War breaks out in the north

The next day at noon, Xiao Liunian and his party arrived at the Wuzhou army's encampment. Zhenbei King Cen Jin led the Wuzhou army soldiers to welcome them, and the banners fluttered fiercely in the wind.

"Your subject, Cen Jin, pays his respects to Your Majesty!"

"This humble general pays his respects to Your Majesty!"

"General, you may dispense with the formalities!"

"All soldiers, you may rise in formalities!"

"All of you soldiers have shed blood and sweat for Nanjing and its people, and have rendered meritorious service to the country. You are the nation's most valuable asset. From now on, you will not need to perform such a kneeling ceremony when you see me."

"Now, tens of thousands of troops from the Yuan Dynasty are stationed on the border between the two countries. They have already sent troops to invade our territory and killed several of our soldiers. Their hostile intentions are obvious. As a citizen of Jinling, I, Xiao Liunian, am willing to join my comrades in protecting our people and defending our country, regardless of life or death!"

Xiao Liunian's internal energy spread throughout the entire military camp.

"Protect the people and defend the nation's territory!"

"Protect the people and defend the nation's territory!"

"Protect the people and defend the nation's territory!"

At this moment, Xiao Liunian and the Wuzhou army stood together, their voices resounding across the land, each one conveying their determination to fight to the bitter end.

——

Inside the council tent.

"Please be seated, generals!" Xiao Liunian said.

"General Cen!"

“Your subject is here!” Cen Jin replied.

"You will have full command of this war. I will only play a military role. Any enemies that are difficult to kill can be handed over to me for annihilation. One person, ten people, a hundred people, a thousand people, ten thousand people, it is all fine!"

For the next half day, Xiao Liunian listened to Cen Jin and the others discuss strategies for dealing with the enemy, while also scratching the cat's belly in the space.

"Mumu, I don't understand, I don't understand at all!" The cat pushed away the paw that wasn't its own, refusing to have its belly scratched.

"I don't understand either!" Xiao Liunian was unwilling to give up and continued to reach for the cat's belly.

"No way?" Isn't the host supposed to be a powerful and slightly villainous character? How could he not understand such a situation?

"Really, I got to where I am now by desperately trying and learning from mistakes. In the middle, I gained some martial arts skills and then used them to survive and discover talented people. Later, when I accumulated more martial arts skills, I used high-level force to suppress others and then snatched talent from all over the place. I left the brain work to them." Xiao Liunian took advantage of the cat's stunned state to give it several hard pats on its belly, feeling satisfied!

(⊙o⊙) Huh?

The system host's previous carefully crafted persona has crumbled! Crashed! Crashed!

"You successfully schemed against Xiao Jin, Xiao Yu, and Liu Furan, and then successfully ascended to the throne?" Cat Cat attempted to rebuild the four words "strategic planning".

"By summarizing lessons learned and trying more, we can succeed." Xiao Liunian ruthlessly pushed down the cat's building.

"How many times have you tried?" If you can succeed after just one observation, you can be considered a strategist.

"Seven times? Or eight times? I forgot!" Xiao Liunian smashed those four words into dust with his hammer.

The cat rolled over and lay on the ground, surrounded by rings of stars above its head, feeling dizzy.

Xiao Liunian continued petting the cat.

"Have you ever heard a saying?" Xiao Liunian asked.

"Hmm?" Cat turned to look at Xiao Liunian.

So cute!!!

"Faced with overwhelming power, all schemes and tricks are just paper tigers!" Xiao Liunian said.

"And I think this time my strength is enough, and I also have the great system to help me!"

"So we will succeed!" After a long absence, Xiao Liu began his journey as a system mentor.

After Xiao Liunian had spent enough time petting the furry creature in the space, the other meeting also came to an end.

"Your Majesty!" Cen Jin called out, pulling Xiao Liunian, who was petting a cat in the space, back to reality.

"I have heard the strategies of the generals in dealing with the enemy. Now, General Cen, please provide me with a written plan." Xiao Liunian interrupted Cen Jin's verbal summary and assigned the written task.

“Yes, Your Majesty!” Cen Jin replied.

After the meeting, Xiao Liunian had dinner with the soldiers and officers before he could finally lie down comfortably in his tent.

"Meow!" I can finally get out!

"Meow!" It's so much more comfortable outside.

"Then shrink a bit and hide it in a pocket," Xiao Liunian said.

"Meow!" Never mind!

"Meow!" The food in the military camp wasn't as good as I expected.

"Things have been alright lately, at least I've made a little bit of meat." I still need to make money. Strength can be accumulated each time, so why can't money?

"Meow!" If someone embezzles at this time, wouldn't that replenish the national treasury again?

“We can’t move right now, it’s not good for stability!” Xiao Liunian said.

However, they can be arrested after the war ends, since money is needed to reward those who have contributed to the war and to appease the people on the border. Indeed, human greed is boundless. Even with the example of the former Grand Tutor, some people still want to die.

"Meow?" How do I make money then?

“Jiangnan, Shangguan,” Xiao Liunian reminded him.

——

"The situation in Jiangnan is almost stable. Dangerous elements have been eliminated, and the rest are not a concern. You should return to the Southwest Prefecture," Shangguan Cai said to a woman.

"The day before yesterday, my father sent a message saying that His Majesty has decreed that I must protect Lord Shangguan in Jiangnan!" said Shangguan Ling, the second young lady of the Southwest Prefecture.

"Your Majesty?" Shangguan Cai asked in confusion.

"His Majesty appeared in the Southwest Prefecture two days ago and helped us in a moment of crisis, saving the lives of our clansmen and mine. We in the Southwest Prefecture will repay any kindness, and so will I. I will obey His Majesty's orders and protect Lord Shangguan!" Shangguan Ling said.

"Whatever you want!" Shangguan Cai didn't try to persuade her any further and continued processing the official documents at hand.

"How could His Majesty entrust this mess in Jiangnan to you? Those officials and gentry are all difficult to deal with!" Shangguan Ling poured a cup of tea and handed it to the person in front of her. She never thought that she would have the chance to see him again after so many years. It felt very unreal.

"Because I can solve what His Majesty urgently needs right now!" Shangguan Cai's eyes radiated confidence.

“No one can compare to A-Cai when it comes to making money,” Shangguan Ling said, as if she could see that same bright and confident teenage girl from long ago.

"This year's tax collection is about to end, and the tax revenue collected will be enough for the Wuzhou army's supplies for two years. At least we can breathe a sigh of relief in this regard for now." Shangguan Cai closed the official document in his hand, and the official business related to taxation came to an end.

"Not necessarily. Wars also involve money and supplies, and the military supplies needed during wartime are several times greater than in peacetime." Shangguan Ling's implication was that these supplies might only last for a very short time.

"It seems we need to think of more ways to make money!" Shangguan Cai said.

“Since Your Majesty ascended the throne, compared with the previous emperor’s reign, Your Majesty’s expenditure on military construction has almost doubled, with the largest increase going to the Wuzhou Army, followed by the Qingyan Army along the coast.” Shangguan Ling brought up another matter.

"If the maritime trade routes could be opened, their value would be immeasurable." Shangguan Cai understood the implied meaning from the implied meaning.

“We are indeed like a pair of phoenixes that cannot fly together, but whose hearts are connected by a single thread!” Shangguan Ling emphasized the word “we” in her voice.

"Let's go, let's eat together!" Shangguan Cai closed the official document, stood up, and walked out first.

"Yes, sir!" Shangguan Ling followed.

————

On the third day after Xiao Liunian arrived at the army camp, the Yuan Dynasty launched an attack, dividing its forces into three routes in an attempt to capture Wuzhou.

Cen Jin, Yang Ying, and Cen Mo each led a force to meet the enemy and defend Wuzhou.

"Mumu, is that a cannon?" the system asked in surprise within the space.

"You don't know?" Xiao Liunian answered the cat's question with a rhetorical question.

"Isn't this a martial arts world?" the system asked, implying that it was wondering how there could be physical attack methods like cannons.

"Physical attacks from tools and physical attacks from people don't conflict, do they?" Xiao Liunian said. She was here because of the combined effects of multiple forces.

"Okay!" The system decided that it should read more books and study more in the future.

While the system was chatting with Xiao Liunian, the enemy launched an attack, and the two sides began to fight. Xiao Liunian, holding a long spear, leaped off the city wall.

The cats inside the space were extremely nervous. The host was indeed very strong, but this was like several thousand troops, densely packed together, enough to cover four football fields. It was terrifying.

If Xiao Liunian, who was currently blinded by rage, could know the words and phrases coming out of his pet kitten's head, he would definitely be charmed by the phrase "several thousand troops and horses".

Xiao Liunian didn't just jump off the city wall and kill indiscriminately. Instead, he first destroyed several cannons in front of him, and then set fire to the enemy's shells to reduce the damage from physical attacks.

The enemy also realized the danger of Xiao Liunian in this battle, and began to change their formation, with one part besieging Xiao Liunian and the other going to attack the city.

Xiao Liunian was blinded by rage. The gun she had brought with her at the beginning was broken. She snatched a knife from an enemy soldier and swung it with tremendous force, one strike after another like a storm. Waves of enemy soldiers fell, only to be replaced by more. Gradually, the later enemy soldiers became afraid and dared not get too close to Xiao Liunian. They only dared to surround her, and the surroundings became quiet.

On Cen Mo's side, the soldiers defending the city felt for the first time that the gap between the two sides was not in numbers, but in individual strength.

Because of Xiao Liunian's intervention, half of the enemy's forces were besieging Xiao Liunian, while the remaining half concentrated on attacking the city. However, the enemy was too difficult to kill. In the end, Cen Mo led the Wuzhou army to defend the city, but the price paid was too high, with heavy casualties.

"Mumu, the battlefield is terrifying." The cat said listlessly in the space.

“Being a phoenix is ​​not easy at all,” Cat said.

"The battlefield is made up of the blood of soldiers and the tears of their families. But sometimes, some wars have to be fought. Like this time, if the Wuzhou army gives up resistance and retreats directly to the south, what will happen to the people who have nowhere to go?" Xiao Liunian patted the cat's head.

"Your Majesty!" After arranging the cleanup of the battlefield, Cen Mo came to the city wall.

"What are General Cen's thoughts on today's battle?" Xiao Liunian asked.

"The enemy claims to have 250,000 troops pressing on the border, attacking the city in three routes. About 30,000 troops came to participate in the battle of Xingliang City. Our army has 25,000 troops to meet the enemy. However, half of the enemy's forces were besieging His Majesty and did not participate in the attack on the city. Therefore, it was 25,000 troops to meet 15,000 troops."

"We had the advantage in numbers, but in reality, we suffered more casualties, almost a five-to-one exchange. If His Majesty hadn't intervened after dealing with the besieging enemy, the city wouldn't have been able to hold!" Cen Mo recalled, not daring to imagine what would have happened if the city had fallen.

"Are you scared?" Xiao Liunian asked.

Cen Mo did not speak.

"It's normal to be afraid. Who wouldn't be afraid of such a formidable enemy?"

"We have to go even if it's scary, otherwise what will happen after the city falls?"

"More than twenty years ago, the Yuan Dynasty repeatedly burned, killed, and looted in border cities, killing countless people and destroying countless families. But because of your father and mother, and because of the Wuzhou army that they reorganized and trained, we have had peace and stability for the past twenty years."

"Now, the enemy has attacked again, and they are very strong. We cannot retreat. All we can do is hold this place and fight to the death."

"Cen Mo, you are excellent and very talented. I believe you can surpass your teachers!"

"Go back and think carefully about how to repel the enemy's attack next time."

Xiao Liunian did a thorough job of ideological work.