Lord: Start with a book of Water Margin

Chapter 456 Peace Talks
More than a thousand cavalrymen came galloping, and both camps could naturally see them.

At this time, the only ones who could mobilize such a large-scale cavalry were Hu Yanzhuo and Zhao Zhen. The large red flag with the word "Zhao" in it naturally indicated that it was Zhao Zhen of Liangshan.

There was a burst of cheers in Wu Yong's camp, and the Qingzhou bandit camp, which was attacked from both the north and the south, was also in an uproar.

Zhao Zhen reined in his horse and stopped two arrows away from the Qingzhou bandit camp.

After a while, a man was seen running out of Wu Yong's camp and bypassing the Qingzhou bandit camp.

It was none other than Zhu Hushan [Speedy Legs] Liu Tong. After greeting him, Zhao Zhen asked, "What's going on?"

Liu Tongdao said, "My lord, three days ago, Song Jiang appointed [Iron Fan] Song Qing as the commander, [Ghost Seer] Lai Yong'er as the military advisor, and led [Sheng Dongbin] Wu Jiao and his apprentice, as well as [Sky Pillar] Ren Yuan, [Iron Arhat] Fa Tong, [Mountain Bear] Zhao Fu, and ten chiefs, and they set off from Yishui to raise fog and march secretly, and reached the capital of Yizhou at night."

"Li Feibao, the commander of the Xi'an Camp in the city, was killed. Gao Feng was captured and beheaded at Caishikou. Ruan Qixiang and Ruan Zhaoer, the father and son of the East City Defense Commander, and the Tongpan [Sima Shi] Wanqi Chun and his brother [Sima Zhao] Wanqi Rong surrendered to Song Qing. The two deputy commanders Sun Lin and Li Fengming are nowhere to be found."

Zhao Zhen heard this and asked, "Does the military advisor have any plan?"

Liu Tongdao: "The military advisor said that it is freezing cold today, and this Qingzhou thief has thousands of Yizhou men with him. We cannot defeat him, and he will not be able to last long. The military advisor said that we should just surround this guy and force him to negotiate. Only in this way can we take back the Yizhou men and money."

"It seems that the military advisor still wants to release this group of Qingzhou bandits. Well, I know what the military advisor means. Later, I will return to Yizhou Prefecture to garrison. I will come here in the next few days to see if the Qingzhou bandits have used any Taoist magic?" Zhao Zhen said.

"We did use Taoist magic on the first day. The military advisor had prepared in advance and threw black dog blood, feces and urine and other filthy things into the air to break the Taoist magic. In this way, we didn't suffer any losses. On the contrary, the Qingzhou bandits who came with the fog were ambushed by the [Golden Spears] led by Brother Tao Zongwang. They used the hook-and-sickle spears and the claw-hook hands to capture more than a hundred Qingzhou bandits."

Zhao Zhen heard this and said to Gongsun Sheng, "Brother, although the scholar can break the spell, it is all dependent on external objects. Please go to the camp to take charge, just in case. Dean Dai should also go to the camp to pass on the news."

After hearing this, Gongsun Sheng and Dai Zong both nodded in agreement and, together with Liu Tong, they once again bypassed the Qingzhou bandit camp and returned to their own camp.

Zhao Zhen and his companions waited for another half an hour. Seeing that it was getting late, they mounted their horses and rode for half a day back to Yizhou Prefecture.

As for the Qingzhou bandit camp, they were already in a state of panic when they saw Zhao Zhen's cavalry coming to support them. 【Iron Arhat】 Fatong led his troops to suppress the rebellion, and only then did the situation stabilize, but the morale of the bandits plummeted.

Song Qing quickly invited Lai Yong'er and Wu Jiao to come over. Before they could sit down, Song Qing asked, "Military Advisor Lai, Mr. Wu, what should we do now?"

Lai Yonger said, "Don't worry, leader. We had an agreement with Liangshan that Yizhou would be returned to Liangshan as a reward for their military exploits in conquering us. They also promised not to send troops to Qingzhou. Now that we have captured Yizhou, the city is intact. We didn't agree on who would own the people and property. We can't go out and get nothing."

"He can't find fault with this excuse. The camp on the other side is just trying to stop us and doesn't seem to have any intention of fighting. Tonight, I will go to the camp on the other side and negotiate peace with this "wise man" to let us go."

Wu Jiao heard this and said, "Given the current situation, I'm afraid he won't let us go easily."

Lai Yonger smiled and said, "It's not a big deal. We didn't expect it to be so smooth when we attacked Yizhou Prefecture. Brother Gongming and I have made a plan. This place is just a bait. It's not a pity to give all the money to Zhao Zhen. Our goal is to mobilize the Xintai garrison. Now Brother Gongming must have led his troops to attack Xintai. Moreover, now that Gao Feng has been killed, our reputation will be even greater. When the green forest heroes in Shandong and Hebei hear about it, they will definitely flock to us. By then, when our power is strong, we will naturally be able to take it back."

Wu Jiao frowned and said, "Why do we need to seize Xintai? If this happens, how can Liangshan just sit there and do nothing?"

Lai Yonger said, "We didn't care about Xintai at the beginning, so we lost our defense. Now Laiwu is attacked from both sides, and we can only compromise. Didn't we come to surrender a few days ago? The leader, Li Jun, is very good at water skills. Brother Gongming and I have planned to take Xintai and use the water of Wenhe River to stop the Liangshan army. In this way, we don't have to be threatened by Liangshan, and we can concentrate on dealing with Hu Yanzhuo. Brothers, you know, a few days ago, Liangshan sent a manager named Du Xing, Du Xing, to Qingzhou to do business. He took advantage of the fact that we didn't dare to embarrass him, and used private salt to buy a lot of mountain products such as dried dates and dried persimmons."

Song Qing said: "I have never heard my brother talk about this. Since my brother and the military advisor have a plan, I am relieved. I would like to ask the military advisor to take the trouble today and return to Qingzhou as soon as possible. Otherwise, he will get the news and fight with us."

Lai Yong'er said, "Don't worry, Chief Song. Liangshan is greedy for money, so they will just give up these treasures at most."

That night, Lai Yong'er brought the Iron Arhat Fatong, and the two of them sneaked out of the camp and went to Wu Yong's camp to ask for a meeting.

Wu Yong, Gongsun Sheng and Gou Heng met the two men in the tent.

Wu Yong said directly, "Military Advisor Lai, we agreed to capture Yizhou Prefecture after the New Year, but now we didn't even say hello. This is unreasonable." Lai Yong'er laughed and said, "Military Advisor Wu is wrong. I don't remember saying after the New Year. We only said that we would capture Yizhou Prefecture and cooperate with the Liangshan Army to reoccupy Yizhou Prefecture to explain to the court and avoid fighting between the two sides. Now that we have captured Yizhou Prefecture, we have neither sent troops to garrison it nor damaged the city. In any case, we have not broken the agreement."

Wu Yong said, "That's right. You took away all the wealth and men in this city. What use is there for us to keep this city full of women and children? If we hadn't been prepared and the Gou Heng brothers from Yuanbi Village hadn't stopped us, you would have taken away all the essence of the city, leaving us with this mess. Now that you are leading your troops here, we must not let you take away the people and wealth."

Lai Yonger said, "That won't do. It's so cold, we can't go out and get nothing. If our brothers don't get rewarded, they will rebel. It's such a coward, why should we hesitate to fight."

Fatong slapped his forehead and said, "That's right, brothers are not vegetarians either."

Gou Heng scolded, "I'm afraid you won't be able to wait. If you don't accept it, we'll see for ourselves on the battlefield tomorrow."

Lai Yong'er said, "We are all fighting for our lives in the green forest, why do we have to do this? One day, we may be recruited by the amnesty and become officials like you."

"In this way, we will not take the people with us, but we will take half of the property with us. In this way, we can also give an explanation to our brothers. However, these two places, Yishui and Yiyuan, have been friendly to us for a long time. Now there are more soldiers in the army from these two places, so we have to move them all away."

Wu Yong thought for a moment and said, "Gao Feng's body, his family and his belongings must also be returned. As for the surrendered generals..."

"Since you have surrendered to us, you will never be sent back. Although we are from the outlaws, we value loyalty the most and will never go back on our word." Lai Yong'er interrupted.

Wu Yong sneered after hearing this: "Okay, I won't make it difficult for you. But I heard that Gao Feng has 300 [Flying Divine Soldiers] under his command. You have captured a lot of them, but you have to keep this one."

Lai Yonger said in embarrassment: "These people have not surrendered yet, and it is not impossible to return them to you, but they are all strong and brave men selected from Shandong, Hebei, Jiangxi, Hunan, Lianghuai, and Liangzhe. They can help the power of Taoism, but now they are all wanted by Master Wu Jiao and his apprentice. I have to go back and persuade him. We are all brothers, so I can't force them. The military advisor should also understand us."

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Wu Yong said, "How about I exchange the captured soldiers for you?"

Lai Yonger listened, hesitated for a moment and said: "If it is those who have not surrendered yet, it is fine, but those who have surrendered cannot be sent back."

"Okay, then it's settled. I will also tell the great official tomorrow. Just wait for the great official's nod, and you can create a fog and go around from one side. We will not stop you. Just wait for my camp to hang a green flag high tomorrow, and you can create a fog and leave. Let the young men escort the money and goods. When the fog rises for an hour, we will pretend to chase and intercept the young men and the money and goods. If you regret it, don't blame us for chasing and killing you."

"It's a deal." After saying so, Lai Yong'er and Fa Tong said goodbye and left.

The next morning, Zhao Zhen listened to the news sent by Dai Zong in Yizhou Prefecture. He said, "Dean Dai, I will be satisfied if I can get Ding Zhuang back. Please tell the scholars to let the Qingzhou thieves leave today."

Dai Zong heard this and hurried back to pass on the order. Zhao Zhen also raised his troops and rushed over.

After hearing the military order brought back by Dai Zong, Wu Yong immediately ordered his men to raise a large green flag at the gate of the camp.

In the opposite camp, they had packed up their luggage early in the morning. When they saw the big flag, Master Wu Jiao and his five disciples hurriedly went up to the altar to perform a ritual. The fog rolled up and spread out immediately.

Song Qing and his companions followed the plan, with Ren Yuan and Fa Tong as the vanguards, leading the way. Later, Song Qing, Lai Yonger, and Zhao Fu followed with their property and surrendered soldiers. The five Wu Jiaos, who were left behind, took their own troops and stayed behind. After the ritual was completed, they left behind the young men, property, and chased after the central army.

Just after an hour, Gongsun Sheng crouched on his sword in the army, performed magic, stepped on the magic steps, called up five thunders, and shouted: "Quick!"

There was a loud thunder in the air, and soon the fog dissipated.

Wu Yong climbed up the flying tower and looked around. In the distance, he could still see the figures of the Qingzhou bandits running fast. Looking towards the camp left by the Qingzhou bandits, a group of soldiers in the camp were guarding the young men from Yizhou Prefecture.

Wu Yong ordered the drums to be beaten, and upon hearing the drums, Lu Zhishen and the others led their troops forward and surrounded the Qingzhou bandit camp. Zhao Zhen also rode forward.

Lin Chong rushed out first and shouted at the camp: "You are an unprovoked bandit. You still don't surrender when the heavenly soldiers arrive. You will regret it when your flesh and blood are turned into mud!"

(End of this chapter)