Zhang Chen and He Yuan were on their way back to the Chief Envoy Si Yamen. He Yuan asked Zhang Chen with some confusion: "Brother Zhang, when we usually defend a city, don't we always lead the troops and desperately ask for the recruitment of young men to defend the city? Is it because of the hesitation of civil servants? Why is Xie Cheng not in a hurry to recruit young men?"
Zhang Chen said: "If my prediction is good, I'm afraid it's for merit. If a large number of young people are recruited, then the local officials will also have a share of the merit when calculating the merit. For example, you and I will also have the merit. But if there is no If you use young people to defend the city, then all the credit goes to the people who lead the troops. So when you are sure to defend the city, you naturally don't want to use more young people from civilian households."
"What is recorded in the history books is that the defenders of the city were extremely panicked for fear of having fewer troops, so they vigorously recruited young men. Xie Cheng was a meritorious general and was extremely confident in himself, so he naturally did not want to recruit more young men."
He Yuan sighed softly: "Xie Cheng is like this, so don't be careless."
Zhang Chen said: "Xie Cheng has been fighting for half his life, so he won't be careless."
Just as they were talking, they had returned to the Chief Envoy's Yamen. Zhang Chen immediately mobilized money and food, and He Yuan returned to the Yamen to start recruiting young people. It was still the early Ming Dynasty, and various rules and regulations were still strict. Zhu Yuanzhang was also very strict with some people. There were detailed process instructions on how to deal with the rebellion, so although both of them were nervous, the recruitment went smoothly.
Xie Cheng's process of recruiting Jinan Guard soldiers into the city was also very smooth. Only a few dozen rebel cavalry were seen outside Jinan City throughout the morning, and the large troops did not come at all. It was not until the afternoon that all the soldiers outside the city entered. After entering Jinan City, the rebels arrived belatedly, which surprised Xie Cheng and other generals.
Outside Jinan City, Deng Enming looked at the walls of Jinan City and said to Chief Su: "Why don't you attack it right away?"
Chief Su glanced at him contemptuously and said, "Take a look for yourself. With the current morale, can we attack the city? Do you think Jinan City is made of tofu?"
Deng Enming didn't need to look to know that their morale was not high right now. Although many people had nothing to do during the battle last night, their faces were still bruised and swollen.
It turned out that after wiping out the hundreds of households stationed in Yantou Town last night, Chief Su and Luo Ren thought that they would officially attack Jinan City tomorrow. They let the soldiers have a good rest tonight, and instead of setting up camp, they entered the town. The people were driven out and slept in the houses.
The common people are naturally unwilling, and pushing and shoving is inevitable. What's more terrible is that although these soldiers have not read any books, they are not stupid. They know that they are rebelling, so their morale is not high. Many people feel that Since there is not much tomorrow left, it is better to have a good time before dying.
It happened that today they were not sleeping in the camp but in the town, so many soldiers took the opportunity to rape civilian girls. By the time Chief Su and Luo Ren noticed, the matter was already serious.
Chief Su and Luo Ren hurriedly started to reorganize, but many low-level officers and soldiers had similar ideas, so they delayed their actions until daybreak. However, although the reorganization was completed, the morale of the troops was even lower.
Chief Su had no choice but to let the soldiers rest for a while before heading out to Jinan City, so he only arrived at Jinan City in the afternoon.
Chief Su said: "If I hadn't been afraid that guards from other places would enter Jinan City during this day, I wouldn't have brought them here today and would rest for another day in Yantou Town."
Chief Su then ordered the soldiers to set up camp, and at the same time ordered three men each to take 2,000 people to camp at the north gate, east gate and south gate of Jinan City.
When it was getting dark, they finished setting up camp, and then they started cooking casually.
He Yuan held the telescope in his hand and looked at it for a while, then said to Xie Cheng: "Commander Xie Du, I read in the history books, there are many records of camp robberies, why didn't Commander Xie Du arrange for the hijacking of the camp?"
Xie Cheng also put down the telescope and said: "Only if the opponent underestimates the enemy and is careless can they have room to rob the camp. But I just used the telescope to see that their generals are Chief Su and Luo Ren. I know both of them and they are quite familiar with each other.
I am afraid that if you are good at using troops, you will not forget to guard against hijacking the camp."
He Yuan said: "I see. That's right. There are specialties in the art industry. I shouldn't ask questions. I also ask the commanders to forgive me."
Xie Cheng said: "It doesn't matter."
At this time, Ma Wenyu, the commander of the Jinan Guard, said: "Speaking of which, this clairvoyance is really useful. It can see people's faces from miles away. It is really a magical tool." Yunxi put the telescope under the telescope in the 31st year of Hongwu.
Xie Cheng said: "Indeed, with this clairvoyance, you can see anything at a glance, and you no longer have to get close to investigate. It is really convenient. It is a pity that the other party also has clairvoyance."
Zhang Chen said: "How many clairvoyances do they have?"
Xie Cheng said: "There should be only one of the three guards of the King of Qi. There are not many clairvoyants from the capital. Each of them has two commanders. Many guards do not have them yet! But if the King of Qi has any, I will tell you how many there are.
I no longer know."
"But it's strange to say that I looked carefully with the telescope just now, and there was no sign of King Qi. King Qi always takes the lead in wars. Could it be that his character changed as soon as he rebelled?"
When the other generals present heard this, they also became strange about this matter. Many people put forward their own ideas. However, they could not guess the real reason now.
After guessing for a while, Xie Cheng said: "No need to guess, you will know it when the rebellion is suppressed. What you need to pay attention to now is to be prepared for them to attack the city in the middle of the night. Although their morale seems to be low, they must not be careless. The arrangements are for tonight
Anyone on duty who is caught without permission by me will be killed without mercy!"
The generals agreed loudly and then dispersed. Those who were supposed to be on duty went to watch, and the rest went to eat.
Xie Cheng and Zhang Chen went down the city wall, talked about some things at the dinner table, and then went to bed.
Outside the city, Chief Su and Luo Ren looked at the man in front of them in surprise and said, "Why are you here in Jinan?"
The man chuckled lightly and said, "Why can't I come to Jinan?"
Chief Su said: "Aren't you afraid that our family members will escape your control and you will die without a burial place?"
The man smiled and said, "Don't worry, because it's impossible for your family to escape my control."
"However, I am not on the front line, and I am afraid that you will not work hard enough or even be cruel enough to abandon the child and surrender to the court, so I can only go to the front line in person to supervise the battle."
This man just has a long way to go. After he arranged things in Qingzhou City, he was worried that his cronies Deng Enming would not be able to suppress them, and he was afraid that they would really not even care about their children and surrender to the court, so he left his eldest son Lu Kang to guard them.
Qingzhou himself came over with the military rations he had sent.
Because both parties know that the other party does not trust them, they speak quite straightforwardly. However, in this way, their communication efficiency is very high, and there is no possibility of misunderstanding the other party's meaning.
