The Ming Dynasty: Starting with the border troops, it was overthrown and the Qing Dynasty was destro

Chapter 145 The Adventures of Dumbledore

After Hu Dawei's troops were completely annihilated, the government forces in southwestern Shanxi were greatly shocked, and their morale plummeted.

The officers and soldiers blocking the front lines became like frightened birds, cowering inside the fortified city, no longer daring to launch an attack easily, for fear of following in Hu Dawei's footsteps.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Jiang Han swaggered along the Fen River, leading his men southward.

The garrison troops of Zhao City and Huozhou along the way could only stand on the city walls and watch the bandits swagger away right under their noses.

It wasn't until they reached the vicinity of Hongdong County that they encountered government troops coming to challenge them.

He Renlong, who was in charge of the area, was always arrogant and fierce. He was very good at dealing with bandits in Shaanxi. He could not stand the bandits being so arrogant.

Unable to contain himself any longer, he disregarded the county magistrate's objections and personally led his elite cavalry out of the city to pursue Jiang Han, attempting to teach him a lesson.

However, reality gave him a loud slap in the face.

After a brief but intense exchange, He Renlong was driven back, suffering heavy losses and serious injuries himself. He never mentioned launching another offensive again.

Meanwhile, Wang Jiayin in southeastern Shanxi was also busy.

He has firmly established himself in Yangcheng and Zezhou, and has even begun to recruit artisans to cast cannons, with his military might pointing directly at Lu'an Prefecture.

Wang Jiayin seems to have a particular fondness for the princes of the Zhu family.

Back in Taiyuan, he had been thinking of inviting Jiang Han to cause trouble for the Prince of Jin's mansion, and now he had set his sights on the Prince of Shen's mansion in Lu'an.

However, Wang Jiayin did have some confidence, as his forces had swelled to 60,000 to 70,000 men, making him a formidable force.

Governor Song Tongyin had only seven thousand troops at his disposal, which was no match for Wang Jiayin's tens of thousands of men.

He had no choice but to defend the city.

On the other side, General Zhang Zongheng was also helpless against Jiang Han and could only choose to fortify the city and defend it to the death.

Song and Zhang discussed it privately and realized that they really couldn't stop these two thieves.

If these two notorious bandits were to cross the Yellow River and infiltrate Henan, they would not only lose their official positions, but also their lives.

The two dared not delay and quickly wrote a joint letter to the court requesting support; on the other hand, they began to shrink their defenses, deploying only along the Yellow River.

Zhang Zongheng acted swiftly and decisively, first targeting the Yellow River ferry crossings within the territory of Pingyang Prefecture.

At his command, all the boats along the coast were requisitioned by the government, and any boat that refused was scuttled on the spot.

As a result, the boatmen along the Yellow River lost their livelihoods and began to complain bitterly.

For generations, many people have made a living by fishing and ferrying people across the river; a boat is their entire possession.

Now that the government has taken everything away and scuttled it, it's tantamount to driving them to the brink of despair.

Along the Yellow River, countless people drowned themselves, but Zhang Zongheng couldn't care less about such trivial matters at this moment.

Even the governor himself had to personally inspect the defenses along the Yellow River, so what were a group of boatmen and fishermen compared to that?

Of course, before he left, he had to make arrangements for the defense of Pingyang Prefecture.

Zhang Zongheng planned to keep his trusted confidant Bai An and the newly promoted military commander Deng Yang to jointly oversee the defense of the prefectural city.

Bai An commanded 1,500 border soldiers from Datong Town, whose combat strength was considerable.

Considering that Deng Yang's main force consisted of only 600 men, Zhang Zongheng specially transferred 900 soldiers from Shanxi garrison to supplement Deng Yang's forces.

Before his departure, Zhang Zongheng specially summoned Deng Yang, this rising star, to the government office and gave him a private speech of encouragement.

Zhang Zongheng sat upright behind the desk, looking at Deng Yang with a slight smile:

"General Deng, I have read your battle report."

"When you were the garrison commander of Kulong Pass, you fought against that mountain tiger many times and won every battle, almost driving him to the brink of despair."

"I am relieved that you are here to assist in the defense of Pingyang Prefecture."

But as they were talking, Zhang Zongheng suddenly changed the subject, seemingly casually adding:
"By the way, I'm also a little curious."

"With General Deng's abilities, why didn't he wipe out that mountain tiger in one fell swoop back then, instead allowing him to grow stronger?"

Upon hearing this, Deng Yang's heart skipped a beat, and cold sweat instantly broke out on his back.

But he dared not show it on his face, and could only drag Xu Dingchen out to take the blame:
"Your Excellency, I am certain that I had indeed defeated the main force of the Mountain Tigers and was ready to finish them off in one battle."

"Unfortunately, Governor Xu issued a transfer order, urgently dispatching this humble general to reinforce Ningwu Pass, which allowed the bandits to escape a calamity."

He paused, feigning regret, and said:

"Unexpectedly, this scoundrel took advantage of this opportunity and raised another army in just a few months."

After hearing this, Zhang Zongheng nodded slightly, but his eyes remained fixed on Deng Yang, as if trying to discern something from Deng Yang's expression.

After looking for a while, he still couldn't see anything unusual, and could only sigh regretfully.
"Lord Xu unfortunately died for his country, tragically dying at the hands of the enemy, which is a great loss to our Ming Dynasty."

"As colleagues, I am determined to personally apprehend the murderer and take his head to comfort Lord Xu's spirit in heaven!"

These words struck Deng Yang like a bolt from the blue.

Although Zhang Zongheng suspected that Deng Yang was harboring bandits to enhance his own power, he never imagined that Xu Dingchen was actually killed by Deng Yang himself.

Shouting for the killer's capture in front of the killer is truly absurd.

Deng Yang was also quite frightened by Zhang Zongheng, and his legs almost gave way and he was about to kneel down.

"Has my identity been exposed? Has General Jiang betrayed me?"

Deng Yang's heart was in turmoil.

"Why did Zhang Zongheng specifically give me nine hundred soldiers?"

"Are you perhaps looking for an opportunity to take me down?"

Deng Yang became increasingly alarmed as he thought about it. As soon as he returned to the camp, he immediately summoned Hei Zi to discuss the matter together.

"General Fang, let's run!"

"Zhang Zongheng must have seen through my disguise and wanted to use these nine hundred men to take me down in one fell swoop!"

Deng Yang was extremely anxious in the main tent, pacing back and forth incessantly.

Seeing this, Hei Zi looked helpless and quickly advised:

"General Deng, please calm down."

"If that Zhang fellow really wanted to harm you, he could have made his move directly in the government office. Why go through all this trouble?"
Deng Yang looked at Hei Zi and said in a deep voice, "Then tell me, what does it mean that he sent nine hundred people here?"

"If one day the soldiers let something slip, then everything will be over!"

As the two were discussing, a personal guard suddenly came to report that Lieutenant General Bai An had sent someone to invite General Deng to a banquet for a chat.

Upon hearing this, Deng Yang frowned slightly.

He had never had any dealings with Bai An before, so why the sudden invitation to a banquet? Was it a trap?
But since they had invited him, he couldn't refuse, so he went to the restaurant fully armed with a few personal guards.

At this moment, Hei Zi also sensed that something was wrong, and he quickly ordered his men to be on high alert, put on their armor and prepare their horses, ready to fight their way out at any time.

Bai An had already prepared a banquet, and upon seeing Deng Yang arrive, he quickly rose to greet him:
"General Deng, please take a seat!"

Deng Yang dared not relax, and could only force a smile as he replied:
"Don't dare."

"General Bai has extended such a warm invitation; may I ask what advice you may offer?"

Bai An laughed heartily and pulled Deng Yang to sit down:

"General Deng is joking. We are colleagues, how could I dare to give you advice?"

"We are both guarding Pingyang Prefecture. Now the bandits are powerful, and their leader is notorious. We should work together and communicate more."

"Today is just for chatting, drinking, and keeping in touch."

Deng Yang was wary, but remained outwardly calm, nodding and casually offering a few polite words.

How could such a coincidence happen?
Zhang Zongheng had just come to see him, and now Bai An is coming to see him again, probably to try and get information out of him.

After several rounds of drinks and dishes, Bai An, who had just been joking and chatting, suddenly changed the subject and casually asked:

"General Deng, speaking of this bandit leader, Mountain Tiger, I seem to recall that you had quite a few dealings with him back in Kulong Pass, didn't you?"

Upon hearing this, Deng Yang's hand holding the wine glass trembled slightly, and his heart tightened suddenly. The real drama was about to begin!

He forced himself to remain calm and nodded, saying:
"General Bai is right."

"I confronted the bandit leader in order to protect the territory and its people."

Bai An stared intently at Deng Yang and continued:

"I also heard that General Deng achieved remarkable results in Shilou, and at one point almost wiped out the entire tiger gang."

"Unfortunately, we failed at the last minute, and he still got away."

Deng Yang was quite surprised after hearing this.

Isn't this the same question Zhang Zongheng asked before? Why is Bai An bringing it up again?
Could it be that they want to use a comparison to prove their point?
He sighed, feigning regret:

"Alas, General Bai, you are unaware of this."

"At that time, we were about to capture the bandit leader, but military orders were absolute and the higher-ups urgently ordered him to join the fight."

"I, a mere garrison commander, dared not disobey, which gave the bandit leader an opportunity to take advantage of the situation."

Deng Yang had no idea what Bai An was really up to, but he figured he could just pin the blame on Xu Dingchen, that dead man.

He laughed it off while repeatedly raising his glass to urge others to drink, trying to change the subject.

But Bai An persisted, inquiring about the details of Deng Yang's bandit suppression in Shilou, asking in great detail.

Deng Yang was sweating profusely from the questioning, fearing that he might say something wrong and reveal a flaw, in which case hundreds of axemen would rush out from behind the tent and capture him on the spot.

The more he thought about it, the more frightened he became. Eventually, he made up his mind and started pretending to be drunk. His speech gradually became slurred and his behavior became incoherent.

In the end, Deng Yang, unable to hold his liquor, collapsed on the table, thus narrowly escaping Bai An's relentless questioning.

As Bai An watched the drunken Deng Yang being carried out, the smile on his face gradually faded, replaced by an uncertain expression.

A bodyguard whispered:
"General, judging from Deng Yang's words and actions, there seems to be nothing wrong with him."

"He doesn't seem like the kind of general who harbors bandits to enhance his own power."

Bai An snorted coldly:
"In any case, it's always better to be cautious."

"Now that the defense of Pingyang Prefecture is entirely in the hands of the two of us, I naturally want to thoroughly investigate his capabilities."

"If he truly harbors disloyal intentions, we must take him down as soon as possible to prevent future troubles!"

The guard nodded and pressed on:

"In that case, why don't we deploy more people around his camp, just in case?"

Bai An waved his hand:

"That's not necessary."

"Before Governor Zhang left, he had already infiltrated his army with a lot of scum, so he probably won't be able to cause any big trouble."

"We shouldn't push too hard on our side, lest we make things worse."

"As long as the bandit leader doesn't attack the city, there's no need to worry too much."

"I don't believe that Deng Yang, a dignified military officer of the imperial court, would give up a promising future and instead play some trick of raising bandits to enhance his own prestige."

Zhang Zongheng and Bai An's suspicions about Deng Yang were limited to the idea that he was harboring bandits to enhance his own power.

They never expected that Deng Yang was not the one who raised the bandits, but rather the one who was raised by the bandits.

Deng Yang, who had just been carried back to his tent by his personal guards, suddenly jumped up, showing no signs of drunkenness whatsoever.

"What exactly are Zhang Zongheng and Bai An planning?"

Deng Yang's face was gloomy.

"One of them planted a spy in my team, and the other is trying every trick in the book to get information out of me. Do they really think I'm a fool?"

Hei Zi, fully armed, had been waiting in the tent for a long time. He hurriedly went up to Deng Yang and asked what had happened.

Deng Yang didn't waste any words and told Hei Zi all the details of the banquet.

Hei Zi looked serious after hearing this. They seemed to have left no trace on their journey, so how could they suddenly be being targeted?

After careful discussion, the two realized that this was no small matter and they needed to find someone to make a decision.

That night, while everyone was fast asleep, a dark figure sneaked out of the camp and headed straight for Jiang Han in Hongdong County.

(End of this chapter)