Chapter 167

Zhang Zhengyan didn't care at all about the neighbors' change of face; he was no longer a child and would calmly face others' accusations and flattery.

And Zhang Zhengyan was not wrong; as long as they started building the courier stations, these pigeons would inevitably be dispersed to various places, and at that time, there would no longer be a Pigeon House in Qingcheng.

He looked forward to the Big Boss mentioned by these people coming to talk to him about cooperation soon. He had truly paid too much for these pigeons, and now it was time for the harvest.

Wang Hou and Tang Xiao Yu did not stop at all, riding their horses back to Jiangcheng to tell Jiang Jinshi this good news.

After learning the situation, Jiang Jinshi did not hesitate and immediately said to Wang Hou, "Notify the captains to come and gather tonight!"

"Okay!" Wang Hou knew this was to discuss the matter of occupying Qingcheng, but he hadn't expected the Big Boss to be so swift.

"It's just to formulate tactics first, and by the way, call Feng Chunsheng over too; after all, he knows Qingcheng best!" Jiang Jinshi had wanted to move on Qingcheng for a long time, but he had always been troubled by a lack of manpower.

Only by occupying Qingcheng could they move the salt factory on Shixian Shan down, and they could even build a larger one to increase output and boost revenue.

Soon it was evening, and everyone gathered together. Jiang Jinshi scanned the circle, and seeing that everyone had arrived, he turned to ask Luo Feng.

"Luo Feng, leaving behind the necessary patrol personnel and city guards, how many people can we mobilize at present?"

Luo Feng calculated for a moment in his heart and replied, "Currently, excluding the basic garrison personnel of the two cities, as well as the patrol personnel on the mountain and the personnel at Shixian Shan, we can mobilize about two thousand people!"

Jiang Jinshi was slightly shocked, "So many?"

One must know that when they had just taken Jiangcheng and Licheng, the personnel of Yangguangzhai were still very strained. Now, in just a short time, excluding the basic personnel who could not be transferred, they actually had two thousand people.

"This still has to be credited to Old Man Feng! The slogans for recruiting people are still hanging in the two cities!" Luo Feng looked at Feng Chunsheng with emotion.

Feng Chunsheng proudly stroked his goat beard; on his face was only the happiness that Qingcheng was about to turn over a new leaf.

"These are just the usual little tricks for recruiting soldiers for the Zhenbei Army; they are not worth mentioning!"

If one really had to say it, Feng Chunsheng had only done one thing, and that was to create public opinion among the common people, making everyone accept the bandits of Yangguangzhai and making them feel that being a bandit was a glorious thing.

Things like monthly wages or other benefits were solid and real, without a single bit of exaggeration. What Feng Chunsheng did was just blow a breath to make this fire burn even brighter.

Jiang Jinshi had also seen Feng Chunsheng's hard work during this period. This little old man, in order to let him take Qingcheng as soon as possible, worked without stopping, worthy of being a model among 'beasts of burden'.

Jiang Jinshi nodded toward Feng Chunsheng and asked, "Old Man Feng, in your opinion, should we launch a strong attack on Qingcheng or..."

Feng Chunsheng understood the meaning behind these words very well; it was to see if he had any way to subdue the enemy without fighting. He also didn't want any casualties, but this time, he was afraid he would disappoint everyone.

Feng Chunsheng shook his head and said, "New City Lord, during my time in Qingcheng, I never cultivated my own confidants; everyone was appointed normally."

This was also within Jiang Jinshi's expectations. This stubborn old man, Feng Chunsheng, naturally wouldn't engage in that kind of officialdom, otherwise, he wouldn't have made no progress for so many years.

"Since that's the case, it seems there is only the path of a strong attack!" Jiang Jinshi tapped his fingers on the table lightly; this move happened to match what he had in mind.

Jiangcheng was taken by Jiang Jinshi using strategy, which reduced damage, and Qingcheng was taken without any effort at all. But now, they had to fight with hard power, otherwise, the brothers below would never make any progress.

Luo Feng spoke first, "Since that's the case, we must prepare quite a few siege weapons and be fully prepared."

Among the captains, except for Luo Feng, the others hadn't even seen a siege, so they were all silently watching Luo Feng speak.

"Tell me in detail!" Jiang Jinshi raised his head, signaling for Luo Feng to continue.

"Actually, I don't know much either, but I'll just talk about what I've seen! First is the catapult, used to destroy battlements and arrow towers and to strike the morale of the defending army."

Luo Feng looked at Jiang Jinshi while speaking. After all, he had only seen these things; if the Big Boss really wanted him to build them, he would be at a loss.

The principle of the catapult was not complicated for Jiang Jinshi, a modern person. He was confident he could make it, as long as he had a few carpenters to cooperate.

Seeing that Jiang Jinshi didn't speak, Luo Feng continued, "There are also bed crossbows, mainly used to snipe at defending generals or to fire arrows with ropes attached to set up climbing ropes.

Scaling ladders have a similar function, mainly used for climbing the city walls. Battering rams are used to smash the city gates, and siege towers are even more powerful; I've only heard of them, I haven't seen them yet."

A bunch of fancy things, hearing them made everyone feel awe; they only then realized that besieging a city was not a simple matter.

Jiang Jinshi waved his hand and said, "Qingcheng is just a small city, and the garrison doesn't have that many people, so we don't need siege towers, and even battering rams are a bit redundant."

If they really wanted to make these things, it would inevitably delay a lot of time, so Jiang Jinshi prepared to make two-handed preparations.

"Wang Hou! You take people to sneak into Qingcheng in advance and act according to the situation."

Although Jiang Jinshi wanted to train everyone, necessary preparations still had to be made, so this arrangement could only be a backup plan.

Jiang Jinshi continued to arrange, "Don't bother with other things for now; first make some catapults and scaling ladders, just enough for the time being! But these, including bows and arrows, belong to wartime supplies, so we still have to prepare some in peacetime."

"I've seen scaling ladders; they aren't complicated, but the catapult..." Luo Feng hesitated slightly.

"I'll handle the catapult; tomorrow I'll make two to see." Jiang Jinshi took on this job without hesitation.

"Is one day enough time?" Luo Feng was greatly shocked.

"It's enough! That thing isn't as complicated as salt production!" Jiang Jinshi said this with full confidence, stemming from the accumulation of his learning in his previous life.

Feng Chunsheng only cared about when to attack, and he didn't understand siege matters, "Since there is enough time, then our attack time?"

"The day after tomorrow at noon!"

Jiang Jinshi had already thought it through; he always had to train the newcomers, and now even old hands like Wang Sixi were a bit slack.

And Qingcheng was just the right whetstone. The gap between the enemy and their numbers was already tenfold; if they couldn't take it in a frontal battle even with the necessary siege weapons, he should hurry up and think about running away!

He could indeed launch a surprise attack at night like before, or even drag out the time to slowly erode Qingcheng, or at worst, send Old Man Feng back to achieve a true inside-outside coordination. These methods could all reduce or even take Qingcheng without casualties.

After all, Old Man Feng was the County Magistrate appointed by the Imperial Court. Even if he had disappeared for this period, no one in Qingcheng would dare to ignore what he said, unless there was an order from above to remove him from his post.

But this was not a long-term plan. What he needed was a true 'lion', not a 'kitten' that only knew how to hide in the back.

Anyone can play a winning game, but only those who can turn the tide in a losing game can make it to the end!