"Go!" An anxious voice rang out as a messenger broke the silence of the morning. Many birds were startled as they rushed towards the prefecture capital.
The streets of the prefecture capital were bustling with activity. Due to the recent war, the number of people on the streets had dwindled. Seeing the messenger on horseback, everyone dispersed.
This was an extremely urgent message. If anyone tried to stop them, they would be killed without mercy.
The messenger ran towards Count Zhong Qin's mansion and entered the Governor's Mansion. He then presented the urgent report to Count Zhong Qin.
Count Zhong Qin hesitated before he took the report and read it. He was enraged, but didn't explode. His face was gloomy as he paced around. Actually, he was deep within the Governor's Mansion, and it was very quiet. However, after some time, his anger had yet to dissipate. He then threw his teacup onto the ground, "Bastards, a bunch of bastards."
He cursed as he sat down to think.
"King Lu is really sinister." Count Zhong Qin knocked on the table as he frowned. He thought to himself, 'Could it be that my strategy was wrong?'
As these thoughts surfaced in Count Zhong Qin's mind, his face fell. He then stretched out his hands and patted them gently, as though trying to dispel these thoughts from his mind.
'I have to admit, I used Pei Zi Yun's strategy to deal with Count Zhong Qin in Ying Prefecture as a reference. I've also discussed it with my advisors, and there were no flaws. How could I have made a mistake? ' However, Count Zhong Qin couldn't get rid of these thoughts. His expression was solemn as he took out several documents and read through them.
'Who would've thought that King Lu's cavalry would be so elite. Five out of ten times, the supply team was ambushed and killed. Even when the troops from the counties came to reinforce them, they were still defeated. '
'This caused the transportation between the counties to be cut off. What's more frightening is that these cavalrymen are extremely sensitive. I've set up ambushes several times, but they were all evaded. '
'I wanted to trap King Lu, but I ended up being trapped instead. '
The sun rays shone through the windows as the birds chirped outside. The scenery of the past was extremely heart-wrenching.
"Men, gather all the generals." Count Zhong Qin seemed to have made up his mind as he gave the order. Someone immediately obeyed and left.
Meeting Hall
The guards stood on both sides of the hall, each of them had their swords in their hands. They stood as straight as nails, as though they had been nailed to the ground. The atmosphere was tense, and the atmosphere was tense.
The person in charge of the provisions was the Commissary Supervisor, a fourth-ranked official. He looked to be in his forties and was sitting beside the general. His face was pale and his forehead was dripping with sweat, which he wiped with a handkerchief.
Count Zhongqin seemed to be looking at the file, his expression calm. He didn't say a word. After a long time passed, he raised his head and stared at the Grain Supervisor. Suddenly, he clapped his hands together and stood up. He threw the booklet about the raid on the grain supply line at the feet of the Grain Supervisor.
"Yuan Song, as the Grain Supervisor and Advisor, you have repeatedly lost the supply route. According to military law, you should be beheaded!" Count Zhong Qin roared out, his face was flushed red. Yuan Song picked up the documents and hurriedly fell to his knees, "Uncle, Uncle, there's a reason for this. I don't know why, but King Lu's army is extremely ferocious. Our army isn't a match for them."
"Oh, why isn't it the right technique?" Count Zhongqin asked coldly.
"Uncle, I shouldn't have said this, but King Lu's cavalrymen are behaving strangely. It's as though they've been possessed by demons. Someone reported that King Lu's cavalrymen have seen a leopard man."
"We're the ones who transport the grain, but we're merely soldiers. How can we defend against such demonic soldiers?"
"What nonsense. The imperial court has the Dao Records Department, and all these things are made public. Dao techniques can't be used to defend against King Lu's cavalry. Do you really think I'm stupid? Men, drag him out and behead him. "
As he spoke, an armored soldier stepped forward and was about to drag the Grain Supervisor out of the room.
"Your excellency, spare me. Everything I've said is the truth." The Grain Supervisor struggled as he shouted, "Your excellency, it's not my fault!"
The few generals looked at each other before stepping forward to plead for mercy, "Uncle, we are guilty as well. We weren't able to annihilate King Lu's cavalry. We beg Uncle to spare his excellency Yuan. Killing an official in the midst of battle is not a good thing."
Count Zhong Qin looked around at the crowd. He didn't want to kill anyone, but since they had lost the supply route, he had to take responsibility. However, this wasn't the era of the previous dynasty, and there were too many officials. A fourth ranked official was already considered a high ranking official. Killing him would be easy, but the consequences would be hard to say. Now that someone was pleading for mercy, he sighed, "Since all the generals are pleading for mercy, I shall spare him from the death penalty. Although the death penalty has been spared, the punishment will be severe. Twenty strokes of the rod will serve as a warning to others!"
The armored soldier acknowledged before pouncing on him. The Grain Supervisor was a civil official, and thus couldn't withstand such beatings. After ten strokes, he fainted. After twenty strokes, his breathing was weak.
"Take him away and give him proper treatment." Count Zhong Qin was somewhat vexed, but he had no other choice. He turned around and asked, "Given the current situation, what suggestions do you have?"
The generals listened to this and were speechless. After some time, one of them spoke up, "Uncle, Qin Prefecture is close to the horse fields, and there are many cavalrymen there. They move like the wind, and it's hard for us to defend against them. Originally, we had some cavalrymen with us, but we lost most of them in a battle not too long ago. Now we only have five hundred cavalrymen, and can only protect the main army."
"Although we've requested for reinforcements from the imperial court, and it's been said that the cavalrymen have already been mobilized. However, it will take some time, and we can't …."
Hearing these words, Count Zhong Qin felt a sense of suffocation in his heart, and was unable to speak. A sense of despondency crept into his heart, and he felt heavy. After some time, he finally spoke, "That's all for now. All of you are dismissed."
The general replied, "Yes, Uncle."
Count Zhong Qin had no choice but to dismiss them. His original decision was wavering once again, "Could it really be my fault? Does King Lu really have the will of the heavens? "
A sense of unease filled his heart. When he was fighting alongside King Lu, Count Zhong Qin had always felt that it wasn't difficult for him to be the commander of the army. But now that he was the commander of the army, he knew that he was under a lot of pressure. He could barely breathe. Just as he walked back, a scholar came up with a letter and some ginseng soup, "Uncle, it's been a tough day for you. Drink some ginseng tea to nourish your body. If you were to collapse, who would be in charge of the army?"
This scholar was Count Zhong Qin's advisor, and had always done his best. He was highly regarded by Count Zhong Qin. At this point, Count Zhong Qin's heart was heavy. He forced a smile and sat down on a chair. He received the ginseng soup and drank it in one gulp. The ginseng tea was warm and flowed into his stomach. He felt a wave of fatigue wash over him as he leaned back on the chair.
After some time, he struggled to get up and read the letter. When he saw that his grandson had been born, he was overjoyed. His eyes lit up, but when he looked at the candlelight, his eyes dimmed. He then sighed, "It's a good thing. But … the situation now."
At this point, he sighed, "I wanted to lock down King Lu. Who knew that I would end up being pinned down by King Lu. Furthermore, there were cavalry attacks all over the country, preventing us from being able to move."
"Grandfather might not be able to bring you glory, and might even bring bad luck to you."
"Uncle, you've worked so hard for the Imperial Court. I'm sure the Emperor will understand your efforts." The scholar consoled him. Hearing these words, Count Zhong Qin waved his hands, "This has nothing to do with the Emperor's trust in me. A hundred thousand soldiers would cost the Imperial Court a hundred thousand taels of silver a day. I know that the Imperial Court's treasury isn't much, and the Emperor's health isn't good. How could he allow me to spend so much money on this war?"
He then sighed, "Am I really not as good as Pei Zi Yun?"
Just thinking about it made him feel a pang of pain in his heart. The sunlight shone down onto the windows. Count Zhong Qin stared blankly at the dust. Just as the scholar was about to console him again, someone rushed in and knelt down, "Urgent report. Han Zhong has been conquered by King Lu."
"What?" This was like a bolt from the blue. Both of them froze in shock as they froze in their original positions. Soon after, the scholar regained his senses and rushed over to the table. He looked at the map and his voice changed, "Uncle, something's wrong."
"Once Han Zhong is conquered, King Lu will be able to make a move against Jing and Shu. The entire north will be shaken. If he loses control of either Jing or Shu, the entire world will be in danger. When that happens..."
"When that happens, no matter how much I favor him, he will be imprisoned and punished for his crimes. He might even implicate his entire family." Count Zhong Qin regained his senses and sat down. He then laughed bitterly, "This is like a bolt from the blue. I lost control of myself."
He then pointed to the map, his face was pale, "At first, I saw that King Lu only had twenty thousand soldiers, and yet he attacked the capital city. I thought that King Lu was too young and rash."
"But when Qin Prefecture fell into chaos, I realized that King Lu was trying to attract the attention of the Imperial Court."
"Just now, I thought that King Lu would be pinned down here and wouldn't be able to move at all. Who would've thought that King Lu would be able to sneak up on him."
"Now that he's turned around and conquered Han Zhong, the situation has changed. Instead, I'm stuck here and unable to move." Count Zhong Qin laughed bitterly, "I've followed many generals to battle, and even the Emperor himself. Usually, I'm in charge of the military affairs, and I'm worthy of praise. However, the moment I'm in charge, I've made many mistakes."
"Are there really such geniuses in this world?"
"Uncle, we can talk about these things later. The most important thing now is to break out of this predicament." The scholar spoke out anxiously, "Shouldn't we send a letter to Jing and Shu, and order them to be on their guard?"
"Sending a letter to Jing and Shu, ordering them to be on their guard, is only a temporary measure. Now that the world is at peace, Jing and Shu have no soldiers. Even if we were to send a letter, it would take a long time." Count Zhong Qin's eyes gleamed coldly as he spoke in a hoarse voice, "Han Zhong has the Qinling Mountains to its north, and the Bashan Mountains to its south, forming a basin. Since ancient times, it has been known as the Kingdom of Heavenly Province. That's not all. The most important thing is the topography of this place.
Half of the world would be shaken by it. "" With this, King Lu's entire plan would come to life, and the imperial court would be in danger. The Emperor is the founder of the empire, and would definitely see this. If I don't have a plan, and allow the situation to worsen, I'm afraid that in less than a month, I would be locked up in the capital, and a new general would be appointed to replace me! "
"Hence, all the strategies I've come up with are useless to me now." Count Zhong Qin was Count Zhong Qin after all. Although he was stumped earlier, he had regained his composure and intelligence. He paced around, his expression was dark and frightening, "The only thing we can do now is to attack, and attract the enemy to retreat. Only then can we give Jing and Shu time to prepare."
As soon as Count Zhong Qin finished speaking, he stood up and pushed open the window. As soon as he did so, the sky rumbled with thunder. A gust of wind blew into the study room, bringing with it the smell of blood. Both of them shivered. Indeed, half the sky was covered by thick clouds, and the sound of rolling thunder could be heard.
Count Zhong Qin looked up at the sky and didn't hesitate any longer. He then spoke out word by word, "Pass down my orders. Immediately gather all the generals, and bite down on King Lu. No matter the cost, we have to wear him down."
"Even if we lose three of our soldiers, it's still worth it. I want to see, with King Lu in such a dangerous situation, how would Han Zhong dare to continue fighting?"
As he spoke up to this point, a bolt of lightning flashed across the sky, accompanied by the sound of thunder. Heavy rain began to fall, hitting the eaves of the house.
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