Time Travel: The Useless Prince, First Destroy the Princess

Chapter 123 Dispatching troops out of the city to suppress bandits?

Liu Zhaogang had not walked far.

Xu Zhi and Jia Zhong walked in together.

"Master Du, the grain leaving Yangcheng was robbed again today. You must find a way to deal with it, or I will no longer be able to serve as the county magistrate!"

Jia Zhong started complaining as soon as he entered the door.

"Master Du, all the counties have collected money and food for you, but now they've been snatched away by bandits. What do you think we should do?"

Xu Zhi added from the side.

"I think the disaster relief grain was stolen! It was also done by some refugees. I have reported it to the court and am waiting for the court's decision! There will be news tomorrow!"

"Master Du, with so many counties reporting to the court, what can the court do in the short term?"

Xu Zhi was obviously a little dissatisfied.

"Then Master Xu, what do you think we should do?"

Du Zheng sneered in his heart.

"I think the most urgent task is to dispatch troops to suppress those bandits!"

"Mobilize troops? Lord Xu, I'm the pacification commissioner. What authority do I have to mobilize troops? Besides, are there any troops to mobilize in Yangcheng County?"

"Master Du, you are wrong. You are both the pacification envoy and the imperial commissioner. If you don't mobilize troops to eliminate the bandits, how can you ensure that the victims receive food and how can you appease them?"

"Master Du is right. I was so busy that I didn't even think of this. Master Xu is so far-sighted!"

"Master Du, stop being so jealous and quickly mobilize the troops! Have all the counties go and wipe out those bandits!"

"Master Xu, look at me now, how many hands can I use?"

Du Zheng looked helpless.

"Come on! Lord Du, as long as you give the order now, I will do it for you!"

"Great! Jia Zhong, how many soldiers are there in Yangcheng County who can quell the rebellion?"

Du Zheng seemed to have agreed to Xu Zhi's request.

"Your Excellency, the county garrison consists of 3,000 men, and another 1,000 local soldiers!"

"That's 4,000, not a lot! Can it be enough to suppress the bandits?"

"Sir, normally these garrisons are only guarding the county town. Now it is their duty to send them out to suppress the bandits!"

"What if we send them out and bandits break in?" Du Zheng sneered.

Having worked in the local area for more than 20 years, he could see through Jia Zhong's cunning intentions at a glance.

Just as he thought, those bandits outside must be related to him!

Are they really going to rebel?

What a courage!

Is Xu Zhi also involved?

Not so!

Xu Zhi has a bad temper!

He likes to take advantage of small gains, but he won't do anything to rebel!

Who would that be?

Part of the area here is the fiefdom of King Shanyin. Could it really be them?

Are Prince Song and Prince Zhenbei really going to have a big fight?

Fortunately, I was prepared.

He was not panicked at the moment and looked at the two of them coldly.

"Sir, the situation is urgent. Bandits are attacking the county town. If you are so indecisive, all the money and food collected by our counties will be robbed by the bandits!"

Jia Zhong was very anxious.

"Master Xu, I'd like to hear your opinion again!"

Xu Zhi's face was very unpleasant, and he said gloomily, "Master Du, Jia Zhong is right. As the pacification envoy, you must not be indecisive! If you provoke a civil uprising, I will seriously report you!"

Du Zheng saw that the two of them were singing the same tune and was almost certain!

Xu Zhi also participated!

That’s perfect, let’s lure the snake out of its hole!

"Master Xu, do you think this will work?"

Du Zheng pretended to be a little embarrassed.

"Speak now! Don't waste time!" Xu Zhi was very anxious.

"If the entire Henan County mobilizes troops, it will affect the entire region. This is a huge matter, and I cannot bear this responsibility. But if it's just Yangcheng County, I can give it a try. If Yangcheng is able to suppress the bandits effectively and the disaster relief grain can be distributed in an orderly manner, then it won't be too late to expand it to other counties!"

"Just Yangcheng County? No! There are bandits in more than just Yangcheng County!" Jia Zhong immediately objected.

"Jia Zhong, how do you know the bandits aren't limited to Yangcheng County?"

Du Zheng immediately asked back.

"To be honest with you, Lord Du, I have communicated with my colleagues from other counties!"

Jia Zhong didn't hide anything.

"Humph!"

Du Zheng snorted and looked at Xu Zhi.

"Okay, Lord Du, let's do as you say. These small bandits can be wiped out today as long as the officers and soldiers take action!" Xu Zhi immediately agreed.

"Alright then! I'll issue the order in the name of the pacification envoy, and Lord Xu will take care of the specific matters. Is that alright?"

"Alright, Yangcheng is under the jurisdiction of our Sizhou, so I have no choice but to do my duty!"

Xu Zhi acted righteous and awe-inspiring.

Du Zheng quickly wrote the order to mobilize troops, stamped it with the seal, and handed it to Xu Zhi.

Xu Zhi was not polite at all. He took it and hurried out with Jia Zhong.

"Master Xu, how can we accomplish this with only Yangcheng County?"

Not long after he went out, Jia Zhong asked.

"What kind of person is Du Zheng? Don't you know? Besides Luojing and the neighboring Hongnong, do you think he would agree to mobilize troops from all ten counties at the same time?"

"That's right, but I'm worried that with only a few thousand people in Yangcheng County, we won't be able to accomplish anything!"

"You're wrong. Now is not about making things happen, now is about not making things go wrong!"

"Can't ruin things? How do you say that? That's not what the King of Shanyin said! The arrow is on the string and must be shot!"

"Of course, the plan has to change. Our previous plan was to transfer the county's officers and soldiers to suppress the bandits, and then let the Shanyin King and Xinyang King take the opportunity to attack the county. But now Du Zheng only allows Yangcheng County, so we will do the opposite! It's a good opportunity to paralyze him!"

"Old people are always wise!" Jia Zhong nodded. "Okay, then we'll transfer the officers and soldiers from Yangcheng to the outside of the city to pretend to suppress the bandits. Once the bandits disappear on their own and Yangcheng County is safe, we can have Du Zheng mobilize the other nine counties to suppress the bandits together!"

"Yes, that's exactly what happened. Go report this to the King of Shanyin immediately, and I will dispatch my troops out of the city immediately!"

"Okay!" Jia Zhong said, mounted his horse and galloped away.

Du Zheng was certainly not idle in the county government office.

It seems that Xu Zhi is indeed in cahoots with Jia Zhong, but fortunately he was well prepared.

Don’t you want to lure the tiger away from the mountain?

Then I'll use the same trick against you!

Catching a turtle in a urn!

"Your Majesty is wise. Disaster relief efforts indeed require additional personnel to be deployed to each county!"

In the report submitted the day before yesterday, in addition to what Liu Zhao said.

Du Zheng also anticipated that someone would take the opportunity to cause trouble, and had already explained the situation in detail to Liu Yan.

Liu Yan was of course aware of the seriousness of the matter, and immediately ordered four of his trusted generals, the front, back, left and right, to lead the soldiers in disguise as disaster victims and lead them into the city one after another.

At this time, there were tens of thousands of soldiers hiding among the common people in various counties.

Yang Ke also led some elite troops from the Central Commander Army and lurked around the county government offices, ready to take the initiative as soon as there was any unusual movement.

In Luojing, in addition to the original 150,000 imperial guards, there were also 100,000 troops of King Jingnan stationed outside the city.

In addition, the seven kings who were close to Liu Yan also organized a 100,000-strong army to be on standby in their fiefdoms at any time.

If any of the vassal states supporting King Song made any moves, these seven states would go straight to their base camp.

It can be said that the big net has been spread.

Now, even if the King of Zhenbei went south in person, he would be walking into a trap.