As soon as Lihua's words fell, he saw that the nobles who had received Lihua's promise were overjoyed, and they all hugged their fists and said.

At the same time, they also noticed that this general seemed to be ready to fight hard in Shangdang, otherwise he would not have made the move of sending the women, children, and children of the city to Longmen.

Holding back the faint excitement in their hearts, everyone said goodbye and left one after another after expressing their heartfelt feelings to Lihua.

But among the nobles, Xi Zihui was called by Zhu Lihua alone, because Zhu Lihua could see that these nobles were already the head of the horse, and Xi Zihui's remarks made Zhu Lihua very impressed.

Therefore, Xi Zihui represented the nobles of Shangdang to participate in the first military meeting after the army of Lihua seized Shangdang.

At the military meeting, Zhu Lihua made detailed arrangements for the party's defense.

In the vigilant look of everyone, Xi Zihui immediately put forward some details that Li Hua and others did not expect, and these suggestions made Li Hua and his generals think they were true, which made everyone's doubts about Xi Zihui slightly reduced.

Through Xi Zihui's explanation, Zhu Lihua and the others were almost certain that this person was the leader of the Shangdang nobles, so with this person's help, Zhu Lihua was more confident in guarding the Shangdang.

However, after all, Xi Zihui was the one who was still helping the Qi ** team defend the city against him yesterday, so Zhu Lihua didn't completely open up to him.

Some extremely secret arrangements were also made after he left the hall before he dared to deduce them in detail with his henchmen.

In the following month, a total of 40,000 people in Shangdang left the north with their noble families, and these people accounted for more than 30% of the population of Shangdang County.

After the Mengchun Rebellion, the population of Longmen counties dropped sharply, and there were not enough people to cultivate the land in each county during this year, so these Shangdang people went to the counties, and they would naturally be properly arranged by Liang Qingshu, and at the same time, they would also be attracted by the extremely attractive farming conditions of the counties.

Therefore, in addition to those noble families, Zhu Lihua expected that these 40,000 people would never want to return to the party in the future.

This was one of the most important purposes of the decision to attack Shangdang, because Shangdang and Yuanyou were the only two places in Hexi counties that had not been affected by the war for more than a year, and the population was naturally abundant.

Now that Yuanyou has fallen into the center of the whirlpool of war, and Shangdang is about to face another national war, so instead of letting the population be attribution, Zhu Lihua feels that it is better to work hard and move them to his own jurisdiction, which can not only protect their safety, but also enrich the population of Longmen and other places, which can be regarded as a two-pronged strategy.

In this month, with the help of Xi Zihui and other local nobles, Yu Lihua found that moving 40,000 people north was already the limit of what he could mobilize in more than a month.

Most of the people who migrated north were old and weak, women and children, and some were destitute people who had no land.

They may feel powerless in the war to control their own destiny before fleeing to the north. Or you can leave home and go north without worrying.

But for the people who owned land and property in the party, they would rather risk their lives than give up their homes in vain.

......

Zhu Lihua sat on a bamboo chair and stood at the head of Shangdang City, he looked at the 50,000 Qi troops outside the city, but sighed in his heart.

He understood that the people who had fled north did not

It's not that they're greedy for life and afraid of death, and the people who stay behind aren't as good as their lives.

But in hundreds of years of history, the past experiences of their countless ancestors have made them deeply convinced in their hearts that "only what you hold with your own hands is truly your own" This simple truth.

Instead of listening to Xi Zihui's suggestion to intercept the Qi army at the Huangshui Ferry, he put them under the Shangdang City.

In his opinion, his soldiers had no experience in fighting the navy at all, and even he didn't know how to fight against those tall giant ships.

At the same time, Lihua also calculated that it was impossible for the Qi army to go north a hundred miles away and cross the mountains between Longmen and Shangdang to attack the counties of Longmen. Because their purpose is to regain the Shangdang and open up the grain route for the Xuchang and Binshui Qi armies who are fighting in the Yuanyou.

Looking at the Tsing Yi soldiers who gathered under the Shangdang City and held high the Qinglong banner to hunt and fly, densely lined up into a large array that could not be seen, Zhu Lihua suddenly turned his head for some reason and glanced at the Xuanwu Battle Banner that was also hunting and shining, and smiled imperceptibly at the corner of his mouth.

It seems that the momentum is terrifying, but for some reason, what he thinks of is the soldiers and horses of the Rong people outside the Yuxiao Pass in the past.

Compared with those soldiers outside the customs, these neatly dressed Qi people with bright armor looked more like embroidered pillows.

The generals at the head of the city and some noble lords are constantly observing their own lords while always paying attention to the city. They saw that Lihua frowned and looked at the mountains that faintly appeared in the sky in the distance, not knowing what they were thinking, as if the Qi army under the city was not a matter of importance.

Except for Gao Yunce, Li Ji, and Tang Yuan, who understood what medicine was sold in the gourd, the rest of them were at a loss in the clouds.

"Doctor Xizi, are all the people in the city ready?"

Just when everyone was worried, Zhu Lihua's calm words suddenly sounded.

Xi Zihui hurriedly stepped forward a few steps and said respectfully: "General Bing, I will immediately count this matter after discussing it last night, at present, there are 21,000 armed strong men in the city, of which 8,000 have participated in the guard, and the rest have also been trained on weekdays, if there is another month, then they can definitely be used for field battles outside the city." ”

This Xi Zihui also garrisoned the frontier in the past, but he was the only seedling in the family and did not continue to serve in the army.

This kind of training and organization of the people in the city will never be left only to these nobles in the city, in addition to sending another henchman to assist the nobles in training the people, he also arranged for his ears and eyes to blend in with the armed people early.

After Xi Zihui finished speaking, Zhu Lihua immediately ordered that the 8,000 people who had participated in the war should be allowed to ascend to the top of the city, while the rest of the people could wait in the city without going to the city.

As soon as the order came out, the nobles in the city, including Xi Zihui, were a little surprised.

In the past month, they could clearly see that the soldiers and horses of Zhu Lihua were about 10,000, and the only 2,000 cavalry had left Shangdang and returned to Longmen three days earlier. But at this time, the army of Qi suddenly attacked, quickly captured the Huangshui Ferry, and surrounded Shangdang City in one day.

Therefore, the number of officers and soldiers in the party will never exceed 10,000.

But at this time, instead of letting all the people go to the city to defend it, he let the people wait in the city. This made everyone swoon in an instant

There are doubts about whether this prestigious young general really deserves his name.

It's just that after a while, Zhu Lihua made everyone understand his intentions in a smile. He immediately ordered 6,000 officers and 10,000 people to go out of the city to meet the enemy.

The crowd was immediately shocked when they heard such an unbelievable order, and they were even more convinced in their hearts that the young general had lost his name. Because Fang Cai Xizi Huicai said that these people do not have the ability to fight in the field, but Lihua only chose them to go out of the city to fight, if such people are not clear-minded, then they will definitely have something wrong with their brains.

However, after seeing that the military order was issued, the number of generals beside him immediately left without the slightest hesitation. This made everyone's hearts give birth to a little expectation, but this expectation was only a trace of it.

In anticipation, everyone walked to the edge of the city one after another, and watched with Lu Lihua watch the 6,000 officers and soldiers and 10,000 people go out of the city gate one after another.

"General Yuli, the Qi army is strong, and it is better for our army to rely on the city to defend it, after all, the grain and grass brought by the general plus the original reserves of the Qi army will not be a problem to hold on for a year.

This Shangdang City was newly built after being broken by the Qi army, and it was unusually strong, although it was not as tall as Xu Chang, but it was also one of the few male cities in Hexi. ”

Xi Zihui said this, but saw Zhu Lihua wave his hand to signal that he didn't need to say more. Xi Zihui had no choice but to stop talking, and was about to bow his head and retreat when he heard Lihua say:

"Doctor Xizi, if I didn't know that what you said was the right path, I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to live today.

At the beginning, I did not send troops to the ferry to defend it, because there were too few troops, so I thought of relying on the garrison of Jiancheng, but Dr. Xizi only knew one and did not know the other. ”

Xi Zihui was shocked when she heard this, and suddenly looked up at Zhu Lihua, only to see Zhu Lihua with a smile on her face and then said to herself:

"Doctor Xizi, the people of Qi and I are separated by a yellow water moat, so they can't send scouts to investigate before they send troops, and they will definitely not know the reality of Shangdang's troops.

If the Qi people come to invite the battle and I am afraid to avoid it, the Qi people will definitely guess that the Shangdang City is empty, so they will make a desperate attempt to defeat it in one fell swoop.

In that case, the 50,000-strong army will attack the city, and Dr. Xizi thinks that we will be able to hold it for a year.

But if we dare to go out of the city to face the battle, it will make the Qi people unable to figure out the number of soldiers and horses in the city, and then we will have to slowly explore our reality, so that we can rely on the convenience of the city and slowly consume the Qi army. ”

When Xi Zihui heard this, he suddenly had a feeling of awakening, but he still felt that Lihua's use of troops was a little hasty.

Just as he was still contemplating Lihua's words, Lihua turned his head and said in a voice that everyone could hear:

"Is Lord Xizi worried that the soldiers and horses will fail when they go out of the city? But I could see that we would win the battle today. ”

After finishing speaking, Zhu Lihua no longer paid attention to the strange eyes of the people around him, and just looked seriously out of the city.

At this moment, everyone looked at Zhu Lihua and the officers and generals beside him, and saw that there was only firmness in their eyes, so everyone's hanging hearts settled down for no reason.

The city gate under the city was wide open, and the boundless 50,000 Qi troops saw the 6,000 high-spirited black-clothed Qin troops pouring out of the city gate with solemn faces.

They held high the Xuanwu Battle Banner, and a monstrous battle intent suddenly emanated from the rapidly formed phalanx.