Chapter 88 Dirty Tricks

“Right now, our food supplies will only last for two months at most, right, Commander? The imperial court is unaware that we have secretly seized grain supplies, which creates an information gap. Daxing, being located on the frontier, is confident that the imperial court will not truly abandon us. Therefore, we must take advantage of this time gap and find a way to get the imperial court to release grain within a month.”

Qi Rong nodded: "What's your idea?"

Lin Changning nodded: "Firstly, we need to spread the word about Daxing's plight within our borders, stating that Daxing has no food supplies, the soldiers are starving and fighting the Tartars on empty stomachs, and living conditions are extremely harsh. But even so, everyone is holding their ground. Although they are starving and their supplies have been plundered, they have no complaints and are protecting the people on the frontier."

However, our supplies are running out quickly. Without food, our soldiers will starve to death on the border. This message must be sent to all prefectures and armies. If supplies cannot be delivered within a month, then the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War have failed in their duties. This message must be spread throughout Daxuan to overshadow the court's claims of dire straits through public opinion.

Other garrisons are likely also short of provisions. If the court continues to shirk its responsibilities, Daxing serves as an example. With Prince Sheng's rebellion, other vassal kings will certainly have doubts, thus destabilizing the border. For the sake of border stability, the court will definitely try its best to help us solve the problem, lest it lose the hearts of the people.

Seeing Qi Rong's thoughtful expression and glancing at his colleagues, Lin Changning continued, "Of course, we can't put all our hopes on the court. After all, if they can adulterate grain with soil and sand, there must be a huge corrupt official in the Ministry of Revenue. If he dares to embezzle grain this time, he will do it again next time. So we need to ask the Censorate to find a way to bring that Chen down."

Commander Ma chimed in, "We have no real power base in the court. Trying to bring Chen Jing down is as difficult as climbing to heaven."

Lin Changning shook his head: "This is the third thing I want to talk about. Our grain supplies are not plentiful, and the annual arrears must be due to the corruption of that Chen fellow. The third thing is to smear him and use public opinion to force the court to thoroughly investigate Chen Jing. Chen Jing himself is not very clean. As long as we investigate, we will definitely find something. Once that Chen fellow is removed from office, the next one who takes office will never dare to risk the wrath of the world by swindling grain supplies."

Qi Rong pursed his lips and asked, "How should we throw this dirty water?"

Lin Changning smiled and said, "If you turn it into poetry, storytellers can tell it in crowded places like teahouses and restaurants. There's no need to name names; implied references will suffice..."

Qi Rong's eyes lit up as he listened: "This method is feasible, but we cannot rely solely on the imperial court for supplies, especially now that Prince Sheng has rebelled and chaos is beginning to emerge."

Lin Changning glanced timidly at the commander, then stepped forward to the sand table: "This is the fourth thing I mentioned. We can't just sit here and wait to die."

He then pointed to a spot on the sand table: "Look here, here, and here."

Qi Rong looked at the water source, the Yinshan Mountains, and the sheltered valley that Lin Changning was pointing to, and instantly understood what Lin Changning was thinking.

Zheng Baihu was somewhat puzzled: "Changping, why are you showing us the sand table? It's all grassland, are you going to hunt? But there's not much prey in winter."

Lin Changning smiled shyly: "We're going hunting, but not wild animals, we're going to fight the Tartars."

Commander Ma's eyes widened as he carefully examined the places Lin Changning pointed to: "You mean these are places where the Tartars might be encamped?"

Lin Changning nodded and rubbed his hands excitedly: "Of course we can't rob the common people, but it's fine with our good neighbors on the grasslands. I've looked through the battle reports from the past few years and identified these areas as very likely the Tartars' encampments. I also surveyed several places when I went hunting recently. At least two tribes are stationed in these three areas. Based on the recent battle reports and their escape routes, it's very likely that a tribe of a thousand people is now stationed here."

Everyone looked at the place Lin Changning was pointing to and couldn't help but be shocked.

Lin Changning looked at the commander with a faint smile: "A thousand-person tribe has at least tens of thousands of fat sheep. Even if we can't plunder them all at once, taking a few thousand will be enough to feed us for two or three months..."

Commander Ma and his colleagues stared at Lin Changning with eager eyes, several of them itching to try plundering the Tartars.

Commander Zheng chuckled: "I never thought we'd be able to forcibly seize them one day, hehehe, Commander!"

Qi Rong thought about it carefully and felt that this move was more and more feasible, but he still had some doubts: "It's easy to raid a tribe of a thousand people, but what if we get surrounded?"

Lin Changning smiled shyly again: "The flock of sheep has a leader. We need to find a way to drive the leader away. Once the pen is open, we only need about thirty people on horseback to drive the flock back. The others can hold off the sheep. After the flock has gone far away, we can send a team to guard the enemy's horse farm. We can buy some firecrackers and light them. Horses are easily startled at night. Once the horses are startled, they won't be able to catch up for a while. By the time they calm their horses down, we will have already run far away."

Ma Qianhu couldn't help but pat Lin Changning on the shoulder: "You little rascal, you're really cunning."

Qi Rong nodded: "Then we'll do it your way. Approximately how many people do we need?"

Lin Changning counted on his fingers carefully: "It will take seven or eight days to go back and forth. It is definitely not feasible to rob sheep with foot soldiers. We need cavalry with high mobility. A tribe of a thousand people needs at least eight hundred cavalry. To command, we need eight hundred cavalry, thirty scouts, and nine days' worth of dry rations."

Qi Rong nodded and replied, "Then I'll leave this matter to you, Lao Zhang. You will take your cavalry and go with Changping."

Commander Ma looked at Qi Rong with longing eyes, his honest face full of expectation: "Commander, I want to go too."

Qi Rong glanced at Commander Ma: "You all stay with me to guard Daxing. Changning and Lao Zhang can go. The garrison can't be left unattended."

Commander Ma still wanted to try, after all, they had been robbed by the Tartars for a long time and were full of resentment. Hearing that they could rob the Tartars again, they were eager to give it a shot.

Lin Changning patted Ma Qianhu and smiled like a fox: "Uncle Ma, don't worry. If this one works, we'll definitely be able to find tribes in the other places. We can go again next time. But the garrison can't be left without people. With you here, we can rest assured."

Commander Ma scratched his head: "Then next time, next time you must take me with you."

Lin Changning shook his head, chuckled, and nodded. Looking at the eager expressions of the group of men, he straightened his expression and said, "Commander, there's one more thing."

Qi Rong looked up at Lin Changning and asked in confusion, "What?"

Lin Changning pointed to the sand table: "We also need to decide on the timing of the sneak attack. I think we should wait until the Tartars come down and then lead our men to launch a sneak attack. The Tartars will be vulnerable when they come down to raid the camp. If the eight hundred cavalry take advantage of the emptiness in the Tartar camp to raid it, it will surely be twice as effective."

Qi Rong nodded: "Then let's set the time when the Tartars come down to harvest hay next time. Once the signal fire is lit, you will lead eight hundred cavalrymen to sneak around the Tartar camp from the west gate and steal their sheep."

Lin Changning clasped his hands and bowed his head: "Changping will certainly not fail in his mission!"