Red Mansion: Picking up a Lin Daiyu

Chapter 123: Sky Thunder

Hearing that it was such a big job, even related to military affairs, Jia Yun's face turned grim, and he asked, "Master, I understand, but this job also requires dealing with those military officers. Can I do it?"

Yue Ling frowned and said, "Why not? The gunpowder has already been sent ahead. It took more than ten days. You just need to escort the government troops to Zijing Pass within five days. There are official roads along the way. There are customs documents I prepared for you. You can also change horses at the post station. I am not asking you to defend the city with the local commander. You just need to teach them this method."

"In addition, I will write a letter, which you can give to the commander, and he will understand."

Jia Yun opened his mouth but did not utter any more words of excuse.

Yue Ling let the gunpowder go first in order to keep the purpose of the gunpowder secret. Otherwise, it would be used as a landmine and if the news leaked out and the enemy knew about it, it would be useless.

Yue Ling knew clearly that what he needed right now was not someone who was very capable, but someone who was absolutely loyal, and Jia Yun was just the right person.

Seeing him hesitate, Yue Ling tried to comfort him, "You have to go for this matter. I can't rest assured if I leave it to anyone else. Didn't you make a bold statement in front of Jia Zhen that day, saying that you would open a separate page in the family tree? You have the opportunity to make a contribution today, so why are you still shrinking back?"

Jia Yun smiled awkwardly and said, "At that time, I just wanted to piss off Jia Zhen and prove myself. Now, I am really worried that I might not be able to do the job that Master has asked me to do and affect the war."

Yue Ling patted his shoulder and said, "Don't worry, I will send someone to follow you. There will definitely be no mistakes. It's settled. You pack your bags and set off tomorrow."

Jia Yun cupped his hands and said, "Okay, I'll follow your instructions, Master."

Turning into the courtyard and passing through the second door, you will see many young girls gathered here.

Zijuan, Xueyan, Ruizhu, and Baozhu hid behind the door and looked at Yue Ling with surprised and doubtful expressions on their faces.

Yue Ling couldn't help but laugh and asked, "What are you doing?"

Zijuan said, "Just now, we heard a loud explosion in the room. We don't know what broke it. It's not the time to sell firecrackers yet."

Xueyan nodded like a chick pecking at rice, "It's scary, it's really scary, General Yue. I thought the war had reached our mansion."

Yue Ling walked over to them with a smile and comforted them, "Don't worry, how could I let anything happen in the mansion? How could I bear to let you be bullied? Okay, go back first, don't be suspicious, everything should be as it was before."

It was also because of Yue Ling's presence that the little girls felt a little more at ease. They slowly exhaled a few breaths and then went about their own business.

When Yue Ling entered the hall again, he still saw Lin Daiyu, who was wearing a light and plain dress and a lightly embroidered outer coat, writing with ink at the table.

There is a calm and peaceful aura on Lin Daiyu's face. She has an ethereal appearance, like jade and a beautiful flower. Her occasionally frowned eyebrows make people realize that this is not a character in a painting.

When Yue Ling approached her, he saw that she was writing a letter instead of practicing calligraphy.

When Lin Daiyu heard Yue Ling coming, she smiled and said, "I just said that everything was fine outside, but they didn't believe me and went out shouting. Xueyan was so stupid that she said barbarians had broken into the mansion, and she scared Baozhu and Ni Ni so much that they almost fell under the table."

Lin Daiyu said this while covering her mouth and laughing.

Yue Ling couldn't help but laugh along, but he felt a little regretful that he didn't see that funny scene.

Seeing Yue Ling coming to visit, Lin Daiyu put down her pen and explained to Yue Ling: "Daddy sent a letter from the south, asking about my recent situation. Daddy is also very busy over there, just worried about my safety in the capital. He also mentioned something inexplicable."

Yue Ling was puzzled, "What's so weird?"

Lin Daiyu got up and went back to her room, took out the letter from home, handed it to Yue Ling and said, "I can't explain this clearly, Brother Yue, why don't you take a look at it."

Yue Ling opened the letter and read it. The first part was fine, just greetings between father and daughter, but then it was a little different, asking about his recent situation, whether he was in trouble in the capital, whether he was not valued by the court, and whether the Crown Prince was suspicious of him.

Yue Ling frowned and thought, not knowing why Lin Ruhai said that.

"This letter was sent from Yangzhou Prefecture a month ago. A month ago, the northern barbarians had not yet moved south, and the news of my appointment as the Grand Commander had not spread. I guess Lord Lin thought that I was suspected because I did not lead the troops? Your Highness, why would you be suspicious of me? Is it just because Lord Lin and I are too close? This is really nonsense."

"Did the prince say something in the letter that caused Lord Lin to misunderstand?"

Seeing Brother Yue pondering for a long time beside him, Lin Daiyu asked again: "Brother Yue, how should I reply to my father's letter?"

Yue Ling picked up the teacup that Lin Daiyu prepared for him every day and took a sip. It was the light fragrance of jasmine. He nodded slightly and said, "I don't know where Lord Lin's worry comes from. Anyway, we are all fine now. You just need to tell him and don't worry too much."

Lin Daiyu nodded, agreeing with Yue Ling's words, "Okay, then I'll tell Dad."

……

Zijing Pass,
Zijing Pass, which belongs to Baoding Prefecture, is located at the key point of Taihang Mountain. It is named Zijing Pass because of the redbud trees all over the mountain. When the trees are in full bloom, the mountain is full of colorful flowers, and the scenery is quite nice.

But as a pass among the inner three passes, its battle record is really not good.

Juyongguan is a natural barrier of the Great Wall, with a strategic location and has never been breached. Built on a mountain, the height difference can reach thousands of feet, which is easy to defend but difficult to attack. It is known as the first pass of the Great Wall. Daomaguan is deep in the valley, with steep mountains on both sides and a narrow passage in the middle. Even to get to the pass, one must pass through extremely rugged mountain roads, which are not easy for cavalry to pass. The pass is blocked in the middle, and the cavalry cannot organize an effective attack at all.

Compared with these two passes, Zijing Pass was not a strategically placed place to defend. The inside and outside of the pass were connected by a large flat open area, which first created conditions for attack. A dozen miles away from the pass, there was a basin, which could also be used by the grassland people who came from afar to temporarily camp and rest.

Moreover, there is no shortage of drinking water here. The only thing that can be called "dangerous" is the Juma River outside the pass. However, the Juma River is a seasonal river. In the summer, there is abundant rain and the water flow is relatively fast, so people cannot cross it. In the winter, even if it does not freeze, the water flow is much smaller, and even horses can cross the river.

At the turn of autumn and winter, it can no longer be called "dangerous".

According to historical records, there were hundreds of battles at Zijing Pass, large and small, and most of them were due to the failure of Juyong Pass, so the enemy turned to attack Zijing Pass. However, Zijing Pass was broken seven or eight out of ten times, so it was very difficult to defend.

Now the commander guarding the pass, Chen Ruiwen, the hereditary third-rank general of the Duke of Qi's Mansion, was so anxious that he was sweating profusely.

The barbarians have already camped outside the Great Wall to repair their positions, and I'm afraid they will attack the Great Wall in a few days. According to the information reported by the spies, this cavalry force of 70,000 to 80,000 people is most likely the main force of the Northern Barbarians led by Tuji Khan.

The garrison at Zijing Pass, including the temporarily transferred military households, was no more than 20,000 people. It was naturally a fantasy for them to expect to defend against the northern barbarians who outnumbered them by several times.

At that moment, a soldier came to the door and reported, "General, there is a man coming from the capital, claiming to be the steward of the Grand Commander's Office."

"Grand Commander? Yue Ling?"

Upon hearing that it was Yue Ling who sent someone here, Chen Ruiwen immediately perked up. He had also visited Yue Ling's house some time ago and had met Yue Ling once.

He immediately sent his trusted confidant here, and there must be some explanation.

"Quick, please come in."

Soon, Jia Yun, led by the soldiers, arrived at the room.

Chen Ruiwen recognized the man as someone familiar, and immediately recognized that he was from Yue Ling's residence. He walked forward warmly, "Come, please sit down. You've worked so hard on the journey, please have a cup of hot tea."

Seeing that a general was so respectful to himself as a steward, Jia Yun couldn't help but feel a little restrained. He listened to Chen Ruiwen's arrangements, sat down obediently in the armchair and drank tea.

"I wonder if the Grand Commander has any instructions for you to come here?"

Jia Yun nodded and said, "In reply to the general's question, there was another baggage train from the capital that arrived before me, and it was loaded with gunpowder."

Chen Ruiwen nodded, "I am worried about this. There is no shortage of gunpowder on the city, and the defenders don't have many muskets. I really don't know why there is so much gunpowder."

Jia Yun said, "That is why I came here."

Taking out a piece of letter from his bosom, Jia Yun handed it to Chen Ruiwen and said, "General, please take a look. Here is the battle plan that the master has prepared for you. It will be enough to hinder the Northern Barbarians' advance for a while and cause them to suffer casualties."

Chen Ruiwen excitedly tore open the letter, licked his fingers, twisted the letter, read it from top to bottom, and said in surprise: "There is such a tactic. With so much gunpowder, it is no problem to injure thousands of enemies."

Jia Yun nodded repeatedly, "Master said that if we can hold out for a while, we won't have to fight the enemy head-on. If we do this to provoke the enemy, we only need to set up another thunder array inside the pass, and then we can withdraw the troops from the city wall and return to defend the capital as soon as possible."

Before this, Chen Ruiwen had already made up his mind to die with the enemy with a few boxes of gunpowder. He thought Yue Ling sent him to this border and a large amount of gunpowder as a sacrifice, just to buy time with the capital.

"It turns out that I misunderstood the Grand Commander. I was judging him by my own standards."

Chen Ruiwen looked ashamed, and then he looked at Jia Yun with a warmer look in his eyes, "Housekeeper Yun, this place is a pass, and I don't have anything to treat you, please forgive me. I still need to arrange this war as soon as possible, so I'll have to trouble you to review it."

Jia Yun nodded hurriedly, "We all take state affairs as our top priority. You are too polite, General."

Seeing that the housekeepers in Yue Ling's house were so capable, Chen Ruiwen's favorable impression of Yue Ling increased a little. Regardless of their status, he put his arm around Jia Yun's shoulders and said, "Come on, let's go down and make mines first. Tonight, we will lay the minefield under the cover of night, and when the northern barbarians attack, we will give them a taste of their own medicine."

"This thunder has no name yet, so I will boldly use one of the Grand Commander's characters and name it Lingkong Thunder! The word Lingkong is taken from Tai Chi..."

……

In the Northern Barbarian tent not far from Zijing Pass,
Tuji Khan was setting up a banquet, drinking and eating meat with many small leaders, and he was having a great time.

"General, when will we attack Zijing Pass?"

A small tribal leader who followed Tugi Khan south for the first time became anxious after he tasted the sweetness of looting.

This kind of robbery really earns much more money than herding.

Tuji Khan laughed and said, "Why rush? What is piled up in the capital now is our property. In two days, we will capture the fortress and the pass."

　Twelfth day!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)