The great sage was victorious in civil and military affairs, Dong Dacheng, but he didn't know that his life would last for another... year.
At this time, he was in high position and full of ambition.
Now the entire Dengzhou Prefecture, except for Dengzhou City and a few county towns, has become the domain of the White Lotus Sect.
Denglai's deputy general, Zhang Keda, had more than 3,000 soldiers and horses under his command, and he was unable to annihilate the bandits who were everywhere.
He even dared to leave Dengzhou City, and Dong Dacheng dared to steal his home.
Because the imperial court was unable to suppress the bandits, the White Lotus Sect grew in size. Dong Dacheng plundered all the way, and now he had tens of thousands of rebels, and he gradually began to become arrogant.
"Isn't Zhang Keda going to send troops yet?"
Dong Dacheng stayed in Haiyang just to wait for news.
He discussed it with Li Shengming.
Li Shengming is currently attacking Zhaoyuan, and once he captures it, the connection between Deng and Lai will be completely severed.
I believe Zhang Keda dare not sit idly by and ignore it.
As long as Zhang Keda sent troops, he would pass through Qixia County and take Dengzhou directly.
Once Dengzhou was lost, even if Zhang Keda was not accused by the court, he would have polished off thousands of soldiers and horses.
However, his complacency did not last long. There was a noise outside, and then a large group of people broke in.
Dong Dacheng was drinking and having fun with his men. He was drunk and dizzy. When he saw the person coming, he immediately took care of him.
"Why is His Majesty the Emperor here?"
The person he addressed as Your Majesty was none other than Li Shengming, the leader of the Denglai White Lotus Sect.
Since the uprising, Li Shengming has called himself Emperor Lingbao, and has made many official appointments and wishes to Dong Dacheng and others.
In the past, when Li Shengming heard his subordinates address him as "Your Majesty," he would feel excited and extremely happy.
However, today, his face turned purple, which was quite unnatural.
A burst of delicate laughter came from behind him, and then a person who was as beautiful as a fairy appeared.
It is Xu Yaqing.
"Yo yo yo, I really didn't expect that Senior Brother Li has lofty ambitions and is respectable and admirable."
Li Shengming was Xu Hongru's disciple. After Xu Hongru's defeat, Li Shengming fled to the Duoshan Taoist Temple in Dengzhou and hid there.
This time, the White Lotus Sect took advantage of the Hou Jin Dynasty's attack on Gyeonggi to cause trouble in Shandong, and Li Shengming became the leader of Denglai Road.
This claim to be emperor is purely due to his expansion.
Li Shengming originally thought that after conquering Denglai and consolidating his power, even if he proclaimed himself emperor, the other Bailian leaders would be helpless.
Unexpectedly, even before Dengzhou was conquered, Xu Yaqing came and listened on the spot.
"Aunt Saint has a misunderstanding. They are all these unsatisfactory guys. They drank some cat urine and barked randomly. They cannot be taken seriously."
Dong Dacheng was frightened out of his drunkenness and hurriedly welcomed Xu Yaqing to her seat.
The leaders were sitting upright. Although they usually claimed to be heroes, they all remained silent in front of the delicate Xu Yaqing.
"When the incident first broke out, I ordered you to wait and plan carefully. Now that several months have passed, Dengzhou has not been captured yet. Should we wait for the army to come over and kill you before we stop?"
The leaders were trained so hard that they could not hold their heads up, but they had no choice but to protest.
"The holy aunt doesn't know what, Zhang Kedahe is just guarding his Dengzhou City like a turtle. We have no siege missions, and the men are not familiar with battle formations. We are no match for the government and the army!"
Li Shengming felt that he was wronged.
He worked very hard.
But officials and gentry from all over Dengzhou were all trying their best to defend the city. With a mob like the White Lotus Sect, it was impossible to attack the city as long as the people in the city did not disperse.
Dong Dacheng also said: "It's not that all the officers and soldiers have gone to Shanxi. We won't have anyone here. Why don't we wait for peace of mind to reorganize the army and train a strong army to conquer Dengzhou with more certainty."
Others agreed one after another, saying they just didn’t want to attack Dengzhou.
The officers and soldiers guard the city and deal with these bandits without any losses at all, and can kill a large number of people.
It has been several months since the uprising. The White Lotus bandits have looted everywhere and amassed a lot of wealth. In addition, knowing that the officers and soldiers will not come back, these leaders have already developed a desire to slack off.
Xu Yaqing was furious and shouted: "Did you know that Zuo Menggeng has returned to Shandong? Within ten months, he will lead his troops to kill. If we don't capture Denglai and seize firearms and military supplies, you will all die without a burial place."
"
However, the other leaders had never fought against Zuo Mengeng and did not know how powerful Zuo Menggen was. They listened to Xu Yaqing's words with one ear and feared them with the other.
Seeing this scene, Xu Yaqing's eyes couldn't help but become subtle.
The Dengzhou White Lotus Sect is showing signs of losing control.
Thinking about it, everyone respected her orders in the past because of Xu Hongru's reputation. Moreover, her methods were superb and feared.
But since the uprising, the White Lotus Sect in various places has held hostage a large number of rioters, ranging from thousands to tens of thousands.
With the power at hand, how could these leaders care about her being a mere commander?
The reason lies in the huge defeat in Dongchang Mansion.
Xu Yaqing couldn't help but shudder when she thought of the scenes of gunfire and gunfire roaring in the rear camp. The fear in her heart could not be suppressed no matter what.
She has been having nightmares these days.
The terror in the back camp and Zuo Mengeng's words in the dream went back and forth, as if she would really be trampled to death by a random horse.
As soon as she thought that Zuo Mengeng would come to kill her at any time, Xu Yaqing immediately became firm in her thoughts.
"No matter what, we cannot be trapped here. Give me the order and the whole army will go north, attack Laiyang first, and then attack Laixi. Zhaoyuan must be captured within ten days. If you don't believe it, Zhang Keda won't come out for a decisive battle."
The leaders below looked at each other, but they had no choice but to disperse and gather their troops.
"Holy aunt, Li Mengming, and Dong Dacheng have evil intentions. We stay here, I'm afraid..."
The maid from Dengzhou City still stayed with Xu Yaqing, not without worry.
Xu Yaqing sneered, confident.
"Even if they have wild ambitions, they dare not launch it for the time being. As long as they capture the three counties of Laiyang, Laixi, and Zhaoyuan, they will not be able to make trouble."
Xu Yaqing lost her men in Dongchang Mansion and fled eastward.
Originally, she planned to urge the Dengzhou White Lotus Religion Department to resolve the issue quickly, but now that she found out that Li Mengming, Dong Dacheng and others had two minds, she decided to take action first.
Compared with her father Xu Hongru, the thing she lacks most is prestige.
The best way to get the people below to obey her is to achieve results.
Li Mengming and Dong Dacheng struggled for several months, but none of the three most important counties of Laiyang, Laixi, and Zhaoyuan were captured. I believe the people below will be dissatisfied with them.
If these three counties are captured under Xu Yaqing's leadership, a large number of believers will gather under her command.
By then, not only will she regain her capital, but she will also be able to purge her dissidents.
"Tell Xue Ji to pay attention to Li Mengming and Dong Dacheng. If they dare not obey orders, they will be killed without mercy."
The maid went to deliver the order, and when Xu Yaqing was the only one left in the tent, she showed signs of fatigue.
There was a worry that Xu Yaqing did not mention to anyone.
Even if the entire territory of Dengzhou is captured, can Zuo Mengeng really be able to resist him once he comes to kill him?
Firearms like that are simply the tools of gods.
In the tent on the other side, Dong Dacheng approached Li Mengming.
"Your Majesty, do we really want to listen to her as a bitch? The scholar said that what is that... what is the hen tearing, it is inappropriate. We used to be happy here, but she made us fight as soon as she came. The brothers down there should have
Complained."
Li Mengming's face was hidden where the sun could not shine, making it dark and difficult to see.
"No matter what, she is a saint of our religion. There are many brothers in the church who believe in her. If we are not careful, we will die without a burial place."
Dong Dacheng was very anxious.
He is different from Li Mengming.
Li Mengming was originally a disciple of Xu Hongru, so he was naturally afraid of Xu Yaqing.
And he was a native of Dengzhou. He had met Xu Yaqing a few times only after he joined the religion. Of course, he didn't have much respect for the Holy Aunt White Lotus.
I originally thought that if Li Mengming became emperor, he would be able to be a duke, prime minister or something like that. I don't know, even a king with a different surname would not be impossible.
But now that Xu Yaqing is standing next to Li Mengming, does he still have hope of becoming a marquis or prime minister?
"Then let's just give her our great fortune?"
Li Mengming chuckled, hiding treachery.
"Why are you so anxious? She wants to attack Laiyang, so let her do it. You are a native of Laiyang and know what is going on in that county. Can we defeat it? If we cannot defeat it, many of our brothers will die.
, hum hum…”
Li Mengming's idea was actually similar to Xu Yaqing's.
Xu Yaqing planned to use her achievements to win over people's hearts and win over Li Mengming.
But Li Mengming's idea was that if the war failed and the losses were heavy, Xu Yaqing would definitely lose people's hearts.
At that time, how many people will listen to her?
It was in such a delicate atmosphere that the tens of thousands of White Lotus troops entrenched in Haiyang County began to move northward towards Laiyang County.