Chapter 32 Birthday
The first battle was chosen in Jinzhou because Zhao Xiao grew up in Jinzhou and was very familiar with it. In addition, he had been a guard beside King Jing for several years and had a certain understanding of the military strength of Jinzhou, so he was confident that he could win in one fell swoop.
Since the death of King Jing, Jinzhou has been in the hands of Grand Marshal Yang Ye. Although Yang Ye is not as indiscriminate as King Qing in killing innocent people, he is not a good person either.
He plundered the people and levied heavy taxes under various names. In addition to the land tax and corvée tax that had to be paid to the court, he also privately imposed many strange taxes.
For example, what is the marriage tax? When ordinary people get married, they need to pay money to the government, and the amount of money depends on the woman's dowry. The more dowry, the more money you have to pay, which directly led to the situation that no one was interested in Jinzhou women.
He would also deduct a large amount of tax from the merchants, so that the merchants would rather take a detour than enter Jinzhou City. Jiangcheng County was an indirect beneficiary, and most of the merchants who came and went stopped there to replenish supplies and rest, and over time it became more and more prosperous.
After King Jing took over Jinzhou, the situation improved and the people's lives became a little better.
Unfortunately, good people don't live long. After King Jing was assassinated, Jinzhou returned to Yang Ye's hands. Now he has become even more brutal, exploiting the local people to the point of causing them to complain bitterly.
*
On the 18th day of the twelfth lunar month, Xuzhou welcomed its first snowfall. The fine snowflakes were like salt, covering the entire city with a layer of white gauze.
Song Yuzhu also celebrated her sixteenth birthday.
In the prosperous dynasty, men were crowned at the age of sixteen, and Song Yuzhu was finally considered an adult.
I don’t know if it’s a coincidence, but his birthday in his previous life was also November 18th, the same as this life. The difference is that in his previous life, he spent every birthday working overtime in the hospital alone, but now he has many more friends around him.
"The longevity noodles are here!" Chef Sun Mao came from the kitchen carrying a large bowl of noodles. Then Lin Dayong and Tian Xiaobo also served the sumptuous dishes.
Song Quan held a large wine jar and said with a smile on his face: "Sir, you are sixteen years old today, you can drink!"
Xu Bing stroked his beard and smiled, "The ceremony of crowning one's wife requires a good drink."
"Knock knock knock..." There was a knock on the back door, and Taoist Chang Ming and Bai Yizhou walked in with their heads covered in snow.
Xiangyu was sweeping the snow for the two of them with a feather duster in her hand: "Is it snowing heavily outside?"
Bai Yizhou stamped his feet and said, "It's getting heavier. Xuzhou hasn't had such heavy snow in many years."
Chang Ming shook the snow off the flag and put it aside: "In previous years, there were only a few small snowflakes that melted before they hit the ground. This year, the roads are all white."
Song Yuzhu smiled and waved at the two of them: "Your shoes must be wet, come over and warm them by the fire." There were no rubber products in this dynasty, and the soles of shoes were all made of cloth, so they would easily get wet when it rained or snowed.
The two men walked up to Song Yuzhu, bowed and said, "Happy birthday, Mr. Zhu. I hope you can ride the wind to break the waves and raise the pole high."
Song Yuzhu quickly stood up and returned the greeting: "Thank you for your good wishes!"
Zhao Xiao arrived soon after. He was wearing a black robe with gold sprinkled on it, with the cuffs and waist tied up, outlining his slender figure, looking neat and handsome.
Song Yuzhu took a look and couldn't help but feel her heart beating faster.
“You’re here.”
"Yes." Zhao Xiao took out a wooden box from his arms and handed it to him.
"What's this?"
"Birthday present."
When Song Yuzhu opened it, she found that there was a piece of fine white jade inside.
"This is the warm jade I bought from a Persian merchant. I heard that wearing it can keep away the cold in winter. I think it should be good for your health."
Song Yuzhu accepted it with a smile and said, "Thank you, General Zhao."
Zhao Xiao said jokingly, "Mr. Zhu, there's no need to be so polite."
Just as the two were flirting with each other, Liu Yanzi arrived late.
"Oh, it's such a lively day today! Happy birthday to Master Zhu~" Even in such a cold day, he was still waving a folding fan in his hand and carrying a huge package on his shoulder. There might be a living thing in the package, but no one knew what it was as it moved around.
Xiangyu frowned and said, "What is that thing on your shoulders? If it's alive, lock it up in the backyard and don't dirty the hall."
Liu Yanzi said with a smile, "I have a big gift for Master Zhu." Then she threw the package on the ground, and a man with his hands and feet tied and his mouth gagged rolled out of the cloth bag.
Song Yuzhu stood up and saw that the man's face was bruised and blue. He looked at the crowd in horror and screamed in fear.
"Who is this person?"
Liu Yanzi brushed off the snow on her body and said, "I found this man in the gambling house. He has been trying to find out the news about the Chengtian Army, so I kept an eye on him and secretly followed him. Guess what happened?"
Zhao Xiao frowned: "Don't keep me in suspense!"
"Well, I found him actually delivering messages outside the city. After being tortured several times, he finally confessed that he was a spy left by the Fourth Prince Yang Yuanqi."
Liu Yanzi pulled the rag out of the spy's mouth, kicked him and said, "Tell me what news you have spread in the past few days?"
"Wuwuwu... I only spread the news that the Chengtian Army was preparing to set out."
The original plan was that Zhao Xiao would lead 10,000 soldiers to attack Jinzhou tomorrow, but now everyone was shocked to hear this news.
If Zhao Xiao really leaves with his troops tomorrow, Yang Yuanqi will definitely take this opportunity to attack Xuzhou. By then, even if we ride at full speed, we won't be able to get back to rescue them!
Xu Bing said: "It seems that Yang Yuanqi has not given up yet, and he actually encouraged Yang Yuanzhen to prepare to attack Xuzhou. This is really a great gift!"
Song Yuzhu stood up and walked to the spy and asked, "When did you pass on the news?"
"Just, just yesterday."
"How did you get in touch? Are there other people in the city?"
The spy refused to speak at first, but when he saw Liu Yanzi raising her hand, he was so scared that he held his head and shouted immediately, "Yes, yes, yes!"
Liu Yanzi poked his head with a fan: "You can barely take care of yourself, and you still want to help others hide it?"
"I'm telling you, I'm telling you, I just want you to spare my life!"
"You still dare to bargain?"
"I dare not, I dare not!" The spy trembled and told everything he knew.
They had all been followers of the Four Kings before. Yang Yuanqi deliberately left them behind when he fled to gather information in the city so that they could come back later.
"There are six of us in total. Excluding the two we can't get in touch with, the remaining four are two responsible for gathering information and two for delivering it."
The information he had found out yesterday had already been sent to Dongzhou by one of them. Calculating the date, there would be movement there around the day after tomorrow.
Song Yuzhu continued to ask: "What is the name of the other person who is responsible for getting the news, and where is he now?"
"His name is Jia Ding, and he works as a pimp in Hongxiufang."
Liu Yanzi immediately said: "Don't worry, leave it to me, I'll send the person to you in a moment!"
Song Yuzhu shook her head: "Don't alarm him for now, let him continue to send the message out."
Xu Bing stroked his beard and said, "Master Zhu, are you planning to take advantage of their tricks and catch them all in one fell swoop?"
Song Yuzhu nodded. There aren't many good opportunities like this! He was just worrying about how to take over Dongzhou. Now that Yang Yuanqi and Yang Yuanzhen came to him, don't blame him for being rude!
"What should we do with this guy?" Liu Yanzi kicked the spy.
"I have told you everything I know. Please spare my life, sir." The spy kowtowed in fear.
Song Yuzhu said: "First send him to the firewood room in the backyard and lock him up, and then we can talk about it after the matter is done."
Seeing that he was not going to die, the spy gave up struggling and resigned himself to his fate, and was tied up with a rope. Lin Dayong dragged him to the woodshed in the backyard.
After everything was arranged, everyone sat together and finally had their meal.
This was their first time to have dinner together, so the atmosphere was naturally lively.
Especially today's birthday boy Song Yuzhu, who was offered three glasses of wine in a row. Although the alcohol content of the wine was not high and the cup was not big, he had never touched alcohol before and his face was flushed.
Liu Yanzi picked up her glass and toasted again. Zhao Xiao raised his hand to hold down Song Yuzhu's glass and said, "He is still young and can't drink too much. I'll drink for him." Then he picked up his own glass and drank it all.
Song Yuzhu's face turned red. He never expected that there would be a day when he would be stopped from drinking.
In his previous life, he did drink alcohol. He would go to weddings when his colleagues got married and had children, and he would also drink when his boss got promoted. It seemed that drinking alcohol had become a way to maintain relationships. But at that time, no one would help to stop him from drinking alcohol. He had to drink even if he couldn't drink, otherwise it would be considered a lack of face.
"General Zhao has a great alcohol tolerance!" Taoist Xu Bing and Taoist Chang Ming standing next to him watched the fun and applauded.
Liu Yanzi played with the wine glass, her eyes wandering back and forth between Zhao Xiao and Song Yuzhu, as if she had noticed something.
He was a wonderful man. The more he saw Zhao Xiao helping to block the drinking, the more excited he became. He toasted him one glass after another, and finally the two of them started to compete in drinking capacity.
Liu Yanzi often hangs around restaurants, so she can drink a lot. But Zhao Xiao is not a good person either. Before he entered the Prince Jing's Mansion, who was he? He was a street urchin, a stinky beggar, a gangster, so drinking was not a problem for him.
Seeing that the two of them were drinking more and more, but neither of them was drunk, Xiangyu was so scared that she quickly asked Lin Dayong to move the remaining wine back to the backyard.
Song Yuzhu was also worried that the two of them would get sick from drinking, so she quickly said, "Stop drinking, we have work to do tomorrow!"
Zhao Xiao nodded obediently, put down the cup and stopped drinking.
Liu Yanzi looked at the two of them again, then gave a knowing smile, which made Song Yuzhu so angry that her teeth itched.
The meal lasted until the evening. Seeing that it was getting late, everyone left one after another. In the end, only Song Yuzhu, Zhao Xiao and Xu Bing were left sitting downstairs drinking tea.
Song Yuzhu whispered to the people around him: "Are you drunk?"
Zhao Xiao shook his head: "No." Although he said no, his body was very honest. He actually secretly took Song Yuzhu's hand and rubbed it in his palm.
Song Yuzhu's sleeves were wide, which could cover it, but he couldn't hide the blush on his face. He coughed lightly to remind Zhao Xiao to be careful. Unexpectedly, the other party put his hands together and held his hand tightly.
Xu Bing went out to relieve himself and came back shivering with cold: "Let's proceed as usual tomorrow. General Zhao will take 10,000 soldiers out of the city, and the rest of the people will stay in the city to be on guard."
Song Yuzhu said: "It is enough to leave 5,000 soldiers and horses in the city, and take the rest with you."
Xu Bing stroked his beard and thought for a while, then said, "Then General Zhao can't go far. He should set up camp thirty miles outside the city and come back at any time to outflank the four kings."
Zhao Xiao nodded: "Okay."
After agreeing on the specific matters, Xu Bing yawned and went to the backyard to rest, while Song Yuzhu walked Zhao Xiao to the door.
The snow outside had stopped, and the entire road was covered in white snow, making the street seem brighter.
"It's cold outside, let's go in." Zhao Xiao said in a low voice, reeking of alcohol.
"How about...you stay for the night?" I had just drunk so much and I felt a little worried about going back alone so late.
Zhao Xiao looked at him deeply, and said in a hoarse voice after a while: "I won't keep you. I have to get up early tomorrow to organize the troops."
"By the way, I have something good for you." Song Yuzhu took out a scroll from his sleeve and handed it to him.
"This is a topographic map of Xuzhou. Maybe you can use it in a war."
Zhao Xiao took it and put it in his arms. They looked at each other and the atmosphere suddenly became ambiguous.
"You..." Suddenly a cold wind blew and Song Yuzhu couldn't help sneezing.
Zhao Xiao smiled and helped him put on his clothes: "Come in quickly."
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
