Xie Xuan said in a deep voice: "Morale failure has its own signs, so it is not a bad idea to besiege without attacking. I came from Lujiang County and heard from Governor Huan that the Shouyang rebels went south to rob grain and grass at the end of April. They robbed Hefei.
Thousands of acres of green wheat in the county. Later, when he tried to seize 10,000 acres of green wheat in the north of Juchao County, he was forced to retreat to Nianzi Mountain by Juchao County magistrate Li Hui and failed. Grand Administrator Huan led his army to arrive in time and defeated the rebels.
, captured Yuan Jin. What does this mean? This means that there is a shortage of food and grass in Shouyang City, and they had to go south to rob food and grass. They did grab some, but it was only green wheat, only a few thousand acres. The quantity was limited. In the city
There are 50,000 rebels, plus the common people, there are probably 60,000 to 70,000 people. The consumption of food and grass will be huge. We only need to trap them until they run out of food and grass, which will naturally be the time when their morale is exhausted. Xi joins the army, let me answer you
Are you still satisfied?"
Everyone knows what Xie Xuan said. After hearing what he said, it really makes sense.
Xi Chao sneered: "Then do you know when their food and grass will be cut off? One month? Two months? Three months? Or one year? Even if it is one month, it will be extremely detrimental to me. Because Qin's troops can be at any time
They may come to the rescue. The Qin State is currently attacking the Yan State. Da Sima and I have analyzed that if the Yan State loses Murong Chui, it must be the enemy of the Qin State. The Yan State may be defeated in less than ten days and a half. By then, the Yan State will be defeated.
At that time, the Di people will send troops to help. We can't wait. If you besiege us without attacking, you will put our army in danger. You are extremely ignorant and ridiculous."
Xie Xuan was stunned and looked at Huan Wen with a frown.
Huan Wen nodded slowly and said: "Thank you, nephew Xuanxian. What Jing Xing said is true. We must strive to conquer Shouyang within ten days and a half month and successfully quell the rebellion. Once the Qin people free up their hands, they will definitely come to rescue. That is definitely not what we want to see."
Achieved results.”
Xie Xuan frowned and pondered for a moment, then said in a deep voice: "In that case, I have another strategy to attack the city."
Huan Wen raised his eyebrows and said, "Oh? Come and listen."
Xie Xuandao: "Shouyang City has strong defenses and a large number of soldiers and horses defending the city. At this moment, they are united and their morale is high. At this moment, our army's strong attack may not be effective. Even if the strong attack succeeds, the losses will be huge. We need to outsmart the city."
Huan Wen said: "How to outsmart him?"
Xie Xuandao: "The lower official believes that as long as he finds a way to sneak into the city and set fire to cause chaos, his morale will be quickly destroyed. In fact, the soldiers and civilians in Shouyang City are not willing to fight for Yuan Zhen in their hearts. After all, Yuan Zhen is a traitor, and the soldiers and horses in the city
Half of them were forcibly recruited into the army and forced to fight. Once there is chaos in the city, they will inevitably panic and defect, and the city of Shouyang will be destroyed. If they can set fire to destroy their food and supplies, their morale will be quickly broken and civil strife will occur.
"
Huan Wen frowned while stroking his beard, but Xi Chao asked in a deep voice: "The truth is good, but I would like to ask Xie Canjun how to sneak into the city? If you can sneak into the city, do you still need to tell me? The previous time Meng Zhong led his army to try to enter the city, the consequences
Didn't you see it?"
Everyone nodded, looked at Xie Xuan and said in his heart: I am afraid that your idea cannot be realized, how can you enter the city and fly in? If this is possible, why do we need to attack the city? The city has been broken long ago.
Xie Xuan said in a deep voice: "We sneaked in through the water gate before, so that must be the way for the opponent to take strict precautions. It should be noted that the Feishui River runs through Shouyang City from north to south, and the waterway is an easy way to sneak in. We want it, and Yuan Zhen also wants it. So we
When we sneaked in through the water gate, we discovered that there was an iron gate below the water gate and a large number of archers and ambushes above it. This was calculated by them. Our plan to sneak in was completely within their expectations. Therefore, if we want to sneak into the city, we must
Just take it by surprise."
Huan Wen said in a deep voice: "What kind of unexpected method?"
Xie Xuan said slowly: "The official thinks that we can dig tunnels and attack the city."
There was silence in the big tent for a few breaths, and then everyone's faces showed strange expressions. After working for a long time, Xie Xuan actually came up with such a method, which was really ridiculous.
"Do you know how much time and manpower it takes to dig a tunnel leading to the city? And for digging with great fanfare, do you think they are all blind and deaf? This method is really clever." Xi Chao laughed.
All the generals also laughed. With Xie Xuan's identity, most people would not dare to laugh wantonly unless they couldn't help it. Xie Xuan's method was obviously too stupid.
Huan Wen also stroked his beard, shook his head, smiled bitterly, and sighed softly.
"There is no need to make a big show of it, just dig a tunnel that two or three people can crawl into the city. In this way, the movement will be very small, and supplemented by a feint attack to cover, it will be possible to enter the city in three days and three nights. The south city will attack as usual, and send people from three places outside the east city.
A tunnel was dug in the woods a hundred steps away, so that no human traces were exposed and the other party could not detect it. Shouyang is where the Huai River and the Fei River cross the valley. The ground is soft and there are no rocks. It only takes a few feet to dig into the ground, and the amount of work is not large.
"Xie Xuan said in a deep voice.
Everyone suppressed their laughter. After hearing what Xie Xuan said, some people began to seriously consider the feasibility of this method.
"Then how to cross the moat? The moat is about ten feet deep, are you not afraid of flooding?" Huan Yi said solemnly.
Xie Xuandao: "It is necessary to dig deep after approaching the city. Pass through the moat. It is not only the passage of the moat, but the foundation of the city wall is also deep. Although it can be opened with an axe, the sound of the chisel may be exposed. Therefore, in order to ensure success, it is necessary to
Dig deeper and get through. It's not a problem, it just takes more effort."
Everyone frowned and said nothing. This method seemed feasible, but it still felt a bit unreliable.
Huan Wen looked at Xi Chao and said in a deep voice, "What do you think of Jing Xing?"
"Huan Gong, the plan is not unfeasible, but I'm worried about two things. First, it won't be possible to dig the tunnel within a few days. Second, after a lot of trouble digging, it won't be able to achieve the goal. As far as the plan itself is concerned, it seems to be
It's doable." Xi Chao stroked his beard and said.
Xi Chao was not opposed blindly. After all, this was a major matter related to the success or failure of the siege, and he would not abandon public service for personal reasons.
"Da Sima, Xie Xuan is willing to take charge of this matter. Give me two thousand men, and we will be able to dig a tunnel and sneak into the city within three days. If not, please Da Sima to deal with it with military law." Xie Xuan said loudly.
Huan Wen looked at Xie Xuan, nodded slowly and said: "Forget it, let's give it a try. If you are the best, it doesn't matter if you fail. It doesn't cost me a lot of troops, why not give it a try? Xie Xuan, I will give you three thousand men.
Just go and do it."
Xie Xuan cupped his hands and said, "Xie Xuan obeys your order."
…
In Juchao County, it is extremely hot in the fields at noon.
But many people still gathered in the large fields, and Li Hui was among them wearing a straw hat. They were observing a strange activity. In the rice fields, two groups of people were walking through the rice fields holding straw ropes. Long
The straw rope bent into an arc and passed over the ears of rice. Pieces of smoke that were difficult to catch with the naked eye rose on the ears of rice.
This is a strange activity, which was initiated by Li Hui, the magistrate of Juchao County.
Tens of thousands of acres of rice fields in Juchao County are growing well and have now entered the heading and flowering period. This is a critical period that is related to the final harvest.
Li Hui attached great importance to this, and the people naturally also attached great importance to it. For this reason, Li Hui walked around the fields for several days to inspect the growth and insect pests. Li Hui knew that this was related to whether all the previous efforts could be achieved.
The ultimate reward.
The harvest of this season's rice will be related to whether the people of Juchao County can truly settle down and whether the people's food and clothing problem can be completely solved. Whether the summer grain deficit can be repaid, and whether the situation of the entire Juchao County can improve overall, depends on
Look at this season's harvest.
Li Hui has actually been thinking about a problem. The grain yield per mu in Dajin is actually not high. When he was in Wu County, Li Hui knew that the yield per mu of high-grade fertile land in Dajin did not exceed four stones, and the yield per mu of medium and low-grade fields
It's even lower.
The biggest problem here is the variety of rice itself, as well as the problem of insufficient fertilizer and insufficient land fertility in this era. Neither of these can be solved at once. There are no high-yielding hybrid rices these days. Limited by varieties, it may
Food production will never catch up with future generations.
The problem of insufficient fertility is also difficult to solve. Human and animal excrement and accumulated organic fertilizer cannot meet the problem of large-scale farming. Juchao County is slightly better, because local people have a way to use lake bottom silt to increase fertilizer. Use flood alluvial
It is a good idea to use precipitated river mud to fertilize the fields. However, due to the difficulty of operation, it cannot be carried out on a large scale.
Li Hui really wanted to increase production. Even an increase of three to five dou per acre would be good for the people. For the people of Juchao County as a whole, that was a huge amount.
How to increase production has been the most discussed topic between Li Hui and the people these days.
People generally believe that the supply of fertility should be ensured during this period, so that the supply of fertility during the period of pruning and flowering of rice can be increased. Just like a woman giving birth to a child, she should eat more good food during pregnancy to ensure that the child will be born fat.
Fat.
They decided to make great efforts to transport the silt accumulated from flood discharge to the fields and spread it, which could increase some fertility.
Naturally, Li Hui would not object to them doing this. However, Li Hui was thinking about another issue, the problem of sufficient pollination of rice. Li Hui did not understand this at first, but in the past two days, all he had been thinking about was the earing and flowering of rice.
, which activated the memory of future generations in his mind.