After Zao Song sent away his servants and told the defenders to bring his third brother Zao Quan to see him, he let his thoughts go for a while and began to eat the morning meal.
Not long after the meal was finished, the slave who had just been sent out came running back in a hurry.
In fact, this time his expression was even more panicked and fearful.
"Master Lang, Master Lang! Oh no, Zao Quan has rebelled! He is leading his army to attack the east gate!"
After hearing this, Zao Song's eyes froze and he stood up suddenly.
"What! Impossible!"
"How could my third brother rebel! How could he rebel!"
Facing the frightened and angry master, the slave was also confused and at a loss.
"Come here! Follow me to the east gate!"
"It must be Zao Quan's soldiers who are greedy for rewards and causing trouble there!"
Zao Song felt that as his clan brother, how could Zao Quan rebel against him? Now that the clan shares weal and woe, it must be his soldiers and slaves who are making trouble.
Under Zaosong's order, the guards in the mansion quickly gathered over.
Under the protection of hundreds of people, Zaosong headed towards the east gate in a swaggering manner.
But not long after walking, he quickly realized something was wrong.
In the direction of the east gate, black smoke was rising, as if something had been burned.
At the same time, some panicked Youzhou Army soldiers fled from there.
Zaosong immediately ordered the guards to capture a Youzhou defeated soldier.
"Who is causing trouble?"
Zaosong's heart was filled with anger.
Most of Youzhou's troops were frontier troops and they were always fierce. It was not unheard of for soldiers to gather in crowds and ask for rewards. However, such bold things as today's arson in the city had never happened before.
Zaosong thought, since he came to power, he thought that the control of these Youzhou soldiers had been quite strict, but now it seems that without killing some people, it is not enough to fully establish his authority.
Following Zao Song's shout, the captured soldier said with a grimace.
"My lord, you are not causing trouble!"
"It's the Qingzhou thieves who are calling!"
As soon as these words came out, everyone around was shocked.
Zaosong was panicked at first, but then he didn't believe it at all.
"Nonsense! Could it be that the Youzhou Army flew here!"
"You are deceiving the public with your evil words. Behead this traitor and hang it high in public!"
After hearing this, the defeated soldier was frightened and struggled desperately, but he kept begging for mercy.
But Zao Song ignored him and led the guards in a hurry toward the east gate.
"My lord, please spare my life..."
With a "pop" sound, the Youzhou soldier's words stopped abruptly as the head fell to the ground.
When Zaosong led the guards and was about to run to the east gate, a general who was following him suddenly shouted.
"My lord, look!"
Zaosong immediately looked where the general was pointing and saw a tall red flag that had been erected on the east gate of the city at some unknown time.
There is a black dragon on the huge red flag, billowing wantonly in the billowing black smoke in the wind.
"Xuanlong Banner!"
Several of the following guard generals exclaimed in surprise.
They knew that these flags were the flags of the Qingzhou Puppet Han, so it seemed that what the defeated soldier who had just been beheaded was true.
This was not a riot at all, but the Qingzhou thieves who didn't know what method they used to bypass all the sentry warnings in front and suddenly arrived at the gate of Fan Yang City.
Zaosong was also frightened and at a loss. He even stood on the spot blankly, not knowing what to do.
"My lord, quickly send someone to mobilize the troops in the city. The thieves only occupy the east gate. If we take back the city gate, Fan Yang can be protected!" a general said anxiously.
"Yes, yes, yes, hurry up, send troops to the east gate!" Zao Song said in a panic.
Suddenly, a loud shouting of murder came from the corner in front.
A group of armored soldiers armed with swords, guns and crossbows immediately appeared in front of Zao Song.
When these people suddenly saw Zao Song and others blocking the front, they immediately raised their bows and arrows and started shooting.
"Whoosh"
"Whoosh"
The sound of several arrows breaking through the air was heard instantly. Several Youzhou Army soldiers blocking the front were hit by arrows one after another. Those who were hit in vital parts fell to the ground and wailed on the spot. Others were also panicked.
However, these Youzhou Army elites quickly reacted and raised their weapons to fight back.
At only a distance of twenty or thirty steps, the sergeants from both sides soon started fighting together.
Bursts of murderous screams rang out in the narrow streets.
When Zao Song saw this scene, he had no other thoughts at all, he just thought about running away.
However, his legs were so weak that he almost lost his balance.
On the east gate tower of Fanyang City, Liu Yu watched the Han soldiers outside the city pouring into the city like a tide. He knew that this sneak attack could basically be regarded as a success.
"Your Majesty, the south gate has been captured!" A general covered in blood came panting to report.
"Guard the city gate and don't allow soldiers to loot inside the city!"
Liu Yu looked far away in the direction of the south gate, and sure enough, an Imperial and Han Dynasty Black Dragon flag was fluttering gently there.
At this time, another general came to report.
"Your Majesty, the north gate has been opened by defeated soldiers, and a large number of defeated soldiers have fled!"
Liu Yu was overjoyed when he heard this and said to Zhao Kun next to him.
"You see, this is a situation where there are three people but one person is missing. Once someone escapes, the rest will not have much fighting spirit!"
"Your Majesty, wouldn't it be a pity to let them run away? If Zaosong runs away again, all his previous efforts will be wasted." Zhao Kun said.
"Haha, there are more than a thousand cavalry of Wu Xin outside the city. Even if they run away, how many of them can be outrun."
Liu Yu smiled softly, "What's more, even if Zaosong can run back to his hometown in Zhuocheng, he will just throw himself into a trap!"
These surprise Han soldiers set out in the early morning, and used the surrender date to deceive most of the Youzhou Army rangers. After marching in a hurry, they suddenly burned the city gate, catching the Youzhou defenders completely off guard.
Only an hour later, only Zao Song's Youzhou army, who led the remaining soldiers to guard the mansion, was left.
At this time, Fanyang City was completely occupied by Liu Yu's Han army.
Because Zao Quan and You Lun, who arrived later, persuaded them to surrender, all the Youzhou soldiers who had no time to escape chose to surrender.
Many of them even immediately changed their tune and turned around to help the Han army besiege Zaosong's mansion.
Under the protection of a group of generals, Liu Yu looked at the small but sturdy mansion.
"Your Majesty, although this house is small, it is very strong. The best way to break in is to burn the door!"
Jiang Jiang Youlun explained.
Liu Yu nodded. Although this mansion was in the city, it was completely built like a fort. Not only were the walls high, but they were also protected by ditches.
"Then go collect firewood!"
The fire, salt and other materials that I brought with me have been used up, so I can only resort to the most common method of arson.
In order to appease the people in the city, Liu Yu ordered some Han soldiers to patrol the streets and alleys of the city to reassure the people, telling the people of Fan Yang that in this battle, the Han army would only kill the rebels Zaosong and others, and would not disturb the others.
After hearing this, many people in the city were relieved. Soon they all heard that Zaosong was about to be defeated, and they all clapped their hands at home and cheered.
Ever since Zaosong led his army and stationed in Fan Yang, he not only imposed heavy demands, but also governed the city with severe punishments and laws, which has already aroused people's resentment.
Liu Yu even saw that after hearing that Han soldiers wanted to set fire to the gate of Zaosong's mansion, many brave people in the city even took out the firewood from their homes.
"Your Majesty, this is what people want."
"Yes, Your Majesty, the people miss the Han, and the people all miss the Han."
The surrendered generals You Lun, Zao Quan and others next to him all praised him.
In fact, Liu Yu knew that although what these people said made some sense, they still exaggerated.
But he didn't bother to expose this kind of thing.
Liu Yu gave instructions to the guard general Zhao Kun beside him.
"Order people to inspect the people of Fanyang and exempt the people in the city from taxes for one year. Anyone who reports on the hidden Zaosong gang members will be rewarded with a thousand coins! Anyone who captures them will be rewarded with ten thousand coins!"
Zhao Kun immediately took orders to arrange manpower.
In just a few moments, outside the gate of the mansion where Zaosong was guarding, a large amount of firewood had piled up like a mountain, even higher than the gate.
"Let alone burning a wooden door, even a stone door can burn and explode."
Liu Yu thought as he looked at the firewood.
Just when he was about to order arson, bursts of shouting came from the mansion.
"surrender!"
"We captured Zaosong! Surrender!"
At the same time, the door creaked open a crack, and a hoarse voice sounded again.
"Have mercy, we caught Zaosong!"
Liu Yu smiled contemptuously.
"Whoever surrenders will avoid death."
"Let them throw out the weapons first, and then bring Zaosong out first."
As the Han soldiers shouted these words, bursts of pinging and clanging sounds were heard, and hundreds of swords, guns and weapons were thrown out of the gate.
Then, the Han soldiers outside the door swarmed up and rushed into the door.
After a series of shouts and questions, several Han soldiers came out with Zaosong tied into a rice dumpling.
Afterwards, the soldiers of the Youzhou Army in the mansion also came out one by one, nodding and bowing.
These Youzhou army elites were originally recruited by Wang Jun's support. Since there was no pressure to switch to Zaosong in the first place, of course there is no pressure to switch to another son-in-law of Wang Jun now.
Liu Yu had never met Zaosong in person. For this brother-in-law, he only heard his name but never saw him.
However, Zao Quan and You Lun must know each other next to them.
"Boy, is this person Zaosong himself?"
Liu Yu pointed at Zao Song, who was being escorted over, and turned to ask the two of them.
Zao Quan looked embarrassed at this time, opened his mouth without speaking, and just nodded.
You Lun, the narrator, stood out with his chest and belly, looked at Zao Song very proudly, and then said to Liu Yu respectfully.
"Your Majesty, this thief is Zaosong, there is absolutely no mistake!"
Liu Yu nodded with satisfaction.
At this time, after hearing You Lun's words, Zao Song, whose mind had been blank for a long time, suddenly came back to his senses.
He howled loudly.
"Your Majesty! Zaosong is a loyal minister of the Han Dynasty!"
