Xie Ming

Because of the matter of the Yangzhou military leader's monopoly on selling land and family property, Ma Weimin rushed into the Yan family's house late at night.

Yan Yingyuan was embarrassed that his attempt to open up to Yan Yingyuan was thwarted. Seeing that there was nothing else to do, he simply buried his head in the kettle, adding firewood and starting a fire.

Judging from the way they're doing it, they're probably going to boil water and make tea to ease the awkwardness of the situation.

"Uh, oh well, let's just forget about it."

"Hey bro, stop wasting your time."

"Old Ma is bothering you in the middle of the night, and he came here because it's urgent."

"Come here, let's discuss this quickly."

"If we have to wait until tomorrow, and we miss the deadline, all our efforts will be in vain."

Seeing the situation, Ma Weimin quickly reached out and agreed, and immediately broke out in a cold sweat.

"Oh, no, it's alright."

"I'll heat up some water. Since you're here, you should at least have a cup of tea."

"It's alright, you go ahead and talk, I'm listening."

Yan Yingyuan stubbornly refused to do Old Ma any favors.

Upon hearing this, Ma Weimin frowned, shifted his position on the bamboo stool (which was uncomfortable to sit on), and sighed deeply. "Since that's the case," he said, "I have no choice but to get down to business."

"Okay, fine, whatever."

"Today I fucking went to a brothel, uh..."

The first sentence, if it slips out, will invite trouble.

Clearly, upon hearing this, Yan Yingyuan paused in adding firewood, glancing sideways towards the window.

Old Ma realized it was inappropriate, but once the matter started, there was no turning back.

In order to get to the point, he simply didn't care about anything else.

"Uh, well, hi!"

"I'll just say it straight."

“Yunxianglou, Old Ma has always had a lover named Qiaoyun.”

"This girl, I don't visit her often, but she does have some connections with some of the military leaders in Liu Zeqing's Yangzhou headquarters."

"You wouldn't know much about such shady and romantic affairs."

"To tell you the truth, I was just putting on an act."

"It's all so that we can glean some information from the inside." Old Ma tried to make amends, attempting to find a way to cover it up.

"So, when I went over tonight, I found out the answer."

"Damn it, do you remember Tian Guofu from the Yangzhou camp?"

"I heard Qiaoyun talking about it. That old bastard was secretly going around trying to sell off his land and shops in Yangzhou yesterday."

"And he's not the only one."

"Several military leaders and generals in Yangzhou's territory are involved."

"When I heard that, something just didn't feel right."

"Brother, what do you think of this news?"

Ma Weimin briefly described the brothel news in a similar manner.

Upon hearing this, he looked around anxiously, eager to see Yan Yingyuan's reaction.

Unexpectedly, Yan Liheng was surprisingly calm and composed.

He bent down and squatted beside the fire, only slightly stiffening his hands after smelling it, before continuing to add firewood.

"Selling off local assets, looks like they're preparing to flee!"

"A month ago, Jinan was in dire straits, the peace talks between the North and South were rendered meaningless, and the Tartar troops marched south."

"I knew this day would come."

"I just didn't expect the north to be defeated so quickly."

Yan Yingyuan calmly sighed, and this is what he said.

After hearing this, Ma Weimin pressed his advantage.

"Hey, who can argue with that?"

"I fought against those Jurchen barbarians when I was young."

"His fierceness and bravery go without saying."

"It's a pity that the three towns in Huaibei, when deployed into Shandong, also have tens of thousands of troops."

"Even if there were 100,000 pigs, stretching out their necks and begging to be chopped, it would take at least three months to chop them all off."

"Ugh"

"Huang Degong of Jinan, the troops of Chuzhou cannot hold out."

"Don't think about it."

"The reason they were defeated so quickly must be that those two idiots, Liu Liangzuo and Liu Zeqing, must have surrendered to the enemy."

"Yan, Brother Yan"

As he spoke, Ma Weimin slapped his thigh in frustration, then, with a look of resentment, simply lifted his buttocks and squatted down next to Yan Yingyuan.

“Brother, we’re completely clueless about this place. All our guesses and wild guesses are unreliable.” “Now that there’s a sign of something, we should act as soon as possible and come up with some countermeasures.”

"Sitting idly by and waiting for death will never lead to anything!" Ma Weimin's sentiment was indeed heartfelt.

Upon hearing this, Yan Yingyuan loosened his grip on the firewood, threw it away, and sighed deeply.

After a short while, he sighed.

"Alas, one who eats the king's food must serve the king faithfully."

“In Yangzhou, a city with a population of over 100,000, I, Yan Yingyuan, hold a government position that is like my parents.”

"Protecting the city and its people is always our duty."

"Now that the Huai Army stationed in the north is unreliable, we have no choice but to do it ourselves."

"Old horse?"

"How many troops do you think the Yangzhou camp has to defend its integrity?"

"In my opinion, tomorrow morning, you should go and try to win the support of the old warlords in Yangzhou."

"I then ordered the four passes to be guarded and closed, and prepared to mobilize the people to fortify the city and prepare for war."

What do you think?!

He made a striking first move; despite his stubborn and upright nature, Yan Yingyuan was quite shrewd.

He had long considered this matter, and the news that Old Ma just mentioned was exactly what was going on. He had anticipated what Ma Weimin intended to do.

However, as the saying goes, those who walk different paths cannot make plans together.

In order to achieve his goal, Yan Yingyuan had no choice but to devise a plan.

Upon hearing such a sharp retort, Old Ma was momentarily speechless, stammering for a long time before finally managing to utter the rest of his words.

"No, you, ha!" Ma Weimin chuckled, pointing a finger at Yan, inviting trouble for himself.

"You, you, you!"

"Hey bro, are you still half asleep? Or have you had too much to drink?"

"Don't you know what kind of place Yangzhou is?"

"You still want to defend the city?"

"Shandong and the Jianghuai region, with tens of thousands of troops, couldn't stop the Tartar army from advancing south. And you think you can stop them?"

"Ha, you, you, a scholar, huh?!"

"In this case, death is a small matter, but losing one's integrity is a great one, isn't it?"

"Brother, listen to my advice: once you're dead, you have nothing left."

As he spoke, Old Ma leaned closer again and lowered his voice to continue.

"Forget about Yangzhou, the entire Jianghuai region, and Nanjing, in my opinion, this time, it's all in jeopardy!"

"Don't be so naive and honest with this guy."

"You have to listen to me. That's all. You'll see in half a month, hmph."

"The Nanjing lottery is probably in complete chaos by now."

"Huang Degong of Chuzhou couldn't hold out against Jinan."

"The north is already beyond repair, there's no hope of recovery."

"You, you said you still... still want to grit your teeth and earn a reputation for loyalty."

"Oh dear, silly little brother."

"This time, I'm afraid more people will die."

"You know, when your descendants burn paper money at your grave, it won't even reach you, a mere fourth-rank official."

Why bother!

"You have to trust me, Old Ma, and listen to your brother's advice."

"Given the current situation, even if you were the King of Heaven himself, you couldn't hold Yangzhou."

"Once the city has fallen, there is no way to reverse it."

"As the local official in charge, I cannot simply wait to die."

"Things have come to this, so be it!"

"As for this outcome, I wasn't entirely unprepared."

"Hehe, we were prepared for this a long time ago."

“Outside Hedong City, on the river, I have prepared more than a dozen large ships, which I can mobilize and use at any time.”

"Yangzhou is a land of wealth and riches, a mine of gold and silver."

"At this point, whether you try to mobilize the masses or win over the Yangzhou camp, it will be difficult to succeed."

"If things go wrong, there's a possibility of an early mutiny and things going wrong."

"What we can do right now, and what's most important, is, in my opinion, only one way."

"That means moving away as soon as possible all the gold and silver piled up like small mountains from the homes of wealthy merchants and gentry in Yangzhou."

"Persuade them to load the goods onto ships and transport them by sea to the rear."

(End of this chapter)