Chapter 51
This year's harvest was affected by the drought, coupled with the pecking of insects and birds. The final number was only 60% of last year's. This was despite the increase in cultivated land area. Based on the average yield alone, it might not even be half of that.
“It’s pretty good.”
Song Jin also spread out the account books of several other cities. Due to the advancement of farming tools and technology, the grain output of several places now generally far exceeds the demand. Even in this year, it can still support a family after paying the taxes.
In addition, during the slack season, various paid tasks will be assigned. As long as you are willing to work hard, you can survive even if there is not much food stored before winter.
Sang Yu also nodded in agreement.
Most of the food and grass that Nan Xun and Yao Wenjun allocated were accumulated in the past, and there is still enough in the treasury for emergency use.
Nan Xun and his team had just arrived at the southernmost city when Yao Wenjun had already started fighting. The latest climbing equipment was very effective for cities built against mountains, and the feature of being easy to disassemble and transport also significantly improved the mobility of these equipment.
Wen Yi hadn't paid close attention to the changes at the workshop for some time, so he became quite interested after hearing about this. He took out the content sent by Qing Ping and others and began to read it page by page.
Because the atlas was originally drawn by Wen Yi, the style has not changed much today. It is probably because Qing Ping and others also disassembled and drew the drawings of those craftsmen, and finally compiled them into an atlas.
Advances in metal smelting have made certain mechanisms possible. Even Wen Yi could hardly understand the details of the parts, and anti-disassembly components were added to the outside.
Snap the internal gears and the edges of the connecting rods into the outer shell. If you don't know the correct assembly sequence, forced disassembly will directly destroy the parts, and you will only end up with a little metal or wood material.
Each batch of arrows or crossbows has symbols engraved in a hidden place, which can be traced back to the source based on the content, making it easier to determine merit during sieges.
Yao Wenjun was also very emotional when talking about this in the letter. He said that the battle of arranging troops can sometimes be a bit stressful, but the victory gained through suppression makes people feel more relaxed and happy.
In addition to the medical supplies they carried, even the soldiers under his command were eager to try. If it weren't for Yao Wenjun's suppression, they would have been unable to restrain themselves and would have continued to the next step.
"Why do they seem to be more motivated than us?" Wen Yi shook his head and handed the letter to Song Jin.
The person beside him took the box and handed a stack of documents to Wen Yi, asking her to deal with them quickly. Several people in the office had been transferred to follow Nan Xun, and now they had a lot more to do.
Initially, Wen Yi wanted Sang Yu to go with him, as he and Nan Xun were familiar with each other and had a good rapport when it came to handling matters. However, at He Xuan's suggestion, he decided to send a few students along for training, along with a few staff members from the General Affairs Office.
In the words of this old man, "The academy will be busy again soon, and Sang Yu can't leave."
Wen Yi could sense the implications of these words, but ultimately respected their decision. It was the truth, after all; many had already made their way to Pingyi after the autumn harvest. The assessment and verification were no easy task, and since Sang Yu still needed to review the city's accounts, the matter was settled.
After a few years, these hidden concerns will disappear over time without them having to explain anything. This is probably what Yao Wenjun thought.
*
Standing on the top of the hill and looking at the city wall not far away, Yao Wenjun threw the last piece of dry biscuit in his hand into his mouth, stood up and walked towards the place where the soldiers were temporarily stationed.
"General."
The soldier distributing food wanted to hand her a bowl of hot soup, but she refused. He just nodded and walked to the back.
Their actions did not attract the attention of the people here. The spies sent out from the city only paid attention to the team moving on the main road. No one noticed that they had sneaked into a place not far from the city.
Seeing Yao Wenjun checking the equipment, the soldiers who were eating silently quickened their pace. After all, this time they had won the opportunity by defeating their colleagues, and they couldn't let their companions snatch the opportunity away from them next time because they ate too slowly.
Indeed, Yao Wenjun brought only a handful of men this time, most of whom possessed greater strength and endurance than ordinary soldiers, aiming for a surprise attack. If they could achieve a breakthrough from within tonight, the main force arriving tomorrow would be able to seize the entire city. After all, this place is surrounded by mountains on three sides, making it easy to defend but difficult to attack. Forcing a breakthrough through the city gates would be extremely difficult.
However, the mountains on all sides also provided Yao Wenjun and others with a place to observe.
When he came back and saw that everything was cleaned up, Yao Wenjun nodded and spoke in a serious tone:
"Remember everything we've decided on earlier. Act carefully. If anything unexpected happens, retreat immediately. We can't afford to waste time."
"By now, the news of our victory in the first battle should have spread back to Pingyi and other places. I don't think anyone wants any accidents to happen at this time."
Many soldiers' families and friends were in Pingyi, and they naturally nodded when they heard this. Although they were originally Yao Wenjun's subordinates, they fought to make life better for themselves and their families, not to die in vain.
Seeing that everyone in front of him had listened attentively, Yao Wenjun nodded with satisfaction. Seeing that everyone had packed their belongings, he said, "Then, let's set off."
After the order was given, everyone lowered their bodies and began to move quietly in an invisible direction behind the city, where the city wall was where they were planning to climb.
Because there are many hills, stone mining is convenient, and it faces the sea on the east, the city walls of Ji Di are generally made of stones mixed with calcined shells and sand. Compared with other places, they are relatively solid walls.
Of course, its sturdiness and height couldn't compare to later cities like Pingyi, and it also had a certain slope. Metal plates were nailed into the cracks in the stones to allow for climbing.
Regardless of their other abilities, those who came this time were all good at climbing during drills in the parade grounds. Now they nailed the things they carried into the city wall in tacit understanding and began to move to higher places.
Yao Wenjun stood at the back of the team, and together with the people standing in the back row, he drew his bow and aimed at the city wall, guarding against possible enemies.
Perhaps it was good luck, or perhaps no one could have imagined that she would not stop rushing here after conquering a city. After the soldier at the top climbed up and made a gesture, fixed the grappling hook on the city wall and lowered the rope, Yao Wenjun and others put their bows and arrows into the bags on their backs and climbed up.
There was not much space on the city wall. After taking an eye, Yao Wenjun led a group of people along a slightly narrow corridor towards a building that seemed to be a granary, and then lowered the rope.
They had already observed the shift rotation in the city in advance. Perhaps because of its special geographical location, apart from patrols at noon, no one would pass by here at other times.
The rope was not retracted, so if anything unexpected happened, they could still evacuate from here. Two people were left on the city wall to be on guard. If anything unexpected happened, they would immediately use the agreed whistle to alert Yao Wenjun and others entering the city.
The remaining people were divided into three teams as previously agreed. The leaders of each team made a gesture and began to move towards the places in the city where lights were already on.
Unlike places like Pingyi, ordinary people in most places couldn't afford lights, and if the weather was bad, they would just go to bed early. The only people who could see light at this time were naturally those who controlled the city, either rich or noble.
This was a very common tactic, but it always worked. Those people seemed to be confident they were safe within the city. So when Yao Wenjun placed his dagger across the neck of the city official, the still-awake official assumed someone within the city had hired a killer. He had no idea that the protagonist of the daytime discussion with several councilors had already sneaked into the city under cover of darkness.
When the city gate was opened from the inside the next day and the army entered the city, the leader who had not slept all night looked at Yao Wenjun and others around him in a daze.
Some vague things in my memory were turned up. It seemed that a certain counselor had once said that Yao Wenjun had planned to send people into the city in advance to break through from the inside. However, I and other counselors at that time were confident and did not take these words to heart at all. We did not even increase the frequency of patrols in the city.
It was no use regretting at this time. After Yao Wenjun and others met up with the main force, they finally let go of their worries. After handing over the matters to their subordinates, they left the city and went to the camp to rest for the whole morning.
By the time we re-entered the city, most of the guys who tried to resist had already been controlled.
Most of the residents in the city had their doors shut, observing their movements through cracks. It had been a long time since this place had experienced a turnover of personnel, and although they had heard of Yao Wenjun and the others from the vendors, they were still somewhat apprehensive to actually see them.
However, Yao Wenjun's men had undergone extensive training, and having learned from Wen Yi's writings, they were well-fed, well-paid, and properly rewarded and punished, so they were able to enforce discipline. Without the general's orders, the soldiers naturally wouldn't do anything else. They simply rounded up those who attempted to resist to prevent any mishaps, and paid no attention to those who were simply afraid or curious.
Yao Wenjun nodded, then led his men towards the city center.
*
Nanxun encountered some obstacles.
It wasn't a problem on their side. Song Jin's cousin had already taken control of the unstable areas in the city. Nan Xun and the others counted and stored the things that had been delivered, then broke camp and set off.
The garrison was very close to the city to be attacked, and the entire city could be seen from the center of the camp.
Nan Xun had already handed over the documents before the war - yes, although many people did not care about these things when attacking, such as the Ji State who took action in advance, or the old subordinates of Yu Di, Yao Wenjun naturally did not need to show any mercy to these people when attacking back.
According to the etiquette requirements at that time, at least one round of communication was required before the troops could be dispatched with justification.
In the past, it was mostly due to the greed of the surrounding forces. This was the first time that they took the initiative. After discussion, Nan Xun and others decided to go through this process to avoid attracting unfavorable remarks or being criticized by those so-called celebrities.
But the other side seemed determined not to respond and just dragged on. Nan Xun sent people to tie the letter to an arrow and shoot it into the city. The other side did not respond and the city gates were closed.
If he hadn't been able to see the soldiers guarding the city gate, he would have thought that the people inside had already escaped.
"General, what should we do next?"
When asked by his soldiers, Nan Xun hesitated for a moment, but finally made a decision:
"Send three letters today. If there is no response after noon, attack the city."
The army's daily consumption of food and fodder was no small amount. Even if Nan Xun still believed this process was the best, he wouldn't delay it any longer. He had also heard about Yao Wenjun's progress. Although he had been prepared to be suppressed from the beginning, he couldn't afford to let the gap be too big. Didn't he see that the people he had transferred from there were already eager to fight.
Nan Xun sighed, wondering how Yao Wenjun had managed to make someone who should have been afraid of the battlefield become like this.
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