Distant Mountain Battle Song

Chapter 245 The Ghost Fang People Have Become Invisible?

The people at Yun Family Manor were very busy harvesting beans, which was much more difficult than harvesting wheat, mainly because the wheat stalks were hollow and easily cut by sickles.

The stalks of beans are solid. Although they are also herbaceous plants, their stems are as tough as tree branches. In particular, the beans of the Han Dynasty are very different from those of the ancestral land. What can be considered a tough stem in the ancestral land is here so tough that the only way to break it is by chopping.

The dog wouldn't allow Yun Ce to pull out the bean roots, which were covered in nitrogen-fixing tumors. These tumors were crucial for planting wheat next year, ensuring a good wheat harvest.

Planting 100,000 mu of soybeans is a hard-won task for everyone.

Yun Ce tirelessly swung his knife, easily severing the bean stalks. Zhou Chengming stood beside him, also slashing at the bean stalks. The two were like tireless machines, easily clearing two open spaces in the bean field.

After the two men wielded their swords and carved out two long alleyways, splitting the endless bean field in two, Yun Ce straightened up and said to Zhou Chengming, "If things don't go well, we can retreat here."

Zhou Chengming shook his head and said, "I have longed for Tiewei Pass since I was a child. After I arrived there as a young man, I fought for it. Later, I left Tiewei Pass for three years to train cavalry, just to arrive at Tiewei Pass in a better manner."

Yun Ce, I will not leave Iron Enclosure Pass, just as you are unwilling to leave the land you cultivate.

Hearing Zhou Chengming say this, Yun Ce stopped trying to persuade him. Everyone has their own path to take, and there's really no need to worry about other people's future. Besides, they know what they're going to face and what their fate will be.

Besides, that would just be annoying.

With the help of the three thousand cavalrymen brought by Zhou Chengming, the harvesting speed of the 100,000 mu of soybeans at Yun's Manor was much faster.

After being dried for two days, the dried bean pods burst open automatically without anyone having to do anything. Standing on the threshing floor and watching the beans fly into the sky and fall back down was quite a spectacular sight.

Zhou Chengming reached out and scooped up a bean, rubbing it in his palm as he said to Yun Ce, "If I have a future, I'll find a place and plant nothing but beans."

Having a bean patch in hand gives me such a sense of security and is full of hope. Even if I fail once, I can plant again next spring. And even if the second attempt fails, as long as I'm alive, there's always hope.

Yun Ce disliked his lifeless demeanor and interrupted his nonsense, saying, "This kind of bean has a strong vitality. You don't need to plant it. Its seeds will fly by themselves. As long as there is enough sunlight and rain, it can grow very well on its own."

The reason we're growing it collectively here is because we don't want to have to travel so far to harvest it ourselves.

That's the problem with people from the Han Dynasty.

Compared to the people of their ancestral homeland, they are much more innocent and carefree. No matter what they do, they always try to align themselves with ideals, dreams, and aspirations.

They all like to exaggerate small things into grand narratives. Sometimes, in a moment of passion, they'll jump into a fire without hesitation, as long as it suits their taste.

For no reason, Yun Ce thought of Zhao Qi, Xiao Man, and the others. If the entire Han Dynasty were like that, Yun Ce wouldn't mind becoming like them himself. Unfortunately, thinking of this, Yun Ce gave Zhou Chengming a disdainful look and turned around to start harvesting beans.

Instead of thinking so much, you might as well harvest a few more bunches of beans.

The Yun family manor harvested wheat in just ten days, but beans took fifteen days. Even so, many beans were still left unharvested, causing the pods to burst and scattering beans everywhere.

There was no other way; after harvesting the beans, everyone in the village went into the fields to pick up the remaining beans.

As Zhou Chengming escorted the seemingly endless convoy away from Yun Family Manor, many people stood on tiptoe to watch the convoy depart, showing a sense of reluctance.

These days, her husband was in a bad mood, so Eji imitated Feng An's tone and fawned over Yun Ce, saying, "Look, the laborers still care about the safety of Tiewei Pass."

Yun Ce glanced at E Ji's eyes, which resembled a puppy's skin, and said, "They are looking at the grain they have worked so hard to grow; no one is looking at the cavalry."

Not receiving the expected praise, Eji immediately frowned and said, "You have to tell the truth when you should tell a lie."

Yun Ce tucked her under his arm and, regardless of what others thought of him, returned to the manor.

This woman has become quite chubby and comical since she got pregnant.

"Have I gained weight?"

"No, it's normal."

"Then why did you slip down twice when you were clamping me?"

"That's because I was afraid of hurting your belly, so I didn't dare to push." ​​Eji stroked her belly and said, "It's okay, the baby is sitting very steadily. I like it when you hold me like this."

Overall, Yun Ce was satisfied with his life. In Cao Kun's opinion, his two wives were not very suitable for him as the heir of the Prince of Changsha, but Yun Ce knew that there were no better wives in the world than these two women.

Cao Kun said that because he wanted to marry one of his nineteen sisters to Yun Ce. Judging from his tone at the time, he didn't care which one was nineteen years old or nineteen days old.

Anyway, his family has them all.

Arranged marriages are actually a very pointless thing, and can be considered one of the most tasteless things that noble and wealthy families do.

If the benefits are small, there's no need for a marriage alliance. If the benefits are large, a marriage alliance is utterly useless. Look at any large family or corporation—when they're making decisions, do they ever consider marriage alliances between their daughters or sons?

Let alone marriage alliances, even old comrades-in-arms and old friends, when faced with interests, some sacrifices must be made. Just like Tang Jian, a meritorious official of the Lingyan Pavilion in the early Tang Dynasty, Li Jing knew that he was negotiating with someone in the enemy camp. However, the weather that day was perfect for a surprise attack, so Li Jing did not hesitate to issue the order for a surprise attack, and the army swept through.

If Tang Jian hadn't been a remarkable man who knew to dig a pit in the tent and cover it with a carpet to make the enemy think he had escaped, he would have been doomed.

Later, Tang Jian spent his whole life dealing with Li Jing. When someone asked Li Jing if he regretted it, Li Jing replied, "No."

If Tang Jian's story isn't convincing enough, just look at what Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang, did. When Xiang Yu captured Liu Bang's father and demanded his surrender or he would boil his father into soup, Liu Bang replied, "When the soup is ready, remember to share a cup with him."

Xiang Yu should have actually boiled Liu Bang's father into meat broth and sent it to Liu Bang. If he had done that, later generations wouldn't have regarded Liu Bang's actions and words as a beautiful story.

Recently, all the noble clans, large and small, north of the Great Wall have been busy preparing for weddings. Everyone sensed something was amiss and thought about marrying their daughters off to those clans so that they could all be one family and help each other.

From the very beginning, Cao Kun set a bad example. One of his fiancées died, and the second one was supposedly true love, but unfortunately, her father arranged for her to become an acquaintance and send her to him.

Then, Cao and He almost beat each other senseless.

Yun Ce didn't believe that these people who actively sought marriage alliances would end up in bad shape.

He Tian's strength was ultimately inferior to that of the Cao family. Cao Kun's father, Cao Bing, along with his third son Cao Ying and ninth son Cao Ben, spent half a month finally breaking through He Tian's defenses at Qingshui River. Now, they have built seven bridges across Qingshui River and have officially entered Lingzhou with 300,000 troops.

The excuse was to avenge his eldest son, Cao Kun.

If the Cao family were allowed to take over Lingzhou, then Qiuhezhou, Pingzhou, and Lingzhou would officially be connected, and the eastern border of the Han Dynasty and the Great Wall defense line would all become the Cao family's sphere of influence.

Compared to the scene of countless followers during the last attack on Pingzhou, this time when attacking Lingzhou, only a few local nobles led their own armies to follow, while none of the more powerful ones followed. Even the dozen or so noble families on the Great Wall defense line did not send troops to follow.

Not only that, the other surrounding states, such as Dongzhou, which is located by the sea, Taizhou, which is backed by Mount Tai, and Haizhou, which controls the entire peninsula, are all openly or secretly supporting Lingzhou Hetian.

"Therefore, the Cao family may occupy seven or eight cities in Lingzhou this time, but they absolutely cannot destroy Lingzhou in one battle."

Qin Shu put down the wooden stick in his hand, summarized the situation, and then said to Yun Ce, "General, shall we still follow the original strategy of 'building high walls, storing up grain, and delaying the declaration of kingship' and biding our time?"

Yun Ce looked up at Qin Shu and said, "Do you think we should be more proactive now?"

Qin Shu picked up the wooden stick again, tapped it heavily on the location of Longkou Pass, and said: "I want Longkou Pass. After I take Longkou Pass, my Jingkou Pass, Jinshuo Pass and Longkou Pass will be able to form a system on their own. If we advance, we can go straight to Tiewei Pass. If we retreat, we can go directly from Longkou Pass to Qingshui River and retreat by water."

As for the manpower the general always talks about, I have spent more than half a year training the 1,600 men of the Yun family's guards to a certain level of combat capability. They can replace us in guarding Jingkou Pass.”

"The head of the family guards, Chu, is just an ordinary person who hasn't cultivated internal energy. His 1,600 men are just selected from slaves. To be honest, I have no hope for their ability or loyalty. Qin Shu, what makes you think they can shoulder such an important task?"

Qin Shu glanced at his wife, He Qingfang, but she didn't say anything; instead, she gently shook her head.

Yun Ce said to Qin Shu, "I know what you want to say. You think that having bombs can make up for the gap in combat power? Let me tell you, good weapons falling into the hands of a cowardly army is just an act of aiding the enemy."

Moreover, bombs are currently only in the possession of a small number of people, and it is not advisable to expand this area further. Longkou Pass, which connects to Qingshui River, is indeed a strategic location, but it is not something we need right now.

Qin Shu said, "Once the Iron Fortress Pass falls and the Guifang people move south, the more territory one owns, the more suffering they will endure."

(End of this chapter)