Chapter 207 Before departure
At Di Renjie's command, under the leadership of Li Yuanfang and Quan Shancai, the Qianniu Guards were mobilized in large numbers to arrest the Snake Spirit spies.

Pingzhou City, which had just calmed down, fell into a tense atmosphere again for a short time, but this tension did not last long.

With Qiu Jing's active cooperation, the Snake Spirit spy was soon captured in Pingzhou City.

The captured Snake Spirit spies would often reveal other accomplices. After a whole day, Li Yuanfang and Quan Shancai had made great gains, and the Snake Spirit organization was almost wiped out in Pingzhou.

As night fell, the lights in the governor's mansion were on. Di Renjie regained his signature calmness and composure, sitting upright in the second hall, with Zhao Ji and Zeng Tai sitting on both sides of him.

Soon, Li Yuanfang and Zong Huaichang returned almost at the same time and reported to Di Renjie in detail the results of today's search.

Quan Shancai's face was solemn as he reported the results of the battle in detail: "General, after receiving the order, I and General Li attacked separately and captured the Snake Spirit rebels, including the Sima and the military officer of Pingzhou. There are more than 200 core members alone, and the rest of the subordinates and vassals are countless."

"Their bases are spread all over the city, including near the governor's mansion, near the city gates, as well as warehouses, armories and other key locations."

"After a careful investigation, it is really shocking. Pingzhou has been infiltrated by them and has become like this! If the Khitans attack, these spies will cooperate with the Khitans to attack from inside and outside, and the consequences will be disastrous. No wonder the court's previous expeditions against the Khitans have repeatedly failed."

Upon hearing this, Di Renjie sighed and said, "Yes, if not, how could they have instigated the Khitan rebellion? Even third- and fourth-rank officials like Su Honghui and Qiu Jing were willing to be their lackeys, which shows the strength of the Snake Spirit Organization."

In fact, Di Renjie was mentally prepared, after all, he had seen it in Youzhou.

In his eyes, Youzhou and Pingzhou are of the same lineage, and this time is even worse than the last time. The Snake Spirit is a rebellious gang whose influence extends to Khitan, Turkic and Da Zhou.

Zhao Ji spoke in relief, "Fortunately, we have uncovered the plot of Yingzi, Su Honghui, Qiu Jing and others in advance, and no disaster has occurred."

Upon hearing this, Di Renjie took a deep breath and said, "That being said, the situation is still not optimistic! We have only defeated a few hundred rebels."

"The main opponent in this war is still the Khitan. Moreover, the Snake Spirits will definitely not give up, and they will try every possible means to oppose the court. For example, they will provoke the relationship between the Great Zhou and the Turks and cause the two countries to go to war."

Zhao Ji asked knowingly, "Have you decided to go to the Turks in person to resolve this matter?"

Di Renjie nodded heavily and said, "Yes, there is no other way. Besides, I suspect they have a conspiracy against Jili Khan, so we should go to Shiguo to find out."

When Quan Shancai heard Di Renjie's decision, he immediately looked troubled: "General, as the commander of the army, you traveled thousands of miles to the Turks. Isn't it too unrealistic? If the Khitan suddenly attacks, the army will not be able to respond in time, and there may be mistakes!"

It can be seen that General Quan is still somewhat uncomfortable with Di Renjie's style of doing things.

Facing Quan Shancai's advice, Di Renjie smiled slightly, looked at Zhao Ji, and asked, "Chengyuan, what do you think?"

Zhao understood Di Renjie's intention and replied: "From a military point of view. It is deep winter now and the weather is cold. It is difficult for our army to take the initiative to launch an attack."

"By the same token, the Khitans dare not attack at will. Whoever moves first will reveal his weakness. Therefore, the army is now just sitting and guarding Pingzhou. In this regard, it is feasible for you to go to the Turks."

Di Renjie smiled happily, nodded in approval, and explained, "Your Majesty sent me to be the commander-in-chief because he values ​​my relationship with Jili Khan."

"Resolving the misunderstanding between us and the Turks is one of the keys to this trip. If the two countries go to war, the war will immediately deteriorate and the overall situation will collapse in an instant, which is definitely not what Your Majesty wants to see. Therefore, this trip to the Turks is imperative." Hearing this, Quan Shancai stopped objecting and asked, "How many people are you going to take to the Turks? How are Pingzhou and the army arranged?"

Di Renjie stroked his beard, obviously having prepared something in advance, and immediately said: "The important military and political affairs of Pingzhou will be assigned to General Quan and Zeng Tai respectively. If you encounter major issues, you can discuss and solve them. When the two of you disagree, General Quan will prevail."

"Chengyuan and Yuanfang will go with me to the Turks. As for the others, Zhang Huan, Li Lang and the others will lead a small team of Qianniu Guards. The number of people should not be too large."

Zhao Ji was slightly surprised when he heard Di Renjie's arrangement. He didn't expect that he would let him go to the Turks as well.

"Is Governor Zhao going too?" Quan Shancai asked with some confusion.

Di Renjie did not answer, but looked at Zhao Ji and Quan Shancai and asked: "I have my own considerations on this matter. Let me ask you, after I go to the Turks, if the Khitans invade, what will you do?"

Quan Shancai hesitated for a moment, then answered, "Well... winter is not a good time to fight. I will probably defend the city."

"Chengyuan, what about you?" Di Renjie asked again.

"Me?" Zhao Ji pointed at himself, feeling a little strange, but still answered: "The Khitan sent troops in winter, which is a rare opportunity for war. I will probably wait for an opportunity to fight while ensuring the safety of Pingzhou City."

Di Renjie looked as if he had expected this, and asked Quan Shancai, "If there was news that the Khitans were invading Danzhou and Jizhou, and someone came to ask for help, what would you do?"

General Quan had understood what was going on and replied, "Refuse to send troops and defend Pingzhou."

Di Renjie smiled with relief: "That's it. The previous plans of the Snake Spirit and Khitan were to first give our army an opportunity to take advantage of, lure our army to attack, and then ambush them."

"Zhang Xuanyu and Wang Xiaojie both suffered this loss. I am sure that the Snake Spirit and the Khitans will resort to the same old tricks again. As long as they do not leave the city, they will not be able to use any of their tricks. With the Khitans' strength, they have no ability to capture a strong city in winter."

Quan Shancai immediately said seriously: "I understand. After the Marshal leaves, we will definitely defend Pingzhou to the death and will not be instigated by the Khitans to send troops at will."

Zhao Ji laughed in silence, thinking that Di Renjie took him away because he was worried that he was not steady enough. Once he left, he would not have to worry about multiple orders and the generals not getting along, which was really a win-win situation.

But it doesn't matter. Since I have to defend it, I'm useless. I might as well go to Turkestan. It happens that I haven't seen Xiaomei for a long time...

Moreover, in the original novel, Wang Xiaojie also brought a Turkic army to help. Di Pangpang is not sure whether Wang Xiaojie is still alive now, so he is just a spare tire.

Wow, Fatty Di really thinks three steps ahead, he is indeed an old fox... I feel sad for Xiao Qingfang.

Unconsciously, Zhao Ji's eyes towards Di Renjie had changed a little. Even though he had known him for so long, he still felt sincere admiration for Pang Pang.

Just when Zhao Ji was lost in thought, Wang Tiehan ran in and said, "General, General Zong is awake."

Di Renjie was immediately overjoyed: "Great, double happiness, let's go see him."

(End of this chapter)