Daqin arrests alchemists, what does it matter to me as a qi refiner?

Because fishermen always carry a lot of fresh water on their boats every time they go out to sea, the residents of Jeju Island store a lot of fresh water and fish, and salt is an important commodity.

Chen Xilin continued, "We can have someone bring water into Jeju City."

"This is too slow. We won't be able to make it in time!" Yang Ling flatly rejected Chen Xilin's proposal.

Liu Bingxian frowned and thought for a moment, then suddenly said excitedly: "General Yang, I have a way!"

Everyone looked at Liu Bingxian, waiting for him to continue.

"General Yang, I remember there is a route called 'Black Wind Harbor' in our northeast. It takes at most five days to reach Jeju from Black Wind Harbor by land. We can set up checkpoints and beacon towers along the way and have scouts send messages on horseback. This way, we can prevent the news from being leaked to the government and buy more time for preparation."

"Good idea!" Yang Ling couldn't help but high-five in praise.

The reason why he proposed to raise the flag of rebellion just now was to disrupt the deployment of the court and buy time for himself. Now, after hearing what Liu Bingxian said, he immediately decided to take the risk and go to Black Wind Port to buy time.

Yang Ling looked at Chen Xilin and said solemnly: "Brother Chen, just do as Mr. Liu said. However, I will say this in advance. If this fails, and the court investigates, neither you nor I will be able to escape."

Chen Xilin smiled bitterly and nodded: "Don't worry, I know what to do."

Liu Bingxian added: "General Yang, you just need to give orders, and leave the specific actions to your subordinates."

Yang Ling nodded and said, "Then I'll have to ask Mr. Liu to take care of it!"

"Haha, General Yang, you're too polite. This is what I should do!" Liu Bingxian laughed loudly.

Liu Bingxian then took out two letters and handed them to Yang Ling: "General Yang, these are handwritten letters sent by two princes of the court. Please be sure to keep them well."

"Well, thank you!"

Yang Ling took the two letters, put them in his arms, then bowed to Chen Xilin and Liu Bingxian and said, "Everyone, let's meet outside Suining City." Then he clasped his fists to signal everyone.

Yang Ling then led his team out of the county government office and returned to Jeju City in two donkey carts.

There was a hillside near the west gate of Jeju City, on which many houses were built. Yang Ling and his companions lived in this village.

After Yang Ling returned to his room, he couldn't wait to open the envelope.

He first took out the letter and read it.

The letter was written by Qin Tian. It only contained a few short sentences, which meant: You arrange the troops now and we will set off immediately.

After reading Qin Tian's letter, Yang Ling hurriedly summoned all the generals to discuss the matter.

"Marshal, what's the emergency?" Zhang Xian, Zhao Hu, Huang Jin and Sun Yuanliang asked in unison after they came in.

Yang Ling handed Qin Tian's letter to everyone to read, and explained: "Brother Qin has sent someone to report that he has mobilized elite troops to cross the river and will arrive in Jeju in three days at the latest. What we need to do now is to get ready and set off immediately, and at the same time strengthen our vigilance."

Huang Jin said in surprise: "Marshal, if Lord Qin can come, we will not be afraid of the siege by the government troops, nor will we have to worry about the loss of Jeju City!"

Zhao Hu and others nodded in agreement.

Yang Ling frowned slightly and said, "But we also have to prevent the government troops from besieging the city. What if the government troops refuse to withdraw? What if they really fight to the death at all costs? How can we break the deadlock?"

Everyone was speechless.

At this time, Zhang Xian reminded him, "General, except for the government troops stationed in Jeju City, the rest are civilians. The civilians are weak in combat. We have 5,000 warriors, which are enough to stop the bandit army in Jeju City. As long as we delay them for three or two days, reinforcements will surely arrive."

Yang Ling took a deep breath and looked at Jeju City with twinkling eyes.

"I think what Zhang Xian said makes sense." Zhao Hu said in a muffled voice.

Yang Ling was silent for a moment, then raised his head and said, "Jizhou is an important border town of our country, and we must not give it up easily. How about this, you guys organize your troops immediately, and I will lead people out of the city to meet the enemy. I want to see if the officers and soldiers dare to fight to the death!"

Although Yang Ling was also afraid that the soldiers would fight to the death to besiege the city, he had no choice. There were still 5,000 men and tens of thousands of stones of grain in Jeju City. If the soldiers were allowed to occupy Jeju, Jeju would probably become a gathering place for refugees. Yang Ling was absolutely unwilling to watch this happen. Even if he only had a 30% chance of winning, he would gamble his life to fight in order to retake Jeju City.

Everyone looked solemn, but no one wanted to stop Yang Ling. Yang Ling had great prestige and influence in the army, and everyone would resolutely carry out his orders at any time, even when Yang Ling asked to die, everyone would do it without hesitation.

"I obey your command!" Everyone agreed in unison, clasping their fists.

The crowd quickly dispersed, each doing their own job.

After Yang Ling put on his armor, he came to the outside of the courtyard. This courtyard was built very simply, and the courtyard wall was made of blue bricks. It looked simple, but it was actually very strong and durable.

There were seven or eight crossbows and more than three hundred trebuchets in the yard. These trebuchets were all newly made. Because of the complicated craftsmanship and the huge amount of materials used to make them, they were quite expensive. The silver money spent on these trebuchets was almost more than 20,000 strings of silver. Fortunately, due to the high production cost, these trebuchets were not included in the military equipment supervision and could only be used for training.

Yang Ling walked to the center of the yard and turned his head to look left and right. There were six archers standing on the top of each of the two rows of arrow towers, and two armed guards every ten steps.

Yang Ling nodded secretly. These archers were well-trained, had good shooting skills, and worked well together.

Yang Ling turned and walked to the center of the yard, drew the sword from his waist, then raised the long sword and pointed it at the open space outside the yard gate.

"All troops set off!"

"Here!"

The soldiers agreed loudly and followed Yang Ling to the gate. Their movements were in perfect unison, without any sign of confusion.

Under the leadership of Yang Ling, hundreds of soldiers armed to the teeth rushed out of the courtyard.

There were seven or eight mule-drawn carts parked outside the courtyard. Everyone jumped onto the carts and urged the mules and horses to slowly drive toward the official road outside the village.

On the mule-horse cart, Yang Ling took out Qin Tian's letter again and read it carefully.

Qin Tian sent someone to inform that their fleet was heading towards Beihai County and was expected to arrive in half a month.

Yang Ling breathed a sigh of relief, and then instructed Zhang Xian beside him: "Zhang Xian, you immediately take two battalions and set off to Jeju City. If you encounter danger, you can retreat immediately and preserve your strength."

"Here!"

Zhang Xian agreed and left in a hurry.

Yang Ling gave Zhao Hu a few more instructions, then led everyone on a mule and horse cart and left the village in a mighty procession.

This time, Yang Ling went to attack Jeju City and took more than 5,000 soldiers with him. Most of these soldiers were old, weak, sick, and disabled, with weak physiques and low combat effectiveness. The reason why Yang Ling took them with him was to take advantage of their advantages and let those soldiers who were physically strong and good at fighting serve as the spearhead troops. Yang Ling's plan was to use these soldiers to consume the physical strength and combat effectiveness of the Jeju defenders as much as possible.

Yang Ling led his soldiers on the journey, and he was not idle along the way, constantly recruiting refugees.

The total number of refugees that Yang Ling brought this time reached more than 3,000, of which women accounted for the majority, and men were less than 100. Such a large number naturally attracted the attention of the surrounding gentry and local tyrants, and many of them sent servants to persuade them to surrender, but they were all rejected by Yang Ling.

Yang Ling's foundation is still shallow, and what he needs is to consolidate his foundation and expand his strength, because he understands that the more it is at this time, the more he cannot panic.

Yang Ling doesn't care what others think, he just does what he wants to do.

Yang Ling ignored the advice of the powerful and continued to recruit refugees to expand his team.

Soon after, Yang Ling recruited more than 5,000 refugees and successfully organized a militia of 3,000 people.

Yang Ling held a military meeting in the militia camp to discuss how to capture Jeju City.

After this period of adjustment, these sergeants have gradually adapted to their roles as elite soldiers. They are no longer as nervous and restrained as when they first arrived, and they know better how to cooperate in combat.

Yang Ling sat on the chair and looked around at everyone and said, "Everyone, now we have enough troops, are you ready to attack Jeju City?"

Everyone exchanged glances, and finally their eyes converged on Zhang Xian. Zhang Xian nodded and said, "Don't worry, sir. I have already trained the brothers well, and they are ready to charge into battle at any time!"

Yang Ling smiled with relief and said, "Okay, since everyone is okay, let's set off immediately and try to capture Jeju City before tomorrow morning."

Everyone became excited upon hearing this, and were eager to try it out.

"Sir, there are more than 3,000 defenders in Jeju County. It is not easy to capture Jeju City. Should we take a rest first and get enough rest?" Zhang Xian asked.

Yang Ling shook his head and said, "No need. We must hurry up to avoid any trouble. Although there are only more than 3,000 defenders in Jeju City, they came from Huaiyang and Linzi counties to reinforce. The supply line is very long, and the Jeju City defenders are short of food and water. I estimate that the Jeju City defenders will not last until tomorrow morning. Because if the Jeju City defenders do not hold on in Jeju City until tomorrow morning, they will die. There is no need to take any risks."

Zhang Xian suddenly realized and nodded, "Your Excellency has thought it through carefully!"

Yang Ling said: "Pass on my order, the entire army will speed up and advance. We must capture Jeju City before the Jeju City defenders can no longer hold out!"

"Here!"

As soon as Yang Ling's order was given, the army immediately accelerated and rushed towards Jeju City.

Jeju was about 400 miles away from Sizhou County. If they rode at full speed, it would take about three hours. After half an hour of rapid march, Yang Ling and his companions could already see the outline of the city in the distance.

"Report - Sir, there are enemies blocking us ahead!"

Yang Ling looked carefully and saw more than 30 riders appearing 20 feet ahead, blocking the official road. The leader was Han Zan. Han Zan was surrounded by hundreds of soldiers wearing black armor and holding Mo Dao. The number of soldiers was roughly the same as Yang Ling's.

Yang Ling pulled the reins and raised his hand to signal the whole army to stop. Seeing this, Han Zan rode his horse towards the cart that Yang Ling was riding.

"Han Zan meets Brother Yang!"

Han Zan bowed and saluted.

Yang Ling smiled and said, "So it's Brother Wengui. I came here today in response to the imperial edict. I wonder why Brother Wengui blocked my way?"

Han Zan said in a deep voice: "Brother Yang is an official appointed by the imperial court. How can you send troops on your own? Please withdraw your troops and return to the camp!"

Yang Ling's face darkened instantly. He stared at Han Zan coldly and said in a cold voice, "Brother Wengui, what do you mean by that?"

Han Zan said frankly: "Brother Yang, have you forgotten what happened when we first met?"

Yang Ling's expression froze for a moment, then he sighed and said, "Yes, we did get along well when we first met, but unfortunately things change. I am now the Duke of the Song Dynasty, not the poor scholar who allowed you to bully me! I don't care who wants to seize power, but if you dare to prevent me from attacking Jeju, don't blame me for not cherishing our friendship!"

"You!" Han Zan glared at Yang Ling angrily.

Yang Ling looked at Han Zan without showing any weakness, with murderous intent flashing in his eyes.

Yang Ling was not afraid of falling out with Han Zan because Yang Ling knew that the conflict between the two sides had intensified to an irreconcilable level. If Han Zan was willing to give up, it would be fine. But if Han Zan was stubborn, Yang Ling would definitely take drastic measures without hesitation to completely resolve this hidden danger.

After a long while, Han Zan gnashed his teeth and said, "Brother Yang, I admit that you are very powerful, but do you really think that you can defeat my three thousand elite soldiers with just five thousand new soldiers?"

Yang Ling taunted, "You are the elite, but I also have elites under my command! We have gathered 20,000 people now. Do you think we will lose to you?"

Han Zan's expression kept changing. What Yang Ling said was true. They really didn't have any advantage now.

Yang Ling struck while the iron was hot and said, "If you are willing to withdraw your troops, I can let it go. You can still be the governor of Huaiyang, you can still have your own fiefdom, and you can even share my credit. This will benefit both you and me."

Han Zan's cheeks trembled violently, and he was obviously struggling internally. Finally, he whispered, "Okay, I agree to withdraw my troops, but you must also promise not to attack Huaiyin again!"

"No problem!" Yang Ling agreed readily.

Han Zan breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Okay, I'll order the army to retreat."

Han Zan immediately turned his horse around and led his 3,000 elite troops back to Huaiyin City.

Yang Ling looked at Han Zan's departing back, a triumphant smile appeared on his lips, and he turned his head and ordered: "Order all units to continue moving forward."

So, Yang Ling's five thousand men continued to advance towards Jeju City.

In the evening, Yang Ling and others finally arrived outside Jeju City.

Jeju City is located at the foot of Dongling Mountain in the northwest of Jeju Prefecture. Because the mountain is shaped like a dragon head, it is also called Jeju Mountain, and therefore it is also known as Longmen Mountain. Because the terrain here is steep and easy to defend but difficult to attack, it became the seat of Huai'an County.

Yang Ling looked at the towering Jeju Mountain in front of him and thought to himself, "Jeju Mountain, I hope your city defense is built like a turtle shell, so that I can't break through it easily."

……

The next morning, Yang Ling led his troops to the outskirts of Jeju City, where they set up defensive fortifications.

Under Yang Ling's command, the government troops dug trenches, built anti-cannon holes, piled up simple fortifications with sandbags, and laid wood under the city walls...

The defenders of Jeju City saw the busy posture of the government troops and could not help but look puzzled. They thought the government troops were going to attack the city, but there was no sign of an attack. (End of this chapter)