Chinese New Year

Chapter 517 Ye

The clerk hurried into Tao Mansion with a manifesto.

Tao Bao had just returned from the military meeting at Santai. When he saw the proclamation handed over by the clerk, he said, "Read it to me."

The clerk looked around.

Tao Bao understood, took him to the bedroom, and said, "You can read now."

"Jin has inherited the favor of heaven and shouldered the grand plan of two generations..." The clerk picked up the manifesto and read it word by word.

"I don't understand." Tao Bao blinked and said.

The clerk was stunned for a moment, then he explained it in detail, and Tao Bao finally understood.

In fact, he could recognize some words, but not many. Not to mention he knew anything about literary allusions. He understood six out of seven.

He recognized at least one-third of the words in the manifesto, but he couldn't understand them when they were put together, so he had to rely on others to explain them to him.

"How did you get it?" Tao Bao looked at the clerk and asked.

The clerk felt uncomfortable being stared at, and quickly said, "It was found by a soldier who was out collecting firewood. He put it inside his clothes and brought it into the city. I found it by chance."

Tao Bao has a low level of education, but he is not stupid. He knows that what the petty official said is problematic. But how long has Da Hu been in Hebei? People's hearts are not attached to him. That's how it is. There are too many people who are half-hearted.

The petty official might not necessarily want to rebel, it might just be that he had some vague thoughts in his mind.

The human heart is the most unpredictable. For someone like him, is he really willing to fight to the death for Da Hu? He didn't dare to face this question directly.

"Is there anyone in the city who is copying it?" Tao Bao asked again.

“Maybe.”

Tao Bao waved his hand and asked everyone to leave. He then sat quietly for a while, thinking about his future.

Da Hu was grateful to him.

Their military and political group, with the civil officials mainly from Jin, and the military generals mainly from the Eighteen Riders, including Wuhuan (Wang Yang), Tianzhu (Kui An, Guo Heilue), Yuezhi (Zhi Xiong, Zhi Quliu), Tuge Xiongnu (Liu Ying, Liu Bao, Guo Ao), Qiangqu Xiongnu (Zhang Yupu, Zhang Yue), descendants of Southern Xiongnu nobles (Zhao Lu, Hu Yanmo), Jin people (Liu Zheng)...

The rest, including him, were Jie people.

It is said that the Great Hu has no prejudices or views on race. Indeed, he does not have such prejudices in his daily words and deeds, but when it comes to a life-and-death moment, what do you think?

During the Northern Expedition to Youzhou, there was a "Xiongnu" tribe in Wang Jun's territory. This tribe had more than 10,000 tribes and 70,000 to 80,000 people, most of whom were Jie people. They actively responded to the Dahu, while other people in the tribe, such as the real Xiongnu, Wuhuan, Xianbei, etc., did not make much movement and were not very active.

He was able to become the prefect of Weijun County, actually he surpassed several people who were more qualified than him. Who knows what Da Hu thought?

In short, he was grateful to Da Hu in his heart, but...

He picked up the manifesto again and looked at it. Finally, he sighed and burned it.

As it was getting dark, I got up and went to the kitchen, where I sat down to eat.

While eating, I was thinking about things.

There was endless arguing at the military meeting today, and in the end it was Da Hu Qiankun who made the decision to fight a big battle with Shao Xun.

The reason is actually not complicated. There is not much food in the city. Despite repeated efforts to raise food, it is only enough to meet the needs of three months.

What if Shao Xun besieges you for three months?
How can you guarantee that he won't do that?

By then, trenches will be dug and earth walls will be built outside the city, making it very difficult to break out.

Once the decision is made to hold on, life and death will be in the hands of others.

Shao Xun would not let go of such an opportunity. Even if he had to sell everything he had and get into a few women's crotches and lick them until they were satisfied, he would definitely raise money and food and fight the big Hu to the end.

No one dared to besiege Yecheng, and Tao Bao did not agree.

So is it feasible to take the initiative and fight Shao Xun between Anyang and Yecheng?
Half of the people agreed with this strategy, while half disagreed because some people thought of the Battle of Mustang Hill.

The most popular idea was to fight against the Jin army outside the city, relying on the city.

The advantage of doing this is that if you fail, you can retreat back to the city and avoid being wiped out.

The strategy was decided, and there was actually no suspense at all, because Shao Ze didn't give you any choice.

After dinner, his wife Zhang came over with a hesitant look on her face, as if she wanted to say something but didn't dare to.

"Why are you hesitating?" Tao Bao gave her a look of annoyance and scolded.

"Husband, do you want to send the children out of the city first?" Zhang suggested.

"Huh?" Tao Bao was startled and said, "The general has issued a clear order that no one is allowed to leave the city without orders from above. How can we leave?"

"You can bribe the soldiers." Zhang whispered, "Many people have sent their families away."

Tao Bao was surprised.

After Da Hu came back, the soldiers guarding the gates were replaced by his men. Most of them were soldiers scattered in Wei, Zhao, Yangping, Julu, Changshan and other counties. After being recruited by Da Hu, they naturally took over the city defense. After all, they had a large number of people, no less than 30,000.

Speaking of the total military strength of Yecheng, it was actually not that large, with a total of about 50,000 infantry and cavalry.

Theoretically, the infantry of the Hu tribe that had been given land was no less than 70,000, and with a large number of tribal soldiers who had been given grassland and farmland, it would not be a problem to gather 100,000 infantry and cavalry. But at the critical moment, only half of them could be mobilized.

With these 50,000 men, they could fight against the Jin army of more than 70,000 men. If they only defended the city, it would be as stable as a rock. The problem was that they couldn't defend the city and could only go out to fight. There was nothing they could do.

It was surprising to hear that many people had sent their families away, but he didn't know about it and had to go through his wife to find out the inside story, which made him feel uncomfortable and isolated. "What are you sending?" Tao Bao was unhappy and retorted to his wife, then went to the study and asked the clerk in the mansion to tell him history.

The concubine brought some dried fruit snacks. Just as she was about to leave, Tao Bao called her back.

"Where did you two sisters go today?" he asked.

"I went to Chengshi Pagoda." The concubine replied.

Tao Bao glanced at them and nodded slightly.

The two sisters were natives of Yecheng. Due to the war, their family was extremely poor and they depended on their grandfather for support.

When Tao Bao first entered Yecheng, he was attracted by the beauty of the two sisters and took them into his mansion as concubines.

His wife, Zhang, was the daughter of the chief of the Wuhuan. She was not pretty, and he married her only for her future. However, his two concubines were his favorites, and they gave birth to three children for him over the years.

"The Jin army is coming to Bocheng. Are you afraid?" Tao Bao asked.

"I won't be afraid if I follow you."

"What if we lose?"

"I will die together with my lover, but it's a pity for our children." Having said this, the concubine wiped her tears with the back of her hand.

As the winner, how will you deal with the loser's family?

One of them was to slaughter them all at once.

There is no such thing as a misfortune that does not affect your family members these days. Not only will your family members be killed, but one, two, or three members of your clan will also be exterminated.

The second is to kill the males and confiscate their wives and daughters into the government's possession.

To put it bluntly, all adult men were killed and women were used as slaves. Some were even more perverted, and boys were castrated and used as eunuchs.

Anyway, there is no way they will have a good ending, especially for women. To be accepted into the harem by Emperor Wu Sima Yan like the concubines of Wu Wang Sun Hao is already a great honor. It is more likely that they will become slaves, doing all kinds of chores, and being abused day and night by the people in charge.

Therefore, if a woman in troubled times becomes a loser, she might as well die. But if you don't have the courage to die, you must be mentally prepared.

When Tao Bao heard what his concubine said, he remained silent.

******
Outside Santai and inside Yecheng, people were in panic at this time.

Ordinary people, even middle and lower-level officials and officers, have limited information channels, but they are cunning in their own way and prefer to gather news (rumors).

They didn't know how the battle was going on the front line, they only knew that Shao Xun was advancing towards Yecheng step by step.

In May we were still in Fangtou, and in June we had already reached Huangchi.

Now it is mid-July and the manifesto has been copied into Yecheng. What do you think of the war situation?

Da Hu kept talking about how he won, and everyone believed him at first, but now they are skeptical.

For example, today, a cavalry came back from the south, saying that they raided the Jin army's grain team near the Qi River and beheaded more than 800 Ding Zhuang in Luonan. This is actually true, but no one believes it anymore.

You always win battles like this. Why can the Jin army still break through Anyang and go straight to Yecheng? What happened? Can you explain it?
Ordinary people have no concept of tactical victory or strategic victory. They only know that if they win the battle and gain an advantage, the enemy should retreat. However, the development of the war situation is obviously different from what they see.

People are in panic and suspicious of each other, this is what it means.

When Shi Le led his troops to patrol the city, he saw rumors flying everywhere and the people were hesitant. Without any hesitation, he ordered the arrest and killing of those who spread the rumors on the spot, and hung their heads on various places on the city walls as a warning to others.

Zhang Bin followed behind him and spoke less and less, sometimes even for an hour or two without saying a word.

The officers were also worried and gloomy.

When Shi Le saw this, he felt as uncomfortable as if he had eaten a fly.

The war situation brought heavy pressure.

You can't liven up the atmosphere by just saying a few witty remarks, nor can you boost morale by making some grand speeches.

Fortunately, these trusted officers and generals had a close relationship with him, and their friendship started from humble beginnings, so it was extraordinary. Although everyone was worried, they would not surrender to the enemy directly.

The best way to get out of this predicament is actually to win.

That is, defeating Shao Xun head-on, even if it is just a victory in a small-scale battle, can greatly change everyone's morale.

"Shao Xun has brought his army here, but I don't know who will lead the vanguard." Shi Le said, "I intend to select brave and sharp men to blunt their attack and demoralize them. What do you think?"

Kong Tuan, who was deep in thought, heard this and immediately asked, "How are you going to fight, my king?"

"Let's go over there and discuss it." Shi Le pointed to the corner of the city wall and said.

Everyone followed suit.

Shi Le sat down directly on the ground, and everyone followed suit.

Shi Le pondered for a while and said, "At this critical moment of life and death, we should work together to overcome the difficulties. I have sent people to count the family property and decided to spend some money to recruit strong men to give Shao Xun a head start."

"The first battle is crucial. Shao Xun can lose, but I can't. So I invite you to discuss and find out the gaps and make up for them."

"The battlefield is set here, I want to..."

(End of this chapter)