In the mulberry forest outside Yushanwu, a few buds have sprouted.
In the vegetable patch, early leeks have grown very tall.
Cattle, sheep, horses and donkeys wandered at the foot of the mountain, sometimes lowering their heads to chew tender grass, sometimes raising their heads and looking at humans with innocent eyes.
"Whose food will you eat...whose clothes will you wear..." the officers and soldiers of the seventh building of the Silver Spear Army shouted slogans and conducted arduous training.
Even Baoding was pulled out for a group drill today.
When the woman felt tired from working in the fields, she straightened up and looked at her father, brother, and husband who were practicing in the distance, with a happy smile on her lips.
The children went to the river to get water to water the vegetables, to the mountains to collect firewood, to take care of the livestock, and occasionally to play and play, with cheerful laughter all the way.
This is Yushanwu, the hard and simple life of the residents of Yushanwu Fort.
Are we going to deprive them of their last hope of survival?
"Do you want to be a pure minister?" Lu Zhi's words were so sharp and went straight to the core.
"I am not a pure minister, you should know that." Shao Xun replied.
"What kind of minister do you want to be?" Lu Zhi asked directly without letting him go.
Shao Xun did not dare to answer, so he could only vaguely say: "I am willing to fight for the imperial court."
Lu Zhi laughed and said: "If the imperial court is here and the princes live in Luoyang and Jingzhou, they will not be attacked from both sides. If the imperial court is away, the world will be without a master and fighting will be fought in all directions. Not to mention Jingzhou, the soldiers of Nanyang may attack Yuzhou.
The soldiers from Guanzhong may also besiege you. The king really needs a court."
Shao Xun smiled awkwardly.
The counselor spoke so plainly, but he was still trying to hide something, and only revealed a little after being pressed.
What is this? This is a sign of distrust of Lu Zhi, after all, he has only been "working" for a few months.
But Lu Zhi did point out the core.
The imperial court still has a name, and can appoint governors, governors, governors, and officials from all over the world. They are still delivering taxes, sending female musicians, craftsmen to the capital for duty, and even sending troops to defend the capital.
If you can find a collaborator in the court who can help you stabilize other directions and concentrate on development, it will be possible to start a business in Henan.
At the end of the Tang Dynasty, when Zhu Wen went to town in Bian, he did so in the name of wiping out the Qin clan power so that the surrounding vassal towns would not attack him. He even formed an alliance at the urging of the governors and supervisors sent by the imperial court.
In the process of eliminating Qin Zongquan, Zhu Wen not only cleared up the thorns in Xuanwu Town, but also took the opportunity to annex Yicheng, Dongdu, Fengguo, Heyang and other vassal towns. When the time was ripe, he joined forces with Shandong Erzhu, Xuzhou Shipu, Qingzhou King
Normal University turned its back and concentrated on moving eastward to expand its territory.
In the early days of starting a business, the political help from the court was very important. I don't know how many military disasters it could have prevented for me.
From this perspective, Shao Xun was motivated to protect the Jin Dynasty, at least not to let it fall too quickly or seriously lose its prestige, which was not in his own interests.
"Since Zidao knew the truth, why did he ask me to remove the soldiers and civilians from Yushan Wu? This dock is built on the mountain and is not on a flat land. Even if Wang Mi wants to go north via this road, he does not necessarily have to fight against Yu.
Shanwu, right?" Shao Xun said: "This beast has been traveling all the way, but the prefectures and counties have closed their doors to defend themselves, and Wang Mi has not stopped to attack anyone. In his eyes, he probably only has Xuchang and Luoyang, right?"
Over in Yanzhou, a prefect was dismissed by the imperial court for sitting and watching the rebel troops crossing the border.
Of course, the imperial court could only vent its anger on the prefects. Sima Yue left Xuchang with his army and fled to Juancheng, so the imperial court could not remove him from his post.
Lu Zhi thought for a while and sighed: "Since the prince insists, let's leave it alone. But Yushan Wucang City is not big and the grain reserves are limited. It is best to evacuate the old, weak, women and children to Liang County for temporary resettlement. Baoding will stay
, to assist the sergeants in defending the city."
"Yes." Shao Xun said.
The farmland, hemp fields, and mulberry forests at the foot of the mountain may suffer. Regardless of whether they win or lose, Yushanwu will suffer heavy losses this year.
"Do you know how many soldiers Wang Mi has?" Lu Zhi asked again.
"When I came out of Qing, there were fifty or sixty thousand people in Xuzhou, but I don't know it now." Shao Xun said: "There are many powerful people along the way, including Tianshi Taoists and even scum of soldiers from the county and country. By the time we get to Xuchang, there may be ten
Thousands of people, maybe more.”
"With more than ten thousand people, we can't force it." Lu Zhidao: "I don't know how powerful it is. We really can only stabilize it first, see its strength clearly, and then make plans."
You have no choice but to fight and get out of the way. After all, you are a general of the imperial court. You enjoy many benefits of the imperial court and rely on the imperial court to suck blood and raise soldiers. If you can't show your value and cannot shoulder your obligations, what's the use of you?
You can't fight too hard and consume a lot of your own strength, otherwise the court may settle the score later.
The degree in between is not easy to grasp.
I just want to get the benefits but don't want to pay the price. It's too ideal.
"What good strategy does Zidao have?" Shao Xun asked humbly.
"Since the ruler is unwilling to evacuate Yushanwu, my servants have no choice but to make a middle plan." Lu Zhi said: "The main force went out to Jiacheng and Xiangcheng, and stationed on the west bank of Ru River. If the thieves come, they can block the river and reject them.
.It is closer to Yushanwu, and it is more convenient to communicate."
"If the thieves go to Liang County and Yique Pass enters Luoyang, then they will have to fight in Rushui. The thieves must not be allowed to break in, otherwise the foundation will be reduced to ashes."
"If the thief goes to Yangzhai and enters Luoyang from Shenyuan Pass, he will sneak up behind him and attack from behind with the defenders of Shenyuan Pass to annihilate the thief in the valley."
"Wang Mi traveled across the state to serve as governor and governor, but he kept to himself. His ambition was bound to be arrogant, so he let the valley of Luonan become his burial place."
Since ancient times, mountains and rivers have been a very important factor in war. Being separated by a river and facing each other directly are two completely different concepts.
To deal with Wang Mi, excluding those who stayed behind, Shao Xun could mobilize about ten thousand troops. If he could cooperate with tens of thousands of forbidden troops, he could indeed fight a beautiful battle of annihilation, or at least a defeat.
"I have gained the Taoist teaching, and everything is worry-free." Shao Xun said with a smile.
"The servant is just giving some suggestions. How to fight depends on the prince." Lu Zhi said modestly, and then he said with a serious face: "Wang Mi's rebellion is certainly a big crisis, but there are also many opportunities. The prince
You should think carefully about how you will appear in front of the emperor and the noble family from now on."
Shao Xun nodded slightly.
This is to package his personality and solidify his image in order to obtain benefits.
"Honest people suffer." Shao Xun only said one sentence.
Lu Zhi laughed when he heard this, and then looked at Shao Xun with a slightly appreciative gaze, saying: "The Lord has known this well before. If you are too honest, you will not get many benefits even if you make great achievements. I
I know that kings and princes are not without sense of propriety, but sometimes being domineering can really make people indecisive."
Honest Gou Xi, the imperial court told him to get out of Yanzhou, so he left. He couldn't take many soldiers with him, and he had to go to Qingzhou to reorganize and train his troops.
Gou Xi must also be sad. From now on, he will probably still respect the imperial orders in public, but in private he will continue to make small moves. In other words, the honest man Gou Xi has disappeared, and now he is the warlord Gou Xi.
Compared with Gou Xi, Shao Xun has disadvantages and advantages.
The disadvantage is that he is too young to be promoted, and he does not have decades of experience accumulated by Gou Xi.
The advantage is that he is right next to Luoyang and he is a general of the Forbidden Army, so he will inevitably have his hands tied when dealing with it. In addition, he is really good at fighting, and has solved many troubles for the court, which shows his value.
Domineering is his protective color. He can use the phrase "Young and energetic" to explain away land grabs, money grabs, and women grabs.
He kept making small mistakes but never made big mistakes. He resolutely obeyed the imperial court's orders, went to Guanzhong when asked to go, and went to Hebei when told to go to Hebei. He even brought his private soldiers to fight for the imperial court. Isn't this a great act of loyalty?
You can also build relationships, but if you were the one in charge, facing such a thorn in your side, you would really have to love and hate.
"Now that the monarch has made a comprehensive plan, I feel that this battle against Wang Mi should embody the word 'loyalty' and at the same time establish military exploits so that no one in the court can find fault. In the end, he can easily gain benefits and put the court in a dilemma.
After a while, he finally leaned towards the prince and recognized him with his nose..." Lu Zhi then explained it carefully.
Shao Xun nodded repeatedly after hearing this.
Two foxes, one big and one small, decided on the general strategy in a few words.
****
March passed by in a flash. With Wang Mi in Yan, the two provinces of Henan seemed to be deserted, and Taifu Sima Yue even avoided Juancheng. The knowledgeable people in Luoyang finally realized that something was wrong.
Since there is no one to stop Wang Mi, just let him rush over like this?
As a result, starting from the end of March, scholars continued to leave Luoyang. First, they took their families to temporarily avoid the suburbs, and then they began to think about the next direction of escape.
Some people took refuge in the mountains to the west, while others rushed south to Nanyang.
At the beginning of April, the old, weak, women and children in Yushanwu had already packed everything for moving, and then either supported the old and the young, or took carriages and horses, and fled westward to Liang County.
Wang Situ called, and Shao Xun hurriedly arrived at the Wangfu Courtyard before nightfall.
Wang Yan personally hosted a small banquet to entertain them.
"The Emperor once served as the general of the left guard and led troops during the Battle of Dangyin. He plans to intervene in the war." Wang Yan was not very happy when he said this. After all, he was the commander-in-chief of the Forbidden Army. The Emperor's intervention was obviously out of distrust.
he.
Shao Xun agreed casually.
The old man's visit to the house was quite grand, with strings and bamboos dancing and dancers dancing in their robes, which made Shao Xun, whose self-control was getting worse, distracted from time to time.
"How does the emperor plan to intervene?" he asked, looking around.
There was a female singer in the palace who was both talented and beautiful, and had an outstanding temperament. Although she was a "high-end prostitute", she still attracted a lot of attention from him.
"Last time I went to the palace to ask questions, the emperor agreed to defend the enemy outside the pass." Wang Yan said: "Currently, there are three most favored generals around the emperor. One is Miao Bo, and the second is Miao Yin. They are both Taifu.
The old ministers of father and son are now used by the emperor. The third one is Zhu Dan, who is the governor of the three departments of Youwei. He often visits the palace to ask questions."
It’s really a new generation replacing the old ones!
Shao Xun felt a little emotional, has the emperor forgotten me? Or is it because of the prophecy that he does not dare to use me or does not want to use me?
Shao Xun really didn't know much about the fact that the emperor had served as the general of the left guard and led the troops in the Battle of Dangyin.
He only knew that Sima Yue took all the clan kings with him during the Northern Expedition, but he didn't know what they did specifically.
"The Miao brothers may each lead a forbidden army to guard Yique Pass and Sheyuan Pass to stop the thieves." Wang Yan continued: "I will sit in Luoyang to take charge of the overall situation and coordinate the various ministries. The princes..."
"I would like to obey Situ's order." Shao Xun said loudly.
"Okay." Wang Yan was a little happy.
He knew that Shao Xun might not accept the arrangement happily, but having this statement was better than nothing.
The two looked at each other, smiled, and drank from their glasses.
After putting down the wine bottle, Shao Xun noticed from the corner of his eye that the beauty in palace clothes passed by not far away last time, and seemed to stay for a while to pay attention to what he was doing.
When Shao Xun turned his head, he was nowhere to be seen.
"Where is Chu Zhong?" Seeing Wang Yan looking at him, Shao Xun casually concealed it.
"In the past two days, the emperor has frequently summoned his ministers to ask questions. Chu Zhong is the secretary and supervisor, so he never leaves. He stayed in the palace last night and was busy until late at night." Wang Yan said.
"That's it." Shao Xun nodded.
Wang Dun was originally Da Honglu, and later became the governor of Qingzhou. After returning to Luoyang halfway, the two carrot pits were gone, so he became secretary supervisor.
Most of this third-level noble position was run by Wang Yan. In order to help his incompetent brother, the old man Deng was heartbroken.
The two then chatted about many other things until midnight.
Wang Yan invited Shao Xun to stay one night and come with him to the palace to see his Majesty tomorrow.
Considering that he had his own soldiers with him, Shao Xun agreed.
Wang Yan was too drunk and left early.
Wang Dun was not here either, so Xiangcheng Princess Simaimao sent someone to arrange a place to stay.
The room is small and decorated in a simple and elegant style, completely different from that of the nouveau riche.
The palace also specially arranged for people to serve.
Shao Xun took a closer look and saw that it was the female musician he had seen at the banquet. He was immediately overjoyed: I know what I mean!
I feel pity for her appearance, and her temperament is no worse than Lan Ji.
Why is there just a slap mark on my face?
Shao Xun, who had been abstinent for more than a year, was too lazy to think about it and simply blew out the candles and climbed onto the bed with the beauty in his arms.
Today I also inspected the quality of the maids of aristocratic families who entertain guests.
Tang Jian was neatly dressed, ignoring the unkind eyes of the palace servants, and led a group of brothers on duty outside, meticulously.
The woman's long and melodious "um" sound soon came from inside.
The night passed quickly.
When Shao Xun woke up in the morning, he found that there were tears in the corners of the beauty's eyes, and he couldn't help but feel affection for her again.
After leaving the room refreshed, he found Wang Dun back with a tired look on his face.
Shao Xun saluted him, and then, surrounded by his own soldiers, he went to wash and have a meal. After a while, he and Wang Yan drove away.
Chapter completed!