Chapter 1 Chu's Formation

The Chu laid out a formation that was strong in the front and weak in the back, or rather, hard in the front and soft in the back.

My troops descended like gods from the sky, landing at the Jingcheng dock. Liang Cheng and Jin Shuke, my most capable generals, caught them off guard, especially since they were wearing Chu armor.

To rout the Chu reinforcements in one battle,

Was that surprising?

Zheng Boye really didn't think there was anything to be excited about; this was normal, wasn't it?

He had brought elite soldiers this time. With elite soldiers and strong generals, achieving this result was only natural, wasn't it?

It would have been shocking if they hadn't.

So, Zheng Boye wasn't trying to be profound; he genuinely didn't care.

However, when he handed out the soup, he saw the gazes of the surrounding generals, filled with such intense admiration that it almost seemed like water droplets were about to flow out.

Only then did Zheng Boye realize that his previous indifference and offering more soup once again echoed "the children have thoroughly defeated the bandits."

He smiled and shook his head slightly.

At this moment,

He realized,

That in the past, Prince Jingnan wasn't really putting on an act;

He probably felt the same way he did now, that it was a normal thing, so he gave a normal reaction.

But because of the difference in levels, it gave you a feeling of looking up at a high mountain.

This had nothing to do with the person's actions, posture, expression, or any other details;

Ultimately,

It came down to status.

And the word "status" encompassed many things, but it could roughly be divided into three parts:

The past, the present, and the future.

Applied to Zheng Boye, it was his past achievements, current position, and future development.

Si Niang brought over the fish soup.

Zheng Boye took the fish soup, looked at the coriander floating on top, blew on it gently, and took a small sip.

He said:

"It's not that I want to pour cold water on everyone, but I mean, we've suffered for so long, felt cramped in the cabins for so long, and finally managed to set foot here.

The current situation is indeed excellent, but this excellent situation is also what it should be. Otherwise, wouldn't all these days of suffering have been for nothing?"

There were some things that Zheng Boye couldn't conveniently say.

It wasn't just them who had suffered; those conscripted to build the river works, those Jin people downstream of Wangjiang who were displaced because of the breached dikes, hadn't they suffered for nothing too?

Of course, if they were given a choice, they certainly wouldn't want this, but who told them they didn't have a choice?

It was already very conscientious of Zheng Boye to remember their selfless contributions.

Zheng Boye put down the soup bowl and

continued:

"The situation has only just opened up. Next, we really need to make decisions and establish rules. When I entered this Jingcheng earlier, I walked through it step by step and looked at it carefully. I believe you've all seen it too.

This city,

Doesn't seem very easy to defend."

It wasn't just not easy to defend; it was simply impossible to defend.

Jingcheng had city walls, but the city walls had long been dilapidated. The funniest thing was that just as the barbarians had done when they cut a hole in the Xuehai Pass city wall to quickly transport their loot back to the snow plains, the same thing had happened here.

The south city wall had a feeling of being both civilian and military, partly because of the expansion of the city, and partly because a large amount of grain and military supplies had been transported through here every day for the past six months. For convenience, the Chu people had probably actively expanded the warehouses in the city and also opened several more gates.

Yes,

They had opened more city gates.

This was what made the Chu people superior to the barbarians.

The barbarians only knew how to break holes, so they were barbaric;

The Chu people would repair the holes after breaking them and put doors on them.

But what use were these two doors!

How had he broken through Xishan Fort back then? He had simply focused on drilling through that city gate, then broken through from a single point!

Now, this wall wasn't one gate, but many gates.

And it was impossible to repair the city walls at this time. He had been able to repair the city walls at Xuehai Pass because the barbarians hadn't come quickly enough, giving him enough time. But clearly, his act of breaking through Jingcheng was like hurting the entire Great Chu's chrysanthemum;

The Chu people would definitely not give him the time to leisurely repair the city walls and fortify the defenses.

Secondly, in Xuehai Pass, there were still a large number of Jin slaves who the barbarians hadn't had time to transport back to the snow plains, but right now, all those he could kill here had been killed, and the rest had scattered and fled;

Of course, it was impossible to deliberately capture these people alive to use as laborers. The Chu people would attack soon, and keeping these laborers would be like artificially creating countless small holes in his already dilapidated city walls.

That was… idiotic.

Zheng Boye narrowed his eyes,

Then,

He continued to speak:

"The brothers in the Secret Intelligence Division have already done a great job. It's not their fault that Jingcheng is in this state, and it's not anyone's fault. After all, if Jingcheng was really 'impregnable,' we might not have been able to break in. Even if we had, we certainly wouldn't have been able to do it as easily as we did today.

So, I think whether or not we should defend Jingcheng is still worth discussing."

Tian Wujing wasn't a god, and his battle plans couldn't really be flawless;

But fortunately, Zheng Boye already had the status of a "Prince Jingnan" spokesperson in the Great Yan army. Other generals naturally wouldn't dare to violate the military orders issued by Prince Jingnan, but Zheng Boye had the "right of interpretation."

"Boye, just give us your orders, and we'll do as you say," Gong Wang said.

This army, although it was pieced together from many sources, was scattered but not disorganized, because from beginning to end, Zheng Boye's will could be carried out throughout the entire army.

"Let's do this for now. Si Niang, have San'er take some men to scout the situation on the other side."

"Yes, Master."

"Gong Wang."

"Your subordinate is here."

"I order you to lead your soldiers to burn all the food in the city that can be eaten, and destroy all the armor that can be used, leaving not a grain of rice or a piece of armor for the Chu people."

"Your subordinate obeys!"

It would take a lot of effort to catch all tens of thousands of pigs.

It wasn't easy to completely burn all the Chu army's grain stored in Jingcheng either. As for the armor, it could be piled together and burned along with the grain. Once burned, it would be destroyed.

"Gongsun Zhi."

"Your subordinate is here!"

"I order you to work with Ruan San to sort out the ships at the dock, both ours and those we captured today. Capture some boatmen and ask them about the water routes."

"Your subordinate obeys."

Zheng Boye looked at Gou Moli standing there,

And said:

"The First Battalion will leave the city to meet Liang Cheng and Jin Shuke's troops."

"Your subordinate obeys."

Zheng Boye stood up,

His gaze swept over all the generals present,

And he said seriously:

"Everyone, whether we fight, defend, or retreat, I'll have to wait two more days for the Chu people to give me a definite answer. But one thing is certain: there is no option to 'retreat.'

To our north, there are hundreds of thousands of the Chu kingdom's most elite troops blocking us, and the river route we came from probably already has Chu naval forces.

We actually have no way out;

But,

That's fine too,

We came here to win in the first place."

"Victory!"

"Victory!"

...

A military meeting held around the dining table ended, and the various troops in the city began to mobilize again under the command of their respective generals.

And Zheng Boye, at this time, interrogated the city's governor.

The city governor was very tough, kneeling on the ground tied up, but still held his neck high.

But it could be noticed that his gaze wasn't one of facing death, but rather he was constantly secretly observing Zheng Boye's expression, and his body was still trembling slightly.

For a civil official to be able to do this, it was already pretty good.

Zheng Boye could almost be certain that with a little torture or some in-depth intimidation, this city governor's defection was almost a certainty.

But Zheng Boye deliberately ignored him, completely disregarding his performance of "loyalty to Great Chu."

Because he intended to let him go in the first place, and perhaps even play a "Jiang Gan stealing the letters" trick.

Most importantly,

This guy,

Really wasn't capable,

If he was a truly capable Chu person, and he didn't defect, and he didn't have time to persuade him, Zheng Boye would have killed him with a single stroke long ago.

But he wanted to "release" this Jing Suyuan.

Keeping him here would cost him an extra bowl of rice for every meal. Sending him back to the Chu people might even get him praised for "unyielding loyalty," even though he had lost Jingcheng.

Zheng Boye's gaze mostly fell on that illegitimate son.

The illegitimate son had an oval face and flirtatious eyes.

Effeminate beauty had indeed been popular in later generations, but those effeminate men couldn't compare to this natural beauty.

Zheng Boye waved his hand, and the nearby guards took Jing Suyuan back to the detention area.

Next, under Si Niang's arrangements, Jing Suyuan had a high chance of escaping. Of course, if he was still hopeless and couldn't be helped,

Then Yan people would have to disguise themselves as Chu loyalists to rob the prison.

"What's your name?"

Zheng Boye asked.

"Replying to Boye, this servant's surname is Zhao, and my name is Zhao Qi."

When answering, Zhao Qi deliberately glanced at Zheng Boye with incomparable sorrow, his eyes full of affection.

"I heard that you're an illegitimate son. Whose?"

"Boye, this servant doesn't know, otherwise, why would this servant's life have been so miserable?"

As he spoke,

He actually started to shed tears.

"Ah, how pitiful," Zheng Boye said with emotion.

"Isn't it, Boye? It's really not easy for a person like this servant, without any support, to live in this world."

"Yes," Zheng Boye nodded.

"Please, Boye, please help this servant, Wuwuwu..."

"Okay, I'll help you."

"Boye is so kind to this servant. This servant will definitely..."

"Since you're living so hard, I'll help you die."

"..." Zhao Qi.

Zheng Boye said to Si Niang, "Slaughter him."

Si Niang had needles and threads circling around her fingertips, and said, "Master, no torture?"

Few people could withstand Si Niang's torture methods.

"No need to waste the effort."

Hearing this conversation, Zhao Qi became anxious,

And immediately shouted;

"Boye, my original surname should be Qu!"

Zheng Boye turned his head in surprise to look at Zhao Qi,

And said:

"Really?"

"Absolutely true, Boye can bring Jing Suyuan back and ask him. He actually knows about it too."

"You should have said so earlier. I'm very familiar with the Qu family, we're very close."

Zhao Qi smiled bitterly and said, "Boye, you don't need to tease me anymore. Everyone knows that Qu Tiannan died at your hands, and the princess that his son Qu Peiluo is going to marry is currently being taken care of in your Xuehai Pass."

The true meaning of hatred is nothing more than "national hatred" and "family hatred."

Unfortunately, Zheng Boye had clashed with the Qu family on both counts.

"Do you hate the Qu family?"

"I don't hate them," Zhao Qi shook his head. "Although the Qu family sees me as a disgrace, I have indeed taken advantage of the Qu family. If I were an ordinary family member without a name, I would probably have been sold into a brothel long ago."

It was said that a beautiful woman was a calamitous beauty.

But for a man to be too handsome was also a sin.

Zheng Boye smiled and said, "Like the one just now?"

"Heh."

He was quite unique.

Zheng Boye looked at Si Niang again and said, "Bury him."

"Boye, I have military intelligence to report. I came from the Mi River into the Wei River by boat, and then came to Jingcheng with my opera troupe."

"First, I'm short on time, so I don't have time to judge whether the military intelligence you're giving me is correct or not. Second, I have my own people to investigate military intelligence, and I trust them more."

Zhao Qi didn't want to die. Generally, people who were good-looking didn't want to die early, because they often tasted the beauty of life earlier and more easily than most ordinary-looking people in the world.

"Boye, your army came by boat, didn't you bring warhorses? Without warhorses, can the Great Yan Iron Cavalry still gallop? Eighty miles east of Jingcheng along the Wei River, there's a Chu horse farm, where Chu warhorses are raised.

Before I came, someone in the Mi River told me that he was going to the Shanggu Prefecture horse farm in a few days, where several batches of warhorses transferred from other horse farms in the country have already gathered!"

Warhorses were a strategic resource.

Neither the Qian nor the Chu were suitable for raising horses.

The Yan had deserts, and the Jin had snow plains, both of which were places where warhorses were produced. Moreover, the Yan and Jin had deeply realized eight hundred years ago that they could not solve their opponents without sufficient cavalry.

Therefore, the Great Yan Iron Cavalry was born and developed, and the Jin knights drove out the barbarians in glory;

In comparison, the Chu kingdom's warhorse situation was better than the Qian.

The nobles under the Chu kingdom spared no effort when it came to amassing private soldiers, so there was great enthusiasm for raising horses locally. Although the Chu royal guards could not mobilize many cavalry troops, and the few ten-thousand-man cavalry squads were treated as treasures that they were reluctant to use, if the cavalry in the hands of the nobles could be gathered, the Chu cavalry would at least be considerable in number, and would be fully capable of fighting a large-scale cavalry duel with the Great Yan Iron Cavalry;

Of course, this was limited to one battle.

And what about the Qian kingdom? Actually, the Qian's three border prefectures all the way to the Chu prefecture were flat and suitable for raising horses, and there were also Northern Qiang tribes active within the Qian, who were said to be close relatives of the barbarians and were also good at raising horses.

The Qian had also engaged in horse administration themselves, and had invested a large amount of taxes for this purpose, but slowly, the horses in the original imperial horse farms began to decrease, and the sheep began to increase, and the places for raising horses began to raise sheep to supply the nobles in the capital.

The Qian's lack of cavalry was largely self-inflicted. When the Qian's Emperor Taizong led the Northern Expedition a hundred years ago, there were also a considerable number of cavalry in the army. Now, they were going backwards.

If the Yan Emperor's base of operations wasn't the Great Yan, but rather the wealth of the Qian kingdom, His Majesty might wake up laughing in his dreams?

This was also the reason why the Yan Emperor had always longed to attack the Qian. The Qian people couldn't be given a chance. If they really woke up, the potential for war they could unleash would be incredibly terrifying.

"Horse farm... warhorses..."

Zheng Boye was tempted.

He didn't expect to get too many warhorses; that wasn't realistic. But even if he only got a few thousand, it would be enough, and perhaps even enough to change the overall situation.

Right now, this Jingcheng was really not easy to defend, but it couldn't be ignored.

His soldiers were all truly excellent cavalry, and with warhorses, they could immediately unleash their combat power.

At that time,

Liang Cheng could stay in Shanggu Prefecture to command these few thousand cavalry to carry out harassing attacks,

And he could lead the main force by boat, follow the Wei River, and look for the trace of the Mi River, so that the people and nobles of the Great Chu's Ying capital could see what Yan's romance was like!

At Xuehai Pass, Xiong Liqing had told Zheng Boye that she still missed home a little...

Zheng Boye was a good husband, and if conditions allowed, he was willing to help his wife go back and see if her family was okay.

Zhao Qi bit his lip,

When he bit his lip, he also habitually and deftly licked his white teeth,

And opened his mouth to say:

"Boye, I can take my opera troupe to trick open the horse farm's defenses. That young master has a high status in the horse farm.

If a beautiful woman stood in front of him and talked about honey traps, Zheng Boye wouldn't think there was anything wrong, but this enchanting person in front of him was a man.

"When I landed, your opera troupe was in the first row and died... mostly."

Hearing this news, Zhao Qi didn't care and casually said:

"Isn't that just as well? Boye can send Yan soldiers to change their costumes and follow me in, directly cooperating from the inside out and taking the horse farm as completely as possible."

"What do you want?"

"To live."

Zheng Boye shook his head and said, "More than that."

Zhao Qi covered his face and shook his head helplessly, and said, "Is it too cliché to say revenge? But I really don't hate the Qu family."

Generally speaking, illegitimate children suffered a lot of injustice, and their mothers also had a difficult life.

"What's your mother's surname?"

Zheng Boye suddenly asked this question.

Zhao Qi licked his lips,

And answered:

"Also Qu."

————

Good night.