Chapter 251 If you weren’t prepared in advance, why did you hold back?
In front of an old fox like Chen Nianhe, Sang Zhixia is obviously immature.
But beneath his immaturity lies the arrogance and courage of a newborn calf that is not afraid of a tiger.
She did not feel that there was any difference in status between her and Chen Nianhe, or that she had to be cautious and careful with flattery.
Chen Nianhe could not detect any flattery in her, but rather a rare calmness and composure.
Even though his tactics and scheming were still inferior to hers, Sang Zhixia never felt the slightest fear in her heart.
He never felt that his status as a bastard and the Xu family's current criminal status made him inferior.
Such a temperament...
No wonder the old man of the Xu family values it so much.
Chen Nianhe tutted his words in an ambiguous manner, and without further ado, he said straight to the point, "I'm here today for two reasons. First, I want to know the details of what led to the Hongbei battle."
In fact, any discerning person could see that the Xu family’s calamity that year came about strangely, and the reasons were hard to guess and impossible to investigate.
Chen Nianhe originally thought that the Xu family tragedy was just an isolated case and had nothing to do with him, but he never thought that there would be times when he was stuck in the quagmire and he couldn't help but care.
The old man remained silent.
Chen Nianhe said frankly, "Although I was initially dissatisfied with the delay in the delivery of food and grass to the court, I didn't speculate further, nor did I predict in time that such a major turmoil would arise. This shows that I was indeed superficial and didn't really see the root cause."
"But then I thought about it carefully. I and countless people in the northwest were indeed caught off guard, but the Xu family seemed to have anticipated this and made preparations long ago. Why?"
How did the Xu family find out about this thing that no one had expected?
Is it related to the Battle of Hongbei that year?
The old man still didn't speak, and Chen Nianhe turned his gaze to Sang Zhixia's face.
Sang Zhixia hesitated for a moment, then smiled bitterly and said, "General Chen, do you suspect someone from the Xu family is behind this?"
"That's not the case."
Chen Nianhe brushed his fingertips and said bluntly, "Xu Yu is not a good guy. I don't know what your personality is like, but I know better than anyone that the old man can't bear to hurt the people."
In other words, he believed that Xu Yu, that sinister and ruthless character, was capable of anything, but he also firmly believed that as long as the old man was around, he would never allow his descendants to cause such suffering.
This matter has nothing to do with the Xu family.
But the Xu family must know something.
Sang Zhixia found it difficult to comment on his behavior of mocking Xu Yu before speaking. She pursed her lips and said calmly, "Has General Chen ever investigated the battle of Hongbei?"
"I checked."
Chen Nianhe said with a dark face: "Nothing."
But it is precisely this kind of cleanliness that leaves no trace that is the most suspicious.
If no one had erased it, anything that happened should have left the necessary traces, but after checking around, he found nothing.
Sang Zhixia knew nothing at first, but as Xue Liu, Lin Yun and others entered the village, she gradually learned some details of what happened back then.
Sang Zhixia sighed calmly and said slowly, "It is said that before the Battle of Hongbei, the army had been out of food for a long time. Their situation was probably very similar to the general's a few days ago."
"How is that possible?"
Chen Nianhe said without hesitation: "Although Hongbei is located in the frontier, the court's transportation of food and fodder has never been delayed at all. How could it be..."
"The court has given what it should, but how can we be sure that everything will be safe and sound during transportation?"
Sang Zhixia seemed unaware of Chen Nianhe's surprise and said slowly, "The general encountered heavy winter snow. Perhaps the explanation was that the road was dangerous and difficult to travel, which delayed him for some time."
"Before the battle of Hongbei began, the route to transport food and fodder to Hongbei had to pass through the mountains and eight ferry crossings. The flood season started in spring, and the water conditions were complicated. Vehicles, boats, mules, and horses were delayed along the way due to the flood season. By the time they finally arrived at the border town of Hongbei, it had already taken them from early spring to early autumn."
The army led by Marquis Jiaxing never received any food or fodder from the court until it was completely annihilated.
Sang Zhixia thought of the red eyes of Lin Yun, Song Liu, and the others as they told her about this. A flicker of pity crossed her heart, and she closed her eyes and said, "At that time, the Marquis of Jiaxing had received no response from the court, so he had no choice but to buy food, fodder, cattle, and sheep from the caravans and civilians outside the Great Wall to tide him over. Otherwise, how could the evidence of treason be so conclusive and there were so many witnesses?"
The Marquis of Jiaxing was indeed forced to have contact with the merchant caravans outside the Great Wall.
But what they spent was real money, and what they got in return was food that allowed the army to take root and survive.
In addition to the Great Wall, Marquis Jiaxing also mobilized the Xu family's connections and tried to get enough food and grass from various places for the time being, but this was destined not to last long.
The court determined that the food and fodder had been delivered.
Several batches of food and fodder that could have been sent were delayed on the way due to the so-called flood season.
Information exchange was inconvenient, and many people tampered with the information. The petition for grain sent by Marquis Jiaxing to the court was presented in front of the emperor's desk, but what was written in it was the ironclad evidence of his dealings with the merchant caravans outside the Great Wall.
Kyoto, who became suspicious of Marquis Jiaxing, did not investigate the delay in grain and grass. Instead, he secretly sent people to Hongbei to investigate whether Marquis Jiaxing was collaborating with the enemy.
The war broke out suddenly on the border. Marquis Jiaxing at the border had no time to respond, and the Xu family in Kyoto also failed to respond in time.
So far...
Everything that can be said is already laid out on the table very clearly.
The weapons in the hands of soldiers on the battlefield are as fragile as powder, shattering at the slightest blow and unable to withstand any fighting.
The soldiers, suffering from hunger and lack of food, resolutely died on the frontier battlefield while holding weapons that were not even as good as firewood sticks.
Sang Zhixia didn't know what he was thinking about, but he sighed deeply, and an indescribable mixture of emotions rushed to his throat.
The old man once lamented to her in person: Marquis Jiaxing had a very smooth life, rising step by step to a higher position, and never looked down to see how deep the mud was under his feet.
So even though he knew that someone was plotting something, Marquis Jiaxing chose to hide it from the Xu family in Kyoto, and never revealed anything about the current situation in Hongbei on the border, stubbornly thinking that he could hold on.
But Marquis Jiaxing was not as comfortable as he had expected.
Hongbei was defeated and Marquis Jiaxing was killed.
The entire army was defeated by foreign enemies, and the Marquis of Jiaxing who died in the battle was also charged with treason, and the Xu family fell into decline overnight.
It is not easy to talk too much about right and wrong. Now that things have come to this, there is no point in saying more.
Seeing Chen Nianhe's gloomy face and silence, Sang Zhixia turned the empty teacup in her hand and said to herself, "Actually, the general guessed wrong. The Xu family was not prepared in advance. Before this happened, we didn't know that something like this would happen in the northwest."
"It was an accidental coincidence."
"coincide?"
Chen Nianhe narrowed his eyes suspiciously and said doubtfully, "When Xu Yu sold me 80,000 kilograms of grain, he was talking about the entire harvest of the Xu family."
"If you hadn't been prepared, why did you hold back?"
Sang Zhixia remained extremely calm under his gaze. She blinked and said frankly, "Because Xu Yu and I both feel that we should hold back a little to ensure safety in front of the general."
They are not open-minded people and there are still old grudges. Why bother to be hypocritical and speak frankly?
Prevention is a two-way street!
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