Okay, now let’s take a look at the situation of the Gentleman Army’s first decent opponent, Mr. Zuo Rongze. Speaking of this Mr. Zuo Rongze, he is actually very similar to a character we are very familiar with—

- He is very similar to Deputy Director Tao. Not only is his behavior similar, but what he says and what he does with his hands are almost the same as Deputy Director Tao. Even our Deputy Director Tao is studying it carefully.

After reading Deputy Director Tao's resume, he couldn't help but look up to the sky and sigh, "I wish we had met before we were married! If this Zuo Rong hadn't become a traitor and hadn't betrayed Xuzhou, he would definitely be a good helper for me!"

Why is Deputy Director Tao lamenting so much? Because the most famous thing about our Lord Zuo Rongze is not his betrayal of fellow countryman Tao Qian, nor his murder of the famous filial son and scholar Zhao Yuzhao in Xuzhou, but his

The slogan - Amitabha! It can even be said that the reason why Buddhism can replace Taoism in the land of China and become the largest religion in China is that our Lord Zuo should definitely remember a great merit, even the first merit!

Zuo Rong and Tao Qian were both from Danyang. When they were in Danyang, they were known for their kindness and almsgiving to Zuo Shanren. During the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Zuo Shanren gathered hundreds of people from Danyang and went north to Xuzhou to join Tao Qian, a good fellow from the same town.

With his reputation and flattery, Zuo Shanren quickly gained Tao Qian's trust and importance, and was appointed as the Prime Minister of Xiapi, supervising the taxation and transportation of the three major wealth areas of Xiapi, Donghai and Guangling. His momentum was unparalleled in Xuzhou.

Like Deputy Director Tao, who was in charge of money and food as high as a mountain for others every day, Zuo Shanren also quickly learned to take bribes without any teacher, and accumulated an incredible amount of wealth. At the same time, Zuo Shanren was even better than Deputy Director Tao.

Yes, Zuo Shanren used part of the money and food obtained from greed for money to promote Buddhism, built temples in the Xiapi area, held Buddhist meetings, and created the first pagoda structure with a golden plate on top and a double tower on the bottom.

In later generations, the architectural structure of Buddhist temples was established. At the same time, Zuo Shanren exempted Buddhist believers from taxation and corvee, and encouraged people to chant sutras and recite Buddha's name.

What makes our Deputy Director Tao even more ashamed is that Mr. Zuo Shan still holds a large-scale Buddha bathing party on the eighth day of April every year on the birthday of Buddha, summoning tens of thousands of monks and nuns to chant sutras and pray to Buddha, and hold a large vegetarian feast.

Entertaining monks and believers costs more than ten million baht each time - of course, this money is paid for by Deputy Director Tao's father Tao Qian. But in any case, with these kind deeds, Zhe Shanren's

The name soon became Ze Bodhisattva.

Later, when Cao Cao's army came to Xuzhou, our Zuo Bodhisattva abandoned the city and fled with no teacher. He led tens of thousands of Xiapi soldiers and civilians to relocate to Guangling. At the same time, he also kidnapped 3,000 war horses from the Xuzhou army. Zuo Bodhisattva's

When the team arrived at Guangling, Zhao Yu, the prefect of Guangling at the time, had water in his head. Not only did he not punish Tao Qian for the Bodhisattva Zuo who fled without fighting, he also held a banquet in Guangling City in honor of the Bodhisattva Zuo. Our Bodhisattva Zuo also took the opportunity to do something.

This was a major event that made our deputy director Tao scold him with his mouth and admire him in his heart - he chopped off the prefect Zhao at the banquet and captured Guangling, one of the most wealthy cities in Xuzhou - which later became Yangzhou City, one of the most wealthy cities in the world.

After taking Yangzhou, our Deputy Director Tao seized his body and possessed the second son of Tao Yingtao. With a flap of the demon moth's wings, our Bodhisattva Zuo also made a decision that was completely different from that in history. It was no longer like in history.

In that way, he could grab a handful in Guangling City and escape across the Yangtze River, continue to Moling and Yuzhang, repeat his old tricks, and then use Bodhisattva methods to kill Xue Li and Zhu Hao to steal the city, but instead choose to stay in Guangling City and recruit troops.

, Gathering grass and food, ambitiously preparing to fight in this troubled world, striving to let the light of his Bodhisattva shine on all sentient beings.

Unfortunately, since Zuo Bodhisattva did not choose to flee south, although Tao Qian did not want to touch Zuo Bodhisattva for the time being due to his lack of strength, our Deputy Director Tao did not hesitate to make Zuo Bodhisattva, who betrayed his cheap father, his second son.

A training target! - Although Deputy Director Tao admires Zuo Bodhisattva's personality and methods, among Deputy Director Tao's surrounding enemies, Zuo Bodhisattva is relatively weak and can be bullied, so we bully Deputy Director Tao who is afraid of the tough, that is,

I can't care about that much anymore.

After talking a lot of nonsense, let’s get back to the topic. Because we are afraid of the bloody revenge of our old master Tao Qian, our Zuo Bodhisattva naturally has to set up spies in Xuzhou City to spy on the movements of the main force of Xuzhou’s army. Our Deputy Director Tao led the army to conquer a country as big as Guangling in the south.

Naturally, it was impossible for Zuo Rongjun's Xizuo to hide his actions from the eyes. At the same time, because Deputy Director Tao was inexperienced in leading an army for the first time, the marching speed was quite slow. Zuo Rongjun's Xizuo had to act calmly and capture the second Young Master Tao first.

The news of the dispatch of troops was sent back to Guangling and reached the front of our Bodhisattva Zuo.

Not to mention, when we first heard the news that the Xuzhou army was going south to conquer, our guilty-minded Zuo Bodhisattva was really shocked. However, after hearing the name of the commander of the Xuzhou army and the strength of the southern expedition, Zuo Rong was

He burst out laughing, "Old Tao Qian has lost his mind. He actually sent his nerdy second son to attack Guangling, and he only sent less than 3,000 troops. This is like sending a fat sheep into the tiger's mouth!"

"Great Dharma protector, don't underestimate your enemy." Yu Zi, a fellow villager and confidant of Zuo Rong, was calmer and reminded: "Old Tao Qian has always been known as a cunning and cunning man, and he is also familiar with military affairs. How could he make such a big mistake?

More than 2,000 troops attack my Guangling army of nearly 20,000? There must be a trick in this! Besides, Zhang Jiao'er can be considered to be good at fighting, and he is brave enough to defeat the three armies. It is better for the senior protector to be cautious."

"Junior brother, you are too suspicious." Zuo Rong laughed and said: "What other tricks can old Tao Qian have now? What other tricks can he use? In the battle of Surabaya, his troops were reduced to 70%, and the remaining 50% were lost.

The county's troops and horses combined are less than 20,000, and we have to defend Yuan Shu, Cao Cao, and Zang Ba Liu Xuande internally. How much more energy can we have to lay out conspiracies? If we don't take the initiative to attack him, Mr. Tao Qian, Mr. Tao Qian

You should be singing Amitabha Buddha loudly, why should you be afraid of Tao Qian, your old man, taking the initiative to send troops?"

"Of course I am very aware of these situations." Yu Zi said doubtfully: "But what I don't understand the most is how could Tao Qian be so stupid to attack us for nearly two years with such a small number of troops?

A Guangling army of ten thousand?"

"It's just an old trick of old Tao Qian." Zuo Rong said contemptuously: "Old Tao Qian used to like to use this kind of trick. In order to promote his closest confidants, he often sent these cronies to pick up the weak persimmons.

He defeated a small group of bandits and bandits, and then exaggerated his military exploits. Even if he lost the battle, he would declare a complete victory, and he took the opportunity to promote his confidants who listened to his words. This is how trash like Cao Bao, Lu You, and Xu Dan were promoted. Now Tao

Mr. Qian is old and sick, and he knows that he will not live long, so he can’t wait to release his son and gain some military exploits.”

"The meaning of the Great Protector is..." Yu Zi asked tentatively: "This time Tao Qian sent Tao Ying to conquer the south. The purpose was not to capture Guangling City, but to smear his son's face with fabrications.

Some military exploits, paving the way for Tao Ying's son to inherit his throne as governor?"

"Besides this purpose, what other purpose does Mr. Tao Qian have?" Zuo Rong sneered: "You and I have seen the two sons in Mr. Tao Qian's family. Which one do you think has the hope of succeeding Mr. Tao Qian?

Foundation? To whom will Mr. Tao Qian pass Xuzhou to?"

"Tao Qian's two sons are almost the same. They are almost the same stupidity, and they are the same to everyone." Yu Zi replied without thinking: "But the last time Tao Ying was stupid and sacrificed his life to save Xuzhou, he became famous in Xuzhou.

The price rose and deceived the hearts and minds of many soldiers and people. Tao Qian chose Tao Ying's son as his legitimate son, a hundred times better than Tao Shang's son."

"That's right." Zuo Rong smiled even colder, "Tao Qian didn't send others to conquer Guangling south, and he only asked Tao Ying to lead a few troops. His purpose was very simple, just to want Tao Ying to come.

Go around the border of Guangling, chop off a few people's heads like Cao Bao and Lu You did, and take them back to Xuzhou. Then you can claim that Tao Ying's son won a complete victory in Guangling, but he was forced to retreat due to lack of troops and lack of support, to save face.

I have everything with my son and daughter."

Yu Zi thought about it carefully and felt that what Zuo Rong said was very reasonable. If Tao Qian really wanted to eradicate the Guangling rebels, he would definitely not send only such a small number of troops. The possibility of creating an opportunity to gild Tao Ying is very high.

——This is not the first time that Tao Qian's close confidants have done this. So Yu Zi quickly said: "If this is the case, then our battle will be easier to win. As long as we defend Guangling and Hailing,

We don't need to worry about the rest of the important cities in Tangyi and Jiangdu. Even Tao Ying's son doesn't have the guts to attack the city. When he runs out of food and grass, he will naturally retreat."

"No! I won't defend!" Zuo Rong said in shock, and said with a sinister smile: "Old Tao Qian wants to gain military exploits for his fool. It's a great idea! In this battle, I will personally lead the army to attack and capture Tao Qian alive.

Ying Xiaoer comes back and demands ransom from Tao Qian!"

"Great Protector, there is no need to take risks, right?" Yu Zi objected: "Although Tao Ying's son is nothing to worry about, his deputy Zhang Jie is not so easy to deal with. He has rich battlefield experience. To be cautious, it is safest for us to stick to the city.

.”

"Who is Zhang Lie'er?" Zhe Rong laughed, "Let's not mention that I'm not afraid of him Zhang Lie, but with the few troops and horses in his hands, how much trouble can he cause? That's it.

, let the junior brothers prepare for war, send more scouts to explore the horses, and closely monitor every move of Tao Ying's team. As soon as Tao Ying passes Gaoyou, send troops to fight! Try to capture Tao Ying alive and force Tao Qian to pay a ransom!"

Seeing that Zuo Rong insisted on sending troops to fight in the field, and considering that the enemy was too weak, Yu Zi, who wanted to hold on, no longer insisted, and quickly clapped his hands and agreed, then went down to make arrangements and arranged for a large number of scouts to go north to spy on Tao Ying's team.

.However, what Zuo Rong and Yu Zi never imagined was that not long after, a piece of great news that made them smile crookedly came to them again...

……………………

At the same time, in Xiapi County, after replenishing grain and grass supplies in Xiapi and Xiaxiang cities, Taoying's "big army" continued southward via Lingxian County and officially entered Guangling County, preparing to cross the Yellow River at Huaiyin Ferry, along the

The official road leads directly to Guangling, but the two cities of Huaiyin and Lingxian were not occupied by Zuo Rong's army because they were too far north and had a sharp decline in population. They were always controlled by local officials in Xuzhou appointed by Tao Qian, so Tao Ying's troops were not used.

They worked hard to collect ferries or build pontoons, and the soldiers and civilians of Huaiyin provided boats for the army to cross the river.

When they were crossing the river, Tao Ying, who got along well with him, had a little dispute with Xuzhou General Zhang Lie. Out of caution, Zhang Lie proposed a relatively safe battle plan, which was to station the Xuzhou army and still have the protection of the city.

The small town of Huaiyin, and then sent more scouts to explore the horses, carefully inquire about every move and garrison situation of Zhe Rong's army, and then march on. Not only did our Second Master Tao not accept Zhang Lie's kindness, he also proposed a very crazy battle plan

——Split your troops and march!

"Divide the troops?" Zhang Jie's eyes widened wider than bull's eyes, and he exclaimed: "Sir, are you kidding me? Our troops are already small, but you still have to divide the troops. Do you want Zhe Rong to do it?"

Is it easier for me to defeat each of us?"

"General Zhang, of course I'm not joking." Tao Ying said very seriously: "My battle plan is this. I will lead eight hundred gentlemen troops to go south first and lure Zuo Rong'er out of the city for a decisive battle. General Zhang, you will lead two thousand infantry.

After escorting the food and baggage, we first went to Ping'an County, which had been abandoned during the Cao Thief Rebellion, and waited for my news. If I can capture Zuo Rong's head in the field, General Zhang, you can go south immediately to meet me, and you can take advantage of the situation.

Capture Guangling City. If Zuo Rong is lucky enough to escape back to Guangling City, then I will contain Zuo Rong's troops outside Guangling City and cut off Zuo Rong's reinforcements from all directions. General Zhang, you carry siege weapons and go south to seize the isolated city of Guangling.

.”

"Taken off Zuo Rong's head? Did Zuo Rong escape back to Guangling by chance? Lucky?!" Zhang Jie suspected that he had heard wrong, and said with a wry smile: "Sir, your army of eight hundred gentlemen is a magic weapon and a general? Is there such a big one?

confidence?"

"Of course the Junzi Army is not a magic general." Tao Ying replied solemnly: "The Junzi Army is just more advanced in tactics, and it happens to be the nemesis of all armies in this era that like to fight in formations. The only drawback is that I will

We have not yet found a good way for the Gentleman Army to cooperate with the infantry team. Now in the field, the Gentleman Army and the infantry team fight together, and the infantry will only hold back the Gentleman Army, so we have no choice but to temporarily station the Gentleman Army in Ping'an City."

"Me? I'm holding you back, young master?" Zhang Lie was completely dumbfounded. This was the first time he discovered that his boss's youngest son was so arrogant.

"General Zhang, my second brother is not joking." Tao Ying's deputy Tao Ji interrupted: "My second brother and I have racked our brains in the past few months, but we have not come up with a way for the infantry team to cooperate with our gentleman's army in combat.

It’s a good way not to hold you back, so I’m asking General Zhang for help, and we’ll be stationed in Ping’an for the time being, waiting for the news of our victory. General Zhang, don’t worry, you must be a part of the credit for beheading the kid Zuo Rong!”

"Third Young Master, are you crazy too?!" Zhang Zhuo yelled unbearably, "Two Young Masters, do you know how many troops Mr. Zuo Rong has? You went south with only 800 cavalry. Didn't you die in vain?

What?"

Tao Ji and Tao Ying looked at each other and smiled, and then Tao Ji said confidently: "General Zhang, please rest assured, we have no problem. To be honest, if it were five months ago, if the second brother had proposed

I definitely think that the second brother is crazy about this plan, but after learning from the second brother for more than five months, I can only say that the second brother is not crazy and is quite clever."

Tao Ji, unlike Tao Ying and the Tao Shang brothers, had always been known for his diligence and intelligence in Xuzhou. He had also fought side by side with Zhang Ji under Cao Bao for a period of time, leaving an impression on Zhang Ji that he was down-to-earth and diligent, so he heard that Tao Ji Having said that, although Zhang Jie still felt completely unbelievable, he was still a little doubtful. He couldn't help but ask: "Second Young Master, Third Young Master, can you confirm that you two are not talking in your sleep?"

"Of course they are talking in their sleep!"

Suddenly there was a sharp voice behind Zhang Lie, and then, a military academy member suddenly stood out from Zhang Lie's soldiers, strode forward, pulled Zhang Lie's sleeve, pointed at Tao Ying and said angrily: "Uncle, don't listen to this nerd's nonsense. Eight hundred cavalrymen want to fight against tens of thousands of enemies. He's dreaming!"

"How dare you!" Tao Ji became even more furious and shouted: "How dare a small school student speak like this to the commander-in-chief of the entire army? Come on, push him down and kill him!"

"No!" The soldiers on the left and right agreed in unison, striding towards the small school. Zhang Lie was in a hurry and was about to stop him, but Tao Ying on the other side shouted even more anxiously: "Wait a minute! Get back!"

"Second brother, what's wrong with you?" Tao Ji was stunned, and when he was about to ask why, Tao Ji pointed at the deceived soldier and shouted, "Lin Qing! You are the deserter Lin Qing!"

"Who said I was a deserter?" Lin Qing's face turned red. She deliberately did not look at Tao Ying's expression, but said to Tao Ji fiercely: "Who said I was a deserter? I just felt that there was no future for following a nerd, so I returned I joined my uncle's command, and now I am a soldier under my uncle's general Zhang Jie, what do you have to say against it?!"
To be continued...