Qi Nuan nodded, meeting his gaze.
Regardless of the reason, since he treated her with such sincerity, Qi Nuan would not let him down.
She held up the incense stick, creating a solemn and dignified atmosphere in the morning mist, with only Qi Nuan's voice clearly audible.
"Today, I, Qi Nuan, offer cattle, sheep, and pigs as sacrifices to Heaven and Earth, and sincerely acknowledge Yan Gong as my teacher. A teacher for a day is a father for life. I will strictly uphold the way of the teacher, aspire to the Way, abide by virtue, and rely on benevolence..."
As the morning mist dissipates, the sun rises on the horizon, and the rosy light shines through the clouds, bringing its unique warmth to the people.
Yan Gong looked at Xi He slowly rising in the sky, then turned his gaze to Qi Nuan and revealed a satisfied smile.
Finally, Qi Nuan inserted the incense into the incense burner, completing the ceremony.
...
Spring of the 45th year of Xuanhe reign of the Great Zhou Dynasty.
All the prefectures broke with the Great Zhou completely, and various forces began to openly seize land, recruit soldiers, and occupy key military locations. The war in Julu, led by Jiang Yu and others, lasted for two years.
At the beginning, neither side used their full strength; they were merely testing each other and pulling each other along.
Jiang Yu and his men did not have enough food and supplies. The imperial court only provided half of the supplies each time, and the supplies were prioritized for the army in Luoyang by Pan Yi and others. In the early stages, Jiang Yu and his men relied entirely on the food and supplies they brought with them and the resources from Julu.
When the resources in Julu were almost exhausted, some generals had the idea of ​​retreating and planned to quietly leave with the troops in the county. However, they were beheaded by Pan Yi and others on the grounds of desertion.
As the battle dragged on, Emperor Zhou grew increasingly impatient and issued a death order to Sheng Xiao.
Later, another 150,000 troops were sent from Luoyang to provide support.
Jiang Yu and Gu Yucheng were unwilling to waste any more time on Julu, and the battle between the two armies became increasingly serious and intense.
The two armies fought countless battles, large and small. The last battle took place last winter. Jiang Yu and Gu Yucheng led the vanguard, launching the first attack. Their momentum was unstoppable.
Just as they were about to storm the rebel stronghold, no one expected that the Luoyang army would launch a surprise attack from the rear.
Under the combined attack of the two armies, the troops in each prefecture suffered countless casualties and heavy losses.
After Jiang Yu and Gu Yucheng led their subordinates out of the encirclement, the two joined forces with Liao Zicheng, and the three armies fought together to confront the Great Zhou and avenge their past grievances.
After inflicting heavy losses on the Luoyang army, the three men then left Julu with their respective forces.
After this battle, all factions no longer concealed their ambitions and rose up to covet the Great Zhou.
Meanwhile, Bai Jiao accelerated his pace, preparing to completely conquer Hedong this spring.
"Do you have any questions about leading the team as the forwards?" Bai Jiao asked, looking at Qi Nuan.
Qi Nuan looked up at him. She knew, of course, that Bai Jiao's decision wasn't Zheng Xu's, but rather an arrangement. She stepped forward and said, "Your subordinate obeys without question."
In the past two years, Qi Nuan's power has grown stronger and stronger, and Bai Jiao's dissatisfaction with Qi Nuan has finally come to the fore.
Bai Jiao was keeping an eye on Qi Nuan, and Qi Nuan was naturally aware of this.
But none of this will affect their current relationship. They support and trust each other, but they are also wary of each other.
However, Bai Jiao preferred to trust Qi Nuan rather than others.
After the meeting.
In the study, Qi Nuan and Ji Jin were discussing the matter of sending troops.
Yan Gong looked at Qi Nuan and asked, "What are you planning to do?"
Qi Nuan didn't look at him, but said, "Xu Qilang and the others have made siege ladders and crossbows, so we have a great chance of winning this siege."
Although the governor of Hedong Commandery had no talent and only cared about pleasure all his life, he was very afraid of death. As early as when chaos broke out in the commandery, he had gathered a large number of soldiers and closed the city gates tightly.
He naturally knew that the people of Hedong County had long been dissatisfied with him, and he also knew that in this chaotic world, some people wanted to take advantage of Hedong. It would not be easy for the people of the county to remove him, the prefect, from office.
He only needs to guard Hedong County well for now. When other forces come to attack Hedong, he can hand it over and exchange it for an official position. He will then have no regrets.
The cloud ladder was a siege weapon designed by Gongshu Ban for the King of Chu in ancient times. It was taller than a siege tower and, from below, appeared to be so tall that it seemed to touch the clouds, hence the name cloud ladder.
The people of Xujia Village are descendants of Gongshu Ban. They are renowned craftsmen of their time, extremely skilled in carpentry and construction, and also possess some knowledge of weapon making. This is why Bai Jiao insisted on saving them.
The blueprints for the crossbow were given to Xu Qilang by Qi Nuan, and she only remembered a rough outline. The final product was improved by Xu Qilang and his team, and its power was much greater than that of the bow and arrow.
Now Xu Qilang is her man, and apart from Yan Gong and Xu Qilang, the blueprints are not known to outsiders.
She knew that she and Bai Jiao would clash sooner or later.
However, he sent the improved blueprints and the tank blueprints developed by Xu Qilang and his team to Jiang Yu.
Now that she has people she can trust and has resumed communication with Jiang Yu, she refused Jiang Yu's request to return to Shangjun. No one can depend on another person forever.
She can depend on him, but she cannot be dependent on him.
Qi Nuan pulled herself out of her thoughts and focused her gaze on the map.
Hedong has a total of twenty counties and three cities. They have already occupied seven counties and one city. The other counties are not stable either. However, the governor of Hedong Prefecture has always turned a blind eye to them, neglecting state affairs, and acting as if he wants to sit in the governor's mansion and wait to die.
It's really hard to know what to say.
Beyond Dayao County lies Yizhou, the city guarded by the governor of Hedong Commandery. The county magistrate of Dayao County had surrendered long ago when Bai Jiao and his forces were about to attack Dayao, and Dayao County has been governed by the original magistrate ever since, without any change in personnel.
They simply sent Wang Conglin as the county magistrate to assist him.
Dayao County had never been ravaged by war, and its granaries were full, so they did not need to carry their own food and fodder this time.
Traveling light, we should be able to reach Yizhou in about ten days.
But this choice of person...
Bai Jiao currently has only 20,000 troops, while Qi Nuan only has two or three thousand. Bai Jiao wants to take advantage of this to wear down Qi Nuan's forces, but Qi Nuan is not so foolish as to send her own men to the front lines.
Yan Gong glanced at Qi Nuan, whose face was calm, and said, "Withdraw a thousand soldiers from Dayao County, ask the county magistrate for three thousand more soldiers, and add our two thousand men, that will be enough to attack Yizhou."
Although they were the vanguard, Bai Jiao did not neglect to send troops into battle.
These 6,000 men were required to obey Qi Nuan's orders in this battle.
Qi Nuan understood Yan Gong's meaning; she would go to Bai Jiao to demand the people back. This time, being the vanguard wasn't without its advantages; on the contrary, the benefits outweighed the drawbacks.
The prerequisite is to get people from Bai Jiao, but three thousand is a bit too few; of course, the more the better.
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