"If I win the bet, Coach Xiao will agree to my request, how about that?"

Hearing Chang Suining's words, Xiao Min subconsciously wanted to say, "If Mrs. Chang is of any use to Xiao, just say it as she says it without making a bet." But when the words came to her lips, she still said it smoothly.

He listened to the girl's words and asked with a smile: "I wonder what Madam Chang wants?"

Chang Suining pretended to think for a while and said: "I haven't thought about it yet, can I wait until I think about it?"

Xiao Min nodded readily. A little girl who always acted in a measured manner could make whatever tricky demands she asked.

Chang Kuo on the side sighed in his heart - young, still too young.

Coach Xiao, who was "too young" in Chang Kuo's eyes, smiled and asked: "What if Mrs. Chang loses the bet?"

"Similarly." Chang Suining said with a smile: "In addition to official duties, I also agree to Coach Xiao's request."

Xiao Min couldn't help but ask: "Ms. Chang is not afraid of Xiao's excessive demands?"

When he asked this question, looking at the father and daughter looking at him with smiles, Xiao Min was the first to realize the redundancy of this sentence: "..."

If he really dares to make random demands, the person he should be afraid of is probably himself.

Many times, a person's safety and dignity have a lot to do with one's own sense of boundaries...

The girl's answer gave him a lot of dignity: "Since I dare to make a bet with General Xiao, I believe that General Xiao is a person with principles and bottom line."

"Ms. Chang is so complimentary..." Xiao Min bitterly crossed out the option "If I win the bet, I might as well try to ask Mrs. Chang to teach His Highness the First Prince the marksmanship skills" in his heart...

After all, this request was too greedy and had no bottom line... He couldn't be ashamed of the little girl's praise for him.

Alas, having a good image can sometimes be a problem.

Anyway, even General Chang has difficulty understanding the essence of it, and I guess he doesn't have the ability.

General Xiao comforted himself, and then stepped back and asked the next best thing in a good mood: "If Xiao wins the bet, can I ask Mrs. Chang to give me some pointers on sword skills?"

In the competition on New Year's Eve, Mrs. Chang displayed not only her superb marksmanship, but also her sword skills that were really eye-catching.

The way of martial arts has always respected the strong. Facing such martial arts wizards, Xiao Min has no physical baggage to speak of.

Chang Suining nodded: "Of course you can."

Xiao Min was very happy and sighed with a smile: "Even if he wants to improve his sword skills, Xiao will probably have to burn incense secretly to beg Xu Zhengye not to change his route to Luoyang!"

After a few jokes, the group of people continued to discuss various serious matters.

After Xiao Min left, he went to inquire about the repair of the warship.

The deputy general named Dong, who had always followed him since he took over as commander, couldn't help but ask: "Why did the commander suddenly prepare so many warships? Is he planning to attack Xu Zhengye by water?"

Xiao Min was noncommittal: "Just be prepared."

Vice General Dong then asked: "Coach, when will we send troops to take the initiative to attack? The brothers below are all looking forward to a head-on fight with Xu Zhengye and retaking Yangzhou as soon as possible!"

Xiao Min nodded: "Yes, morale has increased greatly now. It can be seen that Mrs. Chang has practiced well and is worthy of the position of head coach."

Vice General Dong was silent for a moment.

Xiao Min then said: "The matter of sending troops to attack Xu depends on General Chang's wishes. There is no rush."

Vice General Dong looked puzzled: "But now that morale has improved, it is obviously a good time to attack Xu... Doesn't it give Xu Zhengye and others a chance to breathe and strengthen?"

Xiao Min's tone was cautious: "General Chang Da and Ning Yuan have repeatedly said that both Yangzhou and Jiangning have natural barriers, which are always easy to defend and difficult to attack. If we take the initiative to attack, there will be huge casualties... Therefore, this matter needs to be considered in the long term.

"

Vice General Dong worriedly said: "But the imperial court is eager to regain Yangzhou. If it misses this great opportunity and arouses dissatisfaction and suspicion from the imperial court, I'm afraid the saint will still blame you, the coach..."

"Let's talk about it then." Xiao Min sighed, seemingly helpless.

At this moment, a soldier came to report, and Xiao Min continued to attend to official duties. Vice General Dong stood where he was, saluted and sent Xiao Min off.

After Xiao Min took a few steps, a vigilant thought flashed in his eyes.

…

On the other side, Yuan Xiang, Chang Ren, Lao Kang and others arrived at Chang Kuo's tent one after another.

Everyone was found by Chang Suining.

"I wonder what my lady's orders are?" Chang Ren took the lead and asked for instructions.

Chang Sui Ning just put down the pen of writing a reply. She had too many replies to write, so she could only squeeze in time to reply.

At this moment, she looked at Yuanxiang Changren and others and said, "I need you to find some people from nearby states and counties for me."

And the conditions were specified in detail: "There must be market servants, large and small businessmen, as well as literati, magistrates and gentry, and even more, beggars and homeless people, people who have become homeless due to the war."

"Girl, how can I find a way?" Chang Ren asked: "Are we still following the old rules?"

Xi'er looked at her girl hesitantly. It sounded like there were a lot of people, and her sacks might not be enough. Can she go to the public account and get some from the military warehouse?

"...No need this time." Chang Suining corrected: "You have to pay for it."

Chang Ren and others responded.

"One more thing you should pay attention to when selecting..." Chang Suining thought for a while and added: "Among all people, if there are people who are extremely mean-spirited or talkative..."

Yuan Xiang and others listened very carefully - couldn't they be such people?

"The more people who meet these conditions, the better." Chang Sui Ning said.

"...?" Everyone reacted for a moment, and then they all responded "Yes" in unison.

Chang Suining also explained in detail some other matters that needed attention, and Chang Ren and others just went down to arrange the matter.

After leaving the camp, he was as studious as Yuan Xiang, and asked Chang Ren with a tone of asking for advice: "...Brother Ren, what is the 'old rule' you mentioned just now?"

"Oh, that one." Chang Ren said very privately: "Knock him unconscious and put him in a sack and carry him back."

Yuanxiang: "...that's it."

I learned something again.

…

This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Soon, the news that Xu Zhengye summoned various troops to Yangzhou spread quickly.

There are many rumors that Xu Zhengye's move was to gather all the troops and horses to attack Huainan Road with all his strength. Moreover, he has been recruiting troops non-stop, and now he has gathered more than 200,000 troops. He is determined to win.

The news spread throughout Jiangnan Province, and the bureaucrats and people in Huainan Province were even more panic-stricken.

Xiao Min came back from outside and found Chang Kuo and his daughter. As soon as he mentioned this matter, he heard Chang Sui Ning, who was writing something at the desk, said: "Commander Xiao, don't worry. Although it is true that Xu Zhengye gathered troops, there are other opinions

They are all just rumors."

Xiao Min: "But what if it's true..."

"No." Chang Suining continued writing, "Because I was the one who spread this rumor."

"?" Xiao Min: "Why did Mrs. Chang do this?"

"To scare myself." Chang Suining paused in his writing, as if he was considering it, but felt dissatisfied, so he crossed out a line of words.

Xiao Min: ...spread rumors to scare yourself?

He never questioned Mrs. Chang's mental state. Out of this trust, he thought along this seemingly absurd line of thought - what are the benefits of doing this?

For a moment, Xiao Min's eyes lit up.

"Xiao understands!"

Chang Kuo was standing by and saw clearly.

His Highness hides half of what he does and says, not for the sake of being mysterious, but to cultivate Xiao Min's sensitivity in dealing with the war situation.

His Highness has always been very patient when it comes to talents that can be made. In the past, the reason why everyone in the Xuance Mansion was united and loyal and courageous was because the people they served not only loved talents, but also had the heart to create talents.

Geniuses are born, while talents are taught by people. Geniuses in the former have always been rare, but talents in the latter can be found in abundance if you are willing.

Seeing that Xiao Min understood, Chang Sui Ning said: "Then Coach Lao Xiao ordered people to set up defenses at various strategic points and make all-out defense preparations."

Xiao Min nodded seriously, and after confirming a few things with Chang Kuo, he immediately went to arrange the matter.

Chang Suining's move was to give the impression that he was frightened by the rumors that Xu Zhengye was attacking Huainan Road with all his strength, so that Xu Zhengye believed that all their army forces would be deployed everywhere to defend Huainan Road.

In this way, Huainan Road is like a copper wall and an iron wall.

However, the completion of this copper wall and iron wall will definitely scatter their 170,000 troops to various places. Such a well-known formation will also attract everyone's attention to Huainan Road.

At this time, if Xu Zhengye raises his troops to attack Luoyang, he can really catch the imperial army off guard.

Xiao Min, who had figured out the key to this, couldn't help but sigh in his heart - Mrs. Chang really went to great lengths to allow Xu Zhengye to go to Luoyang with peace of mind.

His sword skills...is there still hope?

…

The battle situation in the south of the Yangtze River was a top priority in the eyes of the imperial court. If there was any news, it would always be reported back to the capital as quickly as possible.

The news that Xu Zhengye had gathered his troops to attack Huainan Road with all his strength naturally spread quickly to both the government and the public.

In the court hall, there were countless voices blaming Xiao Min and Chang Kuo.

In the opinion of many people, it was because they used their troops poorly and missed the opportunity to take the initiative to attack that Xu Zhengye once again gathered more troops and made the situation critical again.
To be continued...