Back Off, Let Me Come

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 up the corner of his mouth, 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. Even if they could recruit soldiers and horses, they would not be able to raise them, not to mention that there is a Yonggu Pass. Forces must be shared.

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 wealthy gentry and wealthy households in Sibao County had already escaped from the previous rounds of disasters. Qiu Cheng wanted to "borrow" money from the local tycoons but could not 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, this Sibao County would still be in such a bad state. Now that the thieves are coming, 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: "My lord, the benefits to us outweigh the disadvantages of starting a war with Shen Thief, and it may be able to solve an urgent need."

If he goes to war with Shen Tang, if he wins, he will naturally be able to annex the entire Longwu County and obtain all of 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. Judging from the relatively frequent business activities in Longwu County, the other party's family background is 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?

Based on 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, wait until the immediate crisis is resolved, and annex Longwu County, 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 often lead to defeat, but underestimation of the enemy rarely leads to success. 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. Let’s not talk about it, scribes deserve to be vigilant…”

"I don't like hearing this. What does 'arrogant soldiers lead to defeat'? When did we become arrogant soldiers?" The general who was leading the battle frowned impatiently, intuitively Miao Shu was targeting He, and his brother's death was related to Miao Shu's incompetence, so he became angry, "You have lost your fighting spirit before the war begins. You are a coward who still tries to shake the morale of our army. You should be punished!"

"It is not advisable to embolden others' ambitions and destroy your own prestige."

"Are you completely timid after the first battle with Shen Thief? Are 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 encounters a puddle, it says it's a devil." Chongming... Huh! He's just an incompetent person!"

In fact, she realized after she finished speaking that she had lost touch.

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 let it go, maybe you really have the confidence."

Qiu Cheng looked away from Miao Shu for his sake: "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!"

(ノへ￣、)

Thank God, it finally rained heavily for two or three days in a row. Previously, the drought was so severe that it was hard to even drink a sip of water. Water was restricted and cut off every day... I had to squeeze in time to take a shower, for fear that I would run out of water halfway through...