Shi Dakai returned to the camp and planned to continue resting.
"Your Majesty, General Zhang wants to see you." A guard came in and said with clasped fists.
"please."
Shi Dakai was sitting on the bed wearing a brocade robe, wondering what happened when Zhang Suimou came in. After a while, Zhang Suimou walked in, cupped his fists and saluted Shi Dakai. Shi Dakai waved his hand for Zhang Suimou to sit down, and said: "Suimou, Suimou, You came to see me late at night, what's the matter?"
Zhang Suimou nodded and said: "Tonight there was a strange change in the sky, and the prince's way of handling it was extremely clever. I will see the prince's handling of the meteorites that fell in the camp, and I had some thoughts, so I came to see the prince."
Shi Dakai asked: "What do you think?"
Zhang Suimou dusted off the snow on his robes and said slowly: "Countless meteorites have fallen, including one in our camp, but there are more meteorites falling on the way to the Jiangbei camp. The general thinks, This is the opportunity for the prince. Since the prince already believes that meteorites are omens given by Heavenly Father, why not expand the impact a little more."
"At the end of the Qin Dynasty, Chen Sheng and Wu Guang, in order to build momentum, hid books in the bellies of fish, propagating that their resistance to the violent Qin was God's will. At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, Han Shantong and Liu Futong also used the stones with inscriptions on their backs to create rumors and expand their influence. Now, the prince Why not quietly lead troops to the places where other meteorites landed, and carve words on the meteorites to prove that the prince's departure from Tianjing was the right thing to do."
"In this way, it can be proved that the prince is approved by Heavenly Father."
Zhang Suimou's eyes flashed with wisdom, and he said in a deep voice: "As long as the prince and the general lead the soldiers to carve words on the meteorites, and the news reaches the ears of the soldiers in the army and the ears of the people around them, our power will be restored again Strengthen, Your Majesty, this is a God-given opportunity, if you miss this opportunity, you will miss the opportunity to expand your military strength."
After Shi Dakai listened, he fell into deep thought.
Zhang Suimou considered military strength, but Shi Dakai, who was in charge of the army, had more issues to consider. When you are not a leader, you don't know how expensive firewood and rice are. Shi Dakai is well aware of how much pressure is on his shoulders.
Shi Dakai's expression changed and he hesitated.
Zhang Suimou said: "Your Majesty, the opportunity is before you, why do you still hesitate?"
Shi Dakai sighed and said: "Suimou, you only know one thing but not the other. Expanding our military strength is a good thing, but we can't feed so many soldiers. This is a big problem. If the soldiers don't have enough to eat, how can we fight? , Nowadays, it is already very difficult to feed the more than 50,000 soldiers in the army. If we use meteorites to promote it, countless people will flock to it, and then the number of soldiers in the army will increase sharply, and problems will easily arise."
When Zhang Suimou heard this, he was speechless.
Shi Dakai's expression suddenly became serious and he continued: "However, the use of meteorites to make a fuss must be done, and the matter must be made big. As you said, this is a God-given opportunity that cannot be missed. However, the army must also be controlled. The increase of soldiers in the army must not affect the people's support for us. This is the problem that needs to be solved."
Zhang Suimou smiled and said, "My lord, it's actually very simple."
Shi Dakai said: "What a simple method."
Zhang Suimou said: "You have said that we should control the increase of soldiers. We will directly select the soldiers who join the army. If they are in good health, we will keep them. If they are in poor health, we will comfort them and let the people go back. As for the people around us, we strictly prohibit soldiers from disturbing the people. , I believe it can be done, Your Majesty, this matter will not be difficult."
Shi Dakai laughed and said: "It seems that the king is only thinking about the food issue, but he did not consider the selection of soldiers when he was in the game. Okay, I will do it according to your suggestion."
Zhang Suimou said: "Your Majesty, while the army is still resting, the general will go to prepare immediately. We will take a small number of soldiers to the place where the meteorite landed overnight, carve words on it and return overnight. What do you think?"
"Okay, you go."
Shi Dakai agreed, got up, put on his coat and armor, and prepared to leave overnight.
…
Yang Banhou led his soldiers to retreat overnight and headed towards the area where the meteorite landed. The soldiers rushed all night and arrived at the place where the meteorite landed in two hours. This area was full of potholes because of the impact of the meteorite. The sand and gravel caused by the impact cooled down in a few hours, but because the meteorite was still warm when it hit the ground, there were only snowflakes around it, and the snow that fell on the meteorite melted away, and now it is all Not covered in heavy snow.
Yang Banhou looked at the countless meteorites, his eyes flashing with brilliance. He looked at the tent beside him, with a confident expression, and said with a smile: "I thought of a way to disturb the morale of the Taiping Army, but we people are not good at it. Do it."
The camp asked: "Captain, what can you do?"
Yang Banhou said: "I want to go."
The battalion commander rolled his eyes and secretly said that Yang Banhou was cheating. However, he heard Yang Banhou say: "Okay, I'm just teasing you. Now, you immediately take twenty soldiers and disperse them around." Go to the village and search for the craftsmen who carved the stone tablets overnight. I will give you three hours and you must bring back at least ten craftsmen."
The battalion commander asked again: "Your Majesty, why do you want to find a craftsman?"
"Talk too much."
Yang Banhou's expression was not as kind as before, and he said coldly: "If you do it, go immediately. There is so much nonsense."
When the battalion commander saw that Yang Banhou was angry, he did not dare to refute, took twenty soldiers and disappeared into the night.
It was dark at this time, but Yang Banhou eagerly dispatched twenty soldiers. This shows how anxious he was. Yang Banhou took the remaining soldiers to stay around the meteorite. Although it had been two hours since the meteorite landed, A bunch of meteorites fell with high temperature. Although there was no obvious heat, it was better than standing outside the Taiping Army camp before.
Time passed, and half an hour flew by.
At this time, there was silence between heaven and earth.
Yang Banhou leaned against the meteorite and closed his eyes to rest. When the soldiers who went to find the craftsmen came back, he suddenly opened his eyes and looked up in the direction of the Taiping Army camp. There was a solemn look in his eyes. Immediately, Yang Banhou leaned down and He put his ear to the ground and listened carefully. In an instant, Yang Banhou's face changed drastically and he loudly said: "A group of people is coming from the direction of the Taiping Army camp. Be on guard immediately, extinguish the torches immediately, and hide behind the meteorite."
More than two hundred people extinguished their torches and hid behind the huge meteorite. Yang Banhou secretly said that he was careless, thinking that nothing would happen late at night, so there were no sentries around, so that a group of people came. I don’t know what the situation was, but Yang Banhou valued the meteorite very much and couldn’t leave, so he chose to defend.
Not long after, a bright fire appeared in sight.
A large army came galloping through the heavy snow. This large army was surprisingly soldiers led by Shi Dakai and Zhang Suimou.