“My lord, shall I introduce you to these two young ladies?”
“My lord!”
Just as Shao Bowen was about to continue joking with Han Mo, Jiang Yan’s voice suddenly came from outside the door again.
“Apologies, everyone. Han will be right back!”
Although Jiang Yan was part of the Zhe family, he was never muddled on important matters. Especially with outsiders present, he would never show disrespect to Han Mo over trivial issues.
Upon hearing his voice, Han Mo immediately cupped his hands to Shao Bowen and the three famous courtesans, then opened the door and walked out.
“What happened?”
“Young Master, the Qian family just sent someone with a letter. It’s urgent and requires your immediate attention!”
As Jiang Yan spoke, he quickly took a letter out of his sleeve and handed it to Han Mo.
“A letter?”
Hearing Jiang Yan’s words, Han Mo’s brow furrowed.
Seeing the words “For Brother Han’s eyes only” on the envelope, Han Mo immediately understood that this must be Qian Lang’s doing.
After opening the envelope and reading the contents, the slight smile on Han Mo’s lips instantly vanished.
“Leave someone here to settle the bill, and leave the carriage too. We’re leaving!”
“Young Master, what about Mr. Shao…”
“With the scene here getting so big, if we both leave, won’t it cause a huge stir tomorrow morning?” Han Mo frowned and lowered his voice.
“Understood!”
After responding, Han Mo took Jiang Yan and slipped out through the back door.
“My lord, where are we going? This isn’t the direction of the post station…” As they walked further away from Drunken Red Chamber, Jiang Yan quickly lowered his voice and asked.
“Go ahead and prepare the carriage. We’re heading to the military camp outside the city immediately!”
“Understood!”
Hearing Han Mo’s words, Jiang Yan dared not ask further.
If there wasn’t something of utmost urgency, why would Han Mo rush him to the military camp outside the city in the middle of the night?
Hurriedly, after hiring a carriage from the market ahead, the two of them headed straight for the military camp outside the city.
“Brother Han? Did something happen?” Hearing that Han Mo had arrived, Wang Bing, who had already gone to bed, quickly put on his armor and rushed out.
“This is the news I just received. Read it before you say anything!” Han Mo said, then handed Qian Lang’s letter to him.
“Lü Shi Nang, Qiu Ri Xin, raising an army of thirty thousand and heading straight for Mingzhou!” After reading the letter, fine beads of sweat appeared on Wang Bing’s forehead.
“Is this news reliable?” After taking several deep breaths, he quickly asked again.
“Read it carefully. This is the private seal of the Qian household!” Although Han Mo didn’t answer his question, he pointed out the source of the news.
“I will immediately mobilize the soldiers to prepare for the city’s defense!” After taking a deep breath, Wang Bing immediately said.
“It’s late tonight. If you mobilize the main army into the city at this time, it might cause unnecessary unrest. It’s better to enter the city tomorrow morning! However, the preparations must begin now!”
Neither Han Mo nor Wang Bing had any doubts about the authenticity of the intelligence at this moment. After all, in the Liangzhe Circuit, the Qian family’s hidden influence was unmatched.
“Other problems are easily solved, but this matter of military equipment…” When Wang Bing said this, his face immediately showed a troubled expression.
“Did you not send people to inventory the arsenal at the prefectural yamen?” Hearing him say this, Han Mo asked with a frown.
“People were sent, but you understand how things work in official circles…” Wang Bing was left with a bitter smile.
Han Mo himself had been a county magistrate and naturally understood the complexities within local government offices. The Great Song Dynasty had enjoyed decades of peace, especially in the southeast, which had seen no wars for almost a hundred years. Even in places like Hebei, the arsenals of local prefectures were generally deficient by thirty to fifty percent, let alone those in the southeast. After all, as long as there was no war, no one would meticulously check the arsenals. Therefore, during times of peace, the arsenals were essentially the personal treasuries of local officials. According to the current official atmosphere, if there were no wars, this unspoken rule would not be deliberately broken, unless political rivals needed to attack their opponents. However, the problem was that fire could not be wrapped in paper forever. Now that the enemy was at their doorstep, they could no longer conceal it even if they wanted to.
“How much is missing?” Han Mo asked after taking a deep breath.
“Although it hasn’t been thoroughly inspected, according to my estimation, at least seventy percent is missing…”
“What did you say?” Han Mo’s head buzzed. Wasn’t this a joke? The army of the Great Song Dynasty was indeed skilled in defending cities, but that was on the premise of having sufficient supplies! With an arsenal that was seventy percent depleted and the few thousand men they had, how could they defend the vast city of Mingzhou!
“This is just a preliminary estimate, and the situation might be even more serious than I imagined.” Wang Bing felt quite ashamed as he said this.
“Brother Wang, Brother Wang, what can I say? This is a matter of losing your head! How could you dare to cover for them!” Han Mo said, his whole body trembling with anger. At this moment, he truly didn’t know what to say to Wang Bing.
“But this has already happened, and now…”
“Immediately assemble a squad of soldiers. I will personally lead them to investigate!” After a brief silence, Han Mo finally spoke again.
“But the prefectural yamen…”
“If Li Yueyang dares to obstruct me again, does my sword not dare to kill?” Han Mo’s murderous words made Wang Bing tremble. He then remembered that the person standing in front of him was not a weak scholar, but someone who had once won an archery contest against a Jin envoy!
“I’ll go get the men now!”
“I’ll leave the matters outside the city to you. As soon as day breaks, send people into the city. The matters concerning the arsenal will be decided after my investigation is complete!”
“Understood!”
He had originally intended to discuss defensive strategies with Wang Bing, but now he had heard this shocking bad news. This made Han Mo lament that, as always, good fortunes never come singly, and misfortunes never happen alone. At this moment, he could only hope that the scoundrel Li Yueyang’s appetite was not so big in the past…