(Wai Dan and Nei Dan are Taoist terms.) Wai Dan is a tangible pill that can be taken and refined in the alchemy furnace; Neidan is based on methods such as finger breathing and qi training, such as Chen Shuxue's nose locking technique. I can't discuss how the effect is, but it's all something that exists in real Taoism, not fantasy. ）

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Outside the city of Shouzhou in the Southern Tang Kingdom, hundreds of thousands of people have gathered. Chai Rong, the emperor who was originally in Chenzhou, also left the seriously ill empress and rushed here.

On the south bank of the middle reaches of the Huai River, (near today's Shou County in the northern part of Anwei Province), several north-south rivers in the Central Plains flow vertically into the Huai River, forming a network of waterways; Most Chinese cities are built at the confluence of rivers to guard the land and water routes, and Shouzhou is no exception. Shouzhou City is the place where the West Water and the Huai River meet.

The main march route of the Great Zhou Dynasty was from Tokyo (Kaifeng, Henan) along Caishui to the south, and then along the Xishui River directly approached the Huai River valley of the Southern Tang Dynasty. The two places are 800 miles apart. Emperor Chai Rong also deployed Zhuzhen Jiedu envoys to send troops from all over the country, and the upper reaches of the Huai River also exerted military pressure; Jing Nanguo shouted that he wanted to send troops, but he didn't see any movement from them for the time being.

At this time, the soldiers and civilians of Song, Hao, Chen, Ying, Xu, Su, Xu, Cai and other prefectures mobilized by Chai Rong also crossed the Huai River from the pontoon bridge one after another, and the local army of Zhuzhenjie began to besiege Shouzhou on all sides, and hundreds of thousands of people carried out a strong attack day and night.

Chai Rong pressed the hilt of his sword with his hand, his brows furrowed and he looked at the surrounded city, he was very unhappy now.

Since the launch of the war against the Southern Tang Dynasty, the Zhou army has won a complete victory in the Zhengyang Field Battle under the city of Shouzhou and west of Shouzhou, and after many battles, there are 10,000 or 20,000 people who beheaded Nan**...... But none of this is what Chai Rong wants. What Chai Rong wants is the entire Jianghuai Plain!

In the early days, the strategy set by the emperor and the Privy Council was very simple and direct: break through from the middle of the Huai River valley, capture Shouzhou as a foothold, and at the same time sweep away the threat of the route of the army's attack; Then, with Shouzhou as the source of the war, he broke through the Qingliu Pass to the southeast defense line and captured Chuzhou (now Chuxian County, Anwei Province) and Dongdu (now Yangzhou).

The middle road broke through, divided the Jianghuai Plain into two, occupied Jiangdufu, the central town of the Southern Tang Dynasty, and the army approached the Yangtze River. As a result, the area on the north bank of the Yangtze River in the Southern Tang Dynasty could not take care of each other, and there was no center, and it became a plate of scattered sand. At this time, it is necessary to clean up the mess of Jianghuai like an autumn wind sweeping leaves.

But the problem is that it's been almost two months now, and even the original strategic target Shouzhou has not been won! Chai Rong had doubts about the feasibility of this war at this time...... It is useless to surround and not take down, the Southern Tang Kingdom is rich and does not lack food or money, and Shouzhou, a military town, has enough food to eat for at least a few years; Could it be that the Zhou army was going to surround it for several years and wait for the people inside to starve to death?

In the distance, a huge catapult made a "Titicaca" sound, and the sound of the huge twisting force made people's muscles tense, and then there was a whistling, the thick rod rotated in mid-air, and the sound of wood rubbing against people's teeth was sore. With a "bang", the wood hit the shelf and stopped, and a large boulder flew out.

Looking at it, more stones flew towards the city wall of Shouzhou City, which was mixed with long black smoke. Stones flew on the walls, and flaming fireballs struck the city's head and cracked, sending flames in all directions. There are also crossbow arrows as thick as beams flying in the air, large and small arrows dotted among them, and the air is filled with smoke. Shouzhou City is like a pile of grain hoards, the air is full of locusts, and the smoke below is full of people, like ant colonies, who may be burned to ashes at any time and eaten only skeletons. With the sound of the crash, it seemed as if the city was about to collapse at any moment...... It's a pity that it's been more than a month, and it still hasn't collapsed.

There was a black oil floating on the moat, as if it had been replaced with black water, and it could burn in the water...... The pontoon bridge placed by the Zhou army on the moat was also burned, and the fire was fierce and thick smoke billowed out.

According to the captives of the Southern Tang Dynasty, this black oil is called fierce fire oil, dug out of the ground! The lord of the Southern Tang Dynasty also sent people to transport this fierce fire oil to the Khitan from the sea to support the Khitans who wanted to attack from the north and south.

Countless people rushed to the moat with shields and sandbags on their backs, throwing sand and dirt into it. Several shattered crash trucks were being dragged back, and before they could get closer, they were smashed by ballistas as thick as tree trunks in the distance. A towering cloud cart was parked motionless by the moat, and the fire spread above it, as if it were a house that had been burned to the ground after a fire.

Everywhere there were people carrying corpses, people were screaming and groaning in pain, and heaven and earth were like hell.

Chai Rong faintly seemed to have a depressed black gas on his face, he thought that the attack on Shouzhou was not smooth, and the main responsibility should be Prime Minister Li Guyi's delay in the fighter! Let Nan ** have time to prepare, otherwise why is the city defense so airtight, and everything is used?

At this time, Li Gu and the others knew that the emperor had arrived outside Shouzhou City, and finally rushed over with a group of military generals.

The group bowed and shouted: "Holy life is boundless." ”

Chai Rong was angry in his heart, so he didn't say that he was flat, and let them just kneel and talk.

Li Gu hurriedly bowed and said: "Your Majesty, the minister first advanced by land and water, built a pontoon bridge from Zhengyang to cross the Huaishui, and encountered thousands of back cities in the south under the city of Shouzhou, so he broke the formation of the forward Shi Yanchao, quickly defeated the **, and captured 3,000 people. Soon after the siege of the city, the minister heard that the army of the Southern Tang Kingdom rushed to the aid and approached Zhengyang...... My forward pontoon bridge is in Zhengyang, and the military rations and reinforcements all rely on this place, if it fails, the consequences are unimaginable!

**There are a lot of reinforcements, and it is reported that the army stretches for thirty miles! The minister thought that he would be cut off in Shouzhou, and he would be attacked by ** front and back, and there was no place to stand! I had to go back to Zhengyang immediately, and welcome the ** reinforcements first......"

Chai Rong said coldly: "The elite soldiers of the Guards Division are all in your hands, do I have an opponent in the Great Zhou Iron Cavalry Formation?" ”

Everyone was in awe, and hurriedly bowed, only to feel that the emperor was very domineering when he stood by the sword, and there was no opponent in the world, what else could you say?

Chai Rong said again: "I urgently ordered the guard Sima Budu to command Li Chongjin to lead the army to attack the reinforcements in Zhengyang, what is the result?" **Without the power to parry, the corpse was killed for dozens of miles! You shouldn't have withdrawn from Shouzhou. ”

Li Gu didn't dare to defend anymore, kowtowed, and said, "The minister is guilty!" ”

Chai Rong closed his eyes slightly, thinking of the past when Li Gu was in front of the horse in the Battle of Gaoping and the Battle of Jinyang, and did his best in the transportation of troops and horses, grain transportation, and ordnance in the unification of various places; I heard that Li Gu only ate one meal a day and slept for two hours at that time, and lost 20 pounds when he returned to Tokyo. Li Gu is also quite virtuous, he was captured by the Khitan in his early years, and was tortured six times, but he did not give in; He has also made great achievements in military service and the management of the Yellow River.

"Prime Minister Li, you are now reappointed as the governor of Shouzhou, first go to appease the people of Shouzhou, let them return to their respective lands to work, and our Great Zhou army will not loot or kill indiscriminately." Chai Rong Road.

Li Gu hurriedly said: "Thank you for the emperor's grace." ”

Chai Rong said again: "Send someone to pass the decree, let the guard Sima Budu command Li Chongjin to serve as the 'Huainan Camp Recruitment Envoy' to command the army of the former enemy." ”

"Deliver the decree, let Han Lingkun lead his troops to move the pontoon bridge to Xia Cai Town and deploy defense."

Chai Rong saw that the black man Zhao Kuangyin was also kneeling in front of him, so he said: "Nan** still has a lot of troops on the Huai River, I heard that they are heavily stationed in Tushan, Zhao Kuangyin, you lead the Iron Cavalry Army (Xiaodi Army Reform) to destroy this enemy army that threatens my flank and rear flank." ”

Zhao Kuangyin said in a loud voice: "The minister's decree! ”

Chai Rong was behind the battle formation, and he made a deployment very neatly. His actions are very in line with the style of managing the army in peacetime, and he can always concisely grasp the key points, and make a few simple and rude moves, but everything can be clearly connected.

Tushan is in the lower reaches of the Huai River in Shouzhou, and in its northeast, the Southern Tang Navy can defend the downstream from here, and control and threaten the middle and upper reaches of the Huai River along the river. Zhao Kuangyin did not disappoint Chai Rong, and in three days, Tu Shan's 10,000 ** were swept away by the Iron Cavalry. Zhao Kuangyin first lured the enemy to surrender, lured ** to the vortex not far from Tu Mountain, and then attacked from both sides to determine the victory or defeat, and the battle of the vortex was fought cleanly and beautifully.

Chai Rong was overjoyed, thinking that Zhao Kuangyin deserved a great responsibility, and he relied on it in his heart.

At this moment, a eunuch suddenly hurried to the front line from Chenzhou (Huaiyang County, Henan, southeast of Kaifeng City, 'Tokyo', more than 300 miles away). When Chai Rong saw that it was Cao Tai, he knew that this eunuch from the Inner Servant Province was often by the queen's side, and immediately guessed that it was about the queen.

As expected, Cao Tai fell to his knees when he entered the tent, crying. Seeing this situation, Chai Rong had a wit in his heart: The queen is gone? In his heart, the death of the queen is a matter of time, and he has already been mentally prepared...... I saw her cough up blood with my own eyes. And the famous doctor in Tokyo has already concluded that he can't be saved, and he is getting weaker and weaker, waiting for that breath.

Cao Tai cried: "The queen wants to see the official family one last time. ”

Chai Rong listened to it and knew that she had not passed away. He pondered for a moment, feeling that the deployment on Huainan's side did not need to be moved for the time being, and he thought that the empress was a person that the emperor valued very much, and the former emperor was specially arranged by his side to stabilize his throne when he was dying. Usually the relationship is also very good, but now that I am going, it is time to see her again.

He said, "I will leave for Chenzhou immediately, you go back and prepare first, and when I see the queen, I will send someone to send her back to Ouchi, Tokyo." ”

Cao Tai hurriedly said: "The slave and maid plead, the queen mother has only one breath left, and I am afraid that she will not be able to withstand the hardships of the journey." ”

Chai Rong said angrily: "Use a sedan chair to lift, find someone to carry it steadily!" Do you want the queen to die outside? You slaves, I will teach you all these things, what is the use of you! ”

"Yes, yes. The slave and the maid are commanded. Cao Tai hurriedly kowtowed.

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