There is a cool breeze, the moon is bright and the stars are few.

It is already midnight, but the lights in Chaona County Yamen are still brightly lit.

The side hall was full of people, both young and old, but all of them were prominent figures in Chaona County.

Fellow townsfolk, you look at me and I look at you, both with confused expressions on their faces.

I wonder what Zhang Jingzhi’s purpose was in calling him and others here to discuss matters at this time?

Could it be that... Li Langjun was defeated?

But it doesn’t look like it.

The city defense remains the same as before, there are no more lanterns or soldiers, and the military camp outside the city is stable as usual.

Those eight achievements are a victory.

This is also consistent with the previous judgment of most people... Of course, the premise is that Li Langjun did not lie, and the enemy thieves are indeed a mob...

Everyone was suspicious when they heard a noise outside the hall, and then saw Zhang Jingzhi and Guo Cunxin walking in hand.

The lights were dim, and the two of them looked serious again. It was hard to tell whether it was a good thing or a bad thing.

When the two of them entered the hall, they went straight to their seats without saying anything.

Zhang Jingzhi turned around, his eyes seemed to be gleaming, and he stared at the Township Party with unusual brightness and glanced around.

Everyone was anxious to death, but they neither dared to urge nor scold.

Who allows the uncle and brother-in-law to have the highest official positions?

After a while, Zhang Jingzhi took a breath and said in a trembling voice: "At dusk, a scout from the army came to report: General Li... a great victory!"

Everyone was stunned at first, and then ecstatic.

Victory, victory... or a big victory?

I don’t know who shouted, and then a thunderous roar suddenly sounded in the county office: "Wan Sheng..."

Everyone's face was filled with excitement, shouting, laughing, shedding tears, expressing their joyful emotions.

Guo Cunxin looked at the villagers in the hall who were going crazy and exhaled forcefully.

Not to mention these people, even when he just received the emergency report, he wanted to jump up and roar twice.

This means that thieves will no longer attack, they will no longer burn, kill, loot, and disembowel their hearts. The common people and gentry will no longer have to leave their homes and flee for their lives in panic...

No matter how excited you are, it’s not surprising.

After cheering for a while, the hall slowly became quiet.

Everyone regained their composure, and most of them guessed: Even if they win a big victory, there is no need to summon all the township party members overnight.

You know, the farthest party fortress is a hundred miles away, and it will take nearly two hours to get there at a high speed.

Whether it is laboring troops or offering prisoners, we can wait until dawn to discuss it. Why is there such a rush?

Could it be that there were too many casualties, so Zhang Jingzhi wanted to comfort him in advance?

An old man hesitated for a long time before asking sadly: "I dare ask Zhang Sima, but the damage... is not small?"

Among the twenty-six parties, his party has the largest number of young men and women who have enlisted as soldiers, and more than half of the clan members have joined the army...

Zhang Jingzhi was stunned for a moment, then smiled dumbly.

He didn't plan to mention it originally, because no one would believe it if he told it. It would be better to wait for the army to return, and wait until their seeing is believing, and they will naturally believe it.

After pondering for a moment, he replied: "Not many died, just a few, and dozens were injured..."

"How much?"

Everyone has a look of horror on their faces.

Did he misunderstand, or did Zhang Jingzhi miss the mark by missing the word "hundred" or "thousand" in front of the word?

Look, I knew no one would believe it.

Zhang Jing subconsciously looked at Guo Cunxin, only to find that he seemed to be ill: his eyes were empty and lifeless, and the flesh on his cheeks would twitch from time to time.

It seems like I want to laugh but I don’t dare to. If I look closely, I feel like I’m crying?

Are you stupidly happy?

Zhang Jingzhi glared, then turned back to look at the villagers, and said with firm words: "You fellow villagers did not hear wrongly, what a certain person said was indeed a few dead and dozens injured...

…”

There was a "coax" in the hall, just like a muffled thunder.

It was clear that we had won a great victory, but our own side suffered very few losses. Could it be that the traitors fled before fighting?

Another village elder asked: "Zhang Sima, how was your gain this time?"

Zhang Jingzhi sighed slightly, picked up a piece of letter paper in his hand and read: "The formation killed 987, and captured all the remaining thieves: Under the command of the commander-in-chief Li Wenzhong, 4816 were captured. In addition, the horses were captured.

More than three hundred horses, nearly a thousand donkeys and mules...more than 940 pieces of armor, more than 320 chariots, nearly 500 dan of corn, millet, beans, etc..."

Not to mention the people in the hall, if Li Chengzhi hadn't written down the detailed battle situation in the emergency report, even Zhang Jingzhi wouldn't have believed it was true.

With more than 2,000 soldiers, we faced an enemy of 6,000 people and won a great victory. Not only did we not lose a few of our own troops, but the enemy also captured all of them?

It feels like telling a joke.

Even if these six thousand are all pigs, they at least have legs if they have no brains. How can they not even know how to escape?

Everyone seemed to be frozen, their expressions froze directly on their faces.

Before, they thought they would be defeated without defeating the enemy.

The fighting has already begun, and the enemy troops have suffered nearly 20% loss. It is clearly a fierce battle, but the question is, why have only a few died?

Not to mention, the following "captured the enemy 4,816, etc..."

What did Li Langjun say before leaving for the expedition?

"There are about two thousand enemies, all of them old and weak..."

"The flags were in disarray, the soldiers and armor were poor, and there were many civilians carrying hoes..."

These words seem to still be lingering in my ears.

Where did these extra thieves, all these armors, war horses, chariots, etc. come from?

This is not a mob, this is clearly an elite?

But what Zhang Jingzhi said was: "Capture all the remaining thieves"?

No one believed it, and they all stared at Zhang Jingzhi in surprise and doubt.

If it weren't for Zhang Jingzhi and Guo Cunxin sitting here, if they had been replaced by someone with a lower official position, they would have started to curse.

Are you trying to fool your grandfather into thinking he is a fool?

Those with quick minds have already begun to settle accounts.

If this is what it says on the paper, and what Li Chengzhi said before the war, how much food will this cost?

There should be four to five thousand dan. If each party and each fort is divided, it should be about 200 dan?

As long as the battle situation is true, of course there will be no problem. With such a great victory, maybe it can be settled once and for all. No matter how stupid Liu Huiwang is, he will never dare to raise troops to invade the country.

What I'm afraid of is that this is a lie, coaxing them to give more money and food... It's not that they doubt Li Chengzhi. In the minds of these people, his image is almost comparable to that of a saint...

They are doubting Zhang Jingzhi.

There are few officials today who are not greedy. What’s more, Zhang Jingzhi’s image is not that perfect.

This person is otherwise good, but he is not very broad-minded...

Zhang Jingzhi is experienced in accidents. Seeing the faces of everyone, he can guess what they are suspecting.

A bunch of stupid pig-like things, who do you think I, Zhang Jingzhi, am?

No matter how greedy grandpa is, can he still be greedy at the doorstep?

No need for fame?

And Li Chengzhi...

If he is really short-sighted and greedy for profit, why would he have to spend all his wealth to put down the rebellion?

Isn't it uncomfortable to guard Kongtong Mountain and wait for the imperial army in peace?

What's more, they don't prepare half a grain of rice for you to wait for...

If Li Chengzhi found out about this situation, his heart would probably freeze to pieces, right?

Zhang Jingzhi felt disheartened for a while, because half of the surprise brought by the victory disappeared in an instant.

Originally, I was thinking of discussing with the elders from various villages how to persuade Li Chengzhi to keep as many soldiers as possible, but at this time, I was not interested at all.

While he was cursing in his mind, someone asked: "I dare to ask Zhang Sima, if it is a labor force, how much food will we need to raise?"

Raise your mother!
To be continued...