Chapter 43
Marshal Zhu and the others stood up suddenly. The granary over there was so empty that rats could escape. What were they going to use to divide the grain? No escape, it must be the work of the Xing family army. Now it was their grain that was being divided!
They stole their food last night, and now they're dividing it up. How arrogant! Too arrogant! They're not trying to hide it at all!
"No, Marshal, we can't afford this loss!" They had so much money and food stolen from them. Not to mention the gold and silver, there were thousands or even tens of thousands of dan of grain. Moreover, the grain they had stored was all high-quality grain, mostly fine grain.
"Let's go, take our men and horses, and go to the military settlement!"
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Xing Changfeng led six thousand elite soldiers to work all night. After three o'clock in the morning, they found two nearby strongholds and destroyed them as a token of their respect, and then withdrew their troops.
After returning, everyone had a full meal.
The main kitchen slaughtered nearly a thousand chickens, even using the open space outside the courtyard. Several stoves were built, each with a large pot roasting on top. Shredded chicken and meat congee, chicken dumplings, chicken-filled buns, and several large pots of fragrant chicken soup made from scraped chicken bones were served to the heroes tonight, ensuring they could eat as much as they wanted.
After eating and drinking, Xing Changfeng sent his elite soldiers for a brief rest. Rest was fine, but they had to remain fully clothed. He estimated that he would have to bring them out for a public display soon. Zhu Yucheng would likely visit the military settlement, so a fight wouldn't likely occur unless he, Zhu Yucheng, went mad. But they couldn't afford to show weakness.
Xing Changfeng did not rest. He ate something with the soldiers and then went to wash up. Just now, when they were eating, he asked Wu Zongguan to distribute the food they brought back as soon as possible.
The quality of the grain they brought back was so good that Chief Steward Wu thought about it and withheld a batch of fine grains equal to the grain in their military granary, and pulled out the grain of poor quality from the granary and distributed it mixed with the grain.
After washing up, Xing Changfeng sat in front of his study to handle official business and wait for news. Perhaps because he was young and energetic, he didn't look tired even after a night without sleep.
He had placed scouts along the road from the Yichun military camp to the Yichun main camp. Shortly after Marshal Zhu and his men set out in full force, he received the news. He then sent someone to wake up the Xing family troops after their brief rest, preparing to welcome the incoming guests.
As soon as the soldier who delivered the message said this, the soldiers of the Xing family army became more energetic.
Marshal Zhu came with a legion of elite soldiers in a menacing manner.
The one guarding the gate today was Ji Ze. He had received secret orders long ago. Seeing that he was indeed here with ill intentions, he signaled the soldiers to close the gate of the military settlement and inform the general, while he stepped forward to negotiate.
"Greetings, Marshal. I wonder why you've mobilized so many troops?"
Marshal Zhu looked at the locked door with a gloomy face and said to Ji Ze, "Order them to open the door! Otherwise, don't blame me for being rude!" As he said that, he drew his sword.
"General, please calm down. Let's talk things over nicely." Of course the door couldn't be opened.
"Hmph!" Marshal Zhu slashed at him without saying a word.
Ji Ze had been on guard for a long time. He dodged nimbly and the knife only cut off half of his sleeve. When he looked again, he only suffered minor flesh wounds.
If one blow doesn't work, he tries again. Ji Ze looks at the sharp blade and secretly groans, "General, please come quickly. I can't hold on any longer."
At this moment, the gate opened, Xing Changfeng walked in front, and the elite soldiers behind him, holding bows and arrows, quickly spread out to both sides, surrounding them in a fan-shaped arc.
Marshal Zhu counted: one, two, three, three layers. It was undoubtedly the Xing family army's famous three-stage shooting method. The walls of the military settlement were also covered with archers.
They also quickly deployed their formation to guard against these archers.
Marshal Zhu glared, "Xing Changfeng, do you want to rebel?"
Xing Changfeng played with the dagger in his hand and said calmly, "Marshal Zhu, you come with ill intentions. Although I don't know the reason, I can't just surrender, right?"
"Xing Changfeng, don't pretend. Don't you know why I'm here? Let me ask you, were you the one who attacked several of our army's private warehouses last night?"
"Marshal Zhu, you are joking. I am a good man who respects the law. How could I do such a thing? Think about how you got my transfer order to the military settlement, and took away nearly 80% of the military settlement's food before I started working. Did I say or do anything?" It's just that you do it on the first day and I do it on the fifteenth day.
Bah, we are all soldiers, we all know each other and we still abide by the law.
"Yes, you didn't do anything, but you have always kept it in mind, just waiting for this response." A general on Marshal Zhu's side said boldly.
Marshal Zhu's face darkened. He understood what he meant. It was just a tit-for-tat.
Xing Changfeng ignored the general and said to Marshal Zhu, "Marshal Zhu, I understand your feelings about the theft of your army's warehouse, but I clearly heard that it was done by the surrounding strongholds. Don't blame me."
Marshal Zhu's lieutenant general said indignantly, "Who else could it be but you? You're distributing food to the military settlements so early in the morning, and you're distributing it for three months at a time. It's clearly a division of the spoils!"
Seeing that the generals around Marshal Zhu had interrupted, Meng Yi and his men retorted, "Can't we take the grain out of our own granary to distribute to the settlers?"
"Your military settlements only have so little food that rats can escape from them. How can you possibly distribute three months' worth of food to everyone in the settlement at once?"
"So you all knew it." Meng Yi and others laughed sarcastically.
"Speaking of which, on a whim last night, I led my troops to raid two nearby strongholds, Luotou and Qinglong. The grain distributed today was seized from these two strongholds. I don't know if these two strongholds were involved in the theft from your warehouse, but we destroyed them. You and your men should be grateful to me."
Fuck your gratitude! The people on Zhu Dashuai’s side were about to vomit when they heard this.
Also, this is a lie. How could two dilapidated mountain strongholds have nearly ten thousand stones of grain for them to pick up for free?
Someone suddenly had an idea. "These two strongholds are indeed involved in the theft of our warehouse. They even left a message in our warehouse. So, could General Champion return the food seized from the strongholds to us?"
Before Xing Changfeng could say anything, the soldiers next to him started to complain, "This is our spoils of war, why should we give it back to you?"
"We belong to the Yichun Camp and the Yichun Military Settlement respectively, and we should help each other. Although you said that your food was seized from the two mountain strongholds, it is indeed our food. You should return it to us instead of taking it all for yourself."
Xing Changfeng was surprised and embarrassed, "There is no evidence to prove it since they are dead. You can't just say it is true. Besides, all the food has been distributed. How can we ask the villagers to give it out again?" That's right, these two people from the mountain stronghold had done many evil things and he ordered them to be killed.
Many villagers were listening nearby and nodded secretly. No matter what, once it was in their bowl, it was theirs. Why should they let the cooked duck fly away?
Suddenly, the young general whose chickens were stolen pulled Marshal Zhu's sleeve and pointed to the distance and shouted, "Marshal, chickens - chickens - those are our chickens!" The young general wanted to cry. All the fat and white chickens he raised had gone into the enemy's stomach!
Yao Chunnuan felt that the other party was referring to them.
The members of their shogunate had just received their share of chickens, and before they had time to take them home, Marshal Zhu showed up. The general had gone out with six thousand elite soldiers, and these people had followed behind to watch the fun, not even having time to put the chickens down when they were caught red-handed.
Yao Chunnuan and the others looked at each other, wondering if what they were doing was not a good idea. It seemed a bit too blatant. They had to avoid driving them crazy.
Xing Changfeng glanced over and saw that every member of the shogunate was holding two large fat chickens in their hands. He frowned. These people who were eager to watch the fun actually dared to bring chickens to watch the fun. Did they think that this was not exciting enough?
Marshal Zhu said, "Xing Changfeng, you've gone too far!"
"You said this chicken is yours. Call it. Do you think it will respond?"
The young chicken farmer was speechless. It had already been killed, so how could it respond? Even before it died, it would not respond to anyone.
The generals on Marshal Zhu's side were all very excited, "Marshal, stop talking nonsense with them, let's go in and take the food back!" They just couldn't believe that they could distribute the food so quickly!
Marshal Zhu said, "Xing Changfeng, if you know what's good for you, return the things in those warehouses to me, or don't blame me for being rude!"
"How can you be so rude? Are you sure you want to force your way in? Have you thought about the consequences?" Xing Changfeng asked three questions slowly.
After Xing Changfeng said this, the momentum of all the archers changed.
Xing Changfeng's words were like a stern warning to Marshal Zhu, who finally calmed down. Fighting within his own ranks was a serious violation of military discipline. With just one order from him, Xing Changfeng could report him. Many people were eyeing his position as Marshal, and if he was reported, they would surely unite to bring him down.
Even if there was a reason, it wouldn't work, not to mention that he had no concrete evidence to prove that he and his subordinates' private vaults were indeed robbed by him. Besides, Xing Changfeng was not a softie who would let him do whatever he wanted without saying a word. He was a champion general, only one level lower than him.
Marshal Zhu took another look inside and found that not only the Xing family army, but also the soldiers from the original military settlement were looking at them with green eyes, as if they would pounce on them without any harm as long as they moved.
He was furious just now, but after calming down, he broke out in a cold sweat. It had been a long time since he had been provoked like this, and it had been a long time since he had suffered such a big loss, so his anger had made him lose his mind.
Yao Chunnuan stood far away, and when he saw this scene, his eyes sparkled. He had a deeper understanding of the saying "A real man cannot live without power for a day."
She'd always been a forceful person in her career, and she favored bosses with strong tactics. People tend to pick on the weak, and strong people don't easily suffer. Furthermore, being strong implies a determination to make progress, but also a willingness to protect others. Only by following such a boss could she rise step by step.
"Is that right? Let's talk it out nicely. We don't want to fight or kill each other."
Marshal Zhu is so depressed and vomiting blood, it seems you're not the one who's suffering. Report him, you must report him! And the memorial about the elite troops and the simplified system, he'll have it delivered to the capital as fast as he can when he gets back!
"Marshal Zhu has come to inspect our military settlement in person. We at Yichun Military Settlement are very welcome. Please come in and explain in detail. However, these escorting soldiers should stop here." Xing Changfeng's words put the matter to rest. If Marshal Zhu did not object, he would not take any further action.
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