Dayan Fifty Dao

Chapter 96 Counting

But Li Ling seemed to be blessed by the gods. Suddenly, a large group of ragged people shouted into the city: "There is food, there is food." They stood not far away, set up a pot, set up a stove , The fragrance of cooking comes with the breeze.

As soon as the defenders in the city heard that there was food, they no longer cared about it, and rushed out of the city, even repelling the rebels. They gathered around the pots and stoves and devoured them one by one, while teams of food trucks were in front of the people. They were sent to the city under the crowd.

A general walked up to Li Ling with a piece of cake and said, "Commander, let's just eat it."

Li Ling was suspicious: "Where did you get the food?"

The general said: "I don't know, the common people said it was sent by the Cao Gang, and they took care of the exiled people on the way, so it was delayed for some time."

Hearing this, Li Ling was so moved that the Cao Gang delivered the grain, and whoever it was, was it Xiao Linger. He walked down the wall and went straight to the Cao Gang camp, and saw that Xiao Ruozhu was organizing the people to transport bags of grain to the city. He hurried forward and cupped his hands.

Xiao Ruozhu smiled and said: "Hey, son, you have lost weight and become strong."

Li Ling waved his hand and said, "Master Xiao has worked hard all the way, follow me quickly."

When they arrived at Li Ling's tent, Li Ling ordered someone to bring food and wine to greet Master Xiao, but at this time Master Xiao said, "Your Majesty, why are you doing this? If you listened to the princess, you would not suffer this kind of hardship. "

Li Ling lowered his head slightly, and asked inquiringly, "How is she now?"

Xiao Ruozhu smiled: "You said the princess, she is very good, but on your side, the rebels are so powerful, it seems that this battle will not be over for a while."

Li Ling sighed: "In the past, I thought it was good to be an official through the examination. After these few battles, I don't think I am suffering. The people are so pitiful. If I don't fight, when will they be able to eat enough?" ? Fighting is for peace. Even if I fight for the rest of my life, I want to make the world peaceful.”

Xiao Ruozhu sighed: "The son is still simple."

Li Ling was puzzled: "Why did Master Xiao say that?"

Xiao Ruozhu said: "Nowadays there are continuous wars and natural disasters, and the common people are tired and miserable, so what if the world is peaceful? Can you really let the common people all over the world have a full meal?"

Speaking of this, Li Ling felt deeply ashamed, and he said leisurely: "Unless I"

"Unless you are the emperor? Useless son, you have not seen as much suffering as I have experienced by the people of the world. The princess is right. Unless the yield per mu exceeds a thousand, the court does not collect taxes, and everyone has land to cultivate, otherwise the common people Still nothing to eat."

"The yield per mu is over a thousand, forget it, and drink." Li Ling picked up the wine bowl as he spoke.It's even more unpleasant in my heart.

Xiao Ruozhu took a sip and asked, "Then, son, how will we fight this battle?"

Li Ling frowned: "I don't know, I don't know how to fight, the court sent me, I don't know why, but even if I don't know how to fight, I have to fight, otherwise let them fight to the capital and kill me in Tang Dynasty? "

Xiao Ruozhu smiled: "The princess is worried about this."

Li Ling raised his head and asked doubtfully, "What's your opinion, little Ling'er?"

At this moment Xiao Duozhu clapped his hands, a person came in from the outside, the person was thin, with a bent waist, a mouth with brackets, his eyes seemed a bit sinister, he was wearing a coarse cloth gown, and his hair was fastened with mahogany.

At this moment Xiao Ruozhu said: "Mr. Zheng, meet the prince soon."

At this time, the man bowed to Li Ling, and Xiao Ruozhu said: "My son, this is Mr. Zheng. He lives in the south of the Yangtze River. Because corrupt officials took his land, he was exiled in Hangzhou. He was rescued by the head of the Qin family. The master, but was favored by the princess, and ordered him to come and assist."

Li Ling wondered, "He knows how to fight?"

Xiao Ruozhu smiled: "I don't know, but I believe, the princess's vision."

At this time, Mr. Zheng also stepped forward and said to Li Ling: "Thanks to the princess for not giving up, let me come to help the prince. As for whether he will fight or not, the prince still needs to listen to my words." He walked to the sand table and said: " My son, please move."

Li Ling hurried over, and he pointed to the sand table and said, "Look, sir, the city of Chengdu is flat in the middle and surrounded by mountains, but Nanzhao attacked from the southwest, the mountains are high and the roads are dangerous, so there must be a lack of clothing and food.

And they have lived in the mountains for a long time, and the assault is acceptable, but the formation is insufficient, and it is a small country. To be able to dispatch such troops, it is already an invasion of the whole country. In addition, they are rushing for a long distance, and the rear must be empty.

If we charge them head-on, we will definitely be blocked, but if we lead them into the city, they will lose their own advantages, so I think."

Li Ling frowned more and more when he heard it, but sighed: "Sir, this plan is poisonous."

But Mr. Zheng smiled: "If you want to win, you need to pay a price, and this price is already the smallest."

Li Ling also had no choice but to nod his head. Of course what he said was small was actually not small, but he had no choice but to obey. With the assistance of Xiao Ruozhu, the people in the city slowly evacuated.

Fifteen days later, there were no more people in the city. At this time, Li Ling asked Zhang Baoju and Chen Chongshan to withdraw from the city with their soldiers and set up camp outside the city.After the soldiers withdrew, Li Ling also withdrew with his men.

The Nanzhao rebels, seeing that they had all withdrawn, successfully captured the city of Chengdu. When they entered the city, they saw that the whole city was empty, as if it was a dead city, and countless haystacks were piled up in a mess. In the city, there are still some unknown liquids flowing everywhere.

Suddenly someone yelled: "No, it's wine."

Suddenly a person rushed out from the haystack. The person did not speak, but lit a torch. Suddenly, the city was on fire and thick smoke billowed. They wanted to retreat, but they found that the city gate had been blocked by stones at some point.

But countless soldiers suddenly appeared on the top of the city, and they shot at them with arrows. They could not get close to the city gate, and were overwhelmed by the collapsed houses. There were screams in the city, and the fire burned for seven days. Survived.

At first glance, it was miserable like purgatory. Li Ling almost couldn't breathe when he saw this situation. Behind him, Mr. Zheng just said lightly: "War is cruel."

Li Ling nodded, turned around and vomited. He returned to the big tent with the support of Chen Chongshan. Zhang Baoju was leading people to clean up the corpses. It was by the moat, and the piles of corpses carried out were as high as mountains.

Li Ling stood beside the sand table, beating the sand table lightly, and asked himself in a low voice: "Why, why?"

But no one could give him an accurate answer. At this time, the people on the hills gradually returned to the city, and there was a lot of crying in the scorched city. They saw that the fruits of their hard work were burned, and no one was not sad. of.

But the living still have to live. Li Ling asked the soldiers to send the tents in the barracks to the city, but he could only stare at the scorching sun and rest under the shade of the trees.And until this time, the military rations of the imperial court slowly came from the official road.

(End of this chapter)