Lord: Start with a book of Water Margin

Chapter 552 Shifting the blame
However, Ruan Xiaoqi received the order from the general and immediately returned to Shijie Lake, urged the soldiers, and all the large and small warships rushed towards the Guangji army.

In Jeju City, the governor Miao Shanggao saw an urgent letter sent by Wang Weijing, the militia commander guarding Hecai Town, which said that the Liangshan navy was going upstream along the Wuzhang River. Miao Shanggao was so shocked that he dropped the teacup in his hand.

He was stunned for a while, and then his trusted steward reminded him: "Sir, this is a military matter, and Supervisor Zhang should be the one to deal with it."

“Yes, yes…”

Miao Shanggao finally reacted and quickly summoned the military commander Zhang Yong to discuss countermeasures.

After a while, Zhang Yong hurried over.

After reading the document, Zhang Yong said hurriedly: "Sir, Liangshan has strong soldiers and horses. When it was only one county, we were no match for it. Now Sir Zhao is in charge of eight states, with hundreds of generals and more than 100,000 elite soldiers. We must not confront them. We will just pretend we don't know when the navy passes through."

It turned out that Zhang Yong had lost his ambitions long since his defeat at the last expedition to Liangshan, and even the training of the troops in Jeju was slow.

Some time ago, the imperial court ordered Jeju to recruit soldiers to guard the area. Zhang Yong only selected a battalion of soldiers from the wing army and gave them to Wang Weijing, the militia commander, to station at Hecai Town, which is adjacent to Jeju and Yuncheng. He also repeatedly told them to only defend the area and not to make enemies with Liangshan.

"Zhang Dujian, the imperial court has ordered us to be on guard against Liangshan, this..."

Zhang Yong said, "Sir, the emperor is far away. If I don't tell you, who would know that the Liangshan troops have passed through the border?"

Seeing Miao Shanggao's intention, Zhang Yong continued, "Sir, the court has to appease him. We are only a state away, how dare we go against him? If we irritate this big beast, no one will care if you and I die. Besides, aren't you planning to be transferred? Why do you need to create trouble again?"

"I sent people to Bianjing to inquire. The court is now focused on Tian Hu in Hebei, Fang La in Jiangnan, and Wang Qing in Huaixi. These three people have successively usurped the throne and changed the era name. As long as Liangshan does not rebel, the court will never start a war again."

Miao Shanggao listened and said, "Zhang Dujian is right. Now is the time to have less trouble than more. We will just pretend we don't know."

The plan was decided, and the two smiled at each other.

After drinking some tea, Miao Shanggao asked, "Captain, I need you to pay more attention to Hecai Town. Don't let anything go wrong."

"Don't worry, sir. Hecai Town is north of Wuzhang River. The soldiers there have been there for a long time. It's time to rotate to the south bank. I will give the order to transfer the soldiers of this battalion to the county town for rotation."

As he was speaking, another rider on a fast horse brought an official document. It was half a day after the navy arrived. The Liangshan [Wuwei Camp] and [Xuanwei Camp] armies were stationed on the border. Wang Weijing, the militia commander in Hecai Town, was frightened. On the one hand, he closed the gate of the camp, guarded the city tightly, and urged the people to go up to the city to defend it. On the other hand, he sent people to urge the state government to send more troops.

Miao Shanggao saw the messenger and said to Zhang Yong, "It seems that Liangshan is about to attack us. What should we do?"

Zhang Yong was a military commander after all. He took a breath and called the messenger over to ask, "When you came, had the Liangshan army already attacked Hecai Town?"

"Reporting to the governor, when I arrived, the Liangshan army was setting up camp. The commander was afraid that the Liangshan army would attack, so he sent me here to report the news."

Zhang Yong heaved a sigh of relief and said to Miao Shanggao, "Sir, if the Liangshan army wants to use Wuzhang River, it would be better to abandon Hecai Town and guard Juye County."

Miao Shanggao had no idea what to do. After hearing Zhang Yong's idea, he immediately summoned Wang Weijing back to his mansion and gave Hecai Town directly to Liangshan. At night, the village head and the three elders in the town saw that the soldiers of Jizhou really abandoned this place, so they drove 20 pigs to Guanghui and Lu Zhishen's camp and asked everyone to protect their territory.

Guanghui, Lu Zhishen and others did not believe it at first. It was General Shi Yong who led people into the town to take a look. As expected, it was just as the mayor said. After a discussion, they sent a thousand soldiers, led by Wu Song, to Hecai Town.

The same excuse was used in Puzhou City. Both the navy and the land forces arrived at Guangji Army smoothly.

So even if Zhao Zhen wanted to find a reason to attack both places, he couldn't do it.

As for Ruan Xiaoqi, the soldiers of the [Erhu Camp] gathered their strength and took turns pedaling the waterwheel along the way. They traveled a hundred miles by water and arrived at Dingtao County overnight. They took advantage of the situation and seized the water gate. When the soldiers and horses in the city gathered and rushed over, crossbows and arrows were fired everywhere. After just one round of attack, they were all defeated.

The general Xu Wen, the county lieutenant He Yong, his brother He Er and other officials were all captured.

In the prison, the beaten Diao Gui was rescued. Seeing that his legs were torn and he was dying, Ruan Xiaoqi sent people to beat He Er as much as possible. As for Tao Nu, according to Ruan Xiaoqi's temper, he had to chop him to death, but he spared his life only to give an explanation to the court.

According to Liu Huiniang's instructions, Ruan Xiaoqi issued a notice to reassure the people and not allow anyone to commit any crime. At the same time, he had people publicly criticize her for colluding with an adulterer and killing her husband. The military governor Xu Wen and the county lieutenant He Yong colluded to frame the innocent and take human lives.

He also ordered the soldiers to spread the word everywhere, telling the people: The city was broken only to rescue the people under his rule. The officials and the adulterers and adulteresses who committed crimes have been imprisoned in the prison and will be sent to Bianjing to be punished today. The Guangji Army will be temporarily under the jurisdiction of Liangshan, and you good people should all live peacefully.

He informed all directions and suppressed the situation on the ground. By the time Shi Wengong arrived, Ruan Xiaoqi's troops had already quelled the chaos in the city.

When the people saw that the Liangshan soldiers did not disturb them, they gradually came out to make a living again.

Ruan Xiaoqi released the pigeons and sent five fast boats back to Liangshan to report the news. The [Huying Camp] guarded the river, and Shi Wengong [Personal Cavalry Camp] guarded the city. They just waited for Zhao Zhen to send someone to take over.

As for Wu Yong and his group, Wu Yong and Fan Rui dressed up as Taoist priests, and Zhang Chi, Ba Zeng, Ji Guang, and Lu Duo dressed up as Taoist children. The six of them left Liangshan and entered Puzhou from Yuncheng. They first went to Lei Ze, then took a detour to Linpu, and finally went to Juancheng, the seat of Puzhou. They never found any opportunities along the way.

That day, the six people split into two groups, still dressed as Taoist priests, and walked the streets, fortune-telling and divination. For three consecutive days, they did not get any news.

Seeing that there was no gain, Wu Yong discussed with Fan Rui to go to Jizhou again. Just as they were about to set off, they happened to see seven or eight riders rushing into the city, shouting along the way that Liangshan had deployed its troops on the border.

After hearing this, Fan Rui whispered, "Does my husband want to disregard the greater good?"

Wu Yong said: "I'm afraid something has happened. We should return to Liangshan without delay."

Everyone paid the rent and left.

Unexpectedly, they ran into a group of hunters. Each of them was a big burly man. The leader was wearing a small autumn silk shirt, silk shorts, and a pair of multi-eared hemp shoes. His chest was bare, and a wolf was stuck on his steel fork. Behind him, dozens of hunters, also holding some hunting tools and carrying some musk deer, rabbits and the like, approached together.

Fan Rui pulled Wu Yong away quickly, but Zhang Chi had a strange appearance, so the group of people couldn't help but take a second look at him, which made Zhang Chi curse.

(End of this chapter)