In Juanzhou, in a village near the Shishan River in Qixia County, the afterglow of the setting sun fell upon the laboring villagers, glinting white on their sweat.
A Jiao soldier took a huge gulp of water. “Damn this weather. It’s almost evening, and it’s still this hot.”
Another soldier, whose nose was flat and broad, kept fanning himself with his hand. “No kidding. There isn’t a breath of wind. It’s hot enough to kill.”
He looked toward the Han villagers working in the distance. “Two more dropped dead today. They really aren’t durable.”
The first soldier had an enormous mouth. He stretched his lips into a grin, revealing yellowing teeth.
“So what if they die? They’re only Han slaves. Several die every day anyway. I’m used to it.”
The flat-nosed soldier nodded. “True.”
Then he sighed. “At least we have the Shishan River here. Otherwise, our harvest would probably have suffered as badly as everywhere else.”
The big-mouthed soldier grunted. “You can say that again. We dug the canals ahead of time this year, and our yield is even a little better than last year’s.”
The flat-nosed soldier shook his head. “It’s only better around here. I heard that many places have been abandoned because of the drought. Who knows when this cursed weather will finally bring rain?”
The big-mouthed soldier glared at him. “It can’t rain now. If it does, these wheat fields will be ruined.”
The flat-nosed soldier laughed. “I was only saying it casually. I just hope there isn’t another drought next year. Otherwise, all the Han villagers will starve to death, and there’ll be no one left to work for us.”
“I heard it’s been raining in Sizhou—and for quite a while. The fighting has even been suspended. I wonder if that’s true,” the big-mouthed soldier said.
The flat-nosed soldier sighed. “Who knows?”
Then, remembering something, he asked curiously, “Sizhou is in the south. Are they harvesting their autumn crops now too? If so, wouldn’t all their grain be ruined?”
The big-mouthed soldier thought for a moment. “If the rain has stopped by now, it should be fine. Even if the grain is ripe, delaying the harvest by a few days won’t cause any problems.”
“That’s true.” The flat-nosed soldier looked into the distance.
Suddenly, his eyes narrowed. “Why do I feel like there’s someone over there?”
The big-mouthed soldier followed his gaze, and his eyes widened. “It’s—it’s the Quzhao people!”
He swiftly drew the saber at his waist, but before he could shout, an arrow shot toward him...
By the time the magistrate of Qixia County received the report and reached the scene, the battle was already over.
Looking at the devastation covering the ground, the magistrate’s face flushed with rage. “The Quzhao army! The Jiao army will never coexist with you!”
A soldier hurried over to report. “We suffered more than three hundred casualties. All the crops in this area have been taken—roughly a thousand dan of grain.”
“About a hundred Quzhao soldiers were also wiped out,” he added.
Ever since Quzhao seized Anwu County, it had remained unusually quiet.
Jiao Tai, however, had never lowered his guard. With the autumn harvest underway, he was especially worried that Quzhao might seize the opportunity to raid for grain, so he had stationed a large number of guards near the Shishan River.
He had never expected them to find an opening and make off with the grain.
A dark shadow flashed across the magistrate’s eyes. “Did you manage to track them? They can’t move quickly while carrying all that grain.”
The soldier shook his head. “By the time we caught up, they had already crossed the river. Should we continue pursuing them?”
Beyond the river lay Quzhao territory. They did not dare cross over recklessly.
The magistrate ground his back teeth. After considering the strength of both sides, he had no choice but to give up.
“Report this to the higher command. Then bring in troops from the surrounding areas. We must ensure the safety of the remaining grain. Move quickly!”
He was worried that Quzhao, desperate for food, would take the risk of launching a large-scale assault on the villages near the Shishan River.
The situation was urgent, so Qixia County sent the report by carrier pigeon. Since the distance was not great, Jiao Tai received the message that very night.
He slammed his fist onto the table in fury. “Quzhao truly is a pack of wolves!”
Mu Qi frowned deeply. “Quzhao now has roughly forty thousand soldiers, along with another twenty or thirty thousand Quzhao civilians. That puts their total population at sixty or seventy thousand. The amount of grain they seized today is nowhere near enough. They’ll probably continue raiding.”
Jiao Tai felt a headache coming on. The war against Daqing was becoming increasingly difficult, and now Quzhao had chosen this moment to stir up trouble.
Shou Mo was furious. “General, why don’t we send troops to wipe out Quzhao?”
Jiao Tai wanted to destroy them as well, but forty thousand soldiers were not so easy to eliminate.
Moreover, the Quzhao civilians were not entirely helpless. If they took up weapons, they could fight too.
Mu Qi pondered for a moment. “This may actually be an opportunity to wear down Quzhao’s forces.”
Shou Mo looked puzzled. “What makes you say that, Military Advisor?”
Mu Qi analyzed the situation. “Attacking Anwu County is indeed difficult. Aside from the Shishan River standing in our way, even if we cross it and reach Anwu County, they still have their city walls to rely on.”
“But now they need grain, which means they’ll have to cross over and raid us. We can take advantage of that and kill the soldiers they send to seize supplies. No matter how many they send, we kill them all. That will greatly weaken their forces.”
Jiao Tai furrowed his brow. “There are fields stretching for dozens of miles along both sides of the Shishan River. How are we supposed to know where Quzhao will land?”
Mu Qi sighed. “That is precisely the difficult part. We can only guard most of the area. No matter where they come ashore, we must be able to quickly concentrate our forces and slaughter every last one of them.”
Jiao Tai was helpless. “Where are we supposed to get the troops?”
The Shishan River wound on for dozens of miles. If they stationed soldiers along the entire stretch, they would need at least seventy or eighty thousand men.
Mu Qi sighed. “Perhaps we should consider transferring troops from Taitan Commandery.”
Shou Mo shook his head. “Taitan Commandery doesn’t have many soldiers to begin with. It can’t spare that many.”
Taitan Commandery was currently the relatively peaceful part of Juanzhou, so it did not have a large garrison.
Mu Qi said helplessly, “Then we’ll have to transfer troops from Daqing.”
Shou Mo frowned. “What about the war against Daqing?”
They had been attacking Daqing all along. Yet recently, for some unknown reason, Daqing had become much harder to defeat.
The fighting had reached a stalemate, with neither side able to gain the upper hand.
Mu Qi replied helplessly, “Grain is more important. The war can be suspended for now.”
They were the ones attacking Daqing, so they held the initiative and could halt the fighting whenever they wished.
Shou Mo opened his mouth, but ultimately offered no objection.
Compared to the alternative, grain was indeed more important.
Because of the drought, the grain production throughout Qiuning Commandery was concentrated near the Shishan River. If all of it were taken, the consequences would be disastrous.
Given the current situation, Quzhao was bound to raid them. Without the grain, Quzhao would starve to death.
It was an unsolvable dilemma.
Jiao Tai clenched his fists, gnashing his teeth in hatred. “Princess Jinyang truly is far-sighted!”
When she had burned all the grain in Anwu and Chunyi Counties, she must have predicted this day.
Or perhaps she had burned the grain precisely to force his Jiao army into conflict with Quzhao.
Ruthless indeed!
Shou Mo asked, “So we’re transferring troops from Daqing?”
He looked at the map and continued, “I’m just worried that once we move our troops away, Daqing will launch a counterattack.”
Mu Qi shook his head. “Daqing doesn’t have the strength for that.”
Jiao Tai sighed. “Daqing may indeed lack the strength to counterattack, but if they join forces with the Jinyang Army, that would be a different story.”
Shou Mo’s brows drew together. “Come to think of it, Daqing’s tactics recently do seem different from before, and the individual soldiers are much better trained.”
He drew in a sharp breath. “Could Daqing really have allied itself with the Jinyang Army?”
