Chapter 1029
Discussing Countermeasures
Upon hearing the words of the Mountain God, Lu Zhenyuan instantly understood what the Mountain God meant and said, "The Mountain God means that we should start a rebellion together with Lord Yan."
To be honest, I had this thought before, but I never had the right opportunity. Now, I've happened to meet Lord Yan. I also have to thank the treacherous officials who sent me out to suppress the bandits; they have given me hope for a new life.
Otherwise, if we continue to be suppressed like this, not only will my family and I have no way to survive, but the people of the Great Jing Dynasty will also have no peace. Thank you for the mountain god's advice!
Xu Bo'an said, "No need to be so polite. I am simply willing to help the side of justice!"
Li Qingshi was able to become a constable in Qingyun Dao thanks to his relationship with Lu Zhenyuan. Now that Lu Zhenyuan has met with misfortune, Li Qingshi's situation is bound to be no better.
The same applies to Sun Weiwei; her jewelry store's business has been declining recently, and if this continues, it won't be long before it has to close down.
Xu Bo'an knew these things without Li Qingshi needing to ask. Xu Bo'an simply said to Li Qingshi, "Qingshi, you too. But be careful. That's all the advice I can give you. How to proceed from here depends on your discussion. As for the outcome, it's up to fate!"
Li Qingshi also said to the mountain god with great reverence, "Qingshi thanks the mountain god for his guidance!"
Xu Bo'an said, "Alright, you can discuss your countermeasures now. I have other matters to attend to, so I'll be leaving!"
Upon hearing the words of the Mountain God, Lu Zhenyuan, Li Qingshi, and Yan Shouyi said with deep gratitude, "Respectfully seeing off the Mountain God!"
After Xu Bo'an finished speaking, he looked away from Feiya Waterfall. In the bonsai world, he played the role of the mountain god, who had the responsibility to protect the common people. Faced with a chivalrous man like Lu Zhenyuan and treacherous officials in the court who only knew their own interests and harmed the people, Xu Bo'an naturally had to side with the side of justice and offer them appropriate advice and guide them on the right path.
However, no one can predict how things will develop. Although many things are within human control, we still have to follow the will of Heaven.
Like those who started uprisings throughout history, they often encountered unexpected events at the last moment that helped them succeed.
For example, Zhu Yuanzhang's victory in the fire attack on Poyang Lake during the Ming Dynasty, where he was outnumbered, was largely due to the sudden change in weather at the time.
When the battle between the two sides was at a stalemate, Zhu Yuanzhang's small boats were unable to directly confront Chen Youliang's massive fleet of ships linked end to end. However, at dusk, a strong northeasterly wind suddenly swept across the lake. The wind was extremely fierce at the time. Zhu Yuanzhang decisively adopted the suggestion of his generals and dispatched a suicide squad to drive seven fishing boats loaded with gunpowder, reeds and tung oil into the enemy's formation with the wind and set them on fire.
The fire was fueled by the wind, and the wind fueled the fire's power. In an instant, "flames soared and the lake turned red." Chen Youliang's chained warships were unable to maneuver and escape, and quickly became engulfed in flames. Soldiers were either burned to death or drowned after jumping into the water, and the entire army was thrown into chaos.
This battle directly resulted in a severe blow to Chen Youliang's army, and he was eventually killed by an arrow during a breakout attempt in August.
Zhu Yuanzhang's eventual victory was directly related to the sudden and strong northeasterly winds. Without this abrupt weather change, how could Zhu Yuanzhang's small fishing boats have stood against Chen Youliang's massive fleet? So, while human effort can sometimes play a role, the most important thing is to follow the will of Heaven. Xu Bo'an's advice and guidance regarding Lu Zhenyuan's predicament were merely helpful; ultimately, achieving a decisive victory required considering many factors, including the will of Heaven, which is something no one can resist.
Lu Zhenyuan, Li Qingshi, and Yan Shouyi didn't hear any more noise from the Mountain God for a while, and knowing that the Mountain God had left, they stood up from the ground and, at Yan Shouyi's invitation, went back to Yan Shouyi's inner room to discuss countermeasures.
Of course, the main strategy discussed revolved around how to deceive everyone and make the emperor and those treacherous officials believe that Lu Zhenyuan had successfully suppressed the bandits.
This is actually quite simple. It's mainly because Yan Shouyi has been staying here recently. In addition to subduing various mountain strongholds, he often does good deeds for the people, which makes the people in the vicinity respect Yan Shouyi very much. In their hearts, Yan Shouyi is a hero who has saved them from dire straits. Moreover, Yan Shouyi has been communicating more closely with local officials recently.
As long as we can persuade the local gentry, fabricate public resentment, and then confiscate the corpses to create a fake battlefield, this whole process will surely fool everyone.
Yan Shouyi was very familiar with everything here, so helping Lu Zhenyuan solve this problem was not difficult. In addition to doing these things, he also had to keep the mouths of the soldiers that Lu Zhenyuan brought with him shut, otherwise, if anyone let it slip, Lu Zhenyuan would only be beheaded.
The total deadline is fifteen days. Lu Zhenyuan and his group have only been away from the court for three days, so they have at least ten days to resolve these issues. This time is more than enough for them to solve these problems.
After a brief discussion of the general strategy, it was lunchtime. Yan Shouyi took Li Qingshi and Lu Zhenyuan to lunch. When Lu Zhenyuan and Li Qingshi saw that the lunch consisted of refined rice and meat, they exclaimed in unison, "This food is amazing! Do you eat this every day?"
Seeing the surprised expressions on their faces, Yan Shouyi smiled and said, "Yes, we eat this standard every day, and the soldiers and we eat this standard too. After all, everyone needs to be well-fed to have the strength to fight the enemy. This is all thanks to Grandpa Mountain God!"
Li Qingshi looked at Yan Shouyi and said, "Is all this meat a gift from the Mountain God?"
Yan Shouyi pointed to the fragrant meat, which is ham sausage, and said, "This fragrant meat was bestowed by the Mountain God, but some of it was also hunted by the soldiers when they went up the mountain!"
Lu Zhenyuan said, "The food here is so plentiful, it's even better than what the first-rank officials in the imperial court eat, no, it's even better than what the emperor eats! No wonder those soldiers I saw earlier were all so energetic, strong, and looked so healthy!"
Yan Shouyi smiled and said, "Yes, the soldiers have to practice martial arts every day when they're not fighting. How can they manage if they don't eat well?"
Lu Zhenyuan said, "Yes, that makes sense. Your soldiers here look much stronger than most of the soldiers in the imperial court. I think our victory is just around the corner!" (End of this chapter)