Zhi, in "Shuowen", means a small sickle for harvesting grain.
The reason why Zhi County is so named is precisely because it is a very important production town in the Hui River Basin of Chu State.
On the morning of August 11, Zhao Hongrun led 80,000 Wei troops to Qi County and set up camp in the plains about 20 miles away from Qi County.
According to the news from the Qingya people from the front, Nanmen Huai has led the three thousand-man troops pretending to be a defeated army and stationed themselves on the mound in the northwest of Zhi County.
It is said that he also had contact with the guard of Zhi County.
To be precise, it was the garrison of Qi County who asked Nanmen Huai's troops to station outside the city and invited him to enter the city alone.
Nanmenhuai was worried that he would be killed by the defender of Qi County, so he did not dare to enter the city. On the pretext of reorganizing his army, he stationed himself on the mound in the northwest of Qi County.
"It seems that the guard in Zhi County is somewhat suspicious."
Zhao Hongrun said to Nanmenchi who was beside him, and the latter nodded worriedly.
After all, if the governor of Zhi County begins to doubt Nanmen Huai, it means that the Nanmen clan in Qixian County will also be suspected. What is terrible is that the Nanmen clan only lives in Qixian County, and they do not have very good control over Qixian County.
Absolutely, there is another person guarding Qixian County.
Therefore, if the Chu State had not yet learned that Nanmen Chi, Nanmen Jue, and Nanmen Huai had surrendered to the enemy, then the Wei army could still use the tactics of cooperating with the Nanmen clan to capture Qixian.
But if the Chu State had already learned about it, the situation would not be good.
It is unfavorable to the Wei army and even more unfavorable to the Nanmen clan.
After thinking about it, Zhao Hongrun summoned Wu Ji, the general of the Shang Shui Army, and ordered Nanmen Chi to temporarily serve as the deputy general of the Shang Shui Army to assist the Shang Shui Army led by Wu Ji to immediately go downstream along the Hui River to capture Qixian County.
Nanmen Chi was quite touched by this arrangement.
After all, Qi County has not yet been conquered. At this time, it is very dangerous to divide the troops and go downstream to capture Qi County. If the Chu army learns the truth of the matter, the advantage that the Wei army has established so far may be ruined.
But Zhao Hongrun still made such arrangements. To put it bluntly, it was just to fulfill his promise to "protect the Nanmen clan" to Nanmen Chi, Nanmen Jue, Nanmen Huai and others.
Immediately, Nanmen Chi touched the ground and swore: "Your Highness (King Su), the Nanmen clan will remember your great kindness and virtue in my heart. In the future, I, the Nanmen clan, will swear allegiance to Your Highness and to the Wei Dynasty. If you violate this,
This oath will not be tolerated by ghosts and gods."
Hearing this, Zhao Hongrun didn't say much else. After reaching out to help Nanmen Chi, he told him and Wu Ji: "You two, be careful. If the Chu army reacts, they will lead the Nanmen clan to surrender to me."
Here, there is no need to worry about Qixian County."
The implication is that if Wu Ji and Nanmen Chi encounter the Chu army's counterattack on Qixian, they should not be stubborn and defend Qixian.
Anyway, it doesn't matter to Zhao Hongrun that he captures one less city.
Wu Ji and Nan Menchi nodded and left immediately to make arrangements.
Unexpectedly, as soon as they left, Yan Mo came to Zhao Hongrun's side. He saw Wu Ji and Nanmen Chi leaving hand in hand, and curiously said to Zhao Hongrun: "Your Highness, are you planning to divide your troops to capture Qixian County?"
Zhao Hongrun glanced at Yan Mo and said with a smile: "Well, I am thinking that instead of letting the Yanling Army and the Shangshui Army join forces to take Nephew County, it would be more appropriate for both armies to attack one county each."
Yan Mo smiled. Of course he understood what Zhao Hongrun meant. After all, the relationship between the two armies, the Yanling Army and the Shangshui Army, has become worse and worse due to the factors of Xiangcheng. Put them together and work together.
Attacking a county may actually do bad things.
For example, there are things like taking credit.
Subsequently, conflicts and even internal strife arose due to mutual competition for credit.
"Your Highness's words made Yan feel ashamed and speechless..." Yan Mo said sarcastically.
"Why be ashamed? You are the hero of Xiangcheng." Zhao Hongrun patted Yan Mo's arm, then nodded and said: "This king has given enough to the Shang Shui Army, but for you, the Yanling Army, it is
...It should be me who should be ashamed, as I have clearly said that I will treat everyone equally."
Hearing this, Yan Mo was flattered and said quickly: "Your Highness, you are serious. When you said you should treat people equally, you were referring to our Chu people and our Wei people. You have already done this... As for our Yanling Army and Shangshui."
The grudges between the armies, I think it should be based on the merits of both sides!"
"Does everything depend on merit?" Zhao Hongrun smiled and stopped continuing the topic, but asked curiously: "By the way, Yan Mo, why are you here?"
Hearing this, Yan Mo licked his lips and said with an incomprehensible expression: "Your Highness, my sergeant discovered a village near here... Your Highness, do you still remember the bet you made with the general?"
Zhao Hongrun was stunned for a moment, and then he remembered the bet he had made with Yan Mo a few days ago.
At that time, Yan Mo once told him: If you go further south, you can see what kind of life the common people of Chu State live.
At that time, Zhao Hongrun did not believe what Yan Mo told about the miserable life of the Chu people in Chudong, so he made a bet with Yan Mo.
"You have enough time..."
Zhao Hongrun glanced at Yan Mo angrily.
But if you think about it carefully, the army is currently busy setting up camps. It will not directly attack Zhi County until the minimum barracks and barracks are built. Therefore, neither Zhao Hongrun nor Yan Mo really have anything to do.
.
Therefore, Zhao Hongrun took the Zongwei and Suwangwei, accompanied by Yan Mo and several other Chu generals and their personal guards, and came to the Chu village that Yan Mo mentioned.
When he arrived at the village, Zhao Hongrun was simply shocked.
Because the dilapidation of the village was simply beyond his imagination, and what shocked Zhao Hongrun even more was that the Chu people in the village were all emaciated and emaciated, as if they could be blown away by any gust of wind.
"Lu Mu."
Zhao Hongrun called out casually.
Zongwei Lu Mu understood, shrugged and took out a money bag from his arms, took out a Wei Guohuan coin and handed it to Yan Mo, who accepted it with a smile.
Looking at the scene in front of them of His Highness Prince Su admitting defeat, the group of Chu generals following Yan Mo felt amused.
However, they couldn't laugh because the dilapidation of the village in front of them made them feel depressed.
"I really don't want to see this..." Zuo Qiu Mu, a general of three thousand men from the Yanling Army, murmured with dim eyes.
After hearing his words, the expressions of Zuo Xunxi, Huayu, Gongye Sheng and other generals, including several former Chu army generals who had surrendered to the Yanling army in Xiangcheng, were solemn and sad.
Because they were from Chu people, these generals knew what the virtues of the Xiong nobles in Eastern Chu were, and they also understood how the common people of Chu here lived.
They clearly knew that this phenomenon was wrong and would lead to the demise of the entire Chu State.
However, in the past, they had no ability to change this abnormal situation in Chu State, so they ignored it all as if they were deceiving themselves, as if nothing had happened.
While the generals from the Chu Kingdom were feeling heavy, Zhao Hongrun slowly walked towards the depths of the village.
Because they were followed by the heavily armed Zongwei and Suwangwei, the villagers in this village were very frightened and fled into their dilapidated houses in panic, hiding in the windows and watching.
But after walking a few steps, Zhao Hongrun stopped, because in front of him, a child of about five or six or seven or eight years old appeared. He was holding a wooden stick with a sharpened end and was grinning in a fierce manner.
Like this, he glared at Zhao Hongrun fiercely.
The reason why he described it this way was because the child in front of Zhao Hongrun was too thin, almost skin and bones, and it was difficult to judge his age.
But what the other party was wearing made even Zhao Hongrun, a native of Wei, feel a little sad: he only had a pair of worn-out trousers, his upper body was bare, and his feet were bare.
Zhao Hongrun did not ask such silly questions as "Aren't you cold?"
You must know that it is almost mid-August, it is late autumn, and winter is about to enter. The weather has gradually become colder. Who wants to go topless if they can wear clothes?
"What do you want to do?" Zhao Hongrun asked the child warmly.
"Get out of my village, you nasty bandits!" The child held a sharpened stick and deliberately pretended to be fierce, but it actually looked a little funny.
"Are there any robbers around here?" Zhao Hongrun turned to ask the Chu generals who were slowly walking forward.
As soon as he finished speaking, a newly surrendered general responded as if he was mocking or mocking himself: "Your Highness, King Su, this is within the fiefdom of Lord Juyang."
"..." Zhao Hongrun looked at the general.
Seeing this, the general may have realized that his attitude was inappropriate, so he quickly corrected his expression, clasped his fists and replied: "Reporting to your highness, Qi State invaded our country a few months ago... Well, when he invaded Chu State, the King of Chu summoned all the
Rectify the troops and collect food and grass. According to what the general knows, Ju Yangjun Xiong Li sent his troops to collect the food in the feudal city to replenish the military rations..."
"..."
Zhao Hongrun shook his head secretly after hearing this. He was simply stunned.
At this time, an older little girl, possibly the child's sister, ran out of the thatched house not far away. The little girl pulled her brother a few times, as if she wanted to pull him back home.
But after several pulls, it didn't come back, so she had to muster up the courage to stand in front of her brother and protect him behind her.
"You...who are you? Are you the king's army?" the little girl asked timidly.
Zhao Hongrun looked at the little girl, maybe it was the little girl, but the little girl was wearing clothes, not topless like her brother.
"No." Zhao Hongrun shook his head and said with a bit of regret: "We are the Wei army!...Wei army!"
However, the strange thing is that after listening to Zhao Hongrun's words, the fear and hostility gradually disappeared from the eyes of the siblings, which made Zhao Hongrun a little puzzled.
At this moment, Yan Mo said quietly from the side: "Maybe to the people of this village, the Wei army is far less hateful than Ju Yangjun's army... In other words, as long as they are not Ju Yangjun's people, anyone can
It doesn’t matter.”
After saying that, Yan Mo walked up to Zhao Hongrun, knelt on the ground and clasped his fists, and said seriously: "Your Highness, I will be bold and hope to take in these helpless civilians..."
"This guy...it turns out he's not just doing nothing, but he has a plan."
Zhao Hongrun looked at Yan Mo kneeling in front of him in surprise. He vaguely remembered that he had heard someone say that Yan Mo's younger brother and sister had starved to death in the past winter.
And now, it is the time when winter is about to enter.
"Next time, don't beat around the bush like this..." He bent down to help Yan Mo in front of him. Zhao Hongrun patted his arm and said solemnly: "Go ahead and do what you want to do."
"Thank you, Your Highness!" Yan Mo hugged his fists heavily.
From August 11th to August 15th, the Wei army did not rush to attack Qi County. Instead, while building military camps, they sent troops to search nearby villages, distributed food to the civilians in the villages, and made various promises to allow
They moved to Xiangcheng.
This unusual behavior of the Wei army made Qi County guard Sun Shuke really confused.