Liu Bowen's mansion is located at the intersection of Liyuan Street and Minghu Street. It has a three-yard structure. Apart from Liu Bowen, there is only one old servant who came with him from his hometown.
It was the old servant who opened the door. After learning the intention of the three people, he led the three people into the side hall, and then went to inform Liu Bowen.
There was only one oil lamp lit in the side hall, and the light was very dim. The three of them waited for a long time before they heard footsteps coming from outside the door.
Liu Bowen walked in holding a lamp and said with a smile: "Three generals are here. Liu is welcome from afar!"
The three of them stood up to salute.
Both Wang Da and Geng San were not good at dealing with literati. Monkey had learned a lot from Yang Ying, and he could barely speak a few words in a literate manner. He handed over his hands and said: "The three of me have taken the liberty of visiting and disturbed Mr. Liu's rest. Please forgive me."
Liu Bowen put another oil lamp on the table, walked to the main seat with a smile, stretched out his hand and said: "You three, please take a seat."
Wang Da didn't push around, sat down and said straight to the point: "The three of me are here to ask Mr. Liu to help us give us some advice!"
Liu Bowen slowly sat down and asked in surprise: "Any idea?"
The monkey hurriedly said: "The three of us want to lead an army alone to attack Zhenjiang, and I would like to ask for advice on the battle strategy!"
Liu Bowen frowned and said, "Did the king ask you to come?"
Geng Sandao: "Your Majesty asked us to come up with a feasible battle plan before he would let us lead the troops on the expedition! So the three of me came to ask for advice from Sir."
Liu Bowen was silent for a long time, and then said apologetically: "I am a civil servant, not good at military affairs. As the saying goes, if you are not in your position, you will not pursue your political affairs. Please forgive me."
Wang Dali said anxiously: "Sir, don't try to stall us. Everyone knows that the king likes to come to you to make decisions. How can you not be good at martial arts?"
Liu Bowen pondered for a while and said: "Then I want to ask the three generals, why do you want to lead the army to attack Zhenjiang alone?"
Wang Da said gruffly: "Of course it's for meritorious service and promotion. You can't even get a few sips of soup by following others!"
Liu Bowen shook his head, squinted his eyes and stopped talking.
The monkey secretly cursed Wang Da and said quickly: "Actually, meritorious service is only one of the reasons. The more important thing is to conquer Jiangnan as soon as possible so that the people in Jiangnan can live a good life in peace and contentment!"
Liu Bowen glanced at him and said: "The general is very ambitious, but I don't know the skills of the three of you. If you make a plan rashly, I'm afraid that you will miss the three of them."
Wang Da was stunned and was about to ask what was wrong? But the monkey knew that Liu Bowen was worried that the three of them were not capable enough to carry out his strategy well, and would be defeated and killed.
"Sir, don't worry. The three of us have been with the king since Longtan Village. Although we are not good at leading troops, we have been on the battlefield for a long time and will not make fun of the lives of the soldiers!" Monkey could only say bravely.
.
Liu Bowen stared at him for a while and said: "May I ask the general, what are the five things about military affairs?"
The monkey's heart trembled, knowing that Liu Bowen was testing himself.
At this time, I have to be grateful to Li Er. He once gave me a military book, which mentioned exactly these things.
"The five things of war are: the first is Tao, the second is Heaven, the third is Earth, the fourth is General, and the fifth is Law!"
Liu Bowen asked again: "What is Tao?"
"The Tao makes the people agree with the superiors, so they can die with them and live with them without fear of danger!"
"What is heaven and earth?"
"Heaven refers to yin and yang, cold and heat, and the seasons. Earth refers to distance, danger, width, and narrowness, life and death."
"What is general and law?"
"The general is wisdom, trust, benevolence, courage, and strictness! The law is the rule, the official way, and the master!"
Wang Da and Geng San both looked at the monkey in astonishment, unable to believe that these obscure words would pop out of his mouth!
Liu Bowen smiled slightly and said: "If there is anything the three generals need me to do for you, please ask."
Wang Da and Geng San looked at each other and knew that the monkey had passed the test. After what had just happened, they both decided to shut up and let the monkey answer.
The monkey also breathed a sigh of relief and said hurriedly: "Our army is currently short of warships. More than a hundred warships have been divided by Marshal Xu and Marshal Shan. There are only more than a thousand small boats left and no artillery. I really don't know how to cross the river.
Jiang!"
Liu Bowen asked: "What's the situation with the enemy?"
The monkey said: "Zhenjiang has more than 20,000 infantry, 10,000 naval troops, and warships are all four-masted ships, and they are still setting up defenses on the river bank!"
Liu Bowen pondered for a while and said: "Where did our army's more than a thousand small boats come from?"
"When Chaohu Water Village returned, I brought it with me!"
Liu Bowen was moved in his heart and asked: "Are many people aware of this matter?"
The monkey said: "Not many. We only found out about the existence of more than a thousand boats when we went to the Ordnance Bureau to inquire!"
Liu Bowen smiled slightly and said: "When will Marshal Xu's army prepare to cross the river to attack?"
Monkey, Wang Da and Geng San looked at each other and said: "The army will leave Jiangdu in about five days. We don't know the specific time of dispatching the troops!"
"Where's that road, Dashuai Shan?"
"It should be about the same!"
Liu Bowen pondered for a long time and said with a smile: "You three, please come back tomorrow."
Wang Da was stunned for a moment, and when he was about to ask a question, the monkey hurriedly grabbed him, cupped his hands towards Liu Ji and said, "Thank you, sir!"
After leaving Liu Mansion, Wang Da asked in confusion: "Why did he suddenly ask us to go there tomorrow?"
The monkey said angrily: "You can't let him write out the battle plan in front of us, right?"
Wang Da grinned and said: "So, he really agreed to help?"
The monkey smiled and said: "Then there is still a lie?"
Geng San put his arms around his shoulders and said with a smile: "Monkey, when will you learn the same words as those schoolbags? I didn't understand a word of the exchange between you two just now!"
The monkey's eyebrows danced with joy: "Thank you for having the nerve to say that I haven't made any progress. Go back and read more!"
The three of them chatted and laughed and walked towards Oriole Street together.
On the second night, the three of them met again and came together to find Liu Bowen.
This time Liu Bowen invited the three of them into the study, picked up a bamboo tube from the desk, and said with a smile: "The plan to attack Zhenjiang is on the letterhead inside the bamboo tube."
Pass it to the monkey.
The monkey was surprised and happy. He took it respectfully and left with Wang Da and Geng San.
As soon as he left the Liu Mansion, Wang Da couldn't help but grab the bamboo tube and said, "Open it quickly and see what the plan is?"
The monkey inserted the bamboo tube into his sleeve and said angrily: "What's the matter with the monkey? Do you recognize the words on the letter? We'd better go back to my mansion first and let my wife read it for us!"
So the three of them returned to the Houfu together, opened the letter, and asked Yang Ying to read it out.
After Yang Ying finished reading all the words, the three of them looked at each other for a long time. Wang Da said in a daze: "Did he miss something?"
The monkey was silent. Liu Bowen's plan was divided into two steps. The first step was to cross the river, and the second step was to attack the city.
However, the plan for crossing the river was too simple. It only said that they would wait for the opportunity to cross the river in a small boat.
It was not stated clearly when this opportunity would be, nor how to deal with the Yuan army's 10,000 navy troops.
Geng San said: "Why don't we go see Mr. Liu again?"
Yang Ying took the letter and looked at it for a while, then suddenly said: "Did you notice that his second plan at the beginning was for us to distribute small boats at the port of Dantu Town, wait for the enemy's large ships to approach, and then use gunpowder to blow them up?"
ship, burn the enemy warships, thereby defeating the enemy's 10,000 naval troops!"
Wang Da glared and said: "Yes, but isn't this too wrong? How could the enemy navy let us cross the river to Dantu Town? Why wait for us to cross the river before docking next to our boat?"
Yang Ying was silent for a while and said: "This Mr. Liu is inscrutable. There must be some reason for writing this way, but we just can't understand it!"
Geng San touched his nose and said: "Then why don't you just show it to the king? The king should be able to understand it!"
The monkey shook his head: "No, if the king asks us for details and we can't answer them, the king will definitely not let us lead the army!"
Wang DaDao: "Then go to Mr. Liu and ask him to explain!"
The monkey smiled bitterly and said: "If I guess correctly, this is his second test for us. If we can't even understand the plan, it means we don't know how to lead troops, and he won't trust us to fight Zhenjiang!"
”
Wang Dadai was stunned for a moment and slowly sat down on the chair.
Geng San also remained silent. Only the monkey was pacing back and forth in the lobby, thinking about the meaning of the plan.
At this moment, Yang Ying suddenly said: "Husband, why don't you show this plan to Xu Baisheng?"
The monkey was startled and clapped his hands: "Yes, he must understand!"
Wang Da hesitated and said: "That guy Xu Baisheng has a weird temper and doesn't talk much. Will he help us?"
The monkey laughed and said: "Actually, he has a very good temper. It's true that he doesn't like to talk, so he is easily misunderstood."
Yang Xing reminded: "It's best to let him think it's your plan, so as not to reveal any flaws to the king!"
The monkey nodded, immediately took the letter and asked Wang and Da, "Do you want to go together?"
Both Wang Da and Geng San rarely interacted with Xu Baisheng, and the other party was now the marshal. They both felt a little restrained in front of him and shook their heads at the same time.
The monkey wants to go alone.
Yang Ying said again: "Using Liu Bowen's letterhead directly will easily arouse suspicion. I will make a copy and you can take it over again?"
The monkey nodded in agreement.
A quarter of an hour later, Monkey took the letter Yang Ying had re-copied and visited the Xu Mansion alone.
……
Thank you all for your subscription and voting support last month. This book is almost 600,000 words long, and the pace seems to be a bit slow. The protagonist’s territory is only a small part of Jiangbei, so the pace will be accelerated in the future. I hope you can continue to support me!