Xin Ping saw that the military rations were robbed, Yan Liangwen was injured again, and Jiang Qi, Lu Kuang and others took thousands of people, knowing that even if the Yuan army had more people than the Guantao defenders, but because the army was discouraged and demoralized, there was no need to fight this battle again, so he suggested to Yuan Shao: "My lord, the current situation is not favorable to our army, it is better to withdraw the troops back to Yecheng first, and wait for the next year to fight again, right?" ”

When Yuan Shao heard Xin Ping say this, he immediately stared at him with eyes that wanted to eat people and asked, "Our army still has more than 70,000 people, and the Han family's children are only more than 30,000 people. Besides, there are 7,000 newly attached soldiers among them, and he can only use 20,000 soldiers, so why should our army withdraw at this time? ”

"My lord, there is not enough food and grass in the army, and the soldiers will inevitably be unstable." Seeing that Yuan Shao was angry, the judge hurriedly explained: "Besides, the cold winter is coming, and there is a lack of winter clothes in the army, if you continue to stay outside Guantao City, even if the Han family children do not fight with our army, a large number of soldiers will die of cold and starvation." ”

Feng Ji, who was good at observing words and feelings, knew that the other party would never withdraw his troops under such circumstances, according to Yuan Shao's face, so he stood up and said: "Zhongzhi's words are wrong, our army has no food, grass and winter clothes, so people can go back to Yecheng to ask for it, why worry about it." ”

Seeing that Feng Ji was in opposition to himself, Xin Ping frowned slightly: "Yuan Tu, now the grain and grass in the camp are only for three days, even if you send someone back to urge the food immediately, it will take at least ten days to send it to the camp." Once the Han family child senses the lack of food in the army and leads troops to attack, our army will inevitably be defeated. ”

"How can the children of the Han family know about the truth in my camp?" Feng Ji raised his voice, and when he was about to refute Xin Ping's fallacy, he suddenly remembered Jiang Qi, Lu Kuang and others who fled with their troops today, and suddenly fell silent. Because he thought that in order to gain Han Zhan's trust, Jiang Qi and the others would definitely take the initiative to report Yuan Ying's truth to the other party.

Xun Chen, who has always rarely expressed his opinions, came out of the queue and saluted Yuan Shaoshen: "Enlighten the lord, my subordinates have a word, I don't know whether to say it or not!" ”

Yuan Shao saw Xun Chen behaving so respectfully, and guessed that he was afraid of being suspicious of himself because he was related to Han Zhan, so he behaved very cautiously. He nodded at Xun Chen and asked, "Mr. Xun, what do you have to say, but it's okay to say it." ”

"The subordinates agreed to Xin Zhongzhi's proposal, and we immediately quietly pulled out the camp and returned to Yecheng." Xun Chen said carefully: "If we stay here any longer, once it snows heavily and the road is difficult, I am afraid that it will not be so easy for the army to retreat to Yecheng safely." ”

Seeing that Xun Chen echoed his opinion, Xin Ping hurriedly added: "Lord, our army is currently short of grain, grass and winter clothes, so it is not appropriate to stay outside Guantao City, so let's retreat overnight." When I returned to Yecheng and rectified the army, it would not be too late to come and go to Guantao again in the coming year. ”

Xin Ping and Xun Chen's persuasion made Yuan Shao ponder. He thought that this time he hastily transferred the soldiers and horses of Wei County to attack Guantao, but because the generals were not united, the result was not only not to take Guantao, but to lose the soldiers, and even some people directly pulled the soldiers away, it seems that it is necessary to meet Yecheng first, and after the soldiers and horses are reorganized, it is not too late to attack Guantao.

Thinking of this, Yuan Shao ordered everyone: "Everyone go back and hurry up and pack up, we will withdraw our troops overnight." ”

Hearing that Yuan Shao agreed to his suggestion, Xin Ping and Xun Chen glanced at each other, and they both saw a surprise in each other's eyes. The two hurriedly saluted Yuan Shaoshen and said loudly: "Lord Shengming! ”

In the early morning of the second day, the soldiers on duty at the head of Guantao City saw that there was only a row of wooden fences left in the Yuan camp in the distance, which was empty, and there was not a single tent in sight, so they hurriedly went to report to the team leader.

When the team heard the report of the soldiers, the other party lied about the military situation, and went to the city to check in person. When he looked at the empty camp in the distance, he couldn't help but mutter: "Hell, this is the hell, Yuan Jun actually withdrew in the middle of the night." He turned to the soldier beside him, "Did you hear anything last night?" ”

The soldier shook his head like a rattle: "Return to the team, Yuan's camp is four or five miles away from the city wall, even if there is any movement in the middle of the night, we can't hear it here." ”

The team leader was about to go down the city wall to report to Gao Lan, but he saw Gao Lan walking up the stairs along the wall with a team of soldiers, and hurriedly reported forward: "Captain Qiqi, Yuan Jun has retreated." ”

"What, Yuan Jun retreated?" When Gao Ran heard the report of the team rate, he couldn't help but raise his eyebrows, and asked with a serious expression: "What you said is the truth." ”

"What the little one says, every word is true." The captain hurriedly replied: "If the captain doesn't believe me, you can go up to the wall and see for yourself." ”

Gao Ran rushed up to the city wall in three steps and two steps, held on to the battlements and looked into the distance, and saw that the Yuan camp, which was originally waving the flag, really became an empty camp, and his heart couldn't help but feel a burst of ecstasy. However, before he came down the city wall, he still ordered the team leader: "You are careful here, and I will go to the Taishou Mansion to report this matter to the Pavilion Marquis." ”

The expressions on the faces of the people who were discussing in the lobby became relaxed after listening to Gao Ran's report. But after Han Zhan heard this, he was stunned, and said in his heart: Why did Yuan Shao suddenly withdraw his troops, could it be that there was fraud in it?

Jiang Qi, who was standing on the side, saw Han Zhan's puzzled expression, and hurriedly stood up and said to him: "Lord, there is a shortage of food in Yuan Shao's camp, coupled with the cold weather, the soldiers lack winter clothes, if they continue to hold on to us outside the city, a large number of soldiers in the camp will die of starvation." ”

"What Captain Jiang said is extremely true." As soon as Jiang Qi's words were finished, Huang Zhong continued: "Lord, since Yuan Shao has withdrawn, should we send troops to chase after him?" ”

"No, we can't go after it!" Regarding Huang Zhong's proposal, Guo Jia was the first to stand up and object: "Although Yuan Shao retreated, he must be on guard against the pursuers we sent. If Jia is not mistaken, he must have set up an ambush in a dangerous place, and we will definitely suffer a great loss if we rush to pursue it. ”

Hearing Guo Jia say that Yuan Shao must have ambushes along the way, Han Zhan agreed with this statement: "Yuan Shao has a large number of capable men, since they choose to withdraw their troops in the middle of the night, it means that they must do a good job of countermeasures, if we rashly send troops to pursue, we will inevitably suffer a heavy defeat." There is no need to mention the matter of sending troops to pursue it. ”

After the discussion, Rob came in and reported to Han Zhanyu: "Lord Qiqi, Hu Cha asks to see!" ”

Hearing that the wealthy merchant Hu Cha asked to see him, Han Zhan felt very curious, didn't he sell wine in Jizhou City, and when did he come to Guantao. It was a little inappropriate to meet him in the lobby, so he instructed Rob: "Please Mr. Hu to the backyard!" ”

Not long after Han Zhan returned to the back house, Hu Cha walked into the study under the guidance of Rob. After Hu Cha entered the door, he immediately came to Han Zhan and knelt down in front of him, and after kowtowing respectfully, he said with a smile on his face: "The villain sees Tinghou!" ”

"Mr. Hu, please take a seat!" After Han Zhan waited for the other party to finish his salute, he beckoned him to sit down, and then asked politely: "I don't know if Mr. Hu has come here from Jizhou, do you have any advice?" ”

"If you go back to Tinghou," Hu Cha said respectfully, "the villain saw that the weather was cold and the soldiers' winter clothes had not yet been settled, so he ordered someone to prepare five hundred leather jackets and send them. ”

When the weather turned cold some time ago, Han Zhan thought that cotton had not yet been used to make cotton clothes in this dynasty, and if he wanted to prepare winter clothes for the soldiers, he could only purchase leather jackets. Hearing Hu Cha say this at this moment, he hurriedly arched his hand towards the other party, and said gratefully: "In this way, Ben Hou represents the generals in the army, thank you Mr. Hu." ”

He considered that the merchants were unprofitable and could not afford to be early, since Hu Cha took the initiative to give away 500 leather jackets, presumably in order to sell his family's leather jackets to the army more conveniently, he politely asked: "Mr. Hu, there are nearly 30,000 soldiers and horses in Guantao City, and 500 leather jackets is a drop in the bucket." I wonder if Mr. Hu has a way to buy the leather jacket he needs for the army? ”

Hu Cha heard Han Zhan say that he was going to order leather jackets from him, his face smiled like a flower, he originally thought that Han Zhan would be able to buy thousands of leather jackets from him at best, but at this moment, he knew that the other party actually planned to buy almost 30,000 pieces, which did not let him make a lot of money. He hurriedly got up and said: "If you go back to Tinghou, although the number of 30,000 leather jackets is a little more, there are many leather workshops near Jizhou in the villain, and I believe that within half a month, it will be able to meet the needs of the army." ”

After placing an order with Hu Cha, Han Zhan suddenly thought that he should take a look at the cargo version, so he politely asked Hu Cha: "Mr. Hu, I wonder if you can let Ben Hou see the sample?" ”

"Yes, please wait, the villain will take the goods version." Hu Cha said, got up and walked to the door, and said a few words to the outside. The effort was not great, so he came in with two burdens, one large and one small. He put the burden on the ground, untied the big one first, took out the neatly folded leather jacket from it, and said to Han Zhan: "Tinghou, please see, this is the leather jacket I prepared for the generals and soldiers in the army." ”

Han Zhan took it and took a look, it turned out to be a leather jacket made of sheepskin, don't look at the low grade, but it was a good thing to keep out the cold. Seeing Han Zhan turning over and over the leather jacket to look at it, Hu Cha added: "Tinghou, this is made of sheepskin, and there is also a leather jacket with dog skin, I don't know which one Tinghou plans to purchase?" ”

Han Zhan was in logistics in his later life, and he studied the goods he transported, and he also knew a little about this kind of leather goods. Of all the leather goods, although the clothes made of dog skins are of the lowest grade, the upper body is the warmest, otherwise the people of the Arctic Circle would not buy this commodity in large quantities every year. Nowadays, it is necessary to buy a large number of winter clothes for the troops, and if they are mainly sheepskins, they may not be able to afford it economically, so they still use dog skins.

Thinking of this, he said to Hu Cha: "Mr. Hu, I think it is still mainly dog skin jackets, if the number is insufficient, then use sheepskin jackets to supplement the missing number." ”

"The villain takes the order, the villain takes the order!" After Hu Cha finished speaking, he opened another baggage, took out a capped cloak inside, handed it to Han Zhan, and said respectfully: "Tinghou, this is the villain's filial piety to you, please smile!" ”

Han Zhan took the cloak and was immediately stunned, what Hu Cha gave him was actually a pure white mink cloak. He used to see books about a person's clothes made of white fox skin, with no stray hairs on them, and he felt how valuable the clothes were. After coming into contact with the logistics industry, I learned that the grade of fur known by fox fur is actually not high, which can be seen from the fact that the price is only a fraction of the mink clothes. Now that he is holding the sable fur cloak in his hand, it is really a lot of money.

Han Zhan gently stroked the cloak with his hand and said in a low voice, "The hair needles are short and soft, and the bottom fleece is so thick, they must all be made of female mink skin, right?" According to Ben Hou's calculations, it should have been thirty-six mink skins. ”

When Hu Cha heard Han Zhan say this, he was stunned for a moment, and then gave him a thumbs up: "Tinghou is really well-informed, this cloak is indeed made of female mink skin, and the number of skins used is exactly thirty-six." ”

Although Han Zhan liked this cloak very much in his heart, he still handed it back to Hu Cha and said a little insincerely: "Mr. Hu, this thing must be worth a lot of money, and this Hou will not be meritorious, please take it back." ”

Hu Cha smiled and hurriedly said: "Tinghou, although this thing is worth a hundred gold, it is far from the steaming technology provided by Tinghou for the villain. This is the villain's heart to Tinghou, please don't shirk Tinghou! ”

Seeing Hu Cha is good intentions, Han Zhan didn't shirk it anymore, he naturally accepted the mink cloak, put it aside, and asked Hu Cha: "Mr. Hu, Ben Hou plans to return to Jizhou in two days, I don't know if you will continue to stay here, or return to Jizhou with Ben Hou?" ”

"If you go back to Tinghou, the villain has some business here, and the recent siege of the Yuan army has somewhat affected the business." Hu Cha hurriedly replied: "The villain plans to stay here and return to Jizhou after everything is back on track." ”

Han Zhan knew that Hu Cha had his own business in many cities, and when he heard Hu Cha mention Yuan Jun, he suddenly remembered that the other party had another business in Yecheng, and hurriedly asked with concern: "Mr. Hu, if Ben Hou is not mistaken, you also have a business in Yecheng." If Yuan Shao knew about your funding for Benhou, would he have done anything to your business in Yecheng? ”

Hearing Han Zhan say this, Hu Cha shook his head with a wry smile and said, "Even if Yuan Shao knows that the villain has funded Tinghou and wants to seize the villain's business in Yecheng, it will be a helpless time. However, the villain believes that Tinghou will break through Yecheng sooner or later, and then the villain's business can reopen. ”

Looking at this wealthy businessman who had been supporting him since Sheguo County, Han Zhan bowed slightly, and solemnly assured him: "Mr. Hu, please rest assured, no matter how big your loss is in Yecheng." As long as Benhou captures Yecheng, he will be compensated twice. ”

After Hu Cha got Han Zhan's promise, he was overjoyed, he hurriedly lay down and kowtowed repeatedly, and at the same time expressed his loyalty to Han Zhan: "Thank you Tinghou for your kindness, as long as the villain still has a breath, I am willing to serve Tinghou for the dogs and horses!" ”