Chapter 279: Little Wine, Many Guests

Song Jiang's troops numbered tens of thousands of people, and it took a long time for them to prepare for the march, but after they set out they were not slow at all. They cut roads through mountains and built bridges over rivers, and they hardly delayed their journey.

Li Ying was traveling with dozens of his clansmen. Although their marching speed was faster than that of the army, they were not as easy to handle emergencies as the army.

We left Dulonggang at the end of the year and arrived in Puyang on the fifth day of the first lunar month.

Li Ying originally planned to cross the river here, then take the route through Xiangzhou, Cizhou, and enter Luzhou through Fengyue Pass, but plans could not keep up with changes.

Last summer, when the Jin army retreated, in order to prevent the Song army from following and harassing them, they burned civilian boats after crossing the river. As a result, only one in ten ferry boats survived in the Kaide Prefecture section of the Yellow River.

The remaining ferrymen were so busy in the second half of the year that they planned to close their boats and take a break during the cold winter. The ferry business on the river was almost paralyzed.

Li Ying waited in Puyang for several days, and even after asking people to pay more, he still couldn't find a boatman. He had no choice but to go upstream to find a ferry. Later, he found a ferry in the Weizhou section and finally crossed to the north bank of the Yellow River.

The shortest route from Weizhou to Weisheng should be Baixing, which is also the route taken by Nianhan. However, the road is slippery and icy in winter. If you are unlucky enough to encounter heavy snow and the mountain is blocked, the 200-mile journey will be delayed for more than a month.

Li Ying did not dare to take his people on the adventure, so he could only go around the outside of Taihang Mountain and head north, and enter the country through Fengyue Pass.

The tribesmen include both old and young, and they cannot work without sleep like soldiers. They have to stop and stay in a hotel to rest every day. In order not to miss their destination, they usually do not rest until dark.

Li Ying took a detour and stopped frequently, and finally arrived in Weisheng in the late first lunar month.

Due to the deployment of the Sparrow Army, Li Ying appeared in Xiangzhou and was discovered by Gu Dasao's men.

When Yang Chang learned that Li Ying was coming to surrender, he sent Du Xing to Fengyue Pass to greet him. After that, when he passed through Shexian, Licheng, and Xiangyuan, people had made preparations for the reception in advance.

Li Ying watched it silently, and compared to himself who was deceived into going to Liangshan, Yang Chang’s simplicity was touching.

After entering the city, Du Xing helped him settle his family, and Lu Junyi led him to the Taiwei Mansion.

Song Jiang used despicable means to lure people to the mountain, so he was very polite to Li Ying in Liangshan and always treated him as an elder brother. However, when he arrived at the Weisheng Taiwei Mansion, he bowed to Yang Chang.

"Li Ying has been so slow in coming to surrender, I beg the Grand Commandant to forgive me."

"Ah this."

The incident happened so suddenly that even Lu Junyi did not expect it.

Yang Chang was also confused at the time, but his body reacted faster than his brain, and he quickly supported Li Ying.

"Master Li, please get up! This is too much courtesy!"

“No.”

Li Ying had a serious look on his face. He wanted to kneel but couldn't get rid of Yang Chang's divine power. So he explained with empty eyes: "This is the etiquette for recognizing the master."

"Yang Chang already understands the owner's intention, but I don't like kneeling. Just stand and clasp your fists."

"I listen to the commander."

"That's right." Yang Chang helped Li Ying up and asked with a smile, "Master, you have been traveling a long way. I would like to arrange a welcoming banquet for you tomorrow. Is that okay with you?"

"It's all up to the commander. By the way, before I left Dulonggang, Song Jiang sent Dai Zong..."

Li Ying told Yang Chang, Lu Junyi and others everything about Song Jiang's appointment as the Recruiting Envoy of Four States and Dai Zong's slip of the tongue that the Jin army would move south.

After hearing this, Yang Chang frowned and said nothing. Lu Junyi immediately scolded him angrily: "Song Jiang dares to come to attack Zezhou? Who gave him the courage? I will beat him to death!"

"Brother, don't get excited."

Chai Jin took over to appease the enemy, frowning and analyzing, "Nianhan couldn't even break into Zezhou, but he sent Song Jiang to attack? I'm afraid that these four state recruiting envoys are just Zhao Gou's wishful thinking, or maybe he has some other scheme?"

"Plan? What plan can there be?"

Lu Junyi shook his head disapprovingly, grinning and clenching his fists and snorting: "In a fight, it depends on who has the harder fists. In a war, it depends on the strength of the soldiers and horses, the bravery of the generals, and the logistics. I'm afraid that Wu Yong can't even fool me with those tricks, so how can he fool General Yang?"

"This"

Chai Jin was speechless.

In fact, he didn't know that the reason why Lu Junyi, who was boasting in front of him, ended up miserably in Hebei was because he was secretly plotted against by Wu Yong.

"Including Zezhou in the campaign is equivalent to pushing us to Zhao Huan. Will this be good for Zhao Gou and Song Jiang? I'm afraid it's not Wu Yong's plan."

"That is."

After listening to Yang Chang's analysis, Lu Junyi immediately realized that he was being arbitrary, and Li Ying, who had just arrived, also actively joined the discussion.

“Could it be related to the Jin people?”

"Golden man?"

Lu Junyi was shocked when he heard this, and his expression became excited again: "Captain, Brother Li is right. The reason why I was defeated in Hebei was because Song Jiang conspired with the Jin people. We must be on guard!"

"Ah."

Yang Chang nodded in affirmation and murmured, "The Jin people supported Zhao Gou to become emperor, and now Zhao Gou is returning the favor. I'm afraid that the next time the Jin people go south, they will mainly target us. Song Jiang is just an appetizer."

"hiss"

Chai Jin took a deep breath, frowned and said worriedly: "Although we have the advantage of location, if the Jin people and Zhao Gou join forces to seize Hedong, the situation will definitely be very bad."

"What are you afraid of?"

Lu Junyi patted his chest and said solemnly: "When the enemy comes, we will stop them with our generals and when the water comes, we will block it with earth. It's not like we haven't defeated the Jin soldiers before. General, I am willing to be the vanguard when the time comes."

"I also."

Li Ying didn't finish his words. Seeing Yang Chang frowning, he opened his mouth to answer, but then stopped abruptly.

"Master Chai is right. I am confident that we can defeat one group of troops. We can also send people to contain the other two groups. If several groups of troops attack each point at the same time, once a certain point is breached by the enemy, I am afraid there will be big trouble."

"What should I do?"

"Let's figure it out first. The situation may not be that serious. Besides, the ice and snow haven't melted yet, so it's not the right time to start a war. We still have time to deploy."

"That's good"

Yang Chang appeared calm on the surface, but he did not dare to relax at all in his heart.

After the welcoming banquet ended the next day, this guy was so anxious that he didn't want to ride a horse, but asked Zhao Fujin to take him on a journey. His inner anxiety was obvious.

Wu Song had just finished inspecting various states, and Yang Chang was now "looking back", with the first stop being the southernmost Zezhou.

Zezhou in the first month of the year is still shrouded in severe cold.

The people hid in their homes to keep warm, and military camps across the country stopped training. Only the border outposts at Taihangxing and Baixing remained, and they continued to patrol the border every day.

Among them, the Baixing Road is difficult to travel in winter, and no travelers have passed by for two months. The Taihangxing Road connecting Zezhou and Huaizhou is also rarely visited by people in the first month of the year.

When Yang Chang and his wife arrived in Jincheng, Lin Chong still didn't know the movements of Song Jiang's army.

So when they met at the government office, he smiled and joked, "There are less than twenty days left until the reunion with Weisheng next month. Why did the Grand Commandant come to Zezhou in person? Are you afraid that I can't spare the time? Are you here on purpose to urge me? Don't worry, I will not be absent from such an important occasion."

"Oh?"

When Yang Chang saw that Lin Chong was so sure of what he said, he didn't react for a moment. He even complained in his heart that Lin Chong didn't like to join in the fun, and now he has such a close relationship with his second brother?

Zhao Fujin was surprised after hearing this. He looked at Yang Chang curiously and asked, "Didn't you say that you would give Second Brother a surprise and tell him the day before? How come Manager Lin also knew about it?"

"I do not know"

Yang Chang shook his head and turned to look at Lin Chong stupidly, as if he wanted him to explain.

Seeing this, Lin Chong smiled awkwardly and said, "Brother Wu didn't know either. I guessed it myself. The commander won't blame me for being nosy, right?" "No, I won't."

Yang Chang shook his head and sighed, "I was very surprised to marry the third wife. My second brother only told me the truth the day before. I was planning to surprise him, but I didn't expect my brother to be so smart."

"You are too kind, General. I am just lucky." Lin Chong was halfway through being polite when he suddenly realized something was wrong and quickly changed the subject to ask, "These two things are completely different. There is no point in hiding this from Brother Wu."

"What's the difference? Yang Lang didn't look down on the third sister. He married her in a formal ceremony."

"Ah?" Zhao Fujin's sudden words made Lin Chong's head buzz. "Second Madam, are we talking about the same thing? The Grand Commandant?"

"What did you guess, brother? I was planning to marry my second brother off, so I asked him to notify everyone in person, but now..."

"what!"

Lin Chong interrupted Yang Chang and slapped his forehead in annoyance, saying, "The last time the Grand Commandant came to Zezhou, he told me that the trend of separatism was already formed. I thought you wanted to establish yourself as king, so I asked Brother Wu to notify the brothers in other states and then put the yellow robe on the Grand Commandant."

"Are you wearing a yellow robe?"

Yang Chang shook his head with a bitter face, "This kind of allusion cannot be used carelessly. Now is different from the time of Taizu. It makes no difference whether or not to wear the yellow robe. On the contrary, it will cause trouble."

"Ah? How could that happen?"

"To fight for supremacy in troubled times, one should build high walls, store up abundant food, and slowly declare oneself king. Right now, the imperial court in Tokyo is friendly to me. If I choose to declare myself king, how can I get saltpeter from Jiezhou? How can I make cannons without gunpowder?"

"me."

Lin Chong hesitated and stammered, wishing he could slap himself, thinking, "Why are you guessing so randomly? You almost made a big mistake for the general."

"Brother, don't blame yourself. There are many brothers who think like you. They may not want to become high officials, but to prove that they are not following the wrong people. However, fighting for the world is not a joke. Some things cannot be rushed. Don't care too much about other people's views."

"I see."

"correct."

Yang Chang did not dwell on this matter any longer, and changed the subject by asking, "Brother, do you know that Song Jiang was appointed by Zhao Gou as the Recruiting Envoy of Xiang, Wei, Huai, and Ze Prefectures? He should have led his troops across the Yellow River by now."

"Xiang, Wei, Huai, Ze? Why is there Zezhou?"

Lin Chong looked puzzled.

Yang Chang was just about to answer him when he noticed someone outside the house breathing rapidly and approaching the yamen lobby quickly.

Turning around, I saw a military officer standing at the door, clasping his fists and shouting, "Reporting to Chief Lin, more than a hundred defeated soldiers appeared at Tianjing Pass, claiming to be the Huaizhou garrison troops, asking for your instructions on whether to let them pass?"

"Huaizhou garrison? Could it really be Song Jiang?"

Lin Chong was so shocked that he gulped. He saw Yang Chang nodded in affirmation, so he couldn't help asking, "I just got the information now, and I haven't asked in detail yet. How can the general predict the future?"

"No, this is what Li Ying told me."

When Yang Chang revealed that Li Ying had surrendered and explained the information he brought, Lin Chong suddenly understood.

"When Song Jiang captured the city, he liked to send people to sneak in as an insider. These hundred soldiers may be a trick."

"Go to Tianjing Pass immediately and issue an order to arrest all the soldiers who surrender."

"slow!"

Yang Chang stretched out his hand to interrupt Lin Chong and reminded him sternly: "Before you find out their identities, don't make a big fuss, otherwise those who come to surrender will hesitate to come forward."

"I am anxious. So, first issue an order to allow entry but not exit, and then secretly monitor the surrender, and then secretly investigate whether they are spies?"

"That's the best. Remember not to neglect Baixing. Zezhou only has these two attack points."

"I'll do the work, don't worry."

Lin Chong patted his chest as a guarantee, and then added: "By the way, are we just passively defending? Should we take the initiative after the spring comes?"

"Guard the pass well and do not move lightly."

Yang Chang came closer and reminded him in a deep voice: "Brother, you just defeated Nianhan. Song Jiang shouldn't be so foolish. As the saying goes, one person can't do anything. I guess he has other helpers."

"Golden man?"

"This is the only possibility. I will not send more troops to Zezhou for the time being. It will be a great achievement if you can hold on to it, brother."

"Ah."

Lin Chong nodded seriously.

Yang Chang had something on his mind, so he stayed in Jincheng for a day and then went to Lingchuan. He planned to inspect every stronghold under his jurisdiction to ensure that there were no safety hazards.

Lin Chong could not keep up with the magic speed, so naturally he could not travel with Yang Chang. So he asked Wen Huanzhang to catch up on horseback so that he could help Lu Zhishen defend Lingchuan.

On the first day of February, Yang Chang left Lingchuan and headed north to Luzhou, preparing to go straight to Fengyue Pass to deploy defenses personally.

On the way, we passed Licheng and saw the troops being mobilized.

Upon asking, they found out that they were following the order of General Sun Li to gather in She County in the east.

It’s only the beginning of February and the Jin people are already attacking?

Yang Chang felt nervous and urged Zhao Fujin to hurry on his journey. Finally, they met Sun Li in She County.

"The Jin people are really coming?"

"Well, according to Sparrow's intelligence, Talai has arrived at Wu'an, Cizhou, with a vanguard of 10,000 troops."

"It's him again! You reacted quickly, which is good."

"You are too kind, Commander. It was all thanks to the intelligence from the Sparrow Army and the reminder from my sister-in-law. By the way, she went up to Weisheng to report the news and just missed you."

Seeing Sun Li's humble response, Yang Chang nodded with satisfaction and told him to guard Fengyue Pass, and Weisheng would send reinforcements depending on the situation.

Zezhou's opponent is Song Jiang, and Luzhou's opponent should be Erlido. Based on this, it can be inferred that Nianhan will definitely attack from Taiyuan, and then all states will start fighting in full swing.

Yang Chang could not stay in Luzhou for long. After meeting Sun Li, he hurried back to Weisheng and also had to rush to Liaozhou and Pingbei to give instructions one by one.

On the way back to Weisheng, a cold wind blew in my face.

Zhao Fujin had the [Armor Technique] to block the wind, while Yang Changze relied on his face to resist it. Unfortunately, the frosty wind whistled on his cheeks like hitting an iron plate.

Yang Chang originally wanted to transfer Lu Junyi to Fengyue Pass to assist in the battle, so that he could then cooperate with Yan Qing again to repel the enemy. However, thinking that Sun Li had never had a chance to show his abilities and was now conscientiously setting up defenses, he sent Gu Dasao and Le He to assist.

The big cards cannot be defeated at the beginning of the game. Nianhan in Taiyuan is also a formidable opponent. So Yang Chang left Lu Junyi alone and planned to inspect the entire defense before making any deployment.

Yang Chang stayed in Weisheng for only one day before he hurried to Liaozhou with Zhao Fujin. But on the way out of the city, they passed by the Yijia Division and the couple walked in at the same time, both wanting to see the dragon robe that Lin Chong had mentioned.

Hou Jian didn't know that Lin Chong had 'leaked the secret'. He took out the nearly finished wedding dress with a smile and said, "This wedding dress will be finished in two or three days. I wonder whose daughter is getting married? Why did the Grand Marshal and his wife pay personal attention to it?"

"I'll treat you then. By the way, the wedding may have to be postponed. You should hurry up and sew a more formal one. This one feels a bit ordinary."

"Okay, I've been busy with the armor department lately, so I didn't make it too complicated."

Hou Jian lowered his head and swallowed hard, thinking that the pressure of hiding the truth for Wu Song was too great, and now he couldn't even complete the task assigned by the general. So he timidly asked again: "The general is not satisfied with the wedding dress, so he wants to change the wedding date?"

"No, I only prepared one table of wine, but too many guests suddenly came, so I had to postpone it."

"Ah? A table?"

(End of this chapter)