Wang Zesheng put on a glass of blood wine, which was ordered by Zhen Sui in advance, and wanted Pei to be like the "Pengshan" battalion in the past, and smear the banner with blood. He knew that Pei Gai had not finished speaking, and the matter of taking prisoners had not yet ended, and he had not made a final decision on whether to kill or receive the remaining Hu prisoners, so he was not busy making a request. But his actions were too conspicuous, Pei Cai immediately turned his head, glanced at him, and asked, "What does Qing want to do?" ”

Wang Ze had no choice but to bow down and offer the blood cup with both hands: "Please ask the governor to also use Hu Xue to paint my flag of fire robbery." ”

Pei Gai took the blood cup with one hand with an expressionless face. Wang Ze was waiting for his subordinates to take the red-bottom fire crow flag, but he saw Pei Cai flick his wrist, and the blood was full of plasma, and all of them fell. Wang Ze was shocked and anxious, and hurriedly asked: "Could it be that the governor thinks that we are the ...... to wait?"

Pei Gai interrupted him angrily: "Aren't you ashamed to pick up people's spittle?" Without waiting for Wang Ze to argue, he continued: "Yun Qing embroidered the Big Dipper on the corner of the flag of the right camp to remember the battle tonight. ”

When Wang Ze heard this, he turned his anger into joy, and hurriedly bowed down to thank him - the governor is really a clear reward and punishment, you heard him say "embroider the Big Dipper on the corner of the flag of the right camp", and you didn't follow you in the camp. This is the Chrysostom of the Governor, everyone here has heard of it, Zhen Sui you can't blame me, you want to share my credit, but there is no door!

Immediately, Pei Gai moved his gaze to those Hu prisoners. This group of people was already frightened, and they still had some backbone, or they still wanted to hold on to the shelf, they had all been killed by the Jin soldiers, and the rest all bowed to the ground, crying and begging for mercy, saying that they were only soldiers to eat food, or they were forced to cooperate, and they really didn't want to join the Liu rebellion!

Pei Gai sneered: "You trample on my land and kill my people, the crime is unpunished, and now you are captured, do you still have the luxury of living?" Who dares to admit that without a trace of Jin people's blood on his hands, I will spare his life! ”

Immediately, more than a dozen Hu people shouted, saying that I was innocent, I had not been in the army for a long time, and I had never killed Jin people. Gao Le said on the side: "Governor Yudu, they are all Liu Xun's subordinates, and they have been thieves for many years, we have found out the truth, how can there be any new recruits among them?" But if you want to live, you will not believe this rumor! ”

Pei Gai nodded, waved his hand again, and those Jin army warriors jumped out again, cutting down all those who claimed to be innocent to the ground.

The rest didn't dare to speak any more, just kowtowed again and again. Suddenly, a person flashed out of the Jin army, walked quickly to Pei Gai, bowed down on his knees, and said: "The villain Liu Guang is also a Hu person, but he really admires China and doesn't want to be a tiger, so he surrendered to the governor." They are our people, and they have no evil thoughts, but they are only deceived by the lords of the tribes, and they are thieves from the beginning. Although the sins are heinous, please be kind to the governor and open a path for them to rehabilitate! ”

Pei Gai sneered and shook his head: "How to reform yourself?" If they return to them, they will go to thieves again; If they are contained, and their relatives are all in Binh Duong, how can they be used by me? ”

Liu Guang hurriedly said: "The villain's relatives are also in Pingyang, but they are willing to abandon their family and die for the governor, and they all think the same way." And in the future, the governor will lead an invincible army to cross the Yellow River in the north, sweep Hedong and Pingyang, kill all the usurpers, and restore the mountains and rivers of China. I hope the governor will be forgiving! ”

Pei Gai seemed to think about it, and then he set his eyes on those Hu prisoners: "Are you willing to follow Liu Guang's words, abandon your family, and drive for me?" ”

At the moment of life and death, who cares about their families...... Besides, it's not that you can get together with your family and family, on the contrary, only if you temporarily leave it behind and descend to the Jin people, as Liu Guang said, there may be a day of reunion in the future. Therefore, those Hu prisoners shouted one after another: "The villain is willing to surrender, willing to abandon his family and die!" ”

Pei Gai curled up three fingers: "If you want to live, you must rely on me for three things." First, they are not allowed to wear their hair from the vulgar, and those who used to have hair are shaved first, like a prisoner, and when their hair is long, they will be tied in a bun like Chinese; Second, they are no longer allowed to talk in Hu, if they don't know Chinese, they are limited to learning ...... within a month" But these Hu people have lived in the state and Sili for several generations, Liu Guang said before, basically no one does not understand Chinese, Xiongnu is like the Manchu language from the middle of the Qing Dynasty onwards, and now it is just a tool for some nobles to respect their own identities -

"Third, when I obey my military orders, I command. If you refuse to obey, you will die today! ”

This trick has been planned since Pei Gai entered Tianji Fort and saw many Hu people kneeling on the ground and asking for surrender. He discussed with Tao Kan, should he kill all the Hu people, or could he be taken back into the army? Tao Kannai said: "From the battle array, the killing is ominous, there are only hundreds of people on the bank of the ditch before, and there are many Qiang and Qiang, killing them to boost the hearts of the army, it is not necessary, but now I am afraid that there are more than hundreds, how can they be killed?" If you kill Hu immediately when you see it, and there is no one who surrenders from now on, and you fight to the death, it will cause our soldiers to gain no benefit and lose more. And they are all Pingyang and other county people, if they can be used by the envoys, they can cross the river to the puppet capital in the future, and they can also summon the internal response. I hope you will review it carefully. ”

Pei Gai asked him: "The so-called 'non-my race, its heart will be different', even if you accept it, can you trust it?" ”

Tao Kan replied: "I heard that Hu Ke entered China and became a Chinese, as long as his heart is kingly and there is no old clan fetters. Now, after they have been surrendered, so that the customs of China will be carried out according to the orders of our army, and they will be scattered and returned to the various departments, and they will be infiltrated over time, how can it not be trusted? If the king is powerful, even if he is a foreign race, he can also use it; If the military prestige is lost, that is, the clan is not credible. Only in how to control, how can there be all unusable races in the world? ”

In fact, Pei Gai had already had a plan in his heart, he didn't want to incite racial blood feuds, and he didn't plan to completely kill the Hu people - maybe there will be many descendants of the Hu people among himself and his relatives and friends in the future. He killed hundreds of people by the gutter before, and there was no need to frown, but if it was greater than that, and maybe even more in the future, he really couldn't start a genocide. The reason why I asked Tao Kan was because I wanted to know the general thoughts of the people of Yueshi in these years, so as not to let the concept of mixing hundreds of clans as a family be too shocking and arouse unnecessary doubts among the people around him.

However, he obviously thought too much, the nationalist trend had not yet germinated in those days, and the Huns were not yet foreign invaders, and most of the scholars only regarded them as domestic rebels and villains...... At most, you have killed near Ganquan Palace in the early Han Dynasty. Even in the eyes of Tao Kan and other southerners, if the Hu people do not claim to be the country, defeat the old capital, and rob the Son of Heaven, they may not be more hateful than those "Beiling" who steal the authority of the country......

In this regard, Pei Gai and Tao Kan discussed a set of surrender ceremonies to intimidate those Hu captives, so that they would not dare to rebel at least for a short time - of course, the part of Wang Ze's blood donation was added temporarily, and it was not originally planned.

Pei Gai ordered the release of the remaining Hu prisoners, split them into two, and mixed them with nearly 1,000 auxiliary soldiers who had made heroic contributions in the previous two days of defending the city, and built two new battalions, which were temporarily reorganized in Chenggao. The so-called auxiliary soldiers in the Xuzhou army are actually more qualified than the regular soldiers of many warlord troops, and the main purpose of Pei Gai bringing them out this time is not to carry military food and equipment - theoretically that is the job that auxiliary soldiers should do - but to let them also see blood, so that they can replenish and become regular soldiers in the future. Therefore, after two days of defending the city, many talents who were promoted to regular soldiers could be selected.

Leaving Pei Wei in charge of the future, Zhen followed the two battalions with Gao and the two new battalions to defend Chenggao City and Chenggao Pass, and Pei Gai led the rest of the soldiers and horses to Gongxian County. Zhen didn't follow in every possible way, so he had to follow Pei to the front line, Pei should comfort him and said: "Gongxian and Yanshi are easy to attack, and they can't be used for the time being." Qing is a good student, and he will train a new camp for me, and in the future he will fight with Liu Can's main force, and I will send someone to summon Qing Ye. "I finally sent Zhen Sui away.

Pei Cai couldn't help but say: This barbarian is becoming more and more difficult to control! Although I love his bravery, I can't always indulge him like this, and after the war, I have to put a halter on this fierce horse......

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Pei Cai came to the city of Gongxian County, accompanied by Liu Yetang and others, approached the moat to explore the terrain. The east side of Gongxian is close to Yishui, the Jin army is stationed in its north, the city is smaller than Chenggao, the city wall is also lower and lower, and there are many gaps, which have not yet had time to repair. Liu Yetang pointed and said: "It is said that there are only more than 1,000 people in the city, and they can go down with one drum." ”

Pei Gai asked him: "How will Qing wait to attack the city?" ”

Liu Yetang replied: "I have prepared a bag of soil, and I plan to spend half a day to fill in many moats, and then I can set up ladders to climb the wall, and the ants will attack them." ”

Pei Gai smiled and shook the bamboo cane in his hand: "Qing can fill in the trench first, and then report to me after the fact." ”

The Xuzhou army defended with a large shield and carried dirt bags, and it only took more than half an hour to fill in the trench with a three-section passage more than seven feet wide. There were occasional arrows shot down in the city, but compared with the Xuzhou auxiliaries in Chenggao to stop Liu Xun that day, the arrows were thinner and the arrow power was weaker.

When Liu Yetang came to Pei Gai, Pei Gai ordered: "Push out the ladder." ”

This time the army went on a northern expedition, but Pei Gai felt more relaxed than staying in Huaiyin. Because in Huaiyin, he grasped the military and political affairs, and had to manage a huge piece of land and an army of tens of thousands of people, and there were few capable officials around him, and many things were forced to be done by himself, and he often couldn't sleep in the middle of the night. Pei Gai sometimes couldn't help but think: "Zhuge Liang was so tired back then...... Fortunately, I eat more than him, and I insist on squeezing some time out to exercise every day, so I shouldn't follow Kong Ming's old path......"

In fact, the most important thing is that he is much younger than Zhuge Liang during the Northern Expedition, and this young man's body can still withstand the heavy daily work for the time being.

Although there is Bian Yan as a support, and the problem is that Bian Wangzhi has to manage Guangling County at the same time, it is really impossible for him to help Pei Cai share too many specific affairs - if this situation does not change, maybe Bian Yan will become Zhuge Liang's second first, and he will be exhausted to death at the age of forty or fifty......

But after the Northern Expedition hit the road, the situation was different, and Pei Gai had Pei Wei and Tao Kan by his side. Needless to say, Tao Shi is deeply involved in the military; Pei Wenji himself is of very high quality, and he has served as a county warden for many years, and he is a very qualified administrative bureaucrat, plus he also brought back a lot of talents from Liaodong - such as his second nephews Pei Kai and Pei Zhan, as well as some former officials of Xuansu and Changli - can barely be filled.

Therefore, Pei should be in charge of the major policies along the way, and miscellaneous affairs can be entrusted to Pei and Tao...... He will be able to spare time to carefully plan every detail of the war, and to think about what knowledge and insight he can use.

For example, in Chenggao City, the city guards were all paid to Lu Yan, Gao Le and Zhen Sui, except for sending Wen Lang to lead crossbowmen to help block the door, Pei Gai was thinking about the next move, how to break the frontal enemy, how to attack Gongxian and Yanshi. He drew the drawings in advance, handed them over to the craftsmen who accompanied the army, and built several improved ladders to come out - anyway, he had accumulated a lot of materials in the city in advance, especially wood.

Pei Cailin recruited a new engaged, surnamed Xu Mingyu Ziyin, was a Wenma native of Jin'an, it is said that his ancestors had been in Eastern Wu, because he was involved in the dispute between the two palaces in Sun Quan's later years, and was demoted to Jin'an, that is, the southern region of Fujian Province in later generations. Xu Yu himself, since he was a child, did not like Jin Shu, but it was good, so he was not liked by the family, so he dressed up and went north to run Jiankang to hit the big luck, but the result was wasted for many years, nothing was accomplished, and the plate fee was about to run out. In desperation, Beitou Xuzhou, Pei Gai's set was completed by this person.

Moxue was a prominent study in the Warring States and even the Qin Dynasty, and it was not until the early Han Dynasty that it was defeated by Huang Lao, and then it was completely defeated by Confucianism, which had a sudden rise in the Qi army. It is because Xu Yu is good at ink that he will be rejected by his family and ignored by the society, and because of this, he has a rebellious psychology and a deeper study of the Mohist theory, not only the philosophical idea of "love and non-attack", but also has some insight into the study of mechanical engineering. Pei Gai did not discriminate against the Mo School, and applied it according to his aptitude, and ordered Xu Yu to be in charge of the craftsman camp.

At that moment, Pei should send a task in Chenggao City, Xu Yu led the craftsmen to work for several days, and finally caught up with the three ladders that were caused shortly before breaking through the Seven Star Castle. Pei Cai took the ladder on the road, and when Liu Yetang filled in the passage in front of the moat in Gongxian County, he ordered the ladder to be pushed out.

Legend has it that the cloud ladder was built by Lu Ban to assist King Chu Hui in attacking the Song Dynasty - of course, before it could be officially used, it was defeated by Mozi in a mock battle. Its main structure is divided into three parts: there are wheels under it, which facilitate movement; There is a ladder in the middle, which is carried by manpower to climb the city wall; The top of the ladder is equipped with a hook, which can be hooked against the battlement, which is more reliable and increases the difficulty of the defenders' refusal.

Pei Cai's newly designed ladder, in fact, is already the shape of the Tang Dynasty and even the Song Dynasty, its car is very large, the bottom is equipped with six wheels, there is a shield in front, the ladder is divided into two sections, can be folded, when it is in use, it is only shaken up by a winch, and it is on the city wall - the ladder is simpler, the speed is also fast, and the danger of exposure in front of the enemy is reduced. Moreover, the whole ladder is nearly five zhang long after unfolding, and after taking the battlement, the angle between it and the ground is less than 45 degrees, and the soldiers do not have to climb, they can rush to the head of the city by running!

With this magic weapon in hand, the city wall of Gongxian is as smooth as the road.