flstandardbreds Chapter 313 You're surrounded, raise your hands and surrender.
Chapter 313 You're surrounded, raise your hands and surrender.
After leaving the prefect's mansion, Yu Xing immediately went to find his retired comrades-in-arms, who could be found within the city without even leaving it.
The area of Shanyin and Qiantang counties was too large for him to personally go and notify each one. He could only find his comrades in the city and have them act as messengers to contact others. Those they contacted would then act as messengers, spreading the word from one to ten, and from ten to a hundred. No matter who it was, as long as they received the message, they would immediately find someone they could contact and then travel together as a group.
They weren't afraid that anyone would inform He Qi, nor were they afraid that someone would be bribed by He Qi. The reason was simple: firstly, He Qi wouldn't notice them because he didn't know about the Han army's demobilization; secondly, the demobilized Han soldiers were too scattered, so even if He Qi wanted to bribe someone, he wouldn't know who to contact in a short time.
He Qi bribed the Han soldiers stationed at the granary because the granary was a fixed location and the Han soldiers stationed there were a fixed group of people. These scattered retired Han soldiers were different. You didn't know where they were or what they were doing, and you didn't know if Xie Chong would use them. If you were He Qi, would you go through the trouble of bribing these people behind enemy lines in such a dangerous situation?
It turned out that using this group of people was a wise decision, because the Han troops left behind by Xie Chong had fixed garrison locations. These locations had long been monitored by Yu Shao on He Qi's orders. If more than a hundred soldiers came out of the camp, it would alert Yu Shao. If the garrison were sent to arrest He Qi, He Qi would probably be more than a hundred miles away before they even reached Quanjia Village.
Therefore, Xie Chong could only capture He Qi successfully by using this group of retired Han soldiers who were ignored by everyone.
Under Xie Chong's mobilization and Yu Xing's coordination, the retired Han soldiers scattered in various villages, carrying shovels and hoes, headed towards Qiantang in groups of three or five, like streams flowing into the sea.
The next evening came quickly, and Xie Chong went to the Yu residence uninvited, forcibly dragging Yu Shao to drink. They drank until around midnight, when Xie Chong was carried home in a drunken stupor.
As soon as Xie Chong entered the gate of the prefect's mansion, he instantly sobered up, rushed back to his room to change into his armor, and slipped out through the back door straight to the city's granary.
The granary commander had already received orders to invite him into the camp, and then, under Xie Chong's command, he remained outwardly relaxed but inwardly vigilant, waiting for Yu Shao and the others to take the bait.
Meanwhile, in the Yu residence.
After seeing off the completely drunk Xie Chong, Yu Shao also rushed to the backyard. When he opened the door, he saw that the room was full of people, all of whom were aristocratic scions on the list. Standing at the front was Quan Cong's cousin, Quan Shang.
Upon seeing Yu Shao enter, Quan Shang eagerly asked, "Uncle, how did it go?"
Yu Shao said excitedly, "Xie Chong is dead drunk and asleep. He won't come out to stop us. Tonight, we'll show this bumpkin who can't even be considered from a poor family how powerful our gentry are."
He said the last sentence through gritted teeth. Xie Chong's background was too ordinary. Before Guan Yu and his son invaded Jiangdong, he was just a death row inmate waiting to be executed. Normally, even a noble family would find it an insult to look at someone who was not even as good as a beggar.
But now, this scoundrel surnamed Xie has become the governor who not only rides on their heads, but also forcibly confiscated their land and salt fields, which are the most important assets of their gentry. What will they eat if they lose them?
So when they received He Qi's letter, the group of aristocratic youths trapped in the city formed an alliance without hesitation, preparing to destroy Xie Chong and reclaim their family property.
Tonight is the best opportunity because Xie Chong is drunk.
Yu Shao had no suspicion that Xie Chong was faking his drunkenness, because since Xie Chong became the prefect, he had invited them to drink every few days, either to the prefect's mansion or to their homes. So, Xie Chong's uninvited arrival tonight did not arouse any suspicion from Yu Shao.
Furthermore, Xie Chong, everyone knows your alcohol tolerance. Xie Chong drank quite a bit tonight, and based on past experience, you are truly drunk.
Yu Shao thought he knew Xie Chong's drinking capacity, but he overlooked a very important point: he judged Xie Chong's drinking capacity based on the degree of Xie Chong's drunkenness when they first drank together, forgetting that for a newcomer to drinking, drinking capacity can be developed through practice.
Xie Chong came from a poor family and didn't have any spare money for drinking before he met Guan Xing. It was only after he came to Kuaiji with Guan Xing that he began to socialize in officialdom. In other words, although Xie Chong's first time drinking with Yu Shao was not his first time drinking, it was his first time getting drunk.
As for the banquet that followed, now that Xie Chong knew his own drinking capacity, how could he possibly get completely drunk in front of these enemies who were always looking to kill him?
In other words, Xie Chong was only truly drunk the first time he drank with Yu Shao and the others over the past few days; afterwards, he was just pretending to be drunk, and the more times they drank together, the greater his alcohol tolerance became.
However, Yu Shao assumed that Xie Chong, like himself, had been drinking since he was old enough to understand things, so he took Xie Chong's starting point in drinking as his ceiling, which led to a serious misjudgment at a crucial moment.
In such critical situations, any misjudgment will come at a price.
Quan Shang made the same mistake and gritted his teeth, agreeing, "That would be great. We'll burn the granaries first, then attack the governor's mansion, and then go to the city's armies with our heads in our hands. Many of those garrison troops are private soldiers from our various tribes. They'll definitely panic when they see the grain being burned and Xie Chong being killed. Then we can take out the stored grain from our tribes and make them loyal again."
That's right, all ethnic groups still have stored grain.
The aristocratic families believed in having multiple burrows, never putting all their eggs in one basket. Even if their openly available provisions were confiscated, they still had some secretly hidden provisions for emergencies. When the time came, they could still manage to squeeze out a little bit of life-saving food.
Someone hesitated and said, "But the grain in the official granary is also ours. It's a pity to burn it. Why don't we just kill Xie Chong instead?"
Yu Shaoquan retorted at the same time: "No, if we don't burn the grain and fodder, the garrison at the granary will use the grain and fodder to fight us. So we must burn the grain and fodder to eliminate their idea of resisting stubbornly. Only then will they surrender to us again because of hunger."
Everyone understood this principle, and upon hearing this, they did not object further and waited for the time to act.
As Yu Shao and the others waited anxiously, the time finally came to the hour of Yin (3-5 AM) in the dead of night. More than twenty aristocratic youths left through the back door at the same time, returning to their respective clans to gather the family guards who had already assembled and were waiting for orders. Half an hour later, they met up at the mansion closest to the granary and found that there were only about five hundred people, not even six hundred.
This number is pitiful compared to before. Fortunately, there are not many troops stationed at the granary, only about two thousand. Moreover, their goal is not to defeat or annihilate the garrison, but simply to tear open a gap and burn the grain. Six hundred men are enough.
Yu Shaoquan led a massive army of six hundred aristocratic soldiers toward the granary. Upon arriving near the granary, they immediately launched an attack, firing hundreds of lit rockets into the granary's walls.
These rockets are the signal. Once they see the rockets, the two village chiefs they have bribed will launch an attack from within, creating chaos to open the gates and let them in.
The idea was good, but unfortunately it backfired. After the rocket was launched, there was still no sound of fighting in the courtyard. Yu Shaoquan was still dumbfounded. Just as he was wondering whether to launch a strong attack, he suddenly heard a series of hurried footsteps and shouts of fighting behind him.
Yu Shaoquan's expression changed drastically, and he instinctively turned around to look. As soon as he turned around, he saw people rushing towards them from both sides of the street. They were surrounded.
Before they could figure out what was going on, the gates of the granary were suddenly opened, and countless armored soldiers rushed out with shields, surrounding them from all sides.
Now that things had come to this, even the most foolish Yu Shao knew he had been tricked by Xie Chong. Helplessly, he sighed, "Prefect Xie, I know you're inside. Come out and give me some answers."
The shield wall at the entrance of the courtyard opened automatically, and Xie Chong walked out along the passage. He stared at Yu Shao and smiled, "Old Yu, why did you do this? Wouldn't it have been better to just stay home and retire peacefully?"
Yu Shao sighed and said, "I have nothing to say about a bet, but I want to know how I lost."
Xie Chong laughed and said, "You'll have to ask He Qi about that. I knew as soon as he entered Yuhang. Your every move has been under my control since then. Judging by the time, the people who are going to arrest He Qi have probably already taken action. I believe you will be able to meet soon."
"Oh right, there's something I forgot to tell you. We just received good news from Da Mo. They say that General Guan has killed Han Dang and Xu Sheng and captured tens of thousands of Wu soldiers. Your hopes that Grand Commander Lu will recapture Kuaiji are probably going to be dashed!"