Chapter 2760 Good Teacher
After receiving the news, the logistics department immediately went to find Duke Zhao. The two thousand men led by Governor Niu were already self-sufficient, but Xue Gui still asked him for food and fodder every day.
Duke Zhao went to ask Xue Gui about this and after receiving his reply he wrote to Xue Gui, "You can collect grain and grass from the wealthy families and use them."
He also wrote to Governor Niu, "You must not plunder the people. Your Majesty is a benevolent and righteous leader. You must leave behind goodwill for future generations."
Duke Zhao informed the emperor of this and curled his lips, saying, "Goguryeo is simply killing the goose that lays the golden eggs. They've levied grain and fodder three times around the inner city, leaving the people with nothing to rely on, let alone those further afield. Even without us, I'm afraid they wouldn't last many years."
He added, "Xue Gui is young and inexperienced after all, and cannot compare to the experienced Taoist priest Niu."
The emperor nodded and commented, "Inspector Niu is capable of governing the region and leading troops in battle, and Xue Gui is a formidable general."
The emperor was moved and asked, "Brother, what do you think of Governor Niu as the Governor of Andong Protectorate?"
Duke Zhao thought for a moment and said, "That's feasible, but... wouldn't it be too fast?"
The emperor smiled nonchalantly and said, "He's just a butcher's knife, why use it to kill chickens? Besides, with his qualifications, it's not too early for him to be promoted to governor. It's just that he comes from a humble family and no one recommended him."
If it weren't for this Eastern Expedition, he wouldn't have known that there were so many outstanding people hidden in the border areas.
Xue Gui is one of them, and Niu Zhishi is naturally one of them as well.
If it weren't for the internal strife between Silla and Baekje, he might not have had to lead the army in person, and Governor Niu would have quietly conquered Liaodong.
Duke Zhao no longer had any objections, and the two of them tacitly stopped talking about this topic. It would not be a good idea to spread such important appointment and dismissal matters in advance.
With the guidance of Duke Zhao, Xue Gui finally figured out how to collect grain without causing too much public resentment. So he led his soldiers to capture two small cities, first collecting taxes from the officials in the cities, then from some wealthy families, and the grain shops in the cities.
For a time, wealthy businessmen and some landlord families suffered heavy losses, and many people fled to the inner city crying.
Governor Niu acted more gently. After he occupied the city, he directly took over the warehouses in the city. Well, they were basically empty warehouses. Then he went to the officials' homes to sit for a while. After collecting a few carts of grain, he went to another home to sit for a while.
Some families were stingy. They had plenty of food at home but were unwilling to give out even a grain. Instead, they proposed taking the Jin army to the countryside to collect food from their tenants.
Governor Niu sneered repeatedly. Goguryeo had plundered everything they could. If he were to collect taxes from ordinary people, wouldn't he be taking on their grievances?
And what else can be looted from them?
When faced with such a stubborn and unconscious person, Governor Niu did not use force, but directly took the soldiers to his house for dinner.
He took two thousand people with him, five hundred of them went to another place to capture the villages and towns along the way, another five hundred went to another place, and he took the remaining one thousand people to have a meal. After two meals, the other side became obedient.
Finally, he left with four or five carts of food, feeling satisfied.
His deputy general, his belly full from eating, said with a smile, "Sir, they gave in too quickly. They just need to be stubborn for two more days."
When they eat by themselves, they can only eat until they are 70% full. It is different from when they are guests. Since they are guests, they should be provided with enough rice even if there are fewer dishes, right?
These two meals were the best they had ever had since they set out on the expedition.
He no longer envied the people in the camp who ate horse meat.
In the siege two days before, three of their horses had been killed, and seven of the enemy's had been killed. They had all been skinned and eaten.
Unfortunately, they went out on a raid the next day and didn't have time to eat a piece of meat.
Now they are not envious at all.
There are more than 50,000 people, and if they were divided into ten horses, everyone would only be able to eat some minced meat. I'm afraid they wouldn't even see a piece of meat. It would be nowhere near as good as they are now.
Governor Niu said, "This is a surprise attack, you know what a surprise attack is? We have to hurry. It's already the second day and it's cold. Let's all rest in the city tonight and continue tomorrow morning. We have to capture at least one city a day."
These cities had no ability to resist at all. Some small cities even had walls less than two meters high, and they could be climbed up by just putting up a ladder. The siege was extremely fast, and the slow part was collecting food and grass.
Qibi Heli was seriously injured, and now Gao Zhi, Ashina, Xue Bei and others took turns to challenge and besiege the city.
After the first battle, the people on the city wall became a little more arrogant. They were no longer just being scolded, but would talk back from time to time. The armies of the two countries would curse at each other across a city wall and a large open space.
When Gao Zhi first appeared, he was mostly trying to comfort the people. But now, the people on the city wall were no longer polite. They cursed Gao Zhi from head to toe, inside and out, over and over again, and even announced the decree of the King of Goguryeo, removing Gao Zhi from the family tree and demoting him to a criminal...
Gao Zhi's face looked very unhappy.
Although he had been scolded when he appeared before, he had never been scolded so harshly, let alone an imperial edict.
Duke Zhao observed all this and said to the emperor, "It will be even harder to successfully besiege the city now. The enemy's resolve has hardened. This is a serious threat."
Bai Erlang stood drowsily at the back, listening and somewhat distracted.
Bai Shan's injuries have healed a lot. In the past two days, whenever he was free, he was called in for questioning. He was asked about the situation of the two raiding armies and the situation of the siege.
The key point is that he is responsible for the logistics of medical accounts, how does he know so much?
He could only find time to hang around the emperor, listen to some news and then pass it on to him.
Alas, when did Bai Shan become so hardworking? It's a rare opportunity for him to rest after being injured, so why does he still have to worry about these things?
Bai Erlang felt so sleepy that he could hardly open his eyes. He gradually lost his focus and his mind wandered off to who knows where. When he came back to his senses, he heard the emperor calling him.
He shook himself and tried to open his eyes to look at the emperor.
emperor:"……"
Gu Zhong glanced at the emperor cautiously and whispered to Bai Erlang, "Sir, His Majesty is asking you how to make people's hearts collapse?"
Bai Erlang swallowed, his mind a mess.
The emperor and the Duke of Zhao both looked at him.
The emperor felt somewhat disgusted with his son-in-law, who was too disappointing. Duke Zhao was also somewhat dissatisfied. How could such a talented person like Mingda be paired with a son-in-law like Bai Er?
The emperor turned around and saw this, and became dissatisfied again. Although Bai Er was not smart enough or hardworking enough, he was handsome, kind-hearted, and had a relationship with Mingda. The queen liked him very much. Why did you, his uncle, despise him?
Bai Erlang pondered deeply, finally finding something relevant from his previous learning and memory, "Attack with fear, and then conquer with benevolence and righteousness?"
The emperor opened his eyes and asked him directly, "Who said that?"
Bai Erlang did not hide anything and said directly: "Mr. Zhuang said so."
He said, "When we were studying, our teacher gave us a question. He said that to win over the people of a country, we must not only win over their territory, but also their hearts. We must make them convinced, change their customs, and agree with the principles of their country. This is what it means to win them over."
The emperor nodded approvingly, "Since Minister Zhuang became the Crown Prince's teacher, he has made great progress."
See you tomorrow
(End of this chapter)
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