Damn it, I'm in the garbage book I wrote

Chapter 526 What kind of tactic is this?

Li Yuan disguised himself as a passing merchant and went to Hongnong. Along the way, Li Yuan was a little nervous, as he was worried that the battle report was false or that something else might have happened.

However, when he was on the road, he felt a little relieved because there were many people traveling together, coming and going, and it seemed that some were going to purchase goods while others were going to ship goods.

Li Yuan had fought in wars all his life, but this was the first time he had seen a battlefield like this. The atmosphere was even more intense than that of Chang'an City before the New Year.

After several days of trekking, they finally arrived at the wilderness of Hongnong. Not far from the road was the sentry town under construction, and many military tents were set up next to it.

"My Tang Dynasty army looks pretty good."

Li Yuan sat in the carriage and sighed: "Not bad, not bad."

Just after he finished speaking, he looked up and saw a clear "Wei" character hanging on the flag of the military camp. Li Yuan's pretty face turned cold and he lowered the curtain with displeasure.

"Your Majesty, what's the matter?"

"How can this be the Wei army?" Li Yuan pointed at the military camp outside: "Where is our army!?"

This question confused Du Ruhui. He quickly drew aside the curtain and took a look - hey, it really was the Wei army.

"Stop the car!"

Du Ruhui hurriedly stopped the carriage, then bowed to Li Yuan and said, "Your Majesty, I will go down and ask for the truth. If the evidence is conclusive, I will punish him severely!"

"Ah."

With Li Yuan's permission, Du Ruhui got out of the car tremblingly. He stood on the side of the road, looked around, and finally walked up to the soldier who was on guard.

Du Ruhui, who was in his thirties or forties and had an elegant face, walked up to him, clasped his fists, and asked cheerfully, "General, may I ask, where is the Tang army?"

"Why are you asking about the Tang army?" The sentry looked Du Ruhui up and down and said, "This is a military secret, not just anyone can find out about it."

"It's like this, General." Du Ruhui quietly took out a silver ingot: "The general of the Tang army bought some goods from us a few days ago. Shouldn't they be delivered before the New Year? It's only a few days away. I hope General can help me."

Seeing that there was no one around, the soldier collected the silver and pointed to the north: "Over there."

"Thank you, Master Jun!"

Du Ruhui quickly returned to the carriage and replied to Li Yuan: "Your Majesty, my Tang army is in the north."

"Let's go over and have a look."

The convoy started again and headed in the direction the soldier had pointed. Halfway through the journey, Du Ruhui suddenly slapped his thigh and said, "This is not right. The Wei army said the movements of our Tang army are confidential. How can we justify this?"

Li Yuan turned his head and asked: "What?"

"Your Majesty, I think this matter is a little strange..."

"What else do you need to think? The army that was supposed to defend is missing, and the army that was supposed to attack is guarding the pass. How can this be strange? Isn't this outrageous!?"

Du Ruhui's face looked very unhappy, but he didn't say anything. He just lowered his head and listened to the rumbling sound of the wheels until the convoy stopped outside the military camp with the word Tang written on its surface.

But when I looked over, there was no one in the barracks, only two sleepy sentinels standing there dozing off. However, there was smoke rising from the big stove in the back, and the aroma was fragrant. I raised my nose and smelled it, it was the aroma of meat...

The smell of meat shocked Li Yuan. Although the Tang army did not have delicious rations, the northwest was not as prosperous as the south after all, and it was impossible for them to eat meat in a regular meal.

You know what, the smell of the meat is so delicious that it can make people hungry even from such a distance.

"Go down and ask where Kang Desheng has died!"

Du Ruhui did not dare to provoke Li Yuan at this moment, and quickly got off the car and came to the sentry, with a stiff smile on his face, and asked: "Two generals, we are merchants from Chang'an. We have an appointment with General Kang Desheng to meet today. I wonder where General Kang is now?"

After hearing what he said, the two sentinels looked at Du Ruhui and thought that he was just a scholar and not a threat, so they pointed and said, "It's in the mountains. Just go along the mountain."

"Thank you, Master."

When the news was passed to Li Yuan, Li Yuan became curious, so he got out of the car, took a few guards with him, and said to Du Ruhui: "Okay, I'll go with you to see what Kang Desheng is up to!"

The group went up the mountain, and along the way they saw many donkeys and war horses being used as pack animals, pulling cartloads of ore, stone and wood down the mountain road.

When they arrived at the valley, they found that his tens of thousands of troops were all huddled in the valley, some were cutting wood, some were mining, and some were quarrying. They didn't see any people from Kang Desheng. They just saw many soldiers sitting there eating and resting, and there was a steady supply of military food being delivered up the mountain from the rear.

Li Yuan walked down, he was very impressive, the soldiers saw him walking leisurely and thought he was a high-ranking official, no one came forward to ask. Li Yuan walked to the rice place, picked up the spoon and looked around, he found not only hot steamed white noodles, but also pots of vegetables and meat, big fat meat stewed with soybeans, shiny and moist, even he couldn't help swallowing.

"Um……"

Li Yuan took a pottery bowl next to him and said to the soldier who was serving the rice, "Come, pour me a bowl."

Du Ruhui was stunned when he saw it, and hurriedly whispered to dissuade him: "Your Majesty..."

"It doesn't matter. I also came out of a sea of ​​fire and a mountain of swords."

The soldier didn't say anything, but silently gave Li Yuan a copy, then turned his head to look at Du Ruhui. Du Ruhui glanced at Li Yuan and said, "Then... then please give me one too."

Afterwards, the two of them and several guards all ate the military meal. The white flour was soft and the stewed meat was fragrant. Li Yuan, who had not eaten well for several days on the journey, actually had a great appetite and ate six steamed buns before stopping.

At this moment, someone had already gone to inform Kang Desheng that there were a few strange people eating and drinking in the military camp, and he didn't know whether they should be driven away.

"Strange people? Eating and drinking a lot?"

Kang Desheng scratched his head with a bewildered look on his face: "Your military discipline is really good, you let everyone in."

"General, we don't know where those people came from. They are all very impressive, and we dare not stop them."

When Kang Desheng heard this, he slapped his thigh and said, "It's over, I'm afraid it's the Imperial Censor!"

He held up his military cap and hurried to the place where the food was placed. Li Yuan was sitting there digesting his food, and he said to Du Ruhui beside him: "He is so good. Others fought in the wind and snow, but he fought with me and ate delicious food. You know what, the stewed meat is really good. When I was leading the army, even the generals could not eat this, but he is so good that everyone can eat it."

At this moment, Kang Desheng finally ran over. Although he saw Li Yuan and his party from a distance, he could not see them clearly. When they were about ten feet away, Kang Desheng took a closer look. His legs went weak and he fell to his knees with a thud.

He crawled the remaining ten feet all the way to Li Yuan.

"Uncle... Your Majesty... Your Majesty, why are you here?"

Li Yuan looked at him coldly for a while, then kicked him on the shoulder, causing Kang Desheng to flip over. Kang Desheng did not dare to move, as he knew he was probably fine, because if he did not take action, he was the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, but if he did, he would be his own uncle.

"Go ahead and tell me the truth."

Kang Desheng got up immediately and said in a very flattering manner: "Uncle, please come to the big tent... It's too cold here. Uncle is too delicate and can't stand the cold wind."

Li Yuan stood up, threw his sleeves, and snorted coldly: "Lead the way!"

After entering Kang Desheng's house, Li Yuan looked around and said, "Wow, what a great guy. Your house is almost as big as my palace."

Kang Desheng knelt down again: "Your Majesty, these are all gifts to be presented to Your Majesty in due time..."

He broke out in a cold sweat as he said this, after all, many of the things here were bought from merchants, and some were even given as gifts by merchants from the south. If Li Yuan knew about this, he would still be able to hang his dog head around his neck, as it would mean that his ancestors for eighteen generations had used up all their connections.

Li Yuan was too lazy to argue, he just sat on the big bear chair and adjusted his posture: "Hey, it's really comfortable. Oh, it's warm. Is there a fire underneath?"

He bent down and took a look. Sure enough, there was a brazier underneath: "Okay, okay, Kang Desheng, you know the difference between cold and warm."

Kang Desheng was completely numb at this moment. He had never expected that Li Yuan would come in person. He could fool anyone who came, but he could not fool the emperor himself...

"Tell me, I asked you to fight, why did it turn out like this? If you can tell me what I want, I will spare your life."

Kang Desheng was lying there shivering, but after hearing Li Yuan's words, he suddenly became energetic and even knelt down there.

"Uncle, didn't you ask me to do this? Others may not know me, but you know me. You brought me up, and you know me better than my father. Am I good at fighting? I have been doing trading since I entered the military camp. When there was a severe drought in Chang'an, I even sold my house to supplement the food for my soldiers. Uncle, I am not seeking credit. I was the one who fed 30,000 out of 100,000 soldiers in Chang'an that year. I can only do odd things. You sent me here. If I am defeated, won't I have to die?"

"Bullshit! When will I kill the general who lost the battle!?"

"But what if I'm wiped out?"

Li Yuan paused for a moment and said, "Oh, that means you must die... No, you were annihilated before you even started fighting?"

"Of course, uncle... The last time I read a military book was when I was seventeen. I fell asleep after reading eight words. Now my youngest son is seventeen..."

It was so intimidating that Li Yuan even laughed out loud.

"Uncle, I'm a fire general... You let me, a fire general, out to fight, isn't it because you don't want to fight this war? I asked the general on the other side, he's a pig feeder... I thought, isn't it because he doesn't want to fight either? Since both sides are just trying to give an explanation to their superiors, wouldn't it be best to do business? Those soldiers are also human beings, they have lives to live, since they don't want to fight this war, why not let them get some money back, it's better than asking us to get back their pensions."

(End of this chapter)