vrcanaries Chapter 157: Passing Luoshang Pass
Chapter 157: Passing Luoshang Pass
Zhan Haoyue bowed to Sha Haoqian and said, "General, you also know that my general must pass Luoshang Pass."
There were some warnings and threats hidden in Zhan Haoyue's words. The general idea was to tell Sha Haoqian that if they could not reach an agreement through negotiations, then they would have to go to war.
Sha Haoqian's heart sank slightly, but he smiled and said, "Give me another day."
Zhan Haoyue agreed to leave, and Sha Haoqian turned around and urgently summoned his generals. This time, his attitude was much tougher and he was ready to agree. Zhou Cang made several judgments and believed that if we get angry with Qiao Wu’s army again and send troops to attack directly, it would be even more dangerous.
The soldiers under Sha Haoqian were still dissatisfied, but this time Sha Haoqian did not indulge them. He even went to talk to them in person and finally convinced them.
When the three-day deadline arrived, Zong Yanli led his troops to the scene. Sha Haoqian personally opened the gate and rode out on horseback.
This was the first time that Sha Haoqian met Zong Yanli face to face. Zong Yanli, who was sitting upright on his warhorse, made people feel extremely oppressive for no reason.
"We have seen the sincerity of General Zong Yan." Sha Haoqian raised his hand and bowed to Zong Yanli, saying, "But this treaty should be signed."
Although everyone felt that it was just empty talk and that the Wu army might not acknowledge it after entering the pass, Sha Haoqian still insisted on having Zong Yanli sign it, and some details were added to the treaty, which roughly meant that the Wu army could only pass through the pass after entering the pass and could not harm anyone in the city.
Although Sha Haoqian accepted the surrender and opened the gate, he retained his original intention and would never join the Wu Army. He still wanted to stay in Luoshang Pass.
After listening to Sha Haoqian's request, Zong Yanli carefully read the two copies of the terms and conditions. Finally, he took out the letter seal and stamped it, then pressed his thumb. After each of them left their seals, they exchanged the terms and put them away.
Zong Yanli raised his hand slightly, and another car was pulled out from the army formation.
"General Sha is so trustworthy. This is a small token of my appreciation." Zong Yanli raised his hand, and the cover on the cart was immediately opened. It turned out to be a cart full of iron tools. Although some of them were damaged, they could be completely recast. These were the most precious things.
"This..." Sha Haoqian looked at the cart full of iron tools and couldn't help but widen his eyes, feeling extremely excited. The slight resentment he had originally felt disappeared because of Zong Yanli's action!
"General Zong Yan is so ambitious! Please come in!" How could Sha Haoqian stop him? He smiled and made way for him. He raised his hand and asked someone to completely pull up the gate to welcome the Wu army into the pass.
The generals of the Wu army followed Zong Yanli in. They remained vigilant before the army dispersed, guarding against any unusual movements by the enemy.
Zong Yanli had no plan to stay in Guanzhong for long. It seemed that he was just passing through. When the mighty Wu army entered the pass, the people in Guanzhong heard the news and hid themselves. Every household closed their doors, and only occasionally some brave ones would lean over the crack of the door to take a look outside.
I saw such an elite army of the Wu army entering the city and heard the harsh sound of their iron hooves trampling on the streets.
Sha Haoqian swallowed his saliva and stood on the city wall to watch the Wu army leave. From beginning to end, he could not even exchange more than two sentences with Zong Yanli. He only caught a glimpse of her dark and cold eyes and did not even see her appearance.
I could only picture a ferocious face in my mind, as if only this was worthy of the name Zong Yanli.
The Wu army really kept their word. They passed through the checkpoints and entered the city without even any intention of stopping. Some people saw that some Wu soldiers encountered chicken and duck cages blocking the street, and they even helped them stack and hang them up. They did not damage a single item, let alone rob or snatch anything.
Even the jujube trees by the roadside, which were full of dates, were not picked at all.
Sha Haoqian was filled with awe when he saw this. He seemed to suddenly understand why the Wu State was able to rise so rapidly.
Why are so many brave generals and counselors willing to follow such a young commander?
He thought thankfully that he had not insisted on his own opinion and fought with it, otherwise how could Luoshang Pass be so stable?
"The Qing Kingdom was defeated by this man, and we have nothing to say." Zhou Cang's mood was extremely complicated. He stared at the orderly Wu army leaving and sighed deeply.
"General, if one day the Qing Kingdom is completely destroyed..." Zhou Cang turned his head and looked at Sha Haoqian and said, "General, you might as well follow this man and try your best to have a future of fame and fortune."
Sha Haoqian was silent for a moment, frowning slightly, not knowing what he was thinking.
Over there, Zong Yanli led his troops out of Luoshang Pass and completely entered the heartland of Qing State. This time, they were able to pass the pass with such a small amount of food and military supplies without losing a single soldier. For Zong Yanli, it was a huge joy.
In fact, Zong Yanli had originally prepared twelve carts of food and fodder, five carts of cotton and cloth, and some ironware.
As a result, Zhan Haoyue was so bold that he went there with only two carts of food. When he failed the first time, he went again. In total, he only brought five carts of food.
"Mr. Wujiu has really made a great contribution this time." Zong Yanli praised Zhan Haoyue.
"I don't deserve it." Zhan Haoyue smiled modestly and said, "It's all thanks to the general's good cooperation."
"Although our army has given up some food and grass this time, it is still acceptable." Zong Yanli turned his head and looked at everyone and said, "However, in order to ensure that there will be no shortage of food and grass in the future, we need to replenish it as soon as possible."
Zong Yanli originally wanted to sneak in and harvest the new wheat, just like when he was at war with the Kingdom of Qing.
They sent out scouts to explore where the grain was grown in the Kingdom of Qing, or to take a walk to see the movements of the enemy to see if they could intercept their food supplies. However, when they walked about twenty miles out of Luoshang Pass, they were shocked by what they saw.
The increasingly desolate land came into view, and Zong Yanli even wondered if his route was wrong.
Now that we have entered the heart of Qing State, why is the scene so desolate?
"General!" A voice came from the front. Zong Yanli rode his horse closer and saw Monk and others who served as the vanguard gathered on the side of the road. There was a skinny corpse lying on the side of the road. The corpse looked like it was almost dried up by the wind, and its eye sockets were sunken and it was open-eyed.
"He died of starvation." Jie Hu said in a low voice beside him. When everyone heard this, they were shocked and their faces were filled with shock.
"There are more ahead!? These..." They are all ordinary people of Qing Kingdom.
"The fields are full of starving people, and all the grass and trees have been eaten clean." Zong Yanli stopped here and looked around. He found three or five corpses from various places. Without exception, they all died of starvation. He even dug a piece of dry grass out of one person's mouth.
Although they knew that the situation in Qing was precarious, they never expected it to have come to this.
There was a gloom in Zong Yanli's eyes as he walked forward again. Passing by a village, the scene in the village moved all the Wu army. The things that poured out from some earthenware jars overturned by the horses' hooves made everyone change their expressions.