Chapter 971
: The Marquis is Really Calm
Chapter 971: The Marquis is Really Calm
In the tent,
The originally noisy noise suddenly died down, leaving a complete silence.
The generals stared at each other in disbelief. It was already past noon, and His Highness and the Marquis were still fast asleep. They must be really tired.
The generals who were originally somewhat excited, waiting for good news and preparing to lead the army to attack the city, now after hearing this news, they also understood the principle of "the first effort will weaken the second and the third will be exhausted". After wasting a whole morning on this, their enthusiasm was dispersed.
They all looked at each other, most of them were speechless, but the fastest reacters were Qi Ping and Yue Songlin, who stood up, bowed, and said;
"General Duan, General Yin, we will go back first. If the Marquis has any orders, just send someone to inform him. Goodbye."
With the two of them leading the way, the rest of the generals, who were good at reading people's expressions, were all competing with each other in the capital. No one was a mediocre person. If they didn't leave here, they were afraid that the Marquis and His Highness would think too much. So they left their words one after another and left.
The originally bustling and noisy tent was now left with only Duan Wenyuan and Yin Renchang. The two looked at each other, shook their heads and smiled.
"Although these people are ambitious, they still can't keep their cool. In war, especially in siege warfare, impatience is the most taboo. Now it seems that the Marquis is indeed one of the famous generals in ancient and modern times. With such a magnanimous demeanor, we can't compare to him."
Duan Wenyuan sighed softly. He was still a little dissatisfied in his heart. But today, when he saw that the war was coming, he could still sleep soundly. The famous generals in ancient times were no more than this. Even if he could control his temper, he couldn't remain indifferent when such a great achievement was in front of him.
"Yes, the Marquis never got impatient during any war, and he was calm and composed. He never lost a single battle, from outside the Great Wall to inside the Great Wall. I used to be a little jealous, but now it seems that I am just a person who only sees the world from a well, so I won't mention it."
Yin Renchang waved his hand, picked up the tea bowl and took a sip, as if he had a lot of emotion, then he stood up and left.
This time,
Duan Wenyuan did not ask anyone to stay. He looked at the time outside. It was noon, which was the time for lunch, so he went out and went to the baggage camp to take a look.
In the central tent,
Zhang Jinyu, who had been sleeping soundly for the whole morning, slowly opened his eyes and rubbed his eyelids. He still felt a little dry in his mouth, but he felt refreshed all over. He also felt as if he had been fully energized. He moved his body, sat up, changed his clothes,
Then he saw Lan Yue'er sitting in the tent with Xia Yu, whispering and folding clothes. He was surprised to see them together.
"Yue'er, bring me a bowl of tea. I'm thirsty."
As soon as the voice came out,
moment,
The two girls who were still chatting at the table in the tent blushed and stopped talking. Lan Yueer whispered;
"It's already noon. Go wake His Highness up for dinner. I'll bring a bowl of tea to the Marquis."
"understood,"
Xia Yu blushed and lowered her head to go behind the east curtain, while Lan Yue'er poured a bowl of tea and brought it over. Zhang Jinyu yawned, took the tea bowl and drank it all in one gulp, and the thirst in his mouth gradually dissipated.
"By the way, is there anyone here?"
After drinking the tea, I felt that the surroundings were so quiet, which was a bit strange.
How could it be so peaceful today? Those generals did not inform them. Logically, they should have been preparing for war today. But if they stood them up, how could no one come here?
"Don't worry, my Lord. General Ning is guarding outside with his soldiers. Even if someone comes to disturb us, they can't get in. I think someone must have come. I heard the voice but didn't pay much attention, and the person left."
Lan Yue'er felt a little strange. They had already gone to bed, so how could she not be quiet?
Seeing Yue'er's confusion, Zhang Jinyu smiled but did not explain.
"When His Highness wakes up, prepare the meal and have dinner here. I'll go out and see if General Hu has returned."
Just as he stood up, he heard a noise outside, which sounded like General Hu's voice. Zhang Jinyu stood up and walked out of the tent. As expected, he saw Hu Shoucheng with a happy face, walking towards him quickly.
"I will pay my respects to you, Lord Marquis,"
"Well, General Hu, thank you for your hard work. Did you find anything during your visit?"
"My Lord, I led the troops around the city. The city is not small, and the soldiers are well-trained and well-fed. The other two gates are also guarded by more than 10,000 soldiers, but they are much fewer than the soldiers in the West City. Only the North Gate still has elite soldiers and generals, and the number of people is no less than that of the West Gate. It should be that the soldiers were replaced last night. My Lord, if my troops move, the enemy army should move again."
Hu Shoucheng thought about it and thought that the troops should have been dispatched to the west gate last night, and the troops and horses at the north gate had been prepared long ago. As for the south gate and the east gate, the enemy army should have taken care of both and would not deliberately increase the number of troops and horses.
Even if they are restrained, it will be useless. We need to use heavy troops to suppress the city in order to mobilize the enemy's deployment. However, the city is too big. Even if we walk, it will take two hours to walk. By the time we reach the city gate, we will be exhausted. How can we attack the city? The reason why the Marquis set up the camp in this city is to make it easier to get water. What should we do?
Seeing General Hu panting, it was really not easy for him to run this trip. After all, the city was so big, and it was a bit difficult to go around it.
"Don't worry about this. If you were the defending general, you would make the same arrangement. After all, the enemy general is not a fool. It is said that if you surround three sides and leave one side open, you can weaken the enemy's momentum. But from what I saw today, the enemy general is determined to defend the city. Therefore, we should change the way we attack the city."
Zhang Jinyu replied in a deep voice. I think the leader Chu of the Taiping Sect has already made it clear that he left behind so many elite members of the sect, all of whom are top-notch warriors.
Even if we let them go, they will probably not move. The only way is to kill them all. With so many people and sufficient food and weapons, even a god would have a hard time.
"My Lord, how do I change it?"
Hu Shoucheng asked stupidly, should we just forget about what we discussed last night?
"General Hu, go back and have a good rest. After dinner, notify the commanders of each camp to come to the big tent for a discussion. Tell them that there are probably only bandits left in the county city. Send a message to the main camp that when our army captures the county city, we will not put down our weapons for three days and massacre the whole city! I will not take any of the property I obtain. I will share it all equally with the soldiers. Heaven and earth can bear witness to this."
A cold light flashed in his eyes. He knew that this was the only way to shock the world. No matter if it was the Taiping Sect or the White Lotus Sect, they were too rampant. He could only stop the killing by killing.
"My Lord, this..."
Hu Shoucheng stared at the Marquis with his eyes wide open, looking at him in disbelief. How could he believe that these words came out of Marquis Luo Yun's mouth? But the Marquis was clearly standing in front of him, how could he be wrong? He shrank back and looked at the cold light in the Marquis' eyes. Perhaps the Marquis had other plans, so he immediately clasped his fists and said;
"Yes, Lord, I will obey your order and pass it on immediately."
Slowly retreat, and then the camp immediately sent an order,
"The Marquis has ordered that after we capture the county city, all the property we obtain will be divided equally. If you don't put down your sword within three days, you will massacre the entire city!"
"The Marquis has ordered that after we capture the county city, all the property we obtain will be divided equally. If you don't put down your sword within three days, you will massacre the entire city!"
Almost before long,
All the officers and soldiers in the camp knew about it, and many of them shouted "victory" in unison. Morale was greatly boosted. Even the officers who were eating were shocked. They thought that Marquis Luo Yun might have gone "crazy".
How could I say the word "massacre" so casually? I felt a little uneasy in my heart, and even the meat-filled meal I had at noon didn't taste as good as it did just now.
Subsequently,
There were even messengers coming to deliver messages. He quickly ate a few mouthfuls to fill his stomach, and when no one was paying attention, he sneaked out of the tent to discuss with others.
In a tent in the main camp, there was a letter from the secret guard of the Imperial City. His face changed drastically, and he quickly wrote a secret letter and released a carrier pigeon in a hidden place, flying towards the capital.
Just when the camp was in some chaos,
Zhang Jinyu stretched lazily and returned to the tent. The table had already been set up in the tent, and the food was steaming. King Jin had already stood up, washed up, and sat down early.
"My Lord, please sit down. Today, Chief Song killed a deer, cleaned it, and stewed it over a slow fire for three hours. The meat is already well-seasoned. Come and have a taste." As he spoke, he reached out with chopsticks and picked up a piece of deer meat and put it into his mouth. The aroma was so fragrant that it was comparable to the ones made in the imperial kitchen.
Smelling the aroma, Zhang Jinyu felt a little hungry, so he pulled Lan Yue and Xia Yu to sit down together, picked up a few chopsticks and picked up three large pieces of meat, put one in Lan Yue's bowl, another in Xia Yu's bowl, and took a bite of the last one. The meat was delicious and full of saltiness. It can be seen that Song Dalang was thoughtful.
"It's really good. The meat is stewed just right. The eldest brother of the Song family has put a lot of effort into it."
Speaking of the Chief Officer Song, the King of Jin has changed his mind. Although he is a bit greedy, he is very capable. He has accurately transported the food and wages of hundreds of thousands of troops, which is rare and precious. However, there was a noise outside the tent just now. I don't know what happened.
After swallowing the venison in his mouth, King Jin asked,
"My Lord, there were some soldiers shouting outside the camp just now. What was that about?"
"Well, nothing much, it's just that this marquis has ordered that the county city be captured, the property be divided equally, and if the sword is not put down for three days, the city will be massacred."
Zhang Jinyu didn't care and continued to eat the venison, but the others paused, especially King Jin, whose hand trembled and the chopsticks fell into the plate with a crisp sound.
"What, Lord, how can you do this? If this spreads throughout the world, the dignity of the court will be gone!"
I stumbled and looked forward to it, and I didn't know where to start. I just said the four words "the court is respectable"
Zhang Jinyu finished the meat in the bowl slowly and smiled.
"Your Highness, the dignity of the court lies in suppressing the rebellion, not this. I'm afraid that all the people in the county city have already died. Even if they are not dead, they have become slaves of the Taiping Sect.
I sent Hu to guard the city today to investigate. After he came back, I found out that most of the remaining bandits were elite soldiers. Even if they were asked to leave, they would not leave. With so many bandits guarding the city like death warriors, the attackers would surely suffer heavy casualties and lose all morale. Your Highness, you are the commander-in-chief, what should you do?"
The voice suddenly turned cold. The morale was high for a short time, but if the siege failed and the morale of the soldiers was damaged, the city could not be taken.
The King of Jin was horrified. The Art of War said, if you have ten times as many soldiers as the enemy, you can surround them; if you have five times as many soldiers as the enemy, you can attack them; if you have twice as many soldiers as the enemy, you can divide them; if you are the enemy, you can fight them; if you have fewer soldiers than the enemy, you can escape; if you are inferior, you can avoid them. This means that you can only surround the enemy if your soldiers are ten times more than the enemy. But now, at most, they are not much more than the enemy soldiers in the city.
"My Lord, didn't you say that there is also a Thunderbolt Chariot presented by Tian Feng, the head of the Ministry of Works?"
"Haha, Your Highness, this thing can only be used as a trump card. If it hits the target at the last moment, it can be used to determine the outcome of the battle. If it cannot reduce the number of the enemy troops, even if the city gate is breached, the enemy troops can block the gap with their numbers. At night, the gap can be filled.
You know, the county city lacks everything except rolling logs and stones. Your Highness, the Thunderbolt Chariot can only be used once, otherwise the enemy army will have a way to deal with it. The tactic of adding oil can break this method. Even if you use kerosene, you will be cut off from advancing that day. Water and fire are merciless. "
Zhang Jinyu thought about it all night, whether to burn the tower or the city as soon as the battle started, but after calculating the distance, burning the city was unlikely. Burning the tower was possible, but if the Taiping people were to defend in batches, the Thunderbolt Chariot would be useless, and it could only be used as a last-ditch surprise attack, and one battle would decide the outcome.
The King of Jin was confused, as if what the Marquis said made sense. Although the Thunderbolt Chariot had miraculous effects, it was unknown when to use it to achieve the miraculous effects.
"My Lord, what should we do?"
"Your Highness, don't panic. After dinner, gather all the generals to discuss again. You should know that the defenses of the South Gate and the East Gate are much worse."
Zhang Jinyu put another piece of venison into the bowl, which made King Jin's eyes light up. Yes, there are four city gates.
Beijing,
At the end of the southern intersection of Ningrong Street in the East City, there is a three-courtyard house, which is Jia Rong's residence. Jia Rong held the three hundred taels of silver given by Manager Lin in his arms, and he felt sad. After all, he was his father, so it would be okay to send him off. However, there was unrest in the south, so it would be better to ask the escort agency to send him off. Thinking that there was really a escort service in the Chamber of Commerce of Luo Yunhou Mansion, he asked Zhong'er to ask for one.
Thinking about this, my steps became much faster.
Arriving at the gate of the mansion,
Looking at the gate of his mansion, the sadness in his heart just now gradually dissipated. He only wanted to go in and greet the three concubines. He didn't know if the three concubines had been wronged after staying in the inn outside for a night.
Pushing the door open,
She asked the doorman to bolt the door, gathered her sleeves, adjusted her hairpin, and then went into the backyard with satisfaction.
Now that early summer has arrived, the late spring cold is still coming to an end. Although the garden is green and lush, it lacks insects and birdsong, and it always feels like something is missing. The east side room is the door of my aunt Yang Xiao. I knocked on it and said,
"Brother Rong pays his respects to Auntie, no, Manager Yang,"
After shouting for a while, he suddenly realized that he had shouted the wrong name, and immediately changed his words. "Auntie is now the housekeeper of the mansion, and he has already issued an order, so the word auntie cannot be called anymore."
There were still three people sitting on the soft couch in the room, the former aunt, the current housekeeper, He Xue smiled faintly,
"This Rong brother is getting smarter and smarter. I don't know when he got along with us. Who do you think was the first one?"
With charming eyes, he glanced at his elder sister. Her voluptuous figure was not comparable to that of himself and Gui Mei. Jia Rong was attracted by her.
Yang Xiao was unmoved, ate his snack, and replied,
"Master, please come in. I happened to pass by Yaoji Store on my way back and bought some snacks."
"Okay, okay, come right in."
Jia Rong had a look of delight on his face, and rushed in impatiently. He stepped over the threshold, then turned around and closed the door tightly, as if he was afraid that someone would come in.
Looking back at the three "aunts," he felt dry-mouthed and itchy, and he actually went over and moved a chair to sit between He Xue and Yang Xiao. His hands unconsciously touched the two's soft parts, which were warm and soft, just as he had thought at night.
"As long as the three ladies are at ease, the affairs of the mansion are still under your care. I will be busy for a few days and need to go to Jinling in Jiangnan. I will come back after I finish my business."
The three girls blushed. Although Jia Rong had done something, it was also agreed by the three of them. But why did he go to Jiangnan? There was chaos and war. What could have allowed him to go? Yang Xiao realized something was wrong and asked quickly.
"Alas, the master is really busy now. He was sent on an errand after a trip to Rongguo Mansion. The south is so chaotic. What do you think requires you to go there in person? Now the mansion just wants to be stable. To be honest, only the capital is the most stable."
Yang Xiao couldn't help but remind them that if Jia Rong really had an accident on the road, the three of them would have nowhere to go after finally finding a safe place to stay.
Gui Mei and He Xue were not fools either. They could understand the meaning of their elder sister's words. He Xue even stood up and leaned over, soft and tender, and said;
"That's right. The people in the capital have spread the news that Xihe County has been invaded by the White Lotus Sect. They also said they want to go to Jiangnan to cause trouble. I don't know if it will be safe for the master to go there. His safety on the road cannot be guaranteed."
Could it be that the owner of Rongguo Mansion set a trap for me? I was not allowed to go earlier or later, but was allowed to go now. The timing was chosen very accurately. I am afraid there must be some explanation behind this.
Gui Mei was shocked. Thinking about it, it was true. Would the Jia family of Ningguo Mansion eliminate future troubles for the sake of the title?
"Master, there are some things that we sisters shouldn't say, but let's make it clear. I will still follow you in the future. If something happens, the three of us will have nowhere to go. In addition, I am also wondering if the Jia family has other intentions. Master Zhen died in Jinling for the title of Ningguo Mansion. There are so many bandits now, so we should be prepared for the worst."
The three of them talked back and forth, making Jia Rong, who had originally had some illusions, look so ugly that water could drip out of his face. Thinking carefully, what they said was true. When his father was in prison, his body was still strong, and it was impossible to kill him. How come he was gone as soon as he arrived in Jiangnan? There were many clansmen of the Jia family in Jiangnan. Everyone knew the influence of the old lady. The death was strange.
Finally, there was the three hundred taels of silver in his arms. Lin Zhixiao had been in charge of the accounts in the mansion for so many years, and he had always begged him for the silver. It was unreasonable for He Zeng to come to him today and give him the silver before doing anything.
"You are right. Master Zhen has an epidemic in the south. He has died in just a few days. Today, after discussing at Rongguo Mansion, no one wants to go except me. Manager Lin even took out three hundred taels of silver and gave it to me first. It is really strange. How to solve this problem?"
Although I guessed there was something fishy going on, as a son, I have no choice but to follow the rules.
The three of them also had some worries in their eyes. They really guessed it right. It seemed that they couldn't go there anymore. But they couldn't explain it to the host family. What should they do? At this moment, Yang Xiao suddenly asked,
"Brother Rong, you are not the only male in Ningguo Mansion!"
(End of this chapter)