"Two or three ounces of tea leaves equal a human life!" Li Jun was shocked. Although he knew about the hardships of the common people, as a soldier who had served for many years, all he knew was that the people were starving and poorly clothed. He did not know what price the people had to pay to satisfy the desires of certain high-ranking officials.
He pondered for a moment, then said, "If I ever gain control of a territory, I will prohibit such tragedies within my jurisdiction!"
"Commander Li, you are mistaken. These young women risk their lives to pick tea leaves. Although they may only obtain two or three ounces of tea a year, it is enough to ensure their families have enough to eat and wear. Moreover, in the tea-producing region, this fine tea will be presented as tribute to the royal family and nobility. This will exempt the young woman's family from corvée labor and taxes. Compared to ordinary people who worry about the government coming to collect their debts every day, they are far better off. If you forbid them from picking this fine tea, their whole family will have to work hard day and night. While picking tea, only she is in danger, but if they work hard all year round and still don't have enough to eat, the whole family will be in danger."
A sense of grief and indignation rose in Li Jun's heart. Wei Zhan's words made perfect sense. He could forbid the people from picking the finest tea, yet he had no choice but to levy taxes and corvée labor on them. Now, thanks to his geographical advantages and abundant resources, he could mainly support his military and government expenses through trade. But what if his territory expanded and he had more people to support? Would he still be able to do so then? At that time, he would still have to exploit the people, and there would still be poor families forced by poverty to do these dangerous things.
"Commander, there's no need to worry too much about the people. Life is short, only a hundred years. If, in your hundred years, you can ensure the people live in peace and health, and reduce the number of soldiers, rioters, and bandits in your jurisdiction, then the people will be content. Throughout history, countless wise men have been unable to solve these problems, so why is Commander in such a hurry?"
Seeing the dejected look in Li Jun's silence, Wei Zhan quickly tried to comfort him, but after a moment, he couldn't help but sigh and say, "Speaking of which, the common people are really easy to please."
Li Jun paused for a moment, then suddenly laughed and said, "I'm in dire straits right now, my life hanging by a thread. How can I think about things so far ahead? Mr. Wei, what do you think we should do given the current situation?"
Wei Zhan took a sip of tea, letting its fragrance moisten his mouth. He closed his eyes slightly, his eyebrows twitched slightly, and a gentle smile appeared on his face: "Good tea. Commander, don't you already have a good plan in mind? Why ask me?"
"Although I have a plan, it will be difficult to implement it." Seeing that Wei Zhan had seen through him, Li Jun said frankly, "The best course of action now is to return to Yuzhou as soon as possible. But we are blocked in front and pursued from behind. The Lianfa Army is pressing us so closely that it is clear they are not going to let me retreat easily. If I escape to Yuzhou alone and leave these tens of thousands of brothers in a foreign land, what good will it do even if I escape unscathed?"
"Does the commander mean that the entire army should retreat and return to Yuzhou to fight a decisive battle with the rebels Peng Yuancheng and others?" Wei Zhan understood Li Jun's strategy, which coincided with his own thoughts.
"Exactly. Even if a complete retreat fails, at least most of the troops should be able to retreat."
“That’s easy. We’ll just have Lianfa Army clear the way for us,” Wei Zhan said calmly, slightly opening his eyes.
"How could the Lianfa army possibly give up this opportunity and clear a path for us?" Li Jun was somewhat surprised by Wei Zhan's words, as he had also considered this possibility. However, one of his plans involved a night raid on the Lianfa army, using the chaos to kidnap Cheng Tian and force the enemy to sign a humiliating treaty. For most, this would be virtually impossible, but Li Jun was extremely confident in his and Lan Qiao's ability to infiltrate the enemy camp and fight on foot. Although this plan was dangerous, it was a thousand times better than certain death.
“Leave this matter to me. Judging from the performance of Lianfa Army, its commander, Cheng Tian, is a rare talent. He is quite intelligent in both strategy and tactics, which is exactly the opportunity we can seize.” Wei Zhan opened his eyes wide, and a plan had already been formed in his mind.
"Sir, do you mean to go and persuade him to make way for us?" Li Jun guessed his thoughts and was taken aback. Coming from a military background, he was more adept at solving problems with force and strategy. He would occasionally consider diplomacy from a strategic perspective, but rarely used it tactically.
“That’s right, but to persuade Cheng Tian, we need to get one thing done first,” Wei Zhan leaned forward and said softly.
After defeating Xiao Lin, Peng Yuancheng immediately mobilized his entire army to attack Leiming City. After killing Su Xiang, who stubbornly resisted the attack, he found only an empty city. The grain, supplies, and money he desperately needed were all transported to Kuanglan City by Feng Jiutian during the few days he was fighting Xiao Lin.
Enraged, Peng Yuancheng immediately ordered the conscription of men over sixteen years old from Dagu and Yuyang as temporary soldiers. He also sent messengers to contact Jiang Runqun and others, persuading them with the advantages and disadvantages of the situation to temporarily refrain from fighting each other over Yujiang and Yuping cities and instead concentrate their forces to attack Yinhu City. Thus, both Yinhu City and Kuanglan City, the remaining two cities of the Heping Army in Yuzhou, were completely surrounded by the army.
Jiang Runqun and his men knew that the key lay in Kuanglan City. If Kuanglan City fell, Silver Tiger Land would be in grave danger, so they were not enthusiastic about attacking Silver Tiger City. The Silver Tiger City garrison numbered only about ten thousand men, and they were powerless to break through Jiang Runqun's 40,000-strong allied army, let alone provide support to Kuanglan City.
By now, Peng Yuancheng no longer needed to use the pretext of clearing Li Jun's flanks. Although the ordinary people of Yuzhou still favored Li Jun, most of them swallowed their anger under Peng Yuancheng's military might.
Peng Yuancheng personally led 50,000 troops to besiege Kuanglan City, blocking its land transportation. Although he couldn't blockade the sea, for Kuanglan City, which relied on maritime trade to maintain its daily expenses, such a blockade, if prolonged, could be fatal. Moreover, throughout the year, the money earned from Kuanglan City's trade was either used for the war in Chen State or to subsidize disaster victims in other parts of Yuzhou, leaving very little wealth. Watching the numbers dwindle day by day, Jiang Tang couldn't help but frown, and even the words "trade and purchase," which he never used to utter, became less frequent.
"Boss Jiang, why don't you mention business anymore?" Only Tu Longziyun, who was naturally optimistic and always had a smile on his face, still had the spirit to joke with him.
“With the land routes blocked, we can’t do business, so what’s the point of talking about trade?” Jiang Tang rolled his eyes at him and said, “Why don’t you send your navy to defeat Peng Yuancheng? You’re just keeping me here all day. Do you think I’m paying you to watch this show?”
Mentioning his navy, Tu Long Ziyun couldn't be happy either. His navy had rendered great service in the battle against the Japanese pirates, but these soldiers were mostly hastily recruited barbarians and ordinary sailors; many warships were even converted merchant ships. After the pirates were annihilated, most scattered, leaving him with only about a dozen ships of various sizes, plus four or five thousand men. Moreover, while skilled in naval warfare, they were mediocre in land battles. With such a small force, how could they possibly fight Peng Yuancheng outside the city? Kuanglan City still had less than ten thousand Peace Army soldiers who had retreated from Leiming Land, plus the navy and a small number of garrison troops, totaling no more than fifteen thousand. They had also temporarily recruited over five thousand warriors. Twenty thousand men were barely enough to defend the city; to go out and fight the cunning and fierce Peng Yuancheng in open battle was something even Feng Jiutian wouldn't do.
During the three-day siege, Peng Yuancheng sent an envoy into the city each day to persuade the city to surrender. The first envoy was driven out, the second was beaten and driven out by Feng Jiutian, and on the third day, as soon as the envoy arrived at the city walls carrying a white flag, Feng Jiutian ordered arrows to be shot, turning him into a pincushion. As a result, no one under Peng Yuancheng dared to act as an envoy anymore, and Peng Yuancheng knew that psychological warfare was ineffective; he had no choice but to focus all his efforts on attacking the city.
At this moment, the militia he had conscripted arrived one after another. Although these militiamen lacked training, their numbers were quite impressive. In total, the army surrounding Kuanglan City exceeded 100,000. They conducted frequent drills every day, creating a tremendous spectacle. Feng Jiutian looked out from the city wall and saw banners waving and dust filling the sky. Peng Yuancheng's army was divided into two gates, with a total of five camps.
"Peng Yuancheng is indeed a talented man, it's a pity he can't be used by the commander," Feng Jiutian thought to himself. He turned to look around and saw that, apart from Tu Longziyun, most people had a look of dejection on their faces. After all, since Peng Yuancheng raised his army, they had suffered defeat after defeat. Xiao Lin died at Luoyue Slope, and Su Xiang died at Leiming City. These reports had dealt a heavy blow to the morale of the Peace Army. Now, seeing the formidable strength of Peng Yuancheng's army, they had very little confidence in winning.
“Commander Li entrusted me with the affairs of Yuzhou, but I am incompetent and unworthy, which led to Jiang Runqun’s rebellion first, and Peng Yuancheng’s defection later.” Feng Jiutian knew that if he could not inspire the soldiers’ morale and buy time for a turning point, then he would truly be defeated. Therefore, he summoned the Peace Army generals on the city wall and opened his heart to them.
“However, if it weren’t for me, Feng Jiutian, would Jiang Runqun not have rebelled? Would Peng Yuancheng not have betrayed us?” Feng Jiutian sneered and asked, “Do you all think that Jiang Runqun, with his extravagant and greedy nature, could share weal and woe with the soldiers like Commander Li? And that Peng Yuancheng, with his wolfish ambition, could serve under Commander Li to the death?”
The officers remained silent. Many of them harbored considerable resentment towards Feng Jiutian, believing that it was precisely because Liao Jun had mistakenly trusted this ambitious but incompetent man that Jiang Runqun and Peng Yuancheng had successively rebelled. However, faced with Peng Yuancheng's questioning, they were speechless.
"Therefore, a battle with Jiang Runqun, Peng Yuancheng and others is only a matter of time. The reason why Commander Li launched a distant expedition to Chen State when Yuzhou was in dire need of reconstruction was precisely to lure them into rebellion. Therefore, Commander Li has long had a plan to defeat the enemy. All we need is time to implement this plan."
Feng Jiutian understood that these people trusted Li Jun's command immensely, but still harbored doubts about his own. It was precisely for this reason that Su Xiang ultimately refused his order to retreat, dying alongside his two thousand warriors in the fierce battle at Leiming City. Therefore, he had to resort to some cunning, falsely claiming that his own plan was a brilliant scheme left behind by Li Jun.
Sure enough, upon hearing that Li Jun had a plan to deal with the enemy, these generals were all invigorated. Among them were "veterans" who had followed Li Jun since the days of the Invincible Army, as well as his former adversaries who had defected when he unified Yuzhou. They all knew that Li Jun's military tactics were extremely unpredictable, so they were not at all surprised if he intended to use a plan to put them in a life-or-death situation.
"Like everyone else, I serve Commander Li wholeheartedly and want to see what he can do to transform this land. Therefore, no matter what happens, we must defend Kuanglan City, not only because it is our home, but also so that we can face Commander Li when he returns!"