Therefore, it is natural that Yue Fei's appeasement work started from here, and the effect can be said to be immediate. Yang Guang looked left and right, and found that he was indeed in a desperate situation, so he chose to surrender immediately.

Correspondingly, Yue Fei neither disarmed Yang Guang's subordinates nor occupied Gulouzhai. Instead, he directly granted them a military position as a Jiedushi, and rewarded them with precious logistical food and military equipment. Then he still let this man lead his old subordinates to garrison in Gulouzhai.

Such a move can only show that Yue Fei was truly magnanimous. Although the surrounding military and state commanders were dissatisfied, they had nothing to say... After all, it would cost a fortune to buy a bone, right?

However, just two days later, when Yue Fei continued to move westward and southward along the west bank of Dongting Lake to pacify the water strongholds, Yang Guang, as the first person to surrender, accepted the money, food and official position from the government army. It is not known whether he contacted Zhong Xiang and Yang Yao on the south bank of Dongting Lake behind him, or whether he had planned it in advance, or whether he had never been convinced. Anyway, he took advantage of Yue Fei's trip to the west of the lake and suddenly chose to raise his flag again and openly betray.

Yang Guang's repeated changes also made many large and small water forts and leaders who were in contact with Yue Fei on the west side of Dongting Lake hesitate, and they immediately gave up contact with the government army.

So far, there is still no problem... This kind of thing is too common, and no one can blame Yue Fei for it.

However, Yue Dutong’s subsequent actions were incomprehensible.

After hearing the news, Yue Fei immediately set out with great force. He led his army to Gulou Village in one day and one night. Yang Guang was caught off guard by the might of thunder and could only ask for surrender. Yue Fei actually agreed to the other party again. Moreover, he did not send troops to Gulou Village, nor did he talk to Yang Guang face to face. He directly recognized the other party's surrender and then returned to Huarong.

That was not all. After returning to Huarong, he issued another military appointment document to Yang Guang, which gave him a higher official position. Also, a new batch of food, fodder, and money arrived at Gulouzhai along with the document.

Hearing this, Zhang Jun looked a little helpless, but smiled bitterly: "I guess Yang Guang rebelled again later? If so, Yue's move is indeed a bit absurd. A famous general of the country was played around by a little thief."

"Four times." Xi Yi suddenly stretched out four fingers.

"What?" Mr. Zhang Deyuan obviously didn't react.

"Within two months, Yang Guang was pacified four times and rebelled three times." Xi Yi's expression remained unchanged, and his words were calm. "General Yue also granted him a military post four times, each time higher, with more food and money, and each time he did not occupy Gulouzhai... To be honest with you, the three armies and prefectures, especially the prefecture schools that settled the fleeing soldiers and civilians, have been setting up bets recently, betting on when Yang Guang will rebel for the fourth time?"

Zhang Jun was stunned.

"If that's all, it's fine!" Ma Shen, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly interrupted. "He is a general, and he has his own considerations for marching and fighting. Whether it's for personal face or he wants to show his sincerity by capturing Meng Huo seven times in the storybook, it's always his decision... Since the Jingkang period, what kind of warriors have we not seen? Only I am here as the envoy of Hubei, but I have only seen him waste tens of thousands of troops for a small camp and a Yang Guang for several months. And the traitor Zhong Xiang has set up a total of forty such lakeside camps! Not only that, but also the camps in the west of the lake have been talking with him for more than a month, but because Yang Guang kept changing his mind, no camp surrendered, and he kept asking for money! According to the private rumors in the camps in the west of the lake, if those camp leaders had not been beaten by Yue Fei in Hubei before, they would almost regard this dignified commander-in-chief and national general as a fool!"

Zhang Deyuan had already been exhausted and unable to cope.

"Not only that, these days, although Zhong Xiang, Yang Yao and other rebels have lost all the land in Hubei, they have taken the opportunity to expand in Hunan." Without waiting for Zhang Jun to respond, Xi Yi continued to add calmly. "Zhong Xiang was originally called the Great Saint Grandfather, and also called the King of Chu. His son was called the Crown Prince. Yang Yao was called the Marshal, and was called the Equalizer and the Eliminator. Wherever he went, he killed officials, clerks, scholars, monks, and Taoists, and then divided the land of these people and exempted the land tax of that place. It was just a lie to confuse the people..."

"They originally rebelled because of the tax increase in the past." Zhang Jun was already exhausted. "It is normal to take such action, and it is impossible that there is really no taxation, otherwise where would the troops, money and food come from?"

"It must be so." Xi Yi remained calm. "But how would the people know? They only know that there is no tax in Hunan and there are still lands, but in Hubei, people have to sell everything they have to supply tens of thousands of troops and send their men to work... In the winter, some things could be ignored, but in the past spring farming season, some things have become apparent, and the local officials can't help but jump up and down."

Zhang Jun remained silent. Although he had no experience as a grassroots local official, no matter how stupid he was, he knew that spring ploughing and agricultural production were the biggest indicators of a local official's performance. It was completely understandable that the three groups of grassroots officials had launched a wave of impeachment against Yue Fei after the New Year. This meant that the central government had to admit that the current situation of massive destruction of spring ploughing was caused by Yue Fei's wanton behavior, not their irresponsibility.

However, after all, it was still Yue Fei's problem. With tens of thousands of troops under his command, he was just "playing with the enemy" there. The national strategy of the central government was delayed, and the spring farming production in the local area was delayed. The senior local officials caught in the middle had to bear the pressure of the war situation, but they could not bypass the central government to interfere with the official's favorite generals.

So whether from the perspective of official logic or from the perspective of basic political and military responsibilities, it was not an exaggeration for Yue Fei to be impeached and besieged.

My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It’s even more exciting later!