When Fang Jie heard Luo Qiu talk about Mrs. Luo Yao's Chu family, he suddenly understood many things. Luo Yao's deception is not only for Fang Xie, but also for his wife. He lied to Fangjie in order to better control his physical substitute. And he lied to his wife to give her a hope of living.
For a moment, Fang Jie felt that this woman was very pitiful. But just as this idea came up, Fang Jie thought of the doll in Yishu in Chu's yard.
He shuddered.
"What's wrong?"
Luo Qiu asked.
"fine."
Fang Jie smiled and said, "It was summer when I came to Yongzhou last time, and the hot people got used to it. This time it's the best weather, and I feel a bit cold when I get out of the car unexpectedly."
Naturally, Luo Qiu would not doubt anything, he took Fang Jie's hand and walked into the city gate while greeting. Officials of all sizes in Yongzhou City were waiting outside, Luo Qiu held on to Fang Xie and refused to let go, and they didn't even have a chance to speak. Fang Jie also saved meeting these people next to each other, saving a lot of trouble.
After entering the city gate, Fang Jie and Luo Qiu boarded the carriage of the governor's mansion, and Chen Dingnan and other generals entered the city with a mighty team. But the people who came back with the army were not allowed to enter the city, because there was not much food in the city. If Fang Jie hadn't opened the palace granary, Fang Jie would have put a huge pressure on Yongzhou City if he brought more than 70,000 troops into the city. Fortunately, Fang Jie brought a large amount of food and supplies, enough for his own use.
"The last time I had a hasty farewell, it's been a few years since I counted the days carefully."
In the carriage, Luo Qiu sighed and said, "General Fang has faded away from his childish youth, but I am already old. I was thinking of applying for a job offer, asking me to resign and go home for the elderly, to grow vegetables and turn over the soil, and to raise a few rabbits and cages for birds." My son, I will be leisurely and contented until my death. But I didn’t expect that those southern barbarians would make a fuss, and I don’t even think about running away... To be honest, if you don’t rush to Jue Xiao, life in Yongzhou City will be really difficult gone."
He pointed to the outside of the carriage: "The south of the city is the big camp of the He people, stretching for more than ten miles, and it looks like there are no fewer than six or seven hundred thousand people. Besides, the He people will send wolves, tigers and leopards as soldiers. I'm out of the city to meet the enemy. I'm looking forward to the stars and the moon, and I only hope that you will come soon to relieve the siege of Yongzhou and relieve the suffering of the common people in Shangdao."
"so much… "
Fang Jie was slightly surprised and said, "Haven't the He people been killed hard enough these years? Why do they still have so many troops?"
Luo Qiu sighed: "There are soldiers everywhere. The puppet emperor of Yan Kingdom, Murong Shame, invited King He to send troops together. Those southern barbarians have been suppressed ruthlessly over the years. They are full of resentment, and they will not let go if they have the opportunity to take revenge. It is said that it is a million The army, in fact, even the teenage children and the elderly in their fifties came out of the village. The numerous crimes committed by the He people on the Pingshang Road are too numerous to record, and it is roughly estimated that hundreds of thousands of people died in the military disaster... Every time I think of this , As a magistrate, my heart hurts like a knife."
Fang Jie comforted: "Shibo don't need to worry, he was able to beat the Nanmanzi back to the jungle back then, and he can do the same today. If it wasn't for the empty frontier, neither Murong Shame nor the Nanmanzi would have dared to fight the trade. Idea. Now that I'm here, although I'm not very talented, I still have a passion for it, so I will naturally do my best."
"good!"
Luo Qiu clapped his hands and said, "I know what you said, and I feel at ease. In today's Yongzhou City, there are no generals, no soldiers, no food... To be honest, there are only Jue Xiao, you are willing to come here. A while ago, I sent a dozen groups of people out to ask for reinforcements, but those people didn’t want to come, because they were afraid of losing their own strength?”
Fang Jie smiled inwardly, and said, are you calling me smart or stupid
He said a few words on the scene, nothing more than that as a general, he naturally has the responsibility to guard the land. Luo Qiu showed enthusiasm, but in fact, the two of them didn't have much friendship. After the scene was finished, it seemed a little deserted. Luo Qiu kept changing the subject, and Fang Jie responded with a smile.
Both of them cleverly avoided Luo Yao, the emperor, people and things during the Sui Dynasty, and it was not easy to find something to talk about.
"Let's go to the city first."
Fang Xie opened the curtains of the car and looked outside, and found that the expressions on the faces of the people who lined the streets to welcome them were completely different from those refugees met outside the city. The joy of the refugees outside the city was beyond words when they saw the arrival of the army, while the expressions on the faces of the people in the city were all feigned joy even though they waved their arms.
Fang Xie understood why there was such a difference.
The people outside the city are suffering, they have lost everything. Relatives, houses, and fields lost their entire homes. They were helpless and even starved of food. At this time, the arrival of the Black Banner Army undoubtedly opened a door of hope for them. They can try their best to look inside the door, and everything they once owned seems to be within reach.
But the people in the city are different, they are still safe now, living in their own homes, covered with warm quilts... The first thing they have to worry about at this time may not be whether the He people outside the city will break into the city. It's about whether the reinforcements who can come in at will will share their rations... Sometimes, especially when disasters strike, some people's vision will become farther away, and some people will become shallower and shallower.
"ah?"
Luo Qiu was stunned for a moment: "The family has prepared a reception banquet..."
"Not hungry."
Fang Jie smiled: "Go back to eat, let's go to the city first. Sometimes eating is the most urgent thing, sometimes, eating is the least urgent thing..."
Luo Qiu's heart tightened, and suddenly his face became hot.
…
…
As the capital city of the Shang Dynasty, the tall and solid city walls of Yongzhou can also be ranked among the top three in the Central Plains, and here is the fusion of Han culture and He culture, so the architectural style is quite different from the Central Plains. In the Central Plains, the houses of the common people are blue bricks and red tiles, while the houses of the rich are high-walled courtyards. In the southwest, especially in the area of Yongzhou, the houses where the common people live are mostly wooden buildings, which have obvious regional characteristics.
The city walls of Yongzhou were built extraordinarily wide. Although they were far less high than the walls of Chang'an City, they were not much different in thickness. When Fang Jie walked up the city wall, he found that the top of the city wall was wide enough for three carriages to walk side by side. This width can ensure that the reserve team prepares at the shortest distance, but the disadvantage is that once the enemy attacks the city wall, the enemy can find a foothold comfortably.
However, Luo Yao's management in Yongzhou over the past few decades has turned Yongzhou into a fortress. The defensive measures on the city wall are complete and well maintained.
The crossbow on the bed was polished very brightly, and the heavy crossbows in the wooden box next to it reflected light, without a trace of rust, and they were greased, so they still looked brand new.
The archery building is very strong and spacious, and at least twenty archers can be accommodated in the archery tower. There is a wolf tooth racket hanging outside the city wall. Given the height of the Yongzhou city wall, the wolf tooth racket can directly smash people into meat. In addition, there was a large iron pot every thirty meters on the city wall. Fang Xie went to have a look and found that the pot was full of kerosene. This kind of thing is actually not fully utilized at the moment, and few people even think of using it in war.
Fang Jie didn't see any rolling logs or stones on the city wall, so it can be seen that at least there is no shortage of crossbow arrows and feather arrows in the city. Although these two things are not impossible to coexist, the generals defending the city will rarely choose to transport a large amount of wood and stones to the city wall when the feather arrows are well prepared.
Without looking carefully, Fang Jie was sure that even if there were hundreds of thousands of elite fighters instead of hundreds of thousands of He people outside the city, it would not be easy to break through the city of Yongzhou rebuilt by Luo Yao.
He walked to the city wall, reached out to take the clairvoyant from Qilin's hand, and looked outside the city.
About five miles away is the big camp of the He people, and it really stretches for more than ten miles as Luo Qiu said. From the size of the battalion, the opponent's strength can be roughly calculated, and Fang Jie's figure made him dignified.
It is obvious to all that Yongzhou City is not easy to break through, but Fang Jie is not relieved by it.
The reason is simple, he didn't come to defend a city.
"Recently, the He people have called battles every day, but the city has insufficient troops and no tactics to restrain the He people's beasts, so they have not fought..."
Xu Qingzhi said something softly after Fang untied.
In fact, he has been observing Fang Xie along the way. When Fang Xie came last time, he had no direct contact with Fang Xie. As the fourth-rank general in the Daozhi Governor's Mansion, he naturally had to follow Luo Qiu to receive the imperial envoy, but he only took a few glances from a distance, and he didn't care much about Fang Xie at that time.
But today, he couldn't help but want to take a closer look at the man who was about to take over the military power of Yongzhou from him.
"Where's the frontier army?"
Fang Jie looked back at Xu Qingzhi and asked.
"Originally when Luo Yao was here, the frontier troops were rotated once a year, but since Luo Yao left, the number of frontier troops staying in the border town has decreased a lot. And they are mainly deployed on Nanyan's side, so the He people There was hardly any resistance. After Nanyan Murong Yongduo sent troops to pretend to be a caravan to deceive Baishui City, he went straight to Pingshang Road... The frontier troops in the other cities became solitary troops, with no more than a thousand people in each city. If you leave the Liang Road, it’s probably more bad luck than good luck.”
Xu Qingzhi's answer was very calm, but Fang Jie could detect a trace of dissatisfaction in his tone.
Undoubtedly, after Luo Yao left, no one paid attention to the frontier soldiers. Without logistical supplies, one can imagine how miserable the life of those frontier soldiers was. But even so, none of the frontier soldiers withdrew from their posts until they were all killed in battle.
"Maybe there are still alive..."
Fang Jie said something in a daze, but Xu Qingzhi didn't understand what he meant.
Xu Qingzhi pointed to the tallest tent in the camp of the He people outside the city: "That should be where the king of He is. Originally, the He people did not have a king of He. Since the Shang Kingdom was destroyed, the He people were in civil strife. There were almost daily battles during the period, and the He people split into many tribes, each of them acting independently. However, Nanyan Murong Shame met with the chief chieftain of the He tribe a while ago and supported him as the King of He."
"What's the name of King He?"
Fang asked.
"Farewell to Tuhun."
Xu Qingzhi replied: "According to the He people, Tuhunduobie was a very powerful practitioner and was called a god by the He people. Of course, the He people have a natural fear of the chieftain, so it may be a rumor."
"Then listen carefully."
Fang Jie said something casually, and then pointed to the most chaotic part of the He people's camp: "Is that where the He people's wild beasts are?"
"right!"
Xu Qingzhi nodded: "There are at least 10,000 beasts. Those beasts are commanded by 200 wizards, riding elephants, and driving the beasts with horns. If there is any way to destroy the beast army of the He people, the He people outside will Even if you have a million, you are not afraid!"
"Then knock it out."
Fang Jie said in a flat tone, as if he was just talking about crushing an ant. So Xu Qingzhi froze for a moment, not understanding where Fang Jie's faint but strong confidence came from.