Wang Guo looked at Bian Zhang, and unexpectedly had some disdain in his heart, Bian Zhang said that he was also a famous man in Liangzhou, a great man in Jincheng, but he had a good name, but he had no actual talent, and he was in a mess when he encountered something, and he was overwhelmed. If it weren't for the urgency of the situation, the kingdom would have wanted to leave him behind.

"Ziwen, what's wrong with you?"

Bian Zhang was taken aback and forced a laugh: "How does Mr. think he will deal with it?" ”

Wang Kingdom glanced at him again, continued to turn around slowly, and said in a calm tone: "Beigong Boyu and Li Wenhou robbed us and others to raise troops, they wanted to use our reputation and prestige, and now Liu Xiu came suddenly, the Qiang people lost both battles, and even let Liu Xiu break through to Jincheng, the Qiang people are only afraid that they have broken their courage, if we can't stop Liu Xiu, the big thing will be defeated." ”

Bian Zhang was a little impatient, and I also know this situation, do you still need to say it? What matters now is how to block Liu Xiu.

As if he had guessed Bian Zhang's thoughts, Wang Guo stood still under the porch, looked at a plum tree in the courtyard, was distracted for a moment, and suddenly laughed: "It's good, I'm worried that I won't be able to catch him, but he came in a hurry, and that's what he wants." ”

Bian Zhang was stunned for a moment, turned to the kingdom, looked at the smile on his face, and didn't believe his ears: "What do you mean?" ”

Wang Guo looked at Bian Zhang, laughed, he pulled Bian Zhang to the hall, pointed to the map on the case, "Look, Liangzhou is vast, Guanzhong is Sisai, although we have an army of more than 100,000, but how easy is it to attack Guanzhong?" Not to mention that the Qiang people are not good at tackling tough problems, and their discipline is poor, so they are easy to scatter and flee when they encounter setbacks. Let's just say that this more than 1,000 miles is daunting, but I am afraid that the Qiang people will retreat if they don't walk halfway. How can we break into the gate and capture Liu Xiu alive? ”

Bian Zhang blinked, somewhat understood. It is not easy to capture Liu Xiu alive if they want to enter the Guanzhong, but now that Liu Xiu has taken the initiative to send it to the door, and there are less than 10,000 people, they can concentrate their absolutely superior forces and wait for work. Capturing Liu Xiu, even if Guanzhong is not at your fingertips, it is also a major setback for the official army, just like when Xian Lingqiang killed the Che Cavalry General Ma Xian in Shegu Mountain, if you can defeat or even kill Liu Xiu, who has been in the limelight in recent years, I am afraid that no one will dare to come to Liangzhou to quell the rebellion in a few years.

Bian Zhang's face was not so hateful, and Liu Xiu didn't seem to be so terrible. Indeed, after successive victories, Liu Xiu hurried to Jincheng with less than 10,000 troops, which was obviously not a cautious move, making people think that he was a little underestimated after the initial victory.

Young people, after all, are still young people, not stable enough.

Wang Guotong saw the look in Bian Zhang's eyes, smiled faintly, and continued: "But Liu Xiu is not an ordinary person, judging from his record in Northern Xinjiang, he is good at capturing fighters, if he doesn't move, he is like thunder, he hits with one blow, and then drifts away before the other party reacts." Such an opponent is very tricky, and we can't take it lightly, otherwise, we are likely to repeat Nie Xiao's mistakes. ”

"What does Sir mean is that although Liu Xiu came quickly, he may not be reckless?"

Kingdom shook his head, "I said that if we take it lightly, we are in danger. ”

Bian Zhang didn't understand, but he didn't want to ask the kingdom easily, making the kingdom seem stupid. He pondered for a moment, "So, he was in such a hurry to rush to Jincheng, there was a reason why he had to come?" ”

Wang Guo's jaw bowed, laughing but not speaking. Bian Zhang was quite displeased when he saw his look of questioning students, but he couldn't refute it face-to-face, so he had to continue: "Mr. is talking about the Han family?" ”

"It's possible, but it can't be ruled out that he's just putting on a show." Wang Guo nodded, and shook his head again, "We haven't been able to capture the dock fort of the Han family and the Koji family so far, it's not that we can't take it, it's just that we don't want to attack it, so as not to hurt everyone's harmony." Liu Xiu rushed to Jincheng, why didn't he mean this? If he can defeat us, he will naturally be the great benefactor of the Han family, and Han Sui will not be the only one who will look forward to him in the future? If he couldn't defeat us, he also did his best, in case we missed and injured the Han family for a while, then Han Sui would have to fight with us no matter what. ”

Bian Zhang nodded in agreement and said, "Yes, you can't kill or let go of the Han family, it's really difficult to grasp this measure." ”

"Yes, but the Koji family is different, and we don't need to be too jealous of him. Counting up, we have given them more than half a month, and now that Liu Xiu is almost here, if we don't win the Koji family, we will inevitably find it difficult to take care of it. Wang Guo's face sank, "Ziwen, you go to the Koji family, and finally give them a warning, if the Koji Ying still doesn't bow down to the order, don't blame us for ignoring the friendship of the villagers and taking his Koji family as an example." ”

Bian Zhang frowned, and just as he was about to speak, Wang Guo's cold eyes flashed, "Ziwen, I let you go because of the fact that Lu Ying usually gets along well with us, otherwise, as long as I give an order, Beigong Boyu can't take the small dock castle of the Koji family?" At that time, I'm afraid that the koji chicken dog will not stay, which is a pity. ”

Bian Zhang was taken aback, knowing that the kingdom was really going to attack the Koji family, and when he thought that hundreds of people of the Koji family would be killed by the Qiang people, he didn't dare to say anything, and quickly nodded and agreed.

Bian Zhang left the house, stood at the door and thought about it, then turned back, walked through a long alley, and came to the small courtyard where Yan Zhong was being held. Yan Zhong was still reading the book "The Theory of the Hidden Husband", when he heard the footsteps, his eyelids lifted, and when he saw that it was Bian Zhang, he laughed: "Ziwen, come to be my book?" ”

Bian Zhangqiang laughed, sat opposite Yan Zhong by himself, picked up the wine glass on the case, poured himself a glass of wine, drank it all in one gulp, and drank another glass, then smiled: "Mr. is so confident, do you know that I didn't come to ask you to be a scholar?" ”

"Hehe, just a few of you can defeat General Wei?" Yan Zhong flipped through the book leisurely and said casually: "General Wei is about to arrive in Jincheng, right?" ”

Bian Zhang was stunned for a moment, the smile on his face froze, and only after that he squeezed out a wry smile: "Mr. is aware of everything and is right in his words." ”

Yan Zhong's gaze swept over the pages, glanced at Bian Zhang, and suddenly laughed. He gently put the book on the desk, crossed his hands in front of his abdomen, and was silent for a moment, before he said softly: "Ziwen, it's not too late to turn back at this time." ”

Bian Zhang shook his head and laughed. "Sir, the outcome is still undecided, and it's too early for you to say that. Although Liu Xiu arrived in Jincheng, he only had thousands of men, and nearly half of them were Qiang people who surrendered. Do you know how many Qiang people there are in Jincheng? Bian Zhang looked at Yan Zhong playfully, stretched out a hand and shook it: "There are 50,000 in Jincheng and 20,000 in Longxi, a total of 70,000 people, ten times that of Liu Xiu." ”

Yan Zhong also smiled. "No matter how many sheep there are, they can't hurt the tiger, they will only become food for the tiger."

"It is true that the Qiang people are herding sheep, but the Qiang people are not sheep." Bian Zhang changed his posture and sat with his legs crossed, looking very calm. "The Han and Qiang have been fighting for many years, and it is the Qiang people who finally win."

"Qiang?" The corners of Yan Zhong's mouth crooked, "You forgot Duan Jiming?" Is there any Qiang person who doesn't shudder when he hears Duan Jiming's name? ”

Bian Zhang was silent.

"General Wei is Duan Jiming's disciple, and in my opinion, he is more insidious than Duan Jiming's ruthlessness." Yan Zhong laughed, picked up the book again, read two lines, stopped again, and glanced at Bian Zhang: "Do you think I, Yan Zhong, am a person who can be looked up to by anyone?" After speaking, he didn't look at Bian Zhang again.

Bian Zhang continued to be silent, sat for a moment, and then got up to leave. After leaving the Taishou Mansion, he got into a carriage and went out of Yunwu City, all the way to the west.

The ancestor of the Koji family is called Ju Tan, originally a native of the plains, when the Western Han Dynasty mourned the emperor, he did a Shangshu order, was implicated in a rebellion case and cut his post to the people, Ju Tan was afraid of being continued to be investigated, did not dare to return to his hometown Plains, so he fled all the way west to Huangzhong, settled here, and changed his surname to Koji. Because it was to avoid trouble, Ju Tan didn't dare to settle down in the city at that time, so he lived near Xiping Pavilion. The Koji family originally had a family heirloom of knowledge, and now it is close to the Qiang people, and it is impossible to survive if they don't know martial arts, so they naturally form a family style of both civil and military.

Both civil and military, especially literate and hyphenation and can be called learned, the Koji family can't be low-key even if they want to, the four surnames of Jincheng, Han Sui and Bian Zhang are famous, and the kingdom is also a big man, but the strongest is the Koji family. After two hundred years of accumulation, the Koji family now has a strong fortress and more than 2,000 private soldiers, which is a veritable hero.

Bian Zhang came to the front of the Koji Jiawu Fort. The Koji family has been surrounded by the Qiang people, and there are many battles, the walls are full of blood, the messy feather arrows are like clumps of weeds, the soil at the foot of the wall has been stained black with blood, and the foul smell makes people feel sick.

When Beigong Boyu and Li Wenhou heard that Bian Zhang was coming, they all rushed over. Beigong Boyu is the leader of Huangzhongqiang, with nearly 10,000 people under his command, but in the face of the dock fort of the Koji family, he has no effective way, and the siege of the city is fruitless, but he has lost a lot of manpower. Just now I learned the news that Liu Xiu had killed Nie Xiao, forced the Heavenly Wolf to surrender, and was rushing to Jincheng, his expression was a little nervous, and he looked at Bian Zhang anxiously at the moment, waiting for him to convey the latest news.

"Sir asked me to talk to the Koji family and give them a chance one last time." Bian Zhang said.

Beigong Boyu and Li Wenhou glanced at each other and breathed a sigh of relief. They originally wanted to defeat the Koji family and let Han celebrities like Wang Guo and Bian Zhang see their strength, but after a few days of fighting, they knew that the hard bone of the Koji family was not so easy to gnaw, and they couldn't eat meat, maybe they would have to break a few teeth.

"There are at least 2,000 parts of the koji family, and without 20,000 people, we can't take it." Li Wenhou said anxiously.

"I'll ask Zhong Qiang to help." Bian Zhang put his hands behind his back, looked at the bloodstained city wall, looked at the damaged ladders, and frowned: "That's how you attacked the city?" ”

Beigong Boyu and Li Wenhou glanced at each other, they were a little embarrassed, they were used to robbery, they came and went like the wind, a few of them were good at attacking cities, and even the use of cloud ladders was learned from the Han people.

"Hurry up, build a few high platforms, and attack the city walls from the high platforms." Bian Zhang didn't talk nonsense with them, and said several ways to attack the city succinctly and clearly, and asked Beigong Boyu to prepare immediately, and then came to the dock under the protection of two warriors holding shields, and asked people to shout, and asked the head of the Koji family, Koji Ying, to come out and speak.

A man about thirty years old showed his head from the dock, glanced at Bian Zhang, and said lazily: "Bian Ziwen, you finally showed up." Don't look for my eldest brother, he's not in the mood to see the old man, if you have anything to say, just tell me Kojiyi. ”

When Bian Zhang saw that it was Kojiyi, he secretly complained to himself. But the matter has come to this, and under the public, he can't weaken his morale. He coughed and said loudly: "Yuntian, you and I have been friends for many years, and you just talked to me like this, and you didn't invite me into the castle to drink a glass of wine and moisten my throat and talk?" ”

Koji Yi crouched on the wall, rubbed the blood mud on his hands, and laughed: "Do you want to come in?" If you want to come in, I'll open the door now. There is a lot of wine, but I am afraid that you will not dare to drink it. ”

Bian Zhang was very helpless, he really didn't dare to go in. He looked to the side, didn't answer Kojiyi's words, and said to himself: "Yuntian, I came today, but I don't have anything to say." The fire of the Han Dynasty has declined, and it is about to die, and there is no way to save it. The world is about to be in turmoil, although we are Han people, but in the eyes of those people, we are actually Qiang people, and we are usually bullied by them. The Qiang people have not forgotten our family, and they can be regarded as looking up to us. Yuntian, you are good at using soldiers, if you can join us, it is natural for you to be a marquis in the future, so why bother to die here? Even if you want to be loyal to the Han family, they can't remember that there is such a person as you in Jincheng. ”

Lu Yi looked at Bian Zhang with a smile, and when he finished speaking, he patted the wall and said lightly: "I don't think about why the Han family is loyal, I just think you people can't do anything." Rebellion is a big crime of killing heads, and the Qiang people don't care anyway, their rebellion is commonplace, and it's a big deal to hide farther away. We can't do it, this business can't run away, so we have to think twice. ”

"Yuntian, my Bian family and the Wang family are both reversed, and Mr. Yan Gongxiao is also reversed, what else do you have to worry about, you have a family business, don't we have a family business?"

"Mr. Yan Gongxiao?" Koji Yi laughed: "You go and invite Mr. Yan Gongxiao to come, as long as he says a word, I will immediately open the door and invite you to come in for a drink." ”

Bian Zhang was speechless, and could only laugh forcefully: "You don't believe me? ”

"It's strange that I believe you." The Koji family straightened up and scolded loudly: "Bian Wencai, you are really blind, you are a famous person in Xizhou in vain, what kind of goods are Beigong Boyu and Li Wenhou, they rebelled, and you also joined in the fun." It's just that I don't know anything, and I still have the face to run to the door of my koji house and talk nonsense, trapping my koji family in injustice. If it weren't for the love of the past, I would have killed you with one arrow right now. Get out, don't let me see your face again, or I'll see you and scold again. ”

Bian Zhang's face was flushed, and he retreated in a panic. He said to Beigong Boyu, you prepare first, I will immediately go to Zhong Qiang and the disciples of the Great Sage and Good Master, and ask them to come to support you, and when the time comes, you will definitely take down the Koji family and clear the danger behind you.

Beigong Boyu and Li Wenhou were overjoyed and hurriedly responded. Bian Zhang boarded the car and left.

Koji Yi stood on the city wall, looking at Bian Zhang's distant figure, his face was heavy. Ko Ying turned around from behind the wall, hid behind the female wall, glanced at the Qiang people outside, and said worriedly: "Yuntian, now the old side is going to move." ”

"Brother, I think so too." Koji Yi turned around and walked down side by side with Ko Ying, saying as he walked, "I think the reinforcements may have arrived in Jincheng soon." ”

"Reinforcements?" Lu Ying raised his eyebrows, thought for a moment, and shook his head again and again: "Impossible, impossible, the people and horses of the Qiang Captain and the Liangzhou Thorn History have been transferred to Anding, although the news of their defeat may not be accurate, but if you want to solve the Qiang people who are stable, it will not be so fast." You must know that most of their subordinates are also Qiang people, and they may not be willing to work for the court at this time. ”

"It's also about General Liu."

"Liu Xiu? How could that courtier be counted on? Ko Ying's head shook faster, "Even if he has some ability, but there are no soldiers, what can he do?" Can't you see it, he was demoted to Guanzhong by the Son of Heaven because of the incident that disturbed Zhang Jiao. ”

Lu Yi sighed, he also knew what Lu Ying said, but he was really unwilling to let him bow to the Qiang people and rebel with them. The brothers went down to the city and returned to the compound, and Ko Yi stopped: "Big brother, we can't be trapped here like this, we should send a few people out of the city to find out the news." ”

Ko Young thought for a moment and nodded in agreement. Among the generation of the Koji family, Koji Yi is the most capable, although his temper is a little hot, but his vision of seeing people and things is very accurate.

In the second half of the night, several cronies were tied down the city with ropes, quietly passed through the camp of the Qiang people, and ran in all directions.

…… Liu Xiu stopped in Yuzhong and summoned the generals to discuss the matter.

Since the Celestial Wolf surrendered to him, the Qiang people's morale has plummeted, and along the way, the Qiang people have avoided it from a distance, almost as if they were in a no-man's land. But Liu Xiu didn't feel happy, the Qiang people avoided it, they were just discouraged for a while, and they didn't lose anything, once someone re-entangled their morale, it would be a vicious battle.

Compared with the decisive battle, Liu Xiu preferred to attack all the way forward, which was more suitable for dealing with an enemy like the Qiang who was not strong in combat but had a large number of people. Duan Cheng Pingqiang Chaos is to chase and fight all the way, with the combat effectiveness of the Han army to crush the resistance of the Qiang people again and again, and constantly accumulate small victories into big victories, which is also the reason why he was able to fight bloodily for two years and behead more than 30,000 people, but only lost more than 400 people.

Because it's basically a rout battle.

There is a prerequisite for a rout battle, that is, the opponent does not have the confidence to fight to the death, and once the opponent's forces reach a certain point and have an overwhelming advantage, it is likely to evolve into a tough battle, and this kind of battle will turn the tables if you are not careful. Duan Cheng encountered this situation once when he was in Fengyi Mountain, more than 10,000 cavalry were besieged by more than 60,000 Qiang people, and he could not break through the siege after several battles, and the morale of the Han army fell greatly, almost collapsed, and finally Duan Cheng had to falsely claim that there were reinforcements to arouse the courage of the soldiers, so he broke out of the encirclement.

Now the Qiang people avoid him and don't give him every chance to break through, and the danger is like a compressed spring, which will bounce back sooner or later.

Yuzhong, less than a hundred miles away from Jincheng, the cavalry can arrive in an hour, although the Qiang people are not all cavalry, but nearly 100,000 Qiang people have at least 30,000 cavalry, and 30,000 cavalry is enough to entangle him.

Liu Xiu couldn't be cautious. He went straight to Jincheng all the way to relieve the siege of the Han family, but he didn't want to fall into the encirclement of the Qiang people. He sent scouts to investigate, and soon learned that there were more than 30,000 Qiang people in Jincheng, almost all of whom were Zhong Qiang, and the leader was Zhong Dian, the leader of Zhong Qiang, and all 30,000 people were Zhong Qiang's main force. Upon hearing the news of Liu Xiu's imminent arrival, Zhong Dian left a small group of people to spy on the Han family, and the others gathered together and prepared for a decisive battle with Liu Xiu.

Zhong Dian was very careful, he didn't easily confront Liu Xiu, he first stood on the guard, because he could afford to defend it, the longer he waited, the more Qiang people who got the news and rushed to come, the more obvious his advantage was. But Liu Xiu did not have such convenient conditions, he marched so far in a hurry, and there was not even a place to replenish supplies, and if he waited for one more day, he would be in danger for one more day.

This is the difference between the Qiang people and the Xianbei people. Since the birth of Tanshi Huai, the Xianbei people have always had the upper hand in the confrontation with the Han people, often the Xianbei people attack, the Han people defend, once they encounter a tough opponent, the Xianbei people first consider not to retreat, but to defeat him. The Qiang people are different, and the experiences of the past forty years have made them aware of the disparity in strength between themselves and the Han Chinese, and they tend to think about fleeing first and then fighting. Without a clear advantage, they prefer not to fight, and running away is common for them anyway.

Things are so strange, the strong Xianbei people have been defeated, while the Qiang people, who are good at escaping, are still holding on.

Liu Xiu was very anxious, Zhong Qiang laid a trap for him to jump, if he didn't jump, not only would the Han family be in danger, but he would also work in vain, unable to get provisions, it was difficult for him to hold on for long, so he could only retreat to Hanyang County empty-handed. Once he retreats, the morale of the Qiang people will be restored, and the people of Jincheng will be disappointed in him, which is a little more troublesome than if he does not come to Jincheng.

"What should I do?" Liu Xiu asked Xun You and Fu Xie.

Xun You and the others were silent in thought, and they couldn't think of any good way for a while. To face the main force of 30,000 Zhongqiang, it is not impossible to fight, but the loss will definitely be very large. If you don't fight, you can't do it, and the longer it drags on, the more unfavorable it will be for you.

"Jincheng is a trap and can't be fought." Fu Xie was the first to speak, and he pointed to several counties near Jincheng: "Zhong Qiang still has the support of the Qiang people in the Yunwu area behind him, they can advance or retreat, even if we win, it will be difficult to completely annihilate them, and it will eventually evolve into a pursuit war." However, our army only carried food and grass for fifteen days, and they could not lead them by the nose. ”

Liu Xiu nodded, he also knew that he had to take the initiative now, but where was the breakthrough, this was the most urgent question.

Xun You had been closing his eyes and pondering, he thought for a long time, and suddenly opened his eyes and looked at the wolf: "Where is Zhong Qiang's lair?" ”

After listening to Pound's translation, Sky Wolf stretched out his hand and pointed on the map, which was the location of the Great and Small Elm Valleys. That valley is the source of the Yellow River, with abundant water and grass, and has always been the place where the Qiang people have the most activities. Although the Han people have made many expeditions, they always come and go, and the Qiang people have always controlled this place.

"Let's go to the Great Elm Valley." Xun You moved his body and said softly: "Zhong Qiang is moving in the nest, and the remaining troops will inevitably be insufficient, so we will hit their lair, which can not only replenish supplies, but also force them to follow our steps." ”

"What about Jincheng?"

"Zhong Qiang heard that we are going to smash his lair, can you still surround Jincheng?" Xun You said, "The Qiang people have besieged Jincheng for half a month, and they have already captured it if they want to attack it." They were thinking about Han Sui, and they were afraid that they would force Han Sui to fight with them, so they kept the Han family and gave Han Sui a thought. Xun You glanced at Liu Xiu and smiled silently: "General, if you care, you are chaotic." ”

Liu Xiu's eyes rolled and he also smiled. "Gongda is right, I'm indeed a little paranoid."

(To be continued)