It was getting late, so Su Jinming camped on the spot to rest and set off tomorrow morning.
I was in a hurry, even if I rushed to the bandit's stronghold at this moment, it would be useless with the 1,300 officers and soldiers on hand. Besides, I knew nothing about fighting, and Pan Jiang and others did not look like invincible generals, so in Lu,
Before the armies from Shou and Shou Prefectures arrived, they had no other good strategy. They could only hope that the generals from those two prefectures would meet and discuss countermeasures together.
Su Jin couldn't sleep that night. How could things that were completely within his control suddenly become like this? When he was worried, Su Jin was also carefully analyzing the reasons.
Long Zhen and himself were strangers, so why did he violate him and fabricate the lie that he embezzled soldiers' salaries to make the Ma Army soldiers dissatisfied with him? Was it because the food was intercepted by the bandits because of the conflict between Long Zhen and the bandits?
What's the connection between them?
But Su Jin quickly rejected his guess. Long Zhen had been in the capital for a long time, and the two places were thousands of miles apart. This possibility was slim; the Bagong Mountain bandits only started to become rampant in recent months, and when he was in Luzhou, he even
I haven't heard any news about bandits in Bagong Mountain. It can be seen that the bandits at that time were still fighting on a small scale and had no influence at all.
The incident happened so suddenly that Long Zhen didn't even know that the bandits dared to rob food, but one thing is for sure. Long Zhen had no intention of handling this mission at all. He learned from the mouths of Zhao and Fang that three days ago
The grain truck had just set off, which meant that they had been delayed in Luzhou for at least ten days. It took such a long time to start transporting grain, so there was obviously something wrong.
But this trip is an imperial mission. Everyone knows the importance of this mission, which is really related to the stability of the country. Long Zhen is just a small deputy commander. What reason and courage does he have to obstruct this mission? Here
I had never had any formal contact with Long Zhen before, so why did I provoke this man to secretly put me into such a difficult situation?
Su Jin thought about it, and there was only one reason that could explain Long Zhen's behavior, and that was that this person was instructed by others to deliberately obstruct this errand. From this, Su Jin naturally thought of the aspects related to whether the errand was done well or not.
It can be roughly confirmed that he has become a victim of the struggle between the upper class.
Su Jin sat up from the tent angrily, feeling very upset. At this moment, he missed that thing called cigarettes so much. It would be great to smoke one.
In any case, I can't just admit defeat. Although I am at the end of my rope at this moment, the last glimmer of hope still exists. Maybe after surviving, there will be a new scene with bright lights. The more under this situation, the more calmly I need to think about countermeasures. From now on
Starting, every step needs to be done with caution.
This time, as soon as the soldiers and horses from Luzhou and Shouzhou arrive, they must take back this batch of food even if they pay a huge price. This is not only related to their own wealth and life, but also to the people of Yangzhou, and the people who have no food.
We will definitely not survive this winter, and there will be more human tragedies and bloody conflicts. This is what Su Jin does not want to see. In comparison, personal honor and disgrace indeed seem very small.
At dawn, Su Jin, who had been awake all night, ordered to set off. Two days later, he arrived at the small town of Liangyuan where the grain was robbed. That night, Su Jin carefully learned about the situation that night from the local residents. Many guards, Ma Jun
After being asked about the details that he didn't want to share, Su Jin further confirmed his judgment. Long Zhen didn't even give the order to attack that night. He just met the bandits and then turned around and fled, giving away 500,000 shi of food.
Giving it away is not what he said about being invincible in a fight.
Su Jin carefully ordered people to give confessions and order these people to sign bonds. He had no authority to deal with Long Zhen, but since he had exceeded his authority, he must collect all these evidences for future needs. Although Su Jin did not know that he Is there any future?
On November 13, the large group of people finally arrived at the foot of Bagong Mountain. The bandits' checkpoints saw the arrival of the officers and soldiers from a distance. After the news tree was cut down, the entrance to the mountain pass was put on full alert to guard against attacks by the officers and soldiers.
However, the officers and soldiers were not in a hurry to attack. Instead, they set up camp on a hill far away from the mountain. They only sent Tan Ma to the mountain pass to observe, but the bandits were condescending and fired at them with random arrows, so they did not dare to come near.
For two days in a row, there was no sign of attack in the officer camp. Shen Yaozu and Qiu Dabao were also confused. After grabbing food, they were ready for the encirclement and suppression. However, they were not afraid. The previous encirclement and suppression by thousands of officers and soldiers had already stopped. We have done this several times, but we finally gave up and retreated.
But this time the situation seems to be a little different. In the past, when the officers and soldiers arrived at the bottom of the mountain, they rushed up the mountain to attack, as if they were afraid that they would run away. But this time, such a large group of officers and soldiers were stationed at the bottom of the mountain without any movement. It was really confusing. .
The bandits were really over-concerned. It wasn't that Su Jin didn't want to attack, but he just didn't have a clue. The only thing that was certain was that the bandits didn't dare to come down the mountain to actively attack, so there was no need to worry about the bandits attacking the camp. It's just that the cavalry troops who delivered the message have already returned, but the reinforcements have not yet arrived. With more than a thousand people at hand, Su Jin will certainly not take the initiative to attack.
One day... two days... three days, Su Jin was as anxious as an ant on a hot pot. There was no news at all from the nearest Huainan Road in Shouzhou. The soldiers who urged him came and went several times and finally brought the transfer envoy Master Tao. He reprimanded Su Jin for saying that the suppression of bandits was a major military matter. How could it be that his little food envoy could mobilize troops just by saying he wanted to? He had to report to the Privy Council for approval. He also told Su Jin not to act rashly. The suppression of bandits was not the final decision of his food envoy.
Su Jin jumped to his feet in anger, but there was nothing he could do. On the early morning of the fourth day, Su Jin was sitting in the camp. A sentinel came to report that a group of people had come from the direction of Luzhou in the southwest. Su Jin was overjoyed and hurriedly left the camp to take a look. He was disappointed. , there was a sparse team of less than forty or fifty people, with a few carriages in the middle. It was not the garrison in Luzhou at all, and a ladle of cold water suddenly poured down on them.
But Chao Chao beside him jumped to his feet and shouted: "It's Zhang Long and the others, Yang Xiaosi, and many other family members. Look, isn't that Liu Da, the nurse of Yan Dong's family?"
Su Jin quickly took a closer look. Sure enough, it was a group of people from the Su family and the Yan family. The purple carriage was vaguely distinguishable. It was Yan Biyun's car. For a moment, he was choked up and stood there blankly, not knowing what to do. Already.
Dynasty Mahan had already rushed to greet him and brought Yan Biyun and others into the camp. Only then did Su Jin calm down and step forward to greet him. Not only did Yan Biyun come, Xiao Xian'er came, and Rou Niang came, Even Mr. Zhang, the shopkeeper, trembled slightly as he got out of the black awning car at the back.
Su Jin hurriedly greeted the old shopkeeper first. The old shopkeeper had a smile on his face when he saw Su Jin, but he could not hide the sadness in his brows. Su Jin did not dare to meet his eyes and just said: "What's wrong with the old shopkeeper?" Now that I'm here, don't stop me. I'm tired and sick from traveling all the way. I'll ask you a question."
Yang Xiaosi said aggrievedly: "Master, I always scolded you when I met you, but it's different when you become an official. It's not like you don't know the old shopkeeper's temper."
Su Jin deliberately said with a straight face: "Your mouth has become a lot smoother. All the growth in your life during this period is on your lips, right?"
Everyone laughed. Actually, no one wanted to laugh, but the young master pretended to be a relaxed and lively atmosphere, so he had to match it no matter what.
Su Jin quickly let everyone into the tent, sat down, lit a fire, and made tea, and then talked about the farewell. Su Jin secretly glanced at Yan Biyun, and saw that the lady was a little haggard, with slightly blue eyes, and she was obviously worried.
Being anxious and unable to sleep well, Su Jin felt more and more ashamed to see others.
After chatting for a while, we have to return to the topic. The incident of food being robbed is already known to everyone in Luzhou and is aroused. However, the Luzhou Yamen posted a notice warning everyone not to spread rumors indiscriminately, and at the same time, the food was sold within the time limit set by the imperial court.
For this reason, he mobilized soldiers to patrol the city, making him look very busy.
When Su Jin heard this, he understood that Zhu Shiyong was making excuses for not sending troops, and his hope that the Luzhou garrison would come to assist was in vain.
Seeing Su Jin's face sinking, Mr. Zhang sighed: "You don't have to worry too much about these things. Zhu Shiyong won't come to help you at all. You should expect this."
Su Jin looked up to the sky and sighed: "I really expected him to take care of the overall situation, but I didn't expect that they were rotten to the bone. I really didn't have high hopes, but Zhu Shiyong didn't even give me a reason and accepted my request for help.
Not a single word was left in the letter, which really surprised me."
Shopkeeper Zhang said: "Dad boss, what are you going to do? You see, all the young people in our family have been brought here. It doesn't hurt to include all the old bones like me for this matter."
There was mist in Su Jin's eyes, and he almost shed tears. At the critical moment, his family was able to help him at all costs. Although these people were of no help, this friendship was real. I'm afraid it was him who came to help him.