The battle that happened in Huang County made Wang Xuan feel a panic, since Dong Zhuo abolished the Son of Heaven and dictated power alone, he, the acting county guard, has become a genuine county guard, and he has become accustomed to the power in his hands and is unwilling to hand over this right. Pen, fun, and www.biquge.info

Naturally, Yan Shao's sending troops to attack Donglai does not mean that he will do it to Le'an, in fact, Yan Shao's reasons for attacking Le'an are still very sufficient, and they have also been recognized by several other counties in Qingzhou. Who told Cai Qi to send troops first and then move forward? Now it is natural for Yan Shao to retaliate and go back.

But what if Yan Shao wasn't satisfied with a Donglai County? I'm afraid that it will be the destruction of other counties in Qingzhou...

"Send someone to spread the news to several other counties immediately, the sooner the better..."After closing his eyes and pondering for a while, Wang Xuan opened his eyes and said loudly, because he was a little excited, even the table in front of him was moved, and he made a 'pound' sound.

"What do you mean?" A scribe next to him said cautiously.

Unlike Wang Xuan, they are not so resistant to Yan Shaozhi. During this period of time, it was also thanks to Yan Shao's blessings, and the security in Le'an County has improved a lot, but the most important thing is that they are not the county guards, the soldiers and horses of Beihai are attacking, Wang Xuan will definitely lose his current position, they are different―――――― they don't think Yan Shao has enough manpower to govern Le'an.

Besides, most of the people who can become officials in these years have a certain background. Even Yan Shao needs to rely on them in order to govern Le'an well. Unlike Wang Xuan, an outsider, there is no foundation at this point, and the only thing that can be counted on is the authority from the Han family.

It's a pity that even this bit of authority is gradually disappearing during this time, and Yan Shao is a native of Qingzhou, so they have a much better impression of Yan Shao than Wang Xuan.

"It's nothing, I just want a few more people to discuss countermeasures together..."Wang Xuan also knew that he was not very popular with the local powerhouses, if Yan Shao came, they might not really resist desperately, and the only ones who could really stand with him were the county guards of several other counties.

It's a pity that now there are only three counties in the six counties of Qingzhou, Beihai County, Le'an County and Donglai County, and the remaining Plains and Jinan are all countries.

Beihai is Yan Shao's, Donglai is being attacked again, and now the only thing left is his Le'an County. Fortunately, their respective positions are still the same, and Wang Xuanzhi is not worried that others will not have a sense of crisis.

"It's a pity that Jiao and that old horseman don't die sooner or later, but he died at such a time, why didn't he die a few years later!" Perhaps because he was very anxious about his situation, Wang Xuan couldn't help but get angry with Jiao He, who had been dead for a long time.

Focusing on this thorn history, Qingzhou can be said to be full of complaints, but I have to say that it is his existence that balances the internal forces in Qingzhou and prevents each other from killing each other. But he died at this most critical time, and no one could balance the internal contradictions in Qingzhou, and it also made those who originally looked down on him understand his importance.

No matter how incompetent Jiao He is, he is the assassin of Qingzhou, and he is the nominal number one, just with this, plus thousands of soldiers and horses of Qi State, it is enough to make Qingzhou jealous in a short period of time, so as not to fight hard, but now...

The others pouted, but did not say anything, and some of them received orders to leave the palace, and Pegasus galloped away to several other countries.

Le'an is the closest county to Beihai, and has been paying attention to Beihai's intelligence recently, and this news is also the first to arrive. Several other countries are also concerned about this, and the speed of getting the news is far less fast than Wang Xuan...

When the messenger left the hall, Wang Xuan walked out from behind the table, slowly walked to the position in front of the door, looking at the scenery outside the hall, he didn't know what he was thinking.

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As I said before, there are a few things that are necessary to defend the city. But what is really essential, if not the most important, is morale and determination. Without these two things, no matter how many soldiers and horses you have, it is useless, and it is useless to give...

How many fortified cities in history have fallen to the enemy because of this? I'm afraid it's too much to count...

The same is true for the defenders of Huangxian County at the moment, in terms of numbers, they are indeed less than Yan Shao, but not to the point of despair. In terms of combat effectiveness, they are much worse than Yan Shao, but with the help of the city wall, Yan Shao does not have any particularly strong siege weapons, so it is not really impossible to fight.

In terms of equipment, Cai Qi is indeed not as good as Yan Shao, but there is a huge Donglai County, at least there is absolutely no shortage of rolling wood or something. What's more, Yan Shao also sent him so many stones before, which is definitely enough.

The only thing missing now is morale and determination...

A kind of determination that people are in the city, and people are dead in the city...

Cai Qi may not know how to fight, nor do he know how to fight, but he knows what people's hearts are. At present, the whole city has no fighting spirit, and if the battle continues like this, I am afraid that the city will be breached in a few days, which can be seen just by looking at the performance of the soldiers and generals of each family.

Now, except for a few hundred remnants of the defeated army, the most elite are these people, but they are also the least determined to fight to the death.

The only way to do this now is to create a situation that forces them to fight to the death, that is, the heads of each family.

For these soldiers, even loyalty to the Son of Heaven is not as important as loyalty to their own masters. They grew up in these families and took their allegiance to their families for granted. Although the Son of Heaven is very big, he is not as big as his own master...

If you can get all the people of these families up the city wall, you don't even need Cai Qi to say anything to these people, these family soldiers will have to fight to the death. And this is precisely Cai Qi's only way to survive, he doesn't expect to defeat Yan Shao, as long as he can make him feel sorry for the casualties, and finally have to retreat, that is the best result.

Naturally, doing so will definitely offend those families, and it will be a big offense, which is basically equivalent to turning the face. But for now, it's the only option...

It's just that there are some things he may not have thought of, and that is that similar thoughts are not unique to him...

In the middle of the city, in the secret room of a certain family.

The chamber is sealed off by bricks on all sides, and it is also underground, and there are almost no passages in the entire space, except for an entrance and a small vent that can only accommodate rats to pass through, which is enough to ensure that nothing like a partition wall has ears.

More than a dozen candles were also lit on the walls of the secret room. The number of candles is not large, but it is enough to illuminate the secret room located underground, and it is just enough not to make people who live with only one vent feel that they cannot breathe smoothly, but it is the elaborate masterpiece of craftsmen of this era―――――― even if there is only one more candle, the people in the secret room are afraid that they will feel that they will not breathe.

"What do you think?" Sitting on a simple stone bench and patting the dust that didn't exist on his legs, a middle-aged man with a long beard looked at the others in the secret room, and the expression on his face was a little solemn.

It is really related to their net worth and life this time, if it fails, there is a risk of bringing the whole family to the funeral. And even if it succeeds, there may not be any good fruit to eat...

In the face of the middle-aged man's question, the other people in the secret room were silent, just looking at each other, as if waiting for the others to speak. If at this time, people with a little status in Le'an County can be recognized here, and these people in the secret room are the most powerful family heads in Donglai County.

It can even be said that even if they just sneeze one more time today, it may make the people of Donglai County unstable.

Compared to Cai Qi's unworthy guy, they are more like the rulers of Donglai County. In the past, they did this, although Cai Qi was the county guard of this county, but when it came to power, there was no way to compare with them.

However, this time the matter is not trivial, and they can't afford to think about it too much.

The middle-aged man was not in a hurry, he just stroked his long beard with his hand, and he didn't know what he was thinking.

I don't know how long it took before a family head said loudly as if he had made up his mind.

"Let's do it, if you wait like this, if you break the city, I'm afraid you won't have a chance again..."

"Yes, although Yan Shao entered the city, he may not dare to touch us, but now the city is suffering losses every moment. The soldiers I am waiting for are also on the city wall, and my family will tell me an hour ago that my family soldiers have injured at least dozens of people in a day, but I only gave Cai Qi a hundred or so people. ”

This one opened his mouth, but it was a family owner who felt sorry for his loss.

This time, in order to defend the city, they all sent people to help. It's not all sent out, but it's not a small amount when added together. It's only a day's work, and the casualties are so big, who knows how many more will follow?

Moreover, during the siege war, many stones flew into the city, which also caused some damage, and many of the properties were in their names. In addition, this incident was all caused by Cai Qi's dispatch of troops to Beihai, and their dislike for Cai Qi was almost extreme.

This person's words seemed to be deeply approved by the others, and for a moment the room was full of echoing voices.

For these families, there is no loyalty at all, and the most important thing is their own interests. For the sake of their own interests, even the orders of the Son of Heaven dare to disobey, not to mention that they never feel that they have a subordinate relationship with Cai Qi. From a certain point of view, they feel that Cai Qi should be their puppet.

Now for this one person, Huangxian has suffered such a big impact, which is not in the interests of the family, so it is inevitable to change someone to represent the interests of the family.

Of course, there are also one or two families who have a slight objection, so that they are not loyal to Cai Qi. Just like I said before, Cai Qi, the county guard, is a puppet in their eyes, just serving their interests, but no matter what, Cai Qi is also the county guard of Donglai County...

If we do this, will it not be our treachery to reach the ears of those who do not know the details? I'm afraid that will damage our reputation..."

This is their biggest concern, for a family, profit is important, but reputation is also important. Although Cai Qi is just a puppet, in the eyes of others, he is the county guard of Donglai County after all, if they are strong in these places and stab Cai Qi in the back, what will others think?

"Yes, this Cai Qi really has to die, but who should do it, I'm afraid it still needs to be discussed..."

"Yes, if I really did this, wouldn't I be laughed at by the world, how could I still raise my head at that time?"

As soon as this remark came out, it immediately attracted a response from several families, and also made the rest hesitate.

If Cai Qi is killed, in exchange for the damage to his family's reputation, it is not a good deal no matter how you look at it. But if you want to find the best of both worlds, it's too difficult...

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It's normal for the Maison to protect its reputation.

A Cai Qi is certainly not a very important role, but what he has done in these years has paid attention to a name, Cai Qi, as the Taishou of Donglai County, even if the things he does make Donglai deviate from morality, if they do the role of stabbing in the back, it will also...

If nothing else, there must always be a little jealousy in my heart.

Think about Lu Bu, isn't it because he killed Ding Yuan that he got the title of a third-surname house slave?

Although they can't do things like Lu Bubi, they don't sound good when they say it, right? Even the owner of this secret room hesitated for a while, not knowing what to do.

At this moment, a creaking sound suddenly came from outside the secret room, which attracted the sideways glances of several people in the secret room.

"What's going on?" One person asked, maybe he was a thief, and his eyes even wandered for a moment, and the rest of the people were also a little nervous.

Noticing this, the middle-aged man hurriedly reassured. "Don't worry, it's my family outside, and I guess there is some important news that wants to inform me, so I will make such a signal."

He didn't care at all, although the soundproofing of this secret room was excellent, so that he couldn't hear the situation outside, but he didn't think that Yan Shao would be able to attack the city just overnight. And the creaking sound before is also a signal, indicating that there is an emergency, but it is not the kind of emergency where thieves break in.

Having said that, the middle-aged man still opened the door of the secret room, and after a while, he saw a person who looked a little similar to the middle-aged man, wearing a gorgeous dress, and looked younger, and the young man walked in from the outside, and just walked in, he hurriedly said to everyone.

"The big thing is not good, someone came to report, saying that Cai Qi planned to deceive his father and all the uncles to the city wall, wait until dawn tomorrow, and coerce all the families to do their best to help him defend Huang County..."

Hearing the news, everyone in the venue was shocked.

They never thought that this Cai Qi would be so frustrated, and even paid attention to them. But then again, if they change cities, they are in Cai Qi's position, but I am afraid that they will use such means in the end.

If you want to defend Huang County, it is not enough to rely on the only few soldiers and horses in your hands and the young men who have been mobilized. The former are too few in number, the latter are untrained, and the soldiers are not ready to fight, so it is impossible to hold out for too long. Only the private soldiers of each family are really useful, considering that each family also has at least one or two hundred, two or three hundred domestic soldiers, and the number of them all added together is very considerable.

Now that each family has only given less than half of the number, they have already helped Cai Qi to raise a team of nearly 2,000 soldiers and horses, what if they do their best to help?

Naturally, it is almost a pipe dream to want these door-picking families to help with all their might. The only way is to use coercion, so that there is no fear that they will not help with all their might, and as for what to do afterwards, that is a matter for later.

Cai Qi's calculation is still good, if it succeeds, it will be equivalent to two or three thousand more available counties. And there are the heads of each family, and they are not worried that those soldiers will not fight to the death.

The only pity is that he seems to have missed one thing...

He has always regarded himself as the master of Donglai County, which is even more obvious after the Son of Heaven was deposed by Dong Zhuo and the prestige of the Han family was completely weakened. But the master of Donglai County is not him Cai Qi, never has been, and never will be, compared with him, these families who have been inherited in Huang County for hundreds of years are more qualified.

And compared with Cai Qi, their influence is also more far-reaching.

Almost all of the civil and military officials in the county guard are inextricably linked to them, and some of them are simply from these families. How could they watch Cai Qikeng's own home? Even if Cai Qi has consciously guarded against these people, it's not like he can prevent it if he says it...

It's like now...

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"Cai Qi, that bastard, how dare he do this!" Hearing the words of the informant, the middle-aged man was already furious.

He never thought that before he could calculate Cai Qi, Cai Qi had already begun to calculate them, just a puppet, and he dared to be so bold, which made him feel angry.

Not only him, but also some other family heads in the secret room are also in this mood. Originally, they still had some concerns about how to deal with Cai Qi's matter before, for fear that the spread of the matter would attract criticism from other families, but now...

"Since he is unkind, he can't blame us for being unjust...", glancing at the others who were also angry, the middle-aged man led by him said in a low voice. Everyone, what do you think? ”

"Agreed!"

"Agreed!"

"Since this Cai Qi is killing himself, he can't blame me for waiting..."

Seeing that everyone was responding, the middle-aged man nodded, took off a piece of something similar to a jade pendant from his waist, and handed it to the young man who looked very similar to him. "Jing'er, later you sneaked to the city wall to find your third uncle and tell him about the things here, I originally planned to leave a way for this Cai Qi to live, but now it seems that I can't stay..."

"Yes, Father!" The young man clenched his fists and turned to leave.

The rest of the family heads looked at each other, and they also walked out of the secret room, and handed over their tokens to the closest people guarding outside――――――, even if they seemed to be very intimate in the secret room before, but where there are people, there are rivers and lakes, a huge Huang County, looking at the entire territory of the Han Dynasty, it may not be nothing, but it is already the largest city in Donglai County, and the population is also tens of thousands.

In such a big city, how can there be no conflicts of interest, these families are also a little dirty in private, if it weren't for the trouble caused by Cai Qi this time, I'm afraid there would be no possibility of sitting together with harmony. Even now, it is impossible to hand over your token to the junior next door at such a time...

The people outside the gate also understood the urgency of the matter, and rushed to the city wall as fast as they could. They don't have to worry about the interrogation of the people guarding the city wall, and now the people who are responsible for guarding the city on the city wall are the soldiers of each family, and the number of soldiers and horses belonging to Cai Qi is very small, and the relationship between the soldiers and horses is inextricably linked.

This is also the most terrifying part of the family, hundreds of years of inheritance have made them have a continuous connection with the local community. Unless you exterminate all the local families, you can't stop this relationship from happening.

These people are simply unimpeded on the city wall, and there is no obstruction at all along the way, even if the soldiers and horses directly belonging to Cai Qi see it, they will treat it as if they have not seen it.

So, just when Cai Qi was discussing something with his subordinate Wu on the tower, something had already been premeditated under his nose...

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"Go and invite the heads of the various families...", glancing back at the scribe, Cai Qi spoke.

"Yes, my lord...", he glanced at Cai Qi deeply, and the scribe bowed his head and said, without saying anything more.

Last night, he had already dissuaded Cai Qi. Although he was only from a poor family and had little connection with the family, as a native of Huangxian County, he knew the influence of these families very well. Mobilizing all these families is indeed the only way at the moment, but the sequelae of doing so are also very huge. When Yan Shao retired from the army, Cai Qi had to face the revenge of the family.

At that time, I am afraid that it will be difficult to say whether Cai Qi can save his life...

It's a pity that in the face of his only opportunity, Cai Qi did not listen to the persuasion of the scribes, but was stubborn―――――― perhaps he felt that no matter how angry those families were, it was impossible to take him as a county guard. It's a big deal to give more compensation, and you can always find a way to calm the anger of these families. But if he loses the position of the county guard, he will not even have to calm down.

"Go, go early and come back early, it's still a few hours before dawn..."

"Yes!"

The scribe turned to leave, leaving Cai Qi alone to continue on top of the tower, the cold wind blew, making him shake his body uncontrollably, and a sergeant next to him hurriedly draped his coat on his body, which finally warmed him up.

It's a pity that at this time, he only looked down, but didn't notice the strange gaze around him.

The efficiency of the scribes was still very high, and Cai Qi was near the bonfire on the top of the tower to keep warm, when he saw a group of dark shadows walking up the stairs to the city wall.

"You go and see, but the people of the family have arrived?!"

"No!" The sergeant who had put on Cai Qi's coat before hugged his fists and hurriedly walked down, and walked back after a while. "My lord, it is the people of the family who have arrived, and the military advisor is now among them..."

Hearing this, Cai Qi was overjoyed. "Okay, get ready to meet with me..."

However, before he could make any moves, he heard someone below already say loudly. "No need, how dare I bother the county guard like this..."As he spoke, he saw more than a dozen figures appear on the tower, these people are all the leading figures in Huang County, covering those powerful families. Lord Gunjo, I wonder if there is something important about asking me to wait here late at night? ”

The middle-aged man who spoke had a tired look on his face, as if he hadn't slept well, and the others also looked sleepy. "Yes, Lord Commander, let's talk about something quickly, and I'll go home and rest when I'm done..."

Seeing that everyone had arrived, Cai Qi was overjoyed and hurriedly spoke. Now that Yan Shao's thieves have come to the city, the situation is critical, I know that you still have many soldiers and horses hidden in your respective homes, and I also ask you to hand over these soldiers and horses to help you resist Yan Shao's thief..."

Speaking of this, Cai Qi pretended to be ashamed. "I also know that you have helped a lot before, and yesterday Huang County was able to hold thanks to the soldiers and horses who helped you, so it is really a bit insatiable, but for the sake of Huang County, this is also a last resort, please forgive me."

Speaking of which, he was ready for the people on the other side to turn their faces. After all, he planned to end the nest this time, and who knew that the soldiers of each family would lose a lot in the future. Even, he has begun to think about how to use these family soldiers as cannon fodder after the matter is completed―――――― the reason why the family is so powerful is deep-rooted is on the one hand, and the strength in his hands is also on the other, with so many family soldiers in his hands, it is no wonder that they are so tough, but what if these family soldiers are all dead?

Without the strength in their hands, do they dare to settle accounts afterwards?

Cai Qi also knew very well how careful these people from the family were, and if they offended them, there was almost no good end, so he had already planned the countermeasures. Even if the loss of the soldiers of each family is not enough at the end of the defense of the city, he will send these soldiers out of the city to fight Yan Shao in a decisive battle, so that they will not die...

They are dead, and Cai Qi is safe...

However, just when he thought that those families would turn their faces, he listened to the head of the family speak. "Okay, I'll hand over all the troops to you..."

"Huh?" Cai Qi almost couldn't believe his ears, he had thought a lot before, but he didn't expect that it would be so simple to achieve his goal, which even made him not know how to say the words he had prepared a long time ago.

Looking at Cai Qi's stunned appearance, the heads of several families sneered. "Now that the matter has been promised to you, I can leave and go home to rest after this..."

After all, the leader has turned around and wants to leave, and the rest are all looking like they want to leave. However, before they could act, Cai Qi had already walked up quickly and stopped these people.

"Wait, there's a small request!"

Hearing this, the middle-aged man turned around, and there was a mocking meaning in his eyes.

"Oh, I wonder what other requests the county keeper has?"