He Caoshou looked over.
A few hundred steps away from the city, there were more than a dozen cavalry gathered together. The armor on these cavalry was unusually familiar to him. The Tiger Banner cavalry he had seen before wore this kind of black armor.
"Have the bandits done anything?" He Caoshou asked the guard who was following him.
The guard said: "After the dozen or so riders from the city came, they only circled the city once and then gathered at this location. Only two riders left."
"Did the rebels send any letters or words of advice to surrender?" He Caoshou looked at the dozen or so mounted rebels outside the city and asked the guard beside him.
The guard shook his head.
"Just a few bandits dare to block the door. Go and bring a team of troops to kill the bandits outside the city." He Caoshou ordered the guard beside him.
The guard hesitated for a moment and said, "Should we wait until Mr. Zeng comes back before deciding whether to leave the city?"
"What? Are you going to disobey my general's order?" He Caoshou turned around and looked at the city guard in front of him with cold eyes.
"I don't dare." The guard hurriedly bowed to apologize and explained: "Although the number of bandits is not large, they all have horses and are well-equipped with armor. Even if my subordinates bring all the soldiers and horses in the city, If we go out of the city, it will be difficult to threaten the bandit cavalry. It is better to wait for General Zeng to come back and let General Zeng take the cavalry out of the city with him, so that we can be more sure."
After hearing the explanation, He Caoshou's expression softened a little, and he realized that his decision just now was indeed a bit impulsive.
The chance of winning by using infantry to attack the cavalry is really not high, especially if there are not many defenders in the city. If one person is not good enough, the cavalry cavalry outside the city may fight back and attack into the city.
"Chenshou, do you think you would like me to send someone to find Commander Zeng?" the guard general on the side asked tentatively.
He Caoshou waved his hand and said, "There is still something going on with Mr. Zeng, so don't bother me."
"Yes." The guard breathed a sigh of relief.
He was also afraid that the other party would insist that he take people out of the city to fight against the bandits.
There has been no war in Xi'an Fort for so many years, and the defenders in the city are seriously underpaid. Among the registered people, many are old, weak, sick, and disabled. They can barely defend the city and cannot hope to go out to kill the enemy.
He Caoshou said: "I will give you a task. Take a few people to the city to find a thousand young men to defend the city. As long as they are willing to come, each person will be given one hundred and fifty money per day and two meals."
One hundred and fifty dollars a day is already very high, and many things like food and accommodation only cost a few hundred dollars a month.
It's just that recruiting young men to go to the city to defend the city is hard work. Unless it's voluntary, no one will be willing to help the city's defenders if there is little money.
"You guys, follow me." The guard on the side called a few soldiers guarding the city from around, and led them down the city wall along the horse path.
Everyone was sent out, and He Caoshou personally sat on the top of the city, staring at the rebel cavalry outside the city.
The sky gradually darkened, and the torches on the city were lit.
No large groups of bandits have ever appeared in Xi'an Fort, and there are only a few less bandit cavalry outside the city.
"General, General Zeng is here." The soldier guarding He Caosuo reminded him in a low voice.
Hearing this, He Caoshou turned around and looked in the direction of the horse road.
"Conduct." Mr. Zeng, who came from the horse road, took the lead and gave He Caosheng a fist.
He Caoshou hurriedly asked: "How did things go?"
The other party went to the big houses in the city to collect money, which was related to the important matter of defending the city.
"We fulfilled our mission and got more than a thousand taels." Mr. Zeng held out a finger in front of the two.
After hearing the amount of silver, He Caoshou frowned and said, "It's only more than a thousand taels. Isn't it too little?"
More than a thousand taels sounds like a lot, but if thousands of people have to divide it, one person can't get much at all.
"The big families here are not as good as the big families in Datong City. A family that can take out a few hundred taels of silver is already a lot. If we get really desperate, it is very likely that we will break up and we won't even get a single tael of silver." He once comforted the other party with his kind words.
He Caoshou frowned and said, "This amount of money is too little. We can't last for two days even if we take out all of it. If you do this, since they are unwilling to give more money, let them provide food and use the food to pay for the money."
"This," Mr. Zeng said with hesitation, "asking for food from the big households in the city at this time is equivalent to killing them. When my subordinates came back, the food prices in the city's food stores had increased again."
The gates of Xi'an Fort were closed and there was no communication between the inside and outside. The big households with granaries began to sell grain at high prices.
He Caoshou was so angry that he cursed angrily: "Damn it, I'm fighting the bandits on the top of the city, but they are taking the opportunity to make money. Go back and tell the big families in the city to either get food, or I will lead troops from their homes." Moving food.”
"I'll go there again and try to bring back some food." Mr. Zeng also felt that the big families in the city had gone too far, so he decided to go to them to ask for food.
He Caoshou said with an angry face: "Go tell them, I don't care if you want to make money, but I can't lose money, otherwise no one will have a good time."
I was angry.
I haven't made much money from my hard work defending the city, but the big families in the city have begun to use food to make money. No matter how I think about it, I feel uncomfortable.
"Okay, I'll go right away." Mr. Zeng led the people away from the city wall.
It was getting dark, and there were no lights on the streets.
The few places where light can be seen are from the homes of several wealthy families in the city.
Zeng took the general manager to a house with a lantern hanging on it.
There is a big Chinese character Zhu written on the outside of the lantern, and the two big characters Zhu Fu are written on the door plaque illuminated by the lantern.
"Call the door." General Zeng ordered a soldier beside him to call the door.
when! when! when!
The door of Zhu's mansion was knocked hard.
"Here we come." Someone said at the door.
Soon, the door of Zhu's Mansion was opened from the inside, and a head poked out, "It turns out to be the boss, why are you here so late?"
The concierge recognized General Manager Zeng outside the house.
Mr. Zeng asked expressionlessly: "Where is your master? Take me to see him."
"Our master has already rested. We have something to do, so why not talk about it tomorrow." With that said, the concierge stepped back and was about to close the door.
The soldiers guarding the door of the mansion held down the door, blocking the concierge's movements.
Mr. Zeng dismounted his horse and walked inside, saying at the same time: "I have something important to do with your master, why don't you hurry up and lead the way."
"Our master has really rested. You insist on letting me take you there. Isn't this embarrassing?" the concierge said with a crying face.
Mr. Zeng snorted and said: "The gangsters have arrived outside Xi'an Fort, but your master is very generous. He eats well and sleeps soundly."
With that said, he walked into Zhu's mansion through the gate.
"Why don't you wait here for a while, and I'll let you know when I go in." Seeing that he couldn't stop Mr. Zeng, the concierge had no choice but to retreat and leave him at the gate.
"Take me to the side hall." Zeng couldn't go directly to the backyard of Zhu's mansion, so he asked the concierge to take him to the side hall to stay.
The concierge secretly breathed a sigh of relief, as long as he didn't break into the backyard.
Otherwise, he would not have to do his job as a concierge.
