Chapter 601: The Pacification of Sibao County (Part 3) [Requesting Monthly Tickets]
While Shen Tang was holding a busy meeting to discuss where to send troops and how to allocate personnel, Qiu Cheng was naturally not idle either.
Qiu Cheng asked for advice: "In your opinion, what should we do this time?"
The atmosphere in the meeting hall was somber.
Someone tried asking, "Could we borrow some grain?"
Qiu Cheng frowned: "Who should I borrow from?"
Given the current situation, even landlords have no surplus grain.
Otherwise, they wouldn't have set their sights on Shen Tang.
Someone else suggested, "Why don't we send a letter to the alliance leader?"
The leader he mentioned was the initiator of the Dragon Slaying Bureau—
Huang Lie.
Qiu Cheng recalled Huang Lie's stronghold, a smirk playing on his lips. He thought to himself, "That scoundrel Huang Lie still owes me money and grain, and he has hundreds of thousands of refugees and bandits under his command. People are already struggling to feed so many; why would he lend me any?"
The group considered all the factions with whom they had good relations.
There is grain in more distant areas, but it is not delivered in time.
Those who live closer to home are also poor, tightening their belts to make ends meet.
After some discussion, a gloomy atmosphere settled over the matter.
The core of their meeting wasn't their concern about how strong Shen Tang's army was—in fact, no matter how many soldiers they recruited in Longwu County, they couldn't recruit many, and even if they could, they couldn't afford to support them, not to mention that Yonggu Pass also had to share the troops.
Even if Shen Tang wanted to send troops, he could only mobilize about ten thousand men.
Surely this guy wouldn't just abandon the garrison at Yonggu Pass and leave no one to guard his stronghold just to take over Sibao County.
Qiu Cheng is not afraid of ten thousand people.
What he fears is the aftermath of a war between the two sides.
In fact, his current situation is even worse than Shen Tang's.
At least Shen Tang's side doesn't lack food.
He is not only short of food, but also short of money.
The wealthy and powerful families within Sibao County had already fled in the previous rounds of disasters, leaving Qiu Cheng with no one to "borrow" money from. His only saving grace was his lineage from the Qiu family. During the years when the eldest branch of the family was held hostage by Zheng Qiao, he had already established the Qiu family's influence and seized most of its resources. Through kinship and other connections, he was able to gather a batch of supplies for emergencies.
But this can only be used as an emergency measure.
An army marches on its stomach.
The gaps in the war cannot be filled with just this.
How to fill it out became a problem.
The grain from Nanyu County can only last for a short time.
Just then, someone whispered a suggestion. Everyone present was a scholar with a refined mind and a warrior with a brave heart, and they all heard it clearly. They had already considered the suggestion in their minds, but no one dared to bring it up.
Increase taxes on ordinary citizens within the country!
Qiu Cheng hesitated, "This...this might not be appropriate, right?"
He said it was not good, but he was tempted. He sighed and said, "These past few years have been difficult for ordinary people. The previous two prefects were greedy and imposed heavy taxes, which caused public resentment to boil over. How can I learn their methods?"
This year also saw a drought, resulting in a sharp decrease in grain production.
“How is it inappropriate? If it weren’t for the Lord’s tireless efforts over the past two years to allow the people to recuperate, who knows what state Sibao County would be in. Now that the rebels are invading and war is about to break out again, it is only right and proper for the common people not to want their families to be destroyed.”
The speaker was a burly, middle-aged military officer.
He exuded an extremely fierce aura.
He spoke of the word "sinking thief" with gritted teeth.
The reason was simple: the ninth-rank fifth-grade doctor whose head Shen Tang had removed was his younger brother. Upon suddenly learning of this devastating news, he wished he could sprout wings and kill Shen Tang. Others might not want to fight this battle, but he was a staunch advocate for war, full of fighting spirit.
Many voices echoed his sentiments.
Someone pressed on, saying, "My lord, waging war against the rebels would be more beneficial than harmful to us, and might even solve our immediate crisis."
If they wage war against Shen Tang and win, they can naturally annex the entire Longwu County and seize all of his assets. Although Shen Tang knows not to flaunt his wealth and has been very low-key these past two years, the increasingly plump faces and improving complexions of the common people under his rule show that Longwu County is a fat sheep. Furthermore, the frequent commercial activities within Longwu County indicate that he is quite wealthy.
Successfully swallowing an enemy will restore your health to full in one go.
Qiu Cheng said, "How could I not know?"
There are winners and losers.
Winning is great, but what if you lose?
Judging from the tone of Shen Tang's proclamation, he feared he had no chance of making a comeback, and he didn't think the other party would stop there.
Given the current situation, he has been forced to the brink of despair.
In this battle, victory is the only option; defeat is not an option!
Thinking of this, Qiu Cheng couldn't help but mutter to himself how unlucky he was.
I thought my neighbor was all show and no substance, all talk and no action, but I never expected that he was so small in stature but had such a big temper.
After some discussion, everyone reached an agreement.
In these extraordinary times, let the common people under our rule suffer for a while longer. Once the current crisis is resolved, we will annex Longwu County and then compensate them.
Only then did they discuss how to defend, guess where Shen Tang would attack from, and who they should send to resist and guard one side.
Miao Shu remained silent throughout the entire process.
He just seemed more silent than usual.
She didn't speak until almost the end.
All eyes turned to her: "...I have heard that arrogant soldiers often suffer defeat, and those who underestimate their enemies rarely succeed. Perhaps the rebels' camp truly harbors hidden talents... That day, when we clashed with their ambush, leaving aside their warriors, their scholars deserve our utmost caution..."
"I don't like hearing that. What do you mean by 'arrogance leads to defeat'? When did we become an arrogant army?" The advocating general frowned impatiently, instinctively feeling that Miao Shu was targeting him, and knowing that his younger brother's death was related to Miao Shu's incompetence, his anger flared up. "Before the battle even begins, you've already lost your fighting spirit. This cowardly wretch still dares to try to shake our morale. His intentions are despicable!"
"Boosting the morale of others while diminishing one's own is not advisable."
"Could it be that you were completely cowardly after the battle with the scoundrel? Were you scared out of your wits? What 'arrogance' and 'underestimation of the enemy'? An ant looks at a rock and thinks it is a towering mountain, or sees a puddle and thinks it is the vast ocean... Hmph! You are nothing but an incompetent fool!"
In fact, she realized she had overstepped her bounds as soon as she finished speaking.
Upon hearing the mocking remarks from several people around him, his face turned ashen.
Only one person spoke up for him.
The eighth-class passenger who had traveled with them that day said: "What she said is not without reason. We were misled by the outside world and really thought that the villain was nothing special. That's why we were careless and underestimated the enemy, which led to the deaths of so many of our comrades. The villain dares to make such a statement, so he may really have some confidence."
Out of consideration for him, Qiu Cheng spared Miao Shu a few glances: "Shu Niang, do you have a plan?"
Upon hearing this address, Miao Shu secretly clenched her hands in her sleeves, her face filled with shame. She dared not look up, afraid of seeing the strange looks from her other colleagues—Qiu Cheng had never addressed her in public like this before, always referring to her by her official title.
Calling someone by such an affectionate nickname as "Shuniang"...
It carried a hint of mockery and playfulness.
She composed herself and said, "Just now someone suggested borrowing grain from the alliance leader. While borrowing grain is inappropriate, borrowing troops is acceptable. Not only the alliance leader, but all the forces that participated in the oath can borrow troops. Even if that's not possible, we can put pressure on the rebel Shen. For the past two years, our lord has led troops to fight alongside you against the tyrannical ruler Zheng Qiao, yet the rebel Shen is now attacking our lord. How can we be sure this person isn't a supporter of the tyrannical ruler?"
"Since we are his supporters, we should be on par with the tyrant and attack him!"
(ノへ￣、)
Thank goodness, it's finally raining heavily for two or three days in a row. Before, the drought was so severe that even a sip of water was hard to drink, and water was rationed and cut off every day... We had to time our showers carefully, afraid that the water would run out halfway through...
(End of this chapter)
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