Linzhang County, Black Mountain Army's main camp.
Inside the central military tent, two main generals, Bai Rao and Sui Gu, along with several deputy generals and captains, were gathered. Below them stood a Soldier in tattered armor, reporting something to everyone.
The expressions of everyone present were solemn, and the atmosphere was extremely tense.
Suddenly, Bai Rao slammed the table and roared furiously, "What! You said Yu Du is dead?"
"Gen... General, it... it's..."
The man stammered, his eyes occasionally glancing at the two, showing a hint of fear.
"Bastard! Who dares to challenge the Black Mountain Army! Are they tired of living?"
"It... it's... the Magistrate of Guangping, seems to be called Zhang... Zhang Chen..."
"What? Guangping County?" Sui Gu, who was beside him, raised an eyebrow and asked doubtfully, "The Commander has ordered us to be stationed in Linzhang County. Why did he run off to Guangping County?"
"This... I don't know, sir. Everything was done according to the General's orders."
Sui Gu suddenly thought of something and quickly asked again, "Since Yu Du is dead, where is that army of ten thousand?"
"They were... more than half were killed by Guangping County's militia. The remaining four thousand-some surrendered..."
"What!"
Hearing this, Bai Rao became furious, smashed the wine cup in front of him onto the ground, and lunged forward, grabbing the Soldier. "You had ten thousand men! How many Soldiers does Guangping County have? How could you be routed like this?"
"Old Bai!" Sui Gu quickly stepped forward to stop Bai Rao, and only then did Bai Rao release his grip.
Sui Gu then said to the Soldier, "Explain exactly how you were defeated, from beginning to end."
"Yes... yes..." The Soldier trembled like chaff, his voice shaking, and recounted in detail how they were ambushed in Black Cloud Valley the day before yesterday, and how Zhang Chen later led his troops to raid their camp.
After the Soldier finished speaking, Sui Gu couldn't help but close his eyes and sigh deeply, his brows tightly furrowed.
Bai Rao, on the other hand, shouted exasperatedly, "Incompetent fools! Incompetent fools! This Yu Du is truly useless for success and more than capable of failure!"
The more Bai Rao spoke, the angrier he became, his chest filled with unvented fury. He grabbed the Soldier again. "You spineless coward! Your general died in battle, why didn't you fight to the death instead of escaping alone?"
"No... no, General! General Yu was captured while drunk. He originally intended to surrender, but that Magistrate of Guangping refused and ordered him executed. I... I only escaped by pretending to be dead..."
Upon hearing this, everyone present was in an uproar.
Bai Rao immediately cursed, "Damn it, that bastard! He's completely disgraced the Black Mountain Army!"
"Enough!" Sui Gu shouted, then turned to the Soldier and said, "You are rewarded ten taels of silver for bringing the news. You may leave."
"Thank you, General! Thank you, General!" The Soldier, as if granted amnesty, quickly knelt and kowtowed, then turned to leave the tent.
"Come back!" Sui Gu remembered something and called out to him again. "Remember, this matter ends here. You are absolutely forbidden to speak of it, or you will be dealt with by military law!"
"Yes... yes..." The Soldier mumbled in response, carefully backing out.
After the Soldier left the tent, Bai Rao's mood eased slightly. He said hatefully, "Since we rose up, we have never suffered such a crushing defeat. Now that such a thing has happened, how are we to explain it to the Commander? In my opinion, we should just go to Guangping County, chop off that dog County Magistrate's head, and avoid being looked down upon by the Commander!"
After Bai Rao finished speaking, several captains below him echoed his sentiment.
"Absolutely not!" Sui Gu quickly stopped him. "Yu Du's advance into Guangping County was already a violation of military orders. If we act like this and suffer another setback, even ten thousand deaths wouldn't atone for it. Furthermore, from what the Soldier said, that Magistrate of Guangping seems quite skilled in the art of war and is probably not an easy opponent. We should not act rashly, lest we jeopardize the Commander's important plans!"
"Hmph! Fine, let him jump around for a while longer. Once we capture Yingtao County, it won't be too late to deal with him!" Bai Rao said hatefully. "But speaking of which, why hasn't the Commander's order arrived yet? Could there be some change?"
"The Commander previously ordered us to rendezvous here. There should be news within half a day."
"Report!" Just as Sui Gu finished speaking, a Soldier suddenly rushed in from outside the tent and bowed. "Two Generals, a letter from the Commander has arrived."
"Oh? Present it quickly!" Sui Gu was overjoyed. He had just finished speaking, and it arrived!
The Soldier handed over the letter, and Sui Gu quickly tore it open to read.
A moment later, after Sui Gu finished reading, a hint of joy appeared in his eyes.
He handed the letter to Bai Rao and said, "Take a look."
Bai Rao's face flushed, and he said angrily, "You... you fellow, you clearly know I'm illiterate! You're deliberately making fun of me!"
"Hehe, I forgot for a moment, my apologies." Sui Gu smiled, then immediately became serious. "The Commander says in the letter that the people inside Yingtao County have already taken action and ordered us to advance in three days and set up camp ten li outside Yingtao County's East Gate. Furthermore, the Commander is already aware of the matter concerning Yu Du. The Commander orders us not to act rashly and to wait until Yingtao County is captured before doing anything else!"
"Good!" Upon hearing this, Bai Rao couldn't help but rub his hands together eagerly. He then said to the assembled generals, "Pass down the order! The army is to rest and reorganize. In three days, we march on Yingtao County!"
...
Unconsciously, two days had passed.
In these two days, Gao Shun's recruitment effort progressed exceptionally smoothly. When the young men in the city learned that Zhang Chen was recruiting Soldiers, they all rushed to sign up.
Who among the surrounding villages and towns doesn't know that the County Magistrate previously defeated a larger force, crushing the bandits from the four strongholds? Now, he has again used clever strategies to greatly defeat the Black Mountain Army. Following such a master, why worry about not making a name for oneself in the future?
Protecting one's home and country, achieving merit and establishing a career, becoming an upright and great hero – that was the dream of every passionate young man.
Zhang Chen was naturally happy to see this happen, but he also knew clearly in his heart that while recruiting Soldiers was important, farming could not be delayed either.
For this year's autumn harvest, he was still counting on harvesting grain to feed the people of this region.
Therefore, Zhang Chen issued an order: those with no sons or only one son in the family should stay home and farm and are not allowed to enlist. Those with two or more sons must leave at least one young man at home to farm.
Encouraging farming and sericulture has been the primary duty of officials since ancient times, and Zhang Chen would naturally not forget this.
As soon as this order was issued, the people were all grateful for Zhang Chen's benevolence, and their praise for Zhang Chen increased even more.
However, even with the restriction order, Gao Shun still recruited over four thousand men.
At the same time, Zhang Chen was not idle. In these two days, the problem that gave him a headache was the military equipment and provisions for these men.
Although he had captured quite a bit of military equipment after the great defeat of Yu Du, the surrendered Soldiers and the new recruits totaled over seven thousand, and the captured equipment was still insufficient. Zhang Chen roughly calculated that fully arming these men would probably require at least over a hundred thousand gold.
Zhang Chen then looked at his own assets. Just the property alone amounted to a full three hundred thousand gold.
As for money, he could afford it, but he couldn't always pay out of his own pocket, could he?
Spending such a large sum of money, Zhang Chen still felt a bit of pain.
Furthermore, these were the court's Soldiers, not his private troops. Using the court's money to accomplish his own goals was what Zhang Chen was happy to see.
However, the money in the treasury had long been squandered by Zhao Xiong. After Zhang Chen took office, he canceled various miscellaneous taxes and only collected the regular court taxes. Now there wasn't much money left in the treasury; perhaps only seventy or eighty thousand could be taken out.
Alas, he had finally managed to build up some savings, but it seemed he would have to spend heavily again!
Never mind. You can't catch a wolf without sacrificing a cub, and you can't raise an army without spending money.
Zhang Chen gritted his teeth and ordered the quartermaster to take the approval document, first withdraw fifty thousand gold from the treasury, and then withdraw seventy thousand from his private reserves, to quickly procure military equipment for the new army.
Every little bit saved is a bit saved. There will be many more places where money is needed in the future!