93Lord Shen is a complete fraud!
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Chapter 93 Lord Shen is a complete liar!
Hu Jingsheng prepared two thousand taels of silver notes and, as requested by Shen Yulou, also prepared some arsenic.
He didn't know what Shen Yulou wanted the arsenic for, but since he asked for it, Hu Jingsheng naturally had to fulfill the request with all his might.
After preparing all of this, Hu Jingsheng finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Hopefully, this time they could get through it safely.
Hu Jingsheng actually didn't want a promotion; being a prefect here was incredibly comfortable for him.
He just needed money to deal with the imperial Envoys from the Imperial City; the previous circuit supervising censor was easily sent away.
But this time, he clearly ran into a tough opponent.
He estimated that after this hurdle, he could safely make money for a few years. Two thousand taels of silver notes were a bit painful to part with, but as long as he got through this, Hu Jingsheng had plenty of ways to make money...
It was already dark when Zhang Anze and the other two returned to their military tent.
Zhang Anze stood at the entrance of the military tent for a long time before someone came out and said,
"You can go in now. The General and King Shun are both inside."
Zhang Anze entered the military tent, first saluting the men, after which King Shun, Bai Fan, spoke.
"What urgent matter brings you here so late?"
Zhang Anze recounted what had just happened.
Everyone was then somewhat surprised.
"The Wulin Kingdom will cooperate with us?"
Although Bai Fan called himself King Shun, he was clear about his own capabilities.
Only three thousand soldiers; it took them a long time to even take a small county town.
Although his future was limitless, given his current situation, he was not important enough to be taken seriously by the imperial court.
Nor should he be valued by the Wulin Kingdom; a few thousand men were too few for a partnership to be considered.
The reason Bai Fan was able to raise an army and survive until now was due to his caution.
As long as there was even a slight suspicion, he would not proceed.
A dark-skinned, burly man next to him said, "Big Brother, our army currently has the advantage of timing, terrain, and unity. Previously, the County Princesss Husband in the capital wanted to coordinate with us from within, and now with the help of the Wulin Kingdom, our army is like a tiger with wings.
In a few days, we will take Qinghe County, and half a month later, we will occupy Tianyuan Prefecture, then raise an army south and march straight to the Imperial City!"
This person was the County Princess's uncle, Fan Rui.
Bai Fan glanced at Fan Rui, his brows slightly furrowed.
"The authenticity of the County Princess's letter still needs to be investigated. Even if it's true, even if he can mobilize the Ministry of War, can we successfully get rid of the Emperor? It's not very realistic. Let's not bring this up again."
Fan Rui was a bit helpless.
When the County Princess's letter arrived previously, he was very excited. With the County Princess's support, their rebellion would definitely achieve twice the result with half the effort.
But Bai Fan remained skeptical, finding it unreliable, so the matter had never received a response.
Now, with the Envoy from the Wulin Kingdom, Bai Fan grew even more suspicious.
Zhang Anze said, "This person has a six-foot-three-inch tall strong man by his side, with a broad back and a powerful build, possessing immense strength. Moreover, his appearance and attire do not resemble those of a Hun Kingdom native. That imperial physician, Li Huai, said he is Song Hu, the Wulin Kingdom's top vanguard."
Bai Fan asked, "Have any of you heard of this Song Hu?"
Jiang Zhanpeng, the third-in-command of the Black Mountain Army, said, "I have heard of him. He is very famous in the Wulin Kingdom, extraordinarily gifted. Two years ago, I saw him from a distance once.
If I see him, I will definitely recognize him!"
Bai Fan nodded, "If that's the case, letting them come over is not out of the question! We'll know their identity once we meet."
If Song Hu's identity was confirmed, then Li Huai's identity as a Wulin Kingdom spy should also be true.
Zhang Anze said, "Big Brother, should I go notify them now?"
Bai Fan nodded, "Deploy more men around the military tent and add some archers."
"Yes!"
After Zhang Anze left, Bai Fan said,
"This might be an opportunity. We've been attacking Qinghe County for so long without taking it down. If we continue fighting, our provisions will also run short."
The original plan was to capture Qinghe County, open the county granary, attract more homeless people who couldn't find food to join them, expand their scale, and gradually spread out.
But now it seemed their idea was too simplistic.
If they had reinforcements from the Wulin Kingdom, their chances of victory would be even greater.
At dawn, Shen Yulou and the other two arrived at the military camp.
Among these three, only Song Hu had combat power.
Shen Yulou appeared to be a frail scholar, and Qingqing was a maid, so they were nothing to fear.
Even if Song Hu was incredibly fierce, he probably couldn't do much in this military camp.
Moreover, archers were already prepared; if Song Hu caused trouble, he would immediately be shot to death by a volley of arrows.
Shen Yulou hadn't expected them to act so quickly. Governor Hu's poison hadn't even arrived yet when they were summoned.
It seemed he would have to improvise.
Upon entering the military tent, Jiang Zhanpeng immediately spotted Song Hu. His eyes lit up instantly; such a person, once seen, would never be forgotten.
Jiang Zhanpeng gave Bai Fan a look and nodded.
Bai Fan was immediately overjoyed.
"Please be seated, all three of you. Tea!"
After serving good tea to Shen Yulou and the other two, Bai Fan said, "The three of you have traveled a long way, it must have been arduous. May I ask how the King of the Wulin Kingdom is?"
Shen Yulou said, "My Lord is in good health and has grand ambitions. He sent me here to find like-minded individuals to achieve great things together."
Bai Fan nodded, "If our army cooperates with your country, how many soldiers can your country support us with?"
Shen Yulou smiled faintly, "That depends on how much sincerity your army can show."
Bai Fan paused for a moment, then understood Shen Yulou's meaning.
"Are you saying you want money?"
Shen Yulou nodded, "Precisely."
Bai Fan frowned, "Could it be that only if I pay will your country send troops to help? Aren't we supposed to be working together for a great cause? After taking Qinghe County, we would split the granary equally. Isn't asking for money now a bit untimely?"
Shen Yulou said, "That's not right. Your army has only three thousand men. To capture Qinghe County, it will probably take some time.
However, if our army goes into battle, we can take Qinghe County within three days.
Qinghe County has been besieged by you for so long, there might not be much grain left inside.
So, our army only wants money, not grain. All the spoils of war in Qinghe County will go to you. How about that?"
Shen Yulou said this for two reasons.
Firstly, to gain the other party's trust.
The more bargaining there was, the easier it was to gain trust.
If cooperation was achieved too easily, the other party could easily perceive it as a trap.
Secondly, Shen Yulou was a fake anyway, so getting some money was the best outcome.
Get some money and run; take whatever the other party offered.
Bai Fan pondered for a moment, finding the matter reasonable, but their funds were not very sufficient.
After some discussion and bargaining among the group,
they decided to exchange five thousand taels of silver for ten thousand of the other party's men.
Shen Yulou immediately wrote a letter, signed it after finishing, and handed it to Bai Fan for inspection.
After confirming there were no issues, Bai Fan produced five thousand taels of silver notes.
Seeing this, Song Hu and Qingqing were both very surprised.
Five thousand taels just like that?
Lord Shen was purely scamming them