Prince Li You of the Great Tang Dynasty begs the noble families to their deaths!

Li You issued many orders.

He gave these instructions to the soldiers to carry out.

Meanwhile, Li You's four generals, Yan Hongxin, Yan Hongzhi, Liang Mengbiao, and Zan Junmo, were all busy with their own affairs, leaving Li You with only a dozen or so bodyguards protecting him.

Even after assigning tasks, King Qi was still busy for a moment.

The next step is to carefully select the newly recruited young and strong men under your command.

This was the second most important matter after accumulating wealth, and Li You decided to do it personally.

The selection criteria are as follows: those who are too physically weak will not be accepted, those who are too intelligent will not be accepted, and those who are thin-skinned and only want to make a quick buck and run away will definitely not be accepted.

Those stronger and more honest farmers were the target group that Li You planned to select.

Those people personally selected by the King of Qi were incorporated into the "Jia-zi Camp".

The so-called "Type A Battalion" was a name he came up with on a whim.

In a few more days, this newly coined name will lose its meaning.

Li You promised these "personal soldiers" that after they joined the Jiazi Battalion, their families would receive more land.

Those who were not chosen by Li You were assigned to other camps.

Li You personally selected about a hundred personal guards, and then instructed the twenty-odd elite soldiers around him to screen all the soldiers according to this selection standard by noon the next day.

Xingyang is located in the heart of the Central Plains and has a relatively large population.

However, according to Li You's selection logic, after a rough screening of tens of thousands of people, only a little over 3000 people were selected.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that they are one in ten.

If Li You had more time, he would definitely have selected even more people.

The problem is that the situation is urgent, and he simply doesn't have that much time.

……

The following day at noon, after the meal was prepared, Li You summoned Yan Hongxin, Yan Hongzhi, Liang Mengbiao, and Zan Junmo to a place to give these four trusted confidants a private instruction.

The four of them followed behind the King of Qi to a secluded courtyard in the Zheng family mansion in Xingyang.

Apart from core personnel, all other individuals should stay away.

This was also something the King of Qi did intentionally.

In stark contrast to Li You's caution, his four generals were extremely excited because of the rapid growth of his army.

"Your Majesty, we now have a large army and abundant supplies. Shouldn't we attack Xingyang City?" Zan Junmo was a quintessential violent man, and his favorite pursuit was war.

"Attack Xingyang? You've got a good idea!"

"Once we take Xingyang, can we then attack Luoyang?"

Li You's tone sounded rather unfriendly.

Zan Junmo said, "Your Majesty, with so many men now, taking Luoyang shouldn't be too difficult, right?"

Li You did not answer Zan Junmo, but pointed to the water in the water vat in the courtyard.

"You four go wash your faces and calm down."

The four generals did not understand his meaning, but they still followed the orders of the King of Qi and took turns washing their faces with cold water.

A relatively low temperature can stimulate facial nerves.

After washing their faces, the four of them felt refreshed.

Li You drew his sword, propped it up on the ground, and began to give a stern speech.

"What I am about to say is of utmost importance, concerning your success or failure, honor or disgrace."

"Whether we live or die depends on the next few days."

Seeing the seriousness of what the King of Qi said, the generals, who had calmed down, straightened their bodies and listened attentively.

In the past few days, King Qi has acted decisively and ruthlessly, turning the tide for his troops.

Afterwards, the King of Qi led them on a campaign that covered thousands of miles, achieving great victories.

For this reason, Li You's abilities were recognized by his four trusted confidants.

This also illustrates that a leader may lack morality, but he must not lack ability.

Otherwise, your subordinates simply won't listen to you.

"I have selected over three thousand elite troops and placed them under the command of Yan Hongxin. They will depart tonight and accompany me south!"

"Heading south?"

"Yes, south!"

"Your Majesty..."

"The remaining tens of thousands of soldiers will be entrusted to Yan Hongliang, Liang Mengbiao, and Zan Junmo. Each of you will lead an army and head east. You must shout and fight loudly along the way, making a great spectacle for me!"

"After you've created some momentum, the three of you need to instigate an internal conflict, and it needs to be an open conflict."

"Amidst the chaos, kill the double I found the other day!"

"Then spread the word that King Qi was dead!"

Upon hearing this, all four generals gaped, their faces filled with fear.

After a long while, Yan Hongxin finally realized: "I understand, Your Majesty is going to use the Golden Cicada Shedding Its Shell strategy."

Li You nodded slightly: "Not bad. It seems Hongxin's books weren't read in vain. Do the three of you understand?"

Yan Hongliang kept his mouth agape, Liang Mengbiao looked extremely shocked, and Zan Junmo kept scratching his head.

Li You was somewhat annoyed: "If you don't understand, just ask! Do you all want to be hacked to death by the Tang army?"

Yan Hongliang patted his forehead: "Your Majesty, the stand-in you're talking about, is it Wang Erwa?"

"Yes, who else could it be but him?"

"Your Majesty, if the soldiers below knew... knew you were dead, our army of tens of thousands would scatter!"

"Disperse, we must disperse!"

"These people are nothing but clay chickens and earthen dogs in front of the Tang army, and they will collapse at the first touch."

"The three thousand brave warriors I have selected are the last spark of this rebellion."

"I told you before, Li Shimin at this moment is far beyond our ability to contend with!"

"If you can't beat them, run away! There's nothing shameful about that."

"We must preserve the spark of rebellion; we must be patient; we must wait for the spark to grow into a raging inferno."

"Remember, after the group disperses, the three of you must immediately head south under cover of darkness."

"The entire force can be lost, but the three of you must return alive for me!"

"Our next stronghold is in Suizhou to the south."

"Suizhou?"

"That's right, it's Suizhou!"

"Your Majesty, Suizhou is a low-lying prefecture with sparse population. What are we doing going there?"

"There are advantages to being sparsely populated. Suizhou is surrounded by mountains to the north and south, which is perfect for hiding and waiting for the right opportunity."

In addition to selecting soldiers, Li You has also been paying attention to the geographical knowledge he can obtain these days.

His current sources of information are mainly those clerks who have been recovered, especially the older Xu Liangzhou.

The reason for collecting geographical knowledge is precisely to prepare for this final step.

Through Xu Liangzhou, Li You learned for the first time that there was a place called Suizhou in the south of the Tang Dynasty.

In fact, the name Suizhou has always existed, and it is still called Suizhou today.

It's just that it's relatively remote, so its reputation has never been well-known.

For example, the major towns surrounding Suizhou include Nanyang, Xiangyang, Xinyang, Yueyang, Jingmen, and Jingzhou.

These places are much more well-known than Suizhou.

In terms of population, Xiangyang at that time was called Xiangzhou, which had seven counties under its jurisdiction and a total of 100,000 households.

In comparison, Suizhou has five counties under its jurisdiction, with a combined population of only 12,000 households.

This kind of obscure and remote place was the perfect target in Li You's eyes.

If we were to go to a prosperous and fertile place, like Xingyang today, let alone whether we could hold it or not, those government officials would be sending small reports to the central government every day. The Tang Dynasty's heavenly army would arrive soon. Who could stand that?

In short, this was a completely new plan full of variables. Li You racked his brains and finally completed a rough preparation, considering personnel, funds, and destination.

He then spent a full hour secretly plotting with his four generals to implement the specific strategy.

As the saying goes, one person's plan is short-sighted, but many people's plans are long-sighted.

Although these men are all hardened warriors, as long as they use their brains, they can still offer some reasonable suggestions.

After discussion, a relatively complete plan was finally developed.

"That's settled then. You three, take the troops and leave first."

"promise!"

Yan Hongliang, Liang Mengbiao, and Zan Junmo immediately mustered their troops, left Xingyang, and headed east.

Li You met them again several months later.

The three left, leaving only Li You and Yan Hongxin in the house.

"Hongxin, I will depart tonight. The captured gold and silver will be entrusted to the elite guards. Three thousand brave warriors, one thousand laborers, and all the grain, horses, livestock, and weapons you can carry, are to be taken!"

"promise!"

The people Li You trust most now, besides the four generals in command of troops, are the bodyguards sent to him by his uncle Yin Hongzhi.

The training of suicide squad members is a science.

The various prominent families each have their own training methods.

The royal family also had its own specially trained assassins to carry out secret missions for the emperor.

Li You felt most at ease entrusting the enormous wealth he had amassed to his bodyguards.

This journey to Suizhou is another long one, seven hundred li.

Whether they can successfully overcome the initial difficulties after arriving at their destination remains to be seen.

The huge sum of money that was intercepted could be used to buy grain, supplies, and even suitable people; it was absolutely life-saving money.

Li You, being a time traveler, had no cheat codes.

He has done quite well to have achieved this level of success.

However, Li You was still unsure about his next plan.

"Hongxin, you're more level-headed. Help me think, what other oversights are there?"

Yan Hongxin squatted on the ground, propped his head up with his hand, thought for a while, and then said two words.

"woman."

"woman?"

"Your Majesty, we have led several thousand brave soldiers south, and we do not know when we will be able to return. The morale of the army is easily eroded. Therefore, the camp cannot be without women."

Li You was stunned for a moment, then let out a soft breath.

"You're absolutely right."

"Issue the order: any soldier in the Jia-class battalion with a wife may bring her into the army to accompany me on this campaign. Also, this applies only to soldiers from the vicinity of Xingyang; those from further away are not permitted!"

Yan Hongxin left after receiving the order, leaving Li You alone standing inside the house.

As the sun sets and night falls, darkness descends.

Li You stood alone, gazing up at the night sky. The stars twinkled, like fireflies.

Looking northwest, shooting Sirius.

He then sheathed his sword and left the place.