Dan Dongxing was very worried. "Can we break through with two million men?"
Wu Gongling said, "Elder Dan still hopes to take away two million men? They are just a motley crew. They haven't gone through long-term formal training. They can't run fast, and they have no experience in fighting. If they meet someone easy to bully, they'll just swarm up and scare them. But if we really rely on them to fight, it'll be a joke. Before, we could take advantage of the conflict with the imperial court. Now that the Nanzhou people have joined forces with the five feudal vassals, we are no match for them. If we don't run, are we going to wait for death? It's a waste of food to bring along this motley crew. We can only use them to block the pursuers. Don't expect to take them all. It'll be good if we can take away the Cangzhou people. "
Dan Dongxing was distressed. "Since you know you can't win, why did you agree to rebel?"
Now, he really regretted it. Just based on what the Cangzhou rebel army had done, how could the imperial court let them go? Just based on the fact that he had killed Qu Yunkong, the leader of the Tong Xian Pavilion, and the daughter of the previous leader of the Purple Golden Cave, the three major sects would not let him go.
Even if he wanted to surrender now, it was too late.
Wu Gongling said, "We were deceived by them. I thought that once the war started, the Han and Song armies would take advantage of the situation and attack. When the benefits were distributed, we would get a lot. Who would have thought that the two countries wouldn't react until now? They are pushing us into a fire pit. How can we not try to protect ourselves? Charging east is our only way out. As long as we succeed, we still have hundreds of thousands of men in our hands. That's the capital we need to protect ourselves! "
Dan Dongxing didn't know what to do now. He didn't know how to deal with an army, so he could only rely on this old general. He cupped his hands and said, "The Tong Xian Pavilion's ambition remains unchanged. We are willing to continue supporting the general!"
Wu Gongling was disdainful. Did the Tong Xian Pavilion have any other way out besides being tied to me? But he smiled and said, "Of course it's to share weal and woe!"
…
"Shang Chaozong killed Shi Sheng?"
In the Yanjing Palace, Shang Jianxiong, who heard the news, suddenly raised his head and asked in surprise.
Tian Yu held the report in her hands and nodded, "Your Majesty, there's no mistake. Gamiao Shui saw it with his own eyes. Shi Sheng barged into Shang Chaozong's barracks, intending to make things difficult for him. In the end, he was captured by Shang Chaozong. With a single order, the heads of Shi Sheng and his two capable disciples were chopped off, and their heads were presented to Su Qitong! "
Shang Jianxiong's face changed unpredictably for a while, and then he finally sneered. "Like father, like son. In the past, King Ning ordered the death of an Elder of Spirit Sword Mountain, and this time, it's his son. Good, this unrepentant temperament is interesting, really interesting."
He then lifted his chin and said, "Pay attention to their reaction."
Tian Yu knew what he was referring to. She bowed and said, "Yes!"
He was naturally referring to the three major sects. What else could they do? When the news came, the three major sects were all shocked.
In a pavilion, under the gaze of Meng Xuan and Gong Lince, Long Xiu suddenly stood up in shock. His face showed a ferocious expression as he sneered.
Outside the pavilion, a group of Xiao Yao Palace's disciples rushed over and angrily demanded revenge. They all threatened to deal with Shang Chaozong or pay with his blood and so on.
Among them, there were Shi Sheng's disciples who wept in grief and asked the Sect Leader to help them.
Shi Sheng's disciples were really sad. With Shi Sheng's death, the power structure within the sect would undergo a certain degree of reshuffling. Shi Sheng's people would probably have to stand aside.
Yi Shu angrily said, "Master, without Niu Youdao's support, how could Shang Chaozong have the guts to do that? Niu Youdao and Shang Chaozong are in cahoots. They didn't even put our Xiao Yao Palace in their eyes. They even dared to kill our Elders. How could we let them go?"
"All of you, shut up!" Long Xiu suddenly shouted.
Gong Lince and Meng Xuan looked at each other. Gong Lince said, "Brother Long, please calm down at this moment. We can deal with them later."
It was unwise to deal with Shang Chaozong at this moment. Gong Lince and Meng Xuan wouldn't allow Xiao Yao Palace to act recklessly.
Of course, they believed that Long Xiu would understand the severity of the situation.
Shi Sheng's death was temporarily suppressed. It couldn't be helped. In the current situation, suppressing the rebellion was more important than anything else to the Yan Palace!
Immediately after, the reports of the success of suppressing the rebellion were sent to the capital.
Shang Chaozong's killing of Shi Sheng had a huge impact on the war. To the feudal vassals who were suppressing the rebellion, it was even more shocking. The few Elders who were still observing were shocked. Looking at the military orders that Shang Chaozong sent to them one after another, they realized that every order was filled with killing intent!
Now, who dared to doubt Shang Chaozong's determination to only suppress the feudal vassals and not the rebel army? Even the Elders of Xiao Yao Palace were killed!
First, Su Qitong's army broke through the Luoxia Ridge, causing the rebel army to flee in panic. Then, the defense of the Thousand Li River changed to a pursuit.
Then, the four armies quickly carried out the orders of the Great General of Suppressing the Rebellion. The five armies launched an all-out attack, causing the rebel army to be routed.
Of course, it sounded nice to say that the rebel army was routed. In reality, they didn't encounter any decent resistance. They were simply running to recover their lost territory and expel the rebel army. However, when reporting, they naturally wouldn't say that they had taken advantage of the situation. Naturally, they had to show their contributions. Thus, the reports of success were sent to the capital like snowflakes.
"Success! Success! The Great General of Suppressing the Rebellion conquered the Luoxia Ridge. They fought their way across the Thousand Li River and the rebel army was routed! "
"Success! Success! The Great General of Suppressing the Rebellion conquered the Dangmen Mountain and the rebel army was routed! "
"Success! Success! The Great General of Suppressing the Rebellion conquered Linhai County and cut off the rebel army's supply! "
"Success! Success! The Great General of Suppressing the Rebellion recovered Yuan Prefecture! "
"Success! Success! The Great General of Suppressing the Rebellion conquered the rebel army's base, Cang Prefecture! "
"Success! The base of the rebel army has fallen. Cang Province has been occupied by the Great General of Suppressing the Rebellion! "
In order to boost the morale of the people, the imperial court deliberately let the messengers ride through the streets and shout along the way so that everyone would know.
As a result, the news of victory could not be stopped. Every time a pass or a county was conquered, there was news of victory. The million troops of the five feudal vassals were victorious everywhere. One could imagine the volume of news that gathered in the capital. Dozens of reports of victory came in a day.
Even the old people in the capital had never seen such crazy succession of news of victory. The momentum of the Great General of Suppressing the Rebellion was simply overwhelming. Suppressing the Yan rebellion was just around the corner.
The people of Yan Jing were jubilant. Some rich merchants were overjoyed. They could finally keep their businesses. In their joy, they cooked porridge on the streets to relieve the starving people and celebrate the continuous victories of the Great General of Suppressing the Rebellion.
However, these merchants were all unlucky after the incident. All of their properties were confiscated. There were various reasons for confiscating their properties. One of them was that they were heartless. When the Rebellion was being suppressed, they did not hand over the grain and were suspected of colluding with the enemy. After the incident, they wanted to buy people's hearts to avoid disaster. They were all treated as profiteers and their properties were confiscated.
It was fine if they were treated as profiteers, but once they were labeled as colluding with the enemy, they would be despised by the people.
"Sweeping away the decline of the Rebellion and winning every battle, how delightful!"
"Don't you see who it is? It's the Prince of Yongping! Who is the Prince of Yongping? He's the son of King Ning! "
"That's right. It is said that the Prince of Yongping followed King Ning to war when he was young and learned most of King Ning's skills. With King Ning's skills, it is easy to imagine. Didn't King Ning sweep away the civil strife of the Yan Dynasty back then because of this? Who can stop him? "
"Yan Shan Ming, Qi Wuhen, his name is known throughout the world. I heard that Meng Shan Ming is serving under the Prince of Yongping!"
"It is my Yan Dynasty's fortune to have such a powerful general under Yan Dynasty!"
A group of scholars in the capital were discussing in a restaurant in the capital. They drank and discussed loudly.
A man by the window was the envoy of the Song Kingdom stationed in the capital. When he heard the discussion, he turned his head and said in a low voice, "How did this battle happen? Send a message back to ask what exactly happened."
"Yes!" The attendant at the side quickly left.
The whole of the capital, in the teahouses and restaurants, was excited by the continuous flow of news of victory. Everyone was in a jubilant mood and discussed excitedly.
At first, the intention of the imperial court was to use the news of victory to raise the morale of the people. But later on, it seemed that the situation was not right. The whole capital was praising the reputation of King Ning and his son. The imperial court was furious and some people were dismissed from their posts. Thus, the news of the victory on the streets was quickly cut off.
And the property of the rich merchants who provided relief to the people were confiscated because of this.
Those who knew the inside story were indifferent to what happened to the merchants.
Those who did not know the inside story were so eager to dig up the ancestral graves of the merchants to get ridiculed by some people as "ignorant people" …
"How did the battle end up like this?"
In the residence of the Great Minister of Public Works, reports of victory came one after another. Sitting behind the desk, Tong Mo threw away the reports in his hands and couldn't help but touch his forehead. He felt a slight headache.
At first, when he saw the reports of victory, he felt relieved that the situation was stable. But now, he felt a headache.
The battle was won too quickly. The logistics and supplies could not keep up with the speed of the army. As the person in charge of the logistics, how could he not feel a headache? If there was an unfavorable turn of the battle, he would have to bear the responsibility.
However, not long after, the relevant personnel gradually understood what was going on. It was not an unprecedented victory. It was because the rebels at Wugong Ridge were not in the mood to continue fighting and left a lot of advantages for the army to pick up. It was no wonder that the army could win so badly. All the feudal lords were lying about their achievements in suppressing the rebels.
Shang Chaozong also turned a blind eye to the false reports. He knew very well who should be strict and who should be lenient on the battlefield. Especially in the current situation, this kind of situation was what he needed.
The Yan Imperial Court could only pretend to be deaf and mute. They couldn't tell the commoners that they did not win. They could only say that they did.
The atmosphere in the imperial court was not right.
After the court was dismissed, the sun was not bad. Shang Yongzhong walked out of the Great Hall and raised his head to look at the clear blue sky.
Not long after he walked down the stairs, a eunuch came over and asked him to stop. The eunuch said in a low voice, "Prince, Palace Master Long invites you." The eunuch gestured to somewhere.
Shang Yongzhong looked back and saw Xiao Yao Palace Master Long Xiu standing behind the moon gate in the distance. He nodded at Shang Yongzhong and disappeared behind the gate.
Shang Yongzhong didn't know why Palace Master Long Xiu was looking for him. He didn't dare to delay and walked quickly. After entering the moon gate, he saw Long Xiu standing by the pond with his hands clasped behind his back. Shang Yongzhong walked over and bowed. "Palace Master Long, may I know why you are looking for me?"
Long Xiu smiled. "Prince, as the Commander-in-Chief of the Yan Army, what do you think about the current situation of suppressing the rebels?"
Shang Yongzhong said, "The general situation has been decided. Wugong Ridge has lost its territory and it will be hard for them to replenish their supplies. They are destined to lose."
Long Xiu said, "I see that His Majesty is not willing to give the merit of suppressing the rebels to Shang Chaozong. Is Prince interested in going to the battlefield to replace Shang Chaozong?"
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