weaving

On December 21, the court finally determined the course of action for the loss of his fiefdom, the Earl of Yongning, Zhang Cheng: "Zhang Cheng is stripped of his position as Right Commander of the Central Army Commandery and his title of General of Zhenshuo is revoked. He is allowed to retain his position as Commander of the Western Route of the Loyal Army to atone for his crime."

"Damn it, what kind of emperor is this? It was clearly Prince Lu who refused our rescue, so why should we bear the blame? This tyrant is so unreasonable, we might as well rebel!" Luo Rucai didn't care about other people's attitudes, he was the first to shout.

Yuan Shizhong was also dissatisfied, but he did not act as rudely as Luo Rucai. Instead, he advised, "Why is Commander Luo so agitated? Since we have chosen to submit to the court, we cannot keep going back on our word."

"Although we are resentful about what happened today, since we have submitted to the Earl of Yongning, we should leave the decision to the Earl. We shouldn't cause any more trouble for the Commander."

Hu glanced at Liu Chengzhu but did not speak.

At this moment, Zhang Guangda of the Vermilion Bird Camp stepped forward. He put his hand on his waist knife, glared at Luo Rucai and Yuan Shizhong, and said in a deep voice: "If you are not convinced, then say what you are not convinced about. Anyone who dares to say the word 'rebellion' in my Lord's tent, I, Old Zhang, will be the first to rebel against him!"

After Zhang Guangda finished speaking, Wei Zhice, Li Jiyu, Lin Fangping, Xu Jinyong and other close generals all stepped forward and stood behind Zhang Guangda, their hands on their waist swords, to support him.

Upon seeing this, Luo Rucai was startled and quickly laughed, saying, "Haha... I just felt that the court was so incompetent that I couldn't stand it and said a few crude things. Who would actually rebel?"

Zhang Guangda's eyes widened, and he remained silent.

At this moment, Wang Pu, the General Commander of Datong, stepped forward and said indignantly, "Not to mention that Commander Luo is not convinced, even I, Wang Pu, am not convinced. Today we will write to the court to speak out for the Earl of Yongning."

Li Fuming quickly replied, "We will also submit a memorial to the court together with Commander Wang."

After presenting his case to the chief commander, Marquis Yongning Zhang Cheng waved his hand at the crowd and said softly, "No need."

The entire hall immediately fell silent, everyone waiting to hear what the Marquis of Yongning would say next…

"Although the fall of Lu was caused by Lu's refusal to provide aid to our Yongyi Army, as the commander of the western route of the loyalist army, I am guilty of an inescapable fault. Now that the court has issued its punishment, everyone should refrain from using this matter as an excuse in the future."

The Earl of Yongning looked at everyone and continued, "We should focus our energy on how to resist the Tartars."

Luo Rucai realized that his words had been a bit too direct and blunt, so he smiled and said, "I think these Jianzhou Tartars are nothing special. Although Jining is a fortified city, it seems that even in open battle, we won't suffer much loss."

Yuan Shizhong also seemed unconvinced: "That's right, they even said 'ten thousand men are invincible.' I think they're nothing special. In my opinion, we should also surround and attack their reinforcements."

"General Yuan, tell me how you plan to besiege the point and attack the reinforcements?" Zhang Guangda immediately asked.

"In my opinion, we should also send out our cavalry, one to two thousand men per group, to search for the Tartars in all directions. Once we find them, we should keep them occupied while reporting back. We should surround one group with our cavalry and set up an ambush outside with our infantry. When Tartar reinforcements arrive, we should wipe them out."

After hearing this, Zhang Guangda's eyes darted around, as if he was pondering the strategy Yuan Shizhong had just mentioned.

The group discussed the matter, offering their opinions one after another. Although they couldn't determine a final strategy—after all, the decision ultimately rested with the Earl of Yongning—they all demonstrated courage and confidence. After about half an hour, the Earl of Yongning waved his hand again, signaling that the discussion could cease.

"I know that the Tartars are rampaging and the people of Qi and Lu are suffering. But we must think from a strategic perspective. Defeating the invading Tartars is easy, but that is not our ultimate strategic goal."

Luo Rucai asked first, "General, you said that repelling the Tartars is not our goal, so what is our goal?"

"hey-hey……"

After a moment of cold laughter, Marquis Yongning Zhang Cheng said to him, "There is one more thing that you are not fully aware of, so you did not think of it. I will not blame you."

"Huh... is there anything else?"

Zhang Cheng pointed down and said, "Zhi Ce, tell Commander Luo about our strategy for conquering the Hetao and Mobei regions."

Upon hearing this, Wei Zhice immediately stepped forward, pulled Luo Rucai aside, and briefly introduced the three-pronged attack launched by Guo Yingxian, Wu Zhizhong, and others against the Hetao region and the northern desert.

At this moment, the Earl of Yongning did not wait for Luo Rucai to understand the situation. Zhang Cheng continued, "In order to invade our capital region, the Tartars have mobilized more than half of their available troops. Moreover, they also want to tie down our iron cavalry stationed in Liaodong, preventing them from returning to reinforce the capital region."

Therefore, the northern grasslands are currently sparsely populated with troops, which is why, upon hearing news of the Tartar invasion, Benbo immediately dispatched his main force to attack the Hetao grasslands.

Before anyone could interrupt, he continued, “Now, we should not rush to drive back the Tartars in Qilu. Instead, we should try to keep this invading Tartar force here and prevent them from returning to the desert smoothly, so as to avoid ruining my grand plan to conquer the Hetao region.”

Everyone reacted differently after hearing what the Earl of Yongning said...

Some people showed undisguised joy on their faces. They felt that the Earl of Yongning had a strong military strategy and that the Hetao region, which had been lost for over a hundred years, was finally going to be recovered this time.

Some people, however, showed a hint of worry on their faces. They were concerned that if they sent troops to recover the Hetao region without the permission of the court and the emperor, they would be held accountable if the matter failed. Even if the matter was accomplished, they feared that they would not receive a good response from the court.

After all, the Earl of Yongning is too prominent. If he really takes this opportunity to recover the Hetao region, it may cause panic among the bigwigs in the court. They might even unite and attack the Earl of Yongning by any means necessary.

In this way, the future path may be blocked by the Earl of Yongning himself!

However, in any case, everything is now under the control of the Earl of Yongning. Everyone is steadfastly carrying out the Earl of Yongning's orders, and no one has raised any questions or even dared to deceive their superiors.

Because all those who deceive their superiors and subordinates will be eradicated once they are discovered!
Luo Rucai learned of the campaign to conquer the Hetao region from Wei Zhice. Before returning to his seat, he did not sit down immediately, but instead clasped his hands in a fist and said, "Commander, what are your plans for this battle? I, Luo Rucai, will follow your orders." (End of Chapter)