Red Mansion: Seizing Jiangdong, starting with pirates

Chapter 81, Eve of Rebellion

Since the Huaiyin thief Fang Yong had already surrendered to Daxi, there was naturally no need to eliminate him.

The most important thing now is the Jin bandits who have already reached the Zhili area. In response to the order of Emperor Longqing, Wang Ziteng and Mao Cheng led their troops and rushed to Zhili without stopping.

As for Yangzhou and other places, only a small number of troops were left to garrison.

In October, the rice was ripe and the abundant harvest filled Fang Yong's treasury.

The two bumper harvests made his food reserves extremely secure.

The training of the heavy cavalry under his command has also begun to show results, and their riding formations and charges have already become quite capable.

The only drawback is that there are not enough horses. This is a fatal flaw. There is no way but to wait for Xue San and Xue Ke’s caravan to return.

An elite heavy cavalryman needs to be equipped with three war horses, or at least two.

This is mainly because heavy cavalry need to carry out continuous charges and battles on the battlefield, and a horse cannot bear the heavy armor and weapons on their bodies for a long time, so multiple horses are needed to rotate riding to prevent the horses from being overly fatigued and affecting their combat effectiveness.

Fang Yong was planning to form a heavy cavalry unit of 10,000 men, which would require 30,000 war horses. But now he only had more than 3,000 horses, only one-tenth of the total.

But there's no need to worry just yet.

He has no plans to go north this year. His goal is only to march into Jiangnan and other places. A thousand heavy cavalry are enough for him.

Wang Ziteng's large army had been transferred away. The battle in Zhili was extremely intense and the court had no time to take care of the southern region. This was the time for him to show his skills.

Xue Dacui's caravan has already started operating in Yangzhou, Xuzhou and other places, laying secret lines and waiting for the end of the autumn harvest. Then, the Marquis of Huaiyin who had surrendered to Daxi would rebel again.

Oh no, it can't be called rebellion.

It should be said that this benevolent Marquis Huaiyin saw that the people were suffering, the officials were unjust, and the court was unable to govern this land, so he helped manage it on behalf of the court for a few hundred years.

These days, Daiyu had been feeling bored staying in the mansion, so she begged Fang Yong to take her out for some fresh air.

Looking at the pitiful Lin Daiyu who was lying on his chest and acting coquettishly, how could Fang Yong bear to refuse?

There is a White Horse Lake outside Huaizhou City, which is a famous scenic spot throughout the ages. There are dedicated people in charge of its management, and there are pavilions with beautiful scenery for people to enjoy, which is a perfect place to visit.

By the way, Baochai, Baoqin, Xiangling and others also came along.

Daiyu and Baochai walked one after the other.

Winding paths, graceful windows; the sun shines on the fresh apricots, the moon reflects on the banana leaves.

Thousands of willow trees are filled with singing orioles, and the yard is full of crabapple blossoms with even greater fragrance.

None of them wears any makeup; their feathered clothes are made of silkworm down, and they are cool and natural, like an immortal.

The other one has a fair face and cherry lips; her hair is in a bun made of gold and jade, and she is a beautiful lady with a straight and upright figure.

When the breeze starts to blow, the chirping of birds can be heard.

The parrot whistles, the cuckoo cries; the partridge sings, the purple swallow chirps; the magpie flies through the branches, the crows repay their parents; the oriole flies, the thrush tunes.

When you reach the end, you will see a lake, as clear as a mirror and as vast as the sky.

There are fish swimming and leaping, and egrets flying.

Daiyu became interested and said she wanted to go crab fishing by the lake.

Everyone says that crabs are eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival, but in fact, the fattest crabs are in October.

The maple leaves have fallen, the reeds have dried, and I sleep drunkenly in the fishing boat without feeling the cold.

Fang Yong held the fishing rod and watched Lin Daiyu fishing for crabs.

Baoqin was the most lively one, and she took Xiangling to catch the parrot.

Only Baochai stayed with Fang Yong.

After fishing for a long time, Daiyu caught quite a few fish, but not a single crab.

"It must be that the fishing rod my brother gave me is not good!"

Daiyu said with a pout.

Fang Yong and Baochai covered their mouths and laughed when they saw this.

Daiyu said angrily: "What are you laughing at!"

Fang Yong then explained to Daiyu the difference between fishing for crabs and fishing for fish.

Daiyu blushed after hearing this and said:
"Well, you two bad guys are laughing at me together! Sister Bao, I thought you were good sisters, but you followed me and became bad. Let me see how I punish you!"

Daiyu pounced on Baochai.

Baochai smiled and begged for mercy, "Good sister, please forgive me. I wanted to tell you, but the Marquis said that Sister Lin was innocent and lovely. I wanted to see how Sister Lin would react after she knew it, so I held back."

After hearing this, Daiyu looked at Fang Yong and snorted, "Brother is not a good person. I will never talk to him again."

Seeing Xueyan and Qiaoyan laughing behind her, Daiyu caught them and gently pinched their little faces.

"You two are also hiding evil in your hearts. Just wait and see how I deal with you!"

Fang Yong stepped forward, took Daiyu's hand, and begged for mercy:
"It's my fault. I only wanted to see my sister's innocent side, but ignored her feelings. To make up for it, I'll take her to catch crabs."

As he spoke, Fang Yong gave Daiyu another gentle kiss on the forehead.

Daiyu blushed, lying on Fang Yong's chest, and said embarrassedly:

“There are so many people!”

quickly,

As the sun sets, crabs crawl out of the lake and head to the shore to look for food.

“It turns out that crabs can be picked up directly!”

Daiyu said in surprise and reached out to touch the crab.

"Be careful not to get caught!"

Fang Yong protected Daiyu's hand and considerately handed her a crab trap.

Baochai, who was watching this scene, actually felt a little envious.

"Sister Bao, what are you looking at? Why don't you come and catch crabs?"

Baoqin said with a smile, pulling Xiangling to the shore happily, and picked up the crabs with a crab cage.

"Sister Lin, help me, the crab is about to run away!"

Daiyu smiled and said, "Here I come!"

Baochai looked at this scene and sighed in her heart.

Perhaps she would never be able to communicate with Daiyu as naturally as Baoqin, just like when they first met, Daiyu suggested sorting them by age, but she did not dare to agree.

"Sister Bao, come quickly!"

Daiyu greeted.

Baochai responded and walked over.

……

Early November,

The cold wind blew the tattered flag on the top of Zhending City.

Plasma and minced meat hung on the mottled city walls, forming a dark film.

Crows circled in the sky, searching for rotting body parts on the ground.

Chen Zhengdu looked at the flock of crows in the sky with a grim expression. In his opinion, this was an ominous sign.

Chen Zhengdu drew his bow and shot arrows, scaring the crows away, but after a while, the crows flew back.

"General!"

A soldier looked over worriedly.

Chen Zhengdu threw the bow and arrow to the ground and turned away.

According to the information provided by the Ministry of War, Wang Ziteng's advance troops will travel day and night and will arrive to support within 20 days.

However, now a whole month has passed, and Chen Zheng has not even seen the shadow of reinforcements.

"Insects, they are all insects!"

Chen Zheng couldn't help but curse.

Over the past month, Zhending City has been under frenzied attack by the Jin bandits. The defenders on the city have died in batches, and the number of arrows, rolling logs, and stones defending the city is decreasing, while the number of Jin bandits attacking the city is increasing.

The soldiers saw no hope of victory and their morale was close to collapse.

Chen Zhengdu observed that some Jin bandits actually chose to bypass Zhending and go to the rear to plunder. This behavior was undoubtedly a great contempt for Chen Zhengdu in the city.

But Chen Zhengdu did not dare to send troops out of the city to attack, because the disparity in strength between the enemy and our side was too great, and their morale was too low. He was afraid of being ambushed if he left the city, in which case his entire army would be wiped out.

"Wang Ziteng isn't coming yet?"

(End of this chapter)