Chapter 122 Huang Gai
Sun Jian was completely furious. This was not just withdrawing soldiers from the county, it was a slap in his face!

There are no county soldiers in Changsha County. They are all Sun Jian’s private soldiers and newly recruited soldiers. He doesn’t believe that Wang Rui is unaware of it.

But Wang Rui was firm: "Does Governor Sun want to disobey?"

"Don't dare."

Sun Jian watched with pain as the two thousand new recruits he had just recruited were kidnapped by Wang Rui, but he was powerless to do anything.

This is not finished.

"Grandmaster Sun, I see that you have plenty of food in your warehouses. You will be responsible for supplying all the food and fodder for this expedition to suppress the rebellion."

Wang Rui actually coveted the food and supplies brought by Jin Mao and wanted to take advantage of the situation to rob them.

The food looks too ugly.

Jin Mao couldn't help but speak out: "Wang, you are old, I shouldn't say anything, but you'd better get your eyes treated."

"Which eye of yours saw that the grain and grass belonged to Changsha County?"

"Those were transported here from Yuzhang County with great difficulty by my soldiers, just to quell the rebellion in Jingzhou!"

Jin Mao said passionately: "I am not like someone who disobeys orders by opening his mouth or closing his mouth. I care about the world, so I crossed the border to quell the rebellion!"

"How can we allow such petty people to slander us?"

"Great!" Sun Jian took the lead and clapped his hands in praise.

Wang Rui's face immediately turned blue and purple, and he angrily said, "Don't worry about the affairs of Jingzhou, you, the governor of another county, I will take care of it myself!"

He then set out for Lingling County with his men.

Wang Rui has thousands of troops under his command, and although they seem to be very powerful, they are full of flaws in the eyes of Jin Mao, Sun Jian and others.

The soldiers don't know orders, the generals don't know their soldiers, and the situation is chaotic and not much better than what happened in Qu Xing's past.

"How dare such an idiot to speak so arrogantly?" Jin Mao asserted, "Within ten days, I predict that Wang Rui will be defeated!"

Sun Jian lamented, "What a pity for two thousand soldiers, they are sent to die in vain."

What made Sun Jian even more uncomfortable was that he had to bear the responsibility for the aftermath and relief of these soldiers. He couldn't help but feel more hatred towards Wang Rui.

"If you still have the will to quell the rebellion, you should make preparations early."

Jin Mao said: "If Wang Rui is defeated, the rebels in the two counties will become even more arrogant and difficult to contain."

Sun Jian nodded heavily, and suddenly laughed loudly, "If Wang Rui returns in defeat, it will be the time for us to destroy the rebels!"

Jin Mao was stunned for a moment, then he figured out the key and couldn't help but marvel at Sun Jian's keen understanding of the battle situation.

By that time, the rebels Zhou Chao and Guo Shi would definitely think that Ou Xing's failure was because he was stupid, which was why he was defeated by a mob like Wang Rui, and thus they would let down their guard.

Once Jin Mao and Sun Jian lead their troops forward, they can win the battle in one go.

With hope in mind, actions will be quick and efficient.

Jin Mao took the opportunity to propose the idea of ​​asking Cheng Pu to help train the cavalry.

Cheng Pu was very happy to do so, in return for Jin Mao's kindness in letting him go.

Instead, Sun Jian wanted to ask Jin Mao to help train the two thousand new recruits.

"Brother, I can't guarantee that the effect will be seen within ten days."

Sun Jian had not thought about this, so he asked, "How far can you practice, Junior Brother?"

Jin Mao thought about it carefully and said, "I can barely know when to advance and when to retreat."

Sun Jian rolled his eyes. If the effect was really that good, he would wake up laughing in his dreams. He said, "Junior brother, just practice. I can accept it."

October 3.

As expected, Wang Rui was defeated at the front line, and his defeated soldiers fled to the countryside, which was no better than the bandits, and the people suffered terribly.

Wang Rui himself fled back to his capital Jiangling alone, escorted by his trusted aides.

When Sun Jian got the news, he hurried to discuss with Jin Mao.

"Junior brother, the military situation is urgent. The soldiers and bandits in Lingling County are wreaking havoc in the countryside. My troops are weak, so I have to ask you to go and gather the defeated soldiers to wipe out the bandits!"

"You and I will split up into two groups. Leave the Guiyang County bandits to me."

Jin Mao nodded in agreement, saying that this arrangement was indeed the best.

The fifth day of October.

Jin Mao and Sun Jian sailed down the Xiang River and parted ways at the junction of the Xiang River and the Lei River.

Ten days later.

The defeated soldiers of Lingling County were basically gathered together, and the remaining defeated soldiers who had not yet returned were killed together as bandits.

October eighteenth.

Jin Mao gathered 2,000 defeated soldiers and 3,000 of his own troops and defeated the rebel Zhou Chao outside Lingling County.

After Zhou Chao fled back to the county, Jin Mao led his army to besiege it.

October th.

Just as Jinmao was preparing to attack the city, civil strife broke out in Lingling County. A county official beheaded Zhou Chao and opened the city gate to welcome him.

Jin Mao was a little disappointed. He had finally learned some siege knowledge from Sun Jian, but it was all over before he had the chance to put it into practice.

However, Jin Mao was somewhat surprised to see that this county official was tall and strong.

The longitude and latitude of Lingling County are even further south than those of Wushang County. There are only eight counties in the county, with a population of less than 300,000. Baiyue people and Han people live together. It is a completely barbaric place. Only Ye County in Kuaiji County can be compared to it.

It is rare to find such a strong county official in a place like this.

Jin Mao couldn't help but ask, "You were the one who killed the bandit leader Zhou Chao?"

The county official responded respectfully.

Now, Jin Mao became very interested and asked, "What's your name?"

The county official clasped his fists and said, "My name is Huang Gai, courtesy name Gongfu." "Oh, Huang Gai." Jin Mao nodded, then suddenly realized what was going on, stepped forward and asked anxiously, "What did you say?"

"Your name is Huang Gai?!"

Huang Gai looked puzzled, but nodded in agreement.

Jinmao was very surprised. I didn’t expect there would be such an unexpected surprise!

Zhou Yu beat Huang Gai. Even if you haven't read Romance of the Three Kingdoms, you must have heard of this proverb.

Recruit! Must recruit!
"Ahem." Jin Mao cleared his throat and pretended to be calm: "What is your current position?"

Huang Gai patiently replied, "I am currently serving as a military officer in Lingling County. I was patient in the face of the enemy's overwhelming force. Now I am not in vain for the support of my fellow villagers."

From this point of view, Huang Gai is still a brave and resourceful man, and Jin Mao wants to recruit him more and more.

"Not bad, sir."

"But you have such talent, it would be a waste of your talent to stay in Lingling County. Why don't you come with me and explore the world?"

Huang Gai certainly heard the intention of recruiting in Jin Mao's words, but he didn't even know Jin Mao's identity, so he hesitated about how to start the conversation.

Seeing the other party hesitating, Jin Mao didn't know what went wrong. When he recruited Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin before, they all came to him on their own initiative. Why did it become difficult with Huang Gai?

Jin Mao simply stopped guessing and asked directly: "Do you have any doubts?"

Huang Gai breathed a sigh of relief and bowed, "May I ask who you are, sir?"

Lingling County and Yuzhang County are separated by Guiyang County. Even though Huang Gai had heard of Jin Mao's name, he did not dare to think about going there.

I have never heard of any prefect who is so idle as to run to other counties to quell a rebellion.

"I am Jin Mao, the governor of Yuzhang County."

As expected, this answer was beyond Huang Gai's expectations. He opened his mouth woodenly and asked, "Why did you come to Lingling County to quell the rebellion?"

This is a good question.

Jin Mao groaned and said, "This is a long story."

Thinking of Sun Jian's heroic demeanor, Jin Mao followed suit and said, "I can't bear to see the people suffer!"

Huang Gai suddenly imagined a wonderful play in his mind, and was moved to bow and said: "You are so wise and righteous! I admire you very much."

"If you don't give up, I will follow you!"

Jin Mao was overjoyed, stepped forward to help Huang Gai up and laughed, "I have Gong Fu, which is like adding wings to a tiger."

"You're flattering me." Huang Gai said embarrassedly, "I'm not as good as you say."

"You are too modest." Jin Mao said, "You can be my personal soldier for the time being. Learn from us and then go out to lead the troops."

As soon as these words were spoken, Zhou Tai and the other two immediately felt dissatisfied, but due to Jin Mao's authority, they did not dare to express it to his face.

Huang Gai saw this and immediately clasped his fists and said, "I have not accomplished anything, so I dare not take on this important task."

Jin Mao looked around and realized that what he had just said was too rash. He was also happy that Huang Gai was so reasonable, so he decided to give Huang Gai a chance for promotion.

"I heard that there are many mountain bandits in Lingling County, and they are endless. Does Gongfu know what to do to calm them down?"

This is a chronic disease in Lingling County. Huang Gai had already thought about the countermeasures. After a little thought, he said: "We should use both kindness and force to eliminate it."

Jin Mao nodded and asked, "Why not recruit the Shanyue people, train them into an army, and order them to fight the bandits? Isn't that a good thing to kill two birds with one stone?"

Huang Gai bowed and said, "This is something I only dare to think about but not do. My lord is wise."

Jin Mao burst into laughter immediately. He liked being praised by these historical figures.

"Then I'll trouble Gongfu to invite the leaders of the Shanyue in Lingling County to come over. As long as I spend a little time talking, they will be willing to fight to the death for me!"

Huang Gai was very surprised and felt that Jin Mao was bragging.

Bai Shi, who was guarding behind Jin Mao, was angry: "Are you doubting the God?"

Huang Gai looked at Jin Mao, who explained, "He is the commander of my personal guards, Qujun Hou Bai Shi, who was originally the leader of a branch of Minyue."

Huang Gai suddenly realized that Jin Mao had already recruited Baiyue to serve him. No wonder he was so confident. He apologized and said, "I shouldn't have doubted you, lord. Please punish me."

"Ignorance is not a crime." Jin Mao urged, "This matter should be investigated and handled quickly. I don't have much time to stay in Lingling County, at most three days."

Because the food and supplies are almost used up, if we don't go back now, we will starve, and anything can happen then.

Jin Mao didn't want the military discipline he had worked so hard to build up to be destroyed, nor did he want his men to go through such a test.

The human heart cannot stand the test the most.

"Yes." Huang Gai was familiar with many of the Baiyue leaders nearby, so this was not a difficult task.

But Huang Gai still requested: "Please send a team with me, my lord. If there are Shanyue leaders who refuse to obey, we can eliminate them on the spot."

Jin Mao admired Huang Gai more and more. This approach was very much to his liking. He immediately ordered: "Bai Shi should dispatch a team of Baiyue personal guards to Gong Fu."

"Lord God, please let me go with you." Bai Shi requested, "With me here, those mountain folks will be more willing to believe Huang Gai."

Jin Mao thought it made sense and agreed.

In fact, Bai Shi hadn't fought in a war for a long time and his hands were itching to fight, so he wanted to take advantage of some ignorant mountain people to satisfy his desire.

Huang Gai was unaware of this.

Two days later.

There were dozens of Shanyue near Lingling County, and nine of them came. Bai Shi was injured again, but fortunately it was just a cut on his hand, so it was not a big problem.

After returning, Bai Shi's view of Huang Gai changed 180 degrees, revealing a kind of affection.

Jin Mao was very surprised. You know, from He Qi to Zhou Tai, Bai Shi never had such an attitude towards anyone.

"Did Huang Gai save Bai Shi?"

Jin Mao shook his head unconsciously. It was impossible. With Bai Shi's personality, it would be useless for anyone to save him unless he did.

In the end, Jin Mao didn't know what happened, but he knew one thing: "This Huang Gai is not only famous, but also has real talent!"

(End of this chapter)