Northern Prefecture Rivers and Mountains

Chapter 138 Emergency Call
Seven days later, Wang Yuande led his cavalry back.

Fifty-seven young and strong men were captured, along with one hundred and thirty cattle and sheep, and five carts of other money, silk, and food. No one was killed, and only two war horses were missing.

No matter how few flies there are, they are still meat. As long as the income is greater than the investment, it can be maintained.

The next day, Liu Guangzhi and Wang Zhongde returned together. They did not have any livestock, but they captured more than 200 Zhai Wei soldiers, 50 sets of leather armor, and some other military equipment.

Liu Daogui could accept it and let them rest.

But there was no news about Mao Dezuo suddenly, as if he had disappeared out of thin air, and even the scouts could not find any trace of them.

"We won't be completely wiped out by the Dingling people, right?" Liu Zun had a gloating expression on his face. He was quite resentful that he was not allowed to lead the troops to the battle.

"Shut up your jinx." Liu Daogui had experienced many ups and downs and had long since developed the mentality of remaining calm in the face of adversity.

No news is the best news.

If the scouts didn't get any information, it means that the people are fine.

Several of his "generals" included the brothers Wang Yuande and Wang Zhongde, who were both talented in both military and literary affairs, Liu Guangzhi, who was calm and steady, and Liu Zun and Liu Hepi, who were brave and fearless, but Mao Dezuo was also a man of both wisdom and courage.

When he fought against the bandits in Mount Tai, he single-handedly killed Zhang Fonu and Bai Longzi.

Cavalry is not infantry, and they are elusive. It is not easy for Zhai Wei to catch him.

But two days later, Mao Dezuo returned empty-handed.

Liu Zun seized the opportunity to mock him, "You have the nerve to come back empty-handed. If you can't do it, change someone sooner."

Mao Dezuo did not argue, but took out a piece of cowhide, which was densely covered with topographic maps of Lu and Taishan counties. It even marked the enemy's troop strength and garrisoned generals.

Liu Daogui's eyes lit up, "Ancestor De, this item is worth a thousand gold!"

Mao Dezu remained calm. "Know yourself and your enemy, and you can fight a hundred battles without danger. This trip was somewhat hasty, and I have only gathered information about the strengths and weaknesses of Lu and Taishan counties. I have yet to find out about Gaoping and Rencheng counties to the west. I suggest selecting spies to infiltrate the northern counties."

"I'll have the Cao family disguise themselves as merchants and head north."

The situation changes rapidly. Without scouts and spies, it is like a person without eyes and ears.

After resting for two days, the cavalry went out again. Liu Daogui gave them an additional task, which was to try to understand the local terrain and the situation of the garrison, which might come in handy in the future.

The Cao family also prepared a caravan to infiltrate northward along Huan Gong Du to collect various information.

Liu Daogui is now ready for everything, and it all depends on when Murong Chui will take action.

It is not difficult to see from his previous battle records that he either does not take action or makes a fatal blow. This time, he gathered 70,000 infantry and cavalry in Liyang, and his plan must be quite big.

Moreover, Zhai Wei has always been like a plaster, always making things difficult for Murong Chui, and constantly restraining the State of Yan.

As soon as Zhai Zhao came to power, he immediately led his army to attack Yecheng and harassed Yangping and Qinghe counties, trying to bite off a piece of meat from Yan State. After being repelled, he exchanged glances with Murong Yong, and the two sides formed a pincer attack on Murong Chui.

If Zhai Wei cannot be destroyed this time, Yan State will fall into a strategic passive position.

But Murong Chui was as determined as a tortoise swallowing a weight, and he kept his troops in Liyang without moving.

For a whole month, there wasn't even a small-scale engagement.

However, their confrontation actually benefited Liu Daogui.

Zhai Wei had to defend the long Yellow River and continuously draw troops and food from the south.

During this period, Liu Daogui's cavalry made rapid progress, bringing back more and more captives, money, and livestock, and the number of slaves increased to more than 2,300.

As May was approaching, Zhai Wei could no longer bear the long-term confrontation.

After all, it is just a small country with seven counties and 30,000 households. It has only been established for five years and its foundation is too weak.

Although Murong Chui established his country for a short time, Hebei was the former territory of the Former Yan Dynasty and was filled with a large number of Xianbei people. They missed Murong Ke and regarded Murong Chui as their father. The population of the Hu and Xia people under his rule was at least 7 million.

It was a miracle that Zhai Wei had been able to resist for so long. Liu Daogui had a feeling that the decisive battle would take place within the next month or two.

But at this moment, Yuan He's letter arrived, urging Liu Daogui to return to Guangling as soon as possible.

It seems that big things are going to happen in the South as well.

"You came at a really bad time." Liu Daogui sighed.

"We are now strong and powerful, why should we go back and suffer that humiliation? In my opinion, we should stay in Lanling, first swallow Lu County, then take Yanzhou and Qingzhou, fight our way to Hebei, kill Murong Chui, and the brothers will help you to rise!"

Liu Zun went crazy.

Liu Daogui cursed, "Did you get bitten by a dog when you were a kid and have a mad attack?"

The others started laughing.

Liu Zun stiffened his neck and said, "I'm not wrong. Back then, Zu Ti led a hundred troops north to recapture the Central Plains. We have ten thousand troops, so what are we afraid of?"

"That was then, and the situation is different now."

Out of 10,000 troops, only 1,600 can actually go into battle.

Liu Daogui would be very lucky if he could capture Lu County.

Today, the Central Plains is full of Hu people. Even the Jin people who stayed behind no longer have much sense of belonging to the Jin Dynasty. This can be seen from the Cao family.

At the beginning, Murong Shao was a Lanling governor in name only, and Cao Tengyun wagged his tail and obeyed his orders.

For more than eighty years, the people of Jin in the north have become accustomed to the rule of the Hu monarch.

When Murong Ke and Fu Jian were in power, they implemented many good policies. In the 12th year of Taiyuan (387), Murong Chui sent Murong De and Murong Long to the south for an expedition. When the inhabitants of Qing, Yan and Xu heard about it, many of them came to submit to him.

Mao Dezu said: "Zhai Wei's strength is not strong, but his soldiers are strong and brave, and they are all determined to fight to the death. Murong Chui may not be able to destroy Zhai Zhao easily."

Wang Yuande advised: "The Northern Prefecture is the foundation of the Pengcheng Liu family. Since there is trouble in Jiangzuo, the army should return immediately."

Without the Pengcheng Liu family and the Northern Palace, Liu Daogui would be nothing. If any group of people from the Northern Palace came, Lanling would change hands.

The eight foundations are too weak to be considered a foundation.

Liu Daogui was not confused about this point. If his prediction was correct, the banquet in Jiangzuo should also be started.

After arranging all the big and small matters, Liu Daogui took Liu Zun back to Guangling on horseback.

The entire Guangling City was under martial law. Liu Daogui took out his military enlistment certificate before he could enter the city. The streets were deserted, with every household closing their doors and windows. Cavalrymen would occasionally gallop past.

Liu Daogui didn't even go back to the government office, but went straight to the Sima Yamen.

Yuan He had a stern face and didn't say anything, just staring at Liu Daogui.

This left Liu Daogui confused.

After a long while, Yuan Hecai said, "Xun Xinzhi and Huan Daozhen were assassinated five days ago."

These two evildoers should have died long ago. Liu Daogui was delighted. With Xun Xin's death, wouldn't the tens of thousands of strings of debt he owed be written off?

It's like a double blessing. I've been annoyed with Xun Xinzhi for a long time, and he always rolls his eyes at me. I never expected this day to come. I don't know which hero did this.

But a gleam of light flashed across Yuan He's eyes.

Liu Daogui was stunned. "Sima won't suspect that it was my subordinates who did it, right?"

Yuan He didn't answer, his eyes becoming sharper. "Last time, someone dug up information about Huan Chengzhi's death, and Wang Gong gave me two weeks to hand over the murderer."

(End of this chapter)