Song Huaian's heart moved, and he shouted sternly: "Come here, drag Mr. Lai out and chop him up."
Two rebels came over immediately. They looked at Song Huaian and then at Li Feng, not knowing what to do for a moment.
Li Feng quickly asked, "Does the military advisor have a grudge against Mr. Lai?"
Song Huaian said: "No grudge."
Li Feng asked again: "Any complaints?"
Song Huaian said: "No complaints."
Li Feng asked, "There's no hatred or resentment, so why do you want to attack someone the moment you meet?"
Song Huaian glanced at Lai Changde and said, "This man is definitely a spy sent by Zhao Lin. He deliberately came to instigate the general to attack the city so that he could seize the opportunity to capture the general."
Li Feng asked: "Why do you say that?"
Song Huaian said, "Zhao Lin has just been appointed General Xuanwu. He has 30,000 soldiers under his command. Although many of them are new recruits, he can definitely withstand an army of more than 50,000 thanks to the city walls. What can we use to attack the city? Even if we fill all these brothers into the moat under Qingzhou City, I'm afraid they won't hurt Zhao Lin at all. If he's not a spy, what is he? You two, quickly take Lai Changde out and chop him up, quickly!"
Just as the two rebels were about to step forward, Lai Changde said with a smile, "Mr. Song, you are wrong. I am not here to send you to death, General. I am here to give you a great fortune."
Song Huaian sneered, "Who wants to listen to your nonsense?"
Lai Changde said: "Since I dare to come here, I must have confidence."
Li Feng said: "Why not listen to him first? If he is really wrong, it won't be too late to chop him off later."
Song Huaian said disdainfully: "Go ahead."
Lai Changde asked, "General, Mr. Song, do you know how long Zhao Lin has been in Qingzhou?"
Song Huaian said: "It was only seven or eight months ago after the palace examination."
"Even if he had extraordinary talent, he wouldn't be able to control the entire prefecture in seven or eight months. Furthermore, he's a mean person and treats his subordinates with no mercy, causing the officials in the government office to be afraid to speak out against him. As long as we find the right people and open the city gates, who can't possibly capture it?"
Song Huaian sneered, "It's easy to say, but even if everything goes smoothly and we can easily enter the city, what will happen after we enter the city? Zhao Lin has 30,000 troops!"
Lai Changde said: "Before coming here, I contacted two nearby rebel forces. The three armies combined have at least 70,000 to 80,000 people. Are you afraid of a mere 30,000 people?"
Song Huaian sneered repeatedly: "So this is your plan, you want to kill my general."
Lai Changde was surprised and asked, "Why do you say that, military advisor?"
Song Huaian said, "Even if the three armies work together to capture Qingzhou Prefecture and defeat the government troops, our army will suffer heavy casualties. When the surrounding government troops come to encircle and suppress us, how can we resist? I think you are either from the imperial court or sent by another rebel army to deliberately deceive us. General, arrest him and torture him severely, and he will definitely tell the truth."
"Ha ha ha ha……"
Lai Changde laughed heartily. "So the military advisor is worried about the manpower. A mere manpower is nothing to worry about. If this can be accomplished, the capture of the provincial capital will be enough to make General Li famous, and countless people will come to join him. By then, the general will be the most powerful rebel army, and the surrounding rebels will flock to him. Why would they care about a mere loss of manpower?"
Lai Changde advised sincerely: "General, this opportunity will never come again."
Li Feng hesitated.
Song Huaian said: "Even if the three armies join forces, where will the opportunity come from?"
Lai Changde said, "In a few days it will be New Year's Eve. Everyone will be out enjoying themselves, and the garrison will be relaxed. This is the perfect opportunity. As long as we capture Qingzhou Prefecture and capture Zhao Lin, the general's reputation will surely spread far and wide. By then, perhaps the imperial court will come to recruit him. It would be a great honor to give him the title of a true general. Wouldn't that be wonderful?"
Li Feng was finally persuaded and said, "Let's do it."
Song Huaian sighed and said, "Mr. Lai, if you dare to lie to my general, I will kill you."
Lai Changde laughed and said, "Don't worry, you will only thank me when the time comes."
Since Li Feng agreed, Lai Changde immediately invited two other rebel leaders to discuss the matter together.
Song Huaian and Lai Changde stood together and saw the three leaders arguing with each other, their faces flushed and their necks thick. They asked, "Mr. Lai, who are you working for? What exactly do you want us to do by attacking Qingzhou Prefecture?"
Lai Changde smiled slightly and said, "Of course it's for the people of the world."
Song Huaian sneered and said, "Stop talking nonsense in front of me."
Lai Changde asked, "I'd like to know why Mr. Song joined the rebels. From what I know, Mr. Song was born into a scholarly family and studied under great Confucian scholars. Even if he didn't get the top spot in the imperial examination, he would have been in the top two. Why did he join the rebels?"
Song Huaian said proudly: "Of course I don't like this world."
Lai Changde said: "What a coincidence, I am the same."
Song Huaian said disdainfully: "You are not. You have the smell of the court, you must be a court official. If I am not mistaken, it must be Zhao Lin's enemies who sent you to harm him."
Lai Changde was shocked, but remained calm and said, "What do you mean by imperial court?"
Song Huaian had originally just been lying, but seeing Lai Changde's reaction, he felt that he was right and said, "You smell very much like a thief. Only those who have been thieves for a long time have this smell."
Lai Changde laughed and said, "You traitors are calling me a thief?"
"Yes." Song Huaian nodded heavily. "We rebelled to survive, not to rob others. You became officials to rob the people of the world, so you are even more thief-like than us rebels. So I am sure that your master must be Zhao Lin's enemy. Let me guess, is it the Zhenbei Marquis Mansion?"
Lai Changde's expression finally changed. "Mr. Song is indeed a man admired by both leaders of the rebel army. But you guessed wrong. I have nothing to do with the Zhenbei Marquisate."
He is just Zhao Jingzhou's subordinate, not a member of the Zhenbei Marquis Mansion, so it is okay to say that.
Song Huaian said, "Hey!", "I don't care who you are, or what you're doing. But if you want to take advantage of this opportunity to weaken the rebels, or take advantage of our attack on Qingzhou Prefecture to take advantage of us, I'll let you know why Li Feng treated me like a distinguished guest even though Lao Debiao, whom I assisted, failed."
Lai Changde smiled and said, "Since Mr. Song said so, I won't hide it. Yes, we did this to deal with Zhao Lin, and only to deal with Zhao Lin. But now we have an unexpected surprise."
Lai Changde looked Song Huaian up and down and said, "Mr. Song is so talented, why bother hanging out with a group of rebels who are doomed to fail? Why not come with me to meet my general? With Mr. Song's ability, he will surely rise to the top and surpass me in the future."
"Is your master still a general?"
Song Huaian thought carefully and said, "The only generals who had grudges against Zhao Lin were the deceased Ma Dada brothers, and Yang Nantian and Chen Qifeng, who were driven out of the Qingzhou military camp by him and stationed elsewhere. Which one are you on?"
Lai Changde laughed and said, "Mr. Song, there's no need to ask anymore. I won't tell you."
Song Huaian snorted coldly and said, "They are laughing so happily, it seems that they are not them."
Lai Changde's smile suddenly faded.
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