The Myth of Daqin: The Soul of Yi Xiaochuan

Chapter 320 People’s hearts are floating

After Meng Yi left, he ordered Li Ziwei to gather a group of trusted subordinates and carefully instructed them on every aspect of the operation.

Since the troops were withdrawn from Xianyang City, they have been collecting food and fodder in the villages and towns near Xianyang City.

These days happened to be the days when the last batch of food and fodder was transported into the city.

So, Meng Yi made up his mind and decided to take Li Ziwei and fifty elite soldiers to infiltrate the grain transport team.

The grain transport team slowly moved towards Xianyang City. Meng Yi and others mixed in with them. On the surface, everything was calm, but in fact, everyone was extremely vigilant.

The grain transport convoy was not far from the city gate when suddenly the sound of horse hooves was heard.

When everyone looked, they saw a group of Qin soldiers galloping towards them.

Meng Yi was shocked and clenched the sword in his hand, whispering to everyone to remain calm.

The leading commander solemnly instructed the city gate guards, "We have received orders from above to step up our defenses and not be careless."

The guard quickly bowed, a flattering smile on his face, and replied, "Don't worry, sir, we won't be lazy."

The guard's eyes unconsciously glanced around, then lowered his voice and said carefully: "Sir, Prince Fusu is kind and righteous. I heard that those who surrender will be forgiven."

The commander's expression instantly darkened. He shot his gaze at the guard like an arrow and gently scolded him, "Stop talking nonsense. You'll lose your head."

The guard trembled with fear and quickly shut his mouth, not daring to say another word.

At this moment, the leading commander saw the grain transport convoy not far away. His brows furrowed slightly and he asked, "Is this the last batch of grain?"

The guard quickly replied, "Yes, sir. The whole city is counting on this food."

The commander looked at the garrison stationed at the city gate again. Seeing that the soldiers were lazy and listless, he couldn't help but feel angry.

He said sternly, "Tell your people to cheer up."

The guard gave a wry smile and said helplessly, "Sir, look at us brothers. We only have two meals of porridge a day. How can we have the energy? Those officials eat delicious food every day. Even the dogs in their houses eat better than us brothers."

The commander sighed deeply, his eyes revealing a hint of helplessness and worry. "Don't complain. These are troubled times."

After saying this, he hurried away with his men, raising a cloud of dust.

The Qin army at the city gate inspected the grain carts and found nothing unusual, so they let them pass.

Seeing this, Meng Yi breathed a sigh of relief, then winked at the drivers of the grain transport team, signaling them to continue moving forward.

After entering the city, Meng Yi found that the atmosphere inside the city was extremely depressing. The people were all pale and thin, and their eyes revealed despair and helplessness.

The houses on both sides of the street looked dilapidated, as if they had experienced a huge disaster.

"This is the disaster of war..." Meng Yi sighed softly, his eyes full of pity and helplessness.

The so-called military disaster means allowing soldiers to vent their emotions, harm the common people, rob property, and abduct women in order to stabilize the morale of the army.

"General, what should we do next?" one of his men couldn't help but ask.

"According to the plan." Meng Yi replied calmly.

Everyone quickly dispersed according to the plan.

Meng Yi led everyone quietly to the pre-arranged stronghold.

Meng Yi was well aware that people in Xianyang were in panic and the situation was tense.

Here, he divided everyone into several small teams, each of which went to investigate the deployment of troops in the city, the location of food reserves, and the attitudes of various forces.

"Ziwei, you will lead a team to scout for food and fodder."

Meng Yi said seriously, "We must be careful and cautious and not be discovered by the enemy."

"Yes, General!" Li Ziwei replied.

Immediately, Li Ziwei led his men disguised as ordinary laborers and approached the government's granary.

At the door of the granary, Li Ziwei saw two guarding soldiers leaning listlessly against the door, complaining constantly.

"Life is really unbearable now. The superiors are withholding food supplies so severely that we are almost out of food!" complained a soldier.

"That's right, how are we supposed to guard the granary?" another soldier echoed.

Li Ziwei was secretly delighted. He took the opportunity to move forward and said sympathetically, "My two brothers, you've worked so hard. How could the higher-ups do this?"

"Well, who says it's not true? There's nothing we can do." The soldier sighed helplessly.

Another soldier grumbled with a sad face: "In my opinion, we might as well just wait patiently for Prince Fusu to lead his army into the city to rescue us..."

Before he could finish his words, a soldier next to him suddenly changed his expression. He quickly covered his mouth with his hands and said a quick and low "Shh!"

Then, the soldier nervously turned his head and scanned the surroundings quickly like an eagle. After making sure that no one else was paying attention to them, he breathed a sigh of relief.

He lowered his voice and warned, "Don't talk nonsense here, you idiot! Don't you want to save your life? Don't forget, you have elderly parents and a young wife and children at home who all depend on you for support!"

The soldier whose mouth was covered was stunned at first, and then a trace of fear appeared on his face. He nodded helplessly, gently broke free from his companion's hand covering his mouth, and sighed deeply.

Then, the two of them turned their eyes to Li Ziwei and his group who had just walked in from outside the city.

One of the soldiers asked, "Brothers, you just came in from outside the city, right? I wonder what the situation outside the city is like now?"

Li Ziwei paused for a moment before answering, "As far as I know, General Meng Tian has already led an army of 300,000 men to surround Xianyang City. It looks like they might launch a siege in a few days."

As soon as these words were spoken, the two soldiers' faces turned pale, they were terrified, and their bodies began to tremble involuntarily.

Li Ziwei was afraid of arousing suspicion, so he quickly added, "But the city is heavily guarded, so I don't think it will be easy to break in."

The two soldiers felt a little relieved.

While chatting with them, Li Ziwei quietly observed the defense situation around the granary.

Soon, he had memorized the general layout in his mind, found an excuse and left with his men.

Meng Yi personally led the team to inspect the deployment of the troops. He was dressed in armor and walked through the city with a serious expression. When he arrived near the palace, he found that most of the troops were concentrated there, while the defenses in other parts of the city seemed empty.

Meng Yi thought to himself, "Xianyang City may appear heavily guarded, but in reality, it's riddled with internal conflicts. This might be a good opportunity to change the situation."

Finally, Meng Yi received a summary of the news from other teams.

Although there are many soldiers in the city, their morale is low and their food reserves are insufficient. This is a good opportunity for them.

Meng Yi came up with a plan. He sent people to secretly spread the various benefits that Prince Fusu would gain after entering the city, and revealed the news of the shortage of food and grass in the city to some low-level soldiers.

The soldiers in the city began to whisper, and the people were full of anticipation for the arrival of Prince Fusu.

The lower-level soldiers who learned that there was a shortage of food and fodder also began to become restless.

For a time, people in the city became more uneasy and the situation became more tense.