Tiger Owl

Chapter 55 Suspicion of a Spy
The shouts on the training ground were deafening. Ding Feng and Xu Sheng each led six thousand soldiers in two large square formations, training hard and sweating profusely. Although the two formations trained separately and seemed unrelated, they were actually secretly competing to see whose military appearance was more orderly, whose morale was higher, and whose shouts were louder.

Gan Ning stood on the observation platform, watching the soldiers train. Although Yuzhang County was currently facing numerous challenges, grasping the essence and focusing on army training was the most important thing.

Military training not only improves morale and combat effectiveness, but more importantly, it enhances soldiers' sense of belonging and loyalty.

If the soldiers are not loyal enough, and they desert as soon as the battle begins, then the battle cannot continue.

As Gan Ning watched the army training, his mind was preoccupied with the situation in Luling County. He and Lu Su had reached an agreement to prioritize dealing with Tongzhi in Luling County, but Gan Ning was still undecided on how to attack Tongzhi.

Sun Ben said that Tongzhi was an insurmountable obstacle for Yuzhang Commandery, but in Gan Ning's eyes, Tongzhi was more like a venomous snake lurking in the grass behind you, ready to pounce and bite you when you least expect it.

Gan Ning then considered killing the venomous snake three months in advance so that he could focus on dealing with Huang Zu and the Jiangdong army's revenge.

He certainly wanted to take it by strategy, but it was too difficult to attack Luling County by force. Luling County is today's southern Jiangxi, including Ji'an, Ganzhou, Ruijin, and all the way to Meiling, which connects to Guangdong.

The mountains rise and fall, with one peak after another, and a large number of Yue people live there. Their relationship with the Han people is not good, and conflicts often occur.

Tongzhi recruited a group of Yue people who hated the Han people the most, and seized control of Luling County to fight against Yuzhang County.

Although taking Luling County by strategy is the best option, how should we proceed?

Gan Ning felt a sense of powerlessness for a moment.

At this moment, Yang Xuan hurriedly came to Gan Ning's side and said, "My lord, I have something for you to see!"

He handed the file bag to Gan Ning, who took it and smiled, "What's this?"

"There really is a spy from Tongzhi in the city!"

Gan Ning's eyes lit up immediately. He had just been thinking about going to sleep when Yang Xuan delivered a pillow to his head. It was really perfect timing to discover Tong Zhi's suspected spy at this moment.

He quickly retrieved the documents from the file folder. Inside was a registration form listing over thirty shops from Luling County. Two of them were marked with a red line and a note next to them: 'Suspected spies of Tongzhi.'

There are also two interrogation records with suspicious points. If you look closely, you will see that the testimonies of the innkeeper and the waiter contradict each other. For example, one is an inn, and the innkeeper said that the shop has been open for three years, but the waiter said that the shop has only been open for less than half a year.

The other shop was a leather goods store. Despite its dismal business, the owner kept going to Luling to purchase goods.

The last line of instruction reads, "Report this to the General for his decision tomorrow!"

Gan Ning couldn't help but chuckle. Wang Xiaoman impersonated Tongzhi's spy to buy soldiers and armor, but was reported. Sun Fu searched the whole city for people, but unexpectedly, he actually discovered Tongzhi's spy.

However, before dawn, the Chaisang army stormed into the city, the interrogation was interrupted, and all those arrested were released and sent home.

"Don't alert them yet. I'll have Xiaoman come find you later!"

Yang Xuan bowed and left.

Gan Ning pondered for a moment, then stood up and ordered, "Order Wang Xiaoman to come to the prefectural office to see me!"

.......
Gan Ning first found Sun Fu, who and his concubine were currently under house arrest in a small house of two acres, guarded by a hundred soldiers, with only one old servant to cook for them.

"What do you want from me?"

Sun Fu looked at Gan Ning with a cold tone and displeasure.

Gan Ning said coldly, "If you want to go back sooner, you'd better be more polite."

Sun Fu had been under house arrest for a month and was starting to feel the strain. Reluctantly, he forced back his discontent and said, "General, please speak! What is it?"

"I'd like to know more about Tongzhi. You should know him quite well!"

"Does the general intend to attack Luling County?"

Gan Ning nodded slowly, and Sun Fu smiled and said, "Tongzhi claims to have an army of 100,000, but in reality, he only has a little over 10,000, and they are all a rabble with incomplete weapons and armor. We can defeat them in one battle."

"But you've occupied Yuzhang County for over a year, yet you haven't managed to defeat him?" Gan Ning mocked. Sun Fu retorted angrily, "That's because that bastard is too cunning. As soon as our army entered Luling County, they ran into the mountains. Once we settled down, they would harass and attack us at night, making it impossible for us to defend against them. In the end, our army had to withdraw from Luling County, and he reoccupied it."

Was it because he had the support of the Yue people?

Sun Fu shook his head. "Tongzhi is a Yue person, but he is a Yue person from Danyang County. He has no relation to the Yue people from Luling County. He was defeated by my brother in Danyang County and fled to Luling County three years ago."

He gained Liu Xin's support, which enabled him to grow rapidly. Initially, his army consisted of only three thousand men, because Liu Xin only provided him with three thousand soldiers.

Later, taking advantage of the conflict between the Yue people and the Han people, he recruited more than 10,000 Yue people who deeply hated the Han people as soldiers. However, they had no armor, only hoes and pitchforks. Therefore, Tongzhi was particularly eager for armor and tried every means to obtain it.

Is there any way to deal with him?

“In the past, Military Advisor Lü came up with a plan to withdraw the army from Nanchang County and use the empty city as bait. Tongzhi would definitely pounce like a wolf and devour Nanchang County. But my brother disagreed with this plan. He believed that Tongzhi would not believe that we had really withdrawn the army. There was no reason for us to withdraw the army. Tongzhi is not stupid.”

"Tongzhi wants to devour Nanchang?"

Sun Fu nodded. "That's his dream. He dreams of taking over Nanchang and the entire Yuzhang Prefecture. That's also the condition Liu Xin supports him on. He's very eager for Nanchang."

Gan Ning smiled and said, "Thank you!"

Gan Ning clasped his hands in a salute and left. As he reached the door, he smiled and said, "I will provide you with a few more servants and give you more supplies!"

Sun Fu sighed; he simply couldn't bring himself to say thank you.

When Gan Ning returned to the county government office, he saw Wang Xiaoman squatting on the ground outside the gate, killing ants with a knife. Gan Ning couldn't help but laugh and ask, "What are you doing, little one?"

Wang Xiaoman looked up and was startled. He quickly put away his knife and stood up. He scratched his head and said embarrassedly, "This humble servant is waiting for my lord to return!"

"Let's talk in my office!"

Gan Ning led Wang Xiaoman into the official room, sat down and said, "There's something you caused, and you'll have to clean it up."

"What is it?" Wang Xiaoman asked nervously.

"You impersonated Tongzhi's spy to buy weapons, which led to the arrest of more than a thousand people. Do you remember that?"

"Of course I remember. Weren't all those more than a thousand people released? I even went to release them myself."

"They interrogated some of the people and discovered that there might indeed be spies from Tongzhi among them."

"what--"

Wang Xiaoman was so shocked that her mouth dropped open, and she couldn't say a word.

Gan Ning tossed him a file bag. “There are two shops inside that are suspected to be spies of Tongzhi. You are responsible for investigating them thoroughly. But let me make this clear: these spies are very useful to me. You must not alert them or let them find out. You can only investigate them secretly from behind the scenes.”

Wang Xiaoman nodded repeatedly, "This subordinate understands!"

"If you need anything, you can ask Magistrate Yang for help!"

"Your subordinate has remembered."

"Report to me immediately if there is any progress!" Gan Ning instructed again.

"Follow the order!"

Wang Xiaoman bowed and left in a hurry.

Gan Ning tapped the table lightly. If Tongzhi really wanted to devour Nanchang County, then Lü Fan's plan was quite good.

(End of this chapter)