"General Qiyu, I just found out from the surrender that our army has taken Yanju Mansion."

"Oh? It's true? So fast? They have already taken the entire Yanju Mansion? Xue Qinglan, who was busy dealing with the messy affairs of Jiuquan Mansion, was overjoyed when he heard this. You know, Yanju Mansion is not as easy to attack as Jiuquan Mansion.

Although Jiuquan Mansion is the richest of the three western provinces, this is only a comparison among the three northwestern provinces. Moreover, Jiuquan Prefecture has only six counties, located in the northwest, and various ethnic groups live together, making it difficult to govern. Therefore, the entire three provinces in the northwest can basically be said to be abandoned by the Liangzhou Metropolitan Governor's Office.

Although Yanju Province is not richer than Jiuquan Province, it is located on the border, bordering the Turkic tribes in the north and the Xia Prefecture under the rule of the Zhao army in the east. As a result, some trade flourished. Of course, what Xue Qinglan is looking at is not whether the place is rich or not, but here, the Liangzhou army has 20,000 regular soldiers, plus young and strong, and can pull up 40,000 or 50,000 defenders at any time. Moreover, there are eight counties in Yanju Prefecture, and each city is strong and thick.

"General Huiyu, it is said that the defenders of Yanju Mansion surrendered directly, and Li Shuai's soldiers went down to Yanju Mansion without blood."

"Huh? I remembered that this should be the credit of General Xu! When the subordinate said this, Xue Qinglan suddenly remembered what Wei Zilin said about Xu Ye's situation in Liangzhou.

"General, should we wave our army to the east, open up the connection with Yanju Mansion, and take Ganzhou Mansion and Suzhou Mansion together?"

"No, our mission is to the western three provinces, not to the east. Moreover, we do not have enough troops to expand outward. Xue Qinglan thought about it and shook his head in rejection.

"But...... General, such a great opportunity, it's a pity to miss it. Although we have limited troops, there are more than 8,000 soldiers in the entire three northwestern provinces, in addition to 10,000 people in the hands of General Xu. In this way, we have a lot of soldiers and horses in our hands. Xue Qinglan's lieutenants and generals all said in unison.

Xue Qinglan's face turned cold, and he said in a condensed voice: "Don't fight such an idea, don't forget, all the soldiers, whether they are the soldiers of Jiuquan Mansion or the soldiers under General Xu, are all soldiers who have not undergone strict training. In addition, these soldiers must be uniformly trained in the new battalion before they can be assigned to the various town troops, don't you even understand this rule? Don't think that just because you're out of town, you get carried away. We can gather troops here, can it be that Li Shuai, who is connected with Xiazhou and takes Yanju Mansion without bloodshed, doesn't know to take advantage of the situation? ”

After a pause, Xue Qinglan continued in an unchanged tone: "What is the purpose of our visit this time? Is it really for the sake of these three places? These three kingdoms are poor, and you are not ignorant of them. But why are we here? In order to defend the Western Regions to the west. Defending this place well and cutting off the way for the countries of the Western Regions to march eastward is more important than us taking Ganzhou and Suzhou. ”

"That's it! Let's not talk about it for now! Li Ran, you immediately send someone to contact Li Shuai in Yanju Mansion and report back to us about the situation here. In addition, he also sent someone to report the situation here to Lord Wei, so that he could arrange for civil officials to take over the place. The place is occupied by us, but to implement the new policy, this is not what we are good at. The people in the city did not dare to go out, which required civil officials to appease the people. ”

Within three days, the counties of Jiuquan Prefecture were completely taken by the Zhao army, although there were still many towns and villages that were not under control, but they could no longer pose any threat to the Zhao army. Immediately afterwards, the civil officials who accompanied Zhao Jun began to take over the land of Sanfu, and there were soldiers to help carry out governance.

After being slaughtered, the remaining 12 out of 12 powerful clans did not dare to have any other thoughts at this moment. In these few days, in Jiuquan, Dunhuang and Yiwu Prefectures, more than 50,000 people of the great clan Haogentry were killed by the Zhao army. All of a sudden, the people in the three northwestern provinces who were killed were all frightened.

"Lord Wei, although the actions of the past few days have cut off the arrogance of the local people who do not obey the laws of the imperial court, they have also made the people of various prefectures and counties very afraid of my Dazhao. Now, the people are hiding in their homes and don't dare to go out. In addition, the elimination of these eighty percent of the heroes has also greatly affected the markets, commerce and trade of various prefectures and counties. Even, even the daily necessities that the people need every day cannot be bought. In Dunhuang City, Xu Ye said to Wei Zilin with a wry smile.

Wei Zilin smiled lightly: "General Xu, there is no need to worry. If we want the people here to live in peace, if we want to have no worries, this bloody method is necessary. In just a few days, our army killed more than tens of thousands of local heroes. But you and I know their situation very well. What they did in the past should be a sin that deserves death. ”

"We want to implement the administration and let the people live a good life, so these people are our biggest obstacle. Rather than arguing endlessly in the future, it is better to completely shatter it now. ”

"As for the fear of the people, they will not be there. When we announce the tax cuts and the distribution of the fields, these fears will be erased. Besides, these people are not stupid, and they should know best who we have killed. As for whether there will be a market, it will require the only remaining one or two percent of the wealthy businessmen. I think that the empty market right now should be what they need the most. In the past, ten people shared the benefits, but now one person enjoys it exclusively, and they should know the weight of it. Of course, the premise is to hand over their excess land and what they don't deserve. ”

Xu Ye also let go of the worries in his heart and said, "Xu doesn't understand this." However, since Lord Wei is prepared, I don't need to worry. Now that our army has taken Yanju Mansion, are we attacking to the east and connecting with Yanju Mansion? In this way, we have a continuous source of energy support from Xiazhou. At that time, neither the number of troops nor the needs of the people will be a problem. ”

Xu Ye was anxious to open up the connection with Yanju Mansion in order to allow the three western provinces to get more powerful support from the Zhao army. Although the three northwestern provinces have now been taken, the situation of local poverty has not been resolved. In the future, when the countries of the Western Regions in the west invade, he was under great pressure.

Wei Zi said in a deep voice: "If we only attack Liangzhou, we will have no problem attacking eastward next." However, this time, our purpose is to block the idea of the Western Regions countries to fight Liangzhou. Therefore, with our current strength, we cannot start a war to the east. After all, the food, grass, and armor required by the army are a big problem. Once we attack to the east, the time consumed is too long, or the armor and equipment are too depleted, then the countries of the Western Regions will attack, and we will not be able to deal with it. ”

"What we have to do now is to immediately stabilize the place, so that the land of the three provinces will no longer be a burden to us. Otherwise, we will be caught in the middle of an internal and external attack. As for the eastern provinces, leave them to the Northern Route Army and the Eastern Route Army. Whether we attack or not, this land of Liangzhou can't escape. ”

"Although we don't have a lot of troops, the total number of troops surrendered from all over the country is about 15,000. With Zhao Jun, this is more than 30,000. In the land of the Three Mansions, there is no need for a large army to defend the city, and the young and strong can be recruited to assist. If we take Ganzhou Mansion and Suzhou Mansion, we will be able to get a great supply of materials. ”

Wei Zilin shook his head and said: "General Xu is still not very clear about the situation of my Zhao army, General Xu, this soldier and the soldiers who surrendered to your department, let's not talk about the others, but the military discipline is too poor." Our Zhao army took over the place, and this absolutely does not allow the soldiers who plagued the people. Therefore, they need to be selected in the recruit camp and undergo rigorous training before they can be assigned to the army, or they can be arranged to serve as county soldiers in each prefecture and county, and patrol the inspection department in the township and township. ”

Hearing Wei Zilin say this, Xu Ye's face turned slightly red, and he was also clear about the military discipline of the Liangzhou Army.

Wei Zilin continued: "To the west of us, Shanshan and Weiwei were both Great Yan Territory in the past. It's just that now it's independent. If they had known that my Great Zhao had occupied this place, they would have been worried, and might have taken action against us. Therefore, we are now focusing on sticking to the land of the three prefectures and completely stabilizing the land. ”

"General Xu, I'm not worried about Dunhuang now, but the land of Yiwu, after all, is too close to Gaochang and other countries, and it is located in the northwesternmost part of Liangzhou, so I can't be more careful. Therefore, the important task of sticking to this place and preventing foreign invasion requires General Xu to take over. General Xu needs to base himself on the enemy and the outside so that Wei can complete the administration of the three governments. In these three prefectures, there are still many strong people of all ethnic groups. In addition, the operation to eradicate local horse thieves will also begin. Our army has many cavalry, but we are not afraid of these horse thieves. However, we are not very familiar with this place, and this also requires the assistance of General Xu. ”

As soon as he talked about Shanshan and the two countries, Xu Ye's face became solemn. As Wei Zilin said, in the past, the west was the land of the five provinces, not the land of the three provinces. It's just that a few years ago, the two provinces in the west were separated from each other, and with the support of the countries of the Western Regions, they established an independent small kingdom, which was hostile to the lonely Dayan.

Now that the Zhao army has taken the three northwestern provinces that are close to them, these two countries will definitely feel vigilant. If one is not good, it will take advantage of the internal instability of the three western provinces and the small military strength to attack with a wave of troops.

At that moment, Xu Ye said in a deep voice: "Don't worry, Lord Wei, it is not good to govern the place, but in the war, Xu will not let go." ”

In the next few days, notices began to be posted in the three prefectures of the northwest, reducing taxes, cracking down on lawbreakers, and relieving the poor. In this way, in just a few days, Zhao Jun won the hearts of the people in the three northwestern provinces. And the only remaining one or two powerful clans and wealthy businessmen, under the persecution and temptation of Zhao Jun, began to stabilize prices and work hard to stabilize the place.

The people of the three northwestern provinces were rejoicing, while the remaining powerful clans and wealthy merchants were terrified. However, the horse thieves in those troubled places began to suffer all at once. These horse thieves caused trouble in the place, and the Liangzhou army was unable to govern it, which suddenly made the land of the three western prefectures, horse thieves breed, and the people suffered.

These horse thieves, in addition to the Han Chinese, also have Turkic people, Tuyuhun people, Dangxiang people, Tubo people, etc. Coming and going like the wind, it's hard to deal with. Because of this, the business of the West Gate gradually fell into decay.

Now, though, they're starting to suffer. The Zhao army dispatched this time were all cavalry, regular cavalry. Whether it is martial arts, war horses or armor equipment, they are far from being comparable to horse thieves. If the Zhao army does not move, it is enough, and as soon as it moves, all the territory of the land of Sanfu will start to clean up the operation. Suddenly, countless horse thieves became the souls of the Zhao army's cavalry under the knife......

"My lord, most of the horse thieves have been eliminated, but there are still many hidden in the mountains in various places, and it is difficult for our army to investigate."

Wei Zilin sneered: "Without a source of livelihood, what do they eat?" The order went down and posted notices in various places, saying that anyone who killed a horse thief would be relieved of his responsibility and could return to his village. Kill two horse thieves, and there is a reward. Kill the horse thief chieftain and get a reward! ”

Wei Zilin's order seemed inconspicuous, but soon, this military order had an extraordinary effect. You know, the lives of these horse thieves are not very good. That's right, if the horse thief is doing well, he won't go back to being a horse thief. Now the encirclement and suppression of the Zhao army has made them like lost dogs, hiding everywhere, for fear that if they are not careful, they will become the souls of the Zhao soldiers.

It's not that these horse thieves haven't fought against the local government, it's not that they haven't fought against the Liangzhou army. However, the local government soldiers are not the opponents of horse thieves, and the Liangzhou army has no intention of wasting soldiers, horses, money and food here. Therefore, these horse thieves are between the three provinces in the northwest and the northwest.

However, at this moment, they really found that compared with the imperial army and the government, they were simply vulnerable and weak. Zhao Jun's strength is beyond their imagination.

Zhao Jun began to post notices in various places, and at first, Xu Ye did not hold out much hope for this, thinking that the notices were useless. However, unexpectedly, within a few days, some horse thieves hiding in the mountains returned from the mountains with their heads and surrendered to the government.

In this regard, Xu Ye was also surprised. After inquiring, I realized that these horse thieves who were hiding in the mountains, when they ran out of food and did not dare to go out of the mountains, learned that they could kill the horse thieves and carry their heads to be exempted, and some horse thieves who were unwilling to starve to death in the mountains like this began to be tempted.

At first, these horse thieves could still hold back the thoughts in their hearts. But as time goes on, some people start to look at their peers in the wrong light. At some point, some horse thieves had their heads cut off in the middle of the night. Immediately, more and more horse thieves were killed by others as their own merits of exoneration.

For the thief chieftain, it is indeed a fatal blow. The horse thief chieftain was not pardoned, so he could only forcibly suppress the whistling subordinates. It's a pity that these horse thieves saw that there was no way out for them to continue to be thieves, and gradually, many horse thieves scattered in the mountains were cut off one by one......

"Lord Wei is really clever!" In this regard, Xu Ye couldn't help but sigh, but at the same time, he was also a lot afraid of these military division-level figures, and he was also a lot afraid of Zhao Jun.

"Returning to the General's ......"

"Wait...... Don't call me a general in the future, now, I am the captain of the Zhao army. Don't let others think we have other thoughts, you see? Xu Ye interrupted his subordinates in a cold voice.

"Yes, Lord Lieutenant! My lord, according to the reports of the horse thieves we captured, many of these horse thieves are secretly supported by the countries of the Western Regions. In addition, in the near future, many people from the Western Regions have secretly come here to inspect the situation here. ”

Xu Ye's face turned cold: "Sure enough, as Lord Wei said, these bastards from the Western Regions have always had thoughts about us. The scouts of all departments were ordered to strictly inspect the situation in the western region, but if they found anything, they should report it immediately. I'd like to see if they dare to send troops. Now I am in the three northwestern provinces of Liangzhou, but it is not the time when there were no soldiers and no soldiers in the past. ”

In Longxi, Lin Shucheng was so busy that his feet barely touched the ground. Now he found that the situation in Liangzhou was much more dangerous than he expected. It's not the responsibility of the predecessor Situ Fei, but the Liangzhou Army has been transferred too much, and the people here are too poor.

At present, almost all of the 60,000 or 70,000 soldiers of the Liangzhou Army are new recruits. Although the recruitment time is not short, although it has also undergone some simple training. However, they are all new soldiers who have never been on the battlefield and have participated in actual combat. After all, there was no big war in Liangzhou.

Now, Lin Shucheng can't care about sighing anything, so he can only be busy filling in the loopholes that may exist. At the same time, the situation in Liangzhou was also passed on to Situ Lei. Although Liangzhou was not watched by Situ Lei, it did not mean that he could sit back and watch Liangzhou be captured by the Zhao army.

The stronger the Zhao army, the weaker the Yong army. This is naturally extremely unfavorable for Yongjun.

"Damn...... Why hasn't anyone who went to contact the countries of the Western Regions come back with any news? Don't they want to go east? Are they willing to be surrounded by a strong neighbor to save zài? ”

"Report ...... Jiuquan Urgent! Urgent military intelligence!! Just when Lin Shucheng was anxious about the situation in the west, new news came back.

As soon as he heard that it was an emergency military situation in Jiuquan, Lin Shucheng couldn't help but jump in his heart, feeling a little bad. Immediately shouted and asked, "Jiuquan?" What's going on in Jiuquan Mansion? ”

"Back to the Governor, five days ago, the Zhao army entered from the northern Turkic steppe, and entered the three prefectures of Dunhuang, Yiwu and Jiuquan, and the general of the Left Guard, Xu Ye, led his troops to surrender to the enemy. The situation of Ganzhou Mansion and Suzhou Prefecture is critical, and I have come to ask for help......"

"What?" Lin Shucheng's face changed greatly when he heard this, and the faces of the various officials in the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion also changed greatly. Xu Ye is the most capable general in the Liangzhou Army, and he is also the current banner of the Liangzhou Army. Xu Ye's defection to the enemy was definitely not a good thing for the Liangzhou army. And the three northwestern provinces are occupied by the Zhao army, so it means that the current Liangzhou is already under siege by the Zhao army on three sides.

"I should have known that Xu Ye should have been executed on the spot!" Situ Fei, who was already extremely dissatisfied with Xu Ye, roared angrily. For him, Liangzhou is in danger, which is by no means a good thing. After all, the foundation of his Situ Fei is still Liangzhou. If Liangzhou is gone, he Situ Fei will lose most of his foundation. That also means that he Situ Fei is no longer enough to compare with other princes, and there is no possibility of competing for power. How can he not be angry?