The Villain's Counterattack

Chapter 598 Zhang Xutuo's Limit 1 for 1

After the death of Emperor Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty, the Sui Dynasty lost its power and heroes across the country rose up in rebellion. Li Yuan of Taiyuan entered Chang'an, Wang Shichong occupied Luoyang, and Li Mi secretly sent a letter to Yang Qing, and personally led the Wagang army in three directions to head straight for Luokou.

The Wagang army was powerful, Li Mi had always been prestigious, and he eliminated the leader Zhai Rang, completely unifying the Wagang from top to bottom. This incident came with a raging momentum like a tidal wave, and the news of the death of Sui Emperor Yang Guang made the morale of the Sui army in Luokou plummet. Wherever Li Mi went, he was unstoppable and the Sui army was invincible.

When they arrived outside Luokou City, they saw an army of 100,000 soldiers with flags waving and drums beating. Li Mi stepped forward and shouted loudly. At this moment, the city gate opened wide, and the city defender Yang Qing came alone. He jumped down from ten feet in front of the Wagang Army, held the seal and sword high in both hands, and bowed his head in front of Li Mi.

Li Mi was overjoyed upon seeing this, and quickly jumped off his horse, helped the kneeling Yang Qing up, and loudly praised him for knowing how to handle current affairs. He took the seal, which turned out to be the seal of the defender of Luokou City. However, he did not see the Sui army and Zhang Xutuo, so he could not help but ask.

Yang Qing pulled out a letter from his bosom, the wax seal still intact. It read, "Written by Li Mi of Wagang" with the four small characters "Left by Zhang Xutuo" below. Li Mi tore open the seal and quickly read through the scant contents, his expression suddenly changing.

"Yang Chengshou, how many soldiers are there in Luokou City?" Li Mi asked anxiously.

Yang Qing was a little confused, but he answered very seriously: "There are 5,000 garrison troops, 3,000 personal soldiers under my command, and 30,000 civilians. If we carefully screen them, we can recruit tens of thousands of young and strong men."

"Where is Zhang Xutuo now?"

Yang Qing shook his head slightly and said, "Ever since the news of Your Majesty's death reached him, Zhang Xutuo has locked himself in his study, refusing to eat or drink. He only emerged two days later after being persuaded by generals like Qin Qiong and Luo Shixin. He then led his army and escorted the food and fodder, and disappeared without a trace."

When Li Mi heard the word "grain and grass", he hurriedly asked, "How much grain and grass is left at Luokou now?"

Luokou was the granary of the Sui Dynasty. Li Mi had chosen Wagang instead of other rebel forces because the Luokou granary was of paramount importance. But after hearing Yang Qing's introduction, he couldn't help feeling dizzy. This was probably because since the failure in Xingyang, the bastard Zhang Xutuo felt that Luokou was unsafe and began to continuously transport food and grass to Luoyang and Chang'an.

Later, Li Yuan rebelled and invaded Chang'an. This batch of grain and grass played a huge role in the battle against Li Yuan's army. However, the Chang'an defenders were ultimately defeated by Li Yuan's army supported by Buddhism. What's more, there were also spies and allies of Li Yuan lurking in the city of Chang'an, and the city was attacked from both inside and outside.

After half a year of exporting grain to foreign countries, even the granary in Luokou had been mostly moved out. Moreover, after hearing the news of the Sui emperor's death, Zhang Xutuo made a big move before evacuating and distributed most of the remaining grain to the people around Luokou.

This made Li Mi uncomfortable. He had always been aloof and noble, and the gentry and the people wanted to win his support. But now the granary in Luokou was empty. He had to have food to support his troops. Apart from the food that was sent away, most of the remaining food was in the hands of the people, and a small part was in the military camp.

No matter which one of them tried to deprive him of his power by force, he would inevitably lose the support of the people. What made him most unhappy was that Zhang Xutuo actually challenged him to a battle at the foot of Xingyang City, but this time it was Zhang Xutuo who defended the city and Li Mi who attacked.

Zhang Xutuo had actually played a one-for-one trade with him, trading Luokou for Xingyang City. If he had followed his previous strategy, trading Xingyang, dominated by the Zheng family, for Luokou, the Great Sui Dynasty's grain and fodder, he would have naturally been delighted. However, Luokou currently lacked much grain and fodder, and even the population, soldiers, and space were insufficient, far inferior to Xingyang. How could he be happy?

When did Zhang Xutuo become so smart?

Could it be that the damned Gentleman Sword Yue Buqun did not go to Liaodong, or has already returned?

According to my own intelligence, the Gentleman Sword Yue Buqun seems to have been dragged into Liaodong, and the one who took action was the Li family. They seemed to be quite afraid of Yue Buqun's ability, and because he was a traitor, they did not dare to have too much contact with him, or they were sternly rejected when they tried to contact him?

Just as Li Mi's troops surrounded Luokou, Xingyang City was declared to have fallen. The city was in chaos and flames shot up into the sky. There were cries and shouts in the Zheng family mansion. Dark shadows shuttled through the city, and blood and flesh flew wherever they passed. The Sui soldiers outside drew their swords and strung their bows, and anyone who dared to come out was immediately shot to death by arrows.

The head of the Zheng family sat in the main hall. The senior executives around him were speechless for a moment. Only the low sobbing sounds of the women could be faintly heard. When they learned that the secret passage was destroyed, they knew their future fate.

"We are the Zheng family of Xingyang, one of the four wealthy and powerful families ranked among the first-class nobles. How dare Zhang Xutuo..." An elder of the Zheng family looked pale and his voice trembled slightly.

The head of the Zheng family had a gloomy expression on his face, and he said calmly, "We are rebels. Ever since we assisted Lord Pushan in seizing Xingyang City and expelling Zhang Xutuo, we have been doomed to be unacceptable to the Sui court. We have a grudge against Zhang Xutuo. We must either support Li Mi in killing him, or he will exterminate our entire clan."

When the word "genocide" was mentioned, the head of the Zheng family shuddered, his heart filled with deep regret. In the past, he still had the confidence to survive, but the news of Emperor Yang Guang's death shattered Zhang Xutuo's heart, and it also completely disrupted the order of the world. It was at this moment that they deeply realized the huge difference between troubled times and prosperous times, as well as the deterrent power of Emperor Yang Guang.

They lived in fear under Yang Guang. Although their strength and power were weakened from time to time, it was absolutely impossible for them to have the current result of destroying their families and annihilating their clans.

Zhang Xutuo vented all his anger on the Zheng family of Xingyang. Although he was taking his anger out on others, it also indicated that the worst times were about to come. Zhang Xutuo might set a precedent for the destruction of a wealthy family, and thus attract many rebels and even the Sui army to follow suit. After all, the hundreds or thousands of years of heritage of a wealthy family was too tempting for a hero in troubled times.

"Li Mi is incompetent." The head of the Zheng family sighed, and finally could only blame everything on Pushan Gong Li Mi. If it weren't for his incompetence, he would have let Zhang Xutuo escape, and failed to capture Luokou for a long time. Now he has sent out a large army, leaving the empty Xingyang City, and was caught off guard by Zhang Xutuo who took advantage of the opportunity. How could their Zheng family be in such a dangerous situation today?

"Let's go out and meet this general who was the first to fall from the Sui Dynasty." The Zheng family patriarch still had hope. Guards and servants followed him out one after another. As soon as he walked out of the hall, a dense rain of arrows whistled towards him, and screams were heard. The Zheng family patriarch shouted loudly: "I am the Zheng family patriarch, and I want to see General Zhang Xutuo!"

"We are the Wagang rebels. The Zheng family is rich but unkind and is a disaster to the village. Lord Pushan has issued a secret order to kill them all!" The voices shouted in unison. The face of the head of the Zheng family froze. He never thought that Zhang Xutuo would play this trick on him. You are wearing neat Sui army armor and equipped with standard weapons. You lie with your eyes open and call yourself the Wagang rebels. You don't have to be so careless to fool a fool.

But he knew that it was precisely because of this act of covering one's ears and stealing the bell that Zhang Xutuo showed his deep malice towards them and he would not stop until one of them died.

"General Zhang, please listen to me. Now that His Majesty has been harmed by traitors and the world is in chaos, it is the time for heroes like you to realize your ambitions. The Zheng family is willing to give everything we have to help you succeed." The head of the Zheng family shouted loudly, but was met with a long sigh.

"I was born as the most formidable general of the Great Sui Dynasty, blessed by Your Majesty. Even in death, I shall remain a ghost general of the Great Sui Dynasty, accompanying Your Majesty in the battles of the underworld. For the sake of the common people, and to give Your Majesty an explanation, and to appease myself, I will recover all that I have lost, and eliminate every traitor who has wronged Your Majesty and the Great Sui Dynasty. Then, I will apologise to Your Majesty in the underworld. The Zheng family of Xingyang was only the beginning. Zhang Xutuo, for Your Majesty, I will bear the eternal infamy!"

"Please, Patriarch, pay the price for betraying the Sui Dynasty and die with your own family!"