The first volume of pearl curtains rolls up the western mountain rain at dusk Chapter 67: Obsessed
Life in Jizhou City is still very peaceful. People seem to live in a solid fortress and don't have to care about what happens outside the fortress.
In the summer of the 31st year of Renshou in the Great Chu Dynasty, when the wheat was just about to be harvested, bandits broke into Tang County under the jurisdiction of Jizhou, plundered food and supplies, and killed countless people.
The county seat of Tang County was burned down and countless people were displaced.
It was at this time that the first order issued by Jiedushi Zeng Ling was not to suppress the rebellion, but to temporarily close all the gates of Jizhou City and prevent refugees from entering the city.
As long as those refugees who are ragged and have no food do not enter the city, Jizhou City will remain prosperous and peaceful.
The people in the city didn't think it was a big deal. It was certainly a good thing for them that the refugees didn't come in. There was a granary in Jizhou City. It was said that the grain stored in the granary was enough for the people in the city to use for decades. As long as they didn't give it to the refugees, the people in Jizhou City would have enough to survive.
Jizhou City is very large, with all kinds of businesses. Jiedushi Zeng Ling summoned his officials to discuss and deduce. They determined that as long as Jizhou City was fine, the city would have enough supplies to be self-sufficient.
As for those refugees, they are waiting outside for the city gates to open. They wait for three to five days and still don't leave. What about waiting for eight to ten days and still don't leave?
After the refugees leave, Jizhou will open the city gates as if nothing had happened.
This is the current situation of Da Chu, not just in Jizhou, but in many places.
The situation would be slightly better further south, after all, as it was close to the capital. The soldiers of the Great Chu were powerful, and the bandits, who had not yet formed a force of hundreds of thousands, did not dare to fight against them. But this did not prevent them from coming and going like a plague of locusts.
Li Diudiu continued to live his own life. He had no way of seeing the chaos outside the city. The only ones who could see that the outside of the city was full of refugees were the defenders on the city wall.
However, the defenders received strict orders not to talk about the fact that many people had starved to death outside the city, and anyone who told the story would be dealt with according to military law.
However, military orders are military orders. When the defending soldiers know what has happened, they will inevitably say a few words to their relatives and families, reminding them that it is better to buy more food for preparation. They can ignore other things for the time being, but they cannot ignore the food.
As a result, the grain stores in the city suddenly became busy. At first, the business owners of the grain stores were unable to react, but later, people kept buying large quantities of grain for several days in a row, which made their sense of smell become more acute.
As a result, the price of food began to increase, and life became difficult for the people in the city.
This was beyond the expectations of the Jiedushi.
Jiedushi Mansion.
Zeng Ling looked at his men with a grim face. A group of civil servants on the left had some gloating on their faces. After all, these things seemed to have nothing to do with them. It was said that the news was spread by the soldiers.
The generals on the right had extremely ugly expressions on their faces. Zeng Ling's scolding just now made them feel helpless and aggrieved, but they dared not say it out loud.
The civil officials all looked ugly, but could they defend the city? It was still the soldiers who had to do it.
"I am announcing a few things, which will be carried out immediately."
Zeng Ling stood up and said as he walked: "The first thing to do is to stabilize the people's hearts in Jizhou City as soon as possible. Anyone who hoards grain will be killed without mercy. Anyone who raises the price in the grain store will also be killed without mercy, and all their property will be confiscated."
"The second thing is, if you want to make the people in the city no longer panic, you have to let them find something to do. Among the many wealthy families in the city, if anyone has something going on, whether it's a birthday or a celebration, find a troupe to set up a stage in the street to perform , and let the people watch at will. If anyone disobeys, their property will be confiscated."
"Third, all restaurants, teahouses, casinos, and brothels in the city must operate as usual. No business can be closed, no one can leave Jizhou, and no price increase is allowed, otherwise all property will be confiscated."
"Fourth, use 200 carts to load the grain from the granary, pull it out, drive it through the streets of the city, and then return it to the granary, claiming that it is summer grain that has just been delivered from outside the city to be stored."
After saying this, Zeng Ling looked at Gao Shaowei, the dean of the Four Pages Academy, who had been sitting on the side without saying a word.
"Mr. Gao, the academy's field holiday is about to end. When you go back, ask the teachers to explain things to the students after they return. Don't stir up trouble. They are all scholars, and the influence of scholars is too great."
Gao Shaowei quickly leaned forward and said, "Don't worry, Jiedushi, I will make arrangements."
Zeng Ling hummed and asked, "Does anyone have any other ideas?"
Lian Gongming, the governor of Jizhou Prefecture, stood up and said, "Last year, the court issued a notice that this year is His Majesty's sixtieth birthday, and all localities will hold grand celebrations for His Majesty. It's less than a month away."
Zeng Ling nodded: "Well, I have already sent people to make arrangements... Since Lord Lian mentioned it, let's make the scale we decided on bigger and repaint all the streets of Jizhou City. Let the whole city be covered in red and colorful."
He paused for a moment and continued, "I think Jizhou Prefecture can take out a special fund to recruit a large number of civilian workers to repair the streets in the city and purchase and arrange colorful strips and flags. This will also provide a place for a large number of people who are temporarily out of work."
Lian Gongming cursed in his heart, but still leaned forward and said obediently: "After I go back, I will discuss a detailed proposal with the people in the government office and then give it to you for your decision."
"You don't have to give me the proposal."
Zeng Ling waved his hand and said, "You make the decision."
In this way, a group of bigwigs decided to decorate Jizhou City with red and colorful decorations after Tang County was breached by bandits, so that the people of Jizhou City could celebrate the birthday of His Majesty the Emperor of Great Chu who was far away in the capital.
There are starving people everywhere outside the city, but inside the city, there will soon be noise of gongs and drums.
Four Pages Academy.
Li Diudiu would practice the Breaking Formation Sword technique over and over again in Mr. Yan's courtyard every morning. His arm has gotten much better now. Perhaps because he eats a lot, his recovery is much faster than that of ordinary people.
It is said that it takes a hundred days to heal a broken bone, but his arm looked uninjured in just one month, so of course he didn't dare to put any stress on it.
He had already mastered the sword technique of breaking formations, and Yan Qingzhi spent twenty days, based on his memory, sorting out the military books that his parents had taught him.
Xiahou Zhuo was not here today, so he took it out and gave it to Li Diudiu.
"I wrote down this book of military tactics based on what my father had said. It contains all the battles that General Xu Qulu had fought. My father could describe every major battle in detail..."
Yan Qingzhi paused for a moment, a hint of sadness flashing in his eyes.
He is the only son in the family. His ancestor was a captain of Xu Qulu's personal guard, but he has never married and had children. He cannot tell his descendants about the things about General Xu Qulu. Fortunately, he can tell Li Diudiu.
"Remember this military book. You are not allowed to tell anyone about it. Not even Xiahou Zhuo. Reading a military book privately is a serious crime. What I wrote is even more of a serious crime."
Yan Qingzhi gave a few serious instructions, and Li Diudiu nodded quickly. He ran to the steps and sat down, reading it in fascination.
His master Taoist Changmei taught him to read and write since he was three or four years old, but what he taught was too diverse. Li Diudiu was most obsessed with these battle examples, but Changmei didn't know much after all, and what he knew was all hearsay, and most of it was mysterious.
The military book compiled by Yan Qingzhi now contains all real battle examples from that time, and there are many classic battles where the outnumbered side won.
General Xu Qulu had an incomparable legendary life. He pacified the northern border and the western regions, and many times he turned the tide when others thought they were doomed to fail.
Li Diudiu read word by word, afraid of missing a word, as if missing a word would be like losing a treasure.
He was sitting there reading a book, so Yan Qingzhi pulled a rattan chair to the door and sat down, watching over Li Diudiu so that no one would be discovered.
It was not until noon that Yan Qingzhi stood up, stretched his arms, and said, "Li Chi, let's go, it's time to eat."
Li Diudiu ignored it, as if he didn't hear it at all.
Yan Qingzhi found it a little unbelievable that even the word "eat" couldn't make Li Diudiu react?
"Li Chi, it's time to go eat."
Yan Qingzhi said one more sentence.
But Li Diudiu still didn't react. At this moment, a magnificent scene was already extremely clear in Li Diudiu's mind.
On a high slope of the grassland, General Xu Qulu held up his telescope and looked at the mighty enemy army coming from afar, but his face was calm as usual.
He had 8,000 cavalrymen under his command, and he had sent a large group of troops out to make a detour and attack the enemy's rear. Only 8,000 men were left with him, and on the opposite side were 60,000 elite cavalrymen who came for a decisive battle.
"The Organ River."
Xu Qulu pointed to the winding river in front of him. The river was like a giant python, with twists and turns.
Xu Qulu put down his clairvoyance, smiled, and asked his generals, "I want to surround the enemy's 60,000 cavalry with 8,000 light cavalry. What do you think?"
All his men were confused. This was simply impossible. How could eight thousand cavalrymen surround sixty thousand cavalrymen?
The scene in Li Diudiu's mind was extremely real. He seemed to have heard Xu Qulu say this, so he continued to talk to himself: "Although the enemy army is large in number, they have committed a big mistake. Their cavalry came along the river, and the river is so tortuous that it forms semicircles one by one."
"Later, I will personally lead the army to attack from the flank. The enemy's side is the Organ River. They will be squeezed to the riverside and trapped in those semicircles. Those are pockets..."
As soon as Li Diudiu said this, Yan Qingyi snatched the book from his hand.
"Li Chi!"
Yan Qingzhi shouted.
Li Diudiu looked up at Yan Qingzhi blankly and asked in confusion, "What's wrong, sir? Why are you stealing books?"
Yan Qingzhi said: "I called you five or six times but you didn't respond. I was afraid that if you continued watching, you would go crazy and sit there talking to yourself..."
But what surprised Yan Qingzhi even more was that when Li Diudiu was sitting there reading, he had not yet seen how General Xu Qulu arranged things, but the words he muttered to himself were almost word for word the words Yan Qingzhi wrote down based on what his father said!
In that battle, General Xu Qulu relied on the terrain to win a great victory. His 8,000 light cavalry defeated 60,000 enemies, and he used an encirclement tactic.
If you haven't seen this kind of thing with your own eyes, no one may believe it even if you tell it. However, Li Diudiu hadn't seen what happened later, but he had already described clearly how Xu Qulu deployed his troops.
"how could be."
Li Diudiu smiled and said, "I won't go crazy."
Yan Qingzhi shook his head: "I will confiscate the book for now and return it to you in the evening. Now come with me to eat. Aren't you going to Yunzhai Teahouse in the afternoon?"
Li Diudiu looked up at the sun and realized that it was already noon.
"The semicircles formed by the river are pockets, and the cavalry of the Great Chu are the ropes that tie the pockets. The enemies are all trapped in the pockets, some are shot to death, and some are forced into the river and drowned ..."
Li Diudiu let out a long breath: "This battle was fought beautifully!"
Yan Qingzhi sighed: "Sure enough, he has gone astray."
