Xin Yan is clearly a person who tends to be more stable psychologically. Unlike this somewhat crazy military plan approved by his uncle in the face of a tight financial situation. Ever since he heard about this plan, he clearly expressed his opposition to Li Yanzhi. However, at their root, these decisions were not made by Li Yanzhi himself. If he wanted to change this motion, Li Yanzhi could only suggest that Xin Yan go to the county government by himself.

Xin Yan couldn't imagine how his uncle, who had always sought to be safe, could give birth to such a crazy decision! If this matter fails, let Liu Zhao see through it. For Liangzhou, which has just stabilized the situation through peace talks, it is likely to be another protracted military disaster! If at that time, will more goods and materials be used to fill Liu Yao's insatiable greed, or will the whole state mobilize the lower-level military and civilians to fight to the death?

It is not optimistic to say that even if the military and civilians of the whole state are mobilized to fight to the death, they may not be able to stabilize the situation. After all, the last painful lesson under Jincheng is still deeply imprinted in everyone's minds. After all, the difference in strength between the two sides is too big, even if the lower-level generals fight desperately, in the face of Liu Zhao's cannon fodder army, they will almost not be able to hold on.

Different people, for the same thing, their different experiences will prompt them to make different choices. Su Fu was young, and his previous military experience was to constantly take risks, constantly attack the enemy's convoys, and intercept the enemy's financial and material resources to enrich himself. Therefore, in his heart, there is no shortage of this kind of military adventure and the idea of giving it a go. And Xin Yan, who was born in a large family of Liangzhou scholars and has had no worries about food and clothing since he was a child, could not understand and agree with such a plan.

Since Xin Yan became the county commander, although he has also witnessed many civil sufferings together with Li Yanzhi. There is no lack of sympathy for the living conditions of the people at the bottom, especially the homeless. However, the cautious temperament cultivated by worrying about food and clothing since childhood also made it difficult for him to accept such a risky decision, even if the starting point of the decision was beneficial to the county and the people to whom it belonged.

Su Fu's concern about this matter was nothing more than how to prevent Liu Zhao from discovering the true identities of these soldiers. And when Xin Yan learned about this, the first thing he thought of was that he couldn't end up after the defeat. In this way, Li Yanzhi, who was originally determined to support this matter, was also stuck in a dilemma between these two completely different ideas.

Xin Yan immediately made a decision, immediately went to find a carriage, and then drove to the county government. After Xin Yan left, Li Yanzhi calmed down and thought about it carefully, and it was expected that since Xin Yan had already moved to support this matter, it would naturally be difficult for Xin Yan to convince his uncle. I still have to step up my preparations. After all, time is tight and the task is heavy. In just one winter, it is necessary to train both the soldiers under his command who are ready to attack, and the spies. What is the final result, he still has a big question mark in his heart after all.

The four prisoners returned home for a few days, and some of them were also very active, and immediately packed their bags and tried to lead their family out of the county. However, after they went out, they just turned the street, and a dozen plainclothes men with swords in their hands rushed out of the surrounding restaurants and tea shops, and arrested them on the street. And without any nonsense, he was immediately escorted to the county government to meet Li Yanzhi.

Li Yanzhi was extremely angry at this kind of double-faced and three-knife dismantling behavior. He took the prisoner down to fifty rods. His family wept and watched him die with the rod. Later, Li Yanzhi doubled the sentence for the old man who intended to escape, and was immediately escorted to prison. His family members were sent home.

Except for this small episode, the other three stayed at home for a few days, and then returned, all of them told Li Yanzhi that they were willing to do things for the county government, and only asked for forgiveness for their previous crimes. In front of the three of them, Li Yanzhi issued a pardon order for each of them, and then stamped himself and the big seal of Xinming Mansion.

In addition, Li Yanzhi also signed an agreement with each of these three people, which was regarded as the agreed certificate. The amount of goods, grain, and rice that these families provide for each month is also specified. The first is to reassure these people, and the second is to provide vouchers for the county's financial revenues and expenditures.

After putting their fingerprints on the agreement, the men were thrown into the army and began to train with the newly selected horsemen. Li Yanzhi didn't want to train them to be soldiers. However, with basic riding skills and life-saving skills, he still wants these people who will become spies in the future to learn more. After all, if it is a life-threatening moment, these skills may be able to save their lives.

However, Li Yanzhi never made it clear to them what they were going to assign them to do. Seeing that they were assigned to the army, these people were suddenly a little dumbfounded. However, thinking of the preferential treatment conditions for their family members that Li Yanzhi talked about before, he had no choice but to close his eyes and accept his fate.

This cooperative attitude also made Li Yanzhi feel very satisfied. In the early days, in addition to military drills, Li Yanzhi also personally taught them literacy. After all, if you want to be a spy in the future, if you can't even read a word, and you can't write and draw information after you know it, then it makes people feel really desperate.

These people were the pillars of the family before, and when it comes to literacy and counting, they all know something. In addition, Li Yanzhi specially opened such small stoves for them in addition to practice. It will soon be possible to write large paragraphs of text that convey the meaning completely and clearly. And complete simple operations such as counting and addition and subtraction within 10,000.

Li Yanzhi also took out some maps of the county and took them to the real scene to learn how to read and use maps. Later, they were even asked to be able to draw a simple map of the surrounding area according to where they were. This is really embarrassing for these three people. They scratched their ears and cheeks on the map, and when they were holding a pen to draw, they were also at a loss.

Li Yanzhi, who was very speechless, had to teach little by little. From ranging to marking legends...... After more than a month of operation, several people began to slowly begin to grasp some tricks in this matter.

After Xin Yan returned from the county government, he locked himself in the house, and almost did not appear again except for some government affairs in the county government during the day. Li Yanzhi had a few deep conversations with him in private, and he also knew that Xin Yan had failed to change the decision made by the prince. For the future, the young county magistrate has no shortage of deep worries in his heart. But now, he can't change anything.

In the winter, the county government is not busy. The nine old subordinates who had previously served as scribes were also justifiably transferred back to the army by Li Yanzhi. Under the coordination of Liu Jiwu, literacy classes were carried out for the lower-level generals of the newly selected cavalry. A group of rough men in the army suddenly picked up a pen and paper, and their bewildered and desperate appearance was the same as everyone in the Guangwu Army.

The literacy class was temporarily set up in Li Yanzhi's residence in the camp. In the barracks, his residence is a little larger. However, more than 30 generals are among them, and this residence is also a little crowded. Li Yanzhi broke into the door and saw that it was indeed a face like a bitter gourd in the house.

The crowd faced a wall of houses with a large blackboard painted with charcoal plaster. Liu Jiwu was holding a piece of soil with his right hand and writing on the blackboard made of charcoal ash, while the rough men were holding brushes and writing stroke by stroke on the papyrus-bound book in front of them......

Li Yanzhi coughed lightly twice, and everyone's eyes suddenly focused on him. He pointed to the blackboard and said to the thirty or so generals sitting in the room: "Liu Bairen will teach, and you must all learn from good students." I will choose a day to assess, and those who fail will have twenty rods! If you don't want to be boarded, it's good to learn words......"

Before Li Yanjiong's words fell, a general in the room had already raised his hand. Li Yanzhi nodded and said, "If you have any questions, just tell them." ”

The general got up suddenly, and then asked Li Yanjiong: "Report to Li Sima, we are all rough men in the army, and above the battle array, can't we lead our brothers to charge into battle?" Why do you want to be here and learn something that only a scribe can use......

Li Yanzhi laughed twice, then turned to Liu Jiwu and said, "General Liu Bairen, your student's question will be answered by you, the gentleman." ”

When Liu Jiwu heard this, he turned around and faced the general who had just asked the question. The man looked at Liu Jiwu with some cynicism at this time, but he didn't know what he wanted to say, so as to become the reason why his people had to study and learn calligraphy here.

Liu Jiwu took a rag from the cases in front of him, then turned around and wiped off the words written on the blackboard, picked up the clod of soil, and drew on the simple blackboard. Seeing that Mr. Liu stopped teaching calligraphy, he turned to draw pictures, and the thirty or so generals sitting below were all curious, staring intently at the movements of Liu Jiwu's hands.

Li Yanzhi stood by the door, looking at the picture that Liu Jiwu drew with his heart stroke by stroke, and he already knew it in his heart. The picture he drew was the situation map of the time when his people were still feeding horses in the camp and went to quell the rebellion with the commander Ma Ping.

Liu Jiwu's pen walked the dragon and snake, and it took less than half an hour of effort, and the situation of counterinsurgency was clearly displayed on the blackboard. Everyone looked at the twists and turns on the blackboard, but they didn't know what it meant, and they looked at each other for a while, and the occasional noisy sound of turning heads and ears fell silent at this time.

"This is a war that I have experienced with you Li Sima in the autumn of the ninth year of Jianxing. The bald Xianbei tribe rose up near Linqiang, gathered more than 10,000 people, and quickly conquered Linqiang. When our county heard the news, it immediately began to order the cavalry in the county and all counties to assemble and prepare to go to the rescue. There are many old battalion cavalrymen in the army who have experienced that war. ”

Liu Jiwu said, the mud in his hand had drawn a circle on the Xiping County marked in the map: "The Xiping army does not know the enemy's situation, and they are guarding Xiping, and they dare not go out lightly." As soon as our troops arrived in Xiping, they merged with the Xiping cavalry, and the two divisions were merged, and there were only more than 900 cavalrymen. The 900 cavalry quickly marched westward to find out where the rebels were strong. The core force of the rebel army, composed of the bald Xianbei headquarters, is stationed in the county seat of Linqiang. The rest of the remnants of the rebellion set up camp outside the county seat. ”

Liu Jiwu said, and drew a circle on the location of Linqiang County in the map: "We took advantage of the enemy's unpreparedness to quickly attack the enemy camp and lead the enemy's pursuers into an ambush." It's night, and hundreds of levels are cut. After the rebels suffered losses, they gathered their crowds the next day to capture Xiping. Sima believed that the city of Xiping was strong, and the enemy army was already prepared, so it would be difficult to overcome. You might as well cross the river, go upstream to the Huangshui, build a dam to store water, and hope that when the thief army crosses the river after the defeat of Xiping, the thief army will be flooded. ”

Liu Jiwu paused, and then said: "Sima only relied on a map and the results of the reconnaissance of the sentinels of each department, and suggested that the commander lead us and others upstream. The thief attacked Xiping Buke. It coincided with a torrential rain, and the water level of the Huangshui rose sharply, and we waited for the sluice gate to be released, and in an instant, the thief army was divided in two by the flood. The number of people who fell into the river and drowned is unknown. The two or three thousand thief troops that remained on the south bank were also defeated by the Xiping army. The North Shore Bandit Army lost its baggage, and in desperation, they tried to attack Changning. In the end, under the city of Changning, the thieves were ambushed, and the rebellion was quelled......"

Listening to Liu Jiwu's narration, these generals in the room began to gradually fall silent. Nine hundred cavalry, without the help of too many external forces, defeated more than 10,000 rebels. Although I had heard all kinds of rumors and narratives about the old battalion horsemen earlier. However, when they heard the detailed process of this incident told by Liu Jiwu, there was still all kinds of amazement in their hearts.

"I'm drawing this map here now. If I don't speak, you can't read, and you know where it is? I don't know the map, I don't know the situation. Not to mention the strategy in the chest, planning to break the enemy? ”

Liu Jiwu stretched out his hand and pointed to Li Yanzhi who was standing near the door: "At that time, Li Sima was just a small elder. Just two years have passed, and now you look at it, what kind of position is he? Leading the troops to fight is not just a bloody bravery, leading the brothers under his command to charge into battle and it is over! If you hold this kind of thought, you will be extremely poor for the rest of your life, and I am afraid that it will be embarrassing! I don't ask you to go to the endless exercises on the school field, but to study and practice calligraphy here, precisely because Sima has higher requirements for you. ”

"I hope you will not hold on to the defects in the future. Work hard to read and learn calligraphy, and in the future, on the battlefield, you can understand the map and understand the situation. can be worthy of a great responsibility. It is also a good thing to be worthy of a big responsibility, and to treat you or your relatives. ”

The general who asked the question earlier, turned his head back and forth with a little uneasiness at this time. It wasn't until he saw that no one was looking at him that he quietly sat down on the futon on the ground uneasily.

Liu Jiwu dropped the mud in his hand that was almost gone, and then turned around to pick up the rag. Looking at the door again, Li Yanzhi had quietly left at some point......

As winter draws to a close, the results of this period of hard work are not remarkable, but they are also fruitful. The three spies, Zhu Jie, Du Ming, and Qian Shu, have basically mastered riding skills and the use of various weapons. Now take them to a strange area, and they can quickly draw a simple map of the area.

Li Yanzhi is not worried about the ability of these ordinary people to spy on intelligence at all. Now they have been taught many military methods. It should not be a problem to obtain such information as spying on the enemy's base strength in one city and one place, supplemented by means such as sentry cavalry reconnaissance.

And those soldiers and generals under Liu Jiwu's leadership, after a winter drill, have basically taken shape. After a period of training in battle, he had no doubt that these horsemen would grow into a formidable force.

Zhu Jie, Du Ming, and Qian Shu, under the instruction of Li Yanzhi, embarked on the road to Longxi. About to embark on their storied spy career. Li Yanzhi put on his helmet and armor, stood in the Shili Pavilion outside Lingju County, looking at their distant backs, and his heart was uneasy for a while, and he was full of emotion.