…
That night, the atmosphere in the Chu army camp was extremely depressed...
"hahahahahahahahahaha……"
A Chu army soldier who was resting suddenly burst into crazy laughter and started dancing like a demon.
"It blew up, it blew up, my intestines and bones flew all over my face, hahahaha, they flew away, they all flew away..."
The crazy movements and terrifying tone immediately attracted the attention of the surrounding soldiers.
"What's going on? What happened?"
Qin Zongquan rushed over after hearing the news. When he saw the Chu soldiers laughing wildly and rolling on the ground, he couldn't help but be very angry.
He whipped the Chu soldier hard, and kept yelling: "What a bitch, if I make you laugh, I will make you laugh!"
The whips struck the soldiers one after another, but there was no mournful howling as in the impression, only crazier laughter.
Suddenly, the soldier grabbed Qin Zongquan, whipped him with the unit whip, and shouted angrily: "Hit me, beat me to death, you inhumane scum! Beat me!"
This scene made Qin Zongquan and the surrounding soldiers of the mutual army at a loss.
"Since you came to Qingzhou, our life every day has been worse than death, even worse than a dog. Instead of living like this, why not beat me to death now, come on, come on!"
The soldier rushed to Qin Zongquan with a crazy expression and grabbed his collar tightly: "My mother-in-law and I used to live a good life, but it was you thieves who occupied my home and made my mother-in-law work hard every day. Within a year, he contracted a labor disease.
But what about you? Increase taxes every day, increase taxes every day! We were busy until late at night every day, but in the end we couldn't even get a bowl of food. Now we even want to die here!
Do you ever think of us as human beings? ! You are just a bunch of beasts in human skin! Not even as good as a bandit, bah! "
A mouthful of saliva spit on Qin Zongquan's face, which immediately made him furious. He threw the soldier away and kicked him to the ground. Then he waved his whip again: "Damn it, you dare to call me a beast? You bitch, you deserve to die!" "
"stop!"
At this moment, Fa Yang's deep shout sounded, stopping Qin Zongquan from continuing to commit violence.
When Qin Zongquan saw Fa Yang, he immediately stepped aside respectfully.
Fa Yang walked up to the soldier and looked at him quietly.
However, what responded to Fa Yang's gaze was the soldier's contemptuous yet sharp eyes, showing no fear at all.
After a long time, Fa Yang asked someone to bring a chair and sat down in front of the soldiers: "You just called us bandits? Beasts? Huh, but you have to think clearly, who rescued you from the corrupt rule of the previous dynasty?
Who will give you land to cultivate and live in peace and contentment, and who will wipe out all the nobles who oppress you? Haven't you ever thought about this? "
The soldier struggled to get up, stood staggeringly in front of Fa Yang, and said to him: "You are right to say that the previous dynasty was corrupt, but when they were there, we were never as bad as pigs or dogs.
You said you would give us land so that we could live and work in peace and contentment, but you didn’t know that the taxes you set were more than ten times those of the previous dynasty.
You say that you have wiped out all the nobles who oppressed us, but how far do we, the farmers, interact with the nobles?
Why have I never heard of the stories you made up among the people about landlords oppressing tenant farmers in Qingzhou for decades?
Prime Minister, I want to ask you, are you really here to save poor people like us? You harvest 90% of the 10% crops,
The people are not allowed to change their profession, and the restricted area cannot exceed twenty miles. You are really good at it. Under your management, the people of Qinghu and Qinghu have become miserable.
Do you think you are more ruthless than bandits? The bandits can extort money once at most. You want us to be exploited by you for the rest of our lives. Bah, prime minister, you are a thief, a thief with a lasting infamy! Ha ha ha ha……"
Fa Yang's face darkened, and then he waved his hand: "Pull him down and behead him in public!"
"Thief, you are a thief. I will wait for you under the Nine Springs. You will not have a good death!"
The soldiers' voices gradually faded away, and Fa Yang slightly closed his eyes...
Qin Zongquan took a step forward and whispered to him: "Prime Minister, you don't have to be angry with such a villain..."
Fa Yang opened his eyes suddenly, glanced around the Chu army, and then announced loudly: "We have fought hard for days. You have worked hard. We will withdraw our troops back to Yongzhou to recuperate at dawn tomorrow.
At this time, the prime minister will personally reward those who have made meritorious deeds. Please stick to your posts tonight. By the way..."
Then, he clapped his palms, and soon boxes of gold and silver looted from the homes of wealthy households in Yongzhou City were brought to everyone's eyes.
"These can be regarded as compensation for your time. Each of you will receive five taels of silver. Please take it first."
As soon as these words came out, the Chu soldiers who were very dissatisfied with the current situation immediately lit up their eyes and looked greedily at the gold and silver.
Fa Yang sighed softly, and then left the camp under the escort of his own soldiers.
He didn't want to distribute the gold and silver now. However, after only half a month of fierce fighting, he still could not break through Suoyun Pass. He had to give these hungry and panicked soldiers some sweetness to suppress the risk of mutiny.
In addition, every word spoken by the crazy soldier had a big impact on Fa Yang. Knowing that the hope of expanding the victory was shattered, he had to choose to retreat to Yongzhou City.
As long as Yongzhou is not lost, the southwest gateway will be impregnable.
However, he knew very well that the next Northern Expedition would be very difficult. Yu Jie and Liu Ce would definitely be prepared, and he missed the best opportunity.
What makes Fa Yang worried is why the defenders in Suoyun Pass are so tenacious.
I heard that there are only a few hundred people, but they can actually block their own army of 100,000 people outside the pass for half a month without even getting close?
At the same time, inside Suoyun Pass...
The sticky glutinous rice exudes an alluring aroma, and bucket after bucket is delivered to the craftsmen who are repairing the city wall.
The craftsman picked up the wooden tile knife, and with the lighting of the torch, skillfully scooped up the glutinous rice, smeared it on the chipped stone brick, and glued the other stone brick together tightly.
The Chu army corpses piled up in front of the pass were left unattended for the time being. Fortunately, the weather was starting to turn cold now, so there was no need to worry about the plague.
As for Zhu Tong and the others, they, together with Wang Chang, Sun Xueyou and the remaining 300 or so Jingwu School sergeants, were enjoying a dinner of bacon and rice while discussing the next countermeasures.
"What? Are you planning to take back Yongzhou?" After hearing Wang Chang's suggestion, Zhu Tong was shocked and looked at Wang Chang in disbelief.
Wang Chang said: "Yongzhou is the gateway to Shu. If it is not recaptured as soon as possible, the Chu army can launch offensives everywhere in Shu at any time. I am lucky to hold it today, but what about the future?"
Suoyunguan Pass is far inferior to Yongzhou's defenses. If we don't take it back now, we will only have endless troubles in the future. General Zhu, I need your help to take back Yongzhou together. "
