Prince of Song Dynasty

Chapter 812 Burning the house
One end of the lens barrel is close to the eye socket on one side.Before Tian Guangming, he never had the opportunity to touch the telescope, a precious military weapon that only military officials in Xiangfu Kingdom can have.The hands holding the brass mirror body are like misers holding gold bricks tightly.The hand holding the lens barrel also made the brass mirror body warm up. The sweat oozed from the palm of the cold day actually wet the lens barrel. Tian Guangming wiped his hands vigorously on his clothes to wipe off the sweat. Holding the lens tube tightly again, he stared at the crowded Liao army camp.

After holding the binoculars for more than half a day, Tian Guangming's eyes were already dazzled.The sour eyes blinked again and again, and suddenly found that the ant-like shadows in the village were leaving their camp in batches.

"My lord, there is movement from the Liao bandits!" Tian Guangming finally took his eyes off the lens tube and turned back to shout into the building.

"The Liao thieves attacked the city?" Hu Sanguang, who was in the observation and reconnaissance building, stepped over and snatched the telescope from Tian Guangming's hand.

"Some have left, not siege." Tian Guangming said cautiously behind Hu Sanguang who had already raised his binoculars.

"Sure enough, I went to find water." Several staff officers in the Wangwang reconnaissance building immediately began to discuss in a low voice.

"Maybe it's a retreat. There is no water or food, so there is no way to attack the city."

"It would be nice if that could be done."

"You are all wrong." Hu Sanguang turned his head and said, a word made several staff officers quiet down suddenly.He reached out and stuffed the binoculars back into Tian Guangming's hand, and then walked downstairs, not forgetting to say, "It's horses that walk, not people! You staff officers need to learn to distinguish."

"Report to Your Majesty, there is movement from the Liao people!"

"There are a large number of war horses leaving."

"Just war horses?"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

In the military council hall in the city, a group of people gathered around a long table, sand tables, maps, and city defense models were all put aside.More than a dozen pairs of eyes looked at Hu Sanguang who came to report in person,
There were many people coming and going in the temporary headquarters formed by Ye Chen. In addition to Hu Sanguang, Lian Jicheng, Tang Xingwu and other staff officers of the general staff headquarters, there were also two battalion commanders of the Xuanwu Army in the original defenders.In addition, the local officials of Hekou County, the county magistrate, county magistrate, county lieutenant, and master secretary were all called to participate in the military meeting chaired by Ye Chen, and were allowed to speak and even make suggestions.

Ye Chen's approach is extremely rare in this era, but the effect is surprisingly good.

Stabilizing the city, fighting against foreign captives, and the unity of the army and the people are the prerequisites for defending Hekou County, but to do things well, it requires the cooperation of all people.Naturally, no one would dare to do their best to carry out the series of plans Ye Chen made, but simply ordering, even if the person who does the work has done his best, because the degree of understanding and understanding of what he is doing will always be different from what Ye Chen knows. Want to have a gap, so that at most [-]% to [-]% of things can be done.But if you are involved in it yourself, things will be different. Being able to accurately understand the intention of everything, coupled with doing your best to do it, the effect will naturally be very different.

"It's just war horses, and there are not many cavalry accompanying them." Hu Sanguang gave Ye Chen an affirmative answer again.

"It seems that they are going to take the war horse away." Tang Xingwu said.Anyone who is a little familiar with horse nature knows how quickly a horse dies if it has no water to drink.

"Since the well water within ten miles cannot be drunk, naturally we can only dig ice in the river ten miles away to get water." Hu Sanguang said, "This is better than expected."

"Did you see the cooking smoke?" Ye Chen asked suddenly.

"Yes, not many." Hu Sanguang replied.

Ye Chen nodded to Liu Xing, the magistrate of Hekou County, and said, "Liu Xing, you did a good job."

Liu Xing, the magistrate of Hekou County, was an old bureaucrat in his 40s with no fame. When he heard His Majesty's personal praise, his face turned red, his jaw trembled with excitement, and he stuttered.

Boiling the well water polluted by feces and then drinking it will not make your stomach bad. This is not something only people in later generations know. Anyone with a little knowledge in this era knows that there is obviously no shortage of such people in the Liao army. .

Therefore, what Liu Xing did is indeed worthy of Ye Chen's praise. He was able to safely evacuate the villagers around Hekou City into the city, and destroyed almost all the firewood and straw that could not be taken away. The county magistrate Liu Xing presided over the whole set of work.Compared with his experience and ability, even the county magistrate of Hekou, who was once a Jinshi in the Song Dynasty, was far behind.What Ye Chen likes most is this kind of official who can do practical things.

Hu Sanguang said again: "Your Majesty, before the report from the rangers, the mounts of the Liao people who explored the horses lost weight very much."

"It's not normal if you don't lose weight." Ye Chen said, "In an ordinary year, there is no reason for the Liao thieves to send troops in winter. This time, the Liao thieves don't know how many horses they will die when they go back this time."

If it weren't for the situation, Empress Dowager Xiao would not have let Xiao Dage send troops to Xiangfu Kingdom.Which Khitan doesn't know horse nature?Winter consumes most of the war horses, and the physical fitness of the horses declines sharply. Even if they are fed with refined grains and fed with soybeans, they will not be able to make up for the exhausted physical strength.In winter, a thousand or two thousand miles of long-distance trekking, even a war horse with a slightly weaker physique could not survive.

"It's just that the horses left. Most of the soldiers stayed behind. It seems that they have made up their minds, and they may be preparing to attack the city." Magistrate Hekou said with a serious expression.

"It's not a possibility, but a certainty. You heard it just now." Ye Chen said decisively, he was not very satisfied with the performance of the magistrate of Hekou.

"How will the Liao thieves attack?" Hu Sanguang was familiar with the procedures of His Majesty's military discussions, so he started a discussion at this time.

"It is not difficult to rely on the number of people to build a mountain. Moreover, there is no shortage of siege materials. If there is a house, there will be no lack of wood. The city wall of Hekou County is not high, and a slightly longer ladder can be easily built. What about that piece of house." A battalion commander of the Xuanwu Legion said.

"Hekou County is a county seat located on an important road, with dense population and frequent business travel. This makes Hekou County very different from military villages on the border and big cities like Yinzhou," Tang Xingwu said.

Ye Chen nodded slightly at the speeches of the two, expressing his appreciation.

Liu Xing, the Prime Minister of Hekou County, had recovered his calm at this time, and His Majesty's personal praise made him more confident. At this time, he couldn't help but said: "There are moats in Hekou County, which can be regarded as wide, but there is a long section of them that has been blocked for a long time. Therefore, the bridge across the Hao River outside the city gate is also a wide stone bridge instead of a more defensive suspension bridge."

On both sides of the official road extending from the city gate of Hekou County, there are row upon row of shops and restaurants, the most densely populated outside the city gate bridge, and even form a commercial district that is more prosperous than inside the city.On the inner side of the city wall, there are many houses built close to the wall, which can save the masonry and labor of a wall, but it is really a terrible thing for the city guard.

The buildings close to the inner side of the city wall make it necessary to dispatch troops and transport military supplies through the passage at the top of the city wall. At the same time, when attacking the city, some rockets are shot into the city. become a source of fire.And the hundreds of shops and houses on the outside will become the concealment and the source of materials for the siege equipment when the Liao army sieges the city.

After everyone analyzed the situation outside Hekou County, in fact, this matter is still easy to solve in the eyes of everyone. Others in the city said that as for the building outside the city, it was just a matter of fire.It was just burning down the houses of the common people, a decision most people dare not say.

"Your Majesty, we have brought a lot of fuel, so I will go and burn the building outside the city!" Hu Sanguang, as Ye Chen's real confidant and close minister, is rarely taken into consideration by everyone, let alone his wholeheartedness. It's all about Ye Chen's safety, and he doesn't care about anything.To say that it is exaggerated to the extreme, if it is really a critical moment and everyone in the city needs to die to save Ye Chen, Hu Sanguang will not hesitate at all.Not to mention the houses of some common people.

As soon as Hu Sanguang said these words, everyone reacted and scolded themselves for being stupid. Now that His Majesty is in the city, compared with His Majesty's safety, the houses of more than ten thousand people are nothing, even if all these ten thousand people are dead. What.

The magistrate of Hekou said: "Your Majesty, if the Liao army wants to borrow these houses, I will lead people to set them on fire. If the people feel resentment, let it be on the minister!"

Ye Chen frowned, and the magistrate of Hekou trembled in his heart. He almost knelt down. Ye Chen seldom got angry, but because of this, his expression of displeasure and displeasure often gave the courtiers a great impact.

"You are an official of the imperial court. If the people resent you, it means that they resent the imperial court and the government. If it is really necessary to burn down the house, then it is enough to compensate the people or help them rebuild the house." Ye Chen said lightly.The magistrate of Hekou already knelt down profusely and said yes.

Tang Xingwu said at the right time: "Actually, we took the initiative to destroy the houses, and the resentment was attributed to us. But because the Liao people began to attack the city, the people naturally blamed the Liao thieves. However, because the people's houses were damaged by the war, the imperial court had already had Volunteer to help the people rebuild their homes.”

Tang Xingwu gradually got to know Ye Chen better these days. He found that Ye Chen valued the people very much, and he didn't deliberately value the people because of the so-called "the people can carry a boat or overturn it", but from the heart. attaches great importance to people's lives.Tang Xingwu was deeply moved by this point more than once.

"Don't rush to burn it, wait until it's time to burn it. For example, if the Liao army attacked at night tonight, you can consider setting it on fire." Ye Chen finally said.

The team that hijacked Xu Bowen ran around, encountered refugees occasionally, and then met several groups of rescuers. After being killed by the other party one after another, Xu Bowen knew from the conversation and laughter of these people that he had been abducted. Many Jianghu warriors in the rebel army were attracted by the news that "saving the son of the governor of Yinzhou is equivalent to the beheading of a thousand Liao soldiers and the points of the benevolent list", so they have already dispatched one after another. Xu Bowen is not very clear about this. clear.

(End of this chapter)