I transmigrated to ancient times and became a king with a title equal to mine.

The common people parted to make way for the imperial envoy as he entered the government office.

In the back hall of the government office, Lan Tianpeng said to Long Bin, "You have indeed been framed. The Emperor has decreed that Long Bin must return to the capital for a joint trial by the three courts."

Long Bin shook his head and said, "If I return to the capital, not only me, but none of you will be able to enter the capital alive."

Wu Yizhi was startled: "King Nan, don't talk nonsense. Your words are not only sowing discord, but also slandering the court and my lord."

Long Bin smiled calmly at Old Man Wu and said, "If I'm not mistaken, the south bank of the Yellow River has been guarded by the 10,000 armored soldiers of the Fourth Prince, Long Yingdao."

"Don't be naive. They dare to openly frame me just to find an excuse to kill me. As for whether it's true or false, it doesn't matter as long as those of us who know the truth are dead."

Lan Tianpeng and the others were all seasoned veterans, and Long Bin's words resonated with them despite their astonishment.

Yu Hongtao blurted out, "What do we do?"

Wu Yizhi said with a bitter face, "If you guessed right, we'll be caught in the middle, suffering from both sides."

“If we don’t go back, it’s disobeying the imperial decree; if we go back, we might really be killed to silence us, giving him an excuse to frame the Prince of Nan for killing us all.”

Just when everyone was in a dilemma, they suddenly received a report: the Dongjiang army had gathered 100,000 troops on the opposite bank, and they were planning to cross the river again to invade Lishui.

Just as the report arrived, Long Bin received a message by carrier pigeon: the Southern Henan Army had suddenly marched south, and their vanguard of 5,000 cavalry was now approaching Xiayi. Their banner read: "Suppress the Southern King and rescue the Imperial Envoy."

Everyone turned to look at the Prince of the South. Wu Yizhi and the others couldn't believe that a young man in his early twenties could have such accurate judgment.

Long Bin smiled at the assembled imperial envoys and said, "Even if I don't try to stop you, you can't leave anyway."

Lan Tianpeng said, "You have to leave, otherwise you'll really be wronged."

At this moment, Gu Zhong, the Imperial Censor who had been under surveillance, spoke up: "We can explain the situation to General Gu Bufan. He won't make things difficult for us, will he?"

Ma Gui sneered, "Imperial Censor Gu has a very clever plan. You want to trick them into going back, don't you?"

"You...?" Gu Zhong was a man of strong character throughout his life; otherwise, he wouldn't have become an imperial censor. However, he had become accomplices of the Empress, spending his days serving the Second Prince's ascension to the throne. He genuinely wanted to persuade everyone to return, but he had no intention of harming them.

Ma Gui said he was trying to deceive everyone, which made Gu Zhong very angry.

Seeing Gu's furious and unapproachable demeanor, Ma Gui slammed his fist on the table and roared, "You, surnamed Gu, wake up! You're also in the know. In the Second Prince's grand plan, you're nothing!"

"..."

Lan Tianpeng and the others were stunned by Ma Gui's roar: How dare a mere fifth-rank official slam his fist on the table at us?

Gu Zhongze was awakened by Ma Gui's angry roar. He knew many of his colleagues who had died at the hands of the second prince and his mother.

Gu Zhong's face darkened, and he lowered his head.

Long Bin stood up and said, "We need to carry out military deployments to repel the invaders in the east and Gu Bufan in the north. I have no energy to consider where you all go or what you do."

Ma Gui also got up and walked out with the Prince of Nan. When they reached the gate, he turned back and said, "Among you, only Lord Lan has the ability to break through the gate and return to the capital. However, he is the Prince of Nan's father-in-law, and no one in the four capitals believes his words."

The two left the yamen, and Ma Gui said with great admiration, "Your Majesty is truly a genius; Dongjiang has indeed sent troops."

Long Bin smiled faintly.

"Dongjiang is just putting on a show with Long Yingkun; I doubt they would dare cross the river."

Ma Gui also laughed and said, "From Wujiang to Hengjiangdu, you installed more than thirty large pipes. They must have been terrified."

Long Bin asked, "Where is Cao Mengsheng now?"

"The Long family army has arrived at Tao Village, northwest of Danyang."

"Message by carrier pigeon: As originally planned, the seven piles of fire on the banks of the Wujiang River will serve as the signal."

"Yes!"

Ma Gui quickly mounted his horse and headed straight for the central army tent outside the city.

Long Bin turned to Ji Fangkui and asked, "Where is the monkey now?"

"We have reached the south bank of the Huai River." Ji Fangkui laughed, "Our General Song fired cannons all the way, and easily captured Tushan and Dingyuan. Langya King Ma Huaiyuan raised the red flag to welcome the army of the King of Jiangnan."

"Oh?" Long Bin asked with delight, then reproachfully asked, "Why weren't you told this news?"

"When I received the message by carrier pigeon, I could not believe it. It was only when it was delivered by a 200-li urgent messenger that I believed it without a doubt. At that time, you were being pestered by the imperial envoy."

Ji Fangkui delivered the urgent military report, delivered over 200 li, to the Prince of Nan.

In ancient times, urgent messages were sent using courier services with distances ranging from 200 li, 300 li, to as low as 8 li.

The term "two-hundred-li urgent delivery" meant that the horse was changed every two hundred li, and so on, changing the horse but not the rider.

For urgent messages exceeding 500 li, if the messenger is in good spirits, the messenger should not be replaced; otherwise, the messenger can be replaced.

However, when dealing with confidential letters or major events, the person cannot be changed midway, and often the person has already died by the time the letter is delivered.

After reading Song Zhonglin's report, Long Bin chuckled and said, "That kid's really cunning."

He looked up at Ji Fangkui and asked, "Would you like to become an official?"

Ji Fangkui paused for a moment and then said, "I will listen to Your Majesty."

"Immediately hand over your current duties, take Zhu Lin of the Third Battalion to Tuzhong, and I appoint you as the Prefect of Yinling Prefecture, in charge of Yinling, Shenli, and Huailing. Head there immediately."

"Also, I hereby issue this decree: The territory of the Prince of Langya remains unchanged, and he shall not pay national taxes for the next two years."

"The minister obeys the order!"

Ji Fangkui took office in high spirits. Long Bin never imagined that five years later, Ji Fangkui, in a fit of anger, would break through the Yellow River defense line and advance all the way to Cangcheng, three hundred miles from the capital, causing the Great Xia army to flee in all directions and allowing the Southern King's territory to expand by another twenty-one prefectures, with a total population of over ten million. But that's another story.

Cao Mengsheng led the Long family army, disguised as Dongjiang soldiers, and quietly arrived at Danyangji. After receiving a message from the Southern King via carrier pigeon, he advanced more than 30 li north and reached the southwest corner of the valley.

Standing atop the watchtower, which is over three zhang high, and using the telescope invented by the Southern King, wow, the entire camp by the river is clearly visible.

Even the trees and villages on the opposite bank of the river were clearly visible to Cao Mengsheng, who had to admire the Southern King Qian Sui as a divine being.

The King of the South not only invented cannons, gunpowder, and telescopes, but he was also incredibly prescient, allowing his troops to infiltrate the area well in advance.

Cao Mengsheng saw the enemy camp stretching for ten miles in a long line along the riverbank, with thousands of warships lined up in the middle of the river, a truly majestic sight.

"Damn it, just wait a minute, I'll make you cry for your parents!" Cao Mengsheng said, laughing and crying.

Back in the central command tent, he ordered, "Notify the kitchen to prepare dinner at 4:45 PM, and add fish and wine."

At the hour of You (5-7 PM), Cao Mengsheng addressed his generals and officers, saying, "Brothers, we are the Long family army, the personal troops of the Southern King. Today is our first battle to expand the territory for the Southern King. I, Cao, urge you all to fight hard and show the spirit of the Southern family army!"

More than a dozen generals roared in unison: "For the King of the South, we will bravely advance and be invincible!"