Chapter 292 Forced Palace

After coming to Lanzhou, although Qin Mubai also had his own special driving office in the governor's mansion, because his work was mostly related to the Assassin's Mansion, he spent more time in the Lanzhou Assassin's Mansion.

Today, as usual, when he was discussing with Xiao Liang, the governor of Lanzhou, and others about spring ploughing, a guard from the governor's mansion came to report that Xue Wanche and Xue Wanjun, with some generals, rushed into the governor's mansion and loudly questioning the governor Qin Shubao, who was like forcing the palace!

As soon as Qin Mubai heard this, he was a little angry. He threw away the matter at hand and immediately rushed to the governor's office, which was only one street away.

There are indeed a lot of people standing in the council hall of the governor's office. Although it is not like forcing the palace by force as the pawn said, the smell of gunpowder is indeed enough. From a distance, you can also hear loud roars.

People in the army are different from court officials. They speak loudly and directly, and it is common to roar. However, the Xue brothers gathered so many generals to make trouble and besieged Qin Shubao. It was really too much!

Above the main hall, Xue Wanche is on the left and Xue Wan is on the right. There are six or seven generals standing behind the two brothers, most of whom are front-line field generals. Their personalities are like fire, and most of them are people who have been accustomed to fighting with the Xue brothers for many years. There are a lot of people, as if they don't intend to give Qin Shubao, the general, much face. The seven-mouthed and eight-tongued people were passionate and noisy.

Qin Mubai listened to his anger outside. These people quarreled and quarreled. The focus of the debate was nothing more than: why he didn't wave his army to attack for a long time, but had to stick to the city. That's all right. They even let all the 50,000 troops go to farm - we are warriors who kill the enemy, not farmers who cut the seeds!

In the face of the indiscriminate bombing by this group of general colleagues, Qin Shubao's reaction was surprisingly calm. Not humble, not arrogant, and don't say much. He was as quiet as water, and his eyes were like falcons. He watched these people's performance quietly with his hands, almost without saying a word.

Everyone made a scene for a while and found that Qin Shubao did not give a trace of reaction. Instead, he played drums in his heart, as if he also realized that there was something wrong with him, so he gradually became quieter.

Xue Wanjun hugged his fist and said, "General, if you are rude, you should dare to commit the following. However, the last general was very puzzled by the order issued by the governor's office. The generals of the three armies are not good-hearted. If you don't give a reasonable explanation, the last general will be afraid that the army's heart will change, which will be a big deal!"

Qin Shubao looked at Xue Wanjun and gently raised the corners of his mouth. The long gray beard trembled slightly and said, "Finally, the quarrel is over?"

Xue Wanjun's face changed. He knew that he was rude first. He hurriedly held his fists together: "The last general is rude. I hope the general will forgive me!"

Qin Shubao stood up, picked up his hand, walked slowly to the middle of Xue Wanjun, and said leisurely, "You have not been in the army for a year and a half. Don't you know what the military order is?

"Yes, I will know." Xue Wanjun was like the head of the generals. He hugged his fist and replied, "The military order is like a mountain, and the order is used to obey."

"Then what are you doing here?" Uncle Qin Baofeng's eyes narrowed and there was a trace of murder. He stared at Xue Wanjun and said in a low voice, "I have ordered it, and I will change it?" Wait, do you want to force the palace?!"

"The last general dare not!" Xue Wanjun held his fist neatly and hurriedly answered.

At this moment, the smell of gunpowder in the hall suddenly became stronger. Although Xue Wanjun's mouth was soft, he was obviously not convinced and insisted, "The last general has just said it. We are not unwilling to carry out military orders. It's just that the army wants to do it. The generals and soldiers don't want to farm, but only want to fight and kill the enemy! Moreover, it has been more than three months since the last general led the army here. Without moving a single soldier, the Tubo people occasionally came to provoke and harass, and the governor's office did not strictly order it. The soldiers held a ball of fire in their hearts, vomited a lot of blood, and had nowhere to vent! Now, it's just that I'm not allowed to go into battle. I'm actually asked to take off my robes and go to farm... In this way, the last general can still follow the order without any complaints, but it's hard to protect his subordinates. What's his heart!"

"Are you threatening me?" Qin Shubao's voice was cold, and he walked to Xue Wanjun and stared into his eyes. Because he was slightly taller than Xue Wanjun, he lowered his head condescendingly and almost said to his face, "Is it true that I have to explain everything to you?"

Xue Wanjun was forced in front of him by Qin Shubao like this, and he couldn't hide his anger. He didn't retreat and said in a low voice, "The last general dares not to commit the crime. However, it is difficult for everyone to be angry. Please ask the general to think twice. Please be sure to give a reasonable explanation!"

"What if I don't give it?" Qin Shubao asked.

Xue Wanjun said tit-for-tat quickly, "Then the general... It's hard to protect whether the army's heart has changed!"

"How dare you!" Qin Shubao shouted in a low voice, and his anger burst out!

The sound of the sword coming out of its sheath suddenly sounded in the hall, and Baiqi Jinwei waved his knife forward when he heard the sound. Xue Wanche and others, who had been watching from the sidelines, also immediately reacted. Many people held their hands on the handle of the knife and almost pulled it out!

The sword is drawn and the crossbow is imminent!

At this time, Qin Mubai raised his foot and came in.

"Recede!" He shouted fiercely, and all the hundred riders put the knives back to the sheath one after another. They glanced at the Xue brothers and others coldly and retreated separately.

Xue Wanche and others also put away their hands holding knives and symbolically punched Qin Mubai: "I've seen the young general."

Major General is a new name after Qin Mubai came to Lanzhou. Because both father and son are surnamed Qin, the name of "General Qin" is inevitably confused. Qin Shubao was a general, so Qin Mubai was called a young general.

"Father is handsome." After entering the door, Qin Mubai first saw the military salute and said, "Didn't General Xue wait to explain? Please allow me to explain it to them in the future!"

"Humph!" Qin Shubao sneered and said no. He walked back to the handsome chair and sat down and drank tea by himself.

Arrogant, soft but not hard, this is a typical Qin Shubao style.

Now, the siege target of the Xue brothers has instantly turned to Qin Mubai. Because they know that these decrees are actually made by Qin Mubai. The purpose of this trip was not to compete with Qin Shubao. It was originally aimed at Qin Mubai.

"Major General, you're here just in time." Xue Wanjun seemed to smile and said in a fierce and vigorous tone, "We are very puzzled by the decree issued by the governor. You are the governor's office, in charge of government affairs and people's livelihood. These decrees should be from you, right?

"Yes." Qin Mubai smiled and nodded.

"Then why did you make such a decision?" Xue Wanjun's thick eyebrows were locked and said harshly, "Fifty thousand troops, hot-blooded warriors - big eyes and small eyes follow you to farm and weave mulberry! Can you treat Lanzhou as Xiangzhou?

"How about Lanzhou? What about Xiangzhou?" Qin Mubai smiled instead of anger and said lightly, "Xiangzhou's soldiers and civilians are human beings, but Lanzhou's soldiers and civilians are not human beings. Don't need to eat and wear clothes?"

"You... are obviously sophistry!" Xue Wanjun touched a big nail, and his anger rose more and more. He gritted his teeth and said, "We drove thousands of miles and waved our troops just to expel the Hus and kill the enemy for the country. Farming and raising mulberry, that's what farmers and women do! How can I follow the example of the Admiral - that's really unreasonable!"

"What General Xue said is extremely true!" The generals joined together, "Tubo scattered riding bravely often harassed, looting herdsmen, burning and robbing villages, which is extremely vicious! At this moment, we should fight bravely to kill the enemy and protect the people. How can we sit idly by and ignore it? Instead, we should go to farm and raise mulberry with peace of mind, and do the act of sheep and cattle!"

"Gentlemen, calm your anger first." Qin Mubai held down his anger and said calmly, "Let me ask you first. How much food do you have in your army?"

Xue Wanjun sneered: "All military food and grass are all allocated by you. Why do you ask us instead?"

"I have to say it yourself. Don't you care about grain, so you can't say why? Qin Mubai was not angry, but looked at him with a smile.

Xue Wanjun temporarily suppressed his anger and replied, "I will lead more than 15,000 soldiers and horses on the front line of Shancheng, 20,000 horses, and a total of 30,000 stones of grain and grass."

"That's a total of 35,000 mouths, waiting to eat?" Qin Mubai smiled faintly and said, "There are only 30,000 stones of grain and fodder left. On average, each person has less than one stone of grain and fodder per horse. Even if one person and one horse have a hundred catties of grain and grass, it's enough to eat for a few days. I don't think I'll listen to it with you - in less than a month, the grain and grass will run out, right?

"What's the matter?" Xue Wanjun sneered and said, "Is it possible that you don't allocate food and fodder to us anymore?"

"Of course not." Qin Mubai smiled and said, "However, there are less than 200,000 stones of grain and fodder left in the Lanzhou treasury. How much can I dial for you? I asked General Xue Wanche, are there more soldiers and civilians in Liangzhou than the front line of Chencheng?

"Yes." Xue Wanche replied lurely.

"Lanzhou is more than Dancheng and Liangzhou." Qin Mubai said, "So, how should 200,000 stones of grain and grass be distributed? I'd like to ask the generals.

"That's your business!" Xue Wanjun said impatiently, "After beating around the bush for a long time, what on earth are you trying to say? Without food and fodder, won't you go to the court? What does the Ministry of War eat? Isn't it dedicated to supplying food and fodder to the front line?

"Yes, these things should have been worried about by the Ministry of War. You don't have to worry about me." Qin Mubai said, "But have you calculated that it will take at least two months to transport a stone of grain and grass to Lanzhou. In addition, it is not bad to leave 30,000 to 40,000 stones from Chang'an Taicang and arrive in Lanzhou. In addition, there are cold clothes and bedding of the soldiers, all of which are supplied by the rear. Lanzhou's barren land has almost no self-sufficiency. OK, the Tubo people came and repelled them. Repulsed today, and tomorrow will come again. Defense is always passive. If there is a big Guanlong defense line, where can the generals defend? Guarding the east, an enemy horse infiltrated in the west, burned, killed, robbed and abused for a while, and ran away. Our army tried its best to catch up, or could catch up, cut off a few heads and ran back happily, thinking that it had made a great contribution. However, can this really frustrate the muscles and bones of the Tibet people?

"What do you mean by that?" Xue Wanjun couldn't help but be a little annoyed, "Are you doubting the ability to fight with his command?"

"It's not." Qin Mubai said, "General Xue's brave and good fighting makes the enemy scared, and it is well known to the world. However, the general is eager to make contributions, but he is short-sighted. I just want to kill the enemy today, not tomorrow. The lifeline of the troops stationed in Lanzhou is supported by the 4,000-li supply line behind them. Isn't this a fatal door that restricts the combat effectiveness of our army? The Tubo people are good at guerrilla warfare, that is, they go as soon as they fight, and they are erratic. The reason why they dare to do this is that they are sure that our supplies are weak and unable to work hard to go straight to their nests. Therefore, every time he came to harass and loot, he swaggered back to Dafeichuan. We know that they are stationed in the hinterland of Dafeichuan and Tugu, but we are unable to recruit and destroy them. In the final analysis, isn't it limited to supplies? No matter how brave the soldiers are, they can't fight hungry, can they? If you can shorten the supply line from 1,400 miles to dozens of miles, or even take a granary with you to fight, how can you be afraid?

"Oh, after talking for a long time, is this the reason why you ordered Tuntian Zhisang?" Xue Wanjun was not convinced, but sneered, "It is said that you will be short-sighted, but your eyes are really long-term. Fifty thousand troops have gone to farm and raise mulberry. Who will fight against the enemy? If the Tubo people invade at this time, won't the newly opened mulberry garden be destroyed?

"Why do you have to say that you are a soldier in your spare time?" Qin Mubai replied, "Farning and raising mulberry is of course temporary. The farmland and mulberry garden are all the proceeds to the army, and there is no crime with the people. Our army is self-sufficient. On the one is to save expenditure for the Tang Dynasty, and on the other, the grain and fodder are quickly received, so there is no need to worry about supplies. However, with the worries, the army's combat effectiveness is sure to rise steadily. It's not difficult to win another battle at that time.

"It sounds wonderful." Xue Wanjun said, "However, is it a day's work to farm and raise mulberry? It's not the work of years to plant trees and open pastures! - How long are you going to let our 50,000 troops stay in Lanzhou?!"

"A little one year, more than five years, you will see results!" Qin Mubai replied decisively.

"How can it be! The war hasn't been fought yet. Let's farm for five years!" Xue Wanjun was full of anger and said with hatred, "We are all people who are full of war. We would rather return the body than be a mud-legged general who grows farmland and raises mulberry!"

At this time, Qin Mubai's face also sank and said coldly, "I have explained what should be explained. If you still have any questions, you can come to inquire in private, and I will answer patiently. If you really don't want to follow the order, then go ahead!"

Xue Wanjun stared: "We are ordered to suppress the thieves and kill the enemy, and the follow-up supply has nothing to do with us! In a word, I dare not obey the decree of farming and raising mulberries!"

"For a long time, are you still going to disobey the military order?" Qin Mubai sneered, "As the saying goes, salute first and then soldiers. I feel that I have said everything I should say and explained everything that should be explained. If General Xue wants to be aggressive, I have to do business!"

"What do you dare to do? How dare you tie me up!" Xue Wanjun was so angry that he roared, "I will give you a copy now!" It has been more than 100 days since you came to Lanzhou. You don't do your job all day long. You take the officials up and down to play in the mountains and rivers! If you don't want to use troops, you don't want to retreat from the enemy. You just want to raise mulberry turtles and defend yourself. You are obviously raising bandits and supporting soldiers!"

"General Xue wants to join me? OK, go ahead!" Qin Mubai sneered at all, "Some, I can't ask for it!"

"Walk and see!"

Xue Wanjun snorted, stared at Qin Mubai angrily, took a battle robe, and strode away. The rest of the people also stared at Qin Mubai with bad intentions and left angrily.