Online Game: Me, with Unparalleled Comprehension

After listening to Zhang Heng's report, Wu Feng frowned slightly.

A thousand new recruits were recruited in just one day yesterday?

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

Not right.

Although Yingzhou City has a large population, recruiting a thousand new soldiers in a single day is indeed absurdly fast.

Zhao Wu and Li Zheng only arrived at the military camp yesterday afternoon to recruit new soldiers, and today they have already reported a thousand people. This efficiency is abnormally high.

These people wouldn't use the resources of their Yingzhou City to support their own private army, would they?

Wu Feng narrowed his eyes. This possibility was not small.

Although the Zhao and Li families sent people over, these people's roots are still with their original families.

Recruiting new soldiers is the easiest thing to do to tamper with.

Among the recruits were many private soldiers from two families. On the surface, they were soldiers for the government, but in reality, they still obeyed their families.

However, it doesn't really matter whether it is or not, since which ancient general didn't have some personal guards?

Wu Feng's lips twitched slightly.

This kind of thing is all too common in history. What general doesn't have his own trusted personal guards?

As long as it doesn't interfere with his war efforts or cause major chaos, we can just turn a blind eye and let it pass.

So let's not worry about these things for now and just let them play.

If these people are suddenly tricked out, just eliminate them all at once.

Wu Feng had a plan in mind.

Now is not the time to take action against them.

He needed manpower and troops. Regardless of whether these new recruits were real or fake, it at least superficially expanded the city's military strength.

Once he has swept the surrounding counties clean, moved all the resources and people back, and established a firm foothold, he can then slowly deal with these dishonest people.

He snapped out of his thoughts and waved his hand.

"Alright, everyone, you can all leave now."

Zhang Heng quickly bowed, and together with Liu Wenzhao, Chen Ziang, and Zhou Tieshan, they paid their respects and turned to leave.

The footsteps faded into the distance in the corridor.

Wu Feng stood up, straightened his clothes, walked out of the front hall, crossed the courtyard, and headed towards the city gate.

After leaving the governor's mansion, walk along the main street toward the city gate.

There weren't many pedestrians on the street. When the few vendors saw him, they quickly lowered their heads and didn't dare to look at him for long.

After walking for less than fifteen minutes, we arrived at the city gate.

Mu Lingyun was already waiting at the city gate with his men.

A thousand veterans stood in several rows on the open ground inside the city gate. Some wore leather armor, while others wore iron armor stripped from Liao soldiers. They held swords and spears and looked much more energetic than they had a few days ago.

Han Yufeng stood beside the group, with Zhao Yu'e and Sun Yujiao behind her. All three were riding horses and had weapons at their waists.

Zhao Yu'e rode a chestnut horse, Sun Yujiao rode a white horse, and Han Yufeng rode a tall black horse with a red belt around her waist, making them quite conspicuous in the crowd.

Upon seeing Wu Feng approach, Mu Lingyun quickly urged his horse forward, clasped his hands in a salute, and said, "Your Excellency, the troops are fully assembled. All one thousand veteran soldiers are present."

Han Yufeng also rode over on horseback, clasped her hands in greeting, and said, "Your Excellency, all three of us have arrived."

Wu Feng nodded and glanced at the line.

With a thousand veterans, plus himself, Mu Lingyun, Li Fu, and the three Han sisters, there were a total of a thousand and a half men. They were more than capable of taking down a county town defended by a few hundred soldiers.

He mounted a black warhorse beside him, took out the Crimson Python Bloodstained Spear from his backpack, and held it in his hand.

The tip of the spear gleamed coldly in the morning light, sending chills down one's spine just by looking at it.

"Let's go." Wu Feng waved his hand and rode ahead on horseback, leading a group of people away.

The horses' hooves clattered loudly on the bluestone pavement.

A line of over a thousand people formed a long queue and filed out of the city gate.

Mu Lingyun followed Wu Feng on the left, Li Fu on the right, and the three Han sisters followed behind. Behind them were a thousand veterans, and the line stretched out so long that it seemed to end in the distance.

After leaving the city gate, head east along the official road. Yong'an County is located east of Yingzhou City, about a half-hour ride on horseback.

Wu Feng rode his horse at the very front, at a moderate pace.

The people behind followed quietly, no one spoke, only the sound of horses' hooves and the occasional sneeze of the horses.

After everyone left, the city gate returned to calm.

Several passersby who had been watching furtively turned and ran off in the other direction.

One of the young men, dressed in gray cloth, ran the fastest, head down, his steps hurried. He turned into a small alley, making several turns, and finally stopped at the back door of a large house.

He looked around to make sure no one was following him, then raised his hand and knocked on the door three times.

The door opened a crack, and a man who looked like a butler poked his head out.

The young man leaned in and whispered a few words. The butler nodded and let him in.

The young man was led to the door of the study. The butler went in first to announce his arrival, then stepped aside.

The young man walked in, bowed, and said to the middle-aged man sitting behind the desk, "Master, the governor has left the city with a large force. I followed him all the way and saw him lead more than a thousand men out of the east gate towards Yong'an County."

Zhao Mingyuan sat behind his desk, holding a calligraphy brush in his hand, with an unfinished letter spread out in front of him.

After listening to the young man's words, he put down his pen, a smile appearing on his face, and waved his hand: "Alright, you can go now."

The young man bowed and withdrew.

Zhao Mingyuan leaned back in his chair and tapped his fingers lightly twice on the table.

He stood up, walked to the window and looked out, then turned around, walked behind the bookshelf, pushed open a hidden door, and entered a secret room.

There was already someone sitting in the secret room—Li Demao.

Li Demao sat in a grand chair, holding a cup of tea. Seeing Zhao Mingyuan enter, he put down the teacup, stood up, and smiled, "Brother Zhao, how is it?"

"They're gone." Zhao Mingyuan walked to the table and sat down, his tone tinged with excitement. "Wu Changfeng led more than a thousand men out of the east gate and headed for Yong'an County. There aren't many soldiers left in the city; most of them are newly recruited soldiers. It's the perfect time to make a move."

Li Demao sat down again, stroked his beard, and said with a smile, "Good! Good! Good! This brat Wu Changfeng is going too far. Brother Zhao, this is a great opportunity!"

Zhao Mingyuan nodded, his smile deepening. He lowered his voice and said, "It is indeed a rare opportunity. My family in the Liao capital sent a message by carrier pigeon informing me that the Liao Kingdom has dispatched 50,000 troops—10,000 cavalry and 40,000 infantry—to recapture Yingzhou City."

He paused, looked at Li Demao, his eyes gleaming: "If we can take Yingzhou City, hold it for a few days until the army comes, kill Wu Changfeng, and hand over Yingzhou City, we will surely gain wealth and glory in return."

Li Demao's eyes lit up after hearing this.

The two exchanged a smile, both seeing greed and excitement in each other's eyes.

Wu Changfeng showed absolutely no respect to the gentry.

They forced them to contribute half of their family fortune and sent their clan members to work in the governor's mansion, leaving them no dignity whatsoever.

Given such a great opportunity, how could they possibly give it up?

Besides, once the 50,000-strong army arrives, Wu Changfeng's small force certainly won't be able to hold the city; following him would be suicide.

It would be better to rebel now and hand over Yingzhou City to the Liao Kingdom. We would surely gain a lot of benefits in return.

He was promoted to high office, enjoyed wealth and honor, and had everything he could want.

The two exchanged a glance and huddled together to discuss when to act.

Zhao Mingyuan said that they would take action tonight, taking advantage of Wu Changfeng's absence and the city's weak defenses, to seize the governor's mansion and the city gate in one fell swoop.

Li Demao said that they should wait until tomorrow to assemble their private troops and make full preparations before taking action.

The two argued for a few moments and finally decided to make their move at 9 PM tonight, when it was late and quiet.

After discussing the matter, the two left to prepare.