Chapter 1306 – Burning Huang Song, Unifying Dongqing (Part 48)
“Water breach?”
“Where’s the water breach?!”
Nie Xun’s drowsy mind was suddenly sliced awake by something, and he seized someone at random.
“What place has water breached?!”
The person didn’t recognize Nie Xun’s identity. Carrying a bucket of water to extinguish the fire, he hurriedly replied, “The granary’s breached!”
Nie Xun was momentarily dazed, seeming not to understand the answer.
At that moment, the military doctor in charge of caring for Nie Xun realized he was missing and rushed out to find him.
The doctor hurried over to support Nie Xun, saying, “Military Adviser, where have you been—you’re still recovering from your fever!”
Nie Xun gripped the doctor’s arm tightly, his bloodshot eyes locking onto the doctor as he questioned, “Where’s the water breach?!”
The doctor froze, distressed, and said, “Military Adviser, your health is important, so let it be for now. Several generals have already dispatched people to put out the fire, and it will be controlled soon. Don’t worry; please go rest in the tent first, you can deal with this tomorrow.”
Nie Xun’s voice suddenly turned sharp as he barked, “Where’s the water breach?!”
The doctor, with red-rimmed eyes, replied, “It’s—it’s the granary—”
Hearing this, Nie Xun felt a lump in his throat; the world around him spun, and soon he lost consciousness.
The fire raged until dawn before finally extinguishing, and less than one percent of the grain was salvaged.
The next afternoon, barely hanging on, Nie Xun dragged himself back from the brink of death, slowly waking up, but his spirit was far from before. His face was haggard, and the doctor noticed several strands of white and grey hair on him, making him look significantly older.
“Military Adviser, you’re awake—”
“Military Adviser woke up!”
Nie Xun felt utterly fatigued, too weak to even speak, yet he still mustered the strength to sit up and took a slow glance at the gathered crowd.
“Did you find out how the granary breached last night?”
Due to a lingering high fever, Nie Xun’s voice was dry and hoarse, sounding more like an old man than a man in his prime.
The several generals exchanged glances, none daring to step forward to answer.
Nie Xun didn’t rush them; instead, he surveyed them with a cold gaze.
He changed the question, “Has the fire been controlled?”
A certain Vice General stammered, “It’s been extinguished.”
Nie Xun asked again, “How much grain was saved?”
The Vice General indicated, “Last night, the fire was ferocious, and the wind was strong; combined with the recent dry and muggy weather, the blaze was hard to contain…” Nie Xun silently glared at him, and the Vice General, feeling ashamed and guilty, finally blurted out, “Almost all the grain was burned—nothing’s left!”
After saying this, he was met with disapproving stares from everyone.
What a terrible situation for the Military Adviser, how could he not speak more tactfully? What if he angered him?
Nie Xun didn’t faint; it was as if someone had pulled the backbone from him, leaving his shoulders slumped in despair.
“Nothing left…”
He mumbled it over and over, causing hearts to ache with sorrow.
He had hoped to last until the autumn harvest, to prolong Chenzhou even for a while, yet this inferno had obliterated the limited military supplies.
With a deep sigh, he understood that this fight was futile; Chenzhou had only one option left: surrender.
Nie Xun could stubbornly defend to the end, but could the demoralized soldiers endure hunger and continue to hold Chenzhou?
He reiterated, “Was the cause of the granary breach established?”
Everyone exchanged glances, and finally, one person stepped forward to respond.
“W-we’ve found out—”
Nie Xun asked, “What happened?”
To prevent enemy raids on the granary, Nie Xun had deployed heavy guards for protection, with patrols changing every quarter-hour, and the location of the granary was a closely guarded secret. Why then did the enemy successfully burn down the granary? Was this human error or an act of God?
The Vice General hesitated and after a long while managed to piece together the events. This started with Nie Xun sending troops to capture the heartless rice merchants, using the pretext that “the merchants were selling rotten rice and creating troubles” to arrest many of them and confiscate their stockpiles.
Those who could hoard large quantities of grain for war profit in chaotic times were certainly not small merchants.
Among the captured merchants, one was a wealthy Chenzhou businessman, whose family had been in trade for generations and amassed substantial wealth.
To free his captured kin, the merchant’s brother was willing to exchange twenty thousand stones of grain.
Truly, a wealthy man acts wealthy; he was willing to part with twenty thousand stones, and just when Chenzhou was in dire need of grain, this deal couldn’t be missed.
Nie Xun rubbed his temples, deep in thought, finally recalling related memories.
This was something he had permitted.
Though detestable, the merchants steeply raising grain prices was quite expected; many of them had connections, either benefitting from local gentry or engaged in trade with them. No matter how angry Nie Xun was, he couldn’t eliminate all of them; he could only choose compromise, allowing them to pay a ransom to be released.
Using twenty thousand stones of grain, the merchant’s brother redeemed his brother. However, it was impossible to gather that amount immediately, so they could only deliver it in batches. The first batch was a hefty five thousand stones, and the remaining fifteen thousand would be promised later.
Nie Xun asked, “Five thousand stones of grain? Was it inspected upon entering storage?”
The Vice General replied, “All were carefully checked, every bag is genuine.”
Five thousand stones was a massive quantity, and practically impossible to inspect each bag thoroughly, only the most critical checks could be performed.
The workers handling the grain could also discern the grain’s authenticity by touch.
However, on that very night, the granary caught fire.
The wind aided the fire, making it spread rapidly.
After a night of firefighting, the granary was left with nothing.
By the time the Vice General dispatched troops to apprehend the rice merchants, they had already gathered their families and fled under the night’s cover, making it impossible to capture them.
“Indeed, I’ve lost.” Nie Xun scoffed bitterly.
The Vice General, caught off guard, said, “Military Adviser, we still need to think of a way now!”
Nie Xun laughed wryly, “The grain salvaged is still less than what the entire army needs for even a day or two; what’s the use of even thinking of another way?”
There was no hope and no recourse unless a celestial being could conjure grain out of thin air; otherwise, there was no way to fight.
At this moment, Nie Xun even wished Feng Jin could lead troops to attack, at least to pull a few down with him before death.
Unfortunately, Feng Jin did not fulfill his wish; not only did he not send troops to attack, but he also sent people to set up camp and cook in front of the army.
Feng Jin commented, “Trading five thousand stones for a Chenzhou isn’t a loss at all.”
Meng Hunyun chuckled, “That merchant, in hoping to curry favor with the Lord, doesn’t even want us to compensate that five thousand stones of grain, and even wants to gift us twenty thousand!”
The situation in Dongqing became increasingly clear, and those merchants began to line up for investment, yet their lord was not that easy to curry favor with.
Feng Jin said, “Whether we accept it or not, we must first ask the Lord.”
Merchants pursue profit, and few have the right motives.
In their eyes, only profit and money matter. As Chenzhou teetered on the brink, it was indeed normal for the keen merchants to turn against them.
Feng Jin took advantage of the merchants’ greed to deal a heavy blow to Nie Xun.
Chenzhou is done for!
