The Ming Dynasty: Starting with the border troops, it was overthrown and the Qing Dynasty was destro

Chapter 116 Entering the City
Having no other choice, Deng Yang had to send Zhou Liyong to tell Jiang Han about these harsh conditions and let him make a decision.

Jiang Han frowned after hearing this.

How could a mere county magistrate be so vigilant?

Upon hearing this, Li Laowai immediately flew into a rage:
"Damn it, this old man is completely unreasonable."

"General, in my opinion, we should pretend to agree first, and then take action as soon as we get onto the city wall."

"If we slaughter all those garrison troops and those damned militiamen, wouldn't we take Kelan County?"

Jiang Han glared at him, annoyed.
"You're making it sound so simple!"

"Our supply battalion and artillery battalion are still behind us, and it will take at least two or three more days to arrive."

"Taking action now will only alert the enemy."

"You don't necessarily want to slaughter the entire Kelan County, do you?"

Jiang Han's goal was never just Kelan County.

He wanted to join forces with Wang Jiayin to take over Jingle County, which was located behind Kelan County. Only by conquering Jingle could they enter the rich Fenhe Plain.

Old Li had never thought of these things; he gave an awkward smile.
"Then, General, what do you suggest we do?"

"The conditions that guy surnamed Xie is proposing are way too damn harsh! We simply can't squeeze anyone in."

Jiang Han pondered for a moment. Since it was not a good idea to take advantage of the situation, he could only go in in batches.

He summoned Zhou Liyong and whispered the instructions:

"Go back immediately and tell Deng Yang to agree first."

"Then go find that Magistrate Zhang and tell him that the troops have run out of food, and ask him to let us send a few people in to buy more food."

"This person seems easy to talk to, so let's spend a little more money on him!"

Zhou Liyong scratched his head, somewhat worried:

"General, are you planning to sneak in under the guise of procurement?"

"But what if Xie Xiangwen sends people to keep an eye on us?"

Jiang Han shook his head:

"It's alright, we don't need to go in yet. I just need the donkey cart to transport the grain!"

"Let's get the swords and armor into the city first. Then we can disguise ourselves as civilians and sneak into the city in batches."

Having received Jiang Han's instructions, Deng Yang felt more confident and immediately went to find Magistrate Zhang:

“County Magistrate Zhang, as long as we can pass through, everything else is trivial. I agree to all these conditions.”

Magistrate Zhang stroked his mustache and nodded in satisfaction.

"Excellent! General Deng truly understands the bigger picture!"

But Deng Yang changed the subject, a troubled look on his face.

"However, Magistrate Zhang, I have a small request."

Magistrate Zhang nodded:

"General, please speak first, I'll listen."

Deng Yang sighed and said with a bitter face:
"To be honest, we marched at breakneck speed, leaving all our supplies and provisions behind. We only brought five days' worth of rations."

“The brothers’ rations are almost gone.”

"Could you do us a favor and let one or two of us in to buy some grain?"

Upon hearing this, Magistrate Zhang hesitated for a moment:
"This"

Seeing this, Deng Yang quickly stepped forward and slipped a few more silver ingots into his sleeve:

"Don't worry."

"We are just purchasing grain; we would never dare to cause any trouble!"

"If you're really worried, just send a few constables to accompany them."

He paused, then added,
"As for which supplier to purchase from, that's entirely up to you."

Upon hearing this, Magistrate Zhang's eyes flashed with a shrewd light, and he was secretly pleased. This General Deng was quite good at dealing with people.

My brother-in-law happens to run a grain store, so this business opportunity is too good to pass up!

He waved his hand and laughed heartily:

"Isn't that too formal?" "There's no need for surveillance. We hit it off immediately. How could I not trust you, General Deng?"

"Here's what we'll do: send two capable men to buy the grain and leave as soon as possible."

"Don't cause any trouble, or I won't be able to explain it to the county magistrate."

Deng Yang was overjoyed and quickly nodded in agreement:
"Don't worry, I won't cause you any trouble!"

The two exchanged a smile, everything understood without a word, and then went back to prepare.

Having received the benefits, Magistrate Zhang naturally became more efficient in his work.

He personally went to report to Magistrate Xie Xiangwen, saying that Deng Yang had agreed to the conditions for passing through and guaranteed to pass through the city wall in an orderly manner.

As for such a trivial matter as buying grain, he naturally didn't tell Xie Xiangwen. It was just buying some grain; what problems could possibly arise?

Xie Xiangwen was somewhat relieved upon hearing this and ordered his men to open the city gates.

But he still dared not be careless. He planned to stay on the city wall and personally watch Deng Yang's troops pass through.

As soon as the city gates opened, Jiang Han, along with Zhao Sheng, changed into a set of coarse cloth clothes and mingled into Kelan County.

After entering the city, the two inquired around and headed straight for the market. They soon found the grain store owned by the wife's brother of Magistrate Zhang.

The store manager had been notified long ago and had been waiting for some time.

Upon entering the backyard, ten donkey carts were parked neatly in a row.

The carts were also filled with bulging sacks, a total of 120 shi (a unit of dry measure) of wheat, all ready and prepared.

However, the prices were outrageously high. A shi (a unit of dry measure) of wheat cost eight taels of silver, and even this broken-down donkey cart cost twenty taels.

Jiang Han was heartbroken over that damned, unscrupulous businessman.

His grain had always been obtained by robbing; who would have thought that one day he would have to spend money to buy it?

Moreover, all this money was borrowed by Jiang Han from his brothers.

Because of the hasty journey, the silver was left in the supply camp at the rear, so Jiang Han had to rely on his soldiers to raise funds.

Fortunately, Jiang Han had never shortchanged them on payday, which is how they managed to scrape together the money.

"Forget it, you can't catch a wolf without risking your cub!"

Jiang Han gritted his teeth and reluctantly paid the money.

To avoid attracting attention, he specifically instructed the driver to send the ten donkey carts out at different times.

He was extremely cautious the whole way, afraid of making a mistake.

Meanwhile, under Xie Xiangwen's supervision, Deng Yang obediently walked around the city wall of Kelan County.

Xie Xiangwen finally breathed a sigh of relief after Deng Yang and his group disappeared at the end of the official road.

"Phew, thankfully nothing went wrong."

He was on edge the whole way, as if he were sending away a plague god.

But he didn't notice at all that several donkey carts were slowly slipping past him right under his nose.

The two men driving the carriage were none other than Jiang Han and Zhao Sheng.

When Jiang Han arrived at the main force in his donkey cart, his thousand men had already been divided into two groups.

A group of four hundred people, led by Li Laowai, had all changed into ordinary coarse cloth clothes.

Another group of 600 people, led by Hei Zi and Deng Yang, were preparing to go to Jing Le County to report to Xu Dingchen.

After dismissing the driver, Jiang Han ordered his men to quickly unload the grain from the cart, and gave some of it to Hei Zi to take away.

Li Laowai and his men hid the knives and armor under the cart, covered them tightly with straw, and then spread some grain on top as a disguise until they could not be seen to be anything amiss before they stopped.

With that, all preparations were complete, and the two teams parted ways.

Hei Zi and Zhao Sheng, along with Deng Yang, continued their march toward Jing Le County.

Jiang Han and Li Laowai took turns driving donkey carts and quietly returned to Kelan County.

He made an agreement with everyone that after entering the city, they would meet at the largest inn in the west of the city, Laifu Inn.

Now, all we need to do is wait for Wang Jiayin to lead his army to attack the city, and then we can coordinate an attack from within and without to take Kelan County in one fell swoop.

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(End of this chapter)