National color raw owl

Zhou Ting's complexion changed slightly, but Feng Polu had already said: "Marquis Changling, don't get me wrong, I didn't intend to resist the decree. I was planning to write a letter to the emperor. Now that Marquis Changling has arrived, I just have a chance to discuss with Marquis Changling."

Zhou Ting said indifferently: "The Holy Majesty's will is to transfer all the soldiers and horses to Yunshan City and stand there for help. Now that the order has been made, is there still a need to discuss it?"

"Marquis Changling, before you came here, did you know about the contradictions among these barbarians?" Feng Polu stared at Zhou Ting, "Does your lord know that these barbarians will draw their swords to face each other just for a knife?"

Zhou Ting frowned, hesitated for a moment, and finally said: "Although I know that the barbarian tribes have always been at odds, I didn't expect the conflict to go so deep."

Feng Polu nodded slightly, and asked again: "Does the Marquis of Changling know how much grain is left in Yunshan Prefecture? How many weapons are there in the armory?"

Zhou Ting was startled for a moment, and could only shake his head.

Feng Polu sighed: "So the Holy Majesty and the Marquis of Changling didn't know much about Yunshan's situation in advance."

Zhou Ting frowned and said, "What do you mean by Bei Yonghou?"

"Marquis Changling, you should understand that you will not accept the orders of the generals." Feng Polu said solemnly, "I was ordered to counter the rebellion for the purpose of winning and not being defeated by Chu Huan."

Zhou Ting shook his head and said, "Marquis of Changling, sticking to Yunshan Mansion is the best choice at the moment. You must not make your own claims and disobey the imperial decree."

"Does the Marquis of Changling know that if we stick to the Yunshan Mansion, we will definitely be defeated?" Feng Polu said in a deep voice, "I decided to fight Chu Huan not because of my will, but because of the current situation."

Zhou Ting wondered, "Where do you start with this?"

Feng Polu said indifferently: "The Marquis of Changling went to Yunshan Prefecture earlier, what do you think about what you saw? Have you ever seen a steady flow of people in the streets and alleys?"

Zhou Tingdao: "I am going to ask Marquis Beiyong for advice at this time. Yunshan Mansion has always been prosperous. I have been to Yunshan Mansion City before. It is full of traffic and very lively. Why is it so deserted now?"

"Because the people in Yunshan Fucheng are not of the same mind as the imperial court at all." Feng Polu couldn't help sighing: "Qiao Mingtang's rebellion, the Marquis of Changling naturally knew about it, after he absconded in fear of crime, my troops have not been controlled yet The warehouse, the official warehouse in Yunshan Fucheng, has already been set on fire, and almost all the grain stored in the warehouse has been burned."

Zhou Ting turned pale and said, "Burn the official warehouse?"

"That's right." Feng Polu looked stern, "After the fire started, although we rushed to rescue them, after the fire was extinguished, the entire warehouse was almost completely burned down, and the rescued food was not even enough to feed tens of thousands of soldiers and horses." Last three days."

"But there is no mention of this in the brochures." Zhou Ting frowned and said, "Your Majesty didn't know that Yunshan's official warehouse was on fire."

"Your Majesty is already worrying about the matter of Liaodong, so naturally you can't let your Majesty worry about it anymore." Feng Polu sighed.

Zhou Ting said: "But the official storehouse was burned, and there was a shortage of food and grass. If the Holy Majesty was not informed at this time, how would the imperial court provide food and grass here? There are tens of thousands of soldiers and horses guarding Yunshan, and most of them are cavalry. Not only do people need food every day, Those nearly ten thousand war horses can eat as much as people, without food, how can they survive?" Zhou Ting's expression became serious, he thought that although Qiao Mingtang ran away, Yunshan Mansion was the city of Xishan Road after all, so the storage There is a lot of food, there is sufficient food, and tens of thousands of soldiers and horses are guarding the city. With the strength of Yunshan Prefecture City, it is not impossible to stick to it for two months.

But when he heard that the Yunshan official warehouse was burned, he knew that things had become serious.

Feng Polu sneered and said: "There is no food in the official warehouse, but the grain in the warehouse of the Yunshan gentry is piled up like a mountain. I have summoned those gentry and told them that it is a time of national calamity, and we must work together to put down the rebellion. Soldiers go to battle to kill the enemy, but they have to provide money and food to support the soldiers...!"

Zhou Ting is actually very clear that unless it is a last resort, it is natural not to persecute the local gentry. These people are actually the foundation of the locality, and they are also the class that cannot tear their faces. With their help, they will get twice the result with half the effort. The place is turbulent and people's hearts are unstable.

It's just that the official warehouse was burned, and it was difficult for Hexi to provide too much food and grass supply to Yunshan in order to cope with the offensive in Liaodong. Feng Polu asked the local gentry for help, which was the only choice at the moment.

"If they are willing to spend money and food, I can advise the Holy One to exempt them from taxes." Zhou Ting's face relaxed a little, "As long as there is sufficient food and grass, it is not difficult to stick to Yunshan Prefecture City. This time I will come Come, you can also help Bei Yonghou to persuade the gentry in the city to donate money and food, and then stabilize the hearts of the people...!"

Feng Polu looked at Zhou Ting with a strange look, Zhou Ting was a little uncomfortable, and frowned, "Bei Yonghou, what are you...?"

"Persuasion?" Feng Polu sneered, "It's no longer necessary now. I summoned the gentry in the city and told them the truth in a polite and kind way. The imperial court will double their money and food in the future, and I have specially arranged a banquet for this purpose, do you know the result?"

Zhou Ting frowned and said, "Could it be that they didn't take the initiative to donate?"

"It seems that the Marquis of Changling still knows these people very well." Feng Polu clenched his fist and said, "I waited in the city for three days without leaving an inch, but during the three days, no one sent food or money. Close the door, and I will send someone to invite them again, but they won’t even open the door...!" His eyes showed coldness, and he said with a smile: "I have given them enough face, but they don't think about the court at all. That's watching us soldiers starve to death, since they don't give me face, I don't need to give them any more face."

Thinking of the deserted scene in the city, Zhou Ting felt faintly uneasy, and asked, "How did Bei Yonghou solve it?"

"I'm a soldier, so I naturally use the methods of a soldier." Feng Polu said nonchalantly, "I arrested a group of people, put them in prison, and let them redeem with money and food..."

He said it easily, but Zhou Ting could imagine such a scene. There is no doubt that before he arrived, a major event had happened in Yunshan Prefecture, and he frowned and said: "Don't you know that Beiyonghou doesn't know that the enemy is now, and it is even more important to To win people's hearts, you... you put these gentry in a big prison, not only can't win people's hearts, but make them feel resentful, this...!"

"The Marquis of Changling is just here, so I don't know the situation here." Feng Polu said indifferently: "If I really want to be polite to them, I'm afraid that my tens of thousands of horses will starve to death before you come. Very At that time, we could only do extraordinary things. Now that I have stored some food, it will not be a problem to support the whole army for three to two months."

Zhou Ting looked solemn, and said: "Since this is the case, Beiyonghou should immediately order the troops to return to the city. If there are gentlemen in the city, I will visit them personally and explain for Beiyonghou."

"I've already sent someone to find out, Chu Huan is preparing his army for war in Tongzhou, and it looks like he's going to fight here soon." Feng Polu said: "At this time, sending troops back to the city and standing there waiting for reinforcements can only be a dead end. The gentry in the city are not of one mind with us, if we defend the city, then Chu Huan will cut off all our connections with the outside world, and we will not get any logistical support at all."

"How long can Chu Huan be besieged?" Zhou Ting said, "They don't seem to have enough food...!"

"It seems that the Marquis of Changling really doesn't know." Feng Polu sneered and said, "Chu Huan has colluded with Jinling Xu Chang. As far as I know, these days, a large amount of grain is going from Jinling to Chu I want to send it over there...!"

Zhou Ting was surprised and said: "There is such a thing?"

"It seems that the imperial court is focusing all its attention on Liaodong." Feng Polu frowned and said, "I thought the imperial court already knew about this. Chu Huan has no shortage of food and grass at all. Not only does he have the food and grass that Xu Chang sent over, And now it's the time of autumn harvest, and the food in the northwest can be supplied. Compared with us, Chu Huan doesn't have to worry about logistics at all. Once we are besieged in Yunshanfu City, even if they don't fight, they just need to trap us Inside, we can't consume them."

Zhou Ting's expression became more dignified.

"Food and grass are in short supply, and people in the city are not stable. If we continue to defend the city, once the court fails to rescue, can the Marquis of Changling think about the consequences?" Feng Polu sighed: "I have been thinking about this issue these days, thinking about it. Go, if you stick to the city and wait for help, it is better to fight to the death with the Northwest Army."

Zhou Ting said solemnly: "The Holy Majesty is now mobilizing the main force on the eastern front, and we will first pacify Liaodong. We only need to hold on to Yunshan Fucheng for two months to hold back Chu Huan and prevent the Northwest Army from advancing northward, and that will be a great achievement."

Feng Polu looked left and right, but there was no one around, so he lowered his voice and said, "Marquis Changling, if you say something disrespectful, the Holy Spirit is sure that you can defeat the Liaodong Army within two months?"

Zhou Ting frowned. In fact, he knew very well that with Hexi's current strength, it was unknown whether he would be able to stop the Liaodong army from reaching Hexi, not to mention attacking the Liaodong army in two months.

"In order to prevent the soldiers from starving, I have already fought with the gentry of Yunshan." Feng Polu did not hide it, "They are extremely resentful towards me now, and as long as they have the opportunity, I am afraid they will think of killing me a thousand times." After we entered the city, after Chu Huan besieged the city and cut off all contact, we could only wait in the city for reinforcements, but Marquis Changling and I both understood that even if the Holy One finally defeated the Liaodong Army, it would not take two months. We have won, but it is still a question of whether we can hold on for two months, even if we hold on, what should we do if reinforcements cannot arrive after two months?"

Zhou Ting pondered for a while, and finally asked: "However, with the strength of the northern brave Marquis, how can he fight against Chu Huan? The strength of the Northwest Army under Chu Huan's command is far superior to ours."

"The victory or defeat of a war never depends on the strength of the troops." Feng Polu said with a faint smile: "When the Hexi Army went to Mobei, sometimes a few thousand people could beat tens of thousands of barbarians into a mess... .!"

"But Chu Huan is not a barbarian." Zhou Ting immediately said: "And the main force under Bei Yonghou's command is precisely the barbarian who was beaten into a mess by you back then."