Chapter 590: Urgent request for help

The first snow in Hebei has frozen, and the partially melted snow water has been frozen again, making the road very slippery. There are rumors that the escape carriage overturned, dozens of people were killed and injured, and some people were frozen to death on the way to escape. Moreover, An Lushan's army occupied Yizhou as scheduled, and there was no large-scale massacre. The difficulty of traveling and attachment to home quickly cooled down the tide of escape on Hebei Road. Even some people who fled to the mountainous areas returned home one after another because they could not bear the cold in the mountains. The efforts of Hebei officials were setbacks.

At night, dozens of horse riders rushed over in Zhending County, Hengzhou. Straw was tied to the horse's hooves, which greatly reduced the risk of slippery roads. They were all wearing thick jackets, soaking sweat, and iced again, making them look like they were wearing armor. The group rushed to the city gate and turned over and dismounted. They patted the hard winter clothes on their bodies for the leader, rubbed their hands that were frozen red, and whispered: "The weather is so damn it!"

The city gate has been closed, and someone on the city tower asked, "Who is below?"

"We came from Yizhou. I am Jiang Xiaotong, Sima of Yizhou. Is Prefect Yan in the city?"

The city gate rumbled open, the suspension bridge was lowered, and more than a dozen people led their horses into the city. The soldiers guarding the city were trained by Hengzhou regiments, equivalent to the armed police in later generations. They did not belong to the regular army and were not large. Generally, there were only one or two hundred people in a county, mainly responsible for guarding the city gate. However, there were 1,000 regiments in Zhending County. The commander of a Guoyi Commander, Jiang Xiaotong and others walked into the city gate. The lieutenant guard went forward and bowed, "Prince Yan just arrived in the afternoon and was in the county yamen."

After pausing, the captain asked in a low voice: "Sima Jiang, where has An Lushan's army been?"

"Oh! The forward has arrived in Wangdu County, Dingzhou, much faster than I expected, and time doesn't wait for anyone!"

The captain nodded, feeling heavy in his heart. Jiang Xiaotong turned over and took his group to the county government office...

The prefect of Hengzhou, Yan Gaoqing, was the clan brother of Yan Zhenqing. He also received news of An Lushan's rebellion and rushed to Zhending County with the chief secretary Yuan Luqian. The reason he came to Zhending County was because there were a thousand regiments of troops in Zhending County. This was a local army left to Hengzhou by Guo Ziyi after the last Jingxing Massacre. It was mainly used for the evacuation of ordinary people. However, for Yan Gaoqing and the local officials in Hengzhou, the training of troops in this thousand regiments was their heart-to-heartening needle.

The lights in the county government hall were brightly lit. The prefect Yan Gaoqing, the chief secretary Yuan Luqian, the Zhending County Magistrate Jia Shen, the regiment Guoyi Commander Zhang Jiliang and other dozens of officials were discussing plans to deal with An Lushan's rebellion. At this time, all their eyes were focused on the regiment Guoyi Commander Zhang Jiliang. He had a thousand soldiers under him. If he had no will to resist, then their meeting tonight would have no meaning.

The meeting had been going on for half an hour, and everyone expressed their opinions. Only the commander of Guoyi, Zhang Jiliang, did not say a word from beginning to end. Yan Gaoqing was dissatisfied with his silence and asked: "What is General Zhang's attitude? Please tell me directly."

Zhang Jiliang sighed and said, "What else can I say? It's not enough for me to fill the gaps between others' teeth. Do you still expect me to fight against An Lushan's 500,000 troops?"

"General Zhang, you can't say that. Whether you can fight or not is one thing, but whether you want to fight or not is another thing. If you can't beat us, we can retreat, but if you don't even have the courage to resist, then we have nothing to say. General Zhang, whether to fight or not, you should first show your attitude."

"This is... important, let me discuss it with my brothers."

Zhang Jiliang obviously didn't want to make any promises. He knew that once he made a promise and if he couldn't do it, these literati would stand him up as an example of betrayal.

Zhang Jiliang was not a general under Guo Ziyi. He was originally the Guoyi Commander of Hengzhou Military Mansion. After the Hengzhou Military Mansion disappeared naturally because of the fact that the soldiers were completely fled, he was changed to Sima of Dingzhou because of someone in the court. After five or six years in the officialdom, Zhang Jiliang had changed from a soldier to an official. He did not charge forward in everything and left room for himself in everything, which had become his official motto.

This time, Guo Ziyi appointed him as the regiment's commander Guoyi because he was familiar with the local situation. Zhang Jiliang was not happy. He would undoubtedly be pushed to the forefront of the storm when leading the troops at this time.

Zhang Jiliang's failure to express his opinion made everyone feel disappointed. Yan Gaoqing asked unwillingly: "When will General Zhang answer him? Is it okay tonight?"

"Today...night?"

"Yes! Things are urgent, you must give him a clear answer as soon as possible."

"Okay, I'll go back and discuss it now."

Zhang Jiliang bowed to everyone and quickly left the lobby. Looking at his departure, Yuan Luqian shook his head and sighed: "This person may surrender to An Lushan."

Jia Shen frowned and said, "This person may be possible, but his troops are all Guo Ziyi's soldiers. Will they surrender to the enemy?"

"Forget it, let's not talk about him for now." Yan Gaoqing said to everyone: "Let's discuss how to protect the people. This is what the court means, and protect the people from being massacred as much as possible."

At this time, someone suddenly reported outside the door: "Premier Yan, Jiang Xiaotong and others from Yizhou asked for a visit."

"ah!"

Yan Gaoqing exclaimed and hurriedly said, "Hurry! Please invite them in."

After a moment, three people walked in from outside. The leader was Jiang Xiaotong, Sima of Yizhou. Behind him were Ma Jun who escaped from Youzhou and a subordinate with a baby face.

"See Yan Envoy in a humble position!" Jiang Xiaotong stepped forward and bowed deeply to Yan Gaoqing.

"Don't be too polite, sit down!"

The situation was critical, and Yan Gaoqing didn't care about any official etiquette. He knew Ma Jun and nodded to him. He didn't know another young man with a baby face and looked very honest, and Yan Gaoqing didn't care. This might be Jiang Xiaotong's nephew.

Aren't his eldest son Quan Ming and his youngest son Ji Ming also here?

"Sima Jiang, let's talk about the situation in Yizhou first."

Jiang Xiaotong sighed and said, "An Lushan sent general Shi Siming to attack Hedong westward. The vanguard Li Qincou had already arrived in Wangdu County, Dingzhou. I heard that the vanguard had 20,000 bandit soldiers. The magistrate of Wangdu County Qi Rong surrendered."

"Is there a massacre?" Yuan Luqian asked.

Jiang Xiaotong nodded and shook his head again, "There is no county town, but I heard that all three towns were slaughtered, women were snatched into the military camp, and men, young and old were killed."

"This is strange. Shi Siming didn't massacre the city?"

Everyone was surprised. Shi Siming was called Shi Butcher. A few months ago, he massacred more than 20,000 immigrants who fled to Hedong. Why did he show kindness again now?

Ma Jun explained to everyone: "This pioneer Li Qincuo is An Lushan's adopted son, and his 20,000 troops are not Shi Siming's subordinates."

Having said that, An Lushan and Shi Siming were both good people. When they massacred Jingxing immigrants, they were still ordered by An Lushan. There was no difference between them, and everyone was still puzzled.

"You are wrong. Shi Siming is not going to kill, but wants to close the door and kill. If he takes action in Dingzhou, he may all the people in Hebei will run away. So he must first confuse everyone and then plunder after occupying Jingxing. Otherwise, how could his Hu soldiers be willing to give up?"

The person who spoke was the young man with a baby face sitting behind Jiang Xiaotong. He didn't say a word, but after these words were spoken, he suddenly became the focus of everyone's attention.

Yan Gaoqing noticed him only then. He suddenly felt that the young man seemed to be more than sixteen or seventeen years old, so he hurriedly asked Jiang Xiaotong: "Sima Jiang, this person is..."

Jiang Xiaotong smiled bitterly and turned around and said to the young man: "General Ji, please introduce yourself!"

The young man stood up and bowed to everyone, bowing and laughing: "Next Ji Sheng, the General of the First Falcon Battalion of the Anxi Army, will lead dozens of brothers to Hebei to support you at the order of our general."

When everyone heard that he was actually the General of the Central Army sent by Li Qing'an, they were overjoyed and stood up to greet him. Yan Gaoqing frowned, and he seemed to be trying hard to recall something.

‘First Falcon Camp.

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He murmured twice, and suddenly realized that the First Falcon Battalion of the Anxi Army was the scout of the Anxi Army that created the Youzhou explosion? He blurted out, "General Ji, how many people have you come?"

Ji Sheng smiled apologetically and said, "May have disappointed Yan Jun. This time the general sent not many people, and there were only twenty-one people, including me. It is mainly to help everyone withdraw their people. An Lushan's 500,000 troops are really difficult to compete."

When everyone heard that even the people sent by Li Qing'an admitted that An Lushan's army was difficult to compete, everyone's hearts were a little cold, but Yan Gaoqing was not too disappointed. The original intention of the court was to try to withdraw the people and preserve Hebei's strength as much as possible so as not to be too devastated by the war. Ji Sheng was very pragmatic, but he had some hope for this person.

"General Ji, it's not easy to withdraw people even! The key is that the people are unwilling to leave their hometowns. As General Ji said, An Lushan is very strategic and confuses the people first. I'm worried that it will be too late when everyone understands it."

Ji Sheng nodded and said to everyone: "I have considered this. If the people really don't want to leave, there is no way. But for us, we not only want to withdraw the people, but also buy time for the deployment of the Old General Guo. I just got the news that the Old General Guo has sent troops from Taiyuan and rushed to Jingxing. What we have to do is to try to delay An Lushan's army and buy time for the Old General Guo to enter Hengzhou. What do you think?"

Ji Sheng was indeed extraordinary. As soon as he opened his mouth, he firmly grasped the topic and made him the center of the conference. Yan Gaoqing became the foil, but Yan Gaoqing didn't care. As long as Ji Sheng was willing to lead everyone to fight against An Lushan, it didn't matter even if he was the foil.

"General Ji means, are we guarding Zhending County to fight against An Lushan?"

Ji Sheng nodded again, "In fact, it is best to be Dingzhou City, but it is estimated that Dingzhou City has been occupied now, so we can only settle for the second best and rely on Zhending County to resist..."

Speaking of this, he slowly looked around everyone, and saw that everyone was already solemn and had a sense of tragic feeling, so he smiled and said, "What I am talking about is not a rival, but a wisdom!"

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The regiment training camp is located near the east gate of the county town. It consists of a schoolyard and dozens of rows of houses. It was originally the camp of the Hengzhou Military Mansion. After the military mansion was dilapidated, it was deserted and it was not until a few months ago that it was renovated.

Become the base for a thousand regiments of soldiers.

At this time, the regiment training camp was quarreling in a group, and more than a dozen officers refused to give in to each other. Some wanted to surrender to An Lushan and seek wealth and glory; some wanted to resist firmly and advocate fighting to the death without surrender; some wanted to withdraw from Hengzhou and return to Hedong.

Everyone held their own opinions and refused to give in to each other. The leader Zhang Jiliang strongly demanded to surrender to An Lushan. His reason was very simple. An Lushan came with 500,000 troops. Under his heavy troops, everything was powdered. Resistance was meaningless. Moreover, if he retreated to Hedong, it would be a evacuation without authorization. Guo Ziyi could not spare everyone, so he insisted on surrendering.

Logically, as long as the main general of an army surrenders, the subordinates below dare not disobey. However, Zhang Jiliang has been in charge of this group training for a short time and has not had time to establish his prestige. In addition, he is not a border army system, but a government army. Therefore, a large part of the group training for a group composed of the Shuofang Army as the main trunk does not buy his account.

Zhang Jiliang was dry-mouthed, but the officers were still quarreling. At this time, a soldier hurried into the room and whispered a few words in Zhang Jiliang's ear. Zhang Jiliang was stunned and said to everyone: "I'll go out and talk again when I come back!"

He stood up and hurriedly left the room, and walked out of the military camp with five personal soldiers. Yan Gaoqing asked him for an urgent matter to discuss. His first reaction was that An Lushan's vanguard was about to arrive in Zhending County. It is very likely that Jiang Xiaotong brought the latest news just now.

At this time, the night was already deep, the street was empty, and there was no pedestrian, only a carriage parked diagonally opposite the barracks. About a hundred steps away, Zhang Jiliang recognized it as Yan Gaoqing's carriage. He walked forward quickly. When he approached, Yan Gaoqing was standing next to the carriage. Seeing Zhang Jiliang come out, Yan Gaoqing hurriedly bowed and said, "General Zhang, you have an urgent matter to discuss with you."

"Envoy Yan, what's the matter?"

Zhang Jiliang walked across the street without any warning. Just when he was still more than ten steps away from the carriage, Yan Gaoqing suddenly coughed heavily, and only a sound of bowstrings sounded. Dozens of powerful short arrows shot out from the tree from the carriage. Zhang Jiliang and his five soldiers were unprepared. The poisonous arrow shot through their heads and throats. Several people screamed and died on the spot.

Ji Sheng jumped off the tree, chopped off Zhang Jiliang's head with one knife, and said to Yan Gaoqing: "Eunuch, let's go!"

Yan Gaoqing took a deep breath and walked quickly towards the barracks. Zhang Jiliang's death was far away from the barracks and did not attract the attention of the barracks' posts. When Yan Gaoqing approached, the two sleepy posts woke up and hurriedly said, "Premier Yan, what's wrong with you?"

Ji Sheng, behind Yan Gaoqing, stepped forward and raised a silver medal and said, "This is the token of the Old General Guo, and all the officers come out and obey the orders."

The silver medal in Ji Sheng's hand was real. At that time, when they last carried out the gunpowder field explosion mission, Guo Ziyi gave them a silver medal to assist them. With this silver medal, it can mobilize troops of less than 3,000 people. Although the mission has been completed, the silver medal has not yet been returned to Guo Ziyi, and it was used at this time.

The guard recognized the silver medal and was so scared that they hurried back to report. After a moment, more than a dozen officers in the room met one after another. Yan Gaoqing introduced Ji Shengdao to everyone: "This is General Ji, the secret military supervisor under the old general Guo's tent. I will explain to everyone important matters."

Although everyone did not know Ji Sheng, they trusted the upright prefect Yan Gaoqing. Moreover, Ji Sheng had Guo Ziyi's silver medal in his hand. That was not fake, and his identity was a secret military commander. Everyone had no doubts and bowed together and said, "See Ji Military Commander!"

At this time, Ji Sheng raised Zhang Jiliang's head, which immediately caused a riot among the officers. They were all shocked. Zhang Jiliang was still talking to them just now, but did the head fall to the ground in a blink of an eye?

Ji Sheng raised Zhang Jiliang's head and said sternly: "Zhang Jiliang wants to surrender to An Lushan, but the military law does not tolerate it. As the military commander, I have the power to take action first and then report. Zhang Jiliang has been executed. If there are any people who say they surrender, they will be punished the same crime and beheaded!"

Everyone's faces changed and they bowed together and said, "I dare not surrender."

"Very good, Zhang Jiliang is dead, I will be the temporary replacement of the army commander of the regiment. Is there anything I have to say?"

A captain stepped forward and bowed tremblingly and asked, "General Ji, should we fight or retreat?"
Chapter completed!