Before dawn, an emergency knock on the door sounded.

The old man stood up, put on his coat, and cursed to open the door. When he opened the door, he was stunned. He saw more than a dozen people in front of him, each standing outside the door with his armour.

Before he could come back to his senses, Zhou Xian stepped forward and said, "Old man, I'm here to test your pigeon."

After feeding the food, tied a circle of different colors of silk threads to each pigeon's feet, put them in different cages, and handed them to different horsemen.

Zhou Xian ordered: "You four, each of you three pigeons, each in four different directions. Put one in every thirty miles until all of them are put."

The four of them bowed and took the order and left.

After half an hour, the first batch of pigeons returned. Before noon, all three batches and twelve pigeons returned.

Zhou Xian smiled and said, "Mr. Liang, your pigeons are well raised." As he said that, he took out a heavy purse from his arms and placed it on the table. "There are fifty taels of silver coins in it, which is considered to be the purchase of all the pigeons you have and your own settlement fee. In addition, from today on, you will help the government raise pigeons, five taels of silver a month. In addition, the place where you live must be changed. There is a big house not far from the military camp, which is very good. They will help you move there."

After walking out of the yard, Zhou Xian handed a cage of pigeons to Ding Keze, "Brother Ding Er, I will give you these twelve carrier pigeons first. If there is any urgent matter, tie the message to the pigeon's legs and let it fly, and it will naturally fly back. This will send the message faster, but it is not perfect. After all, pigeons are not humans, and accidents will inevitably occur during the flight. For example, it is possible that they are caught and roasted and eaten directly. In order to avoid the inability to transmit information, three are placed at the same time. Also, it is important and not very urgent. It is still left to people to ride a horse for rewards."

Ding Keze initially had a resistant to the carrier pigeons, but after seeing their performance, he also changed his mind. They were indeed much faster than humans to transmit intelligence. And if the entire army was promoted, it would save a lot of the trusted soldiers and scouts. "I know, then I'll leave first."

Zhou Xian nodded and sent him out of the city himself.

Li Yan sat next to the fire, reached out to roast the fire, and there were several guards around him.

Li Mei ran from a distance, turned over and dismounted, and said to Li Yan with her fists: "General, after the official army occupied Gaotang Prefecture, he closed the city gates and did not come out again. The scouts sent to Jinan found that the official army had no movement at all. However, in Jining, Tan Shimai sent troops again, attacked several forts and retreated urgently. Apart from that, there was nothing else. The brothers had been ambushing here for three days and nights, and if they waited, they would be discovered by the official army sooner or later. Look, what should we do now?"

Li Yan was silent for a while and smiled faintly: "It seems that Zhou Xian was not fooled. Although he didn't know if it was because of his insufficient troops, he had seen through my plan. In short, he should not be the main attack on Linqing. Let the remaining brothers withdraw from Linqing! You can take people to cover yourself and go to Dingtao as soon as possible."

Li Mei nodded.

Seeing that Li Mei did not leave, Li Yan asked, "General Li Shen, is there anything else?"

Li Mei hesitated for a while and said, "My subordinates don't understand very well. In theory, in Shandong, Linqing's wealth is second only to Jinan, and the city is strong. If you manage it well, you will definitely provide a lot of help to the future King of Chuang enter Shandong. Do you think it's a pity now that you give up voluntarily now?" Li Mei has been a general in Shandong for many years, and most of his trusted subordinates are from Shandong. He said this, he has his own selfishness and does not want to leave Shandong and go to Henan. But more of the doubts about giving up Linqing without fighting.

In fact, Li Yan was also puzzled by this. The war in Nanyang was in full swing. Although Sun Chuanting won several games, is it really necessary to transfer most of Shandong's troops to Henan? He once believed in Niu Jinxing and wanted to convince him, but in the end he returned in vain.

Niu Jinxing's reply mentioned the loss of the army in Nanyang and the loss of food and grass. It is also difficult for gentry from all over the country to be inspired by Sun Chuanting and summoning the village braves to resist the riots, which put Li Yan in great pressure. After all, many generals, including Niu Jinxing, believed that Shandong was not that important, and they were more willing to send their troops to Henan and Shaanxi. In the end, Li Yan compromised. He obeyed Niu Jinxing's instructions and mobilized troops to Henan. But completely giving up Linqing was the decision made by Li Yan himself.

As a surrendered general, Li Mei did not express some of the problems and contradictions of the upper class. Li Yan thought for a moment and decided to persuade him from another perspective. "General Li Gan, after Jining was occupied by the official army, as long as Zhou Xian thought, he could block the connection between the rebel army left behind in Shandong, north and north at any time. Linqing was relatively wealthy and the city was strong, but it could become an isolated city at any time. You have seen the power of Zhou Xian's artillery. If there were 20,000 or 30,000 soldiers, I would definitely not give up Linqing easily. But in this way, there would be fewer soldiers to reinforce the rebel king, and this was the main purpose of this dispatch. Leaving thousands of soldiers could not stop Zhou Xian.

Although it can cause certain losses to the official army, it does not have much significance. I originally thought that before leaving, Linqing should be used as a guide to let Zhou Xian take the initiative to attack in order to defeat Zhou Xian under Linqing City. If it succeeds, Linqing can be maintained. But now he is not deceived, and the war in Nanyang is in urgent need of us to go as soon as possible and we can no longer do other strategies. Leaving more troops will not be able to reinforce the King of Chuang; leaving fewer troops will not be able to defend Linqing. During this period, some people suggested that General Li Gan stay and guard Linqing. But I refused. I think that General Li Gan's ability to lead troops should play a greater role in the King of Chuang."

After hearing this, Li Mei was shocked. Fortunately, Li Yan was not the owner of the rabbit and the dog, otherwise he would be in trouble. Staying in Linqing was only a dead end. "Thank you for your kindness. But I don't know which general suggested that his subordinates stay in Linqing?" Li Mei was not a generous person. When she heard that someone wanted to harm him, she was so angry that she asked unconsciously.

Li Yan shook his head, "You don't need to know this. Moreover, it's not a big deal, it's just a proposal. General Li, I'll go to Nanyang first. After you withdraw the Linqing defenders back to Dingtao, you will also lead the army to go. The King of Chuang valued the use of talents. As long as you make great contributions this time, the King of Chuang will definitely be used for you. A man is determined to be in all directions, so don't be too limited to Shandong."
Chapter completed!