Chai Shao had inquired in advance before coming. The head of the Xiao family was a woman named Xiao Yinyin. Unexpectedly, the person who came was a middle-aged man, which made him slightly stunned.

He then realized that the head of the family was a woman and did not want to see outsiders easily. He bowed and said, "I am here in Chang'an, and I take the liberty to come to disturb me. I wonder if the head of the family is here?"

"My sister is in poor health and is bedridden and cannot meet guests. Xiao Yanqin is here to welcome General Chai to visit Xiao Mansion."

In a few simple words, he told his identity and status in the Xiao family. Chai Shao didn't ask much questions. The two of them sat down according to the host and Chai Shao bowed and smiled: "This time I am the order of King Jing to assist Jiangling, and I am temporarily in charge of Jiangling's military and political affairs. I should have visited your mansion yesterday. I am really busy with affairs. I am sorry!"

"The General is so polite. The General arrived in Jiangling yesterday. It is the honor of the Xiao family to come to the Xiao family today. The Xiao family is willing to share the worries of the General."

Xiao Yanqin was polite and quickly thought about Chai Shao’s intention in his heart. Generally speaking, he came to work to stabilize the situation in Jiangling City, but if he wanted to stabilize the situation, he should not force the recruitment of civilians so much. Another possibility is to make the major families bleed.

Sure enough, Chai Shao exchanged greetings, and then changed the topic and talked about the main business. He sighed and said, "Now the Sui army is coming in full force, trying to invade the entire territory of Jingxiang. The battle of Jingxiang is related to the fate of the entire Tang Dynasty. The court also attaches great importance to it. It sent 150,000 troops to defend Jingxiang and formed two fronts, Jiangling and Xiangyang. I was ordered to lead 70,000 troops to protect Jingxiang, which is also protecting everyone's wealth and life. We have prepared for the military 70,000 troops. We do not need to bother with local wealthy families, but 50,000 civilians participate in defending the city, which also consumes huge amounts of money and food. The army has already caught its elbows and is able to ask all the wealthy families to help each other, and the military and civilians work together to protect Jiangling's safety."

Chai Shao's words were already very clear. He asked everyone to pay for money and grain. After saying that, Chai Shao looked at Xiao Yanqin with a smile, and he didn't need to say some words. If he didn't pay for money and grain, what would happen? He would spare the Xiao family if he arrested the civilians.

Xiao Yanqin pondered for a moment and said, "As a citizen of the Tang Dynasty, supporting the imperial army is an obligation, and the Xiao family is unshirkable."

Xiao Yanqin spoke very beautifully. He first expressed his opinion and was willing to support the Tang army with money and grain, but then he changed the subject and said: "The Xiao family mainly focuses on inland river trade. All the money is left outside. We will collect money as soon as possible these days, but we can give the food first."

Chai Shao narrowed his eyes and smiled. He didn't need to ask how much money he had. The Xiao family should have a clear idea. If they spend less, they would suffer. Everyone was tacit about this.

"Thank you, Mr. Xiao. Then I will say goodbye. Please say hello to the head of the family on my behalf."

Chai Shao stood up and said goodbye. Xiao Yanqin returned to the secret room of the inner house with great worries. Several people were still waiting for him. As soon as they entered the door, Xiao Yanqin said, "It's a little troublesome. Chai Shao came to ask for money and food."

Xiao Yinyin frowned, "How much does it cost to eat?"

Xiao Yanqin sat down and shook his head, "He didn't say anything, probably because he had to wait for us to take the initiative to express his opinion."

Xiao Yinyin thought for a long time and turned around to ask her nephew Xiao Mao, who was in charge of the accountant, and said, "How much does our Xiao family have in Jiangling City?"

"Reporting to the head of the family, there are 10,000 taels of gold and 500,000 taels of silver, 500,000 hulls of money and more than 20,000 stones of food."

“So many?”

Xiao Yinyin felt a little worried. She was afraid that Chai Shao would search the Xiao family and rob the money. If she had known that she would have transferred the gold and silver in advance.

Xiao Yanqin suggested: "The head of the family, while the Sui army has not crossed the river to attack, the city defense is not so tight. We can bribe the guards and leave the city by the water at night. There are still five ships in our mansion that can transport these gold and silver."

Xiao Yinyin nodded, "You can give 20,000 s of grain to Chai Shao. If you don't give the money, you will leave it in the treasury to save your life. In addition, all the children under the age of twelve in the Xiao family will follow the boat out of the city tonight. No matter what the high price is offered, you must leave the city tonight."

.........

At two o'clock that night, the south water gate of Jiangling City was the water gate of Jing River flowing out of the south city. Jing River crossed Jiangling City from north to south and finally flowed into the Yangtze River.

It was dark in the night. On the stone steps next to the water gate, more than a hundred patrol soldiers were holding torches and watching the five hundred stone cargo ships of the Xiao family sailed past them.

In the light of the fire, Yu Shouren, the guard of the city gate, stood on the steps tonight, staring at the five hundred stone ships coming from afar. Yu Shouren is also a native of Jiangling. After all, the Xiao family is the largest clan in Jiangling, and he cannot refuse this favor. More importantly, he accepted the two thousand taels of silver from the Xiao family and agreed to help.

Fortunately, the Sui army had not yet begun a large-scale attack, Jiangling City had not yet entered a state of combat readiness, and its defense was relatively relaxed, so he could take advantage of the opportunity. If he was two days later, he would not dare to let the Xiao family go out of the city privately.

At this time, Xiao Yanqin walked up from the shore with a carriage. Yu Shouren walked up and smiled and said, "What, Mr. Xiao isn't you worried about me doing things?"

"Where! Where!"

Xiao Yanqin ordered the coachman to move two large wooden boxes from the carriage. He pointed to the wooden boxes and smiled at Yu Shouren, "This is five thousand hang money. It is the Xiao family's intention to drink tea for the brothers."

Yu Shouren secretly praised the Xiao family for being a good person and thoughtful, and he could not pay for the soldiers himself to comfort them! In fact, this is the knowledge of giving gifts. Giving a heavy gift to the leader, and having to prepare some benefits for the specific clerks, so that things can be done successfully.

Yu Shouren smiled and said to the lieutenant next to him: "Take the money over and share it with the brothers tonight. Don't make things too difficult for the villagers in the country."

The captain was overjoyed and quickly led a few soldiers to carry the big money box, thinking that he would leave the largest portion for General Yu.

At this time, five ships slowly arrived, and the boat was filled with children, from two or three to eleven or two years old, both men and women, all of whom were children of the Xiao family, with about fifty or sixty people. They were led by Xiao Mao, the manager of the inner government, and followed five or six women to take care of the children.

Yu Shouren nodded secretly. The Xiao family was indeed very sensible. He actually thought of sending the young children away. No matter how fierce the war in Jiangling was, as long as the children were safe, the Xiao family would have hope of revitalization.

He waved his hand and said, "Open the city gate!"

The Shuicheng Railway Gate slowly pulled upwards, and five ships sailed out of the city gate, left Jiangling City, and headed towards the vast Yangtze River.

Xiao Yanqin watched the five ships leave the city, and waved his hand and said goodbye to the children of the Xiao family.

............

Yang Yuanqing planned a night of battle and did not go to bed until the third hour, but he didn't fall asleep for long. At about the fifth hour, a personal soldier woke him up outside the tent.

"Your Highness! Your Highness!"

Yang Yuanqing suddenly woke up from his sleep. Seeing that it was still dark outside the tent, he probably had something urgent to do, so he asked, "What's the matter?"

"The patrol found five ships on the south bank, which were ships from the Xiao family. It was said that the head of the Xiao family had a letter to send to His Highness, and there were a large group of children."

Yang Yuanqing was stunned, "Child?" He immediately reacted, smiled, and walked out of the tent quickly.

The Sui army's large tent was stationed close to the riverside. The tent of nearly 60,000 people was more than ten miles long. It was huge in scale. The tent was out of sight. The Sui army did not conduct enough defensive camping. There were no walls or spears and guns. It just sent thousands of patrols to patrol the surroundings.

It is basically certain that there will be no Tang army coming to attack. The Tang army can no longer cross the Yangtze River. Even if the Tang army comes from the east, Gong'an County will fire a beacon to report the news.

Yang Yuanqing followed the soldiers quickly to several large tents, and a man in his thirties paced back and forth anxiously outside the tent. A soldier reminded him, "His Royal Highness of Chu has arrived."

When he turned around, he saw a large group of soldiers surrounded by a general wearing a golden helmet and walked forward. He hurriedly stepped forward and knelt down, "Little Minuteman Xiao Mao kowtowed to His Highness the King of Chu!"

When Yang Yuanqing heard this name, he knew that he was of the same age as Xiao Xian. He smiled and nodded, "Please get up!"

A personal soldier helped Xiao Mao up, and Xiao Mao took out a letter and presented it to Yang Yuanqing, "This is a handwritten letter from the head of the family to His Highness. Please check it out."

Yang Yuanqing opened the letter and read it. It turned out that the Xiao family was willing to help the Sui army seize Jiangling City. He couldn't help but feel happy in his heart and asked, "How is your head now? I have seen her once in four years of Daye, but I haven't seen her for more than ten years."

"Thank you for your concern. The head of the family is fine. She is very grateful for your support to the Xiao family, which has led to the Xiao family as an important minister of the Sui Dynasty like Xiao Feng."

"Haha! This is the result of my own efforts."

When Yang Yuanqing turned around and saw that the tent was full of children, with forty or fifty people, and four or five women taking care of them, he smiled and said, "Are these children of the Xiao family?"

"Report to Your Highness, these are all children of the Xiao family. They are really afraid of the fierce war. Chai Shao's killings makes people angry and harms the civilians, so they transfer the children first and have some property. I beg your Highness to protect them."

Yang Yuanqing knew that this was actually because the Xiao family was afraid of the leak of helping the Sui army and was massacred by Chai Shao, so he transferred the child. He nodded, "I will arrange them properly, but the military camp is inconvenient. You can temporarily live on the logistics ship. Life there is a little more convenient. As for family property, you can bring the ship together."

Yang Yuanqing immediately ordered the soldiers to take them to the logistics ship to live. He looked at the east sky again, and there was a hint of blue light.

“When is it now?”

"Report to Your Highness, it's just the fifth update."

As soon as the soldiers finished speaking, the sound of rumbling war drums immediately sounded in the Sui army camp. This was the war drum for the expedition. Teams of soldiers ran out of the tent. The soldiers were sleeping with armor and could gather quickly. Today, the Sui army will officially cross the river to attack Jiangling City...

It was dawn, and hundreds of warships were loaded with Sui soldiers and began to sail towards the north bank of the Yangtze River, and the prelude to attack Jiangling City officially kicked off.

............
Chapter completed!