Shangguan Xiu weighed the pros and cons, and finally chose to resist the Ningnan army in Xibu Mountain.

The First Battle of Xibushan and the First Battle of Zhenxi were both battles related to the life and death of the Zhenxi Army, but compared with the two sides, the First Battle of Xibushan was more difficult, which was also the main reason why Shangguan Xiu went to fight in Xibushan.

Shortly after Shangguan Xiu arrived at Xibu Mountain, the Feng army posted a notice stating that the Ningnan army was about to attack Xibu Mountain in a big way, and that it could become a battlefield for the Feng army and the Ningnan army at any time, and asked the merchants in Xibu Mountain to temporarily retreat from this place.

Seeing this notice, the merchants of the Wind Country and the Shah merchants evacuated from Xibu Mountain one after another as if they were fleeing, and in just one day, the originally lively Xibu Mountain had become deserted, and the mountain and the mountain were filled with tension on the eve of the war.

The Feng army that had been in the tuntian around Xibu Mountain had withdrawn to the mountain, fortified on the top of the mountain, and laid a large number of rolling wood and stones. Shangguan Xiu asked Dai Yu and Xu Rui to take him to the Feng Army's munitions depot and granary for a walk.

At present, the armament and food of the wind army are sufficient, enough food to last for about ten days, and there are more than 100,000 arrows and crossbow arrows, so it is not a problem to supply two days of fierce fighting.

Knowing the situation of armaments and food, Shangguan Xiu breathed a sigh of relief, and then he ordered the Feng army to reserve as many rolling wood and stones on the mountain as possible, and set up a defensive line between the halfway up the mountain and between the halfway up the mountain and the top of the mountain.

When the Feng Army was building a defensive line, Shangguan Xiu took Xiao Jue, Wu Yufei, Wei Tian, Dai Yu, Xu Rui and others to inspect. The latest chapter of Hei Yan Pavilion has been uploaded

He looked at the layers of wooden houses built on the hillside, frowned, and said to Dai Yu and Xu Rui: "Pass the order to go down and demolish all the houses on the mountain." ”

Dai Yu and Xu Rui looked embarrassed, they spent a lot of effort to build these houses at the beginning, and now they want to tear down all the houses they have worked so hard to build, and they are very reluctant in their hearts.

Able to understand the mood of the two of them, Shangguan Xiu said quietly: "When the Ningnan army comes to attack in a big way, these houses will become the shields of the Ningnan army, and they will also greatly reduce the power of the rolling wood and stones put by our army, and they must not be kept." ”

Dai Yu and Xu Rui understood this truth, and the two of them bit their lips tightly and nodded in response: "Yes! Brother Xiu!"

Xu Rui waved his hand and called the two battalion lieutenants under him, explained to the two of them, and immediately took the brothers in the army to demolish all the houses built on the hillside, leaving no one behind.

Shangguan Xiu looked as he walked, and saw that the three layers of defense on his side were under construction, and he nodded with satisfaction. Xu Rui suddenly remembered something and said, "By the way, Brother Xiu, there is also a secret passage in Xibu Mountain, which can lead directly from the bottom of the mountain to the top of the mountain. ”

"Oh?" Shangguan Xiu raised his eyebrows and asked, "Where is the secret passage?"

"One end is at the top of the mountain, and the other end is at the foot of the mountain!" Xu Rui asked: "Brother Xiu, do you want to destroy this secret passage and grow branches outside the province?"

"Take me down the mountain first. Shangguan Xiu walked down the mountain and asked, "How many people know about this secret passage?"

"No, the entrance to this secret passage is very hidden, and there are large stones blocking it, and our own brothers don't know much, let alone outsiders. Xu Rui took Shangguan Xiu and the others to the foot of the mountain, walked to an overgrown place and stopped, and said, "Brother Xiu, this is the entrance to the secret passage." ”

Shangguan Xiu looked closely, he really didn't see anything abnormal, and it wasn't until Xu Rui reached out and buckled a round stone from the mountain wall that he saw an extra round hole the size of a dog hole on the mountain wall.

He bent down and looked into the hole, it was so dark that he couldn't see anything clearly.

He asked, "This secret passage is too narrow, isn't it?"

Xu Rui Zhengse said: "Brother Xiu, the secret passage is only narrow at the entrance, but it is very spacious inside, and it is transformed through a karst cave in the mountain, which can lead all the way to the top of the mountain. ”

Shangguan Xiu nodded thoughtfully, shook his head at Xu Rui and said, "Seal it up first, don't destroy it, maybe, we can really use it!"

This secret passage is a double-edged sword, if the enemy finds it, the enemy will sneak up to the top of the mountain and attack you, but in the same way, you can also use this secret passage to sneak down to the foot of the mountain and launch a surprise attack on the enemy.

Shangguan Xiu rolled his eyes and said, "Dig a dung pit in front of the cave entrance and put more dung, so that it will be more difficult for the people of Ningnan to find it." ”

"Yes! Brother Xiu!" Xu Rui's eyes lit up, and he immediately agreed.

Shangguan Xiu looked carefully for a while, the stone sealed the hole tightly, and it was difficult to see the flaws, he nodded and walked to the side. As he walked, he asked, "We need to prepare more fishing nets." ”

"Brother Xiu, what's the use of fishing nets?"

"Arrange the nets on the first and second lines of defense, and hang them on the wall of the mountain as many large stones as possible, so that if they cannot defend against the enemy, our brothers can cut the nets and let the stones in the nets roll down the mountain. ”

"Understood. Dai Yu and Xu Rui listened and remembered, and nodded again and again.

Shangguan Xiu was making arrangements in detail, when a soldier ran over quickly, saluted Shangguan Xiu and the others, and said, "My lord, there is a caravan from the west, and it seems that the cart is loaded with grain." ”

"Oh?" Shangguan Xiu's heart moved, and he asked, "Which country's caravan?"

"It looks like a caravan from my Wind Country. ”

Shangguan Xiu thought for a while, the corners of his mouth raised, smiled, and said, "You bring some brothers over and lead them to Xibu Mountain." ”

"Yes, sir!" the soldier agreed, and trotted away. It didn't take long for a dozen or so Wind Soldiers to bring over several wagons, each loaded with a sack that was so high. When the Feng army brought this caravan to Shangguan Xiu and the others, seven or eight people walked out of the caravan, including men and women, old and young, dressed very messily, and covered with dust, and they couldn't feel the existence of spiritual pressure on them, and they looked like a group of ordinary businessmen.

"Ladies and gentlemen, what do you mean by this? We are serious merchants of eight hundred years, and we have not paid a penny less in taxes every year, so you should protect us, why do you come out to stop us from leaving?" one of them, a young man in his thirties, shouted loudly and dissatisfiedly in the accent of Zhenjun.

"Be presumptuous! Don't be rude in front of adults!" the surrounding soldiers snapped in unison.

The young man was about to speak, but his companions tugged at his sleeves and motioned for him to say no more.

Shangguan Xiu smiled, stepped forward, and asked, "Everyone, is your car loaded with grain?"

"Exactly!" replied the older youth.

"What kind of food?"

"What's the matter? The government hasn't stipulated that we can't buy rice in Shah and ship it back to China to sell, right?" said the young man with a gloomy face.

Shangguan Xiu said with a smile: "The government really doesn't stipulate that you can't sell grain, and I don't mean to deduct your grain, I just want to buy this batch of rice from yours!"

Xibu Mountain is not short of grain, but all the hoarding is wheat, there is no rice, the war is approaching, Shangguan Xiu also hopes that the brothers can eat something good.

Hearing his words, the young man's face softened a little, and he bowed his hand and said, "It turns out that the adult wants to buy food, but the villain misunderstood the adult's intentions. ”

Shangguan Xiu waved his hand and asked, "How much silver do you sell for this batch of rice?"

"Adults want to buy them all?"

"Yes. ”

"Uh......" The young man didn't speak immediately, and turned his head to look at his companions around him, asking what they meant. One of the young men stretched out two fingers and made a gesture of eight, and the older young man understood, he nodded and said, "Since it is an adult who wants to buy it, I count it as an adult and it is cheaper, a total of eight thousand taels." ”

"How much?" Dai Yu and Xu Rui wondered if they had heard it wrong, looking at their carriages, the rice they were carrying was only one or two thousand stones at best, and they actually asked for eight thousand taels of silver, which was simply a lion's big mouth and knocking on their own bamboo poles!

"How many stones do you have in total?" Xu Rui asked in a deep voice.

"Two thousand stones. ”

"It's only two thousand stones, but you want us eight thousand taels, four taels of silver and one stone?"

"My lord, now that the wheat has risen to two taels of silver and one stone, let alone rice, four taels of silver and one stone is already very cheap, and we may not be willing to sell it for five taels of silver and one stone when we ship it back to China!" the older young man shrugged his shoulders disapprovingly, revealing an expression of whether you like to buy or not.

Xu Rui frowned, and secretly said to the profiteer, he said in a condensed voice: "Five thousand taels of silver, at this price, we won't give one tael more." As he spoke, he shouted, "Brothers, collect grain!"

"Wait, wait, five thousand taels? Your Excellency is joking with me, it's eight thousand taels, and we won't sell one tael less!"

"You-" Xu Rui blushed with anger and had a thick neck, Dai Yu smiled, waved his hand at him, and signaled him to be calm. He nodded and said, "Eight thousand taels, okay, we all want it!" After speaking, he turned his head and whispered a few words to an attendant beside him.

The man nodded while listening, and when Dai Yu finished explaining, he agreed, and then asked people to go to the treasury to carry the silver. Eight thousand taels of silver was not a small amount, and eight soldiers brought down four boxes of silver from the mountain.

When the soldiers put the four boxes of silver in front of each other, Dai Yu waved his hand and said, "This is eight thousand taels, please check it!"

The older young man smiled and said, "The adults are refreshing enough, there is no need to check, I believe that the adults will never deceive us and others." ”

"Hmm!" Dai Yu waved his hand to the surrounding soldiers and said, "Weigh the grain and see if there are enough two thousand stones." ”

When the soldiers weighed the grain, Shangguan Xiu asked quietly: "Brother Dai, is it too expensive to buy two thousand stones of rice for eight thousand taels of silver?"

Shangguan Xiu has no concept of grain prices, but looking at Xu Rui's indignant appearance, he feels like he is buying expensive.

Dai Yu smiled and whispered in Shangguan Xiu's ear: "It's expensive, but Brother Xiu, don't worry, I have a way to make them not take advantage of us." ”

Shangguan Xiu blinked in confusion, and then laughed with a sneer, so he watched what Dai Yu was going to do.