Chapter 915: A thousand-mile dam is breached by an ant hole!

May 7, afternoon

Hundreds of craftsmen on the Weiguan city wall are working quickly to repair the battlements and other damaged walls.

"Hurry up and bring me those bricks!"

"Is the lime mortar ready? If it is, bring it up quickly. We are waiting to use it!"

"If you don't finish your work tonight, you won't be allowed to eat!"

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In the midst of this bustling scene, two middle-aged warriors with serious expressions stood side by side on the tower, surrounded by guards, looking at the Fengwu Army camp in the distance.

Compared with the deputy governor Tang Peng standing next to him, the expression of Wei Guan governor Ma Chongyang at this time could be said to be even uglier.

Ma Chongyang, who knew the true results of Liu Bing's battle, did not expect the Fengwu Army to completely stop shelling Weiguan just because more than a dozen guns were destroyed.

However, he hoped that the Fengwu Army would be cautious and not bombard as wantonly as before. It would be best if they could suspend the bombardment for at least half a month. In this way, he would have an explanation to the court and the soldiers under him, and his boasting would be barely enough to make up for it!

But now, only two days later, the Fengwu Army resumed the bombardment, which undoubtedly exposed his lies and made everyone understand that Liu Bing's actions did not completely destroy all the artillery of the Fengwu Army outside the city as Ma Chongyang had advertised, causing heavy losses to the Fengwu Army!

Ma Chongyang’s propaganda was an outright lie, which undoubtedly made Ma Chongyang very embarrassed, and his cheeks felt a burning pain...

Looking at Ma Chongyang with a gloomy face, Tang Peng didn't say anything on the surface, but he snorted with disdain in his heart.

He knew very well that Ma Chongyang was an old man who had always looked down on the children of noble families like them. He felt that they had come to power thanks to their ancestors' influence and were a bunch of incompetent good-for-nothings, unlike him, Ma Chongyang, who had climbed up step by step relying on his military abilities!

When Ma Chongyang was ordered to come to Wei Pass, although he didn't say anything, Tang Peng could feel that this old man was gloating!

It looks like what I, Old Ma, said is right. You guys are just incompetent idiots who relied on your ancestors' influence to get to the top. At the critical moment, I, Old Ma, have to step in to clean up your mess!
When Tang Peng saw Ma Chongyang's behavior at that time, he felt very uncomfortable, but after all, he had lost the battle and lost very badly, and Ma Chongyang was the commander-in-chief appointed by the court, so Tang Peng said nothing and had to endure it.

Although he swallowed his anger, Tang Peng still remembered Ma Chongyang in his heart. Therefore, when he saw Ma Chongyang's face as black as charcoal, Tang Peng felt as if he was drinking iced sour plum soup in the dog days of summer. He felt very comfortable and relieved!
Although he was happy to see Ma Chongyang, the old idiot, get slapped in the face, as the deputy governor of Wei Guan, Tang Peng still had a sense of the overall situation and he wanted to help Ma Chongyang make amends.

We can’t really let the soldiers below think that Ma Chongyang’s propaganda is a lie and that the Fengwu Army didn’t suffer much loss at all. This will cause the morale of the army to plummet...

After pondering for a while, Tang Peng immediately instructed the lieutenant general beside him:
"Pass the order down, the Fengwu Army's logistical supplies have arrived, bringing twenty cannons to the Fengwu Army!"

"Yes!"

Hearing this, Ma Chongyang's expression eased a bit. He also understood that Tang Peng was trying to smooth things over for him. After the lieutenant general left, he nodded slightly at Tang Peng.
In response to this, Tang Peng asked directly:

"Sir, the Fengwu Army's artillery fire is so fierce that our army cannot cope with it for the time being, but our military supplies are almost used up!"

"Moreover, the soldiers have not received their military pay for almost five months. The soldiers below are talking about this matter. Sir, do you think you should write to the court to ask how to solve this matter?"

Ma Chongyang also felt very difficult facing the question raised by Tang Peng. He had discussed it in detail with Shangguan Changgong before coming to Wei Pass.

Shangguan Changgong also gave Ma Chongyang the bottom line. Shangguan Changgong said that he would do everything possible to ensure the logistical supplies needed by the tens of thousands of imperial guards in Weiguan.

However, the Luoan court was in a situation of internal and external difficulties, so Shangguan Changgong also asked Ma Chongyang to be prepared for the possibility that logistical supplies could not be supplied in time.

Logistical supplies are so difficult to come by, let alone military pay and pensions. However, Shangguan Changgong told Ma Chongyang directly that military pay would definitely not be available this year, and pensions and rewards would be gradually paid out in the next three years...
Although Shangguan Changgong told him the true situation clearly, Ma Chongyang was unable to tell these words to the soldiers below!
After all, although the lower-level soldiers shout every day that they are willing to be loyal to the court until death, in the final analysis, they still have families to feed. The prices in Guanzhong are so high. If you tell the soldiers clearly that your military pay will not be paid, and there will be no rewards or pensions!
Let alone the morale of the army, I am afraid that the soldiers below will riot, and some extreme cases may even switch off the attack and welcome the Fengwu Army into the city!
Therefore, in order to keep the Fengwu Army out of Wei Pass, they certainly could not tell the truth. However, if this problem was not resolved, the soldiers below might not be able to fight to the death. So Ma Chongyang was also feeling a headache and didn't know what to do.

Facing Tang Peng's gaze at this moment, Ma Chongyang could only nod and say:

"I know about this matter. I will submit a petition to the court in the next few days!"

After he finished speaking, Ma Chongyang gave another earnest admonition;
"As for the soldiers below, Commander Tang, you must keep them steady. There must be no chaos at this critical juncture!"

Tang Peng nodded and said:
"General Ma, I know what to do. I will do my best to calm the soldiers!"

“But the soldiers below are in a bad mood. If this matter is not resolved, I don’t think the soldiers will be able to focus all their attention on fighting…”

Ma Chongyang sighed upon hearing this and spoke again:
"I will report the actual situation here to the court!"

Tang Peng had nothing else to say, so he said goodbye and left. After Tang Peng left, Ma Chongyang looked at the Fengwu Army outside the city for a while. Looking at the slowly setting sun, Ma Chongyang suddenly felt that the current court was like the sun, and was about to reach the end of its life!
Thinking of this, Ma Chongyang sighed heavily again, then turned and walked towards his mansion in the city.

After returning to the mansion, Ma Chongyang was once again concerned about the issues of logistical supplies and food wages. He knew that this matter could not be solved by entrusting others.

According to the scouts' reports, the Fengwu Army is concentrating its troops in various places in Yunbing. It is expected that a new batch of Fengwu Army will arrive outside Weiguan City in five days at the earliest. By then, the Fengwu Army will officially begin the attack on Weiguan!
Therefore, if the issue of military pay is delayed now, when the Fengwu Army starts to attack the city, it will become more troublesome if the soldiers below cause trouble.

It would be better to try to ease the officers' and soldiers' dissatisfaction and public opinion before things get out of control, so that they can focus all their energy on the bloody battle with the Fengwu Army...
Thinking of this, Ma Chongyang made up his mind not to drag this matter any further. He would immediately write a letter to Shangguan Changgong to ask for money!
Although he wrote a letter asking for money, Ma Chongyang did not expect Shangguan Changgong to pay all the outstanding wages, rewards and pensions. This was simply unrealistic and impossible!
Five months of unpaid wages plus the rewards and pensions that should have been paid would have amounted to at least 370,000 or 380,000 taels of silver, and at most even more than 500,000 taels of silver.

The Luoan court simply cannot afford to pay so much silver. If you ask Shangguan Changgong for so much, you will get nothing except a scolding from him.
Therefore, Ma Chongyang only hoped that Shangguan Changgong could raise 100,000 taels of silver for him so that he could deal with the public opinion of the soldiers. If 100,000 taels was not enough, then he would give him 70,000 or 80,000 taels of silver.

If 70,000 or 80,000 taels of silver are not enough, then 50,000 taels of silver is not impossible. In a word, you asked everyone to defend Wei Pass with their lives and hold on to the last hope for the court. You must give everyone a little sweetness to taste. You can't get something for nothing!

After writing this earnest letter to Shangguan Changgong, Ma Chongyang prepared to have dinner, although the supply of logistical materials from Wei Guan was not on time at the moment.

But he still lived a very good life as the governor of Weiguan. A standard meal consisted of six hot dishes and two cold dishes, and a bottle of Huadiao wine from Jiangnan·······························
However, just as Ma Chongyang was looking forward to what to eat tonight, one of his trusted commanders, Chen Yuming, walked over quickly and bowed to report:

"Reporting to the governor, the craftsmen responsible for repairing the city wall found a crack in the wall in the east of the city!"

Ma Chongyang was shocked when he heard this, and quickly asked Chen Yuming:
"What's going on? How big is the crack?"

Seeing Ma Chongyang's anxious look, Chen Yuming did not dare to neglect and introduced carefully:
"After the Fengwu Army's bombardment today, I led the craftsmen on a routine inspection of the city wall. We found a crack about two miles north of the east wall. But please rest assured, Your Excellency the Governor, this crack is not long or deep at the moment. It looks only about one foot long and about an inch deep!"

"At present, the craftsmen have repaired this crack, but the craftsmen said that Weiguan itself is a city built hundreds of years ago. Since the founding of our Great Zhou, it has not been well maintained. There are some problems with the city wall itself, and the artillery of the Fengwu Army is too sharp!"

"Although the cracks on the city wall can be repaired now, if the Fengwu Army continues to bombard it like this, the craftsmen say the city wall may not be able to hold out for too long!"

Hearing what Chen Yuming said, Ma Chongyang's expression became even more bitter. It was really like a rainy day with a leaking roof. The ship was late and encountered headwinds. All kinds of bad luck happened to him!

After calming down his helpless mood, Ma Chongyang ordered:
"Take your craftsmen and use all possible means to reinforce and maintain the city wall. Make sure there are absolutely no problems with the city wall!"

"Tell those craftsmen that there is no problem with the city wall. I will ask the court for credit for them. But if the city wall collapses, they should all commit suicide to apologize!"

"Yes!"

Feeling the cold murderous intent in Ma Chongyang’s words, Chen Yuming’s expression became serious and he nodded repeatedly...

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Yi Jing, Youyan Governor
At 15:00 on the twilight hour, Bai Changjiu finished his day's work and walked out of the Governor's Office. Just as he was about to get on the carriage to go home, he heard a familiar voice behind him.

"Brother Bai, please stay!"

Hearing this, Bai Changjiu subconsciously looked back and saw behind him was his colleague, Wang Kun, who was also an experienced governor but was in charge of financial allocations.

Looking at Wang Kun, Bai Changjiu smiled and said:

"Brother Wang, is there anything wrong?"

Facing Bai Changjiu's question, Wang Kun smiled and said:

"It's nothing serious. It's just that the school plan that you led, Brother Bai, has been approved by our Finance Department. You can have someone come to the Finance Department to pick up the banknotes tomorrow!"

Bai Changjiu was quite surprised to hear Wang Kun say this. As the governor, he was mainly responsible for education. Some time ago, he went to various prefectures and counties in Youyan to see the situation of the schools established by the Fengwu Army in various places. This made Bai Changjiu discover some problems.

Because it involved children and education, Bai Changjiu felt that the problem was urgent, so he submitted a report on these issues to Liu Zhengyue, the governor of Youyan, and proposed some solutions. Liu Zhengyue also attached great importance to Bai Changjiu's report and made instructions to solve these problems.··························
According to the procedures of the Provincial Administration Office, if the Governor gave permission, he should get the financial allocation, but the problem is that now in order to support the continuation of the war, the finance is in a difficult situation and cannot come up with the money, so even with Liu Zhengyue's approval, Bai Changjiu's plan was still suppressed by the finance department.

Although Bai Changjiu feels helpless about this situation, he also understands it. After all, everyone has to adapt to special times!
After hesitating for a while, Bai Changjiu said to Wang Kun with some doubt:

"Brother Wang, your treasury is out of money, isn't it?"

Wang Kun waved his hand and spoke in a low voice:
"It's indeed very difficult financially, but there is still some money for maintaining stability, and the money you used to submit this plan is not much!"

"I will make special arrangements for you for more than two hundred taels of silver and include it in the stability maintenance expenses. Brother Bai, don't tell anyone else about this, otherwise others will gossip..."

(End of this chapter)