Chapter 192
Sima Xian could understand why the Crown Prince and the Third Prince were willing to bear so much infamy and march to Youzhou. The main reason was that the Yichun Legion had marched to Jiaozhou, attacked the Southern Barbarians, and rescued the people of Jiaozhou, earning them immense favor from the common people. The Yichun Legion held a very high level of favorability among the people.
The Yichun City Lord's Mansion's move was truly a powerful one. Their deployment to Jiaozhou had unleashed a turbulent tide in Daliang. The people are like water, the ruler like a boat. Sima Xian seemed to see the turbulent undercurrent beneath the now calm surface.
He felt that Xuzhou also needed to speed up its pace. In terms of soft power like reputation, their lord was undoubtedly inferior to Xing Changfeng. So, they could only expand their territory and increase their hard power. This way, they would have another chance to compete later.
Yichun, Yao Mansion
Yao Chunnuan has been so busy lately that she doesn't even have time to eat, especially lunch, which she just eats casually.
It was a rare day for Yao Chunnuan to stay at home, but she was not idle either. She was sitting in the study, writing furiously on various official documents brought back home.
Yao Xi, who is just over a year and a half old, hasn't seen her mother for several days. She's usually asleep when her mother comes home, and still fast asleep when she leaves. Now that Yao Chunnuan is at home, she clings to her mother like crazy.
The little girl had two small buns on her head and was wearing a bright red coat and shorts made of soft, thick cloth. She was lying on her mother's legs without feeling the heat.
No matter who it was, there was no way to call her away. Yao Chunnuan let her lie there. After all, there were two large ice basins in the room, and the study was well ventilated, so the temperature was cool enough.
When Qi Yingshan learned that Yao Chunnuan would not go out in the afternoon, he also decided to work from home. He was sitting in another office chair, checking accounts, and typing on the abacus in his hand very rhythmically.
Just then, Yao's mother came in with a tray containing two bowls of mung bean porridge and a small mung bean popsicle in a small bowl. Yao Chunnuan had suddenly craved the mung bean popsicle a few days ago, so the deft Luo Suyi had made it. As soon as it was made, little Yao Xi loved it. Unfortunately, she was still so young, so she couldn't eat too much cold food, or she'd get diarrhea.
After Yao Chunnuan and Qi Yingshan each had a bowl of ice cream, Mother Yao squatted down with the small bowl in hand and looked at her granddaughter. "Xiaoxi, do you want some mung bean popsicles?"
Yao Xi saw the popsicles in the small bowl, and her big eyes sparkled, "Grandma, this is for Xiao Xi."
"Then let your mother go first, and let's go to the south kang to eat, okay?"
"Yeah." Perhaps because it was sticky enough, or perhaps because he couldn't resist the temptation of the mung bean popsicle, little Yao Xi let go of Yao Chunnuan's thigh and obediently stretched out his little hand to let her grandmother lead it away.
Before leaving, she turned back and said, "Mom, wait until Xiaoxi finishes eating the mung bean popsicles, then I'll come back to accompany you."
"Okay, take your time eating, don't be in a hurry." In fact, Yao Chunnuan was sighing in her heart. In the hot summer, who would want a warm little stove?
Hearing her words, Qi Yingshan wanted to laugh. Yao Chunnuan was afraid of heat, no, she was afraid of both cold and heat. In the winter nights when they were sleeping, she wished she could grow on him. In the summer, after being intimate with him, she would stay away from him. She was so ruthless.
While feeding little Yao Xi popsicles, Yao's mother said, "Ah Nuan, summer is here. Let me get some cloth to make you some summer clothes."
Yao Chunnuan quickly swallowed the mung bean porridge in her bowl and said, "No, mother, I won't make new clothes this year. Half-new clothes are more comfortable to wear."
Recently, the finances of the Yichun City Lord's Mansion have begun to become tight. War is really expensive. Not to mention the daily expenses of four or five hundred thousand soldiers, the consumption of things like arrows, oil and various military supplies is huge, but these cannot be saved.
As for the previous idea of ​​replenishing themselves through war, it has not yet been realized. There is actually no benefit in taking over the two counties of Jiaozhou. Because Jiaozhou's wealth has basically been plundered by the Nanman, unless they attack the Aguli base camp, they will have no chance of regaining the looted wealth.
Nowadays, money should be spent wisely and unnecessary expenses should be saved.
Yao's mother felt sorry for her and knew that she was thrifty, but she always listened to her daughter, so no matter how much she felt sorry for her, she had no intention of making her own decisions.
Upon hearing this, Qi Yingshan pursed his lips and wondered which trading partner he could get more supplies from.
The imperial court's 300,000-strong army is approaching, which puts a lot of pressure on Youzhou. Now, there are only 150,000 soldiers left in Youzhou, and a small part of them are new recruits.
However, the common people had a high level of trust in the Yichun City Lord's Mansion and the government. They worked as they should and lived as they should. After realizing that the Yichun City Lord's Mansion was short of food and supplies, many people spontaneously donated grain. Among the workers in the workshops, many spontaneously told the management that they wanted to share the difficulties with Yichun and that from this month onwards, they would only receive half their wages.
These donations were small-scale at first, but later they became large-scale donations, which even alarmed the Yichun City Lord's Mansion.
Yao Chunnuan led the officials of the various cities and counties to intervene, but the people told her that Youzhou was theirs, and what was wrong with them contributing to the defense of their own army? Moreover, when the nest is overturned, no egg can remain unbroken. No matter how much food and wealth they accumulated, if Youzhou could not be defended, wouldn't it all go into someone else's pocket?
Yao Chunnuan and the people around her were very moved when they heard this. She sighed and said, these ordinary people, if others are nice to them, they would like to repay them with all their heart.
Since the people said so, Yao Chunnuan and his colleagues discussed and decided to accept their donation.
Finally, Yao Chunnuan came forward and emphasized to the people that donations were allowed, but they could not affect their own lives and could not let themselves go hungry. They also required that donations be registered. They decided that after the war, if they used everyone's money, the Yichun City Lord's Mansion would return it and compensate them faithfully.
Jizhou, Guangyang
The morale of the army is something that is invisible and intangible but real. Since ordering the attack on Youzhou, Wang Lang has found that the morale of the army has been low.
He knew that the reason for the low morale of the national army was that the common people believed that attacking Youzhou at this time was an unjust act, and even many soldiers in the army believed so. If they had attacked the King of Ruyin, this situation would not have occurred.
Another point is that the Yichun Legion had never been defeated since its formation. Their most brutal battle came during the campaign against the Nanman army in Jiaozhou. Their fight to recapture Cangwu County cost them over 30,000 casualties. Yet, they prevailed and successfully recaptured Cangwu County.
Therefore, although the imperial court sent 300,000 troops, the image of the Yichun Legion as an ever-victorious general had already become so deeply ingrained in the hearts of the people that it was difficult for the soldiers on his side to have confidence in victory. Furthermore, the Yichun City Lord's Mansion's unyielding attitude in the face of the imperial court's military deployment further fueled the suspicion that the other side had a hidden weapon up its sleeve.
Based on the intelligence gathered from the Jiaozhou battlefield, they currently know that the Yichun Legion has climbing ropes, large, modular catapults, and oil bottles that are comparable to fish oil. The latter have great lethality and are extremely difficult to extinguish once burning, making them excellent weapons for night raids.
Wang Lang felt that this could not go on any longer. Such low morale would not be beneficial for the expedition.
Therefore, during the morning training, he said this to the entire army, "I know many of you don't want to fight this battle, thinking that the Youzhou army is a benevolent and righteous army. But no matter how much they do, it can't change the fact that they are rebels. Moreover, their main purpose in attacking Jiaozhou is to capture Jiaozhou territory, and saving people is secondary. In other words, rescuing the people of Daliang was just a convenient move by the Yichun Army. The people have praised them too highly."
"Your Highness, no, the new emperor once said that according to the original plan, after defeating the King of Annan, we would send troops to retake Jiaozhou, but Yichun got there first."
Wang Lang's words indeed boosted some of the morale.
Then, he jokingly said, "Speaking of the Yichun Legion's undefeated record, how long has it been established? Only two or three years. How many battles have they fought in? To say they've always won is laughable. Don't you want to break this myth of unending victory? Currently, the entire Youzhou has a maximum of 150,000 troops. These 150,000 troops are distributed across the seven cities and counties of Youzhou. In other words, if we have 300,000 troops, we're facing an enemy force of less than 100,000. With three against one, can't we win?"
After Wang Lang's speech, the atmosphere in the military camp improved a lot, and everyone's morale was recovering rapidly.
During lunch, many people in the military camp gathered in groups of three or five to discuss what Wang Lang had said in the morning.
At this moment, a voice interrupted the small group, "Do you still believe what Military Advisor Wang said?"
"What?"
Everyone turned around and saw that the person who spoke was also an old acquaintance. "Ding Jianming, come here, sit here. What's wrong? From the way you sound, it seems like you don't believe what Military Advisor Wang said?"
"I really don't believe it." Ding Jianming sat down obediently.
"What do you have to say?"
"Actually, we fight wherever our superiors tell us to. Even if it's the Yichun Legion, there's no question about it. They're rebels, and we're the national army. But my hometown is Yulin Commandery in Jiaozhou, and now Yulin Commandery is occupied by the Nanman. I can't stand Lord Wang's slander of the Yichun Legion. If the Yichun City Lord's Mansion really just wants to expand its territory, why would they bother with Jiaozhou? Facing our 100,000 troops stationed in Jizhou is no easier than facing the 200,000 or 300,000 Nanman troops."
"The Yichun Legion is indeed very strong. They have never been defeated. Isn't that strong? They have never been defeated by the brave Nanman army. Isn't that strong? You know, when our Lord Wang fought against the Nanman, he was defeated from time to time."
An old soldier nearby quickly grabbed him and said, "Are you trying to kill yourself? How dare you speak for the Yichun Corps like this?" He even exposed the shortcomings of Military Advisor Wang!
Ding Jianming just smiled. "You know I'm a straightforward person. I've been holding these words in my heart and can't help but speak them out. I also know that these words have offended Military Advisor Wang. If the people behind me are gone, I won't blame anyone. It's better to die like this than to attack my compatriots."
Wang Lang was worried about the morale of his troops, so he kept his men on the lookout. Ding Jianming's actions, which threatened to disrupt his army's morale and undermine his achievements, were immediately noticed. He was soon taken away. There were several others like Ding Jianming, all of whom appeared on the same day, and without exception, all were taken away.
But even though the people were taken away, the impact had already been caused, and even worsened because of their being taken away. Sometimes, rumors are more likely to be believed than official statements, especially when official statements are not convincing enough.
Wang Lang was furious because the morale of the army was once again low, and no amount of stimulation could save it.
Wang Lang angrily threw the cup! This Ding Jianming, and a few others, must be spies from Yichun.
Thinking of Ding Jianming who calmly went to his death, Wang Lang gritted his teeth. How come the spy in Yichun was so useful and fearless, while the spy he sent was so useless?
Wang Lang didn't know that in order to ensure the purity of the army, the Yichun Corps held regular ideological classes at night, and there were patrol teams in the army who would keep an eye out for unusual soldiers, especially spies like those arranged by Wang Lang. Once they showed up, they would be investigated and dismissed.
Secret files of the Yichun Intelligence Bureau, member: Ding Jianming, died on June 16, the first year of Jianhe...The following is a record of their deeds in obscure words.
A person's name only occupies a thin page, but this booklet is already very thick. Every page records people like Ding Jianming. They are all unsung heroes, and their contributions will never be known until the success.
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