The Richest Man in the Heavens Starts from Outlaws of the Marsh

Chapter 92 Xingzhou
Xu Guanzhong smiled with his beard, pointing on the sand table map with a confident look.

Now he has no doubts about Du Yu's identity from later generations. He has never heard of such a well-made sand table map with accurate topography in Song Dynasty.

"Your Majesty, Bianliang City is thousands of miles away from Cangzhou. The Liangshan Army cannot march day and night to ensure combat effectiveness. According to usual calculations, it will take about 20 days to get here. Our Great Wei Army waits for work with leisure, and we can win by fighting." Xu Guanzhong said.

"Are we waiting for people from Liangshan to come over in Cangzhou?" Du Yu asked.

"It's not necessary, Your Majesty, please take a look." Xu Guanzhong pointed the wooden stick in his hand to a place.

"Julu?" Du Yu and others looked at the place and said in unison.

"It's Julu." Xu Guanzhong said.

"Xu Shuai means that we attack Xingzhou first?" Du Yu asked.

Xu Guanzhong smiled and said: "Yes, attack Xingzhou first. But you don't need to go to the city of Xingzhou. The last general thinks that it is best to occupy Julu City and force the official army and Liangshan army to fight our Wei army on the plain."

"Why?" Bian Xiang asked.

"The biggest advantage of my Great Wei Army is that it is well-trained and well-equipped. If we push it head-on, I believe that even the current elite of the Liao Kingdom may not be our opponents, let alone the officers and soldiers who have long been disarmed and those who have not experienced regular battles in Liangshanbo. I'm a soldier in military training," Xu Guanzhong said.

"Head to head! Will the loss be..." Sun An hesitated to speak.

"Maybe a little more, but I think that in the case of absolute superiority in strength, not playing tricks is the safest strategy." Xu Guanzhong said.

Du Yu nodded in agreement, "If you are poor, you can intersperse with tactics, and if you are good, you can cover firepower." ' He was convinced of this statement.

"Moreover, I think the shocking effect of defeating the imperial army head-on is enough. It will make it easier for us to control the newly laid ground, and let people see the strength and potential of our Great Wei. The symbolic significance is more important than the battle itself." Xu Guanzhong said.

"Well, it makes sense." Everyone agreed again and again.

Xu Guanzhong's proposal was adopted, and the Great Wei army had finished resting during this period, and on the third day they broke out and set out to attack the territory under the jurisdiction of Xingzhou.

Needless to say, those small counties in the Song Dynasty could not withstand the attack of a hundred thousand troops.

Where the Wei army passed by, the imperial garrison fled. Most county magistrates and county guards fled to Xingzhou with their families when they heard that the army was coming.

The prefect of Xingzhou complained and had no choice but to put those colleagues and powerful men into the city, and ordered the horse infantry to organize troops to prepare to defend the city.

At the same time, a letter of urgent hall report was sent to Bianliang City by the post station, and placed on the desks of Cai Jing and others.

The situation was so bad, Cai Jing didn't dare to hide it, and reported the real situation to Zhao Ji.

There was a lot of discussion in the court, some suggested recruiting security, some suggested temporarily suspending the confrontation with Xixia, and transferred the remaining troops of the Western Army to judge, and some proposed to transfer the left side of the brave army to judge.

On the contrary, Su Taiwei, because he admired Song Jiang and others, stood up to speak for them, thinking that Zhang Shuye led the Liangshan Army and Xingzhou's garrison with a total of 10,000+ people could put down the rebellion of Wei.

Zhao Ji knew military affairs well, and after hearing what Taiwei Su said was the most suitable for him, he thought it was the most reasonable, and refuted other people's proposals to mobilize the brave army, but issued another imperial decree to hand over the command of the Xingzhou garrison to Uncle Zhang hands of the night.

When the monarchs and ministers of the Song Dynasty were discussing the matter of judging, the Wei army captured Julu and the area under the jurisdiction of Xingzhou to the north in less than ten days.

After occupying the preset battlefield, the Wei army began to rest and wait for the arrival of everyone in Liangshanbo.

Besides, Zhang Shuye got two imperial edicts in succession.

He didn't dare to stay in Jeju any longer, and after a hasty handover, he took his two sons Zhang Bofen, Zhang Zhongxiong and several servants and galloped all the way to chase Liang Shanbo's army.

After reuniting with Song Jiang and others, they marched while studying the collected intelligence of the Great Wei Army.

"Marshal, according to the intelligence, the group of 'Shi Jin' are not like ordinary bandits... village." Song Jiang said cautiously.

Zhang Shuye nodded, and said: "It seems to be true. They can no longer be called copycats, but should be called anti-thieves."

"Marshal, is it true that 10,000+ armored men don't have any moisture?" Wu Yong asked, shaking his feather fan.

"Maybe there is, but it might be true. After all, Shi Jin and those people captured Zhending Mansion, and the frontier army has a lot of armor and weapons." Zhang Shuye said.

"But that's not what I'm worried about. Take a look at this." After Zhang Shuye said, he handed them a few pieces of paper.

"'Cancellation of small tax', 'Officials and gentry pay food together', 'Cancellation of miscellaneous taxes'..." Wu Yong couldn't help but sucked in a breath of air when he saw the news on the intelligence.

"The commander-in-chief is afraid... that even if I wait until the puppet Wei is wiped out, those frontier people in the north will find it difficult to return to the court." Wu Yong said.

Zhang Shuye sighed, and said: "This kind of government order is more radical and bolder than that of Wang Xianggong back then. If it is really carried out by the puppet Wei, who will return to the northern border people... Alas, it is a pity that the officials were deceived by treacherous officials, otherwise this kind of decree How can a capable man follow a thief?"

"It seems that I really have to take it seriously. I'm afraid it's not easy to fight Dawei." Wu Yong is definitely a person who can come up with such an idea, and he is definitely a capable person.

This is different from forces like Dulonggang and Zengtou that they usually deal with, and even the imperial court is a backward party in some respects.

It doesn't take much thinking to know that this expedition will not be smooth sailing.

"Let's go to Xingzhou City first, and see if there is any more specific information there. The situation in Xingzhou is not stable. It is better to speed up the march and get there early." Zhang Shuye said.

"Of order." Song Jiang and Lu Junyi responded quickly.

In this way, the Liangshan Army increased its marching speed from 45 miles per day to [-] miles per day.

Zhang Shuye was full of thoughts, and on the way of marching, he thought over and over again about the new law promoted by Wei.

"If 'abolishing the small tax' and 'paying the government and the gentry together' are implemented in the Song Dynasty...the Kaiyuan prosperity is nothing, but it is a pity that the court is full of Cai Jing, Tong Guan, Wang Fu, Liang Shicheng, Zhu Yan, Li Yan and the like .” Zhang Shuye whispered to himself.

Thinking of this, when the army was camping, he wrote a letter to Li Gang, the Qingliu leader of the imperial court.

More than ten days later, Liang Shanbo's army finally arrived at Xingzhou City.

Zhang Shuye was very relieved to see that the state city was intact and the soldiers on it were fully armed and ready for battle.

At any rate, Xingzhou was not lost, otherwise not only tens of thousands of soldiers would be missing, but the army would also lose the base for close-range supplies.

After Zhang Shuye entered the city, Zhao Xian, the prefect of Xingzhou, breathed a sigh of relief. After entertaining him, he handed over the military power and promised to provide food and grass for the army.

It is understandable for Zhao Taishou to make such a gesture. One is that Zhang Shuye has a holy decree, and the other is that he, a literati, does not want to face the matter of beatings and killings.

Moreover, it is his responsibility for Xingzhou to become the front line. He can do a good job in logistics for the army, but he can also ask for credit in front of the officials.

After Zhang Shuye accepted the Xingzhou army, he gathered the generals and made some arrangements. In fact, the main purpose was to restrain them not to offend Song Jiang and others because of their identities.

Because Liang Shan basically marched all the way in a hurry, he didn't dare to fight rashly, but let Song Jiang and others rest in the barracks, and sent out the scouts to check the current situation of the Wei army.

In order to ensure the accuracy of the investigation, Wu Yong suggested that Dai Zong, Yan Qing and others go to Julu to investigate.

Let's talk about Yan Qing, who disguised himself and entered the city from the north gate of Julu to investigate.

Not to mention working hard for several days in a row, it's true that he, a caring person, found a chance to get close to Wei's barracks.

It's just that when he saw several generals in the Great Wei Army from a distance, he couldn't help being stunned for a long time and didn't recover.

Back at the hotel where she was staying, Yan Qing still couldn't believe what she saw with her eyes.

"It turns out that Wei Wang Shi Jin is the elder brother of the Shi family. I thought it was a coincidence that he had the same name. I never thought that Mr. Xu would come out of the mountains and become the general of Wei." Yan Qing murmured.

"What should I do?" He thought over and over again, and finally decided to discuss it secretly with his master Lu Junyi after going back.

In this way, Yan Qing quietly went out of the city and returned to Xingzhou after a superficial investigation.

After returning to the barracks, he reported the information, but did not mention Xu Guanzhong and others.

That night, while everyone was resting, he stayed in Lu Junyi's room to wait on him.

After everyone left, Yan Qing walked out of the military tent to see if there was no one around, and then returned to hold Lu Junyi.

"Waiyuan, do you know who I saw in the Great Wei barracks." Yan Qing said in a low voice.

Seeing this, Lu Junyi knew something was wrong, so he lowered his voice and asked, "Who! Could it be my acquaintance?"

"Mr. Xu Guanzhong." Yan Qing said.

"What..., why is he in Dawei?" Lu Junyi asked.

(End of this chapter)