Nightwatcher

Baisha County, Urn City.

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

Behind him are the generals of each battalion of the Yunzhou Army. Ji Xuan is wearing armor, with a sword in his waist and hips, sitting first on the left. .

The generals looked relaxed, and although they remained silent, there was joy in their brows and eyes.

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

Qi Guangbo kept his eyes on the map, and said calmly: "Everyone is in a good mood, you have achieved a great victory, you might as well get drunk tonight."

All the generals were taken aback for a moment, they looked at each other silently, and no one spoke up.

Qi Guangbo instructed the lieutenants beside him, saying:

"Tell me about the situation in the city."

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

"Before the Qingzhou garrison 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 cloth. In addition, the wealthy households, merchants, and wealthy families in the city have already withdrawn in advance. Now Baisha County , only hungry poor people and refugees.

"The same is true for the other nine counties."

"What?"

The generals were taken aback.

The deputy continued:

"Prior to this, the chief envoy of Qingzhou had already ordered the walls to be fortified and the fields cleared. The villages outside the city were empty, and there was less than a grain of food."

With his back to everyone, Qi Guangbo said with emotion:

"What a Yang Gong, Ci doesn't command soldiers, I didn't expect him to be more ruthless to the people. Are you still in the mood to drink now?"

The generals fell silent.

They have laid down the Qingzhou border defense line and have a backcourt, but whether it is stable or not is hard to say.

Ji Xuan pondered and said:

"Yang Gong didn't plan to stick to the nine counties on the border from the beginning. He evacuated the rich households ahead of time, leaving only refugees and poor people. He planned to hand over this mess to us."

Qi Guangbo pointed to the map of Qingzhou, nodded and said:

"Qingzhou is thousands of miles across, and there is plenty of space for him to move around. Why should he stick to the border? Now that the imperial court reinforcements have not arrived, he chooses to entangle with us instead of fighting to the death. It is the right thing to do.

"This move treats the person's body in the same way as the person, and it is wonderful."

When attacking a city and pulling out a stronghold, one wished that the opponent's situation would be as bad as possible.

But once the city is occupied, what the rebels have to do is to maintain stability. If there are riots in these places, it will become a burden instead.

Of course, if the purpose is only looting, these can be ignored, and the worst is to kill all the people.

This situation is suitable for foreign aggression, but the rebels in Yunzhou want to gather the hearts of the people and occupy the righteousness, so it is not easy to do so.

"He wants to use poor people and refugees to wear us down. Hmph, it just so happens that the militiamen who attacked the city were killed and injured. These are excellent sources of soldiers."

said one general.

Any strategy has two sides.

Ji Xuan glanced at him and said:

"Yang Gong insisted on clearing the fields, burning food and grass, and not leaving us a grain of rice. The pressure on our side will multiply. This is cutting flesh with a blunt knife and slowly consuming our heritage."

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

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

Ji Xuan smiled immediately: "However, he underestimated us."

Qi Guangbo said indifferently: "The national division has been prepared for many years and has a profound foundation. How can the little Qingzhou run out of energy? It just happens to be able to recruit soldiers to give porridge, so as to promote the name of our volunteer teachers."

The generals looked at each other and smiled.

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

Qingzhou chief envoy.

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

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

"I eat fish and bacon every day, and 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 exquisite facial features.

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

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

"Shall we save some for Brother Erlang?"

Lina said so, but the speed of swallowing food became faster.

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

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

"Erguo, Erguo is not hungry."

Xu Lingyin forcibly defined Xu Erlang.

"If you're not hungry, then there's nothing you can do."

Lina said seriously.

The Chamber of Chief Envoys.

Xu Erlang picked up the blue and white teacup, took a sip of the scalding tea, and listened in silence.

At the head of the long table made of pear blossoms, sat Qingzhou chief envoy Yang Gong in a scarlet robe. This Ziyang layman who was born in Yunlu Academy and had a well-known literary name in the Central Plains had lost a lot of weight.

He hadn't slept for half a day, and his pale face couldn't 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."

After Yang Gong finished his long speech, he picked up the teacup, moistened his throat, and looked sideways at Zhang Shen:

"How do you feel about it?"

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

Zhang Shen nodded and said:

"If it were me, I wouldn't let those merchants, wealthy households, and gentry families leave. The rebel army would definitely choose to support war with war. The day they break the city, their family will be ruined.

"If you don't want your family to be destroyed, then help defend the city, so that the rebel army can be consumed as much as possible. However, this is when the imperial court has reinforcements. Ziqian, you have done a good job in making a compromise."

As he said that, he looked at his proud disciple, thinking about the exam, and said with a smile:

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

The prefect of Qingzhou, the commanding envoy of the capital, the procuratorial envoy for the punishment, as well as the civilian officials and generals under their command all came to watch.

Xu Xinian was not stage-frightened. He straightened his back and slowly swept his eyes across the crowd:

"This official believes that how long Qingzhou can defend and how to defend it, first of all, you adults must understand three points.

"One: The environment of Yunzhou!

"The climate in Yunzhou is humid and warm, the land is fertile, and every household has surplus food; and it is backed by the vast ocean, with countless salt fields; in the past twenty years, the rebel party has secretly eroded the court's water transportation yamen, and secretly transferred countless iron ores. There is no shortage of salt, iron, and grain. .

"In such a rich place, Governor Yang wants to use the refugees and the poor to drag the opponent down, it's just a drop in the bucket."

"According to Master Xu, the strategy of Yang Buzheng is not appropriate?" The prefect of Qingzhou frowned.

Xu Nian shook his head: "Emissary Yang Bu's strategy will certainly not go wrong, but the focus must be changed. Don't think about dragging them down, but fighting for their elite."

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

"We returned to Yunzhou, do you still remember the other name of Yunzhou?

"Bandit state!

"Since Emperor Gaozu, Yunzhou was occupied by the rebels of the previous dynasty, who turned into bandits and caused disasters. For six hundred years, the banditry in Yunzhou has never been resolved.

"My lords, do you still remember how many people there were in Yunzhou when the yellow book was recreated last time?"

The officials looked at each other in blank dismay, but no one knew.

They are officials in Qingzhou, how could they know about Yunzhou's affairs.

Yang Gong tapped his finger on the table, 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 with a calm expression:

"If I remember correctly, every time the yellow book is remade, the population of Yunzhou is decreasing sharply. 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 the past few decades, training and raising troops have been carried out secretly." Xu Erlang tapped his fist lightly on the table, and his voice resounded loudly:

"The lack of elite soldiers is the biggest weakness of the rebellious party. Regardless of all costs, try to fight off their elite soldiers. This is what we have to do."

"That makes sense!" Everyone nodded slowly.

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

Xu Nian stretched out two fingers and said:

"Two: combat power!

"The combat power of the Transcendent Realm is a factor that cannot be ignored in a war. Sometimes, an extraordinary strongman can even reverse the outcome of a conventional battle."

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

In the kind of war that swept across the major forces in Kyushu, it was difficult for an extraordinary power to turn the tide of the battle. It was not that extraordinary was not strong enough, but that there were too many extraordinary masters entering the field, so it was not unusual.

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

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

Yang Gong said: "surnamed Qi, named Guangbo, an unknown person."

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

Yang Gong said slowly: "No name does not mean no talent. On the contrary, this person is extremely powerful. He sent troops to drive away the refugees, and then let the masters mix among the refugees to paralyze the defenders, and easily approached the city wall. Huangling County in the border is I was caught off guard like this, and I was broken into the city after only persisting for a day."

Zhang Shen sneered and said, "The generals guarding the city are merciless and let the refugees approach, they should be punished!"

Zhou Mi, commander of the Qingzhou capital, sighed, "I've already died in the line of duty."

Li Mubai said: "That is to say, I don't know whether this coach is in the Transcendent Realm."

Yang Gong gave a "hmm":

"Except for the Jialuoshu Bodhisattva and Xu Pingfeng who are in charge of restraining the supervisor, there is no Transcendent Realm in the rebel army for the time being. However, it is very likely that they are hiding and did not show up."

As a Confucian master of the fourth grade and a great Confucian whose literary name is well-known in the Central Plains, Yang Gong has no obvious flaws or shortcomings in terms of talent and character.

The situation of arrogance and underestimation of the enemy will not appear on him.

"The imperial court also has no shortage of extraordinary experts." Xu Xinian said.

At this moment, the first thing that flashed in the minds of all the officials was not Sun Xuanji of Si Tianjian, but Xu Qi'an whose reputation was like burning oil.

"The third point is reinforcements!"

Xu Nian's face was solemn: "What I mean is reinforcements from both sides. The Buddhism and the Yunzhou rebels have colluded, so the troops from the Western Regions will invade the border sooner or later."

"Once the imperial court is forced to fight on two fronts, the reinforcements and military supplies that Qingzhou can receive will be greatly reduced. On the other hand, the rebels in Yunzhou 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 worry hidden in their eyes.

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

Now facing the invasion of the countries of the Western Regions, the imperial court must not be able to take Qingzhou into consideration under the two-front battle.

With the strength of Buddhism, there may even be a situation where Qingzhou is still holding on and fighting hard, and the troops from the Western Regions have reached the capital.

"It would be great if the armies of the countries in the Western Regions would not dare to invade the border." The prefect of Qingzhou said with emotion.

The idiot said that Commander Zhou, who is a military general, sneered in his heart. If Wei Gong was alive, maybe the Buddhist sect would be afraid and would not dare to start a war rashly.

Now that Dafeng is being practiced, who can make Buddhism afraid?

Even Jianzheng Buddhism is not afraid, because this behemoth that dominates the Western Regions has no shortage of top masters.

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

"This is a dead end!"

Li Mubai, who is good at chess, slowly shook his head: "It is impossible for us to contain the Buddhist sect, and it is inevitable for the Buddhist sect to advance eastward."

Yang Gong let out a breath slowly: "Therefore, what I have to do is to risk my life and fight off the elite of the rebel army as much as possible. Let the rest of the matter be handled by the princes."

It is helpless.

"As soon as Wei Gong died, the rebellious party in Yunzhou raised troops to rebel. The Buddhists in the Western Regions deceived me and no one in the Central Plains, tore up the covenant, and turned against each other. But there is nothing we can do." The prefect of Qingzhou was heartbroken.

Xu Nian is silent, the Buddhism in the Western Regions is strong, there are many soldiers and generals, and there is an Arhat Bodhisattva sitting in Alando. Such a huge monster cannot be controlled by conspiracy.

At this time, he suddenly saw two more people in the corner of the meeting room, one of them was wearing white clothes, and his appearance, temperament, and height were ordinary. Another person, Lei Gongzui, has ugly monkey-like facial features, and his blue and clear eyes seem to be able to read people's hearts.

"Brother Sun, why are you here?"

Xu New Year was taken aback.

He knew the second disciple of the supervisor.

When did he come? Yang Gong and the others were stunned, and all looked sideways and turned their heads.

Yuan Hufa glanced at the crowd, and then said:

"Their hearts told me: who is this? Why is he here? Sun Xuanji? Isn't there any normal disciple in the prison?"

After Yuan Hufa finished speaking, he was taken aback, quickly put aside the relationship, pointed to Xu Xinian and said:

"That last sentence was said by him."

Xu New Year: "!!!"

PS: The author said that there are Easter eggs, please change it first!

I originally wanted to open a single chapter to thank the first monthly ticket, but I opened a single chapter the day before yesterday, so it is not easy to open a single chapter again.

Thank you very much for your support. It is a great honor to be the first monthly ticket at the starting point. It all depends on your help. I am very grateful and moved.

I am also ashamed of not being able to fulfill the promise, I will complete the 100,000-word "arrears in installments, please pay high for the interest, don't let it go.