New Trickster

  But did this proposal really change history? In history, it was only a year later that Gao Yingxiang's rebellion broke out, and there was the alliance of the 36 camps, and then there was Li Zicheng, the king of the rebels. Now it seems that I may have inadvertently brought about an early uprising at the end of the Ming dynasty. I don't know if this change in history is good or bad for me, but never mind, saving someone who has helped me out of prison is a matter of principle, and at least I won't owe anyone anything.

  Lü Shì had no choice but to shift his gaze towards Zhao Dà Hǎi.

  Zhao Dahai was an official and had a better understanding of the county's situation, perhaps more persuasive. Seeing Lü Shiwang look at himself, he knew what to say.

  Zhao Dahi, who was sitting on the side, was very excited to hear Lü Shi and others making plans. He thought that he had unknowingly participated in such a grand event, and it was also an opportunity for him to show off in front of his former superiors who had been bullying him. Now, he began to fantasize about taking down the county town, humiliating them, and seeing them beg for their lives at his feet.

  At this time, Lü Shiwen asked, and he stood up and said: "Everyone is the master of their own home. As far as I know, the Mi Zhi thousand households have a fixed number of 1,200 soldiers, but now it's not like the beginning of the country. There are only more than 400 or nearly 500 soldiers left. These are all single men or those who have nowhere to escape and can only mix in the military camp for food. Occasionally, they get some silver coins. I think there hasn't been much change in almost a year. But if we exclude the old, weak, sick, and disabled, and those who can still hold knives and guns and go up to the battlefield, there are probably around 200."

  "What about the military preparations of the Thousand Households?" Lü Shi asked closely.

  "The offensive and defensive equipment, although mostly stolen or long neglected, are still lacking in supplementation. However, there are still over a dozen large wooden shields, and each person has at least one knife or gun without any issues. Additionally, there are nearly a hundred bows and no less than a million arrows." These were not secrets that Zhao Dahai was not aware of.

  Upon hearing this, Nianzhu and the others were already shocked. The fact that such equipment still existed in the current Great Ming army was truly rare. Those one million arrows were a terrifying number.

  But then Lü Shi asked again: "If something urgent happens, the county official and the thousand households urgently gather the local landlords, powerful families, and their servants to guard the government office. How many can they gather?"

  "Now is the time when refugees are everywhere, and local tyrants and wealthy families are building strongholds to protect themselves. Those middle or small landowners will hide in the county town with their families after the autumn harvest. If things become urgent, those wealthy families hiding in the county town will also gather their servants to help defend the city, which can mobilize nearly a thousand people." Zhao Dahi has already unconsciously regarded himself as one of the attackers, and he is a little frightened by his own words.

  "How does the combat strength of the Imperial Guards compare with that of the regular army?"

  "The soldiers of the Wei camp are not comparable." Zhao Dahai replied honestly.

  "If you come to attack, according to the rules of Weiqi, can you sign a few more moves?"

  "There are 20,000 people in the city of Mizi, with over 4,000 households. Excluding the wealthy and large households that do not need to sign up for corvée labor, if each household signs up one person, there will be 3,000 people signed up." Zhao Dahi's forehead was already sweating.

  "What is the strength of the enemy?"

  "Although we can't fight in the open field, relying on strong bows and hard crossbows, high city walls, defending the city is absolutely no problem." Zhao Dahai's face also turned pale.

  Lü Shizhong turned around and faced the crowd, saying: "This is not considered a relief army. We can get nearly 4,000 soldiers from Mizhi, with more than 2,000 of them being combat-ready. And what about us?"

  Seeing everyone's ashen faces, Lü Shi spoke up and said: "We only have 30,000 troops, but what about the combat strength of our allied forces?" Lü Shi leaned back in his chair, a look of disdain on his face.

  Actually, just looking at the situation here in Tiān Xīng is enough to understand the whole picture.

  What kind of battle are these mobs? It's basically a refugee camp, those ordinary people who have nothing to do with the war, one by one, in tattered clothes, pale and thin, just two bowls of porridge a day to keep them from starving, even taking a few more steps is exhausting, let alone incomplete weapons, no training at all, how can they climb up the city wall to fight against the well-equipped government army on high ground?

  "To be honest, sir, among these 30,000 people, most of them are just ordinary men and women, young and old, who have joined the army together. The real able-bodied men are only about a thousand or so. Among these 30,000 people, those who are truly equipped with knives and guns and have some strength are only two or three thousand at best."

  "What about the siege engines?"

  "Except for the non-stick muddy old predecessor, there are only a few doors of elm wood and crude hunting bows and arrows. Otherwise, it's just making cloud ladders to climb cities." Tian Xing said with a bitter mouth.

  In fact, his own mountain stronghold was like this. Those hundred or so hunting bows that couldn't compare to military bows were treasured extremely dearly and wouldn't be moved unless absolutely necessary. Arrows were even more scarce, if not for the master giving him the method to craft longbows, he would have no confidence at all.

  All the attacks are to be filled with lives, thinking of countless brothers and sisters who will die miserably under the city, my heart is gloomy. But what can I do? In order for some people to grab a mouthful of food to survive this unbearable winter, some people must use their lives in exchange, this is an unavoidable reality.

  "So, the first thing we need to do is to gather our forces quickly and make sure we have at least three times as many true warriors as the enemy. This is crucial, only then can we ensure that everyone's attack will be effective." Lu Shizhi said with a firm tone.

  "Not sticking out like a sore thumb, nodding in agreement: 'Without this number, our chances of winning aren't great.'"

  Then, the master of the heavenly stars didn't want to hide it anymore, so he told everyone how to make this longbow. Everyone worked day and night to make it, and at the same time, they mobilized the old and young to make arrows that matched it, which was our guarantee of victory.

  "This longbow was taught by you, sir. How could I dare to hide it? Sir, rest assured." said Tian Xingda.

  In fact, this longbow is easy to make, everyone can see it and learn from it, there's no need to keep it a secret, why not do a favor for others?

  Bu Nian and the other two were overjoyed when they heard this. Having an extra trick up one's sleeve is always a good thing, who wouldn't be happy?

  "Thirdly, we must seize the time, even if we can't catch them off guard, but also can't give the government enough preparation time. Even if the government gets the time, they can't let them have the time to train those signed soldiers and household soldiers. Even if they can hastily train some signed soldiers and local militia, they must not be allowed to go to Yan'an or Yulin to apply for equipment replenishment." This string of urgent questions dispelled everyone's complacency at that time, and Nian Mudan suddenly stood up and said: "Thanks to Mr. De's teachings, we only know now that this battle is cruel and dangerous, and our previous killings were just a joke. To achieve something, we need Mr. De's great talent to coordinate, I won't bother you here anymore, and now I'll rush to several familiar mountain strongholds to persuade them to help us, anyway, there are many materials in the county town, and it doesn't matter if they have more shares."

  "Turn to Ge Tian and a tiger, saying: 'You two don't idle either, immediately rush with me everywhere, must recruit 50,000 troops within three days, among them there must be 10,000 soldiers who can fight. Victory or defeat is in this one move. You go ahead and tell them that if we win, it will be a comfortable good winter day. If we lose, everyone will freeze to death together. Participating or not participating is just a thought away. This time with great victory, afterwards will be like branches of the same tree, watching out for each other.'"

  Gai Tian and a tiger also solemnly stood up, saying in a loud voice: "By the order of our Honorable Alliance Master, we will now go down the mountain to make contact."

  Bu Nian repeated his farewell to Lü Shidao: "The defense of Zhangjiabao depends on you and the brothers of the Heavenly Masters, we are waiting for you to take down Zhangjiabao and gather the money and grain for everyone, everything is up to you."

  The stick is like this, saying it will be done and absolutely no dragging or procrastination.

  The heavenly stars didn't retain them, and with big strides, they sent all of you down the mountain.

  Back in the mountain stronghold's great hall, Lü Shi looked at Guo Tianxing with a smile and said: "But it was I who made the master of the great house lose his idea of becoming an alliance leader, and also made the master of the great house lose his chance to dominate the world. Is the master of the great house still holding a grudge against me?"

  "Sir, this matter was originally initiated by you. Whether I become the alliance leader or not is of no consequence to me, but I wanted to surpass you, yet you gave up on this opportunity for no reason."

  Lü Shi was deeply moved, and smiled: "The head of the household is indeed overthinking, I never had this idea or ambition, but in fact it's true, I don't want you to take on this role as alliance leader either. However, there are some key points that I must tell you about, so as to avoid misunderstandings among brothers."

  "I'm a rough man, I've been struggling to survive in this chaotic world with my fellow villagers and elders, I don't have any grand ideas. But today I saw your great talent, sir, and I know that with you around, we can live a few more days, so I want to support you to take the lead. This is what I truly think." Lu Shi felt warmth in his heart again, a brother who had just met him but was already thinking of his well-being at every turn, it was truly rare. But things were not as simple as this straightforward and rough brother imagined, so he hastily said: "Master."

  "Don't address me like that, it's a sign of distrust from you, sir. Please call me by my name."

  Lü Shiyin couldn't help but feel a kind of trust had been placed in him, and he didn't pretend otherwise, saying "To be honest, I don't want you to be the Alliance Leader, it's truly for your own good, brother."

  Zhao Dahai didn't understand and said: "People go to high places, water flows to low places, why can this opportunity be given up?"

  Lü Shixiao smiled and said, "Brother is still a person in the official circle, just thinking about climbing, that's the official circle. This alliance leader is different from the official circle, let me analyze it with you."

  "I'd like to hear more about it." Zhao Dahan and Yu Guotian bowed together to Lü Shixi, asking for his guidance.

  I've caught a cold, with a high fever that won't subside, but don't worry everyone, it's absolutely not SARS haha, because my book isn't finished yet, can't go there to write books, heard that place has no internet, hehehe, come on, everyone collect, click, send flowers, vote, anyway whatever you have give me some, haha.