One million taels of silver wasn't a lot. Li Yi didn't know how much money his family had.
Ruoqing was the housekeeper of the family. She was in charge of the operations of the brothel and the shop. If there was a need for money, she could withdraw it directly from the accountant.
If he could solve the problem of the Wu Kingdom with one million taels of silver, it would be a great deal. Unfortunately, the emperor of the Wu Kingdom was holed up in the palace. The palace was heavily guarded and had many experts. No matter how powerful an assassin was, it was unlikely that he could succeed in such an environment.
Li Yi didn't pin his hopes on those martial arts heroes. Even if he couldn't buy the head of a martial emperor, it was enough to disgust him.
Xu Zheng, who was in the Nanzhou, had just sent news yesterday that the governor of the Nanzhou had gathered more than 20,000 troops from the surrounding four prefectures and counties. He had also prepared provisions and supplies. He wanted to take down Cangzhou in one fell swoop and would immediately send troops.
The Nanzhou wasn't far from Cangzhou. If they marched urgently, they would arrive in three days. If they weren't in such a hurry, they should arrive in five days.
Wei Liang and the others were already discussing the tactics to face the enemy. In terms of numbers, they only had half of the enemy's troops. But in terms of strength, these 10,000 people were equivalent to an army of tens of thousands.
What they needed to do was to achieve victory with the least losses.
Of the 73 prefectures of the Wu Kingdom, more than half were still under the control of the Wu Kingdom's imperial court.
They only occupied the small Cangzhou. There was still a long way to go. If they were to face 20,000 troops, they would have to pay a heavy price to win. How could they fight in the future?
Everyone was very busy recently. As the chief commander of the defense of the city, Wei Liang needed to discuss with his subordinates to formulate a strategy to deal with the enemy. Old Man Wang was busy fleecing the landlords and old moneybags. To a certain extent, he had to redistribute the production materials. He also had to appease the village gentry who had become restless after being fleeced and not cause more chaos. In addition, he had to select some educated and capable people to manage the grass-roots troops …
Rebelling was not as simple as fighting and killing. It was a very complicated and tedious task. Fortunately, Yangliuqing had a group of reliable leaders by his side. Otherwise, the troops that they had painstakingly built would have collapsed from within before they could even reach the imperial capital …
After lunch, Li Yi and Ruyi Ruoqing went out for a walk.
Cang Prefecture was different from Shu Prefecture and Ruyi City. The people here had suffered from the chaos of war and knew how difficult it was to achieve peace.
In front of a great enemy, almost everyone in Cangzhou City was a soldier.
The citizens did their best. Even if they could not personally participate in the battle, they helped to move the black logs and rolling stones to the city walls. On the streets, people were rushing. Compared to Shu Zhou and Ruyi City, it was a different kind of liveliness.
Ruyi and Ruoqing preferred peace and quiet. They probably didn't like this kind of liveliness.
What they liked was to settle down in a place and live a simple and stable life. Or they could abandon worldly affairs and be together as a family. They could go anywhere …
For the past few years, he had made them run all over the place with him. Ruoqing had also inexplicably become the Empress and shouldered an even heavier burden. It was really difficult for them.
If they could conquer the five prefectures this time, Yangliuqing would be able to thoroughly establish a foothold in the northwest of the Wu Kingdom. Apart from the imperial court, they would be the greatest power in the Wu Kingdom.
Unless the imperial court of the Wu Kingdom mobilized all of its military forces and gathered hundreds of thousands of soldiers to encircle and annihilate them in one fell swoop. Otherwise, no one would be able to do anything to them.
After this, he could completely relax. The situation in the five prefectures was stable. Miss.Liu also didn't need to worry about her precious disciple anymore.
Cang Prefecture's military camp.
Wei Liang had just received a secret letter. After he opened it in front of everyone, he said in a low voice, "News from Nanzhou. The enemy will fall into the trap in five days. Inform the entire army to prepare for battle!"
…
Nanzhou, in front of the capital.
A general wearing armor rode on a horse. A deputy general beside him dismounted and knelt on one knee. He cupped his hands and said, "Reporting to the general, General Zheng is leading a vanguard of two thousand. They are escorting the provisions and are already 30 li away!"
"Depart!" The general nodded. He turned his head and said in a low voice, "Follow me to suppress the traitors!"
"Suppress the traitors!"
"Suppress the traitors!"
"Suppress the traitors!"
…
The army of twenty thousand stood neatly behind him and shouted in unison. Their voices echoed several li away and could be clearly heard throughout Nanzhou City.
The provincial governor of Nanzhou stood on top of the city wall and watched the army of twenty thousand gradually leave. A trace of worry appeared on his face. He murmured, "This time, all the cities of Nanzhou and Lin Province have sent out their guards. The city defenses are empty. If the traitors take advantage of this weakness to invade, what should we do?"
An official beside him smiled and said, "Lord Provincial Governor, you worry too much. Those traitors are nothing more than a motley crew. They are just showing off their might outside the capital. How would they have the guts to attack the capital?"
"What's more, the largest group of traitors in the east only has a little more than a thousand people. With how sturdy the capital is, without fifty thousand soldiers, how could they easily break through?" The official looked down and said, "Unless the city gates can be opened from the inside …"
"Even so, we can't let our guard down." The provincial governor of Nanzhou nodded and said, "Even if that Cang Province is breached from the inside, we can't let our guard down. In the next few days, have people step up the patrols. Send more people to the city gates to guard against those traitors …"
"This lowly official understands …"
Although Nanzhou was not located in the hinterland of the Wu Kingdom, it was not as remote as Cang Province. The lives of the common people were slightly better.
At the city gates, the army of twenty thousand had just set out. The common people had retreated several li. Only after they had left did the city gates return to their usual order.
Pedestrians and peddlers poured in from outside the city, appearing somewhat disorderly. After being reprimanded by the guards at the city gates, they obediently lined up and entered the city in order.
When a man carrying firewood entered the city gates, he accidentally tripped. The firewood on his back scattered all over the ground.
He hurriedly bent down to pick it up.
"Do you know how to walk? Hurry up and pick it up. Don't block the way!" A guard walked over while cursing. He bent down to help him pick up the firewood.
The man revealed a grateful expression. He grasped the guard's hand and said, "Thank you, Big Brother Official!"
"If you're done, hurry up and go. There are still people waiting behind you!" The official waved his hand and turned to leave.
After the man carrying the firewood left, the city gates returned to normal order. The official returned to his original position. He tilted his head slightly and met the gaze of his comrade beside him.
He moved half a step to the side and handed a piece of paper to him from behind.
East of Nanzhou, in a certain mountain.
Ever since the collapse of the Wu Kingdom, heroes had risen. Some were powerful enough to occupy a city or a province. The weaker ones could only occupy a small county and were easily exterminated by the Imperial Court. Thus, most people had no hope of occupying a city and could only become roving bandits, plundering everywhere …
In this mountain forest east of Nanzhou, there was a force of about a thousand people. Relying on the advantage of the terrain, they had withstood the encirclement and suppression of the government several times. After taking root here, they became the largest group of bandits in the vicinity of Nanzhou.
The leader of this group of bandits called himself the "Roaming King". His name was extremely resounding in the vicinity of Nanzhou, enough to stop children from crying at night.
But at this moment, this "Roaming King", who was also a well-known figure in the eyes of the Nanzhou government, did not seem like the king of a mountain at all. With a flattering expression, he looked at the young woman sitting above and asked, "Big Sister, the garrison of Nanzhou has just set off. The city is empty. When do we make our move?"
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