nodded: "Then we'll send out troops the day after tomorrow?"

Heshi Lieliangbi nodded in agreement: "We will send out troops the day after tomorrow!"

The night wind howled, and the cold wind whistled. It was as if the whole world had become desolate as soon as Heshi Lieliangbi finished speaking.

(End of this chapter)