Shulong Daojun

Gu Changming has witnessed the current state of Chuxian County—the people live in harmony and the county is well-governed.

To be honest, under the management of Jiang Xiaoyou and the adults, things have improved even more than before.

Therefore, Gu Changming felt that rather than letting his old friends be anxious and uneasy all day because of the unrest of the refugees outside the county, it would be better to do as Jiang Heng suggested.

Although it may not be in accordance with the sentiment, it is reasonable.

Afterwards, I swallowed my pride and apologized several times with gifts. Once things settled down in the county a few days later, my old friend would surely understand my good intentions.

In the blink of an eye, Gu Changming bowed deeply once again.

Seeing this, Lin Shu slightly displayed his magical power and said with a faint smile, "That's how it should be, Gu Zheng Shen can rest assured."

Moreover, a county is far from what we desire; we should seize Pingjiang City directly at this juncture.

After saying that, he glanced at it and said, "Jiang Heng."

Jiang Heng's heart trembled: "Sir."

Lin Shu nodded slightly, his eyes flickering, and said, "Let's leave the two counties alone for now. We can first join forces with the garrison in the counties and then seize the opportunity to intimidate the refugees outside the counties."

At that time, we will either threaten them with their lives or lure them with food to sow discord and discourage them from starting a rebellion.

This was done in every county; all the refugees from both counties could then be taken in and used as followers to bolster their power.

Then, changing the subject, he said, "I suppose you've already seen the siege of Pingjiang City."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Heng nodded without hesitation.

Lin Shu continued meaningfully, "While supplying grain to buy peace may stabilize some refugees and ensure temporary stability, it will also breed resentment due to inequality, and intensify the rift."

When the time comes to no avail, it will only be a matter of time before the refugees rise up and besiege Pingjiang City.

After taking control of the refugees in the two counties, all that is needed is to wait for or push for the right opportunity to arrive.

When the refugees outside the city attacked the city, the county magistrate led Kong Ling and others to the city, and the refugees from the two counties, using the names of their respective county magistrates, surrounded the city from both sides.

Once the siege is lifted, the officials of Pingjiang City will be grateful for the county magistrate's help and will surely open the city gates to host a banquet. At that time, we can proceed as Brother Jiang just suggested.

In this way, if the timing is right, Pingjiang City will be as easy as a piece of cake.

After a slight pause, he continued, "What do you think, Brother Jiang and Brother Beichen?"

Upon hearing this,

Jiang Heng pondered for a moment, then nodded in agreement: "What you say is indeed a brilliant plan, sir."

This method of seizing a city is exactly the same as the method of seizing a county he just mentioned, only it is more dangerous and involves more complex arrangements.

With careful consideration and a high degree of certainty, Jiang Heng would naturally not object.

Bei Chen also understood this principle, and with a slight frown, he said, "As Senior Brother Lin said, that is correct. I will do my best to cooperate with Junior Brother wherever necessary."

However, this matter involves too many ordinary people, so we should consider it carefully and proceed with extreme caution.

Upon hearing this, both Lin Shu and Jiang Heng fell silent, each letting out a silent sigh.

Whether it was refugees besieging the city or seizing the opportunity to take over the land, it was still an incident, and loss of life was inevitable.

As the saying goes, when faced with two evils, choose the lesser one.

Rather than watching the former happen and end up with corpses strewn everywhere, it's better to do the latter, sacrificing the minority to protect the majority and ensure the safety of all people.

However, the fewer casualties, the better.

After a short while, Lin Shu came up with a plan and slowly said, "When encircling the enemy, unless absolutely necessary, do not harm the lives of ordinary people. Just make a grand display of force to intimidate them."

This matter requires Brother Beichen to select a person skilled in military training from among the disciples of the Miscellaneous Learning lineage, and then Brother Jiang to select a thousand strong and healthy men from Chuxian County, to put on armor and carry spears, and to conduct intensive training for a few days.

There's no need for complete obedience; a single shout is enough to get everyone to step forward and thrust their spears forward.

As for the refugees in the two counties, they only need to practice their shouts within a few days, so that they can shout in unison, "Abandon the army and become good people, be given food and settle down."

This should deter the refugees outside the city, and it will also make the process of persuading them to surrender much easier.

There is no perfect solution.

After listening, Bei Chen pondered for a moment and then said, "I will send a message to ask which junior brother is good at training troops, and invite him to Chuxian to personally supervise the training."

"I'll also ask my remaining junior brothers to forge a batch of weapons; they'll be delivered soon."

As soon as he finished speaking, he took out a communication jade talisman and prepared to make arrangements for various matters.

Just then, Jiang Heng had a sudden thought and asked softly, "I wonder if Brother Beichen knows any people who are born with superhuman strength and are skilled in martial arts?"

Ideally, one should be able to split rocks with bare hands, throw horses with incredible speed, and create a crater ten feet in size with a single punch.

They could then don armor and wield spears, leading the way in training the people. This preemptive display before attempting to subdue them would likely be far more effective.

After saying that, he stared straight at Bei Chen.

In Jiang Heng's memory, Bei Chen was indeed like a treasure bag, able to provide whatever he asked for, whether it was weapons or bedroom medicine.

This surprised Bei Chen slightly.

He had no idea who these people were; Brother Jiang seemed to think too highly of himself...

Bei Chen hesitated for a moment before he was about to explain when a faint voice suddenly rang out: "Among the disciples of the Miscellaneous Learning lineage, there should be quite a few who also cultivate the body. Brother Bei Chen, just call them over."

He instructed them not to use any Taoist techniques or cultivation methods, but simply to create a terrifying commotion with their brute strength and then stop, leaving the rest to Brother Jiang.

Seeing that Beichen did not answer for a moment, Lin Shu guessed and then spoke up to remind him.

Upon hearing this, Bei Chen's eyes lit up slightly: "This is not difficult. I will send a message to inquire right away."

After speaking, he grasped the communication jade talisman again and set up a communication signal.

The next day, at the hour of Mao (5-7 AM).

Lin Shu was discussing the details of capturing the city with Bei Chen and Jiang Heng when a man with a leopard's head, round eyes, a swallow's jaw, and a tiger's beard strode in from outside the temple.

Upon Fang Yi's arrival, he glanced at him, then composed himself and said respectfully, "Greetings, Senior Brother."

Bei Chen smiled and nodded, gave a brief greeting, and then explained in detail the matter entrusted to him, and instructed him not to be negligent.

The leopard-eyed man cupped his hands slightly and nodded repeatedly in agreement.

Before long, accompanied by Jiang Heng, they arrived at a place outside the county.

By promising priority in the distribution of grain and future land and housing, a thousand able-bodied refugees were gathered overnight.

At this moment, they all looked nervously at the leopard-eyed man, secretly swallowing their saliva.

The leopard-eyed man widened his eyes, scrutinized the man for a moment, then drew out his words and roared, "All soldiers—hear my command!"

The thousand people were stunned for a moment, and they looked at each other, most of them looking frightened.

Only Kong Ling took a deep breath and shouted, "Yes, sir!"

As soon as he finished speaking, more than three hundred people responded with shouts, though they were not in sync, and then more people followed one after another.

As soon as he finished speaking, the leopard-eyed man narrowed his eyes and roared again, "All soldiers—listen to my command!"

This time, more than half of the thousand people spoke up in time.

After repeating this exercise dozens of times, by the time the sun was high in the sky, the thousand men were drenched in sweat.

However, with each command given by the leopard-eyed man, the thousand people responded in increasing unison.

By noon, no one hesitated.