Chapter 477: Driving the tiger and swallowing the wolf!

In response to Feng Keji's inquiry, Xu Zhaojie waved his hand without any doubt, and said with a pretended generous smile:

"As for Lord Governor's question, I, Xu, will naturally tell you everything I know. Brother Keji, please feel free to speak..."

As soon as these words came out, Feng Keji's originally calm expression showed a hint of coldness. He looked at Xu Zhaojie deeply and asked in a deep voice:
"Brother, I want to ask you, Master Xu, how did Li Sandao die?"

As soon as these words came out, the room instantly became quiet. Feng Keji looked straight at Xu Zhaojie, his cold gaze captivating!

More than a month ago, with Li Sandao's betrayal, Xu Zhaojie successfully eliminated Liu Chongshan and his followers and took control of most of the power in Anqing. However, just half a month ago, Li Sandao suddenly fell ill. The disease came on very quickly, and Li Sandao passed away in just two or three days. With Li Sandao's sudden death, his followers also scattered, and Anqing's power structure ushered in a new round of reshuffle!

Under Xu Zhaojie's deployment, his trusted subordinates brought from Sichuan and Shu took advantage of Li Sandao's sudden death to create a positive atmosphere of power in Anqing, and completely controlled the tens of thousands of troops in Anqing, becoming a veritable Anqing Inspector General...
Under Feng Keji's gaze, Xu Zhaojie didn't seem to be panicked at all. He picked up the teacup and drank a sip of tea calmly, then met Feng Keji's gaze and said calmly:
"Do you think I did it, Lord Governor?"

Xu Zhaojie's question seemed to surprise Feng Keji. He thought Xu Zhaojie would make an excuse and shirk the responsibility.

Although it is not known whether Li Sandao really died of a sudden illness or was murdered by Xu Zhaojie, from the current situation, Xu Zhaojie is the biggest beneficiary after Li Sandao's death. Li Sandao can be said to be a nail planted by Feng Keqin in Anqing, and with the sudden death of Li Sandao, the influence that Feng Keqin can exert on Anqing has greatly decreased, so there is no doubt that Feng Keqin has reason to suspect that this incident was done by Xu Zhaojie!
Feeling Feng Keji's hesitation, Xu Zhaojie smiled in his heart. He knew that although the other party knew that he had done it, the matter had already been settled. Although Feng Keqin was angry, he was also worried that Xu Zhaojie would defect to Cao Changping, so he had no choice but to send someone to express his anger, and then be forced to accept it...
"I said that Li Sandao's death was not caused by me, Xu Zhaojie. Brother Keji, do you believe me?" Xu Zhaojie pretended to be sincere and said:
Feng Keji didn't say anything after listening to Xu Zhaojie's words, but just continued to look at Xu Zhaojie coldly. Of course, he didn't believe Xu Zhaojie's nonsense. Although Li Sandao was not young, he was in very good health. He could kill people with a knife on horseback, and eat three bowls of rice and half a pound of cooked mutton for a meal when he got off the horse. It was also normal for him to have sex several times a night. So the probability of him dying of a sudden illness was too small!

"Li Sandao's dead brother has already said that he will never let this go. We also hope that this matter really has nothing to do with you, Lord Xu!" Looking at Xu Zhaojie, Feng Keji said coldly:

Hearing this, Xu Zhaojie sighed innocently and said slowly:

"Then please investigate carefully, Your Excellency. I, Xu, have always been upright and have never done anything sinister or despicable. If it is really found that Li Sandao's death is related to me, Xu Zhaojie, then you don't need to tell me, My Excellency. I, Xu Zhaojie, will immediately draw my sword and commit suicide to thank the world and pay for Li Sandao's life..."

"If it turns out that it has nothing to do with me, Xu Zhaojie, then please ask the governor to clear my name!"

Seeing Xu Zhaojie speaking so righteously and willing to commit suicide to prove his innocence, Feng Keji was deceived by his superb acting skills, and his confidence in Xu Zhaojie's doing was shaken a little.

At this moment, Xu Zhaojie stood up and said to Feng Keji:
"Brother Keji, I'll take you to a place!"

Although he didn't know where Xu Zhaojie was going to take him, Feng Keji hesitated for a moment and finally followed the host's wishes and followed Xu Zhaojie.

After walking for about an incense stick of time, Feng Keji followed Xu Zhaojie to a small room in the mansion. When he entered the room, Feng Keji noticed a huge platform in the center of the room. On the platform were a series of decorations of mountains, rivers and streams. Feng Keji was attracted by it immediately when he saw this thing for the first time!
After looking at the table with great interest, Feng Keji pointed at the table and asked Xu Zhaojie:
"Master Xu, what is this?"

Xu Zhaojie smiled and introduced:
“Brother Keji, this thing is called a sand table. Compared with a map, it can express the terrain more clearly and intuitively…”

Hearing this, Feng Keji nodded slightly, carefully observed the sand table for a while, and realized the wonders of the sand table. He subconsciously asked:
"Master Xu, this sand table is very good. This is the first time I have seen this thing. Did you create it yourself?"

As Feng Keqin finished speaking, Xu Zhaojie seemed to remember something. He was smiling a second ago, but his face suddenly darkened. He said without any emotion:

"This thing was created by Ye Mingsheng!"

Feng Keji's attention was focused on the sand table at this time, so he did not notice the change in Xu Zhaojie's expression, and continued to ask:
"Ye Mingsheng? Is that the Liaoyang Governor Ye Mingsheng? Oh, right! I remember that Ye Mingsheng served under you, Lord Xu, before he was transferred to the Zhenwu Army?"

After he finished speaking, Feng Keji turned around and looked at Xu Zhaojie. However, what he never expected was that Xu Zhaojie's expression was gloomy at this moment, and he looked at him with a terrifying look he had never seen before. Feeling the faint murderous intent in Xu Zhaojie's eyes, Feng Keji, who came from a literary family, shuddered involuntarily, and even his legs became a little weak due to fear····················

Just when Feng Keji was about to fall to the ground, Xu Zhaojie looked away and returned to normal, pointing at the layout of the sand table as if nothing had happened and said:

"Brother Keji, come and take a look. This is the topography of Anqing, Huainan, and Qi and Lu under Cao Changping!"

"Zhao Fuqu of Youyan in the north has already invaded Yunbing, and Gao Zongchang of Jiyu in the Central Plains is not ambitious and only cares about enjoying himself in Yujing. Therefore, Cao Changping has no worries in the north now. That is why he is conspiring to contact Liu Chongshan and plot to spy on the governor's Huainan!"

"Although Liu Chongshan has been executed, Cao Changping is determined to march south. I have been paying close attention to the situation in Qi and Lu recently. From what I have learned about the Qi army under Cao Changping, it seems that he is preparing for war and is ready to invade the south at any time!"

“So I think that instead of passively taking the beating, it is better for us to take the initiative and attack to keep the enemy out of Huainan. In this battle, I, Xu Zhaojie, am willing to be the vanguard and lead 30,000 troops from Anqing to Pengcheng. The governor can send troops from Suyu directly to Langya…”

"Our army will send troops from two directions, making it difficult for Cao Changping to take care of both ends. We will surely succeed in one battle and capture Licheng and Cao Changping alive!" Feng Keji was a scholar and only had a superficial understanding of military affairs. Although this was the case, feeling the undisguised confidence in Xu Zhaojie's words, he couldn't help but feel moved. If they could really get rid of Cao Changping, who was eyeing Huainan, then his elder brother Feng Keqin could boldly use his troops in the south without having to worry about Cao Changping ruining their plan from behind!
Looking at Feng Keji who was somewhat moved, Xu Zhaojie said with a smile:

"These are just some of my ideas at the moment. The specifics still need to be decided by the governor. I, Xu Zhaojie, will always be at the governor's beck and call!"

Feng Keji nodded and said:
"I will convey Lord Xu's opinion to my brother as soon as possible!"

After finishing the business, Xu Zhaojie exchanged a few words with Feng Keji. Finally, when Feng Keji was about to leave, Xu Zhaojie gave him some "local specialties". Faced with these "local specialties", Feng Keji refused at first, but Xu Zhaojie's affection was hard to refuse. In the end, Feng Keji could only accept the things reluctantly...

After Feng Keji left, Xu Zhaojie's trusted advisor Li Zhaoqing walked into the room. After hesitating for a moment, he cautiously asked Xu Zhaojie, who was sitting on a chair with his eyes closed:
"My Lord, do we really want to be the vanguard for Feng Keqin?"

Xu Zhaoyan snorted coldly when he heard this, then opened his eyes and looked at Li Zhaoqing and said:
"Feng Keqin knew very well that I was the one who killed Li Sandao, so he sent Feng Keji here today to give me a warning. If I don't give him an explanation today, can I get away with it?"

"Although Li Sandao is dead, Feng Keqin has more than just Li Sandao in Anqing. If Feng Keqin and I fall out now, he may not send troops to attack me because he is worried about pushing me to Cao Changping!"

“But he will definitely do some small tricks in secret to hold me back. Now I’m the vanguard and have given him the instructions. Although he will still hate me because of Li Sandao’s matter, he should be more or less satisfied and will not hold me back in secret…”

Li Zhaoqing nodded upon hearing this and asked again:

"In that case, should we continue to contact Lord Cao Changping?"

"Of course! But the matter must be kept secret!"

Xu Zhaojie explained in a deep voice. After he finished speaking, he seemed to have thought of something. He clenched his fists tightly and said confidently:

"I will play a trick on Feng Keqin and Cao Changping and play them like a tiger swallowing a wolf. I will play them like a tiger swallowing a wolf and play them like a wolf in the palm of my hand!"

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On the night of February 12th, in Youyan, in the dense forest ten miles away from Jizhou City.

Although he had a telescope, because it was too far away, Yuan Song could only vaguely see the appearance of Jizhou City and had no idea of ​​the city's defense situation.

After trying several times and still getting the same result, Yuan Song could only helplessly put down the telescope in his hand. At this moment, Ma Zhongjun came over and reported to him:

"General, the Yan army strongholds such as Xiaocaozhuang, Sandaohezi, and Heqi Township have all been manned. As soon as the hour of the rat arrives, we will send out a signal and all the troops can move together!"

Yuan Song nodded with satisfaction. The preparation for this surprise attack on Liaoyang had lasted nearly half a year. In addition, they obtained the defense map of the Yan army in Jizhou from Gu Shouting. Therefore, the Fengwu army was very familiar with the terrain and garrison of the Yan army. In order to attack the Yan army by surprise, they deliberately took the lesser-traveled paths and bypassed these strongholds to arrive at the city of Jizhou.

"How is General Lin?" Yuan Song continued to ask:
This sneak attack on Jizhou was a joint operation between his First Division and Lin Huaiwu’s Second Division. Because it involved the issue of joint command, Ye Mingsheng specifically talked to Lin Huaiwu before leaving and made it clear that Yuan Song was the commander-in-chief of this battle, and Lin Huaiwu needed to obey Yuan Song’s orders during the battle...
In response to Yuan Song's question, Ma Zhongjun said without hesitation:
"General Lin has sent people to report the latest situation every two hours as agreed before. The last group of people came half an hour ago. Everything is normal on General Lin's side. All the troops of the Second Division have entered the combat position and can launch an attack on Jizhou City at any time!"

Yuan Song felt much more at ease after hearing this. In the previous battles of the Fengwu Army, he and Lin Huaiwu had been on their own and had basically never fought together. Therefore, what he was most worried about in this battle was the communication and coordination between the two sides. Now that Lin Huaiwu had entered the combat position as planned, he could finally put his mind at ease.

Seeing the fatigue on Yuan Song's face, Ma Zhongjun persuaded:
"General Yuan, it's only midnight and there's still some time before the hour of Chou. Why don't you go and take a rest first? I'll hold on for a while!"

"You haven't had a good night's sleep since you left Dongning, and you only slept for less than an hour yesterday. If you continue to sleep, your body won't be able to bear it."

Yuan Song smiled when he heard this, patted Ma Zhongjun on the shoulder and said:

"Don't worry, my old bones can still take it. How can I sleep in the wilderness here?"

"I'm waiting to capture Jizhou City and capture that old bastard Shen Zhuo, so that I can have a good sleep in his mansion..."

Feeling Yuan Song's persistence, Ma Zhongjun could only nod helplessly.
Although he told Ma Zhongjun that he could bear it, Yuan Song, who was visibly exhausted, still took a sip from the kettle in order to relieve his fatigue. As the liquid in the kettle went into his mouth, Yuan Song's face became slightly rosier and he became more energetic. His kettle was not filled with water, but a kind of low-proof liquor specially made by the Fengwu Army before setting out.

(End of this chapter)