Jiang Jin understood his thoughts and actions; no one had it easy in these troubled times, and compromises always had to be made.
She nodded in agreement, "Alright."
Mu Qing's group would have seemed weak and vulnerable traveling alone, but joining her forces would significantly bolster her ranks.
At the very least, she gained two literate individuals in Mu Qing and Mu Wanbai, plus two martial artists in Mu Wei and Mu Ning.
As for Mu Yizhou, he could be ignored.
Besides, Mu Qing had once served as the Grand Minister of Agriculture. Regardless of his actual farming skills, his knowledge was undoubtedly vast. If he followed her loyally, he would definitely become one of her key assistants.
Overjoyed, Mu Qing bowed again to express his gratitude.
After leaving Mu Qing, Jiang Jin felt a bit curious. "Zhou Sui, Elder Mu looks quite advanced in years. Why are his grandchildren so young?"
People in this era married early, and it was common for men in their thirties to become grandfathers. Mu Qing looked to be about seventy years old, yet his eldest grandchild, Mu Wanbai, appeared to be only fifteen or sixteen. It would be more reasonable to say she was his great-granddaughter.
Zhou Sui smiled. "When Elder Mu was young, he was obsessed with agriculture. He spent years traveling to teach people how to sow and reap, and he even improved several farming tools."
"It wasn't until his parents grew old that he reluctantly returned home to marry. I heard he was already nearing thirty by then."
Jiang Jin suddenly understood, and her impression of Mu Qing improved. It was hard not to like someone with such a pure passion for farming and agricultural research, though it was a pity he was so old.
If all else failed, she could just have him train a group of farmers when the time came.
A day later, the group finally entered the Gefeng territory.
Jiang Jin called Zhou Sui and the others over for a discussion. Looking at the map, she asked, "Are there any suitable places to set up camp near Gefeng County?"
Yun Yu pointed to a spot on the map. "Here, Qingyun Ridge. It has flat wasteland inside and a narrow, easily defensible entrance outside. It's perfect for a camp."
Naturally, Yun Yu and his companions were more familiar with the border regions of Fengzhou and could make quick judgments.
Jiang Jin asked, "How far is it from Gefeng County?"
Yun Yu answered promptly, "About seven or eight miles."
Jiang Jin nodded and continued, "How big is Gefeng County? What is the condition of its walls? How are its internal defenses?"
This time, Yun Yu thought for a moment before speaking. "Gefeng County is very small. In the past, there were two to three thousand civilians in the city, but now we'd be lucky if there are even a few hundred."
"The city walls are indeed damaged, but it is a border town after all, so the walls were built quite solidly and thick. Even if the Quzhao people haven't maintained the walls much since taking the city, it still won't be easy to conquer."
Jiang Jin frowned. "What about the city guards?"
Yun Yu looked a bit melancholic. "Although Gefeng is a small county, it holds the Gesi Pass, which was one of the passes the Quzhao army used to invade. Back then, we had several thousand soldiers stationed there, and most of the civilians in the city were the soldiers' families and descendants."
"After the Quzhao people captured Gefeng, since it isn't wartime right now, there should only be about a hundred soldiers in the city. They wouldn't deploy too many people to guard it."
In the past, Gefeng was a pass blocking Quzhao from entering Yan State, constantly facing the threat of war, so naturally, there were many soldiers.
But now that Gefeng belonged to Quzhao, the pass was essentially their own territory, making Gefeng just a small inland county for them.
And since it was a barren little county, they naturally wouldn't send too many troops to guard it. This was one of the reasons Jiang Jin had planned to attack Gefeng in the first place.
Jiang Jin thought of another question. "Is there a moat?"
Yun Yu nodded. "Yes, about fifty feet wide."
Remembering something, Yun Yu added, "It's early September now, the season for harvesting grain. The soldiers in the city will likely send people out to collect the harvest."
Which meant there would be even fewer soldiers in the city.
Of course, since there weren't many Gefeng soldiers to begin with, they might also transfer people from other regions to help during the busy harvest season.
Jiang Jin asked again, "Can ordinary Han civilians enter the city?"
Yun Yu nodded. "In barbarian cities, Han civilians can mostly enter, but it's hard to say what will happen to them once inside."
Zhou Sui looked at Jiang Jin. "My lady, do you have a plan?"
Jiang Jin looked up at him. "Although there are few soldiers in the city, our numbers are also small. Relying purely on our current forces for a frontal assault is almost impossible."
"Moreover, we don't have siege equipment. Let alone anything else, we can't even cross the moat. Even if we succeed in taking the city, we will inevitably suffer heavy casualties, which isn't worth it."
Although Jiang Jin currently had several hundred people, only a little over a hundred were soldiers, and without siege ladders, battering rams, or trench bridges, taking a city was a pipe dream.
Siege warfare was incredibly difficult, usually requiring the attackers to outnumber the defenders by several times or even dozens of times to succeed.
Of course, it also depended on who the attackers and defenders were.
Zhou Sui raised an eyebrow. "Are you thinking of dismantling them from the inside?"
Jiang Jin smiled. "Why not? We can coordinate an attack from both inside and outside."
Under the September sky, even in the mid-afternoon, it was still sweltering hot.
At the south gate of Gefeng County, a family of refugees arrived today, a very rare sight.
The Quzhao gate guards looked at the family of Han people in tattered clothes with strange expressions. After all, it had been a long time since any strangers had entered their small county town.
Even the soldiers on the city walls couldn't help but look down, their eyes filled with scrutiny and malicious intent.
Zhou Sui respectfully handed over their household registration to the gate guard, wearing a perfectly obsequious smile.
His acting was getting more nuanced by the day, showing no traces of performance and looking completely natural. Jiang Jin silently gave him a thumbs up.
The soldier took the document and looked at it carefully for a good while before nodding to the two soldiers beside him.
The two soldiers immediately stepped forward to inspect the handcart.
Yes, this time Jiang Jin and the others brought a handcart loaded with their belongings—clothes, blankets, a cooking pot, and similar items.
Zhou Sui was once again playing the role of "father," leading a string of children. Yes, a whole string of them.
Jiang Jin, Yun Chengxuan, Xia Chanyi, Yun Yu, Qiu Wu, and Luo A'man.
Facing such a scene for the first time, Luo A'man was a bit nervous. Afraid her emotions would give her away, she kept her head lowered.
Zhou Sui's smile was very honest and simple, carrying the cautiousness typical of commoners facing barbarians. "These are just some worthless things, please feel free to look."
The Quzhao soldier looked at him oddly. "Are these six all your children?"
Zhou Sui had already prepared his excuse. "You saw the registration document, didn't you? Two of them belong to my older brother, but, alas..."
Jiang Jin would have liked to bring all her soldiers into the city, but the gate guards weren't fools.
The main issue was that her soldiers were mostly strong and sturdy. One or two like that might pass, but too many would definitely arouse suspicion.
She glanced back at the moat behind her. The guards of this small city were indeed quite negligent.
There was only a little water left in the moat, almost completely dried up. It was obvious that it wasn't maintained regularly, and they hadn't even dredged it when the water source was cut off.
The Quzhao soldier gave a fake smile. "Everyone knows Gefeng is a small town. Why did you come here?"
Zhou Sui let out a heavy sigh. "We couldn't walk any further, and we ran out of food. We wanted to enter the city to see if we could find a way to survive."
At that moment, the two soldiers inspecting the handcart knocked on the bottom of the cart, seemingly having discovered something.
[Note: The title and responsibilities of the Grand Minister of Agriculture varied throughout different historical periods. After the late Han Dynasty, the management of financial revenues and expenditures was transferred to the Minister of the Great Granary, and the Grand Minister of Agriculture gradually lost control over state finances, becoming responsible only for the granaries. During the Yuan Dynasty, the position was established once more, but its authority was strictly limited to agriculture, sericulture, and water management. In this novel, the Grand Minister of Agriculture is solely in charge of agriculture, sericulture, and water management.]
