In the early morning of the next day, the Xiao Guards entered the territory of Lanling, set up camp ten miles southwest of Lanling City, Feng Yuanyuan ordered Yang Shang to guard the camp, and led the guards himself to the garrison of the Wuwei Army in the north to see Xu Ruyu.

Since the end of October, Xing Kunmin led the five school army to march around Zhenze Lake, more than 1,200 miles in the rest of the month, and divided the troops to take over the cities along the road, and the Xiao Guard army entered the territory of Lanling at the same time, the main force of the 20,000 five school army was also stationed in Xishan City in the southeast of Lanling. Along with it, there were 40,000 troops in Wuzhou.

Fan Che saw that Xu Ruyu had concentrated the surrendered troops from both places in Lanling, and was secretly surprised, and said secretly: Do you want to transfer more than 100,000 horses to the north bank of the river at once? It was rumored in the morning that Xu Ruyu had the heart to covet the East China Sea, which seems to be true, but what is the use of these more than 100,000 surrendered troops? Not to mention the great weakness of morale, in just a few months, even a complete command system could not be established.

Xu Ruyu took Southern Fujian under his rule, and tens of thousands of troops in Southern Fujian were all under his command, Xu Ruyu first formed a garrison army, and then took advantage of the Yi'an War to reorganize the garrison army and incorporate it into the system of the Su Guard, but it took nearly a year to obtain 30,000 elite divisions.

The war in Southern Fujian was mainly a war between Xu Ruyu and Zong Zheng and the Yan family, and when the war reached a critical moment, the Southern Fujian family defected and threw themselves to Xu Ruyu's side, so when Xu Ruyu reorganized the political situation in Southern Fujian, he absorbed a large number of talents from the Southern Fujian family; It is precisely because of the use of a large number of these talents that the situation in southern Fujian was quickly stabilized.

Xu Ruyu can use these people with confidence, and it has a lot to do with his father Xu Xing. When Xu Xing was in Southern Fujian to level bandits, Zheng Menghuai, Luo Shanyang, Peng Fengyuan, He Jiongyi, Zhou Zongchang and others had a very close relationship with him, and Xu Xing had a friendship with Zheng Menghuai, Luo Shanyang, Ma Jieting, and Zhou Zongchang.

For the purpose of attacking the Zhu clan, Jiang Ning brazenly launched the Yuejun War, the Zhu clan fell apart, and the surrendered generals of the Zhu clan were panicked, and Jiang Ning would not rest assured that these generals who were very vulnerable to rebellion by enemy forces would not be assured. The surrender of the Fan clan, due to the relationship between Fan Wenlong, the status of the Fan clan will not decline sharply, the surrender of Yuhang will be relatively stable, and the subordinate generals will probably be available, but it is extremely difficult to gain the trust of Xu Ruyu and the princes of Jiangning in the Fan clan.

When Fan Che was thinking nonsense in the tent, Xu Ruyu sent someone to invite him.

After deciding to surrender, Fan Che no longer had the sharpness of being the overlord of one side, and his surname became cautious; In contrast to Xu Ruyu's calm and elegant temperament, it shows a bit of Longzhong's old state. After Feng Yuanyuan led the Xiaowei army into Lanling, the military affairs of Lanling were handed over to Feng Yuanyuan, Ziyang Yalan, Fan Wenlong and others, Xu Ruyu did not pay much attention to the military affairs in the camp, but often invited Fan Che to inspect the military camp together; Fan Che was not as uneasy as he was when he left Yuhang at this time.

Jiang Ning Tian Sheweng, it's not too bad to think about, Fan Che comforted himself so much in his heart, and at the same time went to see Xu Ruyu with the guards, and walked to the camp tent of the Chinese army, but Xu Ruyu, Shao Haitang, Zhang Zhongdao, Fang Su and others waited outside the camp tent.

Xu Ruyu said: "Today, Mr. Shao and I want to go to the Yuhang Army camp and invite Fan Weng to go over together. ”

Fan Che was slightly stunned and said, "Dare to disobey!" ”

Peng Muqiu led more than 100 cavalry Qingfeng guards to escort them, and everyone left the camp of the Wuwei Army and rode their horses to the northeast.

Jiang Ning set up three large battalions around Lanling, besieging Lanling, and each large battalion had more troops than the defenders in Lanling City. Fan Wenlong led the Yuhang army to set up a camp in the northeast of Lanling City, although the number of troops was numerous, the morale and combat power of the soldiers were not as good as the other two large battalions.

Qingfeng rode a team of 100 cavalry between the three camps and Lanling City, completely blocking the Lanling defenders in the isolated city. The people of the city and the countryside were ordered to take refuge in the villages and dock forts, and there were almost no people in a radius of nearly 100 miles around Lanling City, and only in places close to villages and market towns could the villagers be seen moving near the houses. In order to avoid the Lanling army from mixing among the villagers, Qingfeng cavalry generally did not approach the village; Civilians who approach rangers for no apparent reason will also be met with merciless fire. If the sentinel camps in the wilderness, he will also avoid the village.

Seeing the towering Lanling city wall in the distance, Xu Ruyu's body fell slightly, and he slowed down when he stepped off the horse.

Xu Ruyu pointed to the blood stains on Wei Yan's armor, frowned slightly, and asked, "Where did you get it?" ”

Wei Yan pointed back with the tip of the whip and said: "Go up this stream, there is a small village, Xiying sent people to knock on the village to collect grain, let people fight out, let me touch, lead people to rush a round, push the wall of the wall, and before rushing in, I heard that Mr. is coming." ”

In the direction that Wei Yan pointed, a puff of black smoke rose from the sky, and the flames rose in the middle, and there was a faint sound of crying and howling. Xu Ruyu glanced at Wei Yan and reprimanded: "If the grain requisition is refused, there is no need to destroy the village." "Lightly clamping the horse's belly, the horse sprang out like an arrow, stepped on the brookside path, and galloped towards the place where the black smoke was ignited.

Shao Haitang glanced at Wei Yan thoughtfully, and said to Zhang Zhongdao and the others: "Let's go over and have a look." He also spurred his horse and followed closely behind Xu Ruyu.

The riverbed is paved with pebbles, and the clear stream flows, and in winter, when the cold wind hits, the temperature of the stream is high, and the water vapor is steaming. The sparse forests on both sides of the bank are covered with withered yellow fallen leaves, and you can see the sporadic light on the other side of the forest.

Xu Ruyu and others rushed to the village that refused to be recruited, and three or four hundred Qingfeng cavalry soldiers had gathered on the periphery of the wall. Qingfeng Cavalry and Qingfengwei both belong to Xu Ruyu's personal soldiers, and ordinary soldiers also recognize Xu Ruyu, Shao Haitang and others, and they have more than ten horsemen to welcome them.

Qingfeng rode a hundred people as a team to cruise the territory of Lan, and when encountering the enemy, it could quickly assemble, and if it could fight, it would fight, and if it could not fight, it would be far away.

Xu Ruyu's eyes swept over everyone, silently, found a high place, and immediately went to observe the layout of the village.

The river goes up from here, and it is narrower again, and the houses are scattered on both banks, and there are a few houses with deep courtyards at the top, and the walls of the village are rammed, and they are only reinforced with bricks and stones in the places near the water. The wall on the gentle slope on the left bank of the stream collapsed, presumably by Wei Yan. A few pairs of frightened eyes peeked out from the gaps in the wall.

Xu Ruyu pointed to that place, but his eyes looked at Wei Yan, and said, "Rushing down from there, you can take advantage of the situation a little; But from there, less than 200 paces down are the houses of the common people, and you are not afraid that someone will secretly stir up the livelihood of the common people. ”

Wei Yan said: "The head of the village lives on the top, the walls above are all stone and brick mixture, there are arrow stacks on the wall, and the courtyard wall of the deep house is also thick, and the cavalry will inevitably have casualties, I want to drive out the civilians in the village, and then burn his grandmother's ......."

Xu Ruyu raised his eyebrows and said: "Qingfeng Cavalry is responsible for patrolling and reconnaissance, and only when there is an enemy situation can we cooperate with the infantry battalion to fight, when will you come to attack the village?" ”

Shao Haitang frowned, got off the horse, walked over, and said: "The family builds a fortress and builds a fort, like stars scattered in the land of Yuejun, weak to resist taxation, strong to invade the countryside, it is indeed a headache. ”

Jiangning gathered hundreds of thousands of men and horses near Lanling, and if grain and grass were transported from Jiangning, it would cost a lot. Although Xu Ruyu was lenient and benevolent, he knew that collecting and even plundering grain and grass from enemy territory was a guarantee for the army's ability to continue fighting.

Xu Ruyu's concern is not about the current grain collection, but how to govern this land of fish and rice in the future.

Xu Ruyu sighed slightly: "The family clan system has lasted for hundreds of years in the land of Zhongzhou. There was a saying that 'in the dynasty is a famous family, and in the field is a country tyrant', but it is the famous family in the dynasty that is the true sense of the family. With the rise of Beihu, the Han court was repeatedly attacked, the inner court was weak, and the famous families in the dynasty declined, but the power of the rural tyrants in the opposition swelled sharply and gradually became the heroes of the divided places. Pointing to the deep house above the village, he said, "The townsmen guard the fort with force, and make an appointment with the villagers with the patriarchal law." Pushing to the city, the line is still the same, building a city in a dangerous pass or at a junction, and the officials and soldiers are stationed in it to restrain the countryside; Pushing to the land of Zhongzhou in the old and new dynasties, what is the difference in the bones? There was a hint of anger in his tone.

Shao Haitang was slightly stunned, listening to Xu Ruyu's words, he was not only dissatisfied with the construction of the village by the villagers, but also dissatisfied with the patriarchal nature of the administrative structure.

Fan Che stood a little farther away, but Xu Ruyu did not deliberately lower his voice when he said this, and naturally listened to Fan Che's cultivation, and secretly exclaimed in his heart: Xu Xing's "County Policy" is intended to reverse the power structure of the family and the local government, and to dispose of the county and build a city in a dangerous way, and the officials and soldiers are stationed in it, which can strengthen the rule over the locality. Listening to Xu Ruyu's words, he was not satisfied with this.

However, Fang Su listened to Xu Ruyu's words, lowered his head and pondered, if he had gained, but he couldn't think through it for a while.

Xu Ruyu restrained his slight sneer, and said slowly: "Jiangjin, Yongyang, and Bianzhou were all big cities with a population of hundreds of thousands of main customers, and Quanzhou in the old dynasty had a population of more than one million. I sometimes wonder what is the difference between these great cities and those that occupy important places and build large county capitals. ”

Fan Che said: Jiangning Xing's "County Policy", choosing Quanzhou, Yongjia, Qingfeng, Lishui, Fengling, Jiangning and other places to govern as big cities, it is along the route of the Tea and Horse Trade Road, I was about to open my mouth to say, think carefully, but found that the problem is not as simple as it seems on the surface, continue to think deeply, and see more and more complicated.

Since ancient times, the art of domination, the key to control, and the restriction of the people.

The reason why Yongyang has become a big city is that all the people have come and gone.

More flow, less control, this is one of the roots of the imperial dynasties to restrict and prohibit business.

Fan Che secretly said: If you can change the root of the art of domination, you may be able to change one or two. But such a topic is too sensitive to be spoken.

Xu Ruyu seemed to be on a whim, and when he talked about this, he didn't exhaust the deep meaning, lowered his body, beckoned Fang Su, Zhang Zhongdao and others to step forward, and said: "Is it too early to order the demolition of the Shijiawu Fort in Wuzhou and Yuhang at this time?" ”

Shao Haitang glanced at Fan Che and asked, "What does Zi Che think?" ”

Fan Che listened to Xu Ruyu's meaning, but he intended to immediately order the demolition of the dock forts in the two places, but he was a little too hasty.

Xu Ruyu saw the hesitation on Fan Che's face, and said with a smile: "Fan Weng has something to say, Jiang Ning is nothing good, but he is not guilty of his words." ”

Fan Che looked slightly uplifted and said, "I thought I was in a hurry. Not to mention those village tycoons, even civilians are used to living in the walls. ”

Fang Su said: "The townspeople control the villagers with patriarchal law, and the villagers are accustomed to it, and they regard shackles as not shackles. Although the wall is just a formality, it is not easy to tear it down all at once. ”

Wei Yan said: "Regardless of Yuhang for the time being, Wuzhou, Lanling and other places, the army is pressing, and if there are obstacles, they can be overcome. ”

Xu Ru smiled foolishly: "But you can wipe everything out without using soldiers." Yuejun experienced frequent wars, and although Wuzhou, Lanling and other places did not burn the flames of war, due to the Zhu family's reckless military force, a large number of young and strong laborers were recruited into the army, and the production in these places was also seriously damaged. It would be better to maintain stability for the time being, but in this way, the displaced people would not be able to fill in these areas immediately, and they would have to reclaim the land from the barren land for cultivation. ”

It's just that there are still displaced people to fill in? Fan Che thought so, but his face remained silent.

Xu Ruyu and the others stopped here for a moment, and a team of foot soldiers came over, dragging several carts behind.

Wei Yan led hundreds of horsemen to the upper reaches of the stream, scooped up a few logs from the stream and tied them to the cart, using four horses on the left and right, dragging the cart towards the wall. On the south side of the wall, there were dozens of guards, looking at the eight horses charging towards the wall, and they forgot to shoot the long arrows in their hands.

Will hit the wall, the knight controls the horse and turns around, eight horses can avoid the wall, gallop sideways, the cart dragged behind but hit the wall, only to hear a loud noise, the ground shakes the mountain, from the arrow buttress to look at the seven or eight people, together to the shock down the wall, countless mud dust falls, cover the head all over the face. Wei Yan did not step forward to arrest the man, but ordered the knight on his side to take off the bow behind his back and shoot him.

The dust dissipated, and the plastered wall showed hundreds of tiny cracks from the impact, and the cart crashed into countless pieces on the wall.

If you do this again, the wall will collapse.

Wei Yan was about to let someone drag another cart to hit the wall, but saw a plain flag stretching out on the wall to ask for surrender, and then a man with a fat face poked out half of his head, Wei Yan turned to look at Xu Ruyu, but saw Xu Ruyu riding away on his horse.

Wei Yan hurriedly said to a left lieutenant beside him: "You are surrendered here, be careful, and don't break the rules." With a wave of his hand, he led Jingwei to follow.

Xu Ruyu and the others, under the escort of more than 200 elite horsemen led by Peng Muqiu and Wei Yan, turned around and rushed towards Lanling City. The city gate of Lanling is closed, and outside the city gate are the rangers of Qingfeng riding, and the defenders of Lanling on the city wall are stubborn and stubborn, and the swords and halberds are like forests, reflecting the dim light.

Xu Ruyu and the others were outside the shooting range, bypassing half of the city of Lanling, and were about to ride their horses to Yuhang, but they saw that above the tower of Dongcheng, the handsome flag of Zhu Kunda was suddenly erected.

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