Thinking of the past, Zheng Rong couldn't help but frowning more and more. He took a sip of tea to moisten his throat and continued, "Even so, the Shanxi-Shaanxi defenders were defeated so badly that we can't appease the officials and the people if we don't punish the people involved. Unfortunately, most of the senior officers of the Shanxi-Shaanxi Jiedu Army have died in battle, and Li Jun also committed suicide out of fear of punishment. It seems that only Dai Luanxiang can take the blame."
Zheng Rong paused and continued, "At that time, the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of War discussed and decided to behead him and display his head to the public. But I saw that all the generals in Shanxi and Shaanxi said that they should be killed, and only Dai Luanxiang had great merits, so I presented it to the late emperor and saved him. Later, when I followed the imperial edict to recapture Shanxi and Shaanxi, I took Dai Luanxiang with me to make meritorious contributions while serving my sentence, and that's how we got Marshal Dai today."
Zhongli Kuang and Qiu Yizi were both deeply moved after hearing Zheng Rong's account of the past.
After a long while, Zhongli Kuang said, "Then the prince has shown a great favor to Dai Luanxiang, right?"
Zheng Rong nodded and said, "That's true, but now we are at war, what's the point of saying this?"
Zhongli Kuang smiled and waved his folding fan, saying, "Since Your Majesty has such a connection with Dai Luanxiang, have you ever thought of recruiting him as your subordinate?"
Zheng Rong thought about it, then waved his hand and said, "Don't I know Dai Luanxiang? He has always been loyal to the court. Even if you kill him and leave only one soldier, he may not surrender to me."
"Your Highness is wrong." Zhongli Kuang said, "That's because Dai Luanxiang hasn't really reached the point of desperation. If that happens, he will naturally submit to Your Highness."
Zheng Rong heard this and retorted, "Sir, you are wrong. Take me for example. When I was in the prison of the Ministry of Justice, I was tortured and had no relatives, but I never thought of kneeling down and begging for mercy. I know that Dai Luanxiang has a noble character, no less than me, and I am afraid he will not give in easily."
Zhongli Kuang had always been a tough guy. After hearing what Zheng Rong said, he said, "Although Dai Luanxiang is also a famous general in China, how can he compare to the prince in terms of character? Moreover, the prince was just careless for a moment and was imprisoned. However, we are here to try our best to rescue the prince. In fact, he is not desperate."
Seeing that the two were about to quarrel, Qiu Yizhi quickly interrupted and said, "After listening to the discussion of my foster father and master, I was enlightened. I have come up with a plan that may be useful. Could you please give me some advice, foster father and master?"
When he saw Zheng Rong and Zhongli Kuang nodding in unison, he calmly told them the plan in his mind.
Zheng Rongsu knew that his adopted son was always resourceful, and it was thanks to his series of clever tricks that he was able to escape back to Youyan a few days ago, so he listened very carefully and didn't even interrupt. After Qiu Yizhi finished speaking, he said, "Although Yizhi's plan is clever, it is a bit slow to take effect. I'm afraid our army can't hold out for so long."
Qiu Yizhi pondered for a while and replied, "Father, what you said is absolutely correct. However, this plan of Yizhi does not require many manpower resources, and even if it fails, it will be beneficial to our front battlefield. I hope Father will agree to it."
Zheng Rong did not comment and turned to look at Zhongli Kuang.
But then Zhongli Kuang said slowly: "Yizi's plan is exactly what I want. It is understandable that Your Majesty thinks this plan is slow, and I also have other measures to implement." Having said that, Zhongli Kuang put away his folding fan very proudly, stood up and paced in the central military tent, while presenting his plan in full.
Zheng Rong was delighted after hearing this and said, "Well, Mr. Zhongli is indeed a talented person. His plan is similar to Yizhi's. From my point of view, Mr. Zhongli's plan can be called a civil strategy, and Yizhi's plan can be called a military strategy. With these civil and military strategies, there is no need to worry about major events. You two can just do your best. If this plan fails, it won't be too late for us to make further plans."
That night, Qiu Yizhi slept peacefully after a hearty meal, and slept until the next morning at dawn before getting up calmly. After a good lunch, he called Captain Chi Lianghong, Zhao Chengxiao, and the remaining 18 bandits who had surrendered after leaving the capital as his personal confidants, took all the gold and silver, changed out of the Youyan uniforms, and rushed out from the side door of the camp by the Hutuo River all the way to the south.
Since Dai Luanxiang returned to the government army's Dengzhou camp, he has begun to reorganize the army. Therefore, although the government army experienced a hard battle yesterday, the battlefield control is still very tight. Seeing a capable team from the Youyan army escape from the camp, they also sent elite cavalry to chase after them.
However, Qiu Yi's subordinates consisted of only about twenty men, all of whom were skilled in archery and horse riding, and they were all equipped with Gobi horses tributed from Bohai. Even in terms of marching speed alone, they were far superior to the war horses bred in the Central Plains.
Therefore, Qiu Yizi rode on his own Ferghana horse and led his elite troops to find a gap in the government army's position that had not yet closed. He galloped through the government army's defense line and penetrated deep into the heart of Henan Province.
Although the government troops chasing behind them tried their best, they were getting farther and farther away. They could only look at the clouds of dust raised by the horses of the Youyan cavalry. After sighing in vain, they had to return to report.
Due to the lack of capable assistants in the government army, Dai Luanxiang had to pay attention to every detail in managing the army. After hearing such a report, he did not take it lightly. He pulled out a piece of paper at hand, wrote down the whole story, and asked the garrisons in various parts of Henan to defend themselves strictly and not let the enemy take advantage of the situation.
Dai Luanxiang was an expert in both writing and communication, and he prided himself on being a Confucian general. He drafted the military order without making any changes, and after taking a quick look at it and finding no mistakes, he handed it to the clerk beside him and asked him to seal it. Then he issued it to various places in Henan using the former general's order.
At the same time, Qiu Yizi, who had broken through the first obstacle, relied on his light weight and fast horse to cross Dengzhou to the south and enter Zhengzhou, Henan in just one day.
Zhengzhou was only two or three hundred miles away from the Dengzhou front line, and it seemed to have nothing to do with the previous confrontation. The air seemed very calm and peaceful.
Qiu Yizhi participated in suppressing the Tianzun Rebellion a few months ago and was very familiar with the terrain of eastern Henan. However, the Tianzun rebels in Zhengzhou at that time were cleared out by his elder brother Zheng Xin and his second brother Zheng Sen. He had only come here once with the King of Youyan to provide disaster relief ten years ago, and his memory had long since faded. Therefore, he was not familiar with the local customs and had to find local peddlers to ask for directions.
However, the damage caused by the Tianzun Rebellion at the beginning of the year was still there, and the common people on the road saw that Qiu Yi and his group looked like bandits coming down from the mountains to rob houses, so they all avoided them and no one came forward to talk to them.
Qiu Yizhi was helpless. Seeing an old farmer on the side of the road who seemed to be unaware of his group of people and was still working in the fields with his back to the sky and his face to the earth, he rode his horse and rushed over. He dismounted and asked the old farmer, "Old man, can I ask you something?"
The old farmer had no reaction and ignored Qiu Yizi completely. He continued to water the wilted vegetables in the field with his head down. The old farmer worked very hard until he saw a pair of riding boots suddenly appear in the vegetable field. He was startled and shouted loudly: "Who are you?! What do you want to do?!"
Qiu Yizi was also startled by the loud shout and said hurriedly: "Sir, please don't shout. I'm here to ask you for directions!"
The old farmer pointed to his ears and said loudly: "Speak louder, I can't hear you!"
Only then did Qiu Yizi realize that the old man was old and hard of hearing, and couldn't hear clearly what he said. He smiled bitterly, bowed and said goodbye to him, and prepared to find another fellow villager to ask for directions.
At this moment, a sturdy man with a carrying pole in his hand came over from a distance, shouting, "Where did these bandits come from? Let my father go!"
Seeing that the man mistook him for a bandit, Qiu Yizi quickly explained: "My dear warrior, please be patient. I am not a bandit from the mountain, but..."
Unexpectedly, the man was very fast and didn't listen to the advice at all. In a blink of an eye, he ran to Qiu Yizi, and before Qiu Yizi could finish his words, he raised the carrying pole and hit Qiu Yizi on the head.
Yuchi Lianghong, who was on horseback protecting him, saw that the man was just an ordinary farmer, so he took out a copper coin from his pocket and hit the man with the carrying pole. The carrying pole was just a crude tool used to carry water and fertilizer, so it could not withstand Yuchi Lianghong's blow and broke into two pieces in an instant.
The man's hands were numb from Yuchi Lianghong's move, and he had no strength in his hands. The remaining half of the carrying pole flew out of his mouth, and he stumbled and fell to the ground.
Seeing this, Qiu Yizi smiled, helped the man up himself, and said, "You are such an impatient farmer. Why did you hit me before I even finished talking?"
The man was helped up by Qiu Yizi, and he patted the mud stuck on his trouser legs and said, "I thought you were bandits from some mountain, coming to rob my father!"
Qiu Yizi covered her mouth and laughed: "So do I look like a bandit when you look at me like this?"
The man looked at Qiu Yizhi and said, "You look like a scholar, not a bandit." Then he pointed at the people riding horses behind Qiu Yizhi and said, "They all have the faces of bandits."
Qiu Yizi looked in the direction of his finger and saw that among the twenty people he brought, except for Yuchi Lianghong who had a gentle face and Zhao Chengxiao who was relatively honest, the other eighteen people looked ferocious. No wonder the farmer made a mistake.
Qiu Yizi couldn't help but burst into laughter and said, "This warrior is right. My brothers are all living in Yunmeng Mountain this year..."
"You see, I was right!" the man interrupted.
Qiu Yizi wondered why this person was so impatient, so she said, "Don't interrupt me, just listen to me first. It's true that they were bandits from Yunmeng Mountain, but they helped Prince Youyan to suppress the evil cult. The prince saw that although they were some grassroots heroes, they didn't do anything harmful, so he took them under his command."
The man finally listened patiently to Qiu Yizi's words, then he suddenly realized: "Oh! I thought so. Prince Youyan is really magnanimous. If it were me, I would have pushed them out of the Meridian Gate and beheaded them based on their looks." He took a breath and added, "That young man must be a military officer under the prince. I'm sorry for my disrespect." After saying that, his knees went weak and he was about to kneel down.
Qiu Yizi quickly reached out to support the man and said to him, "You are a very honest man. You believe whatever I say. What if I lie to you?"
The man waved his hand nonchalantly and said, "So what if you cheat me? I am Wang Laowu, and everyone in this area knows me. I am the poorest man in the world, and you want to rob me or cheat me, but I have nothing to give you! Besides, I am fast, and if you want to kill me, I will run away and you won't be able to catch up with me!"
The man was of medium build, with bright eyes and a stubbled beard. Although his complexion was paler than Zhao Chengxiao's, it was tanned by the sun, and his whole body exuded the honesty and simplicity of a farmer.
Seeing him like this, Qiu Yizi felt a little happy in her heart, and said, "Your name is Wang Laowu, right? I see that your temper is even more impatient than your pace. Let me ask you, if you run away, what will happen to your old father? Will he also run away like you?" (To be continued)