Zhu Kang, who occupied many places, had become the target of the imperial court's attack and could no longer live in peace in a corner as before.

In order to prevent the imperial court from sending troops to attack, Zhu Kang has expanded his troops many times and many people have responded.

In April, the imperial court sent Wu Shifa to attack Jiayu.

The rice seedlings that had just been planted outside the city had not yet been sorted out, and all the villagers were organized to enter the city for defense.

"Commander, the imperial army outside has a hundred thousand soldiers. How can we hold on with only a little over ten thousand?"

"We have to defend it even if we can't! We just took control of this place not long ago, are we going to hand it over to others?"

"Isn't it just 100,000 people? We're defending the city, so it won't be that easy to break in! At worst, we can just stay put."

"You're not going out? If the imperial court keeps you under siege for ten days or half a month, it won't matter. But if they keep you under siege for a year or two, and the war consumes more food, are you going to starve to death here?"

Unable to come up with an idea for a moment, everyone looked at Zhu Kang.

Zhu Kang's expression remained unchanged. "Retreat is impossible. Wu Shifa claims to have 100,000 men, but from my understanding of the imperial army, they'd be lucky to have 20,000 or 30,000 men."

With three times the number of troops, attacking Jiayu City would result in heavy casualties. I know Wu Shifa, a capable leader and a cautious man. He will definitely not attack aggressively, but will likely siege and defend. They want to take advantage of this opportunity to deplete our food supply.

We can afford to fight him for two or three months. If he wants to fight us for half a year, the emperor probably won't agree. Someone in the court will definitely urge him to attack. If he delays sending troops, he will be accused of nurturing the enemy for his own benefit."

Zhu Kang finalized the battle plan, prioritizing defense and adapting to the strategy of tiring the army.

In mid-April, Wu Shifa's army gathered at the foot of Jiayu City. Just as Zhu Kang said, they surrounded the city without attacking, trying to disrupt the hearts of the soldiers and civilians in the city.

They wanted to cause chaos in the city and take the opportunity to attack it.

"Son, come here. I heard that the imperial army outside the city has sent 100,000 men to attack us, right?"

"Who told you to listen to that nonsense? There are 100,000 troops, but 10,000 or 20,000 would be great."

"Ten or twenty thousand people is not a small number. Can Commander Zhu hold it? Jingzhi, tell Dad the truth."

"Our Jiayu City is built with large bluestone. As long as there aren't 100,000 people attacking at the same time, it won't be a problem to defend it."

"Then Mom and Dad will be relieved. If it doesn't work out, we have to leave a few descendants so that the younger ones can escape."

An Jingzhi was left in tears and laughter by his family, who repeatedly consoled him, "It's really okay! Who is your son? If something really happened, would I just sit here and wait to die?"

Wu Shifa's plan to encircle the enemy may not be successful.

"That won't do! Commander Zhu has been so kind to our family, you can't run away! You can't do such a heartless thing!"

An's father and mother looked at An Jingzhi with disapproval. If something really happened, their whole family was willing to repay Zhu Kang's kindness and defend the city. They just hoped to leave a way out for the younger ones and ensure that the An family would have successors.

Although An Jingzhi swore solemnly, the imperial army outside the city was so dense that it was frightening to look at.

Qian's parents originally wanted to leave for Lan County, but before they could set off, the imperial army besieged them and the city gates were closed.

Qian's father brought his younger brother Qian to find An Jingzhi and wanted to help defend the city. If the city was broken, their whole family would not be able to escape.

An Jingzhi thanked them and declined. Fearing that they might have wild thoughts, he asked them to join An Muqing's team to help patrol the streets and maintain law and order.

Of course, there were people in the city who wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to cause trouble, but they were all violently suppressed by An Jingzhi. Although Zhu Kang spoke with great confidence, the battlefield was unpredictable and he had to go to the top of the city to guard it every day. The security of the city fell on An Jingzhi.

The only person who was not worried at all was probably An Jingzhi.

After half a month of anxiety, we suddenly heard that the imperial army had retreated.

In May, Zhang Shimin, leader of the southern bandits, invaded the outskirts of Kyoto. The imperial court remained entrenched, and the emperor ordered all regions to raise troops to defend the capital. Zhang Shimin, a rising star from the military, resented his superiors for withholding three years' pay, and led his men in mutiny, becoming a bandit.

They burned, killed, and looted their way from the northern border, evading their pursuers, and finally plundered the land outside Kyoto. After half a month of siege, they withdrew, unable to capture the city. No one outside Kyoto survived.

Wu Shifa received the order to rescue the emperor and had to abandon Jiayu City and rush to Kyoto to rescue the emperor. The crisis in Jiayu City was resolved.

At this point in the timeline, the original owner has no memory. The original owner died in this siege. Although Wu Shifa mainly besieged Zhu Kang, he also launched small-scale exploratory attacks.

At Zhu Kang's headquarters, after receiving the reason why Wu Shifa withdrew his troops, everyone was discussing whether to go south or north.

"Zhang Shimin has already taken over the old emperor. The imperial army is now overwhelmed. We brothers cannot be underestimated. I think we should head south and take him away."

"No, that foolish emperor has sent out orders to all regions to come to his aid. If we go there now, we'll probably run into them head-on. The troops coming to the aid are elite soldiers from all regions, so it's not easy to meet them head-on. The losses will be too great."

"Then let's go north. The imperial court is no longer able to control the area there. We can occupy the northern territory with Jiayu as the center."

"The north is full of refugees now. If they occupy our land, we will have to take care of them. The question is where will the food come from?"

"It's not harvest time yet. We've consumed a lot of food before, and the fields outside the city were destroyed by Wu Shifa's men. Our current food reserves are only enough to feed our people. We don't know how many refugees will arrive later, so we have to be frugal."

Generals at all levels were discussing the issue, and for a while no one could convince the other.

Zhu Kang looked at the civil officials and military generals led by An Jingzhi, who were unable to convince each other, and gestured to An Jingzhi to speak, "Mr. An, do you have any good ideas?"

An Jingzhi pondered for a moment before nodding and pointing at the map. "Commander, I suggest we march south. The imperial court does have a large army supporting the emperor, but these troops from various regions usually march west. Otherwise, they won't be able to replenish their food supplies. According to regulations, the army can only prepare three days' worth of food and must march to the capital immediately. Anyone who delays will be executed."

"We will depart from Jiayu and march south from the east, bypassing Kyoto and heading straight for Nanfeng to cut off the grain supply to the King's army. The King's army will not dare to stop without permission. Nanfeng is a fortified city and will not be attacked in the short term. The King's army will not engage us. If we capture Nanfeng, we won't have to worry about food. We can march north with our army. Then we can claim the throne and conquer the world."

"Hahaha! Good! You are worthy of being our Mr. An." Zhu Kang clapped his hands and laughed.

With the general route in mind, the next step was to arrange manpower and food before the troops moved. Jiayu City continued to receive food and grass transferred from Lan County.

An Jingzhi stayed in the rear, while Zhu Kang personally led his troops south.

After a forced march of half a month, they took a detour outside Nanfeng City. Perhaps because this place was easy to defend and difficult to attack, and was a place the army had to pass through, the defenders of Nanfeng City did not think that the enemy army would come to attack the city, and their guards were lax. Hong Tao led his men to pretend to enter the city, seize the city gate, and then the army attacked and captured Nanfeng City with almost no casualties.