Reborn in Liangshan: I built the strongest lineup

"Very well, so this is the Liao Kingdom's version of being besieged on all sides, Tong Guan. I underestimated you before."

Ren Yuan clapped his hands. He hadn't expected Old Tong to be so shrewd. Why wasn't he so wise when they fought back then?

"Your Highness flatters us. It's only because we have many Liao prisoners that this plan would not work."

Tong Guan didn't get carried away. He knew that he had only just gained a foothold with Ren Yuan and needed to achieve more to truly secure his position.

"Singing from all sides, that can only be done tonight. There's no time today. Let's do it tomorrow night."

Ren Yuan thought for a moment and realized that if they were to sing, they needed to organize it well and at least sing in unison. They couldn't just sing one line at a time; otherwise, it wouldn't be effective.

"Have our clerks work hard tonight to write some surrender documents. Tomorrow morning, have the Divine Arrow Army shoot the surrender documents into the city with arrows. We will not attack the city tomorrow, only besiege it. The arrows will be the ones we collected on the battlefield today. Oh, and don't forget to remove the arrowheads."

To win hearts and minds, you can't just use one trick; you have to use many tricks together for better results.

“Excellent, Your Highness. With this arrow letter as a prelude, the Liao song performance tomorrow night will be even more effective.”

Tong Guan also expressed his admiration for Ren Yuan's reaction. He had been thinking about this move for several days, but Ren Yuan had actually arranged the supporting measures in such a short time after hearing about it, and in such detail. No wonder he couldn't beat this guy before.

"Don't flatter me too much, I'm not Zhao Ji."

Ren Yuan waved his hand and then continued.

"Although we won't be attacking the city tomorrow, we need to send our loudest and most eloquent brothers to take our megaphones and go down to the city walls to persuade the city to surrender. They should shout all day long, and when they get tired, we can take over."

"In addition, for tomorrow's lunch and dinner, have the cooks bring out a few large pots, set them up at the front lines, and roast meat, boil soup, and steam rice—make it as fragrant as possible! We must make sure the aroma of our food and meat reaches all the way to Nanjing!"

Tong Guan was stunned. "No, Ren Yuan, are you serious? One arrow letter wasn't enough, you actually have another move? With you doing this, it makes my Four-Sided Liaoge seem rather ordinary."

"Brother, there aren't many other problems with the cooks, but we're afraid we won't have enough meat for this forced march."

Qin Ming said that the food was fine, as the local soldiers' cooking skills were indeed excellent, but the meat...

"Among the warhorses captured today, were any seriously injured?"

Ren Yuan thought for a moment and then asked.

"Yes, I did. I was thinking of taking it back to show Brother Huangfu."

Qin Ming recalled it and confirmed that it was true.

"Then there's no need to take it back. Kill the horse and roast the horse meat."

Ren Yuan directly stated that it would be reasonable to use these warhorses as meat, and to use the Liao people's horses to persuade them to surrender. In a sense, it was also a case of using the original ingredients to make the original food.

"Your Highness, isn't this horse...?"

Tong Guan was shocked by Ren Yuan's unusually bold approach. No, that was a warhorse! Even though it was injured, you just slaughter it like that?

"Old Tong, you need to broaden your horizons. There are still so many cavalrymen in the city. So tell me, how many horses are left in the city?"

Ren Yuan got up, walked to Tong Guan's side, and patted him on the shoulder.

"Slaughtering a dozen or twenty severely injured horses might eventually bring back over ten thousand horses. Do you think that's a worthwhile deal?"

"Your Highness is wise; Tong Guan admires you."

Tong Guan was impressed. Good heavens! He thought Ren Yuan was short-sighted, but it turned out that he himself had been too narrow-minded!

"Go back and get some rest. Tomorrow, lead the men to besiege the city. Even if it's a psychological battle, we need to put some pressure on them..."

The next day.

"Whoosh whoosh..."

As dawn broke, the Nanjing garrison discovered hundreds of mounted archers moving along the city wall and hurling something into the city.

"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"

The Liao army on the city wall immediately raised the alarm, but what they did not expect was that the Dayi horse archers below the city had no intention of attacking at all; they returned after shooting their arrows.

"Report! Many arrows have been shot in from outside the city, and many have landed inside the city."

The soldiers on the city wall said to the general guarding the city.

"Take a look at it."

The general guarding the city was a confidant of Yelü Zongyun. His eyes were bloodshot, clearly indicating that he had stayed up all night. He was supposed to be on duty today, but this incident suddenly happened, which made him very unhappy.

"Yes!"

The garrison soldier picked up an arrow, took out the document attached to it, and handed it to the general.

The general took it, glanced at it briefly, and his expression immediately changed drastically! He quickly shouted to his men:

"Quickly! Put all these things away! Don't let anyone see them!"

"Quickly tell the general! The enemy is trying to persuade us to surrender!"

But the order came too late. Many soldiers had already seen the document, which earnestly stated that if they surrendered, Da Yi would promise them various benefits. Many were still whispering and debating whether it was real or fake.

As for those that were shot into the city, whether the city's residents found them or not, that's unknown.

Moreover, the arrows weren't fired all at once. Ren Yuan had instructed that every half hour, a mounted archer would come and fire a volley. You collect yours, I'll fire mine, let's see who gets flustered first.

Moreover, around noon, Ren Yuan even used a catapult, placing the document inside a round bamboo cage and then launching the cage into the city. The catapult could launch the arrow from a greater distance; anyway, it could be launched randomly, and some civilians would surely find it.

"Damn it! These people are going too far! Guards, search the entire city for any surrender documents, but make sure no one sees them!"

After returning yesterday, Yelü Zongyun holed up in his temporary residence. He was both shocked and furious to learn that people outside had begun to persuade him to surrender. But he truly dared not go out of the city to meet the enemy again. Of his four brothers, only he remained, and Yelü Zongyun had lost his courage.

At noon, the cooks of Dayi also made their appearance as planned. Ren Yuan even specially arranged for someone with a loud voice to stand near the head cook with a tin megaphone, explaining the situation to the Liao soldiers in the city:

"The Liao army brothers inside the city are currently preparing Dayi steamed dishes. Steaming uses water as a medium, allowing the water to penetrate and heat the food! Our cooks are incredibly skilled; these steamed dishes are fragrant, tender, and refreshing, with beautiful shapes and vibrant colors. Smell it, doesn't it smell delicious!..."

"High-end ingredients often require only the simplest cooking methods. Liaoning brothers, look at this! This is a heated stone slab. We'll be grilling meat here in a bit. Meat grilled on a stone slab is incredibly juicy and flavorful. The feeling of biting into it is incomparable to dried beef or mutton!"

"Brothers of the Liao army inside the city, as long as you lay down your weapons and open the city gates, you can come and enjoy delicious food with us!"

"That grandson Yelü Zongyun, he's hiding in the city eating and drinking like a king, while you, the defenders, are just waiting to eat jerky. My brothers in the Liao army, I feel so indignant for you!"

"Come on, come on, this is the first piece of meat that's been roasted. Brothers, look at it, isn't it tempting? Brothers, take a look first, I'll taste it for you! Mmm, smells good, muah muah..."

The aroma of meat, rice, and vegetables, combined with words of persuasion to surrender, surged towards the south city wall. Many soldiers, seeing the delicious food below and then looking at the dried meat and biscuits in their hands, suddenly found it impossible to swallow.

How about... we go downstairs and get something to eat?