Three Kingdoms: Jiangdong is no longer a rat

Chapter 108 Support
Killing people, or even wiping out an entire clan, no longer poses a big psychological barrier to Yan Yi today.

In the face of a war involving tens of thousands of soldiers and tens of thousands of civilians, the life and death of a clan is really nothing.

The impact of this chaotic world on his character was so profound that even he himself felt a little panic.

Yan Yi sighed slightly in his heart and waved his hand. The generals behind him heard the news and moved, leading their troops to rush to the city gate and quickly taking over the defense of Rencheng.

When the entire city was under his control, Yan Yi rode his horse into the city amid the deafening cheers of his own soldiers.

With his successive victories, he has established a high prestige among the soldiers.

He Gong and Zou Ping, along with the remaining dozen or so military marquises, garrison commanders, and dozens of clerks, stood respectfully in front of the city gate with their heads lowered.

"Greetings, Young Master!"

When Yan Yi walked up to him, He Gong knelt down again and paid homage to him.

Yan Yi rode on his horse, looking down at He Gong, who was crawling on the ground in a humble manner, with a look of scrutiny in his eyes.

Among the generals under Zou's command, except for Wei Kuan who died in battle and whom he felt sorry for, he did not think highly of any of the others.

However, He Gong killed Zou Ta and surrendered the city, thus avoiding a war. He was a man of great merit. Even if he despised him, he had to treat him with courtesy and set an example.

Yan Yi dismounted and personally helped He Gong to his feet, saying gently, "Mr. He, you are a man of great integrity. You saved the lives of so many soldiers and spared the lives of the entire city from the scourge of war and suffering. This is truly a great achievement. I will submit a memorial to the Emperor recommending you as a lieutenant of Changning, promoting you to the third rank of nobility, granting you 300 mu of land, 1,000 pieces of silk, and 50 gold coins. I will also announce this to the entire army to honor your achievements."

He Gong was overjoyed and said gratefully, "Young Master, your kindness is so great that even if I were to sacrifice my life, I would never be able to repay you. From now on, I will follow you till death and serve you like a dog or a horse, even if it means death."

He was extremely grateful that he had made the right decision. Compared to Zou He, Yan Yi was much more generous.

Zou Ping trembled as he listened to this. What Yan Yi rewarded He Gong was exactly what he had promised Zou, but now he didn't know what to do with Zou.

He prostrated himself on the ground in deep fear and trepidation, his voice trembling as he spoke: "I, the sinner Zou Ping, pay my respects to the Young Lord. Zou Ta acted against Heaven and has now been executed. I beg you to have mercy and spare the Zou clan. If you grant me the grace to preserve our lineage, we will be forever grateful."

Yan Yi was extremely annoyed with Zou's ignorance of the current situation. He had already thought of killing the chicken to scare the monkeys. He snorted coldly and jumped on his horse.

Zou Ping was terrified and kowtowed repeatedly until his head was bleeding. Seeing Yan Yi was about to leave, he quickly hugged He Gong and begged, "Xingyuan, save our people."

He Gong, who had always had a very good relationship with Zou Ping, could not bear to see him killed. He walked over to Yan Yi and pleaded, "Young Lord, when I was about to execute Zou Ta, Zou Ping was the first to respond. Although he is from the same clan as Zou Ta, he has always been loyal to you. I beg you to forgive him just once."

Yan Yi reined in the reins, and under Zou Ping's extremely nervous gaze, his expression gradually relaxed: "Since that's the case, only Zou's lineage will be executed. The rest of the Zou family will move to Yuncheng!"

"Thank you for not killing me, young master!"

When Zou Ping heard this, he felt as if he had been on the verge of death and had luckily escaped. He breathed a sigh of relief and thanked loudly.

Yan Yi rode his horse into the city, made a symbolic half circle, and then immediately left the city.

The top priority at this time was to rush to Shishan to rescue Xu Sheng's troops.

He didn't dare to delay at all!

Now, including the surrendered troops, there are a total of 7,200 troops in Rencheng, including: 2,500 troops from Yan Yi's headquarters, 2,000 reinforcements from Wucheng led by Xu Shou and Wang Chao, 1,000 troops from Li Bian's headquarters, 700 troops from He Gong's headquarters, and nearly 1,000 surrendered troops composed of Rencheng prisoners and civilians.

Yan Yi quickly summoned all the generals outside the city and ordered, "Wang Chao, you must immediately lead a thousand troops to Maozhu Mountain to assist Fan Yan in defeating Sun Yu's forces. There must be no mistakes!"

Wang Chao clasped his fists and said loudly, "I obey your command!"

Yan Yi turned his gaze towards Yin Li and Xu Shou and said solemnly, "You two will lead 1,500 soldiers and 1,000 civilians to garrison Rencheng, seal off all warehouses, and properly arrange for the aftermath. Don't slack off! Xu Shou will be in charge of the battle, and Yin Li will be in charge of all other matters."

Xu Shou was Xu Ying's cousin, and besides him, he couldn't find anyone else more reliable to stay in Rencheng and handle the aftermath. As for leaving Yin Li behind, it was to keep an eye on Xu Shou.

To this end, he did not hesitate to leave behind 500 elite troops from his own army, temporarily under the command of Yin Li. The command of 1,000 civilian soldiers was also handed over to Yin Li.

With these 1,500 troops, it is enough to restrain Xu Shou.

After deciding on the generals to defend the city, Yan Yi said solemnly: "The rest of the generals, follow me to lead the army to Shishan and defeat Zhu Zhi's army!"

The generals responded loudly.

Only then did He Gong and Li Bian realize that Zhu Zhi had not come to reinforce Rencheng, and they couldn't help but feel a little sorry for him.

After everything was arranged, Yan Yi personally led 3,700 troops and rushed to Shishan to provide reinforcements.

In order to prevent any accidents, he ordered people to go to Yan Baihu and Xu Ying, intending to transfer another 2,000 troops from Wucheng to rush to Shishan.

Yan Baihu originally had 10,000 soldiers under his command. In order to cope with the turbulent situation, he recruited another 3,000 soldiers, bringing his total to 13,000.

After the reinforcements were dispatched from various places, there were only 4,500 troops left in Wucheng, including 3,000 new troops. This was the limit and there were no more extra soldiers to be deployed.

However, Wucheng still has more than a thousand soldiers from the Xu clan who obey Xu Ying's orders. Together with the Procuratorate, it is more than enough to suppress the various clans in Wucheng.

As for Yuncheng and Qiangonglei, only 3,000 weak troops were left garrisoning there, with no extra soldiers available for transfer.

The entire Yan family's military strength has been used to the extreme.

If Xu Gong and Xu Zhao suddenly turned against each other and attacked the Yan family at this time, the Yan family would be in an extremely passive position.

However, the possibility of this is extremely low, so it is worth taking a certain risk.

The result of such a risky move was that the Yan family troops who rushed to Shishan one after another, including Xu Sheng's troops, reached a staggering 11,400 troops, which was twice the number of Zhu Zhi's army.

Yan Yi was mentally prepared for the defeat of Xu Sheng's troops, but Zhu Zhi would not be able to escape safely. He would defeat Zhu Zhi's army at all costs before Wu Jing's army arrived.

On the way to Shishan, he received a report from Yin Li on the general situation of the Rencheng treasury.

The results were somewhat disappointing.

The wealth of Rencheng is far less than that of Yuncheng, only about two-fifths of Yuncheng.

Qian Tong's ability to accumulate wealth is indeed far superior to that of other bandits. In terms of profiting from reselling grain alone, he is far ahead of Zou Tong.

It seems that Qian Tong does have some skills, but he just chose the wrong career.

You are so good at doing business and making money, why do you become a bandit?
However, if Qian Tong had not been so good at making money, Yan Yi's strength would not have improved so rapidly after conquering Yuncheng.

I really have to thank Qian Tong.

Speaking of making money, Yan Yi suddenly thought of someone.

This person is Liang Ji.

Compared with Liang Ji, Qian Tong is nothing when it comes to making money.

However, Liang Ji made money by relying on his power, while Qian Tong made money by looting and business. The two cannot be compared.

(End of this chapter)