After Li Yanzhi made the arrangements, all the generals returned to their camps, ordered their subordinates, ordered the soldiers to check each other's weapons, and made nervous preparations for the night peace.

In Li Yanzhi's room, Cui Yang looked worried. After the generals left, he walked out of the back room, and then sat opposite Li Yanzhi, the two sat opposite each other, silent for a long time, and the air was almost condensed by the silence of the two. In the huge vestibule, only the sound of each other's breathing could be heard.

"This time, a lot of people are going to die again, Changshi?" Cui Yang finally took the lead in breaking the silence and asked Li Yanzhi about it. Li Yanzhi heard this, but looked up at Cui Yang in a daze. This general, who used to be under his command, has now infiltrated the enemy-occupied area of Longxi to do intelligence work, and his demeanor can't help but be a little more cautious. However, Xu has been in the Longxi area for a long time, and has seen more suffering in the world, which has added a bit of compassion and compassion.

Li Yanzhi looked at Cui Yang's face and carefully observed his expression. That look was full of unbearability, and even implied a bit of begging: "When I joined the army, why did I do it, haven't you forgotten it?" ”

Li Yanzhi picked up the water bowl and drank all the residual water in the bowl: "I have been sleeping all night, and I have never dared to forget what I did when I joined the army." It's just that the situation is complicated now, and even so, it has to be done. ”

Cui Yang got up with a sad expression: "In that small village in Guanzhong, can you still remember that miserable scene?" Isn't that scene going to be staged in this Lingju city today? Long history, what is the head of Qian? Why? ”

Li Yanzhi was silent for a moment, raised his head to look at Cui Yang, and said firmly: "It's not me who is cold-blooded. It's just that now Lingju is an important place in the borderland, and it is also the governor's office of the Qiang Guard, which has a great stake. Now our department is still in the city, and in the event of such chaos, it can still be calmed down. At this time, regardless of it, if he goes out on the expedition with a large army, when the city is empty, such a chaos breaks out at first, and the people in the city are headed, how many percent will be left? ”

Seeing that Cui Yang was silent, Li Yanzhi said with a sad expression: "Over the years, every military disaster has seen the displacement of people, and the head of Qiantou has no food and clothing, why is Li not heartbroken?" Cui Yang, the land you see in Longxi is all headed by the people and the people of Qiqiang, how can you expect that if it is not my race, its heart will be different! The Zhuhu tribe has fallen here, and is still unwilling to disarm the people, but it can be seen that its people are fierce and untamable, and he will have chaos in the state again. ”

Li Yanzhi got up and looked at Cui Yang with an undoubted expression: "Chaos at this time is better than chaos after this, and small chaos is better than chaos in the majority!" Besides, this is definitely not the time to use swords and soldiers, so that you don't know? This kind of chaos is also sounding the alarm for the state sergeants, so that they can see and know about it, so as to warn them that the state is undecided, and hastily sending troops will cause chaos! ”

When Cui Yang heard this, he hung his head and was silent. Li Yanzhi bypassed a few cases, walked to Cui Yang's side, and patted him on the shoulder: "How can I not know that Qianshou is innocent?" In all parts of the inner city and the outer city, I have made sufficient preparations to minimize the casualties and losses of the people in the inner city......"

"The lowly is the same as the long history, and he also hates the thieves and the so-called high doors in his own backyard. Humble...... It's just that I don't want to see Qianshou suffer, and Li Shu suffers......"

"Don't worry." Li Yanzhi said in a deep voice: "You don't want to see it, why shouldn't I?" But under this world, where is there no suffering? It is not easy for me to be fortunate enough to enable my family to live a stable life. I want to subdue the world, so that the world's leaders and Li Shu will no longer suffer and suffer......"

Li Yanzhi shook his head and sighed self-deprecatingly: "It's difficult, it's difficult...... Such a grand wish is by no means an overnight achievement, and I don't know if you and I can see the ...... in this life."

calmed Cui Yang's emotions, and Li Yanzhi was also deeply tired. He walked out of the house and looked at the sky, and it was about the time of Shen. The camp in front of him was a little silent and deserted than usual. The black banner of the Wu Wei army fluttered on the gate, and under the rows of silent barracks, there were hidden wisps of murderous intent.

On the school grounds, there were occasional heralds in soap clothes and leather armor galloping back and forth, and the neighing of horses in the stables behind the barracks was much lower than usual. I saw the peddlers and pawns in the county town and the people in different clothes shuttling back and forth in the streets, looking the same as usual, but who knows what the scene will be like on this noisy street in two hours?

Li Yanzhi felt heavy for no reason. Cui Yang's words hit his heart one by one, and the scenes of the past were interwoven into clear images in his mind like a movie. He looked at the peaceful and tranquil county town, and suddenly began to wonder if it was the right choice for him to act like this.

However, now that he is ready to send an arrow, he has to send it, and this kind of vacillation and doubt only flashed in his heart, and he was forced to press it down. Thousands of years of history have shown future generations that no matter what kind of social change occurs, the initial price will almost always be blood. And Li Yanzhi also knew in his heart that although he had mobilized the remaining troops in the city to deploy defense, but when there was chaos, there would definitely be many innocent people who would suffer disasters.

"Come on, call Liu Du to come." Li Yanzhi didn't look back, and ordered left and right. One of the guards under the gate immediately turned around and ran towards the camp. After a while, Liu Jiwu walked out of the barracks and came straight to the gate. Li Yanzhi walked down the watchtower, led Liu Jiwu to a leeward secluded place, and asked: "It's less than an hour before the unitary time, are your subordinates and others ready?" ”

"The soldiers are all in armor and with swords, and they are resting in the camp and waiting for their orders. As soon as the drum sounds, it can be dispatched immediately. Liu Jiwu said in a low voice. After years of military career, this man has long been accustomed to obeying orders. And everything can be done properly, which is what makes Li Yanzhi feel at ease with him.

"Ji Wu, tell me, is it inappropriate for me to act like this this time?"

"My subordinates don't know, why did Changshi say this?" Liu Jiwu listened to Li Yanzhi's words, and seemed to have doubts about his own arrangement, so he couldn't help but ask.

"The displaced people in Longxi have come here, and there may be a shortage of grain, livestock, fields, etc., and we have already thought of it. Most of the grain, cattle and sheep purchased with the Ming government were also on the way to the county seat at this time. However, for the sake of dividing and ruling Qianghu, I learned that there would be civil unrest, but I still let it go and raised tigers for trouble. Now the arrow is on the string, after tonight, I don't know how much is left of Li Shu walking on the street now? ”

Listening to Li Yanzhi tell these things in a skeptical tone, Liu Jiwu also fell into deep thought, but after a while, he bowed down and replied: "Don't worry about Changshi. This time Qiang is in chaos, and it is all his own fault. The Ming Mansion and Changshi were benevolent and generous, and took them in, but they still had such a wolf in their hearts, which was really inferior to livestock, and they were innocent of death. ”

Li Yanzhi looked at the sky: "But what about the people in the county government? They are not guilty, but they have to be swords and necks because of the Qianghu riots, which is a dereliction of my duty! ”

Liu Jiwu pondered for a moment and said: "If the subordinates expected it to be good, Changshi wants to contain and monitor all the leaders of these Qianghu tribes, and mix and settle their people with the rest of the exiles, so that they can change their customs, and after a few generations, they will become my Jin people, right?" ”

Li Yanzhi was surprised when he heard this, and looked at Liu Jiwu in a daze for a long time, before he sighed: "Ji Wuzhi is smart and reasonable, and all the generals in the army are inferior. However, this time to condone the Qianghu riots in the outer city, there are also other considerations. ”

Looking at Liu Jiwu, who looked a little surprised, Li Yanzhi said slowly: "Ji Wu, now that the state is not rich in grain and grass, it is really not the time to raise troops to conquer. And the Ming Duke may have something to do, he repeatedly ordered all the departments to reorganize the troops, and prepared to recruit the soldiers of the high gates, as if they were going to enter Longxi, trying to defeat the battle. However, Liu Zhao is based in Longxi Guanzhong, and the national strength is abundant, and it is far from the time of offensive and defensive transposition. ”

Li Yanzhi told this hidden worry in his heart, and suddenly felt comfortable. Liu Zhao raised troops to attack Liang, and he could fail three or five times, while Liangzhou's collection of troops to attack Zhao was a failure, and it was also a catastrophe for the state. This is the gap in national strength. And as Li Yanzhi said, this is far from the time for offensive and defensive transposition.

When Liu Jiwu heard Li Yanzhi say these things, he suddenly realized in his heart. Nearly 7,000 people were stationed outside the city. With the addition of Wu Weijun, it is nearly 10,000. The Gaomen clans in the state obeyed the call and sent their troops to form an army, and they were bound to have their own small calculations, wanting to carve out their own sphere of influence in Longxi, and then stretch their hands here to seek benefits for their respective families.

Li Yanzhi has long seen that this kind of scholar politics, where everyone comes to intervene, is bound to consume national strength and people's power on unnecessary things, and grabbing benefits between various families is equivalent to attaching to Liangzhou, which Zhang Zhijun is trying to maintain, to suck blood. And Liangzhou, which is already a little weak and barren, under this kind of adsorption, the national strength will be scattered and grabbed by various families. The income from the state is extremely limited. As a result, the finances are not sufficient, and the consequence is that it is impossible to sustain an elite army directly under the central government.

And this kind of crusade that gathers the strength of all families will inevitably turn into a farce of extreme failure with the uneven distribution of interests and the increasingly prominent contradictions between the families. And all the sacrifices made by the thousands of innocent soldiers who will die in this failed war can be said to be basically in vain.

In this way, the Wu Weijun family wealth that he has worked so hard to save is also likely to be compensated to these Shi Clan pig teammates. It's not that Li Yanzhi can't accept defeat, but he can't accept this form of failure anyway. Therefore, when encountering this incident that might attract the attention of the envoy, how could he easily let go of such a good opportunity?

At the end of the Shen period, there were already Qiang people gathered in the outer city one after another. Most of them are young and middle-aged men. These people sat in the streets and alleys and sat around and chatted. Although the atmosphere was not quite the same as usual, if you passed by this place, no one could have imagined that these people had gathered here to plot such a big thing as chaos.

At the beginning of the unitary period, the encouraged people in various parts of the outer city had already completed their own preparations. Many of them carried sharpened sticks, while the leaders wrapped their knives in cloth and held them in their hands. Anxiously awaiting the signal of the initiation of the operation.

If you look down from mid-air at this time, you can see that the outer city is far more lively than usual. You can get a glimpse of it even from the inner city walls. However, Wei Xu's department, which was ordered to hide and ambush on the city wall, pretended not to be seen, and the defenses on the city wall seemed to be weaker than usual.

In the outer city, several leaders who instigated the rebellion of the Qiang people met privately and decided on the basic strategy: first, a large number of rebels went to the south of the city, set fire to it, and led the remaining soldiers in the camp and the soldiers of the Zhanfeng battalion patrolling the city to rescue and suppress it. After attracting these soldiers to go, another rebel led by Ah Hu rushed into the west city, smashed open the treasury, looted the money and grain, and carried it out of the inner city. Then they hid the money and grain together, or distributed it among the families. Driven by greed and hunger, these Qiang tribesmen did not care about the loopholes in their plans, and only fixed their eyes on the county treasury.

At three o'clock in the hour, a fire broke out in Nancheng, and the flames soared into the sky, and soon affected the entire street in Nancheng. The people in the rest of the city still don't know what is happening, and the shouts and cries of the elderly, the weak, women and children can be heard in the southern city. Cao Jianjian, who led his troops to patrol the city, rushed to Nancheng with more than 100 battalions.

On the south side of the city wall, except for the soldiers of the shooting battalion who were ambushed in the city tower and the city wall, the rest of the soldiers on duty rushed down to the city to put out the fire. However, the soldiers who tried to put out the fire were soon stopped by the rioters, who beat several unprepared soldiers to the ground with sticks on the spot. The guards who arrived after hearing the news soon began to fight with the rebels in the streets and alleys.

Between the streets and alleys of Nancheng, the chaotic people and the guards on duty, and the households of Nancheng gathered on the streets in a chaotic manner, shouting and killing, the howls of the people, and the shouting and wailing of Hu Yu were intertwined. Seeing this chaos and the growing fire, the soldiers of the Zhanfeng Battalion led by Cao Jiansuo were even more anxious, and they rushed towards Nancheng without stopping.

About a quarter of an hour later, the rebels led by Ah Hu in the outer city of Xicheng also rushed in from the inner gate of Xicheng with clubs and swords in hand. Unaware of the situation, the city gate marquis, who wanted to step forward to stop him, was immediately pierced through his torso by a sharpened wooden stick, and fell into the doorway and groaned in pain. The last image of his life is of a man wearing a felt hat holding a sharp blade, stepping forward and stepping on the corner of his clothes, and then the silver light in his hand flashed, and the vision of the city gate marquis gradually blurred.

The hundreds of rebels in the western city soon rushed into the city in a disorderly manner, and unlike the chaotic people in the southern city, they did not set fire to the city after entering the city, but rushed in the direction of the treasury. The dense crowd in the streets scattered and fled after seeing the rioters. But whenever there are old and weak women and children who flee more slowly, those chaotic people will come up and knock them down with a stick, and then those who wait for these poor county citizens will be trampled without mercy.

Wei Xu, who was ordered to lay an ambush on the west gate, walked out of the city tower, looked at the chaos below the west gate, and shouted an order: "Shooting sound battalion, listen to my orders, close the city gate!" ”

The huge winch began to creak and squeak, and after expanding the outer city, although the moat was filled, the suspension bridge of the four gates remained. Several soldiers laboriously operated the winch to slowly raise the drawbridge.

"Crossbowmen in position!" Wei Xu looked at the already messy street, and gave orders with an expressionless face. The soldiers of the Shooting Battalion who were hiding in the towers and behind the battlements raised their crossbows and crossed the women's wall, and their arrows were pointed at the rioters who had rushed into the city.

"Put!" With a wave of Wei Xu's hand, behind the female wall, there were already hundreds of arrows flying towards the chaotic people who were still marching on the main road in Xicheng!