It’s not that there is no rain in the dry season, but that it’s not as heavy as the rainy season and so frequent.∈◆

It was raining that day. Han Zong stood under an oil-paper umbrella and looked at the village soldiers slowly gathering along the avenue of sugar services, with a solemn expression.

Tens of thousands of rural soldiers were recruited in a state. Xu Ping was not the first to do this in the Song Dynasty. Han Zong knew more than three people. However, it was on the edge of Hebei. Facing the Khitans, those rural soldiers were not in the same way as swords, guns, bows and arrows, and they were more of cheering.

Xu Ping's tens of thousands of rural soldiers were really going to fight tough battles. Not only were the swords and guns, but the flags were neat, half of the cavalry and one-quarter of the infantry were also armed. In terms of equipment alone, it was naturally incomparable to the regular army of the Song Dynasty, but it was comparable to the regular army of Jiaozhi.

Han Zong's eyelids were twitching. When he remembered that these rural soldiers were not helping the Xiang army, but were completely independent, he sighed that Xu Ping was playing too much.

Not far away, in the place where the village soldiers gathered, someone was chanting the content on the white wall loudly: "Jiazhi wolf ambition, the court has suspended the grace of the elders and is furious..."

After reading it, a bookkeeper shouted in the rain: "In the years, Jiaozhi invaded the enemy, not only Luzhou, Silingzhou and Shixizhou on the border. Jia Chenggui, the current lord of Jiadong, once captured Taipingzhai in the early years of Tiansheng, burned, killed and looted countless soldiers and civilians. Some of us crossed the ocean, some crossed the mountains of Wuling Mountains, and traveled thousands of miles to Yongzhou, took root and settled, and had not had a few good days. If Jiadong was allowed to be rampant, our lives would be uneasy. Instead of letting them fight, we might as well take the initiative to fight and abandon this disaster forever. It is also considered to accumulate blessings for future generations..."

The thin raindrops drifted with the breeze. The gathering army did not respond enthusiastically to the bookmaker's words. If Xu Ping stood here, he would have been disappointed to see this scene.

The notice was for the court, officials and Jiaozhi to see it. To make the village soldiers willing to go to war, the content of the notice was far from enough. Xu Ping also thought of many solutions, such as the flesh-like appearance mentioned by the bookkeeper, which made this war truly connected to everyone.

Unfortunately, Xu Ping still couldn't understand the pulse of this era. His learning from his previous life was effective for an awakened nation. It was far from enough for the people of the Song Dynasty today, and the effect was not great.

After five generations of war and people were displaced, the lower class people in this era had a strong sense of refugees, and defending their homes was not very attractive to them. This is still in the sugar business. The lives of immigrants have undergone earth-shaking changes in recent years, and we can still listen to these words.

If you change the place, the bookmaker's words may cause laughter. Just fight and talk about how much money you give and how much things you can grab. It is more attractive than these.

Let the participants know why they fight and willingly fight for it to the end. It has always been the most difficult thing in war. That's why Wu Qi sucked pus for the soldiers, had the charlatans to follow the army, and had the Five Dynasties to take elite soldiers as adopted sons, and so on. In the end, what people learned is that there is no need to let the participants know why they fight, as long as they use strict military laws to let them know what to do, this is the cheapest.

Xu Ping will eventually learn this slowly.

December 25, the last day of 49th.

The wind came from the east, and it seemed to have the breath of the ocean, a little wet and a little cold.

Xu Ping was wearing military uniform and rode on a horse to watch the sun just rising in the east. The red sunlight dissolved the cold breath, giving people warmth and confidence.

Tan Hu whispered immediately: "Official, the time is here."

"Transfer our military orders and send troops to the state of gratitude!"

Xu Ping exhaled, lifted the reins of the horse and rushed to the Liangzhou Basin in the east.

The sound of the trumpet sounded from outside Menzhou City and extended to the east one after another, all the way to the border of Menzhou.

Han Daocheng heard the sound of trumpets coming from afar and trembled his eyebrows: "Zhi Mom, it's time! Let's continue, the whole army set out and head straight to Qiongqi River!"

On the 25th day, Sang Yi, who returned from Guangyuan Prefecture, arrived at Qiyuan Prefecture. The overall situation on the western front was decided. Xu Ping led a total of 15,000 troops and horses in Menzhou and Pingxiangdong to officially enter Liangzhou.

By noon, a thousand cavalry stationed on the border of Menzhou had arrived at the Qiongqi River and patrolled back and forth along the river. The ferry on the river had long been burned by Jiadong, and the Jia family made up their minds to give up Beiliangzhou.

In the afternoon, Xu Ping's central army arrived outside Beiliangzhou City.

Xu Ping immediately looked at the small city in front of him. The wall was less than one meter high, made of soil, and there was no moat around it. There was no wooden city gate on all sides, and there was not even a urn. The place was rainy and the earth city was eroded severely. Although it had been repaired over the years, there were still many places with weeds growing.

Seeing that the four gates of the city were closed and there was no movement at all, Xu Ping asked the people around him: "It has been one or two hours since the cavalry vanguard bypassed here. Has the city been so quiet?"

"Yes, it seems like there are all dead people inside!"

"Can't the people inside don't need to eat and drink, and no one comes out to chop wood and buy vegetables?"

"Officials, since the last time Commander Han encircled the city, the people in this city have been driven out. Only the magistrate and his family are in it, and it seems that they are going to defend the city to the death!"

Xu Ping sneered: "Hold on the side? This small town is worthy!"

After calling Tan Hu, Xu Ping gave a few instructions and asked him to go outside the city gate to shout.

Tan Hu Yingnuo and pulled his horse out of the city gate. He saw that there was no one on the top of the city. He didn't know if anyone would hear it. He gritted the bullet and shouted: "The Song Dynasty recommended the Zuojiang Daoxidong affairs and official Xu reported to the governor of Liangzhou Li Qingcheng in the city. He quickly opened the city gate to welcome the imperial soldiers. If he was closed, he would be punished as a rebellion. Don't make mistakes!"

After shouting three times, seeing that there was no movement in the city, Tan Hu returned to Xu Ping awkwardly.

Xu Ping didn't say anything, waited for a while, and said to Tan Hu: "You go over again and let him open the city gate within half an hour, otherwise he will start to attack the city. Also, if our troops are fighting in, then he is treasoning against the country, and he will behead him, and his wives, concubines and children will be matched three thousand miles away!"

Tan Hu Yingnuo was about to leave, but Xu Ping called again and said to him: "Also, I want to tell him in particular that I know that his two sons are in Jiadong and the other is in Shenglong Mansion. If we break the city and kill his head, I will ask Jiadong and Shenglong Mansion to send his two sons back and deal with them together. Now that I have tens of thousands of soldiers in Liangzhou, I don't believe that Jiaozhi and Jiadong will be loyal to him, a dead man!"

Tan Hu responded and returned to the city gate to shout.

As the commander of the first army, Xu Ping would not go there in person. If there were strong bows and crossbows in ambushing the city, he would shoot the commander over and make a joke.

After shouting, Tan Hu came back and waited quietly beside Xu Ping.

About a quarter of an hour later, there was movement on the city gate. Li Qingcheng appeared at the top of the city and shouted loudly to Shuaiqi: "Li Qingcheng, the governor of Liangzhou, has something to say to the officials who are promoted!"

The sergeant in front came over and Xu Ping said coldly: "Tell him what you have to say, and then I will talk slowly when I enter the city! If I don't open the city gate, I will start to attack the city in a quarter of an hour!"

This small city is effective in dealing with local soldiers and rebellion. For Xu Ping's soldiers and horses, they are just like children playing house, and they just pile up a few piles of soil and cross over.

The city guarding is not originally a place to hide in the city and defend it, but relying on the city to take a series of defensive measures. When the city gate is closed, it is not far from breaking the city.

The soldiers in front of him made a message, and Li Qingcheng on the city wall knew that he could no longer delay, so he had no choice but to order the city gate to open.

Zhang Rong led his subordinates to the front and arrived at the city gate. When he saw Li Qingcheng kneeling on the side of the road, his face was ashamed, he said to him: "You are waiting for officials here and wait for punishment!"

After saying that, he led his subordinates into the city gate.

There were only one or two hundred local soldiers under Li Qingcheng in the city. Except for some close-knit followers, he threw down his weapons early and hid without a trace, and there was no battle.

After Zhang Rong entered the city, he immediately asked his subordinates to occupy the government office and various treasuries. Everyone with swords and guns looked at it. Everything was gone without any surprises, so he ordered someone to let Xu Ping's central army enter the city.

The small city could not accommodate too many troops. The only one who actually entered the city was Zhang Rongyi's command, and Xu Ping's central army had less than 1,000 people. The others were camping outside the city.

The marching formation of more than 10,000 people cannot be like a gathering of students on the playground, stretching from Menzhou to Liangzhou. After arriving one after another, it will fill the entire Liangzhou Basin north of Qiongqi River.

Xu Ping rode his horse past the city gate, looked at Li Qingcheng on the ground, and said in a deep voice: "Get up, let's talk to the yamen. Refusing to accept the government army is a big mistake. Don't make mistakes anymore!"

Li Qingcheng stood up and bowed and said, "According to the order of the official to be promoted!"

On the day Xu Ping marched into Liangzhou, he occupied Beiliangzhou without any blood.

Gao Daquan took his headquarters to command five hundred cavalry, plus one command cavalry and four command infantry, and as the left wing, he entered Liangzhou immediately after Han Daocheng's troops. After entering Liangzhou, he passed by the city and flowed upstream along the Qiongqi River, blocking the valley entrance from Luzhou.

There is no military camp at the entrance of the valley. The dividing between Liangzhou and Luzhou is a pass in the valley, where the checkpoints and tax collectors are there, and no one is stationed at the entrance of the valley.

Xu Ping had already instructed that as long as the valley entrance is stuck, the Jiaozhi army entering Luzhou would not care, as long as they could not rush into Liangzhou. Those were barbarian soldiers in Jiaozhi, who were used to crossing mountains and ridges, and there was no need to fight with them in a continuous area. As long as their retreat was cut off, Luzhou would not be able to support these five or six thousand people, they would sooner or later come to their door.

Although it is considered a mountain basin, although the area of ​​Luzhou is large, the territory is not flat, with continuous hills and mostly stone mountains. Seeing the scenery is a good place, farming and raising people is far less than that of Liangzhou. It is precisely because the place is barren and although it is connected, Jiadong did not expand there, but was just a pedal to enter the Song Dynasty.

On the 25th, Xu Ping occupied the northern part of Liangzhou, and no battle occurred. Jiadong originally agreed that this place did not belong to him.

However, the times changed, Jiadong was willing to give up Beiliangzhou, but Xu Ping was unwilling to give up Nanliangzhou.

(There is another chapter tonight.) (To be continued.)
Chapter completed!