Chapter 294: Conspiracy Strikes

Outside Jinan City.

"Erdun is truly a piece of trash; he couldn't even capture a single Duke Yansheng!"

Hugjile said unhappily.

The failure to capture the city by digging tunnels had made him, this Great Chanyu, lose a lot of face.

He had thought that once the tunnel was dug under the city wall and the wall was blown up, they could successfully capture the city.

Never did he expect that in actual operation, it wasn't like that at all.

Several times when digging tunnels, accidents happened when they reached under the moat.

He thought the Dayu people were deliberately causing trouble, so he switched to his own people to dig.

As a result, during the underground construction process, they directly deviated from the direction and detonated at a distance of more than 100 meters from the city wall.

It didn't bring any casualties to the enemy, but instead, many of the puppet troops who risked their lives to launch the attack were blown up by their own people.

There were even more accidents of collapse midway.

They were eagles of the grassland, not groundhogs that dig holes.

They had no experience in digging tunnels, and the construction period was tight, so accidents were normal.

They finally succeeded once, digging the tunnel under the city wall, but it didn't blow up the city wall.

Whether it was insufficient gunpowder filling or a problem with the city-bombing technology, no one could say clearly.

It had continued until now, and they were still constantly trying and failing.

The suggestion he had put forward, in order to maintain the dignity of the Chanyu, had to be continued.

With a belly full of anger accumulated and nowhere to vent, it was Erdun's turn to be unlucky for his attempt to atone for his crimes.

The escape of Duke Yansheng was a previous matter, but now it was brought up again by Hugjile.

Fortunately, everyone knew that Hugjile was speaking in anger, so no one was in a hurry to kick him while he was down.

"Great Chanyu, good news!"

"News came from the Jin merchants that the Great Dayu's Ying Tian Prefecture has fallen.

The small court of the Dayu in Nanjing was directly wiped out by the Bai Lian Sect rebels.

This time the Dayu people suffered heavy losses; I fear they have no heart to keep us here anymore!"

Erdun reported with excitement.

Anyone with a little common sense knew the significance of Nanjing to the Great Dayu.

It seemed like just losing a city, but in reality, they lost the status of the Great Dayu in the hearts of the people of the world.

In the past, all kinds of chaos were treated as minor problems, and no one took them to heart.

Now the situation is different; people with foresight are all considering how long the national fortune of the Great Dayu can last.

Thoughts they didn't dare to have in the past will slowly emerge.

"Good!"

"It seems that Heaven is helping me!

Pass the order down, hurry and spread the news of Nanjing falling to the Bai Lian Sect rebels to the defenders in Jinan City.

I don't believe their morale can remain unaffected!"

Hugjile couldn't help but exclaim.

This time, invading south, he brought most of his family assets, and he was also under pressure to do so.

Once the operation was frustrated, or if there was a change in the rear, it could lead to his status in the Tatar tribe being impacted.

"Great Chanyu, with the situation developing to this point, whether we capture Jinan City is no longer that important.

The Bai Lian Sect rebels are developing very fast; if they are allowed to continue, they will replace the Great Dayu.

A newly born Central Plains dynasty is often the period when the army's combat effectiveness is the most formidable.

At this moment, the destruction of the Great Dayu brings no benefit to the Khanate.

Next, what we need to do is transport the supplies out as soon as possible and then rest and recuperate in peace.

As for the contention for the world, let the Great Dayu and the Bai Lian Sect slaughter each other first!"

The Inner Minister Sarina advised immediately.

Capturing Jinan and destroying the elite of the Great Dayu was certainly important, but compared to the strategic security of the Bai Lian Holy Kingdom, it was not worth mentioning.

Being neighbors with a Central Plains kingdom, one must choose a weak one to take advantage of.

What level the Bai Lian Sect rebels were at, he didn't know for the time being, but being able to suppress the Dayu army, he thought they wouldn't be too bad.

"The Inner Minister's words are not bad; next, we should indeed consider retreating.

However, we must find a way to pull out the nail that is Jinan.

The army under the Marquis of Wuyang is not small; if they jump out to cause trouble when the coalition forces retreat, it will be difficult to handle."

Hugjile thought for a moment and said.

Having traveled thousands of miles to get here, if there was no battle record to show, where would he, this Chanyu, put his face?

He didn't expect to annihilate the troops under the Marquis of Wuyang, but at the very least, he had to inflict heavy damage on the enemy.

"Great Chanyu, the city walls of Jinan are solid, and the defenders' combat effectiveness is not bad.

According to normal siege warfare, in a short time, I fear it will be difficult to see results.

I think it would be better to divert the water of the Yellow River and use the water's momentum to attack the city!"

The Wanhu Alutan on the side offered a plan.

This time invading south, he looted a theater troupe and listened to quite a few operas.

It just so happened that one of them was the opera of flooding the seven armies.

Historically, there had been Yellow River floods, and floods passing through Jinan.

Theoretically speaking, digging the Yellow River to flood Jinan was completely possible to implement.

"Wanhu Alutan, digging the Yellow River to attack the city is simple; just send people to dig open the riverbed.

The problem is that the river water flows and is not under our control.

Jinan City is not close to the Yellow River; it's hard to say whether the flood can flow over.

Even if there is no diversion midway and the flood can flow over, I fear it won't have much power.

To flood Jinan City, unless we build a canal so the flood doesn't run around everywhere."

Sarina opposed immediately.

Digging the Yellow River to attack the city, he naturally didn't oppose.

The problem was that the plan was completely unfeasible.

Jinan City wasn't by the Yellow River; how could digging the river collapse the city wall?

A slight carelessness, and the Yellow River is dug open, but the flood doesn't flow where they expect.

The vicinity all becomes a vast ocean, and the grassland coalition's dry-duck army cannot adapt to the environment of living in water.

By then, besides retreating, there is no second road to choose.

"Building a canal is impossible!

From Jinan City to the Yellow River, the shortest distance is I fear a hundred miles.

Such a large amount of engineering cannot be completed in three or five days.

However, the plan of digging the Yellow River can be used as a backup.

Wait until the main army retreats later, then find an opportunity to do it; it will be a congratulatory gift for the Dayu emperor.

For now, execute the original plan, spread the news of Nanjing's fall, and shake the defenders' will to resist."

Hugjile decided decisively.

As an enemy, being able to weaken the Dayu's war potential, he would absolutely not show mercy.

The rise of the Bai Lian Sect made him slightly worried, but for now, the biggest enemy of the Tatars was still the Dayu.

Inspecting the city defense, Li Mu discovered that the situation in the city was not good.

The soaring grain prices made it difficult for the people in the city to survive.

Some people, in order to fill their stomachs, took risks and ran to pick at the city walls to eat "bricks."

To avoid long-term siege by the enemy, when the Great Dayu built city walls, they usually used radish and glutinous rice as raw materials to make "glutinous rice bricks."

When grain was cut off in the city, these bricks were picked off, soaked, and boiled for consumption.

The military craft soon spread to the people.

People with foresight would also make "glutinous rice bricks" to build houses during good years.

When disaster struck, they would take them to satisfy hunger and save their lives.

However, those with reserves were in the minority; more people had no preparation and no ability to prepare.

After the Northern Barbarians besieged the city, trade with the outside world was cut off, and many people lost their livelihoods.

The high grain prices exceeded their limit of endurance.

To survive, they could only take risks and set their sights on the "glutinous rice bricks" on the city wall.

There was no need to consider the taste; anyway, looking at the appearance of the bricks, Li Mu didn't dare to try.

"Assistant Regional Commander Liu, how many people did you catch on your side?"

Li Mu asked with concern.

To eliminate the Northern Barbarian spies from causing trouble, after fully taking over the city defense, he withdrew the original defenders.

For ordinary people, the city wall was now a forbidden zone.

Approaching the city wall without authorization and being killed by the defenders as a spy meant not only dying in vain but also implicating the family.

Unless forced by helplessness, they didn't dare to approach the city wall, let alone set their sights on the wall bricks.

"Caught over eighty people in total, and there were a few unlucky ones who were killed by the defenders as soon as they reached the top of the city wall."

Liu Qifeng replied helplessly.

Just in the area he guarded, he caught so many people; expanding to the whole city, there were even more caught.

Deep in his heart, he sympathized with these people.

However, the army had its own rules, and the Great Dayu Law had clear provisions: those glutinous rice bricks were emergency military rations for the city-defending soldiers and were only allowed to be used after grain was cut off.

The actions of these people were undoubtedly a violation of national law and unauthorized destruction of military facilities.

If one wanted to make a contribution, directly labeling them as Northern Barbarian spies wouldn't be an injustice at all.

"Considering their relatively minor offense, deal with them leniently this time.

According to the Great Dayu Law, punish their whole families with exile and forced labor, staying in the camp as coolies."

Li Mu sighed and said.

It seemed like a punishment, but in reality, it was saving their lives.

Staying in the army as coolies, at the very least, they could have a mouthful to eat and wouldn't starve to death.

However, this was just treating the symptoms, not the root cause; if the grain problem couldn't be solved, more people would take risks next.

Although military grain reserves were sufficient, they couldn't support the people of a whole city.

After a brief contemplation, Li Mu suddenly had a flash of inspiration.

Calming grain prices and pacifying the hearts of the people was the work of civil officials; he didn't need to worry about it at all.

"Mr. Lan, write to the Shandong Provincial Governor's Office and the Jinan Prefect's Office, telling them that the soaring prices in the city are seriously affecting the city defense work.

I hope they can use powerful means to crack down on corrupt merchants hoarding and driving up prices, and pacify the prices in the city as soon as possible.

Especially grain prices, they must be brought down as soon as possible."

Li Mu thought for a moment and said.

Whether the local government could solve the problem, he didn't know for the time being, but the necessary procedures had to be followed.

If they couldn't handle it, then he would take action himself and help them solve the problem.

According to the Great Dayu Law, during wartime, the imperial court had the right to requisition merchants' grain as military rations for the army.

Once the table was flipped, no matter how much grain the corrupt merchants in the city hoarded, it would all be making wedding clothes for him.

If the other party cooperated, then in the name of the Shandong local government, issue an IOU to the merchants whose grain was requisitioned.

Let the local government and them slowly haggle over the subsequent accounts.

If these people didn't give face, then his blade would also see blood.

The only drawback was that doing this would offend many people.

Merchants who dared to hoard and drive up prices at this time certainly had someone backing them, otherwise they would have lost their heads long ago.

From the perspective of personal career development, doing this had a hundred harms and no benefits.

But if one wanted to hold Jinan City, these offensive things had to be done by someone.

"Commander, now is I fear not a good time to solve the problem.

In the past two days, someone in the city has been spreading rumors that Nanjing City was captured by rebels and the entire Nanzhili has fallen into the hands of the Bai Lian Sect.

Some exaggerated rumors even say that the Bai Lian Sect rebels and the Northern Barbarians have formed an alliance to jointly crusade against the imperial court.

Normal people know these rumors are fake, but the people in the city believe them.

Local government offices are all busy pacifying the hearts of the people; in a short time, I fear they have no energy to do anything else."

Lan Linjie reminded tactfully.

Local government offices pacifying the hearts of the people, in other words, meant: pacifying the hearts of the gentry.

At such a sensitive moment, government offices usually didn't dare to offend the local residents in the city.

If they pushed people too hard, they might defect to the Northern Barbarians in a fit of anger and engage in the act of coordinating from within and without.

The difficulty of holding Jinan City would certainly increase significantly.

"Rumors, they may not be fake.

As early as ten days ago, the Northern Barbarians blocked our channels of contact with the outside world.

At that time, Hangzhou had already fallen, and Nanjing was also in precarious danger.

Because of the distance, the news we received had a certain lag.

It's possible that Nanjing had already fallen at that time, or was in the final resistance, but the news wasn't passed on in time.

Since the Northern Barbarians brought it out for propaganda, I think it's not without aim.

If nothing unexpected happens, next they will deliberately open a gap to let us send people to verify the news.

Tell the Shandong Provincial Governor's Office directly to issue a public notice saying these are the Northern Barbarians' conspiracies.

Let them handle the matter of pacifying prices together.

The more it is at a time like this, the more one cannot be afraid of offending people.

If merchants don't cooperate, then in the name of colluding with the barbarians, start a massacre directly.

No matter who is involved, investigate to the end.

If they don't have the guts to do it, then authorize us; this Commander can help them finish it.

To pacify the hearts of the people, relying on empty propaganda is not enough; the key is to let everyone fill their stomachs.

Being completely full is unrealistic, but at the very least, let everyone be five-tenths full to avoid trouble."

Li Mu said calmly.

Having psychological preparation in advance, the news of Nanjing's fall couldn't scare him at all.

Compared to the rumors among the people, what needed more attention was the army.

As long as the army to rescue the throne was not affected, no matter how much the enemy's spies stirred up trouble, it would be in vain.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 295 =====