Neon Clothes and Iron Clothes

Fan Yang, Generalissimo's Mansion.

"Thirty four-wheeled carriages were shipped from Luoyang yesterday and are being assembled in the warehouse! There are also crossbows modified according to your requirements. They have been distributed to the army and are being trialled in the army. The effects will not be available for a few days. News!" Lu Zhaolin was reading the day's report while looking at Wang Wenzuo who was having breakfast with the corner of his eye. According to his habit, breakfast every day was the time for him to listen to routine reports from his subordinates. It was unshakable.Once he enters the army, this man's amiable exterior is stripped away, revealing his steely core.

"The carriage must be assembled before tomorrow night. I have to go and check it myself! As for the crossbow!" Wang Wenzuo clapped his palms and shook off the sesame seeds stuck on them: "Wang Pu, go and take a look. Remember, you need to Look at the effect under different circumstances, such as rainy days or something, remember?"

"Yes!" Wang Pu stood at the door and puffed up his chest.

"Mr. Lu, continue!" Wang Wenzuo said.

"Oh, there is news from Chang'an. It was sent by Liu Shilang of the Ministry of Revenue. Pei Xingjian of Longyou defeated the Turkic rebels. The head of the rebel leader was sent to Chang'an. Someone in the court compared the general with Pei Longyou and said that you are playing tricks. Kou Zi Zheng! There are people who say that——"

"Don't worry about him!" Wang Wenzuo interrupted Lu Zhaolin's recitation of the names of his political opponents: "As long as the emperor doesn't express his position, it doesn't matter. I am leading the army outside, and the emperor has entrusted half of the country. If there are not these flies buzzing, it will be abnormal. Got it!"

"Also, there is an urgent message arriving from Liucheng!"

"Is it General Xue's?" Wang Wenzuo stretched out his right hand: "Show it to me!"

"Yes!" Lu Zhaolin took out the letter and handed it to Wang Wenzuo. Wang Wenzuo unfolded the letter paper, and a line of rough handwriting came into view. This was Xue Rengui's own handwriting, and Wang Wenzuo's attention suddenly focused.

"A few days ago, the bandit 'White Wolf' Harkan led troops into the bandit, and was defeated by the king's army, killing many of them. From his mouth, I learned that the bandit leader begged Sibi Yu to disperse his soldiers and order them to return home for autumn harvest. Plowing in the spring and returning to the army after next spring is a long-term solution. Many of the people in the channel are dissatisfied and do not want to reduce their own troops to make themselves weak. White Wolf is one of them. It is foolish to think that the thieves are not uniform, but they are actually victorious. Marshal Fuqi and the Chief Master will use the opportunity of thunder to destroy the rebellion with prosperity, cleanse the evil and evil, and think that peace will last forever!"

"Hahaha!" Wang Wenzuo chuckled: "Use the thunderous opportunity to defeat the rebellion with smoothness and cleanse the evil spirits, thinking that peace will last forever. It's quite smooth. Old Xue Chang has learned a lot, but these few sentences were written by a scribe. ?" He flicked the letter paper and threw it on the table: "But Lao Xue is right. Begging Sibiyu to let the soldiers go back to farm and harvest. Although it is right in the long run, it also weakens the His strength, and the generals under him may not be happy to do this, it is indeed a good opportunity!"

"What does the general mean?"

"It's too early to talk about whether to send troops!" Wang Wenzuo said: "The beggar Si Biyu won the new city. I know that place. The Goguryeo people have worked hard for hundreds of years. It is just a mountain city. The mountains are high and the walls are thick. Not to mention being condescending, it leads to The roads in the mountain city are still very difficult to navigate. Even if the equipment is complete, it will take several months to attack. Begging Sibiyu dares to disperse his tribe to farm the land. He is not acting randomly. He has someone to rely on. Besides, if it is easy to deal with, General Xue just took matters into his own hands, so why bother writing to me?"

"Don't the generals have thunderbolt chariots and other equipment?" Lu Zhaolin asked: "I heard someone said that you can launch huge rocks ten miles away. Wherever it goes, the walls will collapse and everything will turn into powder! Yes! With such a sharp weapon, what’s the difficulty in making the new city strong?”

"All turned into fans? What I have in my hand is a lever-type trebuchet, not a tactical nuclear weapon. These scholars are getting more and more outrageous!" Wang Wenzuo snorted coldly. He didn't know how to answer for a while. After all, the power of the weapon was appropriate. Exaggeration is also a means of war, just like the greatest power of nuclear weapons is not thrown out, but on the launcher; no matter how powerful these new weapons in Wang Wenzuo's hands are, they are not as effective as deterrents. After all, new weapons must be objective There are no limits to rules and imagination. In a sense, talking can kill someone.

"What does the general mean -?" Lu Zhaolin carefully tested Wang Wenzuo's intentions.

"Let General Xue wait and see what happens! If there is any military information, send it immediately!" Wang Wenzuo said: "Also, let's send [-] infantry and [-] cavalry from Fan Yang to Yingzhou as reinforcements."

"As ordered!"

After Lu Zhaolin left, Wang Wenzuo lost his appetite. He walked to the map and started to plan again.His original plan was to take a boat to Unongjin first, integrate the power of Baekje and the Japanese kingdom to capture Silla first, and then launch attacks from Yingzhou and the Korean Peninsula at the same time to quell the chaos in Liao. The benefits are threefold:

First of all, we can first defeat Silla, the culprit, so that there will be no situation where the battle in Liao is a quagmire, and in the end the battle is fought with blood and sweat, and finally Silla, who has been recuperating for a long time, eats the fruits of victory; secondly, there is gold With Renwen in hand, as long as Jin Famin is captured first, Silla will be fine. After all, Jin Renwen, as the son of Jin Chunqiu, legally has the right to inherit the throne; thirdly, after capturing Silla, Wang Wenzuo already has the power of Baekje, Wa and Silla in his hands, plus the power of Hebei. Even if there is a temporary change in Chang'an, he will have enough power to integrate the Liao region, and his hard work will not appear. After fighting hard, you end up making wedding clothes for others.

The entire plan was easy first and then difficult, gradually increasing the power in his hands through snowballing, and finally forming a situation that was most beneficial to him. This was Wang Wenzuo's favorite military strategy and the one he was best at.

But Xue Rengui's letter pointed out another possibility - taking advantage of the opportunity when Qi Si Biyu sent soldiers back to their hometowns to farm, weakened their strength and intensified internal conflicts, to send out surprise troops to attack their inner circle, eliminate them in one fell swoop, and then return to their hometowns. Clean up the chaos in Liao and deal with Silla again.The advantage of doing this is that if it succeeds, it can shorten the time of the war. After all, compared to Silla, the hometown of Goguryeo where Qi Si Biyu is located is far greater in terms of breadth and depth. If Qi Si Biyu is given enough time Taken together, its threat to the Tang Dynasty and even Wang Wenzuo himself far exceeded that of Silla.From a purely war perspective, Xue Rengui's suggestions are quite reasonable.

"If we win, Li Weigong will defeat Xiao Xian. If we lose or the stalemate continues, the Khitans will become more active!" Wang Wenzuo looked at the map on the wall and murmured to himself: "The only thing we can do now is to do both. get ready!"

"Come on, come on!"

"My subordinate is here!" a guard bowed.

"I remember that there was a Khitan man named Da Ting Huai'en who came to visit me a few days ago!" Wang Wenzuo scratched the back of his head: "Let him come to see me immediately!"

"Khitan, Dating Huai'en!" The guard repeated Wang Wenzuo's request: "Yes, I will go find him immediately!"

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The aroma of Hu cakes coming from the roadside made Dating Huai'en take a deep breath. He quickened his pace, walked to the charcoal stove where the cakes were sold, and said loudly: "Give me twenty cakes, all made with lotus leaves." It's wrapped!" "It's Captain Da Ting!" A face covered in ashes poked out from behind the charcoal stove. When he saw Da Ting Huaien, he immediately smiled: "Wait a moment for me to finish lighting up the stove, and I will wrap the cake for you. , they are all freshly baked, hot and crispy!”

"Okay, hurry up! I have something urgent to do!" Dating Huaien found a bench and sat down, took out a handful of copper coins and threw them on the cake table.

"Don't worry, I can't delay your business!" The cake seller almost put his head under the charcoal stove. He took out a few large pieces of ashes from the air outlet before getting up and wiping his hands to get the cake for Da Ting Huaien. , he saw the copper coins on the chopping board and hurriedly said: "Hey! How can you get money for eating cakes from me? Our family's business is all thanks to you. If I take money from your cakes, my whole family will pay for it." Face-scratching!"

"This is also a small business!" Dating Huaien said with a smile: "Twenty today and twenty tomorrow, how can you still do business?"

"No matter how small a business is, it will not lack your twenty cakes!" The man insisted: "We Liao people can have food and a place to live in Fanyang, all thanks to you and Wang Kuan, Wang Xiaowei. As long as you say something, if we have money, we will pay, if we don’t, we will pay with our lives, but please don’t let us go out!"

"Okay, okay!" Da Ting Huai'en had no choice but to put away the copper coins. The man's hands and feet were very nimble. He took out twenty pieces of Hu cakes from the stove, wrapped them in lotus leaves and handed them over: " The captain has collected it and comes often!"

"Okay!" Da Ting Huai'en accepted the cake and walked west along the street. Since the last time he saw Wang Wenzuo, he and Wang Kuan had been working on the issue of the Liao people's displacement.Wang Wenzuo gave him and Wang Kuan an official position each, and asked them to withdraw some money and rice from the yamen every month to provide some livelihood arrangements for the refugees. They were busy every day without touching the ground. As time went by, they actually rebelled against the Khitan. Things were forgotten.

Da Ting Huaien crossed two streets and came to a blacksmith shop. There were four or five Liao blacksmiths working here. They were still twenty or thirty steps away when they heard the tinkling sound of forging inside. Unable to hear the gap, he stood at the door and called twice, then a man who looked like an iron tower walked out from inside. Da Ting Huaien handed the cake to him: "Someone is coming to cause trouble at the Wang's Porridge Shop on Baita Street. You can take it with you this afternoon." Go and teach those guys a lesson, be careful not to beat them to death! Take the cakes and put them on the bar, and treat your people to wine when you come back in the evening!"

"Hey!" The man responded: "Don't worry, my people are careful with their actions! You won't die!"

"You have to keep an eye on me!" Da Ting Huaien snorted coldly: "Don't forget what happened last time. Within a few moves, the serial knife was revealed. What should I do if I stabbed someone to death? This time I am only allowed to bring Stick, remember?”

"Captain, don't worry. I searched everyone before I went this time, and I didn't even let them take the iron guy with them!" The black man patted his chest repeatedly: "I'm sure I can't make a mistake!"

"That's okay, I'm leaving!" Da Ting Huaien gave a few lectures and left.No matter how hard he tried, it would be impossible to resettle and make a living for thousands of Liao people without any trouble, because this would affect the interests of the original local forces.Conflicts of one kind or another are inevitable, and he can only rely on his own strength in these matters.So during this time, he and Wang Kuan organized these refugees and formed an organization similar to a mutual aid association, and they naturally became the leaders of this organization.

After visiting four or five houses, Dating Huaien was a little tired. He randomly found a restaurant on the street, ordered a pot of wine and a few dry biscuits, and started eating.He had just taken a few bites when he saw a group of people running along the street. Whenever they encountered a shop, they rushed in, seemingly looking for someone.

"Colonel Da Ting, Captain Da Ting, I finally found you!" A man in brown clothes saw Da Ting Huaien and said anxiously: "Come with me quickly, something big is going on."

"What's going on? You're in a hurry!" Dating Huaien frowned.

"The general wants to see you! The whole city is looking for you!"

"The general wants to see me?" Dating Huai'en was surprised: "Seriously!"

"How dare I make up such a thing?" The man stumbled and said, "Come with me quickly, we can't keep the general waiting, right?"

Da Ting Huaien was summoned to the Generalissimo's Mansion, and went straight in without passing the call. Seeing this in his heart, he couldn't help but feel uneasy, thinking to himself, could it be that something big had happened to the Khitan, and Wang Wenzuo was anxious to see him?
"I remember you once went to see Qi Sibiyu, right?" Wang Wenzuo asked as soon as Da Tinghuaien walked in.

"Yes, my subordinate did go on a mission and met Qi Sibiyu at that time."

"Very good, then you go to Qi Sibiyu's place again." Wang Wenzuo said: "Of course, you are going not only for the mission, but also for other things."

"General, please give me your instructions!" Dating Huai'en said.

Wang Wenzuo recounted the content of Xue Rengui's letter, and finally said: "Since Qi Sibiyu has divided his troops into different areas, he naturally wants to establish a country. Since he wants to establish a country, he must negotiate peace with the Tang Dynasty. And his subordinates It's different. They can't build a country. They will either be killed as bandits or become vassals of the Tang Dynasty. Do you understand what I mean?"

"General, do you want me to alienate the bandits?"

"Yes, but you don't need to be too proactive, otherwise Qi Sibiyu is not a fool. As long as you show any trace, he will definitely kill you. So you go over there and don't do anything. There will be someone there by then. Will come to you."

"I understand!" Da Ting Huaien lowered his head, his forehead already covered with beads of sweat. Of course he knew that Wang Wenzuo's task was extremely dangerous, but if it could be accomplished, it would be within Wang Wenzuo's sight. With this big shot With confidence and mind, your prospects are naturally limitless.

"No, you don't understand yet!" Wang Wenzuo lowered his voice: "Even if you don't do anything, Qi Sibiyu and his gang will have a problem with each other, so after you go there, you must put your life first in everything. If necessary, you can even pretend to be a rebel, do you understand?"