Extreme joy begets sorrow

  Before long, autumn arrived, and although the weather was still hot, it was time to harvest and sow within the pass. The grasslands were also at their most lush, and the people on the steppes could live in warmth and comfort, so they didn't rush to attack the pass and plunder. As if by mutual consent, they passed a very peaceful and fulfilling autumn.

  As winter approached, a very severe snowstorm hit the grasslands. Zhiyi looked at the letter from outside the pass and furrowed his brow again. He knew that he wasn't worried about the survival of the people on the grasslands, but rather worried that with such bad weather, the people on the grasslands wouldn't be able to get enough food or warmth, and would come to attack the pass again. The war had just subsided less than a year ago, and it was likely that the flames of war would rise again.

  However, concerns aside, knowing righteousness is still the order to strengthen defenses at each pass and continue day and night drills for soldiers, preparing for defense.

  As I was curious, I also went to see the defensive tools used to guard the city. This look really opened my eyes. There were all kinds of wooden sticks and bamboo poles soaked in tung oil for smashing walls or climbing walls; there were stones of various sizes that could be thrown under the wall, at such a high distance, once they hit the body, they would either die or be disabled; there were also many sharp bamboo poles soaked in oil, which could pierce shields when thrown into the crowd with great force. Next was the crossbow, a large type called the Hundred Steps Piercing Willow Continuous Crossbow, which could shoot over a hundred arrows at once and had a long range and great killing power. Of course, there were also many dry firewood soaked in lard here. The interpreter explained that when the enemy came, they would throw the dry firewood under the city wall and then launch fire arrows to ignite it. No one is not afraid of fire, once the fire starts, the speed of attacking the city will slow down, so our army can take advantage of this gap to deploy defenses and prepare for a new round of attacks.

  As if he had heard the words, his tongue was tied and could not speak. It turned out that this was indeed a rare talent in war. These sinister ideas also came to mind, and he asked: "What if the enemy also learns from each other, what can be done?"

  Accompanying him was Deputy General Zheng, who laughed wildly, "Impossible. On the grassland except for grass, where are these dry firewood."

  As if suddenly enlightened, he nodded in understanding.

  Then, Deputy General Zheng led the emotional viewing of the oil in the city wall pot, and a large pile of paper-wrapped unknown things. Deputy General Zheng explained one by one that when the enemy came to attack, it was really impossible to defend against, so they had to resort to this trick, pouring down the scalding hot oil and throwing down the poisonous powder, immediately relieving the excessive defensive pressure.

  As soon as he heard this, he couldn't help but nod his head, and suddenly had an epiphany, saying: "Why not put poison on the arrowhead, shoot it at the enemy, guarantee they'll have no cure, and immediately ascend to the Western Paradise."

  "Earlier, General, you also considered this," said Zheng, "but most of the arrows we shoot will be picked up by the enemy. If they shoot them back at us, we'll be the ones to suffer. The Mongols are naturally skilled archers and horsemen, their arrows never miss."

  Nodding in admiration, I have to admit that this brother has really brought shamelessness and cunningness to an extreme.

  As expected, at the end of October, all passes in Datong were attacked fiercely or sporadically, and some weakly defended areas were also breached by a small number of remaining enemy forces. Except for the governor and the general, Zhiyi was the highest military commander in Datong, and the pressure on him was immense. Although the city walls were not breached, it was still a shocking and thrilling experience. The Mongols were indeed fierce and brave, and the border army suffered heavy casualties.

  Zhiyi returns to the mansion very late every day, sometimes he doesn't come back at all, staying overnight in the governor's mansion or on the city wall, occasionally returning in the middle of the night, or not returning for the whole night.

  It was also Ruqiu's first time to realize the infinite threat of the vast grasslands outside the Great Wall to the Han people, but unfortunately she was not a military strategist and could not think of any tactics like "borrowing arrows with thatched boats" or "secretly passing through Chen Cang", so in the end she could only think of a clumsy plan.

  "It's better to take the initiative and attack rather than passively defend. Although the border army can't defeat the Tartars, two against one should be enough. The Tartars have only over 50,000 cavalry, so brother can send out 100,000 troops from the city and fight them head-on."

  Zhi Yi shook his head, "All thirteen passes in Datong have a total of only 120,000 border troops. If we mobilize 100,000 soldiers to leave the city, who will guard each pass?"

  As if relieved, she thought carefully and suddenly her eyes lit up. "Everyone hates the Tartars, why not let the common people participate too? Although the common people don't have much combat power, unity is strength, brother, I've got a plan, but I'm not sure if it will work."

  The emotional knot was untied after explaining the guerrilla tactics of the Eighth Route Army and the Japanese devils.

  Zhi Yi listened, and was silent for a long time without expressing his opinion. Jing's heart had turned cold as she thought her plan had fallen through once again. But unexpectedly, Zhi Yi said: "Your method is something I couldn't have thought of, but it does have its feasible aspects." Then he indicated that he would go back and discuss it with Fu Yuan and the other generals before making a decision.

  In the eleventh month of the fourth year of the Celebratory Origin era, the city walls of Datong, which had just been rebuilt, were once again subjected to a powerful attack by the Mongols. At this time every year, the Han people inside the pass were busy sowing or harvesting crops, while the nomadic tribes outside the pass began their looting career. Due to the rare plague and white disaster that appeared on the grasslands this year, there have been many reports of Mongolians entering Shanxi territory, looting civilians, killing people, and setting fires. Zhiyi was extremely enraged, often leading troops to suppress the enemy, although he killed over a hundred enemies, many escaped, and he often chased after them, running east and west, but with little gain, frequently getting angry to the point of jumping up and down.

  These Mongols were very cunning, all of them emerging in small groups, while the defense of Datong City was gradually weakening. In December of the fourth year of the Qingyuan era, two passes in Datong were breached, and several thousand Tatars poured in from this place... It seemed that Datong was about to be broken through...

  ……

  In the 12th month of the 4th year of Tianqi, the Minister of War in Beijing received intelligence from Datong that more than 10,000 Mongolian cavalrymen were attacking Shanxi's Datong. Fu Yuan, the commander-in-chief of the three armies in Datong, and Fang Zhiyi, the General of the Pacification Army, used clever tactics to lure all the Mongolian cavalry into the city walls. Together with the soldiers and civilians of Datong, they launched a surprise attack, annihilating the enemy army at minimal cost. The border army suffered less than 1,000 casualties, while the people of Datong lost less than 100 lives.

  The news spread throughout the country, and the emperor was overjoyed. He issued a special edict to praise and reward them, saying "they fought like gods, with empty sleeves". The emperor rewarded the people of Datong who participated in the battle with 50 taels of silver each, and exempted their families from paying taxes for that year. He also approved Fu Yuan's nomination and sent a minister from the Ministry of Revenue to Shanxi to assist him. Trade was allowed between Chinese merchants and Mongolians at the border of Datong, where salt, food, and other goods could be exchanged for horses, cattle, and sheep, but iron tools were strictly prohibited.

  The emperor was overjoyed and also granted Fu Yuan's request, improving the living conditions of the border military officers and increasing their salaries. As the year-end was approaching, the emperor again dispatched a special envoy to personally bring supplies and relief to Datong to comfort the three armies.

  The news spread and all the soldiers were shocked. The message from above came, knowing that Yi was the main contributor to this time, the reward would be even more generous.

  Rou was extremely delighted, for Rouyi had promised her that this time the method to deal with the Tartars was something she had thought of, and as a behind-the-scenes contributor, Rouyi would give her half of the reward he received.

  As excited as she was, her private house had everything, except for gold. The official silver was all in ten-tael gold bars, oh... having gold bars in hand was truly too happy.

  But her happiness didn't last long, as she later heard that the imperial envoy who went to Shanxi this time was actually Jing Wang Li Xiu again. When she heard this news, Yu Rou felt suffocated. Ever since the last time when she had to give him CPR in public and was treated like a freak by his guards, she also found it embarrassing to meet him, so she tried her best to avoid seeing him.

  But why does this guy always linger around? Just left Datong, it's only been half a year, and he's coming again.

  The emperor is really something, with so many high-ranking officials in the court, why did he have to send him? Isn't this clearly going against her?

  Digression

  Heng Xiaoyuan, the undefeated king of the pugilistic world, was teased by his dad last night and ended up crying so hard that he vomited all night long, leaving us exhausted. This morning, we went to see a doctor and found out that he has appendicitis and needs surgery, so updates will be delayed for the next two days.