Dafeng Night Watchman

Chapter 662 - 662: Meeting of the Parties

Baisha County, Wengcheng.

Qi Guangbo, dressed in military uniform and scarlet cloak, stood in front of the Qingzhou map propped up on a stand, looking at it intently.

Behind him were the generals of the Yunzhou army camps. Ji Xuan, wearing armor and a sword on his waist, sat in the first seat on the left.

The generals looked relaxed. Although they remained silent, their eyebrows and eyes were full of joy.

In just three days, nine counties on the border of Qingzhou were eliminated, the first line of defense was completely defeated, and the army had a stable rear.

Qi Guangbo kept his eyes on the map and said lightly: "Everyone is in a good mood. We have won a great victory. Let's get drunk tonight."

The generals were stunned and looked at each other silently. No one responded.

Qi Guangbo instructed the deputy general beside him, saying:

"Tell me about the situation in the city."

The deputy general stood up, looked around at the generals at the table, and said in a deep voice:

"Before the Qingzhou defenders retreated, they burned the grain and grass in the granaries in the city. At the same time, a large number of quilts and cloth were burned together. In addition, the rich families, merchants, and wealthy families in the city had already evacuated in advance. Now there are only hungry poor people and refugees in Baisha County.

"The other nine counties are all like this."

"What?"

The generals were surprised.

The deputy general continued:

"Before this, the Qingzhou Governor's Office had ordered to fortify the walls and clear the fields. Nine out of ten villages outside the city were empty, and no food could be found."

Qi Guangbo, with his back to the crowd, sighed:

"What a Yang Gong, he was not good at commanding the army, but he was even more cruel to the people. Are you still in the mood to drink now? "

The generals were silent.

They had laid a defense line on the border of Qingzhou and had a backstop, but it was hard to say whether it was stable.

Ji Xuan pondered:

"Yang Gong did not intend to defend the nine counties on the border from the beginning. He evacuated the rich households in advance, leaving only refugees and poor people, intending to hand over this mess to us."

Qi Guangbo pointed at the map of Qingzhou and nodded:

"Qingzhou is thousands of miles long, and there is plenty of room for him to maneuver. Why should he defend the border? Now that the imperial court's reinforcements have not arrived, he chose to tangle with us instead of fighting to the death, which is the right approach.

"This move is to treat the enemy with his own way, and it is used brilliantly."

When attacking a city, you wish the other party's situation to be as bad as possible, and it is best to run out of ammunition and food, and refugees everywhere.

But once the city is occupied, the rebels have to maintain stability. If there is unrest in these places, it will hinder them.

Of course, if the purpose is only looting, these can be ignored, and at most everyone can be killed.

This situation only applies to foreign invasions. The Yunzhou rebels want to gather the hearts of the people and occupy the righteousness, so it is not easy to do so.

"He wants to use the poor and refugees to drag us down. Humph, it just so happens that the militiamen who attacked the city were almost killed or wounded this time. These are all excellent sources of soldiers."

A general said.

Any strategy has two sides.

Ji Xuan glanced at him and said:

"Yang Gong fortified the walls and cleared the fields, burned the food and grass, and did not leave us a grain of rice. The pressure on our side will increase exponentially. This is like cutting meat with a blunt knife, slowly consuming our foundation. Of course, we are not afraid."

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

The generals present are all smart people with rich experience, and it is not difficult to figure out this problem.

Qi Guangbo said calmly: "The national master has been preparing for many years and has a profound foundation. How can a small Qingzhou consume it? It is just right to use this to promote the reputation of our righteous master."

The generals smiled at each other.

Qi Guangbo said: "It is time for the monks and soldiers from the Western Regions to appear. I have sent someone to ask the national master for instructions."

......

Qingzhou Provincial Administration Office.

In the backyard, the round table in the hall was filled with delicacies. Lina and Xu Lingyin lay on the table and ate and drank.

The master and apprentice had the same face, puffed up like buns.

"I eat fish and bacon every day. I have to squat for a long time to go to the toilet." Lina said vulgar words without any psychological burden, even though she had delicate facial features.

There was a lack of fresh fruits and vegetables on the boat.

"Master, I can poop." Xu Lingyin announced loudly, saying that she was better than the master.

"Should we leave some for Brother Erlang?"

Lina said this, but she swallowed the food faster.

On the way to Qingzhou by boat, Xu Erlang's teacher Zhang Shen and Li Mubai came to him and brought their disciples to Qingzhou first.

Xu Erlang certainly couldn't let Lina and Lingyin stay on the boat, so they set off together.

"Erguo, Erguo is not hungry."

Xu Lingyin forced a definition for Xu Erlang.

"Not hungry, then there is nothing I can do....."

Lina said seriously.

The meeting room of the Provincial Administration Office.

Xu Erlang picked up the blue and white tea cup, took a sip of the boiling hot tea, and remained silent to listen.

At the head of the pearwood long table sat Yang Gong, the governor of Qingzhou, in a red robe. This Ziyang layman who was born in Yunlu Academy and famous in the Central Plains, had lost a lot of weight.

He hadn't slept for half a month, and his gaunt face could not hide his fatigue, but his eyes were still sharp and his spirit was still strong, as if he had endless power.

".....The current situation in Qingzhou is like this. The border has not been defended."

Yang Gong finished his long speech, picked up the teacup, moistened his throat, and turned his head to look at Zhang Shen:

"How do you think?"

Among the two classmates who came from thousands of miles away to serve as his staff, Zhang Shen majored in military strategy and was a talent that Yang Gong urgently needed.

Zhang Shen nodded and said:

"If it were me, I would not let those wealthy merchants and gentry leave. The rebels would definitely choose to fight to support the war. The day the city was broken would be the day when their families were destroyed.

"If you don't want your family to be destroyed, then help defend the city to the death. This will greatly consume the rebels' troops. However, this is when the court has reinforcements. Ziqian, your compromise is good. "

As he said, he looked at his favorite disciple, tested him, and smiled:

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

The Qingzhou prefect, the commander-in-chief, the judicial commissioner, and their civil servants and military officers all looked over.

Xu Xinnian was not afraid of the stage. He straightened his back and slowly swept his eyes over the crowd:

"I think that how long Qingzhou can be defended and how to defend it, first of all, you gentlemen should understand three points.

"One: Yunzhou's environment!

"Yunzhou has a humid and warm climate, fertile land, and every household has surplus food. It is backed by the vast ocean and has countless salt fields. In the past twenty years, the rebels have secretly eroded the imperial court's water transport office and secretly transported countless iron mines. There is no shortage of salt, iron and grain.

"In such a rich place, Yang Buzhengshi wants to use refugees and poor people to drag down the other side, but it is just a drop in the bucket."

"Then according to Lord Xu, Yang Buzhengshi's strategy is inappropriate?" The Qingzhou prefect frowned.

Xu Xinnian shook his head: "Yang Buzhengshi's strategy is naturally not wrong, but the focus should be changed. Don't think about dragging them down, but fight to kill their elite."

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

"We are back to Yunzhou. Do you remember Yunzhou's nickname?

"Bandit State!"

"Since Emperor Gaozu, Yunzhou has been occupied by the rebels of the previous dynasty, turning into mountain bandits and causing trouble. For six hundred years, the bandit problem in Yunzhou has never been solved.

"Do you remember how many people there were in Yunzhou when the Yellow Book was remade last time?"

The officials looked at each other, and no one knew.

They were officials of Qingzhou. How could they know about Yunzhou's affairs?

Yang Gong tapped the table with his fingers, glanced at the officials with some dissatisfaction, and said slowly:

"The last time was in the 30th year of Yuanjing, when Yunzhou recorded 830,000 households and a population of about 3.5 million. "

This is the data from eight years ago.

Xu Erlang bowed his hands and continued calmly:

"If I remember correctly, every time the Yellow Book was remade, the population of Yunzhou was sharply reduced. This is the price of rampant banditry."

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

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

"The lack of elite soldiers is the biggest flaw of the rebel party. Regardless of the cost, try to fight their elites as much as possible, this is what we have to do."

"Makes sense!" Everyone nodded slowly.

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

Xu Xinnian stretched out two fingers and said:

"Two: Combat power!

"The combat power of the extraordinary realm is a factor that cannot be ignored in a war. Sometimes, an extraordinary strongman can even turn the tide of a conventional battle."

The reason why he used "conventional" battles is because there are super-large battles in this world, such as the Battle of Shanhaiguan.

In a war that swept across all the major forces in Kyushu, it is difficult for an extraordinary strongman to turn the tide of the war. It is not that the extraordinary is not strong enough, but that there are too many extraordinary masters entering the field, which is not surprising.

Of course, if it is a super-grade or a first-grade warrior, it is another matter.

Li Mubai suddenly asked, "Who is the enemy commander?"

Yang Gong said, "His surname is Qi, his name is Guangbo, and he is an unknown person."

Zhang Shen raised his eyebrows, "An unknown person commanding three armies?"

Yang Gong said slowly, "Being unknown does not mean he has no talent. On the contrary, this person is extremely powerful. He sent troops to drive away the refugees, and then let the masters mix in with the refugees to paralyze the defenders and easily approach the city wall. Huangling County on the border was caught off guard in this way, and the city was broken after only one day."

Zhang Shen sneered, "The generals defending the city are kind-hearted. If you are soft and allow refugees to approach, you should be killed!"

Qingzhou Commander Zhou Mi sighed and said, "He has died in the line of duty."

Li Mubai said, "That is, we don't know whether this commander is in the extraordinary realm for the time being."

Yang Gong said, "Hmm":

"Except for the Bodhisattva Jialuoshu and Xu Pingfeng who are responsible for restraining the supervisor, there are no extraordinary realms among the rebels for the time being. However, it is very likely that they are hiding and have not come forward."

As a fourth-rank master of Confucianism and a great scholar with a reputation in the Central Plains, Yang Gong has no obvious defects and shortcomings in terms of talent and character.

He will not be arrogant and underestimate the enemy.

"The court is also not short of extraordinary masters." Xu Xinnian said.

At this moment, the first person that flashed through the minds of the officials was not Sun Xuanji of the Sitianjian, but Xu Qian'an, whose reputation was like boiling oil on fire.

"The third point is reinforcements!"

Xu Xinnian's face was solemn: "I mean reinforcements from both sides. Buddhism and the Yunzhou rebels have already colluded, so the armies of the Western Regions will sooner or later invade the border."

"Once the court is forced to fight on two fronts, the reinforcements and military supplies that Qingzhou can get will be greatly reduced. On the other hand, the Yunzhou rebels will be even more powerful. This is also related to the second point of combat power."

The atmosphere in the meeting hall was solemn, and everyone frowned secretly, with worries hidden in their eyes.

The Yunzhou rebels are coming fiercely, and refugees from all over the Central Plains are a disaster. It is difficult for Qingzhou to stop the rebels.

Now it is facing the invasion of the Western Regions. The court will definitely not be able to take Qingzhou into consideration under the two-front war, because the strength of Buddhism is well known.

There may even be a situation where Qingzhou is still holding on and fighting hard, and the Western Regions army hits the capital.

"It would be great if the armies of the Western Regions dared not invade the border." The Qingzhou prefect sighed.

It's a fool's dream... Commander Zhou, a military commander, sneered in his heart. If Duke Wei were alive, he might make the Buddhist sect afraid and not dare to start a war.

Who can make the Buddhist sect afraid in Dafeng now?

Even the Buddhist sect is not afraid, because this giant that dominates the Western Regions has no shortage of top masters.

But there are only a handful of rare generals like Wei Yuan in Jiuzhou.

"This is a dead end!"

Li Mubai, who is good at chess, shook his head slowly: "We can't contain the Buddhist sect. It is inevitable that the Buddhist sect will march eastward."

Yang Gong slowly exhaled: "Therefore, what we have to do is to risk our lives and try our best to kill the elite of the rebels. The rest of the matter will be left to you gentlemen to deal with."

It's really helpless.

"As soon as Duke Wei died, the rebels in Yunzhou raised their troops to rebel. The Buddhist sect in the Western Regions bullied us because we had no one in the Central Plains, tore up the covenant, and turned against us. We were helpless..." The prefect of Qingzhou was heartbroken.

Xu Xinnian was silent. The Buddhist sect in the Western Regions was strong, with many soldiers and generals, and there was an Arhat Bodhisattva sitting in Alanta. Such a huge monster could not be controlled by conspiracy and tricks.

At this time, he suddenly saw two more people in the corner of the meeting room. One of them was wearing white clothes, with ordinary looks, temperament, and height. The other one had a thunder mouth, ugly facial features like a monkey, and clear blue eyes, as if he could see through people's hearts.

"Brother Sun, why are you here?"

Xu Xinnian was shocked.

He knew this second disciple of the Supervisor.

When did he come... Yang Gong and others were stunned, and they all looked sideways and turned their heads to look.

Yuan Hufa glanced at the crowd and said:

"Their hearts told me: Who is this? Why is he here? Sun Xuanji? Are there no normal disciples of the Supervisor?"

After saying this, Yuan Hufa was shocked and quickly distanced himself from the matter, pointing at Xu Xinnian and saying:

"He said the last sentence."

Xu Xinnian: "!!!"