Chapter 265 Taking Control of the Situation

The iron gate of the underground palace was closed in time, and Li Zitong failed. He and his men were ultimately unable to break into the underground palace. However, he had a blessing in disguise, as the last batch of offering money was escorted in, totaling 13,000 strings of cash, which was transported by several large carts.

Li Zitong and his men simply robbed the 13,000 strings of cash and drove several carts to break out of the city.

At this time, the believers and warriors outside also noticed the thick smoke coming out of the top of the Maitreya Pavilion and rushed into the attic to put out the fire.

But after running to the second floor, he had to retreat. The interior of the Maitreya Pavilion was already filled with thick smoke and raging flames.

Thousands of believers came from all directions to put out the fire. The leader Song Zixian also rushed back with dozens of core members. When the parade was halfway through, they heard that Li Zitong had rebelled. Song Zixian immediately ordered the parade to be stopped and rushed back to the Mahayana Temple.

At this time, the Maitreya Pavilion had been completely engulfed in flames, including the surrounding dormitories, and everyone had to retreat outside the Mahayana Temple.

All the wealth they had saved was gone. Song Zixian and other members were filled with hatred and shouted, "Hunting down Li Zitong, chopping them into pieces, leaving no one alive!"

More than a thousand white-clad warriors turned around and charged out of the city.
Outside the north city, Li Zitong's brother Li Zifa led three hundred soldiers to ambush the money transport team that was preparing to change boats.

There are a total of 2,000 people in this money transport team. They and the white-clad warriors in Yique County are both called Guardians of the Divine, but their natures are different. The white-clad warriors in Yique County are indeed warriors recruited by the Mahayana Sect to protect the religion, while the Guardians of the Divine stationed in Yingyang County only belong to the Mahayana Sect in name.

They were actually the private army of Han King Yang Liang stationed in Luoyang. They had basically no relationship with Mahayana Buddhism and usually did not come to Yique County. Only this time when they were escorting 300,000 strings of cash did they come to Yique County.

Their task was to load hundreds of large boxes of money and treasure shipped out of the city onto the ship, and then escort the ship to Luoyang.

This was originally a very simple matter, but unexpectedly, at the critical moment, an army suddenly appeared and caught them off guard.

Although the enemy was outnumbered and could not defeat them and ran away, they still burned a dozen large ships and more than 140 large chests full of property fell into the river.

This was one of the results that Li Zitong was most looking forward to. Although they could not defeat them, as long as they succeeded in the sneak attack, they could also tear a piece of meat from the 300,000 strings of money.

When the army left, they came back to salvage the wealth.

But Li Zitong was still thinking too simply. Those were 140 boxes of property, not 140 strings of money. How could he possibly throw away wealth worth more than 100,000 strings of money?

The captain-general temporarily stopped the fleet from heading north and arranged for soldiers to dive into the water to salvage the boxes.

Song Zixian led more than a thousand white-clad warriors out of the city, but saw a sea of people on both sides of the Yi River outside the city. The fleet that had left in the morning had not left yet, as if they were salvaging something?
At this time, a subordinate came forward to report: "Master, it was Li Zifa who led 300 people to attack the fleet. More than 100 large boxes fell into the water. General Zhou is arranging people to salvage them, and they are almost done."

Song Zixian snorted and asked, "Where is brother Li Zitong?"

"They seem to have fled eastward!"

At this time, the team had salvaged all the boxes and reloaded them onto the ship. Two thousand soldiers escorted the fleet and began to head north.

Song Zixian was worried about his twelve golden Buddhas and the tens of thousands of strings of money in the treasury, so he led his men back.

Xiao Xia had already joined up with his 1,000 cavalrymen, and the main general Zhong Hui and the deputy general Dou Dexuan saluted Xiao Xia.

"General, it was indeed an opportunity when they were salvaging, but there were too many people around, and we were worried about accidentally hurting innocent people, so we didn't attack."

Xiao Xia nodded, "It's okay, there are many opportunities, let's go to the front and wait for them."

Xiao Xia turned his horse around and led a thousand cavalrymen to gallop northward.

His twenty trusted warriors did not follow him, but instead took the twelve golden Buddhas back to Chang'an.

Although You Junda was willing to follow Xiao Xia, he had to return to his hometown to bury his eldest son and father, and to observe mourning for his father for three years. He could only come back to pledge allegiance to Xiao Xia three years later.

You Junda accepted the 1,200 taels of silver Xiao Xia gave him as a token of his gratitude and instead of returning to Luoyang, he went straight back to his hometown.

Thirty thousand-ton cargo ships lined up and slowly moved on the Yi River. The cargo originally transported by fifty ships was concentrated on thirty ships. The ships were seriously overloaded and had to move slowly on the water. The general who led the two thousand private troops was called Hou Junji, who was also a famous general in the late Sui Dynasty. Hou Junji was originally from a general family, but he was naughty since he was a child and liked to hang out with rogues. Although he practiced martial arts, he did not follow the right path and stealing was commonplace.

In order to make money, he simply joined the underworld in the Central Plains and specialized in stealing from wealthy businessmen. He earned the nickname "Eight-Armed Nezha" in the underworld.

A few years ago, Hou Junji retired from the underworld and joined Yuwen Shu, becoming his bodyguard. However, he was a thief and stole a sword from Yuwen Shu while on duty. Although he returned it secretly later, Yuwen Shu no longer liked him and recommended him to King of Han Yang Liang last year.

King Yang Liang of Han admired his martial arts, so he appointed him as a captain and asked him to train his private army in Yingyang County, Luoyang.

Last year, the crown prince was held accountable by the emperor for training a private army. Yang Liang was afraid that his own private army would also be discovered, so he converted his 2,000 private soldiers into the Mahayana sect's guardian guards.

Although the emperor has tacitly allowed his sons to have private armies, the appropriate upper limit cannot exceed three thousand people.

But in fact, Yang Liang already had three thousand private troops in Chang'an, and these two thousand people were just extra, so Yang Liang did not dare to let them return, and they were still the guardian guards of the Mahayana sect.

Hou Junji carried a long spear and headed north cautiously, for he was worried that he would be ambushed by Li Zitong again.

But what you fear will come to you. When they passed a forest, suddenly a series of clapper sounds were heard, "Bang! Bang! Bang!" Then thousands of arrows were fired at the two thousand guards.

His men were shot by arrows one after another and fell to the ground. Hou Junji thought that it was Li Zitong's army that was attacking him. He was so angry that he screamed like thunder, drew his sword and shouted: "The thieves are in the woods, kill them and kill them all!"

A thousand soldiers shouted and rushed into the woods a hundred steps away. Hou Junji suddenly found something wrong. How could the enemy, with only a few hundred people, have thousands of arrows?
Fearing that the opponent was not Li Zitong, Hou Junji wanted to shout to retreat, but it was too late. A cavalry group emerged from the woods, led by a young general, wielding a big sword, and was unstoppable. He killed his own soldiers and made them cry for their parents, and they collapsed at the first blow.

Xiao Xia's Right Wuhou Guard was one of the best-equipped armies of the Sui Dynasty. The soldiers had very strict physical requirements, and each of them had to be tall and strong. Xiao Xia selected a thousand elite soldiers, but they also had the weakness of insufficient training intensity and low morale.

This kind of army has a characteristic, which depends on the main general. If the main general is strong, they will all be high-spirited and extremely powerful. If the main general is weak, they will also lack momentum and be as weak as chickens.

Fortunately, they met a commander like Xiao Xia, who led the troops by example and was extremely brave. He charged into the enemy crowd like a tiger, killing the enemy soldiers and horses, and leaving blood and flesh flying everywhere.

The cavalrymen's blood boiled at the sight, and they also roared and charged towards the enemy with great momentum, defeating two thousand soldiers in an instant.

Hou Junji was so anxious that he was sweating profusely. The army collapsed so quickly. The King of Han would not forgive him!

At this moment, the enemy's commander suddenly rushed towards him. Hou Junji was immediately terrified and yelled, "You little thief, I am not afraid of you!"

The other person turned out to be Hou Junji. Xiao Xia originally wanted to kill him with one blow, but when he heard the other person's name, he became a little more lenient with his sword.

Xiao Xia did not bring his Heaven-shaking Spear, so he temporarily used a 60-jin broadsword. Although it was not very convenient to use, he still killed the enemy army and made them flee.

Xiao Xia held his sword horizontally and said coldly: "I am Xiao Xia, the Prince of Xihai County. I will not kill you, but give you a chance to escape."

Hou Junji was so frightened that he shuddered. It turned out that the opponent was Xiao Xia, who had fought with Shi Wansui for twenty rounds without a clear winner. He was frightened and turned his horse to flee.

Xiao Xia laughed and shouted from behind: "General Hou Junji, His Royal Highness the Prince of Jin thanks you for the timely intelligence!"

Hou Junji almost fell off his horse. He was so sad that he could not even cry. The other party did not kill him but hurt his heart. He was really finished now. The King of Han would definitely kill him.

Hou Junji did not dare to return to Chang'an. He had no choice but to flee towards Songcheng County, Liang County. He had a house in Songcheng County, where a lot of gold and silver were buried. That was the way out he left for himself, and now it came in handy.

Xiao Xia did not kill all the soldiers, he just dispersed the army. This army was originally a private army with no organization. They were recruited for money. Once they were dispersed, they could not be gathered again, and everyone went home.

Xiao Xia seized thirty cargo ships, led them into a small river to hide them temporarily, and sent a hundred soldiers to guard them.

After hastily burying more than a hundred bodies, Xiao Xia led 900 cavalrymen and turned around to attack Yique County.

(End of this chapter)

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