Chapter 37 Destiny

Later that day, Zhou Chizheng went to talk to Luo Yonghao again.

Humans are emotional animals.

It is said that friendship will develop after two people get along for 300 hours. Whether this is scientific or not is irrelevant, but at this moment, Luo Yonghao and Zhou Chizheng, although they are in two seemingly incompatible camps, have interacted with each other many times.

, there has indeed been a subtle feeling between them. It is impossible to say that they are sympathetic to each other, but there is no doubt that they are relatively harmonious, and there are not too many scruples in the conversation. Of course, Zhou Zhizheng's sixth-grade official position is also one of the reasons.

1: When speaking, you don’t need to carefully consider every word and every sentence like the officials do.

After just a few steps, Zhou Chizheng got straight to the point: "Brother Wenguang, there is one more small matter that I would like to ask you to help me with. On the day when your army marches eastward to Henan, my brother and Mr. Xiao will be able to give an explanation to Mr. Fanzun."

Needless to say, the vassal, the emperor, and the Dusi Mansion also have to give an explanation to the Holy Emperor and the imperial court. I don’t think your army will take those heads outside the auxiliary barracks on the river beach outside the city. Can you..."

Luo Yonghao smiled slightly: "Brother Xingduan, I also have this intention. If not, everyone would have buried it long ago."

Zhou Chizheng was startled, then he raised his hands and said: "Look at the five steps of Luozi, Brother Wenguang is a great talent! Alas, Shenmu has really wronged Brother Wenguang these years! Zhou is speechless and has no face to respond! Ashamed, ashamed!

"

Luo Yonghao waved his hand: "It's all in the past, let's not mention it. Brother Wenguang was ridiculous. To be honest, it was only later that Luo thought that the court needed to inspect the head level. Luo also had something to ask me.

, I need Brother Wenguang to mediate."

Zhou Chizheng was shocked and said quickly: "Brother Wenguang, you are welcome. As long as Zhou is within his ability, it goes without saying."

Luo Yonghao said: "Ansai County Magistrate Chang Anding (Anding is Chang Wenping's word) is an old acquaintance. When our army arrived, Anding happened to be not in the county, but unexpectedly he met him in Yan'an Prefecture. After our army left, this prefecture

Of course, a few adults have the final say, and it is not Luo's turn to make any comments. However, Ansai is a small county town, can Brother Anding be given a name? Luo asked for someone to "pay for the merits" on his behalf.

Every opportunity is there to protect the whole family." As he spoke, he solemnly handed over his hand.

Zhou Chizheng immediately felt relieved when he heard this, thinking: "'Just happened to be away'? 'Meet by chance'? Bah! You guys obviously colluded with each other beforehand! Well, I also colluded with you, even more than Chang Anding.

Early, Mr. Xiao of Yulin Prefecture also colluded with you, earlier than him. Well, now the entire three departments of Shaanxi Province, the chief envoys, the inspectors, and the commanders are all colluding with you... Do you still care?

Are you colluding with another county magistrate? As long as you don't entrust your unlucky child to me, it's a hot plaster! Isn't it just a favor that ruins the county?"

This is not simple yet.

In order to reassure Luo Yonghao, he accepted the gift calmly. After taking a breath, he handed over his hand and replied: "Brother Wenguang, don't worry! It's a small matter, I'll accept it right now."

Luo Yonghao said thanks in his mouth: "Luo thanked brother Xingduan for An Ding. Now there are eight out of thirty heads. If we capture Liangyan in the future, there will still be one or two hundred levels..."

Zhou Chizheng was overjoyed: "I would like to thank Brother Wenguang for all the adults in this province!" Then he picked up a chess piece and pondered for a long time before placing it down.

Luo Yonghao was startled. Zhou Chizheng's white stone was actually placed in the "eye" formed by his three black stones! It seemed that it was a great threat to penetrate into the heart of the black stone, but he only had one "breath". If he left it alone, the consequences would be endless. However,

He only needs to place a black stone and then pick it up, and the situation of the chess game is immediately reversed.

In doubt, Zhou Chizheng lowered his voice and added, "There is one more thing. The adults just talked about Magistrate Yu, and what they meant was... if Magistrate Yu insists on confronting the court in the future,

This thing may be really tricky..."

Luo Yonghao understood.

He dropped a piece casually, lifted up the lonely white piece and put it outside, and said calmly and calmly: "The adults may have been overly worried. Luo doesn't think Mr. Yu will have this opportunity!"

"It's clear! It's clear! Thank you, Brother Wenguang!" After speaking, Zhou Chizheng stood up and said goodbye: "Brother Wenguang is a great talent, I admit defeat."

Luo Yonghao replied solemnly: "Brother Xingduan is the best among men. Luo firmly believes that this game is a draw. Peace is valuable, peace brings wealth, and peace brings happiness. Life is like chess, you have to fight to the death to win or lose.

Short and long, I spent all my energy and energy but fell into the inferior category. But why bother?"

Zhou Zhizheng's expression became solemn: "'Harmony is the most precious', Brother Wenguang said it right! Zhou has learned the lesson. This will be the case for us from now on!"

The two of them said goodbye tacitly.

At the same time, on the bank of Yanshui River.

Yu Shengliang saw Li Shaobing, who had escaped alone. Under the light of a torch, he glared with red eyes and scolded the men who were fastening chains to the boats to carry firewood. He vented his anger and extended the stay of the magistrate Liao Xingxiang in the dilapidated city.

The leader led the Ban Zao officials to inspect the garrison supplies from crenel to crenel. In the temporary camp on the beach of the Yellow River, the soldiers who had been whipped for many days and were taught to be loyal to the country were all sleeping soundly. Some even dreamed

By the time they made great achievements and rose to prominence...it was a pity that they had no idea that their fate, even life and death, had been decided by two people who were drinking tea and playing chess in the elegant study room of the Yan'an magistrate's yamen, chatting and laughing casually!

Guo Qinglin had already left the auxiliary barracks and moved back to Fucheng to sleep peacefully. He was very happy to receive a new order: there was no need to continue making boats and rafts.

In order to ascertain the direction of the upcoming attack, Yu Shengliang had already sent out more than a dozen cavalry to detect the thief. This was the greatest ability that the small Yanchang County could use to detect the thief after the loss of the cavalry.

The hard work paid off. After one day's notice, we received a report from the scouts along the river: they found a large fleet of thieves, with about a hundred boats and fifty or sixty rafts. Along with them, there were more than a hundred enemy cavalry on the north bank.

There are also twenty or thirty cavalry on the south bank, presumably to protect the fleet from harassment and attacks from both sides of the bank. Currently, it is about thirty miles away from the county seat. The enemy troops are landing and camping on the shore. It is estimated that they will arrive at the extension at noon tomorrow. Because there is the threat of enemy reconnaissance cavalry.

, unable to get a closer look.

By the time of You, the scouts from other directions returned to the city one after another, but no trace of the thieves was found. Yu Shengliang was very happy. It seemed that what he had expected was true. The thieves just wanted to march through Yanshui and launch an attack. Liao Xingxiang was also very happy and flattered him.

He stretched out his hands and raised both thumbs together: "My lord, you have seen thousands of miles away. How could these thieves have thought that you had laid a dragnet for them all this time! I would like to congratulate you on my victory first! Hahaha."

Yu Shengliang proudly stroked his gray beard under his chin, pretending to be humble and said: "Although the behavior of the thieves was within my expectations, I must not underestimate the enemy. Chu Cai (Liao Xingxiang's word), you have worked hard too. Wait until we are defeated.

I will give you credit for these traitors!"

"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"

"Dang Dang Dang"...

Just after noon the next day, a series of shouts and warning gongs sounded from the head of Yanchang County.

Yu Shengliang and Liao Xingxiang, who were sitting at the southwest corner of the city wall, stood up and set up a pergola and looked westward. They saw a fleet of boats and rafts mixed with boats seven or eight miles upstream on Yanshui River.

Yu Shengliang waved his hand decisively: "Get ready for war!"

Behind him, Li Shaobing, whose eyes were filled with hatred, clasped his fists and said: "I have the order!" He held the handle of the knife and turned around confidently to get off the city wall - the thief was bound to drive at full speed, intending to rush through the fire damage area at the top of the city as quickly as possible.

.When the thieves' fleet approaches, dozens of small boats loaded with flammable materials will form a horizontal array on the Yanshui River. Each boat is connected with an iron chain, blocking the thieves' path and being shot out from the city and the shore.

After the rockets are ignited, the pirate ships sprinting down the river at full speed cannot slow down at all, and will throw themselves into the fire net one after another! Even if the last one can stop by luck, it will be crowded in the river in a mess and unable to move. See the ones in front

The raging fire is soaring into the sky. Are you afraid that you will be so frightened that you abandon the boat and go ashore to flee for your life? The army is defeated like a mountain. As long as you wait for a while, the front will be burnt and the back will trample on itself. I will personally lead the team to cover up and kill the fleeing enemy.

, you must vent your anger fiercely, Yixue’s shame in escaping alone!

The thieves coming down the river came very quickly. In the sight of everyone at the top of the city, in less than half an hour, the thieves' fleet came to a distance of two or three miles. Yu Shengliang, who was wearing leather armor and military uniform, gave the order again: "Meet the enemy!"

A red lantern was raised high on the temporary wooden platform. At the same time, the messenger leaned half of the body outside the wall and waved the red pennant to the defenders in the river.

A horn sounded from the defenders below, indicating that they had received the order and were ready to fight. The soldiers and boatmen on the fireboats had practiced it countless times. They skillfully used long poles to push the boats apart, and after entering the predetermined position, they pulled over the boats next to them.

The iron chains at the head and tail were nailed to his own boat with long nails, and the two boats closest to the north and south banks were firmly fixed on the shore. In less than a stick of incense, they were in a blind spot in the thieves' sight, and they were wrapped around the water.

On the river behind the southwest corner of the city wall, two interception lines were suddenly pulled up! The soldiers took off the waterproof tarpaulin covering the firewood and ran back to the shore. The top of the city and the shore were already burning.

A long row of braziers was set up, and two or three archers stood beside each brazier. The arrows were already placed on the bowstrings. As soon as the drums on the top of the city sounded, the thieves would plunge into the blazing sea of ​​​​fire!

Surprisingly, the fleet of thieves slowed down as they got closer to the city. Many ships began to approach the shore, and from a distance, many thieves as small as insects and ants actually landed ashore and began to get busy.

I can't tell exactly what they are busy with, but there are vaguely people digging and driving stakes into the ground. It looks like... they are trying to build a camp?

Everyone in the city was puzzled: They have to camp for the night so early? This is a small and shabby county! Are the thieves so unsure of their own attack power? Hey, that's not right - if they are camping

, why are there still some ships continuing to come? Parallel with them are the cavalry on the north and south sides, obviously still protecting the flanks.

What was even more puzzling was that the small fleet of boats that continued to sail stopped a stone's throw away from the city. Yu Shengliang and others finally saw clearly: there were seventeen or eight small boats and more than twenty rafts in front of them.

, hugging each other tightly, and there were three or five small boats behind them. I saw the thieves on the raft in front of me hurriedly removing the tarpaulin covering it, revealing a load of firewood! Everyone looked at the thieves in shock.

People jumped on the boats moored behind one by one, and allowed the crowded rafts to drift slowly downwards, gradually accelerating, driven by the water flow!

Rockets shot up from the rafts behind, instantly igniting the drifting fleet in front. Looking at the rapidly spreading fire, the thieves actually sprinkled a lot of pine and gunpowder into the firewood! In an instant, the river was crowded.

A large ball of flames gradually approached, and even the people on the top of the city seemed to feel the scorching heat rushing towards their faces.

Fight fire with fire.

Days of carefully prepared traps were in vain!

Even with the support of many modern high-tech means, humans still do not have the ability to quickly extinguish large-scale fires - let alone the Ming Dynasty. In this era, fire attacks in wars, as long as the conditions are right, can achieve decisive results like tactical nuclear weapons.

According to Shengliang's original plan, behind the corner of Yanshui was a blind spot for the attacking thieves. He would act as the eyes and ears of the ambush on top of the city. The officers and soldiers only had to set up a net to wait. But similarly, the ambush would not be able to see the attacking thieves.

The thief - since last night, he has been worried about whether the cavalry on the south bank of the thief will suddenly come forward to conduct reconnaissance, causing his plan to fail. Just now he was congratulating the thief for his help, but he never expected that the thief seemed to have clairvoyance.

Come prepared and use fire attacks! Such complex military information has no real-time communication means to inform the defenders who are also in the blind spot!

Of course, even if the defenders discover all this in time, the upcoming outcome will not change in any way: facing the fire ships flowing down the river, the only way is to get out of the way of the river, push them away with long poles, and let them drift.

They would burn up when there was no one around. (More than two hundred years later, the British fleet anchored outside the Pearl River Estuary during the First Opium War lowered their boats and used this method to deal with the fire attack of the defenders down the river.

Boats and rafts). But Yu Shengliang and Li Shaobing had nothing to do at this moment - the fire attack boats blocking the river have been firmly nailed together with iron nails and chains, and there is no way to separate them in a short time!

A hundred and fifty steps away, the flames came closer in the blink of an eye. Several boats were pushed by the current to the corner of the city wall, and they crowded each other and stopped. The firewood was also mixed with cow and horse dung, and black smoke billowed along the city wall.

It soared up, and in the blink of an eye not only completely blocked the sight of the defenders on the wall, but also choked people so hard that they couldn't breathe. Those who turned the corner ran straight into the first row of barrage boats. The archers on the shore were stunned to find that the fire was already on the ground.

The fleet spreads, and there is no need to shoot rockets by yourself anymore!

In order to prevent the pirate ships from passing by at full speed, the distance between the two barrage fleets was only five or six feet wide. The first line of defense bent deeply downstream under the impact of the fire ships. Although the hulls did not touch,

The high temperature generated by the flying flames thinned the air above. Under atmospheric pressure, the surrounding cold air quickly rushed in to fill the space. The burning firewood was sent into the mid-air by the strong airflow, and slowly fell while burning.

Finally, a spark fell on a small boat in the second row.
To be continued...