Chapter 163

  Tang Yin remained silent for a long time, then raised his head and smiled at Fan Ju, saying: "Fan Lao has had a hard journey, I'll have someone prepare your lodging first. You rest at Tian Guan for the night, and tomorrow morning, I'll send someone to escort you to Shunzhou."

  "Thank you, Lord Tang!" Fan Ju stood up and bowed with his hands clasped together.

  "Mr. Fan is too polite." Tang Yin smiled and said: "From now on, just call me by my name."

  "Hehe, alright alright, I'll take my leave first!"

  Tang Yin sent off Fan Ju and returned to his tent, where he saw that none of his subordinates had left. They were all staring at him with wide eyes, and he burst out laughing, asking: "What are you all looking at me for?"

  Qiu Zhenke didn't have time for riddles and asked directly: "What does your lordship mean?"

  "What does it mean?" Tang Yin pretended to be confused.

  "Should we declare war on Zhong Tian?" Qiu Zhen stepped forward tightly.

  Tang Yin knocked his forehead and said: "This matter, let me think about it again."

  "Sir, don't consider it anymore. Now is the time when Zhong Tian has not yet established himself firmly, and it's the perfect opportunity. If we wait until Zhong Tian solidifies his power, it will be even more difficult to bring him down. Are you really willing to be a minister of a fallen country and live under the traitor Zhong Tian?" Qiu Zhen's tone became increasingly urgent.

  Tang Yin's face changed slightly, a sharp light flashed in his eyes, but he quickly recovered and smiled, looking around at everyone, saying: "I'm tired, let's all go back and rest first!"

  This time, everyone's opinions were surprisingly unanimous, advocating for a campaign against Zhong Tian and restoring the Wind Country.

  Not to mention them, even the soldiers and civilians below hated Zhong Tian to the bone. Plotting against the monarch and establishing himself as king was already a great sin, but what was most detestable was that Zhong Tian had actually changed the national title. The people of Feng had been known as Feng for generations, with a history of over a thousand years, and in their eyes, Zhong Tian's actions were a betrayal of his ancestors, and both men and gods were outraged.

  But now Tang Yin is the county magistrate, he doesn't give orders, no one has a way out, they can only wait for his decision.

  Tang Yin was hesitant and indecisive, but the scouts sent by Tianyan and Diewu had been continuously sending back intelligence from Yancheng.

  Zhong Tian, in order to win over Ning Guo and consolidate his own throne, not only ceded the Tongmen area along with the two hundred li of land west of Tongmen to Ning Guo, but also led the entire country in surrendering to Ning Guo, paying tribute every year. This means that Feng Guo would become a vassal state of Ning Guo from then on, subject to its command.

  Furthermore, Zhong Tian in order to further win over the powerful families of Liang, Wu and Zi Yang, and gain their support, also promised to continue giving high-ranking official positions and generous salaries to the three family heads Liang Xing, Wu Yu and Zi Yang Haochun. He also granted them territories and planned to form a marriage alliance with the Wu family by marrying Wu Yu's eldest daughter Wu Mei as his queen consort.

  When he heard the news earlier, Tang Yin didn't react much. But when he heard this piece of news, Tang Yin immediately became furious. Before, he only regarded Wu Mei as his red beauty and confidante, without realizing that he had other feelings for her. Now, hearing that Zhong Tian wanted to make Wu Mei a princess, he suddenly felt like the treasure he cherished was being snatched away from him.

  News from Yancheng is still trickling back, and through spies, Tang Yin learns that the Liang family, Wu family, and Zi Yang's family have all been softly confined by Zhong Tian. The matter of Zhong Tian marrying Wu Mei has already been settled, and the wedding date has been set for the end of next month.

  Qiu Ying is in stark contrast to Tang Yin.

  It's said that Zhong Tian is going to marry Wu Mei, and Qiu Zhen is overjoyed. He can't help but think to himself, "This is truly heaven helping me." At this time, he no longer tries to persuade Tang Yin strongly, but instead keeps whispering in his ear, saying things like "A grudge against the one who killed you can be tolerated, but a grudge against the one who stole your wife cannot be tolerated"; "If you can't even protect your own woman, what kind of man are you?" and other provocative words.

  If Tang Yin didn't regard Qiu Zhen as a friend or brother, he would have probably killed him with one slash of his knife long ago.

  During this time, heroes from all over Feng Guo were also pouring into Tianyuan County in large numbers.

  At first, in order to reinforce Yancheng, the various counties of Fengguo had emptied their military strength. Now, the only one with a large army is Tianyuan County. Tang Yin sits in Tianmen Pass, with an army of over 200,000 under his command, and also has the natural barrier of Tianmen Pass as a shield. It can be said that currently, within Fengguo's borders, the only force that can rival Zhongtian is Tang Yin's faction. The wise men of Fengguo have placed their hopes on him, and naturally, they have all gathered around him.

  Among the refugees who fled to Tianyuan County, there were also many talented people, among whom three were highly valued by Tang Yin.

  One of them was named Peng Haochu, who was originally the deputy commander-in-chief of the Hexi County Garrison in Fengguo. Hexi County was also the county that Zhong Tian had ceded to Ningguo with a stroke of his pen. When reinforcements were sent to Yancheng, he also went to the outskirts of Yancheng City and fought against the Ning army. Originally, Fengguo had the advantage of heaven, earth, and man, with a total of 500,000 to 600,000 troops from the central army and local forces combined, defeating the 400,000-strong Ning army that came from afar was not a problem. However, as the battle went on, the Feng army suffered consecutive defeats, losing soldiers and generals, especially the central army, which repeatedly suffered heavy losses at the hands of the Ning army. At this time, Peng Haochu realized that there was someone in the imperial court who was sabotaging them, and he even accurately judged that it was Zhong Tian, one of the four powerful nobles. Unfortunately, his position was low and his words were light, no one listened to him, and instead warned him not to slander the important officials of the imperial court.

  Later, Peng Haochu felt that the battle could not be fought anymore, so he took the initiative to report his illness and recuperate to the commander of the Hexi County military. The latter did not allow him to return home, but only allowed him to stay in Yancheng. When Zhong Tian rebelled, Peng Haochu was the first to take advantage of the chaos and escape from the city. Because his hometown had become Ningtu, he did not dare to return home again. At that time, he fled to Tianshui County to rely on Tang Yan.

  As for Peng Haochu, Tang Yin highly appreciated him and took him under his wing, appointing him as the deputy commander of the Tianyuan Army, working together with Gu Yue to oversee the three legions.

  Gu Yue is loyal to himself, but lacks strategy, while Peng Haochu has strong strategic thinking, but he joined his team later and his loyalty cannot be guaranteed. Letting him be Gu Yue's deputy can complement each other perfectly.

  The other two were both literary men, one named Zhang Zhe and the other named Xuan Wang.

  Xuan Wang would not come up with strategies or lead troops in battle, but Tang Yin valued him because he brought something that Tang Yin lacked - a crossbow.

  At that time, the crossbow was not prevalent, and the only vassal state that applied the crossbow was Chuan Guo. The controversy over the crossbow among various vassal states was very great. Although it was convenient to use and did not consume physical strength, its drawbacks were also fatal, that is, its power was too small, and the crossbow could not shoot out a parabola like a bow and arrow, so its range was greatly shortened. The crossbow was a weapon with both advantages and disadvantages, and it was precisely because of this that it did not receive widespread application.

  Xuan Wang brought his improved crossbow, which had three arrows that could be fired simultaneously or individually. He had previously recommended his crossbow to the King of Feng Guo, but since Feng Guo was not a country that valued archery, no one paid much attention to him. This time, however, he came to Tang Yin and received recognition for his invention. Tang Yin was not from this era and was naturally familiar with crossbows, knowing their ferocity in close combat. He rewarded Xuan Wang with gold and silver, gave him an official position, and had him oversee the production of more crossbows, which were first used by the Tian Yan, Di Wang, and An Jian troops.

  As for Zhang Zhe, he was the one Tang Yin valued most among the three.

  He proposed to Tang Yin that they should raise troops to punish Zhong Tian, but he didn't just propose it, and also gave Tang Yin three reasons why they would surely win.

  One, Zhong Tian's great irreverence and impiety, assassinating the king, Tang Yin led the army to punish him, with just cause, first in name being a righteous army.

  Secondly, Zhong Tian betrayed the country for personal gain, altered the national title, and was deeply hated by the people. Tang Yan's expedition against him was in line with public opinion and had a strong advantage in terms of popular support.

  Thirdly, and most importantly, although Zhong Tian's forces are numerous, they are all disorganized mobs. The 200,000 local troops are scattered and ineffective, while the 300,000 central army is also lacking in loyalty. Wang Ting's direct subordinates were bought with heavy gold and naturally have no loyalty to speak of. As for the Liang, Wu, and Zi families' troops, they only submitted to Zhong Tian because their family heads were being held captive by him. If we can rescue these three family heads, then the 200,000-strong army will immediately turn against Zhong Tian. In reality, the only truly loyal forces to Zhong Tian are his six direct subordinates. As for Ning Guo's 400,000-strong army, they are not worth worrying about either. They have been fighting in a foreign land for months, and their supply lines are too long. If we cut off their supplies, the 400,000 Ning troops will fall into chaos without even needing to fight. Moreover, they have been fighting continuously for several months, and their soldiers are exhausted and homesick, with their combat strength far from what it was when they first arrived.

  Zhang Zhe's three-point argument for a sure win made Tang Yin feel much more at ease, and Qiu Zhen had also been urging him to take up arms and attack Zhong Tian. However, Qiu Zhen did not tell him how great the chances of victory were or what specific actions to take, so Tang Yin was uncertain and hesitant in his heart. But after Zhang Zhe's analysis, Tang Yin's confidence immediately increased, and he also came to realize that he had a good chance of winning against Zhong Tian.

  At this time, Tang Yan still did not explicitly express his intention to send troops to conquer, but only accepted the talents and heroes who came to surrender, first incorporating them into his own ranks before doing anything else.

  With the addition of these talents and heroes, the strength of the Tianyuan Army was greatly enhanced. The number of experienced generals and far-sighted strategists also gradually increased. However, their primary purpose in joining Tang Yin was to hope that he would rise up and restore the country, but he hesitated to take a stand, and people's emotions began to fluctuate.

  Today is the day when *Pu Tongying finally made a statement.

  The will of Zhong Tian has arrived at the Heavenly Gate.

  The name of the person who sent the edict was Zhao Er. He was originally a gate guest of Zhong Tian. As the saying goes, when one man ascends to heaven, his chickens and dogs also get the Tao. When Zhong Tian became king, all his gate guests were given official positions.

  Zhao Er entered the Tian Guan with his head held high and a swagger in his step, under the protection of his guards. As he approached, he looked around at the sea of people that was the Tian Yuan army, his face fearless. In a loud voice, he asked: "Who is Tang Yan? Come out quickly to receive your orders!"

  Under the gaze of many officers and soldiers of the Tianyuan Army, Tang Yin slowly walked out of the large tent with a steady four-square step.

  As soon as people saw him come out, they all held their breath.

  Everyone knew that the imperial edict would contain some sort of content, and as soon as Tang Yin accepted it, it would be equivalent to surrendering to Zhong Tian. The last hope of restoring the Wind Nation would also be shattered.

  At this time, the entire front square of the big account was crowded with people, a vast expanse of blackness, but not a single person spoke. Time seemed to have stopped, and it was eerily quiet. From the commander-in-chief to the ordinary soldiers, everyone held their breath, waiting for Tang Yin's decision.