Qiu Niang was going to go to the kitchen, although she didn't fully hear what Gu Baiyi was saying, but when she caught the words "dangerous" and "leaving Kyoto", she couldn't help but run to the door, looked inside, and asked, "What's wrong?" What's sinister? Shall we leave Kyoto? ”

Gu Baiyi just said, "I didn't talk to you." ”

Qiu Niang glanced at Bai Yi, but she was curious, although she walked away from the door, she still hid outside the house and eavesdropped, forgetting to cook for a while.

"Why did Brother Gu say that?" Qin Xiao heard that although Gu Baiyi said that it was speculation, his tone was clearly confirmed: "You mean that they are all imprisoned?" This..... Why is that? ”

Gu Baiyi wanted to speak and stopped, Qin Xiao saw that Gu Baiyi had a trace of concern, and said sincerely: "Brother Gu, if it is inconvenient to speak, you can not speak." But the military situation in Xiling is urgent, we rushed to Kyoto day and night, just hoping to report the situation there to the imperial court as soon as possible, and now Han Duwei and Lord Du are nowhere to be found, I have just arrived, and there is no official body, and there is no way to find someone. ”

"You come with me." Gu Baiyi glanced out of the door, and seemed to know that Qiu Niang was outside the door: "Sister, is the courtyard door tied?" Don't let people in. Get up and take Qin Xiao to the room on the left.

"No one comes in if the door is closed." Qiu Niang muttered: "On the days when we have eaten the last meal and the next meal, who wants to come to the door." But she was very smart and knew that Gu Baiyi didn't want to be disturbed to speak, or she didn't want others to hear their conversation.

Seeing Gu Baiyi taking Qin Xiao to the room, his expression was mysterious and even more strange, and he tiptoed to the window to get closer.

After Qin Xiao entered the room, he knew that it was Gu Baiyi's bedroom, and there were several dilapidated bookshelves in it, full of books, there were so many books that they couldn't be placed on the shelves, there were wooden boards on the ground, old cloths, and many books were stacked on them.

There were no chairs in the room, only a futon on the ground, Gu Baiyi handed the futon to Qin Xiao to sit down, and he took a few books and sat under his buttocks.

"Brother Qin, you said that Master Du went to the Ministry of Officials, and Captain Han went to the Ministry of War, is that right?"

Gu Baiyi asked in a low voice.

"That's right." Qin Xiao also said softly: "That's what they said when they left the inn, but I'm not sure they will arrive smoothly, if something happens on the way to the official office, it's not impossible, but this possibility is very small." The three of us entered Beijing, and no one knew our identities, and no one knew about staying at the inn, and it was impossible for anyone to follow them along the way, so when I first arrived in Kyoto, it was very unlikely that someone would stop them or even arrest them halfway. ”

"So they should all get to where they want to go." Gu Baiyi looked at Qin Xiao and said: "According to what you said before, the change in Xiling is because the Fan family has been planning for a long time, not only secretly colluding with the pseudo-prince to train soldiers and horses, but also probably colluding with the Wutuo people. ”

"Yes." Qin Xiao nodded and said: "After the general returned to Xiling, he knew that the Veda Khanate had been making preparations for the eastward advance, and the time was pressing, so he immediately focused on the matter of reorganizing troops and horses to deploy defense, and he didn't expect that the Fan family had been planning for a long time, so it was taken advantage of by the Fan family." ”

Gu Baiyi shook his head and said, "This is only part of the reason, in the final analysis, the Fan family dared to make a move in Xiling, and successfully captured Xiling, because the imperial court made a mistake."

Fatal mistakes. ”

"A fatal mistake?" Qin Xiao was stunned.

Gu Baiyi sighed lightly: "Brother Qin, when there was a rebellion in Xiling, did the general have soldiers and horses in his hands?" In other words, when the rebels captured the three major counties of Xiling, could they encounter resistance? ”

Qin Xiao frowned, shook his head, and said, "When the general returned to Xiling, there were only a very small number of cavalry around him, except for the guards and night crows. The Xiling Three Cavalry were co-opted, and the general was also preparing to use them as an important force to resist the Vedas, but .......!"

"The general is an iron-blooded soldier with enough courage and tenacity, and he also has a wealth of combat experience and knows how to march and set up formations." Gu Baiyi sighed: "This is his biggest strength, but it is also his biggest shortcoming, because putting all his thoughts on military affairs has neglected the villain's ghost tricks." If the general is given a year, the Xiling cavalry can indeed be trained by the general to be loyal and brave, but in a short period of time, it is really difficult to make those Xiling cavalry completely submit to the imperial court. ”

Qin Xiao nodded slightly.

Since the establishment of the Xiling Three Horses, what they eat is the food of the three major families of Xiling, and they have been branded with the symbol of the Xiling family since the first day.

They may all be in awe of General Black Feather in their hearts, but between the family and the general, they will only choose the family after all.

Qin Xiao believed that if Yuwen Chengchao really walked with the Fan family on Chinese New Year's Eve, then the tiger cavalry would also target the general and become the general's enemy.

"The general's descendant is the town army of Woye Town." Gu Baiyi said: "There are fifteen thousand town troops in Woye Town, of which three thousand are immortal soldiers, and they are the descendants of the generals, brave and good at fighting, and they are also the trump card iron army of the four towns in the entire north. After a pause, he continued: "The fatal mistake made by the imperial court is that it did not transfer the immortal army to Xiling at the first time, if after the general returns to Xiling, the immortal army can quickly get out of the customs, and the general has these three thousand brave soldiers and horses in his hands, the Xiling family may not dare to act rashly, even if it is really a rebellion, it is impossible to successfully seize the three cities and control Xiling." ”

Gu Baiyi hit the nail on the head, and Qin Xiao thought so.

In fact, Qin Xiao was very strange at the beginning, after the general returned to Xiling, it stands to reason that the imperial court should quickly transfer troops to Xiling to defend it, but the Changsheng Army has not shown signs of mobilization, and it has dragged on for several months without seeing a single soldier out of the pass.

What Gu Baiyi said was indeed true, if the Changsheng Army went out of the customs and accepted the defense of Xiling, although the Fan family had the Death Wing Cavalry of the Deserted West, it would be impossible for them to control the three most important cities of Xiling overnight.

"Brother Gu, the Immortal Army didn't leave the customs, is it because of the imperial court?"

Gu Baiyi bowed slightly: "The general is out of the customs, there is no immortal army, it is like if he is bare-handed, once there is a change, how will the general deal with it?" ”

"Why didn't the imperial court quickly transfer troops?" Qin Xiao asked.

Gu Baiyi thought for a moment before he said: "The four towns in the north are the Tuntian garrison, among which the Changsheng Army has made great achievements in Xiling back then, and the sage has specially allowed the families of the Changsheng Army to migrate to Woye Town, and each family has divided arable land, so the Immortal Army has actually regarded Woye Town as its hometown. If the imperial court mobilizes the immortal army out of the customs, will it take its family members with it? Once you bring your family, you will naturally have to pay the migration fee, and if you don't bring it, you will be transferred to the Changsheng Army

gone, in order to stabilize the morale of the soldiers of the Immortal Army, it is necessary to give their families a settling-in allowance, no matter what, as long as the Immortal Army moves, a large sum of silver must be sent first. ”

"Then why didn't the court allocate the silver?" Qin Xiao's brows tightened.

Gu Baiyi touched his chin, shook his head, and said, "The matter here involves a wide range of things. Let's put it this way, the imperial court has always regarded Murong in southern Xinjiang as the biggest enemy, even if it is the defense of the Tusun people in the north, it is far more important than Xiling, after all, the two strongest forces that stirred up the peace of the Tang Dynasty were Murong and Tusun people in southern Xinjiang, so the military expenditure of the imperial court was mostly used in the north and south directions, and the two major corps of the empire, in order to win more money, food and equipment, have always been ......intrigued! ”

Qin Xiao was stunned, he was in Xiling, he had been a small official for many years, and he didn't know much about the affairs in the Guan, and he didn't have any interest in the affairs of the court.

"Over the years, the Southern Army has always had the upper hand, accounting for sixty percent of the annual military expenditure, while the number of soldiers and horses in the four northern towns is not below the Southern Army, but it only gets forty percent." Gu Baiyi obviously knew everything about the court, and said calmly: "And the Northern Army accounts for forty percent, but it has to be divided into four towns." The four towns in the north have always been commanded by the Taishi family, Wuchuan Town is the descendant of the Taishi family, and most of the generals in Rouxuan Town are also from the Taishi family, but the two towns of Huaishuo and Woye are each in a department. ”

Qin Xiao knew that his previous thoughts were too naïve.

I used to only think that the four northern towns were all border troops guarding the northern border, and naturally they were united from top to bottom, but now I understand that the border army of the four towns is divided into three factions.

"At the earliest, Woye Town was actually under the control of the Taishi family, thirteen years ago, Woye Zhenwei General Xu Li died of illness, in order to make up for this position, the forces of the DPRK and China fought for a long time, or the sage made a will, so that the Black Feather General, who was in charge of the Yongzhou camp at that time, made up for the position of the Woye Zhenwei General, the Black Feather General was famous, with his qualifications and prestige, serving as the general of the border army was actually a condescending talent, so he served as the general of the Woye Zhenwei, and the Manchu Dynasty naturally had nothing to say." Gu Baiyi said softly: "The general is in Woye Town, but his heart is in Xiling, and he has always wanted to return to Xiling, so that Datang can actually take back Xiling." ”

Qin Xiao nodded slightly, knowing that it was the general's long-cherished wish in his life to take back Xiling.

Originally, it was just mentioning the changes in Xiling, and what Gu Baiyi was talking about seemed to be far away, but Qin Xiao knew that Gu Baiyi had a calm temperament, and it was impossible for him to say this for no reason, since he said so, there must be a reason.

Qiu Niang, who was hiding behind the window and eavesdropping, heard that the two were talking about military affairs, and the more she listened, the more bored she became, and she lost interest.

"Taishi Cunqiao is the general of Zhenbei, the money, grain and equipment are sent over there, and it will naturally be distributed by Taishi Cunqing, the four towns are different from each other, how to distribute it, I don't say it, Brother Qin also understands." Gu Baiyi said: "To transfer the Changsheng army out of the customs, you need the decision-making documents of the Southern Courtyard, you also need the transfer order of the Ministry of War, and you need the Ministry of Household to allocate money, so that the stay of 3,000 people and horses directly involves the three yamen." As far as I know, the sage has already made a decree to let the Immortal Army get out of the customs, but for specific operations, these three yamen must be involved in it, if everything is safe and sound, it will be fine, but there was a rebellion in Xiling, and one of the fatal reasons is that the Immortal Army did not get out of the customs in time, Brother Qin, do you think these three yamen will be in trouble? ”