Chapter 2208
After He Huan expressed his views, Wang Yu and Lu Kangtai fell silent. It's not that they didn't think about the situation He Huan mentioned, but they just subconsciously didn't want to think in this direction.
Before Haihan intervened in the situation in Yangzhou, Shanxi salt merchants had already had a clear upper hand in the battle between salt merchants. It was only a matter of means and time to defeat the Hui merchants. If Dai Yingda and others were given the opportunity to negotiate peace at that time, perhaps the other party would accept some of their harsh conditions in order to protect themselves.
But today is different from the past. The current situation in Yangzhou has changed. Huizhou salt merchants have found Haihan as a big backer, but the advantages they have gained through hard work have disappeared overnight. In this case, will the other party accept it as soon as they get along? The answer is obviously no.
With the support of the Haihan people, it will not be easy for them to use force to attack the Anhui salt merchants. Last night's battle has fully proved this. After the Huizhou salt merchants confirmed the strength of this backer, they would naturally change their attitude, at least becoming much tougher than before. At this time, if you want to come to claim the captured personnel, you will obviously not get a good look.
He Huan was very pessimistic about this and did not even have any expectations. He believed that it would be difficult for these people trapped in Daijiazhuang to regain their freedom. Perhaps the best outcome would be for these people to be sold overseas as slaves to the Haihan people.
Even if He Huan made the worst estimate, he still didn't expect Dai Yingda's decision to be much more cruel than he expected, and he never thought about releasing these people. More than a dozen prisoners survived the battle. He just survived until dawn. For Dai Yingda, these prisoners were just a tool to stabilize the morale of the army and consolidate the internal opinions of the seven surnames. They were by no means a condition for bargaining with the Shanshan Salt Merchant. No matter how Wang Yu and others calculated, it was just wishful thinking.
In the end, it was Lu Kangtai who broke the silence: "Although the manpower was lost last night, fortunately the Musketeers all retreated safely. We still have the strength to fight and can look for opportunities to attack again."
He Huan nodded and said: "Even if they guard Daijiazhuang tightly, can every family of the seven surnames do this? As long as we clean up a few, they should be in chaos."
Lu Kangtai shook his head and said: "I'm afraid it's not that easy. I was thinking yesterday why people with the seven major surnames have almost disappeared from Yangzhou in recent days. Now it seems that they should have been prepared for our raid in advance. If I As expected, several other families from the Seven Great Surnames should have hid somewhere safe, such as Daijiazhuang, or somewhere outside Yangzhou Prefecture, to prevent us from defeating them individually. If it fails, at most it will burn down their house to vent their anger, but it will not touch their foundation.”
Although the judgment made by Lu Kangtai at this time is a bit hindsight, it is still relatively close to the truth.
Wang Yu said: "They all hide and let Dai Yingda resist alone? This Dai Yingda is not someone who will suffer a loss!"
Lu Kangtai said: "The people from Haihan moved directly to Daijiazhuang when they came to Yangzhou. They clearly want to sit in Daijiazhuang to carry out follow-up actions. It is estimated that Dai Yingda has already made arrangements for the other seven surnames, otherwise the people from Haihan will just Protecting the Dai family, how can the other families be convinced?"
Wang Yu frowned and said: "In that case, Kangtai, if you didn't figure out the situation before, you shouldn't have gone to Daijiazhuang to attack Daijiazhuang!"
Lu Kangtai stared at Wang Yu and responded coldly: "Haihan people have already entered Yangzhou Mansion, do you still have the patience to wait? Should you wait for them to build Daijiazhuang into Daijiabao, or wait for them to help The seven major surnames have trained a musketeer team? If we don’t seize the time, our strength will wax and wane, which will be detrimental to us. I have told Brother Wang a long time ago, has Brother Wang forgotten it?”
The failure of the operation made Lu Kangtai very unhappy, and now Wang Yu attributed the responsibility for the command error to him, which naturally made him feel even more unhappy, and he couldn't help but refute a few words.
Lu Kangtai didn't think there was much problem with his decision-making. In the situation at that time, he believed that taking the initiative was the best choice. But I didn't expect that the Haihan people had already set up a strong defense line in Daijiazhuang in just a few days, and had deployed traps in advance waiting for their people to step into them.
When Lu Kangtai formulated the action plan, he had already assembled his men and prohibited them from going out. He did not announce the specific time of action until the day before the action. Therefore, he did not think that his people leaked the news and caused the other party to prepare in advance. trap. Based on this calculation, it is more likely that the other party deployed relatively strict surveillance measures near the canal, exposing their whereabouts when they crossed the river at night, allowing Daijiazhuang time to take targeted measures.
Lu Kangtai did not want to explain his thoughts and reasoning in detail to Wang Yu and He Huan. He knew that it was difficult for others to put themselves in their shoes and understand his feelings. The more he explained, the more likely he would be regarded as a cover-up for failure. But he didn't want to take the blame for the other party's misunderstanding, so after retorting a few words, he didn't expand on it.
He Huan knew his temperament and did not want internal strife to occur at this time. He immediately advised: "Victory and defeat are common matters for military officers. What's more, we only suffered a small setback last night and did not damage our roots. We can still choose another day to fight again." ...It’s just that you have to be more careful next time, don’t make the same mistake again and fall into the enemy’s ambush!”
As He Huan spoke, he winked at Wang Yu and signaled him not to argue with Lu Kangtai. Wang Yu also knew that if his side wanted to use force to attack its opponents, it could not do without Lu Kangtai's command. Even if he thought that Lu Kangtai's previous judgment was problematic, he could not find a more suitable candidate to replace him. If Lu Kangtai is angered and makes him give up on the next thing, then all the previous efforts will really be wasted.
Wang Yu cupped his hands and apologized: "Kangtai, I was just anxious, and what I said was indeed inappropriate. Don't forget it!"
Seeing this, Lu Kangtai could only respond: "It doesn't matter. I know that Brother Wang is also concerned about the chaos, and it is not directed at Lu."
Seeing that the two of them were making peace, He Huan quickly brought the topic back to business: "Kangtai, now there are Haihan people stationed in Daijiazhuang, and the other seven surnames seem to have disappeared, so what should we do next? ?”
Lu Kangtai was silent for a moment before responding: "To be honest, it's very difficult. If we use the same method to attack Daijiazhuang again, as long as those Haihan people are still there, we will almost be defeated. According to me According to reports from my subordinates, great improvements have been made inside Daijiazhuang. They have built a lot of fortifications for road closures in the village, so the Daijiazhuang floor plan we bought with money before is probably not very useful. ”
"How about luring them out of the village for a fight?" Wang Yu asked tentatively. Although this question was a little unprofessional, Lu Kangtai still answered patiently: "If the opponent is those Haihan people, I'm afraid our musketeers will not be able to defeat them on the frontal battlefield. Their weapon performance, combat experience, and command system are all If they are superior to us, we will be the only ones who suffer if they are pulled out to fight.”
"If we can't defeat Daijiazhuang and have no other targets, wouldn't it be impossible for us to start?" He Huan shook his head and said, "But if we continue to delay, the situation will only become more and more difficult!"
Lu Kangtai said: "For the current plan, we can only try to find ways to contact the yamen to see if we can get the yamen to come forward and check the source of the salt in the Huizhou salt merchants' inventory. Even if we can't cut off their financial path, we still need to Create more trouble for them.”
He Huan frowned and said: "This won't stop them for long! In the end, it's nothing more than taking money to eliminate disasters!"
Lu Kangtai meant to ask the government to come forward to check the inventory of Huizhou salt merchants. Salt merchants usually sell private salt, and the inventory must be much larger than the amount of official salt obtained through salt introduction. If you want to check this, it will basically be a one-time check. An accurate one. But this kind of routine can generally only deal with those small salt merchants who have a shallow foundation and no official connections. The old big salt merchants like Qida, who have been rooted in Yangzhou for several generations, will hardly be fooled by this little trick. shaken. Even if the government sends someone to investigate, they will definitely end up collecting a sum of money from the person involved.
In fact, this method is common in the battles between salt merchants, but He Huan knew that it would have no effect on the seven surnames, and it could not even be called trouble. As long as Dai Yingda and others came out to say hello to the government, things would be fine. Big things will turn into small things, and small things will disappear.
Lu Kangtai said: "Of course this won't defeat them, but it may force Dai Yingda to leave his turtle shell. Then we will have a chance to take action!"
He Huan's eyes suddenly lit up when he heard this, and he nodded repeatedly: "Wonderful! In this way, let's see if Dai Lao'er can still shrink into his shell!"
Lu Kangtai's real purpose was to cause trouble, not too big or too small, which could only be solved by Dai Yingda personally visiting local officials. As long as Dai Yingda left Daijiazhuang and entered Yangzhou City, the opportunity to take action would naturally arise. Regardless of assassination or kidnapping, as long as they can succeed, Daijiazhuang will no longer be a tough nut to crack.
Wang Yu was still a little worried: "Even if he leaves Daijiazhuang, if the Haihan people serve as his guards, it won't be so easy, right?"
Lu Kangtai said: "Is it possible that we have to wait for a 100% chance before taking action? We may not have such an opportunity until the day you and I are buried! We will force Dai Yingda out first. Whether we can succeed will not be known until we take action. ! ”
"Kangtai makes sense! It's better to create opportunities yourself than to wait for opportunities. As long as Dai Yingda enters the city, it will provide us with an opportunity to take action. Whether the Haihan people will protect him will only be known when the time comes. I think it's a big deal. Try!" He Huan's attitude was clearly on Lu Kangtai's side this time, because he also knew that time waits for no one, and the opponent's advantage would only get bigger the longer it was delayed. It would be better to seize every possible opportunity and try his best. Maybe There can still be a turnaround.
Lu Kangtai received the support of He Huan, and his confidence increased a lot. He immediately said: "Then let's visit the adults separately as soon as possible and persuade them to temporarily seal the salt warehouses of the seven surnames! As long as the warehouses are sealed, Dai Yingda will naturally have to Try to get into the city to gather some strength. Then we will set up an ambush near the city gate and capture him in one fell swoop!”
Lu Kangtai's plan is easy to say, but not easy to implement. Although Shanxi salt merchants outperform their rivals in local official circles, Huizhou salt merchants are also major financial sponsors that officials cannot ignore. In particular, the yamen, which are closely related to the salt industry, receive money from various salt merchants every year. The money collected was a huge amount.
These officials are all smart people. They know very well that sitting on the wall can reap the benefits of both sides, so they will not easily fall to either side. At most, they will just give some favoritism to the Shanxi salt merchants who pay more tribute on a daily basis, but they rarely do so. Deliberately trying to embarrass their competitors.
In addition to the Yangzhou government offices, the main government offices that can take charge of this matter are the Salt Transfer Department, the Salt Class Department, the official salt warehouse, the official salt field and other agencies. The officials involved include the transfer officials, the salt inspection censor, and the official salt field. Ambassador of Salt Department and so on.
The more officials who can be persuaded, the greater the trouble they can create for the seven surnames. Of course, during this persuasion process, they will definitely have to give away a lot of money. However, the situation was urgent and they could no longer afford to worry about money. The three of them agreed to share the expenses equally afterwards, and then each went to visit officials with whom they had a good relationship, trying to get the Yamen to issue a document to seize the inventory of the seven surnames as soon as possible.
Dai Yingda couldn't predict his opponent's plan at this time. He had too many things to worry about now. The seven major surnames all moved their families to Daijiazhuang, and with the addition of more than a hundred people from Jindun, there were hundreds of people living in the village, and there were too many chores that needed to be accommodated and coordinated.
Just having hundreds more people to eat every day is a big burden for Daijiazhuang. Not only do they have to send people out to purchase a large amount of food every day, but they also have to organize a group of cooks to cook three meals a day for them. OK. And some people are more particular and only eat food cooked by their own chefs, and a separate kitchen and corresponding ingredients must be provided for them. Although each family paid for the relevant expenses together, this organizational work could only be completed by Dai Yingda, the landowner.
There are so many trivial matters in life. Although Dai Yingda assigned most of the work to some tribesmen, there are still endless things that need to be consulted for his instructions and directed and coordinated by him. On the contrary, he does not have much time to take care of the present. Now that it's time to get down to business, we can only leave defense-related matters to Dai Yingfan to handle with full authority.
After Dai Yingfan witnessed the combat process of Jindun with his own eyes, he quickly became a fan of Haihan. He was full of curiosity about Jindun's organization and training methods. Whenever he had time, he would take the initiative to discuss related issues with Yuan Tao, hoping to learn from it. Yuan Tao learned some practical tactics here.
(End of chapter)