At the end of February, the Holy Lord issued an order to pardon a large number of military commanders led by Yuwen Shu for the need of the Second Eastern Expedition, allowing them to return to the Guard Palace to lead the army, and asked them to make a contribution to the battlefield of the Second Eastern Expedition.

This imperial edict shows that in order to win the Second Eastern Expedition, the Holy Lord had to compromise with the military at the critical moment when the Second Eastern Expedition was about to begin. The most direct impact of this compromise was that it severely damaged the authority of the Holy Lord and the Central.

The Eastern Expedition was defeated and 200,000 soldiers were killed. This responsibility must be borne by someone. In order to maintain their authority, the Holy Lord and the Central Committee have already made the military bear this responsibility, they must stick to it to the end, not compromise and concessions, not change orders every day, and not slap themselves in the mouth. However, the situation is not the case with others. Whether the Second Eastern Expedition can be won is not the strategy of the Holy Lord and the Central Committee, but whether the military commanders are willing to serve them. As a result, today's "political disaster" has affected the political situation of the Dongdu to a fatal point.

At the same time, the Holy Lord ordered King Yang Nan of Qi to order him to suppress the thieves within a time limit to ensure the stability of the situation in Qilu and ensure that the Donglai Navy could cross the sea as scheduled.

He also ordered the Hebei master Cui Hongsheng to investigate the arrest of the master. While he was prosecuting the General of the Left Wu Guard, he also prosecuted the Hejian Prefect and took charge of the military and political power in Hebei. He ordered him to suppress the bandits within a specified period of time and ordered him to take into account the security of Hebei to ensure that the Yongji Canal was unobstructed during the Second Eastern Expedition. Now the Hebei rebellion is mainly concentrated in southern Hebei, but there are also heroes in northern Hebei who are ready to move, especially the Taihang Mountain bandits, which frequently operate between Youyan, Heng, Hebei and Shanxi, which has led to the increasing tension in the situation in this area.

King Yang Nan of Qi decisively ended the military operation to encircle Mengshan and instead concentrated his main force to advance towards Qi County.

Li Fengyun had already received a reply from Wang Bo, and was a little surprised. Although he expected that the Hebei people were very cautious about going south, he did not expect that even though they were cautious, the heroes of Hebei were extremely confident and did not take Zhang Xutuo seriously at all. But thinking about it, so far, Zhang Xutuo defeated Wang Bo and Meng Rang and other few Changbai Mountain rebel leaders, and they had not been invincible in Henan and were invincible between Qi and Lu, so it was expected that Hebei people looked down on him.

But this made Li Fengyun cheaper. He didn't need to continue to attack Licheng to lure Hebei people to go south. King Yang Nan of Qi began to advance towards Qi County, so Li Fengyun decisively withdrew his troops, and tens of thousands of troops retreated overnight to Yu Jingjing.

As soon as the alliance army retreated, only Changbaishan rebels and Beihai rebels were left outside Licheng City. This was equivalent to telling Zhang Xutuo in the city that King Yang Na of Qi came, forcing Li Fengyun to turn back and fight with King Yang Na of Qi.

Zhang Xutuo did not leave the city because Li Fengyun retreated too seriously, which clearly showed that there was a trap outside the city, and the trap was nothing more than luring Zhang Xutuo out of the city. Then the Hebei thieves took the opportunity to attack, and the three rebels carried out attacks and annihilated them in the wilderness outside the city.

As for King Yang Nan of Qi, Zhang Xutuo did not believe that he would kill Li Fengyun at all. It was a very simple thing. If King Yang Nan of Qi was at the cost of suppressing him, could Li Fengyun withdraw from the Central Plains without any injuries? Later, he could still calmly defeat Liang Dezhong in Xuzhou and wipe out all the troops? There must be "filth" between these two, one openly and one secretly, and Li Fengyun took the opportunity to grow and grow, while King Yang of Qi took the opportunity to expand his strength and each gain his own profits. Therefore, Zhang Xutuo did not ask for help from King Yang of Qi from beginning to end. Of course, King Qi was exiled by the Holy Lord in disguise and lost the qualification of the heir of the imperial throne, which was also one of the important reasons why Zhang Xutuo was unwilling to contact King Qi, and was worried that he would be accidentally implicated by the unlucky King of Qi.

Zhang Xutuo secretly sent a messenger to Donglai as quickly as possible to ask the navy for help.

At this moment, the navy chief Lai Hu'er had not come back yet, but the deputy chief Zhou Fashang was back. It took Hu'er to Jianghuai to recruit Yingyangwei and recruit brave men. It took time and traveled by land, so it was slower. Zhou Fashang went to Jiangnan to directly recruit warships and sailors. They were all established teams to directly allocate naval forces, which was quick and convenient. After completing the task, sailed along the sea road and quickly returned to Donglai.

Zhang Xutuo came up with a plan to suppress the thieves and sought Zhou Fashang's opinions.

Zhang Xutuo had a very big appetite and planned to eat three at a time. Not only did he eat Li Fengyun's rebel alliance, Changbai Mountain and Beihai rebels, but also Hebei rebels. For this reason, he decided to take risks and take the initiative to jump into the trap set by the rebels, first go out of the city to chase Changbai Mountain and Beihai rebels, and at the same time lure the Hebei rebels into the battlefield of Qijun, and earnestly achieve one battle and solve all problems in one battle.

However, if you want to complete this strategy, there are two prerequisites. First, the Donglai Navy must quietly enter the battlefield of Qi County, cut off the retreat of the Hebei rebel army, and then attack Zhang Xutuo from the south. Only in this way can the official army have the strength to wipe out the three rebel army of Changbai Mountain, Beihai and Hebei; secondly, King Yang Nan of Qi must do his best to hold Li Fengyun back and prevent Li Fengyun from having any chance to join the battlefield of Qi County. Only in this way can the official army ensure the advantage of the military strength on the decisive battlefield. In addition, King Yang Nan of Qi takes advantage of the opportunity to enter, and take advantage of the official army when it is exhausted, and suddenly takes the opportunity to control Qilu.

Zhou Fashang invited Cui Junsu. The two of them discussed repeatedly, and they both felt that Zhang Xutuo's strategy was practical. If they could achieve their goals in one battle, it would not only help stabilize the situation in Qilu, but also help the navy to cross the sea for a long expedition. However, the first condition is easy to meet, and the second condition is difficult. Who can "command" King Yang Nan of Qi? Who dares to publicly confront the King Yang Nan of Qi?

"Duke Qiao, if the navy wants to attack quietly and enter the river waterway without knowing it, he must hide it from Duke Jianchang (Li Zixiong)?" Cui Junsu said bluntly.

Li Zixiong was a native noble of Guanlong and a supporter of King Yang Nan of Qi. Yang Nan took advantage of the opportunity to suppress the rebellion outside and expanded his power to Henan and Xuzhou. The next thing was Qilu. Although there is no evidence so far that King Yang Nan of Qi and the white-haired thief Li Fengyun, the "tactic understanding" between the two sides is obvious to all, and this "tactic understanding" will obviously endanger the situation of the battle between Qi County. Therefore, it is natural that Li Zixiong cannot know the secrets of the battle between Qi County.

"Where will the plan come out?" Zhou Fashang asked.

"Let him support Zhang Xutuo by land." Cui Junsu said, "The only excuse is the most appropriate."

Zhou Fashang nodded slightly, "How about two thousand men?"

Cui Junsu shook his hand decisively, "Duke Jianchang is a general of a hundred battles. Give him two thousand troops, which is enough to subvert the entire Qi County battle." Then Cui Junsu stretched out two fingers, "Give him two regiments, which is enough."

Two groups? Four hundred people? Zhou Fashang smiled bitterly. Didn’t you openly slap Li Zixiong in the face and insult Li Zixiong? You might as well tell him directly that the navy is my territory. Get out of here and talk about the old-fashioned figures like Li Zixiong. You can see through the mystery at a glance, and you can immediately guess that the navy will support Zhang Xutuo with its main force.

"You are not deceiving Mr. Jianchang, but you are telling him publicly that we are going to support Zhang Xutuo."

Cui Junsu sneered and asked, "Don't Qiao Gong think that Duke Jianchang is so confused. If you give him two thousand troops, he will not guess our true intentions?"

Zhou Fashang thought it was true, what kind of person is Li Zixiong? Can you hide such clumsy tricks from him? If you don’t do it well, you will humiliate yourself, and you are not a person in the middle and outside. From this point of view, Cui Junsu planned to take this opportunity to tear off his face and publicly drive Li Zixiong out of the navy. But in this way, it doesn’t matter if you offend King Yang Nan of Qi, because you are afraid that it is difficult to explain in front of the Holy Lord.

Cui Junsu saw Zhou Fashang's hesitation and immediately said with a pun, "Donald Qiao should know under what circumstances did the Holy Lord re-employ Duke Jianchang."

Zhou Fashang nodded and understood it. Li Zixiong was a respected conservative in the court. It was not the wish of the Holy Lord to re-appoint such a prominent conservative and powerful person, but was forced to do so, and a political compromise. In other words, as long as the Holy Lord found an opportunity, he would still defeat this stubborn conservative without hesitation.

Zhou Fashang understood Cui Junsu's intention. It must be the Holy Lord who was happy to see what he accomplished when he drove Li Zixiong out of the navy. After Li Zixiong got out of the navy, he would definitely go to join King Yang Nan of Qi. Once he helped King Yang Nan of Qi control Qi Lu, he would offend the Holy Lord again. It would be difficult for Li Zixiong to die. On the contrary, if he failed to help King Yang Nan of Qi control Qi Lu, his behavior of helping King Yang Nan of Qi could not be forgiven by the Holy Lord, and Li Zixiong would still be in trouble.

However, as Cui Junsu said, Li Zixiong is a general of many battles, with outstanding civil and military skills, and is one of the most famous generals in the Middle Earth. If such a person arrives on the battlefield of Qi County, it is easy to turn the world around. If someone accidentally turns the market over and overturns it, wouldn’t it be a loss for him?

"Zhang Xutuo is too worried. He is not afraid of squeezing three thieves in one bite, and he is not afraid of being able to hold on?" Zhou Fashang spoke out to see what Cui Junsu thought, and whether he even brought down King Yang Nan of Qi.

"Zhang Xutuo is arrogant and with his strength, he needs the support of the navy to eat both thieves, let alone eat three." Cui Junsu sneered, "Tell him that after Li Zixiong went to the battlefield in Qijun, don't expect to eat three more, and focus all his energy on eating two more."

Zhou Fashang frowned slightly, "If he carelessly underestimates the enemy and disagrees with our warnings, don't say that he will eat twice, I'm afraid he won't be able to save himself."

"The King of Qi is now a plague god that everyone avoids. Zhang Xutuo should be very clear about this and will not have any improper thoughts." Cui Junsu said, "We warn you that as long as he takes a little care, he can guess our true intentions."

Zhou Fashang smiled and agreed with him. What is the real intention? It is just to use this opportunity to confirm the secret of the collusion between King Yang Nan and the white-haired thief. In this way, the Holy Lord can take back the King of Qi's military power and recall the King of Qi back to the Dongdu, which will eliminate some people's thoughts and to a certain extent can also help the Holy Lord stabilize the political situation of the Dongdu.
Chapter completed!