Chapter 212: Reinforcement
Although they could easily eat this reinforcements, why did An Bangyan allow them to enter Guiyang?
Because An Bangyan really wanted to get Guiyang City.
An Bangyan was reluctant to die, or rather, he did not dare to die too many people. It is said that it was the She'an Rebellion, but in fact it was these two people who instigated it, and many tribes participated and relied on it. Not as powerful as the Yongning Army, the Shuixi Army's combat effectiveness is mediocre. If too much of the strength of the headquarters is lost, Luo Qianxiang will suddenly defect to the Ming Dynasty like Luo Qianxiang - She Chongming is so capable, and the lessons from the past are still in front of us. This is what An Bangyan worries about the most. Therefore, he decided to let this large group of Ming troops enter the city and surround them inside just like he had previously driven the young and old into the city! An Bangyan knew very well that although the old, weak, women and children also had to eat, Li Jingwu just gave them a bite of food and sent it away. He was so cruel that he didn't give him anything, so they could only starve to death while crying silently. And this group of people must be completely different. The damage they are about to cause to Guiyang will be much greater than that group of old and young - even much greater than our own Shuixi Alliance Army! There is not much food in the city, and there are no reinforcements. If you ask these people to defeat Li Jingwu and bring disaster to Guiyang, and wait until they destroy the city so much that you can't stay any longer and run away, wouldn't it be a waste of blood? Pick up Guiyang City?
An Bangyan's expectation was correct, and his wishful thinking was only a little bit successful.
Marshal Zhang Fang and General Huang (who was still a general at this time) led the crowd into the city with great power. The soldiers and civilians of Guiyang were in jubilation. However, Li Jingwu was not happy at all: at the reception banquet, the two of them asked for wine before they even picked up the wine glasses. Food and wages for 20,000 people! Li Jingwu, Shi Yongan and Liu Xixuan stood on the city gate tower and watched them enter the city. In order to increase the marching speed, General Zhang Huang only brought five combat battalions and the minimum number of support auxiliary troops, not to mention nothing. The weapons and baggage are equivalent to seven or eight thousand people in total.
As the top leader, Li Jingwu was embarrassed to break up with him when he first came up. Liu Xixuan, the minister of education, could not intervene, so Shi Yong'an, the patrol censor representing the Holy Emperor, could only take the lead: "Shuai Zhang and General Huang, you have traveled thousands of miles to come to our aid. This shows the high righteousness, and the food and salary should be distributed naturally. However, the imperial court must follow the law when collecting food and salary, and the military register should be used as the basis for receiving food and salary. Please report the list of officers and soldiers under your command, and I will issue it immediately after inspection. "
When they heard that the military register was to be inspected, the two generals looked at each other and Huang Yunqing responded: "Master Shi, the military register is in the camp and the general has not taken it with him. Can I give it to you tomorrow?"
Zhang Fang immediately said: "I didn't bring it with me either, I will send it together tomorrow, send it together. Hahaha."
It is said to be a reception feast, because Guiyang has been besieged for more than three months, and all kinds of food have begun to be in short supply. There are only three or four kinds of green vegetables on the table, and the only meat dish is dog meat stewed in an earthen pot. Coupled with such an awkward opening, no one was interested. They chatted with each other for a while and ended hastily. The second general said goodbye in a hurry and left Fuyamen. Zhang Fang winked at Huang Yunqing. The latter understood the situation and gave some instructions to his soldiers. He followed Zhang Fang to his commander's tent.
Zhang Dashuai's master was busy again. Not long after, Huang Yuanqing's soldiers also brought the military commander over. Amidst the thunderous snores of the two generals, the two masters wrote furiously under the candlelight of military candles as thick as arms, and finally completed the task of "making a book" out of thin air before dawn the next day. Marshal Zhang's soldiers got two very fat hens from somewhere and stewed them till they were tender. After breakfast, the two generals happily called their soldiers to find Shi Yong'an holding the "military register".
Unexpectedly, Mr. Shi flipped through the military book and deliberately sniffed the brand new ink stains with his nose. He glanced at the second general who was trying to calm down and said to himself: "What a strong smell of ink." , picked up another brochure from the desk, "Perhaps the two generals have recruited some new soldiers? I happen to have a copy of the Guizhou Province military brochure here. Are the numbers on it different from what you just reported? Yes. I took a look at it last night. According to the book, the total number of combat auxiliary troops commanded by the two generals is about 14,000. The combat auxiliary troops are over 4,000, and the rest are all auxiliary troops. But what you just reported is about the same. There are about 24,000 to 5,000 people, and there are 20,000 soldiers alone. When distributing food and salary, you can't just pay as much as you pay, right?"
Zhang Fang felt a little guilty and replied: "That's right, that's right, sir, just give me silver rice as per 14,000 people."
Huang Yuanqing said helpfully: "My lord, it's true. Fourteen thousand is fourteen thousand. I'll just tell my sons to save some food."
Shi Yongan sighed: "Two generals, Guiyang has been besieged for more than a hundred days. To be honest, I still have some money, but there is not much food left in the official warehouse. At this moment, I only have a few thousand shi." . Even if we give you four liters of rice and beans per person per day for four thousand soldiers and half of the ten thousand auxiliary soldiers, even if we give you all the grain reserves at the standard of fourteen thousand people, it will not be enough for one month... The city Four hundred thousand people have lost even a grain of rice. We are all in the same boat at this moment and should be in the same boat. I hope you two will put the overall situation first."
Of course the second generals are aware of Guiyang's difficulties, but they also know that if you don't make a big deal at this time, once the crisis is over and you want to reach out to the court, it will be strange for any adult to take care of you. Zhang Fang spread his hands and said: "Master Shi, how can we have the strength to kill thieves if we don't have enough to eat? Do you think this is true?"
Huang Yuan cleared his throat: "Ahem, Mr. Shi, don't be too indifferent to those unruly people. They must have hidden food. If you don't believe it, just ask someone to search for it!"
"No way!" Shi Yong'an said flatly, "Is there any truth in the world that when reinforcements arrive, they wash out the people in the city instead of fighting the thieves?"
Zhang Fang became a little angry: "What should we do? Eat food to be a soldier, and be a soldier to eat food. If you don't even have food to eat, how can you fight against thieves?"
Shi Yong'an replied: "I didn't say that I won't give you food. I said that Guiyang doesn't have much food anymore. This is the truth. The people of Hecheng are longing for the two generals to save their lives, and I also hope that you can pacify the thieves." Let's grab some food there to help with the emergency. Let's do this. There are more than 30,000 taels of official silver in the treasury. Can I give you 20,000 taels for military pay and food? Just take half of it. We don't need to explain everything clearly, 20,000 taels Whether it's five, fourteen, or seven or eight thousand, you know better than me how many troops we have brought. That's all the food in the storehouse, you can take half, right? The remaining half will feed the entire city's forty Tens of thousands of people will hold on until the day the siege is broken. That’s it.”
Zhang Fang wanted to say something else, but was lightly kicked by Huang Yuanqing. He cupped his fists and replied, "General, I will obey your orders. However, it requires careful planning to quell the rebellion. The city is no better than outside the city. The place is cramped and there are no military tents." We need a place to stay. I will wait for a while to find a spacious place to stay, and then I will discuss the plan with my subordinates."
"Well, that's no problem. You can find the place yourself. However, the country is ruled by the emperor and the scholar-bureaucrats. You must not disturb those who have the honor of the court." Shi Yong'an knew that they were going to give him a favor in Guiyang. Each occupied his own house. Ordinarily, let alone a third-grade general, even a second-grade general like Zhang Fang would have to kneel down and pay homage when meeting the censor. How could he have the guts to openly say that he wanted to seize a private house? However, emergency times are different from the past. There is a shortage of food and there is no hope of breaking the siege. The defenders have to rely on their efforts and must be given some benefits no matter what. For things like robbing a few private houses, we can only turn a blind eye and pretend to be stupid and let them go on. As long as we don't let these vulgar warriors bully the famous scholars and make things get out of hand, merchants, wealthy households and ordinary people... Alas, they are essentially pigs and sheep, just different in fatness and thinness, so they can only be sacrificed.
Huang Yuanqing bowed deeply: "Thank you, Mr. Shi, we will take care of it! You can leave the defense of each branch to the general. We will kill the thieves after our army has made a decision. You can rest assured, we will defend the city and defeat the enemy." Leave it to the commander-in-chief and the general!"
After quitting Shi Yongan and coming out, Zhang Fang complained with some dissatisfaction: "Brother Huang, why did you accept that dog official so easily? At this time, we should ask for more..."
Huang Yuanqing did not pick up the problem: "Brother, how about we go out of the city to meet the enemy?"
Zhang Fang was stunned: "Are you crazy? Don't you know how much weight our brothers have?"
Huang Yuanqing smiled gloomily: "This is over! We won't seriously go out to fight in the city, why are we in a hurry? Brother, I think the dog officer is telling the truth. He wants all the belongings at once. They will never agree, and it is impossible. . So, let’s get what we can get first! Then, settle down and squeeze it slowly! Brother, do you think they will give it to you at that time? Dare you not give it? We will fall out on the spot and take it before. Everything that arrives does not count!”
Suddenly enlightened, Zhang Fang raised her thumb and said, "Brother, that's great, that's great!"
Huang Yuanqing continued: "Brother, don't just keep an eye on the official warehouses. In such a big city, there must be a lot of rich households. We have just arrived, and it is not convenient to search from house to house at this moment. But we are here to guard the gate. Hehe, whoever is let out will not be let out. ..." As he spoke, he twirled the thumb and index finger of his right hand a few times, "Isn't it our brothers who have the final say?"
Zhang Fang clapped her hands and laughed: "Brother is awesome! When we really can't hold on, the door is in our own hands and we can run away easily! Hahaha, brother, please come up with some good ideas for me in the future!"
Huang Yuanqing bowed and smiled: "That's a matter between brothers. In the future, the eldest brother will promote and look after the younger brother. By the way, if the thief is defeated in the future, the younger brother would like to get a few acres of land nearby..."
"Hahahaha, easy to say! Brother, I also have the same idea. Let's find a solution together later!"
After receiving the money and food, they each occupied a large mansion. Zhang and Huang had spent more than twenty days in Guiyang, but there was still no sign of sending troops to fight against the thieves. Li Jingwu and Shi Yongan looked at the increasingly scarce food in the warehouse, and finally couldn't bear it anymore, so they came to look for it together.
The two generals have been hanging out together all day. When he saw Li Jingwu coming, Huang Yunqing was the first to speak: "Master Li, Master Shi, we have almost eaten the food allocated by the adults. The general and the commander have made a plan and will leave the city in the next few days. Kill the thieves, even if you can't win completely, you can still try to get some food back."
Zhang Fang nodded tacitly: "Yes, this is what I was talking about with Brother Huang just now."
Before he could open his mouth, the words were blocked, and Li and Shi had to say a few words to fight back.
Early the next morning, Li Jingwu summoned Shi Yongan and Liu Xixuan angrily ran to find Generals Zhang and Huang. When they met, Li Jingwu held up a notice he had just torn off: "Shuai Zhang and General Huang, you are going out of the city to beg for thieves. , how can you openly post military intelligence plans all over the city? I don't know soldiers, but I know that soldiers are crafty, and the only way to catch thieves unawares is to attack them unprepared! Is there any reason to advertise it widely before the soldiers and horses are moved? You took over the defense of the four gates and exploited the people who fled the city. I thought I couldn't see it, but you still let in a lot of people. There was no guarantee that there would be spies to protect the thieves! Now everyone knows the important military information of Ximen's dispatch of troops in three days. What if the thieves set up an ambush or take advantage of the emptiness in the city to attack?"
Huang Yuanqing pretended to be surprised and scratched his head: "What the boss taught me is that I was stupid and negligent! I only wanted to inspire the morale of the soldiers and civilians in the city, but I forgot about this. I will expose everyone to this." !”
Li Jingwu said bitterly: "That's all. I hope that Thief An will treat this matter as a suspicion of the enemy. How can we fight like this!"
Huang Yuanqing continued to laugh: "Don't worry, sir! We will send troops in two days, and An Thief must have been caught by surprise. The commander-in-chief and the general will definitely defeat An Thief and live up to your trust!"
Li Jingwu and others left bitterly.
Two days later, Li Jingwu came again: "Didn't we agree to send troops today? Why are you still listening to the music?"
This time it was Zhang Fang who came forward: "Master Li, the detective horse sent by the general to spy on the thieves has not returned yet. The general is afraid of being ambushed by the thieves! Please wait for two more days. We are also in a hurry. We have no food. It’s almost time to finish eating. If we don’t go grab the safe thief, we will starve to death ourselves.”
Three more days passed.
Li Jingwu: "Why are you still not moving?"
Zhang Fang and Huang Yuanqing: "Your Majesty, we have run out of food two days ago. We know that adults are also in difficulty, so we don't have the nerve to come to you. The sons and daughters are all lying on the ground and cannot get up. The general wants to kill the thief, but it is really There is no other way! How can we kill the thief when we can’t walk? Sir, please allocate some more food. It will take three to five days for the boys to regain their energy after having enough food, and we will definitely kill the thief without leaving a trace!"
