My Apprenticeship to Uncle Jiu: I Was a Warlord in the Republic of China

Chapter 188 Guyang County Situation

When he held his son Jiang Xiao in her arms, he chuckled and teased, "You are so lucky, your mother will never let you go hungry in the future!"

After hearing this, Ren Tingting blushed, "You are already a father but you still don't behave properly. Is this what a father should say to his son?"

"Shameless!"

Jiang Li kissed her hard on the mouth after hearing this, "What's wrong with that? Why can't I say it? I..."

Seeing the tiredness on Ren Tingting's face, he did not continue, "Alright, alright, I won't say this nonsense anymore, you have a good rest, I'll keep you company!"

Ren Tingting was still a little worried after hearing this, "But my son still needs to be fed, how can I sleep?"

Jiang Li nodded upon hearing this, "Then don't talk for now, close your eyes and rest. Wait until the little guy finishes eating, then you can have a good sleep!"

Ren Tingting nodded when she heard that, then she stroked the little guy and looked at him with a smile. After an unknown amount of time, the little guy was finally full and fell asleep soon.

So Jiang Li carefully wrapped him up and wanted to take him away, but Ren Tingting stopped him and said, "Brother Li, just leave him here. I want to see him!"

"Okay, okay, everything is up to you. You look after him and I look after you. Let's stay together as a family for a while." Jiang Li said with a smile on his face.

Ren Tingting finally felt relieved after hearing that, and soon fell into a deep sleep. Jiang Li just sat on the ground, watching the two of them sleep quietly.

...

The very next day, Ren Fa hurried to the Jiang family in a carriage.

When he saw Jiang Li, he asked anxiously, "My dear son-in-law, I heard from the people you sent that my daughter gave birth to a big fat boy. Where are the mother and son now?"

"Don't worry, father-in-law. Tingting and Xiao'er are resting in the house. I'll take you there right away!"

Ren Fa was very excited when he heard this, "Okay, okay, your good son-in-law, lead the way!"

As he said that, he urged Jiang Li to lead the way, and soon they saw Ren Tingting and her daughter lying on the bed. Since she had practiced the Yin-Yang Hehuan Jue, her physical fitness was far stronger than that of ordinary women.

At this time, Ren Tingting was able to sit up and tease the little guy.

As soon as Ren Fa entered the room, he saw his daughter sitting upright, and hurriedly asked her to lie down, but after some communication, he still failed.

But he also forced it, because his attention was on Jiang Xiao. His family was small, so he valued this little guy very much.

After talking to Ren Tingting for a few words, she carefully picked him up and stared at him with a silly smile.

Seeing this, Jiang Li complained in his heart that Ren Fa was useless, but he forgot that he did the same thing yesterday and even stayed by the bed all night.

At this time, Wang Chunhua came in, greeted Ren Fa, and then said to Jiang Li, "Son, you didn't sleep all night last night. You should go to bed soon, otherwise you will be exhausted and your body will be in bad condition."

Upon hearing this, Ren Fa and Ren Tingting kept urging him to go to rest. Finally, he could not resist their persuasion and went to bed reluctantly.

He slept until the evening, and after he woke up, Ren Fa found Jiang Li.

"Did you sleep well, my dear son-in-law?" Ren Fa asked with a smile.

"Thank you for your concern, father-in-law. I am doing fine. How are Tingting and the child? Are they feeling unwell?"

"Don't worry, my dear son-in-law, both mother and son are fine."

"I came here this time just to ask if you want to hold a banquet and invite relatives and friends to have a meal, so that we can keep in touch with each other!"

When Jiang Li heard this, he thought it was true. Now that his family business was big, it would be good to hold such a banquet to calm people's hearts.

"My father-in-law is right. We should indeed hold a banquet, and a grand one at that. I can also take this opportunity to let my soldiers have some rest."

Ren Fa smiled and nodded, "Okay, then you pick a date and I'll go and call all our relatives and friends."

For more than ten days afterwards, the Jiang family was filled with a joyful atmosphere, and guests left in batches.

Even the villagers nearby, as long as they came to express their sincere congratulations, could have a few full meals at the banquet, and the banquet lasted for twelve days.

The garrisons in various places also took turns to take holidays and received a considerable reward.

Looking at such a banquet and the large amount of grain, vegetables and meat consumed, Old Wu felt distressed, but fortunately he put himself in the right position and did not say anything inappropriate.

...

That day, after Jiang Li sent away the guests, he brought Jiang Youchi to the study.

"Have you found out the situation in Guyang County? What's the timing if we mobilize troops now?" Jiang Li asked Jiang Youchi while looking at the map.

Jiang Youchi heard this and happily took out a small notebook and said, "Master, don't worry. I have already understood the situation over there very well."

"The warlord stationed in Guyang County is named Zhang Tiande, he is 41 years old this year, and he manages Renjia Town, Ningxi Town, Luoshui Town, Youran Town, Changting Town, Lingyun Town, Chenxi Town, Youmeng Town, Liuli Town, Guyue Town, and Moyun Town, a total of eleven towns."

"There are more than 1,400 soldiers and their security team in total. However, not only do their weapons and equipment become outdated, they only have a few light machine guns. Most importantly, they are poorly trained and have very weak combat effectiveness. They have not even been able to wipe out the bandits in the county."

Jiang Li frowned slightly when he heard this. "Since he has more than a thousand people under his command, and there were no major forces near Renjia Town and Lijia Town before, why didn't he expand his territory?"

"I have also considered the problem that Young Master mentioned. Later, I sent someone to inquire about it. From the reports from the people below, it seems that this guy was supported by the Zhang family of Guyang County. He himself has no ambitions."

"Since he took over the entire Guyang County a few years ago, he has been busy wrangling with the elders of the tribe to seize power, and there has been no decent military deployment since then."

"Even when suppressing bandits, they only sent troops to do so symbolically after they committed a crime. Now there are more than 20 gangs of bandits in Guyang County, and the total number of people is greater than that of Zhang's men."

"Furthermore, since the conflict between this guy and the family broke out, it has been difficult for him to get any financial support from the family."

"In order to maintain this army of more than a thousand people, he extorted money time and again, but because he did not dare to offend the gentry and landlords, he could only attack the common people."

"It is said that the taxes now are collected thirty-eight years later. If we attack them now, there will surely be a large number of people responding and supporting us!"

Jiang Li's frown finally relaxed after hearing this, and then he looked at Jiang Youchi with a sharp gaze, "Are there any omissions in your intelligence?"

"Master, rest assured. Ever since you taught me a lesson last time, I have carefully checked and rechecked the information. There will definitely be no mistakes or omissions. Don't worry!"

Jiang Li felt relieved after hearing this, and then he and Jiang Youchi compared the map and repeatedly studied the topography of Guyang County in detail to determine the best route for the troops to be dispatched.