Do you know: I am Xu Jiazi

Chapter 365: Battle Force vs [Thank you! Goodbye! I owe you two more chapters of words]

Bianjing
Xingguofang

Duke's Mansion of Qi
The Duke of Qi has gone to court.

In the dining hall, the maids stood solemnly with their heads bowed.

There were morning birds chirping in the trees in the yard, and the sounds of hawking from the distant market town, which together made the hall even quieter.

Princess Pingning sat alone at the table, eating her breakfast carefully. The personal nanny beside the table picked up the dish, took out some of the food and put it into another porcelain plate.

After the mixture was mixed, the porcelain plate was placed by the personal nanny into the food box held by a maid nearby.

In this quiet atmosphere, the sound of hurried footsteps was heard.

Soon, the servant Buwei appeared at the entrance of the hall. He stepped in, bowed and said:
"Madam, the young master got up a little late today. He said he was in a hurry to go to the Sheng family, so he didn't have breakfast."

Princess Pingning put down her chopsticks and looked at Buwei at the door without saying a word. The hall fell into silence again.

Then, he bowed even more deeply.

After the personal nanny at the side covered the food box, Princess Pingning said calmly, "Take it and let Heng-ge-er eat it on the way."

"Yes! Concubine!"

As he spoke, Buwei stretched out his hands. After the nanny placed the food box in his hands, he backed away from the door and turned around to walk quickly out of the yard.

Seeing Buwei disappear, Princess Pingning picked up her chopsticks and continued to have breakfast.

After dinner,

Princess Pingning walked out of the hall, waving an exquisite round fan, followed by a dozen maids who walked slowly around the Duke's Mansion.

After walking a few steps, a housekeeper came quickly over with an exquisite post in her hand.

After bowing, he handed the card to Princess Pingning's personal nanny and left quickly.

The personal nanny glanced at the name on the post:
"My Lady Princess, this is a message from the Gao family in Laizhou."

After hearing the words of the personal nanny, the round fan in Princess Pingning's arms stopped for a moment and then continued to move.

Then Princess Pingning reached out and took the post.

After reading the post, Princess Pingning said calmly, "The ancestors of the Gao family were honored in the imperial temple during the reign of the previous emperor. They are related to the Chai family and are also related to our old Duke. Let's send them a backup gift!"

"Yes, Madam! From Laizhou to western Anhui, it's close to the fiefdom of King Jing. This is really a faraway place to marry!"

Princess Pingning hummed and said, "Prepare the car. I'm going to the palace to visit my mother!"

On the way south from Xingguofang,

Qi Heng was eating breakfast in the car.

"Sir, please get up earlier next time! If you are tired, we can still sleep for a while on the way! The princess is suppressing her anger today."

"I am just so happy after hearing the good news about Lord Xu! Buwei, do you know what it means to be surrounded on three sides?!"

At this time, the driver's voice came from outside the carriage: "Young Master, I'm going to rein in the horse!"

"Wang Huzi, what's wrong?" Buwei asked.

"Brother Buwei, there are constables blocking the road near the entrance of Kaifeng government office. It seems that the prison guards are escorting prisoners."

Hearing this, Buwei lifted a corner of the car curtain and saw several prisoners with heavy shackles and tattoos on their faces walking out of the street not far away.

Relatives of some criminals were surrounding the bailiffs, handing them things and giving them money.

While they were talking, the carriage stopped.

The coachman Wang Huzi looked at the prisoners and said, "Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk. I wonder how far these prisoners have been exiled. They must be in chains and suffer for their crimes!"

Qi Heng in the car took a look and waved his hand, signaling Buwei to lower the curtain.

After the prisoner passes,
When the Qi family's carriage was about to move forward, onlookers blocked the road again.

A passerby asked outside the car:
"Sir, I heard that Marquis Yongyi won a great victory in the north. Will you release him today?"

"Yes! Sir, when Tuoxi Hou won the battle last month, he released some people! My Erhu..."

An impatient voice shouted:
"How can it be so fast! Disperse!"

"Don't get in the way here!"

"Can't you see the carriage blocking the Duke's Mansion?"

Then, the voice immediately changed to a flattering tone: "Hey, Mr. Wang Liu! Please come this way!"

In the carriage, Qi Heng raised his chin slightly.

Buwei said from behind the car door: "Wang Huzi, the young master wants to give you a reward."

"Yes!"

"The young master gave it to you! Go on."

Then, the sound of copper coins colliding was heard outside the car. The jailer took a string of copper coins thrown to him, and another shout of thanks was heard.

The sound of cars rumbles.

After eating, Qi Heng yawned and took a nap in the car.

When they arrived at the Sheng family's gate and heard the time shouting on the street, Qi Heng and Buwei hurriedly got out of the car and walked quickly towards the school yard.

Before entering the school yard, Qi Heng heard hearty laughter.

After entering the room, I saw Xu Zaijing, Changbai, Gu Tingye and Zai Zhang standing at the door, waving their folding fans quickly with smiles on their faces.

Qi Heng hurriedly bowed and greeted them, joining the discussion on the time of the demise of the Baigao Kingdom.

Chenshi (9:00 a.m.)

Sun rise,

People who are exposed to the sun feel a little uncomfortable.

Southwest of Bianjing,

Outside the outer city gate,

A group of exiled prisoners walked out of the city with heavy shackles on their shoulders. At the shouts of the bailiffs, they went to rest in the shade of the trees by the roadside.

These people didn't feel anything in prison, but after wearing these heavy shackles and walking less than ten miles out of the city, everyone's necks were already rubbed raw.

The wound and sweat made it painful.

The leading escort looked at the prisoners with amusement, and when he was about to give the order to set off again, a constable arrived outside the city gate on horseback.

After a conversation, the escorting Jie almost nodded repeatedly.

Some of the prisoners had looks of joy and anticipation on their faces, and began to talk to each other excitedly.

After a while

After the bailiff sent the messenger away with a bow, he walked in front of the prisoners.

"Haha!"

After the escort spat out a mouthful of saliva, he saw everyone looking at him, and he bowed his hands to the sky and said:
"The saint is kind!"

"Marquis Yongyi won a great victory in the north. You damn stubborn prisoners, you can also get some good fortune."

"Someone! Change the heavy shackle to a medium shackle, the medium shackle to a light shackle, and the light shackle to a hand shackle!"

"After you change it, wait for the clerks in the government office to come and change the seals for you!"

Seeing the prisoners' happy expressions, the escort continued, "Don't be too happy! The prefect has also said that if any of you dare to move during the escort, you will be killed immediately!"

As he spoke, the bailiff glanced at the prisoners.

Some of the prisoners who looked at him with strange eyes lowered their heads.

Jiying Lane

Sheng Family Academy
Minglan, who was sitting in the last row in the corner, raised her head and looked forward to see Master Zhuang, who was in a good mood and was teaching Changfeng's homework in a powerful voice. She then twirled the brush in her hand on the edge of the inkstone and continued writing on the copybook.

"Thank you, thank you for your teachings! I will keep them in mind."

Chang Feng, who was also sitting in the last row, stood up and said with a guilty look on his face while bowing.

Molan in the first row frowned and turned around to look at her brother Changfeng with some blame.

When she accidentally made eye contact with Qi Heng, Molan quickly smiled, turned her head back, and stroked the hair by her ears uncomfortably.

Seeing Molan like this, Rulan in the middle rolled her eyes and curled her lips in disgust.

Zhuang Xuejiu nodded: "Well, sit down!"

After finishing speaking, Zhuang Xueji picked up the folding fan on the table, walked a few steps in front of the table in a good mood, looked at his students with a smile on his face, and said:
"When I entered the courtyard just now, I happened to hear you talking about the affairs of Baigao Country. It was quite lively! Now that the lesson has been completed, let's continue the discussion."

"How long can the Baigao Kingdom hold out? Why? Changbai, you go first!"

Changbai stood up and bowed, "Yes, scholar!"

"Scholar, I think the Baigao Kingdom can still hold out for another three years! There are several reasons for this."

"First, although Your Majesty has adopted Lord Wang Shao's strategy of opening up the Hehuang border for ten years since the birth of the prince, the Baigao Kingdom will definitely mobilize all its troops to fight to the death with our Great Zhou at this critical moment of survival. With hundreds of thousands of troops from the two countries fighting against each other and millions of people killing each other, it will not be possible to destroy the country overnight!"

"Secondly, I think that Your Majesty will learn from the experience of the victory and then defeat in the war with Baigao Kingdom at the beginning of his reign. This time, he will surely take steady steps. Although Marquis Tuoxi attacked Youzhou Road and Marquis Yongyi destroyed the Black Mountain Weifu Army, the combined strength of Youzhou Road and the Black Mountain Weifu Army is only 40,000 to 50,000 people, and Baigao Kingdom has not suffered any serious damage."

"Third, Northern Liao is involved in the threat of Jin, so they certainly don't want our Great Zhou to recover the former territory of Bai Gao and remove the constraints on our Great Zhou in the northwest! For example, the Northern Liao envoys discussed with our Great Zhou in Nanyu Garden to conquer Bai Gao, but they didn't send many troops.

At this time, the Baigao Kingdom may have already sent a letter to ask the Northern Liao to mediate! The Northern Liao Southwest Recruiting Office may send troops to threaten the Hebei and Hebei routes of our Great Zhou!"

"Fourth, although there was internal strife in Baigao, my Great Zhou delayed the war for a year because Northern Liao was watching closely, and Baigao also remained stable for a year."

"So, the student thinks it will take at least three more years. Pedant!"

Zhuang Xuejiu waved his hand to signal Changbai to sit down, and said, "Zai Zhang!"

Xu Zai Zhang stood up and said, "Scholar, I think it may take two years, and the reason is the same as Chang Bai's! But after all, there is a civil war in Baigao now, so three years is not enough. I think two years will be enough!"

Zhuang Xueji waved his hand and said, "Brother Heng?"

Zai Zhang sat down, Qi Heng stood up, bowed and said: "Scholar, I share the same opinion as Brother Zhang."

"Tingye?"

Qi Heng sat down, and Gu Tingye stood up and said, "Scholar, I agree with Changbai. But Changbai is wrong about one thing!"

Zhuang Xuejiu: "Oh?"

Hearing this, Changbai also looked at Gu Tingye in confusion, and his eyes signaled Gu Tingye to tell him where he was wrong.

Gu Tingye looked around the school and continued, "Yesterday I saw the family report that the North Liao Southwest Road Recruiting Office was not a meeting! It has already sent troops."

Hearing this, everyone in the school looked unhappy.

At the scholar's signal, Gu Tingye sat down, Chang Feng stood up and agreed with Gu Tingye.

After a moment's silence, Zhuang Xuejiu asked, "Zai Jing? What do you think?"

Xu Zaijing stood up and looked at Changbai, Gu Tingye and others who turned around to look at him. He smiled and bowed, saying, "Scholar, I think what Changbai, brother and Brother Ye said are all reasonable! But they overlooked something."

Hearing this, Zhuang Xuejiu's eyes lit up: "Oh? Tell me what you think!"

Xu Zaijing bowed in response and continued:
"Scholar, what Changbai Qiyi said is correct!"

"However, Changbai's third point overlooked one thing! Although the Baigao Kingdom has gained a year's respite due to the covetous eyes of the Northern Liao Kingdom, hasn't our Great Zhou also been preparing for war for a year?"

Hearing this, everyone in the school nodded.

Xu Zaijing continued:

"Ten years ago, the Baigao Kingdom had always massacred and plundered the tribes in the Hehuang area. Many tribes had feuds with the Baigao Kingdom! When our Great Zhou opened the border in Hehuang, the Great Zhou army was very powerful, and Lord Wang had a good strategy. He conquered, pacified, promoted business, and established schools. In the past ten years, Xihe Road has become increasingly prosperous, and the commercial tax alone is 800,000 strings of cash every year."

"There are more than 60,000 regular and foreign soldiers in Xihe Road, including a large number of cavalry! Last year, the court recruited 50,000 soldiers from Chengdu Prefecture to make up the total of 110,000. However, the Baigao State's Gansu Military Command has only recruited 40,000 soldiers!"

"Excluding the troops of Baigao Kingdom defending against the Uighurs in the west, Baigao Kingdom only has more than 300,000 troops on the front line. Add the Gansu Military Command and it will be 400,000!"

"And in my Great Zhou, General Cao, Marquis of Tuoxi, has nearly 400,000 Western Army soldiers under his command after last year's reinforcements! My father, Marquis Yongyi, has 80,000 soldiers under his command. Last autumn, the Bianjing Imperial Guards, the Duke of Ying, and the Marquis of Ningyuan gathered another 10,000 cavalry to supplement them!"

"Six hundred thousand troops versus four hundred thousand! Advantage!"

Xu Zaijing stopped himself from planting the flag in time and said, "Although the military strength of Baigao Kingdom was not greatly damaged, as my brother said, the internal strife in Baigao Kingdom had affected a lot of people!"

"Many families closely related to the Li clan were killed!!"

"It's like a person who has changed his brain and is trying to command his limbs. It must be difficult! The cohesion of the Baigao Nation has dropped a lot compared to before!"

"An outstanding general of the younger generation of Baigao."

Gu Tingye at the side interrupted and said, "You, Brother Jing, have ruined a few more of them. They have surrendered to my Great Zhou!"

Xu Zaijing nodded and said, "Brother Ye is right!"

"Moreover, among these surrendered generals, there are cavalry generals and infantry generals, all of whom have a blood feud with Bai Gaoliang Yi's family! Now most of them are serving as military advisors to Marquis Tuoxi and Marquis Yongyi."

Gu Tingye interrupted again: "That's right! As soon as the opposing generals stick out their butts, we know they want to..."

"cough!"

Chang Feng coughed, and Gu Tingye quickly stopped talking.

Xu Zaijing glanced at Gu Tingye and said, "Between a loss and a gain, our Great Zhou army will know ourselves and the enemy better!"

"Also, the Li clan has led the Baigao Kingdom for many years, and the only two legitimate successors are in our Great Zhou. With the two of them here, it won't be difficult to persuade the defenders to surrender."

"As for what Changbai and Ye Ge'er mentioned about the North Liao Southwest Recruiting Office."

"Tsk! When the Jin Kingdom was not around, the Duke of Ying and the Marquis of Ningyuan stationed in the two routes of Hebei dared to confront them head-on, let alone now!"

Hearing this, Gu Tingye straightened his back and nodded.

Zhuang Xuejiao held his beard and smiled, "So, how long do you think it will be?"

Xu Zaijing cupped his hands and said, "Scholar! I have not come to a conclusion yet, but next year is your majesty's birthday!"

"hiss!!!"

Everyone in the school gasped when they understood the shocking meaning in Xu Zaijing's words.

Seeing everyone's surprised expressions, Xu Zaijing said to himself: There is another uncle named Zhao Taifeng lurking in Chuihuansi.

“This is too optimistic!”

Xu Zaijing bowed and said, "The scholar is right!"

Zhuang Xueji nodded, put his hands behind his back and said, "Let's take a break!"

After saying that, the scholar sat back at the table, pulled out a piece of paper and began to write.

After finishing writing, the scholar folded the paper and put it into an envelope. He then wrote "To the Prefect" on the envelope and placed the envelope on the side of the desk.

At this time, Gu Tingye's voice rang out in the school: "Changbai, if the prince of Baigao Kingdom hadn't died, would Liang Yi's family still rebel against Baigao Kingdom?"

(End of this chapter)