Chi Haonian and Zhong Xin stayed in the room for the whole afternoon. The two of them brought their cronies at the door. Anyone who came to deliver water was politely blocked. Until it was getting dark, Wu Yidao came to greet him personally. The door was only opened from the inside, and Wu Yiyi stayed inside for more than an hour after entering, not knowing what the three of them were discussing.
During dinner, Wu Dao sent someone to invite Fang Jie, but Fang Jie sent someone to go back and say that he was still asleep and hadn't woken up. Chi Haonian and Zhong Xin knew that Fang Jie did it on purpose, but they were indeed a little rude, so Wu Yiyi apologized on behalf of Fang Jie, and then arranged a banquet to continue drinking.
This time it wasn't just Wu Yidao himself who accompanied the wine, the main generals of the Black Banner Army in the big camp all attended the table, there were more than a dozen of them. These guys are stronger than each other in drinking capacity. Chi Haonian and Zhong Xin couldn't bear it after two rounds of toasts. Although their drinking capacity is also good, the black flag army uses large bowls instead of wine cups for drinking. The two of them drink exquisitely, but each of these soldiers is very rough.
After a meal of wine, they drank for another hour. This time, the two officials of the frontier really drank too much.
The two of them were carried back to rest, and this time they were not put together again, but lived in a separate room. The guards brought by Chi Haonian and Zhong Xin followed suit, but no one paid attention to this detail. Putting two people together after drinking at noon is for them to discuss, and separating them after drinking at night is not just because it is a faux pas for two people to sleep in the same room.
The next day, before dawn, the two of them were awakened by the roaring roar outside. Zhong Xin struggled to get up from the bed, rubbed his almost cracked head and pushed open the window to look out. Seeing countless black-armored soldiers practicing on the school field in the distance, their shouts shook the sky.
On the Dianjiang platform at the northernmost point of the school grounds, the frail young man from yesterday stood there wearing a black robe, with a heroic air.
The soldiers on the school field are constantly changing their formations as the flag bearers on the commanding platform wave the big flag. The Black Banner Army, which has followed the formation of the Sui infantry, looks solemn and solemn. Judging from the posture, there are at least 10,000 soldiers on the school field practicing. , but there was no stagnation in the formation transformation and it was extremely smooth.
Although Zhong Xin is not a general, it doesn't mean he doesn't know anything.
He has been struggling in the officialdom for decades, what kind of scene has he never seen? When he was in Liangcheng, he knew the cavalry of the Black Banner Army outside was an elite army. Today, seeing the infantry of the Black Banner Army drill, he re-examined the young man named Fang Jie again in his heart.
He remembered that when he was young, his father once said a word to him, and he always remembered it in his heart.
No one can succeed casually, even if they are from a famous family.
Fang Xie's current strength, how could it be just luck? When he went to the northwest with a mere battalion of troops, instead of being wiped out in the chaotic situation, he brought back a team of tens of thousands of fine cavalry, and established such a scale in Suzaku Mountain in less than a year. Not only that, but also trained such a majestic infantry... In this early morning, Zhong Xin's impression of Fang Jie changed dramatically.
At this time, Zhong Xin also guessed that the window next to him was also pushed open, and Chi Haonian looked at the black-robed youth on the school field with a solemn expression like him.
The eyes of the two people intertwined for a while, and before they had time to talk, they saw Wu Yiyi walking over with a smile: "Why did you two wake up so early? Could it be that they were disturbed by the soldiers' drill? I'm really sorry, this is It is the general's habit, no matter whether it is cold, hot, rainy or snowy, to personally train the men and horses every morning, I apologize to the two of you on behalf of the general, for disturbing your rest."
"No no."
Chi Haonian, who was closer, quickly waved his hands and said, "The general's majesty in running the army is admirable."
"Why don't we go and have a look?"
Wu Yidao made a gesture of invitation.
As the saying goes, guests do as they please, although the two of them have prominent identities, they were also guests when they arrived at Zhuqueshan Camp, so they washed up and changed their clothes, and followed Wu Yiyi to the school grounds.
"Sanjin Hou..."
Chi Haonian hesitated for a moment, but couldn't help asking: "The general was drunk yesterday, did he say anything to you when he woke up?"
Wu Yiyi nodded and said: "Last night, the general got up just after the banquet was over, because I ordered no one to wake him up, and he lost his temper because of this, saying that he treated the two honored guests slowly."
"That's not it… "
Chi Haonian was a little anxious: "Didn't you say anything else?"
"Others?"
Wu Yidao thought for a while, and just as he was about to speak, he saw Luo Weiran passing by with a team of riding school. The moment they saw Luo Weiran, the expressions of Chi Haonian and Zhong Xin obviously changed.
"That... Could it be Luo Weiran, the commander of the Ouchi Guard Office?"
Zhong Xin asked subconsciously.
"Exactly!"
Wu Yidao nodded: "Now he is also working under the general's command, not just him..."
Wu Yidao pointed to the person who stood respectfully behind Fang Jie on the stage in the distance and said: "The eunuch used to be the eunuch in the imperial study. The emperor trusted him very much. Before the royal conquest, he asked him to bring the secret order Come to find the general, it can be said that the general is acting according to the emperor's secret decree."
These words confused Chi Haonian and Zhong Xin, isn't Fang Jie Luo Yao's son? Didn't he stay in Huangyang Road to protect Luo Yao's foundation? Why did he suddenly become the emperor's man? Why did it suddenly become acting in accordance with the emperor's secret decree
Wu Yidao just made them confused. Seeing the changing faces of the two people, he smiled and said: "Actually, the general was worried after knowing what the two of you mentioned yesterday. The general obeyed the emperor's order to wipe out the southwestern rebels." The bandits have the right to act arbitrarily, knowing the situation in southern Xinjiang, the general must lead the army to fight against the bandits, but the food and grass in the camp are indeed lacking, so the general has more energy than he wants."
"If the general intends to go south to fight against the bandits, why worry about food and grass?"
Chi Haonian said: "What we two said at the banquet yesterday was not a joke!"
Zhong Xin also said: "Since the general has His Majesty's will, it is justifiable to send troops to fight against the bandits. Wherever he goes, who will not support it? My words yesterday still count. As long as the general is willing to lead troops south, I will count on Beihui Road." No matter how poor you are, you can still support some money and food, you can’t let the soldiers go hungry and kill the enemy for the country!”
"If that's the case, you two don't talk later, I'll try to find out what the general means."
Wu Yidao smiled: "The only thing I'm worried about is that the general is reluctant to part with the Zhuqueshan camp that has just been established. If the general is fighting against foreign enemies for the country, if someone comes to attack me on Zhuqueshan, wouldn't that make the general Is the general chilling?"
"Won't!"
Chi Haonian said: "Absolutely not!"
Wu Yidao sighed: "You two said no, I naturally believe it, but the general must also think about the hundreds of thousands of soldiers below... If you don't send out all the threats, the general will not be able to take the team south with confidence. "
"have no idea… "
Zhong Xin frowned and asked, "How can I reassure the general?"
…
…
Yongzhou
Standing on the tall city wall of Yongzhou and looking south with clairvoyance, you can already see beacon smoke burning at the farthest point of sight. All the gates of Yongzhou City have been closed. From today onwards, even the people who escaped from the disaster cannot enter the city. No matter how much they begged, the gates did not open. The soldiers guarding the city also looked moved, but the military order above , they dare not defy.
In fact, the generals cannot be blamed for being cruel. Now that the Heren and Nanyan troops are close at hand, no one knows if there are any Nanyan spies among these refugees. Who can guarantee whether it can be kept
So no matter how miserable the people below were begging, the soldiers turned their heads and couldn't bear to look at it, but they still insisted on not opening the city gate.
After begging for half a day, the people did not wait for the city gate to open, so they had to bypass Yongzhou and continue northward. In fact, Yongzhou City has accepted a lot of refugees since these days, and the people living on Yongzhou Street are all the people who fled from the south. The He people killed too fiercely, they were beasts compared to the Nanyan army. Nanyan people only rob money and food but rarely kill people, because they also want to take people back.
After the founding of Nanyan, the population of the country was not large. In addition, because the life of Da Sui is better than that of Nan Yan, many people sneak to Da Sui to settle down. Da Sui does not refuse anyone who comes, and Murong shame does not dare to offend Luo Yao, so he dare not even ask. , had to pretend to be deaf and dumb.
In the longest year, a total of 100,000 people came from Nanyan to become Sui people.
The poor and weak people in Nanyan were heavily taxed, and the Emperor of the Sui Dynasty had always taken good care of the southwestern roads, and every year there would be a decree to reduce or exempt money and food. Although Luo Yao searched a lot, what he searched was not the common people but the wealthy households. Even if Luo Yao also collected it, it was far lower than what Nan Yan collected. Luo Yao also likes these Nanyan people to vote, because these people don't have much respect for the Sui Dynasty, and choosing soldiers from these people makes him feel more at ease.
Because of this, Murong shame's hatred grew stronger. He had cheated the Emperor of Shang's will from the big dog brother, and if it wasn't for the special ability of the big dog, the two brothers would have been almost killed by him. Finally pretending to be the prince of the Shang Dynasty and establishing Nanyan, but the country is weak, and he has no other choice but to bow his knees in front of the powerful Sui Empire.
This resentment has been accumulated for a long time, this time Murong shame found a vent. So he ordered the Nanyan army to plunder not only money and food, but also population. What's more, all the people who escaped from Nanyan and came to Pingshang Dao had the word "servant" branded on their faces with a red-hot branding iron.
As for those He people, they may not even know what they want.
Because they were just killing people all the time.
The current defender of Yongzhou City is Xu Qingzhi, the fourth-ranked general of the Daozhi Yamen. Although Luo Qiu is also in the city, because he doesn't understand military affairs, he simply entrusted him with all the guarding of the city.
Xu Qingzhi was only less than thirty-five or sixteen years old, and he was already a general of the fourth rank. If there was no chaos in the Sui Dynasty, he might not have a chance to be promoted to one of the generals of the Sixteen Guards in a few more years.
He stood on the city wall and looked at the beacon smoke billowing in the distance, and then looked back at the crowded refugees in Yongzhou City.
"Without these refugees, Yongzhou can last for two months if it is besieged. Although Luo Yao took most of the food and grass, there is still some in stock. But now that there are more refugees, it is not bad if it can last for a month."
He sighed, looked at the Great Sui flag that Governor Luo Qiu had asked to hang up again on the city wall of Yongzhou, shook his head and smiled wryly: "Now the flag of the Great Sui is going to be hung instead... who else can scare you?"
For some reason, he suddenly wanted to cry.