Lord: Start with a book of Water Margin

Chapter 495 Reward

The next morning, Zhao Zhen had just finished breakfast and was about to accompany Cheng Wan'er to the temple to pray for a child when he saw Chen Lingwei, also known as Lady Wang, push the door open.

Seeing Zhao Zhen, Chen Lingwei blushed slightly and said, "Sir, Judge Xiao sent a letter by carrier pigeon. We have received the pigeon message from Yuncheng County. The angel will arrive at the prefecture tomorrow."

After hearing this, Zhao Zhen said to Cheng Wan'er, "It seems that we can't go to this temple to pray for a child. We will come again another day."

Cheng Wan'er said, "The angel is more important, let's hurry back now."

Zhao Zhen nodded and said to Chen Lingwei, "I wanted to stay in Yuncheng County for a few days to look around, but it's really an unfortunate coincidence. I just hope you and Yan Shude can get married soon and treat me to a glass of wedding wine."

Chen Lingwei blushed and said to Zhao Zhen, "My husband and my wife are matchmakers, so we can't save this glass of wine."

After a while, Zhao Zhen returned to Baishi Manor. Xiao Rang came to tell him the news from Fan County. Zhao Zhen listened and asked, "The Yidu Imperial Guards only escorted three carriages?"

Xiao Rang nodded affirmatively and said, "Husband, this is what the letter said."

"Hey..." Zhao Zhen sneered.

Liu Hui Niang said, "Sir, don't worry. Looking at the battle in Laiwu, Hu Yanzhuo is short of troops and cannot unite the armies. He is bound to fail. By then, the court will still need you."

Xiao Rang also said, "Madam is right. According to spies, the Qingzhou bandits seem to have learned of the imperial court's troop movements. The Qingzhou bandits are gathering in large numbers in the north. It is still unknown who will win or lose."

Zhao Zhen heard this and said to the two men, "The cunning rabbit is still alive, and the good dog is abandoned. We must also make preparations early. The area under Liangshan's jurisdiction is now long and narrow from east to west, which will be very inconvenient to defend in the future. Now, except for Xianyuan, Sishui, and Laiwu Prison in Laizhou, I have already taken control of them. Laiwu is still in the hands of the Qingzhou thieves, and Fengfu is where Hu Yanzhuo stores grain and grass, so we will not care about these two places. Xia County, Gong County, and Zou County are located between Zhongdu County and Xianyuan County. Although there are county magistrates, there are no garrisons. I intend to take these three counties, dispel the fog, and connect them with Yizhou."

"As for Dongping Prefecture, apart from Yanggu County, Zhongdu County, and Shouzhang County that were assigned to Liangshan, there are only three counties left: Xucheng, Dong'e, and Pingyin. My father-in-law will certainly not make things difficult for me. There is only one military commander [Sai Cunxiao] Yao Gang, who is the confidant of General Gao. Excluding this man, Dongping Prefecture is also in my pocket."

After hearing this, Xiao Rang thought for a while and said, "Sir, it is not difficult to take these places. Not to mention that they can be conquered by issuing an edict, they will have no power to resist once the army passes by. However, I am afraid that the imperial court will not give up. If the imperial court launches an expedition, my troops are so dispersed that I am afraid that I cannot defeat them."

Zhao Zhen heard this and said in annoyance, "The court has great righteousness and is very wary of us. Especially this General Gao, who has repeatedly done bad things. He can also replace the warhorse promised by the emperor with a silver-maned horse. He captured Wanqi Rong and knew the Qingzhou army's plan in advance, but only three carriages came. I want to see what treasures are sent."

Liu Hui Niang said at this time: "Sir, although we cannot occupy these counties openly, I have a way that may be worth a try."

"What do you think, ma'am?"

"Don't you occupy Xianyuan and Sishui? It's reasonable to station troops in Xia County, Gong County and Zou County to protect the grain route. As for the future, we will have to wait until the Qingzhou bandits are defeated." Liu Hui Niang said.

Xiao Rang said, "Madam, what you said is right. These three counties have no imperial guards, only more than a thousand garrison troops led by the county magistrates. They can only scare the people, and fighting is useless. As long as there is a general to lead the troops to garrison, the county magistrates will not dare to resist. As for Yao Gang, you can ask the old man to escort the military equipment and fodder to Hu Yanzhuo to comfort the troops. He is in need of soldiers now, and as long as the old man gives a hint, I am not afraid that he will detain Yao Gang to serve in the army."

After hearing this, Zhao Zhen immediately wrote a letter and asked Li San to deliver it to Dongping Prefecture.

He also sent someone to invite Zhu Wu. After greeting him, Zhao Zhen told him everything about his capture of Yanzhou and asked, "Military Advisor, who do you think can go?"

Zhu Wu pondered for a moment and said, "Sir, each army generally has one commander and two deputies. Although they can be mobilized, they are not the most suitable people. Why not let Zhu Tong, the "Beauty Bearded Man", Pang Yi, and Wang Jin, the "Head of the Charge", go?"

After hearing this, Xiao Rang clapped his hands and said, "That's right. These three are all skilled in martial arts. It's a waste of talent for Pang Yi and Wang Jin to just train new soldiers. It's just right for them to be stationed in one place now."

After hearing this, Zhao Zhen did not hesitate and immediately wrote down a general order and sent Zhao Ji to pass on the order, asking Zhu Tong, Pang Yi and Wang Jin to lead 500 people each to Xia County, Gong County and Zou County.

On the second day, Zhu Tong and his two companions came to the village to thank Zhao Zhen, and then led their troops to various counties.

At noon, the angels entered Liangshan County with great fanfare. Xiao Rang led his men to welcome the angels and their companions into Baishi Manor.

However, the person who announced the decree was neither the familiar Hou Meng nor Gao Qiu's confidant Liu Bin, but a new face named He Yan.

This man was very arrogant. He ignored Zhao Zhen's advances. He started by rebuking him: "Zhao Zhen, the Grand Tutor asked me to tell you that if you can attack Mizhou from Yizhou, can't you go straight to Qingzhou?"

Li Kui, who was standing by, heard this and jumped down, grabbed He Yan and started punching him. Xiao Rang, Zhu Wu and others rushed to stop him, but the two were no match for Li Kui. If he hadn't been worried about hurting them, he would have thrown them away long ago. Even so, he still punched He Yan five or seven times.

Just as he was about to untie it, He Yan screamed like a pig being slaughtered: "Who is this guy? How dare he hit an angel?"

Li Kui shouted, "Bah, what an angel, so incompetent. My master fought to the death to kill the enemy, but he didn't get any promotion, nor any gold or silver. The reward was just some brocade and imperial wine. The government is too stingy. And this so-called Grand Tutor is even more rude. He didn't get any reward at all, but he dared to scold my husband. If the master sees this, I will give him a pair of fists."

He Yan said: "Thunderbolts and raindrops are all grace from the emperor. Moreover, the resettlement envoy was a commoner and has now become a high-ranking official. The Grand Tutor has promoted him a lot, and the resettlement envoy should be grateful."

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Kui raised his fist to hit again.

He Yanzhi cursed: "You are a vulgar warrior. Zhao An is the commander..." While cursing, he hid behind Zhao Zhen.

Zhao Zhen shouted and had Li Kui dragged away.

Zhao Zhen apologized, "This is a rough man with only brute strength. He has no manners, please don't blame me, angel."

Seeing that Zhao Zhen had no intention of punishing Li Kui, He Yan said angrily, "The imperial edict has been delivered. I will take my leave now."

Zhao Zhen tried to persuade He Yan to stay, but seeing that He Yan refused to accept the invitation and insisted on leaving, he could only say to He Yan, "It is my poor hospitality that has offended the angel. Please ask the angel to tell the Grand Tutor that I will gather the troops and attack Qingzhou from Yizhou, which will make the leader of the Qingzhou bandits unable to take care of themselves. Please also ask the angel to report to the emperor that the five counties of Mizhou have been recaptured. The army is in a stalemate with the other bandits of Qingzhou in Laizhou."

He Yan nodded without saying anything. He called the imperial guards to escort him and hurriedly left Baishi Manor.

Xiao Rang, Zhu Wu and others saw He Yan off for a while and said all the nice things they could to him, but He Yan's expression did not change, so they had to say goodbye to He Yan and return to Baishi Manor.

In the manor training ground, Li Kui was bragging to Yan Shude, Bao Xu and Yu Baosi.

Seeing Xiao Rang and Zhu Wu coming back, Li Kui stepped forward with a playful smile and saluted: "Tongpan, how was Tie Niu's performance?"

Xiao Rang nodded at Li Kui and scolded him, "I told you to scare the angel, but I didn't tell you to really hit him."

Li Kui laughed and said, "If someone really started fighting, I would have killed him with one punch if I hadn't held back."

Xiao Rang and Zhu Wu looked at each other, shook their heads, left a few people and went into the hall.

In the hall, Zhao Zhen was already waiting.

After greeting each other again, Zhao Zhen asked, "How is it?"

Zhu Wu said: "This person will definitely speak ill of my husband when he returns."

Zhao Zhen heard this and smiled, "I was just about to see how he would respond."

"Yesterday, I asked Dai Zong to go to Bian Jing overnight and send the document requesting merit directly to the Ministry of Public Security to see how the two of them would respond." Xiao Rang said.

Zhu Wu laughed and said, "The Grand Tutor and the Grand Commandant are good at scheming. They want to make the horse run without eating grass. If you deal with it this way, you will definitely be rewarded with a high position and generous salary. When the Qingzhou bandits are wiped out, they will definitely slander you and harm you."

Zhao Zhen said: "I just wanted him to reward me generously, but as for the future, he didn't find me."

Xiao Rang listened and nodded. They believed Zhao Zhen's words about going to the main world. Taking advantage of the convenience of suppressing the Qingzhou bandits, they were planning to occupy more land and population.

Zhu Wu said, "Sir, the 1,000 underwater rapid-fire cannons that were sold to the Qingzhou bandits have been secretly delivered to Qingzhou by Brother Du Xing. Are we really going to attack Qingzhou next?"

(End of this chapter)