Online Game: Me, with Unparalleled Comprehension

After arranging for the two to go train, Wu Feng turned to look at Zhang Heng and the remaining four scholars.

Zhao Wenyuan, Zhao Wenbo, Li Wenyuan, and Li Wenqing stood there, waiting for him to speak.

Wu Feng leaned back in his chair, his gaze sweeping across the faces of the four people.

"The four of you, Zhao Wenyuan, Zhao Wenbo, and Li Wenqing, the three of you are good at internal affairs, so you will stay in the city and work with Qian Wencai and the others to handle government affairs. Those who are in charge of accounting will manage accounts, those who are in charge of construction will manage construction, and those who are in charge of documents will manage documents. Zhang Heng will assign you specific tasks."

The three men quickly bowed and said, "Yes, Your Excellency."

Wu Feng then looked at Li Wenyuan.

"Li Wenyuan, you are skilled in diplomacy and persuasion. Go with Zhang Heng and invite all the military officers, scholars, and literati in the vicinity to come. Persuade those you can, and the terms are negotiable. Don't force those who don't want to come."

Li Wenyuan closed his folding fan, cupped his hands, and said, "Yes, Your Excellency. I will do my best."

Zhang Heng bowed slightly beside him: "Your Excellency, rest assured, I will take Wen Yuan to visit those talented individuals in retirement. There are several reclusive scholars in the city, and several retired generals in the villages outside the city. I have inquired about them all and will go to invite them in the next couple of days."

Wu Feng nodded.

"Alright, everyone get back to work."

The group bowed, turned, and walked out of the front hall.

Zhang Heng walked in front, with Li Wenyuan following behind him. The two were talking in hushed tones, as if they were discussing who to visit first.

Zhao Wenyuan, Zhao Wenbo, and Li Wenqing followed at the back, walking hurriedly to familiarize themselves with government affairs.

The footsteps faded into the distance, and the front hall fell silent.

Wu Feng leaned back in his chair and rubbed his forehead.

These past few days have been filled with one thing after another, from attacking mountain strongholds to besieging cities, from besieging cities to settling the people, from settling the people to dealing with the gentry, it just never ends.

He opened his eyes, took the map out of his pocket, and spread it out on the table.

The locations of several counties are marked around Yingzhou City—Yong'an County to the east, Anping County to the west, Qinghe County to the south, and Pingshan County to the north.

Each county town has a listed number of troops stationed there, ranging from three or four hundred to seven or eight hundred, none of which is considered large.

The problem is, he can't take all his troops out now.

Although the Zhao and Li families outwardly submitted and contributed half of their wealth and clan members, who knows what they were really thinking?

If he leads a large army out to attack the city, leaving the city vulnerable, and if these two families suddenly switch sides and collude with the Liao forces, or simply cause trouble on their own and close the city gates, he won't even be able to go home.

Wu Feng stared at the map for a while, then tapped his fingers lightly twice on the table.

We need to plan carefully.

You can't take too many soldiers out, but you can't take none either. If you take too few, you won't be able to capture the city; if you take too many, the city will be left empty.

The best approach is to bring a small number of elite troops, launch a swift attack, and return immediately afterward.

He was thinking about his friends list at the edge of his field of vision.

Wu Feng's mind stirred slightly. He opened his friend list and sent a message to Li Hu.

Li Hu quickly sent back a message: "Wu Feng, what do you want?"

Wu Feng replied with a message: "Come over to the front hall of the governor's mansion. I have something to discuss."

A few seconds after the message was sent, the other end replied: "Okay, I'm just about to head over. Wait for me."

Wu Feng closed his friends list and leaned back in his chair to wait.

Before a cup of tea could be brewed, footsteps sounded at the entrance of the front hall.

Li Hu, dressed in a gray outfit, walked in from outside.

He saw Wu Feng, nodded, and walked to the other side of the long table to sit down.

"What is it?" Li Hu asked.

Wu Feng pushed the map towards him and pointed to several surrounding counties.

"I want to take these counties. But I can't take too many troops with me."

Li Hu glanced down at the map, then looked up at Wu Feng, waiting for him to continue.

Wu Feng leaned back in his chair and tapped his fingers lightly on the armrest twice.

After Li Hu sat down, he glanced at the direction of the front hall entrance to make sure no one else was there before turning to look at Wu Feng.

"How's the situation in the city?" he asked earnestly. "Have those aristocratic families been dealt with? Have the potential threats been completely eliminated?"

Wu Feng leaned back in his chair and tapped his fingers lightly on the armrest twice.

"For now, we've managed to keep things under control," he said calmly. "The Zhao and Li families have provided money and supplies, and they've also sent people over. The Wang family is gone, so the remaining two families probably won't dare to do anything else."

He paused, then added, "But only temporarily. These aristocratic families are all opportunists. They'll side with whoever is stronger, and if I show even the slightest weakness, they'll turn on me faster than flipping through a book."

Li Hu nodded without interrupting.

Wu Feng continued, "So the problem now is how to attack those counties. It's impossible to send all the soldiers directly."

He reached out and pointed to the locations of those counties on the map.

"If we take all these soldiers out, the city will be empty. If the Zhao and Li families suddenly switch sides or collude with the Liao people, they can close the city gates and we won't even be able to go home."

Li Hu frowned, looked at the map, and remained silent.

"We were able to take Yingzhou City so easily before because of the surprise attack," Wu Feng said. "The Liao people were caught off guard, and we took them by surprise. But it's different now. Although these counties don't have many troops stationed there, if they are prepared and take precautions, it will be much more troublesome for us to take them."

He leaned back in his chair and tapped the armrest twice with his fingers.

"Therefore, we must guard against this."

After listening, Li Hu remained silent for a moment, then nodded.

"You make a good point," he said, shifting his gaze from the map to Wu Feng. "There aren't many guards in the county towns. I've been there. Each county town has only three or four hundred men, some as many as seven or eight hundred. They're all ordinary soldiers, not many elite troops."

He paused, then continued, "My fifty second-rate martial artists and I, along with a few other men, can take it down. You won't need to send too many troops."

Wu Feng nodded upon hearing this.

With so few guards, Li Hu could easily take them down by himself, let alone if he led fifty second-rate martial artists.

A second-rate martial artist can defeat several hundred ordinary soldiers, though it takes some effort, but it's not impossible.

He can go alone, and with some time, he can clean up those county towns.

"But the question is," Wu Feng began, "what happens after we take it?"

Li Hu looked at him, waiting for him to continue.

"After we take it, we need manpower to plunder resources and take away the people," Wu Feng said. "You and your fifty men can take it and move the things, but the people won't go with you if you don't have people watching over them."

Li Hu nodded; this was indeed a problem.

Wu Feng continued, "Since we can't defend so many towns, the best way is to take everything we can and everyone we can take with us."

He paused, then tapped his finger twice on the table.

"The city was also destroyed."

Li Hu's eyebrows twitched as he looked at him.

Wu Feng leaned back in his chair, speaking slowly and deliberately: "Once the city is destroyed, they will lose the original city's protection. Even if the Liao people want to reoccupy those places, they can only set up temporary military camps and tents."

He gave a slight twitch at the corner of his mouth.