Although Xu Deshan was small, he was slowly pacing back and forth in the study with his hands behind his back, and the three top officials who could cover the sky with one hand on Hebei Road had a sense of tension and depression inexplicably, and they didn't dare to speak, waiting to listen to Xu Deshan's next words.

Xu Deshan first asked Ming Hao, "Lord Ming, except for the border army, how many soldiers and horses can my Daimyo Mansion gather, how many people?" ”

Ming Ho thought for a while and said, "If you exclude the border army, my Daimyo Mansion only has 10,000 guards and pro-army, 3,000 van troops, and the people, I can recruit about 50,000 people in a short time, and no more than 100,000 at most." ”

Xu Deshan said, "This is not too little, it adds up to much more than the rebels." ”

Ming Ho smiled bitterly and said, "A lot, the guards are subordinate to the forbidden army, if there is no privy council order, let alone me, even Lord Jia may not be able to drop a soldier, even if the guards are obedient, most of the soldiers in the army are also some gentlemen, they have not been on the battlefield, they are useless, at most they are well-equipped." The Xiang army is a miscellaneous army, usually building cities to transport grain, building bridges and repairing roads, and it is also impossible to go to the battlefield, if there are many people, it is really a lot, but when you meet the border army of Xiaoyong, you can hold on for an hour without being defeated, it is already a win. ”

Xu Deshan frowned and said, "Lord Ming, you are not sincere." ”

Myeongho said, "Why am I not being honest? ”

Xu Deshan said, "I saw it on the day of recruiting workers, the five hundred soldiers you transferred to me are all very strong, you have been talking for a long time, why didn't you count them, is it possible that the van army of the Daimyo Mansion is at this level, then there is no need for others, give me three thousand like this, I can break the Xuanyi army." ”

Ming Ho said angrily when he heard this, "You kid can choose, nothing can escape your thief's eyes, those five hundred people were carefully selected by me in the border army, originally to serve as a façade for the Soldiers and Horses, but I didn't expect you to take a fancy to the kid, okay, since you want it, I'll give it to you, I want to see if you have any way to use these people to eliminate 10,000 border troops." ”

Xu Deshan asked suspiciously: "There are no followers of Maitreya Buddhism among these people." ”

Myeongho was reluctant to say, "These five hundred people are all carefully selected by me, I have given them five times their usual salary to support them, what religion they believe in when they are well fed, I guarantee that the loyalty of these people is no problem." ”

Xu Deshan nodded and said, "If that's the case, then we can arrange a specific battle plan and bring the map." ”

After Xu Deshan finished speaking, he stretched out his hand to look at Ming Hao, Ming Hao subconsciously ran to get the map for Xu Deshan, but after running two steps, Ming Hao reacted, who is he, the head of the Soldiers and Horses Division of the Daimyo Mansion, how can Xu Deshan listen to what he says, and tell himself to take the map, he will take the map, he is too statusless, and this is Jia Chang's family, even if he takes it, he doesn't know where the map is.

Myeongho stopped, turned his head and said to Xu Deshan in the same tone, "Go and get the map!" ”

After Ming Ho finished speaking, he stared at Xu Deshan, Xu Deshan touched his nose, went to the bookshelf of Jia Changchao next to him, rummaged through a map of Hebei, took it, and spread it on the table.

At this moment, Jia Changchao and Jiang Fangding couldn't sit still, and gathered around the table together to listen to what Xu Deshan could say.

Xu Deshan pointed to the map and said, "The two armies of the Xuanyi Army and the Qianning Army rebelled and gathered Maitreya Buddhist believers, the number of whom can reach tens of thousands, this number may increase again in the future, and the combat effectiveness is strong and the power is unparalleled, guess what, since they have rebelled, what do they want to do most now?" ”

Myeongho asked, "What are you going to do?" ”

Xu Deshan said, "These rebels, they are neither stupid nor stupid, do they rebel just to want to fight with you, and then all die?" They rebelled, that is, they wanted to be the emperor themselves, divide the land and rule, and enjoy their own happiness, and if they wanted to do this, they naturally first had to seize a city as their own nest, and then slowly develop outward, and finally form their own sphere of influence. ”

Myeongho said, "So what do you mean?" ”

Xu Deshan said, "They now have tens of thousands of horses, and they already have the ability to attack a city, so think about it, which city does he want to attack the most now?" ”

Everyone's eyes focused on the map with Xu Deshan's question, and Xu Deshan pointed his finger and said, "They have no more than two choices now, one is to attack the Daimyo's Mansion to the south." ”

Looking at Ming Ho and the others' faces were ugly, Xu Deshan continued, "The benefits of this are obvious, the Xuanyi Army and the Qianning Army are the closest to the Daimyo's Mansion, and there is no border army to stop them, and they can march with all their might, and they can come to the Daimyo's Mansion in a few days, if the rebels can capture the Daimyo's Mansion in one fell swoop, then the rebels will not only take Hebei's choke point, cut off the direct connection between the imperial court and Hebei, and control the huge population and production capacity, but also take the opportunity to plot against other border armies in Hebei, as long as half of these rebel, Then it will be even more difficult for my Great Song Dynasty to recapture Hebei, if Wang Ze is forced to be in a hurry, he can even learn from Shi Jingjiao, and it is unknown to sell Hebei to the Khitans. ”

The whole room couldn't help but gasp when they heard this, the result described by Xu Deshan was really terrible, and it was okay for Wang Ze to simply rebel

, if you really fight back and forth and give Hebei to the Khitans, then these people will become sinners in China.

Xu Deshan looked at everyone's ugly faces, and said with a smile, "Of course, what I just said is the worst outcome, the premise that I want to achieve it is that the rebels can capture the Daimyo's Mansion, but even if his rebel army is strong, how can an army of tens of thousands of people take down a city of hundreds of thousands of people, thinking that the Zhao army was trapped by the Qin army, Zhao Kuo was still able to hold out for forty-six days, is it possible, the lords of the Daimyo's Mansion are not even as good as Zhao Kuo?" ”

Okay, all the adults who do it again are all people who have read the book, so they naturally know that Xu Deshan is talking about the Battle of Changping between Qin and Zhao at the end of the Warring States Period, and they also understand what Xu Deshan means, that is, the rebels have 50,000 people, and they can't break the Daimyo's Mansion no matter what, but the more the three adults think about it, the more they feel that Xu Deshan is so unlucky with this example.

Xu Deshan said, "In addition, the rebels have a second choice, that is, Beizhou, Beizhou is the most important transportation hub on Hebei Road in addition to the Daimyofu, and it is closer to the rebels, there are more believers, and it is easier to attack, as long as Beizhou is defeated, although the rebels cannot fully grasp Hebei, they can still use this as a base, delay time, and plot against the border army on the road, the longer the time drags on, the greater the chance of the border army rebelling, and then the same as above, as long as the rebels make it bigger, he can do anything." ”

Jia Chang said, "So what? ”

Xu Deshan said, "They can't attack the Daimyo's Mansion, but there is no problem in taking Beizhou, so our goal now is to completely and completely eliminate the rebels as soon as possible, and not give them the opportunity to stabilize their positions and contact other border troops." ”

Myeongho said impatiently, "Isn't the problem coming back, we all know these big truths, we don't listen to you to teach us, we are here to hear what you can do to eliminate the rebels quickly and completely." ”

Xu Deshan said, "Don't worry, let's determine first, how long can it be considered a relatively fast speed." ”

Myeongho thought for a moment and said, "Two or three months." ”

Xu Deshan shook his head and said, "It's too slow, in my opinion, one month is enough." ”

Ming Ho hurriedly said, "This is a confrontation between the two armies, you don't want to underestimate the enemy, I led the troops back then, even if I cleared the bandits, I had to wander around in the mountains for two months, not to mention that this is a formation, tens of thousands of troops." ”

Xu Deshan said, "This is the difference between the rebels and the bandits, you just said, the bandits are weak, as soon as there is a disturbance, they hide in the mountains, it is really difficult to clear, it takes a long time, and it is inevitable that there will be fish that slip through the net, and the rebels are different, they think they are powerful, occupy the city, then as long as they encounter the pursuit, they must all shrink to the city, and so on those rebels are all driven into the city, then as long as the city is broken, the rebels can be wiped out." ”

Ming Ho said, "Xu Deshan, I only heard before that the two armies should be divided and attacked, but I have never heard of driving the enemy to one place, if they are all driven into the city, the defenders of thirty or forty thousand, I am afraid that there will be no one for a year and a half, and the grain and grass in the city will be exhausted, and the city will not be able to capture that city." ”

Xu Deshan looked at Ming Ho and said, "Lord Ming, don't blame me for not reminding you, don't say that it will drag on for a year and a half, even if it is only delayed for two or three months, the imperial court will send someone here, where is the credit here and you and me, if you want to make meritorious service and be promoted, just listen to me, I will tell you to annihilate the rebels and take down the bandit leader within a month!" ”

Even if Xu Deshan is a young man in his twenties, in his prime, and scholarly spirit, Jia Changchao Ming Ho also believed Xu Deshan's words, but Xu Deshan is only five years old this year, even if the head of his previous analysis is Dao, Jia Changchao Ming Ho can't believe that Xu Deshan can defeat the rebels within a month, let alone annihilate them all, Ming Ho looked at Jia Changchao hesitantly, not knowing whether he should listen to Xu Deshan, or should he think about it in the long run.

Jia Changchao was also a little hesitant now, slightly closed his eyes, thinking about the truth of what Xu Deshan said, Jiang Fangding also kept silent, not knowing what he was thinking, Xu Deshan and the three of them, said, "Anyway, since we all have the same goal, what are we waiting for, no matter what, we must gather soldiers and horses, people, and send spies to find out the movements of the rebels." ”

There was another silence, Xu Deshan saw that several people didn't speak, and he also closed his mouth, looking at Jia Changchao, for a long time, Jia Changchao suddenly opened his eyes and said, "If it is as you said, what are you going to do in the first step?" ”

Xu Deshan relaxed and said with a smile, "The first step, of course, is to give the rebels a head-on blow, so that he knows how powerful my Daimyo Mansion is!" ”

The Daimyo Mansion is known as Beijing, since the founding of the Song Taizu, has enjoyed a hundred years of tranquility, and on this day, the Daimyo Mansion suddenly opened in a hurry, first came the news of a rebellion, and then, under the leadership of the Terracotta Division, the Daimyo Mansion and the surrounding states and counties began a large-scale conscription plan, all over 20 years old, under the age of 40 young adults, mandatory five out of one, the formation of the north to fight the rebels of the militia regiment, have military experience, or martial arts foundation of young people, voluntarily sign up to join the army, and Xu Deshan is the most important, the five hundred elites under Ming Ho are even more indispensable, led by Ming Ho himself.

As for the guards subordinate to the forbidden army, they should have been the main force of the rebels, and Jia Changchao personally came forward, but in the end he couldn't move them, but this is okay, just to tell them to defend the Daimyo's mansion, so as not to be able to win the thief, but to take himself

The hometown is lost.

Since the order was issued from Jia Changchao, the Daimyo's Mansion has been operating from above and below this huge system, day and night, but if you want to straighten out hundreds of thousands of people, where is it an easy task, five days have passed, and the number of troops in Minghao's hands has only reached 7,000, and 80,000 people have been recruited.

As for Xu Deshan, he did not participate in these messy conscription work, he got into the casting office and continued to start his research on compound bows, because Xu Deshan knew that since the number and quality were not good to make up, it could only be improved from the equipment, and the power brought by the equipment beyond the times, Xu Deshan knew best, but invention and creation is never easy, and it is even more difficult to create an item that spans the times with existing materials, Xu Deshan has tried thousands of times, I can't always achieve my ideal state.

On the sixth day, Xu Deshan couldn't wait any longer, and instructed the craftsman to immediately cast the parts of the two furnaces according to the existing mold, and then hurried to the Terracotta Division and saw Ming Ho who was in a meeting.

When Xu Deshan came in, he only saw a room full of people, Ming Hao, Wenchen and military generals, one by one, frowning, sighing, as for why this happened, the reason is very simple, in five days, this urgent war report may have just been sent to the emperor's dragon book case, and then wait for the court to quarrel for a while, count the forbidden army, materials, and the army to set off, I don't know how long it will take, and I am in this Daimyo's mansion, facing the brunt of the rebels, how can I have a feeling of fidgeting and sleepless at night.

Xu Deshan coughed outside the door, and the officials turned their heads, and when they saw this Xu Deshan, who had taken down a five-grade defense envoy in the previous two sentences, he hurriedly gave way to the side and gave Xu Deshan a way.

Xu Deshan walked to the front, saw Ming Ho, and asked, "Master Ming, why are you so many people gathered here?" ”

Ming Ho didn't have the heart to fight with Xu Deshan now, he glanced at Xu Deshan, and said weakly, "I just received the news from the front, that Beizhou City has been broken by the rebels. ”

The destruction of Beizhou City was expected by Xu Deshan, but seeing that Ming Hao and the ministers were so unnatural, Xu Deshan knew that things were not so simple, so he took the battle report directly from the table and opened it to look at it carefully.

Ming Ho said well, after the two armies of the rebels converged, they went straight to Beizhou City, and arrived at the city of Beizhou in two days, and began to besiege the city, where could Beizhou City expect the border army to rebel, in a hurry, only more than 1,000 troops defended the city, plus there are also Maitreya Buddhist believers in Beizhou City, the inside and outside should be combined, less than a day's effort, it took Beizhou City, Wang personally beheaded Beizhou Zhizhou to show the public, and hung the head on the city gate.

Things have developed completely according to the plan expected by Wang Ze, and now they have a large number of people, and they have won an important town that is easy to defend and difficult to attack, which can be regarded as being able to breathe a sigh of relief, Wang Ze is overjoyed, and immediately sat on the government of Zhizhou, summoned his own meritorious people, and everyone bowed to the king and called the king, and the king called the minister, what official position and money were wantonly divided.

It's just that at this auspicious and happy time, there was an accident, called the atmosphere a little embarrassing, there was a small school that checked the Beizhou Mansion Treasury came to report, the money, grain and grass in Beizhou City were far less abundant than imagined, and asked the officials in charge of the treasury, it turned out that before January, the Daimyo Mansion transported most of the money and grain in Beizhou City on the grounds of controlling the Yellow River.

Wang Ze listened, his heart suddenly cooled half, this is the disadvantage of his starting as a sect, there are more believers at the bottom of the society, but there are very few believers in the middle and high-level, so there is no news about the transfer of Hebei Road at all, now it is good, he finally occupied Beizhou City, but the money and food are far less than he imagined, in this way, he is like occupying a lonely city, the Song army came, as long as he surrounded and did not fight, but in a few months, he was defeated because of lack of food.

Wang Ze told his henchmen about this worry, and there was naturally a capable person among the henchmen, who was the privy envoy Bu Ji who had just been canonized by Wang Ze, and Bu Ji offered a plan for Wang Ze Although the warehouse of the government is empty, Beizhou is the hub of the north and south, and the only way for traders to pass, and there are countless money and grain stored in the people, so it is better to collect the money and grain in the hands of those merchants, and it will be able to be used for a while. In addition, we have already occupied Beizhou City, and the south of Beizhou City is a flat river, a rich place, how not to send an elite army to loot, one to supplement our grain and grass, and the other to drive the people for my use.

Wang Ze listened, hesitated, he rebelled, but rushed to overthrow the Song Dynasty, at least to cut off Hebei, and this method of arson to grab food, is really a bad idea to drink to quench thirst, he knows, the people are the foundation of government, his own Maitreya Buddhism began to recruit believers, isn't it the banner of the government's harsh government, the people's suffering, and now, the person who shouted the loudest slogan of his own slogan, but he wants to personally set up troops to grab food and rob people, even the government is not as good, Wang Ze's heart, it is really not a taste.

But hesitation is hesitation, this is just a moment of sadness, things have come to this point, what else can I do, do you have to wait until Song Jun comes and arrests him and sends him to Kaifeng Lingchi to be executed? Wang Ze quickly agreed to Bu Ji's request, Bu Ji was overjoyed, personally selected 3,000 soldiers from the Xuanyi army, out of the city gate, all the way to the south, when he met food, he grabbed people, like the autumn wind sweeping the leaves, has swept through several states and counties, and behind him, those Maitreya Buddhist believers, in the back, a steady stream, these spoils of war to Beizhou City.