Lord: Start with a book of Water Margin

Chapter 643 Deploying Troops
Liangshan Prefecture secretly mobilized troops, and five days later, on the agreed date, everything was ready. According to the agreement, the four armies rushed to their respective targets at once.

The extra troops were sent by Zhu Wu at his suggestion, who dispatched Li Jun, the "Hunjiang Dragon", to lead 3,000 navy soldiers from the "Patrol Camp" from Liangshan Lake to attack Weishan Lake in order to cut off the connection between Teng County and Xuzhou and prevent Xuzhou from sending troops.

After interrogating Ma Hao and Zhao Junfei separately, they learned that Gao Qiu from Bian Jing had sent people.

After hearing this news, Wu Yong became even more radical and wanted to take advantage of the situation to capture Shanzhou and Xuzhou at the same time.

Zhao Zhen was still undecided for a while. According to what was agreed before, he would first take over Jizhou and Shanzhou and Xuzhou to the north of Weishan Lake. As for Shanzhou and Xuzhou, it depends on how Gao Qiu responds.

Before sending out the troops, Zhao Zhen sent Ma Hao, three or five Jeju soldiers, and the body of Lu Zhen to Gao Qiu's mansion in Bian Jing under the escort of Le He and Li San.

In just two days, Zhang Qing captured Juye and Jinxiang, and captured the prefect Wu Chang, the assistant magistrate Jia Juxin, and a number of officials from the prefecture.

[Green-faced Beast] Yang Zhi led his troops to capture Rencheng, and Xu Ning captured Teng County.

For a time, Shanzhou and Xuzhou were shaken.

A fast horse rushed to Bian Jing to report.

In the Bian Jing government, Gao Qiu was not panicked when he saw the visiting card from Liangshan.

As early as when Sun Jing went to Jeju Prefecture, Sun Jing had anticipated that instigating Wu Chang to embarrass Liangshan would inevitably lead to a big incident given Liangshan's style of not wanting to suffer any loss.

No matter how skilled in martial arts this [Nine-headed Bird] Lu Zhen is, he cannot defeat so many powerful generals in Liangshan.

Therefore, no token was left behind. Even if the lawsuit was brought before the emperor, he would not be implicated.

Sun Jing originally wanted to avoid meeting the Liangshan people, so he said, "Captain, it's okay to meet them. I just want to see what Liangshan says so that I can respond later."

Looking at the six people at the bottom of the stairs, four of them were kneeling in shackles, and two of them were bowing in greeting. Gao Qiu asked, "Why are you two here in my house?"

Le He replied, "Taiwei, it seems that Jeju was bribed by Fang La in Jiangnan to cause chaos in Jingdong. Shanzhou and Xuzhou seem to be accomplices and provide cover for Jeju's rebels."

Gao Qiu frowned and said nothing. However, Le He's words were beyond Gao Qiu's expectation.

I thought Liangshan came here because he knew that I was conspiring with Jeju and wanted to threaten me. Unexpectedly, Liangshan did not mention this matter and said that the governor of Jeju was colluding with Fang La to cause chaos.

Just as he was thinking about what to say, he heard Le He at the steps continue: "There was a Jizhou military commander [Nine-headed Bird] Lu Zhen, who covered his face and attacked Yizhou from Xuzhou territory three times at night, killing and injuring civilians and looting money and food. He has been beheaded on the spot and his body has been sent to the Taiwei Mansion."

Pointing at the four kneeling men, he said, "There is also the Jeju captain Ma Hao and three soldiers here as witnesses. There are still more than 400 prisoners captured in Liangshan Prefecture. They can all serve as witnesses."

"To appease the Prime Minister, you have already launched an attack on the rebellious Jeju, Shanzhou, and Xuzhou. The two of us have come to the Grand Commandant's Mansion to report the news in accordance with the Prime Minister's military order, so that the court can make preparations early. Since Fang La can buy off Jeju and other places, he can naturally buy off other places as well."

As soon as he finished speaking, Sun Jing said, "That's unreasonable. If you want to report the news, you can go to the Tongzhengsi. Why send the body to the Taiwei Mansion? It's unlucky."

Le He said, "The Prime Minister once told Anfu Xianggong to consult with the Grand Commandant first when encountering problems. Send the official document to the Tongzhengsi, and we will go later." After hearing this, Gao Qiu said, "I know. You two should send the official document and the corpse of the Nine-headed Bird to the Tongzhengsi. I will naturally have a response when you go to court tomorrow. After you two deliver the official document, go back to Liangshan. There are still doubts about the rebellion in Jeju, so tell Zhao Anfu not to act hastily. Shanzhou and Xuzhou have not sent troops, and they will not be bribed by Jiangnan."

After hearing this, Le He and Li San responded and left to deliver the official documents.

After the two men left, Gao Qiu and Sun Jing interrogated Ma Hao and others. They found that what they said was indeed consistent with what the people from Liangshan said, except that they did not know about Fang La's bribery in Jiangnan. Instead, they talked about Sun Jing's visit to Jeju.

Gao Qiu frowned and said to Sun Jing, "Colonel Sun, this fellow has changed his character. Now that he has this opportunity, he doesn't come to bite me, but instead drags it to the rebellion of Fang La in Jiangnan."

Sun Jing replied, "The Grand Commandant has a personal grudge against Liangshan, and everyone in the court knows about it. Even if he were to attack the Grand Commandant, the emperor would not be offended, and it would not be a big deal for the Grand Commandant. This fellow must have known about it, so he came up with the idea of ​​occupying the three states."

Gao Qiu frowned even more after hearing this: "Wouldn't that be a bargain for Zhao Ze from Liangshan?"

Sun Jing thought, "Liangshan must have sent out troops. The commander may try to take Shanzhou and Xuzhou tomorrow. We can't easily fulfill Liangshan's wish."

"General, there is another way. I am not sure, so I will tell you about it for your consideration."

"Now that the emperor has been on guard against Liangshan, it would be better to also identify Shanzhou and Xuzhou as collusion with Jiangnan Fang La and let Liangshan occupy them. The general will say in front of the emperor tomorrow: 'Liangshan must have sent troops to Shanzhou and Xuzhou. Liangshan is out of control. Please issue an order to summon ten military governors to besiege Liangshan.'"

After deciding on a strategy, Gao Qiu went to Cai Jing's mansion to report the situation.

On the second day of the grand court, the emperor circulated the document sent by Liangshan to his ministers for review and asked, "My Lords, what do you think?"

Gao Qiu heard this and stepped forward to report, "Your Majesty, there may be something wrong with Jizhou. Shanzhou and Xuzhou did not send troops, so how come they colluded with Jiangnan? Everyone knows that it will only take ten days to defeat Fang La, but they colluded with Fang La at this time. Do they think they can't die quickly enough? Why didn't other places collude with him, but only the three prefectures close to Liangshan did?"

"Your Majesty, this is indeed suspicious. If it is just one place, then it may be possible. But if the three neighboring states are all like this, I don't believe it."

"The Imperial Army cannot be moved lightly. Your Majesty, please send the state soldiers who are experienced in fighting to surround Liangshan."

"What do you think, Grand Master?" asked the emperor.

"Your Majesty, Fang La only has one state, Muzhou, left in Jiangnan. It is really suspicious that three states have surrendered. Now that the Jin Kingdom and our dynasty have agreed to jointly destroy the Liao Kingdom, we can't delay any longer. You can dispatch Privy Envoy Tong to the north. Shanzhou and Xuzhou can dispatch elite local imperial troops to suppress the rebellion, and there is no need to bother the Liangshan troops." Cai Jing replied.

The emperor listened and asked meaningfully, "We must eliminate the threat from our elbows and armpits. Where can we send troops to Shanzhou and Xuzhou to suppress the rebellion?"

Gao Qiu said: "There were ten military governors before, most of whom had made contributions to the country, some conquered Guifang, some conquered Xixia, and were skilled in martial arts. They can be sent as generals to attack Shanzhou and Xuzhou together."

After hearing this, Taiwei Su asked, "These ten men were once bandits, but later they were recruited and promoted to high positions. They are all elite and brave. The soldiers under their command are also used to fighting, but they still need a commander to lead them. Otherwise, I'm afraid they will fight on their own and be taken advantage of."

After hearing this, the emperor asked, "Who can share my worries?"

(End of this chapter)