Chapter 5: The Darkness of the Night and the Wind and Fire
Chapter 5 The night is dark and the wind is blowing
Li Da came out of the back door of the house, carefully separated from everyone, and looked around vigilantly. It was morning now. Except for Chen Jun who was patrolling, there were very few civilians walking around the streets in Xiangcheng. Every household had its doors closed. Last night
In some places where fighting took place, there were still dead people lying on the ground. Chen Jun was cleaning up and identifying the dead. Those whose identities were confirmed were sent to their homes to continue the search. Li Da avoided the streets and walked exclusively to the alleys. He came to a
He knocked on the door at the hidden back door of the courtyard, and the door was opened a crack. Li Da opened the door hurriedly to let him in. When Li Da entered, an old man wearing servant's clothes came out and looked around again.
Then he turned back and closed the door.
Li Da walked through the backyard and came to the front hall. This was a very vast courtyard with high walls. As the richest man in Xiang City and running the largest grain business in Xiang State, a high-walled courtyard was indispensable.
The Li family has been officials in the State of Xiang for generations. Li Da's father Li Gong resigned from office and went into business. Relying on his connections in the government and the public, he became the largest grain merchant in the State of Xiang and even the Central Plains. At this time, Li Gong was talking to the housekeeper in the front hall.
After explaining the matter, when he saw Li Da coming in, he waved to the housekeeper to go down. Li Da was the eldest son in the family, he was calm and capable, and was deeply loved by Li Gong.
Li Da waited for the housekeeper to go out and closed the door, then he leaned into Li Gong's ear and told his father about the discussion. Li Gong looked frightened and worried. After listening, he pondered for a while and asked: "What do you think about the chance of winning?"
How many?" Li Da replied in a low voice: "It must be 70% to 80%. Chen Jun stored the grain and grass in the original granary. Although he sent heavy troops to guard it, he still retained some of our officials from Xiang State, and General Xiang
They are very familiar with the terrain of the granary, and with internal intelligence, they will definitely be able to accomplish it, they just don’t know how much they can burn down!”
After Li Da finished speaking, seeing that his father didn't speak, he whispered again: "Father, once the food and grass are burned tonight, Chen Jun will definitely ask us for food. We pretended to give them some some time ago, but they didn't do anything."
, I am afraid that if we ask for it again tomorrow, it will be decided whether we give it to Chen Jun. Rather than letting Chen Jun take it by force, it is better to distribute it to the people in the city now, and avoid the suspicion of collaborating with the enemy."
Li Gong nodded and looked at Li Da with a smile. He had also thought about this. Although Chen Jun came to collect food, Li Jiaxu responded and gave Chen Jun some food and grass to save Chen Jun from trouble. But this was the crime of collaborating with the enemy.
I'm afraid that in the eyes of some people, it has already been confirmed. When King Xiang returns to the country, life for his family will definitely not be easy. Now that Li Da has said this, Li Gong is still satisfied with his son's judgment. "Da'er, you
Go handle this matter with the old housekeeper, but remember to think of a good excuse for Chen Jun. There is a way forward and a way back!"
Li Da quickly responded, thought for a while, and said his plan: "I will go to Chen Jun with the old housekeeper, and say that in order to help Chen Jun win over the people, I am willing to pay tribute to the people in the city in the name of Chen Jun."
If the food is scattered, Chen Jun will not have to compete with the people for food. Once the food is dispersed, if they ask us for food again, we will refuse it. Even if we are aware of the fire tonight and we know it in advance, they will not be good for the time being.
It's happening. Let's just gather our servants and take precautions these days. I think in ten and a half days, King Xiang and Qi's army should enter the city."
Chen Qi saw off the visiting Li Da with a bad feeling in his heart. It was really strange that the Li family used this excuse to help him win over people's support. The Li family also had business with Chen Guo and other countries. Originally, they also had business with Chen Qi.
They were acquaintances. This time when Chen Qi entered Xiangcheng, the Li family took the initiative to donate some food and grass without waiting for Chen Jun to collect food. They also privately gave Chen Jun generals a lot of benefits. Chen Qi did not mean to embarrass the Li family. This time the Li family
He wanted to loose food again, which made Chen Qi suspicious.
Chen Qi turned around and asked Gongsun Xiao what he thought. Gongsun Xiao disagreed. He analyzed that the Li family was afraid that Chen's army would withdraw and King Xiang would return to the country. They would be charged with providing food for Chen's army. When the Li family was in business, businessmen were nothing more than seeking advantages and avoiding disadvantages.
, the Li family takes a long-term view, and there is nothing wrong with each other if they do not offend each other.
In fact, Gongsun Xiao had participated in the Li family's business many years ago. This time when he entered Xiangcheng, he also bought a lot of jewelry, calligraphy and paintings from the Li family, so he naturally spoke well of the Li family. When Chen Qi saw what Gongsun Xiao said, he didn't
After further investigation, he turned to ask: "Is there no problem with the defense over the grain depot?" Gongsun Xiao stood up and said firmly: "Don't worry, Commander, the grain and grass are well guarded and not even a fly can get in."
This day was a long day. The Qi army did not attack the city, and the rebellious Xiang army also hid. Xiang City almost fell into silence. If there was some anger, it was the Li family's grain store in the city. The old housekeeper of the Li family had already
Notify all the shops and open their warehouses for the people of Xiangcheng to take all. In one day, all the grain stored in the Li family's grain stores were cleared away. By the time the lights were lit in the evening, the people went home looking at the empty grain stores.
, the Li family’s servants also closed and locked their shops and gathered in the Li family’s mansion.
It's night. Today is the new moon. The night is dark and the autumn wind is bringing coolness.
Chen Jun's military rations were all stored in the royal granary in Xiangcheng. After Chen Jun occupied Xiangcheng, he transported most of the confiscated gold and silver grain back to Chen State. The food stored in the city was enough to feed 60,000 Chen Jun for three months.
Youyu. Chen Jun's security here is also very tight. No outsiders are allowed to approach, and outsiders are strictly prohibited from walking within a hundred steps around it after sunset.
As the drums sounded, it was already midnight. A patrol team of Chen Jun passed by on the street. More than a dozen figures slowly approached in the darkness of the night. There were more than a dozen people in this mobile patrol team of Chen Jun, holding torches as they walked.
He patrolled around vigilantly. Suddenly, the dark shadows hidden in the night jumped out from the best position. Before Chen Jun's soldiers could react, a short knife pierced their throats. Xiang Dingyuan took the
His trusted general quietly killed the patrol team and quickly changed into Chen Jun's military uniform. After this night of observation, Xiang Dingyuan had figured out the rules of Chen Jun's defense and patrol changes. Now he started to take action.
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At the same time, dozens of people who were ambushing around the gate of the grain depot suddenly rushed out, shouting and rushing towards Chen Jun's guards. These dozens of people were all veterans of Xiang Jun. They were very skilled. They rushed towards Chen Jun and raised their hands.
The sword fell and chopped down more than a dozen people. Seeing dozens of Xiang Jun approaching the Kumen, many torches were lit everywhere, and hundreds of Chen Jun who were lying in ambush emerged from the darkness. The surrounding patrols also surrounded them.
Xiang Jun was led by a middle-aged general named Han Chong. As soon as he spotted Chen Jun's ambush, he shouted: "Disperse." Then he ordered his men to break out. At one time, dozens of Xiang Jun and three
More than a hundred Chen troops fought together. Chen Jun divided the encirclement, and Xiang Jun tried his best to break out. After all, Chen Jun had more troops, and the dozens of Xiang Jun troops soon became exhausted. Occasionally, a few stood out from the encirclement, and Chen Jun immediately followed them.
Someone followed and chased him.
Chen Qi and Gongsun Xiao expected that Xiang Jun in the city would make a rebellion and would attack the grain and grass supply. So they made arrangements early and set up an ambush. Now Xiang Jun actually showed up, fell into the ambush, and most of them were killed.
The attack of dozens of Xiang troops was like a gust of wind, coming and going quickly. On the ground in front of the granary, there were hundreds of corpses or injured people lying on the ground. Except for the shouts of Chen Jun pursuing the escapees, they gradually faded away.
After leaving, the scene returned to calm. The injured Chen Jun was carried into the grain depot compound, and the captured Xiang Jun was escorted to the prison.
Xiang Dingyuan and his men who had changed into Chen Jun's military uniforms took advantage of the chaos just now to infiltrate Chen Jun and followed them into the grain depot's compound. They had already memorized the layout of the grain depot. As soon as they entered the compound
Without Xiang Dingyuan's orders, they all split up and hid in the dark. Xiang Dingyuan's body was also spattered with blood. He pretended to cover his arm, dropped the gun in his hand, followed the wounded soldier around the pavilion, and took advantage of the opportunity.
Without paying attention, he hid in the shadows of a row of warehouses. His target was the fodder yard. The fodder was flammable. He thought of burning the fodder first and then setting fire to the grain warehouse.
In front is the forage yard, with patrolling patrol posts and fixed posts in twos and threes. The outside is heavily guarded, and Xiang Jun has just ambushed Xiang Jun who came to attack. Inside, Chen Jun's guard is a little lax. Xiang Dingyuan drew out the short knife in his boot and quietly
He killed the two secret whistles, slipped into the haystack with his body low, took out the flint he was carrying, struck out the sparks, ignited the incense, and put several sections of the incense into the haystack. Soon the incense was ignited.
The forage was dry in autumn, and with the gusty autumn wind tonight, the fire started all of a sudden. Xiang Dingyuan knew that there was a water tanker in the forage yard, so he put it to start the fire and touched a water tanker that was closer to him. When he saw the fire,
Chen Jun's attention was attracted. When Chen Jun was preparing to press water to extinguish the fire beside the water tanker, he rushed out from behind and stabbed several people's chests with a short knife neatly.
At this time, there were flashes of fire in several places around, and shouts and shouts were heard. Xiang Dingyuan knew that his men must have succeeded elsewhere. Now he had to quickly increase the fire, so that all the fodder and military rations were burned in the fire.
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Chen Qi suddenly woke up while sitting on the handsome chair. He looked up at the flickering candlelight, stood up and pushed the door out, looking at the direction of the grain depot. Through the darkness of the night, he seemed to see a flash of fire over there.
Chen Qi secretly screamed something bad and hurriedly called the guards to prepare their horses. As soon as Chen Qi got on the horse, the fire in the direction of the grain depot was already bright, lighting up half the sky. Gongsun Xiao lived in his yard and had already rushed over at this time.
While the two rushed to the burning grain depot, they split up to send orders to send people to put out the fire. At the same time, they strengthened the defense of the four city walls and patrols within the city.
Looking at the fire in front of him, he could feel the scorching heat from a distance. Chen Jun was busy trying to put out the fire with water trucks, buckets and other utensils. Unfortunately, the weather was dry and the autumn wind helped, except for grabbing some unburned firewood.
With so little food and fodder, it was impossible to put out the fire.
The fire that almost burned through the night was naturally seen by the Qi army camp. King Wuyou was watching the fire in Xiang City from the tower. At the same time, he also held a letter in his hand, which was an arrow shot out of the city.
The book mentioned the burning of grain and grass tonight, and also expressed the hope of Xiang people in the city to join forces with Xiang. King Wuyou handed the letter to King Xiang beside him, and King Xiang took it and read it eagerly, with a flash on his face.
There was a faint smile. King Wuyou glanced at King Xiang from the corner of his eyes and caught King Xiang's fleeting smile. He raised his hand and pointed at Xiang Cheng and shouted, "I must take it."
This city!"
Hearing King Wuyou's shouting, King Xiang's heart tightened, and he felt a little panicked for no reason. He frowned, looked at the fire in front of him, and murmured: "This fire is too big, it's just
I’m afraid that the people in the city will be burned.”
Wuyou King Qi Si looked full of confidence and said to King Xiang: So we must attack Xiang City as soon as possible to relieve the suffering of the people in the city.