Jinghong Tower

Chapter 357 Vomiting Three Liters of Blood
In order to find Jing Lao San, Duke Dingguo did not show up for seven days. If the world was at peace, Lord Quan would wish he would never come back. But that is not possible now. The Ran army is unstoppable and they are about to be unable to hold on.

Although Lord Quan is good at playing political games, he is a civil servant after all. When it comes to fighting a war, he can't even talk about it on paper, and at most he can criticize with words and writing.

Lord Quan was extremely anxious. Of the two people the emperor had sent out before, Lu Yuncheng died and Earl Qing'an surrendered. It's not that no one in the court was willing to fight, but because of the matter between the emperor and Liu Shanhe, everyone in the court was in danger. The Jinyiwei raided this house today and surrounded that house tomorrow. When Liu Shanhe was in power, everyone gathered around him. Now, after a careful count, there were few civil and military officials in the court who had no relationship with him. Even Lord Quan's daughter-in-law was a close friend of a daughter-in-law of Liu's concubine.

Therefore, both civil officials and military generals are now on high alert, and no one wants to lead troops to fight, for fear that they will be liquidated as soon as they leave.

Originally, Duke Dingguo could lead the troops himself, but now Duke Dingguo is focused on finding his child, so Lord Quan cannot be relied upon.

In desperation, Lord Quan sent Tiger Cavalry General Ding Wu to lead an army of 100,000 to rush to the aid of Yangzhou.

Like Ding Wu and Feng Zan, they were both recruited.

Feng Zan married the princess, became a general, was entrusted with important tasks, and was able to lead troops to fight against the Prince of Jin.

Ding Wu did not have such good luck. Although everyone laughed at Feng Zan for marrying a princess who could be his mother, if this opportunity was really given to them, how many people would refuse it?
For example, Ding Wu.

The longer he was recruited, the longer he sat on the bench.

And he is always a step behind.

For example, in terms of recruiting the amnesty, he was only half a year later than Feng Zan. Feng Zan married a princess, but when it came to him, there were no princesses left to marry.

For example, when the capital was moved, the emperor left Lu Pingnan, Marquis of Wu'an, in the capital and gave him only five or six thousand men, asking him to delay the Jin army and ensure the emperor's smooth relocation of the capital.

At that time, many military generals volunteered to serve as vanguards and were willing to share life and death with the Wu'an Marquisate.

Someone found Ding Wu and asked him to volunteer, but Ding Wu thought about it and refused.

So Ding Wu moved his family south and mobilized his people to stay with Wu'an Hou.

Not only did Marquis Wu'an's army not be completely wiped out, but he was also highly valued by He Ran. Not to mention Marquis Wu'an himself, even his son had already held a high position.

Ding Wu learned about the military general who mobilized him from comic books. He had already reached the third rank in the military.

It has been more than ten years since Ding Wu was recruited, but he is still a fourth-rank official and has not been promoted for more than ten years.

This time, Ding Wu volunteered. He had missed two opportunities, and this time, he didn't want to miss it again.

Lord Quan was not familiar with the military generals. After checking, he found that Ding Wu's resume was similar to Feng Zan's. Now the court was in need of people, so Lord Quan immediately agreed.

If it were Duke Dingguo, he would definitely not let Ding Wu lead the troops, but now that Duke Dingguo is not here, Ding Wu took the initiative to volunteer, so the matter was decided.

Ding Wu was actually a little worried. He was afraid that he would meet Feng Zan. When they were all bandits, he had fought with Feng Zan before. Feng Zan was like a mad dog who would bite anyone he saw. He instinctively didn't want to confront Feng Zan.

Ding Wu breathed a sigh of relief when he learned that he was asked to rush to Yangzhou for assistance.

The one who attacked Yangzhou was He Xiulong.

Among the generals of the Ran army, if we talk about fame, apart from Fu Yansheng who surrendered later, it must be He Xiulong.

He Xiulong was so famous that she was a household name even in Jiangnan, a place she had never set foot in before.

But in Ding Wu's opinion, it is nothing more than a publicity stunt.

The reason why He Xiulong is famous is because she is a woman.

Scarcity makes things valuable, that's why she is so famous.

There are many people who think like Ding Wu. After all, He Xiulong became famous in Jin, and the one she fought against was the Jin army. The one who really fought against the imperial army was Feng Zan, and He Xiulong had never encountered the imperial army. Therefore, in the eyes of the generals in the court, He Xiulong was able to win the battle not because of how powerful she was, but because the Jin army was vulnerable.

When these people said these words, they had already forgotten who it was that made the imperial court so frightened that they even abandoned the imperial city left by their ancestors and ran to Nanjing like a stray dog.

It’s the Jin army!
It is the Jin army that they now think is vulnerable.

To sum up, Ding Wu was in high spirits at this time. He felt that he did not underestimate He Xiulong, but he would not overestimate He Xiulong either.

What brave general, what number one general, just listen to it, don’t take it seriously.

At the same time, He Xiulong also received news that Ding Wu was leading his troops to provide assistance.

While on the march, He Xiulong took advantage of the break to convene an emergency meeting of the combat team.

Just like the five-man team that He Ran lent to Zhou Cangyue, each general now has his own combat team. No one would believe it if he said that the first person to form a combat team was not He Xiulong, but the rough guy Feng Zan.

At that time, Nie Chen was ordered to recruit Feng Zan, and then stayed in Feng Zan's army for half a year. After Nie Chen left, Feng Zan felt that his IQ was not enough.

He wrote a letter to Nie Chen, asking him to come back and continue to serve as his military advisor. Nie Chen did not come back, but sent him a team of ten people. After several years of running-in, these ten people have now developed an inseparable cooperation with Feng Zan.

He Xiulong's team was formed by her at the same time. At that time, those who passed the officer examination came to the army for internship. He Xiulong picked a few of them and kept adjusting them, adding and reducing the number of people, until finally it was fixed to the current five.

He Xiulong told everyone that the person sent by the court to provide assistance was Ding Wu. She had never heard of this person before. Does anyone know him?
A girl who looked a little dull raised her hand silently: "I know him."

As she spoke, the girl took out a thick booklet from the large backpack on her back, opened a page and began to read aloud.

This is Ding Wu's life and several battles he participated in.

After the girl finished reading, she slowly put the booklet back into her backpack.

This kind of large backpack was issued by Mr. He to each army before the march south. It is very suitable for carrying documents during the march.

He Xiulong was obviously very satisfied. She nodded and said, "The last battle that Ding Wu participated in was twelve years ago. That is to say, he has not led troops for twelve years. But we can't slack off. Think about it carefully, what made someone who has not led troops for twelve years volunteer to take the initiative?"

A young man in his twenties said, "It's faith. He wants to give himself a chance, otherwise he will become the control group of General Feng."

The previously dull girl nodded: "This is also his last chance, he will try his best."

He Xiulong dipped her finger in tea and simply drew a city on the table. Everyone was already familiar with the offensive and defensive facilities of Yangzhou Prefecture, so they knew at a glance that this was Yangzhou City.

He Xiulong pointed to a place and said, "The Dingwu army is here now. In three days, they will be here. This is also the best place to intercept us."

Meanwhile in Jinling, Duke Dingguo finally returned to the court. In the past few days, he had almost dug three feet deep into the city of Jinling, but he couldn't even find the hair of Jing Lao San.

As early as the day when Duke Dingguo forced the emperor to abdicate, he had ordered martial law in order to prevent the emperor and Liu Shanhe's reinforcements from entering the city. Until now, the gates of Jinling City are still closed, and no one can enter or leave. Even officials in the court have to register when entering and leaving the city gates.

In other words, the people who kidnapped Jing Lao San had no chance to escape from the city. So Duke Dingguo believed that Jing Lao San was still in Jinling.

Of course, he didn't find Yuan Mengzhi.

Yuan Mengzhi hired a child to deliver a letter to Jing Laosan. Although he didn't know who had made an appointment with Jing Laosan, he could find the child who delivered the letter and follow the clues.

But they found a bunch of children and asked the doorman and the servant to identify them one by one. They mistook two of them, but in the end, none of them were the ones.

The Earl of Yan'an waived the interest that Yuan Mengzhi had borrowed, and Yuan Mengzhi did not have to pay back the debt. He was ecstatic and his literary inspiration surged. In just a few days, he wrote a new play and rehearsed the play in his mansion with his two beautiful concubines. He never left the house. As for the child who delivered the letter, Yuan Mengzhi adopted him so that he could play a role in the play.

Duke Dingguo could not find Yuan Mengzhi's house even if he dug three feet deep. As for the child, he was covered in ink and paint every day, so even the doorman of the Duke's Mansion would not be able to recognize him.

As for the Earl of Yan'an, he was still noisy and aggressive.

What? You said I kidnapped Duke Dingguo’s son?
What a joke! Duke Dingguo and I are such good friends, how could I do such a thing?
Duke Dingguo could never have imagined that the iron wall he thought was impregnable would be difficult to escape from in the eyes of the Beggars' Sect.

Cats have their own way, dogs have their own way, and beggars have their own way.

The city gates are closed, but Zhou Cangyue can come and go freely.
In just a few days, a few silver stars appeared on Duke Dingguo's temples.

Upon learning that Lord Quan had sent Ding Wu to rush to Yangzhou for assistance, Duke Dingguo frowned.

It’s not that Ding Wu is incompetent, it’s just that he has been idle for too long.

If iron tools have not been used for a long time, they need to be oiled when they are needed, and people need to oil them even more.

It’s not impossible for Ding Wu to go to war, but he cannot be the commander-in-chief.

Duke Dingguo said, "Ding Wu can only be a deputy general at best. Asking him to lead the troops is nonsense."

Even though Lord Quan had long ago stopped showing his emotions, his eyes dimmed. It was obvious that Duke Dingguo's words made him feel uncomfortable.

I was a civil servant, and I couldn't control the military officers in the court at all. Finally, I found someone who volunteered, and I saw that he had a good resume, so I sent him out.

You don't care about anything and just act like a hands-off boss, but now you come to mock me. Are you afraid that I will take away your power?

Lord Quan did not hide his emotions, and he turned his face away on the spot.

Duke Dingguo felt a little regretful. The reason why he cooperated with Lord Quan was because he did not want to deal with those civil servants. He killed Liu Shanhe, and the mess left by Liu Shanhe could only be solved by civil servants.

Therefore, Duke Dingguo must cooperate with Lord Quan. After all, Lord Quan and Liu Shanhe are political enemies.

The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Unite all forces that can be united.

At least for the next two or three years, Duke Dingguo does not want to offend Lord Quan too much.

He apologized to Lord Quan, but Lord Quan was magnanimous and did not take it to heart, but asked him what to do next.

Duke Dingguo pondered for a while and said, "The one He Ran sent to attack Yangzhou Prefecture was He Xiulong. Don't underestimate He Xiulong. She has been through hundreds of battles at a young age, and she has won more battles than she has lost. Her record is enough to defeat 90% of the generals in the court. With a person like this, even three or four Ding Wu, let alone one, would not be her opponent."

Mr. Quan's eyes turned red: "Could it be that all of our 100,000 men will die in Yangzhou?"

Duke Dingguo closed his eyes, and when he opened them again he had made up his mind: "I will go there myself."

All the adults were secretly delighted in their hearts, but they did not show it on their faces. They went on to talk about what would happen to the court after you left.

Finally, Duke Dingguo led another 50,000 troops and rushed to Yangzhou.

The news that Duke Dingguo personally led his troops to fight He Xiulong spread throughout the streets and alleys almost overnight.

Some people even secretly hoped that the news would spread to the capital as soon as possible, so that the artist He Yamin could publish a new comic strip overnight.

After He Xiulong's vanguard troops received this news, they immediately delivered the message to He Xiulong.

He Xiulong raised the corner of her mouth. Okay, then let’s compete on the battlefield.

In Xuzhou, He Ran also received the news that Duke Dingguo was personally leading troops to rescue Yangzhou.

Xiaoli was worried: "Duke Dingguo fought against the Tartars and crawled out of a pile of dead bodies, unlike other second-generation rich people."

Although He Xiulong has been through many battles, she is too young compared to Duke Dingguo.

The female general was in her early twenties, young and vigorous, which was both an advantage and a disadvantage on the battlefield.

Xiaoli's worries were not groundless. The same was true for He Ran. This time on the trip south, she traveled with He Xiulong for more than a month, and she had been silently observing He Xiulong the whole time.

Since He Xiulong and Fu Yansheng swapped guards, He Xiulong was stationed in Sanhe. For a whole year, He Xiulong trained troops in Sanhe, occasionally going to the mountains to suppress bandits and conduct actual combat training.

He Ran gave He Xiulong ample time and a superior environment to allow her to calm down, become a better person, and build a better army.

And He Xiulong did not disappoint He Ran. She gave He Ran a refreshing feeling. Compared with the iron-blooded general who was invincible on the battlefield of Jin in the past, the current He Xiulong was well-versed in military books and was calm and restrained. The outstanding command ability she demonstrated was in no way inferior to any military general who had been famous for many years.

He Ran has confidence in her.

The right time, the right place, and the right people are all essential, and He Ran is also confident about this.

But He Ran felt that everyone would always encounter some ups and downs in life, just like the young He Xiulong and certainly the older Duke Dingguo as well.

He Ran was also very worried about her enemy, Duke Dingguo.

So Duke Dingguo, who was marching quickly to Yangzhou, finally received news from Jing Laosan.

Jing Laosan was actually captured by Zhou Cangyue.

Jing Laosan, whom he had hidden like a treasure for more than ten years, was now being locked up in a small dark room and tortured by Zhou Cangyue!

He Ran felt sorry for his old father, so she asked someone to find a bloody ear and throw it in front of him.

As for who this ear belongs to, it’s definitely not Jing Laosan’s.

But Duke Dingguo didn't know.

Duke Dingguo had just learned of Jing Laosan's situation and was extremely anxious. When he saw the ear, he could no longer control himself and spat out a mouthful of blood.