After Xu Shao'an thanked him, Chai Rong said: "As the saying goes, 'people are not sages, who can do nothing', although Xu Aiqing has made mistakes this time, but firstly, it is excusable, and secondly, I have already dealt with it, and this matter will end here, and I hope that Aiqing will not change his original intention of serving the court and working for the benefit of the people because of this matter." ”

Bixia rest assured, since the minister dared to come to Bixia to ask for guilt, he had already expected that he might be severely punished by the imperial court. Now Bixia is extrajudicial to show kindness, and the minister feels that he has nothing to repay, so he can only do his best to serve Bixia, the court, and the people of Youyun. Xu Shaoan replied very crisply and forcefully.

"That's very good." Chai Rong nodded with satisfaction, and then asked, "What does Aiqing want to do here?" Will you stay with me and continue the Northern Expedition with the army, or will you fight alongside your brothers? ”

Xu Shao'an said apologetically when he heard this: "It is said that the minister is a general of the Great Zhou Army, and he should have gone north with Bixia and his colleagues to complete the great cause of the Northern Expedition." However, the current situation is urgent, the Khitan reinforcements are close at hand, and the minister's brothers have already led the army north to the front line of the Great Wall, preparing to fight to the death with the Khitan reinforcements. If the ministers have made a covenant with them as brothers, and should go to the battlefield together, how can they covet comfort and ignore their brothers? Therefore, the minister had agreed with the brothers that he would only wait for this matter, so he led the 4,000 infantry army to the north immediately, and rushed to the checkpoints and passes on the line from Juyong Pass to Gubeikou day and night to set up defenses, so as to prepare for the Khitan reinforcements to attack Yuguan head-on to no avail, and instead sent a partial division and light cavalry to make a detour to attack and threaten the safety of our army's rear and Youzhou City. ”

"General Xu is going to lead his army north to Yanshan to resist the enemy, and General Xu's brother has already led the army to Yuguan to intercept the Khitan reinforcements, so wouldn't Youzhou City be left aside. General Xu and his brother blocked the Khitan reinforcements on the front line of the Great Wall, but ignored the fortified city heavily guarded by the enemy behind them. Could it be that the general and the general's brother want the imperial court forces to take on this responsibility? Zhao Kuangyin, who had not spoken, found that the tactical arrangement of the "Qingyuan" brothers was inappropriate, and hurriedly pointed it out to Xu Shaoan, who had always looked at him for himself, and provided him with a solution to this problem - to hand over Youzhou City to the imperial army to attack.

Although the tactical loopholes proposed by Zhao Kuangyin, who did not understand the overall tactical arrangements of the "Qingyuan" brothers, did not exist, Xu Shaoan was still very grateful for Zhao Kuangyin's kind reminder. He clenched his fist to Zhao Kuangyin and said, "Thank you, Lord Zhao, for reminding you." However, please rest assured that our brothers have already made arrangements for this matter. The 'Qingyuan' private soldiers who participated in the battle of Baoxingzhuang were not all the generals under the command of our brothers, and at the same time that the eleventh, twenty-fourth, twenty-seventh and thirty-fifth brothers of Xiaguan led the army to fight with the main force of the Youyun Khitan Army in Baoxingzhuang, the twelfth, twenty-sixth, and thirty-first brothers of Xiaguan had led another group of men and horses north to Youzhou City, and ambushed in a hidden place outside the city. As long as the battle of Baoxingzhuang ended, he joined forces with the Xin Feiyu Xin brothers, who had already led the so-called "villagers" into Youzhou City to "help in the war", and won Youzhou City in one fell swoop. If the lower officials are not miscalculated, the twelve brothers will start to act before noon today. If there are no accidents, at most in the evening, Youzhou City will be in the hands of my 'Qingyuan' private soldiers. ”

"I see." Zhao Kuangyin suddenly realized.

However, while Zhao Kuangyin - including other civil and military generals - lamented that the "Qingyuan" brothers were really steady and cautious and thoughtful, he was also secretly surprised by the strong strength of the "Qingyuan" private soldiers. With nearly 20,000 horses and horses already invested in Baoxingzhuang, the "Qingyuan" private army still had enough troops to attack Youzhou City, and its strength was far beyond the expectations of the generals of the following Zhou Dynasty.

Out of curiosity, and also out of consideration for how the imperial court should treat the "Qingyuan" brothers in the future, Zhao Kuangyin praised a few words of the "Qingyuan" brothers' safety and caution in using troops, and asked tentatively: "Although General Xu's brothers should help from within, Youzhou City is the first important town in the sixteen states of Youyun after all, not only is the city high and deep, but there are still nearly 20,000 enemy troops guarding it. The difficulty of attacking Youzhou City must not be under the main force of the Encirclement and Annihilation of Baoxingzhuang Youyun Khitan Army. Even if the 'Qingyuan' private soldiers are strong, if they are too big, I am afraid that it will backfire,"

"What Lord Zhao said is extremely true." Xu Shao'an replied very humbly, "Our brothers have always been prudent in their affairs, so in addition to arranging their own people to do internal responses in advance, this attack on Youzhou City also gathered 12,000 men and horses, and equipped with a large number of sharp firearms, ready to take Youzhou City in one fell swoop with the overwhelming momentum of Mount Tai. ”…,

After listening to Xu Shao'an's introduction, Zhao Kuangyin nodded and came up with a figure in his heart - 30,000, and there were at least more than 30,000 private soldiers in "Qingyuan". Moreover, judging from the situation of the first battle of Baoxingzhuang, at least 10,000 of these 30,000 people were soldiers and horses equipped with powerful firearms. In addition, considering that the "Qingyuan" brothers also had to arrange soldiers and horses to protect Wang Kunjun, Zhang Weixin and other brothers who had not gone to the battlefield, to protect the workshops that made firearms and other weapons, and to protect the grain and grass for their battles, I am afraid that the total number of private soldiers under their command should be between 35,000 and 40,000. This figure could not help but make Zhao Kuangyin and other generals in the account who estimated the number of private soldiers in the "Qing Garden", and even Chai Rong, the son of heaven, gasp. While being surprised that the strength of the "Qingyuan" brothers was so strong, he was secretly glad that the imperial court was still friendly and not enemies with the other party, otherwise it was not impossible to destroy the nearly 100,000 soldiers and horses of the imperial court with the strong strength of the "Qingyuan" brothers, and then monopolize Youyun or even move south and chase the Central Plains.

The actual number of "Qingyuan" private soldiers made everyone present think constantly, and no one spoke again for a while. After a moment of silence, Xu Shao'an, who was focused on going north to the Great Wall to resist the enemy, saw that the time was not early, and it was time for him to set off, so he planned to step forward to bid farewell to Chai Rong. As a result, without waiting for Xu Shao'an to speak, Zhang Yongde made a move - seeing that Xu Shao'an was about to leave the camp, he wanted to find an opportunity to suppress him and destroy the image of Xu Shao'an and his brothers in Chai Rong's mind, and I don't know how long it would take, Zhang Yongde decided to seize a little time and give Xu Shao'an some slander. Before Xu Shao'an opened his mouth to resign, he said to Chai Rong: "Bixia, General Xu had previously issued a military order in front of the imperial court, promising to provide ten days of food and grass for the imperial army within two days. Now that time has passed, General Xu has not been seen to send a grain of grain to the imperial court. Although Bixia has been extrajudicial and lightly punished, the food and grass of our army still have not been found. At present, the grain and grass in the battalion are only enough for one day at most, and if they cannot be replenished in time, it will inevitably cause instability in the morale of the army. At that time, Mo said that he would recover the clouds, but I was afraid that whether the army could continue the Northern Expedition was between the two. ”

Although what Zhang Yongde said was aimed at Xu Shao'an, it was also the reality of the current Later Zhou army - although the main force of the Youyun Liao Army had been wiped out by the "Qingyuan" private soldiers, the partial division led by Xiao Jixian was still there, and its threat to the grain route of the Later Zhou army still existed. Until it is wiped out or completely driven out of the surrounding area, it is impossible for the supply of grain and grass for the Later Zhou army to be stabilized. For this point, whether it is Chai Rong or other military generals, they are very clear. It's just that Chai Rong's disposition of Xu Shao'an just now has included the crime of leaving the camp in the name of raising grain and grass, Chai Tianzi is really embarrassed to embarrass Xu Shao'an in the matter of grain and grass, so he didn't mention the matter of grain and grass again, but planned to find a way to solve it on his own in the future. No, Chai Rong was embarrassed to say something, but Zhang Yongde, who only wanted to trouble Xu Shaoan, said it. While secretly thanking his brother-in-law in his heart, Chai Rong also set his eyes on Xu Shaoan, hoping that the other party could give him an answer.

In this regard, Xu Shaoan was confident, he said: "Qiqi Bixia, although the minister did not bring a grain of grain to Bixia this time, it does not mean that the minister cannot provide the food and grass needed for ten days for the imperial army. ”

"I wonder where this grain and grass comes from? Could it be that it will fall from the sky? Zhang Yongde asked.

"Although it is impossible for grain and grass to fall from the sky, it has long been placed there, and the imperial army can go to fetch it at any time." Xu Shaoan replied.

"Where is the grain and grass, and how can the imperial army get it?" Zhang Yongde continued to ask.

Hearing this, Xu Shaoan pointed to the north with his hand and replied calmly: "The first place is five miles to the north. Although the Khitan battalion was battered by the artillery fire of the 'Qingyuan' private soldiers, fortunately, the grain and grass accumulated in the camp were not completely destroyed. The minister had personally checked before he came, and the existing food in the camp was enough for the imperial army to use for more than three days.

The second place is thirty miles to the north. Liangxiang City is the main force of the Youyun Khitan army to collect grain and grass, the defenders in the city originally 10,000, after being taken away by the brother Wang Feng of the lower official in the name of escorting grain and grass, there are only 5,000 local foot soldiers and hundreds of Khitan cavalry left. And Hu Youdao, the commander of Naliang Township, has always been friendly with our brothers, and he has already expressed his intention to submit to the imperial court to our brothers, and only when the imperial army is in the city, he will take a few Khitan cavalry troops and surrender the city. The grain and grass stored in the city are enough for the imperial army to be used for three months, even if the army's grain road is difficult to open for a while, it will not affect the army's northern expedition. What's more, the 800 rangers, the most elite of the 'Qingyuan' private army, had already gone south to find Xiao Jixian's department and look for an opportunity to annihilate it. The restoration of the imperial court's grain route is just around the corner, and Lord Zhang doesn't have to worry about grain and grass at all. ”