"I suggest at least 20,000." Sitku thought for a moment and said.
"Is 20,000 less? I think we should send 30,000 troops!" After hearing Sitku's answer, Yang Yingju thought about it himself and said worriedly
"So many people are needed to deal with a small rebel? How many people does he have?" Li Shiyao asked with some confusion.
"This is really necessary. Guangxi is a mountainous and forested place. If Zhang Rui hides in the mountains after being defeated, it will be difficult to find him. So it is better to prepare more people and capture him in one go. If you kill him, you won’t have to worry about it in the future." Sitku replied.
"Well, what Sitkudutong said makes sense. General Li must not be deceived by the temporary illusion of the traitor. The traitor is by no means a simple character. You must know that long-term pain is worse than short-term pain." Yang Yingju also agreed.
Hearing the two of them talking like this, Li Shiyao also looked at Zhang Rui seriously.
Originally, Li Shiyao thought that it would be enough to send 10,000 troops, after all, he would only deal with more than 2,000 people. If there are too many soldiers and horses, if word gets out, no one will say that Li Shiyao is a waste? Let me lose face as a Qing Dynasty?
"So, Governor Yang and Sitku both think that more troops should be sent to deal with the rebel Zhang Rui?" Li Shiyao asked again to confirm.
"Yes."
"Well, more is better."
The two of them answered separately
"Okay, let's send 30,000 troops! Mine will draw 20,000 troops from the green camps stationed in Wuzhou, Yulin Zhili Prefecture, Yunfu, Zhaoqing, Qingyuan and other places, and I will send another 10,000 troops in Guangzhou." Li Shiyao relied on these Tian had a general understanding of the distribution of troops and horses in the surrounding areas, and had already made a rough plan for dispatching troops.
After hearing Li Shiyao's arrangement, Sitku quickly said, "Will such a deployment put this area in danger?"
As the Guangzhou garrison general, Sitku naturally knew how many troops there were in these areas. With such a deployment, there will not be many soldiers and horses left to defend these places.
"Besides the traitor Zhang Rui, is there anyone else who can threaten these places?" Li Shiyao asked.
Sitku calmed down and thought about it, then smiled and said with a self-deprecating smile: "It seems that there really is no such thing."
"That's it, there's nothing to worry about. Instead of worrying about this, it's better to worry about the food and salary issues of these 30,000 people." Li Shiyao said and looked at Yang Yingju.
"Don't worry, General Li. I will raise the food and wages for these 30,000 soldiers and horses. I will never let these 30,000 soldiers who contributed to my Qing Dynasty feel dissatisfied." Yang Yingju quickly replied
"Okay, since our Qing Dynasty has a border minister like Governor Yang, why worry about the world not being peaceful?" Li Shiyao praised Yang Yingju.
"General Li is overly praised..." Yang Yingju also said with a smile.
After everything was probably discussed, the three of them continued to compliment each other. Yang Yingju and Sitku then said goodbye to Li Shiyao and left.
…
In the courtyard of the General's Office
Although it is late autumn, the climate in Guangzhou is such that many plants remain green and leafy, except for the cooler weather in the morning and evening. There is no sense of the arrival of late autumn at all.
At this time, in the open space of the courtyard.
A man in linen clothes was lying on a long stool, his pants pulled aside, exposing his round butt.
Two thugs holding long wooden sticks were beating the man lying on the long stool with the wooden sticks.
Every time the stick goes down, the person being hit will scream. The hands on the bench are tightly tightened, and the braid biting on the mouth will loosen again.
Sweat appeared on his forehead, and tears flowed out unconsciously from his eyes. His expression was very painful.
"What happened to that guy? How did he get beaten with a stick?"
Accompanying Yang Yingju to the general's office, Li Kaifu, who was Yang Yingju's bodyguard, looked at the beaten man and asked the soldiers around him:
"I don't know. I'll go and ask." The soldier next to Kaifu Li replied.
Normally, Kaifu Li would not pay attention to this matter. But at this time, Yang Yingju and Xi Teku both went in to discuss the matter with Li Shiyao.
Li Kaifu, who was very bored at the moment, wanted to gossip and watch the excitement, so he asked his soldiers to find out more.
The person who was beaten struggled to get up from the bench without any expression. He just knelt on the ground, muttered something, and then limped away slowly.
The soldier who heard Li Kaifu's order also looked like he was just watching the excitement. He hurried over to find the batsmen who were clearing away the benches to find out the situation.
After being informed of their identities, the thugs who beat the stick slowly told the soldier what they knew.
Li Kaifu looked at the soldiers talking to the thugs, and he wanted to go over and listen. Just looking back, wouldn't it be too much of a loss if I knew my identity in the past?
Therefore, Li Kaifu patiently waited for the return of his own soldiers. Even though Li Kaifu was very anxious in his heart, he looked calmly on the surface.
After a while
His own soldiers came back, and the thugs packed up their sticks and left with the long stool.
"Sir, I have already understood those people clearly." Wang Ning, Kaifu Lee's personal soldier, said to him
"Oh? What's going on?" Kaifu Li still looked calm, not showing any sign of wanting to know.
Wang Ning did not look at Li Kaifu's expression, but just reported what he knew to Li Kaifu: "The person who was beaten is the servant of General Li Shiyao, the current Guangzhou garrison general."
"Yeah. What happens next?" Kaifu Li asked calmly.
"The servant took too long to bring the food to General Li when General Li asked him to serve the meal, which caused General Li to starve for a while. So, General Li ordered to give him five big boards as a warning. "Wang Ning spoke slowly, fearing that he might have missed something.
"Is it that simple?" Li Kaifu asked in disbelief after hearing Wang Ning's story.
"Yes, sir. That's how it is." Wang Ning answered Li Kaifu seriously.
After hearing Wang Ning's serious answer, Kaifu Li felt bursts of sadness in his heart for some reason.
This has never happened before.
"Did Brother Six cast some kind of witchcraft on me? What's wrong with me?" Li Kaifu didn't understand his inner thoughts.
"What are these things? The slave can't be blamed for the delay in serving food! He also needs to be given five big punishments. The person who was beaten can't complain and can only kneel on the ground to thank him. Is this person still a human being? ? This is nothing." Kaifu Li thought as he couldn't control his inner thoughts.
At this time, Yang Yingju and Sitku walked out accompanied by Li Shiyao.
When Li Kaifu saw this, he stopped thinking about it and followed Yang Yingju consciously. However, I felt a little uncomfortable when I looked at Li Shiyao, but I didn't dare to reveal it at all.
After leaving the general's office, Yang Yingju and Sitku separated. Li Kaifu looked at Yang Yingju who was in a good mood and asked: "The Governor is in a good mood. I wonder when he was so happy?"
"Kaifu! Let me tell you in private! Zhang Rui, who was arrogant before, is dead this time." Yang Yingju said without any precautions against Kaifu Li.
