In the camp of the Chinese army in Lingzhou, the smell of meat is overflowing, and the oppressive atmosphere has long been gone.

Luo Kai first used his strength to deter Xiaoxiao, and then used honesty and straightforwardness to communicate with the township cadres around Lingzhou, oh, the leaders of the small tribes communicated with each other, which happened to be in line with the basic practice of moving people's hearts - showing their prestige and sincerity, and of course, tempting them to take advantage of them plus a little bit of emotion, which can be regarded as exhausting the means and taking the first step towards the beginning of settlement.

This seemingly temporary meeting convened by someone Luo just communicated with seemingly simple words, and it was accepted by the people, so that it evolved from a meeting meeting to an exchange meeting, is this a good start?

The busy Lao Luo didn't know, and the little excited clan leaders didn't know either.

……

When there was a hustle and bustle in the newly built camp in Lingzhou, in Xingzhou City, a hundred miles away, several ruling families were also uneasy.

Xingzhou City occupies a small area, and the rammed earth and blue brick walls enclose no more than 1,000 acres of land—this is the general situation in Hexi, the product of the comprehensive limitations of manpower, technology, and combat power (1).

At present, the three ruling families of Xingzhou - the Ma family, the Wang family and the Cao family - dominate all the affairs of this small city.

According to the rules agreed by the three families, the Ma family is in the south of the city, the Wang family is in the northeast, and the Cao family is in the northwest, this situation is the product of the compromise after the three families fought three years ago, and the peace period of more than three years has covered up many things, but recently Xingzhou has suddenly poured thousands of people, and most of them are believers in the Green Sect, which makes the Wang and Cao families deeply uneasy.

In the main residence of the Wang family in the northeast of Xingzhou, several core figures of the Wang family are sitting together, frowning and tangled.

On the low couch entwined and carved with rattan wood, leaning on a gray old man who deliberately trimmed his beard into a few strands, "Erlang, your subordinates witnessed the Ma family's Wu Fort being breached?" Do you know who did it? ”

"Returning to my father......" The man who was sitting on the outermost carved round bench arched his hand, "The Ma family's Wu Fort was built in a closed mountain col, and the Wu Fort principals lived inside, and the thieves carried out a surprise attack at night, according to the children's men, they rolled down from the highest point on the outskirts of the col at least a huge vine fireball, and the fire on it could not be extinguished at all, and after the fire raged, it didn't take a quarter of an hour for the entire Wu Fort to be in chaos......

"Fujiki ball...... The fire that can't be extinguished ......" The old man half-squinted his eyes and muttered a few words repeatedly, and after half a sound, his eyes suddenly opened, "Third brother, do you remember the letter sent by Luntai City before?" Those new strongmen from Lingzhou in the south ......"

The one who was called the third brother was a half-hundred-year-old man who was a little rich, holding a string of wooden beads in his hand and pouring it down a few times, "Brother, you said it was done by those people who came to Lingzhou?" Well, Luntai's letter seems to have mentioned it...... They burned down at least six Qarluqs in the city of Polo with vine fireballs......"

"Then there can be no mistake!" The old man patted the couch under him and sat up suddenly.

A weak-crowned young man standing on the edge of the low couch hurriedly stepped forward to support the old man, "Grandpa, you can slow down!" ”

"Shiying, go and ask someone to bring tea and soup...... The old man waved his hand and broke away from the young man's arm, and after waving it away, he said with a slightly stagnant gaze: "Na Luo...... Kai first occupied Lingzhou, exterminated the Uta people, and several Uta people who fled were taken in by the Ma family, didn't anyone report that the head wolf of the Ma family had not been seen for a few days? The old man estimated that he must have gone to Lingzhou......"

"Father, how could Ma Zurong go to ...... in person?"

"Don't be irritable...... The old man hasn't finished talking yet! After scolding, the old man continued: "Although Ma Zurong is the head wolf of the Ma family, he likes to do dangerous things, and he never cares about his worth, Erlang, you are not as good as him in this regard!" ”

"Yes, thank you for your father's teachings!" Jiro hurriedly responded.

"Alas......" The old man looked at his second son, sighed, and whispered: "According to the previous letter, Na Luo Kaixian is destined to be a strong person, and it will be difficult for the head wolf of the Ma family to achieve his wish. The two families could not negotiate, according to the Ma family's habits, there were only two ways, one was to give in, and the other was to take risks again...... Now it seems that the Ma family did not give in, but chose to take risks! ”

The old man's somewhat hoarse voice fell, and the room was silent for a moment, and the rich old man, who was called the third brother, spoke: "Eldest brother, there was a letter a few days ago that someone saw a person in the Ma family's pasture outside the city, very much like a wolf cub who was sent to Kashgar by the Ma family in the early years!" ”

"Hmm...... the old man pondered for a while, "it's the junior of Ma Zurong's wolf...... The one called Ma Xuanyi? ”

"Yes, big brother!"

"Then there will be no mistake, the Ma family believes in the Green Religion, and the Qarlu people are the same as the raccoon dogs, no wonder the head wolf of the Ma family dares to take risks...... "Speaking of this, the old man suddenly smiled, "But this is also a good thing, Lingzhou Naluo Kai was an alien strong dragon first, and the good life of the Ma family's head snake will definitely not last long, and the two of them are facing each other...... It's a good thing for my royal family! ”

"Father, Majiawu Fort was burned, it is said that some of the scattered stockades outside the city were swept away, and their people poured into the city at least 5,000 people, and the southern city has become crowded, so I am afraid that it is not a good thing for my Wang family......" Erlang saw that the old man could still laugh, and reminded him with some worry.

"Okay, it must be Lingzhou Naluo Kaixian who burned the Ma family's Wu Fort, hum, there is a strong enemy outside, how can his Ma family dare to provoke my Wang family? It's just ......" The old man said two words of resentment, and suddenly the topic changed, "Third brother, since the Ma family is so chaotic, tomorrow you go to the Cao family to find out!" ”

"Yes, big brother!" The rich old man responded casually.

……

The main house of the Ma family in the south of Xingzhou City is overcrowded, and even the courtyards outside the main house are crowded with people, men with sad faces, women who are sad and anxious, old people with numb faces, and children who are waiting to be fed, everything makes people sad and angry.

In the main hall of Ma's main mansion, Ma Zurong drove out all the servants, and sat alone on a chair with his eyes closed, and his seemingly calm cheeks were flushed with anger that had not subsided.

After eleven years as the head of the family, he has never been so helpless as he is now.

He really regrets it now, obviously he heard a lot of news about Luo Kaixian, but he always thought it was an exaggeration by passers-by, to put it bluntly, the Uta people just had a few cooperation with money and life, if it wasn't for a few elders in the family who took a fancy to the property in Luo someone's team, why was he so passive?

He subconsciously ignored that he was the head of the family, and everything was decided by himself.

After pretending to be an envoy to see Luo Kaixian that time, he and the coyote Ma Xuanyi and Ma Xuanji made a strategy, preparing to unite the assassins of the Neishabri family to attack Lingzhou in the spring, for which it even took only three days to select people to be led by the coyote himself to contact the ruling family of Neishabri, and then sent someone to Xiazhou to contact the Yeli family a few days later.

According to his estimates, he thought that Luo Kaixian would lead the crowd back from a long distance and urgently need to recuperate, and he would be busy preparing for the winter camp, and he would not make any moves until spring came.

But it didn't work out, everything was different from his plan.

Luo Kaixian, who looked rough and brave, was not only a good player in frontal combat, but he was so insidious and ruthless in playing dark battles.

In the past few days, almost all the grasslands and mines outside have been swept away, the principals of the various stations or dependents have been killed, the subordinates or subjects have been driven to this very crowded Xingzhou City, and the day before yesterday, even the most important Wu Fort has been burned down, and seeing that the cold winter is coming, many Ma clan relatives are all rushing to the city.

There was no fear of a large number of people, but as more people came in, all kinds of gossip began to fly throughout the city, and the pressure of managing new arrivals every day was also enormous—many of them were hungry and sick, and there were hundreds of thin-skinned coffins prepared alone recently.

Now, even more trouble is coming, Wu Fort has been burned, the food stored inside has also been lost, and the soldiers and subordinates have a total of 50,000 mouths, what can be used to fill their appetite? If it weren't for the fact that there were six granaries in the city that could last for a month, it is estimated that people's hearts would collapse immediately!

What to do?

The king and Cao families in the city will definitely have some surplus food, but the three families have always been incompatible with each other, do they really want to bow to those two families?

Ma Xuanji, who had messy hair and dirty clothes, walked in, "The head of the family, the ancestor of Wubao, died of his injuries, and the three elders who brought it back were also frightened and bedridden...... The caravan sent to Neshabri before has returned......"

The previous words were disturbing to hear, Ma Zurong closed his eyes and didn't bother to pay attention to them, but after hearing the content of the back, he immediately couldn't help it, "Tell me quickly, how is it?" ”

"The one who came back was the guard Ma Liuer, with nine knife wounds on his body, and it is said that the people who attacked them were very skilled in archery......" Ma Xuanji was also frightened, but he was the head of foreign affairs, and he couldn't help but try his best to stay calm.

"All dead? And what about the coyote? Ma Zurong asked urgently, this is a path that is vital to life and death, if there is a mistake, it will be a catastrophe.

"The place where the attack was was in the lone wolf valley two hundred miles away, and at the time of the incident, the coyotes fled northwest with five or six people......"

"Northwest? Oh, that's the desert! Ma Zurong almost jumped up.

But that was also the only way to survive, but Ma Liuer also said that the coyote rode the horse that was the first horse, and after being attacked, more than a dozen horses fled into the desert...... Good luck to the coyotes. Ma Xuanji responded helplessly.

"......" didn't have time to be sad, Ma Zurong was silent for a while before speaking again, "Xuanji, do you have a way?" ”

Ma Xuanji pondered for a few minutes, "Obviously, Na Luo Kai sent someone to intercept the way to the west, and Neshabri is too far away...... Since Luo Kai intercepted the west road first, the east road may not be safe, so he suggested sending two more teams of people to the north to detour to Xiazhou to find support from the Yeli Department......"

"Okay, you can arrange this!" Ma Zurong agreed to send someone to take a detour, and suddenly said: "Xuanji, you personally go to the Wang and Cao families and ask them if they can provide some food and grass for emergency relief." ”

"Yes......" Ma Xuanji responded with obvious hesitation.

Ma Zurong naturally heard the doubts in it, and patted the other party's shoulder, "The old people of those two families hate me to the bone, I can't go in person, after you go, you don't have to say much, just say four words - lips and teeth are cold!" ”

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(1) By the way, the "state" of this era is actually only equivalent to the "county" of later generations, and the scale is generally very small, of course, there are exceptions, some key locations - transportation hubs and the like, such as Xuzhou; certain important property asset areas, such as Suzhou; certain important grain-producing areas, such as Jingzhou; Such "states" will gather a large number of people, so that they will become very prosperous and vibrant, so that the name will not easily change with the change of time, so it can be passed down for thousands of years.

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Attached: Thank you to the book friends "Xingchen Chenxi Purple", "Snatching the Sword I", "Mountain Village Vulgar", "Xingyu Xingyan", "Golden Wind Thin Sycamore Pendant" and "KGB136" for the six points of the reward!