Shuiji Town, Dongzhou.
This is a small town in the south of Dongzhou.
At this time, it had been occupied by Xiazhou's troops.
The first thing Xiazhou's troops did when they invaded this place was to search everywhere for food and drink. Although they had been fighting steadily in recent times, their logistics could not keep up.
At the beginning, Xiazhou could still send some food, but later it became miserable. The number of meals for Xiazhou's men and horses was reduced from three meals a day to two, and now it is one meal a day.
The reason for fighting steadily is that there is really no extra strength to rush forward.
This is still a small resistance, and they can barely defeat it with the number of people, but it is estimated that if they encounter some main forces, it will be difficult to do so.
Besides food, the biggest problem was the lack of money.
For these soldiers, they are all there to make money. Without military pay, you will get nothing!
Those who don't have enough to eat can just let people go out and plunder, and they won't starve to death. But the money is hard to say. Those in the front can still loot a little bit, and those in the back basically don't even have a copper.
"Marquis Su Jun, it's not okay to go on like this. These people under my command are simply too difficult to manage. When they don't have food to eat, they complain all day long about the problem of food."
"With great difficulty, we robbed several wealthy households in the town and obtained food. We were barely able to eat enough, and then they started complaining about military pay."
"Do you think this emperor has forgotten us?"
A village chief came in and said.
Although he was complaining to the Marquis about the soldiers' problems, his tone made him very dissatisfied.
"well……"
"You came just in time. I have been worried about this matter recently."
"If we continue to attack further north, I'm afraid it's better to stay here. After all, we can still have food here and shelter from the wind, so we can live a more comfortable life."
"Who knows if we can encounter those Dongzhou troops ahead? If we encounter them, we still don't know who will kill whom!"
The Su Junhou sighed and said.
"But the problem is, if we stay here, it will be fine for food and drink, but if we don't send military pay later, it will be very troublesome for us."
"Going forward, we might be able to find more or less money."
"Although it's not much, at least I can get some in turn."
"This is really inconsistent and makes me worried to death."
The village chief also said helplessly.
While the two were talking, they suddenly heard a loud noise outside.
"what happened?"
"Is this starting to turn against you?"
"Let's go out and take a look!"
Su Junhou stood up very dissatisfied and walked out.
As soon as the two people walked out, they saw many soldiers walking in surrounded by a carriage.
"what's the situation?"
"Who is this person? Why were you brought in directly?"
"Do you still have some military discipline?"
Su Junhou asked his men.
"Marquis!"
"Look!"
A soldier excitedly opened the canvas on the carriage, and there was a pile of white silver on the carriage, which was dazzlingly white.
"What...what's going on?"
Su Junhou was a little confused.
"Your Majesty, Zheng Baoyan Zhuang Tuohai, has followed the order of our shopkeeper and came here to pay a visit to you on behalf of our Dongzhou Chamber of Commerce!"
"These are the thoughts of our Zhengbao Salt Village."
A middle-aged man stepped forward and said.
"oh?"
"A businessman from Dongzhou?"
"What are you sending so much money for?!"
Su Junhou asked Tuo Dahai.
"General, we are just businessmen and people in Dongzhou. We have lived in Dongzhou for generations. As for whether Dongzhou is Daxia or Dawei, it doesn't matter to us."
"But every time there is a war, many of us are accidentally injured, and the salt road is also broken."
"I have the courage to come here on behalf of the people of Dongzhou to ask the general to withdraw his troops."
"As long as the general retreats, I will try my best to send silver and food as soon as possible."
Tuo Dahai raised his hands and said to Su Junhou.
"oh?"
"retreat?!"
"Haha, you are so bold!"
"This is my military camp. If you just come in like this, aren't you afraid that I will kill you?"
Su Junhou said coldly.
"If you want to kill me, with Su Junhou's ability, it's just as simple as moving your fingers."
"But if I die, Su Junhou and the many soldiers under his command will not only lose more money and food, but they will also have to face a life-and-death battle later. To be honest, there are many soldiers and horses ambushing in the north. I’m afraid the general also doesn’t want to see any accidents happen to his soldiers, right?”
"General, you are a smart man. You can naturally think clearly about the pros and cons of this without me having to tell you."
"That's why I came to talk to the general."
Tuo Dahai was not afraid at all and slowly said to Su Junhou.
"Haha, you are brave. In this case, sit inside the house!"
"I'd like to hear what you have to say!"
"Here comes someone!"
"Then these silver coins will be distributed to me according to each person's military pay!"
"Send me the extra ones!"
Su Junhou said to the village chief just now.
Now almost half of the people in the barracks have gathered around, knowing that there is money now, and if they don't give it out, it will probably cause a mutiny immediately.
In the big account.
"We still say what we said, as long as the general withdraws his troops, all the silver, grain and grass will be sent to him."
"I just hope that the general can sympathize with the hard work of the people like us and save us from military disasters. Of course, we will prepare a generous gift for you, general!"
Tuo Dahai said to Su Junhou.
"withdraw troops?"
"This is absolutely impossible. Although I am leading the troops to fight alone now, all parties are watching. And where can I withdraw my troops to?"
"Wouldn't we become deserters when we go back? We won't be able to escape death by then."
"You'd better not think about it."
Su Junhou refused without hesitation.
"but……"
Seeing Tuo Dahai's expression change in front of him, Su Junhou quickly spoke in a low voice.
"Now that we have reached here, we can take a break for a while. After all, many of our soldiers have been unwell recently."
Su Junhou said to Tuo Dahai.
"oh?"
"Feeling unwell?"
"Of course, you need to rest. In this way, after I go back, I will tell the shopkeeper that when the money and food are sent next time, I will send some herbs to the general."
When Tuo Dahai heard this, he immediately became happy.
Unexpectedly, this matter was simpler than imagined.
"Haha, if that's the case, I'll leave it to you!"
"Actually, in the final analysis, we are just errands. There is nothing we can do if there are orders from above."
"We are also good people and we don't want to attack our fellow citizens."
Su Junhou said with a smile.
"That's that!"
"In that case, I will hurry up and go back to make preparations without disturbing the general."
Tuo Dahai smiled slightly and stood up to say goodbye.
