Four days later, a news report from Dongwan Island forced Tang Mo to once again convene a full meeting to discuss the strategy for conquering Zheng Country.
"Things have become complicated," Nangong Hong started, somewhat bemused, after putting down the intelligence report, "I really never thought your measures could be so effective, effective to the point even we're caught a bit off guard..."
There was a hint of irony in his words, which made Li'ao somewhat embarrassed. Matters like these were mostly handled by his intelligence department, and such an incident was truly unexpected for him as well.
Just yesterday, something shocking happened: a man whose wife had starved to death and children succumbed to illness, after losing all hope, fled to Linshui Port and became a dockworker.
After working on the docks for several months and seeing the better side of the world, he suddenly became extremist.
He stole a sum of money his supervisor used for paying wages and escaped back to his hometown. Pretending to have a powerful background, he bribed the City Defense Forces and obtained gunpowder for artillery.
Then, unbelievably, this man used the gunpowder to make an explosive device and blew up the county office that had caused his family's ruin...
As it happened, the very office he destroyed was where Zheng Tong's trusted officials were stationed to spy on Linshui City.
Too absurdly, before setting off the explosives, the man gave a passionate speech along the streets, promoting the happy life of the Tang People, telling everyone that they were Tang People and not the oppressed Zheng people!
After the "hero's" tale spread, information that Linshui City was filled with endless bread and gruels, that numerous job opportunities were available, and that everyone could live a life with dignity, became an open secret.
Similarly, such rumors could no longer be hidden. A casual investigation by Zheng Tong's confidants and some secret inquiries were bound to yield some results.
"This is already the third incident of its kind recently. There have been even worse cases..." Luff added helplessly, "A few miners educated in night schools believed they had found the truth and organized a group called 'Miners' Self-Rescue Team' upon returning to their hometown.
They easily gathered over 300 people, seized the town's armory, and even managed to defeat the local Zheng forces—300 of them wiping out an army of 500. And then... they even hung the Dragon Banner on the city walls..."
Hearing this news, Nangong Hong widened his eyes in disbelief. Li'ao grew even more frustrated and explained, "Actually, it's not that surprising; those miners are used to hard work and have a stronger combat capability than the pampered City Defense Forces."
Yulin turned to Tang Mo and began to analyze, "The intelligence shows that the situation in Zheng Country is starting to slip out of our control. We underestimated the resolve of the common people to resist there, as well as the chaotic state of their administration.
The people below didn't think it was a big deal at first so they didn't actively report it, which is why similar incidents have surged recently."
"And it's beyond our capability to manage," Li'ao sighed, admitting his mistake, "I am responsible, for being too hasty."
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"Now, our main task in controlling the workers and farmers in Linshui City is not to incite their rebellious sentiments, but to try to quell their fervor for causing trouble," continued Yulin. "It's like a powder keg that could blow up with a single spark."
"The operatives there should report the truth," Li'ao added, "If we don't remind each of them to calm down as much as possible and wait for our action, conflicts would have already erupted there."
The Great Tang Group had greatly underestimated the impact of Zheng Country's corruption and depravity on the livelihoods of its people; they'd been suffering for a long time under heavy exploitation and oppression.
They were longing for someone to rescue them from their dire straits, for someone to offer them a bite to eat.
Then, the Great Tang Group appeared, giving these miserable people hope, the hope to become Tang People, to continue living, living happily, living with dignity!
"The high levels of Zheng Country are trying to investigate the situation in our infiltrated areas, and we're doing our best to conceal the truth. But as time goes on, this approach is proving increasingly futile," admitted Li'ao, the head of intelligence, regretting his mistake.
There were already not enough people planted inside Zheng Country, and a big part of them were occupied with tasks like map drawing and bribing local officials, leaving very few to counter Zheng spies.
Even so, with their own combat prowess, the Great Tang Group intelligence personnel still thwarted over eighty percent of Zheng spies' attempts to gather information.
Unfortunately, no defense is impregnable; hoping to completely destroy the enemy's intelligence network and totally block their vision was an unrealistic pipe dream.
Therefore, Li'ao had to assume the worst: "The other side has roughly figured out some truths, although we still can't be certain to what extent they've got control, but we can be sure that they are already taking countermeasures.
Zheng Tong is dispatching his confidants to carry out more meticulous investigations near our controlled areas, and the Zhang Family there is also desperately trying to extract the information they want."