Emperor: When will the Seventh Prince rebel? I will open the city gates to welcome him.

Provincial Administration

Hong Xuan sat high in the hall, looking at the officers and generals in the hall and said:

"Among the military officers, who has the highest military rank?"

The generals in the hall heard King Zhenbei's question.

A burly general with a short beard stepped out, knelt on one knee with his hands clasped together and said respectfully:

"Reporting to the King of Zhenbei! I am General Xuanwei Hua Rongsheng!"

Hong Xuan looked at General Xuanwei Hua Rongsheng and said:

"General Hua! How many troops are there in Ezhou? I need to mobilize all the troops and command them under a unified command."

"Gather all the troops in the north of Ezhou and set up camp outside Ezhou City!"

Xuanwei General Hua Rongsheng understood.

At this time, the King of Zhenbei wanted to go to war with the Yunzhou bandit army, but there were as many as 400,000 rebels in Yunzhou. How could he win?

Hua Rongsheng responded:

"Reporting to the King of Zhenbei, I have not done any statistics. Ezhou is located in the central part of Dafeng State. It does not need to defend against foreign enemies on the northern and southern borders, so Ezhou does not need too many troops."

Zhenbei Wang Hongxuan frowned and said in a bad tone:

"You don't need too many troops? Even the land of Yuzhou can gather 30,000 soldiers. Ezhou is such an important strategic location, and you told me that you don't need too many troops? It seems that the position of general is as leisurely as Zhao Shixiu's!"

When King Zhenbei said this, Hua Rongsheng felt a chill down his spine.

"The highest commander of a state doesn't even know how many soldiers he has. I ask you, how should a general lead his troops to fight? How should he get his soldiers to fight the enemy?"

General Xuanwei Hua Rongsheng was left speechless by the question asked by Zhenbei King Hongxuan.

With cold sweat on his forehead, he replied:

"King Zhenbei, Ezhou may have 10,000 soldiers! Or maybe not!"

"Haha! Or maybe yes! Or maybe not?"

Hongxuan was so angry that he laughed at Hua Rongsheng's answer.

"General Hua Rongsheng! How can I use you if you act like the supreme commander? Hand over the military token. I will use it to pay for your life!"

Hua Rongsheng looked at the knife-wielding guards standing on both sides, and obediently took out the military token he carried with him from his arms.

He didn't dare to resist. Even the governor of Ezhou was beheaded by King Zhenbei. As a military general, he didn't dare to disobey.

The Qilin Guard stepped forward and handed Hua Rongsheng's military token to Zhenbei King Hongxuan.

Hongxuan didn't have much patience at this time.

Are the officers in Ezhou so lax? The soldiers are all incompetent, and the generals are all incompetent. What combat effectiveness can the Ezhou soldiers have under the leadership of such a confused general?

The leading generals all looked like they were just waiting to eat and die and collect military pay.

"This king needs an officer who can quickly gather the Ezhou soldiers. Anyone who can do it, please come forward and listen to my orders!"

A young officer stepped forward, clasped his hands together and knelt on one knee. He looked very young, probably less than thirty years old.

"I, Lin Hu, the sixth-rank military cavalry officer, am willing to follow the military orders! Go to various places in Ezhou and gather all the soldiers in Ezhou within three days! If I cannot do this, I will be beheaded."

King Zhenbei thought that the people in Ezhou were all good-for-nothings, but he didn't expect that there would be a young and brave-looking officer who was willing to guarantee the completion of this mission with his life.

Zhenbei King Hongxuan looked at Lin Hu and said.

"Are you familiar with the deployment of troops and the terrain of Ezhou?"

Lin Hu answered respectfully.

"I was born in Ezhou, so I know the terrain very well."

King Zhenbei nodded slightly.

"Put away the military token. I have ordered a thousand personal guards to assist you, Lin Hu, in gathering the soldiers of Ezhou. The soldiers of Ezhou have not fought for a long time. If there are any lazy and disobedient ones, you can kill them to scare the monkeys, but don't be soft-hearted!"

After Zhenbei Wang Hongxuan finished speaking, he looked at Brigade Commander Jin Falin.

"Kim Farin!"

Brigade Commander Jin Farin saluted respectfully.

"The general is here!"

"Gathering soldiers this time is of great importance. Lin Hu is familiar with the terrain. You go with Lin Hu. How high-ranking officers you two can become this time depends on how many Ezhou soldiers you can muster back!"

After hearing the order from Zhenbei King Hongxuan, Jin Falin's eyes lit up.

Brigade Commander Jin Linlin dreams of commanding tens of thousands of troops. He also wants to be an army commander and experience the military life of commanding tens of thousands of troops in battle.

Moreover, the army commander is the most core senior commander of Zhenbei King Hongxuan. It is indescribably heroic to follow Zhenbei King to conquer the world.

With the Qilin Purple Qi of King Zhenbei Hongxuan, the difference between Prince Hongze and King Zhenbei is not small.

Following the military genius and unparalleled wisdom of the King of Zhenbei, there is an unlimited future and glory!

"I obey your orders! Within three days, all the soldiers in Ezhou must be summoned and set up camp outside the city of Ezhou."

Jin Falin took Lin Hu away to complete the task of recruiting soldiers.

Hong Xuan looked at the fifty officers in the hall and said,

"This king wants to go to war with the Yunzhou rebels. Are there any of you officers who are unwilling to join the battle? Step out!"

None of the fifty officers dared to step out.

Because these fifty officers didn't know what King Zhenbei wanted them to do next.

If I say without thinking that I don't want to participate in the battle, will I follow in Zhao Shixiu's footsteps?

These officers were facing a decisive and ruthless King Zhenbei.

Hongxuan saw the hesitation of the fifty officers. He smiled and said:

"I have always made the best use of everything and everyone! Now the rebels in Yunzhou have become a big force, with more than 400,000 troops, while I only brought 5,000 men. With such a huge disparity in strength, if I attack Yunzhou now, it would be tantamount to seeking death. This has nothing to do with military tactics or strategy."

Hongxuan would not do something like taking on an army of hundreds of thousands with only a few thousand men.

What he needs to do now is to completely control Ezhou, a strategic location, and develop military forces by controlling Ezhou.

This is the wisest and best choice.

The most important things in war are manpower, food, and weapons, followed by strategy.

In fact, when it comes to strategy, Hongxuan knows "The Art of War" and the Thirty-Six Stratagems, which are enough to deal with this motley crowd of rebels.

Hongxuan understood.

The four hundred thousand rebels were absorbing the spoils.

It is not difficult to absorb money and food from Yunzhou, but if you want to absorb money and food from Xiangzhou, you will definitely encounter great resistance.

This also gives Hongxuan time to prepare.

Hong Xuan looked at Hua Rongsheng and fifty officers in the hall and said:

"General Hua Rongsheng, how many county towns are there in Ezhou? You should know the governor of each county!"

Hua Rongsheng said respectfully:

"This humble official knows!"

"There are a total of twelve county cities in Ezhou. I know all the county cities and county governors. They are Xiangcheng County Governor Li Haiyue, Fancheng County Governor Zhao Youlin, Yiling City County Governor Wang Yunhao, Yingcheng Prefecture County Governor Liu Mingyuan, Jiangxia City County Governor Zhang Yuyuan, Jingling County Governor Sun Yuhao, Anlu City County Governor Zhou Xiangrui, Qichun City County Governor Zheng Hui, Huarong City County Governor Qian Fenglin, Elin City County Governor Wu Hanming, Daye City County Governor Xu Jinqiang, and Yangxin City County Governor Hu Wenyong."

King Hongxuan of Zhenbei was stunned. He did not expect that General Hua Rongsheng could remember so clearly that he could remember the names of all the twelve county towns and county magistrates.

Zhenbei Wang Hongxuan said curiously:

"General Huang Rongsheng, you don't know how many troops there are in Ezhou? How come you remember the names of the Ezhou County City and the County Governor so clearly?"

Hua Rongsheng said respectfully:

"Reporting to the King of Zhenbei, when I have nothing to do, the county governors from all over the country have invited me to banquets. I have been close friends with these county governors for many years!"