lady, please calm down

Chapter 375 Not Retreating

When the Jin army first arrived on the north bank, Wuyi, Fucheng, Jiaohe and other counties on the south bank of the boundary river indeed fell into unprecedented panic.

But with the arrival of King Chu's troops and Zhou Liang's troops of the fourth brigade on the 21st and 27th, the panic was quickly soothed.

Firstly, the King of Chu's army had a precedent of sweeping away Liu E's rebels last year. Secondly, during the winter dredging battle, the army and the people established a foundation of trust.

Therefore, the arrival of King Chu is reassuring news

Immediately, the joy of the autumn harvest diluted the anxiety caused by the Jin Army on the north bank.

In previous years, after the summer grain was harvested, the housewives had to plan carefully to last until the autumn harvest. The grain harvested in the autumn could last until the Chinese New Year at most. As for the coming spring, it would be a spring famine that all farmers had to endure.

However, this year's summer wheat harvest has ushered in an unprecedented bumper harvest. Even in September, most farmers in the three counties along the river still have more than half of their grain reserves, so there is no problem in eating until the New Year.

Before the summer grain was exhausted, the autumn grain was picked up again. Such abundant rations made the housewives who were used to searching for them smile from ear to ear with joy.

In the past, nearby villages grew a variety of soybeans and sorghum after the summer grain harvest. This year, in addition to these two crops, corn and sweet potatoes were also added.

Especially sweet potatoes, they can grow on any land, they are not afraid of cold or drought, they can grow on slopes, sandy lands that cannot hold water, and even slightly saline-alkali lands.

And the output is scary. It is generally in the range of more than 2,000 kilograms to more than 3,000 kilograms.

It is said that Uncle Shiwen Enwen, who is good at producing crops in Xianbeiwan Village, Fucheng, has personally tended the crops, and the yield has reached 4,000 kilograms per mu.

As soon as the news came out, nearby villagers came to learn from him.

Even Cai Si, the county magistrate, personally sent a plaque reading "Rang Rang Man Family".

The staff of the Agricultural Research Institute here, who are responsible for instructing people on how to store sweet potatoes, specially hired Uncle Wen as an "expert consultant". While receiving a reward, he held classes on the spot in Beiwan Village, summarizing the experience of harvesting his own sweet potatoes and teaching them. with everyone.

It is great to be rewarded, but what makes Uncle Wen feel more comfortable is the sense of accomplishment of "preaching and receiving responsibilities" and being respected by others.

The mud-legged guy who has always been looked down upon by others actually stood on a high platform one day and gave lectures to hundreds of villagers!

Didn’t you read it? Magistrate Cai was sitting in the audience, writing down the key points of farming explained by Uncle Wen in a small notebook from time to time.

The only thing that makes Uncle Wen unhappy is that these Huaibei boys actually call such a good thing as sweet potatoes 'coarse grains'!

Sweet potatoes are crispy and sweet when eaten raw, but they are also soft, glutinous and sweet after being steamed. I heard from people at the Agricultural Research Institute that if you store sweet potatoes in a cellar, they will not go bad for half a year!

If this is true, this extremely high-yielding, land-free treasure is simply a life-saving pill for poor people!

Do you call this treasure coarse grain?

If Cai Si hadn't stopped him, Uncle Wen would have almost brought the young man to build a temple for this sweet potato.

However, the wisdom of the working people is infinite. Although Uncle Wen's wish to build a temple for sweet potatoes failed to come true, he found another way and placed the sweet potatoes in the hands of the clay sculpture of King Chu in the King of Chu Temple.

In this way, the clay sculpture that was originally holding a sword with one hand turned into a sword with one hand and a sweet potato in the other. For those who don't know, I thought the King of Chu had snatched someone else's sweet potato with his sword.

Cai Si couldn't laugh or cry, but Uncle Wen was confident, "Your Majesty gave us Hebei Road Taiping with a sword, and taught everyone how to grow these sweet potatoes. What's wrong with using a sword and using sweet potatoes?"

Unexpectedly, Uncle Wen started a trend, and the nearby villages followed suit, and the kings of each village grabbed their own sweet potatoes.

Yes, I understand that this is a way for the people to thank the King of Chu for bringing this crop that may eliminate famine forever.

If you don’t know, you might think that King Chu loved sweet potatoes.

Cai Si is busy here due to the autumn harvest.

Chen Chu is not idle either. Since he and Han Qixian have no intention of starting a war, they must try their best to save the latter's face. If Han Qixian brings such a person here, there must be some results.

For example, hand over the 'murderer' who ambushed the Jin Kingdom's Han army.

To be able to ambush and kill more than a hundred golden soldiers, according to common sense, there must be at least more than 200 murderers.

With so many heads, it’s really hard to find them.

Killing the people and pretending to be one is naturally not an option for the Huaibei Army, so the only ones are the mountain bandits.

But last year, the Huai Army suppressed several counties along the river. Not to mention the strongmen who blocked the roads, even the rogue village tyrants had disappeared.

Chen Chu had no choice but to look at neighboring prefectures and counties such as Daming Prefecture and Gaotang Prefecture.

This time, the bandits in the two places suffered an unthinkable disaster

In short, Han Qixian did not rush, and Chen Chu took the opportunity to launch a round of severe attacks on surrounding prefectures and counties.

Just when the two sides were working very tacitly to bring this side incident to an end, something happened.

On September 19th, five Jin sergeants from the Alihe tribe, wearing Chinese clothes, mixed with the northern caravan and landed on the south bank.

Although armies from both sides of the Taiwan Strait gathered together, normal trade was never interrupted because Fucheng's trade was related to the interests of Huaibei, Nanjing Han Guo and other families.

During the business trip, there were Han people, Liao people and even Xixia people. It was not uncommon for the caravans to have people whose faces were slightly different from those of the Han people.

Unexpectedly, several people had physical conflicts with merchants in Niuma Market because they molested women.

The sergeant in charge of the third regiment here stepped forward to maintain order, but the golden man actually pulled out his short blade to resist.

At this time, the Huaibei Army had noticed that these people were coming with bad intentions. However, the Huaibei warriors who had been trained through repeated battles and victories over the years did not care whether you were from the Liao or the Jin. If you dared to attack the officers and soldiers, they would be killed without mercy!

In a small conflict, five golden men were killed, two were killed and three were injured.

In the afternoon of that day, Cai Si learned that the Jin people were killed by the Huaibei army on the border of Fucheng, and hurriedly found Chen Chu to report the matter.

"Golden Man? Are there often golden men coming in and out of our cattle and horse market?"

Chen Chu found it strange that something like this happened at such a sensitive moment.

"There have been gold people coming and going in the Cow Horse Market, but it's not common," Cai Si replied.

"Haha, these golden men showed up at the right time."

Chen Chu pondered for a moment and then said: "Can I ask about the origin of the Jin people? Are they members of the caravan or the Jin people on the other side?"

Before the word 'soldier' ​​was uttered, a white-haired rat hurriedly walked into the hall, clasped his fists and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty! There is something strange on the other side of the bank. Jin general A Lihe is making noise on the north bank. Today, five Jin soldiers deserted and fled to the south bank. , he wants to lead troops into Fucheng to search!"

"what"

Chen Chu laughed dumbly, "Who said these barbarians can't do tricks. This trick is very smooth!"

Combined with what the white-haired rat reported, you’d be a fool if you don’t understand what’s going on.

This morning, Jin people, who are not common in Niuma City, appeared in the city and started provoking troubles and conflicts. In the afternoon, the other side said that a sergeant had been kidnapped and they wanted to search the city.

This is no different from the Japs outside Wanping City who tried to force their way into the city on the pretext that soldiers were missing.

"Let's go! Go meet this A Lihe!"

Not in time.

When Chen Chu arrived at the boundary river, the two sides were already at war with each other.

On the north bank, Alihe was riding on a horse. Below, Han Qixian was trying to persuade him. Speaking of which, the latter was the Shangguan, and he was several steps higher than Alihe.

But at this time, there was one person on top and one person on the bottom. On the contrary, A Lihe looked more noble.

Chen Chu immediately stepped forward and looked across the river bank. Someone immediately introduced Chen Chu to the people on the other side in a low voice.

Chen Chu looked at A Lihe carefully across the river more than ten feet away, and the latter's gaze also lingered on him for a few seconds.

Afterwards, Chen Chu sat on his horse and said loudly: "May I ask if the person on the other side is Han Gong, the Prime Minister of Nanjing Xingshu Province?"

Upon hearing this, Han Qixian temporarily gave up his efforts to persuade A Lihe and replied to the other side: "It's me, but the other side is the King of Chu of Qi State?"

Chen Chu nodded, looked at the soldiers who were waiting on both sides of the strait, and said, "Xiang Han, why is this?" Han Qixian had a bitter look on his face. He didn't know why A Lihe was so crazy that he suddenly led people on the shore. They formed an array and collected boats, and there was great momentum to cross the river by force.

Before he could speak, A Lihe suddenly raised his finger and pointed at Chen Chu, shouting: "You, the King of the Han people, five of our troops ran to the south bank today! Hand them over quickly."

Damn it, two of the five died, and one of the survivors had his arm cut off.

There were only two semi-living people left, and even if they were handed over, they would only be accused of "Qi State killing Jin State soldiers without permission".

Anyway, the opponent was deliberately looking for trouble. Chen Chu simply shook his head and said: "There are no golden people in Fucheng."

Unexpectedly, Wang Wenbao, who had been standing majestically next to A Lihe, shouted: "Fart! I saw them boarding the south bank with my own eyes!"

Seeing him speak, Bao Xi, who was next to Chen Chu, also said: "You're the one who farts! My prince says he won't do it, so what do you think?"

Wang Wenbao and Bao Xi were both commanders of the same army. They raised their heads and their subordinates cursed across the river.

On both sides of the boundary river, 'Fuck your mother', 'Penetrate your grandma's milk' and 'Sun your sister-in-law' were flying all over the sky.

The language is so beautiful that it’s shameful.

Wang Wenbao had been feeling resentful for many days since his sworn brother died in Nan'an. At this time, his desire to set foot in Fucheng was even stronger than that of A Lihe who had received the secret order from Huanglong Mansion.

But I saw him coming out of the crowd and shouting: "Don't imitate women's gossip! I just ask you, if there are no Dajin warriors on your south bank, why don't you dare to let our army search the city!"

"Are you a fucking idiot? Just because a sergeant is crossing south, you want to search the city of Qi. If I say someone from our army is crossing north, will you let me search your Hejian mansion?"

Baoxi immediately refuted it.

"." Wang Wenbao couldn't help but hesitate.

The logic of using the sergeant's excuse to cross south to search the city is indeed far-fetched. If the other party agrees, the only possibility is to surrender due to the power of the Jin army.

At the moment, it seems that the other party is very tough.

Seeing that he was choked and speechless, Shi Shiran, a man dressed as a scribe behind Alihe, stepped forward, cleared his throat and said loudly: "Jin is the father of Qi, and the land of Qi is our country." In the land of gold, if the father wants to go to the son’s home, how can the son stop him?”

"How can the affairs of the country be discussed as family affairs?"

This time it was Cai Si who answered.

Seeing the two sides going back and forth and quarreling with each other, Alihe gradually became dissatisfied and called Wang Wenbao.

Wang Wenbao, who was eager to try, could no longer hold back. He immediately interrupted the argument between the two scholars and said domineeringly: "Today in Fucheng, if you allow it, we have to search it. If you don't allow it, we have to search it too!"

After that, with a wave of his hand, about a group of sergeants, led by the team general, boarded the boat one after another, intending to forcefully cross the boundary river.

At this time today, it is not like the dark lights in the early morning of the sixth day of last month.

It was broad daylight and the sky was clear. Wang Wenbao didn't believe that the Qi army on the other side dared to attack them.

A Lihe in the back gave Wang Wenbao great confidence.

If the cowardly Qi State dares to cause chaos in the world, the disaster of death and destruction of the country is imminent.

The soldiers crossing the river felt the same way. They were located on the border. It was not like the soldiers from the two places had never interacted with each other before. The power of the Jin army that had swept the world for more than ten years gave them, the Han army, a sense of self-confidence.

Haha, sergeant of Qi State, a bunch of local chickens and tile-eared dogs!

However, they ignored that the group of people in front of them were not the Yongjing Army who would only kowtow to them.

The other party's arrogant attitude made Baoxi and Peng Er angry to death!

We are all soldiers. We once swept across Huaibei and wiped out Liu E with a snap of our fingers. Why are you pretending to be a tyrant in front of me?

But no matter how angry they were, the two of them still looked at Chen Chu in unison.

Chen Chu, who had been silent for a long time, watched the boat full of soldiers on the other side leave the shore and gradually approach his own defense area. He said slowly: "Kill those who cross the heart of the river!"

These words were like a dose of stimulant, and Bao Xi was overjoyed. He immediately gave an order, and the soldiers on the north bank drew their bows and drew arrows.

For a moment, the south bank was filled with a slight creaking sound as the back of the bow was tightened.

This sound was like a gag order, and the north and south sides instantly fell silent.

The Jin army on the north bank was stunned for a moment when they saw that the Qi army on the south bank actually made an attacking posture.

The soldiers in the rowing team felt something was wrong.

Maybe Jin Guo's boat crossed the middle of the river, or maybe it was still a few feet away from the middle of the river. In short, there was a loud shout of "let go" from the south bank.

The 'buzzing' sound of the bow string being loosened and the 'swish' sound of the arrow leaving the string resounded loudly.

The distance was less than ten feet, so there was no need to projectile at all. After one round of flat shots, the five boats and the passengers on top suddenly transformed into hedgehogs.

The North Bank Jinjun seemed to be shocked by the scene in front of them.

Neither Wang Wenbao nor Han Qixian expected Qi to be so decisive and dare to shoot Sergeant Dajin on the spot.

In the bleak autumn wind, the wails of some of the soldiers crossing the river who had not yet expired were particularly loud in the river.

After Wang Wenbao came to his senses, he became furious, "Qi thief! Do you want to rebel against me, Daikin!"

But as soon as he finished speaking, a cold arrow suddenly hit the front door. Wang Wenbao dodged alertly, and the arrow passed through the left cheek, leaving a wound on the face that extended from the corner of the mouth to the ear.

"Guide the bow, draw the bow! Shoot back!"

In anger, Wang Wenbao hid in the crowd of soldiers at the rear and ordered the Jin soldiers to fight back.

After Han Qixian was stunned, he quickly turned around and made eye contact with his lieutenants Han Chang and Guo An. The two came today with the same purpose of 'persuading peace' as Han Qixian. When they saw that the two sides really had a conflict, they immediately led The accompanying troops retreated in an orderly manner.

On the south bank, Peng Er shook his head and said dissatisfied with Bao Xi: "I said I would shoot, but you want to shoot! Look, I didn't hit Wang Wenbao after all!"

The cold arrow just now was shot by Baoxi, who was not good at archery.

While the two were talking, sporadic counterattacks in panic from the other side had arrived, and the shield bearers of the Huaibei Army who had been well prepared immediately covered their respective superiors in their shields.

The white-haired rat led Chen Chu's horse and retreated to a safe area dozens of feet away.

On both sides of the boundary river, you came and I shot several rounds.

However, except for the initial salvo fired by the Huaibei Army, the subsequent shooting did not cause too many casualties to the prepared opponent.

Cai Si, who had been following Chen Chu, saw that this farce was not ending well and couldn't help but sigh, "Brother-in-law, I'm afraid the good situation in Fucheng is about to end now."

"That's not necessarily the case~"

Chen Chu shook his head and asked, "If it were you, would you let the Jin army enter Fucheng today?"

Due to the recent turmoil, Fucheng and even the entire Qi State do not know what kind of situation they will face next.

Cai Si was naturally worried, but he could not hear Chen Chu's question, but he said without hesitation: "We must not let them enter the city! The Jin people have carefully planned what happened today!"

"Isn't that enough? If I can take one step back today, I can take a hundred steps back tomorrow to move towards the country. Not even an inch is redundant."

(End of this chapter)