Mang Shusheng's Ink Painting Practice

Chapter 217 The Person Mo Luo Missed That Year
Zhao Yifu's outburst was so satisfying that he was now used to quarreling with Mu Lu in his "Taixu Forbidden Book" and felt that his quarreling skills had greatly improved.

After arguing with that twisted idea many times, he realized that he didn't need to care about what the other person said or whether what he said made sense. As long as his own reasoning was straight and firm, he could just argue and make a fuss without caring about what others thought.

It was in this situation that Zhao Yifu continued to speak loudly and criticized Lu Zhao to the point of confusion... Especially since everything he said was true, many people who were present had more or less heard some rumors in this regard.

Is this okay?

This is equivalent to setting up Lu Zhao.

Zhao Yifu's blatant and sweary arrival to "demand wages" actually made it harder for Lu Zhao to easily pay back the wages he owed. Paying back the Manshan Battalion was easy, but what about the rest of his troops?

First of all, when people see that asking for wages in this way can get things done, where is his prestige? What if someone follows his example?
If one cannot be suppressed, then his entire reputation will be ruined.

That's why he ordered his beloved general Luo Yan to lead his troops out of the city to threaten the enemy.

but……

Zhao Yifu is still outputting.

He looked at the people leaving the city and asked, "How much is your monthly military pay?"

Then, without waiting for anyone to answer, he said, "I guess it's three hundred wen, five hundred wen at most!"

"But I know that the military pay from the imperial court is actually a thousand coins a month!"

"I'm paid 1,000 Wen a month for a non-frontline barracks like the Manshan Camp. How about you? You'll probably get more, maybe 1,500 or even 2,000 Wen a month!"

"But have you ever gotten it in all these years?"

My goodness, this attack immediately discouraged the 3,000 people who had originally left the city before they could even line up outside the city.

They suddenly felt that what Zhao Yifu said was right. They could have received so much military pay, but now they only received so little... Anyone would feel unbalanced.

Zhao Yifu added, "Everyone thinks you're useless, useless, and run away when you see a few enemies. But who knows you're responsible for your families' livelihoods while receiving a meager salary... It's not that you're afraid to fight, but you're afraid to die for this meager salary! If you die, who will earn money to support your families?!"

His words were extremely penetrating and touched the souls of most of the Daxu soldiers.

Who would be willing to risk their life for such a small amount of money?

The morale of the army was completely shaken, which was manifested in the fact that the army formation outside Zhangkou City could not be arranged in an orderly manner. There were always various unexpected events, which made Luo Yan, who was in charge of organizing the army, miserable.

He suddenly realized that he could not let Zhao Yifu continue speaking. In his eyes, Zhao Yifu was just a demon who spewed venom and bewitched people!

Luo Yan immediately held his spear in his hand and roared, "Shut up, you idiot!"

Zhao Yifu immediately shouted loudly: "Look, your general is getting anxious."

"The court has set a monthly salary of 1,000 wen for everyone. This shows that the court knows how difficult it is for the brothers and is willing to give the brothers a way to survive and even hope to live well!"

"But, although the court has good intentions, there are bad people among the people below!"

Luo Yan's scalp was tingling at this moment. He could already feel that the eyes behind him were not friendly.

My goodness, what's wrong with this guy's mouth?

Zhao Xiangyu was also stunned by this scene. She knew that Zhao Yifu had a strong fist, but she didn't expect that he was so eloquent... He had directly destroyed the opponent's morale in front of the battle!

She suddenly realized that Zhao Yifu had a loud voice!
You can do whatever you want if you have a loud voice.

She felt like she had learned a trick; verbal battles before the battle really had their merits...

Luo Yan could no longer bear it. If Zhao Yifu continued to talk, not only the soldiers below the city, but even the soldiers on the city would lose their morale.

He roared, kicked his horse's belly and rushed forward, thrusting his spear forward, trying to use physical means to silence Zhao Yifu.

As for the consequences of doing so?
That was something he would consider next. He felt that Lu Zhao would cover for him.

However, the people around Zhao Yifu would not agree if he rushed over like this.

Zhao Xiangyu was a beat slower because she didn't think Luo Yan could accomplish anything.

However, Zhu Fei, who was "meeting the wise ruler for the first time", could not allow Luo Yan to be so presumptuous.

He rode an ordinary warhorse and rushed forward with a big sword in his hand!

"Qiang~"

The two sides fought together, and Zhu Fei was able to hold Luo Yan back even though he was inferior to the other in weapons, armor and horses!
This is surprising. Zhu Fei’s martial arts skills are so strong?

Zhao Yifu was also surprised, because when he was in Moyang, he didn't think that Zhu Fei had any outstanding martial arts... If he really had outstanding martial arts, how could he be a gangster?
He whispered to Wu Dun beside him, "Old Wu, did Zhu Fei learn any advanced martial arts under your command?"

Wu Dun quickly shook his head and said, "No, no, I remember this Zhu Fei. He's not a sociable person. He just spends his days training to strengthen his strength. That's all."

Zhao Yifu nodded slightly after hearing this.

Looking at Zhu Fei's condition again, he found that his martial arts skills were indeed mediocre, but his strength was not inferior to that of Luo Yan... What really allowed him to barely withstand Luo Yan was his increasingly strong heroic spirit!
Zhao Yifu suddenly realized.

There are always talented and ambitious people in this world.

Zhu Fei is the kind of hero who is most suitable for the battlefield.

He may be inconspicuous on ordinary days, but once his heroic spirit is aroused, his whole person will undergo earth-shaking changes.

Just like now, after continuously resisting Luo Yan's attacks, he actually felt a sense of adaptation and gradually became more at ease.

Zhao Yifu smiled, he was happy that he had discovered another talent.

If his second uncle is compared to the ceiling of military commanders in this era with a score of 100, then Zhao Xiangyu, the barbarian sister born with supernatural powers, is 97 points.

Yang Zaixuan's martial arts score is 98 points, and what's more rare is that he is also talented in commanding and directing. In any case, he is definitely better than Zhao Xiangyu.

As for Zhou Qingzhao, after Zhao Yifu specially made equipment for her, her martial arts skills could barely be considered 80 points, but her strengths were commanding on the battlefield, defending the city, and perhaps something else. Anyway, Zhao Yifu was very optimistic that she could become a commander.

As for Luo Yan in front of him, Zhao Yifu's evaluation was about 94 to 95 points, which was pretty good and worthy of being a brave general.

But what about Zhu Fei?

In the first few moves, Zhao Yifu felt that his score was only about 87 to 89 points, which was already amazing.

But now, it has slowly gone up to above 90 points!
He also has the ability to unite his troops, and there is still room for improvement in his martial arts and physical abilities. He is definitely a potential stock.

Zhao Yifu was delighted. Seeing that Zhu Fei was already showing signs of exhaustion after the continuous fighting, he said to Zhao Xiangyu, "Sister, stop Luo Yan."

Zhao Xiangyu had already become impatient waiting.

He rode up from the side, and with a clang of his sword, he cut through the intertwined weapons of both sides.

Seeing this, Zhu Fei quickly pulled up the reins and backed away, breathing heavily.

Luo Yan was unprepared and was knocked back several steps.

He was proud of his bravery, but he was stunned when he saw the tall and heroic female general in front of him... He could feel that the other party even surpassed him in absolute strength!
This... where did this wild girl come from?
Zhao Yifu spoke slowly but penetratingly, "General Luo, are you surprised?"

"The Zhu Fei you fought previously was just an ordinary foot soldier in the Manshan Camp. However, he possessed heroic aspirations and was willing to sacrifice his life to join my Zhou army in the Northern Expedition. Therefore, with his heroic spirit, he was able to fight you."

"And this female general is even more remarkable. Together with General Yang Zaixuan, they led only a thousand men to harass the 300,000-man Liao army, causing them to retreat prematurely and ultimately be defeated by General Zhao Guhe. She was instrumental in all this."

"In front of these two people, does General Luo dare to call himself a hero?"

Here it comes, this mouth comes again.

Luo Yan frowned and said, "Lord Lu is the governor of the southwest of Beijing. It is wrong for you to offend him."

Zhao Yifu snorted coldly and said, "I won't pretend in front of you anymore. Lu Zhao is raising bandits in the southwest of the capital and seizing the court's supplies for his own use. I want to ask, General Luo, is your salary paid by the court or by Lu Zhao?"

"Are you working for the imperial court or for Lu Zhao?"

Luo Yan frowned, seeming to be hesitant.

Seeing this, Zhao Yifu, in order to show his friendliness, slowly walked towards Luo Yan and said, "I think General Luo is also a hero. How can he not distinguish right from wrong?"

"Lu Zhao may have been a loyal and capable general in his early years, making great contributions to the imperial court's stabilization of the southwest of Beijing. But now he has changed. He only wants to be a local emperor."

As he spoke, he moved closer, and Luo Yan's expression seemed to become more hesitant.

Zhao Yifu continued to approach and said, "It would have been fine if the court had not sought advancement before, but now the emperor is determined to launch a northern expedition, and the court fully supports it... General Luo is still siding with this selfish villain Lu Zhao. Isn't this putting himself in a position of disloyalty and unfilial piety?"

Upon hearing this, Luo Yan couldn't help but loosen the reins and let the horse stroll forward twice, then said: "It's just that Lord Lu has been very kind to me..."

Zhao Yifu took two steps forward and asked, "Did Lu Zhao do you a favor? Is he a fifth-rank General Dingyuan?"

"Look at this fat guy next to me. He doesn't have any ability at all. He just has a rich family. He can spend some money to become a fifth-rank general like you."

"He can become a fifth-rank official just by flattering others, but your fifth rank is due to your ability, so Lu Zhao has to give it to you!"

"And I believe that your abilities far exceed those of a mere fifth-rank general."

Good heavens, even Luo Yan himself was shaken by these words.

Wu Dun felt very aggrieved. He looked at Zhao Yifu with grievance, as if asking: Am I so bad?
Little did he know that his ignorant and innocent look was even more convincing.

Luo Yan sighed deeply and said, "But my wife and children are all in the city."

As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly turned sideways and stretched out his claws towards Zhao Yi Fu... He wanted to 'capture the leader first'!
The people around had different expressions when they saw this.

Zhao Xiangyu was very calm and was certain that Luo Yan was finished.

Wu Dun was very nervous. He didn't know whether he was worried about Zhao Yifu or himself.

Zhu Fei was furious and shouted, "How dare you, you thief!"

But when he swung his knife and tried to move forward, it was too late.

...It was not that Luo Yan had captured Zhao Yifu, but that Zhao Yifu grabbed Luo Yan and his horse and lifted them high above his head, and then threw them to the ground.

"boom!"

A cloud of dust rose from the ground. The horse lay struggling on the ground, and Luo Yan groaned in pain with one of his legs trapped under the horse.

At the same time, he was dizzy and couldn't figure out what had just happened? Why did he end up lying on the ground?

This scene was completely witnessed by everyone on the city wall. They watched helplessly as their beloved general Luo Yan was lifted up by someone, along with his horse, and thrown to the ground. How terrifying...

Zhao Yifu's bravery deeply shocked the entire audience.

The three thousand men on our side saw this and were completely convinced.

They shouted together: "The Governor is mighty! The Governor is mighty!"

Zhao Yifu waved his hand and said, "Stop yelling. What's so commendable about bullying your own people?"

Then Zhao Yi Fu took advantage of this momentum and walked a few steps towards Zhangkou City.

He shouted, "Master Lu, I have a piece of advice for you. Whether you want to hear it or not, I have to tell you."

Lu Zhao was already afraid of this mouth. He ordered his men, "Shoot him! Shoot him with arrows!"

There was no movement for a long time.

It was obvious that Zhao Yifu's mouth had caused real damage.

To be honest, if Moluo saw this scene, he would definitely regret expelling him from the Demon Kingdom. With this ability to bewitch people, he was born to be a demon!
Zhao Yifu said nonchalantly, "Lord Lu, if you petition the court to beg for your life now, you might even get a decent outcome. If you persist in your wrongdoing, you'll probably be infamous for eternity."

Lu Zhao's expression collapsed. He snatched a large bow from the hand of his personal guard, bent the bow, drew the arrow, and shot at Zhao Yifu.

After all, this old man had been stationed in the southwest of Beijing for nearly twenty years, and was quite skilled in archery and horse riding, and he actually managed to hit the target accurately.

Zhao Yifu waved his hand to deflect the arrows that came his way and said disapprovingly, "It seems that Lord Lu is determined to persist in his delusion."

He said without further ado, turned around and looked around and said, "Master Lu, please look, who is here?"

Lu Zhao looked stunned, and then he showed a hint of fear.

He saw smoke and dust in both directions outside Zhangkou City, obviously a large group of people were marching.

Lu Zhao's hands and feet were cold. He had not expected such a situation to happen.

Zhao Yifu continued to explain: "Don't worry, Lord Lu. In fact, it's just that the emperor has an imperial decree for you. These soldiers are passing through the province and saw that the eunuch who delivered the imperial decree was very pitiful, so they sent them to escort you along the way."

Lu Zhao looked at Zhao Yifu and asked tremblingly, "You knew this a long time ago?"

"Yes, you must have known this a long time ago, otherwise why would you come here to undermine our army's morale!"

Zhao Yifu asked in amusement, "What's the point of raising your military morale in the face of the emperor's decree?"

"Well, sir, this is the last respect the government gives you."

As soon as he finished speaking, he stood outside the city with his hands behind his back, waiting.

Soon, the troops in the smoke and dust appeared. They were indeed troops from the neighboring provinces in the southwest of Beijing, and one of them was from Mozhou.

However, one of the eunuchs who was announcing the imperial edict did not look at Zhangkou, but hurried to Zhao Yifu to pay his respects.

"Sir, my foster father asked me to say hello to you."

Zhao Yifu understood the cause and effect, so he said, "Old Hong has arranged a dangerous task for you."

The young eunuch said, "I'm not afraid."

Zhao Yifu said, "That's right, this is a danger but also an opportunity... But don't worry, I will go in with you."

He raised his voice and said, "The angel has come to announce the decree. Why don't you open the city gates and receive it, Lord Lu?"

There's not much to say about what happened next.

Zhao Yifu came here first and laid the groundwork for so long, Lu Zhao not only lost the morale of the army, but also completely lost his own reputation.

What else can he do except to hand over power obediently according to the imperial edict and then be transferred to the capital to serve?

Others returned to Beijing from the provinces to become high-ranking officials, but this time he was to be placed under house arrest. The reason Ying Cong issued this transfer order was because Shi Youzhao died on Lu Zhao's territory.

But at this point, no one cared anymore that this man had just died. How could the emperor, who was thousands of miles away, prepare an imperial edict and mobilize the surrounding troops to come together?
Ying Cong would not risk killing him because of his reputation for killing scholars and officials, but he would probably still give him a high-ranking official position with generous salary to support him.

Zhao Yifu was noncommittal about this decision, as he had already achieved his goal. This was because Zhou Su was the new governor of the southwest of Beijing.

The transfer of power in southwest Beijing went through some turbulence and was completed without any internal friction or casualties, which is a good thing.

However, before leaving his post as the Governor-General, Lu Zhao reluctantly approached Zhao Yifu and said, "Do you think you can succeed just because you have the power in southwestern Beijing?"

"You can see that the soldiers here are useless. Can you defeat them with them?"

Zhao Yifu said calmly, "They are like dirt in your eyes, but that's because you never pay them enough. If you pay them enough, I believe they will naturally rise up bravely."

"As for whether we can defeat Liao people?"

"Haha, we've already won once, we won even without you!"

Lu Zhao sneered at this and said, "Pay enough wages? Where would so much money come from? Do you know what an astronomical sum that is?"

Zhao Yifu laughed and said, "That's all thanks to Lord Lu who has nurtured so many local tyrants and bandit forces in the southwest of Beijing over the years."

"If we just find a reason to send troops to eliminate this kind of person, we can get enough food, wages and supplies. It's very convenient."

Lu Zhao was speechless for a moment. He was really impressed by Zhao Yifu, this ruthless man.

All I can say is: "You don't look like a scholar."

Zhao Yifu was angry. This was questioning his academic qualifications!
He said: "The student's academic achievement is a record that can be verified by the court!"

Regardless of his dissatisfaction, Lu Zhao continued, "To me, you look like a cunning warrior who has studied for a few years!"

Zhao Yifu was speechless.

This statement sums up his basic character in one sentence.

Lu Zhao then sighed and said, "Never mind. I've already lost... Use Luo Yan wisely. He's a pearl in my hands."

This time, Zhao Yifu nodded seriously and said, "Don't worry, General Luo is also a hero. He is exactly the kind of general we need for the Northern Expedition. How can we let him go to waste?"

Lu Zhao was stunned when he heard this, as if something on his mind was touched.

"Northern Expedition, Northern Expedition!"

He shook his head and kept repeating the word "Northern Expedition", and then finally left surrounded by his family.

At this point, southwest Beijing completely fell under the control of the "Northern Expedition Group" with Zhou Su as the core.

Although Zhou Su asked Zhao Yifu to stop Lu Zhao from interfering with and influencing Xiangyang, he ended up driving him away once and for all.

Even Zhao Xiangyu felt her scalp tingling when she saw this... She wanted to return to Xiangyang City as soon as possible, but her brother's actions were too bold and the noise was too loud!

At the same time, she knew that Zhao Yifu must have connections with other bigwigs in the court, otherwise he would not be able to do such a thing.

She was becoming less and less able to recognize her younger brother.

Could it be that Zhou Su is not the only one Zhao Yifu has backers in the court?
She was a little worried because she heard that the most feared thing in official circles was two-timing...

Well... that's true, but if she finds out that the supporters behind Zhao Yifu include all the bigwigs in the six ministries, I wonder if she will think that her brother is a succubus in the officialdom?

But no matter what, the all-knowing skills Zhao Yifu showed this time were impressive. In any case, Wu Dun was now well behaved and didn't dare to play any tricks at all.

What happened next was a series of personnel changes.

Zhou Su was naturally promoted to the vacant post of Governor of Southwest Jing Province due to his merits, so did the position of Prefect of Xiangyang become vacant?

No, under Zhao Yifu's "behind-the-scenes manipulation", Zhou Su still served as the prefect of Xiangyang, and the administrative center of the entire Jingxi Southwest Province was moved back to Xiangyang.

Originally he was from Xiangyang, but Lu Zhao felt that the front line was unstable, so he moved to Zhangkou.

The prefect of Zhangkou was also transferred. This time, in order to demonstrate the court's attention to the southwest of Beijing, an official from the Ministry of Revenue was directly sent to Zhangkou, who was specifically responsible for raising food and fodder for the Northern Expedition in the rear of Xiangyang.

Well, the new prefect of Zhangkou is Zhao Yifu’s uncle. He has never met him and heard that he is not easy to get along with.

Of course, he would not go to visit her. After all, the rules of Danqingmen were that after entering the officialdom, they would never reveal their close relationship in front of others... They might even fight to the death in front of others, but drink and have fun together behind their backs.

Originally, Zhao Yifu thought that these transfer orders had nothing to do with him, so he continued to handle the affairs in Manshan County with peace of mind.

He had already drawn up the Yellow Book of Fish Scales and was about to start looking for places where he could build roads and bridges...

As a result, a transfer order came.

Move him to be the magistrate of Fancheng!

He was shocked. Isn't Fancheng north of Xiangshui? Has it been taken down?

His Yang Spirit immediately separated and went out to explore.

It turned out that the reason why Fancheng was occupied was because the defenders in the city revolted!

This is a big deal.

Fancheng is located north of the Xiang River. Once occupied, it will be across the water from Xiangyang and serve as a cornerstone for the Northern Expedition. This will greatly enhance the defense of the Xiangyang area and provide an additional bridgehead for the Northern Expedition.

But capturing Fancheng is one thing, and how to defend Fancheng is another.

This Fancheng must not only be defended, but also governed...

With such high standards and requirements, there is only one candidate for either side.

Ying Cong could only think of Zhao Yifu.

Zhou Su also felt that he could only feel at ease if Zhao Yifu was in charge personally.

Needless to say, the ministers in the court were very happy to add more responsibilities to Zhao Yifu.

So the matter was settled, and Zhao Yifu and the Manshan Camp moved to Fancheng.

The only one who suffered was Wu Dun. The fat general had never thought that he would come to the front line, and he was scared to death.

(End of this chapter)