Chapter 959 Jiangnan Lu Jianchao!
Yunbing, the Kipchak camp at the foot of Wugang Mountain,
Listening to the confession of the wounded Fengwu Army soldier in front of him, although Esiduoan's face remained calm and composed, his heart was in ecstasy at this moment··························
Asdogan really didn't expect that such a good thing that fell from the sky would actually fall on him!

Five days ago, scouts at the front informed him of the Fengwu Army's expedition to Wugang Mountain. At first, Asdogan did not take it seriously.

After all, the Fengwu Army only dispatched more than 10,000 people, which was just a detachment, and Wugang Mountain was very close to Dagu County. So although the Fengwu Army left the city, the symbolic significance was greater than the practical significance, and it was not very tempting for Asdogan.

At the same time, because of the Ahejiang incident, Esidogan was also keenly aware of the changes in the mood of the Cuman army. He felt helpless and even a little disappointed about this.

However, they had to start considering accepting defeat. Instead of waiting for Ye Mingsheng to leave the city, they would plunder more spoils from the Great Zhou and then retreat back to the grassland.

However, at this critical moment, the scouts who were keeping an eye on Dagu County sent Esidoan an unbelievable piece of news!

The news was that the Qipchak scouts had captured several lone soldiers of the Fengwu Army, and obtained some information from them through torture...

According to these Fengwu Army soldiers, their purpose of marching to Wugang Mountain was to build large-scale fortifications here!
The commander of this army is General Ye Fu of the 14th Division, and most of the troops are from the 14th Division of the Fengwu Army!

However, in addition to the troops of the 14th Division, the troops stationed in Wugang Mountain also included 1,500 soldiers from the Fengwu Army's Royal Guard Battalion.

In the camp, the troops of the 14th Division are stationed on the outskirts of the camp, while the troops of the Royal Guard Battalion are stationed in the central area of ​​the camp. The troops of the Royal Guard Battalion can go to the 14th Division's base, but the 14th cannot go to the base of the Royal Guard Battalion. The base of the Royal Guard Battalion is under very strict security as if it is protecting some important person.

After receiving this news, it undoubtedly attracted the high attention of Esidogan. He has always been paying close attention to the movements of the Fengwu Army. Naturally, he also knew that the Royal Guard Battalion was Ye Mingsheng's guard force, so they would be wherever Ye Mingsheng was!

In addition, although the Fengwu Army is not large in number, with a size of only about 3,000 people, they are the elite among the elite in the Fengwu Army, and their equipment and treatment are the best in the Fengwu Army!

Therefore, Asdogan was a little confused. Who was the big shot in the Fengwu Army who was in Wugang Mountain and worthy of the protection of half of the soldiers of the Royal Guard Battalion?
As for his own doubts, Asdoan also had a guess in his mind!
Although he had a guess, Esidogan felt that his guess was a bit too crazy, so he didn't particularly believe it...
Although he was somewhat hesitant to trust his own judgment, Asdogan also had good expectations for this matter.

Therefore, Aisiduoan ordered the scouts in the front to do their best to search for news about the Fengwu Army in Wugang Mountain. They must find out at all costs that the Fengwu Army’s Guard Battalion on Wugang Mountain is protecting an important figure of the Fengwu Army!

The Cuman scouts also faithfully completed the task in response to the death order given by Estolan. After sacrificing more than 30 lives, they finally captured a soldier from the Fengwu Army's Royal Guard Battalion.

Although this soldier from the Fengwu Army's Royal Guard Battalion was very tough, he eventually gave up the name under the brutal torture of the Cumans!
After getting the results, the Cuman scouts immediately sent the news to Eskildoan!
However, when Esdoan learned that the results of the scouts' investigation were exactly the same as his own guess, Esdoan's first reaction was not excitement but suspicion!
Because even though he really hoped that Ye Mingsheng would leave Dagu County and come to Wugang Mountain, Aisiduoan could not think of any reason why Ye Mingsheng would do so!

So even though the Kipchak scouts found the result he wanted, Esidogan was still somewhat skeptical, wondering if this was a trap set for him by Ye Mingsheng...

Just as Asdogan was thinking, the scouts at the front soon sent another message. This message said that in the past period of time, Asdogan led the Cuman Tiger Division to continuously massacre the city and kill people, causing great suffering to the people, which made Ye Mingsheng very angry.
So even though many Fengwu Army generals advised Ye Mingsheng not to leave the city to fight, Ye Mingsheng was determined to lead his troops out of the city to fight a decisive battle with Asdogan!
The place chosen by Ye Mingsheng for the decisive battle was Wugang Mountain. In order to show his determination to fight outside the city, Ye Mingsheng personally followed the vanguard troops to Wugang Mountain and personally supervised the construction of Wugang Mountain fortifications. At the same time, he also surveyed the terrain for the upcoming battle and prepared for the decisive battle between the two sides!

After receiving this news, Esidogan suddenly realized that he was not wrong about Ye Mingsheng. Ye Mingsheng was still the strong and even somewhat conceited Ye Mingsheng. However, it was obvious that although Ye Mingsheng was conceited, he had managed to get to where he was now and he obviously could see that he was forcing him to leave the city.

So although Ye Mingsheng chose to go out of the city to fight under his coercion, he was not stupid enough to fight a big battle with him on the plain, so he chose Wugang Mountain as the location!

Wugang Mountain has a very advantageous geographical location, and it is also very close to Dagu County. Here Ye Mingsheng can attack or defend freely. After understanding this, Aisiduoan couldn't help but sigh at the cleverness of Ye Mingsheng's move...
While lamenting Ye Mingsheng's scheming, Asdogan was also secretly happy about Ye Mingsheng's arrogance. Although Ye Mingsheng's move was brilliant, Ye Mingsheng was too conceited and thought his plan was flawless. Little did he know that there is no wall that is impenetrable!

As long as he surrounded Wugang Mountain in advance and blocked the connection between Wugang Mountain and Dagu County before the main force of the Fengwu Army in Dagu County arrived, then this arrogant and conceited Marshal Ye of the Fengwu Army would be a trapped beast in his jar!

Thinking that the person he had been thinking about was about to become his prisoner, Asdoan was very excited and immediately led his troops to Wugang Mountain!
After arriving at Wugang Mountain, Asdogan ordered his soldiers to surround Wugang Mountain. At the same time, he asked his men to bring the captured Fengwu Army soldiers to him. He wanted to listen to their confession in person to confirm the accuracy of the news!
At this time, listening to the story told by the Fengwu Army prisoner, Esidoan was basically convinced that all this was true!
This time, God really took care of him and opened the door to victory for him when he was closest to failure!
Thinking of this, the corners of Asdoan's mouth rose, and he couldn't help but look forward to the wonderful scene after catching Ye Mingsheng. As far as he knew, Ye Mingsheng's prestige in the Fengwu Army was unparalleled! The Zhou people had a saying called "holding the emperor hostage to command the princes", so after I caught Ye Mingsheng, I could hold Ye Mingsheng hostage to command the Fengwu Army!

In this way, he could not only completely reverse the current unfavorable war situation, but also expand the territory of the Great Zhou and create a more glorious feat than his father Huodu...

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Jiangnan, Lin'an

In the Governor's Mansion, in the study, Lu Jianchao, the Governor of Jiangnan, Da Zhou, was looking at the memorial brought by his subordinates.

Although he had heard of the name of Zhenyuan Hou Xu Zhaojie a long time ago, Lu Jianchao really didn't expect that he would be so difficult to deal with!
At the beginning of the war, he first caught Chishan Prefecture by surprise, and then he won victory after victory and his troops once approached Lin'an.

Fortunately, his nephew Lu Yun fought back and turned the tide, holding off Xu Zhaojie's troops in Lanxi County and buying a chance to catch his breath.

Although Lu Jianchao made a lot of money for himself during his years in Jiangnan, it must be admitted that under his governance, Jiangnan was a place of peace and prosperity, and it was a rare piece of pure land in the chaotic times of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

Therefore, Lu Jianchao had a very good reputation both in the officialdom and among the people in Jiangnan. In addition, Lu Jianchao had no shortage of money, so he quickly organized a large number of troops. With this support, and the Jiangnan navy cutting off Xu Zhaojie's retreat, the Jiangnan army counterattacked all the way to Chishan Prefecture!

The battle of Chishan Prefecture lasted for two months. Just when Lu Jianchao thought that Xu Zhaojie was definitely finished and was expecting his nephew to lead his troops to break through Chishan Prefecture and kill Xu Zhaojie, unexpectedly Xu Zhaojie fought back. A night attack that lured the enemy deep into the prefecture defeated Lu Yun's troops!
Although the Zhennan Army also suffered heavy casualties in this battle, it also defeated the courage of Lu Yun’s troops. After this battle, the Zhennan Army took the initiative to ask for peace with Lu Jianchao...
The condition proposed by the Zhennan Army was that the Zhennan Army would return Chishan Prefecture to the Jiangnan Army and promise never to invade Jiangnan in the future, in exchange for the Jiangnan Army's leniency and allow them to withdraw to Huainan.

There are many different opinions about this condition in Jiangnan. Some people say that Xu Zhaojie has been eyeing Jiangnan for a long time, and this time he has caused great harm to Jiangnan. If he is released now, it would be like letting a tiger go back to the mountain. Therefore, he must not be let go and must be killed.
But there are also people who have a broad view of the overall situation and believe that now that the Fengwu Army has defeated the Luoan court and unified the north, the next step for Ye Mingsheng will be to go south and try to unify the entire Great Zhou!

Huainan and Jiangnan are close neighbors. In the face of the powerful Fengwu Army, the two are in a relationship of mutual dependence.

Therefore, at this time, Huainan and Jiangnan should make peace, so Xu Zhaojie should be spared and allowed to return to Huainan to fight against the Fengwu Army. With Xu Zhaojie leading the way, the Fengwu Army will not be able to attack Jiangnan!

Both sides argued endlessly about this opinion. You accused me of accepting money from Xu Zhaojie, and he accused you of agreeing to the high-ranking position promised by the Fengwu Army. The two sides were arguing fiercely, making Lu Jianchao, who was already undecided, even more hesitant and not knowing what to do!
Because he felt that what both sides said made sense, and he also felt that Xu Zhaojie had been trapped to death in Chishan Mansion, and that he was already a turtle in a jar and could not escape even if he had wings...
Therefore, Lu Jianchao planned to take a long-term view and not be in a hurry to think about it carefully, weighing the pros and cons carefully before making a plan!
However, yesterday a piece of news came from Shouchun that left old man Lu Jianchao dumbfounded!

Xu Zhaojie, who was regarded as a trapped turtle by Lu Jianchao, unexpectedly slipped away from Chishan Prefecture at some point in time and crossed the Nanjiang River back to Shouchun!
If their spies in Shouchun had not stated that the news was absolutely true, and Xu Zhaojie had not made a public appearance in Shouchun, Lu Jianchao would have thought that his subordinates were deceiving him!
Although he had not yet decided whether to agree to Xu Zhaojie's peace talks, Lu Jianchao was very angry about Xu Zhaojie's escape back to Shouchun. He didn't know why the cooked duck actually flew away!

He read through the memorial in his hand. Although in the memorial officials from all over Jiangnan told Lu Jianchao that trade and agriculture in various parts of Jiangnan were thriving, especially trade with overseas would reach a new height, and tax revenue might even exceed three million taels of silver!

But Lu Jianchao was not happy at all. Although he was born as a civil servant and was good at handling government affairs, and managed Jiangnan in an orderly and prosperous manner in this chaotic era, when it came to military issues, Lu Jianchao knew nothing...

Whenever Lu Jianchao thought of Xu Zhaojie, who had been defeated repeatedly by the Fengwu Army, yet could act so unscrupulously in Jiangnan, he felt as sick as if he had eaten a fly. A question arose in his mind: what should he do if the Fengwu Army was at the gates of the city?
Lu Jianchao was born into a poor family in Guanzhong. Although his family was not very wealthy, they had a yard and a shop in Luoan. His father was a private school teacher and his mother was a traditional housewife. There were five brothers and sisters in the family of seven, and they lived on the rent of the shop and the income from his father's private school teacher.

In such a family environment, Lu Jianchao did not enjoy any great blessings since his childhood, but he also did not suffer any great suffering. Because he was the most talented among his brothers, his father had high hopes for Lu Jianchao and devoted all his efforts to cultivate him. He taught him the Four Books and Five Classics and the classics of sages since his childhood, hoping that he would be able to pass the imperial examinations and serve the court in the future!

Lu Jianchao did not disappoint his father. He passed the imperial examination all the way from a student, to a scholar, to a juren, to a gongshi, and finally won the third place in the imperial examination!
Even though he passed the imperial examination and became the third place in the imperial examination, Lu Jianchao, who grew up in such a family environment, did not have much ambition. He did not say that he would have power over the government one day. He only wanted to win a good reputation during his lifetime and after his death, and to have a good beginning and a good end...

(End of this chapter)