Zhao Zi looked at Fugu Huaien and was amazed. After a long while, he asked, "Is it the King of the North Courtyard?" ”

Fugu Huaien raised his head and said: "Yes, it is Lonely!" If it falls into your hands, it's just bad luck to blame, and if you want to kill it, just do it! ”

Zhao Ziyi clapped his hands: "You are the first person in Gao Changguo, how can you kill it?" Wait for me to report to the festival commander and escort you to the capital, that is our right way! How difficult it is for us soldiers to catch the lord of the country! ”

After speaking, Zhao Zi said to the soldiers around him: "Take good care of it, eat and drink well, don't have an accident!" ”

The soldiers promised to take the soldiers to escort the servant Gu Huaien out, and found a good place to lock him up.

Zhao Zi rubbed his hands happily and said, "Originally, it should be sent to the festival marshal tomorrow, but I just want the other party to sacrifice the city, so forget it." This battle was really fought, and after only a few shots, the opposing lord was captured. Tomorrow when it is pushed to the front of the city, will the people of the city still hold on? ”

After speaking, he ordered his soldiers to bring wine, and poured himself a drink, which was very happy.

On the second day, Zhao Zi ordered the servant Gu Huaien and Long Luo Dusha to the front of the city, and said in a loud voice: "Your lord is here with me, so don't you quickly open the city and surrender!" If not, ten thousand cannons will blast through the gate of your bird city! ”

When the soldiers in the city saw it, they didn't dare to slack off, and hurriedly rushed to the city lord's mansion to report to the servants. When the servant Guchen heard the news, he had to smile bitterly: "Tens of thousands of troops are besieging the city, and the king still wants to be able to escape from the city, but he crashes into the hands of others. At this time, it had to be lowered. ”

When I arrived at the head of the city, I saw Zhao Zi riding on a horse, and next to him were Fugu Huaien and Longluo Dusha, both of whom were real people. He said loudly: "General Zhao outside the city, you have already captured the king, I don't know what you want?" ”

Zhao Zi said: "What else can I do?" You immediately open the door and dedicate the city, and you have your own merits! If you defend it, I will give an order in a while, and ten thousand cannons will be fired in unison, and see if you can block the city gate! I have tens of thousands of soldiers and horses here, and I will fight into the city, and there will be no good results at that time! ”

In fact, Gaochang is a big city, and there are horses outside, even if the city gate is opened, there will be a bloody battle when entering the city. When artillery bombards the city, it is better to blast through the city walls and directly bypass the defenses of the city gates. Zhao Zi arrested the lord of Gaochang and was on the rise, saying that he would scare the servants.

Fu Guchen said: "Since the general has captured the king, what do we mean by defending?" Wait a minute, I will open the gate and sacrifice the city. ”

Zhao Zi was overjoyed when he heard this, and said to the servant Gu Huaien on the side: "Did you hear that?" I caught you, and sure enough, I gave up the city! ”

Fugu Huaien closed his eyes and didn't listen to Zhao Zi's ramblings. When he and Long Luo Dusha came out of the city wall, they knew that only the servants and ministers were left in the city, and they would definitely not fight to the death. Fugu Chen is the lord of Gaochang City, and Fugu Huaien doesn't care anymore.

After about half an hour, the servants and the servants opened the city gate and went out of the city. When he arrived in front of Zhao Zi, he arched his hand: "General, Gaochang has opened the city gate." I also hope that the general will remember that God has the virtue of a good life, and after entering the city, do not kill and plunder, and treat the people well. ”

Zhao Zi said: "What did you say! We are the soldiers and horses of the imperial court, this is the king from the west, how can we treat the people harshly! ”

After speaking, he said to Qin Youpeng behind him: "General Qin, take your subordinates into the city!" Fan Gaochang soldiers, take their weapons, first properly imprisoned, and then dispose of them when the marshal comes! Remember, when the army enters the city, it is not allowed to take the property of the officials and people in the city, otherwise it will be punished severely! ”

Qin Youpeng sang a promise with his hand, went to bring his own soldiers and horses, and went to the city first.

In Liuzhong City, Du Zhongxiao took the official document sent by Zhao Zi and said to Fu Bi: "This King of Beiting Khan, last night he brought the general commander and a hundred soldiers, and came down from the city, wanting to escape from the encirclement and go back to Beiting." Zhao Zi's 30,000-strong army besieged the city, and the city was not besieged, how could there be no team to defend it? As a result, not long after leaving the city, he was captured by his guards. Today, Zhao Zi escorted the King of Beiting Khan and went to open the gate of Gaochang, and Gaochang City has been captured. Pack up, and tomorrow we'll go to Gaochang City. ”

Fu Bi said: "The King of Beiting Khan has the courage, and after being besieged, he still dares to think of breaking through. Now that he has taken him, what does the festival want? ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "This kind of headache matter, let's let the court take care of it." The king of Beiting Khan and the general of Gaochang who got it were sent to the capital in two days, which was regarded as a prisoner. When we arrived in Gaochang, we thought about how to deal with Yanqi. ”

Fu Bi said: "Take the King of Beiting Khan, if you let Yanqi Xiancheng surrender, I don't know if they will agree." ”

Du Zhongxiao shook his head: "This matter is not easy to handle. Gaochang's soldiers and horses are mainly in Yanqi, and if the king of Beiting Khan surrenders, it is better to go to the book to let them surrender. Otherwise, how can they surrender if they don't fight a big army? ”

Fu Bi said: "There are more than 20,000 soldiers and horses, and they can't hold Yanqi." Moreover, without Gaochang to supply grain and grass, how could Yanqi support the more than 20,000 people? There is a winter around them, and they will inevitably surrender when they run out of food in the spring of the next year. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Deputy envoy, don't forget, there is still black sweat in the south." Therefore, we must go to Gaochang as soon as possible, and if the aftermath is dealt with well, the people of Yanqi will inevitably get the news and will surrender. As long as Yanqi is lowered, there is no longer a large army in Gaochang, and it can be easily pacified. ”

Fu Bi nodded: "According to the meaning of the Privy Council, as long as Gaochang is occupied, this battle will be a big victory." If the rest of the place is occupied, it can be said that it will be unexpected by the imperial court. It's just that the marshal has promised the party prisoners of war who had built the road before, and he would be released after he repaired it to Yizhou. If not, let them continue to build the road. After the railway is repaired, the Western Regions will truly settle down. ”

Du Zhongxiao said with a smile: "Deputy envoy, the party prisoners of war have been repairing the road for more than two years, and they have seen everything. If they continue to work hard, something will have to happen. After the party prisoners of war were released, some people with good skills were selected, and when the box army that built the road came, it was incorporated into the box army. ”

For more than two years, all the prisoners of war who were not well nourished in the past have been raised, and then rely on good food, how can they be willing to let them work hard? This kind of big project should still be done by the army, which is equivalent to the burden of the state.

After more than two years of large-scale training, many forbidden troops were reluctant to join the army anymore and were incorporated into various van armies. There are more than 300,000 troops in the country, and in two years, they have swelled to more than 600,000, and most of them are from the forbidden army. If there is a shortage of forbidden troops, the good family will be recruited, and the army at this time is no longer the same.

Before the great victory of Du Zhongxiao Hequlu, there were more than 800,000 forbidden troops in the country, and after training, there are now about 700,000 people. In addition to Du Zhongxiao's 178,000 people on Hequ Road, there are nearly 200,000 on Hebei Road, about 100,000 on Hedong Road, about 150,000 on Shaanxi Road, and the rest are stationed in Liangjing.

Such a scale of the forbidden army is no longer a heavy burden on the current imperial court. With the promotion of Du Zhongxiao's reform in Jingxi Road to the whole country, the imperial court's financial revenue increased several times. It's just that most of them are physical objects for the imperial court, and all kinds of paper and copper coins are exchanged one-to-one, and the paper wealth does not increase much. In particular, private businesses do not have a complete fiscal and taxation system due to the high cost of tax collection.

The development of the real productive forces has broken through the original mode of domination, and the new system is not perfect, and now is the right time. If the system is perfect, with the national strength of the Song Dynasty, it is not difficult to raise millions of soldiers. In fact, the box army cannot be considered an army, they are more like workers. It's just that the original system that was tilted towards the forbidden army made their income low.

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