Lord: Start with a book of Water Margin

Chapter 484 Planning
In the next few days, Liu Huiniang led people to launch flying thunders every day. Zengtou City Camp saw it secretly and thought that Zhao Zhen was planning to attack the city.

Zhao Zhen naturally would not say that it was to deal with the angels. He only said that the siege had lasted for a long time and the Qingzhou thieves in the city could not be allowed to be too free.

On this day, the angel entered the camp and Zhao Zhen followed. After hearing the imperial edict, Zhao Zhen accepted the reward from the court and thanked the emperor.

Then he invited Liu Bin into the big tent and held a banquet to entertain him.

During the banquet, Liu Bin indeed said that he wanted to visit the Laiwu Prison. No matter how hard they tried to persuade him, Liu Bin refused to listen and just said that the emperor was worried about him and he wanted to visit him and return to Beijing to report to the emperor.

After hearing this, Zhao Zhen had no choice but to let Dai Zong take Liu Bin to see it.

At the foot of Laiwu City, Dai Zong pointed at the top of the city wall and said, "Angel, after these days of bombardment, the top of the city wall has become much looser."

Liu Bin looked at the pits on the top of Laiwu City Wall and the houses on fire, nodded with satisfaction and asked, "Why don't we attack the city today?"

Dai Zong said: "The angel entered the camp to announce the decree, so it is naturally difficult to attack the city. This is the south gate guarded by my husband, and the west gate is guarded by Zeng Toushi."

As the two were talking, the Qingzhou bandits on the city wall saw a group of people watching in a swaggering manner below the city, so they mobilized several catapults from the city wall and attacked the group.

Fortunately, these cannonballs were not very accurate and hit the crowd twenty or thirty steps away.

Even so, Liu Bin and his group were so frightened that their faces changed drastically and they ran back shouting.

After running a hundred or so steps, he stopped panting. Liu Bin seemed to realize his mistake and said to Dai Zong behind him: "I didn't expect the Qingzhou thieves to be so fierce."

Dai Zong said, "What the angel said is true. After all, they are a big bandit that occupies several states, not just a bandit in the mountains. Now the angel has personally braved the arrows and stones and personally come to the city to observe the terrain. He is truly devoted to the country. Angel, do you want to go around the city to the west gate?"

Liu Bin quickly shook his head and said, "No need."

After a pause, he continued, "The emperor has also issued rewards to the heroes of Zengtou City. Why don't you ask the commander to go to the main camp of Zengtou City and invite Zeng Mi from Zengtou City to the main camp to listen to the announcement. After the handover, I can also return to the capital as soon as possible to report."

After hearing this, Dai Zong first sent Liu Bin back to the camp, and then reported to Zhao Zhen and sent someone to invite Zeng Mi to come and listen to the announcement.

After announcing the decree, Liu Bin stuffed the imperial edict into Zeng Mi's arms, spoke a few words to Zhao Zhen and Zeng Mi, and hurried away with his men.

Zeng Mi did not think much of it, thinking that it was just the angel announcing the decree who was anxious to return to the capital.

Zeng Mi was satisfied with the rewards from the court. His elder brother who had passed away was promoted to the seventh rank Guide Zhonghou, his father was granted the title of Huaihua Sige, and his four brothers were also granted the title of Huaihua Zhijichangshang. He was also sent to Lingzhou as an inspector.

In the camp, Zhao Zhen said to Zeng Mi: "Brother Zeng Mi, congratulations. From now on, I will call you Patrol Inspector Zeng."

Zeng Mi said, "Sir, what are you talking about? Our small official positions are not worth talking about."

Zhao Zhen said: "Your family has a huge fortune, and now you have a position, Lingzhou will be under your control in the future."

"No, there are two Lingzhou militia commanders, it's not our turn to make the decision."

Zhao Zhen heard this and said with a smile, "The angel told us to speed up the attack on the city. I have begun to test the city of Laiwu in the past few days. You are still injured and it is not easy for you to go into battle. When brother Zeng Sheng comes, you must also contribute. If we can capture Laiwu, the court will definitely reward us. If we can run a militia, we will not have to rely on others in the future."

Zeng Mi heard this and said, "Don't worry, sir. We have not only national hatred but also family hatred with the Qingzhou bandits. We must avenge our eldest brother. If someone comes from his family, we will definitely attack the city with all our heart." In the next few days, cannons were still fired every day. Although the city wall was not blown down, the morale of the soldiers defending the city was low. No matter how Zhou Tong and the other two mobilized them, it was useless. The catapults in the city did not have a long range, and the cannonballs fired could not hit the Liangshan army. They could only take the beating without fighting back, and the leaders did not dare to lead their troops out of the city. From time to time, cannonballs fell, which was very frustrating for the soldiers guarding the south gate. The defenders began to blame each other.

Three days later, Shi Qian rushed over from Mizhou and brought the news.

Wu Yong sent people to sneak into the city in advance and attacked it at night. With the help of both inside and outside forces, he captured all the cities guarded by Sima Zhao and Wanqi Rong.

Wanqi Rong was captured, and a large amount of money, grain and cloth was seized.

Zhao Zhen was overjoyed when he heard this and started asking in detail.

Shi Qian said, "According to the military advisor's instructions, Bai Sheng and I sneaked into the city among the people. At three o'clock last night, we set fire to the city. Taking advantage of the chaos in the city, the two commanders Lu Zhishen and Wu Song led the way and climbed the city walls first. We killed the Qingzhou bandits on the top of the city walls, opened the city gates, and the army captured all the cities that night."

"Commanders Shi Wengong and Su Ding ambushed at the east and north gates of Zhucheng and captured Wanqi Rong who was escaping from the city. This morning, the military advisor asked me to report the news to you, sir. Wanqi Rong is also being escorted out today and will be brought here soon."

Zhao Zhen heard this and asked, "What is the situation of Guan Sheng's troops?"

"According to the plan, Guan Sheng left 500 soldiers to guard Ju County, and the rest of the troops went to Jiaoxi County. When I came, there was no news."

"Does the military advisor have any further instructions?" Zhao Zhen asked.

"The military advisor said that there are only 2000 people stationed in Mizhou City, and there must not be many people in other county towns. The military advisor plans to occupy Mizhou." Shi Qian said.

"Where is the Song Qing majority?"

"We have entered Laizhou territory."

Zhao Zhen listened, nodded, and said, "Brother, take a rest for a while, and return to Zhucheng tomorrow."

Two days later, Zhao Zhen saw Wanqi Rong, who was escorted here. Guan Sheng also received a victory report that Jiaoxi had been taken. There were only a thousand Qingzhou bandits in the city.

After hearing this news, Zhao Zhen became more confident in Wu Yong's judgment.

Looking at Wanqi Rong kneeling with shackles below, Zhao Zhen also had the leisure to ask: "I heard that your family is also an official family. Now that you have been captured by the bandits, I am afraid you will be tortured to death."

Wanqi Rong said, "Please spare my life, sir. I am willing to surrender. The prefecture fell in a hurry and the governor was killed. We had no choice but to pretend to surrender. I also took the risk to find out many secrets from the Qingzhou bandits, which will be of great use to you, sir. I beg you to forgive me."

After hearing this, Liu Huiniang shouted, "Nonsense! You two brothers, one nicknamed Sima Shi and the other Sima Zhao, usually bully the good and do all kinds of evil. How can you be a good person? There is not a single person in the city who doesn't hate your family. Now you follow the thieves and still want to live!"

Wanqi Rong looked up at Liu Hui Niang who had spoken, and asked hesitantly, "Are you the daughter of Liu Guang, the defender of East City?"

"Yes, you all conspired to execute my father. But could you have imagined that this day would come?" Liu Hui Niang said.

Wanqi Rong's face turned pale. He struggled and said, "Sir, my brother and I did pretend to surrender. Song Jiang didn't trust us very much, so he separated us. However, I am loyal to the court. I have learned that Song Jiang's brother Song Qing has led his troops to attack Laizhou, and his goal is to attack Dengzhou and seize the ships."

(End of this chapter)