On the morning of October 16, the light smoke of the mist dissipated in the morning breeze, the early winter sun gradually intensified, the silk-like white clouds floated in the blue sky, and the distant mountains were graceful and colorful.

The army marched to noon and joined the forward camp at noon, because the front three miles is Qu Wukou, a battle is waiting, and the sharp weapons that must be prepared such as battering rams and large wooden ladders have some spare, but it is not enough to really fight a tough battle, so they can only temporarily send troops to cut down and build.

This will take at least five or six days, and the soldiers are just stationed in the camp to rest, as the commander, of course, Guo Rong can't be idle, and there is still a lot of preparation work to be done. The general terrain reported by the scouts was very rough, so Guo Rong took the three of Zhi Congruan, Liu Congxue, and Xiang Xun, and asked Zhao Kuangyin to lead the troops to escort them, and personally went to the pass two hundred steps away to observe.

This is actually a river valley from east to west, about 100 steps wide from north to south, the middle river is less than one zhang wide, and a two-zhang high gray and white stone wall is connected between the two small slopes, just blocking the way. There are also two large arc-shaped gaps in the top of the wall, and the Qiang soldiers are building the wall on them, and it looks unfinished. There is a hole under the wall, and the river water flows through the pass through the hole and finally joins the Zuli water in the west.

"Liang Shiqiang should have been there for five or six days, and he actually built a wall to block the road, why didn't he know how to build an embankment to store water, and then our army had to go over the mountains and mountains and bypass the big circle." Guo Rong smiled dumbly.

"Your Highness, you see that the wall is rough, it may be too late, and it will take many days to store water, and other ravines should be able to flow through, but it is wider here." Zhi Congruan stroked his gray beard and smiled.

"The scouts tried it yesterday, and the deepest part of the river hasn't reached the thighs, so we can deploy our forces to capture the wall. The slopes on both sides are a bit steep, and there are Qiang soldiers stationed in them, but they are not suitable for attacking from above. Xiang Xun pointed to the opposite side and said.

Although the stone wall is rough, the thickness is definitely not low, otherwise it is not stable, Guo Rong looked at it for a while, thought about it and said: "God has the virtue of a good life, and it is important to surrender to the soldiers without a fight." There is a way: go up to the army to plan, then attack the enemy, then attack the army, and attack the city. It is the Huizhou that is the only one, not the conquest of the Qiang people. I don't know what the name of the Liang clan Qiang patriarch is? Can you surrender? ”

When Guo Rong asked this, several officers were a little dumbfounded, it seemed unlikely that they would surrender, and they didn't know what the patriarch was called.

Shi Yi knew, and stepped forward to answer: "Go back to Your Highness!" The patriarch's name is Liang Benji! He is about forty years old, and his son's name is Liang Guiben, who is twenty-five years old, and he is said to be very brave. Their name is very good, it is taken from the Tubo Bon, what does it mean and the old minister doesn't understand it very well, but the Bon religion is now losing power and dying out, and the Changqiang and Tubo are in a situation where they are about to leave, and the Liang Qiang and Tuoba Bogu and the Dang Qiang are not very harmonious, so you can try to surrender. ”

"Shi Linggong sent Zhike to negotiate with him to see if he could pass without war, the main opponent is Tuoba Bogu, and if there is no need for hard fighting, it will be exempted!"

Shi Yi thought about it and felt reasonable, so he hurriedly called his soldiers back to the camp to find Dong Jixian, who was the guest of honor, and asked for his life. Guo Rong happened to be beside him, and saw that Dong Jixian was about forty years old, tall and thin, and seemed shrewd and capable, and he should be able to do this well, so he also confessed a few words and sent Dong Jixian to shout under the wall.

Not long after, a Qiang soldier on the wall put down the rope basket and hung Dong Jixian up, but before a moment, he was put down again, and some Qiang soldiers on the wall scolded angrily, and some people tried to release arrows. But some of the other Qiang soldiers were unmoved, and a middle-aged man wearing a white curly-brimmed hat ordered to stop them, and those Qiang soldiers did not dare to do anything.

Guo Rong saw this situation and knew that things were not going well, so he beckoned Dong Jixian to step forward and asked sternly: "Didn't you say it according to the conditions of the lonely opening?" ”

"Back to Your Highness! The last general said truthfully, and the patriarch Liang Benji showed a deep groan, but there was another person named Dang Jinfu next to him, he didn't let the last general speak, and forced us to ask about the strength of our army, of course the last general couldn't say. Dong Jixian knelt down on one knee and saluted.

"Dang Jinfu! That's the younger brother of Dang Jinwu, the patriarch of the Qiang clan of the Dang clan, who was originally stationed in Xiao Pass, and actually came here, he should have come to supervise the war, so he was afraid that it would not work, so he was afraid that it would not work, so he should spy on the terrain and try to capture it! Zhe Congruan advised.

"Is it impossible to surrender? Lonely wants to try......" his own ideas were blocked, Guo Rong was unhappy with the boss in his heart, and he didn't want to lose face. Moreover, the Qiang tribes are scattered and weak, and it is impossible to kill them all. If you do this, it will only cause the Qiang people to be jealous, so that they will be together, and the gains will outweigh the losses.

If you lose Huizhou, you can get it back, but if you lose people's hearts, it will be difficult to clean it up. After the fight, it is still necessary to surrender and appease, how can it be as if it was saluted first and then the soldiers, and used both to appease and appease?

Thinking of this, Guo Rong said with a straight face: "What does it matter if the party is blessed, if Liang Benji does not want to offend the court, he can still fight for it." When it is dark in the evening, you go up from the foot of the mountain to the north, and then ask to see Liang Benji, and if this is not possible, you will attack the pass with all your strength in two days. ”

At that moment, a few people walked back and forth under the pass twice, and then made a detour to try to turn over the mountains and mountains from a distance to spy on the military strength behind the pass wall, but the Qiang soldiers kept an eye on them from a distance, and several people had to give up and return to the camp.

After dinner, the sky darkened, and it was the middle of the moon, when the night sky was full of ice, the clear light poured out, the distant mountains and shadows were undulating, and the nearby river was sparkling, and the path was clearly recognizable.

Dong Jixian walked out of the camp and couldn't help wiping a cold sweat, this big night is no better than the day, if you meet those Qiang soldiers who hate the Han people, then you don't want to come back. However, the order of King Jun of Jin has been issued, how can he disobey, and he can only seek wealth and danger.

Walking two or three miles along the river beach, the wall in the distance is like a black shadow, and the wall is lit with fire. Dong Jixian didn't dare to go there, turned to the foot of the mountain on the right, got into the grove, and helped the weeds and trees up the mountain, but he was halfway up the mountain when he encountered a secret sentry on the road.

However, he could speak Qiang, and as soon as he babbled, two Qiang soldiers tied him up, one in front and the other in the back, and drove him up to the top of the mountain, and saw the fire of the camp on the other side of the mountain, and then went down the hillside, and walked through many large camp defenders along the way, and sent him to Liang Benji's big tent.

"The last general, Dong Jixian, the pawn of the Great Zhou and Jin Palace, has seen the Benji patriarch!"

"Since you are a pawn of the Jin Palace, you are from Tokyo, why do you speak Qiang?" Liang Benji reacted quickly and debunked Dong Jixian's nonsense in one bite.

"The last general was originally the Jingyuan Army, but today he was favored by His Royal Highness the King of Jin and accepted as a pawn!" As a confidant, Dong Jixian's best thing is to observe words and feelings, and deal with various elite officials.

"What do you mean here? Dang Jin Fu led 2,000 horsemen to help in the battle, if you want to persuade a certain Xianguan to surrender, it is better to convince this person first! Liang Benji smiled meaningfully.

"It's just two thousand rides, it's not worth mentioning to you, patriarch, is it?" Sure enough, there is a drama...... Looks like you have to add a lot of weight! Of course, Dong Jixian knew that Liang Shiqiang had tens of thousands of troops and more than 6,000 troops, and if he really had the heart to fight against the water, it would be easy to solve the party's financial welfare.

"Your Royal Highness the King of Jin also underestimates my Liang family too much, and an empty Governor Shi wants to buy it, show some sincerity! To be honest, Liang doesn't want to fight this battle, but if he takes refuge in Da Zhou, there may not be much benefit? ”

"To take the entire territory of Huizhou, the profits of the Hechi salt field can be divided into 30% of the profits to the Liang family, and the post of Governor Shi will be appointed as usual, this is very sincere, I don't know if the patriarch is willing to accept the order?" Dong Jixian made his own claim and promised.

"Salt?" Liang Benji was stunned and overjoyed, what he was looking forward to was this, but the share was too small. And the southern part of Huizhou is full of mountains, and the pastures are not fertile, he wants to move the tribe to the river pool north of Quwu Mountain, and he has an idea in his heart, so he bargains: "The salt field is fifty percent profitable, and the whole Liang clan moves to the river pond to live in the herd, if you can do it tomorrow, if you don't want to make profits, you can also fight." And also...... Your status is too low, and it is hard to believe what you say, if you come again, you must at least bring a marshal to the alliance and make an oath. (To be continued.) )