The day was getting hotter and hotter, and the gatekeepers on the gate tower of Dongpingling City in Jinan gathered in groups of three or two, showing no energy.
There was only one doorman holding a halberd, wearing armor and sweating profusely, but he was still meticulously patrolling downstairs.
Suddenly, a red car and more than a dozen guards appeared at the end of the road.
The day was so hot that the heat on the ground made the road look distorted. Several gatekeepers thought they were dizzy from the heat. Only the armored gatekeeper was smart and got up quickly to inform the city gate captain.
Several other door officials were slow to respond, and they could only feel jealous of this person in their hearts.
This team came from Kyoto in a disciplined manner. They entered the Dongping Tomb with the order of Liu Hong, the city gate captain, bowing down.
Three moments later, they came out again, with a chariot behind them and one person imprisoned.
The city gate captain took a closer look and was shocked. The reason was that this man happened to be the Prime Minister of Jinan, Feng Chang.
At this time, Feng Chang looked sluggish and paused in the prison car, his eyes full of disbelief, as if he was saying, how could Liu Yao interfere with me given my status?
Indeed, although Liu Yao was a son of the public family and had only served for a short time, how could he defeat a two-thousand-stone official like him? But the result would be different if there was one more person.
Liu Kang, the king of Jinan who was in Beijing at the time, also took action.
After learning that his young master had been assassinated in Ma Shi, he probably guessed that it was Xiang Xiang of Jinan who did it. Out of resentment, he sealed the Changli Kingdom and filed a lawsuit against the country illegally for many years.
The emperor was furious and ordered his ministers to be disciplined, dismiss them from their posts, and drive into the court.
Soon, the news of Feng Chang's dismissal spread throughout Dongpingling, and the whole people rushed to tell each other, and everyone in the city and countryside burst into tears. However, a mansion in the city was looking gloomy at the moment.
It was Tang Zhou and his confidants who were in the house. He looked to the west and murmured:
Since Zhang Chong issued the summons order three days ago, all the villages scattered in various places have gradually gathered at Zhang Chong's Dazhai.
This year, although Zhang Chong was struggling in Taishan, his core parts were constantly expanding.
Thanks to the support of the children in his hometown and the military tribes that absorbed the surrounding mountain people from shantytowns and subdivisions, Zhang Chong now has 400 soldiers, which is a good example.
With more people, the original generals were naturally expanded. With Xi Shen and Xie Bi, Zhang Chong now had a total of six garrison generals, each leading fifty troops.
They are Chen Huan, Heifu, Ding Sheng, Li Damu, Xi Shen and Zhang Dan.
In addition, Zhang Chong's own troops include Yang Mao in the troops, Tian Jun in the cavalry, and Ren Yun in the guards. Each of the troops has warriors to choose the front, which can be said to be strong generals and elite troops.
The reason why everyone couldn't defeat the people of Mount Tai before was not because they didn't have enough fighting power, but because they were not good at mountain fighting.
These mountain people are familiar with the geography, and they are as comfortable walking on flat ground as they climb mountains. Often Zhang Chong leads his troops to attack at the front, only to be attacked at the back of the formation.
Moreover, after the mountain people knew that Zhang Chong and others had extraordinary fighting prowess, they no longer fought head-on and began to engage in guerrilla warfare with constant harassment, which made Zhang Chong and others miserable.
But today is different from the past. Now Zhang Chong has found a way to defeat the people of Mount Tai.
At this time, in the hall of the stronghold, all the generals were listening attentively to Zhang Chong's military strategy. They saw Zhang Chong lying on the ground, making a mountain out of rice, and he could see all the peaks of Mount Tai.
Zhang Chong said:
"Look, everyone, the Taishan Mountain we are in now is not just Mount Taishan, but the entire mountainous area that stretches across Qingyanxuzhou.
It probably has the Taishan Mountain Stream, the Mengshan Mountain System, the Yishan Mountain System, and the Culai Mountain. It can be said that the surrounding area is covered with mountainous areas for thousands of miles.
I estimate that there are no less than hundreds of thousands of mountain people living in this mountainous area, and if we can subdue these mountain people and recruit their bravery into an army, great things can be expected.
Now after more than a year of continuously absorbing the surrounding mountain people, we have roughly sorted out the situation of nearby forces.
First let’s talk about the ones near Dazhai.
Our Dazhai is sitting near Wangzhou Peak, the easternmost peak among the peaks of Mount Tai. After more than a year of bloody battles and the capture and killing of six Shanju, we finally stood firm here.
So what other mountain gatherings are around us?
If we talk about it in detail, no one can say how many peaks and caves there are in Mount Tai. But there are a few important ones.
The first is Wangqin Feng to the west of us. The Kui surnamed Gongsun here in Shanju is said to be the descendant of Gongsun Ju who rebelled twenty years ago. We don’t know how many of them there are specifically.
Then there is Wangwu Peak to our south. We don’t know who is the leader of the mountain gathering here or how many people there are.
But in Diaotiao Mountain to the southeast of us, we met old acquaintances there.
I learned from Xu He from Qingzhou Road that the person who occupies this place is Zhang Suo, the second son of our beloved Zhang Tiehu. I didn’t expect their family to have such a skill."
As soon as he heard Zhang Suo, the second son of Zhang Hong, a poem about Diaotun Mountain, Duman's eyes lit up while he was sitting next to him. He and Zhang Chong looked at each other, and everything was lost in words.
Then Zhang Chong continued:
"We have suffered a lot in this year's fighting in the mountains. I can sum it up in three points:
First, I don’t know the geography. Although we are all people from the vicinity of Mount Tai, few of us have actually made a living in Mount Tai, let alone know the geography of Mount Tai.
On the second day, there is a shortage of grain and millet. As the number of our troops increases, relying solely on the thin fields in the mountains will not help us. We can only go out to collect grain, which causes us internal and external difficulties.
On the third day, the strategy is not clear. This is actually caused by the second point. For more than a year, we have been blindly gathering with the surrounding mountains and doing it without touching it. It's not that I don't know, but we don't have enough food.
But now, I have become a disciple of Mr. Taiping Taoist. My master taught me the six-section staff and allowed the nearby Taiping Taoists to send us food and equipment. From now on, I no longer have any worries.
It can be said that at this point, we can already change our strategy.
From now on, we need to attract more people from the surrounding mountains, pacify the people, and suppress the fierce and stubborn people. And the first Shanju I have decided to kill is this person."
As he spoke, Zhang Chong pointed heavily at the pile of rice representing Zhang Suo.
Afterwards, all the generals stood up and responded, and then they went to prepare their troops for battle.
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Fifty miles away, there is Diaotiao Mountain.
Zhang Suo was frowning and thinking, when a soldier rushed in carrying a square flag, announcing that the great man had entered the mountain.
Zhang Suo was irritated, but it was his eldest brother who went up the mountain or walked out of the village gate to greet him.
In front of the stockade gate, Zhang Qiuzheng directed his servants to move grain, fodder, and wine into the stockade wall.
After more than a year, his bun has grown out, but compared with the long hair he has had since childhood, it is naturally much inferior.
Since that day when he was sacrificed to Sun Kun, he went to work as the pavilion chief and concentrated on training the troops at home. In fact, he became more capable in training the troops who looked fierce at first.
At this moment, Zhang Qiuzheng and Qing Nu were talking:
"Qingnu, are you sure that the news is true?"
Qing Nu is a powerful warrior who lost the sword competition with Ji Sun before. After more than a year of hard training, his sword skills are now different from what they used to be.
Qing Nu heard the question from Dalang Jun and responded quickly:
"Da Lang, this is undeniable. How dare Zhang Zhen lie to me? He said he met Zhang Gouzi's third brother more than a year ago. The man went to Jian Geng and said he was killed by water bandits. But strangely It’s strange that that man is still alive.”
Zhang Qiu nodded and asked again:
"Then tell me, is the waiter of the Zhang family dead?"
Now Qing Nu was not sure, and Zhang Zhi didn't say anything, so it was not easy for him to talk nonsense.
Before Qingnu could organize, Zhang Qiu said:
"It doesn't matter. It's dispensable anyway. Let's not mention him. By the way, Wang Zhoufeng's team named General Shi, have you found out clearly?"
Qingnu quickly told Zhang Qiu what he had learned during this period.
"Dalang, no one knows the real name of General Shi. From some mountain people, we only know that this man is brave and fierce, and he is a fierce general. Within a year since entering the mountain, he has taken the lead in every battle and has destroyed six or seven famous settlements in the mountain. .
Some time ago, the shantytowns in the mountains came to Wangqin Peak to find Gongsun Dakui, saying that they would unite and destroy this official together."
Zhang Qiu was still asking, but at this time his brother Zhang Suo had already walked over, so he stopped talking.
Zhang Qiu put on a smile and stepped forward, holding his brother Zhang Suo's arm, and exchanged pleasantries.
Zhang Suo asked people to put all the grain, grain and wine sent from home into the warehouse, and then took Zhang Qiu into the hall.
Along the way, Zhang Qiu smiled and talked about things at home, but when Zhang Suo kept ignoring him, he changed the subject and was about to ask how things were going in the village.
Zhang Suo said in disgust:
"How are you doing now, old man? Stop playing like a servant all day long. It's only a day that you can live longer."
The old man, referring to his father Zhang Hong, does not know how father and son became such enemies.
Zhang Qiu looked straight and scolded his younger brother:
"What an old man, this is our father, how dare you say such a thing."
Seeing Zhang Qiu acting like an elder brother, Zhang Suo let out a sigh:
"Zhang Qiu, please don't come here and do this to me. Who are you? I don't know. I am such a happy person in the mountains. Why don't you pretend to be respectful to me?"
Zhang Qiu's anger flashed across his face, and he regained his strength and felt joyful, holding his brother in his arms:
"Don't say this, don't say this, let's not get so angry between the two of us."
Unexpectedly, Zhang Suo lost his temper, threw away Zhang Qiu's hand, and cursed:
"My Zhang family has always been divided between light and dark, but why can you be the eldest son of the Zhang family in Licheng, with rich clothes and fine food, while I can only be left in the mountains, exposed to the rain and wind, just called a 'mountain ghost'
's name.
Bah, what a mountain ghost, my name is Zhang Suo, Zhang Suo from the Zhang family."
Zhang Suo said this while smashing everything he saw.
The thieves outside heard the sound and rushed in immediately, but when they saw that Kui was losing his temper, no one dared to move, so they looked at them and asked them to leave.
Seeing that Zhang Suo had lost his temper, Zhang Qiu stepped forward to grab Zhang Suo's hand and apologized gently:
"Xiaoer, it's my brother who can't forgive you, so I'll make it up to you, make it up to you."
Zhang Suo did not push Zhang Qiu away this time, but turned his face to the right, pretending to be calm, but his red eyes had betrayed him.
The two sat down again. Zhang Qiu changed the topic and suddenly said to Zhang Suo:
"Brother, everyone is in a good mood today. Yesterday, a cow was lame at home. The master asked me to kill the cow and send it to the mountains. He said that you have loved beef since you were a child, so the waiter must like it.
You see, my lord has always cared about you. So, now I am letting people cook, and I have also brought some wine, so that the brothers in the village will be happy in a while."
Perhaps "My lord has always cared about you." These words moved Zhang Suo, and he nodded in agreement.