Chapter 109 Food and Grass
Since the army was not under his control, Li Jiancheng recruited many officials and carefully arranged the task of supplying logistics. He also discussed with the gentry, gathered the remaining young and strong men in Zhuo County, and expanded the warehouses and granaries.

Although many officials followed the six armies of the emperor to accompany the emperor in the war, there were still many officials from the Ministry of Civil Affairs who stayed here to assist him in organizing the transportation of grain and supplies.

Over the past few days, everyone has become very good friends. Every time the officials of the Ministry of Civil Affairs reported the losses, even if there were some inappropriateness, Li Jiancheng would still sign for it after saying a few words.

It was the same today. Li Jiancheng frowned and said, "The three routes of food that were supposed to arrive today were all robbed?"

The Minister of Civil Affairs had a dark face: "One way they came was by the Bian River, but they were robbed by a group of bandits called Wagang. Another way they came by land, but they were robbed by horse bandits just after they passed Yanmen Pass. Another way the grain transport officer rebelled and led the people to become bandits."

Li Jiancheng put down his pen and said, "If one of the three routes is lost occasionally, or even two routes are lost, I can help you cover it up in front of His Majesty. But now that the army has just set out, all the food and grass for the three routes have been lost. This is a bit unreasonable."

"Well, you know, there are many thieves in the world right now, and we can't do anything about it. I just hope you can show some mercy."

"I have raised this hand many times and have never made things difficult for you. The country is in a difficult situation and we need to overcome the difficulties together, but you are going too far!"

The assistant minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs had a hard time speaking out. They had embezzled a lot of food in the past, but this time they didn't see a single grain of food, so they had no chance to take any even if they wanted to.

But they didn't have the courage to lose their temper with Li Jiancheng, so they could only keep making excuses and pleading, but they didn't even have the confidence to lie. Li Jiancheng finally said, "No matter what, you must make up the food for the two routes within half a month, otherwise, if His Majesty investigates, no one will end well."

The Minister of the Ministry of Revenue also knew that such a thing happened just after the emperor left. Even if Li Jiancheng helped them cover it up, it would be easily exposed, so he had no choice but to agree.

But before leaving, she couldn't help but say, "Thank you, sir, but this really has nothing to do with us."

Li Jiancheng didn't say anything, but just waved his hand and told him to hurry up and replenish food. "How could I not know that you are not greedy? I have eaten all the food from these three routes."

This task was easier than expected because it was too chaotic. The emperor gathered troops from all over the country and took all civil and military officials with him. This led to insufficient local troops, and government offices at all levels could not find their chief officers, making everything a mess.

The officials and officers gathered in Zhuo County, looking at the food and supplies that could supply millions of people, how could they not want to grab some? You take some, I take some, and no one should say anything.

The emperor had thought about conducting a thorough investigation, but after a quick look he found that there were too many people involved. With a war imminent, he could not let this incident shake the morale, so he could only swallow his anger for the time being and wait until he returned with a great victory to settle the accounts.

Obviously the emperor was too optimistic. Not to mention Li Jiancheng, there were already many people in the army who were not optimistic about the outcome of this battle. However, no matter how they advised the emperor, he remained indifferent and even became more paranoid.

If the emperor won as he wished, it would naturally prove that his talent and wisdom were unmatched by ordinary people, but if he failed, the majesty accumulated over the years would be torn down.

Li Xiaogong walked in and handed over a letter in Zhai Rang's handwriting. What was written inside seemed to be a servant's report on the family's recent situation, but in fact it was a code word that had been discussed long ago. Not only did they intercept the grain ship based on his information, but they also took the opportunity to make a name for themselves in the surrounding counties.

Many gentry and landlords have already contacted him, the most famous one is Lihu gentry Xu Shiji, who asked Li Jiancheng whether he would accept him. There was also a letter from Du Wei, the commander of his two thousand elite soldiers, a fierce warrior rescued by Li Jiancheng from the pile of dead bodies. Shen Guang could not last more than ten rounds, and that was when he did not use all his strength.

He successfully intercepted that batch of grain and grass and hid it in a village in Anle County. The original people there had fled to an unknown place, so they occupied the village and made it their home, recruiting many Xi and Khitan people. With this batch of grain and grass, they were able to quickly grow into an elite cavalry of more than 3,000 people.

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Yang Guang led his troops to the war, but before they engaged Goguryeo, General Duan Wenzhen, who led his troops out of Nansu Road, became seriously ill due to unfamiliarity with the climate and water there. Before his death, he submitted a memorial: “I am a mediocre and humble person, but fortunately I live in a prosperous age. I am honored by Your Majesty’s favor and trust. I am willing to work day and night and serve as a loyal servant to repay the country’s great kindness.”

However, I have no way to take care of my health, and now I will die with hatred in my heart. I have some words from the bottom of my heart to tell Your Majesty. I have seen that the clown Gao family in Liaodong has not accepted the severe punishment, so Your Majesty has come from afar to send six armies and personally come to your majesty to take care of the emperor.

The barbarians are treacherous, so we must be on our guard. Don't accept their verbal surrender hastily. They have only surrendered because of floods, so we can't delay. I only hope that you will strictly order all the troops to march out as quickly as possible, both by land and sea, and catch them by surprise. Then the isolated city of Pyongyang can be captured.

If we destroy the enemy's roots, the rest of the city will be conquered by itself. If we fail to take the initiative, we will encounter autumn rains and face great difficulties. Our troops and food are exhausted, and we are faced with a strong enemy in front of us. If we hesitate and hesitate, it is not the best strategy! "

In other words, we are advising the emperor not to think of conquering the enemy without fighting. Their surrender is only a delaying tactic and they will surely rebel. Now that the water level is dropping, we should advance our troops with determination. If we fail to capture Pyongyang and they wait until the rainy season, it will be difficult for us to succeed.

As soon as the letter was delivered to the emperor, someone came up to report that Duan Wenzhen had died of illness in the army.

The emperor's expression did not change after reading the will. He only issued an edict to posthumously confer the titles of Guanglu Dafu, You Pushe, and Founding Marquis of Beiping County on him. The posthumous title was left for Yang Xuangan and the people from the Ministry of Rites to quickly discuss.

But Duan Wenzhen's words obviously did not change the emperor's mind. He still firmly believed that the people of Goguryeo would surrender in fear and trepidation once they saw his millions of soldiers.

He was not worried about the things that Duan Wenzhen was worried about. He was only worried about how to prevent his generals from being greedy for merit and making reckless moves and how to accept the enemy's surrender in an orderly manner.

He deliberately did not appoint a commander among the twenty-four armies, so that they could check and balance each other at the same level. Any matters must be reported to the emperor for decision, and they were not allowed to start a war without authorization.

In addition, envoys for accepting surrender were set up to carry out consolation and assistance. They were not under the control of the generals and were usually on the same level as the generals. If the general did not accept surrender, the envoy for consolation could still control him.

After the generals in the army learned about Duan Wenzhen's suicide note, they all felt that it made sense, especially the commanders of each army. They were now restricted everywhere and could not fully control the soldiers under their command.

They all submitted petitions to the emperor requesting him to appoint a commander-in-chief among them so that they could coordinate and exert the full power of the army. However, the emperor thought over and over and could not find anyone worthy of his trust in entrusting a million-strong army.

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(End of this chapter)