"What? Guangling was conquered?! ”

When Xie An returned to Hengjiang and told Li Xian, the Eight Sage King, the news that the withered sheep had deliberately revealed to him, Li Xian's face was full of shock, and his eyes widened unconsciously, which made the generals who were familiar with his temperament secretly speechless, after all, His Royal Highness the Eight Sage Kings who looked like this kind of panic were not very common on weekdays.

"Impossible! That's impossible! Shaking his head again and again, Li Xian, the king of the Eight Sages, paced in the tent, frowned and said in a deep voice, "Although Guangling only has more than 10,000 guards, Xiao Wang asked Liang Shu, the capital of Xuzhou Prefecture, to lead tens of thousands of Danyang soldiers to the south to assist Guangling. From the point of view of troops, the defenders in Guangling City are not inferior to Wu Heng, how could they fall in just one month? ”

"However, it is not ruled out that there is a possibility of thieves secretly helping......" When saying this, Li Xian's most trusted henchman Ji Hong glanced at Qin Ke'er, who was serving the wine on Xie An's side. He wasn't targeting Qin Ke'er, after all, this woman's background and current situation, Xie An had already been angry with Li Xian.

"Guangling Assassin...... Is it? Holding his hands behind his back and exhaling, Li Xian lowered his head and thought for a moment, then suddenly turned his head to Qin Ke'er and said, "Xie Qin Clan, Xiao Wang took the liberty of asking, before Xie Qin's clan used to control most of the Guangling assassins, now, are those people out of Xie Qin's control?" ”

Hearing the title of Xie Qin's family, Qin Ke'er's delicate face flushed, and she glanced at Xie An a little shyly, then nodded, did not hide it, and said truthfully, "His Royal Highness King Qi Mingjian, although the little woman was a Guangling assassin in the past, the people who made a living under the little woman were all women who had no power to restrain the chicken...... It has been seven or eight months since the little woman left Guangling, and she thought that those innocent women were all intimidated by Wan Li, so she didn't dare to secretly write to pass the information to the little woman......"

Li Xian frowned when he heard this, not that he doubted the authenticity of Qin Ke'er's words, he just felt regretful. After all, the Guangling Assassins' intelligence network spread all over the Great Zhou, and if they could be included in the Great Zhou court, he would be able to know the actions of the Taiping army well. For now, if the intelligence network of the Guangling assassins is still under Qin Ke'er's control, then Li Xian will be able to clearly understand the situation in Guangling, and even the entire Jiangdong, Yangzhou, and Xuzhou. and to respond optimally to the situation. Unfortunately, although Xie An successfully won over Qin Ke'er, Qin Ke'er was overshadowed by Wan Li, the leader of the Guangling assassins.

"It's better for me Jinling to go to Guangling to investigate......" Ding Qiu, the second-generation leader of Jinling, clenched his fists and interjected.

Li Xian's eyes lit up slightly when he heard this, but then his eyes became slightly dim, he shook his head and sighed, "It's too late!" ——Even if you are a member of Jinling, it will take ten days to go back and forth from this place to Guangling, not to mention that our army will be ...... It is not possible to reach Guangling on the 15th! If Guangling has really fallen now. On the fifteenth, it was enough for Wu Heng to attack either Yangzhou Mansion and Xuzhou Mansion! - Even if our army catches up at that time, the cost will be too great......"

The generals in the tent looked at each other, and only Xie An, Gou Gong, Fei Guo, Ma Dan, Liao Li, Qin Ke'er and other quick-witted people understood what the price in Li Xian's mouth meant.

You must know that Yangzhou and Xuzhou are rare extremely rich counties in the Great Zhou, and they are better than Nanyang, Jingzhou, if one of the two places is really attacked by the Taiping army, even if Li Xian and Xie An go to the aid in time. The damage to the ground is also immeasurable.

What's worse is that it is now spring in March and April. Yangzhou and Xuzhou are the major grain producing areas of the Great Zhou, in case the outbreak of war causes the people in the territory to delay the spring ploughing, which will directly lead to a significant reduction in this year's rice grain output.

What does the shrinkage of grain production in Xuzhou and Yangzhou mean?

As we all know, in order to start a war with Li Shen, the king of Qin, and Liu Qing, the Taiping army, Li Xian not only mobilized the Jizhou army and the Liang army, but also emptied the grain and grass in the treasury of Xuzhou, Yangzhou, Qingzhou, Hanoi and other local governments. Once the people of Xuzhou and Yangzhou delay spring ploughing this year, then, in the second half of the year, when the people's homes are exhausted and the only surplus grain in the local government treasury is also exhausted, the entire Xuzhou and Yangzhou will face the dilemma of running out of grain.

If the time comes, the people in the territory will not be able to buy enough food to survive. With the instigation of ambitious people behind the scenes, one can imagine what scale of civil revolt it will turn into.

That's the people of two whole states!

Thinking of this, Li Xian's heart was terrified, and his brain couldn't help but ooze a trace of cold sweat, after all, the serious consequences that this matter would lead to were definitely unbearable for the current Da Zhou.

Thinking of the restlessness in his heart, Li Xian sped up the pace of pacing back and forth in the tent.

Looking at Li Xian pacing back and forth in front of his eyes, Xie An couldn't help but roll his eyes, and said angrily, "Pit Man King, can't you stop the meeting?" - The news of the fall of Guangling was only learned from the mouth of the withered sheep......"

Li Xian is such a smart person, hearing the sound of the piano and knowing its elegance, he thought for a moment and nodded and said, "Well, I don't deny that there is also this possibility!" As he spoke, he snorted and shook his head, and said with a wry smile, "That little uncle of Anping Hou seems to be also a genius with excellent vision...... One sentence will poke at the most worrying place in your and my hearts! ——The only son of the Jinling Ram family......"

"So what now?" Xie An asked a little wistfully.

"What else can I do?" Walking to the table in the tent, Li Xian looked at the marching map and pondered, "It seems like this kind of conspiracy, even if you and I are clear in our hearts, we have to obediently follow what Lord Xie's good wife and brother want...... Divide the troops! ”

"......" Xie An was silent when he heard this.

In all fairness, in fact, Xie An doesn't think that Guangling is really as the withered sheep said, and has been conquered by Wu Heng, the fourth-generation commander of the Taiping Army. In his opinion, the reason why the withered sheep deliberately said this was only because he thought that the 30,000 soldiers under his command were not the opponents of his brother-in-law Xie An and Li Xian, the king of the Eight Sages. Because of this, he wants to let the Zhou army divide his troops!

Withered Sheep knew very well that compared to Guangling, a vital strategic place, Niu Zhu, where he was located, was just a minor illness that was insignificant, and Withered Sheep did not believe that Li Xian and Xie An, the Eight Sage Kings, would not save Guangling and even Xuzhou, Yangzhou and other places, and confronted him in Liyang and Hengjiang.

From this, it is not difficult to see that the withered sheep is definitely a handsome talent at the level of Fei Guo and Ma Dan, and his strategic vision is better than the previous two, and there is no trace of the strategy of attacking the heart.

And like this kind of conspiracy, even if Xie An and Li Xian didn't believe that Guangling would fall into the hands of Wu Heng so easily, they didn't dare to take risks. The army could only be divided as the withered sheep wished.

"Of the 60,000 Jizhou soldiers brought by Lord Xie this time, Xiao Wang took half of them, by the way, Fei Guo and Ma Dan, the two generals, were also temporarily transferred to Xiao Wang's command. Oh, and the Jinling people...... Tomorrow. Xiao Wang led the crowd to Guangling, if Guangling was safe and sound, Xiao Wang led his army to defend the riverbank; If Guangling is unfortunately captured......" Speaking of this, Li Xian let out a long breath, after all, once Wu Heng led the army to attack Yangzhou, Xuzhou and other places, that kind of scene was definitely not what Li Xian wanted to see.

"What do you think, Lord Xie?" Li Xian asked softly.

"......" I don't know if I noticed something, Xie An stared at Li Xian deeply and said in a low voice. Good...... Thank you, Your Royal Highness King Qi, for your success! ”

Hearing this, a hint of color flashed in Li Xian's eyes, and Lang smiled and said, "The Marquis of Anping is serious...... Xiao Wang hopes that when the Marquis of Anping finishes all the things here and reunites with Xiao Wang, he can give Xiao Wang a big gift......"

Xie An was stunned, then seemed to understand something, and said with a wry smile, "This...... It's not that easy! ”

For the two of them, the way they communicate like a dumb riddle. The generals in the tent were only confused. And in fact, the big gift that Li Xian said in his mouth. refers to the hope that Xie An can successfully plot against the withered sheep, after all, the withered sheep is indeed an extremely rare genius, even better than Wei Xuan, who made Li Xian regret his death.

What's more, there are still 30,000 Taiping troops under the command of Withered Sheep, if this army can be surrendered without blood, it will undoubtedly be a heavy blow to Wu Heng.

It is for this purpose. Li Xian only then gave the brother-in-law and brother-in-law the opportunity to confront each other alone, otherwise, with Mo Fei's assassination level, it would be no problem to assassinate the withered sheep.

On March 25, the fifth year of Jingzhi of the Great Zhou Dynasty, the Zhou army that had been stationed at Hengjiang for only two days to meet again divided its troops. A total of 50,000 people led by Li Xian, the king of the Eight Sages, led 30,000 Jizhou soldiers and 20,000 green forest heroes to support Guangling and consolidate the north bank of the Yangtze River along the way. Xie An led another 30,000 Jizhou soldiers to stay in Hengjiang and confront his wife and brother withered sheep.

When the news of the division of the Zhou army reached the ears of the withered sheep in the Niuzhu Taiping military camp, the withered sheep couldn't help but chuckle proudly.

"It seems that my brother-in-law also wants to teach me a lesson as a brother-in-law who is not very obedient! - But then again, that Li Xian actually gave my brother-in-law face like this, so it seems that my brother-in-law's status in the court of the Zhou State is indeed as stable as Mount Tai......"

Listening to the commander muttering alone in the tent, Wang Jian, a young general of the Taiping Army, said suspiciously, "What did the commander say, why can't the last general understand a word?" ”

"Still don't understand?" Glancing at Wang Jian, the withered sheep chuckled and said, "I have 30,000 troops under my command, and Li Xian also left 30,000 soldiers to my brother-in-law, and the strength of the two sides is almost the same; Our Taiping Army has very little experience in military combat, and the Jizhou soldiers are northern soldiers and are not good at water warfare...... Fairly, yes! At the end, he sighed slightly.

As if noticing the dry sheep's sigh, Wang Jian asked suspiciously, "Fair...... Isn't it good? ”

"......," the withered sheep was silent.

Yesterday's words in the boat in the river, perhaps only Xie An and the withered sheep understood the deep meaning. At that time, when the rest of the people were inexplicable, Dry Yang and his brother-in-law Xie An made a vague agreement: if either party loses, they must no longer interfere in the affairs of the other party. The implication is that in such a fair match, if Xie An loses, then he will no longer interfere with the withered sheep to avenge the blood debt of the Jinling Ram family that year; On the other hand, if the withered sheep is defeated, he can only obediently accept the identity of his brother-in-law, give up supporting Wu Heng and the Taiping Army, and turn to the imperial court, and no longer care about the deep enmity of the family back then.

And Li Xian also seemed to see something, so he deliberately left Xie An with 30,000 soldiers, and transferred Fei Guo and Ma Dan, the two sharp blades of Xie An. After all, Fei Guo and Ma Dan are both rare handsome talents, and they are good at military strategies such as strong attacks and surprise attacks, if the two of them are under Xie An, it is not fair to the withered sheep. Of course, the most important thing is that Li Xian wants to use these two Zhou generals to resist the Taiping army's northward footsteps, in case Guangling County has really fallen.

[Sister, let the younger brother verify it, the husband you have chosen to entrust for life!] ]

Staring at the marching map for a while, a glimmer of light flashed in the withered sheep's eyes.

"Pass the order, all arms for war! - Tomorrow, our army will take the initiative to engage the Zhou soldiers in Hengjiang! ”

"No!" Wang Jian hugged his fists and took his life.

Just when the withered sheep was in full swing preparing for the contest with his brother-in-law Xie An, in the handsome tent of the Hengjiang Zhou army camp, his good brother-in-law was under the anger of a certain woman.

"Why?! Why?! - You promised me! ”

With a straight face and glaring at Xie An who was sitting in the seat, Liu Qing, the former leader of the Taiping Army and the current military advisor of the Zhou Army, slapped the table angrily and vented the depression and dissatisfaction in his heart. And no wonder. After all, Xie An had promised Liu Qing that when he confronted Wu Heng of the Taiping Army in the future, he would definitely support Liu Qing as the military advisor of the Zhou Army. However, the day before yesterday, when Li Xian, the king of the Eight Sages, clearly showed his distrust of Liu Qing, Xie An did not squeak, and even more. Today, Liu Qing originally planned to recommend himself to go to Guangling with Li Xian to deal with Wu Heng, but was also stopped by Xie An, which made Liu Qing feel very aggrieved.

In addition, there was an inexplicable sadness and loss, so much so that it was obviously a question about Xie An, but tears poured out more than once.

"You...... You...... What are you crying about? ”

Xie An hurriedly coaxed the sixteen-year-old military advisor in front of him, although Liu Qing was indeed very smart before, but now, she looked like a little girl who had been wronged. made Xie An feel an inexplicable sense of guilt.

"It's not that I won't let you deal with that Wu Heng, it's just that the time hasn't come yet...... Don't cry, don't cry......"

"What...... What time has not yet come? Liu Qing questioned Xie An with red eyes, although her tone was stern, but looking at her tearful appearance, it was really not convincing.

Sighing helplessly, Xie An persuaded in a low voice, "Didn't you see it too?" The Pit Man King made it clear that he still doesn't trust you......"

"But ......"

"I know I know, you want to say. You have obviously helped our army eradicate Li Shen, the king of Qin, but the problem is. You were originally from the Taiping Army, and right now, it is the Taiping Army that our army has to deal with...... Put yourself in their shoes, if it were you standing in Li Xian's position, you would trust a ...... You. Alas, don't cry, don't cry......"

While Qin Ke'er covered her mouth and snickered, Liu Qing was finally coaxed by Xie An, sucked a few times, and said with a slight stalk. "That'...... So what now? Anyway, you promised me ......"

"Don't worry, that Wu Heng is not a guy who will be defeated simply!" When he said this, Xie An couldn't help but think of the past a few years ago.

A few years ago in Jijing, although it was a despicable trick, Wu Heng also escaped in the hands of Liang Qiuwu and Jin Ling'er's two daughters, except for Liang Qiuhao, Xie An had never seen the two daughters lose in the case of joining forces.

"Don't worry, Wu Heng won't be killed by Li Xian so easily...... Otherwise, who should I take revenge on the arrow wound in the chest of this mansion that still aches faintly? As he spoke, Xie An licked his lips. Advocating that the grace of a meal must be repaid and the grievances of the eyes must be repaid, how can he forget that Wu Heng still owes him a piece of hatred.

"When...... Seriously? Liu Qing asked with a snort.

Reaching out to wipe the tears from her face, Xie An nodded and said, "Ah! - After the government settles the matter here, he will go to Guangling immediately...... When the time comes, Li Xian will no longer doubt you. Even if he is suspicious, this government will support you......"

Hearing this, Liu Qing smiled contentedly, nodded and muttered, "This is the matter...... Withered sheep? ”

As if seeing through Liu Qing's thoughts, Xie An raised his hand to interrupt her words, and said with a chuckle, "This time, you don't have to give advice from the side, otherwise, it will be a big deal!" ”

Liu Qing is such a smart woman, she already understood in her heart with a roll of her eyes, knowing that Xie An must be thinking about how to rebel against the withered sheep, but ......

"Are you sure? - I'm too ...... Well, among the young generals of the Taiping Army, the three people who belong to the withered sheep, Wei Xuan, and Wei Hu have the highest talents, especially the withered sheep, who inherited the bloodline of the Ram family, he has both civil and military skills, and it is by no means so easy to deal with......"

"Of course this government knows!" Xie An smiled indifferently.

While he was talking, suddenly a person hurriedly walked in from outside the tent, clasped his fists and said, "My lord, Niu Zhu's Taiping army sent a war book to our army in the form of arrow books!" ”

Xie An took a closer look, and then found that the person who came was the general Liao Li, a guy who was comparable to Fei Guo and Ma Dan with good use, and even more reckless than Xu Le if he used it badly, which can be called a double-edged sword.

"Oh? In such a hurry to send the war letter? Taking the letter of war from his wife and brother in Liao Li's hand, Xie An shook his head with a smile and said half-jokingly, "The king of pit people is really affordable...... Can't you sneak away at night? ——I have to go to Guangling under the nose of the withered sheep in a bright and bright way, for fear that the withered sheep will not know what happened to our army? It's okay now, he just left on the front foot, and the back foot has sent the war book. ”

Liu Qing obviously heard the ridiculous tone in Xie An's words, and snorted as if her anger had not disappeared, and said in a grunt, "Nonsense! The withered sheep is not a fool, knowing that the Jizhou army rushed all the way from Jingzhou to this Hengjiang, how could it make you catch your breath and fight with him again? - He is still polite, send a letter to inform you, if it were me, this camp would belong to me Liu Qing tonight! ”

Looking at Liu Qing's conceited appearance, Xie Anxin was secretly amused, but also relieved, after all, Liu Qing has always been conceited, if he hadn't relieved the resentment in his heart, how could he have returned to his usual annoying and likable look?

"What are you going to do? - People are under the war book! ”

"Then let's fight!" Xie An said slowly.

"Really fighting?" Liu Qing was stunned, and said suspiciously, "As far as I know, the Jizhou soldiers should not be good at handling boats and water battles to ......."

"Then don't fight!" Xie An said with a chuckle, and immediately winked at Liu Qing.

Liu Qing realized that Xie An was playing with her, rolled her eyes, and stopped talking, after all, Xie An had a word first, this battle didn't need her Liu Qing's strategy, this battle only belonged to Xie An and the withered sheep, this was a confrontation between brother-in-law and brother-in-law, and it was not good for others to intervene rashly.

"Bullying me, aren't the Jizhou soldiers fighting...... Hey! ”

Looking at the battle book in his hand, Xie An raised a somewhat inexplicable smile on his face. (To be continued......)