Xu Ji slept very sweetly, suddenly felt difficult to breathe, found that his nostrils were firmly covered by a hand, hurriedly struggled to get free, gasped a few times, looked at Xue Jinyao who was lying opposite, and asked in surprise: "You want to kill me?" ”

Xue Jin lay down on his back, and said after a while: "You also have a wife?" ”

"Yes, but ......"

"Whatever the reason, you should not abandon her and marry someone else. Why didn't you make it clear earlier and refuse to marry me? ”

"I made it clear to the Coming King, and I ...... with me"

"Get out."

Xu Ji got out of bed and put on his clothes and boots.

Xue Jinyan on the bed suddenly said, "You men are all just as shameless. ”

Xu Ji thought for a while and replied: "We are indeed shameless, but not all of them are the same. ”

Even if the time is right, he will not use Xue Jinyan to kill the kings, and then get rid of her to gain fame, Meng Shenglun's plan sounds very reasonable, but Xu Ji can't do it.

Xue Jinyan didn't know what her husband was thinking, she just sneered.

The day has dawned, Xu Ji feels energetic again, leading the troops to patrol around, he has to use the shortest time to win the hearts of the army, this is the best time for him, he has just quelled a riot that everyone hates, even those soldiers who participated in the riot, but also thanks to King Wu, they can finally justifiably give up revenge, the killing of the descendant king as a "ascension" that has been arranged for a long time.

But there are still a lot of small troubles in the city, there are too many people entering the city, the number cannot be counted, roughly calculated to nearly 300,000, this is also the strength of the descendant army often declared to the outside world, most of them are old and weak, women and children, and the rest of the people are not all soldiers, many people nominally follow a certain leader, but as soon as they have free time, they do their own thing.

There has always been an unwritten rule in the Descendant Army, what you grab is your own, and since the occupation of the Eastern Capital, no one has organized looting and sharing the spoils, which makes them very surprised and dissatisfied.

The incarnation king was killed, and the kings were busy fighting and pacifying the ownerless soldiers, which gave them an opportunity, at first it was an individual to break into the empty house and rob, and soon it became a group of three or five, and the target of the raid was no longer limited to the empty house, and when the number of people was larger, it even went straight to the high gate compound.

Xu Ji grabbed some overly bold and reckless leaders, banned any more looting, and finally restored the stability of the eastern capital, and the temple began to give porridge again.

Shortly after noon, Xu Ji was discussing with the generals about building a roster of the whole army, when someone came to deliver a letter, "King Ning is going out of the city to fight officers and soldiers!" ”

Everyone was startled, Xu Ji didn't have time to ask in detail, and immediately took people to Beicheng.

Just when Xu Ji was busy trying to win over the soldiers and stabilize the hearts of the people in the eastern capital, Ning Baoguan summoned his soldiers to inspect the armor and horses, and finally he said: "The soldiers are strong and the horses are strong, the guns are sharp and the armor is thick, what are you waiting for behind the city wall?" Jizhou Iron Riding is famous all over the world, and I want to see what kind of powerful method it is. ”

Ning Baoguan said to fight, among the kings, he likes cavalry the most, every place he goes, he must first search for Roman horses, he first entered the eastern capital, occupied the opportunity, and soon gathered nearly 7,000 cavalry, the number is comparable to the Jin army.

Ning Baoguan divided the cavalry into three armies, Luo Hanqi led the front team, the first group rushed out of the city gate, went straight to the camp of officers and soldiers, the squadron was personally led by Ning Baoguan, if the officers and soldiers went out of the camp to meet the battle, he led the troops out, the task of the rear team is to respond, when King Ning retreated, they had to go out of the city to meet.

This attack was very sudden, Xu Ji and others were surprised, and the officers and soldiers of Yecheng were even more surprised, but they were not afraid, and they also sent cavalry to meet them.

When Xu Ji and the others arrived, Ning Baoguan had already led the squadron cavalry out of the city, and the rear team was lined up neatly on the streets, waiting to leave the city.

Xu Ji went to the city to watch, called one of King Ning's subordinates, and asked about the general situation, but he couldn't help but be confused, and he couldn't understand why Ning Baoguan chose this time to fight with the officers and soldiers.

The war outside the city is in full swing, although the Jizhou elite cavalry is good at fighting, but in order to besiege the city, the troops are relatively scattered, and they are not gathered for a while.

After a while, Gan Zhao, the king of Shu, came from Xicheng, stood beside King Wu, looked at it for a while, and said in surprise: "King Ning...... It's a very methodical game. ”

Xu Ji nodded, even more surprised than Gan Zhao, not long ago, the Ning army's tactics were only stronger than the descending army, not as good as the Jin army, although it is not as subtle as it is now, but the advance and retreat are well-founded, and they have been fighting for a while, the general formation is still there, and the scattered soldiers are trying to keep up.

The military values individual bravery, but it does not depend on it, and the larger and tighter the formation, the more the enemy will not have a chance to take advantage of it, and Ning Baoguan seems to have understood this.

"King Ning will have the guidance of a master." Xu Ji muttered.

"In just a few days, can a master teach a cavalry?"

"Look at the Ning army, the tactics are actually simple, there are more flags than before, but there are fewer officers and soldiers, and the colors are gorgeous, which is convenient for the soldiers to follow - when King Ning goes out of the city, he wants to train soldiers on the battlefield, right?" Xu Ji finally understood.

Gan Zhao also understood, "King Ning can do this kind of thing." ”

"The battalion of officers and soldiers must send more people out to support, King Ning must retreat, he is now beginning to have rules, and he is not the opponent of the Jizhou Raid."

Not long after Xu Ji's words were finished, a horn sounded in the city.

The sound of the horn is usually used to form a team, but for the Ning army, this is a signal of retreat.

Ning Baoguan led the troops to fight and retreat, the rear team in the city rushed out, and the officers and soldiers saw it from afar, thinking that there were more cavalry in the city, so they did not dare to catch up, but stopped in place, waiting for reinforcements sent by the battalion.

Xu Ji and Gan Zhao followed the prestige of the horn, and Xu Ji said: "Is that Mrs. Ning Wang?" ”

A group of people stood on the city wall more than 100 steps away, and the leader was none other than Niu Tiannu, the wife of King Ning, who supervised her subordinates to blow the horn of collecting troops.

"Isn't it a cow goddess?" Gan Zhao replied.

"Mrs. Ning Wang...... Do you know the art of war? ”

"I don't understand, she is the same as the lady of the incarnation king, she used to be a village woman, she was good at using knives, she could cut people, and she didn't know anything about the art of war. It should be someone next to her. ”

Behind Niu Tiannu stood seven or eight generals, pointing and pointing, as if they were talking about the battle outside the city.

Xu Ji didn't recognize those people, there was Niu Tiannu there, and he didn't want to go over to ask, so he beckoned to Gan: "When did King Ning find a helper?" ”

"Ning Baoguan has always saluted knights, and when he meets a person with superb horsemanship, he can forgive any sins, and even give up his horse. But I really haven't seen or heard of these people. ”

"They seem to be from military backgrounds." Xu Ji felt that those people didn't behave like the Incarnation Army.

The soldiers of the Ning army retreated to the city, and said with a smile: "King Ning is more taboo for others to come to his territory, I will say goodbye first, King Wu is different, as a military master, he can go anywhere." ”

Gan Zhao left in a hurry, and Xu Ji didn't want to stay on the narrow city wall, so he went down to join his guards and sent someone to report to Ning Baoguan.

Ning Baoguan came on horseback, his face was sweaty, and he bowed his hand slightly on the horse, "King Wu is here." ”

"Why did King Ning fight?"

"That's how it is to fight, always hiding, what kind of war is it? Besides, the king of Wu said that he wanted the kings to take turns to fight, which made the officers and soldiers tired, and I saw that the kings did not move, so I took the lead myself. ”

Xu Ji smiled and said: "King Ning bravely crowned the army, and it really deserved his reputation. I have a small gift, Wangning Wang smiled. ”

Xu Ji had already told people to get ready, and a guard behind him held a gold-handled horsewhip and stepped forward to offer it to Ning Baoguan.

Ning Baoguan was a little surprised, and stretched out his hand to take the horsewhip, "Thank you King Wu, I don't have a gift to give." ”

"King Ning's battle is the best gift." Xu Ji bowed his hand and said goodbye.

Xu Ji couldn't suppress King Ning for the time being, he couldn't punish him for acting arbitrarily like he did with the generals of the Wu army, and he couldn't tear his face with him, so he simply gave gifts to show goodwill and maintain the illusion of friendship between the two kings.

Looking at the back of King Wu in the distance, Ning hugged the golden whip in his hand and sneered, "Useless things, there is no appearance, it is better to turn it into gold." ”

Xu Ji returned to the camp and saw that the soldiers were excitedly talking about King Ning's victory.

King Ning did not win a complete victory, in terms of casualties alone, there were more on his side, but when the armies were afraid, he dared to personally lead his troops out of the city to meet the battle, and he could return safely, giving others the impression that this was a great victory.

Xu Ji has been patrolling the army for a long time, and the military heart that has been captured is not as good as a rash battle in Hug Pass.

Xu Ji turned around and went straight to Xicheng.

The Gan Zhao here also came back to his senses, and was mobilizing the soldiers, and when he heard that King Wu had arrived, he immediately came to meet him and handed everyone over to King Wu for assignment.

Xu Ji first went to the city to watch, the flags in the officer and soldier camp were still the same, and there was no change in the distance, but looking north, there was indeed smoke and dust flying in the air.

It was late winter, and smoke and dust could be raised in the officer and soldier camp, indicating that there must have been a lot of soldiers and horses gathered.

Although Ningbaoguan did not win the battle, it was enough to shake the officers and soldiers and force them to move to the north.

Xu Ji ordered the battle, he and Gan Zhao personally led the troops, Gan Zhao was in the front, he was in the rear, each with 1,500 infantry, after the formation, shouted to the camp of officers and soldiers.

A row of crossbowmen appeared on the fence of the officer and soldier barracks, but no one came out to fight.

This is exactly the result of Xu Ji's guess, and it is estimated that the time is about the same, and when the officers and soldiers may turn around and return from the north, they will order the withdrawal of troops back to the city.

Although it was a bluff, it could make the officers and soldiers show timidity, and the soldiers of the righteous army were excited, and the morale of the officers and soldiers when they defeated them last time came back by seven or eight points, and many generals took the initiative to ask for battle, but Xu Ji wanted to press down instead.

Xu Ji returned to the camp and sent people to the four city walls to listen to the kings' movements at all times.

Xu Ji came to find Xue Jinyao.

She was picking out steel knives, and a row of a dozen unsheathed blades lay on the table in front of her.

Xue Jin ignored her husband and raised her knife to take a closer look.

Xu Ji said: "King Ning has collected several cavalry generals, and it seems that Mrs. Ning Wang recommended them to him. ”

"I can recommend you a few ways to kill, the most neat." Xue Jin shook it coldly and put down the knife in his hand, "Every time the Incarnation Army captures a captive, Niu Tiannu will select a few people to be slaves, and the cavalry generals you are talking about are probably selected from these slaves." ”

"Niu Tiannu...... What kind of person is he? ”

"A woman, a stupid woman who is abandoned by her husband and refuses to take revenge."

Xu Ji felt that Niu Tiannu was not stupid at all, smiled, and silently exited the room.

Xue Jinyan continued to choose the steel knife, but his mood became irritated for no reason, and finally he had to throw the knife back on the table.

The competition between the kings has never stopped, Xu Ji must do better, he has a few good generals in his mind, he can't delay any longer, he must promote them as soon as possible.

A scout came running out of breath, "King Wu...... That, that King Liang and King Jin are fighting! ”

This is even more inexplicable than Ning Baoguan going to war without authorization, Xu Ji suddenly understood, this is probably one of the "several things" that Ma Wei wants to do in order to win the trust of King Wu.