Water Margin: Lu Bu sits on Mount Liang

Chapter 1103 There are always people who want to rebel
Song Dynasty, the sixth year of Xuanhe, autumn.

Tong Guan launched the second Northern Expedition to Yanyun and conscripted too many laborers. Various taxes were imposed on the people in Hebei, Shandong and other places. It happened that in the past two years, there were constant natural disasters and man-made disasters in various parts of the north, and the harvest was poor.

Most of the pastoral officers in each city were people who sucked the blood of the soldiers, which caused constant complaints from the people and soldiers. All kinds of contradictions finally broke out after the army went out to war.

Tian Hu of Hebei gathered 80,000 people in the west of Hebei, successively conquered Cizhou and Luozhou, and marched into Qinghe. However, Gao Tuoshan, who had been active in Qing, Xu, Yi and other places, moved from one place to another, from Jingdong to the east of Hebei, and gathered 150,000 bandits along the way, and the number was still increasing.

Another bandit leader in Jingdong, Zhang Wanxian, chose another path. He gathered a crowd of 100,000 people from all over Shandong and fought head-on with the government troops in various military states.

Seeing that the situation had become a big deal and the pacification envoys were unable to control it, the various transport envoys had no choice but to report and ask for help. Zhao Ji was furious when he heard the news. On the one hand, he ordered the eunuch Liang Fangping to lead troops to quell the rebellion as the governor of Hebei and Jingdong. On the other hand, he sent someone to inform Tong Guan to cooperate with Liang Fangping to quell the internal troubles. At the same time, he urged him to end the Northern Expedition as soon as possible and retake Yanyun.

"This is the current situation in the court." Tong Guan sat in the first seat and took a sip of tea slowly, holding the hand warmer: "The Qi State in the north has surrounded Xijin Prefecture for several days. If we split our attention to Hebei, Yanyun will be even more impossible to recapture."

Liu Yanqing sat in his seat, and his second son Liu Guangshi sat below him. The father and son looked at each other. The father hesitated for a moment and spoke carefully: "Prime Minister, the morale of the army is low. If we go north to fight with Qi for Xijin Prefecture, I'm afraid..."

Tong Guan looked up at him, and Liu Yanqing immediately swallowed his words.

"Just manage the army well. I may need it later." He put the heater on his legs and moved it slowly: "We can't ignore the government's affairs either." He turned his head and looked at Liu Guangshi: "Let Erlang take some soldiers to help Liang Fangping. Just don't get too involved and don't go far away from Hebei."

Liu Yanqing was overjoyed, and quickly pulled his son to bow to Tong Guan: "It is lucky for him that the old lady is willing to promote this useless boy."

Liu Guangshi took the opportunity to bow down and said: "I will definitely not let you down for your kindness in supporting me."

Tong Guan nodded in satisfaction: "This time, you just need to kill all the bandits and you will be credited with a great achievement. You don't need to worry too much about what happens next."

Liu Guangshi clasped his fists and bowed his head: "Yes."

"Go down." Tong Guan seemed tired and waved his hand: "Do what I asked you to do."

The father and son quickly stood up and saluted: "I will take my leave."

Tong Guan watched the two people walk out, pondered for a moment, and raised his voice: "Someone come!"

The door opened and the young eunuch came in with his hands lowered and bowed.

"Go and get Zhao Liangsi and Dong Yun."

The young eunuch took the order and left. Not long after, two figures walked in and whispered conversations were heard in the room.

……

The setting sun shone across the palace. A few birds flew over the palace and flew into their nests under the eaves.

After the snow, the temperature became even colder, and due to the frequent wars before, Xijin Prefecture could mobilize even fewer supplies. Li Ying and his men finished counting the supplies and had to ask for help from the rear for food and supplies for the winter.

In the palace, people would run by from time to time, bringing official documents sent by the emperor outside and having people preach along the streets in order to reassure the people in the city. Guards from far and near were looking at the unfamiliar place vigilantly.

"That's all for today..."

Lu Bu was pinching his nose and throwing the brush in his hand into the pen holder on the table. It fell into the holder with a light "click". The pen shaft hit the inner wall, splashing a lot of ink spots that stained the table top black.

"Clean up here."

Lu Bu stood up, called the eunuch to clean the table, and took the cloak handed over by Su Yi: "Has the messenger to Zhongjing set out?"

"We'll leave at noon." Su Yi said softly with a smile, "But it's snowing now, so we may be delayed for some time on the road."

"Yes." Lu Bu stretched his shoulders and said, "But I promised to inform them once we take over Xijin Prefecture. We'll see when they come."

Su Yi did not say anything in the back, but he was actually quite happy in his heart. As long as his sister did not lose the emperor's favor, his Su family's status in the court would not be bad. Thinking back to when they were in the mountains before, his parents were still worried that his second sister would be wronged by following the bandits.

Now that Qi has replaced Liao, it has become one of the largest countries in the world. Anyone who sees it would have to praise it.

Haha, I really want to see the expression on dad’s face right now. Is he almost looking down on people?

"correct."

The voice of his brother-in-law, the emperor, interrupted his thoughts and he quickly closed his mouth, which had been grinning unconsciously: "Your Majesty, is there something wrong?"

"Isn't it time for you to get married?" Lu Bu looked back at him thoughtfully.

"what?"

Su Yi was stunned. How did this get to him? He calmed down and scratched his cheek: "I don't know about this..." He spread his hands and said: "I have been following your majesty in battles. I don't know if my parents have any arrangements."

Lu Bu looked at him and nodded: "You are not young anymore, it is time to find a wife to manage the household. Your second sister talked to me about this before."

Su Yi didn't know whether to agree or refuse, and just muttered: "It's good for me now. I can't be like Yelu Dezhong, who is controlled by his wife. Wouldn't that be boring?"

Lu Bu was startled, then laughed out loud: "You are not a fish, how do you know the joy of fish?"

"I don't believe he still had fun after being beaten like that." Su Yi curled his lips: "It's more like fun."

Lu Bu just patted him. As he was walking, a guard came over quickly and said, "Your Majesty, Minister Qiao comes to the palace to ask for an audience."

"Hmm?" He stopped walking and looked at the dim sky. "It's urgent to come here at this time. Let him come." He paused and ordered, "Let him go to the warm room, and arrange for the kitchen to prepare some dinner and send it over."

"Here."

Wu Wei turned and left. Lu Bu was no longer in the mood to chat and walked into the warm room with the guards who followed him, walking at the gait of a dragon and a tiger.

Charcoal was stuffed into the copper stove, and something to start the fire was placed underneath. The eunuchs who were warming themselves outside also started a fire, and soon the room became warm.

When Qiao Lie came in, the drinks had already been heated. The Phantom Demon Lord saluted respectfully, then sat down at Lu Bu's signal. Su Yi stepped forward and divided the drinks between the two of them.

Lu Bu raised the golden bronze cup and took a sip: "Why are you here at this time?"

"Something..." Qiao Lie frowned, "The spies down there reported that Pingzhou has been in frequent contact with the outside world recently, and when we followed them, we were unable to catch them."

"People from Song?" Lu Bu put down the wine cup.

Qiao Lie nodded: "I think so." Lu Bu didn't say anything, but tapped the table lightly with one hand. Qiao Lie didn't say anything either, but sipped the warm wine gently to dispel some of the coldness on his body.

Eunuchs brought roasted lamb and pheasant. The aroma of meat mixed with the aroma of wine filled the warm room. Lu Bu picked up the meat and took a bite. The fat squeezed out from between the golden flesh and bones.

"...Your Majesty, do you want to take him away in advance?" Qiao Lie looked at him without saying anything and asked softly.

"No need..." Lu Bu subconsciously refuted, then exhaled and repeated, "No need." He raised his hand and poured the liquid in the wine cup into his mouth: "I wanted to take this opportunity to recuperate for a while, but it seems that I can't do it now. What do you think..."

Looking at Qiao Lie, he slowly said, "Can the people of Song resist the fat meat in their mouths?"

"No." Qiao Lie said without thinking: "Yanyun has always been on the mind of the king and ministers of Song. To be honest, even if the Song army tears its face off and attacks Xijin Prefecture tomorrow, I will think it is normal."

"That's it." Lü Bu smiled and poured more steaming wine into the glass. "Wait for the Song people to take action. It's better for the Song people to tear up the agreement."

Qiao Lie nodded slowly: "Then we should also make more preparations." He twirled his beard with his hand: "Li Ying has been complaining about food and grass. Now it seems that it is better to mobilize more from the rear."

"There aren't many troops in the rear." Lu Bu sighed, then waved his hand and said, "Well, tomorrow I will order all counties to prepare military food and supplies. We will have dinner tonight."

……

Leave the place where a counterattack is brewing and head far south.

Liu Guangshi, wearing armor and helmet, stood in the central army tent, listening to his father's chatter: "According to what the old lady said and the official documents sent from the rear, there are two big thieves in Hebei. I think Tian Hu is a good target. Gao Tuoshan is a bandit. If you lead the troops to pursue him, I don't know how much energy and time it will take. On the contrary, Tian Hu has been staying at the junction of the two routes in Hebei."

He pointed his finger at the feng shui map and said, "You lead your army south, cut off his claws and teeth advancing eastward, and then concentrate on attacking his lair." He turned to look at his son who was listening attentively and said, "As the saying goes, a snake cannot survive without a head. Without a leader, these thieves will no longer be a threat. You can then make them into a circle or squash them as you like."

"I know." Liu Guangshi suppressed his impatience and nodded: "When the time comes, we will recruit some of them to surrender and bring them to the northern battlefield."

Liu Yanqing frowned. How could a father not see the impatience in his son's eyes? However, he still had to say something in advance: "Don't be impatient. You should know that we have been defeated in the northern border and cannot afford to lose again. If we make a mistake in suppressing the bandits this time, I'm afraid that the old lady will punish you and me."

Liu Guangshi said nothing, but nodded repeatedly.

Liu Yanqing said helplessly: "This time you take some of the imperial guards with you. The imperial guards were defeated too quickly on the battlefield before, and the old lady was dissatisfied with their lack of battlefield experience. You take them to practice and let them see blood."

Liu Guangshi opened his mouth, then responded sullenly. It was common knowledge in the army that the imperial guards were corrupt and useless. However, as things stood now, only this group of troops could be mobilized at will, and the other camps had to wait in the north, which would make it inconvenient for them to go on the expedition with him.

Liu Yanqing knew that he was unwilling to do so and thought for a moment, "You can also take the white-collar worker with you."

"Hmm?" Liu Guangshi looked up and heard his father's voice: "Song Jiang's men are quite brave in battle, but their numbers are much smaller than at the beginning. It doesn't matter if they stay in the north, one more or one less. Why don't you take them with you to attack the city and capture the stronghold."

Liu Guangshi rolled his eyes, then clasped his fists and said, "Thank you, Dad."

"Let's prepare accordingly. We will march south in three days."

Liu Guangshi clasped his fists and left, and then a messenger ran out of the big tent.

……

In the same night, as the party being talked about, Song Jiang and others soon received the military order issued by Liu Yanqing. Ji Shiyu, who was originally high-spirited, now had a look of sadness on his face.

Thinking back to the first Northern Expedition, he had nearly half a hundred generals and generals under his command, and more than 20,000 to nearly 30,000 brave soldiers. But now, more than half of his leaders are missing, and there are less than 10,000 soldiers.

"Li Jun, Duan Sanniang, these sons of bitches, it's a waste of my brother's kindness to them. If I, Tie Niu, see them again, I will definitely chop off their heads with my axe one by one."

In the burning firelight, Li Kui's face flushed and he danced with joy: "These damn bastards actually became deserters, what disloyal guys!"

There was a crackling sound of burning wood in the firelight, and the faces of the people around him all looked very ugly. Song Jiang mechanically took a sip of wine and said, "Okay, Tie Niu, don't talk about them anymore."

He looked at the generals in the tent and said, "Now the court has ordered us to follow the army to eliminate the bandits in Hebei. As generals of the court, we must obey the order."

Xu Ning raised his eyes to look at him, no expression could be seen on his round face, he just drooped his eyelids and held the wine bowl silently watching the liquid shaking inside.

Lu Junyi was also silent, holding his thighs with his hands and lowering his head. Lei Yingchun and Zhang Yue'e looked pale. Their injuries had not yet healed and they were feeling uncomfortable and did not want to speak.

Song Jiang glanced at the expressions of the crowd and sighed slightly in his heart. This situation had been like this since the day of defeat. He wanted to comfort everyone, but he was not in the mood to do so. After all, he was now involved in a lot of lawsuits.

bang——

"It's the imperial court again. They have never considered us as their own people." Wu Song put the wine bowl hard on the table, and the wine swayed, spilling a lot of it.

"That's right. If you ask me, I'd rather go back to the mountains and live happily!" Li Kui listened to Wu Song's words and immediately shouted, "Who cares about the court? They'll all be punished!"

"Iron Bull!" Song Jiang shouted angrily, pointing outside the tent: "Get out!"

“Go away if you want.” Li Kui saw his angry face and muttered, “Originally, I was very happy in the mountains, but since I followed you and took everything…”

"roll!"

With an angry roar, the tall figure of Black Whirlwind ran out.

In the military tent, silence remains
……

Pingzhou.

The wind and snow died down, and from a distance, everything looked white.

Zhang Jue was writing slowly in the room. There were more than ten pieces of discarded paper on the ground beside him. He didn't know where he made a mistake. The standing figure paused and waved his hand.

wow——

The half-written rice paper flew off the table and fell to the ground.

"My dear, my dear!"

Outside, there were shouting sounds. Zhang Jue took a breath, put down his pen, and looked at Zhang Qing who pushed the door open. He couldn't help but speak first: "What's going on?"

The young man who entered the room walked over quickly and said softly, "It's done."

(End of this chapter)