Chapter 94: Long Talk

After eating, Qi Shiyi excused himself and retired. After Qi Fu served tea, Qi Lilun said a few words from east to west, north and south, and got up again to bow to Luo Shifan: "Lord Strategist, save your life!" ”

Luo Shifan pretended to be surprised and said: "Old gentleman, please get up quickly, I have something to say." ”

Qi Lilun said sadly: "Master Strategist, you don't doubt that you are old and decrepit. Your army is as powerful as this, and the divine soldiers descended from heaven to the county, and it is definitely not forced by the situation, and there should be another mystery. Poor and remote, it is difficult to support the army for a long time, and the city is surrounded by mountains, although it is safe for a while, it is not a long-term solution. Old and dull, vain speculation, your army is not east or south, I don't know if you can win one or two? The old man has the courage to say a lot, the military advisor must not be suspicious, the old man has something to say later. ”

Luo Shifan explored the way for the army alone the day before yesterday, and returned to Xin'an when he walked to Song County. As for the next step of the army, the father and son originally planned to make plans again in Song County - in that era when traffic was all on two legs, two or three hundred miles of road was already the limit of the survey. Hearing Qi Lilun say this, Luo Shifan, who was a ghost and a ghost, knew that it was a good opportunity, and quietly encouraged: "Old gentleman, please speak up." ”

Qi Lilun said: "To the east of our county is the Ruzhou Mansion. Chenghua (during the reign of Emperor Xianzong of the Ming Dynasty) was a scattered state under the jurisdiction of Nanyang Prefecture, and was later upgraded to Zhili Prefecture of Henan Province. Although it is a state, it is not inferior to the provinces in terms of property and territory. If your army marches eastward, it should first go to Yiyang (now Ruyang), and then follow Rushui to Ruzhou (now Linru), and then Jiaxian, or Baofeng. If you go south, you have to abolish some Zhouzhang, and there are no decent counties and towns for two or three hundred miles. ”

Luo Shifan asked with a little doubt: "That...... What does the old gentleman mean to suggest that our army go east? ”

Qi Lilun hurriedly shook his hands and said, "Don't dare!" Your army will never dare to beak if it is old, and the military advisor must not misunderstand. The old man has lived here for a long time, and the surrounding geography still knows a thing or two, and he knows everything. ”

Luo Shifan smiled faintly, knowing that Qi Lilun must have something to say later, so he didn't answer.

Qi Lilun continued: "It is not useless to go south. Two hundred miles away is Baihe Town, there is a river meandering south, straight to Nanyang. ”

Luo Shifan said with relief: "Haha, the old gentleman still wants our army to go to Nanyang." ”

Qi Lilun nodded, and Fu shook his head again: "Yes and no." The old man does have his own selfish thoughts, and the original party has already explained it to the military master and the plate. However, in terms of old decay, Henan Province is located in the Central Plains, and all dynasties have been the land of four wars; The Ruzhou Mansion is located in the center of Henan Province, close to the provincial capital Kaifeng. If your army advances eastward, there will inevitably be war. I'm afraid it's not the best policy. ”

Luo Shifanqi said: "Old man, we don't talk darkly. Our army entered Guixian County, and Luo knew what he had done. Even if it is a noble house, it is not to be disturbed. If you believe that Luo can help Ling Yuan so much, but Luo is not a three-year-old child, it is difficult to believe it completely. ”

Qi Lilun bowed again: "What the Master of the Military Master said is true. Although the military advisor is young, his speech and demeanor are by no means very comparable, his eyes are like lightning, he is not angry and self-assured, and he does not dare to deceive Your Excellency. The old man immediately dissected his heart, and the military master knew that what the old man said was true. ”

"The family is depressed and depressed, and the posthumous training strictly prohibits the descendants of the Qi family from getting involved in officialdom again. The old idiot has lived for more than half a century, and he is naturally dull, but he has already explored the way of the world. Zi said, 'The state has a way, and the danger is dangerous (righteous behavior + righteous speech); Bang has no way, dangerous behavior and words (his own behavior is upright + less talking. 'Sun' is the same as 'Sun')', and said, 'If there is no way, you can roll it up'. In the past, Mr. Wuliu (Tao Yuanming) did not bend his waist for five buckets of rice, and the old man really couldn't say that he still had the heart of the powerful to break his eyebrows and bend his waist. Especially a few years ago, our Henan Mansion really had a big mess, which was chilling. The first emperor's expedition to Liaodong was unfavorable, Du (Song) Wang (Xuan) and Zhao (Menglin) three generals returned to the west after the defeat, the states and counties did not supply food, the rout was in an uproar, and the Fuchen Zhang Yinao (Zhang I continued) led the troops to attack it, beheaded more than 30 levels, and said that the thief was victorious! Master Commander, you say, can these people really be considered thieves? When the court uses soldiers, you are an official soldier, and after you use it, you will abandon it like a shoe-if you don't want to be an An'an starvation, you will be a thief! Take you, the military master, for example, a talent, extraordinary temperament in gestures, old and courageous, if it were not for the hopelessness of the right path, how could there be today's encounter? The purpose of nagging so much is to convince the military master that the old man does not have the slightest idea of martyrdom for the so-called temple. ”

These heartfelt words deeply touched Luo Shifan. Yes, talented and intelligent, and full of poetry and books, which young man has never had a beautiful dream? But it was swallowed up by the bitter cold wind and sand in the north of the Saibei and polished cleanly. I think that the marshal Guan himself, isn't he also a dignified official? Normal people who don't want to live a happy and happy life are not forced by this world! Luo Shifan sighed lightly, got up and saluted the old man: "The old gentleman is no longer commensurate with an adult, Luo is young, and he really doesn't dare to be." ”

The two sides humbled a few words, and Qi Lilun continued: "The old man is like a dead heart to the temple, and he is not like Ganlin to your army, so many mouths, after all, it is still for his own family, and I still ask Luo Junshi to forgive his sins." ”

Luo Shifan smiled: "Of course. Although the old gentleman said bluntly, Luo knew it in his heart. ”

Qi Lilun lowered his head and said: "The old man is willing to offer 1,500 taels of silver to the army, and I implore Luo Junshi to protect our house." ”

Luo Shifan was a little embarrassed: "I'm ashamed." didn't take a penny, Luo couldn't explain to his brothers, and he took everything, and he really couldn't bear this face, and he was ashamed of the old man's hospitality. Take half of it, I'll take eight hundred taels, and you won't shirk it again. I'll be bothering you for two or three days in the past two days, and I'll leave a note for you to keep. If another team comes, nothing should happen. ”

Qi Lilun was speechless: "Will there be a large army coming over in the future?" ”

Luo Shifan smiled and didn't answer, and then asked, "Can you please tell us more about the surrounding terrain?" ”

Qi Lilun hurriedly said: "Naturally, naturally." Don't dare to be troublesome. The military advisor doesn't ask about old age. He dipped his fingers in the tea and roughly sketched it on the table, "There are two mountains in the north and east of our place, one is Jiugao Mountain and the other is Luhun Mountain, which belongs to the junction of Yiyang, Yichuan and Song County. The northwest is Gaodu River, and then the front over the female mountains is Yongning County (now Luoning). To the southwest is Santu Mountain, on the north bank of Yishui. To the south, there is the Barberry Mountain. Not far out of the city, you can see Rushui, down the river is the Yiyang of Ruzhou Capital, and upstream, you will enter the Funiu Mountains. When you reach the source of Rushui, not far to the southwest is the town of Baihe, where is the source of the water (now Baihe). It is about 200 miles from Yixian County to Baihe Town, and from Baihe Town down the river, about 300 miles, it will go straight to Nanyang Mansion. From Nanyang along the water to the south, the west is the Luan River, the east is the thorny water, about two hundred miles later in Xinye (Qi Lilun remembered wrongly, the thorny water did not flow into the water in Xinye, but after entering the territory of Hubei), after the Xinye, it is Huguang. The old man only knew that the water went straight to Xiangyang Mansion, but the situation there really couldn't be said. ”

Luo Shifan stared intently at the outline drawn by Qi Lilun on the table, and his mind quickly recalled the map of Henan Province that he had carefully read in Shaanzhou, and the two corroborated each other. After a long time, he breathed a sigh of relief, and said with a smile: "Thank you, old man." You have done our army a great favor. If nothing else, Ling Yuan's son-in-law's hatred will not make you wait too long. ”

Qi Lilun hurriedly thanked him again. The two sides chatted a few more words and rested. That night, one or two soft exclamations of maids and servants sounded in the Qi house. However, neither the Qi family nor the father and son nor Luo Shifan seemed to hear it. In troubled times, sometimes it is better to be confused.

On the third day after the capture of Song County, General Gao and You Er sent liaison envoys to the direction of Xin'an, and then led the army to set off again. With the support of more than 10,000 auxiliary soldiers, the five war battalions marched out of the south gate, crossed the Yishui, and strode towards the southeast. Of course, Song County was washed again, the silver granaries and rich households were washed clean, and Ding Zhuang was also taken away a lot. First, Yan Liang recruited 200 people to go to Luofu to assist in the defense, and then after this experience, all the women and children who remained in the small Song County were old, young, women and children. was "forcibly captive" with everyone, and there was Qi Shiyi. However, a limited number of people know that it will not be long before Qi Xiu will "take advantage of the unpreparedness of the thieves" and wait for an opportunity to escape. Well, not only that, but he can also bring back about half of the local Ding Zhuang - this is naturally a little bit of Luo Shaojun's intention to Qi Old Mr.

The army left, but Luo Shifan did not follow, and Sun Chunlong and other guards still lived in the Qi house. A few people lived in seclusion and did not show up in the city. Obviously, the young army division is waiting for Guan Shuai and Luo Yonghao. The army took away all the homeless scoundrels in the county, so that although the population was depopulated for the next few days, the city was quiet.

There was a great chaos on the official road leading from Hangu Pass to Luoyang Mansion, and the crowd was crowded, crying, pushing, and trampling in the direction of Luofu. Although Sun Fugui's careful training on weekdays under the performance of the palace guards was good, after hearing the order to occupy the two compartments, most of them reflexively obeyed, and struggled to squeeze towards the foot of the mountain and the river bank on both sides, but the power of the crowd was too strong for individuals to resist at all, and many people were still carried by the flow of people and went east along the official road. The guards who climbed to the foot of the hill were in better condition, and those who were close to the bank of the river were sometimes squeezed into the rough river. Gushui is not a small river, but here in Hanguguan, there is a cijian flowing in, and the water is surging. The retreat in front of the enemy was no better than a normal march, and the soldiers did not have time to unload their armor, even if they were wearing leather armor, it would be dangerous to fall into the river, and as for the iron armor falling into the water, the people were basically finished.

Fortunately, behind the palace was the rear team of Guan Pei, and more than 200 people reluctantly formed a small phalanx column, guarding along the official road. However, the tumultuous noise of the crowd in the east constantly hit the eardrums of the defenders, and everyone was full of fear in their hearts. The retreat was too hasty, and they brought some horses or something, but they were all in the front team, and suddenly there was a big chaos, and Ding Zhuang, who was driving the cart and pulling the cart, threw these big guys down and ran, not only blocking the enemy, but blocking the official road tightly, further aggravating the chaos. Without the support of auxiliaries, it is even more impossible for the soldiers to temporarily build fortifications such as fences, well, even if they want to, they can't do it - hammers, pickaxes, shovels and shovels are all in the hands of the Ding Zhuang in front, and the soldiers only have knives and guns in their hands. The defenders, who didn't even have a big shield, knew that they would probably never be able to return to Luoyang.

Battlefield is the best school. Sun Fugui, a high-ranking general who had never experienced a real war before, finally understood a common sense that even the middle- and lower-level officers of Guan Shengyun's department knew that it could not be more ordinary: When withdrawing in front of the enemy, it is far from enough to leave the soldiers who dare to fight behind, and there must be a sufficient number of auxiliaries and equipment to provide support.

Tuition fees are hundreds of lives.