books44 Chapter 104: You want a man too?
Chapter 104: You want a man too?
Shangguan Jifu fought his way to Duanshankou Pass, where he was stopped by the enemy's remaining troops.
Just a little bit more and we will be able to seize the pass.
On the top of the city wall, Ye Kun sounded the horn to call back his troops and clean up the battlefield.
In this battle, more than a thousand enemy soldiers were killed, more than two thousand wounded soldiers were captured, and countless armors and weapons were seized.
Moreover, the enemy's elite main force was almost wiped out.
Because among the 6,000 troops of Qubi's 5th Company, only the iron armored army and the leather armored army are the trump cards, and the remaining cloth armored army is no longer a concern.
It took an hour to clean up the battlefield.
Shangguan Jifu's troops were insufficient, so he mobilized the residents in the city to come to his aid.
Ye Kun didn't care about cleaning up the battlefield. He took his 500 soldiers, cleared a path through the enemy's corpses, and transferred 30 catapults from the city to the Duanshankou Pass, preparing to capture the pass.
The catapult was more than 200 meters away from the enemy camp, just out of the enemy's firing range.
However, the catapult had an effective range of 300 meters, making it easy to attack the enemy camp.
Shangguan Jifu came over, clasped his fists and said with a smile: "Brother Dalang, you killed 3,000 enemies in this battle. You can report your military merit again!"
"Can I be granted a title of nobility?" Ye Kun asked calmly.
"A title of nobility?" Shangguan Jifu smiled bitterly:
"The Da Ding Kingdom stipulates that all soldiers can be promoted one level in rank only if they kill 8,000 people in a city defense battle. It's easier to promote ranks now when we need people, but I'm afraid you and I can only be promoted three levels."
Ye Kun nodded and gave the order to the catapult: "Fire all the strong liquor bullets at once, attack the enemy and make them unable to breathe."
The catapults had already been prepared, and thirty of them fired at the same time.
The enemy didn't know how to deal with the liquor bullets, and raging fires immediately broke out in the camps on both sides.
After three rounds of strong liquor bombs, the enemy army retreated again, abandoned the pass and retreated along the valley.
Shangguan Jifu led 400 cavalry and 500 infantry to pursue and kill the enemy.
Ye Kun led his troops to seize the pass and put out the fire.
At dusk, Shangguan Jifu returned having beheaded more than a thousand people.
Of the 6,000 troops of Qubi's 5th Company, only about 300 were left, and they fled in panic.
In Lingshan County, all the soldiers and civilians cheered and held a celebration banquet.
Shangguan Jifu bowed to Ye Kun and led his soldiers to raise their glasses to toast:
"General Ye is truly a god. With a little trick, he killed all the barbarians without leaving a single piece of armor. All the soldiers and civilians in Lingshan County are grateful to you!"
"Thank you for your kindness, brothers. This is just a fluke victory, nothing to write home about."
Ye Kun drank a glass and pulled Shangguan Jifu to his side: "The battle is over, how are we going to divide the spoils?"
Countless weapons, armors and war horses were seized today, and Ye Kun was very tempted.
Especially the rhinoceros leather armor of the barbarians, which is both strong and light, and is really rare.
Eight hundred years ago, the climate of Dading Kingdom was warm, and there were rhinos on both sides of the Yellow River, and even more south of the Yangtze River.
However, due to the fighting among the princes, rhinos were killed in large numbers in order to make leather armor, and eventually became extinct.
Now rhinos can only be found in the south of Lingnan.
Shangguan Jifu was also very generous and laughed softly:
"Among the spoils of war, I'll give you fifty sets of top-quality rhinoceros leather armor, one hundred sets of iron armor, and one hundred war horses. As for swords, spears, and lances, you can have as many as you want, okay?"
Ye Kun smiled and said, "One hundred sets of leather armor and iron armor each. Twenty more war horses. I will bring one thousand swords, spears, bows and arrows each."
In troubled times, the more armor, weapons, and war horses you have, the better!
Shangguan Jifu nodded and bargained: "I agree to everything you say, but when you go back, you must give me two thousand kilograms of lime and two thousand kilograms of strong liquor."
Ye Kun shook his head: "We need 10,000 kilograms of lime, but you have to send someone to get it yourself. Strong liquor is not available, so we can only make it and use it immediately. Because the sealing technology is not good enough, it will lose its effectiveness in ten days."
Shangguan Jifu rolled his eyes: "Brother Dalang, you are not lying to me, are you?"
"The remaining liquor bullets here are for you. Check them out in half a month and you'll know if I've lied to you."
Ye Kun also rolled his eyes: "Brother Jifu, this time you have inherited my stone throwing technology, as well as double bows and heavy arrows. You can show your prowess on the battlefield in the future, and you won't suffer any loss at all."
“It’s really not a loss.”
Shangguan Jifu nodded and said, "Then can you teach me the technique of making liquor bombs?"
"The production of liquor bombs requires 9981 steps, which is very complicated. I made it myself, and it was only successful once out of ten times." Ye Kun started talking nonsense again:
"I'm still researching the technology. In about a year, when it's mature enough, I can teach it to you."
Shangguan Jifu was very excited and clasped his fists and said, "Then it's a deal. A year is not a long time!"
Damn, if I had known I would have said three years.
Ye Kun felt a little regretful.
Shangguan Jifu added: "Early tomorrow morning, I will send my personal soldiers back to see the county governor and ask for your merit and title."
The county magistrate is his father, but he does not call him father. He just addresses him by his official title.
Ye Kun nodded and thanked him.
Shangguan Jifu was half drunk, hugged Ye Kun and said with a smile:
"I know that Dalang likes women, so I have arranged a few girls for you tonight, including the concubine of the Barbarian General Qu Biwulian and a local woman."
"You're big..."
Ye Kun opened his mouth to curse, but held back and nodded, "Give me five males and ten females of the barbarians you captured, and I will take them back with me."
"You like men too?"
Shangguan Jifu was surprised, then smiled evilly: "Okay, I'll pick the pretty ones for you!"
After dinner.
Ye Kun returned to the camp and found that Shangguan Jifu had sent six barbarian women.
She is less than 20 years old and has a very good appearance.
Ye Kun was not picky and brought them all into the tent.
The six women knelt together, obviously very scared.
Ye Kun waved his hands: "Don't be afraid, I won't kill you. Let me ask you, can you speak Chinese?"
Among them were three women who could speak Chinese.
One of the women said: "I am originally a Han Chinese, and my family lived in Pingye County. When I was seven or eight years old, I was abducted to the south with my mother and became a slave..."
Ye Kun was a little surprised: "What's your name?"
"My nickname is Yaya, my last name is Wang, and I still don't have a name."
"Then call me Wang Yaya."
Ye Kun took out the bamboo slips and writing brush and asked in detail about the local conditions and habits of the people in the south, all the grains and crops, various animals and beasts, population situation, etc.
Ye Kun recorded all the valuable information.
It was not until late at night that Ye Kun had asked almost all the questions and then gave Yaya a knife:
"Yaya, I am also from Pingye County. I will take you back to my hometown. From now on, you will help me take care of these barbarian captives. I will make arrangements after I take you back."
Yaya was very happy and nodded quickly.
Early the next morning, Ye Kun ordered his troops to gather up the spoils, pack them and load them onto the carts.
After lunch, we immediately broke camp and returned along the same route.
Shangguan Jifu rode his horse and escorted him thirty miles away, clasping his fists and saying:
"I'm afraid I'll have to stay in Lingshan County for a while, waiting for the transfer order. Brother Dalang, you go back and train the troops. We'll have a day to fight side by side in the future."
"I have no money, so why bother practicing?"
Ye Kun shook his head: "I am just a small official, living a life of idleness and waiting for death. I have never thought about traveling thousands of miles to seek a title of nobility."
Shangguan Jifu smiled and said, "You have defeated the barbarians this time. The county governor will definitely be interested in you. I think he will transfer you to Tianmen County and entrust you with important tasks."
Ye Kun was surprised and then shook his head:
"I have an old mother at home, and I don't want to go anywhere. I came to save you this time because of brotherly love. If the county governor wants to transfer me to Tianmen County, I will resign and go home to take care of my old mother."
It was not easy to lay the foundation for Pingye County, and Ye Kun was absolutely unwilling to give up.
Shangguan Jifu smiled and said, "Let's talk about it later, Brother Dalang. I'm afraid there are some things that are beyond our control."
Ye Kun rolled his eyes and urged his horse to go.
After leaving Lingshan County and entering Cigu County, there were even more hungry people fleeing famine along the road. They were emaciated and shaky.
Seeing Ye Kun's army, the hungry people wanted to ask for food, but they dared not.
Ye Kun called a few elders, gave them some dry food, and asked:
"It's autumn now, and rice, corn, and beans have just been harvested. Jute has also matured in large quantities and is starting to be retting and shredded. Why are there so many starving people in Cigu County?"
Autumn is the harvest season.
Now we have no food to eat, how are we going to survive the winter?
The elders replied, "Master Ye, we suffered a flood in the summer, and this year's harvest is less than one tenth of the past... Various taxes are heavy, so everyone can't survive, so they eat the wheat seeds and come out to beg for food."
Ye Kun sighed: "Doesn't Magistrate Huang of your Cigu County have any relief measures?"
The old man shook his head and sneered: "Huang Sizhong is trying to squeeze every last drop of our wealth. How can he help us?"
Ye Kun thought for a moment, and then instructed Yan Liuhai and Wang Bao:
"You two, take 20 cavalrymen and go to Cigu County to meet the county magistrate Huang Sizhong. Tell Magistrate Huang that our army of 600 will march in Cigu County for three days and ask him to provide 30,000 kilograms of military rations. This is what the county magistrate promised me at the beginning, that the local government would provide military rations back and forth."
Wang Baoyan Liuhai received the order and left.
Ye Kun whispered to the elders:
"Old man, spread the news quietly, saying that there is food to be had by following my army. When we get to Cigu County, I will allocate a portion of the military rations to help you."
Several old men were deeply moved and knelt down to kowtow to Ye Kun.
Ye Kun gave the order to the army to advance slowly towards Cigu County.
Along the way, Ye Kun distributed food from the army to help the victims.
Before they knew it, there were hundreds of disaster victims following the troops.
The next afternoon, Ye Kun led his army to the city of Cigu.
The county magistrate Huang Sizhong, along with the county assistant and the county lieutenant, went out of the city to entertain the troops and honestly delivered 30,000 kilograms of military rations, 200 kilograms of dried meat, and 150 kilograms of honey.
Ye Kun thanked him and distributed 20,000 kilograms of military rations, as well as dried meat and honey to the hungry people outside the city.
The hungry people in Cigu County knelt down and thanked him: "Thank you, Lord Ye, for saving our lives!"
Huang Sizhong, the magistrate of Cigu County, was very embarrassed and dared not say anything to Ye Kun.
Ye Kun laughed and left with a hundred cavalrymen. He clasped his fists towards Huang Sizhong and said, "Thank you, Master Huang, for rewarding the army. Goodbye!"
Two days later, Ye Kun returned to Pingye County with a hundred cavalrymen.
This time the round trip took exactly nine days.
County Magistrate Liu had already received the express notification and learned of the great victory at Duanshankou. He took County Magistrate Wang and some wealthy businessmen, gentry, and common people out of the city to welcome Ye Kun.
That evening, County Magistrate Liu held a banquet to welcome Ye Kun and celebrate his success.
Ye Kun brought back a lot of military horses, weapons and armor this time, which greatly enhanced the military strength of Pingye County, and the dog county magistrate was also happy.
After the dinner, County Magistrate Gou and Madam Liu called Ye Kun into the back hall and said with a smile:
"My dear son-in-law, you have defeated the barbarians this time, so you will be rewarded. Go home quickly, divorce your first wife, and marry Yuejuan as soon as possible. In the future, we, the father-in-law and son-in-law, will stay in Pingye County forever, and enjoy a hundred years of wealth and prosperity!"
Ye Kun smiled slightly: "I'm sorry, father-in-law, I can't divorce my wife."
"What, you don't want to divorce your wife?" County Magistrate Liu's face changed.
"Yes, I cannot divorce my wife."
Ye Kun nodded and said with a smile: "You can ask Miss Yuejuan about this matter. I believe Miss Yuejuan is reasonable and will not force me to divorce my wife."
"absurd!"
Magistrate Liu was furious. He pointed at Ye Kun and shouted, "Ye Kun, what kind of person is my daughter? How can I let her be your concubine? If you don't want to divorce me, don't ever mention this matter again!"
Madam Liu was also anxious and frowned:
"Kun'er, since you and your ex-wife are in love, we can make some concessions. We can accept it if you let your ex-wife become your concubine and Yuejuan become your wife. In short, Yuejuan must not be your concubine!"