Shen Garden, in the East Pavilion.
There was only one oil lamp lit in the room. Yao Guangxiao, dressed in black, sat in front of the chessboard, holding a chess book in one hand and a chess piece in the other, thinking hard about the endgame in front of him.
The door suddenly opened with a creak. Yao Guangxiao took a closer look and saw Di Meng, who was covered in armor, gently pushed open the door, clasped his fists towards himself and called out: "Mr. Yao."
"General Di." The monk in black put down the chess record in his hand. "Is there any movement?"
"Yes." Di Meng said. There was a hint of admiration in his tone. "As expected by Sir and Your Highness."
"After a firework went up in the west of the city, the Ma salt merchant stopped setting off fireworks and firecrackers. The lights in Ma's humble garden were often extinguished and there was no sound anymore."
"A moment later, several carriages separated from Xiaomenbing and headed for the center of the city."
"Oh, the refugees in the west of the city are poor, how can they have money to set off fireworks? Such a message is really ridiculous..." Yao Guangxiao shook his head gently, as if he was mocking a group of thieves for their short-sightedness and lack of wisdom.
"How can a group of thieves and bandits have His Highness and Sir to strategize?" Di Meng said. "Sir, your wisdom is as deep as the ocean, and you have already figured out early on that the Ma family must be involved with thieves."
"Amitabha, this is not surprising. Anyone who wants to cause chaos depends on the chaos of the current situation." Yao Guangxiao seemed to be deliberately cultivating this young man, Di Meng, and took the trouble to remind him.
"The more chaotic the current situation is, the more people of that generation will be dependent on you, and they will become more and more at home. On the contrary, if the current situation is stable, people will naturally be calm and ghosts will not arise."
"Now that the situation is stable, the thieves will naturally have no way out. So, since there is a 'salt merchant Ma'jia' who was robbed of a large amount of food and property by the court prince and is resentful towards the court, but still has a rich family, how can the thieves of that generation not Trying to win over?”
"His Highness is gifted with wisdom and wisdom. The poor monk just mentioned it, and His Highness came up with a good plan to kill two birds with one stone. He not only raised food from merchants, but also deliberately offended the Ma family..."
Di Meng suddenly realized: "No wonder His Highness asked the Jin Yiwei to keep an eye on the Ma family... It turned out that he wanted to use the Ma family as bait to follow the clues and find traces of the thieves!"
"So, His Highness was just planning to find someone to scare the monkeys. Didn't he choose the salt merchant Ma Fengsun from the beginning?" Speaking of this, Di Meng laughed and said, "So, His Highness also got it wrong. This Ma Fengsun , turned out to be the accomplices of those thieves."
Yao Guangxiao also said: "This is better. This Ma Fengsun is a group of thieves, and the thieves will be even more defenseless..."
"Perhaps it was God's blessing that made this horse Fengsun jump out on his own that day."
The two looked at each other and smiled. Di Meng suddenly thought of something and asked, "Mr. Yao, now that the Ma family soldiers are divided into two groups, what should we do?"
"Do we need to divide our troops and keep an eye on him to prevent him from diverting his troops to attack His Highness's place?"
"No need." Yao Guang said filial piety. "He has a rat's ears, so he must be cautious. One of the two carriages and horses is just a temporary cover-up."
"If the thieves of that generation want to save the situation, they must create chaos in the city. And if they want to cause chaos among the refugees and people in the city, they can choose to kill many high-ranking officials and dignitaries in the city, including His Highness, and paralyze the Suzhou city defense."
"Secondly, the preparation warehouses in the city can be burned down, causing panic among the people and causing chaos in the city."
"His Highness used a trick within a trick. The sudden rise of the building, and the sudden invitation to a banquet with dignitaries in the city, the traces are too strong, making people suspicious at first sight."
"Although if we take this building, Suzhou can be easily obtained. The bandits must be worried about gain and loss, thinking that there has been an ambush here!"
"Then, the thieves who think they have seen through His Highness's plan will inevitably choose to attack the reserve warehouse! After all, everyone who can speak in the city is already in the building. Even if the reserve warehouse is guarded, it will still be leaderless!" Di Meng woke up. Come here and be amazed. Yao Guangxiao woke up suddenly and quickly apologized.
"That's right. Therefore, General Di asked people to continue to keep an eye on the convoy along the way. The rest of the troops can still guard the reserve warehouse." Yao Guangxiao waved his hand to indicate that it was okay and continued to teach him.
"The reserve warehouse is the flaw that His Highness pretended to be careless, but actually exposed deliberately. No matter what tricks they play, they will end up going to the reserve warehouse."
Although this General Di Meng is young, he has a rare understanding and a rare malleable talent. In the future, he may be a powerful assistant to one of the Fifth Prince's men who can be both civil and military.
"General, I understand! Thank you, Mr. Yao, for clearing up the confusion. In this case, general, let's go." Di Meng gained a lot, and his confidence also increased greatly. Now that he understood what to do next, he said goodbye and opened the door with the long knife on his waist.
After Di Meng left, the house became quiet again. Yao Guangxiao lowered his head and picked up the chess book, but there was a hint of worry in his eyes.
"Showing it's weak and taking advantage of it to make it strong..."
"Your Highness, by using the art of war and deliberately showing weakness, you can indeed lure the enemy hiding in the dark to risk appearing and strike..."
"But to show weakness, you also need to expose your true weakness. If the enemy guesses what you are planning, wouldn't you..."
Thinking of Zhu Su's solemn assertion that there would be no problem with the defense of the tall building, Yao Guangxiao had no choice but to suppress his worries. His Highness has leveled the surrounding area of the small building. There is nothing to hide nearby. If someone is attacking, the guards standing high will know at a glance.
With such a good location, even though there are few guards, I guess there won't be any trouble.
But, what's going on with this uneasiness in my heart...
…
…
In the darkness in the west of the city, a group of people filed out under the cover of night, clinging to the base of the wall in the darkness, and quietly moved towards the center of the city. Today is New Year's Eve, and every household has closed their doors to stay up late, which gives them an excellent opportunity to take advantage of. A group of people only need to evade the night watchman to reach their intended destination unimpeded.
"Young Master! The car is here!" Not long after he entered an abandoned house, Zong Laosan, who was on guard at the door, saw the cars coming from Ma's house.
Everyone in the Zhang family hidden in the house was overjoyed, and someone opened the courtyard door of the house. The carriage creaked and drove straight into the yard.
The crowd quickly closed the courtyard door, and the driver on the shaft jumped out. He took off the bamboo hat on his head, and the face revealed was the salt merchant Ma Fengsun himself.
"I've met the young master." Seeing Zhang Ren step forward, Ma Fengsun bowed his head.
"Uncle Ma, there is no need to be polite." Not in front of Chen Hui, Zhang Ren still looked a bit like a young master. He held Ma Fengsun up with both hands: "I heard that Uncle Ma was targeted by Zhu Su's son a few days ago. Please tell me not to worry."
"Zhu Su wanted to take away the food and grass we had saved, but I really had no choice, so I jumped out to confront him tit for tat." When he said this, Ma Fengsun suddenly felt itchy with hatred. "But fortunately, his soldiers only took the food and grass and went away. All the soldiers and armor hidden at home are still there..."
"Where are we going? Are we going to go straight to that building and take care of all Zhu Su and the prefect commander in one pot?" Ma Fengsun was gearing up.
"No. The Chen family's sister has already made a judgment." Zhang Ren said firmly. "Let's go to the reserve warehouse!"
(End of chapter)
