[R18] Will drink wine – Chapter 106 of “About Wine” [English]

Chapter 104 Brother

Lei Changming is from Chazhou. In his early years, he worked as a escort and worked as a coolie without reading a book.During the Yongyi period, his sister was taken as a concubine by the commander-in-chief of the Duanzhou garrison, and she was quite favored in the command office. As a result, he lived a good life and went to the casino all day long.Unfortunately, the good times did not last long. Commander-in-Chief Duanzhou was not a long-term lover, and he disliked his sister within a few years. No one could repay the debts he owed, so he had to go out and work as escorts again.

At the end of the year of Yongyi, Lei Changming took over the escort of the Yan family in Hezhou. On the way, in order to save the Yan family’s young master Yan Heru, he risked his life to fight with the gangsters, and he won the Yan family’s favor from then on.After the defeat of Bo in the middle of the Xiande era, he began to recruit troops with money from the Yan family, launched the Duanzhou garrison mutiny, killed the commander-in-chief assigned by the imperial court at the time, and completely became a Duanzhou bandit.

Lei Changming had only a few thousand people at first, but with the negative arrangements of the court after the defeat, Zhongbo never recovered from the heavy losses. More and more people turned from civilians to bandits, and he gradually became a tyrant in Duanzhou.By now, the soldiers and horses under his command have far exceeded the number of garrison troops in the various states of Zhongbo.

“Half a year ago, Lei Changming had a total of more than 14,000 people in Duan and Dunzhou.” Zhou Gui held up his sleeves and showed Xiao Chiye a map. “He used Luoshan between Duan and Dunzhou as his base camp and established his own bandit den. When the imperial court rebuilt the Dengzhou garrison, it tried to encircle Luoshan, but failed several times, so it gave up and no one took care of it anymore.”

Xiao Chiye tied his arms, half leaning on the table, looking at the map, and said: “He is coming to Cizhou with 40,000 people, and Luoshan will definitely leave enough soldiers and horses to guard it. From this point of view, he has at least 60,000 soldiers and horses, which is the number of garrison troops in the two counties of Qidong.”

Although Xiao Chiye didn’t mean to blame him, he still made Zhou Gui ashamed.Because the six states of Zhongbo are under the jurisdiction of regular state capitals, they actually watched helplessly as the bandit family became dominant in six years, forming a scale comparable to that of the regular army.

“Although your Excellency has no contact with Duan and Dunzhou, there are usually field officers who go to handle cases at the guard station.” Kong Ling sat on a chair and said, “In just six months, he has gathered so many people, and we didn’t get any news.”

“Master Marquis,” Zhou Gui said sincerely, “I originally thought that Lei Changming could only have more than 10,000 people, and it would only take a few months to encircle and suppress him. But now that 40,000 people are heading straight to Cizhou, and we only have 20,000 forbidden troops, I’m afraid it will be dangerous! How about…”

It would be better to find someone to go to Libei immediately, tell Xiao Fangxu the news, and ask the Libei cavalry guarding the grain and horse road in the northeast to send troops south to support them.

Xiao Chiye tied his arms but did not speak.Zhou Gui still wanted to persuade, but Kong Ling noticed something else from Xiao Chiye’s silence.He pressed Zhou Gui’s arm with the action of serving tea, and Zhou Gui swallowed his words.

“Your Excellency and Mr. Cheng Feng, there is no need to panic,” Shen Zechuan sat on another chair, still reading the e-mail, “Lei Changming’s 40,000 people also need to eat. He can’t move quickly, and the logistics must carry sufficient rations to support him from traveling thousands of miles to Cizhou to fight with us. Besides…”

Shen Zechuan looked a little strange.

“This e-mail may not be accurate.”

“Why did my colleague say this?” Zhou Gui quickly approached with his robe in hand and also looked at the post report, “This is an urgent report personally sent back by officials from Cizhou who went to Dunzhou to handle the bandit case. How can it be inaccurate?”

“He didn’t see Lei Changming’s 40,000 troops with his own eyes,” Shen Zechuan thought, “It’s too hasty to believe Lei Changming’s words based only on the traces of the stove. I suspect that Lei Changming already knew that the Forbidden Army had arrived in Cizhou, so he raised the 40,000-man flag, just to disrupt our position first.”

“That’s right,” Xiao Chiye lowered his eyes and said, “If he really has 40,000 people, it will be easier to fight. The consumption of a protracted war is staggering, and he is even more strapped than us.”

“But he still has the support of the Yan family in Hezhou,” Zhou Gui said urgently. “The reason why he has reached this scale is because of the Yan family’s funding. There is a river in Hezhou that leads directly to the Juexi Granary. It is very simple to supply him with subsequent grain and grass.”

“My lord is confused,” Shen Zechuan suddenly laughed, “If Lei Changming still has Yan’s full support behind him, then why is he in such a hurry to come to Cizhou? Have you forgotten, he came to Cizhou just to get food.”

“He came once a year ago, and visited again after a few months.” Xiao Chiye said, “Not only does it indicate that he may have fallen out with the Yan family, but it also indicates that his old base in Luoshan is no longer enough for him. To the east is the Chashi River, and the Biansha cavalry is better at plundering than he. He has no one to rely on and can only come to Cizhou repeatedly to ask for food.”

“Then why didn’t he come earlier and later? He had to wait until the imperial army also arrived in Cizhou before coming?” Kong Ling walked around the table, walked two steps slowly, and said, “When the Marquis arrives in Cizhou, it will obviously do no harm to him.”

“Because Han Jin is in the hands of the Forbidden Army,” Shen Zechuan closed the post and stood up and said, “He has been able to survive for so long because of the Yan family’s help. Now that he has parted ways with the Yan family, if he wants to continue to occupy the top of the mountain and be the overlord, he must seek new help. He is a bandit, and the more people he has, the more trouble he has. Other places can rely on mountains to rely on, but Zhongbo is barren, and he can only eat dirt when he digs out mountains. This person knows how to seize the opportunity, heTo be successful, you must be in the right boat at three turning points in your life.He has soldiers, and Zhongbo happens to be short of soldiers, but he has no way out, and Ce’an is leading the imperial army to pass through Cizhou. If he can defeat the imperial army and rescue Han Jin, he can report his merits to Qandu and obtain the position of military attache in Zhongbo through the Han family.”

“He has a good idea. He wants to transform himself into a serious court official.” Zhou Gui was angry and stamped his feet, “You don’t care about the people of Cizhou at all!”

“This is just a guess. We need to fight with this person first to get a clearer picture.” Xiao Chiye hung up the Langlu knife and said to Zhou Gui, “Cizhou is backed by Libei. Lei Changming can’t cross the border and go around the back, so he can’t besiege the city and trap us. Your Excellency immediately ordered people to block the city gate, and even the dog holes have to be blocked. He has people from three religions and nine streams who have lost their household registration, so it is impossible to guard against them.”

“Is the Marquis going to fight in the city?” Kong Ling looked confused, “Cizhou’s city wall is old and may not be able to withstand the impact of Lei Changming.”

“The Forbidden Army cannot enter the city and defend it.” Xiao Chiye held the knife and slightly showed his sinister teeth. “I’ll make a bet with you. Lei Changming will never dare to charge my soldiers head-on. This is what he is afraid of.”

* * *

At dusk, Xiao Chiye and Shen Zechuan inspected the city wall. Both of them carried knives and walked side by side on the city wall.

“This city wall was last repaired during the Yongyi period.” Shen Zechuan tried to push the wall stacks, and the soil and mud eroded by wind and rain fell to the ground.

“Zhou Gui is also poor. He has been anxious to solve the problem of food in the past few years. Naturally, he has no time to take care of the military defense in the city.” Xiao Chiye picked up a piece of soil and crushed it in his hands. “The imperial army can back up Cizhou, but they cannot retreat into the city.”

Zhou Gui wanted to seek support from Li Bei, and Xiao Chiye knew this well, but he refused to speak out.He will be able to return to Libei soon, but how to arrange the 20,000 imperial troops he brought with him is something that he and his father and brother have not yet discussed.He understood that the Libei Iron Cavalry would not be able to quickly accept the Forbidden Army with such a complete team – the two armies were already predictably going through a very difficult run-in.At this time, he asked for support. If Xiao Fangxu really came, then Xiao Chiye would never have a chance to stand out again when he returned to Libei.

This battle is his first battle back home, he must win, he must win it by himself.

The setting clouds spread across the horizon, dyeing half of the sky red.The houses in the city are lined up in rows, with smoke curling up from cooking stoves and people buzzing with excitement.Shen Zechuan lowered his hand to cover Xiao Chiye’s heart, and the two of them stood and squatted, looking down.

“Lei Changming is considered a capable person,” Shen Zechuan said, “but it is you who decides whether he is a gangster or a tyrant.”

“In troubled times, heroes emerge,” Xiao Chiye put his arms on his knees and slowly stood up, “I will bring the Overlord Bow.”

he Standing here, it looks like a lush tree in the dusk light and shadow, or like a tall mountain standing in front of the city wall.Shen Zechuan watched those restraints gradually disappear, Xiao Chiye was ready to go, he should stand out in this chaotic situation.

“When you return to Libei,” Shen Zechuan looked at him, “My lord will find that you have grown taller again.”

“The last time I saw him, he was already taller than he,” Xiao Chiye laughed. “When I was a child, I thought dad was like a towering tree. He put me on his shoulders and tricked me into touching the clouds. The eldest brother also wanted to sit on dad’s shoulders, but he had already gone to school at that time. He felt that he was an older brother. In order to be dignified and stable, he never spoke to dad. He would be happy just watching me sit.”

Shen Zechuan also laughed, looked back to the horizon, and said, “They say the prince looks like the princess.”

“Two or three points,” Xiao Chiye’s eyes reflected the clouds in the sky, “It’s just that he doesn’t look like my father as much as me. In fact, my eldest brother was once very distressed. When my father fell ill and retired to the palace, he was only a teenager. It was difficult to find a way out among those wolf-like men. He was ridiculed most at first because he didn’t look like his father. He didn’t have a strong enough physique. He once said to Zhaohui…”

Xiao Chiye’s face was calm, as if he recalled that day, and felt inexplicably sad.He turned around and took Shen Zechuan’s hand, rolled his throat several times, and then said: “It’s strange for us to be brothers. I envy the eldest brother’s stability, and I also envy he’s calmness. I have always thought like this, ‘If I had been born a few years earlier,’ then I would be the eldest brother and the heir, and I would be able to ride as much as I want without leaving half a step away from the north. But one day, heWhen he returned home after being injured, he saw me drawing a bow and shooting arrows in the courtyard, and he actually said to Zhaohui, “I really envy Aye.”

“I thought that neither my father nor my eldest brother would feel pain or fall, and that they would bleed without shedding tears. But on the day of my eldest brother’s wedding, he was very drunk, but he, such a steady person, carefully took my sister-in-law’s hand, as if he had anticipated the future, and his eyes turned red when he looked at her. He regards his family as a treasure, and he will also be afraid.”

“There is nothing about me that is better than my eldest brother. If you really want to say it, I just took advantage of the good physique given by my father.” Xiao Chiye held Shen Zechuan tightly, “I didn’t understand before why he had red eyes at my sister-in-law, but now I understand.”