On the third day of the third month of the first year of Xuanhe, Zhu Wu led 50,000 Qishan troops to finally arrive in Qizhou after a long journey, which was also the headquarters of the rebel army.

And before that, Seed Master Dao and Zong Ze had already led 40,000 troops each to Qizhou, plus the imperial court had already dispatched 300,000 troops around Jingdong Road, along the border between Jingdong Road and the Great Song Dynasty, the imperial court had actually gathered 380,000 troops, which reached one-third of the total strength of the Great Song Dynasty! This is not counting the remaining 200,000 Qishan troops who are rushing here, and when the 200,000 Qishan troops arrive, the total strength of the Great Song side will reach a terrifying 600,000!

In comparison, the total strength of the Tiandao Army on Jingdong Road is only 300,000 people, and the number of troops on both sides is one-sided, including the entire Great Song Dynasty, the Liao Kingdom, the Xia Kingdom, the Jin Kingdom, and the Dali Kingdom, it can be said that now the eyes of all places in the world have been focused on here, although the Great Song Dynasty has never taken any advantage in the Heavenly Dao Army before, but this time it is different, this is a war that the Great Song Dynasty can no longer afford to lose, in fact, except for Zheng Fei and the Heavenly Dao Army, no one thinks that the Great Song Dynasty will lose.

Four days later, on the seventh day of the third month, King Yun and his entourage also arrived in Qizhou, and the generals of the rebel army led by Zhu Wu gathered in Qizhou to welcome King Yun.

Zhao Kai saw Zhu Wu again this time, and his mood has changed dramatically compared to before, although neither of them said anything clearly, but everything has formed a tacit understanding without words, and the leadership of the entire rebel army has shown a favorable situation of incomparably friendly and united.

Zhao Kai inquired in detail about the specific situation of the current army, this battle, the imperial court began to prepare a year ago, and the preparation so far, it can not be said that it is insufficient, Zhao Kai is very satisfied, he can't wait to start a big war against the Jingdong thieves as soon as possible, but the master does not agree to start the war now, because the remaining 200,000 Qishan troops are still on the way, and Zhu Wu said that according to the plan he and Wang Hao prepared, it will take more than a month for the Qishan army to arrive, and who will fight if the war starts now? Didn't you say that you would take the Qishan Army as the main force of the battle?

Zhao Kai was very disappointed, more than a month was a bit too long, he immediately summoned Zhu Wu and asked him if he couldn't let the Qishan army come earlier,

Zhu Wu reluctantly said that he also wanted the Qishan army to arrive earlier, but this was not something he could control, the reason why the Qishan army had to come in batches was because of the problem of grain and grass, the grain and grass were not in place, and the Qishan army would have to be hungry even if it set off on the road.

Wang Hao confirmed Zhu Wu's words, and he reported to Zhao Kai privately, saying that according to his secret visit to Liangzhejiang Road, Liangzhejiang Road was not short of money and grain at all, and it was a bumper harvest in the past two years, so that Zhu Wu could support the 250,000 Qishan army to fight this battle if he paid for the grain alone. But the imperial court had promised that Zhu Wu would be responsible for the money and grain of the Qishan army, but Zhu Wu really didn't have a grain of rice, so he had to wait for the grain and grass of the imperial court. It's just that the Liangzhejiang Road occupied by Zhu Wu was originally the granary of the Great Song Dynasty, without the Liangzhejiang Road, the grain and grass of the imperial court were tight, not to mention, and they could only raise grain from elsewhere, plus the Great Song Dynasty had almost never stopped fighting in the past two years, and the treasury of the Great Song Dynasty had already been emptied, and the imperial court even collected the taxes for the next two years in order to fight this war, so the grain and grass allocated to the Qishan Army could not be fully in place. Without food and grass, the Qishan army would not set off. He had discussed with Zhu Wu many times, hoping to let Zhu Wu "advance" some grain and grass in advance, so that the Qishan army could set off early, and return it to him in the future, but Zhu Wu just didn't let go, insisting that he had no money and no food.

Zhao Kai didn't expect such a thing, hasn't Zhu Wu always been very cooperative? How could you be so uncooperative in this matter? However, Zhao Kai quickly figured out Zhu Wu's "calculation", it was obvious that Zhu Wu wanted to delay a little longer, although he promised the imperial court to use his 250,000 army as the main force of the battle, but he still kept a hand, that is, to make a fuss about the grain and grass to delay time, if he was impatient to wait, he could only use the imperial army to start a war first, and every time the imperial army's army fought, his Qishan army would be able to fight one less battle, and his losses would be less. Now that many things are still unclear, it is normal for Zhu Wu to think of some ways to preserve his strength.

At the same time, Zhao Kai also thought of a possibility, before he came, Tong Guan said that this Zhu Wu has not really taken refuge in which side at present, that is to say, Zhu Wu is still in the same group as the prince, if the prince thinks that Zhu Wu is his person, then he will also think that Zhu Wu's Qishan army is also his army, will he be willing to let the army in his hands die in order to earn credit for himself? No, he obviously wouldn't, so he would most likely order Zhu Wu to delay the time, and if he dragged on, he could not only find an excuse to make waves in the court to create pressure on himself, but also force himself to use the imperial army to start the war first, and then he could still save his army! Zhu Wu is a two-faced person, he will try his best to curry favor with the prince, and after weighing, it makes sense that he will agree to do this.

No matter which of these two possibilities is true, it is not what Zhao Kai wants to see, he can't help but be a little angry, if he is according to his temper, he will definitely find a way to punish Zhu Wu well, but he understands that now is not the time to make a move, because this battle still depends on Zhu Wu after all, and after the war, he also needs to use what Zhu Wu has in his hands to deal a fatal blow to the prince!

This feeling of being "kidnapped" made Zhao Kai very uncomfortable, he secretly made a decision, when everything settles in the future, people like Zhu Wu must not be reused, he can sell the prince today, who knows if he will also sell himself in the future? As for now, we must first find a way to win him over and use him to make him go to war as soon as possible, and I can't afford to drag it out!

Zhao Kai decided to talk to Zhu Wu, although your remaining 200,000 troops have not yet arrived, haven't you already reached 50,000? With 50,000 people, you can fight a big battle!

Zhao Kai thought about it and immediately ordered that Wu Guogong be invited to come to the meeting!

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Zhu Wu didn't let Zhao Kai wait too long, he came quickly, and did something that surprised Zhao Kai very much, he actually didn't wait for Zhao Kai to speak, he first said to Zhao Kai in fear, "Your Highness, please wait patiently, the main force of the Qishan Army will arrive soon!" ”

Looking at Zhu Wu's anxious appearance of wanting to speak and stopping, Zhao Kai was even more sure that Zhu Wu had a ghost in his heart, why could he guess the purpose of calling him here? Because he also knew that he didn't want to be delayed any longer, but why did he still do it when he knew it was so? It must be because this is the prince's instructions, and he can only do this in order not to arouse the prince's suspicion, so he will beg himself to wait a little longer in this almost pleading way.

Zhao Kai couldn't help sneering in his heart, Zhu Wu, Zhu Wu, you are called smart but you are mistaken by smart, and now you know that the wall grass that is on the left and right, on both sides and three knives, is not so easy to be, right?

"Wu Guogong, this king has already listened to Wang Huang's explanation, this king knows your difficulties, but this war should not be dragged on for too long, if it drags on for a long time, it will not only hurt morale very much, but the thieves will also have time to find out our bottom, which will be very unfavorable to the war! This king wants to fight a battle as soon as possible, I don't know what you think? Zhao Kai said earnestly,

Zhu Wu's face suddenly appeared with a thick look of embarrassment, but he frowned and said nothing.

Zhao Kai knew that Zhu Wu was weighing the pros and cons, and he didn't rush,

After a while, I saw Zhu Wu slowly raise his head and say, "Your Highness, 50,000 people is a little too little, just wait for another four or five days, I will have tens of thousands of horses to arrive, I beg Your Highness to delay for a few more days, and when those people arrive, we will start a war!" As for the rest, I will also send people to urge them to join the war whenever they arrive, do you think this is okay, Your Highness? ”

Zhao Kai thought about it, if it can only be four or five days, it is not a difficult thing, and since Zhu Wu has regressed, then I can't help but give some face......

"Okay, five days is five days!" Zhao Kai nodded, "Five days later, there must be a war!" ”

Zhu Wu was obviously relieved, and said to Zhao Kai gratefully, "Thank you, Your Highness!" I'm going to prepare! ”

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Zhu Wu really didn't deceive Zhao Kai, and four days later, the 30,000 troops led by Fang La arrived in Qizhou as scheduled.

Zhao Kai was more satisfied, in order to better win over Zhu Wu, he decided to give Zhu Wu one more day, so that this army from afar could rest for one more day.

Unexpectedly, Zhu Wu refused Zhao Kai's kindness, and he insisted that the day after tomorrow start the war as scheduled, and he personally led the 90,000 Qishan Army as the vanguard army!

Zhao Kai thought that this was Zhu Wu currying favor with himself to make up for the unpleasantness that had just happened, and seeing that Zhu Wu was like this, he no longer insisted, and immediately convened a meeting to arrange specific combat arrangements.

The big war is on the verge of breaking out!