Chapter 62: Xie Daoyun

Tender green shoots sprout, spring warms and flowers bloom.

On the rippling river surface, pairs of mandarin ducks lean close and nestle together.

By the riverbank, slender jade-like hands pick up a flat stone, fingers rubbing it.

Aiming briefly, the young woman lifts her skirt with one hand and flicks the stone out with the other.

The stone skips across the river with a 'plop plop plop' more than ten times, precisely scattering a pair of wild mandarin ducks.

Such skillful technique—clearly someone who does this often.

"Young Lady~~~"

A servant rides up on horseback shouting, "The Patriarch returns to the residence~~~"

The young woman turns, lifting her skirt hem, and the surrounding maidservants and servants all gather forward.

Boarding the carriage, they return all the way to the Prefect's Residence.

Entering the hall, they see Xie Yi drinking alone; Nü Lang smiles brightly, "A Ye is displeased, I suppose Uncle refused again?"

"The Eldest Daughter has come."

Xie Yi points to the wine bottle on the table, "Drink two cups with A Ye."

His eldest daughter is named Xie Daoyun.

"A Ye truly keeps things private."

Xie Daoyun steps forward, takes the wine bottle, and pours wine for her father, "Always saying the wine is finished, yet you always manage to produce some."

"I suppose the canned food must also be hoarded in secret."

"Hahaha~~~"

Xie Yi also smiles, "This really is the last bottle."

As the Jinling Grand Administrator, Xie Yi's household naturally lacks neither meat, honey water, nor fruit, and even has grape wine.

What is truly rare is the glass bottle holding the grape wine.

A glass bottle shaped so round and smooth is certainly a rare treasure.

After chatting a few sentences, Xie Daoyun shifts the topic, "Third Uncle still does not agree?"

"Not merely disagreeing."

Mentioning his third brother Xie An, Xie Yi gets angry, "He actually says I have hysteria and tells me to see a doctor!"

"Such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity should have been seized first by our Chen Commandery Xie Clan."

"But such a fine opportunity is right before our eyes, yet he refuses to approach it."

"Once Governor Lin's wings are full, our Chen Commandery Xie Clan's role will surely greatly diminish."

"It truly angers me to death."

Xie Yi, returned to Jiangzuo, fully lobbies the great clans to send troops for the northern expedition.

The result is that he is coldly received.

Huan Wen's side has his mind set on Cheng Han; the reply letter politely declines.

As for his younger brother Xie An, he thinks Xie Yi, having returned from a trip, seems to have gone mad.

Actually wanting to persuade the Chen Commandery Xie Clan to have the whole clan seek refuge with a refugee leader.

Either he has hysteria, or he has been possessed by demons.

"A Ye."

Xiaoyi, full of curiosity on her small face, also pours herself a cup of Pu Tao Wine, "That beggar chief, does he really know Immortal Methods?"

'Dong dong~' Xie Yi taps the wine bottle, "Such a round and lustrous glass bottle, have you ever seen one?"

"Never." Xie Daoyun shakes her head, "It's just that the vessel is well made."

"Hey~"

Xie Yi glances at her, "Such things, on the beggar chief's side there are hundreds and thousands at least."

"Even if it's just that the vessel is well made, it has already surpassed the skill of a national master craftsman."

"Most important is grain!"

"The beggar chief can produce countless grain!"

Even though she is in the relatively affluent Jiangzuo, Xie Daoyun understands the importance of grain.

In this era where even tree bark has been stripped bare, a beggar chief who can conjure grain is indeed worth heavily investing in and actively pledging allegiance to.

But the problem is, who would believe such a thing?

Apart from Xie Yi, no one has witnessed it with their own eyes.

Even many of the Xie Clan believe Xie Yi has taken too much Five Stone Powder and become addled; there is precedent for this.

Even Xie Daoyun herself actually does not believe it.

But her father speaks with such conviction that it has also aroused her curiosity.

"Third Young Master is truly going too far."

Xie Yi complains discontentedly, "He actually wants to interfere in your marriage, and I'm not even dead yet!"

If it were another young lady, hearing talk of her own marriage, she would surely be shy and timid.

After all, they are inexperienced fledglings, unlike in the Modern World where those battle-hardened ones still call themselves fairies.

Blackjack Fairy~~

Xie Daoyun is not shy, but curiously asks, "Third Uncle, which clan's young master does he favor?"

"Wang Shuping, the second son of Wang Youjun."

"Wang Ningzhi?" Xie Daoyun recalls, "His calligraphy is quite okay."

Wang Ningzhi's calligraphy is indeed not bad.

But his brain probably has some problem.

Historically, when he served as Prefect of Hui Ji, facing the rebel army's siege, he did not organize troops to resist, but instead jumped about as a great shaman to summon ghost soldiers for aid.

Such an operation shares a curious similarity with the Six Ding Six Jia of the Jingkang period.

As for the result, after the city fell, his head was cut off with one stroke.

"Wang family~~~" Xie Yi joked, "their clan rank is indeed high."

"But once the Beggar Chief unifies the Northern Lands and the great army marches south, they will all be reduced to powder!"

Xie Yi had served as a Chief Clerk in a General's Mansion, and had also been sent to govern a region as Prefect.

Compared to those aristocratic sons who spent all day gathering, composing poetry and prose, painting and calligraphy, living in drunken dreams and wildly consuming Five Stone Powder, he understood more and saw more clearly.

He knew very well how terrifying the Beggar Chief, who could feed countless starving refugees, would become in the future.

It could even be said that under heaven, no one could stand against him.

The earlier one pledged allegiance, the greater the future harvest.

"A Ye."

Xie Daoyun narrowed her crescent eyes, "That Beggar Chief you are praising is at this moment still besieged within Xiangguo City."

"Given the number of Stone bandit troops, it may well be that they have already been defeated and the city breached by now."

"You have not witnessed it yourself." Xie Yi shook his head, about to say something.

But from outside the hall came an urgent report.

A Xie family house slave entered the hall, holding a Huo La letter.

Taking the letter and opening it to read, Xie Yi was instantly overjoyed.

"Good!"

"I knew Governor Lin would surely win!"

Xie Daoyun beside her was greatly curious, "A military report? Did the Beggar Army win?"

"They won."

Xie Yi handed the letter to his daughter, "A great victory!"

The news was not sent by Lin Dao; he had not even thought of contacting the Eastern Jin Court.

This was an urgent report sent back by spies the Eastern Jin had planted on the northern border.

"Stone bandits attacked the city but could not take it, fought battles but could not win."

"Morale is low, many desertions in the army."

"The Beggar Army has slain tens of thousands of enemy heads."

"The Stone bandits fled in disarray."

"All neighboring regions have submitted."

Xie Daoyun felt it was unbelievable, "The Stone bandits' army of hundreds of thousands actually lost?"

Over twenty years ago, two hundred thousand Jin troops suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the Qianghu, the entire army annihilated.

A few years ago, the Qianghu marched south into Jingxiang, slaying tens of thousands of Jin troops, even the Jin Main General was beheaded in battle formation.

Such an overbearing Stone bandit force gathered hundreds of thousands of men and horses to besiege Xiangguo City.

And actually lost to a Beggar Army that couldn't even get enough to eat?!

This feeling was like the great army of the Beautiful Country suffering a crushing defeat at the hands of the Slipper Army—surprising indeed.

Xie Yi had already risen to change clothes here.

"Where is A Ye going?"

"The Beggar Army won a great victory; the Court will surely send envoys to bestow rewards."

"This time I want to go too!"

Xie Yi stopped his steps, surveying his eldest daughter.

Xie Daoyun felt bewildered by being looked at.

"You also make your preparations."

Xiangguo City.

Lin Dao summoned the generals for a military council.

"Shi Hu is violent and cruel, countless people have suffered."

"The various Hu run rampant across the Central Plains, everywhere reeking of mutton."

"I intend to send troops to exterminate the Hu; what do you all think?"

Qin Lang and the others all agreed, as long as they could fight.

Wang Meng, on the other hand, directly raised three questions.

First question: "Lord, are the numbers of troops and horses sufficient?"

The Beggar Army's regular soldiers number less than thirty thousand, but the local troops are too numerous to count.

After all, large numbers of people come to pledge allegiance every day; able-bodied men can all serve as local troops.

After eating a few full meals, they have the strength to lift weapons.

Raised for a month or so, they can go into battle and kill.

In terms of troop strength, it has never been a problem.

Wang Meng's second question: "Are the arms and armor sharp?"

In the Beggar Army, even the local troops can receive a set of cotton armor, a long spear made of seamless steel pipe, and a hammer.

As for the regular soldiers, needless to say, they wear multiple layers of armor, with mallets, flanged maces, axes, and gourd knives hanging at their waists.

In terms of weapons and equipment, if it were not for Lin Dao deliberately controlling it, everyone in the Beggar Army, high and low, could be decked out in iron.

Wang Meng asked three questions: "Is the grain and fodder sufficient?"

At this time, the Qihuo Army's staple food had already been switched to potatoes.

At a price of two mao per jin, plus transportation fees and other miscellaneous costs, the cost per ton had already been pressed below a thousand yuan.

Lin Dao still used long-term cooperation to persuade the seller to agree to installment payments.

With the turnover, he could buy even more.

Selling just over ten musk was enough to buy ten thousand tons of potatoes.

These potatoes were enough to supply two hundred thousand people for two or three months.

"Since it is so." Wang Meng immediately turned serious. "The extermination of the Hu can be expected."

On Qin Lang's side, he raised a concern: "If on the march we encounter Hu cavalry impact and harassment, how should we respond?"

The Qihuo Army's cavalry numbers were not many, and their combat strength was not strong, insufficient to shield the massive column.

Although there was plenty of barbed wire, it couldn't possibly be laid all the way to Ye City.

Encountering a surprise attack on the march would be troublesome.

"I have made some preparations in advance."

Lin Dao's side had already finished modifying the mining heavy trucks, the hundred-ton king type.

Moreover, they had been refitted: the windshield had steel plate protection added, external surveillance cameras, and welded steel bars and sharp blades.

Although they couldn't be driven on roads in the Modern World, bringing them here to Yonghe Spacetime would let the Hu cavalry have a good taste of what is called an Iron Beast.

"The specific march arrangements."

Lin Dao looked at Wang Meng. "All entrusted to Jinglue."

Large-scale personnel movement on the order of a hundred thousand.

Who sets off first, who is in the central army, who brings up the rear.

Camp construction, material distribution, comforting military hearts.

Schedule planning, responding to harassment, how to fight.

Lin Dao admitted he couldn't handle this kind of complex and massive work.

He hadn't even served as a squad leader managing a few dozen people, lacking experience and talent in this aspect.

Lin Dao only handled providing supplies; when Hu cavalry came to attack, he would just drive over to ram them.

Right, driving a hundred-ton king heavy truck here didn't require a B2 license.

The distance from Xiangguo City to Ye City was not considered far.

Shi Hu had even specially repaired the Official Road connecting the two places.

The massive population moved, and the speed was not slow.

Regarding the news of the Qihuo Army actively coming to Ye City, Shi Hu did not panic; on the contrary, he was delighted in his heart.

The Qihuo Army hiding in the city made him feel there was nowhere to bite, instead choking on a mouthful of blood.

Now the Qihuo Army came out on their own initiative; this is a great thing~

"Yongjia Fifth Year, the Ming Emperor at Ningping City wiped out twenty thousand Jin Army, captured the Sima Clan's Thirty-Six Princes."

"Now the Qihuo Army leaves the city, the number of men and horses differs little from the Jin Army back then."

"They are seeking death!"

"One would think it must be because they ran out of food, forced to come fight desperately."

"Who says no food? With so many people, aren't they all food?"

"Send troops! Following the Ming Emperor's old precedent, slaughter them all!"

(End of Chapter)