As soon as the fake grain and straw arrived from Datong, Fengye began to prepare for a siege on a large scale.

He sent tens of thousands of troops to blockade Taiyuan's transportation fortress, stationed the main camp within five miles of the city, and built several sentry posts around the city. As long as the enemy was discovered in one place, the entire army could be quickly informed by command flags and beacons.

The siege at this time, firstly, would make Taiyuan think that they were waiting for food and grass from Datong and that everything was ready after delaying the siege; secondly, it would make a feint to the east and attack in the west, so that they would not anticipate the crisis in Rong Yuanshan's granary; thirdly, even if Rong Yuanshan asked for help, the Taiyuan army would not dare to go out of the city to rescue easily.

However, Yan Sikong guessed that as soon as they surrounded the city, Shen Hexuan would most likely realize that the Rongyuanshan granary was fighting alone, although it might be dangerous, so he would try to notify the granary defenders to be prepared, and they would attack before the enemy had time to prepare.

It was the beginning of autumn, the rainy season. On the third day of the siege, a drizzle began to fall. Although the rain was not heavy, it was sticky and continued all day long, which was really annoying.

The five hundred soldiers who were preparing to climb the mountain were already geared up and ready to go in the camp. They were all the youngest and strongest soldiers selected by Feng Ye. Feng Ye promised them a large reward, and each of these five hundred soldiers was full of fighting spirit.

This battle was handed over to Qian Cunxi and Yuan Shaoxu by Feng Ye. A few days ago, Que Wang successively captured Pingliang and Fengxiang cities and made many military achievements. In the letter to Feng Ye, he did not ask for reward, but tactfully asked Feng Ye to promote his elder brother. Apparently, Yuan Shaoxu went to ask Que Wang. Although Que Wang had lost his memory and did not have a deep friendship with this elder brother, he might not be unaware of this elder brother's weight, but he was kind-hearted by nature and still did this favor to Feng Ye.

Feng Ye naturally couldn't refuse Que Wang, so he gave Yuan Shaoxu this opportunity.

Qian Cunxi led the army and set out on a rainy night.

That night, Feng Ye and Yan Sikong stayed awake, waiting for news from Rongyuan Mountain.

At the most awkward moment, a beacon for help suddenly ignited on Rongyuan Mountain. The two were overjoyed and immediately ordered Wang Shen to organize his troops. As long as the Taiyuan army went out of the city to rescue, they would immediately intercept them halfway.

The beacon fire burned until dawn, and the gates of Taiyuan were never opened. The spies reported that Qian Cunxi and Yuan Shaoxu had successfully captured the Rongyuan Mountain granary. More than 20 soldiers fell off the cliff while climbing the mountain. After climbing the mountain, they fought with the enemy and suffered heavy casualties. They desperately lowered the rope ladder, which enabled the army to climb up the mountain.

But after going up the mountain, they found that the Rongyuanshan granary was not as well stocked as they had imagined, and the garrison was only a few thousand people, and most of the food had already been transferred away.

Feng Ye's expression gradually changed from joy to anger: "It must have moved before the siege, Shen Hexuan, the traitor."

Yan Sikong soothed him, "Even if they have transferred most of the grain and grass, it is still very important to capture Rongyuan Mountain. It is the grain route between Shuntian Prefecture and the Central Plains, and it is also the last grain route for Taiyuan. From now on, we have completely isolated Taiyuan. Isn't this good news?"

"Of course it's good news." Feng Ye took a deep breath, "It's just that we were not able to seize their large amount of food and fodder as you and I had hoped."

"I know you're feeling pissed after the defeat in Taiyuan, but we'll get it back sooner or later, so there's no need to rush."

Feng Ye frowned: "But, in this case, our food and grass will never be enough."

"The autumn harvest is coming soon. The grain officials are trying every means to collect grain and grass from all over the country. They can hold on for a while. I think Taiyuan should be more anxious than us at this time."

Feng Ye didn't answer, his eyes were full of worry.

In fact, Yan Sikong himself was not sure about his last words. They did not dare to leave the city, and they did not dare to attack the city. However, Taiyuan must have more food and grass than them. How long would the siege last? Every day of siege would cost them money. Taiyuan could obviously drag them down.

Soon, Yuan Shaoxu brought back a batch of enemy rations and fodder seized from Rongyuan Mountain, and took credit for it. Although the rations and fodder were not much, they were better than nothing. Feng Ye also took the opportunity to reward him and did this favor to Quewang.

After this battle, Feng Ye started to provoke again, sending envoys to seek peace today and sending generals to scold tomorrow. Shen Hexuan was very patient, and treated the envoys with courtesy when they came, and never paid attention to the generals when they came. After several times, the envoys dared not go, not because Taiyuan had made any difficulties, but because they were no match for Shen Hexuan, and were humiliated and embarrassed.

Shen Hexuan also asked the messenger to bring back a message, saying that if they wanted to negotiate peace, Yan Sikong had to come in person.

Yan Sikong was indeed brave, but not reckless. He risked his life to go to Chahar because he was somewhat confident in his heart, but he was determined not to go to Taiyuan because he knew he would die if he went there.

The two sides continued to be deadlocked.

During this period, he received news from Yunnan that Chen Yi, together with Prince Ning, had left Zhongqing and marched towards the Central Plains. At this time, they were in a strong position and had captured two cities in a row. Now they were preparing to attack Yongzhou. Under the banner of the eldest prince, there was no shortage of people who responded, and his military strength was also greatly expanded.

Feng Ye sent an envoy to Xu Ning to meet Prince Yong. If Prince Yong could send troops to help him, Taiyuan could be captured.

——

Yan Sikong looked at the distant Taiyuan City every day, with countless conspiracies and plots in his mind.

If they fail to capture Taiyuan within this year, they will probably have to withdraw their troops next year due to lack of food and fodder, and all their efforts this year will be in vain. They certainly cannot sit and wait for defeat to end.

While waiting for news from Xu Ning, Yan Sikong discovered that after the autumn harvest, a large amount of straw was left in the fields. In order for the land to continue to be cultivated next year, they must be cleaned up, and the best way is to burn them.

Yan Sikong came up with an idea and ordered the farmers to transport all the sorghum from their fields to the camp. Within just a few days, mountains of sorghum were gathered.

The soldiers brought the pile of straw to the outside of Taiyuan City, poured tar mixed with poison on it, and set it on fire whenever the wind blew in the direction of Taiyuan City.

Because the poison turned into smoke and diffused into the air, its toxicity was not very strong, but it was enough to make people burst into tears and their eyes became red and swollen. This burned for several days in a row. The soldiers in Taiyuan City were in great pain and their faces were covered with layers of smoke every day.

Finally one day, a general in the city could no longer bear the humiliation and was filled with righteous indignation. He rushed out of the city gate alone on a spear, wanting to fight Cao Yu who came to scold him.

Cao Yu was overjoyed. He had been cursing every day but no one paid any attention to him, and he had long been on the verge of getting sick. He immediately promised to compete with the general alone. Life and death were decided by fate, and even if he lost, he would not allow his subordinates to attack him.

So the two men, one holding a spear and the other holding a knife, started fighting with roars on their horses under the city of Taiyuan.

Both of them were in their prime, both were brave and good at fighting, and the battle was exciting and evenly matched.

Feng Ye and Yan Sikong both rode their horses here specially to watch the battle.

In the end, Cao Yu was slightly more successful and beheaded the man, but he himself was stabbed in the side by the spear.

Yan Sikong saw Cao Yu riding his horse back and about to kill the man with a single blow, so he shouted, "General Cao, spare his life!"

Cao Yu was dissatisfied with Yan Sikong in his heart, but because Feng Ye was present, he could not openly disobey him.

Feng Ye ordered his men to kidnap the general and take him back to the camp.

Yan Sikong laughed and said, "Shen Hexuan must be so angry that he will die."

Feng Ye was also overjoyed: "In broad daylight, they handed us a prisoner of war, and he's a general, not bad."

The general's name was Zhou Ke. He was a tough nut to crack. He demanded that Feng Ye kill him and would rather die than surrender.

Not only did Feng Ye not kill him, he also asked a doctor to treat his injuries, and specially prepared a tent for him, treating him as a guest of honor.

Yan Sikong found out that this man was a lieutenant general in Taiyuan. Although he was extremely brave in killing enemies, he was reckless and impulsive. He had asked Shen Hexuan for a fight twice during their provocation, but was rejected by Shen Hexuan both times. After being fumigated by the poisonous smoke of straw for several days, he finally exploded and disobeyed orders to leave the city to duel with Cao Yu.

Although Feng Ye temporarily took him into the camp, he couldn't help but wonder if this man would use a self-torture trick like they did when they sent Cao Yu to Taiyuan. Yan Sikong had thought about it a long time ago: "I don't think so. Shen Hexuan just arrived in Taiyuan, and his position and rank are all lower than Luo Ruoxin. Now it is Luo Ruoxin who controls the military power of Taiyuan. Shen Hexuan is a military advisor. If he wants to establish his authority in the army, he must ensure that his orders are obeyed. Zhou Ke's blatant disobedience to orders to leave the city is what he least wants to see. Besides, Zhou Ke is not very smart. If he is using a self-torture trick, I am afraid it will not escape my eyes. Shen Hexuan should not be so stupid."

Feng Ye nodded: "I also think this is not a scam. If we can subdue Zhou Ke, we will know how much food and grass there is in Taiyuan."

"Take good care of him. When his injury recovers, we will be able to deal with him."

Feng Ye touched his chin and said, "Why don't I go see him now?"

"Okay."

At the end of Feng Ye, Yan Sikong was reviewing official documents in the account book when suddenly, a figure rushed in rashly without even notifying anyone.

Yan Sikong raised his head in surprise. The person who came was actually Feng Ye’s concubine—Saren, followed by helpless-looking guards.

"Madam." Yan Sikong stood up and bowed to Sarin.

Sarin looked around: "Where is my husband?"

Yan Sikong said expressionlessly, "Madam, the Wolf King has ordered that no women are allowed to enter or leave the military camp. I will order someone to send Madam back now." His tone turned cold, "And severely punish the soldiers who allowed Madam to enter the camp."

"Oh? You want to severely punish the general?" Sarin raised his chin provocatively, "Also, I'm not a woman, I'm a lady. The Wolf King's military orders are for the three armies, not for me."

"The superiors should follow suit. As the commander-in-chief, you must set an example yourself when issuing military orders. I will go to General Wang Shen to inquire about this matter." Yan Sikong had actually guessed who had let Saren in. Wang Shen was an old member of the Feng family army and was deeply favored by Feng Jianping. He had escaped from Datong with Feng Changyue and they were close friends. Feng Changyue had obviously given him a new task, which was to let Saren give birth to an heir for Feng Ye as soon as possible.

This did give Yan Sikong a headache. Wang Shen was one of the people in the army who could not be offended the most. During the time when Feng Ye was injured, many policies would have been difficult to implement without Wang Shen's help.

Sarin waved her hands, with arrogance written on her pretty face: "I don't care about these. I grew up in my Khan's military camp. What's so great about the military camp? Why can't women go in and out? I am no worse than men in wielding swords and guns, riding horses and fighting." She glanced at Yan Sikong, "Maybe I am more like a man than you."

Yan Sikong said in a neither humble nor arrogant manner: "Madam is truly a heroine. I am ashamed to be inferior to her, but military orders are as strong as mountains and cannot be violated. Please leave immediately, or I will have to forcibly send you back to Yanzhou."

Sarin was so angry that her face turned blue. She walked up to Yan Sikong and said coldly, "Yan Sikong, you took my place. Can you give birth to a child?"

Yan Sikong cupped his hands and said, "Of course it won't work."

"You..." Sarin pushed Yan Sikong hard, showing her bold and daring character. "You men in the Central Plains are worse than women. You are like prostitutes, serving men with your beauty. Ugh!"

Sarin's voice was so loud that it could be heard clearly inside and outside the tent. Several guards turned pale, knowing that they had been in trouble.

Yan Sikong's face was calm: "Madam, please go back." He looked at the guards coldly, "Escort Madam back to Yanzhou."

"yes."

Sarin raised his chin arrogantly: "Yan Sikong, you are my enemy. My Khan said that we must defeat our enemies."

Yan Sikong smiled faintly: "Madam, you are not worthy of being my enemy, and I will not treat you as an enemy. Please come in." He made a gesture of invitation.

Sarin left angrily.