Chapter 31: The Crisis of Kaifeng

Since Zhu Cilang had promised immediate settlement and was capable of handling tariffs, official bureaucracy, and security matters, the operating costs for these merchants would naturally be vastly reduced compared to their competitors. Selling to Zhu Cilang at regular market prices still yielded them exorbitant profits.

When Si Qi took over from Zhu Cilang and held an on-site bidding session for the remaining orders, the merchant groups from Linqing immediately scrambled and fought over them tooth and nail.

In fact, some went so far as to frantically offer donations to the massive army simply to win a single military grain contract.

Having witnessed such a bustling and lively scene, Zhu Cilang only lingered for a moment before leaving. Beside him, Chang Zhilang said with concern, "My lord... the goods we've ordered amount to nearly five hundred and seventy thousand taels. Taking in so much—while admittedly a portion is strictly required for military use—what about the rest...?"

"The rest... is precisely our capital to make a fortune!" Zhu Cilang said with a smile, patting Chang Zhilang on the shoulder. "From now on, our Shandong Garrison shall become the wealthiest military town in the entire realm."

Though Chang Zhilang looked hesitant, he ultimately chose to trust the deeply confident Zhu Cilang.

Meanwhile, with the eighteen thousand imperial troops gone from outside Zhuxian Town, Kaifeng was plunged once more into a tight siege, growing increasingly panicked and desperate by the day.

Inside Kaifeng City, high-ranking officials of Henan—who had once marched in grand processions surrounded by thousands of retainers—no longer stood on the ramparts gazing into the distance. For the imperial troops upon whom they had pinned their greatest hopes had collapsed without a fight after a mere three months, even suffering pillage at the hands of their own ally, Zuo Liangyu. Following that... the various armies retreated in disarray, and a major battle had reached its conclusion before it had even begun.

Such an absurdly farcical campaign unfolded right before the eyes of the soldiers and citizens atop and within Kaifeng.

When the news arrived, it felt as though the biting chill of midwinter had descended prematurely, freezing a deep ice around every heart inside the city.

Consequently... the high officials who had previously climbed the ramparts every day to boost morale retreated into their own grand mansions. Only Huang Shu, the Imperial Censor and Prefectural Judge of Kaifeng, remained upon the city walls to observe the enemy's movements and listen to the reconnaissance reports brought back by scouts.

The scouts' reports were brief, and Huang Shu could even see the reality plainly with his own eyes from the ramparts.

"They're harvesting the wheat!"

Hearing the scout finish his report, Li Guangpei, the commander of the Left Garrison militia standing beside Huang Shu, cried out in agitation, "So that's it! These rebel bandits had our Kaifeng City's grain shortage figured out all along! Earlier, when the rebels withdrew, they left behind twenty thousand shi of wheat, thousands of livestock, and countless military supplies. To make up for our deficiencies, our Kaifeng soldiers spent all their time hauling those in, to the point where they abandoned any coordinated action with the imperial forces at Zhuxian Town. If we had known this earlier, we should have coordinated from both inside and out with Zhuxian Town's imperial army to crush the rebel bandits in a pincer attack!"

At this, Li Guangpei clenched his fist fiercely, then murmured under his breath, "If that were the case... perhaps Zuo Liangyu might have had a different plan and wouldn't have just run away like that..."

When Li Zicheng gathered his forces to besiege the various armies at Zhuxian Town, he had left countless military supplies—plundered from all over Henan—behind in the encampments outside Kaifeng.

Because of this, the imperial garrison inside the city had rejoiced, and the moment the battle of Zhuxian Town commenced, they were entirely occupied with hauling away these windfall riches.

"Do not forget the letter Zuo Liangyu had someone shoot across our walls. Since Zuo Liangyu claimed from the start that the rebel army was plotting a surprise attack and ordered our forces not to move, wasn't that simply to make it easier for him to flee?" Huang Shu sneered coldly. "Such so-called court generals care only for private gain. To place any hope in such a man is utterly futile!"

Hearing this, Li Guangpei could only manage a bitter smile.

At the onset of the battle, a dozen elite imperial soldiers had broken through the encirclement on horseback to reach the walls of Kaifeng, shooting an arrow bearing a message into the city. That letter, written in Zuo Liangyu's name, instructed the garrison inside to be wary of rebel ambushes and to avoid rashly sallying forth to engage in reckless combat.

Although later intelligence suggested Zuo Liangyu had no such motive, and Ding Qirui's remnant forces returning to the city reported hearing nothing of the sort—making this so-called arrow-delivered letter advising the garrison against reckless combat likely a rebel trick—nevertheless, now that Zuo Liangyu had abandoned Kaifeng and everyone in it, who would bother trying to explain things to him? They only regretted that they could not devour Zuo Liangyu alive.

With this thought, Li Guangpei said, "Indeed. If faced with that situation again, we would still have no choice but to prioritize the city's dire straits and drag back whatever grain and supplies we could manage..."

"Now the rebel bandits are harvesting the wheat, clearly intending to cut off our provisions. The court is likely incapable of mounting another joint operation like the one at Zhuxian Town..." Huang Shu gazed quietly at the scene before him, a look of deep anxiety instantly surfacing. "The grain and rice within the city will soon be entirely exhausted."

Sticken with worry, Li Guangpei urged, "My lord judge, we must send out troops to seize that wheat!"

"How could I not know of this..." Huang Shu sighed softly. "If we sally forth to seize it, whom can we possibly send? The Left Garrison, the South Garrison, or the North Garrison? Or perhaps you expect me to ask Yang Weicheng?"

The militia organizations of the five districts—East, South, West, North, and Center—were local civilian defense forces. While these men possessed the morale and ability to defend Kaifeng, sending them outside the walls to seize grain was beyond their combat capability, let alone their ideological readiness.

As for Yang Weicheng, he was the deputy commander of Ding Qirui's vanguard camp and one of the few regular military forces remaining in the city. However... since Ding Qirui's army had collapsed at Zhuxian Town, leaving aside how many troops survived, the vanguard camp utterly lacked the courage to venture outside the walls and fight.

As for the Henan troops under Chen Yongfu's command, firstly they did not lack grain, and secondly, once they sallied forth, they would likely draw the full force of the rebel assault, meaning they could not be easily moved.

Hearing Huang Shu speak thus, Li Guangpei gritted his teeth and declared, "We cannot simply stand by and watch them harvest all the wheat!"

"Correct," Huang Shu nodded. He turned to look at Li Guangpei and said, "Therefore, I shall personally recruit brave men from the city to follow me outside and harvest the wheat. With me taking the lead, it should at least inspire a measure of morale."

"My lord, this is far too dangerous... Let me go instead!" Li Guangpei blurted out anxiously.

Huang Shu shook his head, gently placing a hand on Li Guangpei's shoulder. He spoke in a soft voice, "Hold Kaifeng well. If anything happens to me, take care of my wife and children..."

With those words, Huang Shu stood atop the watchtower, cast one last backward glance at Kaifeng—its countless houses, pavilions, and storied buildings veiled in mist—and then strode resolutely down from the ramparts.

Inside Kaifeng City, at the Henan Governor's Mansion.

Gao Mingheng waved his hand, dismissing the personal retainer who had come to deliver the message.

Having successfully preserved Kaifeng through the city's first two sieges, Gao Mingheng felt a profound and unprecedented sense of exhaustion.

After countless agonizing pleas made jointly with the Prince of Zhou, Ding Qirui had finally taken the field. Yet unexpectedly, Ding Qirui's clamor for battle had only resulted in Zuo Liangyu running away.

Regardless of whether Zuo Liangyu's retreat was due to Hou Xun, or how wretched and humiliated Zuo Liangyu himself might have felt, the fact remained: a major campaign that would forever earn infamy in the annals of history had failed in such a muddled fashion. It was a defeat without reason, leaving not a shred of further hope.

From this point onward, any hope of lifting the siege of Kaifeng was dashed.

Aside from gaining a few thousand more mouths who did nothing but consume food and cause trouble, the city had achieved zero progress. And what was even more terrifying...

The hearts of the people within the city were gradually beginning to waver. (To be continued.)