Lord: Start with a book of Water Margin

Chapter 645 Xiang Yuanzhen

While Zhao Zhen was waiting for Gao Qiu's troops to come and fight, Fang La in Jiangnan had already been defeated, leaving only the Qingxi Gang Yuandong, relying on the terrain to fight with the court. Fang La's generals either died or fled.

When Princess Jinzhi heard that Jiangnan was defeated and her brother Fang Tianding, third uncle Fang Mao, and great uncle Fang Hu were all killed, she burst into tears.

Seeing that the situation was not good, Fang La had already sent the envoy Feng Xi to Liangshan to surrender, taking the opportunity of sending craftsmen to Liangshan, and bringing the councilor Shen Shou and the secretary Huan Yi to surrender.

These two were good at politics but not at fighting. They were no longer useful in Muzhou, so they were sent to Liangshan, where they could interact with Princess Jinzhi. This was Fang La's plan for his daughter's future.

In addition to the craftsmen and their families, Fang La also sent a large amount of gold, silver and jewelry. Escorting them were [Jinlin Dragon] Zhai Yuan, [Chongbo Dragon] Qiao Zheng and [Lingying Tianshi] Bao Daoyi.

When everyone arrived, Zhao Zhen was busy attacking Shan and Xu states, so everyone had not yet been settled.

When they heard that Zhao Zhen was going to fight against the imperial army, everyone asked Feng Xi to speak up and wanted to serve in the army.

Zhao Zhen had no doubt about everyone's intentions. These people were not tolerated by the court and now they could only rely on him.

After discussing with Wu Yong, the two naval commanders, [Jinlin Dragon] Zhai Yuan and [Chongbo Dragon] Qiao Zheng, along with more than a thousand naval officers from Jiangnan, and 500 naval officers from [Patrol Sea Camp] and [Patrol River Camp], recruited sailors to supplement the manpower and ships, and sent them to Juxian Seaport. On the one hand, they were to guard against pirates and imperial troops attacking from the sea, and on the other hand, they were to support Fang La's former subordinates who were sailing north from Jiangnan.

As for the [Red Bearded Dragon] Fei Bao and the [Thin-Faced Bear] Di Cheng, they supplemented the personnel and led the [Sea Patrol Camp] to garrison in Jiaoxi County.

As for the councillor Shen Shou and the assistant secretary Huan Yi, they were appointed as magistrates of Shanzhou and Xuzhou respectively.

Feng Xi, the envoy of introduction, was appointed as the judge of collecting folk customs and collecting exotic species, spiritual plants and treasures from all over the world. Now he stayed in Liangshan to prepare a restaurant, and Zhao Zhen also named it [Feng Le Lou].

The restaurant serves Jiangnan style food, and Feng Xi is very attentive. There are six recipes for Jiangnan wine alone, including Shuangxi wine, Baitao wine, Zhuyeqing wine, Baiyunquan wine, Luanxi wine, and Yuebo wine. There are also more than 30 winemakers accompanying him.

These winemakers were handed over to Zhu Fu, who was assigned to work at the [Wine and Vinegar Workshop]. Zheng Tianshou, who was employed by Fang La's palace at the [Back Garden Workshop]
The kitchen was the imperial kitchen in Fang La's palace. Of course, these four chefs all worked as cooks in Baishi Manor, and they took turns to train their apprentices to be the head chefs in Fengle Tower.

In addition to winemakers and cooks, Feng Xi also brought many craftsmen, all of whom were recruited by Fang La to imitate the imperial court's [Houyuan Zaozuo], and together with their families, there were more than 3,000 people in total. In particular, the weavers, embroiderers, and lacquer craftsmen from Jiangnan brought different crafts.

These craftsmen were divided into five places: [Army Equipment Bureau], [Skinning Office], [Book Printing Workshop], [Wine and Vinegar Workshop], [Houyuan Workshop], especially the [Houyuan Workshop] privately set up by Zhao Zhen. Suddenly, there was abundant manpower, which made Zheng Tianshou very happy, and he showed off in front of Hou Jian every day.

As for Bao Daoyi, he went to the Daozheng Division to serve as deputy Daozheng, and this time he came with the army.

Here, since the army set up camp at the junction of Shanfu and Chuqiu, Zhao Zhen has sent scouts to the city of Chuqiu every day.

The Chuqiu County Magistrate and others had no choice but to close the city gates and be on guard day and night.

For many days, Zhao Zhen's scouts did not attack the city, and the soldiers and civilians of Chuqiu were slightly relieved.

As for the imperial army, the ten military governors saw the imperial edict, selected their troops and set off to Yingtian Prefecture. The ten military governors were from different places, so naturally they could not come on the same day.

Let's start with Xiang Yuanzhen, the governor of Langya and Pengcheng. He was about fifty years old, but he was already famous in the martial arts world thirty years ago. He was unrivaled with his spear, and he was also an excellent archer. He had a nickname in the martial arts world, and everyone called him "Godshot General".

Xiang Yuanzhen was stationed in Huaiyang, east of Xuzhou. After receiving the imperial edict, he immediately summoned his soldiers and prepared for battle. As the agreed date was approaching, a trusted lieutenant asked, "Sir, when will the troops be dispatched?"

Xiang Yuanzhen said, "I have calculated the date. It is 400 miles from Suining to Shangqiu, so 15 days is enough to travel there. The day after tomorrow is an auspicious day, just in time for the troops to go."

When the date arrived, Xiang Yuanzhen sent out his troops.

The vanguard led the way and headed straight for Xuzhou. When the deputy general Xiang Yanbin saw this, he hurriedly said to Xiang Yuanzhen: "Sir, Xuzhou has now been occupied by Liangshan. If we attack Xuzhou, I'm afraid we will be surrounded and intercepted by the Liangshan garrison."

Xiang Yuanzhen laughed loudly and said, "When my grandfather was in the martial arts world, there was no such group of people. This time, I want to pass through Xuzhou Xiaoxian and Shanzhou Dangshan to surprise him. I can brag about my achievements in front of the general."

"Besides, the elite troops of Liangshan are all in Shanfu, ready to resist our army. How many soldiers can there be in the local area?"

After hearing this, Xiang Yanbin said no more.

However, since Zhao Zhen heard about the expedition, he naturally paid attention to the neighboring Xiang Yuan Town.

The spies learned that Xiang Yuanzhen had sent troops into Xuzhou and immediately reported it.

Upon hearing this, Chao Gai, the commander of the army, immediately summoned Peng Qi, the general of Tianmu, and Han Tao, the general of Baisheng, as well as Haransheng, the commander of the militia, Chen Da, the jumping tiger, and Yan Shun, the golden-haired tiger, to discuss the matter.

Harlansheng laughed when he heard this and said, "We are worried that the battlefield is in Shanzhou. I am afraid that I will not be able to achieve any merit here. I didn't expect that Xiang Yuanzhen would be so bold as to come and provoke us. Is it possible that God is giving us merit?"

Everyone was delighted when they heard this.

Immediately, he gathered his troops and set up a large camp ten miles east of Xiao County, waiting for Xiang Yuanzhen's troops to arrive.

Three days later, Xiang Yuanzhen's troops arrived and saw the Xuzhou army blocking the way. He said to the generals on his left and right: "If this guy defended the city, we would just scare him when our army passed through. I didn't expect that he dared to come out of the city to fight, and I got the first merit."

At that moment, the convoy transporting grain and fodder was ordered to slow down, and Xiang Yuanzhen deployed his troops and charged towards the camp set up by Chao Gai.

The two armies met, and each shot at the enemy. When the battle flags were opened, a veteran general was held out in the middle. When Chao Gai and others looked, how was he dressed? But they saw:
He wore a purple and gold phoenix-wing helmet, a red silk robe with a lining, a pair of linked iron armor, a lion-studded belt, a pair of eagle-claw boots, a gold-plated scarf around his neck, a magpie-painted iron bow, and a pot of carved feather chisel arrows. He held a pear-flower-patterned steel spear in his hand and rode a silver fist-flowered horse.

The man shouted, "Langya Pengcheng Jiedushi [God-shooter General] Xiang Yuanzhen is here. You are colluding with the traitors in Jiangnan. Come and be killed."

You may wonder why Xiang Yuanzhen said so, but it was the angel who announced the imperial decree that the rebellion in Shan and Xu states was the only thing that was involved, and no other states were involved.

Xiang Yuanzhen heard it but didn't say anything at the time. After the angel left, he was dissatisfied with the court. When Xiang Yuanzhen was first appointed as Jiedushi, his station was in Pengcheng. Later, he gradually asked the court to move to Suining.

It is for this reason that Xiang Yuanzhen wants to cross Xuzhou.

(End of this chapter)