Yuan Min's death once again brought heavy blows to the Guanlong nobles. The Dugu family, Dou family, Yuan family, Yu family, Li family, Changsun family and other Guanlong families seemed to see Yang Guang raise a butcher knife to the Guanlong nobles. In order to preserve their strength, all major families agreed to temporarily disband the Wuchuan Prefecture and shrink their power, and the Guanlong nobles entered a dormant period.

The contraction of the Guanlong nobles also affected the attitude of the Wagang Army. Zhai Rang no longer concealed his concealment and publicly turned to the Bohai Association. The Bohai Association sent Husinian as a representative to the Wagang Army.

However, Zhai Rang's reversal towards the Bohai Association also aroused the dissatisfaction of some people in Wagang, including Xu Shiji, Wei Zheng, Wang Junke, Wang Bodang, Cheng Yaojin and other civil and military officials. In order to stabilize the morale of the army, Zhai Rang did not expel Li Mi, the representative of Wuchuan Prefecture, and still kept him in the village.

Li Mi is naturally Li Jiancheng. After two years of serving in the Wagang Army, Li Jiancheng gradually gained his own power. The Wagang Army implemented a corps system, and each general had his own army. Li Jiancheng and Wang Bodang had 5,000 troops. With the army of supporters such as Xu Shiji and Wang Junke, Li Jiancheng's power had reached more than 20,000 people, and was called Xizhai, while Zhai Hong and Hao Xiaode's power was called Dongzhai, and the two major forces were evenly matched, and Zhai Rang was a balancer of the two major forces.

Early that morning, Li Jiancheng practiced swords in the yard. Two years of military training in Wagang made him more mature. His character gradually became deeper and he didn't speak much, but after careful consideration, his outside changes particularly, except for his parents, brothers and wife, no one could recognize him.

Li Jiancheng not only had dark skin, his face became thinner and thicker, his eyebrows were thicker and thicker, and his body changed from his previous thinness and became very strong. This spring, he returned to the mansion in the capital, and the servants in the mansion did not recognize him as his original eldest son.

At this time, the sound of rapid footsteps came from outside the yard, and then Wei Zheng's voice was heard, "I have something to ask for help from the eldest son!"

Li Jiancheng took away his long sword and returned the sword to the scabbard. Wei Zheng had already walked to the gate of the courtyard. Li Jiancheng glanced back at him, "Why are you so panicked, sir?"

"Young Master, the general has decided to fight in the east."

Li Jiancheng smiled faintly. It was not surprising that Zhai Rang decided to fight the Eastern Expedition. Last year, the Wagang Army failed in the Eastern Expedition, and Zhai Rang would not be willing to do so. Bohai would urge him to fight the Eastern Expedition. It was reasonable that Zhai Rang decided to fight the Eastern Expedition again.

"Young Master. If the general decides to fight the east, our plan to fight the north will be stranded again."

"I have considered this issue, and I don't think things are that pessimistic."

Wei Zheng wanted to say something else, but Li Jiancheng turned around and walked into the study, "Sir, please come in and talk!"

Wei Zheng followed Li Jiancheng into the room.

"Sir, please sit down!"

Li Jiancheng asked Wei Zheng to sit down and had someone serve tea again. Wei Zheng had no intention of drinking tea. He said worriedly: "Since this year, there has been no rain in the Central Plains. There has been severe drought in Dongping County, Dongjun, Liang County and Xingyang County. At this time, it was just a matter of green and yellow. The fear of famine has displaced hundreds of thousands of farmers, and the Wagang Army has not stored much grain. If we rashly fight the east, we have to face a large number of hungry people and we will not be able to make ends meet. At that time, we will be in a situation where the grain is exhausted. If we have to withdraw our troops in the end, then the two eastern expeditions will fail and the reputation of the Wagang Army will be completely lost."

"Have you said these words to the General?"

"Of course I said it, but the general just said that he had to consider it, but refused to reply to me directly. I think he would come to find the young master."

Li Jiancheng pondered for a moment and said with a smile: "I think the Wagang Army's Eastern Expedition and the Northern Expedition are not contradictory, so why can't it be carried out simultaneously?"

"I'm afraid the general won't agree."

At this moment, someone outside the courtyard reported: "Young Master, the general is here."

Wei Zheng didn't expect that Zhai Rang would come as soon as he said that, so he quickly stood up and said, "Young Master, I'll say goodbye first!"

Li Jiancheng grabbed him, "Sir, don't avoid it, let's talk to the general together."

Zhai Rang quickly walked into Li Jiancheng's yard. Before the person could come in, a cheerful laughter came, "What a scenery! My brother is so leisurely and elegant."

Li Jiancheng walked to the yard with a smile, "I'm just bored and planted some flowers and plants. I haven't seen my brother for a long time."

“There are so many messes lately.”

Zhai Rang saw Wei Zheng behind Li Jiancheng at a glance, and was stunned, and immediately filled with smiles, "It turns out that Wei Zongjun is here, and I just happened to send someone to find Wei Zongjun. This would be the best."

The two walked into the guest hall and sat down. Wei Zheng also sat aside. Zhai Rang was impatient. Before he could greet him, he said directly: "Since Wei joined the army here, I should know the news that the Wagang army was preparing for the Eastern Expedition!"

"I just heard of it, but the details are not clear."

The so-called details are how many troops are produced? Where is the direction? What is the ultimate goal?

Zhai Rang didn't want to say too much, but just said vaguely: "This Eastern Expedition will not attack Jiyin County again. It mainly attacks Dongping County, Jiyin County and Liang County. These three counties have few troops, so we should be able to seize them in one fell swoop."

Li Jiancheng pondered for a while and asked again: "Do you think the time for the Eastern Expedition is ripe?"

"It should be said that now is an opportunity. The Emperor of the Sui Dynasty just went to Jiangdu, and the 100,000 Xiaoguo Army also followed the south. Luoyang's troops could only protect themselves and could not come to support. In addition, the Flying Eagle Army was also preparing to attack Langya County again. We will send troops unimpeded!"

"It's indeed an opportunity. If my brother has decided to send troops, I won't object."

"But there is also a problem!"

Zhai Rang glanced at Wei Zheng and said, "As Wei Zongjun said, this year, we have a severe drought in the Central Plains, and we must have enough food to help the victims. So I consider whether my brother can lead his army to attack Liyangcang. This is also my brother's intention to fight north. With enough food, our Wagang army will sweep across the Central Plains. What do you think?"

Li Jiancheng was no longer Wuxia Ameng. He immediately understood Zhai Rang's deeper meaning. Since the main force was going to the east, he had to leave Wagang, so as not to launch a mutiny while the empty Wagang was in the air. What attacks Li Yangcang is just an excuse.

But despite this, Zhai Rang's suggestion was exactly the same as Li Jiancheng's wishes. His father asked him to establish a foundation in Hanoi County as soon as possible. He has been delaying for more than a year and can't continue.

Thinking of this, Li Jiancheng said happily: "Since my brother has orders, how can I not obey? I am willing to share my worries and solve my problems."

"Okay! This is the good brother!"

Zhai Rang didn't expect Li Jiancheng to agree so happily. He patted Li Jiancheng on the shoulder with relief and immediately said: "I will give you five days to prepare. Five days later, I will lead the army north. I wish you success!"

Zhai Rang said goodbye and left. Wei Zheng, who had been silent, said to Li Jiancheng: "This must be Zhai Hong's instigation!"

"Why do you say that?"

"Zhai Hong wanted to kill people with a knife, and used the Sui army guarding Li Yangcang to cause us to suffer heavy damage and weaken our strength. Young Master, Li Yangcang has 10,000 troops, which is not easy to fight!"

Li Jiancheng was silent for a moment and said, "Whether it is Zhai Hong who wanted to kill someone with a knife or Zhai Rang was worried about us, we must face it. If we can conquer Li Yangcang, of course it is best. If we can't conquer, we are going to switch to Hanoi County and avoid the Sui army's clearance of Wagang."

Wei Zheng asked in confusion: "Why did the young master say that the court cleared us?"

Li Jiancheng sneered: "Wagang expands eastward, directly cut off the emperor's retreat to Beijing. Will the emperor let the Wagang army go? I have always suggested that the Wagang army keep a low profile and develop in a low-key manner, but Zhai Rang could not withstand the Bohai Sea repeatedly and would start to expand his territory. Since he wanted to be the first to be a leader, how could the court let the Wagang army go?"

Wei Zheng heard that Li Jiancheng was right, and he couldn't help but feel a little worried.

Zhai Rang returned to Zhongyi Mansion where he lived. As soon as he walked into the yard, Zhai Hong came up and asked impatiently: "How is it, did he agree?"

"He agreed very happily and sent troops in five days!"

Zhai Hong didn't expect that General Li Er would agree so happily, and he became a little confused.

"Second, can he not want to attack Li Yangcang at all and directly pull the Wagang army away?"

"Won't!"

Zhai Rang shook his head, "Young Master Li is not such a person. Since he said he wanted to attack Li Yangcang, he would definitely trust him. Even if he had selfish intentions, Xu Shiji and the others might not agree, so I am not worried."

"But what if he really conquers Li Yangcang?"

Zhai Rang glared at him fiercely and said unhappily: "It is a great thing for Mr. Li to take down Liyang Cang. We will not worry about food, and the army will increase rapidly. Are you still afraid that he will take down Liyang Cang? What are you thinking?"

"I'm just afraid that he will be arrogant and have no other intentions!" Zhai Hong quickly explained.

"I don't know what you think?"

Zhai Rang snorted heavily, turned around and left quickly.
Chapter completed!