Chapter 1052: Goods robbed, war declared on Liang
March and April passed.

Summer has just arrived in Yongle County.

As the temperature rises.

Su Mingzhe saw that the number of troops under his command had exceeded 20,000. In order to reward himself, he took a few beauties out to travel.

Cui Yingying has a quiet, elegant and graceful temperament. She looks pure and lovely in a pink dress.

Chuntao has a charming temperament and graceful manners. She looks passionate in a red dress.

Hongniang is lively, smart and active. She looks radiant in a green dress.

With three beauties of different temperaments accompanying him, Su Mingzhe was so happy that he didn't want to leave and stayed away for several days.

This day.

When the four of them woke up, they saw that the sky was covered with dark clouds and it looked like it was going to rain heavily, so they just stayed lazy and played dominoes in bed.

Suddenly a personal soldier came to report, interrupting the four people's shameless day.

"General!"

The guard was originally a scholar. He was selected to be a guard because of his strong will. When he entered the door, he did not dare to look up and directly reported:

"General Du Que of the White Horse has sent an envoy to the ferry camp to persuade us to surrender. The envoy is waiting in the camp now. Please make the decision, General!"

"Let him wait for a day until I get back."

Su Mingzhe didn't even put down the dominoes before he casually shouted back his personal soldiers.

Seeing this, Cui Yingying asked curiously:

"Su Lang, didn't you say before that if Tang and Daliang came together to ask for surrender, would you consider Tang? Why are you so negligent when General Baima sent an envoy?"

Seeing Cui Yingying asking such a 'simple' question, Su Mingzhe raised the corner of his mouth and smiled faintly:

"If the Tang Emperor sent an imperial envoy to persuade us to surrender, I would naturally entertain him seriously, but a mere White Horse General is not qualified enough."

"What you said is very true!"

Chun Tao had been the man's confidential secretary for more than two months, and her political vision had been developed. She agreed directly:
"If you are persuaded to surrender by General Baima, you will probably be suppressed by him for the rest of your life in the Tang court. If the Tang Emperor sends an imperial envoy to persuade you to surrender, then the significance will naturally be far greater than the surrender of General Baima."

Hongniang couldn't help but worry:
"But this White Horse General Du Que has an army of 100,000 under his command. If he finds out that you have neglected his envoy, he will be furious and send troops to attack you. What will you do then?"

Cui Yingying and Chuntao also had such concerns.

"You don't have to worry about that."

Su Mingzhe comforted:

"Although the Tang Dynasty claims to have an army of 300,000, only 120,000 to 30,000 of them are actually capable of fighting. The rest are basically old, weak, sick, or new recruits with little combat effectiveness."

"The reason why General Baima is so famous in Heluo is that among his 100,000 troops, there are 50,000 loyal followers who have been fighting for a long time."

"If he wants to send these 50,000 men to attack us, it will be difficult for us to resist. However, General Bai Ma has to defend the entire Hezhong Prefecture and Puguan. If he dares to send troops to attack us, we must be careful that the Liang army will attack him."

"I don't believe that he would dare to treat the Liang army as nothing and send troops to attack us. After all, we didn't provoke him, so he wouldn't do such a thankless task."

Su Mingzhe's analysis is very correct.

Before Sun Feihu rebelled, he only had 5,000 soldiers stationed at the Yellow River ferry, so General Bai Ma Du Que did not dare to send troops to attack.

Today, Su Mingzhe has 20,000 capable soldiers under his command, far surpassing Sun Feihu in the past.

After thinking it over, Na Du Que saw that Su Mingzhe was becoming more and more powerful, so he sent people to persuade him to surrender.

The next day.

Su Mingzhe brought the three girls back to the ferry military camp and met the envoy sent by White Horse General Du Que.

The envoy was eloquent and kept praising the Tang Emperor for his wisdom and belittling the Liang Emperor Zhu Wen for his stupidity.

Su Mingzhe also echoed the voice, but did not agree directly. Instead, he found an excuse in a few words and sent the other party away.

After the envoy left, Su Mingzhe was no longer in the mood to go out and play.

Originally, Sun Feihu used 5,000 soldiers and horses to control the two counties of Yongle and Ruicheng, with a total population of more than 30,000 households under his jurisdiction.

Sun Feihu used these 30,000 households to constantly collect various heavy taxes and levies, and with the support of grain and fodder from the State of Liang, he was able to barely feed 5,000 soldiers and horses.

After Su Mingzhe took command of the army, Liang State’s food and grass support was directly cut off.

Afterwards, Su Mingzhe exempted the people of the two counties from all kinds of taxes, and only collected business taxes and land taxes. Later, in order to appease the people and recruit refugees, Su Mingzhe constantly sent troops to "ask for food from the mountains" and strived to be self-sufficient.

The rule is now stable.

Su Mingzhe began to think about what to do next.

It is definitely not okay to start a war first.

After all, the number of troops under his command was too small, and even if he took the city, it would be a problem to hold on to it.

After thinking for several days, Su Mingzhe made a decision to live by the land and by the water.

Since they were guarding the Yellow River ferry, the most advantageous way to make money was naturally to vigorously develop commerce.

Soon, Su Mingzhe became a trade middleman between Daliang and Datang.

Late May.

While Su Mingzhe was still working hard to improve the overall strength of his army, his merchant caravan was robbed in Shanzhou, Liang State.

When Chuntao reported, she looked a little flustered:

"Sir, this batch of goods includes not only our own mountain products, but also goods that several Tang Dynasty merchants asked us to transport to Luoyang for sale. The total value is about 80,000 strings of cash. Several Tang Dynasty merchants have already known about this and have sent people to demand compensation from us!"

When Su Mingzhe heard that the goods were robbed, he was not angry, but his eyes lit up:
"You pay them first!"

"Compensate them?"

Chun Tao thought the man was hysterical and quickly reminded him:

"The compensation that those merchants are asking for is not small. If we pay them all, it will be at least 50,000 or 60,000 strings of cash. Our treasury only has about 100,000 strings of cash in total. If we pay them the money and then pay the military pay for next month, our treasury will be empty!"

"You are such a fool."

Seeing that Chuntao didn't understand what he meant, Su Mingzhe didn't remind her, but just laughed and said:
"Our goods were robbed in Shanzhou. We cannot afford these losses alone. Write a letter immediately and send someone to deliver it to the governor of Shanzhou, asking him to solve the case as soon as possible and hand over the murderer!"

When Chuntao heard this, she felt that her man was confused:
"Sir, the caravan was robbed in Shanzhou. The murderer might be a general under the command of the Shanzhou governor. How could he hand over the murderer?"

"Whether he hands over the murderer is his business. Just write a letter and urge them to do it!"

Seeing the man giving such orders, Chuntao had no choice but to obey.

On the second day.

The company came again to ask for compensation, and Chuntao paid it all according to the man's instructions.

However, the messenger sent to Shanzhou was beaten with a stick by the governor of Shanzhou the next day and sent back.

"Sir, I told you that the governor of Shanzhou would never hand over the murderer!"

Seeing the messenger being insulted, Chuntao had no choice but to come to Su Mingzhe to discuss what to do next.

After all, the money in the warehouse was only enough to pay next month's salary.

Even if the salaries are paid but there is no new income, the food and fodder for the 20,000-strong army will become a problem.

Facing Chuntao's anxiety, Su Mingzhe was overjoyed:

"It's right that he won't hand it over! Since he won't hand it over, I'll go get it myself!"

Early June.

Su Mingzhe announced to the nearby prefectures and counties that the governor of Shanzhou had looted his business, and he would personally lead an army of 10,000 to seek revenge. Anyone who dared to stop him would be regarded as an accomplice.

After receiving this declaration, officials from various states in the Tang Dynasty and Daliang, as well as officials in the court, did not take it seriously.

After all, Su Mingzhe had only 20,000 Yi Nu troops under his command, and they had been established for less than half a year. Except for Sun Feihu's original 5,000 soldiers, the other 15,000 were all new recruits.

The governor of Shanzhou has 20,000 soldiers and horses. He is the one defending the city and is well-rested. How could he take Su Mingzhe's threat seriously?

So, everyone was waiting to see Su Mingzhe make a fool of himself.

On the day of the announcement, Su Mingzhe personally led an army of 10,000 soldiers downstream the Yellow River.

On the second day, Shanzhou City was broken.

When the news came out, the whole world was shocked.

(End of this chapter)