After a brief mobilization, everyone started to get busy.
In terms of logistics, Li Shishi and her colleagues took the lead and led the sisters from the Women's Federation to actively organize the elderly, the weak, women and children to enter the tunnel.
In terms of military affairs, Zhang Shixun personally commanded.
Wang Dong is responsible for intelligence work.
Everything went smoothly.
The Jin army was also moving quickly. The first to arrive was Wanyan Yinshuke, who only brought a thousand soldiers with him. The rest of the soldiers were led by Wanyan Loushi. Because they were carrying baggage and city equipment, their marching speed was slower.
The reason why Yin Shuke rushed here in such a hurry was to see if he could rescue Nianhan.
After all, he is the number one general under Nianhan and cares about Nianhan's safety more than anyone else.
He believed that Jiemu issued such an order purely for personal revenge and wanted to get rid of Nianhan in this way.
Therefore, as soon as he arrived, he sent an envoy to Zhang Xiaozhuang.
"Zhang Tianwang, my general said that as long as you release Marshal Nianhan, no matter what conditions you put forward, my general will agree to them."
Zhang Shixun stood on the ice city wall, looking down at the Jin army envoys below, and said calmly: "Go back and tell your general that my conditions are simple: release all the people of the Song Dynasty. However, I doubt your general has such great power."
The messengers below were suddenly speechless.
Yin Shuke indeed does not have such a right.
"My general also said that he can return the people of the Song Dynasty in Liujia Temple to you, but he is not responsible for the people in Qingcheng Village, so..."
"Since his power is limited, there's nothing to discuss. I say again, I want all the people."
The envoy refused to give up and said, "In addition to releasing the people of the Great Song Dynasty from Liujia Temple, I can also give you 200,000 taels of gold and 1 million taels of silver. Is that all right?"
Zhang Shixun was about to refuse when Wang Dong tugged at his sleeve and said, "Promise him first. We need to build an army next and we need money urgently. We can't do this without money."
Without waiting for Zhang Shixun's reply, Wang Dong continued, "Regardless of whether there's a deal or not, that old man Jiemu is going to attack us. He doesn't care about Nianhan's life or death at all, and he might even want to use us to kill him. In this case, Nianhan has lost his bargaining chip. Instead of that, it's better to use Nianhan to exchange for half of the people and get a lot of money."
"Then...what about the other half of the people in Qingcheng Village?" Zhang Shixun was undecided for a moment.
"Do you think it's possible to exchange Nianhan for all the people? Even if you were Jiemu, you wouldn't agree to it... I suspect that this guy Wuliebu is deliberately feigning illness to push Jiemu out as the villain. Even if Nianhan is killed by us, he will have a reason to explain to the Jin emperor that it wasn't my fault, it was Jiemu's fault."
Zhang Shixun thought what he said made sense, so he nodded and said, "Alright, let's get the people of Liujia Temple back first."
The messenger below looked up at the wall and saw that Zhang Shixun didn't speak for a long time, so he knew that there was trouble.
"Zhang Tianwang, what do you think of the conditions I just mentioned? Please give me a word so that I can reply to the general."
Zhang Shixun pretended to be very reluctant and said, "Okay, I agree to the call, on the condition that you send the people and the gold and silver to Zhang Xiaozhuang."
The messenger was overjoyed, "Okay! I will reply to General Yin Shuke now."
When Yin Shuke heard the report from the returning envoy, he did not delay for a moment and immediately sent a fast rider back to Liujia Temple to prepare for the exchange.
After the messenger left, Pharmacist Guo, who was standing nearby, said with a smile, "General, will you complete the deal and capture Zhang Xiaozhuang in one fell swoop to recapture the people and the gold and silver?"
Yin Shuke nodded, "Yes, that's exactly what I thought."
Pharmacist Guo said, "This is indeed a good idea. However, Zhang Shixun is as cunning as a fox. He might be able to see through the general's plan."
Yin Shuke snorted coldly, "So what if he figured it out? How can a tiny village like his rival Taiyuan City? Or even Dongjing City? Even if he possesses extraordinary abilities, he won't be able to withstand the crushing defeat of our Great Jin warriors. By then, no matter how much he's taken in, he'll have to spit it out, and it'll cost him his life... Pharmacist Guo, you're too incompetent. You led thousands of people in a siege for so long, and you haven't even reached the top of the wall."
Pharmacist Guo said with a bitter face, "Zhang Shixun built such a high ice wall, and then poured a layer of water on it. The top and bottom of the wall are slippery everywhere, making it impossible to stand. The stones thrown by the catapults only leave a white mark on the wall. It is really difficult to attack."
"You're such a stubborn fool," Yin Shuke said disdainfully. "Since a brute force attack doesn't work, can't we just use fire? Pile up some firewood under the city walls and set a huge fire. Damn it, I don't believe we can't burn it down."
Despite his inward complaints, Pharmacist Guo patiently explained, "I'd considered using that method, but I had no firewood. It seems Zhang Shixun had taken precautions. He'd chopped down every tree within a dozen miles, leaving not even a feather behind."
Yin Keshu was speechless.
This Zhang Shixun is indeed cunning and difficult to deal with.
The next day, Jamu's troops arrived, bringing dozens of catapults and a large number of ladders.
As soon as he arrived, he was furious at Yin Shuke, "You and Zhang Shixun made a private deal, which is a blatant disobedience to the general's orders."
Yin Shuke said sullenly, "Nianhan is the Grand Marshal of our Great Jin. If he were to die here, how could we face the Emperor? Besides, after we get Nianhan back, we can easily recapture his people and property. We don't have to worry about him getting into trouble."
Although Jiemu wanted to take this opportunity to kill Nianhan, she didn't dare to show her intention too obviously, so she said, "I'll give you three days. Once those three days are up, launch the attack."
"This... three days is a bit tight, can you give me a few more days?"
My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!
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