Chapter 141: A better chess

Tianbao County was small, and Manager Du followed He Lou Wuji to the military camp outside the county town. On the way, Manager Du exchanged greetings and told everyone about some experiences from all over the country. However, his eyes seemed casual, but he took all the details into his eyes. The trenches were filled with snow and condensed into ice, losing their defense. The front of the military camp was very dirty, and some broken wood was piled up at will, which affected the in and out, but the soldiers ignored it. From a distance, the soldiers guarding the gate of the military camp were lazy, one of them leaned against the door, while the other people squatted on the ground and napped. When they saw an officer coming, they pretended to stand up straight. Manager Du also saw that one of them had his knife stuck, and half of the blade was exposed outside the sheath.

Manager Du smiled and followed He Lou Wuji into the military camp. The tent was neatly laid. It was afternoon and no one was training. The soldiers came and went, and people shouted loudly from time to time. Several people ran past him. Manager Du glanced at He Lou Wuji. Seeing that his face was gloomy, he was obviously a little dissatisfied. The group walked past a tent and suddenly saw three or four soldiers running behind the tent, with their actions quite mysterious.

At this time, He Lou Wuji could no longer help it. He apologized to Manager Du: "Please wait for a while, and I'll go."

After saying that, he rushed to the back of the camp angrily, and Shopkeeper Du followed slowly. He saw a group of soldiers gathering in a group of about fifty or sixty people, shouting in a low voice in excitement.

‘It’s a gathering of gambling!’ Manager Du suddenly realized that gambling has always been a taboo in the army. It is easy to spread and difficult to control. It is impossible to have no at all. The key is to control the gambling style within a certain range so that it will not affect the morale and morale of the army. Manager Du looked at it with his hands behind his back, and he wanted to see how Zhang Huan’s first confidant beloved general handled this gambling matter.

He Lou Wuji waited for a while, and when they started to place bets, he roared and rushed forward and punched. The soldiers were so scared that they fled. He Lou Wuji grabbed one of them and cursed: "Lin Jiuhan, as a captain, you are still gambling to destroy the military discipline. Let's see that the governor will not kill you!"

The man named Lin Jiuhan shook his arm and threw away He Lou Wuji's pulling. He also shouted loudly: "Brothers can't even eat enough, and there are still people playing with women on it. Why don't you care? Are you fools when you are brothers? What other bullshit craftsmen should you raise and win the hearts of the people? Then what are we! Are we not human?"

A cold chill ejaculated in Helou Wuji's eyes, and knocked down the unspeakable captain with one punch, shouting, "Tie it up!" Five or six soldiers rushed up and pressed him to the ground. Manager Du glanced at him and saw a few gambling chips scattered around his feet, all of which were folded small notes. He stepped on them without saying a word, and quickly picked them up and put them in his arms while the person was unprepared.

At this time, the lieutenant had been dragged down. He Lou Wuji was still angry. He said to several personal soldiers: "You go to inspect the battalions immediately. If there are still people who gather to gamble, I will write them down one by one and settle the accounts with them later."

Several personal soldiers ran down the order, and He Lou Wuji slowly walked to Manager Du and sighed, "The military discipline is not in order, so Manager Du laughed."

Manager Du bowed and smiled, "No wonder, these soldiers are from the Central Plains. By the end of the year, they are all homesick."

He Lou Wuji smiled bitterly and quickly came to the coach's tent with Shopkeeper Du. After waiting for a while, He Lou Wuji came out and whispered: "My governor is in a bad mood these days, so Shopkeeper Du should tolerate it."

As soon as the shopkeeper Du walked to the door of the tent, he suddenly heard a low voice from inside, "...... I'll give the soldiers a small bucket of food, and I can pull the warehouse out to punish me."

"Yes!" A general hurriedly walked out, but almost collided with Manager Du. He glanced in surprise, then lowered his head and went out.

Manager Du smiled faintly and entered the handsome tent. He saw a thin and black general standing in front of the Hexi map, staring at the map silently and dazzled. Manager Du stepped forward and knelt down on both knees and said, "The grass-roots Du Huaishui kowtowed to the governor."

"Get up!" Zhang Huan turned around and sat down, waved his hand and said, "Please sit down!"

He looked at the shopkeeper Du sitting down tremblingly, and smiled slightly and said, "Shopkeeper Du sent two hundred stones of rice. Although the amount is not large, it can also solve my urgent needs. I thank you here."

Manager Du quickly stood up and bowed, "The governor doesn't have to be too polite, kill the villain."

Zhang Huan smiled and asked him to sit down again, and said in a gentle tone: "Don't worry, I won't take advantage of you. What price do you have to takeout? What price do I give you here?"

"Thank you, Governor!"

At this time, the personal soldiers brought two cups of tea. Zhang Huan took a sip and smiled and said, "Did Storekeeper Du come from Jincheng County?"

"yes!"

"Then I'm a little surprised. Wuwei County has completely blocked the transportation of supplies from Tianbao County. How did you come here?" Zhang Huan said this, his eyes suddenly became sharp, staring at him without blinking.

"There is some reputation here." Manager Du still maintained a humble attitude. He didn't want to say it, but under the pressure of Zhang Huan's distrustful eyes, he hesitated for a long time, but he murmured and said the reason.

"The rice price in Jincheng County is sold for a hundred citrus one dou, but it's five hundred citrus one dou here. In fact, it's not that we are terrified. It's because there are two hundred citrus to be taken away by the defenders. This is a rule that the people above do not know. It's just that in the past, Xin Yunjing used to draw 100, but now he's 200 citrus."

Zhang Huan walked a few steps behind his back, and he suddenly smiled coldly and said, "It seems reasonable, but you told my subordinates that you can get five hundred stones in ten days and three thousand stones in one month. What a scale? Can you also get a hit? Don't Lu Sigong know?"

The sweat on the forehead of Manager Du had been discharged tightly. After hesitating for a long time, he finally sighed, stood up and knelt down to Zhang Huan and said, "I would like to tell the truth, please spare my life by the general."

"speak!"

"Earlier this year, the imperial court strictly prohibited the transportation of iron tools to the Bianrong, but relaxed the grain trade. In fact, we had traded grain with the Western Regions a few years ago. In Dunhuang and Anxi, there were large granaries. If the general asked for grain, we could transfer grain from Anxi, instead of going to Longyou, so I dared to boast about it." After saying that, shopkeeper Du kowtowed continuously.

Zhang Huan looked at him coldly, and after a while he smiled faintly, "I, Zhang, like people who dare to take risks. If what you said is true, I can cooperate with you."

Manager Du wiped the sweat beads on his forehead and said with lingering fear: "Even if the villain has great courage, he will not dare to go against the government."

"That's right, I just forgive you for not daring to deceive the governor." Zhang Huan sat down again, and he pondered for a moment: "I want three thousand stones of food, but one thousand stones in ten days, you may be able to do it?"

Manager Du showed a gloomy look. He thought for a long time and said, "I can transfer rice from Zhangye for five hundred stones, but one thousand stones must transfer part from Dunhuang for at least twenty days, and the general needs to give a deposit."

"How much deposit do you want?"

Manager Du hesitated for a moment, stretched out a finger, and said slowly: "One thousand guan."

Zhang Huan turned around and gave a wink to his personal soldiers. The personal soldiers quickly brought out a plate, which was covered with eight yellow ingots of gold. Zhang Huan smiled and said, "This is two hundred taels of gold, cast by the Shaofu Prison. The black market price is one to twelve. I will calculate it for you by the official price of one to ten, two thousand guan, including the current price of two hundred stones of rice."

Manager Du was overjoyed. He put the gold away and immediately said to Zhang Huan: "Please rest assured that the governor, I will transfer five hundred stones from Zhangye within ten days, and another five hundred stones will be transported from Dunhuang within twenty days. Give me some time to raise the remaining two thousand stones and guarantee that they will be delivered within forty days."

Zhang Huan smiled without saying a word, and waited for Manager Du to walk away before he smiled at He Lou Wuji and said, "What's my plan?"

"The general attaches great importance to details and his subordinates admires it very much, but when using Xiaodou and paying deposits, his subordinates feel that there are some flaws, which may make him suspect that the general is using a trick."

"But my purpose is to let him guess that I'm using a plan."

Zhang Huan raised his head and laughed. He walked to the tent with his hands behind his back, looking at the dark clouds rolling in the north. A blizzard was about to come. He smiled faintly, "Those who can see through the enemy in my county are not ordinary people. The so-called soldiers are never tired of cheating, it depends on who is better at it."

．

．

．

．

．

．

．

．

．

．

．

Wuwei County is the last fortress of the Tang Dynasty in Hexi. Every year, the imperial court had to allocate huge sums of money to repair the city. All the city walls as high as ten feet high were built with huge stones. The head of the city was polished extremely smoothly. The moat was four feet wide and three feet deep. This was a solid fort that was never broken in the Tubo people's attacks.

The entire city of Wuwei County has a population of about 100,000, and the garrisons are 10,000. They are stationed in two military camps outside the city, including more than 7,000 people in the Nanda camp, which is the main force of the Hexi Army.

In the evening of that day, a long-heavy blizzard began to sweep across Hexi, and the wind roared. In an instant, the dark sky merged with the sea of ​​snow, and the sky and the earth merged into one.

The central commander in the Nandaying camp was extremely warm and he didn't feel the wind and snow outside at all. Lu Sigong, the deputy governor of Hexi, was walking slowly with his head down. He was about forties, with a fair face and a half-foot-long blue beard that made him look elegant and quite a bit of a bookish spirit. He was originally the deputy governor of Shuofang. In May this year, when he was rescued by the Xishoujiang City, the Central Huihe Army was ambushed and defeated. Although it was Wei Yan's means to destroy Xin Yunjing's troops, it also caused Wei Yan's dissatisfaction with him because of the excessive losses of Shuofang's army, and then transferred him to Hexi.

Unexpectedly, only half a year later, an uninvited guest broke into his territory. On his command, Wei Yan had a handwritten warrant, ordering him to conquer Hui County before spring and cut off Duan Xiushi's passage southward, but Lu Sigong was even more worried about Zhang Huan from Tianbao County.

"What do you mean is Zhang Huan's eagerness to ask for food?" Lu Sigong's brows frowned. He never believed that Zhang Huan could bring enough food to Tianbao County.

At his head, there was a fat man who looked like a businessman. He was the shopkeeper Du who had just returned from Tianbao County. Of course, he was not a shopkeeper who sold grain, nor was he named Du Huaishui. His real name was Du Mei, a Jinshi in the sixth year of Qingzhi, and now he is Lu Sigong's chief aide.

He was a very careful and strategic strategist. Zhang Huan crossed the Yellow River three times to occupy Huijun, and wanted to lead Lu Sigong out to participate in the encirclement and suppression. It was his persuasion that made Lu Sigong, who was already moved, remained unmoved, and eventually failed Zhang Huan's plan.

This time he disguised himself as a grain merchant and went to Tianbao County to investigate carefully. He was confident that he had mastered Zhang Huan's background. He smiled slightly and said, "General, Zhang Huan is indeed a powerful character. Just looking at his arrangement in the subtle areas, it makes people admire his good intentions. First, a fierce ruffian officer came to grab grain, and the people next to him looked very surprised. Obviously, he was not like this in normal times. Later, I secretly asked a soldier and found out that this person was Zhang Huan's tooth general Li Shuangyu. Being Zhang Huan's personal guard leader should not be his virtue. This is one of them."

When Du Mei saw Lu Sigong being so conscious that he had a look of admiration in his eyes, this was the effect he wanted to see. He was really proud of himself, so he coughed lightly and continued: "Then it is the military camp and military discipline. Zhang Huan's arrangement is very real and clever. The messy military camp gate, the lazy sentry, the messy camp plate, gathering people to gamble, and the subordinates insulted the superiors for food. These are all impeccable. If they were placed on the Longyou Army, I would definitely believe it, but this is the Tianqi Camp. It turns out that the most elite army of the Hedong Army, which has defeated the Uighurs and can enter Hexi for thousands of miles. How loyal and bravery is needed to be done. Will such an army have such military discipline?"

Speaking of this, Du Mei was a little excited. He really admired Zhang Huan, not because he had any outstanding achievements, but because he admired his tenacity and persistence. He rejected the win over Cui and Pei families for his dreams, gave up the prosperous capital, and was willing to go to the most deserted place to establish his own foundation. It was this persistence that made Du Mei see a kingly temperament in him.

Seeing that his chief aide was a little out of control and even belittled Longyou Army, Lu Sigong was very dissatisfied, so he coughed heavily and raised his tone and reminded: "Mr. Du!"

Du Mei woke up suddenly, and he smiled apologetically and said, "Sorry, I'm a little out of control."

"Although what the sir said makes sense, it is all based on subjective conjecture. What if Zhang Huan's army really reached the end of the strong oar because of lack of food?"

Lu Sigong is a very cautious person. Although Du Mei's analysis was very clear, there was no evidence. Lu Sigong was also very clear that if the soldiers lacked food, no matter how high their morale would drop sharply. He sneered and said, "Since the sir has hyped Zhang Huan so much, what evidence is there? Don't say that small dolls have changed to big dolls, that is the method that Gu Zhi had already had. It's normal. As for buying grain, give a deposit first. If I would do that, these are not flaws. I just hope that the general will come up with evidence."

Du Mei also heard the dissatisfaction in Lu Sigong's tone. He smiled faintly and said, "Of course there are evidence, and there are two more. I went to Tianbao County first and found that there were almost no men in the city, all women and children. I even asked a few people, and they all said that their husbands went to the military camp to work, log and shovel snow, take care of a meal every day, and give money. I felt strange. The military camp has been laid and the food is so tight. Why do you need to shovel snow? I sent a man to check the situation. Later, my subordinates told me that he found that the locals were practicing the army. General, do you understand? It was practicing the army, that is, expanding the army. If he lacks food, would he do this?"

Lu Sigong took a breath of air conditioning, and his confidence began to shake a little. Perhaps Du Mei was right. He thought about it and asked in a deep voice: "You said there are two evidences, so what is the second one?"

Du Mei smiled slightly, and he took out a few sticks of the same shape from his arms and handed them to Lu Sigong and said, "This is the bet they have put together to bet. I secretly picked up a few pieces while the chaos is in the chaos. Please read it, General!"

Lu Sigong took it and spread them on the desk table. He saw a line of words written on the first one: Liu Sanmao bets lunch on the 21st.

Look at the second one, the handwriting is neatly written, and it says: Wang Ping bets for supper on the 22nd.

The handwriting of the other few pictures is either sloppy or clumsy, and it is different.

"This is they are betting with rice, which just means they are short of food!" Lu Sigong was puzzled. How could this prove that there is no shortage of food? He looked at Du Mei in confusion.

Du Mei gently stroked her beard and smiled proudly, "Zhang Huan thought it was very meticulous and thoughtful, but unfortunately the people under his command who carried out this plan neglected the most critical point."

“Where?”

Du Mei gently tapped the notes with her index finger joint, "General, have you seen that the four sides of these notes are neatly and smooth, the paper is of the same size, and the shapes are the same. I can see clearly that they are all taken out of their pockets, not made on the spot. General, please think about it, under what circumstances will it be such a coincidence?"

Lu Sigong pondered for a moment, and suddenly realized, "Are you saying that these bets are made in batches?"

"That's right!" Du Mei smiled faintly, "This is the most accurate evidence Zhang Huan arranged in advance!"

Lu Sigong finally believed Du Mei's judgment. Zhang Huan was indeed not short of food. The so-called shortage of food was just a cover. He frowned, "Then what is his real intention for doing this?"

"I think it should be for Huijun!" Du Mei strode to the map and pointed at Huijun and said, "Duan Xiushi occupied Lingwu County, echoing Huijun, threatening the security of the entire Longyou. Therefore, General Wei ordered you to seize Huijun first while they were not stable. Zhang Huan also knew this very well, so he pretended to be short of food, making the general think that he would come to attack Wuwei County at any time, so as to restrain the general and buy time for Huijun's army."

"Mr. I mean he won't come to attack Wuwei County?"

"No!" Du Mei shook her head gently, "He will definitely come to attack Wuwei County, but it's not now. If I'm not mistaken, it should be after the beginning of spring, and his new army has been almost trained."
Chapter completed!