Wang Qizhi explained to the child: "The rivers and lakes are not just places where masters gather, but wherever there are people, there are rivers and lakes. It is the human heart, so there are rivers and lakes everywhere."
The child nodded in understanding, and danced and said to Wang Qizhi: "So, I am also a Jianghu person?"
Wang Qizhi touched the child's little head and said nothing. Only when he grew older did the child understand the true identity of this big brother.
Regarding the gentry's oppression of the people, Wang Qizhi had his own methods. After discussing with Pang Tong, they decided to deliberately provoke conflicts between the people and the gentry. When the two sides were almost fighting, Wang Qizhi stepped in to mediate and acted like a good old man.
The tax revenue in the three places has been much reduced than before. It stands to reason that the people will live a good life, but all the food they grow goes into the pockets of the gentry. Over time, it is impossible for the two sides not to break out conflicts.
Naturally, the people couldn't say anything about Wang Qizhi's actions. In addition, during this period of time, those sects that did evil were completely eradicated. Wang Qizhi's image of acting for the people has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, so they naturally will not point the finger at the young lord.
Soon, the people in the three places began to riot and launched an attack on the gentry and landlords. Although the latter controlled a large amount of wealth, he was powerless against thousands of people, and they all asked Wang Qizhi for help.
Wang Qizhi pretended to know nothing and did not make any response. These gentry and landlords had no choice but to agree to reduce the land rent for the people from the original 70% to 30%, plus 10% tax. After a year of hard work, they can earn 60% of their income, which gives the people hope and makes them work harder in farming.
Seeing that everything was done, Wang Qizhi stood up and said good things, and asked both sides to retreat. Some smart people and gentry saw some clues. The lord was biased towards the people, otherwise he would not have come out to speak so late. .
Even so, the gentry had nothing to do. Wang Qizhi did not intervene in this matter. Even if they stood up to oppose, they had no reason and had to suffer the loss of being dumb.
Of course, during this period, Erdan, Lin Shaoxia, Wu Anyi and Zhang Chuchu also got married. The four of them were together, and the witness was Wang Qizhi. In this way, the three Wang Qizhi guys had families, and everything was settled. It solved the worries of those elders.
Zhang Chuchu's father Zhang Shanmu, as a wealthy owner, contributed a lot of military expenses to Wang Qizhi in order to support his son-in-law. In order to express his gratitude, Wang Qizhi also made him an earl. He had no actual power, just a title.
For a businessman like Zhang Shanmu to have such a title, he is regarded as a proud ancestor and his status has been greatly improved.
Seeing that everything was arranged well and that the three regions had no worries, he prepared to lead the army to march north from the Chu region in three days.
This time Wang Qizhi only left a small number of troops to garrison in three places, while the remaining 300,000 men fought against Wei Mengyi to decide the outcome.
Wang Qizhi did not dare to take it lightly. According to the news from the spies, Wei Meng now has 200,000 troops. In addition, he is full of scheming. If he is not careful, he will fall into his treacherous plan and there is a risk of the entire army being annihilated. .
This Wei Meng likes to attack other people's food and grass. If the food and grass are burned, or the food roads are robbed, the 300,000-strong army will collapse at a touch, so we must pay attention.
On the third day, Wang Qizhi sent 40,000 men to fortify important passages on the border between southern Xinjiang and Jinzhou to defend against Meng's sneak attack. The rest of the troops all marched towards Chu.
At the same time, after the black gold organization got the movement of Wang Qizhi's troops, they immediately reported it to Wei Meng. When he learned about it, he was shocked. This guy acted so fast. He was ready to launch an attack in just half a year. Could it be that he Is there any backup plan?
Wei Meng immediately summoned all the ministers to discuss the matter. Only when everyone arrived did he tell the matter.
All the ministers were very surprised when they heard this, but Xu Yuanzhi was very calm. He took a step forward, raised his hands to Wei Meng, and said: "My lord, don't be anxious, everything is within reason."
Wei Meng said: "Tell me quickly."
"Although the later the war starts, the more soldiers Wang Qizhi can recruit, don't forget that we also have a steady stream of soldiers to replenish the army. The longer the time goes on, the stronger our strength will be, and the more difficult it will be for Wang Qizhi's army. It’s difficult to capture, that’s why he launched the attack so deliberately.”
Wei Meng nodded and said: "That's true. Although our Wei's territory is much smaller than Wang Qizhi's, the population is not much smaller. If it takes a long time, the balance of military strength will gradually balance, and who will win and who will lose?" It’s really not necessarily true.”
Then he sighed again and said: "Although we claim to be an army of 200,000, in fact we only have 160,000 or 70,000. We are really no match for that kid."
Xu Yuanzhi looked at the map on Wei Meng's body. Wei Meng looked at the former's appearance and said, "Yuanzhi, just come up and say it. Don't worry about etiquette issues."
Xu Yuanzhi looked at the map, pointed to the two places above and said: "According to the route taken by Wang Qizhi's army, it should be heading to Chu. He must want to capture Yu and Xu, and then slowly advance northward."
Wei Meng quickly asked: "I wonder what the military advisor has planned?"
Xu Yuanzhi asked everyone to gather around him and slowly told him his plan. Wei Meng slapped the table and said, "Just follow Yuan Zhi's plan. Let's act quickly!"
Wang Qizhi led his army to march north by boat, and then continued to march on land. Wei Meng was not idle either, constantly sending small groups of troops to harass the borders of southern Xinjiang and Jinzhou, trying to break through the defense line established by Wang Qizhi. Fortunately, the soldiers They suffered few casualties and blocked them all.
This incident did not stop Wang Qiqian's progress. He believed that the brothers would withstand the enemy's attack.
Wang Qizhi divided his army into two parts. One part was led by Wu Anyi and numbered about 50,000. They stationed themselves at the border of Chu with favorable terrain to prevent the enemy from sneaking around and attacking. The rest, led by Wang Qizhi, attacked Yuzhou.
The reason why Wang Qizhi chose this place was that it was mostly plains with few rivers, making it convenient for large-scale marches.
Secondly, this place borders Jin and Chu, which facilitates the transportation of grain, grass and troops. If there is an emergency, they can quickly evacuate from the two places.
The armies of both sides met in Puyang County, Yuzhou. To the north was Wei Meng's army of 200,000 men, and to the south was Wang Qizhi's army. The two men met in the middle of the army on tall horses.
Wei Meng looked Wang Qizhi up and down and exclaimed in surprise: "I didn't expect that our prince, whom we haven't seen for just a few years, would be so powerful. He not only unified the three places, but also wanted to fight me in a decisive battle."
