Deep down, Pi Luoge was a little afraid of the Tang dynasty. After all, the Tang Empire stretched for thousands of miles, and the country was rich and the people were strong. On the other hand, Nanzhao, which he ruled, was a very small country with relatively weak national strength.
However, after careful consideration, Pi Luoge felt that there were only a few scenarios for the Tang dynasty to quell the rebellion in Cuandi, and these scenarios were all under his control.
The first scenario was to hand over the task of quelling the rebellion to Nanzhao, and completely rely on the army of Nanzhao to quell the rebellion in Cuandi. This was also the situation that Pi Luoge wanted to see the most. If this situation really happened, he was confident that he could quell the rebellion in Cuandi and eventually completely occupy Cuandi. Then, he would respectfully request that Cuandi be included in the jurisdiction of Nanzhao, and let the Tang dynasty suffer in silence.
The second scenario was to send tens of thousands of Tang Army into Cuandi to encircle and suppress the rebels. In this case, Pi Luoge thought that the Tang Army would definitely be defeated. It was not that he looked down on the combat power of the Tang army, but because the environment in Cuandi was too bad. The Tang Army would not be able to gain any advantage if they came to quell the rebellion with the same number of troops. Once the Tang Army was defeated in Cuandi, he could submit a memorial to the Tang dynasty to ask for another battle. In this way, the possibility of the Tang dynasty agreeing to it would be greatly increased, which would facilitate the realization of his plan.
The third scenario was to send 100,000 superior troops to quell the rebellion in Cuandi. Such a large number of troops would indeed cause a great shock to the rebels in Cuandi. However, Pi Luoge felt that with the current situation of the Tang Empire, it was impossible to send 100,000 elite troops to Cuandi. In this way, the troops in other directions would be seriously insufficient, which would destroy the overall strategic situation of the Tang Empire.
In other words, although he was still a little nervous, Pi Luoge was still optimistic overall. However, he had always been cautious, so he did not dare to act rashly in advance to avoid causing immeasurable losses to himself.
Pi Luoge told Duan Jianming about the three scenarios that he predicted. Duan Jianming agreed with him and sighed at Pi Luoge's meticulous thinking. It was as if he could see the moment when Cuandi merged with Nanzhao.
However, they would never have guessed that while they were thinking about Cuan Di day and night, Ang Lee, the oriole, had already set his sights on him and was prepared to reap the benefits of the fisherman.
#####
In the courier station of Yi Zhou City, Ang Lee and several of his trusted subordinates were discussing matters related to their departure for Luzhou the next morning. That's right, they had already stayed in Yi Zhou City for three days. The sick soldiers had already recovered, and it was time to depart.
However, in addition to going to Luzhou, they also had to send Yu Chengjie back to Nanzhao safely. The road to Nanzhao and the road to Luzhou were not the same. Nanzhao was a bit further away and they had to take the road to the west, while Luzhou had to take the road to the east and head southeast.
"Big Brother, Yu Chengjie has more than a hundred Nanzhao soldiers to protect him. Why do we have to worry about him? Let's go to Luzhou and let Yu Chengjie go back by himself."
"Big Brother, we have the heavy responsibility of quelling the rebellion in Cuandi. We should do our best to go to Cuandi. If we divide our forces to protect the Second Prince of Nanzhao, it will delay our own matters. Commander Zhangchou Jie has many troops under his command. Let him send a few hundred troops to protect the Second Prince of Nanzhao and send him back to Nanzhao."
"Yes, it's fine. We have our own matters to attend to. Moreover, we didn't encounter any assassins along the way. We don't have to worry about protecting the Second Prince of Nanzhao."
All of his trusted subordinates were against protecting Yu Chengjie separately.
Ang Lee gently nodded his head. "Alright, since all of you are against dividing our forces to protect Yu Chengjie, then let Commander Zhangchou Jie send some troops to protect him. Let's discuss how to march on the road to Luzhou."
As he spoke, he spread out the map.
The road from Yi Province to Luzhou wasn't smooth. There were many rugged paths that were difficult for carriages to pass through. In some dangerous sections, they even had to rely on soldiers to carry the supplies over. Therefore, they couldn't travel fast. They had to plan their daily itinerary carefully. If they traveled too little, they would waste time. However, if they traveled too fast, they would become seriously tired. They even had to choose their campsites in advance so that it wouldn't be difficult to set up camp at sunset.
Whoosh!
Just as Ang Lee and his trusted subordinates were about to plan their itinerary, a sharp arrow shot through the window.
"Assassins! Assassins!"
The soldiers of the Dragon Martial Army standing guard outside the door saw this and immediately shouted for their companions.
"Quick, quick, quick! Catch the assassins! You guys protect the General!"
Soon, dozens of Dragon Warrior Army soldiers surrounded the room. Another group went to chase after the assassins.
"Assassins? Why are there assassins again?"
Yu Chengjie looked at his trusted subordinate in panic. He couldn't wait to crawl under the bed.
"Second Prince, don't panic. This is the Tang dynasty's posthouse. General Li and his hundreds of soldiers are here. The assassins can't hurt us."
Hearing this, Yu Chengjie felt a lot more at ease.
"Big Brother, there's a note on the arrow."
Li Kunxiong pulled out the arrow and handed the note to Ang Lee.
Ang Lee opened the note and frowned slightly. "Spring Boudoir? Isn't this the brothel where Yu Chengjie was attacked last time?"
"Yes, this is the place where the Second Prince of Nanzhao was attacked last time."
Zhang Guangcheng said seriously.
"What does this mean? Do you want me to go and meet them?"
Ang Lee didn't want to go to a brothel. Although he liked beautiful girls, he was afraid of getting sick.
"I don't know about this. It's better not to go."
"Big Brother, could this be the assassins' scheme?"
"It's fine. I think we can go, but we need to bring more people. If it's a scheme, we can react immediately."
Ang Lee smiled. "Okay. Shouyu, come with me. Kun Xiong, Fei Yu, you take 30 soldiers and walk around nearby. Guangcheng, Erniu, you stay at the posthouse. You must ensure Yu Chengjie's safety."
"Understood."
Ang Lee made some preparations and went to the Spring Boudoir with Li Feishuang.
"It's fine. I don't see anything unusual here. It should be safe."
Li Feishuang stood at the door of the Spring Boudoir and looked around. He didn't see anyone suspicious.
Ang Lee also looked around to see if there was any danger. He was relieved when he saw Kun Xiong, Fei Yu, and the others not far away.
"General Li, Luo Langjun has been waiting upstairs for a long time."
A man who looked like a thug walked over with a smile.
"Luo Langjun."
Ang Lee thought for a moment and said, "Lead the way."
"This way, General Li."
Although he hadn't seen Luo Langjun yet, Ang Lee vaguely remembered that when he returned from Dongnu Province, he let an assassin with the surname Luo escape. Could this Luo Langjun be that assassin?
"Luo Langjun is inside. This one will take his leave."
"Creak."
As soon as the thug left, the door to the room opened from the inside. A familiar figure entered Ang Lee's eyes.
Although this person's appearance had changed a lot, Ang Lee recognized him. He was Luo Dahu, who he had let go before. There was another person standing at the side of the room. It was Luo Dahu's brother, Luo Xiaohu.
"General Li, please come in."
Luo Dahu respectfully invited him in.
Ang Lee nodded and entered the room with Li Feishuang.
"I, Luo Dahu, thank General Li for not killing me back then. I specially prepared some wine to express my gratitude."
Ang Lee smiled gently, "No need to thank me. Tell me, why are you looking for me?"
Obviously, Luo Dahu spent so much effort to invite Ang Lee not just to thank Ang Lee for not killing him. There must be another purpose.
Luo Dahu said seriously, "Since General Li doesn't like to be polite, then I, Luo Dahu, will not beat around the bush. The imperial decree of the Tang dynasty has been sent to Yizhou. We know that General Li is going to Cuandi to quell the rebellion, but General Li, do you know that another force has been eyeing Cuandi for a long time?"
"Another force? Are you talking about Nanzhao?"
Ang Lee asked faintly.
Luo Dahu's eyes were excited as he nodded, "Yes, Nanzhao. That evil thief Piluoge has secretly dispatched a large number of troops to the vicinity of Cuandi. The troops in the west, south, and north have been mobilized one after another. The total number of troops is no less than 20,000."
"There are so many. Our Tang dynasty also has spies in Nanzhao. Why didn't we find out about this situation?"
Ang Lee was slightly surprised. It seems that Piluoge has already begun to move.
"Piluoge is dispatching troops in batches, and they are all marching at night. It's not easy for ordinary people to find out. Most of Piluoge's troops have our people, so only we know the inside story."
Luo Dahu said seriously.
Ang Lee nodded, "So that's the case. Then why are you telling me this? We are not the same kind of people."
"This lowly one is thanking General Li for not killing me. I informed General Li in advance so that General Li is prepared to guard against Piluoge, lest Cuandi fall into the hands of Piluoge. We hate Piluoge. If he gets Cuandi again, his power will become stronger, and it will be even more hopeless for us to restore our country."
Luo Dahu said seriously.
Ang Lee smiled faintly, "If the King of Yunnan sends troops to Cuandi, you should be very happy. This way, Nanzhao will be empty, and it will be more convenient for you to move around."
"General Li is really smart. Yes, we really want Piluoge to send troops to Cuandi, but we don't want him to win. If he wins, it will be hopeless for us to restore our country. Only if he loses in Cuandi will we have a chance."
Luo Dahu said.
"Nanzhao is a vassal state of the Tang dynasty. The King of Yunnan also sent troops to Cuandi to help the Tang dynasty quell the rebellion. If you tell me this, aren't you afraid that I will tie you up and hand you over to the King of Yunnan?"
Li An said with a serious look in his eyes.
Luo Dahu's expression was somewhat surprised. After a pause, he shook his head and said, "No, General Li would definitely not do this. From the moment General Li let us, the loyal officials of the Five Zhao, go, we knew that General Li sympathized with us. Moreover, if I am not wrong, General Li does not trust Nanzhao and does not want Nanzhao to grow."
"Haha, Luo Dahu, you are quite smart. However, smart people usually don't live long."
"As long as I can avenge the dead Emperor, I don't ask for a long life."
Ang Lee thought for a moment and asked, "Luo Dahu, what do you think is revenge?"
"Kill Piluoge, put his head in front of the grave of our dead Emperor, and restore Dengming Zhao's territory. This is revenge."
Luo Dahu said without hesitation.
Ang Lee shook his head gently and waved his hand, "If you think so, you may not be able to get revenge in your lifetime. This is too difficult for stragglers like you."
Luo Dahu frowned, "Then General Li, how can we get revenge?"
Li An chuckled. "There are many ways to take revenge. The most direct way is to kill the enemy. A more tactful way is to cut off the enemy's source of wealth, making them destitute and destitute. Another way is to secretly hinder them, making it difficult for them to fulfill their ambitions, and they will die of depression."
"But for these three methods, only by killing Piluoge can we get rid of the hatred in our hearts."
Ang Lee waved his hand, "You are just stragglers. If you want to kill the Emperor of Yunnan, you are overestimating yourself. Cutting off Nanzhao's source of income is also impossible. The only thing you can do is to drag the Emperor of Yunnan down and make it difficult for him to expand his territory. In this way, the Emperor of Yunnan may die in depression. This is much more painful than a knife."
"Let Piluoge die in depression, this is more painful than killing him. This is the best revenge. Okay, I understand."
Luo Dahu nodded his head as if he understood.
Ang Lee smiled faintly and said softly, "I am about to go to Luzhou. If Nanzhao has any abnormal movements, I hope brother Luo will inform me in time. Although I cannot help brother Luo restore Dengming Zhao, I will definitely stop the Emperor of Yunnan and not let him touch Cuan land."
"Good, the loyal officials of the Five Zhao are willing to cooperate with General Li."
Luo Dahu's expression was quite excited.
"Brother Luo, I am a subject of the Tang dynasty. It is better not to let more people know about the matter between you and me. Otherwise, it will not be good for either of us."
Ang Lee warned.
"General Li, don't worry. Only the four of us know about this matter. No one else knows. This lowly one will not speak carelessly."
Luo Dahu patted his chest and promised.
Ang Lee sniffed the dishes on the table and smiled faintly, "As we talk, I am a little hungry. Let's eat first, then we can continue talking."
"General Li, please. Haha."
Later, during the meal, the two sides talked about some things. Mainly Ang Lee asked about Nanzhao, while Luo Dahu was more inclined to talk about how sinister Piluoge was, how he burned Songming Tower, and how he murdered the Emperor of the Five Zhao.
"Wuyang, do you think this Luo Dahu can be of use?"
After the Luo Dahu brothers left, Li Feishouyu looked at their backs and said softly.
"Luo Dahu is from Nanzhao, and he is a surviving member of the Five Zhao. He knows Nanzhao better than we do. Of course, he can be of use."
"But he is a surviving member of the Five Zhao, and we are subjects of the Tang dynasty. If we cannot meet his requirements, will he bite us?"
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