In order to protect their own safety, Yuan Song's men set up camp on the Luoshui River one day in advance.
Early in the morning, Zhao Jian took Xu Da, who had changed into military uniforms, and sneaked into the camp with Xu Da on the grounds that he had important matters and needed to meet with his superiors.
Luoshui River is located between Hejian County and Yuan Song's military camp. Ever since the rebel army entered the city, the two sides have been in a stalemate here for a long time.
Yuan Song suffered from the weakness of his troops and horses and was unable to invade the county.
Since ancient times, defensive battles have been easier to fight than siege battles.
But there are exceptions.
There was no food left in the treasury of Hejian County. The city suddenly closed its doors and defended the city. It would not last long.
What Yuan Song can do now is to wait for more troops to be sent while cutting off the passage into the city, hoping to trap the rebels to death.
It's a pity that those old guys in Runan scolded him bloody because of Yuan Zhao's second son.
Now the rebel army planned to exchange people for food. Due to the pressure from the old army in Runan behind him, Yuan Song had to give up his current advantage and agreed to the rebel army's request.
An eldest son of the Yuan family, in exchange for 50,000 dan of food and grass.
It is true that Yuan Song was very angry when the other lion opened his mouth.
But if Mr. Yuan's son is not brought back, he, the shepherd of Jizhou, will not be able to sit still.
Yuan Song, who was forced to the Luoshui River, was a little envious of Xu Jiajun for daring to kill those wealthy family members.
However, he did not forget that he was also one of them. He was dissatisfied with those old guys ten thousand times, and he did not dare to really learn Xu Jiajun's methods, injuring the enemy eight hundred and damaging himself a thousand.
The two parties agreed to meet at noon, and Yuan Song showed his identity and entered the camp at the checkpoint.
Standing on the high platform in front of the camp, I saw the insurgents on the other side of the river wearing coarse clothes and straw sandals, holding long swords, hatchets and other items, with fierce expressions on their faces.
At a rough glance, there are about two thousand people in Mo.
Among these people are a small number of Huokang Gang disciples, and the rest are mostly rogue rangers who follow Boss Mo.
The eyes of these people are much more sinister than those of the Huokang Clan disciples.
The sun was rising, and two attendants dressed as officers and soldiers walked up to the high platform holding high umbrellas, crossing them left and right, blocking the sun above their heads and leaving a shady place.
Yuan Song then walked onto the stage, sat on the shady ground, and looked coldly at the mob on the other side of the river.
There are 500 troops stationed in the camp behind him, plus 200 logistics troops transporting grain and grass, and scattered retainers and swordsmen. There are less than 800 people in total.
But compared with the rebels on the other side who were disheveled in uniforms and had ridiculous weapons, the sergeants in the camp were all wearing rattan armor and holding swords, and they looked menacing.
Wang Yan, the chief clerk when Yuan Song was the governor of Hejian County, saw that his lord was not able to sit upright and looked impatient, so he turned sideways and comforted him:
"My lord, don't worry, they are just a bunch of people. When we get the eldest son back, I will rush out immediately with the ambush sergeants behind me. I will make sure that these rebels never come back!"
After hearing this, Yuan Song's anxious heart calmed down a little.
He looked up at the rebels on the other side of the river and asked unhappily: "Have you seen the eldest son?"
Wang Yan got up to visit, turned around and shook his head at his lord, and then shouted to the other side:
"We have transported 50,000 stones of grain and grass to the camp as agreed. I wonder when the heroes on the other side will return my young master?!"
There is a wooden bridge in the middle of the river. It is not wide, about two meters wide, and can accommodate two horses passing at the same time.
In this place, it is impossible for both sides to attack suddenly. If you want to fight, you can only bypass the river bank in front of you and go to the plain downstream.
This is also the reason why both parties chose this place as an exchange.
But there is also a drawback. It is impossible to transport food and grass at once.
Sure enough, after a long silence on the other side, a tall young man suddenly walked out and said:
"Master Yuan's sincerity is still not enough. You need to transport the food and grass first. After we have checked and confirmed that everything is correct, we will naturally deliver the eldest son to you unscathed!"
Yuan Song's anxiety, which he had finally suppressed, suddenly surged up again. Just as he was about to have an attack, several young people from Runan who were standing behind him with their heads bowed said, "Lord, please calm down."
The young man is young and energetic, and is a die-hard fan of the old guys in Runan. He is not afraid of the lord Yuan Song at all, and only puts the safety of the eldest son first.
Afraid that the rebel army would be angry and embarrass their eldest son, the young men advised Yuan Song to put the overall situation first, be patient and patient, and transport half of the grain and grass there first.
Yuan Song took a deep breath, looked at each other with his confidant Wang Yan, waved his hand in a sloppy manner, "Give me half first."
Wang Yan nodded and turned around to convey his lord's order.
Carloads of grain were transported up the wooden bridge and sent to the other side of the river bank.
It was that young man again. He led several people forward and opened the sacks containing grain. The unshelled corns splashed all over the floor. The rangers behind him had red eyes and heavy breathing.
In this world, food is everything. Seeing the carts of grain and grass that could not be transported on the bridge, the rebels were very excited.
Fortunately, the young man's prestige was very high, and he calmed down these useless men with a few shouts.
The bridge was narrow and the transportation speed was also slow. It took a full hour for half of the grain and grass to be transported to the other side of the river.
Before Yuan Song asked for someone, the young people behind him stepped forward and shouted that they wanted to see their eldest son.
After the rebels received food, their ferocious faces became gentle, and a tall man wearing a blue military uniform and holding a long sword walked out of the crowd.
He is about thirty years old, with sword-shaped eyebrows and starry eyes. He looks very heroic, and there is a chivalrous air in his eyebrows. He is a very cheerful person.
It was Mo Xiaocheng, the leader of this group of rangers.
"What a coincidence..."
Suddenly hearing a surprised murmur from behind, Yuan Song turned around and glanced. Two officers and soldiers holding parachutes were standing there, with lowered eyebrows and lowered eyes, their heads lowered, and they were shrinking.
Yuan Song just thought that he had just heard it wrong, otherwise how could he suddenly hear Xu Qingyang's resentful voice?
Shaking his head, Yuan Song withdrew his inquiring gaze.
A down-and-out young man dressed in gray cloth and wearing a bamboo crown was escorted up and stood behind Mo Xiaocheng.
Seeing the emaciated face and sunken eye sockets of the eldest son of the Yuan family, Yuan Songteng stood up and shouted excitedly:
"Eldest nephew, uncle is here to pick you up!"
The two of them are just from the same clan, and the closest thing they have to each other is that they are cousins from the same clan. In fact, their blood relationship is far apart.
If it weren't for the distant relationship, when Gongsun Zan punished Yuan Zhao, he wouldn't be able to keep Yuan Song.
Yuan Song's affectionate call to "nephew" made Master Yuan raise his head and look at him in astonishment.
However, at this time, he was trapped and tortured for several days. When he saw the tribesmen, his eyes were red and he shouted urgently:
"Uncle, save me, uncle, save me!"
Yuan Song promised that he would definitely rescue him and signaled his eldest nephew not to be excited yet, as they would be able to get together soon.
Having sent half of the food and grass before, Yuan Song felt that he had shown sincerity enough, so now he asked Mo Xiaocheng to send his eldest nephew over, and he would then send the last half of the food and grass.
