weaving

Chapter 1481 Finding Wealth in Danger

Faced with the sudden inquiry from the Earl of Yongning, Zhang Mingda looked bewildered and blurted out, "I can't say anything about Luo Rucai. But... Father, I know Cao Cao. He was a treacherous and ruthless man at the end of the Han Dynasty. He would rather betray others than be betrayed by them. His heart was truly black."

Zhang Cheng suddenly turned around, stared at his adopted son Zhang Mingda, and remained silent for a long time...

Zhang Mingda's subsequent words were clearly not his own, but rather something he had heard while listening to storytelling in the streets. However, these few words of commentary on Cao Cao struck a chord with the Earl of Yongning.

Especially the phrase, "I would rather betray others than be betrayed by them!"
These words struck Zhang Cheng like a deafening alarm bell.

Indeed, Luo Rucai was compared to Cao Cao by the bandits because he was known for his "cunning, scheming, and fickle nature." How could one guarantee that someone with such a character would be loyal to him?

However, Zhang Mingda was unaware that the Earl of Yongning had fallen into deep thought because of what he said, and even thought that he had said something wrong and had displeased his father.

He suddenly knelt down, kowtowed, and said, "Father, I have spoken nonsense. Please punish me!"

Zhang Cheng was taken aback for a moment, but he immediately understood the problem and said with a smile, "Who said I was going to punish you? Get up and have a proper talk with your father."

Zhang Mingda breathed a sigh of relief. He slowly stood up and stood to the side, only to see the Earl of Yongning point to the stone bench next to him and say, "Sit down."

He dared not disobey, and immediately plopped down on the cold stone bench. Then he heard the Earl of Yongning ask him, "Mingda, you were talking about Cao Cao's character just now, but I want you to talk about Luo Rucai?"

Under the stern gaze of the Earl of Yongning, Zhang Mingda stammered, "Father, Luo Rucai... since he is called Cao Cao, he must also be... a cunning man. His... his repeated attempts to appease him, but then... and his subsequent rebellion, are... are clear evidence of this."

Seeing that the Earl of Yongning's expression gradually turned amiable, Zhang Mingda felt a little relieved and continued, "In the past, he was afraid that the rebels would become too powerful and devour him, so he had no choice but to leave the rebels in order to become independent. He went to his father's army just to cling to a big tree for shade and to avoid the rebels' revenge."

now……"

He paused here, glancing at the Earl of Yongning, who then said gently, "Go on."

"Now that the rebel leader has been defeated and retreated, it is really hard to tell whether Luo Rucai is truly loyal to us. If he is still a traitor, it is not impossible that he will go south to join the rebel leader Xian and the five traitors of the Left."

After hearing this, the Earl of Yongning remained silent. He stood up from the stone bench, walked outside the pavilion, faced the morning breeze, looked up at the first hint of dawn in the east, and silently closed his eyes.

About fifteen minutes later, the Earl of Yongning slowly opened his eyes, turned around and said to Zhang Mingda, "Very good, you are very good."

After saying this, he turned and walked into the house, saying as he went, "Help me get dressed. Tell them to prepare breakfast and call Li Fuming, He Zhenxiong, Chen Zhong, Hu Zichen, Lin Fangping, and Xu Jinyong to come and eat with me."

…………

At the hour of Mao (5-7 AM), in a side hall behind the headquarters of the bandit-suppression commander of Zhuxian Town, Earl Zhang Cheng of Yongning was having breakfast, accompanied by Li Fuming, He Zhenxiong, and others.

"General, is another major battle about to begin?" Chen Zhong blurted out.

Zhang Cheng rolled his eyes at him and said, "All you know is fighting, don't you know that people die in war?"

"If there's no war, why are you calling us over for breakfast in such a hurry?"

“Yeah, we didn’t even get to enjoy it before the thief escaped,” Xu Jinyong said casually.

Zhang Cheng shook his head and said, "Eat well."

As he spoke, he stuffed half of a steamed bun into his mouth, chewed it vigorously for a while, then drank a mouthful of millet porridge, ate a few bites of salted dried fish, and then put down his bowl and chopsticks.

Seeing this, everyone hurriedly finished their steamed buns in a few bites and then went to the screen on the east side to look at the map of Henan hanging on it.

The military maps used by the Earl of Yongning were all newly drawn by the Intelligence Bureau. They were not the abstract maps that the Ming Dynasty couldn't understand. They were almost all drawn proportionally to the actual locations, making them both intuitive and simple.

He raised his hand and pointed towards Guide Prefecture, saying, "This afternoon, Lin Fangping will lead the elite cavalry of the Imperial Guard and the Tiger Guard to accompany me to Suizhou."

Hu Zichen hurriedly advised, "Commander, you mustn't!"

Before Yongningbo could speak, he stepped forward and came to Zhang Cheng's side, continuing to advise him: "Luo Rucai is fickle, surrendering and then rebelling more than once. Commander, you must not trust him again." Chen Zhong also spoke up, saying: "Yes, Commander. If there is anything, just summon him. Why must you personally go to the danger?"

The Earl of Yongning waved his hand in time to stop everyone from trying to persuade him. Seeing the concerned expressions on everyone's faces, he felt a surge of warmth in his heart—all his years of hard work had not been in vain!

"With you all like this, my acquaintance and friendship with you have not been in vain!"

Upon hearing this, everyone bowed and said, "This humble general will never forget the kindness of the commander-in-chief in promoting and nurturing us."

Zhang Cheng nodded in satisfaction and shouted loudly, "All generals, listen to my command!"

With a "whoosh," all the generals present stood up straight, their backs ramrod straight, and even their expressions looked much more energetic.

"Li Fuming, your Shanxi army shall immediately assemble and set off to Yifeng to garrison."

"Yes, sir!" Li Fuming responded loudly, turned around and left the side hall to return to camp and reorganize the troops.

"He Zhenxiong, you shall lead your cavalry to assemble immediately and advance to Qixian County for defense."

"Yes, sir." He Zhenxiong also obeyed the order and withdrew to go back and prepare.

"Hu Zichen, lead your cavalry to Zhecheng to garrison it."

"Here."

"Xu Jinyong, you will lead two hundred heavy cavalry from the Vermilion Bird Camp to accompany and protect this commander."

"Here."

Upon hearing this, Lin Fangping couldn't help but interject, "Commander, what about me?"

"you?"

The Earl of Yongning smiled and looked at him, saying, "You lead the Imperial Guard and Tiger Guard cavalry units and set off immediately to scout ahead for me."

"Yes, sir." Lin Fangping then happily and loudly accepted the military order.

But then the Earl of Yongning added, “Remember, I will rest in Qixian tonight and will not arrive in Suizhou until tomorrow afternoon. Your troops must move to Ningling and set up camp before noon.”

"Ah..." Lin Fangping asked with a puzzled look, "Why is that?"

Looking at the map, Chen Zhong replied, "The commander-in-chief intends to surround Cao Cao's camp from all sides, preventing them from making any rash moves."

Zhang Cheng smiled and glanced at Chen Zhong, saying, "Yes, that's exactly what I meant."

"But only two hundred heavy cavalry seems a bit too few."

Faced with Chen Zhong's question, the Earl of Yongning did not take it seriously. He said, "Two hundred is weak, so what if there are a thousand cavalry? Facing Cao Cao's tens of thousands of troops, do you think we can be safe even with a thousand cavalry?"

Everyone was speechless.

"Fortune favors the bold," said the Earl of Yongning. "Since I'm going to take Luo Rucai under my wing, I have to take this risk. Otherwise, if he suspects me and I suspect him, how will we get along in the future?"

Everyone was speechless after hearing this.

Chen Zhong then asked, "General, what about me?"

"You? You'll just stay here and guard Zhuxian Town!"