Although the phrase "strategically contempt the enemy, tactically value the enemy" is not very appropriate for the battle of the clouds that the crossing team is about to participate in, the crossing people are not relaxed at all in their preparations for the war while facing the arrival of war with ease. After learning from the telegram sent by Xu Shao'an that Chai Rong was about to swing the Northern Expedition in the middle and late part of the first month of the sixth year of Xiande (the ninth year of the Liao Ying calendar), the work status of the crossing team fully shifted to the battle mechanism.

Since the preparation of the crossing team for the battle of the clouds began at the beginning of the year, in fact, after the crossing team solved its own survival problem, by the end of the eighth year of the Ying calendar (the sixth year of Xiande), the preparation of the crossing team in politics, economy, military and other aspects was basically ready.

Politically, the crossing team successfully established an effective connection with the Later Zhou court—despite the problems of this connection, it was ultimately an effective channel for communication between the two sides—and at the same time, it also maintained a peaceful and mutual use relationship with the Khitans, so that when the crossing team did many things, including some things that violated the laws of the imperial court, the local government would turn a blind eye and would not interfere with and destroy such things.

Economically, through the diligent work of various departments of the team and the special trade department in the past few years, the team has accumulated a total of nearly 1.5 million yuan of working capital for the upcoming battle of clouds and the future development of the team while ensuring that the daily life of all members reaches a relatively high level of this era, the two major production bases can carry out continuous production, the large-scale construction of the "Flying Dragon Army" (including the security army), and the normal operation of various industries under the team's name. Storage of means of production and means of subsistence. Calculated by crossing the team's existing consumption level - maintaining the basic life of the team members, maintaining the production of the production base, and maintaining the combat effectiveness of the "Flying Dragon Army" - it is enough for the team to support about two years without any income. Of course, the two years of support mentioned here are only extreme cases under special conditions. In fact, with the strength of the current crossing team, especially the combat effectiveness of the "Flying Dragon Army", even if you don't have a penny in your hand, you can completely rely on attacking cities and plundering land, and confiscating the official mansion to maintain your own survival.

In military affairs, after several years of development, especially after the leaps and bounds of the seven and eight years of Yingli (four and five years of Xiande), the "Flying Dragon Army" has not only realized the upgrading of weapons from primitive firearms to modern firearms, but has also been far richer in the establishment of services and arms than at the beginning. From the original ordinary infantry and cavalry, to the current ordinary infantry, cavalry, special forces, artillery, logistics support arms, militia (security forces), as well as the navy and marines that were established the latest and are still gradually developing, many branches of the armed forces are a powerful armed force. According to several brothers in the Ministry of Military Affairs, although the current "Flying Dragon Army" has not yet reached the fantastic level of "100,000 AKs sweeping the world" in some travel novels in the previous life, "10,000 '55' style sweeping the north and south of the river, inside and outside the Great Wall" can still be achieved with a certain degree of certainty.

So, with all the preparations in place, all the team needs to do now is prepare for the battle of the team members themselves. If the concentration of materials from the beginning of the year - the concentration of silver, grain, and various means of production in the well-fortified "Liangyuan" - is an effective protection of financial and material resources, then the concentration of crossing team members in the middle and late lunar month of the eighth year of the Ying calendar (the fifth year of Xiande) is an effective protection of manpower.

According to the resolution made by the Crossing Team Committee and the enlarged meeting of the Committee on the thirteenth day of the lunar month - also known as the "Crossing Team Members Convening Order", starting from the fifteenth day of the lunar calendar in the eighth year of the Ying calendar (the fifth year of Xiande), except for Lin Xiaoyu, who has entered the palace as a concubine, Xu Shao'an, who is commanding the "Shenji Army" of the Later Zhou Dynasty, and in accordance with the orders of the committee, leading a platoon of guards stationed in the "Hidden Garden" - the other "Hidden Garden" guards will withdraw to Youzhou, and whether they will return in the future will depend on the situation- Except for Cheng Fei, who came to Xu Shao'an's side to provide protection as the head of the pro-soldier capital, including Lu Yue in the "Kaifeng Detention Center", all the crossing team members and their immediate family members—limited to their children, the right wife, and the direct parents of the right wife, excluding the other relatives of the right wife, and those who have no name, outer rooms, concubines, etc.—must return to the "cool garden" before Chinese New Year's Eve. ,

Among these so-called family members who are about to enter the "Liangyuan", the only exception is Yan Ruhua, who married Zeng Zhilin after the Battle of Youyun. At Zeng Zhilin's request, taking into account the Yan family's assistance in the "Flying Dragon Army" to pacify the "Baihuazhai", and the intention of the crossing team to recruit the three brothers of the Yan family to work for themselves, as well as the good relationship between the Yan family and Zhong Youpeng, the committee authorized Yan Ruhua, Yan Ruhua's father, Yan Ruhua's three brothers, and their respective wives and children who had not yet married Zeng Zhilin to enter the "Liangyuan" together. Moreover, when issuing the convening order, the committee particularly emphasized that no matter how important the work at hand was, no matter how inseparable he was from his concubines and the outer chamber, he should not postpone his return to the "Cool Garden", let alone bring people other than those specified in the convening order to return to the "Cool Garden".

Since the "Crossing Team Member Convening Order" was officially issued on the 14th day of the lunar calendar in the eighth year of the Ying calendar (the fifth year of Xiande), Lu Yue, who was originally scattered in the 16 states of Youyun and even as far away as Kaifeng, began to evacuate his work place in an orderly and unobtrusive manner and concentrated in the "Liangyuan". Although most of the travelers did not officially marry, they all returned to the "Cool Garden" alone. However, due to the fact that there were a lot of guards and cronies and servants who were used to daily use, the team they returned to the "Cool Garden" had a certain size. As a result, for a while, from all over Youyun Sixteen Prefectures, especially from Youzhou and the sea to the southwest of Liangxiang City, a convoy composed of four-wheeled carriages unique to the crossing team began to appear frequently in the sight of the locals. However, although such a convoy is more conspicuous, because of the recent years, as a rare rich man in the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun, it is not only a reasonable thing for the "Qingyuan" brothers to return to the old house for the New Year with their families, but also a phenomenon that has often occurred in recent years, so no one will suspect that there is actually another hidden reason for their big move.

However, among the four-wheeled carriage convoys that traveled all over the clouds, there was a team of six four-wheeled carriages that was a little different. Because its driving direction is not the "Liangyuan" in the southwest of Liangxiang, but from Youzhou City, it goes all the way to the southeast and drives to the county seat of Wuqing County. And the owner of this team is Fan Wucheng, the head of the trade department of the crossing team sitting on the third four-wheeled carriage in the team. This time, Fan Wucheng conducted a large-scale inspection in the name of inspecting the shops and industries of the "Datong Commercial Firm" distributed in the eastern and southern prefectures and counties of Youdu Province before the holiday, or before the implementation of the "Crossing Team Members Convening Order".

Fan Wucheng's motorvoy entered the county seat of Wuqing at noon on the twentieth day of the lunar month. Because the members of the crossing team often ride in four-wheeled carriages in the county capitals of the sixteen states of Youyun, and they have more or less friendship with the magistrates of the prefectures and counties, plus the status of those of them who have the official positions awarded by the Khitan court and the status of the brothers placed there, so the defenders at the gates of the counties are quite familiar with the four-wheeled carriage with a unique style and an eight-pointed star pattern painted on the body representing the unified name of the various industries under the name of the crossing team, "Datong Commercial Bank". Seeing such a carriage or convoy, these defenders usually let it go directly, and no one will go to the trouble to inspect it - of course, for such a very cooperative performance of the defenders, the owner of the carriage will usually let the accompanying domestic servants or personal guards throw one or two pieces of loose silver as a reward.

Today, Fan Wucheng's convoy entered the city in the same way, a guard leader who was walking at the front of the convoy on horseback reached out and took out a small piece of broken silver that had been prepared from his arms, and threw it casually to the small leader of the guards at the city gate who was greeting him with a smile, and said "Thank you", and galloped into the city gate first. The soldiers guarding the gate shouted their thanks, and despite the dust raised by the convoy, they happily gathered around the small leader one by one, discussing how to distribute the silver, which weighed more than half a tael.

At this time, he was sitting in the comfortable carriage of the carriage, drinking fragrant tea, while thinking about how he should act after entering the city, so as to achieve his true purpose of coming to Wuqing County without attracting the attention of others. Fortunately, Fan Wucheng is a smart person, and there are still some ways to solve this problem. Therefore, when the convoy stopped outside the Wuqing branch of the "Tianfu Building" of Datong Commercial Bank, a plan of action that was very effective in Fan Wucheng's opinion had already taken shape in his mind.

One of the owners of the restaurant, and also the owner of all the restaurants and Qinglou under the name of the directly managed Datong Commercial Bank, the shopkeeper of the Wuqing branch of the "Tianfu Building" naturally did not dare to slack off. While enthusiastically welcoming Fan Wucheng and his entourage—Fan Wucheng and several of his cronies, servants, and personal guards—into the restaurant's most exclusive private room, he instructed the kitchen to prepare a sumptuous banquet immediately. Fan Wucheng has long been accustomed to this kind of hospitality of the restaurant shopkeeper, but after a few words with him and a few words of praise, he sent the already somewhat flattered shopkeeper out of the private room, so that he and his subordinates could have a solid lunch.