In years of famine and drought, their village even rejected fatty meat.

Chapter 741 No Worries

The chicken pieces in the bowl had turned somewhat pale and didn't look very appetizing.

However, this did not diminish Wei Kui and his companion's fondness for it.

Wei Kui carefully picked up a piece of chicken with his chopsticks and put it in his mouth, chewing it slowly.

To be honest, the chicken meat that had been stewed in chicken soup didn't taste very good; it was rather bland and tasteless. But Wei Kui still chewed it up and swallowed it with a look of enjoyment, not even letting go of the chicken bones.

“Smells good! It smells really good!”

Wei Kui exclaimed in genuine admiration as he and Zhang Xiaoniu enjoyed the rather bland chicken.

Only after they had swallowed all the chicken and bones in the bowl did the two reluctantly get up, put the bowl and chopsticks back in the kitchen, and return to their temporary lodgings, completely satisfied.

That night, the soldiers of the Yang family army, who were stationed outside the city and had eaten and drunk their fill, slept soundly.

The people inside the city were uneasy, fearing that the army outside the city would launch an attack on the county town.

The next day, Yang Zheng and Yang Erlang returned to the military camp and led the army through the county town to continue marching south.

It is worth mentioning that the Yang family army had excellent discipline. During their passage through Taiping County, they did not harass the people at all, which gave the people of Taiping County a slightly different opinion of this army.

Two days later, the army arrived outside the city of Taicang.

As expected, the arrival of the army caused another stir in Taicang County. Fortunately, with Zheng Qing's reassurance, the people in the city quickly realized that the army would not harm them and gradually calmed down.

While pacifying the people, Zheng Qing also arranged for laborers to transport a large amount of grain from the city and deliver it to the army outside the city.

"The grain and fodder promised by Taicang County have been fully delivered. We hope that Commander Yang will return in triumph!"

Zheng Qing, who had hurriedly arrived outside the city to meet Yang Zheng, bowed and said...

"Thank you for your trouble, Prefect Zheng."

Yang Zheng smiled and nodded, saying, "With sufficient food and supplies, our army will surely be invincible."

After a brief rest outside the city, the army continued its journey.

Upon arriving at Dingjun County, Yang Zheng received a warm welcome from the county magistrate and then divided his troops.

The 80,000-strong army split into two routes. One route, led by Yang Zheng, headed straight for Qingzhou Prefecture.

The other route, led by Yang Erlang, bypassed the prefectural city and captured other cities outside the city.

In the art of war, attacking cities is inferior to attacking hearts and minds.

Yang Zheng knew very well that Qingzhou Prefecture was a truly large city, with 50,000 Qingzhou troops stationed there, making it extremely difficult to breach it head-on.

Even if we manage to break through, the casualties on our side will be terrifying.

Therefore, Yang Zheng had no intention of launching a direct attack. Instead, he planned to occupy the cities surrounding the prefectural city, turning Qingzhou Prefecture into an isolated island!

In this way, the people in the prefectural city will surely be in a state of panic, and the morale of the Qingzhou army will also be thrown into chaos. At that time, the chances of the Yang family army winning will greatly increase, and they may even have the opportunity to subdue the enemy without fighting.

…………

…………

The next day, just as dawn was breaking.

After a night of rest, the Yang family army immediately began to move, with Yang Zheng leading 40,000 troops straight to Qingzhou Prefecture.

Yang Erlang led the remaining 40,000 troops around Qingzhou Prefecture and attacked other cities.

Meanwhile, in a brothel within Qingzhou Prefecture, Zhu Changhe, the commander-in-chief of the Qingzhou army, was embracing two women.

When the King of Qing was alive, Zhu Changhe often received rewards from him, but as the commander-in-chief of the Qingzhou army, he actually had no real power and was more of a figurehead.

After the death of the Prince of Qing, Zhu Changhe finally lived the life he had always dreamed of.

By currying favor with Wang Li, he secured his position as the commander-in-chief of the Qingzhou army, and apart from Wang Li, almost no one could restrain him.

Wang Li was clearly not one to concern himself with such matters, so Zhu Changhe held considerable power, not only commanding 50,000 Qingzhou troops but also having the authority to interfere in the affairs of the prefectural city…

Zhu Changhe had almost all the major military and political affairs of the entire prefecture fallen into his hands, which made him very proud and he became increasingly unscrupulous.

Although Zhu Changhe was lecherous, he never dared to show it too obviously, after all, there was still the Green King above him.

Now that the Green King is gone, Zhu Changhe can finally unleash his true nature.

After the death of the Prince of Qing, Zhu Changhe, now unrestrained, completely made the brothel his home, spending almost every night there, spending money like water, indulging in countless affairs, and enjoying himself immensely with women on both sides.

The money Zhu Changhe spent in brothels was naturally embezzled from the Qingzhou army's pay.

From the time of King Qing, the taxes that Qingzhou paid to the imperial court decreased year by year. The majority of the taxes collected in the state were intercepted by King Qing to support the Qingzhou army, and only a small portion of the remainder was handed over to the imperial court.

This custom was preserved even after the death of the Green King.

Unlike before, when the former King of Qing would actually use tax revenue for the Qingzhou Army, Zhu Changhe is different.

Zhu Changhe used most of the tax revenue from Qingzhou to bribe Wang Li and for his own enjoyment, with very little going to the Qingzhou army.

This directly caused extreme dissatisfaction among the Qingzhou soldiers with Zhu Changhe, and many Qingzhou soldiers who were starving even deserted their camps.

When the King of Qing died, the Qingzhou army stationed in the prefectural city still had a full complement of 50,000 soldiers, but now...

The number of soldiers was just over 30,000.

With such a significant decrease in numbers, Zhu Changhe naturally couldn't possibly be unaware of it, but he didn't care.

With fewer soldiers, it would actually make it easier for Zhu Changhe to embezzle funds without actually fighting. As for what to do about the war...

Zhu Changhe had not considered the matter of war at all. There was no rebellion in Qingzhou, and the White Lotus Army in Yuezhou and the Yang Family Army in Liangzhou did not seem to have any intention of attacking Qingzhou. Zhu Changhe believed that he could rest easy.

Therefore, after the death of the Prince of Qing, Zhu Changhe rarely cared about the affairs of the Qingzhou Army. In his opinion, the military camp was dirty and smelly, a place for peasants. He thought that someone like him was more suited to staying in brothels and having fun with fragrant beauties.

"Well."

As the sun rose, a ray of light shone into the room, and Zhu Changhe woke up from his sleep.

He glanced at the beauties sleeping on either side of him, and his lust was aroused. He reached his hands into the blankets and began to do something naughty.

"My lord, you're so mean!"

The beauty, who had been awakened, tried to stop Zhu Changhe's mischievous hands while giving him a disdainful look.

That harmless gaze and sweet voice instantly ignited a lustful fire in Zhu Changhe's lower abdomen. Ignoring his still slightly sore back, he turned over and prepared to mount his horse.

"My lord, I have an urgent military report to report!"

Just then, an anxious voice came from outside the door.

Zhu Changhe, whose interest had been interrupted, immediately flew into a rage and was about to reprimand the person outside the door.

But then an anxious voice came from outside the door again: "My lord, there is a military situation that is extremely urgent."

"An extremely urgent military situation?"