Everyone looked at Zhao Cheng expectantly, eager to know what other wicked tricks he had up his sleeve.
Zhao Cheng said quietly, "Our people believe what the Southern Zhou soldiers say, but it's not enough. We need to give the soldiers a pep talk."
Cheng Xu tried hard to keep up with Zhao Cheng's train of thought, but still couldn't keep up with Zhao Cheng's leaps of thought, and asked, "How do we get this chicken blood??"
Zhao Cheng said, "Yuan Fei has seen what the gray-robed man looks like. Although he can't see his face, he knows his appearance. Find a skilled painter for Yuan Fei and have him draw the gray-robed man's appearance. The purpose is to make the soldiers remember the gray-robed man firmly."
"From now on, anyone who dares to curse the woman in the gray robe will be rewarded with ten taels of silver."
“Anyone who spits on him will be rewarded with one hundred taels of silver.”
"Throw stones at him, and you'll get a reward of ten taels of silver."
"A hundred taels of silver will be awarded to whoever hits him."
"Whoever shoots him with an arrow will be rewarded with a thousand pieces of gold!"
"Anyone who injures him at close range will be promoted three ranks!"
"Kill him, and the person who kills him will be promoted to a third-rank general!!"
"Capture him alive! Enough said, he'll be granted a noble title!!!"
Everyone was stunned.
Swearing?
Spitting?
Throw stones at it...
What the heck is this?!
Cheng Xu, however, became excited upon hearing this and exclaimed, "Snatching bamboo shoots! Brilliant!!"
Seeing everyone looking at him, Cheng Xu continued, "If I'm not mistaken, the General's purpose in doing this isn't really to have the soldiers capture Gray Robe, but rather to use this detailed reward system to deepen the soldiers' impression of Gray Robe. The more deeply the soldiers remember Gray Robe, the less clear their impression of Yang Qingzhi will be, and the problem of their fear of battle will be easily solved!"
Zhao Cheng smiled and said, "That's exactly right."
Cheng Xu bowed to Zhao Cheng and said, "General, your control over people's hearts... I admire you to the core!"
After Cheng Xu's explanation, everyone understood and nodded in agreement.
"The next step is to find an artist."
Zhao Cheng looked at everyone and asked, "Are there any people in the army with outstanding painting skills?"
The generals looked at each other, unable to come up with a suitable candidate.
"Nobody here? So all that talk was for nothing?"
Zhao Cheng said regretfully, "Unfortunately, the journey is too long, and I can't get the painter from Yanchuan in time."
Upon hearing this, Tu Wei seemed to remember something and said, "General, if we don't have any in the army, we can ask someone from outside."
Zhao Cheng asked, "Do you have someone in mind?"
Tu Weidao said, "I have a distant relative who was exceptionally talented from a young age. He could paint as soon as he learned to read, and his foundation was no less than that of the national master Tu Wanhu back then. A few years ago, he became Chen Feier's student, and his painting skills improved by leaps and bounds. Now he is traveling in Yunjing County."
Zhao Cheng was taken aback for a moment, then said, "A distant relative of yours? You've become Chen Feier's apprentice? Are you talking about... Tu Haifeng, the younger brother of Tu Ziming, the head of the Tu family?"
Tu Wei exclaimed in surprise, "How did the General know? Yes, I was talking about him."
Zhao Cheng asked, "Is the Tu family of Jiangcheng related to you and the Empress Dowager?"
Tu Wei nodded and said, "Although we are a bit far apart, we are indeed relatives."
"It's just like Qiaoqiao's mother gave birth to Qiaoqiao, what a coincidence!"
Zhao Cheng slapped his thigh and said happily, "If Tu Haifeng is to draw it, I'm very relieved! Tu Wei, go find Yuan Fei and have him arrange for the flight team members to go to Tu Haifeng. Just say I want to catch up with him!"
"Yes, sir!" Tu Wei clasped his hands and said, "So the general and he are old acquaintances."
"Um……"
Zhao Cheng responded, then added, "I'm very familiar with his master."
Tu Wei's eyes widened slightly, and he quickly lowered his head, his face showing a knowing expression.
Zhao Cheng coughed lightly and asked, "Is Tu Haifeng traveling in Yun Jing County alone, or with his master?"
When answering such a sensitive question, Tu Wei dared not look up and meet Zhao Cheng's gaze, and said in a low voice, "Tu Haifeng has already completed his apprenticeship, so he should be... alone."
Zhao Cheng sighed, "What a pity. If Chen Feier were here too, the two of them could have drawn it much faster."
Zhao Hu pursed his lips and turned his face away.
Who are you trying to fool?
Master, is it something you regret about that you're having trouble with painting?
If Chen Feier were also in Yunjing County, you'd probably be facing a barrage of attacks these next few days, right?
You can fool others, but you can't fool me!
Zhao Hu couldn't help but glance at Zhou Nuo, and seeing that Zhou Nuo's expression hadn't changed, he guessed that Zhou Nuo hadn't understood the meaning.
Master, you can only bully someone as naive as Miss Zhou.
Why don't you try it if it's the eldest princess?
Discussing this kind of thing with his superior made Tu Wei very uncomfortable, so he quickly stepped back and said, "Time is of the essence, I'll go find President Yuan right away!"
"Go."
Zhao Cheng waved his hand, his eyes meeting Zhao Hu's out of the corner of his eye. He noticed the disdain in Zhao Hu's eyes and couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.
Zhao Hu quickly looked up at the roof, looking like a thinker.
"Idiot," Zhao Cheng muttered under his breath.
...
With the help of the Yiwen Flying Team, the search for Tu Haifeng went smoothly. Of course, this was related to the fact that Tu Haifeng was drawing portraits for people everywhere. With a little inquiry, they found out where this great painter was now.
Tu Haifeng was very happy to be invited by Zhao Cheng. For him, painting gray robes was a piece of cake.
What made Zhao Cheng even happier was that Tu Haifeng was very capable and drew more than a dozen versions of the gray robe based on Yuan Fei's description.
There are portraits, half-body portraits, full-body portraits, medium shots, long shots, and even the actions of speaking. It depicts almost all the gray-robed figures that Yuan Fei had ever seen.
This undoubtedly helped the soldiers to deepen their impression of the gray robe!
Tu Haifeng's painting speed is already very fast, but increasing the quantity is still a problem, because a large quantity is needed so that all the soldiers can quickly remember what the gray robe looks like, otherwise it will take too much time to pass it around.
This was originally a problem that gave Zhao Cheng a headache, but Tu Haifeng solved it for him as well.
It turns out that Tu Haifeng had been traveling in Yunjing County for some time. In addition to painting landscapes and portraits, he also gave guidance to some people with painting talent. Although he did not take on apprentices, they all regarded Tu Haifeng as their teacher.
Tu Haifeng sent the Yiwen Flying Team to find people, and they gradually gathered more than fifty artists, successfully solving the problem of increasing the quantity.
The image of the gray robe was deeply ingrained in the hearts of the soldiers.
...
Several days later.
Southern Zhou army camp.
Inside the central command tent, Yang Qingzhi was discussing the attack on Nantong City with his generals when a soldier ran in and said, "Little Commander, those bastards from Jing are here again!"
Yang Qingzhi said impatiently, "What are you cursing about today?"
"Just like before, cursing... the strategist's mother..."
Yang Qingzhi secretly glanced at the gray-robed man.
The soldier continued, "They also said that the strategist is a coward, too afraid to even go out and let them see him. They said the strategist..."
The man in the gray robe said in a deep voice, "You can say anything you want, I won't blame you."
"They say... they say... the strategist hides himself in his robe and dares not show himself, so he's probably an incredibly ugly monster in disguise. Or maybe the strategist's whole body is covered in poisonous sores that ooze pus every day..."
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