Nightwatcher Chapter 24: Discussion

Baisha County, Wengcheng.

Qi Guangbo, dressed in a military uniform and a scarlet cloak, stood in front of the Qingzhou map supported on a shelf, watching intently.

Behind him were the generals of the Yunzhou Army battalions. Ji Xuan was wearing armor and a war sword at the waist and hips, sitting in the first place on the left.

The generals looked relaxed. Although they remained quiet, there was joy in their eyebrows.

In just three days, the nine counties on the border of Qingzhou were removed and the first line of defense was completely defeated, giving the army a solid backing.

Qi Guangbo kept his eyes on the map, and said lightly: "You are in a good mood, you are in a good mood, you might as well get drunk tonight..."

The generals were taken aback for a moment, silently looking at each other, no one said anything.

Qi Guangbo ordered the lieutenant beside him, saying:

"Talk about the situation in the city."

The lieutenant stood up, looked around the table and said in a deep voice:

"Before the Qingzhou defenders retreated, they burned the grain and grass in the granaries in various places in the city. At the same time, they burned a large number of quilts and cloths together. In addition, the wealthy households, merchants, and wealthy families in the city had already withdrawn early. In Baisha County, there are only hungry poor people and refugees.

"The other nine counties are all like this."

"What?"

The generals were taken aback.

The lieutenant continued:

"Before this, the Qingzhou chief ambassador's yamen had already ordered the walls to clear the fields, and the villages outside the city, with ten rooms and nine empty spaces, could not find any food."

Qi Guangbo, who turned his back to everyone, said with emotion:

"What a good Yang Gong, who is not in charge of the army, he did not expect him to be more cruel to the people. Are you still in the mood to drink?"

The generals were silent.

They have laid down the Qingzhou border defense line and have a back game, but it is hard to say whether they are stable.

Ji Xuan pondered:

"Yang Gong did not intend to defend the nine counties and counties on the border in the first place. He evacuated the rich in advance, leaving only the displaced and the poor. He planned to give us this mess."

Qi Guangbo pointed his finger on the map of Qingzhou and nodded:

"Qingzhou stretches for thousands of miles, and there is some space for him to move around. Why do you want to stick to the border? Now that the court reinforcements have not arrived, he chose to entangle us instead of fighting for death. This is the correct way.

"This trick is a great way to treat the human body in the same way."

When siege the city, I can’t wait for the worse the other party’s situation, the better, it’s best to run out of ammunition and food, and vagrants everywhere.

But once the city has been occupied, all the rebels have to do is to maintain stability. If riots occur in these places, they will be hindered.

Of course, if only for the purpose of plundering, these can be ignored, and it is a big deal to kill all the people.

This situation only applies when foreigners invade. Yunzhou rebels want to gather the hearts of the people and occupy the righteousness, so it is difficult to do so.

"He wanted to use the poor and the refugees to drag us down, huh, just this time the siege militia was killed and wounded. These are excellent sources of troops."

A general said.

Any strategy has two sides.

Ji Xuan glanced at him and said:

"Yang Gongjian cleared the wilderness, burned grain and grass, and did not leave us with a grain of rice. Our pressure will be doubled. This is cutting meat with a dull knife and slowly consuming our heritage. Of course, we are not afraid. That's it."

Yang Gong's purpose is obvious, to weaken the strength of the rebels as much as possible in Qingzhou.

The generals here are all smart and experienced. It is not difficult to figure this out.

Qi Guangbo said indifferently: "The national teacher has been prepared for many years and has a profound background. Can Xiao Qingzhou be able to consume it? It can be used to promote the reputation of my righteous teacher."

The generals smiled at each other.

Qi Guangbo said: "It's time for the monks and soldiers of the Western Regions to appear. I have sent someone to ask the national teacher for advice."

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

Qingzhou chief ambassador.

In the backyard, the round table in the hall is full of delicacies, and Lina and Xu Lingyin lie on the table to eat and drink.

The faces of the master and apprentice are the same, bulging into buns.

"Eating fish and bacon every day, I have to squat for a long time when I go to the latrine." Lina said vulgar words without any psychological burden, despite her delicate features.

There is a lack of fresh fruits and vegetables on board.

"Master, I can poop." Xu Lingyin announced loudly, saying that he is better than Master.

"Should we save some for Brother Erlang?"

Lina said so, swallowing food faster.

On the way to Qingzhou by boat, Xu Erlang's mentor Zhang Shen and Li Mubai came to the door and brought his disciples to Qingzhou first.

Of course Xu Erlang couldn't let Lina and Lingyin stay on the boat, so they went on the road together.

"Two pots, two pots are not hungry."

Xu Lingyin forced Xu Erlang to define.

"If you are not hungry, there is no way........"

Lina said seriously.

The Council Chamber of the Chief Executive.

Xu Erlang picked up the blue and white tea cup, took a sip of the hot tea, and kept silent and listened.

The first place on the long pear wood table is Yang Gong, the governor of Qingzhou sitting in a scarlet robe. The layman Ziyang, who was born in Yunlu Academy and has a well-known literary name in the Central Plains, has lost a lot of weight.

He hasn't slept for half a decade, and his clear face can't hide his fatigue, but his eyes are still sharp, and his spirit is still strong, as if he has endless power.

"...The situation in Qingzhou is like this at present, the border has not been maintained."

Yang Gong finished his long speech, picked up the tea cup, moistened his throat, and looked sideways at Zhang Shen:

"How about your words?"

Among the two classmates who came all the way to serve as aides, Zhang Shen majored in the art of war, a talent that Yang Gong needed urgently.

Zhang Shen nodded:

"If it were me, I would not let those wealthy merchants, squires and prominent families leave. The rebels would definitely choose to use war to support the war. The day the city breaks is the time when their family is destroyed.

"If you don’t want your family to be destroyed, you can help to defend the city, so as to greatly consume the rebel forces. However, this is when the court has reinforcements. Ziqian, you are a compromise. Not bad."

Speaking, he looked at his complacent disciple, with a heart to test school, and smiled:

"Farewell, you come to analyze the situation in Qingzhou for you."

The prefects of Qingzhou, all commanders, punishment and prosecutors, and their civilian officials and military commanders all looked at it.

Xu Xinnian is not stage fright, he straightened his back, his eyes slowly sweeping across the crowd:

"This official believes that for how long Qingzhou can be kept and how to keep it, first of all, adults should understand three points.

"One: Yunzhou's environment!

"The climate in Yunzhou is humid and warm, the land is fertile, and every household has surplus grain; and backed by the ocean, there are countless salt fields; in the past two decades, the rebellious party has secretly eroded the imperial court's water transportation yamen and secretly transferred countless iron ore. Salt, iron and grain. No shortage.

"In such a rich and prosperous place, Chief Minister Yang wanted to use the refugees and the poor to drag down each other, and it was nothing but a drop in the bucket."

"Then Chief Minister Yang's strategy is not appropriate according to Mr. Xu's intention?" Qingzhou prefect frowned.

Xu Xinnian shook his head: "The strategy of Chief Yang, the political envoy of Yang, will not go wrong, but the focus must be changed. Don't think about dragging them down, but instead lose their talents."

He looked at the map of Qingzhou and Yunzhou on the wall behind Yang Gong, and said in a deep voice:

"We are back to Yunzhou, do you remember the nickname for Yunzhou?

"Bandit State!

"Since the Emperor Gaozu, Yunzhou has been occupied by the rebellious party in the previous dynasty, and turned into a mountain bandit. This is a disaster. For six hundred years, the problem of banditry in Yunzhou has not been resolved.

"Masters, can you still remember how many people were there in Yunzhou when the Yellow Book was recreated last time?"

The officials looked at each other, no one knew.

They are officials of Qingzhou. How could they know about Yunzhou?

Yang Gong tapped his finger on the tabletop, swept across the officials with some dissatisfaction, and said slowly:

"The last time was in the 30th year of Yuanjing. There were 830,000 registered households in Yunzhou, with a population of about 3.5 million."

This is data from eight years ago.

Xu Erlang arched his hands and continued calmly:

"If I remember correctly, every time the Yellow Book is recreated, the population of Yunzhou has dropped sharply. This is the price of banditry."

At this time, the officials already understood what he wanted to say.

"The population limits the number of their troops. In addition, in the past few decades, training and raising soldiers have been carried out secretly." Xu Erlang tapped his fist on the table lightly, and his voice was loud:

"The shortcomings of elite soldiers are the biggest weakness of the rebellious party. Regardless of all costs, try to use their elite as much as possible. This is what we have to do."

"Reasonable!" Everyone nodded slowly.

Zhang Shen Yang Gong and Li Mubai looked at each other and smiled.

Xu Xinnian stretched out **** and said:

"Two: Combat Power!

"The combat power of the transcendental realm is a factor that cannot be ignored in a war. Sometimes, a transcendent powerhouse can even reverse the victory or defeat in a conventional battle."

The reason why he used "regular" battles is because there are huge battles in the world, such as the battle of Shanhaiguan.

The kind of war that swept through the major forces in Kyushu, it is difficult for an extraordinary power to turn the tide of the battle. It is not that the extraordinary is not strong enough, but that there are too many extraordinary masters in the game, it is not uncommon.

Of course, it's another matter if it's a super-grade or a first-grade martial artist.

Li Mubai asked suddenly: "Who is the enemy coach?"

Yang Gong said: "The last name is Qi, the first name is Guang Bo, an unknown person."

Zhang Shen raised his eyebrows: "An unknown person is commanding the three armies?"

Yang Gong slowly said: "Anonymity does not mean incompetence. On the contrary, this person is extremely powerful. He sent troops to drive away the refugees, and then let the masters confuse the refugees to paralyze the defenders, and easily approach the city wall. Huangling in the border. The county was caught flat-footed just like this, and the city was broken after only insisting on a day."

Zhang Shen sneered and said: "The generals who defend the city are kind, let the refugees approach, and be punished!"

Qingzhou Commander Zhou Mi sighed: "I have died in the line."

Li Mubai said: "That is, for the time being, I don't know whether this coach is a transcendent state."

Yang Gong said with an "um":

"Except for the Jialuoshu Bodhisattva and Xu Pingfeng who are responsible for the containment of the supervision, there is no transcendent state among the rebels for the time being. However, it is most likely hidden and did not come forward."

As a four-rank master of Confucianism and a great Confucian whose literary name is well-known in the Central Plains, Yang Gong has no obvious shortcomings and shortcomings in talent and character.

The arrogance and underestimation of the enemy will not happen to him.

"The imperial court also has no shortage of extraordinary masters." Xu Xinnian said.

At this moment, what flashed in the minds of the officials for the first time was not the Sun Xuanji of Sitianjian, but the Xu Qi'an, who had a reputation as a raging fire.

"The third point is reinforcements!"

Xu Xinnian's face is solemn: "This official means the reinforcements of both sides. Buddhism and the Yunzhou rebellious party are already in collusion, then the troops of the Western Regions will invade the border sooner or later."

"Once the court is forced to fight on two fronts, Qingzhou's available reinforcements and military needs will be greatly reduced. On the other hand, the Yunzhou rebels will be even more powerful. This is also related to the second issue of combat power."

The atmosphere in the chamber was solemn, and everyone frowned secretly, with worry hidden in their eyes.

The rebels in Yunzhou are coming fiercely, and the refugees in various parts of the Central Plains are in disaster. It is difficult for Qingzhou to stop the rebels.

Now we are facing the invasion of the Western Regions. Under the two-line battle of the court, Qingzhou will definitely not be able to take care of it, because the power of Buddhism is well known.

There may even be situations in which Qingzhou is still fighting hard, and the Western Regions troops hit the capital.

"It would be great if the troops of the Western Regions could not dare to invade the border." Qingzhou prefect said with emotion.

The idiot talks about dreams...As a military commander, Commander Zhou laughed in his heart. If Wei Gong were alive, he might make Buddhism jealous and dare not go to war.

Now Dafeng, who can make Buddhism jealous?

Even the Buddhist monk is not afraid, because this behemoth dominating the Western Regions has no shortage of top masters.

But there are only a handful of handsome talents like Wei Yuan in the world.

"This is a dead end!"

Li Mubai, who is good at chess, slowly shook his head: "We can't contain Buddhism~IndoMTL.com~It is inevitable that Buddhism will move eastward."

Yang Gong let out a sigh of relief: "Therefore, what I am waiting to do is to sacrifice my life and try to fight off the elite of the rebels. The rest will be handled by the public. ."

It's helpless.

"As soon as Wei Gong died, the Yunzhou rebellious party rebelled. The Buddhism of the Western Regions deceived me, no one in the Central Plains, tore up the covenant, and turned to each other. I have no choice but to wait..." The Qingzhou prefecture was heartbroken.

Xu New Year is silent, the Buddhist monasteries of the Western Regions are strong, with many soldiers, and the Arhat Bodhisattva sits in Alando. Such giants cannot be controlled by conspiracy and trickery.

At this moment, he suddenly saw two more people in the corner of the chamber, one of them dressed in white, with ordinary looks, temperament, and height. The other person's Lei Gong's mouth has ugly features like a monkey, and his eyes are blue and clear, as if he can see through people's hearts.

"Brother Sun, why are you here?"

Xu Xinnian was taken aback.

He knew the second disciple of the supervisor.

When did he come..... Yang Gong and others were shocked, and they turned their heads to look at.

Human Yuan glanced at the crowd, and then said:

"Their hearts tell me: Who is this? Why is he here? Sun Xuanji? Isn't any of Jianzheng's disciples normal?"

After Yuan Hufa finished speaking, he was taken aback, and quickly dismissed the relationship, pointing to Xu Xinnian and said:

"He said the last sentence."

Xu New Year: "!!!"

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