Chapter 149: Death of Zhao Wenhui

Di Renjie and Zhao Ji's worries soon became a reality.

It was the end of August, and thousands of miles away in western Liaoning, in Liucheng, the capital of Yingzhou, the weather was still very hot. The atmosphere in the city was very subtle, with undercurrents surging.

When the Khitan people suffered from famine, their leader Li Jinzhong repeatedly asked the governor of Yingzhou, Zhao Wenhui, for relief. However, Zhao Wenhui not only ignored their requests, but also insulted Li Jinzhong several times.

Outside Liucheng, small-scale military frictions occurred frequently between the official army of the Great Zhou and the Khitans. The two sides were on the verge of a larger-scale conflict, and it seemed that there was no end in sight.

Inside the Yingzhou Governor's Mansion, Zhao Wenhui was holding an exquisite silk scarf, facing the light, and carefully wiping the sharp sword in his hand.

The chief secretary of the Yingzhou Governor's Office stood by and reported the military situation to Zhao Wenhui: "Governor, according to your order, the troops stationed in the southern part of Yingzhou have been gathered and are on their way back to Liucheng."

Zhao Wenhui's expression remained indifferent when he heard this. He said nothing, but half-opened one eye and focused on examining the cold light flashing on the sword.

Seeing this, the Chief Clerk was worried. After a moment's hesitation, he said, "Uh... Governor, should we ask the court for reinforcements? If Li Jinzhong and Sun Wanrong really start a rebellion, I'm afraid we won't be able to suppress it with the troops we have."

As soon as these words came out, Zhao Wenhui turned his head abruptly, stared at the chief secretary with cold eyes, and said in a tone full of displeasure: "What did you say?"

The Chief Secretary was shocked and immediately lowered his head and begged for forgiveness.

Zhao Wenhui sneered, then sheathed the sword with a crisp metallic collision sound.

He actually sneered: "That Li Jinzhong is so old that he can't even draw a bow. A few days ago, he knelt at my feet and begged for mercy. How dare such a man rebel? If he doesn't rebel, it's fine. If he does, he will only add to my military merits!"

The Chief Secretary frowned upon hearing this. In fact, the situation in Yingzhou was already extremely tense, and anyone who had a good understanding of the situation knew that the Khitans were planning a rebellion. Zhao Wenhui refused to show weakness, but he knew in his heart that the Khitans were going to take action this time.

Seeing the Chief Secretary's nervous attitude, Zhao Wenhui tried to comfort him, "Although I look down on these Khitan people, how could I not be on guard? The reason why we have concentrated our forces in Liucheng is to prevent the Khitan people from causing trouble. If something does happen, we can suppress it immediately."

The Chief Secretary was still frowning, worried about Zhao Wenhui's arrogance: "Does the Governor intend to personally lead the army out of Liucheng and confront the Khitan head-on?"

Zhao Wenhui looked at the chief secretary with a surprised look and said, "Of course. How can we suppress the Khitans if we don't leave the city?"

The Chief Secretary bowed and analyzed: "General, our army is small, no more than 10,000 soldiers. Li Jinzhong and Sun Wanrong have tens of thousands of soldiers combined. If these two can contact the Xi people in Raoledao and the Mohe people in the north, their strength may be several times that of our army."

"Even if our army has some advantages in terms of weapons and combat power, how can we defeat an army several times our size? In my humble opinion, we should defend Liucheng and wait for the imperial court's reinforcements. We should not leave the city and fight recklessly."

Zhao Wenhui sneered, "The Khitans are just pigs and dogs. No matter how many of them come, we have nothing to fear. We should defeat them one by one before they gather together. If we do not come out, we will only let them grow stronger."

The Chief Secretary wanted to persuade him again, but Zhao Wenhui stopped him with a wave of his hand: "The request for assistance you asked for has already been sent out. Before the imperial reinforcements arrive, let's win a battle first, which will boost the morale of our army."

"Well, since the governor has made preparations, I have nothing to say. I just hope that the governor can win the battle." The chief secretary said helplessly.

Zhao Wenhui nodded and said, "You should also make preparations in the city. I will give you a thousand soldiers to control the Hu people living in the city. Close the city gates and patrol strictly to prevent thieves from taking advantage of the opportunity to cause chaos!"

"I will follow the governor's order." The chief secretary immediately took the order and made arrangements.

Zhao Wenhui showed a proud smile. Why did they have to fight two battles before the reinforcements arrived? He, Zhao Wenhui, would take all the credit.
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What Zhao Wenhui did not expect was that the defense forces from various places that he had ordered to gather in Liucheng had been defeated one by one by Sun Wanrong and his men, and now Liucheng had become an isolated city.

However, Li Jinzhong and Sun Wanrong had no patience to wait for Zhao Wenhui to come out of the city for a battle. They were very confident of breaking the city and prepared to annihilate Zhao Wenhui's troops in Liucheng.

It was a dark and windy night, and a Khitan army quietly approached the north gate of Liucheng under the cover of night, ready to attack. In a courtyard not far from the north gate of the city, dozens of purple-clothed Han people, each holding a sharp blade, were silent, quietly waiting for the time to act.

The leading man had a rat-like face and a snake-like bun. His name was Xiao Jing. He was a member of Xiao Qingfang's clan and also his confidant.

If Zhao Ji saw this person, he would be surprised that he looked like He Jing, another trap king among the Shen Di, second only to Zhang Huan.

As the hour of Xu arrived, the night watchman's bell rang out.

An assassin suddenly came into the yard and reported the news to him: "General, the government troops seem to be on guard, and martial law has begun in the city."

Xiao Jing nodded, his eyes swept over the assassins, and ordered in a deep voice: "It's the hour of Xu. Some of the troops will set fire to the city and create chaos. The rest will follow me to the north gate to welcome the Khitan army into the city. Action!"

As the order was given, Xiao Jing led the assassins to quickly leave the courtyard and head straight for the north gate.

Above the north gate, the lurking spies also took action at the same time and opened the city gate silently.

The leader of the Khitan army outside the city was Sun Wanrong, the governor of Guicheng Prefecture. When he saw that the city gate was opened as agreed, he could not help but show his joy.

Sun Wanrong shouted, "Warriors, charge into the city and capture Zhao Wenhui alive!"

The Khitans then rushed in like a tide, quickly clearing out the guards at the city gate and taking control of the city gate. Only then did Sun Wanrong ride his horse into the city gate.

When Xiao Jing saw Sun Wanrong, he immediately went to meet him and said, "Governor Sun, the city gates are open. Please quickly order the army to besiege the Governor's Mansion and don't let Zhao Wenhui escape!"

Sun Wanrong laughed loudly on horseback and ordered, "I will take people to the Governor's Office immediately. Also, from now on, I am no longer the governor of Guicheng Prefecture!"

After saying this, the man rode away, while Xiao stood there, deep in thought.

That night, flames shot up into the sky in Liucheng. The government troops were caught off guard by the combined efforts of both inside and outside forces. In addition, there were spies within the government army and many officers were beheaded. It was difficult for them to organize an effective resistance, and eventually the entire army was wiped out.

The governor of Yingzhou, Zhao Wenhui, still had some backbone and fought to the death without surrendering. However, he was eventually outnumbered and was shot to death by thousands of arrows outside the lobby of the governor's mansion.

The next day, when the dust had settled in the city, Li Jinzhong arrived late and witnessed with his own eyes the tragic scene of Zhao Wenhui being pierced by thousands of arrows.

"It's such a good deal for him!" Li Jinzhong said indignantly.

Sun Wanrong said with a smile: "Brother, calm down. Now that we have easily captured Liucheng, we should celebrate."

Li Jinzhong waved his hand and said calmly: "Now is not the time to celebrate. We must take advantage of the victory and send one army to attack Danzhou in the west. Send another army to attack Andong and gather people along the way to strengthen the strength of our Khitan!"

Sun Wanrong looked solemn, as if he had other ideas: "Brother, what you said is absolutely right, but I think there is something more important to do!"

Li Jinzhong was puzzled and asked, "What's the matter?"

Sun Wanrong suddenly knelt on one knee and solemnly proposed: "My Khitan tribe has never had a great Khan. I think you should send someone to contact the Mohe and Xi tribes to form an alliance, and then offer sacrifices to the heavens in Liucheng and proclaim yourself Khan! This will prevent the Zhou people from looking down on us Khitans from now on!"

(End of this chapter)