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Chapter 211 The Troubled Times (1)

Looking back, Zhu Wen saw Prime Minister Shang Rang, so he hurriedly saluted to him. After Huang Chao established the Qi Empire, he appointed four Prime Ministers. Shang Rang was undoubtedly the head of them and was deeply trusted by Huang Chao. Otherwise, it was impossible for Huang Chao to let him lead the troops to attack Zheng Tian in Fengxiang several times.

That was because Shang Rang was Shang Junchang’s junior brother. Shang Junchang was Wang Xianzhi’s general. After Wang Xianzhi was persuaded to surrender by Yang Fuguang, he was dispatched by Wang Xianzhi to negotiate with the official troops. But in the end, he was killed.

Shang Junchang died unjustly, so Shang Rang hated the Tang Empire very much. He was one of those who were the least likely to surrender to the Tang Empire and he was good at leading troops to fight on the battlefield, so Huang Chao valued him. Facing such a figure, Zhu Wen had no reason not to be respectful.

It was late, and there were no officials nearby. The civil officials and military generals in the banquet had already left. Zhu Wen and Shang Rang walked side by side. Shang Rang said, “You looked worried at the banquet. Why?”

Zhu Wen was shocked in his heart. He originally thought he had covered it up well enough, he didn’t expect that Shang Rang could see through him. But of course, he wouldn’t say it clearly, so he asked instead, “I fought on the battlefield outside, so I don’t know the situation in Guanzhong. What is the situation now?”

Shang Rang kept silent for a moment. “A few days ago, His Majesty appointed Wang Mei as the Binning commissioner to take charge of Bin Prefecture. But before Wang Mei took office, Zhu Mei, the former general of Bin Prefecture, led his troops to revolt. He elected Li Chonggu, the general of Binning, as the commissioner. He himself led the troops to invade Xingping, and now he is fighting against Wang Bo, who is stationed in Xingping.”

At this point, Shang Rang stopped, not saying any more.

So Zhu Wen knew that there were wars all around the Qi Empire now. In between the Tang Empire and the Qi Empire, the soldiers of the vassal states still chose to be loyal to the Tang Empire. In other words, they fought for the Tang Empire.

At this time, Zhu Wen returned to Chang’an at the right time. Huang Chao was short of a valiant general to lead the army to defeat the various troops.

As Zhu Wen expected, two days later, Huang Chao summoned him and asked him to lead the troops to fight against the Binning Army, the Fengxiang Army, the Xiasui Army, and other troops who had invaded Guanzhong.

Zhu Wen knew that although Huang Chao didn’t blame him for the defeat of Dengzhou, he was just waiting for him to expiate his crime by the following victories. If he couldn’t win the following wars, he was afraid that he would be punished with all the crimes.

Zhu Wen dared not slack off. After receiving armor and weapons, he reorganized the troops and drilled the soldiers day and night. Then, with the new troops that Huang Chao had given him, he went out to fight against various vassal state troops.

While Li Ye wiped out all the rebels in Guandong and fought straight to Tongguan, Zhu Wen won successive victories in Guanzhong, defeating the Binning Army, the Fengxiang Army, and the Xiasui Army one after another.

It was worth mentioning that Li Maozhen and Wang Jian, who were in the Fengxiang Army, also fought a battle against Zhu Wen, but they were defeated. After this battle, the Fengxiang Army had no ability to advance in a short time.

When Li Maozhen and Wang Jian returned to Fengxiang with the defeated army, they and all the generals were cursed right in their faces by Zheng Tian, the Fengxiang commissioner. His words were very fierce and insulting.

Coming out from the commissioner’s mansion, they found a restaurant to have a meal. With a gloomy face, Li Maozhen remained silent. Although Wang Jian didn’t show much on his face, he felt very uncomfortable in his heart, which could be seen by him not eating any of the food on the table.

Wang Jian waited for quite a while, but he finally couldn’t help it. Tapping the edge of the bowl with his chopsticks, he asked Li Maozhen, “Song Wentong, are you going to eat or not?”

Li Maozhen’s mind was brought back to the present. He took a lukewarm glance at Wang Jian. “Why aren’t you eating?”

Wang Jian complained, “How can I eat in view of your long face?”

Li Maozhen’s gloomy expression turned cold immediately. He stared at Wang Jian as if to swallow him, but he immediately calmed down. It was kind for Wang Jian to try to persuade him to eat, so he couldn’t get angry with Wang Jian for this.

Picking up the chopsticks, Li Maozhen picked up some food.

Seeing Li Maozhen finally pick up the chopsticks, Wang Jian, who was unable to contain it any longer, quickly picked up the bowl and began to eat. However, Li Maozhen then put down his chopsticks. Looking at Wang Jian, who was enjoying the meal, he sighed. His face, which was more beautiful than a woman’s, was full of wonder. “How can you still eat at this point?”

Wang Jian’s mouth was filled with food, and he said in a lisping voice, “Food is the first necessity of the people, so we should treat ourselves well.”

Li Maozhen rolled his eyes. Talking about the topic of eating with Wang Jian was just asking to be snubbed.

He hesitated for a moment and then he said, “Although fighting the rebels is our unshirkable duty, the commander’s combat method is simply to send the soldiers to their deaths... Since Huang Chao has occupied Chang’an, the Fengxiang Army hasn’t stopped for one day. The army was either fighting in battle or on its way to battle, so our troops had no time to rest. The commander recruited many new soldiers. They didn’t have enough drills, but he asked us to take them to the battlefield. With such a method, even if we didn’t fight to the death, we would end up being exhausted.”

While burying himself in eating, Wang Jian looked up at Li Maozhen. “What do you want?”

Li Maozhen frowned. “The soldiers in the army are very angry. I’m afraid that if things go on like this, it will cause trouble. This time, you and I were defeated by that guy Zhu Wen not because we were not as good at fighting as him, but because our troops were in a mess! We made the best out of it to manage to barely escape with our lives, but the commander scolded us and wanted to punish us... We didn’t encounter such a situation when we were in the Regal Guards, did we?”

Wang Jian swallowed the food in his mouth, putting down the bowl and chopsticks, and looked at Li Maozhen solemnly. “The commander was given the military power by His Majesty, so he had a high position and was powerful. Because of this, the commander was eager to defeat the rebels and make achievements. But he was so impetuous that he did commit a military taboo.”

Li Maozhen sneered. “The commander was originally a scholar. The last few times, he could defeat Shang Rang because Shang Rang took him lightly and we had strong support on the side. Now, at the time to test his military talent, the commander’s method was hopelessly flawed.”

Wang Jian looked at Li Maozhen carefully as if he had seen a flower on his face.

Li Maozhen blushed and glared at him. “What are you looking at?!”

Wang Jian didn’t retract his neck as usual but asked solemnly, “You want to rebel?”

Li Maozhen was stunned slightly. Gnashing his teeth, he said, “No, but it is necessary for the Fengxiang Army to change to another commissioner.”

Wang Jian asked, “Who?”

Li Maozhen said without hesitation, “Li Changyan, the army director, has prestige, and he is popular among the soldiers and is talented. If he can replace Zheng Tian, the Fengxiang Army will be in a better situation.”

“That’s settled then.” Picking up the bowl and chopsticks, Wang Jian buried himself in eating again. He was so calm that he didn’t even breathe fast. It was as if he was talking with Li Maozhen about where to hang out after the meal instead of changing the commander holding the military power.

“Stop eating!” Li Maozhen stood up and dragged Wang Jian away. “A long delay may cause trouble. We’re going to meet Li Changyan now!”

Wang Jian hurried to eat some more food. Without having eaten enough food, he was dragged away by Li Maozhen, staring at the food on the table sadly.

With his hands clasped behind his back, Zheng Tian walked back and forth in the study. He looked anxious and restless.

His trusted advisor stood in the room watching him. He felt dizzy, but he didn’t know what to say.

“One failure after another. A crushing defeat! How did this happen?” Zheng Tian indignantly sat down and couldn’t help knocking on the chair fiercely. “At the beginning, when Shang Rang led two hundred thousand troops to attack us, they were defeated by us neatly. Why couldn’t we win this time?”

Shaking his head, the advisor sighed and didn’t dare to say anything. He had said exhortations many times, but Zheng Tian had never listened to them.

Zheng Tian possessed the military power to make people in the world envious, so he was certainly eager to make achievements, or he couldn’t hold the military power firmly. But the more urgent he was, the more likely he was to make mistakes.

While Zheng Tian was impatient and helpless, his trusted soldier came to report in a hurry, “Commander, something bad has happened. Someone is going to rebel!”

Zheng Tian was startled to stand up and his expression changed greatly. “What are you talking about? Who is going to rebel?”

“The army director Li Changyan, Song Wentong, Wang Jian, and other generals are leading the troops to rush over. They are about to surround the commissioner’s mansion!” the trusted soldier said urgently.

“How dare they!” Zheng Tian was furious. He hurriedly went out and walked toward the main gate with some people.

When he arrived at the gate, he saw masses of soldiers in black armor outside the gate. In front of the gate, a group of powerful cultivators in armor was eyeing the mansion covetously. The three people at the head were Li Changyan, Li Maozhen, and Wang Jian.

“What are you doing here? Do you want to rebel?” Zheng Tian scolded them, furious.

Li Changyan said coldly, “You didn’t understand our soldiers and ordered us to fight without deep consideration several times so that the soldiers suffered heavy casualties. Now we soldiers want you to resign and make room for one who is more capable. You’d better comply with the aspirations of the soldiers.”

“You... Nonsense! Li Changyan, I trusted you so much and let you lead the troops to fight on the battlefield, how can you be so ungrateful? Do you want to betray your country and surrender to the rebels?!” Zheng Tian scolded Li Changyan, pointing at his nose.

“We are loyal and righteous and we will sacrifice our lives to serve the country, so it’s impossible for us to surrender to the rebels. We just want you to hand over the commander’s seal!” Li Changyan said indifferently.

Zheng Tian still wanted to say something, but Li Maozhen was already impatient. “This is the end. You don’t need to say more. All the soldiers, listen to me. Kill!”

The soldiers in armor immediately rushed forward, and Zheng Tian’s trusted soldiers took the initiative to fight against them.

That day, Zheng Tian was besieged by Li Changyan, unable to control the troops. He ended up fleeing from Fengxiang to Sichuan hurriedly.

Afterward, Li Yan appointed Zheng Tian, who fled to Chengdu, as the Heir Prince’s teacher and Li Changyan as the Fengxiang commissioner. He still ordered the Fengxiang Army to fight against Huang Chao.

After Li Changyan took office as the Fengxiang commissioner, he didn’t hurry to fight but groomed the horses and drilled the troops. Li Changyan put Wang Jian and Li Maozhen in important positions. They took charge of the cavalry and the infantry respectively and became ones of Fengxiang’s most powerful figures.

...

The Xichuan Army’s camp, outside Chengdu, Sichuan—

In the military camp, the fierce fight was going on. Soldiers were fighting a bloody battle everywhere. The battle of the over ten thousand soldiers lasted for four hours before the situation became clear. The attacked Xichuan Army suffered heavy losses and retreated step by step, leaving countless bodies along the way, while the various troops responsible for attacking advanced triumphantly.

Standing at the outer gate of the military camp, Tian Lingzi looked at the battle in front of him coldly, frowning. Obviously, he was very dissatisfied with the present progress.

“Pass down my military order. In an hour, if they can’t take off Guo Qi’s head, all the generals whose positions are above the army conductor will be beheaded!” Tian Lingzi ordered coldly.