I have lived forever since the end of Qin Dynasty

Chapter 297 Chen Luo’s arrangement

July [-]th, midnight.

In the center of the empty crossroads in Dai City, several plates were neatly placed, containing washed fruits and vegetables. Under the moonlight, they glowed cold white.

Not far away, on the dark eaves, were lying several strong Xiongnu men in black.

"Chief, the behavior of these Han people is really weird. They actually ruined the best food like this." The Huns were waiting for the patrol team to pass through the street. They felt bored, so they lowered their voices and started chatting.

Before the leader of the Huns could wait, the companion beside him laughed out loud and said: "You kid, you don't usually have good contact with those Han people. As a result, you only learned the Chinese language, but you don't understand such simple common sense.

This is their traditional festival on the half of July, used to worship their ancestors and pray for blessings from the gods. It is similar to our Chanyu worshiping heaven at the foot of Langjuxu Mountain. "

The "Half of July" in the early Han Dynasty had not yet been influenced by Taoism and was not given the title of "Ghost Festival". It was quite different from the Hungry Ghost Festival in later generations.

The Huns who asked the question nodded confusedly.

He asked curiously: "These Han people just worship their ancestors at home, why do they put these foods outside?"

You must know that they were on the grassland and could only eat fresh fruits and melons a few times throughout the year, but the people in Dai City randomly "thrown" them on the street, which made him very angry.

When I return to the grassland, I can’t even eat anything I want!

His question went unanswered.

Why do people in Daicheng place sacrifices at the street corners instead of going to cemeteries to worship their ancestors?

The answer to this question is that they caused it.

The Xiongnu invasion ten years ago resulted in the death and disappearance of a large number of civilians and city defenders in the battle to defend Dai City.

The relatives of the victims had no graves to worship in, but they did not want their fathers, wives, and children to wander outside and become starving ghosts, so they left them on the street as they are now for them to find by themselves. Come.

The people in Dai City all know the meaning of these fruits, so no one will touch them.

"Okay, be quiet." The Hun leader at the front turned his head, looking slightly impatient.

This topic is a "taboo" within the Xiongnu.

Whether it was the disastrous defeat in the Han-Hungarian War or the fact that the siege of Dai City had not ended for three months, they considered it a great humiliation.

If the person who just mentioned this matter was not one of his own, but a member of the small and medium-sized tribes on the grassland, he might have become violent.

The few Huns who were still talking in low voices immediately shut up obediently.

Not long after, soldiers on night patrol appeared in their field of vision.

Seeing the soldiers' backs gradually disappearing from sight, the Hun leader raised his hand and waved it gently.

"According to the plan, act!"

Through the investigation in the previous few days, they probably figured out the rules of city defense here.

Compared with those small county towns, as the capital city, the security is naturally tighter.

Local patrols may be conducted twice a night, or even once for lazy soldiers. In Dai City, patrols are conducted every half an hour, and there are even hidden sentries in the area near the palace.

According to the Huns' plan, the place they wanted to go was the official blacksmith shop in the south of Dai City. However, it was located in a market, and the land was expensive, so there was no abandoned house to hide.

Therefore, the hiding place they chose was a house not far from the intersection. After observing the night patrol team leaving, they sneaked all the way there.

However, it was necessary to strictly check when to arrive at which location during the operation to ensure that the Han soldiers were farthest away from their position when the action was taken. It would take nearly two quarters of an hour to arrive after learning of the accident.

In this way, after they achieve their goal, they can escape intact.

As the Xiongnu leader turned over and got out of the room, the remaining strong men no longer lay prone. They were all very fast and there was no trace of any lag.

They stepped on the ground covered with weeds and made only a very small sound. If you weren't paying attention, you would most likely think it was a wild cat scurrying past.

The bright moonlight shines down, and the streets of Daicheng are covered with a layer of faint silvery white.

But in the dark and cold corner, several figures flashed past, like mice on the stove.

……

"Prime Minister, why don't you go down and have a rest first? I'll be watching over here, so there won't be any problems." Qu Zhongyin dissuaded him softly.

They were now about five hundred steps outside the Daicheng Market. There was a high tower standing here, overlooking the panoramic view of the market.

Chen Luo waved his hand and said, "I spent half a month formulating this trapping plan. Now that it's the last minute, how can I have the heart to sleep soundly at home?"

It has been almost a month since the first murder occurred in Qeru County.

Through the news from various counties, Chen Luo has determined that the murderer is the Huns who sneaked into the Han Dynasty, and the victims are basically outstanding local craftsmen.

After confirming this, he understood what the Huns wanted.

Although the state of Dai opened the closed market, the main trading items were grain and cloth.

These things are attractive enough to ordinary tribes in the grassland, ensuring that they survive the cold winter and reduce population losses.

But as the overlords of the grasslands, the Huns had enough cattle and sheep of their own and did not need to trade food for the winter. As for whether the slaves under their accounts lived or died, it was not within their scope of consideration.

After all, the slaves froze to death, and at worst they would grab another batch next spring.

The reason why Mohist caravans were so attractive to the Huns was that they carried tea.

Moreover, if ordinary trade is not carried out, the Mohist caravan will refuse simple tea transactions.

They even set relevant standards, stipulating how many stones of grain or how many feet of cloth could be purchased at one time before they could be qualified to purchase tea.

For ordinary grassland tribes, food is attractive enough.

For the Xiongnu nobles, tea was their coveted treasure.

The Xiongnu Chanyu Maodun, what would he long for?

A hero who can unify the grassland will never lose his mind by playing with things and let his mind be corrupted by entertainment.

Chen Luo raised his head slightly, squinted at the starry sky, and had a rough guess in his mind.

Looking at Chen Luo's slightly tired expression, Qu Zhongyin continued to persuade: "Prime Minister, you have to deal with political affairs during the day, do you really don't need a rest? After all, those thieves may not take action today."

They had been fishing and enforcing the law here for three or four nights, and the Huns had not made any movement. That is to say, Qu Zhongyin believed in Chen Luo's judgment and chose to wait quietly, otherwise he would have started investigating in other directions.

Chen Luo just shook his head, "It doesn't matter, I still have this energy."

If it had been 15 years earlier, he would have definitely taken the initiative to go to the front line to fight the Huns, and then capture them with his own hands.But now his identity is different.

Even if he catches all the Huns who sneaked into Dai City without any damage, in the eyes of his subordinates, the risks he takes are far higher than the benefits.

They were just a few Huns thieves. If the Prime Minister was injured, it would not be worth having them buried with him a hundred times as many times.

Chen Luo, who became the "mastermind behind the scenes", could not get off the ground to fight, and could not feel the heat and humidity of the enemy's blood splattering on his cheeks.

But let him stay at home safely and wait for others to tell him the final result.

Chen Luo couldn't do it.

Qu Zhongyin was about to open his mouth to persuade again, but a loud sound of cracking wooden boards came from the market, instantly breaking the silence of the night.

"The big fish has been caught in the net." He stood up with a slightly excited tone, turned to look at Chen Luo, and found that the Prime Minister's eyes were also filled with excitement.

Their planning and waiting these days have not been in vain!

Those cunning opponents finally couldn't control their desires and chose to throw themselves into the trap.

Immediately afterwards, there was a sound of fighting in the market.

However, neither Chen Luo nor Qu Zhongyin looked nervous.

They arranged a triple siege.

The innermost siege was in the blacksmith shop, where more than 30 people were ambushed in dark places such as the porch and under the table.

Chen Luo's request for these hidden men was to capture as many enemies as possible. The main attack was focused on the legs to destroy the Huns' ability to escape.

The surrounding circle in the middle is the houses adjacent to the blacksmith shop.

Whether on the roof, by the windows, or in the empty courtyard, there were soldiers waiting for the enemy to enter. The total number of soldiers exceeded 300.

Compared with the hidden men hiding in the blacksmith shop, these soldiers are well-equipped, and everyone is wearing full armor, in order to avoid the extremely fierce ones among the Huns.

After all, it would not be a simple character who could escape from the blacksmith shop by attacking more with less.

But after they entered the second encirclement, they wanted to attack more with less, or with full armor without armor, but they were still in a narrow terrain.

I'm afraid it would be a bit difficult for Xiang Yu.

As for the third encirclement, Chen Luo chose to set it up for the sake of stability and placed it outside the market, forming a large circle.

After all, there are not only fierce ones among the Huns. If there is someone who is good at light martial arts and escapes, and after running out of the blacksmith shop, he slips through the gap in the second encirclement, then the third encirclement is waiting for him.

The number of soldiers in this encirclement was not very large, but they were all equipped with horses and bows and arrows.

Even if someone relies on speed to break out of the first two encirclements, they will be pursued by cavalry.

Moreover, Chen Luo's order to the soldiers in the first two encirclement circles was to "keep as many people alive as possible", but for the cavalry in the outermost encirclement circle, he only had one requirement, and that was to "kill everyone on sight".

After all, being able to break through the first two layers of siege proves that the person has a strong ability to save his life. If he really wants to run out, it will be difficult to catch the other person.

If he had issued an order to keep alive, it would be ridiculous if he accidentally bumped into Xiang Yu and made the opponent become the "seven in and seven out" in the Qin army's formation.

Taking a deep breath, Chen Luo looked quietly in the direction of the market, waiting for the shouts of death over there to gradually subside.

Finally, the night returned to silence.

However, when he squinted his eyes slightly and scanned the situation in all directions, he saw a vague figure stumbling out from somewhere beside a messy stall. The cavalry patrolling in that direction did not seem to notice anything unusual.

"What a lucky guy." Chen Luo muttered softly, then took down the strong bow hanging on the wall of the tower, skillfully attached the arrow, and aimed at the shadowy human figure.

Qu Zhongyin, who was standing beside Chen Luo, kept his eyes focused on the direction of the market, but noticed Chen Luo's unusual behavior and looked in the direction where the arrow was aimed.

If you don't pay special attention, the thief in black will blend into the night and be inconspicuous.

But with Chen Luo's "hint", Qu Zhongyin quickly discovered the fish that had slipped through the net and whispered behind him.

Immediately afterwards, he carefully held his breath, clenched his fists unconsciously, and did not make any big movements, for fear of making any noise that would disturb Chen Luo beside him.

In the face of sudden emergencies, they also have plans.

The high tower has a good view. If you find traces of the enemy's escape, you can light the torch and wave it towards the enemy to guide the way. The cavalry in the third layer of encirclement will chase them as fast as possible.

But the officer who had been ordered by Qu Zhongyin was still preparing to light the torch, when the bowstring in Chen Luo's hand rang.

Following the sound of arrows piercing the air, the next moment, shrill screams came from the distance.

The blurry figure fell to the ground, holding his thigh and wailing in pain. Fortunately, he ran away with his back to the tower, otherwise if he was hit by this arrow in the front, it would be a "fatal chicken attack".

The Hun leader, who originally had several wounds on his body, was hit by another arrow in his thigh. He completely lost the ability to escape. He could only listen to the sound of horse hooves getting closer and closer, and watched helplessly as the soldiers cut his hands behind his back. Tied from behind.

He was obviously just a few steps away from successfully escaping from this hellish place. Who was it that shot him in the dark?

Reluctantly, the Huns leader passed out in severe pain.

At this moment, the trembling of the bowstrings subsided, and there was silence on the tower.

Witnessing this scene, Qu Zhongyin and the guard holding the torch opened their mouths slightly and took a breath of cold air. Their faces were filled with incredible shock.

Is this the Prime Minister?

It was so terrifying.

The distance between the tower and the fleeing thief was about two hundred steps. When the two armies faced off, this was a projectile range. They relied on the inertia of arrows to kill the enemy without pursuing accuracy.

Even though Chen Luo took advantage of the higher terrain, he didn't have to worry about the arrow not reaching the enemy, but it hit the fleeing thief directly in the thigh, so he obviously had a plan.

The enemies fleeing in panic are moving targets. Coupled with the complex terrain of the market, all the unfavorable factors add up. I am afraid that most of the soldiers in the army will not be able to shoot the perfect arrow just now.

No wonder I haven't heard of anyone who disagrees with the Prime Minister on politics. I'm afraid officials who dare to raise objections will probably be beaten down by the Prime Minister directly during the discussion.

Chen Luo put down the bow in his hand and sighed softly.

"I haven't practiced hard in the past few years, so I'm finally getting rusty. What I aimed at just now was his calves."

Under the high tower, the cavalryman captured the Hun leader who fell to the ground, took him to the market, and detained him in a place with other Huns.

After a while, a soldier trotted over and reported loudly: "Reporting to the Prime Minister, there are eight intruders, three of them were killed, five were captured, and none of them escaped."

(End of this chapter)