Chapter 236 Building high-rise buildings and private meetings of wealthy families
In the Han army's camp facing two thousand Wei cavalry, Zhao Tong and Guan Xing, who were in charge of guarding the camp, listened to the insults from the outsiders. The two of them were constantly reciting formulas.
"The world knows that the Han army is mighty, but the Wei army outside is bullshit.
Getting angry over bullshit, why bother in retrospect?
A gentleman's measure is the same as heaven and earth, and both good and bad things are included in it.
Don’t be angry, don’t be angry, really don’t be angry, keep the general’s formula in mind.
As long as I can do it, I can find someone to replace the military stick."
These two generals were trying to suppress their inner anger by using the formula created by Mi Yang.
After all, how could the victorious army not be angry when being scolded by the Wei army outside?
While he was reciting the mantra repeatedly, Guan Xing seemed to be unable to hold back the anger in his heart and was about to go out with his spear in hand.
But at this time, Zhao Tong's words reached Guan Xing's ears: "I heard that Chengyuan's buttocks are rotten."
After hearing Zhao Tong's words, Guan Xing immediately put down his spear and returned to his original position to sit down.
Sima Yi was right. After the great victory, the Han army was proud and underestimated the enemy.
Under this kind of mentality, let alone Guan Xing, even Zhao Tong, who has always been calm and calm, might not be able to help but leave the camp to fight under the scolding of the Wei army.
But unfortunately, the Han army's pride and underestimation of the enemy gradually disappeared under Mi Yang's punishment of thirty army sticks on Ding Feng.
After Guan Xing sat down, although he no longer wanted to go out to fight, there was still an angry look on his face.
So he thought of finding a topic to distract himself.
Guan Xing asked Zhao Tong: "Did your Majesty receive the battle report?"
Facing Guan Xing's inquiry, Zhao Tong stopped reciting the No-Qi Jue.
Zhao Tong looked at Guan Xing with an expectant look on his face and replied: "It should be within the next few days."
"As long as our army wins this battle and successfully reorganizes the army, the king will no longer be called the king."
After listening to Zhao Tong's judgment, Guan Xing's face showed excitement.
As a minister, it is a great honor to be able to help the king ascend the throne with a great victory.
Zhao Tong, who has a calm personality, saw Guan Xing's excitement, and he understood Guan Xing's mood because he felt the same way.
But there were some other concerns in his mind.
He remembered what Cao Ren said before his death: "His great achievements surpass his master."
In Zhao Tong's mind, Mi Yang was now not only his friend and general, but also his idol.
In Zhao Tong's view, it was only a matter of time before Wudang County was captured by Mi Yang.
However, after defeating Cao Ren first and then taking Wudang, coupled with the contribution made by the public security in the previous battle, Zhao Tong could not help but have some concerns about those four words.
Of course, Zhao Tong was not worried at all that Liu Bei would be suspicious of Mi Yang. What Zhao Tong was worried about was that some ministers would be jealous of Mi Yang and slander him.
You must know that people's words are scary.
And once Liu Bei has that day, the power of the gentry in Shu, where the central government is located, will definitely grow.
This is their local advantage.
Zhao Tong and Guan Xing were good friends, and now they were in a private environment, so Zhao Tong told Guan Xing his concerns.
After Guan Xing listened to Zhao Tong's words, a look of disdain instantly appeared on his face.
"They dare?"
Guan Xing is most happy about two things this year.
One is that his father saved him from danger so that he would not suffer the pain of bereavement.
Another is that he can repeatedly make military exploits.
Mi Yang's role in these two things is crucial.
So Guan Xing was very grateful to Mi Yang.
Guan Xing said to Zhao Tong: "If that day comes, we are both friends and subordinates, so naturally we cannot just sit idly by."
Facing Guan Xing's answer, Zhao Tong showed a smile on his face.
I thought of going together.
What a good friend indeed.
At Man Chong's call, all the wealthy families in Wudang City had gathered in the county government.
After seeing that everyone had arrived, Man Chong stopped talking nonsense because the situation was urgent.
Man Chong sat at the top and said to the following Wudang nobles who were arranged on both sides:
"Today, the bandits outside the city want to attack the city. I am watching the progress of the bandit army on the city. I think that in less than half a month, the bandit army's mound will be completed, and Wudang will be in danger by then."
When Man Chong said these words, all the Wudang nobles in the county hall were panicked.
Although these clan leaders did not go to the city wall to defend the enemy in the past, they had heard about the bravery of the Han army from the private soldiers sent by their families to defend the city.
Seeing the panic on the faces of the clan leaders, Man Chong's eyes showed satisfaction.
If he doesn't intimidate the wealthy families in the city first, I'm afraid they won't be able to satisfy his demands.
Just when the panic on the faces of the clan leaders became more intense, Man Chong seized the opportunity and said: "There is only one way to prevent the fall of Wudang City."
Seeing that Man Chong had a way to resist the Han army's offensive, the faces of the wealthy patriarchs in the hall were filled with joy.
One of the chiefs among the many clan leaders came out and asked Man Chong: "What can the general do?"
The one who can come out among the clan leaders to ask Man Chong first, then his family power must be second to none among the martial arts.
He is Yanping, the patriarch of the Wudang Yan clan.
The Yan clan in Wudang is rumored to be the descendants of the Chu royal family in the pre-Qin period. During the pre-Han period, they migrated from Nanjun to Wudang County due to wars.
Over the past hundreds of years, due to the inheritance of family knowledge, the Yan family has developed very rapidly in Wudang County. His family has produced high-ranking officials with two thousand dan, and there are countless other officials with 600 dan.
Under such circumstances, the influence of the Yan family in Wudang County has become the highest among all the wealthy families.
Therefore, as the leader of the Yan clan, Yanping had the confidence to ask questions before other wealthy clans in front of Man Chong.
When Man Chong saw Yanping taking the initiative to ask questions, a smile appeared on his face.
According to Yanping's influence in Wudang City, as long as he can agree to this matter, things will be much easier to handle.
Man Chong looked at Yanping and said: "If we want to prevent the thieves from succeeding in their treacherous plan, our army must also build tall buildings on the city wall to form a unified block to block the thieves' future offensive."
After Yanping heard Man Chong's words, he secretly screamed something bad.
As Yanping expected, Manchong did not give Yanping time to react. He continued:
"And this matter still needs your full help."
When Man Chong revealed his true purpose, dissatisfaction appeared on the faces of all the wealthy patriarchs present.
They had expected something bad when they were summoned, but what they didn't expect was that this was what Man Chong wanted them to do.
If Man Chong wanted to destroy Mi Yang's siege tactics at Ji'an, in addition to sending soldiers out of the city to attack the Han army, another way was to build high-rise buildings connected to the city wall.
This will ensure that the Han army cannot pose a threat to Wudang City after the mound is built.
However, this method is simple to say, but it takes a lot of manpower and material resources to implement.
The Han army's mounds were all made of loess. The raw materials were extremely cheap and only consumed the Han army's manpower.
If Manchong wanted to build a tall building on the city wall, the raw materials used must be wood, and in order to ensure the rapid construction of the tall building, the only way was to use local materials.
What is local use?
Just demolish a large number of residential buildings and use the wood from their houses.
In addition, if you want to build a tall building when there are enemy troops outside the city, the labor used cannot be soldiers defending the city, but only the people inside the city.
But demolishing people's houses and asking them to use their demolished houses to help Manchong build high-rise buildings is undoubtedly a difficult task.
Therefore, the only way is to use the influence of the major wealthy families in Wudang City to help Man Chong complete this matter.
This is the purpose of Man Chong convening the heads of various families today.
Although Man Chong didn't say it clearly, none of the wealthy people present were human beings.
After listening to Man Chong's words, they all understood Man Chong's purpose after thinking for a while.
But it was because they understood Man Chong's purpose that dissatisfaction appeared on their faces.
It is true that all the major wealthy families have considerable influence in Wudang County, but this influence is obtained through hard work of their ancestors for generations.
Perhaps they can use their influence to help Man Chong complete his plan.
But destroying someone's house is a sign of deep hatred.
What's more, if you want to quickly build a tall building on an entire city wall, a huge amount of wood and labor must be consumed.
Once the major wealthy families in the city use their influence to endorse Man Chong's behavior, their influence in Wudang County will inevitably be damaged.
The public resentment caused by the forced demolition of houses in large areas will eventually come back to them. How can the wealthy families in the lobby be willing to do this?
They do not have the consciousness of selfless dedication to the country like Man Chong.
The wealthy families in Wudang City are not as powerful as the Shen brothers, and they can take care of Hanxing County as their own property.
Once public dissatisfaction boils over, no wealthy family can afford the consequences.
The heads of the wealthy clans present looked at Yanping with dissatisfaction, wanting him to refuse Man Chong.
Of course Yanping was also dissatisfied, and he was looking for a reason to refuse.
But when he raised his head, he saw a vague figure of a swordsman behind the curtain behind Man Chong.
This scene made Yanping's face change drastically.
So Yanping immediately replied to Manchong: "I am willing to serve the general."
When Yanping's words came out, the faces of other wealthy families in the hall showed surprise.
What's up with him?
But regardless of whether Yanping was confused or not, for the sake of their own interests, other wealthy families wanted to refuse Man Chong verbally.
But when they raised their heads and looked towards Man Chong, they also saw the scene that represented danger just like Yan Ping.
After seeing that scene, other wealthy families understood why Yanping agreed.
Almost instantly, other wealthy families in the lobby also agreed to Man Chong.
After seeing that the heads of all the powerful clans had agreed to him, Man Chong's face showed joy.
Then he asked the clan leaders to leave first, and he would naturally summon them again when he needed them.
After the heads of all the powerful clans left, Man Chong clapped his hands and let the swordsman behind him leave.
A sound of armor sounded behind Man Chong, and then quickly disappeared.
Man Chong looked towards the direction in which the heads of the powerful clans were leaving, with a look of helplessness in his eyes.
Unless the situation was critical, he wouldn't want to do this.
He had been in power in Wudang City for a short time and had not established prestige among the people, so he needed to rely on the influence of these wealthy families.
And the most important thing is that he doesn't have enough troops now.
If he could have thousands more soldiers and horses in his hands, he would naturally be able to suppress all instability in the city.
Man Chong knew that what he had just done would arouse the dissatisfaction of various wealthy families, but he obeyed the authority in urgent matters.
Besides, he had already mobilized the private soldiers of various wealthy families to the city, so there shouldn't be any problems.
As long as he can hold on for a while, most of the reinforcements will arrive.
Now this is Man Chong's last hope.
When Yanping left the county hall, he winked at several trusted clan leaders.
After seeing Yanping's eyes, the clan leaders nodded knowingly towards him.
Then they pretended that they had nothing to do with each other and left the county house.
But late at night, those clan leaders who had nodded towards Yanping during the day took advantage of the darkness and quietly came to Yanping's mansion.
And Yanping seemed to have been waiting for their arrival. After everyone gathered, Yanping led the clan leaders into a secret room.
When several people entered the secret room, one of the grumpy patriarchs spoke without any scruples:
"Man Chong threatened us to hand over his private soldiers before, and now he uses coercion to make us responsible for his tyranny. It is really too much!"
If the clan leader's resentful words were exposed to the outside world, they might lead to death.
But in this small secret room, it resonated with several other clan leaders.
Man Chong's previous forceful recruitment of private soldiers from major wealthy families had already made them dissatisfied.
If this happens again now, the clay figures will be angry.
Different from the respectful and fearful expression he showed in front of Man Chong during the day, Yan Ping's face was full of coldness at this time.
After several clan leaders sat down, he said in an angry tone:
“Building tall buildings on the city wall must consume a huge amount of materials and manpower.
If the people in the city don't cooperate then, won't he eventually force us out?"
"Excessive! Insatiable greed!"
As soon as Yanping said these words, the faces of several clan leaders in the secret room also showed resentment.
Yanping's words are not alarmist. Based on Man Chong's performance during this period, this is an almost foreseeable fact.
Who wouldn't feel resentful when the interests of their own family are at stake?
Under Yanping's words, an atmosphere of common hatred and hatred began to spread in the secret room.
At this time, a clan leader spoke up and said: "The situation is favorable now. If he continues to intimidate, what can we do?"
Hearing what the clan leader said, a cold look appeared in Yanping's eyes.
"I don't think so. The situation is now in General Mi's hands."
"You all have clansmen on the city wall. You should know how brave Mi's army is. General Mi is brave and powerful, and he has such tiger and wolf warriors under his command. How long can Man Chong hold Wudang?"
After listening to Yanping's words, the faces of the clan leaders all showed recognition.
Seeing that no one objected to his words, and that everyone present was trustworthy, Yanping directly stated his purpose of summoning them tonight:
"Since we can't hold on, for the family's sake, we should find another way out."
The meaning of Yanping's words could not be more obvious, but even with such rebellious words, none of the clan leaders spoke out to refute Yanping.
Even a look of thoughtfulness began to appear on their faces.
Those who can be summoned by Yanping today all know each other well.
Yanping's thoughts were something they had never had before.
Yanping continued: "When reinforcements arrived, we thought Wudang was saved."
"But based on my observations over the past few days, the so-called reinforcements outside the city are just a joke in front of General Mi."
"Since Wudang City cannot be defended and the reinforcements outside the city are unreliable, there is no need for us to waste the lives of our people."
"There is no need to become the meat of the case and be slaughtered by many pets."
Yanping's words became more and more encouraging.
Under his words, the doubtful looks on the faces of the clan leaders in the secret room gradually disappeared, replaced by firm looks.
Seeing the determined expressions on everyone's faces, Yan Ping's eyes flashed with a ruthless look.
In Yanping's view, the mounds currently built by the Han army outside the city are like tombs where Wudang is about to be buried.
He didn't want to be buried with him.
(End of chapter)
This chapter has been completed!