Chapter 359 Someone Even More Shameless Than He Ran At this time, Duke Dingguo was also fighting. Ding Wu arrived in Yangzhou earlier than him and set up an ambush on the road that the Ran army had to pass, but the Ran army was well prepared. This was Ding Wu's first battle against the Ran army. Although he was somewhat disappointed that the Ran army did not fall into his trap, this disappointment was soon replaced by excitement. Not only did he fight against the Ran army, but he also met He Xiulong in the first battle. Unexpectedly, He Xiulong did not send a vanguard, but led the troops personally to jump into the pit. Of course, Ding Wu's trap was dug in vain. He Xiulong came prepared and seemed to have calculated that he would ambush in this place. The battle was fierce. At the beginning, Ding Wu took advantage of the terrain and had the upper hand, but soon with the start of He Xiulong's second round of attack, the terrain advantage disappeared. He Xiulong sent out her spearhead battalion at this time. The so-called sharp knife camp means exactly what its name suggests: every member of the team is like a tiger descending from a mountain, and their sword will never miss an opportunity. The situation turned around in an instant. At this critical moment, Ding Wu made a mistake in command and was only focused on dealing with the Sharp Knife Battalion. By the time he reacted, He Jinghong had already disconnected his army.
In the first battle, he lost more than 20,000 people. When Duke Dingguo arrived, the battle was already over. Ding Wu was injured. The Ran army cleared the battlefield as quickly as possible and divided the prisoners into various camps. After listening to Ding Wu's report, Duke Dingguo was so angry that he wanted to curse. He was not scolding Ding Wu. Duke Dingguo knew how capable Ding Wu was. He did not have any hope for Ding Wu, otherwise he would not have come in person. The person he wanted to scold was Mr. Quan. Pretending to know when you don't and giving blind orders. Ding Wu was just a bandit by birth. After being recruited, he was left on the sidelines. In the few battles he participated in, he only appeared as a deputy general. For the next ten years or so, Ding Wu didn't even fight a decent battle. Ding Wu has no experience in leading troops and has not conducted actual military training for many years. Why does Lord Quan think that Ding Wu can fight against He Xiulong? Just because Ding Wu and Feng Zan were both bandits? Feng Zan can defeat Fu Yansheng, but can Ding Wu do it? Feng Zan was able to lead a group of remaining soldiers to fight several brilliant battles, which made He Ran send Nie Chen to visit him three times. Can Ding Wu do it? Feng Zan made great contributions in Lu and defeated the imperial army. Can Ding Wu do the same? In Ding Wu's mind, he was only two opportunities away from Feng Zan. However, in the eyes of someone who knew the business like Duke Dingguo, Ding Wu and Feng Zan were not comparable at all and the two were not on the same level. At this moment, Ding Wu also felt uncomfortable. Perhaps Duke Dingguo decided to rush to help on a whim, or perhaps Duke Dingguo was so shocked by the news from Jing Lao San before he left Nanjing. In short, Duke Dingguo did not send anyone to inform Ding Wu of his personal visit to Yangzhou. Upon hearing that an army was coming, Ding Wu attacked them from both sides. It turned out to be the Ran army. When Ding Wu found out that the person who came was one of his own, he was only surprised, not happy. What does Duke Dingguo mean? Don't trust him? Or is it targeting him? Looking at Duke Dingguo's face, which was as black as the bottom of a pot, Ding Wu could only pretend to be injured and faint.
But he couldn't stay unconscious forever, so Ding Wu woke up later. At this time, the deputy general reported to him that more than 20,000 people were killed. Ding Wu punched the wound, and the pain almost made him faint again. Ding Wu pondered over this battle all the way, repeatedly looked at the map, and decided that an ambush in this place would be the safest. He thought he had planned everything out, but unfortunately he was still one step behind. The deputy general looked at his expression and said cautiously: "It seems that the Ran army is well prepared, otherwise how could the vanguard be He Xiulong herself?" Ding Wu's heart sank. Could it be that there are spies from the Ran army around him? It's no wonder that Ding Wu had this idea, because he was given the task in a time of crisis, and he had no tacit understanding with this cobbled-together team. Duke Dingguo soon discovered this. That loser Ding Wu actually suspected that there was a spy around him? What? You can think of setting up an ambush there, but He Xiulong can't? Come to think of it, as someone who hasn't led troops for more than ten years, you definitely wouldn't have any idea of what a military advisor is. The imperial court selects officials every three years. Since He Ran came to power, he has held an official examination every year, and even two examinations. We are willing to spend a fortune to buy bones and seek talents. It is said that half of the officials she selected joined the army. With so many people, can't we gather a few military advisors? One of the differences between Duke Dingguo and other nobles is that he never looks down on scholars. Weren't they, a group of nobles, also fooled around by the scholar Liu Shanhe? Besides, there are even rumors that when Zhou Cangyue was unable to capture Xiangyang City after a long siege, it was He Ran who sent him a military advisor, which enabled him to break the city in one fell swoop. He Xiulong is the number one general under He Ran. Would He Ran not send her some capable military advisors? Duke Dingguo felt that Ding Wu was even more stupid than he had imagined. He was so angry at Ding Wu that he felt dizzy. In fact, the fact that Duke Dingguo felt dizzy cannot be entirely blamed on Ding Wu. Ever since he learned that Jing Lao San fell into Zhou Cangyue's hands, Duke Dingguo has not been able to sleep well these days. Whenever he closes his eyes, he will see the bloody ear. Duke Dingguo woke up from his dreams several times, in which Jing Lao San was bleeding and dying. Duke Dingguo is not young anymore. He has been on a long march and didn't sleep well at night. He is under great mental stress. As soon as he arrived today, he had to clean up the mess made by Ding Wu. He can hardly hold on any longer. At this moment, battle reports came that Zhou Cangyue had launched a surprise attack on Tongcheng. The deputy general was surprised: "How is it possible? Why is Zhou Cangyue in Tongcheng? Is someone pretending to be him? To confuse people?" Duke Dingguo's face was as gloomy as water. He believed that the person in Tongcheng must be Zhou Cangyue! As for why Zhou Cangyue didn’t come to Jiangnan before, but showed up at this time. Why else? Of course, he was afraid of the imperial court before and only dared to cause trouble in the barbarian lands. Now that he has Jing Lao San in his hands, he has nothing to fear.
Therefore, Zhou Cangyue, who thought he was making a show of force to frighten others and build momentum for his sister Ran, was just fearless in the eyes of Duke Dingguo, and it was Zhou Cangyue who was trying to cause trouble. Duke Dingguo gritted his teeth and for a long time he squeezed out a few words: "Don't pay attention to it!" Who knows if the next time Zhou Cangyue sends him the body of the third brother will be... Poor Zhou Cangyue, he never expected that he would be misunderstood by Duke Dingguo. He really just wanted Sister Ran to notice his existence. He was not fearless or anything like that. Zhou Cangyue started a fire in Tongcheng and was cursed by scholars for his eighteen generations of ancestors, but he did not wait for the pursuit of the imperial army. Zhou Cangyue felt very aggrieved. Wasn't he worthy of being exterminated by the imperial court? Why? It must be because he is too weak. If he were as powerful as Sister Ran, the imperial court would not ignore him. Look, Duke Dingguo came in person to fight, and then look at him himself, no one paid any attention to him even when he set fire. Zhou Cangyue's self-esteem was hurt, and he didn't want to miss this rare opportunity, so he cried and pitifully in the letter and asked someone to send it to Xuzhou as quickly as possible. He Ran was wondering why Zhou Cangyue went to Tongcheng to cause trouble when she received a letter from Zhou Cangyue. Zhou Cangyue was playing the victim throughout the whole film, looking so pitiful that those who didn't know him would think that he was bullied. In fact, He Ran couldn't bear to look at him. He Ran could only find time in her busy schedule to write him a letter to comfort him and ask him if he also wanted to join the war. If he did, he could attack Anqing Prefecture, which belonged to Tongcheng. He Ran also sent a bag of dried vegetables along with the letter. This was a very practical gift for marching and fighting. After receiving the letter, Zhou Cangyue grinned from ear to ear and returned to his tent carrying the big bag full of dried vegetables. Of course, Zhou Cangyue would not allow himself to suffer any injustice. While he was waiting for his sister Ran's reply, he ran to two counties adjacent to Tongcheng and burned down two county government offices! In the eyes of scholars, this is undoubtedly telling everyone that Tongcheng is about to be destroyed in war! Zhou Cangyue did not even graduate from junior high school in his previous life, and his cultural level in this life was only "literate". All his literary talent in his two lifetimes was used to write letters to his sister Ran. As for why scholars would be so panicked, he could not empathize. But there was one thing he knew, that was, he had stirred up a hornet's nest of scholars. No, even if he was the one who poked the hornet's nest, it would sting Duke Dingguo on the face. Therefore, Zhou Cangyue asked Zhang Shigong to draft an article, the content of which was that many soldiers of the Huwei Army came from the six counties of Anqing including Tongcheng, and he himself had deep affection for the six counties of Anqing, so he did not want the war to spread to Anqing. He hoped that the six counties of Anqing would be filled with the sound of reading and piano, and the inheritance of poetry and prose would last forever. After Zhang Shigong finished writing, he showed it to Zhou Cangyue. After reading it, Zhou Cangyue felt that scholars were too reserved, so he asked Zhang Shigong to write it more clearly. So Zhang Shigong had to add at the end of the article: I, Zhou Cangyue, admire and yearn for the six counties of Anqing. I hope the emperor can give them up for the sake of the people and give them to me for free without spending a single soldier. Is that okay? In the last paragraph, Zhang Shigong felt that he was thick-skinned enough, but he also blushed a little. So shameless, okay? After reading it, Zhou Cangyue was very satisfied. Not only did he have one copy sent to Jinling and one to Yangzhou, he also asked the engraving studio to print thousands of copies overnight. The brothers of the Beggar Gang throughout Jiangnan posted them in major academies and bookstores and painting studios that scholars loved to visit. One stone caused a thousand ripples, and in less than three days, the whole of Jiangnan was in an uproar. In the past, people thought He Ran was shameless enough, but later, He Ran held official examinations every year, which changed the views of scholars all over the world on her. So no one has said that He Ran is shameless for a long time. Now, they finally realized that compared with He Ran back then, Zhou Cangyue was the truly shameless one. How bold must one be to say, "I like those six counties in Anqing, I like them very much, so, old emperor, please give these six counties to me."
Although the emperor has been imprisoned, as long as Duke Dingguo has not yet proclaimed himself emperor, he is still the emperor, so Zhou Cangyue wants to ask him for the six counties of Anqing. When Duke Dingguo read this article, he was so angry that he trembled. Would Zhou Cangyue dare to do that if he didn't have Jing Lao San in his hand? Zhou Cangyue: What is there to be afraid of? If you have the guts, come and hit me. Duke Dingguo felt that everything was going wrong. The only thing that made him feel relieved was that because of the last battle, He Xiulong's army stopped advancing and did not march towards Yangzhou again. But this is only temporary. In that battle, He Xiulong was the winner. But Zhou Cangyue obviously didn't want Duke Dingguo to live a comfortable life. Since he had publicly asked for the six counties of Anqing, he would lose face if Duke Dingguo didn't give them. So Zhou Cangyue asked the Beggar Gang to spread various news in the six counties of Anqing. For a while, people in the six counties were in panic. Almost all the local aristocratic families have people serving in the court. Duke Dingguo is far away in Yangzhou, but Lord Quan is in Nanjing. At the morning court, officials from Anqing take turns to force the court to come up with regulations. The situation cannot deteriorate any further, otherwise the local aristocratic families will follow the example of the former wealthy families in Henan and hire civilians to defend their homes. Lord Quan felt a headache after hearing this. He also followed the example of the wealthy families in Henan and hired civilians? Who were the militiamen hired by the wealthy and powerful families in Henan Province back then? It’s the Tiger Army! Who is now threatening the imperial court to demand the six counties of Anqing? It’s still the Tiger Army! You might as well just say it directly and ask the court to give the six counties of Anqing to the Huwei Army. Selfish, so selfish! These people only thought about preserving their families and properties, but did not consider the cause of the court at all. The emperor has been imprisoned, and the world is about to change hands. If you don't protect yourself, will you perish with the emperor? That emperor was not only immoral, but also unorthodox. Lord Quan was deeply distressed and regretted cooperating with Duke Dingguo. He hated Liu Shanhe, so when he saw an opportunity to bring Liu Shanhe down, he agreed without hesitation to cooperate with Duke Dingguo. Looking back now, he was too paranoid. He shouldn't have ignored the advice of his staff and acted on his own. He Ran had just sent the letter to Zhou Cangyue when she saw the article by Zhang Shigong. He Ran burst out laughing. It’s no wonder that she likes Zhou Cangyue, this kid is really interesting. In Yangzhou city, a group of scholars ran to the gate of the government office and sat in silence, demanding that Duke Dingguo give an answer, of course, an answer to Zhou Cangyue. Zhou Cangyue has already said that he wants the six counties of Anqing. You have to give him a definite answer whether he will give it to you or not. Don’t mention the emperor. Everyone in the world knows that the emperor has been locked up by you. Now you have the final say. Don’t ask why these scholars speak for Zhou Cangyue. The answer is that they do it voluntarily. As for why they do it voluntarily, why do you care so much? In short, there have been undercurrents in Yangzhou City these days. Some people really want to share the worries of the imperial court, some think that instead of letting Tongcheng be destroyed by artillery fire, it would be better to hand it over and make a smooth transition, and some people just want to watch the fun and wish they could let Duke Dingguo and Zhou Cangyue fight each other. Duke Dingguo's head was buzzing, and the prefect cautiously probed: "Duke, those students outside..." "Have them driven away. They dare to gather together to cause trouble. They don't want to live." Duke Dingguo growled. The prefect sighed silently and had to ask the officials to leave. He tried to persuade the scholars earnestly not to interfere in state affairs. However, he did not expect that he was refuted by the scholars as soon as he opened his mouth. The scholars quoted scriptures and refuted the officials speechless.
At this moment, a messenger dismounted in front of the government office and shouted, "Enemy attack, enemy attack, He Xiulong is coming, He Xiulong is coming!"