Your Majesty the Empress, I am really not a traitor!

However, facing such continuous frontline casualties, Qin Ji still couldn't sit still.

It's winter, and although the current Great Xia army is not short of cotton clothes and food thanks to the logistics, the casualties are still increasing. The Holy See Army on the church side has also paid a terrible price. A regiment has already been wiped out on the front line. For both sides, this confrontation is just a matter of who bleeds faster and who can't hold on.

At this time, Qin Ji had to find a way to establish contact with Xia Yuxiao and discuss what to do.

He chose to directly let the profound practitioners under him construct the sound transmission technique, and then directly started "voice" with Xia Yuxiao.

Since the sound transmission technique at this distance burns spirit stones very much, the communication between the two sides was extremely concise. Qin Ji quickly stated the current situation, and then asked Xia Yuxiao if he wanted to continue spending time with the enemy here.

If you choose to avoid the edge, Daxia still has a way to go. The best way is to avoid the enemy's frontal edge, choose to abandon a large area of ​​plains, and rely on the natural danger brought by the terrain to prevent the Church's troops from advancing further. .

It sounds cowardly, but this is very normal. After all, in the frontal battlefield at this moment, the Red Kite Army is at a disadvantage.

However, you must know that in this war, Daxia is currently the one taking the initiative. Avoiding the edge on the battlefield means that the bargaining chips on the negotiating table are reduced. The greatest significance of this deadly battle is to let one of the parties Completely admit defeat and accept the truce.Once Daxia chooses to admit defeat, the previous results may be wiped out in a flash.

If the church chooses to admit defeat, the result will be similar. The longer the church is on the front line, the higher the image of the church will be in the eyes of believers in Samanjan.

It is natural to procrastinate, but if the church also decides to fight Daxia to the end in Samanjan, then such a waste of national power may not be a good thing.

Facing Qin Ji's question, Xia Yuxiao's answer was also very simple:

"In war, there will always be a lot of casualties. I don't think that Daxia has the ability to crush all enemies. Since the church wants to fight us now, let's do it. I can ignore the number of casualties for the time being——I want Daxia to win this battle." war."

It is true that the sacrifice of the Red Kite Army is heartbreaking, but for the entire country, this is also a rare war that will give the church a good memory.

Moreover, every day of the war in Samanjan means that the prestige of the church in Samanjan will decrease by one day.

In the eyes of believers, how responsible and responsible the church is for Samanjan and Daxia.But after all, there are more ordinary civilians in Samanjan. For civilians, religion is important, but when religion has not completely infiltrated and brainwashed them, they still care more about their own survival.

But the reality is that with the increasing casualties of the church on the front line and the long-term attrition of the Samanjan army, the people in the country have now been exploited extremely miserable by the noble officials above their heads and the church lords.

What they care about now is not who saved Samanjan for us, but who can end this war.

In the face of the crisis of survival, people will choose to abandon their beliefs when their beliefs are not strong enough.

........................

"Strengthen the defense in the northwest direction. If I'm not wrong, the church may attack our army from the northwest direction. Most of the city defenses here are not very strong. They have been repaired since we captured them before. , I think, they will definitely not miss this great opportunity."

In the big tent, Qin Ji made arrangements in several directions.

"Obey, I will ask my subordinates to guard the gates here to prevent the enemy from entering."

said the satellite.

"But Lieutenant, with all due respect, although our logistics seems to be sufficient at present, we have to consider how to continue to expand our results if we win this war of attrition."

"Are you so sure we can win?" Qin Ji asked with a smile.

"The church is very powerful, and it has indeed caused us a lot of trouble," the satellite looked at the map and analyzed, "However, the church's offensive was the most violent only in the first few days. After that, although they They have never stopped attacking us, but their intensity has become smaller and smaller. Recently, I have seen that they have rarely dispatched even paladins."

Not sending out paladins is naturally not because Da Xia is too weak.

It's that too many paladins die.

These paladins are certainly the elite among human beings, but even so, as long as the method is proper, paladins are not invincible in front of the large army.In the past two months, there were no less than [-] paladins killed by Da Xia on the front line. Such a loss is hard for the church to bear.

Therefore, those paladins who were able to fight ten against one in the past don't appear on the battlefield very much now.

"The enemy's momentum is getting weaker and weaker. They can't hold on for long now, and even the offensive in some areas has gradually stagnated. Even if they can really persist with us, this morale state will collapse sooner or later." The satellite concluded. own judgment.

"...Then think we will win in the future. If we really win, my next deployment will be directed at the capital of Samanjan."

After Qin Ji said these words, Lingyan, who was concentrating on practicing calligraphy beside her, couldn't help but put down the pen in her hand.

Chapter 35 Digging for Grain

"Won't that be a bold idea?"

Although Lingyan doesn't know much about formation and grand strategy, she also knows what it means to attack a country's capital.

The capital, often means the lifeblood of a country, is the heart of a country, and in order to protect this heart, when the capital is attacked, a real country will break out unimaginable fighting power to defend.

This is a fact brought about by countless wars.To put it bluntly, the current Samanjan is struggling to gather 10,000+ troops, but if the capital is attacked, it is not uncommon for them to gather 10,000+ troops to defend the capital in a short period of time.

"Not bold." Qin Ji said with a smile.

"Judging from the current state, the church's war potential in Samanjan is basically here. No matter how hard they try to squeeze, it is difficult to squeeze out more Holy See troops. The church has so far The fact that they have not officially issued a declaration of war against our country shows that they do not really want to fight an all-out war with us."

Qin Siyue said while drinking warm milk beside her.

"The Holy See Army came from thousands of miles to ensure that Samanjan, a country that is more important to them, is their outpost. However, an outpost is always an outpost, and even the Holy See Army cannot choose to lay down all their wealth for an outpost. So, if we defeat them on this battlefield next, they will probably choose to retreat."

"In this way, the Holy See is equivalent to leaving Samanjan here alone, and the army of Samanjan has lost a lot in the war during this period. If they want to keep the capital, they don't grab a second It is impossible for 30 people to join the army—the question is, the 30 to [-] people captured temporarily, they seem to have a strong force, but do they really have enough combat capability?"

30 million, which is an amount that most countries in the human world cannot make up. For Samanjan, everyone knows what it will be like if they catch 30 million temporarily.

Let's not talk about whether you can fight or not, let's just say, you should first consider whether you can afford to support them.

"Among these areas in the north of Samanjan, only the capital's terrain is relatively flat and there are not too many mountains on the road. When they chose to build the capital here, they should have taken a fancy to the convenient transportation here. In this way, It also has an advantage over our army.”

After Qin Ji finished speaking, suddenly, the soldiers outside the door shouted into the military tent:

"Report to Taiwei, there are people outside asking to see you."

"Who is it? I'm dealing with military affairs, please invite people to the nearby camp to rest."

"Taiwei, the adult said that he must see you now. He said his name is Advisor Cheng."

said the soldier.

Hearing this name, Qin Ji froze for a moment, then turned his head in surprise: "He actually came? Invite someone in!"

To tell you the truth, I asked the consultant Cheng to deal with the grain requisition and beat up the local tyrants and squires from various places. In fact, on the one hand, it was to let him help him as much as possible. So a task like this was arranged for him.

According to Qin Ji's thinking, as long as this buddy doesn't beat himself to death, there is basically no problem. After he comes back, he can talk about it carefully, and it will probably be over.

However, when the consultant Cheng walked in and dragged him out without saying a word, he was stunned.

In his field of vision, the ground was full of grain carts.

Each cart was filled with bags of grain and carts full of forage, and besides these grains and fodder, he also saw several silver carts...

"Reporting to the Taiwei, I have completed the ration collection, and the military rations I have raised so far are enough to support the entire army for a month. There are also silver carts, which I have collected and seized in the local area. The illegal gains of local officials and gentry, With His Majesty's permission, it will be shipped directly to the front for daily expenses of the army."

The unassuming official in front of him spoke these words calmly.

The people of Qin Ji were dumbfounded.

Enough food and grass to support the whole army for a month, is that much?In fact, it may not be enough.A large army of [-] is going to war, and many wars often last for half a year, and the food and grass for this month are not much.

However, you must know that this food is not collected from all over the country, but dug from the hands of those rich people.

Qin Ji has seen how greedy those rich people are. When they are greedy for money, they are greedy by handfuls, and when it is time to get money, they take it one by one.To be able to dig out so much food and grass from the hands of this group of people, and there are several silver carts full of money, this is enough to show that this guy really has two brushes.

"Okay, okay, with this month's extra food and grass, our army has more confidence in the front line. Come in quickly, you must have a good talk with me about how you did it."

There wasn't much food and grass, but with a month's more food and grass, he felt a little more at ease. Qin Ji immediately arranged for people to unload the trucks, keep the food and money, and then brought the consultant Cheng into the army account.

At Qin Ji's request, the consultant Cheng slowly revealed his own way to deal with these iron roosters.

In fact, the main thing is to investigate. In any case, if you don't know what the other party has in their hands, you will set a number for them, that is tantamount to being taken advantage of.This group of people will definitely make you cry poorly, and you can't judge whether what he said is true or not.

Consultant Cheng naturally expected this problem, so he had already arranged for a few competent men to go to the local area to investigate long before he went to the local area.After arriving in the local area, he himself did not go to work immediately, but spent all day in teahouses, restaurants, and Qufang gouran, having a great time.

When he got here, most of the local gentry had already let down their vigilance toward him—at first he thought he was a vigorous central official, but now he saw that he was just a guy who could finally have fun after leaving the central government.

However, what they don't know is that during this inadvertent trip to the mountains and rivers, through the waiters in restaurants and teahouses, the audience listening to music in Qufang, and the children playing on the side of the road, he has roughly grasped the local situation clearly. .

When everything has been figured out, the consultant Cheng will start to collect black information and evidence of these people, and the black information is easier to find.

They think that no one knows what they have done, but the eyes of the people are often very bright, ten people, maybe you can make nine people not know what you have done, but once one person knows what you have done. matter, then the remaining nine will know soon.

Relying on these black materials and the evidence collected, Consultant Cheng will remind the other party insinuatingly, and give his own price tag.

At this time, most of the gentry basically can only smash their teeth and swallow them in their stomachs, and give money and food with smiling faces.

but......

Everyone knows that if they obediently pay money and food on the front foot, they will inevitably scrape money from the people more ruthlessly on the back foot.

Therefore, the consultant Cheng thoughtfully prepared a whole set of procedures including sending you to the court meal...

Chapter 36 new tasks

In fact, if the law was simply enforced impartially, it would be absolutely impossible for Advisor Cheng to be safe and sound under the siege of these people.

Just after he expropriated money and food, those noble gentry and officials who felt that they had lost their blood wrote to the imperial court to impeach Cheng Cheng, and criticized him in a very fierce tone as an immoral person who "levied and extorted".

Unfortunately, this time, no one in the court listened to them.

In other words, the emperor did not listen to them.

In fact, this incident of submitting a letter was very violent. Because the consultant Cheng even touched the relatives of the central government officials, quite a few officials vehemently refuted this "indiscriminate" cruel official at the court meeting.

However, Xia Yuxiao was not polite this time. Facing the idea of ​​these people trying to force her to oust the consultant Cheng again, Xia Yuxiao sent the guards from Huilin Office to deal with the matter.

Even without the guidance of Lingyan, Huilin Office can complete some tasks to a certain extent.For example, conduct a simple survey of those officials.

Basically, few of these officials are completely innocent. If it is really brought out, everyone will have some cases on them. There are no incidents on weekdays. In fact, Xia Yuxiao still needs them, so they have not been touched for the time being.

But this time, Xia Yuxiao also took care of their face and didn't publicly point it out to them in court.She just let the scale guards use these handles to calm these people down a little bit.

As a result, many officials woke up the next day with a list of their corruption and bribery and collusion with cronies in recent years on the side of their pillows.

Most of the officials shut up afterwards, only a few who were really not afraid of death continued to dance there, and soon, one of them who jumped the most was arrested by the scale guards.

Within a few days, the official confessed to the fact that he had conspired to support the succession of the former crown prince, Xia Yuxiao very "mercifully" sentenced him to a death sentence - this is indeed kind, after all, it is basically equivalent to treason.

In the end, all these officials kept their mouths shut. After all, this fellow, Advisor Cheng, at most just messed with his relatives. If he insisted on going on, he might not be his relatives, but them himself. .

"This time...you have let His Majesty use the cards in her hand to protect you once."

Qin Ji smiled complicatedly after listening to the consultant Cheng's narration.

In fact, Xia Yuxiao had already grasped these handles, which should have been used as Xia Yuxiao's capital to blackmail these officials in the future.But now, she used it on the consultant Cheng first, which was tantamount to revealing her own card.

Although Qin Ji understands that exchanging a card in his hand for a useful knife is indeed very good, but if this is the case, he can't always rely on Xia Yuxiao to keep him in the future.

"Your Majesty knows that, in fact, I have already made preparations to deal with these people, but I did not expect Your Majesty to act so decisively."

When Advisor Cheng said this, for some reason, Qin Ji felt that he seemed a little excited.

"Oh? Otherwise, what are you going to do?"