Anti-Qing: Starting from the Jintian Uprising

Chapter 35 Li Yi's Little Gift
Now the only army of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom deployed on the right bank of Caicun River is Hu Yihuang's unit, and Hu Yihuang's unit had just been defeated by Zhou Fengqi.

They hoped that they would pursue the retreating Zhou Fengqi and expand the results of the battle.

Even if it is not wishful thinking, it is at least a daydream.

As for sending reinforcements from the left bank of Caicun River?
Well, why do you think Iktambu didn't cross the river after his defeat?

Don't you want to?

of course not!

Isn’t it because the Caicun River Bridge was blown up by the God Worshipping Society? !

After the bridge was blown up, not only was Iktanbu blocked on the left side of the river and unable to cross it, but the main force of the God Worshipping Society was also blocked on the left bank of the Caicun River.

They could only watch Zhou Fengqi lead his troops to leisurely withdraw from the battlefield.

Even though I'm unwilling, there's no other way!

……

At the same time, Xunzhou City.

Li Yi spoke as he ordered his men to count their gains in the Xunzhou treasury.

"Hurry up, everyone. After counting the spoils, we should leave the city as soon as possible."

"Xunzhou is not a place to stay for long!"

Wang An also nodded and said.

"What the brigade commander said makes sense. Our army was able to capture Xunzhou by surprise. It was a stroke of luck. We took advantage of the weak defense of Xunzhou City."

"Once the Qing army returns to support Xunzhou, it will be beyond our ability to handle with our thin arms and legs."

"Retreat as soon as possible!"

"Otherwise, if we are blocked by the Qing army in Xunzhou City, things will be troublesome!"

Everyone nodded in agreement.

At this moment, Ye Zhisheng came to Li Yi and started reporting.

"Commander-in-Chief, we have captured quite a lot of spoils this time."

"With just a few hundred of us, I'm afraid we can't transport it away."

Due to the recent tense situation in Guangxi, the Qing government did not just dispatch troops to Xunzhou.

A lot of food, fodder, weapons, salaries and other supplies needed for the army's operations were also transported.

Then, they were all wiped out by Li Yi.

The exact number has not yet been determined.

Hearing this, Li Yi turned around and asked.

"Have you counted the spoils? How many are there?"

Ye Zhisheng shook his head.

"To reply to the Brigade Commander, the amount of spoils captured in this battle is really too much. We haven't finished counting yet. We only have a rough number now."

Li Yi nodded.

"Talk about it!"

Ye Zhisheng nodded, recalled briefly, and then spoke.

"After our army broke through the city in this battle, we immediately took control of the government storehouse and granary, as well as the training ground and arsenal in Xunzhou City."

"In total, we seized 12,000 taels of silver, more than 8,000 dan of grain and grass, more than 500 muskets, 12 large and small cannons, and about 100,000 kilograms of gunpowder. In addition, there were also cloth, medicinal materials, copper coins and other supplies. The amount was huge."

After Ye Zhisheng finished speaking, Li Yi stroked his chin and fell into deep thought.

The supplies they seized this time were indeed huge, and it was obviously not an easy task to transport all of them back to Lijiazhuang.

Just as Li Yi was thinking, Fan Xiyuan on the side spoke.

"Master, I have a method that might work!"

Upon hearing this, Li Yi turned his gaze towards the former advisor of the Xunzhou prefect.

Then he said, "Master Fan, please speak!"

After Xunzhou City was captured, Li Yi led his troops directly to the prefectural yamen. Xunzhou prefect Cai Bingwen managed to escape under the protection of yamen runners.

But in the chaos, Master Fan Xiyuan was abandoned as a pawn, and then he fell into Li Yi's hands.

In order to save his life, Fan Xiyuan decisively broke up with his scumbag ex-boyfriend who "flew away when disaster struck" and looked for a new love.

He took the initiative to surrender to Li Yi!
Naturally, there was no reason for Li Yi to refuse this.

Fan Xiyuan smiled and said.

"What the brigade commander is worried about now is that there are too many seized materials, but our army has limited manpower and cannot transport them away."

"But the bulk of these supplies are nothing more than food."

Upon hearing this, Li Yi showed a thoughtful expression on his face, and Fan Xiyuan continued.

"So, the students' opinion is that we can use these grains as bargaining chips to let the people of Xunzhou help us transport supplies."

"Take food as an example. For example, if someone can help us transport 100 kilograms of food to the ferry outside the city, they can get 20 kilograms of food as a reward."

"If anyone can help us transport the grain to Lijiazhuang, the person who transports the grain will receive 50 kilograms of grain as a reward."

"In this way, most of the supplies seized by the brigade commander in Xunzhou can be transported away."

"And the price is nothing more than taking out a portion of the food as a reward."

"And if these grains are not taken out, there is a high probability that they will not be transported away in the end."

The supplies they seized this time were really too much. If they really couldn't transport them all, they would have to make choices and discard some of the food that was the largest in quantity, the heaviest in weight, and the most difficult to transport.

Although food is very important in troubled times, as long as a person is not starving, if a thousand kilograms of food and a thousand kilograms of silver are placed in front of you, which one would you choose?
Silver is definitely the first choice!
Not to mention that Li Yi also has a golden finger that can maximize the profits from these silver.

Upon hearing this, Li Yi looked at Fan Xiyuan with approval, marveling in his heart that this prefect's advisor was indeed quite something, and then nodded and said.

"Master Fan is right."

"Let's arrange it this way. This matter will be handled by Master Fan."

Li Yi agreed to Fan Xiyuan's method without much hesitation.

One reason is that Fan Xiyuan’s suggestion was good, but apart from that, Li Yi had no other way to transport these supplies.

The second reason is Li Yi's sympathy for the people of Xunzhou.

Recently, natural disasters have occurred frequently in Guangxi, resulting in a massive reduction in grain production, and every household has been tightening their belts to make ends meet.

Li Yi thought that if he did this, perhaps the people of Xunzhou who received the food could have a good New Year.

In this way, he can be regarded as taking care of the people in his hometown!

Anyway, if there was no help from the elders in his hometown, he would definitely not be able to transport the food.

The reason why Fan Xiyuan was asked to arrange it was because Fan Xiyuan used to be the legal advisor of the prefect of Xunzhou.

He is very familiar with Xunzhou, so asking him to make the arrangements will definitely be more efficient than Li Yi trying to figure things out on his own without any clues.

Furthermore, Li Yi also needs to use this opportunity to test Fan Xiyuan to see whether he is truly loyal to him or is just pretending to be loyal to him in order to save his life.

Or maybe he was sent undercover...

Upon hearing this, Fan Xiyuan immediately clasped his fists, accepted the order, and turned around to do it.

After Fan Xiyuan left, Li Yi called Chen Yucheng again and started to make arrangements.

"Yucheng, we seized a lot of gunpowder in Xunzhou this time, and there were also several people who committed suicide by firing their own steel wheels."

"I was thinking whether I should leave a small gift for Qing Yao..."

Upon hearing this, Chen Yucheng asked with obvious surprise on his face.

"What does the brigade commander mean?"

……

PS: Please collect, read and vote for me.

It is really important to follow up on the data during the period of publishing a new book.

(End of this chapter)