Sui and Tang Dynasty Generals

Chapter 75 Tell Duke Wei quickly, this guy is serious!
East City.

Yu Lichuan and Cai Ran hurried back to their residence, entered the room, and saw Chu Bo and Song Jianfeng.

"How's it going?"

When Chu Bo saw the two of them coming back, he hurriedly asked.

Now, a moat has been dug outside the city gate. They have also inquired and heard that it was the new captain of East City who went to request the Jinyang Order to dig a moat.

They didn't know much about the new East City Captain. They only knew that he was very young, but was granted the title of Fenwu Captain by the Sui Dynasty.

Chu Bo could not help but feel very nervous about this. After all, the matter of attacking Taiyuan County had already been clearly agreed upon. Duke Wei had sent envoys to discuss with the Turks, requesting them to send troops to restrain the Sui Dynasty garrisons in Mayi and Yanmen counties so that they would not dare to move rashly. For this purpose, he had even given most of his family property to the Turks in advance as a sign of sincerity and also as part of the reward.

There must be no mistakes in Taiyuan at this time.

"Hahaha! No need to worry!"

Cai Ran looked at Chu Bo's worried expression with a smile on his face.

"We have already inquired in the Tang Mansion! Tang Maochun personally learned from his brother Tang Xian that the young Fenwu Wei was worried that Pan Changwen would deliberately suppress him, so he went to see Jinyang Ling Liu Wenjing overnight to request to dig a canal!"

When Cai Ran saw Chu Bo and Song Jianfeng were confused, he explained to them with a smile.

Tang Xian, whose courtesy name was Maoyi, was the elder brother of Tang Maochun. If they had not heard this from Tang Maochun of the Tang family, they would never have thought that there were so many twists and turns and intrigues behind the move of digging a new moat.

Cai Ran then told Tang Mansion everything in detail.

"I see!"

Chu Bo nodded after learning everything that had happened.

Chu Bo also knew Pan Changwen very well. He knew that he was a narrow-minded and incompetent person.

After discussing with other confidants of Duke Wei and General Zhen Zhai'er, Chu Bo dared to attack Taiyuan. It was not only because they could find enough carpenters and prepare the wood for countless siege machines. As long as they got the news from the Turks, they could immediately send troops to Taiyuan and assemble ladders, battering rams, catapults, nest carts, carts and other siege machines under the city at that time to capture Jinyang in one fell swoop. Another more important reason was that the defender of Jinyang was Pan Changwen!

Pan Changwen was just a Sui general who relied on his father's and family connections. As long as he had the help of the Turks, even without the reinforcements from Mayi and Yanmen, the Duke of Wei's 100,000 troops, plus so many equipment, would be able to capture Taiyuan.

Now that it was confirmed that the Fenwu Wei was digging a moat to show weakness to the Sui general Pan Changwen, Chu Bo felt much more relieved.

"Send someone to inform Duke Wei about this!"

Chu Bo turned and gave instructions to Song Jianfeng.

Song Jianfeng nodded, then turned and left to send someone downstairs.

"Have you found out how that young lieutenant was awarded the title of Fenwu Wei?"

Chu Bo saw Song Jianfeng leave and continued to look at Chu Lichuan and Cai Ran.

After hearing Chu Bo's words, Yu Lichuan looked at Cai Ran.

"This man was the one who led the Sui army reinforcements and defeated Zhang Jincheng in Qinghe County!"

Lichuan said to Chu Bo.

"What, it's him!"

Chu Bo's expression changed slightly when he heard this. He had heard some time ago that Zhang Jin's attack on Qinghe County had failed.

Unexpectedly, the person who defeated Zhang Jincheng actually came to Jinyang City.

"Don't worry too much! I have already found out that Zhang Jincheng and Yang Shanhui had fought in the past. In addition, the siege lasted for many days and was constantly obstructed by other reinforcements. That's why the young man took the opportunity to launch a sneak attack and defeat Zhang Jincheng!"

Cai Ran explained softly, telling Chu Bo not to worry too much.

Because in those important places of Tuen County, there were more than 100,000 troops stationed under the command of Yang Yichen, an old general of the Sui Dynasty, and there was very little news about Qinghe County that came from the east and north.

Just now in the Tang Mansion, Cai Ran was shocked to learn that the captain in East City was the one who led the troops to defeat Zhang Jincheng. Fortunately, he learned some of the events from Tang Maochun and finally felt relieved.

Yang Shanhui was indeed somewhat famous. Although the details were not known, with Yang Shanhui's help in drawing Zhang Jincheng's attention, it was not surprising that the young man succeeded in the sneak attack.

"Besides, the Turks are holding back the garrisons of Mayi and Yanmen. We have so many men and so many large engineering equipment. What can a young garrison commander do?"

Cai Ran said to Chu Bo, and then a smile appeared on his face.

In Cai Ran's eyes, any concerns were put to rest when the image of the mountain of siege equipment appeared in his mind.

The failure of Zhang Jincheng does not mean that others will fail. Under the leadership of Duke Wei, they have been dormant for many years and have been constantly searching for carpenters who can assemble siege equipment from the south. How can they be compared with Zhang Jincheng, who has no ambition and only knows how to kill people?

Zhang Jincheng wanted to be a thief, but Duke Wei was not one of them!

"That being said, we still need to be careful! We must observe and investigate more during this period of time. No matter what, we cannot fail in this attack on Taiyuan. If Duke Wei can obtain Taiyuan, he will surely become emperor, and then we will all be meritorious officials!"

Chu Bo did not let his guard down, but instead warned Chu Lichuan and Cai Ran not to be careless.

Jinyang City is a strategic location of Taiyuan. In the west city across the river, there is not only the Jinyang Palace, but also a warehouse city that stores countless clothes, armor and food. As long as Jinyang is captured, one can overlook Chang'an in Guanzhong and Luoyang outside the pass.

Duke Wei is about to become emperor, so we must be careful no matter what.

Capturing Jinyang, the eastern city, is the first step.

It was not only the first step for Duke Wei to become emperor, but also the beginning of Duke Wei's hegemony.

"rest assured!"

When Cai Ran heard Chu Bo's words, he exchanged a glance with Chu Lichuan. Thinking of the Duke of Wei's seizure of Taiyuan and his claim to emperor in the future, and of the fame and wealth that he and others would enjoy in the future, his heart was filled with excitement.

If they could capture Taiyuan, they would all become ministers and no longer be bandits.

..............................

East City.

With the digging of the new moat, not only were people talking about it everywhere in the city, but even outside the East City, there were many idle young men of noble families and scholars who were watching, looking at the dense crowds of laborers who were constantly digging the canal and moving soil.

"Digging a moat in Jinyang is simply a waste of time. In the past few decades, Jinyang has always sent troops to attack others, and no one dares to attack Jinyang!"

"That's right. In West City, there are only wealthy and powerful people. Even in Jinyang Palace and Cangcheng, no one has dug a canal! What are we digging in East City?"

"I heard that the one who requested to dig the canal was a new lieutenant in East City, and a Fenwu Lieutenant specially appointed by His Majesty!"

"What? That's it? He's still a Fenwu Lieutenant? Is he worthy of the title of Fenwu Lieutenant with such courage?"

Amid the hustle and bustle of discussion, without exception, the sons of the noble families in Dongcheng and many scholars all thought that digging canals was a joke because they had nothing to do. Nowadays, bandits are everywhere in the country, and other places are busy leading troops to fight against the bandits. However, the new lieutenant of Dongcheng came to Dongcheng to take up his post, and the first thing he did was not to think about how to lead troops to fight against the bandits, but to request to dig a canal to protect the city.

How cowardly must one be to do such a ridiculous thing.

Soon, as time passed, more and more people came to watch the fun, and the remarks were heard by more people and spread even more widely.

Inside the city.

In his own house, Fu Zihou issued strict orders to all the soldiers in Dongcheng and showed kindness to win their hearts, then he began to make further plans.

"You mean, this is the Liu family in East City?"

Fu Zihou pointed at the map, then looked at Hu Jingyuan, Yin Tianzong and the others. After seeing them nod, he took out a pen and ink and circled a house on the East City map.

"Is this the old house of the Song and Zheng families? According to this, their families and children should have been in the city in the past, right?"

Fu Zihou asked.

Hu Jingyuan and Yin Tianzong nodded and looked at each other, not understanding what Fu Zihou meant.

Now, because of the newly dug moat, there has been a lot of talk about Fu Zihou in the city, but Fu Zihou doesn't seem to care about those people's talk. He doesn't even go outside the city to supervise and bring people to order those scholars to shut up. Instead, he brought them here to inquire about the addresses of the famous families in the east city.

"What happened today must not be spread out, otherwise you will be punished by military law! Later, you will bring a few soldiers who are familiar with the surrounding terrain and follow me out of the city!"

Fu Zihou did not explain too much to Hu Jingyuan, Yin Tianzong and others.

Looking at the places marked on the map, Fu Zihou wrote down all these locations. In the future, whenever there were rebels, no matter whether they attacked Dongcheng or not, no matter what the situation was, no matter whether Fu Zihou himself was in Dongcheng or not, he would immediately send people to gather all the families and children of these Dongcheng aristocratic families to the barracks.

Fu Zihou knew the nature of the aristocratic families too well. As long as their interests were not harmed and they were not hurt, they would not care about others and would not mind the life or death of others.

If the rebels surrounded Dongcheng, these people would most likely collude with them to preserve their own interests.

By then, let alone bringing people to cooperate inside and outside to open the city gate for the rebels, even the reputation, connections, and scholars in their hands, used to spread the news in the city, would be fatal enough.

Morale and public opinion are as crucial as food when defending a city.

Fu Zihou not only needed these noble families to prevent them from colluding with the rebels, but also wanted them to help encourage the people in the city to defend the city.

"Here!"

Upon hearing Fu Zihou's words, Hu Jingyuan, Yin Tianzong and others hurriedly bowed and accepted the order.

At this moment, whether it was the two brigade commanders Hu Jingyuan, or the four team leaders Lai Bo, Zhou Xingyao, Ma Huer, and Wu Liuzi, they were all like the young men of noble families and the scholars who were talking outside the city. They had no idea that Fu Zihou had become so mad that he was ready to attack the noble families in East City at any time.

At this time, a soldier came into the room in a hurry.

"Report! Captain, clothes, armor and food have been delivered from East City!"

The officers and soldiers reported to Fu Zihou.

Upon hearing this, Fu Zihou was somewhat surprised, and looked at the soldier with delight. He quickly put away the map, and then walked out of the house with Hu Jingyuan and the others.

Outside the East City Gate.

Looking at the wooden carts loaded with clothes, armor and food crossing the river, all the young men of noble families and scholars who were watching began to talk about it.

"Look, they've even sent in so much food and clothing!"

"I think it would be more appropriate to call him Guishou Wei instead of Fenwu Wei!"

"That's right! You see he is so young, and I don't know where his title of Fenwuwei came from!"

In the eyes of all the sons of the gentry and aristocratic families, they looked down on the new Fenwu Captain from the bottom of their hearts and thought that he was really a coward. Especially when they saw Fu Zihou personally leading Hu Jingyuan and his party to arrive, at this time, one by one the men of Dongcheng and many Dongcheng citizens finally saw with their own eyes how young the cowardly captain they were talking about was.

"Check the quantity and send it to the warehouse for storage!"

Fu Zihou could clearly feel that as he led his troops to arrive, the discussions quickly became quieter and then disappeared.

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Fu Zihou looked at the endless stream of food and horse-drawn carriages, his face revealing great satisfaction. After all, at the beginning Fu Zihou had not expected that he could get the food and armor he wanted so easily.

For this purpose, Fu Zihou had even prepared valuable gifts and was ready to take some time to meet Pan Changwen and Pei Ji.

"Send someone to tell them to widen the moat, the sooner the better!"

Fu Zihou also looked at the countless laborers who were busy digging the canal, and then gave orders.

Yin Tianzong nodded, turned around and gave instructions to a soldier.

"Let's go! Follow me to see other places outside the city!"

Fu Zihou felt extremely relieved when he looked at the carriages loaded with food.

In any case, I have done my best for the ordinary people of Xicheng, and I have no regrets.

After solving the problems of food and hidden dangers in the city, there is now a third important thing, which is to fortify the walls and clear the fields, to provide the enemy with places to rest and camp, to do whatever they can, and to mark the high towers that the enemy can watch from. When the news is received in the future, immediately send people to burn them down. The bamboo forest that can provide the enemy with arrows must also be prepared to be set on fire at any time. The marked water sources cannot be eliminated either. Animal carcasses and poisons can be buried in these places in advance, which will cause heavy casualties to the enemy and even cause plague, so none of them can be let go.

In the past few decades, with the rise of Buddhism, people were busy building the Sili Pagoda and Jinyang had not been properly investigated. Fu Zihou decided that he must mark it clearly during this period.

Outside the East City Gate.

Upon receiving the news, Yu Lichuan, Cai Ran, Chu Bo, and Song Jianfeng also hurried into the crowd. When they saw carriages loaded with weapons, armor, and food being transported into the city, they were stunned.

This……

What is this for?
Is this something a normal person can do?

At this moment, not to mention Song Jianfeng, even Cai Ran and Yu Lichuan were stunned.

Chu Bo, in particular, had a very ugly expression on his face, looking at the vehicles fully loaded with weapons and the carts full of food, which seemed to have no end in sight and he didn't know how much there was.

"Not good! This guy is serious about defending the city! We must inform Duke Wei as soon as possible and ask him to send troops immediately, otherwise it will be too late! Quick!!!"

Chu Bo said to Song Jianfeng, Cai Ran and others in a panic.

Looking at the scene in front of him, God knows what puzzling things this new young captain will do if he drags on.

"it is good!"

The person who spoke was not Song Jianfeng. When Cai Ran saw the scene in front of him, he also realized that something was wrong. He looked panicked and nodded quickly. Then he and Yu Lichuan planned to deliver the message to Duke Wei personally.

(End of this chapter)