Chapter 450 If we want to gain a foothold in Liaodong, we must first get rid of Yang Zhengshan!
The account book is real, which means the confession is false!
No, it’s not completely false either. It’s half true and half false.

Ning Dongsheng is in their hands. The document should contain Ning Dongsheng's confession, but it should also include charges they have fabricated.

Raising food prices is probably true, but as for inciting the people to riot!

An Ruhui figured it out in an instant.

This is also normal. They incited the people to riot and forced the court to allocate money and grain for disaster relief!
This kind of thing is definitely not something that ordinary people can do.

Although Zhao Yunxing is greedy for money, he is not yet so cruel.

That’s right, it was Yang Zhengshan who added the charge of inciting the people to rebel.

To be precise, Yang Zhengshan was just giving an example. Anyway, according to his orders, the matter was to make it bigger, and Ding Qiu carried out his orders very loyally.

He added this item without hesitation and asked Ning Dongsheng to put his fingerprint on it.

As for whether Ning Dongsheng will change his confession in the future, that is a matter for the future.

"Ning Dongsheng's disappearance, are you sure it won't cause trouble?" An Ruhui said with some concern.

"So please, Lord An, write a memorial and send it to Kyoto as soon as possible!" Ding Qiu said with a smile.

An Ruhui had no idea what Ding Qiu was planning at this time.

This is to use him as a knife!
But can he refuse?
He was not afraid of Yang Zhengshan. Although Yang Zhengshan was powerful, he was not without background.

He looked at the account book in the wooden box again.

Leaving aside other things, these account books are enough to prove that the officials headed by Zhao Yunxing are a group of corrupt officials.

"I understand. I will report it as soon as possible!" An Ruhui said in a deep voice.

"I can help you deliver the memorial to Kyoto!" Ding Qiu said.

An Ruhui looked up at him and said, "Okay!"

He did not refuse. Although he knew that Ding Qiu was trying to prevent him from backing down, he had no reason to refuse.

Because he will not back down, and the matter is too big, and he doesn't have many reliable people around him.

Since Ding Qiu was willing to send someone to make the trip, he was naturally happy and relieved.

Without much hesitation, An Ruhui immediately went into the study and wrote a memorial.

In just half an hour, he had finished writing the memorial.

"Be careful on the road!"

He handed the memorial and all the evidence to Ding Qiu.

"Don't worry, sir!" Ding Qiu said.

……

Zhao Mansion.

Zhao Yunxing paced back and forth in the hall like an ant on hot pot.

He received a lot of bad news in the past two days. Masked warriors in black sneaked into the homes of wealthy businessmen and took away their account books. Deputy Censor Ning Dongsheng disappeared. The Hengdao Sect of Jizhou suddenly attacked the Luo family of Jizhou, and so on.

As the news came to Zhao Yunxing, he felt like a disaster was about to happen.

If there were only one or two, he might not care, but there are more than ten of them, and all of these wealthy businessmen have more or less relationships with him.

"Who is he?"

"Secret Guards? Impossible. The Secret Guards' methods can't be so crude."

He wondered in his heart about the forces behind these things.

He denied the Secret Guard at the first moment.

Because the Secret Guards' style of operation has always been secretive, it is impossible for them to expose so many traces and loopholes.

As for whether there were any secret guards monitoring him, he naturally knew that there must be.

It was because he knew this that he was prepared.

In fact, in the minds of court officials, the existence of the Secret Guards was almost an open secret. Everyone knew that the Secret Guards would arrange spies around them. Although few people knew the identities of these spies who were lurking around them, as long as they knew that the Secret Guards existed, they would find ways to avoid them.

So he was not afraid of the Secret Guards, but he was afraid of others.

"Besides the Secret Guards, who else has this ability?"

"So many warriors, all of them are acquired masters~~"

Zhao Yunxing paused, and his narrow eyes suddenly narrowed.

"Jing'anhou!"

His speculation was well-founded.

Because in the whole Liaodong, only Yang Zhengshan, the Marquis of Jing'an, has so many acquired masters around him.

Since he can be called an acquired master, he is certainly not an acquired first or second level warrior.

The soldiers of the Royal Guard Battalion are now almost all above the fifth level of the acquired realm. Not to mention the entire Liaodong, even in the entire Dayong, there are not many people and forces that can mobilize so many warriors above the fifth level of the acquired realm in a short period of time.

Thinking of Ning Dongsheng's disappearance, Zhao Yunxing became more certain that it was Yang Zhengshan who did it.

"How to do?"

Zhao Yunxing hesitated whether to send someone to inquire about Yang Zhengshan's situation.

At this moment, his personal attendant Liu San hurriedly ran into the hall, "Master, I have found Mr. Yan!"

"Where are the others?" Zhao Yunxing asked anxiously when he heard it.

Liu San said nervously, "He said they can't help with this matter, and we can only rely on the master himself!"

"Damn it!" Zhao Yunxing cursed angrily.

The Mr. Yan they were talking about was Yan Huichun who was previously in the Zhen family in Dongyang. This time they joined forces to target Yang Zhengshan, intending to take the opportunity to raise grain prices, and it was Yan Huichun who was the mastermind behind it.

Zhao Yunxing was persuaded by Yan Huichun only after being tempted by huge benefits.

If it weren't for Yan Huichun's lobbying, Zhao Yunxing would not have instructed Ning Dongsheng to impeach Yang Zhengshan on behalf of those wealthy businessmen, and he would not have had the courage to use the drought to raise food prices.

But now that the truth has been exposed, Yan Huichun actually ignored him. How could he not be angry?
"Master, Mr. Yan also said that if you want to survive, you can only, can only~~" Liu San said stutteringly.

"Only what?"

"We can only cause chaos in Pingyuan!" said Liu San.

Zhao Yunxing's expression froze, and his face turned pale and blue.

Let Pingyuan become chaotic?

As long as Pingyuan is chaotic enough, the court will not be able to deal with him, and the court may even need him to stabilize the situation in Pingyuan.

"No!" Zhao Yunxing was still scared!

Now his problem is just collusion between officials and businessmen and accepting bribes. Even if the court wants to deal with him, at most he will be dismissed from office. But if he dares to cause chaos in Pingyuan, then the whole family may be executed in the future.

He hesitated and was afraid, and for a moment he couldn't make up his mind.

At this moment, in a courtyard in Dongyang City.

Yan Huichun was standing in front of a young man in his twenties. The young man was eight feet tall, with a handsome face and high aspirations. He was twisting a string of black pearls in his hand and staring blankly at the clear sky.

"My lord, I have already passed the message to Zhao Yunxing!" Yan Huichun said respectfully.

The young man shook his head slightly. "It's useless. Zhao Yunxing is greedy by nature, but also a coward. It's okay to instigate him to target Yang Zhengshan, but let him make trouble? Haha, that would be too much of a compliment to him!" There was a hint of frivolity and playfulness in his tone, and he didn't take Zhao Yunxing, a third-rank governor, seriously at all.

Yan Huichun frowned and asked, "What should we do next?"

"What else can we do? We should leave!" The young man turned around and grinned, "It's impossible to do anything, so it's better to run away!"

Yan Huichun was shocked, "My Lord, this is not good!"

"What's wrong?"

"We have been planning in Pingyuan for so long, are we just going to give up like this?"

"Haha, this is just a test after planning for so long. I have already got the result I wanted!" said the young man nonchalantly.

"What's the result?" Yan Huichun was a little puzzled.

They clearly should have gained nothing, but not only did they gain nothing, they actually paid a lot.

"If we want to gain a foothold in Liaodong, we must get rid of Yang Zhengshan first!" When the young man mentioned Yang Zhengshan, a gleam of light flashed in his eyes.

Yan Huichun thought for a moment, then nodded, agreeing with the young man's idea.

"But before you leave, you must first get rid of Zhao Yunxing and Zhen Shicheng. They have seen you many times and cannot be kept!" the young man said again.

"I understand. I will handle it right away!" Yan Huichun said.

"Ok!"

The young man nodded and walked into the room.

At night, Zhao Yunxing and Zhen Shicheng, the head of the Dongyang Zhen family, both died quietly in their study rooms.

The two died in the same way, with their skulls pierced by sharp weapons.

Before dawn, the news that Zhao Yunxing had been assassinated spread throughout Dongyang City, and the people of the entire city were in panic.

An Ruhui also received the news, and he sat in his study, feeling very flustered.

It wasn't until Ding Qiu came to his study that he felt a little relieved.

"Did you kill Zhao Yunxing?" An Ruhui asked.

"No!" Ding Qiu shook his head.

"Really?"

"Really not!" Ding Qiu showed a helpless look.

An Ruhui stared at Ding Qiu closely, and when he saw that Ding Qiu's expression did not seem fake, he asked again, "Who killed him?"

Ding Qiu thought for a moment, "Not only Zhao Yunxing died, but also Zhen Shicheng. We once met a martial arts master in the Zhen family."

They have been lurking in Dongyang City these days and have arranged people to keep an eye on several important targets.

However, they did not notice anything unusual during last night's assassination. It was not until the Zhao Mansion was in chaos that they realized something was wrong.

There are not many martial arts masters in Dongyang City, and even fewer who can sneak into the Zhao Mansion quietly.

At least Ding Qiu felt that he couldn't do it.

Before coming to see An Ruhui, he had discussed with Luo Jinsong who killed Zhao Yunxing and Zhen Shicheng, and they came up with only one answer, which was Yan Huichun.

However, they did not know Yan Huichun's origin and identity.

"Martial arts master? Who is that?"

"I'm not sure. A warrior at the ninth level of the acquired realm is not a famous warrior in Liaodong. He should be from other places!" Ding Qiu said.

An Ruhui's brows were furrowed.

"How come there are warriors from other places?"

Ding Qiu shook his head.

They also looked for Yan Huichun, but unfortunately they didn't find him.

After all, this is Dongyang Prefecture. They cannot search openly and can only search secretly.

You can imagine how difficult it is to secretly search for a person hiding in the dark.

An Ruhui felt helpless when he saw that Ding Qiu didn't know anything about anything.

"Since you don't know anything, forget it!"

Ding Qiu smiled and said, "Well, the memorial has been sent to Kyoto. It shouldn't be long before we get a reply!"

"Besides, we will be returning to Chongshan Pass tomorrow, so I will not come to say goodbye to Lord An!"

When An Ruhui heard that Ding Qiu was leaving, he asked nervously, "You guys are leaving? Then how should we deal with things here?"

"Of course it will be left to the court to deal with!" Ding Qiu said as a matter of course.

"But what about Ning Dongsheng?" An Ruhui asked again.

Ding Qiu grinned, "We have released him, he should go home now!"

"Let him go!" An Ruhui was stunned.

Ding Qiu didn't explain, but clasped his fists and bowed, "Master An, I will take my leave now."

When An Ruhui came to his senses, Ding Qiu had already walked out of the study. He stretched out his hand to call Ding Qiu back, but the words were swallowed back when they reached his lips.

Release Ning Dongsheng?

Is Ning Dongsheng still useful?
Of course it is useful, he is a witness.

However, Zhao Yunxing is already dead, so Ning Dongsheng’s role as a witness is actually no longer of much significance.

Because Zhao Yunxing's death has made everything clear.

The court will definitely send someone to investigate this matter thoroughly.

So there is nothing left for Ding Qiu and the others to do next.

……

Heavy mountain pass.

Yang Zhengshan rode his horse back to the general's mansion from the military camp outside the city.

Although he had been busy with the upcoming drought in Liaodong during this period, he did not neglect the training of the Zhenbiao Camp.

At present, the recruitment task of the Zhenbiao Fifth Battalion has been completed. Except for the Zhenbiao Front Battalion which has been fully staffed, the other four battalions are also fully staffed.

There were 6,000 men in each battalion, for a total of 30,000 soldiers.

However, the full staffing of the Zhenbiao Fifth Battalion does not mean that the training of the Zhenbiao Fifth Battalion has ended. On the contrary, the real training of the Zhenbiao Fifth Battalion has just begun.

The five battalions of the Tenglong Guard trained for five full years before becoming truly elite troops.

Now the Fifth Battalion of Zhenbiao also needs to train for more than three years to meet Yang Zhengshan’s requirements.

In addition to the five battalions of the town flag, soldiers from various reinforcement battalions will also come to Chongshan Pass for training. Although Chongshan Town has not yet returned to its combat effectiveness in the period of full victory, its combat effectiveness has improved a lot compared to a year ago.

The most victorious period of Chongshan Town in recent years should be before Liang Chu's expedition against the Donghai Hu tribe. At that time, Chongshan Town had recuperated for several years, and with the strong support of the court, it was able to be said to have a strong army and horses, thus destroying the Donghai Hu tribe in one fell swoop.

Now the recruitment of the Town Flag Battalion and the six reinforcement battalions of Chongshan Town has basically been completed. The Town Flag Battalion has 30,000 soldiers, and the six reinforcement battalions have 12,000 soldiers each, with a total force of more than 100,000.

The only flaw is that the soldiers still lack training, but this cannot be rushed. We can only train them slowly and improve their combat effectiveness bit by bit.

(End of this chapter)