I, Emperor Chongzhen, have extended the life of the Ming Dynasty by five hundred years.

Du Yang was completely bewildered and felt utterly bewildered.

He stood up angrily, pointed at Wang Dehua, and said, "You, you... deceived me?"

Wang Dehua said with a forced smile, "As the saying goes, all's fair in war; feign weakness when you should appear strong, and vice versa!"

"I...I...I'll fight you to the death!"

Du Yang shouted and charged toward Wang Dehua with his head down.

Wang Dehua wasn't going to tolerate his bad behavior. He reached out and grabbed Du Yang by the neck, then with a burst of strength, lifted him up.

Du Yang suddenly felt suffocated and struggled desperately, but to no avail. His face turned from white to red, then from red to purple...

Wang Dehua threw him to the ground, his face full of disdain, and said, "Trying to fight us? You're asking for death!"

After saying that, he turned and left without looking back.

The imperial guards took action and arrested eight officials that very day, causing widespread panic.

Many officials were unaware of what had happened; they only saw the imperial guards arresting people everywhere. Sometimes, two people would be drinking tea and chatting when one of them would suddenly be arrested.

When these officials arrived at the imperial prison and saw Du Yang, they learned what had happened and all inquired about Du Yang's parents.

The most unexpected thing was Wang Dehua. He thought that with so many people, it would definitely take some time to interrogate them, but the whole process went surprisingly smoothly because all of them confessed. Anyway, they hadn't done anything wrong; at most, they had taken some benefits, so they just had to give them back.

The testimonies of these individuals are sufficient to prove that Liu Zeqing and Zeng Hualong are suspected of treason.

Zhu Youjian immediately sent someone to Lushunkou to deliver an imperial edict, ordering Zhao Yong to lead troops to Dengzhou to assist in suppressing the rebellion.

Meanwhile, Changshan Guard had already arrived in Laizhou Prefecture, and the next step would be within the sphere of influence of Dengzhou Guard.

Prefect Dong Bai of Laizhou was still unaware of what had happened. He saw a large number of soldiers rush in, first taking over the city's defenses and patrols, then storming into the prefectural government office. Next, Li Yan and Miao Gang strode in.

Dong Bai initially thought it was an enemy attack, but it didn't look like one, so he asked疑惑地问道, "Who are you?"

Li Yan held aloft a scroll of yellow silk: "Imperial Edict!"

Dong Bai was unsure whether to believe it or not, and didn't know what to do.

Li Yan didn't waste any words with him and simply tossed the imperial edict in his hand over.

After receiving the edict, Dong Bai opened it, examined it carefully, and confirmed that it was indeed an imperial edict before kneeling down to pay his respects.

"Your subject, Dong Bai, Prefect of Laizhou, receives the imperial decree!"

Li Yan said, "From now on, this prefect and Commander Miao will take over the military and political affairs of Laizhou. I trouble Prefect Dong to rest for a few days and not leave the backyard; otherwise, he will be treated as an accomplice to the rebels!"

Dong Bai had no choice but to agree: "Yes!"

He then asked, "Do you two require my assistance?"

Li Yan and Miao Gang exchanged a glance, then Li Yan said, "I need information on the troop deployment of Dengzhou Guard."

Dong Bai nodded and asked, "Anything else?"

Li Yan asked in surprise, "I need a detailed deployment map. Are you sure you can get it?"

Dong Bai said, "I have information on all the troop deployments, not just Dengzhou Guard, but also Weihai Guard."

After he finished speaking, he started rummaging through the documents on the desk behind him, and then picked up a stack of files and maps, which were covered with many circles drawn on them with cinnabar ink.

Li Yan and Miao Gang leaned forward for a few glances and found that it really was a troop deployment map.

"Prefect Dong, how did you come to have these things?"

"That's a long story..."

Dong Bai couldn't help but sigh, and then said, "Laizhou Prefecture is located by the sea, and Japanese pirates often appear. These Japanese are very cunning. They deliberately avoid the garrisons and land to harass the people. Moreover, they are very fast and come and go like the wind. By the time the garrisons send troops to fight them, they have already run away."

"In order to deal with the Japanese pirates, our government has drawn up the defense deployment of the coastal garrisons and then searched for the possible landing points and routes of the Japanese pirates. Only in this way can we deploy hidden sentries in advance to prevent problems before they occur."

Li Yan couldn't help but nod and said, "Prefect Dong has excellent methods. In that case..."

He hesitated slightly, but quickly made up his mind and said, "To be honest, Prefect Dong, we have brought troops here because Liu Zeqing and Zeng Hualong are plotting a rebellion, and we have come to quell it!"

Dong Bai then nodded and said, "I know."

Li Yan was even more surprised and asked, "How did you know?"

"With so many troops, they're either going on campaigns or suppressing rebellions. Isn't that obvious?"

"Then...why can't it be an expedition?"

"If you're going on a campaign, you should go directly to Dengzhou Garrison. Why go to Laizhou?"

Li Yan asked with a grave expression, "What is Prefect Dong's opinion of Liu Zeqing and the others?"

Dong Bai sneered, a hint of disdain flashing in his eyes: "These parasites should have been dealt with long ago! They're useless in battle, all they know is how to scheme and cheat, not only cutting back on soldiers' rations and pay, but even embezzling the compensation money for fallen soldiers!"

Li Yan was somewhat puzzled and said, "But the recent battles have been going relatively smoothly..."

"Smoothly my ass!"

Dong Bai scoffed, then continued, "Back when the rebel Li Zicheng ravaged the Central Plains, Liu Zeqing cowered in the city, not daring to even show his face. He submitted a memorial to the court saying... he had fallen from his horse and was injured, yet he still demanded forty taels of silver for medical expenses. Tell me, is that something a human being would do? If His Majesty hadn't personally led the campaign and fought several tough battles, they wouldn't even have had the chance to follow behind and reap the benefits!"

He grew increasingly agitated as he spoke, his finger slamming heavily on the map: "Later, in the foreign wars, when we fought against Korea, it was all thanks to the court's proper planning and the coordinated efforts of all the forces. After Wu Sangui retreated to Liaodong, General Zhao went to Lushun to develop the navy, and His Majesty entrusted the remaining Korean forces to Liu Zeqing to deal with..."

"And what was the result? After fighting for more than half a year, they couldn't even wipe out a remnant army! With this kind of ability, they still have the nerve to withhold the wages paid to their soldiers who risked their lives!"

Li Yan and Miao Gang exchanged a glance, both of them quite surprised.

Miao Gang couldn't help but ask, "Prefect Dong is so knowledgeable about military affairs, why doesn't he report this to the imperial court?"

Dong Bai shook his head with a wry smile and said, "I am merely the prefect of Laizhou. It's good enough that I can manage my own small territory; how can I possibly manage the military camp?"

Li Yan then said, "Now Liu Zeqing and his men's intention to rebel is very clear. His Majesty's intention is to resolve this quickly. Does Prefect Dong have any good ideas?"

Dong Bai pondered for a moment and said, "The soldiers you two lead are full of energy and spirit. If we fight them directly, we will definitely win. However, the problem is that many soldiers are just following orders, and most of them have been exploited for years. It would be a real injustice to kill them as rebels. Therefore, I suggest that we should focus on appeasement."

Upon hearing this, Li Yan nodded thoughtfully and said, "Prefect Dong is absolutely right, but how should we appease him?"

Miao Gang then said, "The most urgent task is to suppress the rebellion; we can't worry about anything else. How can we quickly disintegrate the rebel army without launching a major offensive?"

Dong Bai shook his head again, saying, "Liu Zeqing's soldiers are already full of complaints. It would be better to first send spies into the army to spread the imperial decree that only the ringleaders will be punished, not those who were coerced. When morale is low, then send an elite force to directly attack the central army; this will surely achieve twice the result with half the effort."

Li Yan and Miao Gang exchanged a glance, then Li Yan said, "That's excellent, but who should we send?"