No one among the bandits on the cliff expected that Fang Jie would be so cold-hearted. The infantry from Yangziying went up the mountain and began to massacre. After disposing of the corpses, they began to count the luggage and food on the mountain. Liu Leizi didn't have many useful things in his hands. There were no weapons that Fang Jie could appreciate. Not many of the bandits had knives. They basically had sticks and spears. These things were burned, and all the food, grass, money and food were transported down the mountain. .
Fang Jie led his men and horses into the county seat of Wan County. When the people saw the official troops stationed, they spontaneously rushed to both sides of the street to welcome him. Fang Jie could see that the joy in the eyes of the people came from the bottom of their hearts. The northwest has been in chaos for two years, and it is no exaggeration to say that the people are in dire straits.
Li Yuanshan had no time to rectify the local government. First, he was busy expanding armaments in preparation for the imperial conquest and suppression of the army. Secondly, in order to consolidate his position, he was busy in intrigues and killed two governors of Shanbei and Hedong provinces. Of the three governors of the northwest, only one Yuan Chongwu was left.
It¡¯s not that Li Yuanshan didn¡¯t know how chaotic the place was, nor that he didn¡¯t know that if things continued like this, he would lose the support of the people. But his goal was not to cede territory and rule it. Compared with his ambition, the Third Northwest Road was too small to fit in. If necessary, he would rather dedicate these three to Meng Yuan in exchange for the backing of a million-strong army.
As long as we can capture the city of Chang'an, what if we don't need the three northwest roads?
So he didn't bother to care about it, he just concentrated on sitting tight in his position and then fighting the upcoming decisive battle well. As long as he wins this battle again, the foundation of Sui Dynasty will really shake.
The people of Wan County were looking forward to the arrival of the imperial army to suppress the rebellion, so everyone was happy when they saw the official troops entering the city. They are all ordinary people. They do not know and have never thought about important court affairs and disputes between kings and ministers. They did not consider whether the left-wing general Luo Yao wanted to suppress the rebellion or to stand on his own. They just looked forward to the arrival of the army to pull them out of dire straits.
"It's a pity that Fang Jie is not here to guard, he is just passing by.
When Sun Kaidao dug out the money buried in his yard, the anger in his wife's eyes could burn him to ashes if released. She pulled Sun Kaidao aside and scolded him for a while, with a series of curse words popping out of her mouth like beans. Sun Kaidao lowered his head and just said yes without saying a word to refute.
His wife¡¯s surname is also Sun, and her name is Sun Xiu¡¯e. She knew that her husband was not without ideas. Since he was willing to donate the family's money and food, it must be reasonable. After scolding enough, her anger had subsided a lot, and she pulled Sun Kaidao to ask why. Yin Poshan holds an army of more than 200,000, and is one of the Seven Tiger Generals under Li Yuanshan. You didn't donate your family property to such a person, why did you give it to a small fifth-rank ranger general?
Sun Kaidao smiled and said, I have a discerning eye and can see things that others cannot. You, a girl with long hair and short knowledge, don't have any foresight. I didn't give it to Yin Poshan because I knew he wouldn't last long. I gave it to Fang Jie because I knew that Fang Jie was different from Yin Poshan. I made a bet today. If this fifth-grade ranger general fails to become a human master in the future, you will bury me alive.
Sun Xiu'e saw that he was serious and stopped getting angry. I just watched helplessly as half of the money and food that my family had worked so hard to save was taken away, and I couldn't be happy at all. Sun Kaidao said, "Don't worry. Businessmen also pay attention to the long term when doing business." We have lost half of our property today, and we will definitely make it back tenfold or a hundredfold in the future.
He said to Sun Xiu'e: "You should know what kind of person I am. There are thousands of ravines in my chest and abdomen. If I don't go out to this place as big as a pea in Wan County, I will be nothing more than a seventh-grade county magistrate in the end. I lost my head because of the rebels. Today I make a big promise to you. You will become a first-class wife. I thought that Fang Jie would be eager for talents, but who would have thought that he would use this method to make me follow"
Sun Xiu'e rolled her eyes at him and said, "I don't ask for a first-grade imperial edict, I just want peace and safety."
Sun Kaidao took her hand and explained: "After I leave, you and your father-in-law will leave Wan County immediately. Now that Yinpo Mountain is defeated in the south of Mangdang Mountain, I will have people protect you as you go south. Don't you have relatives in Huiyang? , just go and join, don't worry about money, just buy peace. If you have a chance to leave Huiyang, go to Jiangnan. No matter how chaotic the world is, you can settle in Jiangdu City. I will definitely go to find you in the future. ¡±
Sun Xiu'e was reluctant to leave, and the two of them said some more words before saying goodbye.
Fang Jie only stayed in Wan County for one day and then left immediately. In Chu County, only Dayang City, the administrative city, had tens of thousands of rebels garrisoned, and other counties had almost no defense. The rebels' food, grass and baggage were all hoarded in Dayang City. The walls of Dayang City are strong and tall, and there are bed crossbows. With Fang Jie's current strength, there is no need to chew such a big stone, not onlyIf it doesn't go down, it will collapse and your mouth will be full of blood.
Sun Kaidao has a map in his hand that he sent people to survey and draw for two years. The terrain from Chu County to the northwest to Xiangcheng is very detailed. Xiangcheng is the foundation of Li Yuanshan. After Li Yuanshan became king, he designated Xiangcheng as his capital. It was the most heavily defended place by the rebels.
By bypassing Xiangcheng and walking another six hundred miles, you can reach Fangu.
Along the way, Fang Jie and his team tried their best to hide their whereabouts and chose small roads to rush on. We couldn't fight in Dayang City, but we robbed a Liu Lezi to replenish some food and grass, and found some horse-drawn carts in Wan County. The food and grass he brought with him would not be a big problem for a month.
Fang Jie hurriedly rushed to join Yang Kai, Prince of Xu County, not only because he felt that he could flex his muscles with Fan Gu, but also because he wanted to stay away from Luo Yao.
Luo Yao returns to Yongzhou. If it¡¯s quick, he can return in a month. He didn't take Fang Jie back with him because he was worried about Shi Yuan's tricks.
The further away from Huangyang Road, Fang Jie's heart gradually calmed down.
But Luo Yao's name was like a thorn in his heart from beginning to end, and it was also like a knife that would appear on the back of his neck anytime and anywhere. He couldn't be sure when the knife would stab him, but Fang Jie knew that there was a knife there. , but couldn't stop it.
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"General"
Sun Kaidao unfolded the map: "Although we have bypassed Dayang City, the hinterland of Shandong Road is ahead. The further we go, the larger the rebel force becomes. It is obviously impossible for us to go directly through. If we go around, There¡¯s not enough food and grass.¡±
Fang Jie hummed and asked, "You know this place better than anyone else. Tell me your plans."
Sun Kaidao followed Fang Jie for more than ten days. Although the days were short, Fang Jie felt more and more that this man was a qualified counselor. Not only is he familiar with the terrain and the people of the northwest, but he is also very knowledgeable in the art of war and strategy. Although he is a scholar, he is not narrow-minded and has a calm temper.
"If you want to replenish food and grass, you can only grab it."
Sun Kaidao glanced at Fang Jie and said tentatively: "To go to Langru Mountain, we have to go through the entire Shandong Road. The distance is too far, and we can't walk in a straight line. The further we go in, the more places the rebels will gather. Generally speaking, There are many rebels stationed in the county, let alone the big city. With our current strength, we can't attack the city and take other measures. "
"How abouttrying to take advantage of those wealthy households?"
He stopped talking after asking this question. He has learned a little about Fang Jie these days. Knowing that Fang Jie didn't like his men beating around the bush, he tried his best to make his words concise, concise and convincing. A qualified counselor does not ask the general to follow his own advice at all times. Rather, it allows the general to have a clearer understanding of the situation at hand at all times. A counselor is always just a counselor and cannot usurp the master's position.
Sun Kaidao understood this. He knew that his duty was only to make Fang Jie understand the situation better. If he says it in a tone that says you must do this, I'm afraid he won't be able to be a counselor for long. There are many examples in history of brilliant advisers who ultimately lost their lives because of their arrogance due to their talents.
Since the killing of the bandits on the first line of cliff, Fang Jie's personality seems to have changed. Because of his past life thinking, he had too many constraints on his actions in the past. The way things were done in the previous life was completely different from this era. As Fang Jie learned more and more about this era and touched more and more things, those deep-rooted thoughts also changed accordingly.
"Choose a few that have a bad reputation."
He did not think about whether it was immoral or unrighteous. He was first responsible for the five thousand men who were willing to follow him and traveled thousands of miles.
"The northwest is exhausted, and there are too few wealthy families compared to the hinterland of the Central Plains. But precisely because of its exhaustion, none of the extremely wealthy people have a good reputation The saying "the poor is evil and the rich are virtuous" is not suitable in the northwest . We are in Luo County now. There are not many century-old families in Luo County, but there are several famous families. The richest one is the wife of Pei Guo, the governor of Luo County The Chen family in Luo County is in trouble. One hundred thousand dollars bought Ping'an, and Yin Poshan didn't want to offend such a famous family too much, so he took the money and left."
"The old residence of the Chen family is in Qiu'an County. After Pei Guo surrendered the rebels, he planned to take the Chen family to Jinyuan, the capital of Luo County, but the old man of the Chen family refused to leave. So Pei Guo allocated two thousand rebels to guard Qiu'an. An County And Qiu'an County is only three hundred miles away from Jinyuan City. If we attack Qiu'an, we must do it quickly. If we can't take it in two days, Jinyuan's rebels will come to rescue if they get the news. "
¡°Let¡¯s go to Qiu¡¯an County first to see the terrain.¡±
Fang Jie looked at the map, his brows slightly furrowed.
"Besides our whereabouts have not been exposed yet. Once Qiu'an County is attacked, the rebels will definitely send troops to surround it "
Sun Kaidao bowed his head and said.
"A quick victory"
Fang Jie murmured, raised his head and looked into the distance.
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It took a day for the scouts to thoroughly explore the terrain near Qiu'an County. The northwest is mountainous, but there are only a few mountains in Luo County, which is not huge. Qiu'an County is located in a plain, with an unobstructed area of ??several hundred miles. In such terrain, the rebel reinforcements will not arrive too slowly.
"We lack siege equipment. Although Qiu'an County's city wall is less than two feet, it is difficult to attack forcefully."
Chen Bishan said: "If you want to take down Qiu'an, you have to outsmart them. Our advantage now is that the rebels don't know we are coming. So if you want to break into Qiu'an, it's best to send people in first."
¡°But once too many people enter, it will immediately arouse the vigilance of the rebels.¡±
Zhuo Buyi frowned: "There are no people coming and going in the first place, and there are no more than a hundred people coming in to seek safety in one day. Even if we send a few hundred people in, the rebels will notice it. But if too few people go in, we can't Seize and control the city gate. After all, there are two thousand rebels in the city, plus the Chen family's private soldiers, there are no less than two thousand five hundred people. "
Sun Kaidao nodded: "This is the difficulty. Qiu'an County is not big in the first place. Even if they rob the city gate, it will not take long for the rebels guarding the city to rush over. If the number is too small, they will not be able to hold on." The rebels will take back the city gate when the army comes to support them. Therefore, my subordinates feel that the person who can do this must not only be brave but also have the courage to do so. The courage of man.¡±
Lu Fenghou said: "General, please come down and do this job!"
Fang Jie shook his head slightly. Although Lu Fenghou was brave, his martial arts skills were not outstanding. Logically speaking, the most suitable candidates are naturally the ten people from the camp. But it was easy for these ten people to sneak in, but they didn't have time to put on that heavy armor. Without the protection of Mingguang Armor, the power of Shiying alone would be reduced by more than half.
"I come!"
Qilin glanced at Fang Jie, patted his chest and said, "Give me fifty people, and I will seize the city gate!"
Nie Xiaoju, who had been standing silently behind Fang Jie, raised her head and said in a calm tone: "Just give him thirty people, plus one of me."