Rebirth: Making a Fortune in Ancient Times

On June 15, Jiang Pingda's army arrived in Nansheng County.

Looking at the densely packed camp opposite him, Zhou Ji's brows furrowed. He now commanded 200,000 soldiers, the same number as the enemy. However, most of these 200,000 were newly conscripted, having only been in the army for less than a month of training; their combat capabilities were, to put it mildly, questionable.

"Your Highness, rest assured, our city walls have been reinforced and heightened. They won't be able to breach them so easily," Hua Jinzhi said, standing beside Zhou Ji and observing the situation outside the city.

"Guard the supplies well, and don't let the enemy find an opening." Zhou Ji instructed Hua Jinzhi, recalling that the last major defeat seemed to have started with the burning of the supplies.

"Your Highness, rest assured, we have dispatched heavy troops to guard all the grain depots. We will ensure that there are no problems with the grain supplies."

Zhou Ji went through the process countless times in his mind, making sure he hadn't overlooked anything, before returning to his residence with peace of mind.

On June 16th, Jiang Pingda ordered his men to hurl insults outside the city, but no matter how much they cursed, Zhou Ji's side stubbornly held the gates and refused to come out. This was a complete reversal of the situation at Jialing Pass a few months earlier.

Jiang Pingda's men cursed outside for several hours, with several groups of men changing, but there was still no movement from inside the city. Jiang Pingda was not in a hurry. Every day, he would send his men out to curse for several hours before withdrawing to camp. This went on for more than ten days, with no intention of attacking the city.

"Your Highness, I think the other side intends to trap us in this city!" said a general who had returned from Dingcheng with Zhou Ji from the city wall.

"How long will our provisions last the army?" Zhou Ji asked him.

The general hesitated for a moment before replying.

"Four months is no problem, and if we can be frugal, we can last even longer."

"Four months..." Zhou Ji murmured, pondering his next move. He had no reinforcements, and all the grain and manpower he could muster within his jurisdiction had been requisitioned; there would be no further supplies in the short term.

"Your Highness, we can't keep dragging this on like this. We can't afford to lose." Hua Jinzhi seemed to know Zhou Ji inside and out, saying exactly what Zhou Ji was thinking.

Zhou Ji was pleased that he had such insights, and felt that he had not misjudged him. Although he was young, he was quite talented.

"In your opinion, what should we do?" Zhou Ji asked him.

"Your Highness, since they aren't attacking first, let's attack them first," Hua Jinzhi said.

"How should we attack? Tell me your ideas," Zhou Ji asked again.

"A night raid! We'll send a team of skilled fighters out of the city under cover of darkness to burn down their camp. If we can find their supplies, that would be even better."

After hearing Hua Jinzhi's words, the generals on the city wall who had fled back from Dingcheng with Zhou Ji all fell silent. What could they say? They couldn't very well say, "What you said is good, this method is good too. The reason we suffered such a great defeat was because the enemy used the same method at Jialing Pass!"

Seeing that Zhou Ji remained silent, and everyone else was also quiet, Hua Jinzhi asked with some confusion.

"Does Your Highness think my method is inadequate?"

"..." Zhou Ji didn't know how to answer; it was a wound in his heart. After a long while, just when Hua Jinzhi thought he wouldn't speak again, she suddenly heard his soft voice.

"What if the other side is already prepared and just waiting for our people to walk into their trap?"

“Well…they’ve been hurling insults at us for over ten days, and we haven’t made a move. I think they must be quite relaxed right now. They’re sure we won’t dare leave the city.” Hua Jinzhi’s tone was initially hesitant, but the more she spoke, the more convinced she became that her thinking was correct.

But his words pierced the hearts of those present like a knife. Wasn't this exactly what they felt and thought back outside Jialing Pass? Someone wanted to mention the ambush at Jialing Pass, but seeing the prince's gloomy face, the person swallowed hard and kept the words in their mouth.

After Hua Jinzhi finished speaking, she saw that the prince did not respond and that everyone else looked like they had just eaten shit. She knew that there must be some hidden story that she did not know, so she wisely kept quiet and prepared to ask her friends about it when she got back.

Two more days passed, and Jiang Pingda still showed no sign of attacking the city. Zhou Ji had his own ideas. He ordered his soldiers to intensify their training, preparing to launch a surprise attack and fight to the death at the right opportunity.

Another month passed, and August was fast approaching. The two sides remained locked in a stalemate for over a month. What remained unchanged was that Jiang Pingda sent people to hurl insults at him every day at the appointed time. The soldiers guarding the city walls went from being afraid at first, to their anger rising rapidly, and finally to being indifferent, thinking, "You can curse all you want, I, Tao Tao, can't hear anything, it doesn't matter to me."

Just when everyone thought that the days would simply pass by until one side ran out of food and surrendered, ending the war peacefully, Zhou Ji suddenly ordered a night raid on Jiang Pingda's camp, burning all their supplies.

Upon hearing the news of the successful night raid brought back by his men, Zhou Ji laughed heartily, hands on his hips, determined to get back up wherever he had fallen.

"Quickly set up all the prepared oil cauldrons and heat up all the oils. When they attack the city, pour it over them. I want them to taste what it's like to have hot oil poured over their heads and bodies." In that instant, Zhou Ji felt that even God was on his side. He was going to get his revenge today for all the losses he suffered at Jialing Pass.

But not everything went as he had planned. The next day, Jiang Pingda cleaned up the burned area, tallied the losses, and was so angry that he jumped up and down cursing.

So, that very day, he personally led his men to challenge the city. Zhou Ji, who was on the city wall, saw him come out and excitedly directed his men to quickly set up pots and heat oil, waiting for Jiang Pingda to give the order to attack the city. But to everyone's surprise, Jiang Pingda cursed until his throat was dry and drank a pot of tea, but still did not give the order to set up ladders to attack the city.

Zhou Ji listened to his cursing, watching the sun rise in the east, reach its highest point in the middle, then move westward, and finally slowly sink below the horizon. Jiang Pingda's voice became hoarse from cursing, but he preferred to have his deputy take his place rather than give the order to attack.

Then, Zhou Ji watched as they withdrew their troops and returned to camp.

"That old fox!" Zhou Ji angrily slammed the bow and arrows in his hand to the ground. Those around him watched his fury without daring to speak. If they had remained this calm after the night attack at Jialing Pass, perhaps their defeat wouldn't have been so swift. But they only dared to think this to themselves; even if they had a thousand times the courage, they wouldn't dare utter it aloud.