When Chen Yucheng, Hong Xiuquan and others were arguing over whether they should send troops to attack Li Zhen, Sun Youcheng and Kuang Jiacheng had already returned to Danyang County, Zhenjiang Prefecture, with their accompanying guards and some soldiers sent by Li Zhen. After the two returned, they took action immediately Get up and gather all the merchants from Danyang, Taicang, Yangzhou and other places here to prepare food for Li Zhen again.
Outside the Sun Mansion Granary, hundreds of day laborers were busy constantly.
These day laborers either carried the grain by one person or by two people. They moved in twos and threes, carrying sack after sack of grain to the carriage. In addition, there were also people carrying grain from various places nearby. All the grain transported was gathered at the Sun Mansion Granary in Danyang County.
Around the granary, countless people gathered every day.
The people gathered around to watch the excitement and found it very novel.
In particular, Sun Youcheng, Kuang Jiacheng and others raised 300,000 kilograms of grain last time and transported it to Jiangbei Camp. Less than half a month later, they started to raise grain again, which made the people full of curiosity.
"The Sun family, the Kuang family and other major families are really wealthy. They have transported 300,000 kilograms of grain twice in a row, and now they are transporting grain again. Looking at the situation this time, the momentum is so huge that it may not be less than one million. Jin of grain, such a huge team, I don’t know how to transport it out.”
"Haha, you don't know what's going on."
"Oh, what's the secret inside."
"Let me tell you, the Sun family, the Kuang family and other major families all sell grain to Mr. Li, Admiral Li of the Jiangbei camp. Didn't you see there are soldiers around? These soldiers were sent by Mr. Li to protect them. In order to ensure the safety of the food being transported, Mr. Sun and the patriarchs of each family gathered together 8,000 guards."
"Listening to what you said, it seems that Mr. Sun really values food."
"You guys only know one thing, but not the other. The grain delivered by Mr. Sun weighs three million kilograms. Only one of my nephews who worked in the Sun Mansion found out that the specific amount was three million kilograms. Our Mr. Sun is naturally willing to spend money to please Admiral Li. After he has established a relationship with Admiral Li, will Mr. Sun still care about a little money?"
"That's right, makes sense, makes sense."
…
In the crowd, a group of people kept talking about food.
The people's discussion made the situation more and more heated, and gradually became a topic of discussion in the streets. Moreover, every day, grain was delivered to Mr. Sun's granary in Danyang County, and then loaded uniformly. In this way, the accumulated grain became more and more. So much so that people have been talking about when the food supply will stop.
This incident lasted for six full days.
Six days later, 8,000 guards appeared outside Danyang County. These 8,000 guards were extremely capable. They were almost the same as the guards Sun Youcheng had brought before. Apart from the same clothes and dress, both sides had completely different temperaments. Eight thousand soldiers, what the people call the guards mobilized by Sun Youcheng, were dedicated to protecting three million kilograms of grain.
Outside the granary of the Sun Mansion, Sun Youcheng, Kuang Jiacheng and the main figures of the major families all gathered together. Then Sun Youcheng gave an order and the motorcade that had been prepared began to drive out of the city.
This situation spread immediately.
Because there are countless grains loaded, there are thousands of carriages transporting grains, and the horses pulling the carts are thousands of strong horses, which shows its scale. After leaving the city, eight thousand guards escorted the team towards the Jiangbei camp. , this team was vast, powerful, and noisy.
The news of three million kilograms of grain was like a volcanic eruption that could not be stopped. It spread from Danyang to Shanghai, then to Zhejiang, Yangzhou, Nanjing and other places, and had already spread throughout the Jiangnan region.
After Chen Yucheng got the news, he immediately went to Xu Yuan's house.
Xu Yuan also knew the news from Danyang County. He heard that it was three million kilograms of grain, and he was already tempted. If he could get this grain, it would definitely be a help to the Taiping Army. At least there would be no big threat this winter. .
Xu Yuan and Chen Yucheng met, and Xu Yuan said: "General Chen, the grain transported by the grain merchants near Yangzhou was robbed twice in a row. This time they learned the lesson and no longer used the method of escorting grain separately. We gathered together and escorted the grain on a large scale. The grain merchants paid their dues and wanted to stop us from looting. What do you think?"
Chen Yucheng said seriously: "Three million kilograms of grain are very important to us and must be captured."
Xu Yuandao: "General Chen's words are reasonable, and I think so too."
Chen Yucheng said: "Let's go, let's tell the king the news and prepare to send troops."
Xu Yuandao: "Okay, it's up to the King of Heaven to decide."
The two of them left the mansion together and headed towards the Heavenly Palace. Hong Xiuquan met them in the study. Xu Yuan briefly told the matter about the food, and then said: "If we can grab three million kilograms of food, we can have enough food this winter." After getting through it, General Chen and I discussed it and always thought that we should send troops to seize three million kilograms of grain and ask the King of Heaven to make a decision."
Hong Xiuquan sat upright, his cheeks turned red and his breathing became more rapid.
Three million catties of grain.
Three million kilograms.
Hong Xiuquan's heart was roaring as he was already attracted by three million kilograms of grain.
Hong Xiuquan took a deep breath, suppressed the impetuous emotions in his heart, and said slowly: "Xu Yuan, three million kilograms of grain must be brought back. With this batch of grain, the difficulties we will encounter will be much smaller. As Chen Yucheng, General, with Xu Yuan as the staff officer, I allow you to dispatch all the soldiers in Nanjing and be sure to capture three million kilograms of grain."
Xu Yuan rolled his eyes and asked: "King of Heaven, where are Lars's foreign soldiers?"
Hong Xiuquan shook his head and said: "They stay, there is no need to leave."
When Xu Yuan heard this, he sighed in his heart. If the foreign soldiers under Lars' command were to fight, things would be more convenient. However, Hong Xiuquan was definitely not willing to use Lars' army as a trump card and as an important means of protecting the Tianwang Mansion.
Chen Yucheng didn't care about this. He only wanted to get back the food and then go to war, so he immediately said: "Don't worry, King of Heaven. I and Prime Minister Xu will lead the troops to attack and they will definitely come back with three million kilograms of food."
Hong Xiuquan said: "Okay, I am waiting for you."
He raised his hand, waved his sleeves, and Chen Yucheng and Xu Yuan left the study. Hong Xiuquan secretly prayed in his heart, hoping that Chen Yucheng and Xu Yuan would lead the army and succeed. This battle can be said to be about Hong Xiuquan was extremely concerned about the future destiny of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.
Chen Yucheng left the Heavenly King's Mansion, looked at Xu Yuan, and said: "Prime Minister Xu, in this battle, we relied on Prime Minister Xu to make many plans and win the grain in one fell swoop."
Xu Yuandao: "Easy to say, easy to say. With General Chen here, success will be immediate."
The two complimented each other, and then went back to their homes to prepare for the robbery of food.