Chapter 24: The Road at Midnight

  Chen Kefu was also amazed when he got on the carriage with Yu Wenhai. The exterior of the carriage looked ordinary, but once inside, it was found to be extremely luxurious and grandiose, to the point where the word "extravagant" could be used to describe it.

  The space inside the carriage was very spacious, and it could almost be used as a small living room. Chen Kefu estimated that even if four people sat here, they could still gather together to play mahjong. Moreover, on the wooden boards inside the carriage were laid tiger skin cushions, and when Chen Kefu sat down cross-legged, he discovered that underneath the tiger skin was another layer of feather cushions. It seemed that Yu Weicheng, this official in charge of national transportation, really knew how to use his power for personal gain.

  A big man, on the battlefield, surprisingly not riding a horse but sitting in a carriage, it's no wonder he is the son of a great general and also manages the national horse policy. However, this "dandy young master" doesn't feel any shame at all. At this moment, he sat across from Chen Kefu, with two beautiful women leaning against him on either side, surrounding him.

  Yu Wen took a bottle of wine from the hand of a maid beside him and elegantly poured it for Chen Kefu. Looking at the crimson liquid, he also smelled it immediately, this is the grape wine that came from Persia.

  Watching Yu Wen and this famous noble being so enthusiastic about getting close to him, Chen Kefu also somewhat understood his meaning, guessing that he wanted to pull himself into the Yuwen clan. Although it was in the Sui Dynasty over a thousand years ago, just like in later generations' workplaces, where there are people, there is a "jianghu" (a community with its own rules and hierarchy), and those who hold office must face politics. Whether playing politics or mixing in the workplace, the most important thing is to stand with a team, which is more important than anything else.

  As a military man, he was originally from the Left Wing Guard, which was originally under Yuwen Shu's command. It can be said that from the beginning, he had already been branded with the Yuwen family's mark. Now, what Yuwen Huaji is doing also confirms this point. Thinking about it, although he hasn't been in this era for long, he has already become entangled with the Yuwen family. When he first established the Broken Army Camp, Yuwen Shu gave him a lot of support. Without his support, he wouldn't have had the current Broken Army Camp full of seasoned soldiers.

  Especially Huang Ying's words to him a few days ago about the reward in Yang Guang's account, those ministers' disputes. That day, Yuwen Shu was indeed fully supportive of himself, and now it is estimated that not only did Yuwen Shu take him as a member of the Yuwen family, but also all others automatically helped him take sides. Now he has been helped by others to choose his camp, while he himself cannot express any opinions.

  Yu Wenque and Chen Kefu poured a cup of grape wine, smiled and said, "Brother Pojun, do you know how difficult it is for you to come to this step today? On that day in front of the palace, my old master had a big dispute with the Pei family. Otherwise, you might be the powerless Jinzi Guanglu Daifu today, and you wouldn't have this Zhanchong Lang's job." As he spoke, Yu Wenque continued to describe the situation that day with great relish.

  However, Chen Kefu had already heard Huang Ying tell him about this matter earlier. What Yu Wenrui was saying now was obviously an exaggeration of the facts. If Chen Kefu hadn't known, he would have thought that if his old master hadn't stepped in that day, he might not even have been considered for promotion, and even the little actual power he had would have been taken away by the Pei family.

  Knowing the return, Chen Kefu still pretended to be very grateful to Yuwen Culture and Tao, "Yuwen adults treat me so well, I will not dare to forget, from now on, Yuwen adults have something to drive, I will definitely not refuse." Chen Kefu also sighed in his heart, he has now entered the circle of treacherous ministers, but he doesn't know how future history books will be written. However, at this time, he had no way to think about those things, the Pei family looked down on him, and others didn't look up to him either, if the Yuwen family treated him so well and he still refused, then when the Yuwen family's anger erupted, it would not be something that a person like him with no foundation could bear.

  Yuwen Huaji, although historical records describe him as greedy and lecherous, yet incompetent and cowardly, but being in the Yuwen family's large clan, he was naturally familiar with these things. He couldn't lead troops to fight, but when it came to winning people over, he still had a good hand.

  He raised the wine cup in his hand, and Yuwen Huaji smiled and said, "Don't worry, Brother Pojun. My Yuwen family will never betray those brothers who share our joys and sorrows. From now on, as long as I, Yuwen, am here, we will definitely share wealth and honor with General. Come, let's drink this fine wine together. We are brothers from now on! This desolate and barren land is really not fun at all. When we return to the capital one day, whether it's Dongdu or Xijing, I'll take you on a tour and let you experience the prosperity of the world."

  Chen Kefu's mouth curled up slightly, and he smiled faintly. Although he didn't think much of Yuwen culture, he had to admit that if all he wanted was a fox friend or a henchman, someone like this would be quite suitable. Chen Kefu thought it impossible for him to associate with such people in the long term, but at times like these, having the Yuwen family help him weather the storm would allow him to accumulate more capital in this chaotic world.

  After thinking that he had subdued Chen Kefu, this newly risen fierce general, Yuwen Huaji was even more delighted. He immediately became the spoiled child again, sitting in his carriage and ceaselessly boasting to Chen Kefu about all the fun places in the capital city, such as which brothel's madam was the most beautiful, which brothel's singer sang the best songs, and so on.

  Chen Kefu had no choice but to sit there patiently and deal with it, this kind of scenario he had experienced many times before in modern society, basically most people have learned a set of thick and dark skills, dealing with such small things is considered a small matter.

  The sound of horseshoes came from outside the carriage, and a loud voice entered the carriage, "General, it's getting late, and we're still far from Liaodong City. Should we set up camp here for the night?"

  When he heard this voice, Chen Kefu also finally felt relieved, and smiled at Yuwen Huaji, "Today's drinking with Brother Yuwen is really a great pleasure, but I have military duties on my body, so I'll take my leave first. When I return to the capital, I will definitely invite you to drink again."

  Yuwen Shuo smiled and said, "Brother Pojun has military affairs to attend to, so go quickly. I won't delay you. If there's a need for my help in the future, just call out."

  He bid farewell to Wu Cultural and Chen Kefu also got off the horse carriage, taking over his green horse from Luo Lin's hand, riding the horse forward. If you rush to Liaodong City by fast horse, you can arrive in one day, but this time it's not just his three thousand cavalry, there are nearly 100,000 prisoners and Gaogouli civilians added together. With so many people together, it's naturally impossible to hurry, after walking for a day, only about half of the way has been walked.

  When Chen Kefu rushed to the side of Li Benlei and other school lieutenants, Li Benlei had already passed down the order to set up camp. The Broken Army Camp was led by this old general, setting up camps, digging trenches, planting palisades, releasing deer horns, and even surrounding all the vehicles in the team with a large circle, surrounding the entire camp. In several camp gates, a few tall trees were cut and erected as sentry posts, everything was done neatly.

  Chen Kefu rode past on horseback, constantly greeting the broken army camp soldiers he met along the way. Every soldier who was greeted by the general in such a familiar manner was extremely excited.

  He nodded towards Li Benlei and said, "General, you are indeed reliable. I have three thousand soldiers in the broken army camp, with nearly 20,000 prisoners of war and tens of thousands of Goguryeo civilians, as well as nearly 10,000 people from our Great Sui who are stuck in this wilderness. We must be extra vigilant. Although this area has been occupied by our great army, we still need to be on high alert. If a group of Goguryeo people were to launch a surprise attack at night and cause chaos, it would be troublesome. If we're not careful, our three thousand soldiers might lose their lives here."

  "Don't worry, sir. Although we only have 3,000 men, General Yuwen has brought another 1,000 cavalrymen over. With the more than 10,000 civilian workers added to that, as long as we set up a solid camp and make our soldiers extra vigilant and defend carefully, even if the Goguryeo people dare to come, they will definitely not succeed." Li Benlei said in a low voice.

  The night grew darker, and the camp began to light up with bonfires. The bonfires not only illuminated the entire camp but also brought warmth to the Goguryeo civilians without tents and the captives. In the firelight, the soldiers of the broken army took turns guarding the camp. The remaining laborers were responsible for cooking and other tasks, as well as keeping an eye on the Goguryeo people. As for Wu Zetian's thousand cavalrymen, Chen Kefu had them guard the over 200,000 dan of grain. The entire grain storage area was located in the center of the large camp, isolated by a thousand soldiers. Anyone who approached this central area without Chen Kefu's orders would be killed on the spot. Chen Kefu and other generals like Li Benli understood the importance of these grains, which largely determined the outcome of the war against Goguryeo.

  According to Li Benlei, in order to transport a cart of grain all the way to Liaodong City, those laborers would have to travel back and forth for several months. From the Central Plains, they would consume an average of 17 carts of grain just to transport one cart to Liaodong. This number left Chen Kefu utterly astonished. With an army of over a million people staying in Liaodong for half a year, the amount of grain consumed was already astronomical. Adding the loss of over ten times that amount, it would be equivalent to the annual grain supply for over 10 million people. Even the prosperous Sui Dynasty had only over 40 million people. Such a war truly deserved to be called a drain on human and material resources, causing widespread discontent among the people.

  In such a situation, the preciousness of these 200,000 dan of grain can be imagined. If these grains were transported from the Central Plains, at least 3 million dan of grain would have to be prepared for transportation from the Central Plains, and after consumption along the way, only 200,000 dan of grain would remain. Three million dan of grain distributed among the people all over the world is not a small number, let alone transported with difficulty to Liaodong. If these grains are lost, no matter how great their previous achievements were, they will definitely be greatly discolored at that time.

  I checked the new book chart and it's still at 31st place, brothers, the recommendation votes are not enough, everyone please help out, cast a recommendation vote to help rush up the chart.