The Song Dynasty on the Sand Table

Chapter 96 You Are Eighty
It turned out that Yue Wenxuan was outside the sand table, overlooking the overall situation. He could see clearly what was arranged on the opposite side. He could even put his face close to the sand table and hear the low voices of the Ma family servants in the woods opposite.

Madam Gong Er was no longer afraid. She ordered the soldiers to wade through the waist-deep river and reach the other side. Madam Gong Er also stood in front of Ma Congyi, looked down at the little boy whose head was only as high as her chest, and smiled and said, "Little brother, how old are you?"

Ma Congyi said, "I am six years old this year, and next year I will be seven."

Madam Gong Er was surprised: "You're so young, and Mr. Ma has already let you take charge?"

Ma Congyi said calmly, "It was only after I begged my fourth uncle that he let me take on this task."

Madam Gong Er: "Your fourth uncle actually agreed?"

Ma Congyi: "I told my fourth uncle that I'm just a child. Even if I say something wrong, Prince Gong will treat it as innocent talk and won't get angry. If he comes to see you in person and says something you don't like, wouldn't that bring disaster to the Ma family? Besides, I'm young, and hanging out with Prince Gong would be like a child making friends without knowing the truth. If my fourth uncle comes in person, it will be difficult to explain to the authorities."

Madam Gong Er laughed dumbly: "You are quite eloquent, little kid. You even convinced me."

Ma Congyi: "I don't think you are that old either."

Madam Gong Er smiled and said, "I am sixteen this year."

Ma Congyi: "You laugh at me for being so young and taking charge of things, while you are leading an army of rebels at your age. It's quite strange, isn't it?"

Madam Gong Er found it very amusing and could not help but burst into laughter: "You are such an interesting child."

The two of them finished greeting each other, and Ma Congyi immediately turned to look at Master Ye in the rebel army and respectfully performed a disciple's salute: "Master, I greet you."

Yue Wenxuan wasn't possessed by Master Ye at this time, but Master Ye's "personality" included the "martial arts teacher" part, so he didn't need Yue Wenxuan's help in this situation. He smiled and replied, "I taught you a few basic moves. Have you mastered them?"

Ma Congyi said: "I have learned the basic movements, but it will take time to consolidate them."

Master Ye: "Well! After I test you, I will teach you a few new moves."

Ma Congyi was delighted: "As you wish."

Madam Gong Er: "Has Ma found out the location of the bandit's lair?"

Ma Congyi pointed northeastward, "Five miles in this direction, there's a small hill called Beacon Hill. The bandits are entrenched on top of it. The hill isn't high, so there's no strategic location to defend it. The bandits haven't prepared any defensive weapons like rolling logs or hitting rocks, so we should be able to win in one battle. There's a village called Donggezhuang at the foot of the hill, but it's been massacred by the bandits. There are no local villagers left, only a few families who were spies for the bandits, and they're not good citizens."

Madam Gong Er: "Having Ma's help is like adding wings to a tiger."

Ma Congyi continued, "To the north of Fengtai Mountain is Beihuang Village, to the east are Zhuo Village and Gezhuang Village, and to the northeast are Tananpo Village and Dongzhuang Village. All of these villages are inhabited by kindhearted people. My family has organized these kindhearted people into militias to defend the villages. If a few scattered bandits escape from these villages, the militias will take care of them. However, if a large bandit army arrives, the militias will be unable to resist and will have no choice but to abandon the villages."

Madam Gong Er understood: "Our army needs to defeat the main force of the bandits, and we also have to prevent large groups of defeated bandits from escaping to the surrounding villages. If small groups of bandits escape, we don't have to pay attention to them. Your people will deal with them."

Ma Congyi: "Exactly! The number of defeated bandits gathered together cannot exceed 20, otherwise the militia may not be able to resist them."

Twenty vicious bandits were a disaster for a village. Even if all the young and strong men in the village joined forces, they could not defeat them.

Madam Gong Er pondered for a while and said, "You have brought eighty retainers with you. Your men should not participate in the battle. Just watch from the periphery. After I defeat the enemy army, your men will focus on chasing and intercepting the large group of fleeing bandits."

Ma Congyi was startled. "Huh? How did you know I brought eighty people? They were hiding in the woods and didn't show their faces."

Madam Gong Er did not explain, but just smiled slightly: "You will know later."

Ma Congyi was really confused. It was not surprising that the other party could guess that he had an ambush, but it was a bit unbelievable that they could say the number of about eighty people.

Confused, he retreated into the woods. Ma Sheng, dressed in martial arts attire and covering his face with a black scarf, was leading his servants through the woods. Seeing his nephew return, he hurried forward and whispered, "What did King Gong say?"

Ma Congyi had a strange expression on his face. "Fourth Uncle, Prince Gong said that the eighty of us don't need to participate in the battle. We should hide on the periphery of the battlefield and be responsible for chasing down the large group of fleeing bandits."

Ma Sheng didn't understand the key point of this sentence and just nodded.

Ma Congyi had no choice but to wake him up: "Fourth Uncle, she knows there are eighty of us."

Ma Sheng then let out an "Ah" and was startled: "How did you know?"

Ma Congyi spread his hands helplessly: "My nephew can't guess."

Ma Sheng: "It must be that King Gong has been sending people to keep an eye on our Ma Family Manor. When we left the manor, his spies counted us one by one."

When the uncle and nephew were chatting here, they saw that King Gong’s army had already set out and was heading towards Fengtai Mountain.

In fact, the bandits on Fengtai Mountain had already seen Madam Gong Er and her group.

Fengtai Mountain is right next to the Wulong River, and the top of the mountain is only two miles away from the river bank.

Standing on the top of the mountain, looking down from above, you can easily see the rebels crossing the river. Of course, without a telescope, at this distance you can only see a group of small people, queuing up like ants to cross the river, and the specific details are not clear.

The leader of this gang of bandits was named Li Jing, from Jimo.

He was not at all unfamiliar with the Jimo rebel army.

When Gong Yi formed an army to fight against the Jin Dynasty, she invited Li Jing to join.

At that time, Li Jing had only forty or fifty men under his command, and he was a small-time bandit.

But Li Jing refused to join the rebels. He had become a bandit simply to rob houses and steal money to live comfortably, not to save the country. The country's affairs were none of his business. He would still be a bandit in another world.

Later, Gong Yi's death in battle made him feel that his judgment was correct. If he had joined the rebel army, he might have died in the county town with Gong Yi.

He took advantage of the chaos in Jimo to recruit a large number of men, including rakes of scoundrels, and increased the number of his men from forty or fifty to five hundred.

Just when he was preparing to "make great plans", the new county lieutenant Wu Jialiang arrived.

Li Jing heard that the new county magistrate was a ruthless character, organizing archers and working tirelessly to suppress bandits. He was frightened, and not daring to confront the government head-on, so he simply crossed the county border and fled to Fengtai Mountain in Laiyang County to entrench himself. The county magistrate and county lieutenant here were useless, so he lived a carefree life here, robbing whoever he wanted...

Of course, there is also a powerful enemy here, the Ma family of Laiyang.

When Li Jing first came to Laiyang County, Ma fled to Mouping County to avoid disaster, and no one came to care about him. But since Ma returned and began to rebuild the village fort, the surrounding villages seemed to have found a backbone. From time to time, local militias would organize themselves, with the intention of confronting him, which made him feel irritated.

Li Jing has been thinking about going big someday and killing the entire Ma family...

Just at this time, the Jimo rebel army arrived.

Li Jing and a few of his men stood on the top of the mountain, took a look at the rebel army, and sneered: "Gong is simply sick."

(End of this chapter)