Zhang Xuan's tens of thousands of troops are currently stationed in Hejian County, and after sweeping Gao Shida and Dou Jiande, and exterminating the Bohai Society, Zhang Xuan's main task at present is to appease the county officials, visit the wealthy families, and stabilize the hearts of the people in Hebei as soon as possible.

The role of the Qingzhou Army was to continue to eliminate small groups of remnant bandits and prevent another large-scale bandit outbreak in Hebei, and more than a dozen troops of 500 men each were active in various counties of Hebei to cooperate with the local government to exterminate the small remaining bandits.

In the Qingzhou Military Camp in Hejian County, Song Zhengben, the new inspector and envoy, was reporting to Zhang Xuan on the appointment of officials in various places.

Song Zhengben and Ling Jing are the two old departments of Dou Jiande who are most valued by Zhang Xuan, both of them are talented people, after surrendering Zhang Xuan, they were soon reused by Zhang Xuan, Song Zhengben was appointed as a supervisor and searcher, and Ling Jing was appointed as a judge.

"This is a joint complaint by 36 village elders, accusing Gaoyang County of ordering He Xuan to collect heavy taxes privately under the pretense of the imperial court, and his brother and brother-in-law forcibly occupying hundreds of hectares of fertile land.

Zhang Xuan stood in front of the tent with his hands in his hands, pondering for a long time, and after a long time, he asked, "What does it mean to supervise?" ”

Song Zhengben pondered for a while, and said slowly: "Now the officials of all counties in Hebei are paying attention to the marshal's every move, if it is said that corruption perverts the law, I estimate that most of the officials will not escape their responsibility, after all, the imperial court has not been able to manage Hebei for a long time, the marshal has not been in control of Hebei for a long time, and the foundation is unstable. ”

Zhang Xuan sighed, "I'm afraid to let him go, the officialdom is stable." But it hurt the hearts of the people, and gave Hebei officialdom a very bad hint that only by treating the disease can people be saved, and if the disease is not treated, it will only mistake other patients. ”

Speaking of this, Zhang Xuan was silent for a moment. turned back to Song Zhengben and said: "I still say the same thing, thunderbolt means, Fang Xian Bodhisattva's heart, this county order can be punished under other pretexts, such as fornicating with Goguryeo, the whole family of men will be beheaded, all property will be confiscated, and one will be killed as an example!" ”

Song Zhengben nodded happily and said: "Dashuai's method is good, it can deter Hebei officialdom." It will not cause panic, and at the same time, it can calm the people's anger, which can be described as killing three birds with one stone, and the humble agrees. ”

"You can deal with this matter! With the right of supervision, I will let the army of Gaoyang County assist. ”

"Obey the order!"

Song Zheng retreated with a bow, and Zhang Xuan immediately wrote a warrant and handed it to his soldiers to find Luo Shixin.

At this time, Zhang Xuan glanced at a pro-soldier next to him who wanted to speak and stopped. "What's the matter?" he asked. ”

The soldiers stepped forward and saluted, presenting a letter to Zhang Xuan. "This is General Xu sent from Shanggu County, saying that it is urgent information."

Zhang Xuan immediately poured out two letters from the bamboo tube, one turned out to be a letter written by Wen Yanbo in Youzhou to himself, Zhang Xuan couldn't help but be stunned, he opened another letter, but this was Xu Shiji's letter.

Zhang Xuan opened the letter and skimmed it. He immediately put down the letter, opened Wen Yanbo's letter again, and read it hurriedly, and couldn't help but be surprised and delighted, Wen Yanbo hoped to work for himself.

Of course, Zhang Xuan knows Wen Yanbo. The famous genius of Bingzhou, the famous minister of the early Tang Dynasty, because of his brother Wen Daya, Wen Yanbo also followed Luo Yi to surrender to Li Yuan, but he didn't know why he wanted to take refuge in himself.

Zhang Xuan immediately ordered his own soldiers, "Hurry up and invite Fang Junshi to come over!" ”

Zhang Xuan pondered and paced in the big tent again, Wen Yanbo did come at the right time, as the territory under his control expanded, his need for talents became more and more urgent.

Zhang Xuan also considered holding an imperial examination, but Fang Xuanling gently advised him that the premature holding of the imperial examination would be boycotted by the Hebei scholars, which was very unfavorable to him to win the Hebei scholars, and he should wait until he sat firmly in the world before considering fairness.

Zhang Xuan also agreed with Fang Xuanling's advice, the Sui Dynasty perished to some extent because the implementation of the imperial examination violated the interests of the majority of scholars, but the imperial examination of the Sui Dynasty fulfilled the Tang Dynasty, the Sui Dynasty became a martyr, and the Tang Dynasty became a pioneer.

He and Li Yuan compete for the world, and to a large extent, it is also a competition for talents.

At this time, Fang Xuanling appeared at the door of the tent and said with a smile: "Does the handsome have something important to look for me?" ”

Zhang Xuan nodded and handed him the letters from Xu Shiji and Wen Yanbo, "Military advisor, take a look at this." ”

Fang Xuanling walked into the big tent, took the letter and looked at it, and said with a smile: "It seems that I want to congratulate Dashuai." ”

"But the problem now is that Wen Yanbo has been placed under house arrest by Luo Yi, why do I want Luo Yi to release him?"

Fang Xuanling smiled, "There are actually two ways, one is to exchange, to exchange resources and Luo Yi for people, and the second is to persecute and force Luo Yi to release people." ”

Zhang Xuan thought for a while and asked, "What does the military advisor mean?" ”

"I personally tend to the latter, the so-called money to buy bones, the handsome will not hesitate to make a big move for the sake of talents, and the news will be good for attracting talents from all over the world."

Zhang Xuan nodded, Fang Xuanling's suggestion went up to his heart, at this time, Zhang Xuan remembered something again, and said to Fang Xuanling: "The last time I mentioned the imperial examination, although it is not suitable to hold the imperial examination now, but I think it is okay to recruit talents, we might as well set up a recruitment hall in Qi County to recruit talents from all over the world, what do you think?" ”

Fang Xuanling pondered for a moment and said, "If the marshal doesn't care about the criticism of the court, it's okay." ”

"Everything is gained and lost, and a little criticism is really nothing compared to recruiting talents?"

"In that case, although the commander implements it, I don't have any opinion."

Zhang Xuan said with a smile: "Let's talk about this matter later, forcing Luo Yi to release talents is a top priority!" ”

……….

Zhang Xuan immediately ordered, 30,000 troops immediately assembled north, three days later, the Qingzhou Sui army crossed the Juma River, killed to Gu'an County, Gu'an County is the southern gate of Zhuo County, once Gu'an County is lost, the Sui army can directly kill Ji County.

Therefore, the location of Gu'an County was extremely important, and Luo Yi deployed 3,000 defenders here, with his henchman Li Xingfang in charge.

At the same time that the Sui army killed Gu'an County, Luo Yi's brother Luo Shou also happened to be in Gu'an County to supervise the city expansion project, which was also Luo Yi's decision, instead of counting on Li Yuan, it was better to consider how to protect himself, and it was urgent to strengthen and raise several important cities before the Qingzhou Army marched north.

Luo Yi handed over this important matter to his brother Luo Shou, and there were three fortified cities in the first batch, one was Zhuo County in the west, one was Gu'an County in the south, and then Yongnu County in the east.

Luo Shou just came from Zhuo County, just in Gu'an County met the Qingzhou army north, 30,000 Qingzhou came very suddenly, so that the defenders of Gu'an County were caught off guard, Luo Shou did not have time to withdraw, Gu'an County was surrounded by regiments.

The defenders in the county town were in a mess, and thousands of soldiers followed Li Xingfang to guard a gap in the southeast, this section of the city wall of nearly a mile was too dilapidated, and it had just been completely demolished, and the new wall had not yet begun to be repaired, and the Qingzhou army was killed under the city.

Thousands of soldiers were simply piled up into a one-foot-high fortification from dirt bags, and the soldiers hung out their bows and arrows, watching nervously at the enemy forces outside the city.

At this time, Luo Shou hurriedly walked over and asked nervously, "Is there any sign of attack?" ”

"Not yet."

Li Xingfang sighed and said worriedly: "I have already sent a pigeon letter to the governor, so I don't know if the reinforcements can catch up." ”

Luo Shou knows his brother very well, in this case, the brother must be Baoji County, and he will not come to save Gushi County, they can only find a way to break through by themselves.

At this moment, a soldier rushed to the scene and reported in a loud voice: "General, the governor has replied!" ”

Li Xingfang hurriedly took the pigeon letter and opened it, Luo Shou also stepped forward to take a closer look, the hearts of the two of them suddenly cooled half, and there were only two words on the pigeon letter, 'Break through!' ’

Li Xingfang smiled bitterly and said: "Tens of thousands of troops in Qingzhou are besieged, and we forcibly break through, I don't know how many people can go back alive?" ”

Luo Shou also sighed, "But now we have no way except to break through, as long as the opponent's army attacks once, the county will fall, it is better to take advantage of the other party's failure to complete the deployment and break through directly." ”

Li Xingfang looked at the hastily built mud bag wall, then nodded and said, "The general is right, it is better to break through sooner rather than later!" ”

……… (To be continued.) )