Late Tang

Feng Zhang was defeated and returned, he hurriedly fled all the way back to Daxie Village, he finally breathed a sigh of relief after entering the Walled City.He called Feng Xun and asked how many warships had returned.Feng Xun mourned, and reported: "Because Thief Li's will-o'-the-wisp was too sudden and too violent, although we retreated in time, we still lost a lot. My nephew just counted, 5000 people attacked, 130 seven ships, and now there are only more than [-] people left."

"Why did you lose so many people? How many warships came back?" Feng Zhang's face was ashes, full of disbelief.

"Nearly 5000 people went ashore before, but none of them came back. Many other warships were hit and burned, and the brothers and sailors on board failed to escape. Rough estimates, the combined losses of the garrison, auxiliary soldiers, and junior soldiers There are more than 1000, and there are more than [-] sailors and crew members. In particular, all the garrison and servants of Heishan Fort have gone ashore, and the entire fort has been wiped out." Speaking of this result, Feng Xun also looked depressed. The entire army has been wiped out, and now the Montenegro Fort is completely wiped out.The five forts and seven garrisons of Daxie Village immediately overwhelmed Wuhu Fort and Heishan Fort, and also included the Huangcheng garrison, Daqin garrison and Xiaoheishan garrison below the two forts.Five forts and seven garrisons went to two forts and three garrisons, and nearly half of the soldiers and horses were gone.

"There were seven ships in 130, and less than a hundred came back. Among them, one of the three building ships was sunk, and only six of the eight fighting ships returned. Five of the other twenty sea falcon ships were hit and burned. Two boats were lost, five boats were sunk, thirty yachts were sunk, 38 were sunk, and 43 armed merchant ships were lost. Fifteen boats were sunk. A total of 96 boats were sunk, and only [-] came back. Great loss."

Feng Zhang spat out a mouthful of old blood, his face was like wax silver, he staggered and sat down on the couch, almost passed out.

He managed it for half his life, and built the land of Daxie Village like an iron barrel.In this year, he spent a lot of money and used countless money and food to build this huge fleet and nearly 2 soldiers and horses.For a long time, he has relied on this power to gaze at the coast of the East China Sea, and even the Wang family has been wooing him vigorously, even he does not need to look at the face of the governor of Dengzhou.For a time, it became the freest and most powerful force in Dengzhou.Other military towns and barracks were all starved of wages, but he had been secretly supplying soldiers with the money and food he had collected, continuously expanding the army, and building warships.

100 soldiers and more than [-] warships, what a powerful and proud force this is.

But now, he was defeated twice by Li Jing, and lost 37 soldiers and 7000 warships for the first time.This time nearly 43 men and 1000 ships were lost.Added up, he lost [-] men and [-] warships.Half of the men, horses and ships were gone. This was no longer plucking out flesh, but having their arms cut off.

Where did Li Jing get the will-o'-the-wisp? It's so powerful.Is it true that as the rumors said, Li Jing got the dragon's wrath flame taught by the Dragon King's dream?

"Uncle, why don't you let me go to Dengzhou Shuizhai to move reinforcements."

Feng Zhang leaned weakly on the couch, half-closed his eyes, and waved his hands: "No need, Wang Jin refused to send troops before. Now that we are defeated, he will not send troops even more. Forget it, pass on my message Military order, let the brothers go ashore and stick to Daxie Island. Without my military order, no one is allowed to leave without permission. From today, Daxie Island will be closed to martial law, and no one can enter or approach Daxie Island. Daxie Village The gates of the city are closed in the sky, and a curfew is imposed in the city every day. It is strictly forbidden to gather without permission, and once discovered, they will be killed immediately."

"Uncle, let's just forget about it?" Feng Xun was surprised.He never thought that Feng Zhang was a person who was willing to suffer, let alone such a big loss this time.

The muscles on Feng Zhang's face twitched a few times, his eyes were full of hatred, and he said in a low voice: "Of course we can't forget that, but we have suffered losses from Li Jing twice in a row, and we can no longer fall into the same pit three times. We can't rely on ourselves in this matter, we have to bring the Wang family in. I will immediately write to King Jingwu of Qingzhou, Li Jing is about to rebel, and ask him to send troops to quell the rebellion."

From then on, Feng Zhang gathered his troops and gathered on Daxie Island, sticking to the walled city, and the navy ships only patrolled the coast.Li Jing learned, but did not attack, but sent people to Song Wen's office in Dengzhou and Cui Yunqing, a teacher in Qingzhou, respectively.

Letters from Li Jing and Feng Zhang arrived in Qingzhou almost at the same time, as did letters from Dengzhou Governor Song Wen and Dengzhou Governor Shi Wang Jingwen.

After Wang Jingwu got the letter, he personally went to Jieshuai's mansion, found Song Wei, said that Li Jing had rebelled, and asked the shogunate to mobilize troops to quell the chaos.Cui Yunqing had already received the letter from Li Jing's envoy, so she knew everything about Dengzhou clearly.He immediately showed the letters from Li Jing, Song Wei and Zhao Wang Li Rui, saying that Li Jing was not a rebel, but Feng Zhang believed the rumors that Li Jing was the brother who killed his elder brother.That's why they secretly colluded with the pirates to attack Shamen Town, but the sneak attack failed. Later, Li Jing discovered the pirate's remnant lair and wanted to attack.He was also afraid that Li Jing would learn of his collusion with the pirates, so he sent a fleet to attack Li Jing. Li Jing counterattacked in self-defense and defeated Feng Zhang's fleet.Unwilling, Feng Zhang mobilized another army to attack Shamen Town, but he was defeated by Li Jing again.

"If it wasn't for Li Jing's outstanding command, the brothers below would have fought bravely, and Feng Zhang would have almost defeated him. As the envoy of the Daxie Village, Feng Zhang has repeatedly sent troops to attack his subordinates. These actions are really unjust." Cui Yunqing In front of Song Wei, he refuted loudly with Wang Jingwu.

Cui Yunqing and Wang Jingwu were arguing below, but Song Wei just sat at the top and listened without saying a word.Wang Jingwu is a martial artist, leading the army in battle is his forte, but arguing with Cui Yunqing, a civil servant who served as assassins, is not his forte.After arguing for a long time, they were at a disadvantage everywhere, but seeing that Song Wei just didn't speak, it was obvious that he wanted to protect him.Immediately, he flicked his sleeves bitterly, turned around and left Jieshuai's mansion without even saying goodbye.

After Wang Jingwu left, Song Wei had no reason to sigh, "This Li Jing is your student, why is he so daring to fight with Feng Zhang?" After a pause, he said again: "I remember your student It seems that last year he was just a united soldier who had just been recruited. At that time, he beheaded several bandit leaders and reported to Qingzhou. The army garrison became a general of Zhongzhen Township. What's the matter, in the blink of an eye, Fengzhang was defeated one after another. Song Wenxin said that Li Jing defeated Fengzhang twice before and after, and wiped out more than ten thousand troops under Fengzhang. It is too incredible to sink and capture eighty of his warships. You are Li Jing's teacher, can this be true?"

Cui Yunqing nodded: "I also just received a letter from Li Jing, and King Zhao sent someone to send a letter. In addition, Chishan Town General, Dengzhou Prison City Envoy, Longshan Camp Brigade and Horse Envoy, and Dong Mou Shouzhuo The envoys and others sent letters, and the content of the letters basically confirmed what the governor of the Song Dynasty said. Li Jing really defeated Feng Zhang, and now Feng Zhang was beaten and huddled on Daxie Island, desperately writing to Wang Jingwu Letter to sue for reinforcements."

In fact, Cui Yunqing couldn't believe it when she first received Li Jing's letter. He couldn't believe that his student chose to stay in Dengzhou and joined the frontier garrison, and he could actually reveal such a big thing.Attacking the boss, Feng Zhang, is too courageous.What's even more unbelievable is that he actually defeated Feng Zhang in two battles and achieved such great results.If it wasn't for the subsequent letters that basically confirmed the content of Li Jing's letter, he would have thought Li Jing was bragging and joking.

After reading everyone's letters, although we are thousands of miles away, Cui Yun and I quickly judged that it was Li Jing who took the initiative to provoke trouble.Although he didn't get along with Li Jing for a long time, he was very clear about the audacity of his students.At the beginning, when he was only the leader of a small united force, he had already dared to lead people to ambush and assassinate Feng Yanqing quietly. It is not impossible for Li Jing to attack Feng Zhang now. .What surprised him was not Li Jing's boldness, but how did Li Jing have such a powerful force without making a sound, so strong that he could easily defeat Feng Zhang?

"How to deal with this matter? Now Wang Jinwu has great plans to make troubles. If he doesn't handle it well, it may cause a lot of trouble." Song Wei asked.

Wang Jingwu controls the Ya army in Qingzhou, and has always been a sharp sword hanging over Song Wei's head, making him constrained everywhere.However, he did not sit in a sad city. The general took advantage of the opportunity to recruit 3000 Qingzhou soldiers in Qingzhou. Especially after he brought Cui Yunqing over, he got a large amount of money and food, allowing him to quickly mobilize this united mutiny. It has become a powerful force of its own.After mastering the army of Qingzhou, Song Wei, with the financial help of Cui Yunqing, quickly recruited and formed a [-]-person army battalion on the basis of the original [-] soldiers.

All in all, Song Wei now has 8000 troops stationed in Qingzhou.Wang Jingwu has [-] tooth soldiers, but if his private soldiers and family members are added, there should be no fewer than [-].The two sides are equally matched, but many of Song Wei's people are newly recruited, and their strength is far inferior to that of Wang Jingwu. With the help of Cui Yunqing and some local nobles in Ziqing who fell to him, Song Wei also quickly won over many branch state soldiers and county towns. side.He and Wang Jingwu are jealous of each other now, but they are eager to defeat each other immediately.

Song Wei was worried that Wang Jingwu would use Li Jing's affairs to stir up trouble. He was not ready yet and did not want to start a war at this time.

Cui Yunqing guessed that Song Wei wanted to compromise, and this result must have betrayed Li Jing in the end.Li Jing was his protégé, and he had always been kind to him. After staying in Dengzhou, he would regularly send gifts every month, and they were all very expensive.There are not many such disciples, even the Cui family, the largest family in Qingzhou, although there are many wealthy disciples, but there are not many such as Li Jing who are filial, rich and have military power, and even so powerful, who can fight. He has to protect such a student.

"Although Li Jing is a disciple, he is also under the commander's command. In my opinion, although Li Jing is young, he knows how to advance and retreat, knows how to measure, and is a person who knows how to repay kindness. He is really a young hero. And Feng Zhangjiu Township Daxiezhai, together with Wang Jin, almost controlled Dengzhou Port and sea routes. Dengzhou Port and sea trade routes are almost half of my Ziqing Town’s financial resources, and they have been in charge of them all the time. In fact, they are helping Wang Jingwu to continuously transport Military resources. Now that Li Jing is fighting with Feng Zhang, in the eyes of outsiders, it is the commander-in-chief who is fighting against Wang Jingwu. If the commander-in-chief compromises at this time, it will be seen in the eyes of other people in the world, especially those who follow the commander-in-chief. , how would you feel?"

"But after all, Li Jing provoked trouble first, and raised troops to make trouble without permission. This is a crime of treason." Song Wei hesitated.

"A human mouth has two skins, and no one can sew other people's mouths shut. Feng Zhang said that Li Jing attacked him first, and Li Jing also said that Feng Zhang colluded with the pirates to attack him first. What's more, Feng Zhang did not attack him first." There is no evidence, but Li Jing has one-eyed dragon pirate captives, and Feng Zhang's nephew is still captured under Feng Zhang's subordinates, as well as surrendered soldiers. Many of these people are willing to stand up and testify for Li Jing, indicating that they are Feng Zhang is unreasonable first."

"Is that really the case?"

"So what if it is, so what if it's not? Marshal, the truth is not the most important thing, the most important thing is how to do it for the benefit of all of us. Marshal is not alone, and this is not an ordinary case. The interests of the many people who follow the commander must be considered carefully." Cui Yunqing said very directly.

"In your opinion, what should we do?" Song Wei is not a pedantic person, nor does he care much about the so-called black and white truth.Otherwise, he wouldn't argue with Wang Jingwu, and he might as well just be idle.What he said was just to let Cui Yunqing express his position first, as long as he was willing to make up his mind, Song Wei would be more confident with his support.

Cui Yunqing smiled slightly, and said: "The current situation, anyway, is a war of words with Wang Jingwu, and the charge of rebellion must be removed first. As long as it is not a rebellion, it is just a private fight between two friendly troops. Although this is unreasonable , but this kind of situation has been going on for many years, and it is not a big deal. Set this matter as a misunderstanding between the two armies, and then Jieshuai can send a few important people to Dengzhou to mediate between the two armies. In this way , I have helped Li Jing a lot. Li Jing was originally my student, and he was also under the Commander's command, so he must be more grateful, and he will be loyal to the Commander from now on."

Song Wei nodded straightly, Li Jing's abilities in these two battles were quite amazing, not to mention that he had an army capable of defeating Feng Zhang.If Li Jing can loyally vote for him, then he will have a force to penetrate into Dengzhou Port and the sea, and he can also get a point for the huge benefits of maritime commerce, which can be used to alleviate the current financial and food difficulties that are everywhere.

"Great kindness!" Song Wei clapped his hands and praised, "In my opinion, you are the main one. After going to Dengzhou, Song Wen, governor of Dengzhou, and Shi Wang Jingwen, governor of Dengzhou, will be called as deputy, and then King Zhao will come out to be a witness. You guys In charge of the mediation between the two armies, you will be fully responsible for the specifics. Try to get as much benefit as possible for Li Jing. This kid won a big victory this time and showed his face. We not only have to support him, but also We have to find a way to get him some sweet rewards."

Seeing this result, Cui Yunqing also breathed a sigh of relief in her heart. She had finally produced a better student, and she really didn't want to see him die young.

(To be continued)