The most arrogant in history

Chapter 115 Conspiracy!

Ye Kun beat the drum on the top of the city wall to cheer, and sent out two teams of one hundred men to attack from the left and right sides to cooperate with Shangguan Jifu.

When the third son learned that his eldest brother was captured and his second brother was killed, he lost all fighting spirit and collapsed at the first blow, leading his cavalry to flee eastward.

He had no choice but to flee, as the city had already fallen into Shangguan Jifu's hands, and his one thousand soldiers had no chance of taking it back.

Shangguan Jifu sent out a group of pursuers to chase after the third brother;

He personally led the team to the riverside to recapture the navy.

It wasn't until the evening that everything was finally done.

The naval and land cavalry of Tianmen County were all controlled by Shangguan Jifu, who replaced them with his trusted men to lead the team.

The third brother ran away and we couldn’t catch him!

The old county magistrate's body was still lying at home. Shangguan Jifu paid a simple tribute and then hid in the back hall, where he held a banquet to celebrate with Ye Kun.

Ye Kun asked: "What are you going to do with your eldest brother, second brother, and third brother's people?"

Hundreds of subordinates of the three young masters were captured and detained in the prince's mansion.

"Those die-hard confidants must naturally be killed to prevent them from counterattacking us."

Shangguan Jifu was very calm, and raised his glass: "I will keep all those beautiful women, you can choose them, brother Dalang. Shangguan Boyan's daughter Feiyan is already an adult, about sixteen or seventeen years old, and quite pretty. There are also second and third daughters, they will grow up if we raise them."

What a beast! He even gave away his niece!

Ye Kun frowned: "Isn't that your niece?"

"No." Shangguan Jifu shook his head and sneered:

"When I was a child, the three brothers Shangguan Boyan often called me a bastard and a slave in private, and never treated me as a brother. Shangguan Feiyan was the same, and never called me fourth uncle."

Ye Kun nodded and said to Wang Da Kui beside him:

"Da Kui, I promised you that after we conquer Tianmen County, you can choose any beauty you want. Go and take a look, and bring back the ones that are suitable."

Wang Da Kui shook his head: "I don't dare to marry the daughter of my enemy."

Ye Kun thought about it, and suddenly came up with a bad idea. He whispered to Shangguan Jifu:

"Give those women to the former subordinates of the Shangguan brothers... For example, give Shangguan Feiyan to Wenqi. After that, Wenqi will sleep with Shangguan Feiyan and will never dare to betray us and collude with the third brother again."

Shangguan Jifu was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter:

"Brother Dalang, this move of yours is quite vicious. This way, I don't have to kill so many people."

This move is indeed vicious and an open conspiracy.

The wives of the three brothers Shangguan Boyan were given to their former subordinates.

These subordinates took their former master's women, and all their loyalty to him was gone. Even if their former master was resurrected, they would not be able to follow him anymore!

Ye Kun sighed: "Mr. County Magistrate, what I mean is to kill as few people as possible. In this chaotic world, people have power. They can restore production and make money to support the army."

"I'll listen to you. But don't call me sir. If I weren't for your help, I, a worthless sir, would be dead without a burial place now."

Shangguan Jifu shook his head and smiled, then asked, "What should we do next? I want to hear Dalang's opinion."

"Recruit soldiers and strengthen the military. Make peace with the neighboring lords and wait for the right time. Then open up trade routes and make money. Once you have money, continue to recruit soldiers and continue the cycle endlessly."

"I agree with this, but you missed one point, which is to restore production and encourage farming and mulberry and hemp."

"I didn't let it slip."

Ye Kun smiled and said, "If farming can make you rich, farmers should be the richest people now. If we rely on farming to make money, we will be exhausted to death."

In fact, Ye Kun also struggled and wanted to develop agriculture.

But after repeated consideration, this is not feasible at present. If our armed forces are not strong enough, no matter how well our agriculture develops, others will still take advantage of us!

Therefore, we must first develop our armed forces and then use force to protect our territory before we can talk about development.

"Don't you want to farm?" Shangguan Jifu frowned.

"If the fields can be planted, continue to plant them. But we must ensure that we can harvest the crops after they mature. If we cannot guarantee that we can harvest them, then we will give them to others to plant and provide them with military rations. Therefore, if the area is not absolutely safe, we should ignore it and waste energy, manpower and material resources."

"That's true..." Shangguan Jifu nodded slightly.

Ye Kun added, "You can't eat jewelry and jade. Silk has the same warmth-keeping effect as fine linen. Sell a batch of them first and exchange them for food. Food will become more and more expensive in the future, so you have to save it as much as possible. Once we are surrounded by heavy troops, a bucket of gold will not be able to exchange for a bucket of brown rice. As long as we have food and troops, we can grab all the jewelry in the world at any time!"

Ye Kun had read the Romance of the Three Kingdoms before and remembered that when Yuan Shao was besieged, the market was full of people selling jewelry, but no one was selling food; when Liu Bei was trapped in Xuzhou, one ounce of gold was exchanged for one ounce of rice in the market!

In troubled times, silk and jewelry are truly of no use!

Gold and silver can also be cast into lumps, which can be thrown out by a catapult and crush two enemy soldiers to death. But what can silk and jewels do when the city is broken?

County Magistrates Huang and Liu just didn’t understand this logic, and in the end… they lost their gold, silver, and jewelry, and their lives as well.

Shangguan Jifu nodded repeatedly: "Brother Dalang, you and I want to go together. We are young, and we will have many more days to rob money. I don't feel bad about this little money now."

Ye Kun smiled and said, "Tianmen County's treasury is well stocked with grain. Give me some first. And the war supplies, give me some as well."

"As much as you want, I'll give it to you."

Shangguan Jifu nodded and said, "I am now worried that Changsha County or Jingzhou will come to attack us. After all, I killed my two cheap brothers, and the third brother ran away. Jingzhou and Changsha can find an excuse to deal with us."

"Don't be afraid, it won't happen so soon, and your family is still in mourning. Changsha County and Jingzhou won't be so unethical. If they want to deal with us, it will take a month or two."

Ye Kun smiled and said, "Send an envoy first, send some gold, silver and jewelry, lower your posture and stabilize the neighbors. After a month, we will be able to firmly hold our territory and develop slowly."

The two slept on the same bed and chatted all night.

The next morning, Ye Kun checked the armory and granary of Tianmen County, as well as the gold and silver treasures of the county governor's mansion.

The Da Ding Kingdom has always been like this, with a strong trunk and weak branches.

Most of the wealth of the entire Tianmen County is concentrated in the county seat.

The food here can feed 20,000 troops for two to three years; there are countless money and jewelry.

Ye Kun selected jewelry and bought out all the transparent jadeite with good optical properties.

Then, he gave Shangguan Jifu a telescope and told him that this was his life and must not be revealed to anyone.

In the current war environment, a telescope in the hands of a commander can change the direction of a small-scale war and even determine the outcome.

Even in large-scale wars, telescopes can play a big role in a small range.

Shangguan Jifu had been on the battlefield for a long time, so he naturally knew what this telescope represented. He raised his hand and swore: "Brother Dalang, don't worry, I will protect this thing as if it were my own life!"

"I'll make another one for your subordinate Wang Meng."

Ye Kun nodded and went to select military equipment.

The military equipment of Tianmen County is one level higher than that of Pingye County, especially the city defense equipment, which is rich and comprehensive.

Shangguan Jifu allocated some equipment and sent craftsmen and technicians to Ye Kun to help him consolidate the defense of Pingye County and Xiping Mountain.

Ye Kun picked out the weapons and city defense equipment, and then went to look at the minerals and ores in stock.

The old county magistrate, Shangguan Tianxiong, was obsessed with alchemy for immortality, so he recruited hundreds of Taoists and alchemists to make elixirs at home. He also had a special mansion and yard that served as an alchemy factory.

Shangguan Jifu didn't believe in alchemy and wanted to drive all these scammers away, but was stopped by Ye Kun.

You know, these alchemists are ancient chemists. Moreover, they are familiar with various minerals and know the origin of each mineral.

Ye Kun called these alchemists to a meeting, clasped his fists and said with a smile:

"Thank you for your hard work, masters. I am also an alchemist, and we are all in the same field. I have already told the Fourth Young Master that we will greatly improve your treatment. From now on, you will have money, wine, and women if you want them."

The alchemists were all very happy: "It turns out that Master Ye can also make alchemy."

"I know a little." Ye Kun smiled and checked the inventory of raw materials in the alchemy factory and the results of the alchemists.

This is incredible.

The saltpeter and sulfur here both have raw ores, and the quantity is not small and the quality is not bad.

There are also many strange and bizarre tools for alchemy, even a copper sealed pressure cooker!

"I took all the saltpeter and brimstone."

Ye Kun called the alchemist who was in charge of purchasing and said, "Master, go and buy saltpeter, sulfur stone, black elixir, alum, and green alum for me. Use carriages and large ships to bring them back one by one and one by one! Go to the Fourth Young Master to collect the purchase money!"

Black elixir is coal, which is also something Ye Kun needs in large quantities.

Shangguan Jifu was startled, pulled Ye Kun aside, and asked in a low voice: "Brother Dalang, can this saltpeter, sulfur, and black pill be eaten as food?"