EBE Chapter 668 Persuasion
Chapter 668 Persuasion
According to Gao Yuan's observation, in the past two days, there were only a few wisps of smoke rising from the camp of the Mirage Army opposite, which showed that they had run out of rice.
Since we are all trying hard, let’s see who can hold on to the end.
"Oh, Your Highness..." Jiang Meng complained, "Does this humble official hate them less than you do? But at least we should wait a little longer, even until the supplies arrive from the rear?"
Although Jiang Meng was the commander-in-chief, Zhou Chang's prestige in the army had grown since the consecutive victories. Many soldiers knew that the reason why they were able to capture Shucheng so quickly was due to Prince Yi's credit.
As for Jiang Meng, he had already achieved military merit and wished he could return to the imperial city to receive his reward. Although war was exciting at the moment of victory, it was still painful most of the time after that.
Zhou Chang stood by the Mujiang River for too long and felt a little tired. He also lacked the physical strength to keep up.
Since half of the military rations were allocated to help the people, she took the lead in eating only porridge for one meal a day.
Therefore, he finally persuaded Jiang Meng: "Brother Jiang, you will definitely keep the title of 'General', but the honor of Duke... If we only fight until now and then withdraw our troops, it may not be possible. There are some things that I really couldn't say to you these two days, but for your sake, I have to say it now."
During this period of time, the two had been fighting side by side, thinking and working in the same direction, but as the saying goes, you can share adversity but not necessarily wealth.
After chasing all the way and winning 14 games in a row, Jiang Meng began to feel more or less satisfied, and compared with the last time, this time's victory was more glorious. In order to maintain this glory, he inevitably wanted to quit.
Zhou Chang insisted on continuing the fight.
Jiang Mengming was reluctant to disobey Zhou Chang, but his attitude remained soft.
Moreover, although the Lin army seemed to be winning victory after victory, the actual situation was becoming increasingly difficult. It could be said that they were facing the enemy in the front, with no support in the rear, and lack of food and medicine. In addition, capable generals like Zhou Tang were also injured and had no medicine to treat them.
Many of Jiang Meng’s concerns are not without reason.
Therefore, if Zhou Chang wants to send troops again, he must thoroughly convince the commander-in-chief Jiang Meng. After all, if the commander-in-chief wavers, it will be a difficult time for all the soldiers. It would be best if they can make a concerted effort and attack Huanglong directly. Otherwise, the victory or defeat is still unknown.
Seeing that Jiang Meng's eyes were always more doubtful than firm, Zhou Chang became ruthless in his heart and stopped being polite: "Brother Jiang, think about it carefully. How did Gu Yan get the title of Duke? After all, he robbed the Princess of Qing Kingdom, and he frightened the southern countries so much that they dared not invade for so many years. If you go back now, you will have the title of general, but if you want to be on par with Gu Yan, you can't. And take a look at how you and Brother Xian Wang fought last time? The so-called victory was overthrown by the enemy in less than three or four years. The Mirage Kingdom dared to invade repeatedly so unscrupulously and robbed the land of the three states. Anyone who is interested can taste the wrongness of it if they think about it carefully. Even those who are interested may think that the victory back then was not a real victory, and even worse, it was a collusion..."
Some things should be said in moderation and not cross the bottom line.
Jiang Meng was really furious: "Who said that? How is this possible? Back then, His Royal Highness Prince Xian and I fought all the way here. The reason why we didn't fight to the other side was that..."
Having said that, he seemed to have thought of something.
Back then, he despised King Xian for his eagerness to gain credit and report his achievements, and now he has done the same thing as King Xian.
Zhou Chang did not expose the truth, but continued to poke Jiang Meng in the heart: "Brother Jiang, brother Jiang, your Jiang family claims to be loyal and brave for generations, but where is the meaning of "fierce"? Now is the time for you, Jiang Meng, to show your fiery character. A temporary victory is a fluke, and a long-term victory is a real victory."
Jiang Meng's pampered face was not much weathered even after such a long baptism of battlefield. It was still white in the sun. After hearing Zhou Chang's words, his cheeks were obviously red with anger: "Fierce? How can I, Jiang Meng, not be fierce? Those fourteen consecutive victories before, were they fake?"
Having said that, it has achieved its effect.
Zhou Chang took a step to ease the tension and patted Jiang Meng on the shoulder again: "So, Brother Jiang, I still have to rely on your strong character. Three days later, once the wind direction stabilizes, we will prepare to cross the river. It's settled."
"..." Jiang Meng was tricked again and was speechless for a moment, but the anger in his heart had not yet subsided, so he nodded heavily, "Okay, I will listen to His Royal Highness Prince Yi."
After reaching a consensus again, the two returned to their tents.
As long as Jiang Meng agrees, Zhou Chang doesn't have to worry about anything else.
After all, there are still many difficulties to be faced if we want to launch the attack three days later.
There is a shortage of soldiers and generals. Half of the troops are injured and less than 70% can go to the battlefield.
In addition, I already had a general idea in mind, but the method I thought of was still related to money.
When it comes to money, there is no time when you don’t need it.
In theory, if this battle is won, Emperor Lin will be the biggest winner.
If you want money, you should ask Emperor Lin.
But Zhou Chang had long lost any hope for Emperor Lin.
For this purpose, he has sent twelve "death warrants" to borrow gold from Yuan Qi.
"Your Majesty, why does it have to be gold? Even if it's silver, as long as it's given for free, I would be happy." The skinny monkey held the earthen jar in his hand and never put it down.
Before this, when he was at the riverside, he had been catching snakes in the grass not far away. When he caught a snake, he would skin it and put it into a clay jar.
Because Zhou Chang took the lead in eating only one bowl of porridge a day, others could still barely endure it, but the one who suffered the most was Skinny Monkey.
After a month, the skinny monkey lost a lot of weight, forcing him to search everywhere for food to eat.
Zhou Chang didn't dare to look directly at the contents of the jar. He avoided his gaze and pretended to focus on the account book presented by the Gold Department in front of him, which recorded how much gold and silver were left on hand and could be used.
Yesterday, Gao Yuan, Chen Yuan and other people from the same group checked the gold bars, gold bricks, gold ingots, gold beads, gold jewelry, etc. that Yuan Qi had sent them a few days ago in Zhou Chang's military tent. After counting, they could barely make up a figure of 100,000.
However, the value of one hundred thousand taels of silver sounds like a lot, but it is still not enough for Zhou Chang's "silver tactics".
They attacked fiercely, consumed resources, pursued and provided relief along the way. Even though Yuan Qi sent a lot of supplies later, it was still not enough.
Zhou Chang kept a record of the accounts, and asked the military officers to make two copies of each detail and send them back to the court.
The imperial court has always refused to contribute a penny, claiming that the treasury is empty and cannot allocate any money.
Zhou Chang was also straightforward, and directly "executed first and reported later". He spent the money obtained by the "wartime order" first and then reported it to the court. As for how to get the money back from the court later, he would think of a way later.