Kong Ming's lantern test flight was successful, and the "craftsman battalion" threw himself to the ground with the five bodies that admired the lord, so he almost took incense and worshipped.

Seeing that the effect was so ideal, Yuan Mai couldn't close his mouth with a smile, and ordered the people in the craftsman camp to prepare more than 100 carriages, so that the craftsmen could sleep in the cart during the day, and rush to make Kong Ming lanterns when they camped at night. Before the troops arrived in Yecheng, at least 500 qualified Kong Ming lanterns had to be produced.

The army marched eastward, and the flag covered the sky and the sun.

Wang Shuang and Guo Huai led 8,000 cavalry to lead the way, Yuan Mai and Zhao Yun, Zhang He, Xu Shu and others led more than 30,000 troops in the center, Zhang Xun and Yuan Yao led 10,000 people to escort grain and grass in the back, left Changshan Kingdom, and advanced towards Wei County.

While riding a horse, Yuan Mai was thinking about how to maximize the power of Kong Ming lanterns? After all, this era was dominated by cold weapons, and air raids were far from reaching the power of later generations.

Moreover, the range of the bow and arrow is not good, and those who fly high and cannot shoot the ground will be easily shot by the soldiers on the ground if they fly low. After all, the arrows shot by soldiers in the air are far less fierce than the rain of arrows on the ground, and can only play the role of a surprise soldier, far from a decisive role.

During the rapid march of the army, several monks wearing Taoist robes passed by on the side of the road, which suddenly brought inspiration to Yuan Mai.

"Black powder! Why not develop black powder? ”

Yuan Mai muttered to himself, his eyes flashing with excitement, if black powder came out, he would have a cross-era weapon in his hand.

The principle of black powder is not difficult, it is basically junior high school knowledge. With memory. Yuan Mai vaguely remembered that black powder was made by mixing several raw materials such as sulfur, saltpeter, and charcoal, and processing it a little to make black powder.

Charcoal and sulfur are easier to find, they are available in the army, and most of them are used to make rockets, which are ready-made. But saltpeter is made by later generations through chemical processing, and there is certainly no such thing in this era. It seems that it can be replaced with a raw material called miscanthus salt, but this is not something that ordinary people can study, and it must be studied by alchemists to have hope.

Made up my mind. Yuan Mai immediately summoned a personal soldier to the horse. Let him hurry to Jinyang, and order Zhen Yao to find a few alchemy monks for himself, and he has an important task to entrust. The soldiers then took the order and left.

It was only 245 miles from Changshan to Wei County, and the army marched 80 miles a day. Three days later, it was already on the banks of the Zhanghe River. It is only seventeen or eighteen miles away from Yecheng.

On the march. The craftsmen of the artisan camp slept in the carriage during the day and made large Kong Ming lanterns at night according to Yuan Mai's instructions.

No matter what you do. There is a step-by-step, from raw to ripe process.

The craftsmen who made the Kong Ming lanterns were no exception, and on the first night, more than 400 craftsmen made seventy-eight, and after testing, fifty were qualified, and the rest needed to be re-improved.

The next night, the craftsmen became much more familiar, and after a busy night, one hundred and thirty were made, and only five were not qualified. On the third night, the efficiency increased by half again, and one hundred and ninety were made in one night, and only one failed.

After three busy nights, the masters of the craftsman camp rushed to make a total of 364 Kong Ming lanterns, which was more than 100 short of Yuan Mai's requirements. But it doesn't matter, there is still time, after all, the siege has not yet been decided.

"Set up camp!"

The team marched forward more than ten miles along the Zhanghe River, and when it was only three miles away from Yecheng, Yuan Mai ordered it to set up camp.

As soon as the military order was passed down, nearly 50,000 troops all stopped advancing, looked for an open area on the bank of the Zhanghe River, began to dig trenches, erect fences, set up tents, and spent the night on the banks of the Zhanghe River tonight.

Yuan Mai was surrounded by all the staff, looking at Yecheng not far away, only to see that the city gate was really closed, the suspension bridge was pulled high, and the flags were standing on the city head, and the guard was tight.

Yuan Mai also understood that he had come under the guise of helping Yuan Shang attack Yuan Tan, and the target should be Pingyuan.

At this moment, the sky has not yet darkened, and according to common sense, it is strange that at least ten miles further east can be advanced, but it is strange that he suddenly set up camp under the city and does not arouse the vigilance of the trial!

"How can we lower the vigilance of the trial and minimize his doubts?"

Yuan Mai convened all the civil and military forces to discuss together in the tent, and it didn't take much effort to come up with a plan, which was still proposed by Xu Shu; After all, among all the civil and military forces, his IQ is the highest. But Yuan Mai felt that he was excepted.

In fact, Yuan Mai also thought so in his heart, but before he could say it, he was taken first by Xu Shu, as the lord, he naturally couldn't take credit with his subordinates, so he had to give this credit to Xu Yuanzhi.

Zhuge Jin was instructed, and under the protection of Wang Shuang's three hundred knights, he beat the horses and raised the dust, and came to Yecheng after a while.

"Listen to the sergeant in the city, I am Gong Cao under the command of Master Yuan Xianyong, and I am engaged in Zhuge Jin, if there is something to invite your judge, please pass it on!"

Zhuge Jin urged the horses out of the column and shouted loudly to the defenders at the head of the city. The king guarded the city with a broadsword in both hands, and guarded against the sudden use of cold arrows on the city.

The military academy guarding the city listened to Zhuge Jin's words and immediately flew to report for trial.

Since yesterday afternoon, the people and horses of Bingzhou set up camp under the city, it is difficult to sleep and eat, and I can't figure out what Yuan Mai means, is it really to help the war, or is it a fake way to destroy Yu, intended to be in Yecheng?

I had to order to increase the defense force at the head of the city, close the four gates, pull up the suspension bridge to prevent anyone from entering and leaving, and use the word "drag" to see what Yuan Mai was doing?

Hearing that Zhuge Jin was shouting under the city, he took his nephew Xianrong, the partial general Meng Han and others to the city wall to meet Zhuge Jin.

"Mr. Ziyu, don't come unharmed, it's polite to judge it!"

As an important staff officer and diplomat in the state, Zhuge Jin has already become famous, and he has heard of it a little, so in order to show his respect, he deliberately used the words to narrate.

Zhuge Jin returned the salute on the horse: "Jin is polite, this is not for other things, my lord raised a large army to help in the war, and there is a shortage of grain and grass, so I came to ask for some grain and grass from the judge!" ”

After listening to Zhuge Jin's intention, the heart of the trial fell down.

frowned slightly, and said to himself: "I see, this Yuan Laosi did not move under the city, it turned out to be to extort grain and grass, I will say, this guy will never unconditionally agree to help in the war!" ”

However, compared with the two, this is also a good result, after all, it is much better to want money than to want land; If Yuan Mai came for Yecheng and attacked Yuan Tan on both sides, the situation in Jizhou would be precarious.

The judge knew in his heart that the military strength of Bingzhou has now surpassed that of Jizhou, not to mention anything else, there are more than 20,000 cavalry in Bingzhou, plus Xu Sheng's 10,000 water divisions, which cannot be compared with Jizhou. After the battle of Guandu, Jizhou's troops were lost by nearly half, not to mention the combination of Qingzhou and Bingzhou, even if Jizhou and Bingzhou fought alone, they may not be able to gain the upper hand.

"Well said, well said...... The fourth prince came to help in the war, and the third prince was grateful, the army came from afar, the boat and car were tired, and it was also appropriate to provide some grain and grass, but I don't know how much gap your army has? ”

With a smile on his face, he tested Zhuge Jin's intention to buy Yuan without a trace, how big is this guy's appetite?

50,000 horses consume about 1,200 stone of grain every day, plus the forage to feed the horses, the amount of grain and grass consumed in a month is about 50,000 stone.

In the heart of the trial, the highest bottom line that can be borne is 100,000 stones. If Yuan Mai is sincere enough, he is willing to send 100,000 stones of grain and grass to have a good relationship with the Bingzhou army. After all, people came from afar to help in the war, and as the host, it was a matter of course to take care of the meal.

Zhuge Jin smiled and stretched out five fingers to the judge: "Are these okay?" ”

When the judge saw it, he was overjoyed and said with a smile: "Fifty thousand stones? Can! ”

"Haha...... It's really a joke to judge the driver, 50,000 stones to send the bandits? Zhuge Jin was not in a hurry, and said with a smile, "According to the meaning of my lord, if there is less than 500,000 stones, this battle will not be fought!" ”

"What? 500,000 stones? ”

When the judge heard this, he almost fell off the city wall, and his heart swelled with anger, and he secretly gritted his teeth and scolded: "This little thief is really hateful, he opened his mouth so loudly and asked for 500,000 stones, which is obviously taking advantage of people's danger and extortion, which is really hateful!" ”

However, there is no falling out yet, and the trial does not want to offend Yuan Mai, after all, the state army is here to help in the war; If Yuan Mai is annoyed, he will forcibly attack the city regardless of the Zheng family's life and death, and Yuan Shang will be entangled by Yuan Tan, Yecheng will be in a dangerous situation. After all, the Zheng family is not Yuan Mai's biological mother, and she is just a little kind, and no one dares to guarantee how much weight there is in Yuan Mai's heart.

Holding back his anger, he defended himself: "There is really not so much grain and grass in Yecheng, half a year ago, Cao thieves burned the black nest, nearly 500,000 petrified into ashes, and there are only 300,000 stones in the city, and some need to be left for our army to eat; At most, it can only provide 80,000 stone of grain and grass! ”

"What are you kidding? 80,000 stone grain and grass can only last for more than a month, Yuan Tan came with a large army, it is bound to win, this battle is not impossible to say three or five months, more than a year and a half, don't you let us and the state army drink the northwest wind? Zhuge Jin rode on a horse, and according to the words discussed in advance, he bargained with the trial match on the city wall.

The judge endured his anger and took a step back again: "Trouble Ziyu to go back and tell the fourth prince, just say that Yecheng is short of grain and grass, and at most it can only provide 100,000 stones of grain and grass, and it is impossible to have one more bucket, if you are willing, you can send it to the army in this two days, if you are unwilling...... There is no way to match it! ”

Zhuge Jin looked helpless: "Since this is the case, Jin doesn't dare to make his own opinions, wait for me to report back to the lord, and then make a decision." Farewell! ”

After finishing speaking, he turned his horse back, and returned to the barracks with Wang Shuang and his entourage, leaving only the judge to grit his teeth at the head of the city, scolding Yuan Mai for being insatiable. (To be continued......)