Said to be a bandit, the team went up from the bottom of the mountain at dawn, but only encountered some hungry and cold hunters along the way, and this operation was really confusing. The man with the dark red spear at the head just said that these people would be brought back alive. The sergeants were confused, but obeyed the order anyway. When they arrived at the camp, everyone was gathered, and they saw that the captain standing on the high platform was not the captain who only drank wine and ate meat, but a thin man. Zhao Qian roared loudly: "I am the son of Prince Shen, and now I have been framed by traitors and the whole family has died at the hands of the ministers. The captain of the military camp, only know how to drink and have fun, I don't know how to make contributions to the country, my heart is very cold, Your Majesty when I go out of Beijing, I have a secret decree, to this king hoe traitors, and now, please all the soldiers, with this king to fight against traitors, do not let traitors occupy the court, make meritorious contributions! ”

As soon as they heard this person say that the emperor had secretly targeted himself and killed the captain, the sergeants looked left and right, and just when they didn't know what to do, Xu Yuan slammed his spear, slammed it on the ground, and knelt down on one knee: "I am willing to swear allegiance to my king, be loyal to Your Majesty, and follow Your Majesty's secret decree to crusade against traitors!" Everyone knelt down one after another: "I am willing to swear allegiance to my king, to your majesty, and to crusade against traitors!" That night, the small city of Neiqiu changed its defenses, martial law everywhere, and the city was sealed the next day, only saying that there was a plague outbreak in the city. Xu Yuan also asked the county order to hand over the excerpt to the governor's yamen for help, and took it and unexpectedly sank into the sea. Now the snow disaster in Zhili is serious, and it is difficult to guarantee the harvest in the coming year, and many houses have been smashed down, and many people have frozen to death. The yamen was in a hurry, and there was no echo at all to the recital sent to the imperial court, where would he have time to take care of a small county town?

The division of labor between the two is clear, Xu Yuan is responsible for training, and Zhaoqian is responsible for calming the people's hearts and recruiting soldiers. In just two months, the warehouse was opened to release grain and recruit soldiers. The number of soldiers in Neiqiu City has expanded to 5,000, and these 5,000 people have a big problem: they have no food! Although the small coffers of the former prefectural commanders were confiscated, these could not last long in the face of rising food prices and the increasing number of soldiers. "Look, how to solve the shortage of grain and grass?" The doormen looked at each other, and some people said that the plan today is to quickly attack the city and seize the land to ensure the source of grain and grass; Some people say that the squires of the merchants in the city should be taxed, and they still have surplus food in their homes anyway; Someone else suggested asking the imperial court for help. Zhao Qian was noncommittal, looking at Xu Yuan, as if asking his opinion. Xu Yuan saluted Zhaoqian: "Qi my king, at this time, the training degree of soldiers is not used to conquer cities and lands, and taxation can only solve a temporary emergency, and the court is too busy to take care of us at the moment." ”

Zhao Qian frowned, "Xu Qing, you mean it's not feasible?" Xu Yuan shook his head: "That's not the case, the military salary is tight, all three aspects are responsible, and the three methods are also feasible, although the soldiers cannot be used to conquer the city, but they can be used to tempt the enemy." Zhao Qian nodded, waved his hand and let the doormen go down, "You tell me carefully." "For the sake of the present, I will temporarily levy taxes on the squires, and at the same time ask the court for help, only asking for military salaries." Zhao Qian asked: "Raise soldiers for a thousand days, and use them for a while." What are you going to do with these 5,000 sergeants? "Please look here." Xu Yuan pointed to the map, "Look at Yaoshan, it is less than 40 miles away from here, which is very convenient, and Yaoshan County is any autumn, if this person can move him with righteousness, and then threaten the lives of his parents, wife and children." I will make him useful to me. ”

The next day, a squire came to say that the wind in the city was not in the right direction, and came to meet the county commander. The two politely invited them into the county office, and gave off their slaves, intending to use these large households to open up the wasteland. So hundreds of soldiers surrounded the rich family's house and raided it. For this bad news that fell from the sky, many wealthy businessmen became prisoners before they could react. The family used gold, silver, grain, furs, jade, silk and other things to pay for the army. For a while, the gate of Qiu City was closed, and Xu Yuan only cared about training, and the training of these soldiers was far from enough. It was said that there was a plague in the city, and a few condemned prisoners were found and killed, and then they were stabbed with pox-like scars on their bodies and thrown outside the city. The news of the request for assistance from the imperial court was withheld and exaggerated, and when the emperor's case was on the table, it was a few months later, and at this time he was fighting for the minister's party, and anything could make these people come up with two arguments.

It coincided with the snow disaster in Zhili and the plague, some people advocated collecting doctors from all over the country to treat the disease, and some people advocated closing the inner mound to prevent the epidemic from spreading around. But the fact is that those who advocate closure are not necessarily traitors, and those who advocate healing are not necessarily famous ministers who govern the world. After years of disasters, how can there be money for disaster relief in the treasury, which has long been empty? There was another plague, the emperor looked at Liu Huizu and Mu Shuai with a headache and argued, and the ministers also stood in line, these people only thought about their own reputation, and did not think about the overall situation of the country. The emperor asked, "Zihui, Mu Xiang, what do you two think?" Liu Huizu said: "Your Majesty, the plague is as fierce as a tiger, for the sake of today's plan, the county town should be closed, and thousands of people and tens of thousands of people should die, hundreds of thousands of people, Your Majesty should be considered, and the overall situation should be the priority." ”

Mu Shuai took a step forward: "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that it is impossible, the plague is as fierce as a tiger, it is not that simply closing the city can solve the problem, if the seal is too loose, the problem cannot be solved, if the seal is too strict, I am afraid it will backfire, so that more people will escape from the city at any cost." The emperor had a headache for a while, and said: "I think that what the two Aiqing said is reasonable, so let's take out 30,000 taels of silver from my private treasury, the salary of the Neiqiu army is urgent, and the treasury is empty, this money is used for them to buy medicine to fill the army, and the epidemic must not spread." The ministers looked at each other and knelt down one after another: "Your Majesty is wise." ”

30,000 taels of silver, issued from the emperor's private treasury, after layers of exploitation, only 2,000 taels were left in Xu Yuan's hands. Xu Yuan and Zhao Qian looked at the two thousand taels of silver and cried and laughed, what is this enough for, and the news came that they had given 30,000 taels, and the officials were so corrupt that they even dared to embezzle the emperor's private money. Zhao Qian asked: "Xu Qing, there is a big granary in Longping, if we capture Longping first, it will be helpful for us to go north and south next." Xu Yuan shook his head: "Your Highness, you see that the reason why Longping is a granary is not because there is a lot of local grain, but because the transportation is convenient and there are many people who come and go. ”

Zhao Qian nodded: "Reasonable, if you conquer Yao Mountain, how long will it take?" Xu Yuan saluted and looked at him with blazing eyes: "Three thousand soldiers, three days." ”