Shen Tang was holding an intensive meeting to discuss where to send troops and personnel allocation, and Qiu Cheng was naturally not idle either.
Qiu Cheng asked: "In your opinion, what will happen this time?"
The atmosphere in the conference hall was tense.
Someone tried to ask: "Can I borrow some food?"
Qiu Cheng frowned: "Who can I borrow it from?"
In this year's situation, the landlords have no food left.
Otherwise, I wouldn't have targeted Shen Tang.
Another person said: "Why don't you write a letter to the leader?"
The leader he mentioned was the founder of the Dragon Slaying Bureau——
Huang Lie.
Qiu Cheng recalled Huang Lie's old lair, curled his lips, and thought to himself: "Huang Lie, a scoundrel, still owes his family money and food, and he has hundreds of thousands of homeless people and bandits. People are still worried about how to support so many mouths. Where can he borrow them? 】
Everyone thought about the forces with whom they had good relations.
There is food in places farther away, but the delivery is not timely.
Those in recent years are also poor and have to tighten their belts to get by.
After some discussion, the situation turned gloomy.
The core of their meeting was not to worry about how strong Shen Tang's soldiers and horses were - in fact, in Longwu County, no matter how many soldiers and horses were recruited, they could not recruit many soldiers and horses. To consolidate the pass, troops must be allocated.
Shen Tang could only mobilize tens of thousands of people if he wanted to send troops.
Wouldn't he just take away the guards at Yonggu Pass and leave no one to look after his home just for the sake of conquering Sibao County?
Qiu Cheng is really not afraid of thousands of people.
What he was afraid of was the aftermath of a war between the two sides.
In fact, his current situation is even worse than Shen Tang's.
At least Shen Tang's side is not short of food.
He is not only short of food but also short of money.
The rich and powerful households in Sibao County had already escaped from the previous rounds of disasters. Qiu Cheng wanted to "borrow" money from the local tycoons, but he couldn't find anyone. The only good thing is that he was born in the Qiu family. During the years when Dafang was held hostage by Zheng Qiao, he took up the banner of the Qiu family early and pocketed most of the Qiu family's resources. Relying on the connections between in-laws and old friends, we can also gather a batch of emergency supplies.
But it can only be done on an emergency basis.
The three armies went ahead without using food and grass.
The gap in fighting cannot be filled with just this.
How to fill it out has become a problem.
The batch of grain in Nanyu County can only last for a while.
At this moment, someone whispered a suggestion. Everyone present was a scholar/martial artist with sharp ears and eyes, so they naturally heard it clearly. They also thought about this proposal, but no one had the nerve to propose it.
Increase taxes on the common people within the territory!
Qiu Cheng was embarrassed: "Isn't this inappropriate?"
He said it was bad, but his heart was moved, and he sighed: "In recent years, the life of the common people has been difficult. The first two county governors were greedy and excessive, and imposed excessive taxes, which made the people resentful... How can I Learn their methods?"
There was also a drought this year and food output dropped sharply.
"What's wrong? If my lord hadn't worked so hard in the past two years to help the people recuperate, what would be the situation in Sibao County. Now that the thieves have invaded, and the war is starting again, if the people don't want their families to be destroyed, they should help out. It's only natural and right."
The speaker was a burly middle-aged military general.
He was extremely violent.
When talking about the word "Shen Thief", he gritted his teeth.
Without him, the ninth-level and fifth-level doctor whose head was taken off by Shen Tang was his brother. When he suddenly learned the bad news, he wished he could spread his wings and chop off Shen Tang. Others may not want to fight this battle, but he is a determined fighter and full of fighting spirit.
For a while, many voices echoed him.
Someone struck while the iron was hot and said, "My lord, starting a war with Shen Thief will do more good than harm to us. It may be able to solve our urgent need."
If he goes to war with Shen Tang, if he wins, he can naturally annex the entire Longwu County and get all the opponent's inheritance. Although Shen Tang knew that his wealth should be kept secret and had kept a low profile in the past two years, it could be seen from the increasingly plump cheeks and improving complexions of the people under his rule that Longwu County was a fat sheep. Then from Longwu County
Judging from the relatively frequent business activities in the country, the other party’s financial resources are quite strong.
Successful annexation will restore full health in one go.
Qiu Cheng said, "How could I not know?"
If there is a win, there will be a loss.
It's good to win, but what if you lose?
With the tone of Shen Tang's letter, he was afraid that there would be no chance of a comeback, and he didn't think that the other party would stop at that.
In the current situation, he has been forced to the cliff.
In this battle, we can only win but not lose!
Thinking of this, Qiu Cheng couldn't help but feel bad luck.
I thought my neighbor was just an embroidered pillow, with a reputation for kindness and a good temper, but I didn't expect that the neighbor was small in stature but had a big temper.
After some discussion, everyone finally reached an agreement.
In extraordinary times, let the people under the rule suffer for a while longer, and wait until the immediate crisis is resolved and Longwu County is annexed, and then make compensation.
After that, they discussed how to defend, guess where Shen Tang would attack from, and who should be sent to resist and defend one side.
During the whole process, Miao Shu didn't say a word.
He just looked more silent than before.
She didn't speak until the end.
Everyone's eyes turned to her: "...I have heard that since ancient times, arrogant soldiers have always been defeated, and those who underestimate the enemy have rarely succeeded. Perhaps the thief Shen's tent is really a crouching tiger, hidden dragon... That day, when we fought with his ambush, the warriors under his tent were the first to fight. Don’t talk about it, scribes deserve to be vigilant..."
"I don't like to hear this, general. What does "arrogant soldiers lead to defeat"? When did we become proud soldiers? "The general in charge of the battle frowned impatiently. He felt that Miao Shu was targeting him, and his brother's death was related to Miao Shu's incompetence. He became angry and said, "Before the war even begins, you have lost your fighting spirit, coward. Those who still try to shake the morale of our troops must be punished!"
"It is not advisable to embolden others and destroy your own prestige."
"Did you become completely timid after the first battle with Shen Thief? Were you frightened out of your courage? What about "arrogant soldiers" and "underestimating the enemy"? When an ant looks at a stone, it feels like there are high mountains. When it sees a puddle, it says that the sky is heavy... Huh! They are just incompetent people! "
In fact, she realized that she had lost touch after she finished speaking.
When he heard the ridicule from several people in his ears, his face turned pale.
Only one person supports himself.
It was an eighth-class bus that went and returned the same day: "What she said is not unreasonable. We were misled by the outside world and really thought that Shen Thief was no good, so we carelessly underestimated the enemy and harmed so many people. How dare Shen Thief If you say so, you may be really confident."
Qiu Cheng looked at Miao Shu for his sake and said, "Shu Niang, do you have any countermeasures?"
When Miao Shu heard this title, she secretly clenched her hands in her sleeves, with a look of shame on her face. She didn't dare to look up, for fear of seeing the strange looks in her colleagues' eyes - Qiu Cheng had never called herself this in public before, and had always addressed her by her position. .
Calling "Shu Niang" such an affectionate nickname...
It's somewhat playful.
She calmed down and said: "Just now there was a suggestion to borrow food from the alliance leader. Although borrowing food is not appropriate, borrowing troops is OK. Not only the alliance leader, but also all the forces participating in the alliance can borrow troops. Even if it is not possible, it is possible to borrow troops. , you can also put pressure on Thief Shen. My lord has sent troops to attack the tyrant Zheng Qiao with other princes in the past two years, but Thief Shen is attacking my lord at this moment. How do you know that this person is not a supporter of the tyrant?"
"Since you are a supporter, you should be equal to the violent lord and attack him!"
