Taiping Lie 379. Decide on a strategy to pacify the northern barbarians first

After hearing what Ye Li said, Feng Zhiyao and Mo Xiuyao looked a little strange. Ye Li knew what they were thinking from their expressions. They probably wanted to see Master Qingchen's jokes. It was a pity that this battle would not be completed in a while. When they returned from the battle, Master Qingchen might have settled all the issues and got his beautiful wife home. These two were just regretting that they didn't have the chance to see the good show of the world's number one master.

Nan Hou coughed lightly, deeply feeling that he was too old to understand the ideas of these young people, "Your Highness, Third Young Master Feng, should we continue as we were just now..." If Feng Zhiyao continued to ask questions, he might say something that would make him feel extremely embarrassed.

Feng Zhiyao touched his nose, and then he remembered that they were still discussing business before Ye Li came. Mo Xiuyao saw Ye Li coming back, and he was impatient to deal with them. He pulled Ye Li to sit down, gave a few instructions in a hurry, and then kicked the two out.

It was the first time in his life that Nan Hou was chased out of the house. Standing at the door of the study, he was a little dazed. Feng Zhiyao was very used to it. He pulled Nan Hou and said with a smile: "Master, come on, how about having a drink with me?" Nan Hou finally came to his senses, shook his head helplessly and followed Feng Zhiyao.

Feng Zhiyao took a few steps and suddenly stopped hesitantly, as if he had forgotten to tell the princess something?

Nan Hou turned around in confusion, "What's wrong? Aren't you going to drink?"

"It seems like there is something I forgot to tell the princess." Feng Zhiyao said.

"Is it official business? Is there something you know that the princess doesn't know?" Nan Hou asked. Feng Zhiyao thought about it and realized that Mo Xiuyao would tell the princess anyway, at most... a little later. He waved and walked away with Nan Hou.

In the study, Mo Xiuyao held Ye Li tightly in his arms, gently rubbing her hair, and said sullenly: "Ali, you've been gone for a long time this time." Ye Li smiled helplessly: "How can two months be considered a long time?" From the north to the south of the Yangtze River, two months is already fast. But Ye Li also knew that it was best not to confront Mo Xiuyao at this time, "It's my fault, come back soon in the future."

As expected, Mo Xiuyao said in a deep voice, "One day without seeing you feels like three years. Ah Li, don't you miss me at all?" Ye Li was embarrassed, raised her head and kissed Mo Xiuyao gently on the lips, and whispered, "I miss you too, okay?"

Mo Xiuyao's eyes dimmed, and he grabbed Ye Li's head and pressed it towards him, deepening the kiss. Ye Li was stunned for a moment, but was quickly swept up by Mo Xiuyao's passionate passion. She closed her watery eyes slightly, and sank into the entanglement of lips and tongues with him.

"Ali..." Mo Xiuyao whispered Ye Li's name softly. Ye Li felt her whole body go numb when she heard his low voice, and her whole body seemed to go limp.

"Hmm?" Mo Xiuyao lowered his head, tasting the sweetness on the pink lips tenderly and lingeringly, "Ari..."

"Father! Father! Mother is back, isn't she?" Mo Xiaobao's voice came from outside the door along with the sound of running, and then there were knocks on the door. The two people who were still immersed in tenderness woke up immediately. Ye Li looked at the door in surprise, "Why is Xiaobao in Weicheng?"

Mo Xiuyao glanced at the door with a gloomy face and said lightly: "The last time Feng San went back to Li City to do something, he insisted on coming with him. He is not a child anymore, and it's nothing for him to see a battlefield." However, this bastard boy shouldn't come to disturb him and A'li!

Mo Xiuyao snorted and waved his hand towards the door. The door that was originally bolted from the inside opened immediately, and Mo Xiaobao, who was lying on the door, almost fell in. Fortunately, Mo Xiaobao had started to learn martial arts in the past one or two years, and he had made some progress in the basics. He just leaned forward and stood steadily at the door. He looked at his father and mother sitting inside with some doubts, and then looked at the open door. He tried so hard just now but couldn't open it, how come it opened now?

"Chen'er." Ye Li stood up and looked at her son with a smile. After not seeing him for a few months, he had grown a lot taller.

"Mother!" Mo Xiaobao said in a trance, and immediately stepped into the study and rushed towards Ye Li. Mo Xiuyao narrowed his eyes, tapped the table lightly with his right hand, and a wolf-hair brush originally placed on the table shot towards Mo Xiaobao. Mo Xiaobao screamed in surprise, and quickly flew to avoid it, and continued to run towards Ye Li. Mo Xiuyao flicked his fingers again, and another wolf-hair brush on the table shot over again, but this time Mo Xiaobao was not so lucky, and the corner of his clothes was nailed to the pillar next to him by the brush. And Mo Xiaobao's outstretched little hand was less than three inches away from Ye Li.

Mo Xiaobao looked back at his clothes that were pinned to the pillar, and at his beloved mother who was only a few feet away from him. His big eyes immediately became watery as he blinked, "Mom... Father bullied Xiaobao. Xiaobao misses you."

"Xiu Yao..." Ye Li didn't know whether to laugh or cry when she saw her son stretching out his little hand and looking at her eagerly. Mo Xiu Yao glanced at Mo Xiao Bao unhappily, raised his hand slightly and sucked the wolf hair brush that was stuck in the pillar back with a force, and it fell into the brush holder in front of Mo Xiu Yao with a snap. Mo Xiao Bao shrank his neck, probably realizing that he came at the wrong time and his father was in a very bad mood. He carefully squeezed to Ye Li's side, "Mother..."

Ye Li reached out and touched Mo Xiaobao's little head, and said with a smile: "Xiaobao has grown taller. Have you been obedient these days?"

Mo Xiaobao's eyes lit up, and he nodded heavily, "Xiaobao is very good, mother, Xiaobao has grown up."

Ye Li pinched his little nose with amusement, "Grown up? You still need your mother to hug you when you grow up?" Seeing Mo Xiaobao stretching out his little hands for a hug, Ye Li shook her head. Because she was often not by Mo Xiaobao's side in the past two years, Ye Li couldn't help but feel a little guilty and doting on Mo Xiaobao. However, a child of seven or eight years old really shouldn't be hugged like this anymore, and Mo Xiuyao's eyes were about to burst into fire.

Mo Xiuyao stepped forward, picked up Mo Xiaobao and brought him in front of him, and said lightly: "Have you finished what I asked you to do?" Mo Xiaobao raised his little face proudly and said, "Of course I have finished." Isn't it just an hour of horse stance, half an hour of swordsmanship, half an hour of riding and twenty pieces of big characters? How could such a trivial matter stop him, Mo Yichen.

Mo Xiuyao sneered at the smug little face of someone and said, "Very good, then starting from tomorrow, I will add another hour of archery and twenty pieces of calligraphy."

Huh? Mo Xiaobao's face froze. He quickly calculated in his mind, one hour for horse stance, one hour for archery, then swordsmanship and horse riding, and forty large characters... It would take at least four or five hours to finish... He would be exhausted!

"I think... the homework I assigned to you must be too easy, so you are so leisurely. Therefore, from today on, I will definitely teach you strictly. After all... your father and your mother have high hopes for you." Mo Xiu Yao said leisurely.

Wuwu... Mo Xiaobao looked at Ye Li with a tearful face. Ye Li sighed and looked up at the roof, pretending not to see her son's eyes asking for help. She believed that Mo Xiuyao would know his limits. More importantly, the more she helped Mo Xiuyao, the more he wanted to punish Mo Xiaobao. Let them solve the matter between father and son by themselves.

Seeing that his request for help failed, Mo Xiaobao was completely desperate. Now Mo Xiaobao finally understood that if his father really got angry, his mother would not be able to save him. He could only look at Mo Xiuyao with the most innocent eyes, "Father, I will try my best."

Mo Xiaobao's starry eyes were still very lethal. Mo Xiuyao twitched his lips secretly and looked up at the sky in silence: Is this really his son? Too damn shameless.

"Be good... study hard, your father has high hopes for you." Mo Xiaobao still underestimated someone's iron heart. Mo Xiuyao firmly reached out his hand and patted his son's shoulder to avoid courtesy. After failing to act pitiful again, Mo Xiaobao was stunned for a moment, and finally burst into tears.

From then on, there was one less arrogant little bully in Weicheng, and one more poor kid who jumped up at the first sign of trouble and worked very hard. Mo Xiaobao was very smart, and he never needed too much time to study. But the homework assigned by Mo Xiuyao was a problem that could not be solved by intelligence. No matter how smart Mo Xiaobao was, and how well he remembered everything he saw, and how well he could draw inferences from one instance to another, he could not turn one hour into half an hour, let alone turn forty large characters into four. For this, everyone in the general's mansion applauded. Of course, Mo Xiaobao also gained something. When he returned to Licheng, Mr. Qingyun and the Xu family found that Mo Xiaobao had grown taller and healthier, and that the characters that were barely acceptable in Mr. Hongyu's eyes had actually improved a lot, and could be considered to have reached the level of mastery.

Although the battle was raging in the front, Mo Xiuyao and Ye Li in the city were relatively free. As the commander-in-chief, he did not need to charge into battle formations and deploy troops. Mo Xiuyao only needed to control the entire battle situation and the deployment of troops in various places. The battle in the front would naturally be decided by the generals leading the troops. The reason why Mo Xiuyao went to the battlefield in person was just to warm up before the battle and because he was bored.

However, even so, there was still a steady stream of news coming from the front every day. Ye Li and Mo Xiuyao still spent most of their time in the study every day.

"Lei Zhenting personally led 700,000 troops to attack Ruichang City, and He Su and Murong Shen were defeated." In the study, Ye Li pulled a memorial that had just been delivered by express horse and read it softly. Mo Xiuyao looked calm, leaning back in his chair and said lightly: "It's not surprising, He Su and Murong Shen are indeed no match for Lei Zhenting. However... Lei Zhenting personally went into battle at the beginning, and pressed almost all the main forces of the Xiling army. Is he trying to force me to take action?"

Feng Zhiyao smiled and said, "Once the prince goes to fight Lei Zhenting, the north will give Yelu Ye and Helian Zhen a chance to catch their breath. I didn't expect Lei Zhenting to be willing to sacrifice so much for the Northern Rong."

Ye Li shook her head and said, "This is not a sacrifice. If Beirong collapsed first, Xiling would be doomed. Lei Zhenting held back Xiu Yao, which not only gave Beirong a chance to catch their breath, but also prolonged the time. In another month or two, the army of Da Chu should be here."

Feng Zhiyao frowned and said, "In this case, we should first defeat the Northern Rong, and then concentrate on dealing with the threat from the south." Otherwise, the situation of being attacked from all sides is really frustrating. "By the way, Princess, the news of Mo Jingli's ascension to the throne should have come in the next two days, right?" Feng Zhiyao asked curiously. I didn't expect that Mo Jingli would actually ascend the throne in the end. Although this throne came a little late... But it finally fulfilled Mo Jingli's long-cherished wish.

Ye Li nodded and said, "It should be soon. Once Mo Jingli ascends the throne, it will be time for Da Chu to send troops."

Mo Xiuyao stared at the large map of the military strength and war of various countries on the table in front of him, pointed at Beirong and said, "In this case, let's deal with Beirong first. It's just in time for news about Yelu Hong."

Nan Hou frowned and asked, "What about General Murong?"

Once Ruichang City was breached, the next ones to come would be Weicheng and Feihong Pass. Nan Hou had to worry.

Mo Xiuyao smiled faintly and said, "Let me see how powerful Lei Zhenting, the God of War of Xiling, is. Nan Hou, I'll trouble you to guard the city. I'm relieved that General Yuan Pei is guarding Feihong Pass. In addition, I will order Fu Zhao and Lu Jinxian to lead an army of 200,000 to reinforce."

Nan Hou was startled and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty has transferred General Lu back, what should the North do?" Once Lu Jinxian leads his troops back, there will be no general who can stand alone against the Northern Rong. It's a pity that Zhang Qilan is thousands of miles away guarding Xiling, and Leng Huai is in Chujing, otherwise the generals would not be so scarce. Mo Xiuyao raised his eyebrows and smiled and said: "It's still better for me to go and meet Helian Zhen in person!" In the battle eighteen years ago, although Mo Xiuyao has never admitted that he was defeated by Helian Zhen. But the Mo family army was indeed seriously injured by Helian Zhen, and this matter must be resolved sooner or later.

Nan Hou was slightly shocked by the murderous aura in Mo Xiuyao's words, and nodded, saying, "I obey your orders, but... I am not belittling myself, I am just afraid..." Even so many people may not be able to stop Lei Zhenting. Lei Zhenting's title of Xiling God of War did not fall from the sky. At least, except for Prince Ding, none of the generals in Prince Ding's Mansion has the title of the invincible god of war. For ordinary people like them, victory and defeat are common in the military. Nan Hou has been on the battlefield for a long time, and he has also suffered many defeats.

Mo Xiuyao pointed his finger at Feihong Pass and Weicheng, and said with a smile: "Defend these two places for three months. Do you think it's a problem, Nanhou?" Nanhou was silent for a moment. Did Prince Ding mean to pacify the Northern Rong within three months? ! After a long while, Nanhou stood up and said loudly: "I obey your order. I swear to defend Weicheng to the death."

Mo Xiuyao nodded with satisfaction and said, "Then I'll trouble Nan Hou."

Sure enough, within two days, the news that Mo Jingli ascended the throne finally reached Weicheng. After receiving the news, Mo Xiuyao didn't even move his eyes. He threw the letter aside, stood up and stretched out his hand to Ye Li. Ye Li smiled and held his hand. It was time for them to go to war.

Ye Li and Mo Xiuyao did not send Mo Xiaobao back to Licheng when they went to the battle, but took Mo Xiaobao with them to the army. Mo family soldiers had to go to the army to train when they were in their early teens, and although Mo Xiaobao was only seven or eight years old, it was okay for him to go along and take a look.

Mo Xiaobao was indeed somewhat excited about his first time in the military camp, but it was a pity that the homework assigned by Mo Xiuyao every day was like a mountain pressing down on his head, leaving him with absolutely no time to catch cats or play with dogs.

This time, Mo Xiuyao was different from the previous slow and measured stalemate with the Northern Rong. Hundreds of thousands of Mo family soldiers were as fast as thunder, and rushed towards the city guarded by the Northern Rong army with thunderous force. The Northern Rong were originally a nomadic people, good at long-distance raids and strong attacks, but they were extremely weak in defending cities. In just five days, they lost three cities in a row and retreated 400 miles before they could stand firm.

In the Northern Rong camp, Yeluye looked at the generals below with a gloomy expression and said in a deep voice: "Mo Xiuyao has captured two cities in just five days. What countermeasures do you have?" Helian Zhen said: "I didn't expect that Mo Xiuyao would ignore Lei Zhenting, the great enemy, and attack our army with one mind. In my opinion, Mo Xiuyao is probably planning to deal with the Northern Rong with all his strength, and then turn around to deal with Xiling and Da Chu."

Yeluye looked at Helian Zhen and said coldly, "In other words, General Helian's so-called plan to unite with Xiling Dachu has completely failed?" Helian Zhen smiled bitterly. Yeluye usually called him uncle, but this time he called him General Helian, which showed that he was very dissatisfied with him. Helian Zhen sighed helplessly, "If Mo Jingli hadn't suddenly delayed the dispatch of troops, it wouldn't have come to this. The current situation is... the plan against Prince Ding's Mansion has not failed, but we Beirong have not gained any benefits."

In a word, it is not beneficial to oneself to harm others. The Dingwang Mansion certainly had to face the siege of Xiling and Dachu, but who could have thought that Mo Xiuyao didn't care at all that the loss of Ruichang might affect Feihong Pass and Weicheng, or even the northwest that had been guarded by the Mohist Army, and wanted to deal with the Beirong first?

Originally, the Northern Rong had been at loggerheads with the Mohist army, and a war was imminent. Now the situation did not cause any loss to the Northern Rong, but it just kept them busy for a few months without any benefit.

"Princess Ding has been to Jiangnan for the past two months." Helian Peng, who was sitting next to Helian Zhen, suddenly spoke up.

Because of the last big defeat, Yeluye had always disliked Helian Peng. However, Helian Peng seemed to have changed a lot in the past few months. He didn't care about Yeluye's attitude at all. He just did his own thing quietly and rarely spoke. This made Yeluye's impression of him slightly changed. Hearing him suddenly speak, Yeluye frowned and said, "Ye Li went to Jiangnan? How did you know?"

Helian Peng remained silent, looking at Yeluye calmly. He regarded his defeat at the hands of Ye Li as a great humiliation in his life, so he would always pay attention to Ye Li's whereabouts. However, after those lessons, he no longer acted impulsively. Moreover, Ye Li's whereabouts were not so easy to track down. Helian Peng had only slowly figured out these things based on various clues in the past few days.

Helian Peng lowered his eyes and said, "Father should know...that the Zhennan Palace and the Ding Palace jointly wiped out Cangmang Mountain."

Helian Zhen nodded. Such a big thing happened not long before he went to Jiangnan, so Helian Zhen naturally knew about it. Helian Peng said, "But, after the Cangmang Mountain was wiped out, Master Qingchen disappeared for a while. Licheng did not send anyone to deal with this matter. During this period of time, Ye Li did not appear in front of people, so he must have gone to Jiangnan."

Yeluye's eyes flashed with anger, and he said in a deep voice: "Ye Li has messed up my important affairs again! Mo Jingli's sudden delay in sending troops is related to Ye Li."

Helian Peng nodded and said, "That should be the case. However... even if Ye Li didn't go, I'm afraid the three-nation alliance wouldn't be so easy to complete. If Master Qingchen hadn't disappeared... the person who handled this matter at the beginning should have been Master Qingchen."

Everyone was silent. Although they said so, Master Qingchen was in the open after all, so they should be on guard. But now, they didn't even know what Ye Li had done in Jiangnan.

Helian Peng said: "Prince Ding probably wants to drive us Beirong out of the pass before the Great Chu sends out troops, so that he can then concentrate on dealing with Lei Zhenting and Mo Jingli."

Yeluye sneered and said, "It's not that easy to drive my Northern Rong out of the border! Tell me, how are we going to deal with Mo Xiuyao?"

Everyone looked at each other, and Yeluye frowned and said, "Helian Peng, tell me what you think."

Helian Peng said in a deep voice: "My Northern Rong army is good at face-to-face fighting, and the cavalry is even better at charging thousands of miles, but it is not good at defending the city." Now the Mohist army has taken the initiative, and in the words of the Central Plains people, it is using its own weaknesses to attack the enemy's strengths. Failure is to be expected.

"Then what do you think we should do?" Yelu Ye asked.

Helian Peng said: "In my opinion, we should take advantage of our strengths and avoid our weaknesses and attack proactively." There is no decent city in the entire Northern Rong except the royal court, so the soldiers of the Northern Rong have never needed to defend the city. Now that they have suddenly turned from attacking to defending, they are naturally restricted and unable to move freely.

Yeluye thought for a moment and looked at Helian Zhen, "What do you think, uncle?"

Helian Zhen nodded and said, "Peng'er, what you said makes sense. I also believe that our army is at a disadvantage in defending the city. It is better to take the initiative and attack. In terms of cavalry, even if the Northern Rong cannot defeat the Dingwang Mansion, they are at least as good as the Black Cloud Cavalry. But... we have more cavalry than the Black Cloud Cavalry." Although the Black Cloud Cavalry was once known as the most elite force of the Mohist Army, it was not the main force of the Mohist Army. The main force of the Mohist Army is still mainly ordinary infantry, because the terrain of Da Chu is complicated and the cavalry can't be deployed at all. But the Northern Rong is a vast grassland, and the soldiers are mainly cavalry. In a real fight, the Black Cloud Cavalry will definitely not be in the upper hand.

Yelu Yejian frowned, looked at Helian Zhen and others calmly and said: "I will follow the judgment of my uncle and General Helian. We can't retreat anymore. According to the news sent by the royal court these days, my father is very dissatisfied with my failure to achieve anything in the past six months and even lost a lot of the land we had originally obtained. If we lose again, I'm afraid it will be difficult for my father to agree to send troops to us again."

The Northern Rong itself was a vast country with few people, and it was not as easy to recruit troops as in the Central Plains. The Northern Rong army had suffered losses in recent times, which had greatly displeased the Northern Rong royal court and given Yelu Hong the opportunity to attack him.

"I understand." Everyone stood up and said.

Yeluye nodded with satisfaction and said, "Okay, this time my uncle and General Helian will lead the troops. Helian Peng, don't let me down again."

Helian Peng said in a deep voice: "I understand, Your Highness, please rest assured."