In mid-March, officials from Jinghu South Road began to return one after another. At this time, the army began to redeploy. Yang Yuanqing was named the naval commander of the Yangtze River Middle Road, leading 10,000 troops and 300 warships to station in Jiangxia, while Zheng Ping led
Thirty thousand troops should be stationed in Jiangling, and another 10,000 troops, led by Commander Shi Chen, should be stationed in Xiazhou. Only 10,000 troops should be stationed in Chengdu on the Sichuan Road. The state soldiers are responsible for the security of various places.
As the express letter from Hengzhou Governor Ma Wenfu was delivered to Lin'an, the imperial court finally learned of the major incident that occurred on Jinghu South Road, and the emperor Zhao Gou was furious.
This time Chen Qing's actions exceeded his bottom line and even occupied Jinghu South Road. Zhao Gou immediately summoned the three prime ministers Qin Hui, Xu Xiantu and Zhu Shengfei to curse him.
"Chen Qing devoured all the skin and flesh along Jinghu South Road, but you did nothing and allowed him to do whatever he wanted. Where is the 500,000 troops I raised? Are they all vases?"
Zhao Gou's face turned green with anger and his hands were shaking. "I don't want to hear any explanation. I want you to act! Action! We must put pressure on Chen Qing and prevent him from unscrupulously annexing the territory of the Song Dynasty."
"Your Majesty, please calm down. Your Majesty will lose your mind if you get angry like this, which will make us more passive. Your Majesty must calm down first." Xu Xiantu persuaded hard.
Zhao Gou finally restrained his anger. He looked at Xu Xiantu coldly for a while and said, "Did I make a mistake? Our army can only watch, but cannot deter the other party?"
"Your Majesty, although there are 50,000 troops stationed on the Jiangnan West Road, the land route is difficult to travel due to the high mountains and dense forests. It is obviously not possible to travel by land. We can only take the water route, but we do not have enough warships. Your Majesty, Weichen has considered that our only
The way is to put pressure on Jiangling Mansion, which is also on the north bank of the Yangtze River."
"How many troops do we have in Xiangyang?"
"Reporting to your highness, there are 20,000 troops, led by the commander Wang Gui, just..."
"Just what?" Zhao Gou asked, staring at Xu Xiantu.
"Your Majesty, Chen Qing has taken precautions. The minister has received news that he has stationed 30,000 troops in Dengzhou. Once Xiangyang's army moves south and Xiangyang is empty, Dengzhou's Western Army may take the opportunity to occupy Xiangyang."
"Except Xiangyang, where are the other armies?" Zhao Gou finally calmed down.
"The other army is Zhang Jun's 150,000 Huaixi Army. They can cross the Han River and advance to Jiangling, but this will highlight Zhang Jun's role and be detrimental to His Majesty's plan to reduce the vassal state."
Zhao Gou closed his eyes, pondered for a long time and said: "The reduction of the vassal state cannot be completed in one day, but it takes a thousand days to raise the army, and the troops can be used in one moment. According to my will, Zhang Jun is ordered to send 100,000 troops to attack Jiangling Mansion. If possible, directly attack Jiangling Mansion."
I captured Jiangling."
"Your Majesty is very courageous!" Zhu Shengfei said flatteringly.
Zhao Gou snorted, "If I don't move the army, he will think that I am weak and can be bullied, and he will encroach on the land of the Song Dynasty step by step. Today is Jinghu South Road, then tomorrow will be Jinghu North Road, and the day after tomorrow will be Jiangnan East Road. He must be
Realize that what he does will trigger a war, if you want to fight, fight, I am not afraid of him!"
Qin Hui nodded: "If war cannot be avoided, it is better to fight early than to fight late. I support your majesty!"
The emperor's decree was sent to Hefei County in Luzhou in the form of gold medals, where the Huaixi Xuanfu Envoys Department was located.
Four days later, Zhang Jun received the emperor's order, ordering him to immediately send 100,000 troops to suppress Jiangling Mansion. If the opportunity was right, he could even take back Jiangling Mansion directly.
The matter was so important that Zhang Jun immediately ordered someone to invite Wang Jingxiu, his chief staff officer. Not long after, Wang Jingxiu, a tall and thin man, came to Zhang Jun's official room.
"Sir, come and see this!"
Zhang Jun handed the emperor's decree to Wang Jingxiu. Wang Jingxiu opened it and read it again and said with a smile: "What a good thing! This decree means that the imperial court will not reduce the vassal status for the time being. The emperor wants to use the Xuanfu envoy to deal with Chen Qing's things.
It’s expanding!”
Zhang Jun sighed, "How can my army be the opponent of the Western Army?"
"So the Xuanfu envoy must learn the lessons of Han Shizhong and not repeat the same mistakes. We have summarized this before."
After Han Shizhong was deposed, Zhang Jun and Wang Jingxiu specially summarized the reasons why Han Shizhong was deposed. Han Shizhong was right to send troops. In a state of war, it was difficult for the court and the emperor to reduce the vassal. But Han Shizhong took the wrong step. He and Xi
The army really took action, leading to a complete defeat. The court found an excuse and took the opportunity to seize military power.
If Han Shizhong had not taken action and never fought against the Western Army, he would still have military power and the imperial court would not be able to reduce the vassal status.
Han Shizhong's lesson taught Zhang Jun that it was the most beneficial plan for him to not provoke the Western Army and maintain a state of war, but never really fight.
The key is to have a tacit understanding with Chen Qing, so that there will be no miscalculation between the two parties.
"Sir, what you mean is that I need to send someone to notify Chen Qing?"
Wang Jingxiu stroked his beard and nodded, "Of course, otherwise there will be a serious misjudgment, and the Xuanfu Ambassador will really make the same mistake as Han Shizhong."
Zhang Jun knew what to do. He immediately asked his soldiers to find his eldest son and give him a letter, "Chen Qing should be in Jiangling now. You should rush to Jiangling Mansion immediately and hand this letter to him. You must personally hand it over to him."
If it is given to him, it cannot be obtained by anyone else, do you understand?"
"Baby, obey your orders!"
Zhang Ziqi took the letter and left in a hurry.
Zhang Jun immediately raised an army of 100,000 people. He personally led the army from Luzhou and marched toward Jiangling in a mighty manner. The team was very powerful, but it moved very slowly. It usually only takes four or five days to travel, but he took at least ten days to do so.
Walk to.
In Hengzhou, fifty thousand-stone ships carrying 10,000 troops went south along the Xiangjiang River and arrived in Hengyang County. Hengzhou has one thing that is different from other state capitals, that is, it has an army, two thousand regular troops, consisting of
The governor of the state, Ma Wenfu, personally took charge.
This is because Tanzhou and Yongzhou were both places where important officials of the imperial court were exiled. For example, Zhang Jun was exiled to live in Yongzhou and Hengzhou successively.
Now Zhang Jun is appointed as the ambassador to inform Fuzhou and appease Fujian Road, which is not too bad. Li Gang, Wu Jie and Zhe Yanzhi have also been designated to live in Hengzhou. They are actually under house arrest, so Hengzhou needs an army.
To monitor these demoted ministers.
However, during the amnesty last year, there were no ministers in Hengzhou, but the two thousand troops were still there. Ma Wenfu also relied on the confidence of these two thousand troops to not go to Chengdu to meet King Yong, and other state officials in Hengzhou were not allowed to go, otherwise he would not be able to
Ensure the safety of their families.
Fifty large ships with tens of thousands of stones stopped on the river ten miles away from Hengyang County, and small boats loaded with soldiers sailed to the shore.
Wanshi ships can sail in Hengyang, but they cannot dock because the river is too shallow, so it is necessary to dredge the river and rebuild the dock.
Eight thousand troops quickly gathered on the shore and rushed to Hengyang County.
Hengyang is a large county, but the city walls are not high and are still somewhat dilapidated.
It was noon at this time, and the soldiers were all eating in the barracks. There were only a hundred people guarding the North City Gate. Wu Yongjin, the Sima of Hengzhou, hurried to the North City Gate with more than a hundred servants.
Wu Yongjin has received a personal letter from his in-law Wang Yao. King Yong gave him a chance. If he can make meritorious deeds, not only will he not be punished, but he can also be promoted to another level.
Although Wu Yongjin was grateful, he also risked his life.
At this time, more than a hundred servants brought by Wu Yongjin were disguised as Western Army scouts. They arrived at the North City Gate at the agreed time.
More than a hundred Western Army scouts were hiding in a side alley, and Wu Yongjin brought several loaded ox carts over.
"Why is Wu Sima here?"
Of course the general on duty at the city gate knew Wu Sima. Wu Yongjin pointed to the box behind him and said, "You guys will escort the box to the riverside dock, and then help me carry it onto the boat. Each of you will be rewarded with one tael of silver, and whoever leaves will have a share."
There is also such a good thing, you can earn a tael of silver by moving a box. The soldiers were very enthusiastic. The general on duty left a few people to guard the gate and personally took more than a hundred other soldiers to escort a few ox carts to the riverside.
"Won't Wu Sima go?" The leading general asked strangely when he noticed that Wu Yongjin didn't move.
Wu Yongjin laughed and said: "You go ahead! My butler is waiting by the river. I have something else to do."
The general on duty had no doubts and left with the soldiers. As soon as they were transferred from the mountain, more than a hundred Western Army scouts immediately took over the north gate.
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[Two updates today, Lao Gao wants to take a little rest on the weekend]