When Wang Yu saw Liu Zhenglong's treacherous smile, he immediately had a bad premonition, but he couldn't speak.

Sure enough, Liu Zhenglong waited for Wang Su to finish speaking, and then said with a smile: "It's not a loss to be the head of the Wang family, and it is to solve the problem of the city wall as soon as you come up. On the day when the city wall is built, the national government will invite the imperial court to crown you as the prince of Fenshui County. ”

The city wall was built, many people did not react to this word for a while, and when they heard the Fenshui County Prince, everyone congratulated them one after another, and they were envious. Wang Su was also very proud, in his opinion, paying 100,000 yuan to buy a Fenshui County Duke was definitely worth it. But Wang Yu didn't think like that, and always felt that Liu Zhenglong had dug a pit earlier.

Seeing that everyone's enthusiasm was high, Liu Zhenglong continued: "The Jin invasion is imminent, but Taiyuan City is too small, and repairing the city wall is also very resistant to the attack of the Jin army. To repair the city wall, it is better to build an outer city, which can be built day and night, and it can be built in four months, and the cost is about one million. The Wang family pledged one million, which can be said to be the benefactor of Taiyuan City. Of course, the prince will not let the Wang family give a million, if there is any need, even if it is raised, the official will try his best to meet it. ”

The lion opened his mouth widely, and when he opened his mouth, it was a million, and now it exploded, and Wang Su almost fainted. Wang Yu was also dumbfounded, he didn't expect Liu Zhenglong's little white face to be so black.

Liu Zhenglong didn't want to delay so much, he said with a smile: "In addition to building the city wall, two million military expenses are needed, so everyone here can think of a way." Again, whatever you need, the official will try to meet it. If anyone drags on and delays the defense of the city, then weigh the consequences for themselves. ”

Jinyang Building, mourning, it seems that these people don't want to sleep this night.

On the way back, Zhu Wu asked puzzledly: "Lord, what if these people are not willing to pay three million to complain to you?" ”

"It's okay, it's okay to complain, anyway, the mountain is high and the emperor is far away, and His Majesty won't believe that I embezzled three million, this money is nothing to me."

Yes, it is rumored that the lord has an asset of 10,000,000, how can he look at a mere 3 million? At this time, Zhu Wu finally understood what Liu Zhenglong meant, it seemed that the entire Taiyuan City would move, and maybe the imperial court would also move.

That night, Taiyuan City exploded, and all the rich families were in mourning.

Zhang Chunxiao's nose was almost crooked, and he wrote a recital overnight to sue Liu Zhenglong.

The original plan was to meet Liu Zhenglong the next day, but the furious Zhang Chunxiao didn't want to pay attention to this damn guy anymore.

Wang Yu didn't sleep all night, but this guy didn't think about writing a chapter, he was just a small amount of control, and complaining about the Xuanfu envoy on Hedong Road was definitely looking for death. However, this guy was not sulking like Zhang Chunxiao, he discussed this matter with his son, but he didn't expect his daughter Wang Xiaoyan to hear it.

Wang Xiaoyan said with a smile: "Father, you are a fan of the authorities, if you think about the problem from a different angle, you will not be depressed, and you will think that Qin Guogong's trick is too clever." ”

"What do you mean, what do you girl know, don't talk nonsense."

"Father, I'm not talking nonsense, let me ask you a question, is that Qin Guogong going to embezzle the three million?"

Wang Yu shook his head and said, "This amount of money, Qin Guogong can't look at it. ”

"Then this money, is it forcing everyone to pay?"

"No, take voluntarily, and also said that there are requirements, and he will try to meet."

Wang Xiaoyan said: "If I am not mistaken, Qin Guogong wants to tie these rich people to Taiyuan City, if the Jin army attacks Taiyuan City, these people will not flee in a hurry, and they will definitely fight to defend Taiyuan City." Moreover, the requirements that everyone can put forward are nothing more than seeking a future for their descendants and a way to make a fortune, no matter which one they are, Qin Guogong will meet them. Because everyone will rally tightly around him. ”

Wang Yu agreed with his daughter's statement, but he couldn't figure out why Liu Zhenglong did it. Although it was not clear why Liu Zhenglong did this, Wang Yu went to persuade Zhang Chunxiao to visit Qin Guogong early the next morning.

After all, Zhang Chunxiao is a civil official, and it is one thing to be indignant, and it is another thing to meet Qin Guogong.

After listening to Wang Yu's words, Zhang Chunxiao said: "It seems that the situation of the Jin army's invasion is much more serious than imagined, and even the invincible jade-faced god of war is not sure of victory. It is best to recruit another 20,000 soldiers, after all, once the big city is built, the 20,000 defenders will be too few, and besides, there are 10,000 cavalry in it that belong to the Duke of Qin, maybe they will be sent out, and only 10,000 defenders will not be able to defend Taiyuan City. ”

Wang Yu said a little worriedly: "Qin Guogong's intentions are good, but these three million, are those people willing to come out?" ”

"I don't know, but we're going to work in that direction. I'll mobilize the rich people in the city to donate money, the common people will build the city walls, and you'll be responsible for finding the target soldiers and blocking the city gates. By the way, in addition, we must strictly investigate the spies, and we must not be careless. Zhang Chunxiao pondered for a long time and said: "I don't know what the other people's state is, but I know that the Wang family's one million will be handed over soon, and this money can't help the Wang family." ”

At this time, Wang Yu suddenly became enlightened, and he said with a smile: "Qin Guogong's trick is too clever, the rich donate money to protect their homes, so the poor people can only work hard, to build the city wall, to join the army, and no one will complain." ”

Zhang Chunxiao took the initiative to apologize to Liu Zhenglong and said that he would fully cooperate with the construction of the city wall.

Sure enough, at noon the next day, the Wang family announced that they were willing to invest 1 million to build the outer city wall. On the third day, Liu Zhenglong visited Wang as an old man in his personal capacity.

After the guests were seated, Liu Zhenglong said with a smile: "Old man, the spirit of Ryoma must be a long-lived and hundred-year-old appearance." Thanks to the royal family's funding for the construction of the exterior wall, it was important to fight against the Jin army. On behalf of the imperial court and the people of Taiyuan Mansion, this official thanked the Wang family for their contributions. ”

The king waved his hand, and the old man said with a smile: "The Qin State is rich and rivals the country, and only three million is just a drop in the bucket, and the reason why you let the rich families of Taiyuan Mansion come out is so that the people of the whole city can share the same hatred and hatred, and all of them are united, and the army and the people cooperate to resist the enemy together." Your trick is really ancient and modern, and you admire and admire it. ”

You look, I say, if there is no nutrition, the two talked for a long, long time.

After dinner, I finally got to the point.

It may be because there are confidential words to talk about, and there are only Wang Ji, Wang Su, Wang Wei, the three fathers and sons, and Liu Zhenglong in the room, which is to ensure that the content of the conversation is not leaked to the public.

Wang Ji first said: "Taiyuan City is the land of Tang Gaozu's dragon xing, do you want to hide the dragon in the wild this time, or do you want the dragon to fly for nine days?" ”

The old man was not ambiguous, in this case, Liu Zhenglong did not intend to hide it, he said with a smile: "The premise of everything here is to defeat the Jin army and protect Hedong Road." I just don't know the Wang family's choice. ”

The king took his two sons to kneel on the ground and kowtowed, and then said, "The Wang family is willing to be the minister of the dragon, and may my lord dragon fly for nine days." ”

"Excuse me." Liu Zhenglong did not support the other party, the meaning is very clear, this is the gift of the monarch and the minister, and he accepted the Wang family. He said with a smile: "Wang Wei and this official are the same Jinshi, according to the official system of the Great Song Dynasty, it has come to an end to be a fellow governor in Taiyuan Mansion, I don't know if you are interested in going to Jingzhao Mansion to be the prefect?" ”

"Thank you, Lord Long."

Wang Wei and Wang Su followed their father to swear allegiance to the new master, and the entire Wang family would join in.

It was time for the prefect of Jingzhao Mansion to be replaced, and Liu Zhenglong's original plan was to let Wang Wei go to Hangzhou to be the prefect, but in the end he changed his mind. If even the position of the representative of the prefect of Hangzhou is his subordinate, then King Kang Zhao Gou will have nightmares even if he becomes the emperor, which is obviously a very bad choice.

After the king re-seated, Liu Zhenglong said: "The Jin army went south, not to plunder the population, but to destroy the Great Song Dynasty. The Jin cavalry that invaded the Song Dynasty must have been menacing to block all the roads, and at that time Taiyuan City would be besieged for several months, and if it was not done well, the city might fall and the city would be full of blood. ”

"What does the lord mean?" Wang Wei seemed to have guessed Liu Zhenglong's true intentions, and it seemed that the lord was giving a big game of chess. The powerful Jin cavalry is destined to be invincible and invincible, and if you want to annihilate it, you must fight a protracted battle to trap the Jin army on Hedong Road.

Liu Zhenglong said with a smile: "Taking Hedong Road as a chessboard, I am indeed playing a big game of chess, Taiyuan Mansion is like a magnet, entangled the Jin army to the death, so that it cannot attack the city and plunder the village unscrupulously, and cannot burn and loot everywhere." The most important thing in this is to defend the city, and I can only rely on the military and people of Taiyuan Mansion to work together, because I want to destroy the living force of the Jin army through movement warfare outside. The Jin army is indeed very powerful, but the small population is fatal does not mean a shortcoming, it can be said that killing one is one less. If Taiyuan Mansion can't hold it, then no matter how beautiful the outside line is, it's useless. Therefore, Taiyuan City still needs the officials of Taiyuan City to manage it. ”

Taiyuan City needs Taiyuan officials to govern, this sentence undoubtedly reassured the Wang family, but Liu Zhenglong's argument that he fought with the Jin army through sports warfare instead of sticking to Taiyuan City made the Wang family and his son puzzled.

After all, Wang Wei is a civilian official, and he doesn't know anything about military affairs, he doesn't know how to speak, just do his own job well. However, the old man Wang is a good man, and he has a wide range of knowledge, although he did not lead troops to fight, but he still knows a lot about military knowledge.

The king said a little worriedly: "My lord, there is such a saying in the military, use your own strengths to overcome the enemy's shortcomings, and stand undefeated. Defeat the enemy's strengths with his own shortcomings, defeat without a fight, and not a positive choice. Our Great Song Dynasty has been short of horses for a hundred years, and we are unable to fight with the Liao army in the north or with the Western Xia. In the final analysis, our strength is to defend the city, because we have more advanced equipment to defend the city, we have tall and strong cities, and our generals have rich experience in defending cities. In turn, the Jin State was a cavalry, and its combat effectiveness far exceeded that of the Liao army, the Western Xia soldiers, and their most powerful was mobility, and they annihilated nearly a million Liao troops in more than seventy encounters. Our movement war was crushed by the Liao army, how can we fight the invincible Jin army? ”

"Lao Cheng seeks the country, and the old lady's question is very good." Liu Zhenglong cast an appreciative look at Wang Ji, and he said with a smile: "The advantages and disadvantages are not static, but transformed under specific conditions. After the Liao State and the Great Song Dynasty passed through the alliance of the Yuanyuan, there were few major battles, at most small-scale conflicts. Most of the time they lived in peace, and it was during this period of time that the Liao State received a large number of craftsmen from our country, and the equipment for defending the city, weapons and armor, and iron-smelting technology have been greatly improved, and there are even many areas that are stronger than my Great Song Dynasty. The ability to defend the city is not inferior to our dynasty, but the strongest Yanshan Mansion (Youzhou) in the north is not lost. Now that the Jin State has inherited all of the Liao State, it can be said that the movement war and the siege war are all strengths, and there are no obvious shortcomings. ”

Wang didn't deny this, but he was still a little unconvinced.

Liu Zhenglong continued: "Defending the city indicates that you have lost the initiative, you will be beaten passively, and at most you will not be able to win for self-preservation. In the war of movement, if it fails, it will lose its troops, and if it is defeated, it will be a war of annihilation, to destroy the enemy's living forces. The myth of the invincibility of the Jin army has caused many local officials of the Great Song Dynasty to be frightened and flee. Guangling County and Lingqiu County were all left to the empty city of Jin Guo after the local officers and soldiers fled. If we choose to stick to Taiyuan and give up the movement war, it can be said that the entire Hedong Road will fall, and at that time, the Jin army will besiege Taiyuan City, and the result will not be alone. ”

Wang Wei only reacted at this time, he said: "Yes, if you are beaten passively, it is better to take the initiative to attack." The Jin army was not invincible, because of the battle of the mountain, the 20,000 Jin cavalry was almost wiped out, and the Jin army was also defeated in the battle of Rabbit Ear Mountain. If you want to take the initiative, it is necessary to attack. ”

Liu Zhenglong slowly took a sip of tea and said: "No matter how much the Jin army has, it can't cover up a fatal shortcoming, that is, there are too few soldiers, and it can be said that one dies less." Annihilating the living forces of the Jin army is a fatal blow to the Jin army. Moreover, the more towns were captured, the more dispersed the Jin army became. The earth survives and people die, and in the end everyone loses, and the land loses and people survive, and in the end everyone survives. The biggest advantage of our Great Song Dynasty is not to defend the city, but to have a sufficient supply of soldiers, our country has a population of tens of millions, and millions of troops can be formed according to the standard of one out of ten. The biggest disadvantage of the Jin army is that the population is too small, the population is less than one million, and according to three out of ten, it is only 300,000. You must know that three out of ten is very dangerous, and the national strength will be dragged down in the long run. There is no reason to attack the shortcomings of the Jin army with the strength of our army. Moreover, we are fighting on our own territory, we are familiar with the terrain, and we can win the support of the local people, so we can say that we have occupied the right time and place, and the victory will definitely belong to us. Besides, our Great Song Kingdom is strong and the people are rich, and if we fight a war of attrition, we can drag the Jin army to death. ”

At this time, the king also understood that the battle of Yinshan was not the victory of the army under the command of the lord? When the old man heard the word Taishi, he immediately understood a lot, and he didn't speak, because now is not the time to thank Lord Longen.

Wang Wei, a civil official, was enthusiastic when he heard this, and he said: "Lord, you can give a task, and our Wang family will do it with all our might." ”

"Yes, our Wang family is the last person to fight hard, and we will fight to the end with the Jin army." The king took Wang Wei with him, and the two brothers fell to their knees on the ground to show their loyalty.

Liu Zhenglong helped Wang Ji up and said: "On another day, if I am the emperor, you will be the master." The Wang family is not good at military affairs, so they don't need to consume too much on the battlefield. You should do things in the field you are best at, so I don't need to go into details, I believe that the old lady knows how to do it. Okay, that's all for today. ”

The Wang family is a god-like existence in Taiyuan Mansion and even the entire Hedong Road, and it is very important for Liu Zhenglong to recover the Wang family. But he knew that if he wanted to entangle with the Jin army on Hedong Road, it was far from enough to recover the Wang family, and the next step was to use thunder to exterminate Tian Hu. You must know that once Tian Hu defects to the Jin Kingdom, he will be attacked by the enemy, and when the time comes, the consequences will be unimaginable.

Before, among the four major coars, Liu Zhenglong didn't take Tian Hu who was entrenched in Weisheng Mansion seriously at all, and in his opinion, if the official army was killed, he would definitely let the thieves flee. However, Tong Guan arranged troops to exterminate Tian Hu many times, not only was it not eliminated, but on the contrary, it became more and more powerful, and now it has controlled 56 counties in five prefectures, and there are more than 200,000 soldiers and horses. Of course, these 200,000 soldiers and horses are nothing more than a rabble in Liu Zhenglong's eyes. There is no threat at all, but now that the Jin army is invading, if these 200,000 soldiers and horses come from behind, the lethality will be huge.

Historically, the Jin army invaded and besieged Taiyuan for more than eight months for the first time, capturing most of the prefectures and counties on Hedong Road, capturing Hebei Road and besieging the capital. But in the end, he did not live the final victory, and it was not until the second invasion of the Song Dynasty that the seemingly powerful Northern Song Dynasty was destroyed. Although Liu Zhenglong knows this history, he knows that the butterfly effect has been produced, and he doesn't know what the final direction of history is.

Historically, the Jin State did not recruit too many Khitan warriors, and the vassal army was dominated by Liaodi Han Chinese, Bohai people, and Goryeo people, plus Jurchen warriors, and the total strength did not exceed 300,000 when they invaded the Song Dynasty for the first time. However, the current Jin State has recruited a large number of Khitan warriors, Xi warriors, and some tribes in the grassland, with a total strength of nearly 500,000. This is the factor of instability, and Liu Zhenglong cannot grasp whether the balance of war is tilted to that side.

The most terrible thing is that if the Jin army does not advance on the east and west fronts at the same time, but pins down one side and attacks the other side with all its might, then the Great Song Dynasty really can't resist, and it is not impossible to lose the country.

Liu Zhenglong, who was unwilling to take risks, was unwilling to stay in Taiyuan City and wait for the Jin army to besiege the city, he was afraid that during his time in Taiyuan City, the Jin army would conquer Bianliang City with a thunderous force, in that case, he would really want to cry without tears.

Liu Zhenglong decided to let Wang Yu stick to Taiyuan City, with the assistance of the eight major families led by the Wang family, to ensure that Taiyuan City would not fall, and then concentrate all his forces, first annihilate Tian Hu, stabilize the rear, and then fight against the Jin army.

The clouds of the two-front battle are still hanging over Liu Zhenglong's head, 100,000 Western Liao troops are approaching Yunzhou, and there are 100,000 Western Liao troops on the Western Xia border.

Giving up Yunzhou, Liu Zhenglong finally made the most daring decision. Once Yunzhou is abandoned, then Western Liao and the Jin army will fight to the death for Yunzhou, no matter who wins or loses, it will have a profound impact on the entire battle situation. But the question now is that Yunzhou is guarded by Liu Fa's son Liu Zhengyan, will this guy give up, of course not.

In the end, Liu Zhenglong asked Zhu Wu to visit Liu Fa on his behalf, hoping that this sworn brother could release his 10,000 Longwei army, as long as the 10,000 cavalry left Yunzhou, then Liu Zhengyan wanted to defend Yunzhou, but he couldn't hold it.

Yunzhou can give up, but the Western Xia side must be ready to fight, and the Western Liao army must not be allowed to enter the Western Xia, this is Liu Zhenglong's bottom line, and it is also his dragon scales, and those who go against the dragon scales die, this is the bottom line that cannot be touched.

At this time, Liu Zhenglong thought of one person, that is, Xiao Gan, maybe this guy would come forward to talk to Xiliao about the good results, after all, the biggest enemy of Xiliao is the Jin State, and the occupation of Xixia is just to have a rear base, which can provide a steady stream of grain and grass.

Xiao Gan did not follow Hebron to conquer the grassland, nor did he go to the Western Regions, he was in Taiyuan City, mainly because he was sick and came to recuperate and treat.

Xiao Gan didn't expect Liu Zhenglong to come to visit him, he was so excited that he burst into tears, of course, there are many acting elements in it, but this guy is indeed a little moved.

After a few words of condolence, Liu Zhenglong went straight to the point and said: "There are 200,000 soldiers in Western Liao, of which 100,000 are on the border of Western Xia and 100,000 are in Yunzhou, what do you think Yelu Dashi wants?" ”

Xiao Gan pondered for a moment and then said: "After all, Yelu Dashi was born in the royal family, since he is called the emperor, he is destined to restore the country, and he will fight to the death with the Jin country, but Xiliao is not far away, and the supply of materials is the biggest shortcoming. ”

"Then do you think this Western Liao army can capture Western Xia?"

"I can't." Xiao Gan was so wise, he knew that if he said he could, then his death time would come, he pondered for a moment and said: "How powerful the Great Liao was at the beginning, he didn't even think about destroying Western Xia. The most important thing is that the terrain of Western Xia is complicated, coupled with the courage and good fighting of the Dangxiang clan, and it is not easy to destroy the country by force. Moreover, there is also the support of the lord behind this, and the Western Liao army that came from the expedition will definitely not be able to take the Western Xia. ”

Obviously, Xiao Gan is not flattering when he says this, but in his opinion, Western Xia has always been a difficult bone to gnaw, the Liao State back then couldn't gnaw it, and now the Western Liao can't gnaw it, in this case, Western Liao is obviously stupid to attack Western Xia.