None of the bandits on the first-line cliff thought that Fang Jie's heart would be so cold and hard. The infantry of Yangziying went up the mountain and started massacring them. After cleaning up the corpses, they began to count the money and food on the mountain. Liu Laizi didn't have many things that he could use, and the weapons Fang Xie didn't care about. The gangsters didn't have many knives, they were basically wooden sticks and spears. These things were burned, and all the food, grass, money and food were transported down the mountain. .
Fang Jie led his troops into Wanxian County, and when the people saw the officers and troops stationed, they spontaneously flocked to the sides of the street to welcome them. Fang Xie could tell that the joy in the eyes of those common people came from the heart. The Northwest has been in chaos for two years, and it is not an exaggeration to describe it as the people's livelihood.
Li Yuanshan didn't have time to rectify the local government at all. One of them was busy expanding his armaments, preparing to meet the imperial court's conquest and suppression army. Second, in order to consolidate his position, he was busy intrigue and killed the two governors of Shanbei Province and Hedong Province successively. Of the three governors of the Northwest, only one Yuan Chongwu remained.
It's not that Li Yuanshan doesn't know how chaotic the place is, and it's not that he doesn't know that going on like this will lose the hearts of the people. But his goal was not to cede territory and rule. Compared with his ambition, the Northwest San Dao was too small and too small to fit in at all. If it is necessary, he would rather dedicate these three ways to Meng Yuan in exchange for the backing of a million heroes.
As long as Chang'an City can be conquered, so what if we don't need the Northwest Three Ways
So he didn't bother to care about it, he just concentrated on securing his seat, and then fought well the upcoming decisive battle. As long as he wins this battle again, the foundation of Tai Sui will really be shaken.
The people of Wan County have been looking forward to the arrival of the imperial court's counter-insurgency army, so everyone is very happy to see the army entering the city. They are all ordinary people, and they don't know and have never thought about the important affairs of the court and the disputes between the monarch and his ministers. They didn't think about whether Luo Yao, the left avant-garde general, wanted to put down the rebellion or stand on his own. They just looked forward to the arrival of the army to pull themselves out of the dire straits.
It's a pity that Fang Jie didn't come to guard, but just passed by.
When Sun Kaidao dug up 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 for a good reprimand and complaint, and the swear words in her mouth jumped out in a series like popping beans. Sun Kaidao lowered his head and just answered yes and yes, without a word of rebuttal.
His wife is also surnamed Sun, named 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 subsided a lot, she pulled Sun Kaidao to ask why. Yin Poshan holds an army of more than 200,000 troops, and as one of the Seven Tiger Generals under Li Yuanshan's command, you didn't even donate your family property to such a person, why did you give it to a little ranger general from the fifth rank
Sun Kaidao smiled and said that I have the eyes of the mind and can see things that others cannot see. You woman has long hair and short vision, so you don't have any foresight. I don't give Yin Poshan because I know he won't last long. I give Fang Jie because I know Fang Jie is different from Yin Poshan. Make a bet today, if this ranger general from the fifth rank fails to become a master in the future, you will bury me alive.
Seeing that he spoke solemnly, Sun Xiu'e stopped getting angry. It's just that I can't feel happy watching half of the money and food that my family has accumulated so hard being taken away. Sun Kaidao said, don’t worry, traders also pay attention to a long-term perspective when doing business. We lost half of our property today, and we will earn back ten times and a hundred times in the future.
Just focus on what is in front of you, and always only make those petty profits.
He said to Sun Xiu'e: "You should know what kind of person I am. There are thousands of gullies in my chest and abdomen. If I don't go out in this place where the beans are big in Wan County, I will only be a seventh-rank county magistrate for the rest of my life. I may never return I lost my head because of the rebels. Today I promise you a big promise, and in the future you will become a first-class wife. I thought that Fang Jie would be thirsty for talents, but who would have thought that he would use such a method to make me follow... "
Sun Xiu'e rolled his eyes at him and said: "I don't ask for a first-rank order, I just want to be safe."
Sun Kaidao took her hand and confessed: "After I leave, you and Yuezhang will leave Wan County immediately. Now that Yinpo Mountain in the south of Mangdang Mountain has been defeated, I will let someone protect you and go south. Don't you have relatives in Huiyang?" If you have the opportunity to leave Huiyang, go to the south of the Yangtze River. No matter how chaotic the world is, you will not be able to go to the city of Jiangdu. You should settle in Jiangdu, and I will definitely look for you in the future .”
Sun Xiu'e was reluctant, and the two said some more words before bidding farewell.
Fang Jie only stayed in Wan County for one day and immediately set off. In Chu County, only the Zhicheng City Dayang City was stationed by tens of thousands of rebels, and the other counties were almost defenseless. The rebel army's food and supplies were all hoarded in Dayang City. The walls of Dayang City were strong and tall, and there was a bed crossbow. With Fang Xie's current strength, there was no need to chew on such a big rock.
Sun Kaidao had a map in his hand that he had sent people to survey and draw for two years. The terrain from Chu County to the northwest to Xiangcheng was very detailed. Xiangcheng is the foundation of Li Yuanshan. After Li Yuanshan became king, he designated Xiangcheng as the capital, and it was the place where the rebels defended the most tightly.
If you bypass Xiangcheng and walk another six hundred miles, you will arrive at Fangu.
Along the way, Xie led the team to try their best to hide their whereabouts, and chose the trail to hurry on the road. Dayang City could not be fought, but at least he robbed Liu Manzi to replenish some food and grass, and found some horse-drawn carts in Wan County, and it would not be a big problem to carry the food and grass for a month.
Fang Jie hurried to join Xujun King Yang Kai, not only because he felt that he could flex his muscles with Fan Gu, but also because he was far away from Luo Yao.
When Luo Yao returned to Yongzhou, he could return within a month. He didn't take Fang Jie back with him because he was worried about Shi Yuan's tricks.
The farther away from Huang Yangdao, Fang Xie's heart gradually calmed down.
But the name Luo Yao has been like a thorn in his heart from beginning to end, and like a knife that will appear on the back of his neck anytime and anywhere. , but just can't stop it.
…
…
"General."
Sun Kaidao unfolded the map: "Although we have bypassed Dayang City, the hinterland of Shandong Road is in front of us. The further we go, the larger the strength of the rebel army. It is obviously impossible for us to go through directly. If we go around, There is not enough food and grass."
Fang Jie hummed and asked, "You are more familiar with this place than anyone else, tell me about your plan."
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 accomplished in the art of war and strategy. Although he is a literati, he is broad-minded and calm-tempered.
"If you want to replenish food and grass, you can only grab it."
Sun Kaidao took a look 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, the more places the rebels gather. There are many rebels stationed in the counties, not to mention the big cities in the county. With our current strength, it is impossible to attack the city, so we can only think of other ways."
"Why don't you... get the idea of those wealthy households?"
After he asked this question, he stopped talking. He had already gotten a little understanding of Fang Xie these days. Knowing that Fang Xie didn't like his subordinates beating around the bush, he tried his best to keep his words concise and convincing. A qualified counselor does not ask the general to follow his own advice at all times. It's about letting the commander-in-chief know the situation before him more clearly at all times. A counselor is always just a counselor, and he can't overwhelm the other.
Sun Kaidao understands this, he knows that his duty is only to let Fang Jie understand the situation better. If I say it in a tone that you have to do this, I'm afraid he won't be able to do it for long as a counselor. There are many examples in history of stunning advisers who eventually lost their lives because of their arrogance.
Since Yixianya killed the bandits, Fang Jie's personality seemed to have changed again. Because of the thinking of the previous life, he had too many constraints in his actions before. The way of doing things in the past life is completely different from this era. And as Fang Jie became more and more aware of this era, and touched more and more things, those deep-rooted thoughts also changed accordingly.
"Choose a few with bad reputation."
He didn't think about whether it was immoral or unrighteous to do so. He was first responsible to the five thousand men who were willing to travel thousands of miles with him.
"The Northwest is exhausted, and there are too few rich families compared to the hinterland of the Central Plains. But because of the exhaustion, none of the extremely wealthy has a good reputation... Poor, vicious, rich and good, this is not suitable in the Northwest. We are now in Luo County. There are not many century-old families in Luo County, but there are several famous families. The richest one is the wife's family of Luo County Governor Pei Guo... Luo County Chen. The rebels crossed the border, and the Chen family spent 100,000 yuan To buy peace, Yin Poshan is not willing to offend such a famous family too much, so he took the money and left."
"The Chen family's old house is in Qiu'an County. After Pei Guo surrendered the rebels, he planned to take the Chen family to Jinyuan, the city of Luo County, but the old man of the Chen family refused to leave. So Pei Guo sent two thousand rebels to guard Qiu'an. An County... and Qiu'an County is only three hundred miles away from Jinyuan City, if you attack Qiu'an, you must fight quickly, if you can't take it down in two days, Jinyuan's rebels will come to rescue if they get the news."
"Go to Qiu'an County first to see the terrain."
Fang Jie looked at the map, frowning slightly.
"In addition... our whereabouts have not been exposed yet. Once Qiu'an County is attacked, the rebels will definitely send troops to surround it."
Sun Kaidao lowered his head.
"A quick fix..."
Fang Jie murmured, raised his head and looked into the distance.
…
…
It took a day for the scouts to investigate the terrain near Qiu'an County. There are many mountains in the northwest, but there are only a few hills in Luo County, which are not huge. Qiu'an County is located on a plain, with a radius of hundreds of miles without shelter and obstacles. With such terrain, the rebel reinforcements would not be too slow to arrive.
"We lack siege equipment. Although the city wall of Qiu'an County is less than two feet, it is difficult to attack."
Chen Qianshan said: "If we want to take Qiu'an, we have to outsmart it. Our advantage now is that the rebels don't know we're coming. So if we want to break into Qiu'an, it's best to send people in first."
"But once too many people go in, it will immediately arouse the vigilance of the rebels."
Zhuo Buyi frowned: "There were no people coming and going, and there were no more than a hundred people who came to seek peace in a day. Even if we sent hundreds of people in, the rebels would be aware of it. But if there are too few people who go in, we can't Take control of the city gate, after all there are 2,000 rebels in the city, plus the Chen family's private soldiers, no less than 2,500 people."
Sun Kaidao nodded: "This is where the difficulty lies. Qiu'an County is not big, even if the city gate is robbed, it will not take long for the rebels guarding the city to rush over. The city gate will be taken back by the rebels when the army supports them. Therefore... the subordinates feel that the person who can do this must be a brave person. Not only must he have martial arts that are undeservedly brave, but also have extraordinary skills. courage."
Lu Fenghou said: "General, come down to do this job!"
Fang Jie shook his head slightly. Although Lu Fenghou was courageous, his martial arts were not outstanding. According to the principle, the most suitable candidates are naturally the ten people in the camp. But it was easy for these ten people to get in, but they didn't have time to put on the heavy armor. Without the protection of Mingguang armor, the power of Shiying would be reduced by more than half with just a Damo knife.
"I come!"
Qilin glanced at Fang Jie, patted his chest and said, "Give me fifty people, and I'll grab the city gate!"
Nie Xiaoju, who had been standing silently behind Fang Jie, raised her head and said flatly, "Just give him thirty people, plus me."