"General, the Chu people found a lot of grains that were deliberately soaked in the grains. If the soldiers had not discovered them earlier, at least more than half of the grains would be bad!"
Guan Shou came to Bai Yan with an indignant look and reported to Bai Yan.
Thinking of the Chu people, Guan Shou was really angry. There were some soaked grains hidden in the bags of grains. Although the weight would increase a lot, it would hardly make people suspicious. After all, not all grains are wet grains, and the weight of each bag is different.
"It doesn't matter!"
Bai Yan was not worried when he heard Guan Shou's words.
"Let the soldiers stop eating those grains!"
Bai Yan warned Guan Shou, then got up and left the city with Gu.
Under night.
In the huge granaries, the soldiers of the Qin army held torches and watched Bai Yan come to the granaries. When Master Xu saw Bai Yan, he also stood up and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
Very early on, Bai Yan learned from his uncle that the nobles of Chu State, in addition to keeping dead soldiers in captivity, all worshiped Baiyue wizards.
Therefore, Bai Yan will be extremely careful about things from Chu State, especially things given by Xiang Yan.
"General, I have everything..."
Master Xu said to Bai Yan, in addition to deliberately destroying the soaked grains, this method was also used to allow the poisonous water to remain in the grains. In this way, as long as it lasts long enough, even if it is cooked before After cleaning, there will be residue in the corn.
This method is extremely covert, and it is also the best way to poison in a short period of time. When people find out, they basically think that the Chu army wants to destroy the food and does not want the Qin army to eat the food and grass, so it is just like this.
No one would have thought that if the soldiers of the Qin army hurriedly took these grains to dry, and ate these grains in the future, the soldiers would be uncomfortable in mild cases and sick in severe cases.
"Take people out!"
Bai Yan did not answer Master Xu in a hurry, but turned his head and asked Xu to take the soldiers to wait outside the warehouse.
After seeing all the soldiers leaving, Bai Yan turned his head to look at Master Xu.
"Is there an antidote to this poison?"
Bai Yan looked at Master Xu.
Master Xu nodded, but his brows were furrowed, and then he looked at Bai Yan.
"General, if you want to detoxify these poisons, the required herbs will take a lot of time to prepare, and Master Xu is worried that if there are any omissions, more soldiers will be poisoned. Master Xu would like to ask General to let Master Xu go out of the city and personally Go find herbal medicine, that’s the only way you can be prepared!”
Master Xu said to Bai Yan that although these poisons are obscure, they are not very poisonous. It is not difficult to find antidote herbs, but he is worried that there are not enough in the city, so it is best to go out of the city and prepare more.
"Who said I need to detoxify these poisons?"
Bai Yan couldn't help laughing when he saw Master Xu actually wanting to leave the city to find the antidote.
The Qin army needs food and grass. It is no exaggeration to say that the food and grass in the city is no longer enough to feed the soldiers for a few days, and the Qin army at the rear may have even less.
But for now.
Since he knew that these grains were poisonous, Bai Yan would not give them to the soldiers.
"General..."
Master Xu was a little confused until Bai Yan gave Master Xu a look, looked at the grains, and made a poisoning move.
In an instant, Master Xu realized that Bai Yan was going to add some more poison to these poisons.
"As long as there is an antidote to the poison administered by the Chu army, I will be relieved!"
Bai Yan smiled at Master Xu, and there was a deep meaning in his words.
Under Bai Yan's smiling gaze, Master Xu couldn't help but laugh. Then he thought of something and lowered his head slightly.
Outside the granary.
When Bai Yan led Master Xu out of the granary, Yan and a group of soldiers, wearing clothes and armor, wearing Qin swords and holding torches, were waiting for Bai Yan to come out.
"General, it's snowing!!!"
You stepped forward and said to Bai Yan.
As the protector of Bai Yan, Zhang naturally knew that Bai Yan had been looking forward to a heavy snowfall for a long time. Looking at the densely falling snowflakes next to the torch, Zhang couldn't help but smile.
Listening to Mang's words, Bai Yan naturally saw that snowflakes were really falling in the sky at night, very densely.
"Order people to guard the food and grass. Do not open it without orders!"
Bai Yan ordered to Mang.
He nodded.
"You go back to the mansion first! I have to go to the camp!"
Bai Yan said to Master Xu, and then asked his cronies to protect Master Xu when he went back. After giving orders to Master Xu, Bai Yan turned around, took the gun, and rushed towards the main camp in the city.
In the big camp in the city, in the houses, dozens of Qin army soldiers were divided into one house, and thick hay could be seen everywhere.
And the fire burning with a pile of wood was the only place for Qin soldiers to keep warm.
"Let me warm up the fire!"
"It's getting colder and colder today! It's already snowing outside, and we don't know how long the Chu army will attack!"
"Whatever, we will kill as many as the Chu troops come! There is no shortage of food in the city! Kill until the Chu troops dare not attack the city!"
A few voices rang out, but more Qin soldiers were still warming themselves up in silence and looking at the fire quietly. No one wanted to talk. Not only were they tired from fighting during the day, it was getting colder day by day. , basically everyone would be woken up by the cold at night and had to come over to warm themselves up by the fire before going back to sleep.
All Qin soldiers knew that they had no way out.
The city is broken, and they will all die in the hands of the Chu army. Only by killing all the Chu army can they survive. At the moment, the only thing that makes them happy is that they are following the famous general Bai Yan. They all realize that following Bai Yan , not only did they attack the city and perform meritorious service, but even the elite Chu army attacked the city and attacked at night, Bai Yan led them to kill them back again and again.
None of them knew whether they would be able to survive in the face of the Chu army's attack tomorrow. At this time, only this quiet night and a place without the roar of killing belonged to them, allowing them to miss their wives at home. Son, I miss my parents, friends and relatives who came here together.
"Come out, quickly! Everyone, come out!"
Suddenly the door opened, and a cold wind blew into the room instantly, which made all the Qin soldiers shiver. Even the fire was no longer so strong and swayed left and right due to the cold wind.
"What's the matter? It's snowing outside, why are you going out?"
An old soldier asked in confusion. The soldiers had all taken off their armor. It was not their turn to be on duty at this time! Why are you going out on this snowy day?
All the Qin soldiers also looked at the general who opened the door. Everyone felt cold. However, facing the general, no matter how much the soldiers complained, they did not dare to speak out. Military law is not a joke.
"The general is here, hurry up!"
The Qin army general said.
"Which general?"
A young and thin Qin soldier was full of curiosity. After all, there were many generals in the city. Who called them out in the middle of the night?
"General Bai Yan!"
The Qin army general urged.
All the officers and soldiers of the Qin army were stunned when they heard this, and then stood up one after another without saying a word, and there was not a trace of dissatisfaction or complaint in their hearts.
Regarding General Bai Yan, even though they were from Wei, since they followed General Bai Yan, they all regarded themselves as General Bai Yan's soldiers and agreed with Bai Yan from the bottom of their hearts.
This is not just because Bai Yan has performed meritorious service for them, allowing them to win titles and rewards. It is also not just because Bai Yan is so good at leading troops, making them invincible and invincible. More importantly, it comes from their inner feelings towards Bai Yan. admiration and love.
After so many days, no matter whether it was the soldiers who went to the city tower to stand guard or the soldiers who went to patrol the city tower, no one knew that Bai Yan, the commander of the entire army, was not in the mansion. There was no big fish or meat in the mansion, and there was no wine and beautiful people in the mansion. Surrounded by it, there are no fine clothes and fine food, and the night is fragrant.
But like them, in this cold world, we guarded Suiyang City together, slept on hay mats together, and even when the Chu army attacked at night, the first person to fight against the Chu army was not them, but those who were still sleeping in the city tower. General Bai Yan.
They were just farmers. Before they followed Bai Yan, they were all ordinary Wei people. But what about Bai Yan? Although everyone already knows that Bai Yan is not a descendant of the Bai family, everyone knows that Bai Yan's origin is definitely extraordinary, not to mention that Bai Yan is now a favorite of King Qin Yingzheng and has made great military exploits for the Qin State.
Bai Yan, who should have been enjoying himself, even in danger, could have left alone, but like them, he even slept in a place that was even more dangerous than in their city. All the Qin soldiers in the city, even those who had disliked Qin. , and those who did not intend to be loyal to Qin gradually calmed down and slowly began to serve Bai Yan like them.
Some people even jokingly said in private, "Didn't so-and-so say that he was just here to mess around?" If the Qin army was defeated and surrendered to Chu, why did it suddenly change? Don’t you dislike Qin?
The thin-skinned soldiers will laugh and be speechless, while the thick-skinned people will always retort forcefully, saying that they really don't like Qin people, but although Bai Yan is not from Wei, he is not from Qin either! Serving under Bai Yan, who is from Qi, does not count as serving Qin!
Inside the Qin army camp.
In all open spaces and in front of all wooden houses, Qin soldiers were constantly walking out. Everyone hugged their bodies, and in the dark night, covered with snowflakes, they looked at the soldiers riding war horses in the distance, illuminated by many Qin soldiers holding fires. Bai Yan.
Although it was cold, the soldiers still followed Bai Yan's instructions, walked out of the comfortable wooden house behind them, came under the biting cold wind, and listened patiently to Bai Yan's orders.
"General! The soldiers have come out!"
Guan Shou walked up to Bai Yan's horse, raised his hands to Bai Yan and said, trembling as he spoke, and under the weak firelight, hot mist kept coming out of his mouth.
Bai Yan was riding a war horse and looked in front of him. He was surrounded by densely packed Qin army soldiers. He couldn't see their heads. The faces of tens of thousands of Qin army soldiers were all different. In the cold wind, Bai Yan couldn't remember them clearly.
After getting ready, Bai Yan withdrew his gaze.
"What Bai Yan said today, everyone must inform all the soldiers, every soldier standing guard and patrolling in the city!"
Bai Yan spoke, in the eyes of everyone, under the dense snowflakes, in the quiet Qin Army camp.
"Bai Yan is here to make a promise to all the soldiers, five days! Hold on to Suiyang City for five more days! After five days, when boxes of money are dropped from the city gate, Bai Yan will distribute them to all the soldiers! After dividing the money, Bai Yan will Take the soldiers and leave Suiyang City!"
Bai Yan spoke word by word under the gaze of all his confidants.
When the entire Qin Army soldiers in the camp heard Bai Yan's words, they were all shocked. They looked at each other in surprise, and then their faces showed some disbelief and joy.
The general is saying that the troops can be withdrawn in five days? ? ?
In other words, they can retreat in five days and no longer need to stay here to fight with the Chu army?
"real or fake?"
"Did I hear wrongly?"
"I was still missing my wife at home just now..."
Noisy sounds were heard everywhere. Amidst the noise, under the weak firelight, one could see the excitement on the faces of the Qin soldiers.
And just when all the soldiers of the Qin Army were filled with joy, Bai Yan's voice came again.
"After leaving Suiyang City, Bai Yan promised you that within one month, he will let everyone return to their hometown in Wei with these money to give to their parents, wives and children. With this money, he will go back to his wife and children. Let’s get together and spend the winter!”
Bai Yan spoke loudly in the dark night, and made a promise to all the Qin soldiers in full view of the public.
As soon as these words came out, all the soldiers of the Qin army were stunned on the spot, with their mouths open, looking at Bai Yan in disbelief.
Not to mention the officers and soldiers of the Qin army, even Guan Shou, You, and Hui Pu who followed them all looked at Bai Yan in confusion, looking at Bai Yan's smiling face.
In an instant.
Under the dark night, all the Qin troops were excited.
"Very good!!!"
“I want to go home!!!”
"General!! General!!!"
Countless soldiers of the Qin army shouted excitedly, regardless of the generals around them.
More and more officers and soldiers of the Qin army also looked happy. Regardless of the severe cold and falling snow, they raised their arms and shouted to Bai Yan!
"General!!"
"General!!!"
The entire Qin army camp, as Bai Yan's words continued to spread, the entire army officers and soldiers were all excited. Countless shouts resounded through the dark night. Beside each individual bonfire in the camp, the cold winter snow seemed to be falling at this moment. The soldiers no longer felt the sting, and the excited Qin soldiers, with smiles on their faces, shouted together with the countless soldiers surrounded by darkness, looking at Bai Yan riding a horse in the distance.
Almost every Qin army officer looked at Bai Yan with so much love in their eyes. Not to mention the fact that a soldier would die for his confidant, if it was a woman, they would all be willing to commit themselves to him.
It’s not that the Qin soldiers were like this, but Bai Yan’s words were like a big killing weapon, pointing directly at the hearts of the soldiers, reaching the weakest and most worrying place in their hearts. This made almost any soldier feel... Unable to calm down.
Everyone has concerns, even those who don’t have wives and children, they still have parents. This can’t help but make every Qin army soldier think that in five days, they can divide the boxes of money and leave here without facing the Chu army. And in thirty days, the general will give an order for them to return home with their money.
Five days long? Compared with the previous battles day after day with no end in sight, it is not worth mentioning at all. Is thirty days long? After leaving Suiyang City, there was no need to face the Chu army. Let alone thirty days, the soldiers could afford to wait for another thirty days.
Thirty days later, you will return home with money! ! !
Go back and see the people in your hometown and your parents. There is no need to fight in Chu! Stay away from the flames of war.
Hope burned in the hearts of all the soldiers. Although there was no raging fire, under the dark night of falling snow, all the soldiers were not afraid of the biting cold wind, let alone the severe cold of the falling snow.
Although the Chu army is numerous, the Qin army can still fight if it dares to fight! ! !
The stars are gone at night.
Under the dark night, not only Master Xu who was in the palace in the city could clearly hear the shouts echoing in the sky, but even outside Suiyang City, under the dark night, the Chu scouts guarding Suiyang City could vaguely hear it. What? After hearing it clearly, the scouts looked at each other in the dark with horror on their faces.
Cheers! ! !
In this night, they could hear the cheers of Qin soldiers in the plains that were so far away from Suiyang City.
What is going on?
In the camp of the Chu army, Xiang Yan, who was looking at the map in the commander's tent, learned that the falling snow outside was getting bigger and bigger, and for some reason, he had a bad premonition in his heart.
"We can't delay it any longer! Even if it snows, we must capture Suiyang City as soon as possible!"
Xiang Yan always felt that something was wrong.
"A message has been sent to General Jingqi! Now the new ladders and carriages have been prepared, and all the catapults have been sent! It is not difficult to attack the city. Besides, in the past two days, looking at the Qin army's equipment in Suiyang City, It’s almost exhausted!”
Lord Changping said to Xiang Yan, but when he thought of the snow falling outside, he couldn't help but frown, and was worried that the falling snow would delay the previously discussed plan.
"How many days will it take for the grain to arrive?"
Xiang Yan turned her head, looked at Xiang Liang and asked.
According to expectations, he should have arrived at the Chu army's camp. Why hasn't he seen the army's food and grass for so long?
"Father, I have ordered the scouts to go back and inquire!"
Xiang Liang handed over his report.
…………………………
Chu State Shouchun.
In Gongzi Qi's mansion, not far from a huge charcoal stove, on a couch covered with cashmere and satin, Gongzi Qi held the delicate Yan Meiren in his arms while enjoying the wine his concubine gave him.
How comfortable and pleasant it is to stay in the mansion on a snowy day!
"Sir, outside the mansion, Ying Kan wants to see you!"
A maid, with her head lowered, came to the room, knelt on the ground and reported to Xiong Qi.
Feeling the graceful figure of Yan Meiren, Xiong Qi looked at the maid in surprise when he heard the maid's words.
"Ying Kan?"
Xiong Qi frowned, then relaxed, and couldn't help but smile.
"It seems that Ying Zheng really values Bai Yan and actually asked Ying Kan to go to Chu as an envoy!"
After Xiong Qi finished speaking, he asked the maid to invite Ying Kan in.
After a while.
Under the leadership of the maid, Ying Kan, who was dressed in Chu official uniform, came to the room. When Xiong Qi saw Ying Kan, he quickly took out the hand that was on Yan Meiren, stood up and slowly saluted Ying Kan.
"Master Yingkan, disrespectful and disrespectful!!"
Xiong Qi saluted Ying Kan with a smile on his face.
Even though Yingkan was a prince of Chu, Xiong Qi had never thought of being a prince of Chu before King Chu You, let alone princes like Qin, Qi, Wei and other princes. Given the huge resources, in terms of temperament, it would be difficult to keep up with Xiong Qi's status in a short period of time.
This is why Xiong Qi, on the one hand, boasts that he will be a powerful king of Chu in the future. On the other hand, he is lustful and can agree to Bai Yan's many conditions. Since he was a child, he has not had the resources and entrustment of the prince of Chu, so he has not been in the Chu court very much. Having seen the world, it is naturally difficult to keep up with your vision.
"Ying Kan, meet the young master!"
Compared with Xiong Qi, Yingkan, as a member of the Qin clan, must be dignified and dignified. After the ceremony with Xiong Qi, he saw Xiong Qi's "please take a seat" gesture. After saluting again, he looked calm. He came to the guest seat beside him and knelt down.
"Right now, Qin and Chu are at war. I wonder why Mr. Ying came all the way to my country of Chu today?"
Xiong Qi naturally knew the purpose of Ying Kan's visit, but he still had to be polite. After seeing Ying Kan kneeling down and sitting down, Xiong Qi also turned around with a smile on his face, returned to the couch, and glanced at Yan Meiren next to him. , looked back at Yingkan.
"Yingkan is here this time to relieve the young master's worries!"
Ying Kan said with a smile.
Xiong Qi couldn't help but laugh.
"To relieve this young master's worries, Master Yingkan is not joking. What do I have to worry about?"
Xiong Qi looked at Ying Kan with a ridiculous expression on his face and chuckled.
"Now the State of Qin is at war with the State of Chu, and the State of Qin is defeated. Lord Changping betrays the State of Qin, causing the State of Qin to be completely defeated. However, the State of Qin is not invincible! That is, the young master led an army of 100,000 people from Chu, and defeated our Qin State General Bai Yan! Dare I ask you, Master, if this is the case?"
Ying Kan smiled and raised his hand, signaling Xiong Qi to answer the question.
Xiong Qi's face was a little gloomy, he looked at Ying Kan very unkindly, and took a deep breath.
"Did Lord Yingkan come here to ridicule me?"
Xiong Qi asked, the anger in his eyes was already unbearable, which also made Yan Meiren on the side look full of fear. Yan Meiren had also disobeyed Xiong Qi before, but what happened later made Yan Meiren , I never dared to anger Xiong Qi again.
"Everyone knows this, so why should Yingkan come here to ridicule the young master! Now that Qin has been defeated, Xiang Yan has won a great victory. He killed two hundred thousand of our Qin army, and besieged our Qin general Bai Yan in the east of Chu. This matter is unknown to the world. Everyone knows it!”
Ying Kan smiled indifferently and shook his head sarcastically.
Seeing Ying Kan's sarcasm, Xiong Qi's face became better, but Ying Kan's words once again touched the thorn in Xiong Qi's heart.
"Then Master Yingkan, how can you relieve this young master's worries?"
No matter how stupid Xiong Qi is, he still hears the implication of Ying Kan's words. Now everyone knows that Xiang Yan won a great victory, and everyone in Chu understands that it was General Xiang Yan who defeated Li Xin in a row and besieged Bai Yan. He, Xiong Qi, is only the one among everyone. laughing stock.
When Ying Kan heard Xiong Qi's question, the smile on his face slowly disappeared.
"Give me credit! As long as you convince the King of Chu and order Xiang Yan to withdraw his troops, our king is willing to send Anling, Yangxia, the six cities of Xiayang in Nanyang County, and the seven cities in Suixian County to Chu State, and as long as After our Qin State, General Bai Yan, led his troops to withdraw, all of Qufu and Pengcheng were returned to our Qin State. Can this relieve the young master's worries?"
Ying Kan just said it softly, looked at Xiong Qi with a confident face, and asked.
Xiong Qi was stunned when he heard Ying Kan's words and couldn't believe the conditions offered by Ying Zheng.
Even though he had been prepared, Xiong Qi was still shocked when he heard the conditions for Chu's withdrawal. Xiong Qi never expected that Ying Zheng would spend so much money to save Bai Yan.
These places are undoubtedly not important cities, and now they are all used to exchange for Chu's withdrawal of troops.
Xiong Qi's breathing became disordered at this time.
When I think about it, if Xiang Yan besieges Bai Yan to the east of Chu State again, his achievements are so outstanding that no one in Chu State can match them. And if he can get his father to come down and withdraw his troops, then in exchange for the credit of so many cities, , all thanks to him.
Thinking of this, Xiong Qi could no longer calm down.
In fact, Xiong Qi was not the only one who was not calm, so was Ying Kan. In the Xianyang Palace of Qin State, when Ying Kan, Li Si, Wei Liao and other ministers saw the conditions proposed by Ying Zheng with their own eyes, they were also dumbfounded. land.
No one can believe that in order to save Bai Yan, Ying Zheng and the Chu army under his command were willing to give so many cities to Chu.
Not to mention Li Si, Wei Liao and others were confused at that time, Ying Kan and Feng Quji also couldn't come back to their senses for a long time.
It was also from that time that everyone truly felt how determined Ying Zheng was to save Bai Yan, even at any cost.
"The State of Qin is generous, but it is as difficult as the sky to get my father to withdraw his troops!"
Although Xiong Qi was moved, he also knew how difficult it would be to get his father to order the withdrawal of troops.
"My father ascended the throne with the help of General Xiang Yan, General Jing Qi and others. My father has great faith in General Xiang Yan and others. If I, the young master, opened his mouth to persuade the king to withdraw his troops, I am afraid that my father... "
Xiong Qi was a little helpless and unwilling. He was more thoughtful and kept thinking of solutions.
If a different general had accomplished such a great feat, Xiong Qi would still be able to sow discord. However, facing the generals Xiang Yan and Jing Qi, Xiong Qi did not dare to mess around. This is why he had agreed to Bai Yan before and found a way to help Bai Yan. Yan, but did not dare to say anything, asked Xiang Yan to withdraw his troops.
It's not that Xiang Yan doesn't want to withdraw his troops, but Xiong Qi simply can't do it! ! !
Just like now, all Xiong Qi can do is to try every means to send as much food and grass as possible to the Chu army, but Xiong Qi will not dare not to send it.
"My king also knows that the young master is in trouble, so my king also told him that as long as the young master can persuade other noble clans to withdraw their troops, my king will privately give Tao Yi and Suiyang to the young master!"
Ying Kan looked at Xiong Qi's helpless look, thought for a while, and said to Xiong Qi.
Now even Xiong Qi doubted whether his ears had heard it wrong. He raised his head and looked at Ying Kan, Tao Yi and Suiyang in shock! ! !
Ying Zheng is determined to save Bai Yan!
the other side.
While the young master Xiong Qi was discussing with Ying Kan at the mansion, suddenly billowing smoke was lit from the Shouchun granary in Shouchun City. Men with swords appeared from nowhere and, with the cooperation of the internal agents, killed After guarding, a fire was set on fire to light all the food and grass stored in the city.
Countless thick plumes of smoke were floating in the sky, and all the Chu people on the streets could see it.
When the generals of the Chu army led the city defenders to arrive, they faced the thieves who tried their best to stop them. After finally killing all the thieves, they looked at the corpses of men on the ground and saw thick smoke pouring out of each house. Everyone panicked. .
"Quickly put out the fire!!!"
"quick!!"
Under the angry shouts of the Chu army generals, countless Chu soldiers put out the fire in panic.
No matter whether it was the Chu soldiers who put out the fire or the Chu officials who had just learned the news in the palace of the King of Chu, no one knew yet that the burning of the Shouchun granary was just the beginning.
(End of chapter)
