Fan Hesui's seemingly careless question made Lu Zuo aware of his true thoughts. It seemed that if he didn't tell the truth about his plan now, it would only arouse Fan Hesui's suspicion, so he replied: "Originally Gao Yun The army is at a standstill with us. As long as they can endure it, siege is actually a good way. As long as we are besieged internally and externally, they will have a chance of defeating us. But Liu Yan can't wait to add reinforcements in order to fight quickly. quick decision."
Fan Hesui said thoughtfully: "Is it because they are running out of food and grass?"
Lu Zuo nodded, "As long as we confirm this, everything will be easy to handle."
For several days in a row, the Han army's small-scale siege operations still did not stop, and the Lanzhou defenders still had no intention of leaving the city to attack. After several attacks on the city, An Shiqing and Gao Yun were both mentally and physically exhausted. If this continued, the army would be overwhelmed sooner or later by the other side. Now not only were they short of food and grass, but they were also almost unable to pay their soldiers. Gao Yun asked An Shiqing for advice. An Shiqing also felt embarrassed. Looking at the situation in front of him, it was impossible to weaken the enemy army and attack proactively by continuing this small-scale harassment. An Shiqing deliberately proposed that the entire army They mobilized their entire army and took Lanzhou directly.
Gao Jun shook his head repeatedly, feeling that something was wrong, "Our army attacked Lanzhou one after another. Not only did the Lanzhou defenders remain unmoved, but the city gates were obviously more impregnable. With our troops, one after another, our army's morale gradually loosened. It is not easy to take Lanzhou by force, and if you don't do it well, you may suffer a complete defeat."
The two were chatting privately inside the tent when a noise came from outside the tent. Gao Yun and An Shiqing frowned, knowing who it was. Gao Yun shouted loudly toward the outside: "Let him come in."
I saw a dusty middle-aged man walking into the tent triumphantly, and said arrogantly: "Marshal Gao is too disrespectful to this subordinate. A certain family is the supervisor appointed by His Majesty. Since you and General An If there is a discussion on military affairs, you should invite me to discuss it with you!"
Gao Jun smiled apologetically and said: "I am just about to send someone to invite Mr. Xiao. Come on, come on, please sit down!"
Xiao Renyi smiled proudly, sat down at the top, and then asked how the discussion on how to defeat the enemy went.
Gao Jun said: "Now the army is in a dilemma. I would like to ask Mr. Xiao to ask the emperor to send 30,000 more reinforcements to fight the rebels, and then distribute food and salary in full to solve our worries."
Xiao Renyi pretended to be embarrassed: "Marshal Gao, you don't know that your Majesty has just ascended the throne, and there is no peace in all directions. Money and people are being used everywhere, and the disaster is not limited to Lanzhou. At this time, you are asking people from the imperial court for food. I'm afraid It will poke the emperor’s sore spot.”
An Shiqing said: "Master Xiao is His Majesty's right-hand man, and he guides you personally. We all know your ability. As long as you say a word and listen to me, these will not be difficulties."
After hearing this, Xiao Renyi raised the corner of his mouth in a very helpful tone, "General An is really good at talking. Well, now that General An has spoken, for the sake of the soldiers of the three armies and the Han Dynasty, a certain family is willing to suffer this scolding."
Memorials have been issued in various places in the past few days, either because of another flood in the south, or because of the locust plague raging in the east, but they all came to ask for money and food. Now that the Western Expedition Army had just sent reinforcements, they came again asking for money, food and reinforcements. This made Liu Yan was so worried that he looked increasingly lonely in the empty Xuanzheng Hall. So Liu Yan summoned Bingde and wanted to ask him what he thought.
When Chu Bingde saw that His Majesty had summoned him many times in the past few days and asked for advice, he couldn't help but feel flattered. He was a little conservative when he first made suggestions, but now he gradually dared to express his opinions boldly. So he suggested: "Your Majesty, the frequent floods in the south are not something that happened this year. The people there will be trapped for a few days, and then at the same time let the local officials collect donations from local wealthy households for disaster relief. Furthermore, the locust plague is difficult to resist for a while. There will be a food disaster at the end of the year, and now we can only concentrate on dealing with the Lanzhou rebels. If we can take control of Fan Hesui's family property then, won't all the difficulties be easily solved?"
Liu Yan asked noncommittally: "Father-in-law, do you mean to continue sending more reinforcements and food to Gao Jun?"
Chu Bingde nodded firmly.
"But Gao Jun has been unable to attack for a long time, and sending An Shiqing a few days ago has no effect. So sending reinforcements again..." Liu Yan was a little confused, "Are you afraid that it will be in vain?"
"Don't trust the people you employ, and don't use the people you suspect." Chu Bingde said, "With a genius like Lu Zuo, the rebels are naturally difficult to deal with, but Gao Yun and An Shiqing are obviously not easy to deal with."
Liu Yan said: "Father-in-law, do you think it is appropriate to let Xunmou take command?"
"No!" Chu Bingde replied directly, "Since we didn't choose Xun Mou to take command before, we can't do it now."
In the study room of Duke Wei's mansion, Xun Yu and his son were enjoying tea and chatting comfortably. Suddenly seeing an official coming in a hurry, he hurriedly took out a letter from his arms and handed it directly to Xun Yu without any explanation. Xun Yu didn't ask any questions. He took the letter and opened it to read it carefully.
"Dad, what happened?"
Xun Yu slowly handed over the letter to his son, "Xiao Renyi wrote that Gao Jun and An Shiqing have requested troops and food from the emperor."
"Sir," the official answered, "someone from the palace said that the emperor has agreed to send troops to increase food supply."
Xun Yu nodded and motioned for the officials to go down first, then frowned with displeasure on his face, "I didn't expect that the emperor would continue to send troops. It seems that Liu Xingyuan is now a worry for the emperor." Then he asked again, "Look at this. Great power, can Gao Yun take it?"
Xun Mou sneered and said: "Liu Xingyuan and Lu Zuo are not that easy to deal with, but if they send troops again and again, the morale of the three armies will be exhausted. Gao Jun and the others also want to capture Lanzhou as soon as possible, otherwise they will not repeatedly ask for additional reinforcements. As for whether Liu Xingyuan and the others can be eliminated, it’s really hard to say now.”
"Then can our plan begin?"
Xun Mou nodded slightly, "Now is the time to consume the emperor's trust in Gao Yun."
Before the reinforcements from the Han army arrived, Xiao Renyi received a letter from Xun Yu, asking him to immediately let the enemy know, saying that the Han army was short of food and pay and was about to withdraw. After Xiao Renyi read the letter, he felt a little uneasy and hesitant. This would have a very serious impact on the morale of the three armies, and would even give the rebels an opportunity to take advantage of him. Xiao Renyi thought again, if he didn't follow the instructions, he might be cut into pieces by Xun Yu and his son. It was obvious that Xun Yu and his son wanted to overthrow Gao Yun and monopolize the military power, so he was heartbroken. Anyway, even if Gao Yun's entire army was wiped out, the emperor would He will definitely send Xunmou to fight, and there will be no harm to him.
"Food and pay are insufficient, and the troops are about to withdraw" spread wildly among the Han army for a while. The soldiers then thought that the number of boilers had become less and less recently, and the frequency of drinking gruel increased. Everyone believed it. At first, there were only one or two deserters, and gradually Many people gathered and fled, so the rumors of the imminent collapse of the three armies spread even more among the army.
