After the immortal disappeared

Nowadays, celebrities gather together and everyone has their ears pricked up. This is exactly the environment He Chunhua needs. He didn't refuse and sat down to talk. He didn't mention a word about Zhu Xiuer's role in Xianling Lake. He only said that some villagers secretly informed the army to remind them.

Seeing his well-spoken words and generous demeanor, others nodded secretly.

He Lingchuan paid attention to Ke Jihai.

When he was talking to He Chunhua, he really only had He Chunhua in his eyes, and he talked and laughed as if there was no one else around. The other nobles couldn't help but cheer and applaud when they heard the important points. Ke Jihai became impatient and turned around to yell.

The protagonists of today's banquet were obviously the Zhu family and Zhu Xiu'er, who both said that guests should do as they pleased, but this time he turned against guests and was completely unaware of it. General Ke seems to have a straightforward temper and doesn't care about offending people.

Zhu Xiyan smiled and didn't take it seriously, but the young men of the Zhu family were curling their lips and frowning, feeling dissatisfied.

Ke Jihai asked in detail about the battle strategy and the battle process, especially the time when the supporting army led the entire village, old and weak, to flee westward. He immediately raised questions: "Master He is kind, but women and children are slow to move, and they can get rid of the rebel army." The farther you go, the more likely you are to leave behind a broken team. How much was the loss in this part?"

"There are a total of thirty-five people in the support force, seventeen horses, and fourteen villagers who stayed to help." After that thrilling night, He Chunhua was already familiar with these numbers. "They held the rebel army close. Three hours.”

"Thirty-five people, delayed for three hours!" Ke Jihai was moved, "Okay, there must be brave men among them, Master He must make sure to use them."

He Chunhua smiled slightly and then called He Lingchuan to him: "At that time, I was very reluctant to leave my son after his tassel was cut off. But I didn't know that this kid commanded him well and successfully completed the task."

He sighed deeply: "When he was retreating, he was shot by Lu Yao and fell off the cliff. It is said that the arrow can hit three times in one shot. We all thought he was unlucky. My wife cried and fainted on the spot. Who knew, oh, not only did he not die, He also rescued Wu Shaoyi who was only half alive, otherwise he would not have been able to surrender. This is really a blessing from God."

"Only those who save themselves will be saved by God. Lu Yao's set of bows and arrows has a provenance. It is one of the most important treasures of the thief Hong Qiang. It is called the 'Ghost Eye Bow'. If it misses a hit, it will automatically double-click later. The officers and soldiers have experienced its power on the battlefield. Two generals under my command died under the Ghost Eye Bow. It is not easy for Lu Yao to shoot you with this bow and still not kill him. "

Ke Jihai turned to He Lingchuan: "You are young, resourceful and brave, which is rare! You are not a hero unless you go to the battlefield. You will be of great use in the north this time. You must work hard to add another tiger general to my Dayuan!"

Wang Ting's intention of transferring He Chunhua to Xiazhou was immediately clear to him, a veteran in the battlefield, which was to increase the military strength against Xunzhou Mu Nian Zanli and the Northern Demon Kingdom. The eldest son of He family followed his father, and there were inevitable battles.

He Lingchuan nodded and said forcefully, "I will definitely accept the teachings of the great general!"

Ke Jihai admired him for being such an awesome young man who was straightforward and didn't talk nonsense. He immediately took off his sword from his waist and handed it to He Lingchuan: "This sword is for heroes."

"How can this be done!" Before the eldest son could speak, He Chunhua immediately declined.

Ke Jihai ignored him and put the knife directly into He Lingchuan's hand: "This knife is called 'Bai Pi'. It has been with me for twenty-two years. I hope you can make good use of it."

He Lingchuan was overjoyed, took it with both hands, and solemnly said: "I accept it with all sincerity, and I will live up to the general's expectations."

Ke Jihai held such high regard for a sixteen or seventeen-year-old country boy. He praised the hero and gave him a knife, but he didn't take others seriously. The other nobles present were not very impressed. Especially for those in their early twenties, it was even more jarring to hear him say, "If you don't go to the battlefield, you're not a hero."

He Su, who had previously talked to the He brothers, said: "I heard that General Wu Di's eldest son Wu He went to the battlefield at the age of thirteen, and led his troops to capture the enemy general alive at the age of sixteen. Now he is also in the northwest with his father to conquer Dong Haoming. . He happens to be two years older than Brother He. Could it be that our Yuan Kingdom is about to produce another pair of indistinguishable tiger generals?"

The few teenagers who usually surrounded him all responded, but the other nobles only smiled and said nothing. Ke Jihai glanced at He Su: "Who are you?"

"My surname is He, and my father is He Changqi, Yushitai." In order to avoid suspicion, his father did not come to attend the Zhu family's night banquet.

The Zhu family members added: "This is He Su, the third son of the imperial censor."

"Is there any merit?"

He Su's face turned red and he could only shake his head.

"Have you ever offered any advice or suggestions?"

It would be extremely difficult for other young men aged seventeen or eighteen to offer advice to the king, but for the son of a royal censor, it would be easy for him to do so.

He Su's face turned even redder and he said, "I have already mentioned a few articles to the Holy One."

But the higher-ups approved it with the words "read" and then typed it back.

Ke Jihai smiled and said: "Since I have no achievements and have never been remonstrated with, I am just a bystander, so I can only watch from the sidelines."

This is to ask him to shut up, in front of so many people! He Su's face swelled from red to purple, and he swallowed a breath of bad breath, but secretly clenched his fists in his sleeves.

Ke Jihai was so rude that everyone at the banquet was speechless.

It was He Chunhua who broke the silence: "I heard that there is a stalemate on the front line in Wuzhou. Why did General Ke return to the capital at this time?"

He also figured out some of Ke Jihai's temper, so he simply asked him straight to the point.

"Oh, it's not just to collect food and wages." The smile on Ke Jihai's face gradually became heavier. "I heard that the tax collectors sent by Wang Ting to the four southern states came back with a full load and collected millions of taels of tax money."

"Dong Haoming was clearing the countryside in Wuzhou and did not leave a grain of food for us. This year's autumn grain harvest in Wujing has been arranged well by them. There is no food left in the fields. In order to ask for payment, General Wu and I have sent ten people to Wang Ting. We sent urgent messages twice, but in the past three or four months, we have only received food and grass twice. Fortunately, we can still have some food and drink after we conquer Baiding City."

"If it wasn't an emergency, why would I be so shameless as to beg for money and food when I return home?" He sighed quietly, "The frontline has been owed wages for more than three months, and one day's rations now last three days. If we don't pay them, the soldiers will not have the strength to fight. .”

An official at the scene said: "It's not that Wang Ting doesn't want to take action, this year is too difficult. Woling Pass was first attacked by rebels and then flooded, and there was almost no harvest in spring, summer and autumn. That large area has always been one of the rich grain areas, accounting for When the national grain harvest reaches 30%, not only will we not be able to pay tribute this year, but the country will also have to provide disaster relief."

The rebels and the government troops went back and forth at Woling Pass for several months. The tug-of-war was a mess, and then they ran into floods. The grain-producing area became a disaster area. Wang Ting scratched his head for this.

Zhu Xiyan also sighed: "The price of food in Shihuan City has increased by 40%. Once food rises, everything else rises with it. The servants said that even candles are expensive."

"Coincidentally, what I heard in Wang Ting was also a lot of complaints." Ke Jihai shook his head, "We are responsible for fighting on the front line, and logistics and payment are the officials' job. If I don't ask Wang Ting for money, who else can I ask for? Officers and soldiers You can fight on an empty stomach, but what about the horses? If they don’t eat wheat bran and bean cakes, they can’t run fast or carry heavy loads just by gnawing on grass.”

The official had a serious look on his face: "Actually, Shi Huan's family is also frugal in food and clothing to support the front line. Mr. Cao, who is in charge of the transportation of materials on the front line, I heard that he hasn't slept a wink in several days."

He Lingchuan subconsciously looked at the delicacies on the table.

He Yue couldn't help but said: "Dong Haoming has been prepared for a long time. He has strong soldiers and horses, a strong city and sufficient food, so he plans to fight a protracted war with the army. Once the army is exhausted and starts to retreat, he will turn from defense to attack."

"That's the truth." Ke Jihai nodded, "Dong Haoming has been on the battlefield for decades, and he understands all this. Once the offensive and defensive positions change, and the army fails to hold Jixin Gang in the north, Dong Haoming can board the ship there and go straight to Hongchuan. Shihuan City and the capital are in danger again."

Everyone's expression changed. The last time the rebels captured Woling Pass, they scared the residents of Shihuan City. Once the rebels take a boat from Fenglingdu and go downstream along the Hongchuan River, they will reach Shihuan within a few days and start killing without any cover or obstruction.

Some of the nobles present fled with their families after hearing the news. They did not return to Shihuan until they heard that Wu Di and Ke Jihai had defeated the rebels.

No one wants to experience that kind of heart-pounding feeling again.

Someone asked Ke Jihai: "What will be the result when the general returns to the capital?"

"What you ask for is just a drop in the bucket." Ke Jihai sighed deeply and shook his head, "Dong Haoming's troops are different from a mob like Hong Xiangqian. Their elites are better than the army and cannot be wiped out overnight. Food shortages consume the most morale in the middle of winter. At this time of year, there are not enough clothes and quilts in the army, and people freeze to death and suffer from frostbite every day. I am not afraid to tell the truth. If this continues, we will have to evacuate to Jixin Gang by the beginning of next spring at the latest."

That was less than three months ago.

"Jixingang is already building defenses, digging deep ditches and erecting high walls. But as far as I know, the ground there cannot hold more than a hundred thousand troops."

Looking at the faces of everyone, Zhu Xiyan knew that the time was almost up, so he coughed: "For the soldiers on the front line to fight, my family must also make every effort. In this way, our Zhu family is willing to donate 50,000 dan of military rations and 5,000 dan of horse feed to the royal court. Let them send the front line urgently!"

He Yue pinched his fingers secretly, his mind calculating rapidly. The current price of grain is 800 taels of silver per shi, so the Zhu family would have to spend about 40,000 taels of silver to buy grain and donate it to the front line, not including the cost of fodder.

There was a buzz of discussion all around.

The host, Zhu Xiyan, had already expressed his stance, and the others were stroking their hearts and doing calculations. They found that it was more cost-effective to spend a small amount of money on the frontline soldiers to withstand Dong Haoming's iron hoof than to have their families destroyed later.

As a result, several highly respected royal relatives also donated their money.

Their status is more respected than Zhu Xiyan's, but their actions cannot be as shabby as his. The largest family pledged to donate 120,000 shi, and the rest ranged from 60,000 to 90,000 shi, as well as horse materials, clothing, shoes, and bedding.

With them taking the lead, the aristocratic families and officials present had no choice but to follow suit, secretly feeling bad luck in their hearts. Those who attended the Zhu family's dust-washing feast tonight had already given a gift. Unexpectedly, General Ke Jihaike was waiting here and would ask them to collect a second portion of money.

With so many families buying grain, why shouldn’t the price of grain near Shihuan skyrocket?