A lowly soldier becomes king, I slaughter my way through the late Tang Dynasty!

"Which two? Tell me quickly!"

"Your Majesty, the money and provisions..."

Upon hearing this...

Shi Zhonggui suddenly felt a headache coming on!

This emperor's life was truly frustrating!

Liu Zhiyuan deliberately allowed Yelü Jieli to capture Lanzhou and Xianzhou, creating the illusion that he could not be stopped.

There is only one goal.

They forced the emperor to give them benefits!

This does not mean that Liu Zhiyuan intends to rebel.

Rather, it was a normal practice unique to the regional military governors of this era.

In the eyes of the regional military governors, the soldiers were mine, the land was mine, and the provisions and weapons were also mine.

Your emperor wants my help in fighting a war, how can I refuse without paying?

Imperial power was extremely weak.

Shi Zhonggui gritted his teeth and waved his hand.

"Send grain from Luoyang's granaries to support Hedong."

Li Song cupped his hands in agreement.

As long as money and provisions are provided, Liu Zhiyuan will surely keep Yelü Jieli firmly outside Taiyuan!

Meanwhile, the battle report from Hedong had just been released.

Then the battle report from Shandong arrived.

Shi Zhonggui glanced at it, and suddenly everything went black!

"Bastard! Bastard! Bastard... Pfft!!"

After cursing three times to the sky.

Shi Zhonggui coughed up a mouthful of blood!

The officials in the hall were so shocked that their expressions changed!

The eunuch cried out in terror for the imperial physician, and the guards immediately separated the officials.

in chaos.

Li Song picked up the battle report that had been thrown on the ground.

For an instant.

He now understood why Shi Zhonggui was so angry.

rotten!

The situation in Shandong can be summed up in one word.

rotten!

In Hedong, although Liu Zhiyuan was passively defending, he firmly protected Taiyuan Prefecture and kept the situation in his own hands.

But what about Shandong?

The Yokogakure Army collapsed at the first touch!

In less than ten days!

Cangzhou and Dizhou have actually been breached!

Zhao Yanshou led 15,000 cavalrymen, galloping freely across the land of Shandong!

What's even more surprising is...

The Pinglu Army served as the last line of defense on the Shandong Peninsula.

Although his position as military governor was revoked, he still had 10,000 troops.

Adding the remnants of the Yokohama Navy, the total number was over 20,000.

They should have held their ground and waited for reinforcements from the imperial court.

however.

They actually ran away!

More than 20,000 people abandoned the city and fled!

Not only did they escape, but they also looted their own people!

Qingzhou, Zizhou, Qizhou.

The defenses of the three states were completely abandoned, and the army first seized their own cities and people.

They took their valuables and grain and retreated to Yanzhou.

They sold the entire Shandong Peninsula to the Khitans!

Looking at this utterly rotten battle report, Li Song felt utterly powerless.

Shi Chonggui had already fainted from anger and was carried away from the main hall, leaving only a group of panicked officials behind.

Feng Yu also finished reading the battle report and was immediately thrown into chaos!

He paced anxiously in circles, muttering to himself.

"What should we do? What should we do?"

Half a day had passed.

Shi Zhonggui barely regained consciousness.

He summoned a group of high-ranking officials, including Feng Yu and Li Song.

"What is the situation in Shandong, and how should we make decisions?"

After thinking for a long time, Li Song was the first to speak.

"In my opinion, Shandong is already rotten, so there's no need to worry about it."

That sounds like they're just giving up.

In reality, they had no other options.

Shandong has become such a rotten place.

Even if the Zhangde Army, Tianping Army, and Taining Army arrive to provide support.

At most, they could only build a defensive line around Shandong to prevent the Khitan from penetrating deeper.

Zhao Yanshou's Khitan army consisted of only 15,000 cavalry, which was insufficient to support him in penetrating deeper into the interior.

and so.

Shandong is just so-so.

Let Zhao Yanshou rob Shandong.

After a series of burning, killing, and looting, the people suffered greatly.

After they finished looting, the Khitans withdrew on their own.

Shi Zhonggui nodded weakly.

Now that things have come to this, there's no other way.

Li Song sighed, looking worried.

"What I am worried about now is the situation in Hebei."

According to the original analysis, there shouldn't be any problems in Hebei.

At most, only the Righteous Army could withstand the pressure, and they were beaten quite badly.

But now.

The most secure location, Hedong, was actually raided and its stronghold was breached.

Shandong, the team with the best defense, has completely fallen apart.

Who dares to say that Hebei is safe?

However, no battle reports have arrived yet, and no one knows what the situation is like in Hebei.

Shi Zhonggui was clearly panicked.

Hebei is the most important!

This is the most direct barrier for the capital, Bianliang!

What if Hebei is destroyed like Shandong?

Bianliang was absolutely indefensible, and he, as emperor, was absolutely doomed to perish.

In the midst of the chaos, Shi Chonggui surprisingly remembered Li Rui!

"Hebei should be fine. The Yiwu Army has Li Rui, and the Chengde Army has Du Chongwei. They should be fine, they should be fine..."

Shi Zhonggui kept rambling on and on.

Feng Yu quickly echoed this sentiment.

"Your Majesty is right. With Li Rui and Lord Du in Hebei, everything will be fine."

These two seemed to have completely forgotten.

Li Rui's concubine's friend had recently attempted to assassinate the emperor.

Seeing this, Li Song felt somewhat ironic.

But for the sake of the country's overall interests, he earnestly offered his reminder.

"Your Majesty, the Anguo Army should be dispatched north to support the Yiwu Army."

Shi Zhonggui suddenly woke up!

"Yes, yes, that's how it should be, that's how it should be!"

Li Song had made this suggestion at the very beginning.

Unfortunately, neither the emperor nor the prime minister liked Li Rui, so no one agreed.

But now.

Given the current state of the battle, they couldn't afford to worry about anything else.

The contrast between the two is quite comical.

……

at the same time.

The city defense work in Boling County has been completely completed.

After the autumn harvest, Li Rui focused on doing only one thing.

Build city defenses!

His top-notch city defense construction skills were put to full use.

Based on the existing fortifications in Boling County, the defensive works were expanded outwards by two more rings.

In order to build Boling County into a qualified defensive city, Li Rui mobilized more than 50,000 people!

Women also make up a large proportion of them.

Mobilizing so many people is no easy task; besides offering money, there are also real threats involved.

The Khitans are coming.

We've finally achieved a good life, and now the Khitans are going to rob us.

Does that mean the good days are over?

With both material and spiritual incentives, everyone in Boling County took building city defenses as their primary responsibility.

As the saying goes, many hands make light work.

In just over a month, the city's defenses were mostly completed.

He Jingsi looked at the increasingly complex city defenses and couldn't help but click his tongue in amazement!

"This defense is probably even better than that of Bianliang."

Zhao Kuangyin wiped his sweat and laughed.

"With such defenses and abundant food supplies in the city, even if the Khitans send seventy or eighty thousand, we have nothing to fear!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Rui walked up from behind.

"Don't talk big. Have all the people moved to the city?"

Zhao Kuangyin quickly cupped his hands in greeting.

"They've all been moved. Some who were initially reluctant moved into the city with their families after hearing the general's order."

Li Rui nodded.

"Transfer another five hundred men to Zhao Pu to assist him in managing city affairs, and make sure there is no trouble."

"Here you go!"

He Jingsi quickly asked.

"Li Youxiang, can I send my battle report about encountering the Khitan and being seriously wounded to Bianliang now?"

Li Rui shook his head and smiled.

"If we're going to put on a show, we should go all the way. Tomorrow I will lead a thousand cavalrymen out of the city. Commander He, why don't you bring your troops along and we can hunt down the Khitans together?"

Upon hearing this...

He Jingsi was slightly taken aback.

Then he suddenly realized something and screamed in astonishment.

"What did you say? Hunting Khitans!?"