Chapter 135: Another Strong General
After careful consideration, Li Yuanhui thought that Li Qinglian's plan to close the mountains was probably similar to the Kangxi Dynasty's policy of moving the border and banning the sea.

They all fortified their walls and cleared the countryside.

Another typical example is the Qing Dynasty's suppression of the White Lotus. "The Qing court adopted a large number of tactics, such as fortification and militia training, built a large number of strongholds, forcibly moved villagers into them, and trained militia for defense. The White Lotus Army gradually lost food and manpower, which became the main reason for its defeat."

Compared with the Qing Dynasty's plan to fortify and clear the land in several provinces, it was much easier to besiege the bandits in Tianzhu Mountain.

As long as the people in Shu County and Lu'an are relocated into the fortress and are not allowed to harvest the food outside the stronghold, what needs to be burned will be burned, and what needs to be destroyed will be destroyed, the strategy will be completed.

If it were in the past, Li Yuanhui would definitely think that this idea was immoral and would be full of sympathy for the Tianzhu Mountain bandits.

But now, sympathy is sympathy, appreciation is appreciation, and when it is time to stab, the heart can be kind, but the hands cannot be soft.

In this world, it is difficult to survive if you are soft-hearted, especially when you are in a high position.

Moreover, Li Qinglian's real intention was to use this strategy of closing the mountain to force Guo Fenghe and others to surrender.

But if they persist, this strategy must be implemented.

Although it takes more time, it is much more cost-effective than sending troops to directly attack the old camp in Tianzhu Mountain.

After making the decision, Li Yuanhui immediately sent a messenger to deliver a letter written by his aide to Tianzhu Mountain. The messenger shot it into the old camp through the air.

The content of the letter was also very simple. It asked Tianzhu Mountain leader Guo Fenghe to meet with Liu'an fifteen days later.

The reason why it was delayed for half a month was that spring ploughing would take some time. At the same time, Li Yuanhui planned to use this half month to get rid of another thief, Liu Ju, who had been rampant in Huainan for many years.

Who knows that when you feel sleepy, the pillow will appear.

Yu Zhongheng, who was in charge of recruiting soldiers, came to the general's mansion with a black-faced man and went straight to the front of the hall. The black-faced man was stopped outside by the guards. Yu Zhongheng waved to the man, signaling him to be patient, and he went into the hall first.

Li Yuanhui sat on a tiger-skin chair, looking through the recent reports from various departments on the progress of important matters such as conscription and spring ploughing. He looked up and saw his old friend Yu Zhongheng, and smiled and said, "How is the recruitment going?"

Yu Zhongheng bowed to him as a greeting, then walked to the desk and said, "I came here today to recommend a brave general to you."

Li Yuanhui heard this and asked curiously, "What powerful general?"

Yu Zhongheng pointed to the hall behind him and saw a man in a black robe standing in the courtyard.

Li Yuanhui said: "Let him come closer."

After the guards heard the order, the man in black robe walked into the hall.

When Li Yuanhui saw the man coming forward, he looked at him carefully. The man was more than eight feet tall, with a magnificent appearance, a leopard head, round eyes, a swallow chin and a tiger beard. He should be young, probably in his twenties, and had the appearance of a fierce general.

Yu Zhongheng said, "Why don't you go meet General Pingnan quickly?"

Brother Mengjiang looked at Li Yuanhui and didn't expect that the legendary General Pingnan would be so young. Isn't he just a young man?

But after he realized what was happening, he still understood and bowed, saying, "I am Chang Yanheng, and I am here to meet you, General."

Yu Zhongheng whispered beside him, "This man is calm, resolute, and good at archery. No matter whether it's bow, horse, spear, or club, none of the good fighters I brought from Luoyang can match him. He also brought dozens of good fighters to join the army. The only condition is to meet you in person. I thought he was a great hero, so I took the initiative to bring him to meet you."

Li Yuanhui nodded, then looked at the brave general standing in the hall, and suddenly thought of a possibility, "Your name is Chang Yanheng?"

"Replying to the general, it is me."

"Why do you want to join the army? What did you do originally?"

"General, I was originally a horse bandit."

Li Yuanhui smiled when he heard this, "You are quite honest."

Chang Yanheng said: "The world is difficult, and only by following the bandits can we survive. This is the fault of the superiors, but it is not our choice." Li Yuanhui became more interested after hearing this, "Then why did you join the army, and why did you want to see me?"

Chang Yanheng said in a clear voice: "Being a thief, robbing rich merchant ships, although life is happy and free, but this is not my ambition. I see that after the general came to Jianghuai, he took in refugees, let the soldiers cultivate the land, and strictly enforced military discipline, and did not harm the people. Although I am a thief, I admire the general's foresight and would like to work for the general and work together for the great cause."

Li Yuanhui looked at him carefully again, "Well, since you have come to join the army, you must abide by the rules of the army. Captain Yu said that you are very brave and wise. Now, can you let me see your ability?"

Chang Yanheng said: "General, please give your orders."

"Okay, come on, go get Zhang Zhen'e to the training ground."

Li Yuanhui led a group of people to the parade ground. On the other side, Zhu Yuanhui, who heard that there was a good show to watch, also came to the parade ground with the Zhang brothers.

All the officers and soldiers in Hefei City gathered in the parade ground.

In front of many people, Chang Yanheng mounted his horse, galloped at full speed, drew his bow from both sides, and fired eight arrows in a row, all of which hit the bull's eye.

At that moment, a kite flew over the training ground and passed over the heads of the crowd. Chang Yanheng quickly shot an arrow, which fell to the ground.

Everyone exclaimed in amazement.

Li Yuanhui's eyes were filled with amazement, and he thought he had found a treasure. No, this treasure was delivered to his door.

"Hahahaha, great archery and horsemanship. I can't compare to you. Do you dare to compete with me in a horseback spear and stick test?"

Zhang Zhen'e clapped his hands and walked forward, looking at Chang Yanheng on the horse and asked.

When Chang Yanheng saw Zhang Zhen'e with his red hair and yellow beard, he knew that he was not someone to be trifled with, so he naturally became competitive.

Fighting? I've never been afraid of that.

Each of the two men held a wooden spear without a spearhead and with the front end wrapped in cotton wool. They each dipped some white ash on it, then mounted their horses and confronted each other several dozen steps away.

As the command flag was waved, the two men whipped their horses forward at the same time and galloped towards each other. The two horses passed each other, and the winner was decided in just one round.

Chang Yanheng fell off his horse, but he stood up with a somersault and shouted at Zhang Zhen'e who had ridden past him.

"Accepted."

Zhang Zhen'e looked down at the white mark on his ribs and suddenly laughed, "Hahahahahaha, good, good, good skills, good courage."

It turned out that when the two horses met just now, in a flash, Chang Yanheng's spear grazed Zhang Zhen'e's clothes, but in order to avoid Zhang Zhen'e's spear, he had to fall off his horse.

According to this competition rule, Chang Yanheng naturally won.

Zhang Zhen'e dismounted from his horse and came to the high platform where Li Yuanhui was standing with Chang Yanheng.

"Meet the general."

Li Yuanhui said with a smile: "Zhang Zhen'e, what are his skills like? Is he likely to be worthy of your attention?"

Zhang Zhen'e snorted coldly, "This brother is extremely brave and strong, and is on par with me. Although he won the competition just now, he would be dead if it was on the battlefield."

Chang Yanheng laughed and said, "The general is right. I just used some clever force, but I was wearing heavy armor on the battlefield. My attack just now would not cause any harm to the general, but I fell off my horse. In the battle between the two armies, it is naturally dangerous."

Li Yuanhui had seen Zhang Zhen'e leading his men to fight outside Suiyang City. According to the storytelling, he had "courage that could not be matched by ten thousand men" and "ability to defeat ten thousand enemies."

To be recognized by Zhang Zhen'e, his skills must be good.

His surname is Chang, he used to be a bandit, and he is from Zhongli. He has strong arms and is good at shooting and is extremely brave. Isn’t he Zhu’s fellow villager, the world’s most extraordinary man, Chang Shiwan?
　Chang Yuchun, whose courtesy name was Boren and pseudonym was Yanheng.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)