Zhang Xuan led 10,000 cavalry to Jiuyuan County two days later. This was his first time to step on the Hetao Plain. The strategic significance of the Hetao Plain was so important to him that he had to come here to inspect in person.

Taking down the Hetao Plain will be the first step in his Guanlong strategy. After several years of hard work, it will be built into a strategic base for southwards, advance to the southwards step by step, and finally complete his worldly hegemony.

Two days later, Zhang Xuan led 10,000 cavalry to Jiuyuan County, and Li Jing led the generals and a group of civil servants out of the city to welcome the arrival of the commander.

Everyone saluted, and Li Jing pulled an official in his thirties and introduced: "This is Cui Xingshu, the governor of Wuyuan County. With him here, Jiuyuan City has maintained stability."

Cui Xingshu hurriedly saluted, "Sir Cui Xingshu, please see His Highness the King of Qi!"

When Zhang Xuan heard that his accent was in Boling County, he asked with a smile: "Speaking of the accent, I seem to be from Boling County?"

"Xiaguan is indeed a child of the Boling Cui clan. He was a Jinshi in the second year of Daye, but the Boling Cui clan didn't know much about me."

"Why?"

"The Xiaguan is a concubine of a side-family family. He has no status in the family since his grandfather's generation."

Zhang Xuan smiled slightly, "Then be diligent, be proactive, and become a prime minister step by step, so that the Cui family can take medicine for regret every day."

Cui Xingshu was moved and bowed deeply, "Your Highness's words are remembered in your heart."

Zhang Xuan greeted the others again, and then he entered Jiuyuan County surrounded by everyone.

The martial law in the county town has been cancelled, and the military discipline of the Sui army was strict and did not disturb the people. The county town gradually returned to its former lively and prosperous life. Moreover, the soldiers brought a lot of purchasing power, and stores opened one after another, and they put all their efforts into the business of Sui soldiers. The business of various taverns and brothels in the city was very popular.

The arrival of King Zhang Xuan of Qi caused every household in the city to set up incense tables at the door, and bowed to welcome the arrival of the Northern Sui monarch. Zhang Xuan did not visit the city and then entered the county yard, which was also Li Jing's temporary military yard.

More than 20 generals and above Huya Lang and more than a dozen generals participated in the meeting. Li Jing briefly introduced the situation in Jiuyuan County to Zhang Xuan, especially telling the lord that there were still 300,000 stones of grain in the warehouse, which was the key to the army being able to station in Hetao for a long time.

Zhang Xuan nodded and asked, "What's the situation with Zhang Changxun?"

"You have reported to the Grand Commander, Zhang Changxun still has 17,000 troops, currently stationed in Yongfeng County. Our army fought with them during the siege, and their combat effectiveness was not strong. Of course, it may be related to their lack of night battles. As for the equipment, they are all Sui army armor, which is exactly the same as ours, but a piece of white on the helmet, which is said to be the symbol of the Turks."

"How many cavalry are there?" Zhang Xuan pondered for a while and asked again.

“骑兵不多,只有不到三千人.”

"why is that?"

Zhang Xuan was a little strange. There were only three thousand cavalrymen in the Hetao area, which was a bit incomprehensible.

Cui Xingshu next to him said, "Report to Your Highness, you can answer this question. At first, there was no need to establish cavalry. We had no enemies. Liu Wuzhou would not fight westward. We and the Liang army were separated from each other. Later, the Turks were willing to give us 20,000 war horses, but General Zhang refused. His excuse was that soldiers were not good at riding horses, so he did not want the Turks to be too concerned, so he did not set them all as cavalry and only equipped three thousand cavalry."

"I see!"

张铉点点头,又对众人笑道:“大家先回去吧!今天暂时到这里,明后天我们在大帐内再商议如何出兵.”

Everyone stood up and left. Zhang Xuan winked at Li Jing and Cui Xingshu. The two of them understood and stayed.

这时,大堂内只剩下他们三人,张铉便道:“我想知道怎么歼灭张长逊,想必你们都有方案了,说说看吧!”

Li Jing smiled and said, "Reporting to the Grand Commander, it is not difficult to annihilate Zhang Changxun. Yongfeng County is weak and cannot resist the siege of the army. It can be broken with one blow. Our army is three times that of Zhang Changxun's army. It is easy to wipe out them. The reason why we did not send troops immediately was because the Grand Commander arrived. I think it is necessary to discuss with the Grand Commander again."

“商议什么?”张铉问道.

Li Jing glanced at Cui Xingshu, and Cui Xingshu said worriedly: "Your Highness, Zhang Changxun's 17,000 people are all military families. Their family lives in Jiuyuan County. Relatives and friends, and most of the people in Wuyuan County are related to them. These 7,000 soldiers are the basis for the long-term stability of Hetao. If the Northern Sui army kills them all, the Sui army will completely lose people's hearts in Hetao. Please think twice."

Zhang Xuan pondered for a while and asked again: "Mr. Cui has been in Hetao for eight years and should know Zhang Changxun very well. Does the Magistrate think he will surrender to the Northern Sui Dynasty?"

Cui Xingshu sighed, "If he was willing to surrender to Bei Sui, he would not go to Yongfeng County. I think the possibility of his surrender is very small."

“为什么他不肯投降?”张铉不解.

"Your Highness, he is from Yongxian, Guanzhong. After he surrendered to Li Yuan, he sent his parents, wife and children back to his hometown in Yongxian. Only the eldest son is by his side. This is one of them. The second is that his backstage is the Dugu family. He was actually trained by the Dugu family. Without the consent of the Dugu family, he dared not surrender to the enemy of the Tang Dynasty. There is a third reason. The deputy general around him is Gao Jing, who is a general of the Tang Dynasty. In name, Li Yuan sent him to assist Zhang Changxun, but in fact he was monitoring him and not allowed to have any other intentions, so I said he would not surrender to the Northern Sui Dynasty."

Li Jing also smiled bitterly and said, "This is the contradiction. On the one hand, we want to persuade Zhang Changxun to surrender and save the lives of 17,000 soldiers, but on the other hand, he refused to surrender, which is really a bit difficult."

张铉笑了笑道:“我在榆林郡听了汇报,我认为你拿下榆林郡的手段非常高明,完全可以在五原郡故技重施,说不定我还能助逆一臂之力.”

“殿下的意思说”

Zhang Xuan smiled and said to Cui Xingshu: "Please invite the envoy Cui to summon the famous big people in the city. I want to talk to them!"

Cui Xingshu was very happy and quickly stood up and said, "I will make arrangements now!"

In the afternoon, more than 100 prominent families, wealthy families and elders from Jiuyuan County gathered in the county government. Everyone was expecting and nervous. His Highness King Qi personally discussed the future of Jiuyuan with them, which made them extremely expectant.

At this time, Cui Xingshu ran in quickly, stood up with his hands, and everyone stood up one after another. Li Jing accompanied a young heroic general. He wore a golden helmet, purple gold armor, a nine-dragon jade belt on his waist, and a black satin cloak with gold edges on his shoulder. This was the emperor's outfit, and everyone knew who was here.

"Subjects pay homage to His Highness the King of Qi!" More than a hundred people knelt down and kowtowed to salute.

Zhang Xuan smiled and waved his hand, "Dear fellow villagers, please get up quickly, let's take it as you like."

Everyone stood up one after another, Cui Xingshu introduced several famous people from Wuyuan County to Zhang Xuan. Zhang Xuan and the others greeted each other one by one, and then asked everyone to sit down.

"Today, Prince Cui arranged for me to meet you. I feel very honored. It can be said that it was you who insisted on reclamation of land in Hetao and did not farm for decades that Hetao did not become a Turkic horse farm. In this sense, you are meritorious ministers of the Han people. Please accept my respect!"

Zhang Xuan knelt down and gave a deep gift to everyone. Everyone was so scared that they knelt down and replied. Who dared to accept the gift from King Qi? But everyone was also moved. King Qi raised their status very high, fully affirming the hardships of guarding borders and reclamation for decades and three generations. Everyone had a common idea in their hearts. This is the true monarch, who has a broad mind and is very clear about the righteousness.

At this time, Zhang Xuan said loudly again: "First of all, I want to tell you a good news. The Turkic Chuluo Khan led an army of 300,000 to invade the south. After months of bloody battles by the soldiers of the Northern Sui Dynasty, he had wiped out the 300,000 Turkic troops in Bingzhou. Chuluo Khan also died in Loufan County. We won a great victory in the fight against the Turks!"

The scene was filled with cheers, and many people hugged them with excitement. No one cared more about the news than them, and no one understood the meaning of the news better than them. The 300,000 army was destroyed and the death of the Central Plains was the case. This means that within at least twenty years, that is, a generation, the Turkic army will no longer invade the south on a large scale, and Hetao will usher in a long period of peace.

Everyone knelt down again and kowtowed to Zhang Xuan with tears in their eyes. An elder said excitedly: "Hetao has suffered from the Turkic Turks for a long time! Turkic cavalry went south to harass and robbed the people of property and the court was helpless to them, but the iron and blood of Your Highness finally made them feel heart-wrenching pain. I believe they dare not come to Hetao again to invade. Your Highness is our great benefactor, and we cannot repay you. Please accept another gift."

“请殿下受我们一礼!”

众人再次感激地给张铉行了大礼.
Chapter completed!