Ye Xiaotian quickly left the city and returned to the mountain. He told Tian Xiufeng Madam Qin's idea. Tian Xiufeng was exactly what he wanted. She laughed in her heart, but on the surface, she sighed and looked deeply worried. In the end, she decided to stay in the mountain for the time being and observe the situation. If Madam Qin couldn't do anything, then she would come to her rescue.
Tian Xiufeng stayed in the bamboo forest on the high mountain and watched the tigers fight. But to be more accurate, she was watching a tiger fight a pack of wolves. Madam Qin was a tigress, Ma Bangpin and the others were a pack of wolves, and Tian Xiufeng was another tigress. But whether she wanted to help her own kind against the pack of wolves, or whether she wanted to take advantage of the fact that the pack of wolves had exhausted the tigress' strength to eliminate her competitor, only a few people knew.
After Madam Qin sent Ye Xiaotian away, she pondered carefully for a while. Currently, she did feel deserted by her own people, but she was unwilling to accept it. She felt that if she could win a battle and achieve a great victory, then she could use the momentum of the victory to bribe some small chieftains, chieftains, and headmen. That way, she could divide and disintegrate the Ma family's allied forces.
As long as the Ma family's allied forces were divided and disintegrated, they would be like a plate of loose sand. Although they had a large number of people, there was nothing to worry about. But to win a great victory, the effect of pinching a soft persimmon wasn't great. So, the best target was the leader of the Ma family's allied forces, Ma Bangpin.
Ma Bangpin's territory was around Fengdu, which was the closest to the stone pillar chieftains. He was Ma Doubo's uncle and had a high seniority. In terms of strength, he was the strongest among the Ma family's chieftains. Defeating him would have an immediate effect.
Once she had an idea, Madam Qin immediately made preparations in full swing. She was determined to take the initiative to send out troops and win a great victory, thus reversing the situation.
At this time, Ma Bangpin and the others were advancing their plan step by step according to Ye Xiaotian's instructions. But the person in charge of Ye Xiaotian's plan wasn't Zhan Ning 'er. Zhan Ning' er was in the dark, while Li Xiangrong was in the light.
Through Ye Xiaotian's introduction, Li Xiangrong had already joined Yu Junting's side. Dai Tongzhi was also one of Yu Junting's trusted aides. The two of them had grievances, but to Yu Junting, this was not a bad thing. The more Li Xiangrong and Dai Chonghua hated each other, the more she could trust him.
Therefore, Li Xiangrong had become Yu Junting's right-hand man. Dai Tongzhi was in charge of Tongren's internal affairs, Hai Long was in charge of controlling the native soldiers, and Li Xiangrong was in charge of external affairs. As the Chieftain of Tongren, the Yu family could also establish a relationship with the Shizhu Ma family. Therefore, Li Xiangrong was ordered by Yu Junting to quietly rush to Plentiful City.
However, although Li Xiangrong had gone under Yu Junting's orders and did not directly use Ye Xiaotian's name, the Crouching Bull Ridge was actually the true ruler of Tongren and Shiqian. This was common knowledge, so Li Xiangrong's identity was very secretive.
Of course, no matter what, Ye Xiaotian's safety came first. The Crouching Bull Ridge had also fully considered the consequences of Li Xiangrong's identity being exposed. Due to Ye Xiaoan's identity being exposed, he had already been rescued by Bozhou. Helping the stone pillars against Bozhou was actually Tian Miaowen's idea. This was enough to ensure Ye Xiaotian's safety. It was a double layer of protection.
Instigating the rebellion of Ma Bangpin and the others was the Crouching Bull Ridge's idea, but this was only the first step.
When Li Xiangrong convinced Ma Bangpin and the others, who were unwilling to let the Tan family become the chieftain, to rebel against her, Ma Bangpin and the others were rather wary. The reason was that Ma Doufu doted on the Tan family too much. Back then, the matter of the Tan family having an affair had basically caused an uproar in the city, but Ma Doufu had actually pretended to be deaf and dumb and endured it all.
In the eyes of outsiders, the matter of the Tan family becoming the chieftain definitely could not be tolerated, but to Ma Doufu, had the authority fallen into someone else's hands? No! Once he returned to the stone pillar in the future, and the Tan family was still holding on to their property due to their encirclement and had yet to commit any acts of betrayal, she could use flowery words to tell Ma Doufu that she had made herself the chieftain for the sake of the Ma family's property. Then, she would return the position of chieftain to Ma Doufu and complain tearfully, filing a counter-accusation.
Ma Bangpin and the others did not believe that their influence was greater than the person who shared Ma Doufu's bed. He wanted to be a loyal subject, but he was treated as a treacherous subject and had his entire clan exterminated. Why bother? However, Ye Xiaotian, who was well-versed in the inner workings of the stone pillars, had long anticipated this, so he had prepared a backup plan.
His backup plan was to have Ma Qiancheng succeed as the chieftain.
There was nothing wrong with a wife making herself the chieftain and then returning the power to her husband. However, if the son became the chieftain, and the father rarely regained his position, then what should be done? It was too ugly.
When Yang Yinglong decided to step down, he also established that his eldest son would take the position of chieftain on behalf of the chieftain. This was a pre-arrangement for him to regain the position. If his son officially succeeded the position of chieftain, and the father "inherited" the position from his son, then he would become the laughing stock of the world from an ethical point of view.
But to let Ma Qiancheng succeed the position of chieftain, what should be done? The situation must be critical, and there must be an urgent need for a justifiable person to take charge of the overall situation, and Ma Doufu was sent to the mouth and could not make it back in time. Only then could Ma Qiancheng become the chieftain.
The mouth referred to the area north of the Great Wall. The mouth referred to the passes of the Great Wall, such as Gubeikou, Xifengkou and so on. With the speed of information transmission at that time and the traffic conditions, once there was a serious change in the stone pillars, of course Ma Doufu would not be able to make it back in time.
Ye Xiaotian, Tian Miaowen, Tian Binfei and the others had carefully planned and fully considered every step. Now that the headmen had formed an encirclement around the stone pillars, they were trying to force the Tan family to publicly reveal their intention to seek refuge with Bozhou. At that time, they did not need to make a request, the only choice the imperial court could make was to release Ma Qiancheng from prison and appoint him as the chieftain.
Ma Bangpin had just gathered a few chieftains and headmen to discuss the decision to send troops to the stone pillar residence again to pressure the Tan family when he received a report from the scouts: the stone pillar residence had mobilized in large numbers and was heading straight for Plentiful City. Ma Bangpin was overjoyed when he heard this, "There was a path to heaven, but you didn't take it. There was no door to hell, but you barged in! Hahahaha … Everyone, what do you say? "
Ma Doulin and the others rubbed their palms together, "The Tan family used to bully others, and we gave face to the chieftain. She really thinks we are easy to bully. She is indeed an ignorant woman. Since she dared to come, we will give her a good beating! "
When these people came to Plentiful City, each of them brought at least dozens of people, no more than two hundred people at most. But when all of them were gathered together, there were at least a thousand people. In such a local war between the chieftains, they could already play a considerable role.
Li Xiangrong disguised himself as Ma Bangpin's advisor and stood behind his chair, so Ma Doulin and the others did not suspect his identity. At this moment, Li Xiangrong suddenly remembered the scene when he and Ye Xiaotian, who was still the district magistrate of Gourd County, went to Mt. Water and Silver to mediate the tribal rebellion. His heart thumped and he quickly said, "Dongweng, wait!"
Ma Bangpin was about to rush out when he turned his head to look at him and said, "Mister, what do you have to say?"
Li Xiangrong walked out from behind the chair and rushed to his side, whispering a few words in his ear. Ma Bangpin's eyes lit up and he praised, "Brilliant plan!"
Ma Doulin and the others were people who only knew how to fight and kill. Seeing the two of them whispering, Ma Bangpin beamed with joy. Ma Doulin could not help but ask, "Third Uncle, what is the brilliant plan?"
Ma Bangpin chuckled. "You'll understand in a while. Let's go!"
… …
A storm was brewing on the stone pillars. The imperial court was busy with the war between Ningxia and Dongying, while Crouching Bull Ridge was busy with stabilizing the morale of the army internally and consolidating the defensive line of Fat Goose Ridge externally. As for Bozhou?
Yang Yinglong signed an agreement, paying fifty thousand taels of silver to redeem himself. The fifty thousand taels of silver was not in cash, but in the form of local trees. They would be shipped to the capital in batches to be used as tribute. At the same time, his eldest son would take over as chieftain, while his second son would accompany Wang Shiqi to Chongqing as a hostage.
Once everything was settled, Yang Yinglong immediately rushed back to Bozhou. He had to deal with the Shuixi An clan and Shuidong Song clan that were holding him back. Only then could he focus on conquering the central plains.
Yang Yinglong first met with old master Shui Xian. After a series of negotiations, he finally agreed to cede Shuiyan and Tianwang territories to Shui Xian. Of course, the old master didn't just care about these two territories, and Yang Yinglong was not naive enough to believe that the An clan would support his rebellion as long as he ceded these two territories.
Although the two of them had not said it outright, their words were filled with hidden meanings. They had long since revealed what they truly wanted to the other party. When Yang Yinglong handed over the maps of Shuiyan and Tianwang, he was extremely happy, because he believed in the old master's sincerity.
He could rebel as he pleased, and the old master didn't need to support him, but he couldn't hold him back either. All he needed to do was observe. If he succeeded in conquering the world, he would enfeoff the An clan as an empress and allow the An clan's territory to continue expanding to the west, north, and south.
With such generous conditions, Yang Yinglong naturally believed that the old master would sincerely agree. As long as the An clan didn't want to send out troops, it would be easy for them to deal with the imperial court. Moreover, if Bozhou really did rebel, it was still uncertain whether the imperial court would dare to let the Shuixi An clan send out troops. After all, it was like letting out a fierce tiger. Who knew who it would choose to devour?
And if the Shuixi An clan was dealt with, the Shuidong Song clan would have less to rely on. Unless the Song clan wanted to fight to a lose-lose situation, they wouldn't be so relentless in Bozhou. Therefore, Yang Yinglong struck while the iron was hot and immediately met with the head of the Shuidong Song clan.
This time, Yang Yinglong wouldn't make too many concessions. After making a promise that as long as the An clan didn't hold him back, when he conquered the world, the Song clan could rule the whole area of Sinan in the east of Shuidong. Yang Yinglong proposed a solution to the current dispute between the two clans: with the Wu River as the line, the two clans' territories would be divided, and all kinds of frictions caused by unclear territorial boundaries would be completely quelled.
At present, the south of the Wu River was mainly controlled by the Song clan, but a small number of tribes along the river belonged to the Yang clan. And the north of the Wu River was mainly controlled by Bozhou, but a small number of territories also belonged to the Song clan. Both families moved out of their respective tribes and territories on the other side of the river. After calculating the population, land, and other aspects, they offset each other. The Bozhou side paid more, giving the Song family more than 700 households and more than 300 mu of mountainous land.
Yang Yinglong wanted the world, so he didn't care about these small things. He didn't entangle with these issues at all, and immediately agreed to carry out the plan. When Madam Tan made a desperate attempt to attack Fengdu, the big handover between the Song and the Yang clan officially began …
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