Chapter 1077: Ugly, but Beautiful
"My lord, Jiangyang County is ahead."
Jiang Chi still has the style of a famous scholar. Although he did not wear a wide-sleeved robe but a narrow-sleeved Hu clothing because he was riding a horse, he still looked very free and unrestrained as he held a horsewhip and pointed out the way forward.
The army left Jiangling and marched for two days before arriving at the next city - Jiangyang.
Three or four miles away from the city, Gu Qingcheng found an open place and set up camp temporarily.
She rode her horse to the hillside nearby and looked at Jiang Yang.
As the first strategist beside Gu Qingcheng, Jiang Chi naturally followed throughout the whole process.
He pointed his whip at the city ahead and said slowly, "Jiangyang County is a medium-sized county with a population of more than 1,300 households..."
Jiang Chi is indeed a strategist who knows everything about the world. Even though it is his first time in Jiangyang, he knows the situation of this place like the back of his hand.
Again, it’s not that he can predict the future, but that he knows how to investigate and summarize.
Among all the information he obtained, Jiang Chi could always rely on his brain to get the information he needed.
One thousand three hundred households?
It is indeed Zhong County.
In ancient times, local areas were divided into three levels: upper, middle, and lower according to population, geographical location, and products.
The regional unit of "county" is mostly divided according to the number of registered households in the jurisdiction.
A county with less than 1,000 households is a lower county; a county with more than 1,000 households and less than 2,000 households is a middle county; and a county with more than 2,000 households is an upper county.
Although they are both county towns, there are still huge differences between upper county and lower county.
When the imperial court appoints a county magistrate, these factors will also be taken into consideration.
"Although Jiangyang County doesn't have a large population and is only a medium-sized county, its location is very important."
Jiang Chi was still talking.
Jiangyang is located between Jiangling and Jiankang, and is considered to be a necessary route from north to south.
In addition, Jiang Yang is also on the river section of the river.
The waterways are unobstructed and the land routes are also well developed.
"If you want to go to Jiankang, you must take Jiangyang."
"As far as I know, when Chen went to Jiankang, he led his troops to capture Jiangyang and arranged for his trusted general Han Cheng to garrison there."
"Now, Chen has been killed, but Jiangyang is still controlled by Han Cheng."
"Chi has sent people to investigate. Han Cheng has a total of 3,000 guards."
Gu Qingcheng nodded.
She knew all the situations that Jiang Chi mentioned.
Especially Han Cheng, she had not only heard of him, but had also seen him.
Don't forget, Gu Qingcheng was once the fiancée of King Liang.
As the future Princess of Liang, she did a lot for the Prince of Liang and his deputy general.
Gu Qingcheng had dealt with Han Cheng before.
This man, in his twenties, came from a poor family. He was seven feet tall and extremely strong, as if he was born a warrior.
Chen Duan discovered him and made him his personal guard first and then a commander of troops to fight in battles.
After being promoted all the way, in less than ten years, Han Cheng achieved a class leap and became a general with a large number of troops.
Han Cheng is absolutely loyal to Chen Duan.
As a result, he also has great respect for Gu Qingcheng, the future queen.
Of course, the food, fodder, and wages that Gu Qingcheng delivered were also one of the main reasons why Han Cheng respected him.
"Han Cheng appears to be rude and honest on the surface, but he is actually quite shrewd."
Gu Qingcheng recalled the several times she had dealt with Han Cheng and gave an accurate summary.
Jiang Chi had never met Han Cheng, but what he was best at was guessing the general picture based on the details he had heard.
Although I have never dealt with him, I can still get a glimpse of Han Cheng's abilities, temperament, etc. from what he has done.
After hearing what Gu Qingcheng said, Jiang Chi nodded, "That's right, this man is rough on the outside but careful on the inside, and is definitely not a reckless warrior."
Without looking at anything else, just seeing that after Chen Duan was killed, Han Cheng did not rush to lead his troops to avenge his lord, you will know that this man is still very calm and restrained.
He even took the opportunity to recruit soldiers to consolidate his control over Jiangyang County.
He also wrote letters to Wang Qi in Jiankang and Gu Qing in Jiangling respectively, expressing his loyalty to the Chen family.
This is quite interesting.
If you are truly loyal, there is no need to emphasize it so much.
I won't bet on both sides.
Han Cheng was just waiting and watching to see whether Wang of Jiankang or the former queen Gu was a more worthy choice.
Han Cheng knew very well that the 3,000 men under his command were not enough to defend Jiangyang.
He was even less able to use Jiangyang as his base, establish himself as a king, and participate in the competition for supremacy in the world.
Han Cheng must have thought about establishing his own territory and becoming a local tyrant, but he also knew that he did not have the strength to do so.
At least, based on the information that Gu Qingcheng and Jiang Chi received and the facts they inferred, both of them were more inclined to believe that Han Cheng was waiting for a good price and looking for another wise leader.
"You can talk to Han Cheng."
"Although I don't have a large army, I still have 60,000 men under my command."
Gu Qingcheng sat high on the horse, standing on the hillside, just in time to have a view of the entire Jiangyang City.
The city is not big, but its location is important.
If she wants to march straight back to Jiankang, she must take Jiangyang County.
If we attack by force, it is not impossible.
However, if it is possible to conquer the city through peace talks without losing a single soldier, Gu Qingcheng would still prefer this peaceful approach.
She has a hot air balloon and a small porcelain bottle. Even the most basic version of hot weapons can be used as a dimensionality reduction attack when compared to cold weapons.
Gu Qingcheng has absolute confidence that she can take down Jiang Yang by force, but there is no need.
Whether it was the troops under her command or the defenders of Jiangyang City, they were all her troops, and she would not bear to see any harm done to them.
"My lord is wise. Chi thinks so too."
"If the lord does not abandon me, Chi is willing to go to Jiangyang to negotiate with the Han family."
Jiang Chi hung the horsewhip on his wrist, clasped his hands together, and bowed to Gu Qingcheng to ask for orders.
"Okay! Thank you for your hard work, sir."
Gu Qingcheng agreed to Jiang Chi's request very easily.
After thinking for a while, she added, "Also, sir, you can bring a gift to Han Cheng."
When it comes to peace talks, we can't just use words.
Although Gu Qingcheng knew that for a celebrity like Jiang Chi, his tongue was his sharpest weapon.
With just one mouth, he can bring the dead back to life.
Persuading surrender, seeking peace, coercion, inducement...the skills of later bosses in making big promises are not even worth mentioning compared to these strategists who are good at talking.
There is no mistake in the poem, post, content, and read the book on 6, 9, and bar!
But, Gu Qingcheng has absolute strength.
With her "money ability" as a support, Jiang Chi can definitely achieve twice the result with half the effort.
"Senior Brother Mu's fleet has sent another batch of food. We have enough food, so we can give some to Han Cheng."
"In addition, there are also a number of weapons and armor."
Gu Qingcheng really lacks nothing.
Especially in recent months, there has been no need to supply Chen Duan, and her food, fodder, weapons and other supplies are almost overflowing from the warehouse.
Now, it’s just a part of it being used as a “gift”. For Gu Qingcheng, it’s really just a small case.
Jiang Chi: ...
With so much food and supplies, he doesn't even need to talk.
A month has passed since Chen Duan’s accident.
Jiankang was controlled by Wang Qi, so the court naturally would not allocate food and money to Chen Duan's old subordinates.
Of course, Han Cheng can recruit people locally, but Jiangyang is so small and this is not a long-term solution.
If you live beyond your means, something bad will happen sooner or later.
Han Cheng may not be short of food now, but he will definitely not refuse the food and wages that are delivered to his doorstep.
Even if Han Cheng had other plans, what about the soldiers under his command?
Jiang Chi thought three steps ahead, and before he even went to Jiangyang, he already had one, two, and three strategies.
The supplies given by Gu Qingcheng made Jiang Chi extremely confident.
He has even started planning -
If Han refused Gu's recruitment, he could just cook in the open space outside the city.
As for the dishes, of course, they are the secret cooking recipes “invented” by the lord.
Especially the braised pork, wow, the aroma is so overbearing and it is truly unique.
When Jiang Chi joined Gu's sect, he had tasted it in the military camp.
Even though it's lowly, stinky meat, it's really, really, really delicious.
Soft, tasty, sweet and delicious, it is not only loved by soldiers who are always hungry, but also by future noblemen like Jiang Chi who come from a poor family.
Jiang Chi has already sketched out a scene——
Outside the city, on the open ground, there were big pots, and the firemen were holding shovels, frying sugar color and stir-frying meat.
Sizzle! Sizzle! The hot pan and cold oil, the pork belly wrapped in syrup, the smell is definitely fragrant enough to spread for miles.
The Jiangyang defenders, who were nearby, would surely be tempted to rebel when they saw that the Gu family soldiers, who were also small soldiers, could feast on the food.
And then... their bodies and their souls will eventually be seduced away by braised pork, white rice, big pancakes, etc.
I have to say, the Gu family is very rich.
And the girl from the Gu family, his master, is too generous and knows how to win people's hearts.
Even the most ordinary soldiers in the army have oily meals three times a day and meat for lunch.
They can eat well and have enough food, and receive full military pay every month, which is paid on time and in the correct amount.
Never delay, never skimp.
When soldiers are injured in battle, they will have the best anti-inflammatory medicine and will receive special care such as sick meals during their recovery.
If you unfortunately die in battle, the Gu family also has a complete set of standardized and comprehensive pension policies:
High pensions;
The families of the fallen soldiers could work in any of Gu's workshops;
The families of fallen soldiers can also be assigned a quota for military service, and as long as they serve in the army, they will receive money to settle down.
...I heard that the Gu family implemented this policy when they were still in Lingnan.
Therefore, in Lingnan, the saying that "good men don't join the army" was directly broken by the Gu family.
The policies implemented by the Gu family gave the people of Lingnan a new understanding: one person serves in the army, and the whole family has enough food!
"No wonder the Gu family has established such a huge foundation in such a wild place like Lingnan in just ten years."
The more Jiang Chi understood what Gu Qingcheng had done, the more he admired this lord, and the more fortunate he was that he had not chosen the wrong person.
…
"General, Gu's army is approaching Jiangyang."
"They are stationed three miles outside the city. Gu is determined to capture Jiang Yang."
In the temporary meeting hall of Jiangyang County Yamen, a man dressed as a counselor gave a detailed report to the general sitting on the main seat.
The counselor's eyebrows were a little anxious. How could he not be anxious when the enemy was at the gate? The general sitting on the horse with a golden sword, Han Cheng, was not worried at all. Instead, his puffy eyes were shining with excitement.
The daughter of the Gu family is here.
She is a rare beauty in the world.
The key is that she is so virtuous.
She can be a good wife to Chen Duan, I am no worse than Chen Duan, maybe... hehehe...
(End of this chapter)
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