Chapter 539 Pregnant
Xia Zihan felt so uncomfortable that he didn't even eat at night. Two days later, the court also received the news. The emperor and ministers felt the same as Xia Zihan. They were happy that the Chu army had regained the lost territory, and they were also happy for the two The people of the city were saddened, but they were even more angry towards the Japanese pirates.
The emperor was grieved and decreed that all living people in Ningwucheng would be tax-free for three years. This could be considered a little comfort from the emperor to the people in Ningwucheng.
After receiving the news, they thought that the Chu family army could quickly take back Wanfeng City like they took back Ningwu City, but a month passed and by the twelfth lunar month, the war was not over yet.
It turned out that the Japanese pirates had long known that the Chu family army would come to the south for support. The Japanese pirates also sent support troops and brought a large number of muskets and bullets. When the defeated Japanese pirates were forced to retreat to Wanfeng City, it happened that , their reinforcements also arrived at Wanfeng City.
With reinforcements and muskets, the Japanese pirates are no longer afraid of the Chu family's army. No matter how powerful the Chu family's cavalry army is, they are not as powerful as other people's bullets.
After several battles, Chu's army suffered heavy casualties.
There were 50,000 soldiers and horses. In the first battle, more than 10,000 people died. In subsequent battles, more than 10,000 people died. Now there are only more than 20,000 people left.
Chu Jingqi also had a batch of stolen muskets, but there were only about 200 of them, but the Japanese pirates had more than 3,000 muskets and countless bullets, and Chu Jingqi had already run out of bullets.
Chu Jingqi originally planned to steal some more, but who knew that the walls around Wanfeng City were so strong that there was not even a dog hole to be found, let alone a trail to sneak in.
Even the land five miles outside Wanfeng City was tightly guarded by the Japanese pirates so that not even a fly could fly in.
Chu Jingqi searched for several days, but could not find any loopholes that could be captured. The Chu family army stayed in Ningwu City and did not dare to move out easily.
Chu Jingqi also developed an iron shield to resist the bullets of Japanese pirates.
That shield was no ordinary shield. Ordinary shields were small and thin and could withstand swords, but they could not withstand bullets made of fine iron.
Chu Jingqi developed a large two-layer shield with a hollow in the middle. Even if the bullet penetrated the first layer, it could not penetrate the second layer. In this way, the soldiers had an extra layer of protection.
Chu Jingqi drew a blueprint and sent it to the capital, asking the emperor to issue an order to build the shield as soon as possible. Along with the blueprint, there was a musket and several bullets.
After Dasheng's foundry got the drawings and musket bullets, they worked day and night to build it. The shield was quickly built, but the musket... the caster spent more than a month researching and experimenting before finally creating a usable one.
The war in the south is still tense.
If Chu's army did not attack the Japanese pirates, the Japanese would attack Chu's army.
Chu Jingqi and Chu Xuanyu, father and son, were extremely cunning. They had already sent people to build the city wall high and opened small holes in the wall. When the Japanese pirates came, they ordered the soldiers to shoot arrows through the holes in the wall and shoot arrows at them. He burned hot oil, took an iron spoon, and poured it down the city wall from the hole in the wall, one spoon at a time. Then he threw down the torch and burned the Japanese pirates outside the wall until they screamed wildly.
The Japanese pirates were furious and fired bullets at the city wall passionately, but Chu Jiajun blocked the hole in the wall with spare stones. The Japanese pirates wasted a lot of bullets and hit the city wall, but Chu Jiajun was not killed.
The Japanese pirates attacked twice and suffered heavy losses. Later, they did not dare to attack easily again.
The war was stagnant there.
With this delay, it’s New Year’s Eve.
After the New Year, Chu Jingqi sent a letter to the Tatars, borrowing 100,000 troops from the Tatars to attack the Japanese pirates' territory.
I plan to use a trick to draw out the firepower.
……
This year, due to the war in the south, everyone was living a very depressed life. Even the Lantern Festival lantern show was canceled by the court. Xia Zihan was not happy either.
Ever since Chu Jingqi left, her heart had been high. After learning that half of the Chu family army was dead, she was even more worried about Chu Jingqi's safety. She often had nightmares, dreaming that Chu Jingqi was hit by a musket and lay lying on the ground. In a pool of blood.
After waking up from the dream, facing the loneliness in the room, she couldn't sleep. All she could think about was Chu Jingqi's face.
Recently, she has become quite haggard.
Mrs. Zeng was very distressed, so she ordered the kitchen to stew a bowl of medicinal soup for her to drink every day.
"Give Qinghui a bowl of stew as well. These two children have been troubled recently." Zeng also thought about Princess Qinghui's recent preoccupation with two things, and she had also lost a lot of weight.
Mrs. Zeng also told Mother Su, "I have a fifty-year-old red ginseng in my warehouse. Find it and stew it to replenish the health of these two children."
"Yes, old lady." Su's mother said, "Don't think too much about it. The Duke and the Crown Prince are both blessed people, and nothing will happen to them."
"I know." This is just a comforting word.
On the battlefield, the sword has no eyes. Even the second prince was seriously injured and almost died. Chu Xuanyu and his son...
Hey...
Zeng sighed, a frown on his face.
When Su's mother saw it, she had no choice but to persuade her, so she went to the warehouse, took out the red ginseng, stewed a large pot of chicken soup, and gave a large bowl to Xia Zihan, Princess Qinghui, and Mrs. Zeng.
Until a year ago, Ao Tianchen sent a letter saying that the second prince's injury had completely recovered. The father and his son had brought the remaining 20,000 troops to Ningwu City and guarded it together with Chu Xuanyu and his son. Ning Wucheng plans to make up for his mistakes.
The second princess felt better now.
But he was still worried, and he was worried all day long, unable to eat or sleep. He was much thinner than when the second prince left, and his eyes were sunken.
Mrs. Zhuo was not much better. Her heart was worried about Chu Xuanyu and his son, and she often couldn't sleep for half the night. Several times, Xia Zihan went to Anguo Gong's Mansion to enlighten her, which made her feel better.
On the day before New Year's Eve, Zeng Yiran and Liao Fangyi came back to celebrate the New Year. The Chu house became more lively, and Xia Zihan also had a smile on his face.
Xia Zihan saw that Liao Fangyi's face was rosy and she had gained weight, so she knew that Zeng Yiran had taken good care of her.
Liao Fangyi also secretly told her, "I haven't been here for more than a month. The wet nurse said, yes, it's there. Chu Yu, please feel the pulse to see if it's there."
Then, he said shyly, "Last month, the wet nurse wanted to ask a doctor for me, but I...I was embarrassed, so I didn't ask for it. I thought I would see you during the Chinese New Year, and asked you to take my pulse. I don't have to worry. .”
As he spoke, he extended his right hand.
When Xia Zihan heard this, he was very happy for her and quickly stretched out two fingers to press on her pulse.
After a moment, he let go, and then scolded me with a straight face, "Silly girl, it's been almost three months. How could you, a mother-in-law, even refuse to invite a doctor? What if something goes wrong?" The situation depends on what you do.”
(End of chapter)