Chapter 607 Xu Zhaojie’s plot!

Seeing that the surrounded Fengwu cavalry was slow to respond, Liu Zongchang lost all patience and waved his sword, shouting:
“Kill them! Chop all these little bastards from the Fengwu Army into meat paste…”

At Liu Zongchang's command, the Anqing cavalry immediately launched a charge. Chen Yong had been waiting for this moment and immediately mustered up his courage to break out to the east.

Although Liu Zongchang's troops at this time were ten times that of Chen Yong's scouts, when hundreds of Fengwu scouts under Chen Yong's command concentrated all their forces in the east, they quickly tore a hole in the encirclement of the Anqing Army. More than 30 Fengwu scouts took advantage of the situation and rushed out. Without any hesitation, they immediately fled in all directions.

Half an incense stick later, Liu Zongchang, somewhat angrily, brought the blood-stained Liu Yong to Xu Zhaojie and said with some shame:
"Report to the Marquis, some of them escaped! I have already sent people to chase them! But we caught this man, he is the leader of the Fengwu Army scouts!"

At this point Liu Zongchang kicked Chen Yong to the ground, wanting Chen Yong to kneel in front of Xu Zhaojie, but Chen Yong was very stubborn and struggled to stand up. In the battle just now breaking out, as the commander of the Fengwu Army, he was targeted by the Anqing Army from the beginning. After killing several Anqing soldiers in a row, Chen Yong was unfortunately captured due to exhaustion...

Seeing that Chen Yong was still trying to stand up, Liu Zongchang immediately became furious and drew the sword from his waist, wanting to splatter Chen Yong's blood within five steps. However, Chen Yong was still not afraid and glared at Liu Zongchang. Since being captured, he had never thought that he could walk out of the Anqing army camp alive. If he stuck his head out, he would be stabbed, and if he kept his head down, he would be stabbed too. What was there to be afraid of?

He had a scar as big as a bowl on his head, but he was a brave man again eighteen years later!
Seeing that Chen Yong was about to be beheaded by Liu Zongchang, Xu Zhaojie waved at Liu Zongchang. Seeing that his boss had spoken, although Liu Zongchang was unwilling and wanted to chop Chen Yong to death, he could only suppress his anger and put the knife back into the sheath.

After looking at Chen Yong, who was calmly dying, with great interest, Xu Zhaojie smiled and said:
"You, a mere sentinel, are even tougher than our commander. Back in the palace, your commander Ye stood outside the gate for a whole afternoon just to see me!"

Although he didn't know Xu Zhaojie, when Chen Yong heard the handsome middle-aged man in front of him call himself "this marquis", he realized that this man was the commander of the Anqing Army, the Great Zhou Zhenyuan Marquis Xu Zhaojie. Chen Yong was just a sentry leader and didn't know the grudge between Ye Mingsheng and Xu Zhaojie, but when he saw Xu Zhaojie teasing Ye Mingsheng, he immediately snorted and said indignantly:

“Lord Xu, under the rule of the corrupt official Gao Zongchang, Hebei and Henan are starving to death, and the people are living in dire straits. Our Fengwu Army’s dispatch of troops to Hebei and Henan is in accordance with the will of heaven and the will of the people. It is a just act! I advise Lord Xu not to make a mistake, otherwise, when our Fengwu Army marches on the border, you will be wiped out…”

As soon as Chen Yong finished speaking, without waiting for Xu Zhaojie's permission, Liu Zongchang roared in anger:

"How dare a defeated general be so presumptuous?"

Chen Yong ignored Liu Zongchang, but held his head high with a look of disdain. He knew very well that he was dead after saying this, but he had nothing to worry about. His family would be taken good care of by the higher-ups, and they would get the compensation they deserved. He would have no regrets even if he died!

Chen Yong, who had already made up his mind to die, had never expected that after hearing what he said, Xu Zhaojie did not get furious as he had imagined and had him dragged down and chopped to pieces. Instead, he laughed wildly, and his laughter and expression were full of contempt. This made Chen Yong angry. He clenched his fists and said to Xu Zhaojie angrily:

"What are you laughing at? We have 100,000 troops in Hebei and Henan. If we kill Gao Zongchang, you will be next!"

In response to Chen Yong's death threat, Xu Zhaojie smiled and nodded and said:

"Since you are so sure, I hope you can live to see that day!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Xu Zhaojie took out a letter from his pocket and threw it to Chen Yong, saying lightly;
"Since you still have some backbone, I will spare your life. This letter is written by me personally. Take it to Ye Mingsheng! Tell him that I am waiting for him in Yujing and ask him to wash his neck for me!"

Chen Yong was a little surprised when he heard Xu Zhaojie's words. He never expected that Xu Zhaojie would let him go. For a moment he stood there in a daze, not knowing what to do.

Seeing this, Xu Zhaojie's face changed and he cursed coldly:
"Get out of here now! Do you really want me to tear you into pieces?"

Chen Yong didn't say anything after hearing this. He looked at Xu Zhaojie deeply, then picked up the letter and turned to leave.

Looking at Chen Yong's departing back, Liu Zongchang was puzzled. He didn't know why the always cold and cruel Marquis would just let this Fengwu Army scout go. Xu Zhaojie could naturally sense his subordinates' doubts, but he didn't care about it. He didn't need to explain his actions to others, so he asked calmly:
"What do you think after your encounter with the Fengwu Army?"

Facing Xu Zhaojie's question, Liu Zongchang wanted to belittle the Fengwu Army and boast about the strength of his own army, but under Xu Zhaojie's incisive gaze, he finally chose to tell the truth:

"If the Fengwu Army is like these scouts, then they are even more powerful than expected. They don't all rely on firearms. They are in high spirits, their battle formations are very coordinated, and their will to fight is also very tenacious. We just captured only seven prisoners, all of whom were captured due to exhaustion. No one voluntarily laid down their weapons! After being captured, no one begged for mercy!"

Xu Zhaojie nodded slightly when he heard this. He had just been standing on the hillside watching the battle and saw everything clearly. After hesitating for a while, Liu Zongchang still couldn't bear the doubts in his heart and said to Xu Zhaojie:
"My Lord, if we had deployed more troops just now, none of them would have been able to escape!"

Xu Zhaojie said calmly:
"Does it make sense?"

After hearing this, Liu Zongchang was speechless and lowered his head in shame, while Xu Zhaojie was looking towards the direction of Fengqiu. He originally planned to swallow up the Third Division of the Fengwu Army in one go and settle the interest with Ye Mingsheng first. However, after learning that the Fengwu Army had taken the initiative in occupying Fengqiu, Xu Zhaojie knew that he had no chance!

Although he felt it was a pity, Xu Zhaojie was not too disappointed. After all, his big gift would be delivered to Ye Mingsheng soon...
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Qilu, Licheng

At Tongren Inn, although it was late at night, Su Yi did not fall asleep. He was neatly dressed and sat in a chair, drinking by himself.

Before deciding to march south to invade Hebei and Henan, the decision-makers of the Fengwu Army had already anticipated that Gao Zongchang would ask for help from Cao Changping of Qi and Lu in the name of the lips and teeth being in danger when the war became tense. Therefore, before the war even started, they sent Su Yi to Licheng to stabilize Cao Changping.

Although Qi, Lu, Ji and Yu were all considered as dishes by Ye Mingsheng, but as the old saying goes, one should eat one bite at a time. If one eats too much at one time, one will easily get bloated. Therefore, Su Yi brought some bones with him on his mission to Licheng this time to throw to Cao Changping.

The development of events was pretty much what the Fengwu Army had expected. After learning that the Fengwu Army had invaded Hebei and Henan, Cao Changping, who felt threatened, was furious and immediately questioned Su Yi. Su Yi responded calmly and took out the chips in his hand. With the firearms sent by the Fengwu Army and the persuasion of his confidants who had received money from the Fengwu Army, Cao Changping's anger was gradually calmed down.

Just when Su Yi thought that the matter would end so easily, a new force secretly appeared in Licheng. They were the delegation sent by Xu Zhaojie, the current Inspector General of Anqing and the Marquis of Zhenyuan of the Great Zhou Dynasty. The leader was Xu Kai, who was Xu Zhaojie’s cousin and was deeply trusted by Xu Zhaojie...

Because of the previous wars between the two sides, in order to avoid some troubles, Xu Kai came to visit secretly with a small entourage. Su Yi didn't know the news at first, and only got a little news from people around Cao Changping later.
Su Yi did not care much about Xu Kai's arrival at first. He thought that Xu Kai's arrival was doomed to be futile and was Xu Zhaojie's attempt to make up for his loss. After all, in the battle of Huainan, Xu Zhaojie had severely plotted against Cao Changping, and then defeated Cao Changping in the battle of Bozhou. The grievances and rifts between the two sides were very serious. It was already very considerate that Cao Changping did not kill Xu Kai when he came to Licheng.

However, what Su Yi did not expect was that he did not know what kind of magic potion Xu Kai had given Cao Changping, or what bargaining chips Xu Zhaojie had prepared for Xu Kai. In short, Xu Kai, who was on this mission to Licheng, was not ignored by Cao Changping. Instead, he was secretly received by Cao Changping several times. The two sides had secret talks for a long time. This immediately attracted Su Yi's great attention. He immediately found Cao Changping's brother-in-law Sun Jingan, hoping to get some information from Sun Jingan.

Sun Jing'an did not disappoint him and told him a shocking news. Because the matter was too serious, Su Yi passed the news back to Yijing through special channels on the day he received the news, hoping that the rear could prepare early and not fall into Xu Zhaojie's evil scheme.

Although all this has been done, Su Yi feels that this is not enough. The Fengwu Army's focus is now on Hebei and Henan, and they are striving to capture Hebei and Henan before winter comes. In order to achieve this goal, Qi and Lu must be stabilized. As the deputy director of the Department of Foreign Affairs, he must not allow Xu Zhaojie's people to stir up trouble in Qi and Lu and destroy the Fengwu Army's strategic layout!

If time permits, Su Yi wouldn't mind playing with them, but now the situation is urgent and she needs to cut the Gordian knot...

Su Yi did not wait too long in the room. After an incense stick of time, he heard a strange sound. Su Yi narrowed his eyes and looked intently. He saw a young man with ordinary appearance and a lean figure appeared in front of him. Looking at the newcomer, Su Yi said in a deep voice:

"The sun sets over the mountains?"

“The Yellow River flows into the sea!”

"I am Feng Jin, a captain from the General Coordination Office, meeting Director Su!"

Seeing that the other party matched the signal that Wang Xuecheng had given him before leaving, Su Yi's expression also eased a lot. Because the matter was very urgent, he did not exchange too many pleasantries with the other party but directly said:

"How many people can you gather in one hour?"

Facing Su Yi's question, Feng Jin's expression also became serious. Two hours ago, he learned about Su Yi's summons through the communication channel. Although he knew that Su Yi must have something important to summon him at this time, but from Su Yi's tone, things might be worse than he imagined!
After pondering for a moment, Feng Jin gave the answer under Su Yi's gaze.

"Including myself, there are only seven of us!"

Su Yi frowned slightly upon hearing this and said:
"Aren't you a centurion? Why are there only a few of you?"

Listening to Su Yi's words, Feng Jin looked somewhat helpless. Although he was a centurion, it did not mean that he had a hundred men under him. In the Great Zhou military system, the number of men under a centurion was very broad and there was no fixed number. A centurion could be called a centurion if he had hundreds of men under him, and a centurion could also be called a centurion if he had dozens of men under him...

Although the Fengwu Army expanded very quickly, its finances were always on the verge of danger due to years of war. The financial situation of the Fengwu Army was not good, so as the intelligence department of the Fengwu Army, the funding of the Coordination Office would naturally not be too much.

In order to accomplish great things with little money and use limited resources where they are needed most, the focus of the Coordination Office's external work is now mainly in Hebei and Henan, and secondly in the Guanzhong direction. The vast majority of the resources of the Coordination Office are invested in these two places. Qi and Lu, which Feng Jin is in charge of, are not the focus of work, so very few resources are allocated to them. This also directly leads to the fact that Feng Jin does not have many people under him.

"There are only so many people in the city now! But if you are willing to give me some time, I can mobilize some people from outside the city! Director Su, please rest assured that although my men are few in number, they are all reliable young men who are willing to be loyal to the commander-in-chief and die for the Fengwu Army. If you have any instructions, please tell me!" Feng Jin said in a deep voice:
Looking at Feng Jin's determined expression, Su Yi thought for a moment and whispered:
"At three o'clock tonight, I want you to ambush outside the Fushou Inn in the west of the city!"

Hearing the name of Fushou Inn, Feng Jin blinked his eyes and seemed to realize something and said:
"Sir, you want us to take action against Xu Kai..."

(End of this chapter)