The time is already the beginning of March in the fifteenth year of Chongzhen, and the north has also arrived in the warm spring, the grass is sprouting, the willow branches are green, and the appearance is full of vitality. However, Cao Yue, as the military commander of Datong, did not have the time and mood to appreciate the beautiful scenery of Datong.

Li Yan's army was only a hundred miles away from Datong, and Liu Zongmin's army directly bypassed Taiyuan and rushed in the direction of Datong, only sending a few men and horses to attack and harass Taiyuan, which is only more than 200 miles away from Datong at present. The war was about to break out, and Cao Yue didn't dare to have any carelessness.

After serving in Datong for half a year, Cao Yue won the recognition of Wei Daben, the prefect of Datong, and Zhang An, the supervisor of Datong Town, with his ability and decisive character.

Of course, this has something to do with his status as a quasi-colt, as well as the power of the Shang Fang sword in his hand.

Zhu Chuanqi, the acting king who was originally very prejudiced against Cao Yue and almost clashed, was frightened after hearing that an army of more than 100,000 rogues was coming to attack Datong. He can only pin all his hopes on Cao Yue, because his net worth is all in Datong, and if Datong is not guaranteed, everything will be done for him. Therefore, he no longer behaved high in front of Cao Yue, and even ran to Cao Yue's line in person and personally encouraged him.

When Zhu Daiqi came to Cao Yue's line, Wei Daben, the prefect of Datong, and Zhang An, the eunuch who guarded the town, were all present, and they came to discuss with Cao Yue how to resist the siege of the Liukou. Cao Yue is still quite confident in whether he can hold Datong City and repel the rogues who come to attack.

But now there are a few problems that he is quite worried about, that is, money, food, and military salaries. The salary of Datong's 50,000 troops was basically raised by himself, and the same was true for food. With his efforts, he can cope with the past for the time being. But now that it's early spring, it can be said that it is a time of green and yellow, and it is a little difficult to raise food. Cao Yue didn't know how long the war would stop, and whether Datong would be besieged by the rogues.

It is necessary to raise a lot of food, so as not to cause food shortages due to unexpected situations, which will be very troublesome.

Wei Daben originally proposed whether to invite the acting king to come over to discuss together, although the imperial court stipulated that the vassal king could not interfere in local military and political affairs, but the acting king was a member of the royal family, and it was not good not to consult him for such a major matter. Moreover, Dai Wang's family has a lot of property, so he can be mobilized to donate some. Cao Yue was originally not interested in paying attention to Zhu Chuanqi, and he didn't plan to send someone to invite him. However, Wei Daben's proposal still made him interested, and he pondered that he should find an opportunity to squeeze some money and grain out of Zhu Chuanqi's pocket.

Zhu Chuanqi came to visit in person, and it was still a bit surprising that he was not invited. Zhu Chuanqi came today, it should be for the fact that Liukou is about to attack Datong. Cao Yue also immediately thought of taking this opportunity to knock this vassal king well.

His Royal Highness, the Acting King, who has a great family, must be worried that the Liukou will break through the city, and he can take advantage of this to make him bleed.

"General Cao, I heard that the army of more than 100,000 Liukou is going to make a detour to attack Datong, how is this good?" Zhu Chuanqi did not hide his worries at all, and directly said his fear, "More than 100,000 rogues are several times more than the Datong defenders, maybe there will be follow-up rogues to reinforce you, Cao Zongbing, can you get to the bottom of this king, can you hold Datong City?" ”

Cao Yue and Wei Daben glanced at each other, and both of them saw disdain in each other's eyes. How can this acting king come in a hurry and ask such a question? Why didn't this guy ask if he needed his help?

"Your Royal Highness the Acting King, don't worry, the combat effectiveness of the Liukou is not as good as that of Jiannu, and Datong City is extremely strong, as long as the soldiers and civilians in the city work together to work together to defend Datong City," Seeing that Zhu Chuanqi heard his words, his expression was a little soothed, and Cao Yue immediately said again: "However, what I am most afraid of is that Jiannu will be besieged for a long time, in that case, we will have no reinforcements outside, and it will be difficult to deal with it." ”

Cao Yue's last sentence made Zhu Chuanqi's hanging heart rise again, "How is that good?" ”

"Today, we are discussing with Lord Wei and Gonggong Zhang how to resist the enemy, and we found that today's Datong is in the midst of a shortage of green and yellow, and the military rations in the city are not sufficient. In addition, since the establishment of the Datong New Army, the imperial court has not issued enough salaries, and the lowly officials are worried that after the siege of the city, the army's morale will be unstable, and there may be a big chaos. Cao Yue said, sighed heavily, and said again: "Just now, I was discussing the matter of military supplies with Lord Wei and Gonggong Zhang, and the results have not yet been discussed!"

When Wei Daben and Zhang An heard Cao Yue say this, they immediately understood that Cao Yue was about to ask for money from Zhu Chuanqi. Cao Yue proposed just now, hoping that His Royal Highness the Acting King, who has a rich family, can donate some money and grain. Now Cao Yue and Zhu Chuanqi are complaining, and they are ready to ask for money and food directly from His Royal Highness the Acting King.

Hearing Cao Yue say this, Zhu Chuanqi immediately understood Cao Yue's intentions, and immediately followed Cao Yue's words and said: "Cao Zongbing means that this king understands, presumably now that the treasury is empty, Long Live Lord does not have enough money and food to supply the Datong army." Otherwise, this king followed a few adults to the road to play and beg for money and food, presumably the court should give some of it!"

Cao Yue secretly scolded the old fox, Zhu Chuanqi pretended to be confused, and he could only make his words clear, "The intention of the acting king is very good, but it is far from being able to dissolve the fire, and it takes a lot of time to come and go, and it is difficult to guarantee that it will be allocated in time." Just now, after discussing with a few adults, it was decided to donate some money and food to the wealthy families in Datong City, and the lowly and several adults were ready to take the lead in donating, hoping that His Royal Highness the Acting King could also help make up a little share. ”

As soon as he heard Cao Yue want to be so clear, Zhu Chuanqi immediately lowered his face, but he didn't have a seizure immediately, but said very euphemistically: "Cao Zongbing, don't hide it, this king has been content with the status quo, and he has not made a living all these years, relying on the income of the imperial court, it is very difficult to feed a large family, and he really has no ability to donate money and food." Otherwise, this king also means something, and he will let the palace Zhan Shi send a hundred taels of silver to Cao Zongbing, which will be regarded as a little bit of the king's heart. ”

"A hundred taels of silver?" Probably Cao Yue, who passed on the Qi family business, was almost amused, this is to send beggars. At the moment, he also said unceremoniously: "His Royal Highness the Acting King is really an iron rooster, are you planning to give all your family business to the Liukou as their military salary?" I have found out that the reason why the Liukou came to attack Datong was because of the wealth of His Royal Highness the Acting King. Everyone is rumoring that with the family business of His Royal Highness the Acting King alone, he can fully afford to raise 100,000 horses. The war is coming, and the Liukou are about to invade the city, but His Royal Highness the Acting King takes a hundred taels of silver to fool us, and it seems that he really wants to give the family business to the Liukou as a military salary, and the matter will be brought to the court in the future. ”

Cao Yue's words immediately annoyed Zhu Chuanqi, he didn't expect that this little guy would intimidate him, the King of Pan, so nakedly, and openly ask for money and food, which was too much.