"You are very good..."

Kou Ji praised him.

Wang Kai said in a neither humble nor arrogant manner: "Thank you for your appreciation, my superior."

Kou Ji nodded, "Take your people and continue patrolling."

Wang Kai clasped his fists and led the troops to continue patrolling.

After Wang Kai left, Gao Chugong curled his lips and said, "His great-grandfather was also a figure. When my father was alive, he often said that if his great-grandfather died later, he might be able to compete with him."

Kou Ji turned his head to look at Gao Zhanggong and asked, "So what do you want to say?"

Gao Chugong said in a faint tone: "In the past, Emperor Taizu held a suburban sacrificial ceremony in Luoyang and summoned Wang Quanbin to accompany him. It was such an honor. Now, only a few decades have passed, and his great-grandson wants to become an official and make contributions.

, all need to be recommended by others.

Pathetic! Deplorable!”

Gao Chugong probably experienced the decline of the Wang family and was afraid that the Gao family would follow in the footsteps of the Wang family, so he spoke quietly.

Emperor Taizu Zhao Kuangyin held a suburban ceremony in Luoyang, which was no ordinary suburban ceremony.

It is a conference where merit is discussed and rewards are given.

During the suburban sacrificial ceremony held in Luoyang, Emperor Taizu Zhao Kuangyin summoned each of the generals who followed him in establishing the Song Dynasty and made great achievements in battle. According to their meritorious deeds, they were rewarded and given official titles.

It can be said that since the founding of the Song Dynasty, there has never been a suburban sacrifice as important as this one.

For such an important suburban sacrifice, Emperor Taizu Zhao Kuangyin called Wang Kai's great-grandfather Wang Quanbin to accompany him during the ceremony, which shows the importance of Wang Kai's great-grandfather Wang Quanbin in Emperor Taizu Zhao Kuangyin's heart.

It stands to reason that his descendants must be among the high-ranking officials and nobles in the Song Dynasty.

But only a few decades after his death, his descendants had reached the point where they needed to be recommended by others, which shows how quickly the Wang family declined.

Whether there are other factors behind this, I don’t care for the moment.

Just the speed of the Wang family's decline was enough to make Gao Zhang Gong, a fellow general, sigh with emotion.

Kou Ji knew Gao Chugong's thoughts, so after Gao Chugong's words fell, he said calmly: "There is a saying that the sharp edge of a sword comes from sharpening, and the fragrance of plum blossoms comes from the bitter cold. The decline of the Wang family may not be a bad thing for Wang Kai.

A bad thing."

Gao Chugong shook his head, not agreeing with Kou Ji's words.

The Wang family is now in decline, and it will be difficult for Wang Kai to make the Wang family rise again.

The imperial court's current policy of emphasizing civility and restraining military force has reached an outrageous level.

It is simply impossible for Wang Kai to let the Wang family rise again under the pressure of such political decrees.

Seeing this, Kou Ji probably guessed what Gao Chugong was thinking, so he just smiled lightly and didn't explain much.

Kou Ji ordered Ming Hao to lead the servants of the Kou Mansion and the students from the Martial Arts Hall to set up camp outside Quye River.

Minghao led the servants of the Kou Mansion and the students of the Jiangwu Hall to set up tents. After settling in, he found Kou Ji alone.

Kou Ji was sitting in his tent reviewing the war documents of Baode City sent by Liu Heng. When he heard Ming Hao's request for an audience, he asked someone to bring Ming Hao into the tent.

As soon as Minghao entered the tent, he was the first to salute. After saluting, he did not say anything and stared at Kou Ji eagerly.

After Kou Ji finished reviewing the war documents sent by Liu Heng, he put down the documents in his hand and stared at Ming Hao, who stood in front of him without speaking for a long time.

"Is something wrong?"

Ming Hao saluted Kou Ji and replied: "Go back to Shangguan, yes!"

Kou Ji knew that Minghao was a talented person, and Minghao took the initiative to find him, probably because he had a plan and offered it to him.

Kou Ji stared at Ming Hao with great interest and said, "What's the matter? Tell me."

Minghao smiled dryly and stood silent again.

Kou Ji was stunned. After pondering for a long time, he roughly guessed why Ming Hao didn't speak.

Koji waved to the servants in the tent and asked them to go out.

As soon as the servants left, Ming Hao spoke up, "Shangguan, Xianguan has a way to help Shangguan resist the Liao people."

Kou Ji said calmly: "Whatever method, just make it clear."

Ming Hao pondered: "Shangguan and the deceased head of the Gao family went to the northwest to resist the Liao people. Now there are wars in Baode and Yinzhou. Shangguan did not go, but ended up here in Quyechuan.

Presumably Qu Yechuan will have a big battle in the near future."

Kou Ji stared at Minghao without saying anything, even though Minghao had already guessed that the man wearing the mask was Gao Chugong, even though Minghao had already guessed that a big battle was about to happen in Qu Yechuan.

Seeing that Kou Ji was speechless, Ming Hao continued: "When Xianguan set up camp just now, he carefully looked at the terrain near Quye River. He found that there were several places outside Quye River where he could set up camp.

If we can set up camps and strongholds in these places, once the Liao people come to attack, we can send a small number of soldiers and horses to stay in the stronghold to contain the large number of Liao people. The momentum of the Liao people's attack will also be greatly weakened."

"Setting up camp?"

Kou Ji muttered, stared at Ming Hao and said solemnly: "None of us can say when the Liao people will arrive at Quyechuan. We don't have enough time to set up camp."

Hearing this, Ming Hao solemnly said: "Yes, we have enough time to set up camp and set up a stronghold. Shangguan gives me a thousand men. Within three days, I will help Shangguan build two strongholds."

Kou Ji narrowed his eyes and said, "Three days, two seats? Are you giving me a military order?"

Minghao nodded solemnly.

Kou Ji stared at Ming Hao and said faintly: "You saw me re-employing Wang Kai, and you saw Wang Kai rise from a palace to a general in command of an army, so you wanted to give me advice and take the opportunity to gain a fortune.

Opportunities for promotion through meritorious service?”

There was no emotion or anger on Kou Ji's face, and Ming Hao didn't know whether he liked or disliked Kou Ji's advice to him, but Kou Ji had already exposed his words, and Ming Hao didn't dare to hide it and nodded decisively.

Kou Ji said solemnly: "I like to see my subordinates motivated, but military affairs are different from others, and there is no room for fun. Since you dare to issue a military order, I will give you a chance.

In three days, if there are two more villages in Quyechuan, after the war is over, you will go to Linzhou to take office.

If not, then after three days, pack your bags and go back to your hometown.

I will write a letter to the inner court and ask the inner court to demote you to a civilian position."

When Ming Hao heard this, he bowed respectfully to Kou Ji, "Thank you, Shangguan, for giving me this opportunity."

Kou Ji waved his hand and said, "Go down and pick a place. A thousand men will be at your disposal soon. I will also send people to deliver some of the simple equipment you use to build the fort."

"Thank you, sir!"

Minghao looked excited and prepared to leave the tent after saluting.

Before he left, Kou Ji reminded: "Whether it is the existence of Gao Chuanggong or the impending war in Qu Yechuan, please do not spread the word. Once I hear any rumors, you will not be able to live in peace again."

"I dare not..."

Minghao agreed and left Kou Ji's tent.

As soon as Ming Hao left, Gao Gao Gong wandered into the tent. When he saw Kou Ji, he was not polite and asked decisively: "How is the Baode army?"

Kou Ji picked up the document sent by Liu Heng from the table and handed it to Gao Chugong. When Gao Chugong was reviewing the document, Kou Ji said in a deep voice: "Baode is 80% likely to be lost...Liu Heng brought

When the people arrived at Baode, Baode City was already besieged by the Liao army. There were as many as 50,000 Liao soldiers, all of whom were elites of the Liao Kingdom. Liu Heng led his men to charge three battles, but could not break through the Liao army's blockade.

.

More importantly, the Qingshan Army in Baode City did not send anyone out to respond during this period."

When Gao Chugong heard this, he immediately understood the key to the problem. He stared at Kou Ji and said solemnly: "The Qingshan Army may have suffered a lot of damage and is unable to send troops to meet Liu Heng."

Kou Ji nodded and said in a heavy voice: "The Qingshan Army is the integration of the Qing Border Army and the Huoshan Army. The Qing Border Army used to be just a miscellaneous army, where the imperial court distributed prisoners, and its number has always been around 20,000.

When the imperial court conducted an inventory of the Qing border army, it was discovered that the Qing border army had been depleted of 12,000 soldiers. The Qing border army actually had less than 8,000 soldiers.

There are also many elderly soldiers among them.

When the imperial court integrated the Qing border army, it transferred its veterans to Dongping Road and Xiping Road to serve as petty officials and government servants. After the integration of the Qing border army, less than 5,000 people remained.

The situation of the Volcano Army is similar to that of the Qing Border Army.

Since the death of General Yang, the Huoshan Army was transferred from Dai County to the north of Baode and became a miscellaneous army, with a lot of soldiers being misappropriated in the process.

Although after integration, there are still 12,000 troops, their combat effectiveness is not as good as that of the Qing Border Army, which only has 5,000 troops.

The two armies were integrated into the Qingshan Army, with a total strength of 17,000.

Seventeen thousand people withstood the fierce attack of 50,000 Liao troops for more than ten days.

It has reached its limit.”

There is one more thing that Kou Ji did not mention, and that is the issue of armaments.

As a Xiang army, the military equipment of the Qingshan Army is not even inferior to that of the Forbidden Army.

Before the imperial court integrated them, their situation was similar to that of the Bulgarian Army. They all wore thin clothes and shabby clothes, and wielded sabers that had been sharpened to a smaller size.

After the imperial court integrated them, they were re-equipped with iron armor, leather armor, and weapons.

However, there are not many iron armors, and only some generals can use them.

Most of the soldiers wore leather armor.

In terms of other armaments, the imperial court also equipped them with some.
To be continued...