“You know, this is the only way to truly bring peace to the people. I cannot stand by and watch as people in other places suffer from the ravages of war while I enjoy the happiness of peace.”
If Li Jun were a skilled orator, he would certainly have offered such an explanation. However, although Li Jun's verbal sparring with his enemies was no less shrewd than his halberd, he could not use such sophistry in front of the Yue woman with whom he had a sisterly bond.
What does war ultimately bring? What is my purpose in fighting? He shook his head, pondering to himself. Those high-sounding reasons can persuade or deceive others, but they are difficult to persuade or deceive oneself. Am I truly fighting for others, or am I inherently warlike? Marshal Lu once pointed to the battlefield and sighed, but why, amidst his sighs, did he feel an inexplicable longing for that bloodshed and shouts?
Mo Rong seemed to realize that her question had caused Li Jun an inner struggle, so she avoided the topic and tried to find a more relaxed one: "Did you do what I asked you to do?"
Li Jun paused for a moment, then realized what he was doing and smiled: "I have already instructed Zhao Xian and Wang Erlei to handle it, but Shenzhou is too vast, and I don't know when I will be able to see them."
Mo Rong smiled shyly. She asked Li Jun to send people to inquire about Lei Hun and Tu Long Zi Yun. Inquiring about Lei Hun was the most important thing, while Tu Long Zi Yun was just a side matter. Li Jun understood this, which is why he smiled.
Watching Li Jun ride away, Mo Rong's thoughts drifted back to the first time she met Li Jun, the first time she met Lei Hun, the first time she met Tu Long Ziyun and Jiang Tang. But after a moment, she composed herself and was secretly surprised: "Why do I think about Lei Hun much less lately, and reminisce about the time I spent with Li Jun much more?"
She dared not think about the answer to the question. After burying that abnormal emotion deep inside, she shouted, "It's not like that there!"
After marching for six days, the army rested for a day in Leiming City before heading towards Dagu City on June 17th. When Peng Yuancheng's spies brought news of Li Jun's approaching army, Peng Yuancheng sneered, "Good! I've been wanting to avenge Leiming City, to make the cliffs of Dagu City the graveyard of Li Jun and the Peace Army!"
"Does the city lord intend to fight a defensive battle against Li Jun?" the advisor asked.
“If Li Jun’s forces were equal to mine, I would go out of the city to fight him to prevent the enemy from causing losses to my territory. But now the enemy outnumbers us, so why should I abandon my advantageous position and act rashly?”
“But our city is isolated and difficult to defend. Although it has the advantage of terrain, what should we do if Li Jun besieges it for a long time?” The staff raised questions about the plan again. In this respect, Peng Yuancheng was similar to Li Jun, always encouraging his staff to question his plans in order to find any flaws in them.
Peng Yuancheng frowned. He wasn't afraid of a prolonged siege, but if he was always on the defensive, he could only prolong his life; sooner or later, he would be annihilated. To win a war, one must seize the initiative and not wait for death.
“Besieging me is not a concern. My city has enough grain to last for three years. Li Jun’s supplies cannot be replenished from Leiming City. They need to be transported from Kuanglan City and Yinhu City. This will not last long. If another force takes the opportunity to attack Leiming City, Li Jun will not be able to attend to both and will inevitably be defeated!” Peng Yuancheng said after a moment’s thought.
"But our army is trapped here and cannot launch a separate attack on Thunder City." The advisor pressed on relentlessly, seemingly trying to drive Peng Yuancheng into a corner.
"Hahaha, you can rest assured about that." Peng Yuancheng laughed and said, "I will send someone to see Zhu Wenhai and explain the advantages and disadvantages to him. At this critical moment, if we unite, we can protect ourselves; if we split up, we will inevitably be defeated one by one. Although Zhu Wenhai is incompetent, he is not a fool who cannot see the situation. I believe he will know how to do it."
As expected, upon receiving Peng Yuancheng's secret letter, Zhu Wenhai readily promised to send troops to help. However, the messengers sent by Peng Yuancheng to the other four smaller forces brought back bad news. These four forces offered their support but had no intention of sending a single soldier. Meanwhile, Li Jun's army had already invaded the area surrounding Dagu City and was advancing directly towards the city.
Two miles from the city, Li Jun set up camp, leading only a dozen or so riders to the foot of the cliff. The cliff stood majestic and imposing, with a winding post road spiraling upwards, twisting and turning between the cliffs. Within the short distance from the foot of the mountain to the city, the road made six or seven turns. One side of the road was a cliff, the other a deep abyss; a single misstep could send one tumbling down. The city of Dagu, perched on the cliff, was built according to the terrain. Its walls weren't high, but combined with the cliff face, attacking it would be extremely difficult. Li Jun gazed up at it for a long time, then sighed deeply, saying, "Truly a fine city. Our ancestors must have put a lot of thought and effort into building this city on this cliff."
“The city is easy to defend but difficult to attack.” Meng Yuan rode alongside him, pointing his whip at the surging river. “Surrounded by the river on three sides and land on one side, the attackers have no choice but to attack from one direction. The terrain is narrow, so the advantage of troop strength cannot be fully utilized, and siege equipment cannot pose much of a threat to the cliffs. Peng Yuancheng did not take the initiative to attack, but chose this place as the battlefield, which proves that he is quite shrewd.”
“Exactly. The river is turbulent with many reefs and swirling currents. Even if I divide my forces and attack by boat from the river, I'm afraid they would be swallowed up by the current before they even get close to the cliff. Even if we get close to the cliff, it will be difficult to climb this steep cliff. The only plan now is to lure Peng Yuancheng out to fight and capture him in one battle. Without a leader in the city, the whole city will surely surrender.” Li Jun nodded.
"I wonder how determined Peng Yuancheng is to hold his ground. If he is very determined, then our army will have no chance to take advantage of him." Meng Yuan also frowned. If the two armies were lined up and he was allowed to charge back and forth, he wouldn't even frown if the enemy had twice his strength. But against an opponent with the advantage of terrain, he felt helpless.
Xiao Lin, still on horseback, reached out and broke off a branch, saying thoughtfully, "I heard that Peng Yuancheng conquered Dagu City with only a few hundred troops. I wonder how he did it?"
“I have heard about this. He was originally a powerful figure in this city. He raised an army because he was suspected by the former city lord, so there was no need to attack the city from the outside.” Li Jun explained, “Unfortunately, since he withdrew his troops from Leiming City, the city has been heavily guarded. I have sent people to infiltrate the city several times, but I have failed. I only know that there are eight thousand soldiers in the city and enough food to last for three years.”
"Is there really no other way?" Song Yun was getting impatient with these elaborate plans and said, "How about this, let me climb up the cliff by the river by myself, cut off Peng Cheng's head, and then everything will be over?"
“That won’t do.” Meng Yuan laughed. “Look, no matter how close you get to the cliff in this turbulent river, even if you do get close, if there are two soldiers above you, they can just throw a stone down and you’ll become a delicious meal for the river fish.”
While they were observing the terrain and discussing plans, Peng Yuancheng, who was in the city, had already received the report. He saw Li Jun and his group pointing and talking as if no one else was around from the city wall. Peng Yuancheng sneered, "Since they are guests from afar, how can I not go and meet them?" Then he went down from the city wall.
As Li Jun and his companions were talking, they suddenly heard the city gate open, and a group of about a hundred riders rushed out. Leading them was Peng Yuancheng. They stood at a high vantage point, about two hundred paces from Li Jun, and after confirming that Li Jun and his men could not approach immediately, Peng Yuancheng stopped.
"Hey! Li Jun, you brat!" He didn't mince words from the very first sentence. Although Peng Yuancheng himself was only in his early thirties, he could certainly flaunt his age in front of Li Jun. "Have you come to my Great Valley City to die?"
Li Jun was not fooled by Peng Yuancheng's apparent recklessness and irritability. If Peng Yuancheng were a reckless person, he would have fought a battle with the Peace Army on the outskirts before retreating to Dagu City. If he were an irritable person, his hundred or so men would have already rushed in front of him.
He's no ordinary person; probably the strongest opponent I've encountered in Yuzhou, even though his forces aren't many. Li Jun smiled and gave a military salute, saying, "You must be City Lord Peng Yuancheng. Please forgive my intrusion."
Peng Yuancheng carefully examined the young general who was not angered by his rudeness. Beneath the dark red dragon-head helmet, his piercing eyes emitted a light that subtly contained sharp thorns. His handsome face was adorned with a smile, but a short scar at the corner of his mouth somewhat marred the beauty of his face, adding a touch of evil to his smile.
There was no hint of scheming or treachery on that face; what was apparent was the extraordinary bearing of its owner. Although Peng Yuancheng had heard much about Li Jun and had indirectly interacted with him, knowing that Li Jun's ingenious schemes over the past year had completely transformed the situation in Yuzhou, he still didn't truly understand Li Jun. "I should test him again," Peng Yuancheng thought.
"You brat, why are you coming to my Great Valley City instead of staying in your own city and having fun? Tell me and I'll spare your life!" Peng Yuancheng deliberately provoked Li Jun.
However, Li Jun was fully aware of his intentions, so he didn't rush to get angry. Instead, he carefully observed this man who dared to confront him directly. In his early thirties, he was still considered young. His slender eyebrows framed deep, dark eyes that gleamed with a complex light. When he stared at Li Jun, his expression seemed somewhat complicated, but his facial expressions were perfectly measured, lacking any affected rage. This man was extremely adept at controlling his emotions and cunning.
“Lord Peng, why do you say that? I have long heard of your illustrious reputation since I came to Yuzhou. I regret that I missed the opportunity to befriend you in Leiming City. Therefore, I have come here to visit you and hope to make friends with you.”
Although Li Jun spoke with a mixture of truth and falsehood, his desire to befriend Peng Yuancheng was genuine. After witnessing the layout of Dagu City and seeing Peng Yuancheng himself, Li Jun did indeed have the idea of recruiting him to his side.
“If Commander Li has this intention, it’s not difficult.” Peng Yuancheng changed his attitude and became more polite. Since he couldn’t provoke this young man directly, he had to use a roundabout approach.
"Oh, please tell me, how can I become friends with Lord Peng?"
"Twenty days from now will be my birthday. If Commander Li can give me Thunder City as a birthday gift, then we can be friends for good."
Peng Yuancheng's words elicited snickers from his subordinates. This condition was unacceptable to Li Jun and demonstrated his determination. Li Jun did not show it on the surface, but he must have been furious inside.
"What's so difficult about that? I can agree to this right now. Lord Peng, let's go to Thunder City to complete the handover. How about it?" Li Jun smiled slightly. Although he sometimes seemed clumsy with words in front of his friends and subordinates, it was only because he didn't want to use the same methods he used on his enemies on his friends and subordinates. But for those who wanted to manipulate him, his words were even more lethal than his halberd.
Peng Yuancheng's smile didn't fade, but he felt increasingly envious of the young general before him. With his talent, if Li Jun hadn't appeared in Yuzhou, he could have unified the region in ten or eight years—his dream since raising his army, with Leiming City being the starting point. If Hua Feng, the governor of Leiming City, had died, he could have seized the opportunity presented by his grandsons' struggle for succession to take control of Leiming City. Unfortunately, Li Jun had seized this golden opportunity, leaving Peng Yuancheng, who had long planned this, as a mere spectator. Moreover, Li Jun had controlled the territories of the Hua and Tong families in less than a year, making Peng Yuancheng's ambition to unify Yuzhou even more difficult to realize.
At this moment, Peng Yuancheng even felt a sense of regret, thinking, "Since Yuzhou already has me, Peng Yuancheng, why does Li Jun have to appear as well?" But the strength of his opponent only fueled his fighting spirit and allowed him to fully utilize his talents.
"If I can defeat him, I can take over his business." This temptation began to rise in Peng Yuancheng's heart, but he quickly got rid of this fantasy. Although he was ambitious, he was also a down-to-earth person and would never forget his current unfavorable situation for the sake of ambition.
"Commander Li is indeed very generous. My birthday is still a while away, so you should make some more preparations. On that day, I will definitely go to Thunder City to receive this birthday gift," Peng Yuancheng said. "Since you have come all this way, Commander Li, I must extend my hospitality and invite you into the city for a drink. How about that?"
Song Yun glanced at Peng Yuancheng, then at Li Jun, and felt that these two should have been clashing, but instead they were chatting and laughing, almost as if they were about to become close friends. He was very puzzled. With his simple and honest nature, he could not understand that these two were using verbal exchanges to put psychological pressure on each other.
Li Jun looked back at his own side, then laughed and said, "Lord Peng is too stingy. We have come from afar, yet you only offer us water and wine. How about this, Lord Peng, since I came to our camp in a hurry, I have prepared some delicacies. What do you think, Lord Peng?"
"How could I accept such an honor? After all, you are the guest." Peng Yuancheng showed no sign of backing down. Just as he was about to say a few more words, one of the people beside Li Jun had already become impatient.
"You cowards, either fight or leave. Stop rambling on and on. Aren't you tired of this nonsense?"
This remark not only stung Peng Yuancheng but also dragged Li Jun into it. Strictly speaking, the speaker's original intention was to criticize Li Jun for lacking heroic spirit and merely indulging in empty talk, while Peng Yuancheng was simply caught in the crossfire.