The Song Dynasty on the Sand Table

Chapter 432 Obsessed
With food in hand, Yang Tian felt relieved and waited patiently by the Swallow River for a full seven days!
Finally, Yue Wenxuan, Gong Erniangzi, and an old friend of his, Yang Xiao, arrived.

This wasn't Yue Wenxuan deliberately dragging things out and making things difficult for him; it was simply that Shouzhou was too vast. The straight-line distance from Yanzihe Huibao, the southernmost point of Shouzhou, to Shouchun City was three hundred li, and with the winding mountain roads, it was even farther.

After receiving the news, Yue Wenxuan called Gong Erniangzi and Yang Xiao to set off together and rushed over as quickly as possible, which still took seven days.

This man named Yang Xiao was the one who went to the Northern Song Dynasty to persuade the Northern Song to join forces with the puppet state of Chu to deal with the Southern Song and then divide the Southern Song. He failed to persuade the Northern Song, but was persuaded by Yue Wenxuan instead. After returning, he secretly drew up blueprints of carts and boats and sent them to Yue Wenxuan. However, Yue Wenxuan did not use his blueprints at all and disdained to build "paddlewheel boats". Instead, he continued to use centipede boats.

Yang Xiao didn't understand at first, but it wasn't until a few months ago, when he heard the news of Yue Fei's great victory over Yang Yao, that he finally understood.

Yue Fei scattered many floating aquatic plants on the surface of Huting Lake. When Yang Yao's cart and boat passed by, the wooden wheels got caught in the aquatic plants, got stuck, lost power, and floated on the water, unable to move. They were then used as live targets by Yue Fei's navy and were beaten to a pulp.

Yang Xiao then understood why Yue Wenxuan didn't use vehicles or boats. These things looked powerful, but they were actually full of flaws, and a clever opponent could easily cripple you.

Of course, he had no idea that paddle steamers would flourish again centuries later.

Because the paddle wheels at that time were made of cast iron, and the steam engine provided super strong power, destructive things such as seaweed and fishing nets could be easily torn apart by the steam paddle wheels and could no longer be easily jammed. At that time, paddle wheels could dominate everywhere. By the way, the premise was that they had to be used at sea. Using them on inland waterways was still not safe.

In short, Yang Xiao used the blueprints of vehicles and ships as a "pledge of allegiance" to join the Northern Song Dynasty. After that, he managed to get a minor local official position. Now, he was beaming with pride. As soon as he saw Yang Tian, ​​he bowed deeply and said, "Brother Yang Tian, ​​you've finally come. I've been waiting for you for so long."

It turns out that Yang Xiao was once Yang Tian's subordinate.

Yang Tian was quite pleased to see that he was alive and well. He quickly reached out to help him up, then turned to look at Yue Wenxuan and Gong Er Niangzi who were walking over with smiles. He immediately guessed their identities: "You two, could you be Young Master Yue, the Privy Councilor?"

Yue Wenxuan laughed: "Master Yang Dingtian, it's an honor to meet you. What level of the Great Shift of the Universe have you reached?"

Yang Tian: "?"

Yue Wenxuan: "Ah, it's nothing, I was just telling a joke, don't worry about it."

Gong Erniangzi was much more serious. As the official Privy Councilor of the Northern Song Dynasty, she could not greet guests with a frivolous smile, otherwise it would be a loss of face for the country. She clasped her hands in greeting and said, "General Yang, greetings. I am Gong Yi, and I currently serve as the Privy Councilor of the Northern Song Dynasty."

Yang Tian quickly bowed, skipping a hundred million words of polite conversation between the two, and went straight to the point.

Yang Tian: "I have a total of 32320 brothers here, of which 10,000 are soldiers capable of fighting, and about 20,000 are the elderly, weak, women and children. We want to join the Northern Song Dynasty. Young and strong men can join the army to fight. I wonder if your country can accept us?"

His group had a rather high proportion of elderly, weak, women, and children. In typical large-scale bandit groups, able-bodied men usually make up about half the force, as the mortality rate for the elderly, weak, women, and children is very high. However, in his group, the elderly, weak, women, and children make up more than two-thirds, which shows that he had protected them very well along the way. He must have also taken good care of the families of his fallen comrades to form such a group structure.

Small things reveal big truths, and details reveal a person's true character. Yue Wenxuan, however, held him in higher regard.

“No problem!” Yue Wenxuan agreed without hesitation: “I can leave all your people here. I will provide them with a safe place to live and make sure they don’t go hungry or cold.”

Yang Tian was overjoyed: "If that's the case, it's no different from having a living Buddha again. As long as the Northern Song Dynasty can protect these old, weak, women and children, we young and strong men are willing to fight to the death for the Northern Song Dynasty."

As soon as he uttered these words, the followers behind him immediately roared in unison: "Burn my broken body, blazing fire. What joy is there in life, what sorrow in death? For the sake of good and the elimination of evil, only for the sake of light. Joy and sorrow, all return to dust. Pity us, the people of this world, for we have so many worries."

This is a Manichaean battle song!

Once they shouted this, none of them were afraid of death; they were incredibly ferocious. Back then, countless generals in the Southern Song Dynasty were driven crazy by their shouts of "All troops, launch a surprise attack!"

They shout this at this time, which means, "I give you my life, you take good care of my family."

Yue Wenxuan didn't interrupt them. After they finished shouting aggressively, he slowly said, "Who said I wanted you to go to the battlefield? You haven't undergone real military training, so I won't send you to the battlefield. Even if you want to risk your lives, I won't allow it! Who taught you that you should use your strength to fight? You can use your strength to farm or blacksmithing, why do you have to use it to risk your lives on the battlefield? Only those who truly love fighting will be allowed to go to the battlefield after training! Anyone who wants to work, go back to farming."

Manichaean followers: "..."

This is the first time I've encountered a boss like this. You don't want the able-bodied soldiers you have?
In these chaotic times, who wouldn't want more soldiers? But this guy actually wants more farmers and more artisans, which is just absurd.

A group of people stared at him blankly.

Yue Wenxuan laughed and said, "It's hard to explain this to you now. Let's go! I'll take you to Shouchun first."

Yang Tian sternly instructed his subordinates to behave themselves during the march and not to harass the local people. Only then did he follow Yue Wenxuan and Gong Erniangzi, slowly advancing towards Shouchun. Yang Xiao also stayed with Yang Tian the whole time, quietly explaining anything he didn't understand along the way to prevent him from making a fool of himself.

After passing through Gray Castle, we continued forward... and saw several more Gray Castles along the way.

Yang Xiao then quietly explained to Yang Tian, ​​"These gray forts are for defense. Every border of the Northern Song Dynasty has a large number of gray forts. The gray forts are not far apart and are densely packed. They are used to prevent the Jin cavalry from infiltrating and harassing, ensuring that the rear is safe while the front line is fighting. The Northern Song Dynasty implements a steady and cautious strategy. After occupying a city or territory, it must manage it well and defend it tightly, not giving anyone an opportunity to take advantage, before it can continue to expand. In Young Master Yue's words, this is called mastering internal strength in order to use external strength effectively."

Yang Tian agreed wholeheartedly: "That's right. If one's internal strength is insufficient, forcibly practicing external skills can easily lead to qi deviation and demonic possession."

At this point, he sighed: "The reason why our Chu Kingdom was destroyed was also due to going astray in its cultivation. Alas!"

(End of this chapter)