"Hahahaha!"
After hearing his words, all the soldiers burst into laughter.
"This place is left to you. Organize them now, count the number of soldiers, and then report back to me. The lives of all the fathers and elders in the city are now in your hands!"
Seeing that his objective had been achieved, Li Mao patted Wang Yuanji on the shoulder.
"Yes!"
After a round of inspection on the city wall, Li Mao's heart was once again clenched.
The Jin cavalry had already begun to patrol within 300 paces of the city wall. At this moment, they were like wolves waiting for their pack leader's command, ready to pounce and deliver a fatal blow at any moment.
Although they would not dare to approach the city wall for a short period, and they had not brought heavy siege weapons.
However, from the mouths of those defeated soldiers, Li Mao already knew about Tan Zhen's defeat.
Tan Zhen had been defeated, which meant that before the imperial army could regroup and arrive, there would be no one to support them.
Previously, in order to put enough pressure on the Jin soldiers, Tong Guan had already weakened the city defenses in various places to the minimum.
All the troops that could be assembled had been taken away by him, and this was also the case for Zhen Ding Prefecture.
They had not many soldiers to begin with, and coupled with the immense psychological pressure brought by the difficult Jin invasion, many had directly chosen to flee.
At this moment, Li Mao himself was unsure of how many soldiers they had available to fight.
Hurriedly returning to his residence, Li Mao immediately summoned all his subordinates.
"My Lord!"
With the Jin army pressing down outside the city, even these officials felt uneasy at this moment.
Everyone's heart was weighed down by a huge stone: Could this city hold?
Should they defend it?
Everything was now a mystery!
"I know that the Jin army is pressing down on the city at this moment, and I am sure you are all feeling very anxious!"
After scanning them, Li Mao spoke slowly.
"My Lord, can Zhen Ding City hold?"
After a long hesitation, Fu Wenchang, who was the magistrate of Zhen Ding, asked in a low voice.
"Whether it can hold or not, I do not know. However, I make this promise: I have already decided to share the fate of Zhen Ding City. As long as the city stands, we stand; when the city falls, we fall! You are all learned scholars. I do not wish to force your choice, but out of respect for our many years of collegiality, if you truly do not wish to stay and defend, I hope you will clarify your responsibilities before fleeing!"
At this moment, winning the hearts of the soldiers was important, but winning the hearts of these officials was equally important!
After all, Li Mao could not do everything by himself. Whether it was defending the city, distributing supplies, or requisitioning manpower, everything still required someone to do it.
Without these specific officials, how many nails could he drive with all the iron in his body?
"Confucius spoke of righteousness, Mencius spoke of justice. Since you, my Lord, have decided to defend to the death, your humble subordinate is willing to follow your lead and remain by your side!"
After a moment of silence, Fu Wenchang finally spoke.
"That's right. We are scholars who have passed the imperial examinations. In times of national crisis, how can we live in shame?"
"My Lord, please give us your orders!"
"Indeed, my Lord! Please give us your orders!"
After Li Mao clearly expressed his attitude and stance, all those present ultimately chose to stand behind him.
Hearing them say this, Li Mao felt a little more at ease.
Although the emperor of the Great Song was indeed absurd, and in recent years, corrupt officials had been in power, making the entire court a mess, and even the local government offices had become chaotic.
However, the hearts of the scholars and officials of the empire still belonged to Song!
"Since that is the case, I will not waste any more words. All of you, go back immediately and separately take stock of the storerooms and the roster in your hands. Before sunset today, I want to know how much weaponry, grain, medicine, cloth, and copper coins we have. I do not want the numbers on the ledgers; I want accurate items that can be used at any time!"
Having observed for so many years, he understood that the numbers on the ledgers for many items in the storerooms could not be trusted.
If it were a peaceful year, he would generally not want to investigate these actual accounts, but with the enemy pressing down on the city, he had no choice?
"Yes!"
The several subordinates exchanged glances and finally agreed with uneasy hearts.
"I don't care how much was embezzled before, and I don't care what you did before. This matter is indeed a test for all of us, but I hope you understand that this is also an opportunity for all of us! If we can truly defend Zhen Ding City, all past wrongdoings will be completely wiped clean. Do you understand what I am saying?"
Although these people might not have been entirely clean themselves, at this moment, Li Mao did not want to waste any more time on these minor details. To maximize their enthusiasm, he simply drew a grand picture for them.
"Thank you, my Lord!"
After hearing his words, everyone felt relieved.
How much was in the storerooms, and how much was owed on the ledgers, did they not all know?
Originally, they were a little uneasy, but with Li Mao's words, they could finally be completely at ease!
Two hours later, the sky gradually darkened. The soldiers on the city wall lit bonfires and vigilantly watched the Jin soldiers outside the city.
Meanwhile, Wang Yuanji and the various civil and military officials of the city once again gathered before Li Mao.
"You go first. How many soldiers do we have available to fight now?"
Taking a deep breath, Li Mao looked at Wang Yuanji again.
"Reporting to my Lord, after excluding the old, weak, sick, and disabled, the total number of people who can go to the city wall is one thousand eight hundred and seventy-five..."
After Wang Yuanji finished speaking, everyone fell silent.
In the vast Zhen Ding City, there were now less than 2,000 soldiers capable of fighting.
How was this battle to be fought?
"How much food do we have left?"
After learning the number of soldiers, Li Mao turned to Fu Wenchang again.
"Even if we gather all sorts of miscellaneous grains, we only have four thousand three hundred shi..."