Although the war in Longyou City is over, this does not mean that the war is over.

At this time, about a hundred miles away from Longyou City, it was the camp of the Chu army. However, the Chu army's Chinese army tent does not seem to be very harmonious. The generals of the Chu army are all arguing over this battle of the contempt country. Bi Huiju sat down a little decadently, so silent that people misunderstood that this was a stone sculpture.

And sitting in the first place was Bai Gongsheng, a doctor who had just returned to Chu from Wu. Although Bai Gongsheng was born in a royal family, it was obvious that the generals of the Chu army did not buy his account very much. Although Bai Gongsheng interjected many times, it was clear that the dispute was not settled.

In fact, the quarrel is nothing more than whether to march or retreat, and some Chu generals think that now the country has been occupied by the Wu army, and the grain route of the Chu army is much longer than that of the Wu army. Moreover, without the support of the country of contempt, the Chu army suffered a great loss in the war in the country of contempt, and we could not make senseless sacrifices.

The generals of the Chu army who supported the march were unwilling to waste their previous actions, especially the road opened up, and the Chu State put a lot of effort into it. The road is three feet wide and paved with clay and loess. Not only did they send an army of 5,000 men to pave the way, but they also mobilized another 10,000 people to strengthen the road. The manpower and material resources spent by the Chu State are not small, if this is the case, they will have to accept a lot of responsibility when they go back.

scolded and quarreled for a long time, but in the end there was no argument.

Bai Gongsheng couldn't bear it anymore, and slapped the low table in front of him. "Smack!" There was a loud noise, Bai Gongsheng Huo Ran stood up and shouted angrily: "You don't have me as a general in your eyes!" ”

The generals of the Chu army below didn't know if they were really suppressed by the aura that Bai Gongsheng's small universe erupted when they saw that the quarrel went on endlessly, or if they were really suppressed. For a while, the big tent of the Chinese army was so quiet that even if you think about it, you can hear it.

Bai Gongsheng naturally knew that he couldn't get an inch now, Bai Gongsheng eased his tone, and said in a deep voice: "I don't think it's good to fight, after all, the Wu army has just won a big victory, and the morale is booming, at this time we rush forward, even if we win, I'm afraid it will be a miserable victory." ”

Many of the generals of the Chu army who supported the march immediately turned ugly, but they didn't wait for them to speak.

Speaking of this, Bai Gongsheng had already preempted them to speak, and the words changed sharply, and said: "But if you don't fight, I'm afraid that the court won't be able to explain it, I think so!" We are here to make a big show and play the banner of the state of Chu to provoke the Wu army and them. If we lose the first battle, we will retreat. If we win the first battle, we will take advantage of the situation to recover the country of Guscorn, what do you think? ”

The generals of the Chu army looked at each other, and after half a sound, everyone responded: "The general is wise, I'll wait and see that's it!" ”

When Bai Gongsheng heard this, he nodded with a smile, he knew that his compromise method had established a little prestige in the Chu army, although it was not much, but it had also taken the first step.

The Chu army was not far from Longyou City, and with the great fanfare of the Chu army, the Wu army quickly detected the news. However, Wu Ming was quite puzzled by the Chu army's stagnation and fanfare, suspecting that the Chu army had some ambush conspiracy, and it was not easy to make a decision for a while.

Wu Ming immediately found Yang Zilu, and after some thought, Yang Zilu said to Wu Ming: "Ziyao, I have three views on this matter, and it can also be divided into three strategies, which one do you want to hear first?" ”

"Let's do it first!" Wu Ming thought for a while and spoke.

"The best strategy is to create the illusion that the army is standing still, after several days of preparation, concentrate the elite soldiers and horses, and break through a hundred miles in one night, and launch an attack on the Chu army with lightning speed! The Chu army was caught off guard, and the ** of the ten will definitely be defeated! Yang Zilu said as he sketched the route of the army on the map.

"It's too risky! Once discovered by the spies of the Chu army, we who have become a tired army will be wiped out, even if we are not completely wiped out. This is not possible, but what is the middle policy? "Wu Ming is a flower living in a greenhouse, when he was born, Wu Zixu was already a minister of Wu Guoquan, and he usually can't see anything, but when it comes to courage, he is not Yang Zilu who was born at the grassroots.

"The middle strategy is to lead the army to press, and now although the Vietnamese army has suffered heavy losses, with the soldiers and horses of our Han army, the coalition army still has 8,000 men and horses. It is a full sixty percent more than the Chu army. And it's a new victory, and morale is booming. The most important thing is that there is nothing suitable for large nearby terrain in this area, and it is difficult for the Chu army to play any tricks in such a situation. Yang Zilu circled his finger on the map and said in a deep voice.

Wu Ming didn't know what to think, and after half a sound, he asked noncommittally: "So what is the next strategy?" ”

"The next strategy is to respond to all changes with the same and directly stationed in Longyou City. Our grain route is shorter than that of the Chu army, even if there are more soldiers and horses, but the food consumption of the Chu army is definitely more than ours. And after a long time, any intrigues and tricks can't bear the loneliness and surface, but the shortcomings are also obvious, and the morale of the army has also been consumed. So I personally think that either you can choose the best strategy, or the middle strategy," Yang Zilu frowned, and seemed to be a little reluctant to say.

"Zilu, your opinion is good, but I think the next step is the best! It's safe enough," Wu Ming turned happy when he heard this, and said with a little excitement.

Yang Zilu can also understand Wu Ming's idea, now that Wu Ming has obtained the fruits of victory, and further defeating the Chu army will be the icing on the cake. However, if you are defeated by the Chu army, you will wait to be defeated. With Wu Ming's somewhat soft surname, how could he choose to take risks?

Although Yang Zilu is eager to win, since Wu Ming has made such a choice, Yang Zilu can't say anything. Besides, Yang Zilu is not too depressed about this, after all, war is to kill people, Yang Zilu is not a real hard-hearted person, he is just a person who hides his feelings, if he can win without dying, in Yang Zilu's opinion, that is the best thing.

It seems that in order to compensate himself for not adopting Yang Zilu's strategy of going up and down, Wu Ming agreed to Yang Zilu's request. The Han army was allowed to give up all the spoils of war, and as compensation, Wu Ming handed over all the 300 war horses obtained from the Gu State to Yang Zilu.

This made Yang Zilu very happy, plus the war horses that Yang Zilu got from the Sanyi tribe, and now the cavalry of the Han army can be expanded to 600 people, of which about 100 are armored horses. The cavalry was doubled in size. But the problem came again, the war horse was there, but the cavalry did not, so Yang Zilusuo asked Yang Tugou to train soldiers in the army as cavalry.

And the other soldiers did not ease down, anyway, now that Gou Jian paid him money and food, Yang Zilusuo's surname was training every day, and because there were two thousand vacancies, Yang Zilu did not pity the soldiers at all. The soldiers let go of their stomachs to eat, and every day Yang Zilu would use grain to go to nearby villages in exchange for pigs! Sheep! Chickens! Something like that came back and gave it to the soldiers.

Yang Zilu is so leisurely, but he suffocated Gou Jian, originally Gou Jian thought that this war would take at least three months. As a result, Yang Zilu attacked Longyou City, causing the country to fall in contempt. Gou Jian originally thought that this war should be almost over, but after another twist and turn, the Chu army intervened, and it also made Gou Jian grit his teeth with hatred for Chu State.

As a result, Wu Ming also said that he should respond to all changes with the same, which made Gou Jian grit his teeth with hatred, and he didn't know what Wu Ming's head thought. Such a good situation made such a conservative decision, but he still had to honestly deliver food and grass to the front. The depression in Gou Jian's heart can be imagined.

Time passed little by little, Yang Zilu was prepared because of the situation, but Gou Jian was unable to pay attention to this matter. The husband ordered Wu Ming to hand over the territory of the country to Yang Zilu.

And the reason why Gou Jian didn't have time to pay attention to this matter was because the people of Yue Guo were complaining.

Originally, the grain in Yue was not excessive, and the surplus grain was only 80,000 stones, and Wu Ming asked for 30,000 stone of grain before he went on the expedition. Yang Zilu asked for another 15,000 stones, but after Wu Ming arrived in Guwu Country, he immediately asked Yue Guo to continue to supply food normally, that is, Yue Guo had to spend 20,000 stone of grain to the front line every month.

It's just that a month has passed, and Gou Jian can't hold it anymore, so in order to make amends, Han Guo gave an extra 3,000 stone of grain. In addition to the pension of the Vietnamese soldiers, after Gou Jian returned to China, in order to win the hearts and minds of the people, a new law was introduced, and the children and families of the dead in the war and the wounded soldiers were supported by the state.

And for the first time the surname was paid, Gou Jian paid 300,000 yuan and 10,000 grains. That is to say, now Gou Jian can't spend other food, then only a month has passed since the war, and he only has 2,000 stone of grain left.

Gou Jian can only buy food from the Vietnamese people on a large scale, and the Yue country only suffered from a food shortage last year, and the people of the Yue country naturally have lingering feelings about this, and everyone hides more food at home, plus Gou Jian buys food on a large scale. As a result, the price of grain in Yue has soared from one penny per bucket to three cents per bucket, which is a threefold increase.

It costs 30 yuan to buy 1 stone of grain Goujian, 10,000 stone of grain, Goujian needs to cost 300,000 yuan, and 20,000 stone is 600,000 yuan! Fortunately, the tax system implemented in this era not only needs to collect in kind, but also requires the people to serve for a certain period of time every year, and the government service is not an official position in ancient times, but a kind of 'service', only serving in the yamen, so it is called the government service. And the people who transport the grain are actually in the service, and they don't have to pay for the money and food, otherwise Gou Jian may be even more painful at the moment.

The increase in grain prices has also made the people of Vietnam more and more dissatisfied.

At this time, the platform established by Yang Zilu himself also appeared, and he played his role...... "Alas! It's sad now, there are no disasters this year, and food prices are so high! The little merchant sitting in the tavern drank two sips of the store's home-brewed rice wine, and couldn't help but sigh.

As soon as the little trader's voice fell, it immediately resonated with the others in the tavern, and a coolie who worked at the docks sighed and said, "Who said it wasn't! Last year, the price of grain was suppressed, and it cost five dollars a bucket, which is almost comparable to the price of salt in ordinary years! This year's wind and rain are smooth, although I dare not say that there is a bumper harvest, but even if there is no small harvest, there should be an ordinary harvest. But I didn't expect that the price of grain this year is so expensive, and it is only three dollars for a fight! And the wages have not risen, and they are all living tightly! ”

The others sounded and immediately poured out their bitterness one by one.

The merchant who had just spoken slammed the bowl on the low table and scolded, "It's all damn this...... Target...... the guy! If it weren't for this, this year's day would not be so sad, it would be like suffering! ”

The people nearby couldn't help but look at each other when they heard this, and some didn't understand what the little trader meant.

The coolie who had just echoed was the first to ask, "Brother, what do you mean by this?" What the hell did the hell do? Aren't they those grain merchants? I see that their hearts, livers, spleens, lungs, and kidneys are all black, like ink fountains! ”

When the little merchant heard this, he stopped talking, sighed long, took a sip of wine, and said angrily: "Don't say it!" Do not say! What grain merchant, if it weren't for that person, the price of our grain might be so high there! ”

When the others heard this, they were all aroused by the curiosity in the hearts of the small merchants, and one of the guests urged: "Brother, what do you mean by this?" ”

"That's it, brother, just tell us about it!" Another guest urged.

A well-dressed guest shouted to the boss: "Shopkeeper, add a pot of rice wine to this old brother, this account is on me!" ”

"Okay! Rice wine is coming! When the shopkeeper heard this, he immediately smiled, and immediately took out a pot of warm rice wine from the bronze plate and brought it to the low table of the little merchant.

Seeing this, the little merchant was immediately a little embarrassed, scratched his head, and said, "This ...... How embarrassing is this! ”

The guest, who was mostly dressed in bright clothes, waved his hand boldly and said, "Brother, this is polite, can you tell us why the price of this grain is so high in ordinary years?" ”

When the little merchant heard this, he hesitated for a moment and said, "I also heard from a customer about this matter, and I don't know if it's true or not. Listen to a joke! ”

"Of course! Of course! When the other guests saw that the little merchant was about to speak, they immediately perked up and agreed to the tone of the little merchant.

The little merchant drank a bowl of warm rice wine, and then said: "You must also know about the Wu State uniting with my Yue Kingdom and the Han barbarians sending troops to contempt the country, right?" ”

"Of course! I heard that a lot of people died in my country! The brightly dressed guest nodded and said, obviously he knew a lot of things.

The little merchant nodded and said, "Yes! A lot of people died, but do you know how much food this coalition spends a month in the country? ”

"Three or four thousand stones!" The coolie just now, scratching his head, spoke. In his opinion, three or four thousand stones is already a very remarkable number, and every time his family buys rice, it is only a bucket and a half bucket, and it is rarely a stone of rice.

"Ten thousand stones!" The brightly dressed guest stretched out a finger and said boldly.

Other guests also put forward their own ideas, and the most was 15,000 stones.

The little merchant stretched out three fingers with a disdainful face, shook it and said, "You are all wrong! Coupled with the loss of the people on the road, the Yue Kingdom has to transport 30,000 stone grains to the Gu Country every month! ”

"Ahh All the guests were stunned, oh my God! 30,000 stones, enough for all of us here to eat for ten lifetimes.

"It's 30,000 stone a month, and 360,000 stone a year! It is said that the Lord also lent 15,000 stone of grain to the Han barbarians and sent 3,000 stone of grain. Do you say there is still surplus food in Vietnam? Therefore, the Lord wantonly purchased grain from the people and supplied it to Wu Jun. Otherwise, as long as the Lord opens a warehouse to release grain, will the current grain price be so high? The little merchant said.

The coolie said indignantly: "Didn't the Lord do this without regard for us countrymen, and use the grain grown by our Yue people to curry favor with the Wu people and the Han barbarians?" ”

"Who's to say it isn't! However, this is the fate of our Yue Kingdom! Think of who Jesus is! It is said that in the country of Wu, the husband was sick, and in order to please the husband, the lord went to taste the feces of the husband and came to see how the husband was doing! Now in order to please his husband, he would rather his own people be hungry than let the soldiers of the Wu army be full, what a strange thing! The little merchant said helplessly and sadly.

"Won't it?" Some guests were shocked by the news and said in disbelief.

"That's it! The lord is also the king of a country, and he is still a marquis given by Zhou Tianzi! Is the Lord so undignified? One of the guests said with a look of disgrief.

The little merchant sneered: "Then who do you think is the master?" The soft bones are not much stronger than tofu. If the Lord is really a good king, then what did he do when he came back to Vietnam? Beat the Han barbarians, but was wiped out by the Han barbarians, so he ran back with a Fan doctor. Fighting the country of Guguo, the city of Guguo was lost, and in the end, it had to rely on the mother of the current monarch of Chu State to be from the Yue country, so that the country of Gu Guo could only negotiate peace. But after the peace is negotiated, do you know how much the tribute of the country of Gu has dropped? ”

"How much?" Someone asked curiously.

"The original tenth, you people are just that. Those of us who go to foreign countries to do business are often bullied. And you see, the merchants of Wu State bullied men and women in our Yue Kingdom, but they just lost a little money! Let me tell you, last year, the price of grain in Vietnam was so high, it was because the merchants of Wu State hoarded grain. The wallets they earned can barely fit in, what happened? Our lord did not let any fart out of them, nor did he punish them. And the merchants who hoarded grain in our country were killed by the Lord and exiled. We are really not human! Did the little merchant sleep well, his face was so sad that the guests couldn't help but feel gloomy when they heard it.

"Alas! If the first king was alive, there was the rampant of the Wu Kingdom, and our Yue Kingdom would have fallen to this point! The brightly dressed guest just now let out a long sigh and said with a sad and indignant face.

"Others say that dragons give birth to dragons, and phoenixes give birth to phoenixes, I think the first king is a tiger who sent a soil dog out!" The coolie just now said hatefully.

The other guests didn't agree, but they knew by their faces that they had agreed with the coolie's words.

"What a dog! I think it's a mouse, it's useless! The little merchant didn't know if he had drunk too much, or if he was aroused to the resentment in his heart, and said hatefully.

"Brother, you've drunk too much!" A guest kindly reminded you.

"Oh!" The little merchant immediately woke up and immediately shut up about it. But a seed of hatred for Gou was planted in everyone's hearts.

(To be continued)