Longzhou is divided into two parts by the vast mountains. Jianxiao Pass is undoubtedly the most important passage connecting the north and south of Longzhou. It is also the place where Chen Qing rose to prominence. But now, the pass has basically been demolished and abandoned. Overgrown with weeds, there are occasional
You can still see a little shadow of the pass.
After passing the valley and walking for more than ten miles, we arrived at Qianyang County, the prefecture of Longzhou.
That morning, a caravan of mules and horses entered Liyang County. They recruited spies from the Second Scout Battalion of the Xihe Army. Unlike Zhao Xiaoyi's First Scout Battalion, the composition of the Second Scout Battalion was much richer.
There are young people, middle-aged men, women, and even teenagers and old people.
They dressed up as various characters and went to various big cities to spy on intelligence.
Liyang County was not within the exploration range of the Second Scout Battalion, so a temporary caravan was formed to come to the county seat.
In fact, there was not much information they needed to investigate. As for the condition of the main city walls and the number of garrison troops, Liyang County was not a strategic place. Neither the Song Army nor the Jin Army paid much attention to it.
However, after the Jianzhu Pass War broke out that year, the Jin soldiers also learned from the pain and organized hundreds of thousands of people to spend half a year dredging the Mianshui River, which rejuvenated the Mianshui River that had lost its shipping value due to siltation, and thousands of stone cargo ships could sail in the river.
, the army can also enter Longzhou from Fengxiang along both sides of the Lishui River.
Therefore, for Chen Qing, Longzhou and Hepingliang Mansion were not so much a strategic buffer as a springboard into Shaanxi and Guanzhong.
The leader of the caravan is called Wu Dequn. He is about forty years old. He was also a businessman before. He joined the Xihe Army half a year ago. This is his first time to perform a mission.
No one would regard Wu Teh-chun as a soldier. He is short, fat, and old. His small mung bean eyes are very flexible and he looks shrewd.
After paying the tax at the city gate, they entered the county seat.
Liyang County is barely considered a large county, with about 100,000 people in the city and suburbs. Because Lishui can enter Fengxiang, the business in the city is pretty good. There are bustling mules and horses everywhere, and many shops specialize in buying furs shipped from the west.
, medicinal materials and other goods.
This time Wu Dequn brought a thousand high-quality old sheepskins, which could only be sold for two guan each in Chengji County, but could be sold for three guan in Fengxiang and Jingzhao, increasing the profit by 30%.
The group came to an inn, where the waiters warmly welcomed them and the innkeeper arranged for them to stay.
At this time, the shopkeeper walked into the room and asked: "Are you coming from Xihe Road?"
"Is there any problem coming from Xihe Road?"
"There was just a notice in the past two days that businessmen coming from Xihe Road must go to the county government to register."
Everyone looked at each other, and Wu Dequn smiled and said: "We are not coming from Xihe Road, but from Zhenrong Prefecture in the north. There is a big seal of the Zhenrong Prefecture government."
"That's good. These days, everyone is surrounded by soldiers. There are rumors that Chen Qing's army is going to attack Longzhou, and the county government is very nervous."
"Is there no garrison in the city? So scared!"
"Hey! There were originally a thousand defenders in the city. In the past two days, another thousand defenders have been added, but they are only two thousand troops! If the opponent has an army of tens of thousands coming, how can it be defended?"
"It's the Song Army who can't defend the opponent! Aren't we the people of the Song Dynasty?"
‘People of the Song Dynasty?’
The shopkeeper smiled bitterly, this title was already a bit far away.
After everyone settled down, Wu Dequn immediately sent his men to various parts of the county to gather information. After summarizing it at night, the information they wanted was basically clear.
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There are two thousand defenders in the city. The military camp is in the northwest corner. The city wall is not high, only two feet or three feet, and the moat is not wide, only two feet.
These intelligences were compiled to obtain relatively comprehensive information. Early the next morning, Wu Dequn used the carrier pigeons they carried to send the pigeon message to Chengji County.
Nanzheng County Sichuan-Shaanxi Xuanfu Division Office, Xuanfu envoy Lu Fayuan has not expressed his position on Wu Jie's report. Wu Jie requested to send troops to Shang Yuan, but Lu Fayuan did not agree. The Jin soldiers no longer attacked Dashan Pass. , both parties are in peace, and he doesn't want to cause any more trouble.
Lu Fayuan paced back and forth with his hands behind his hands. As the Xuanfu envoy of Sichuan and Shaanxi, he had always wanted to bring Xihe Road back under his command. When Zhang Jun was in charge of Sichuan and Shaanxi, Xihe Road was under the jurisdiction of the Xuanfu Division of Sichuan and Shaanxi. But when he came to Here, Xihe Road has gone out independently, which is illegal and unreasonable.
Lu Fayuan was really annoyed with the court's decision to let Chen Qing become independent. Of course, Lu Fayuan also knew that this was a bait given by the court to Chen Qing. It gave him enough temptation that he would work hard, little by little. Recover Xihe Road.
But what Lu Fayuan couldn't accept was that now that Xihe Road had been taken back, the imperial court did not hand over Xihe Road to him. Instead, he sent an eunuch to supervise the army. He had come into contact with Wang Mian, who was extremely greedy. With such an obvious weakness, what if Chen Qing goes to his liking and bribes him?
Thinking of Chen Qing's repatriation of several spies he had placed in Chengji County some time ago, Lu Fayuan felt unspeakably worried.
If Chen Qing betrays the imperial court, the officials will definitely not spare him, and will say that he is responsible for not investigating!
But this is not his own fault. Who made Xihe Road separate from the Sichuan-Shaanxi Xuanfu Division?
Lu Fayuan was confused. He saw the report on the table again, "Sending troops to Monk Yuan." This Wu Jie was really confused, and he didn't know he was being taken advantage of.
When you are no longer needed, you kicked yourself out. Now you are asking for yourself, and you are asking the Sichuan-Shaanxi Army to send troops to Monk Yuan. How can there be such a good thing in the world?
With a livid face, Lu Fayuan picked up a pen and wrote two words on the report, 'No!'
Wu Jie got Lu Fayuan's approval and actually disagreed to send troops. It was beyond his expectation. What a good opportunity this was. If he stood still, the Xihe Army would definitely be under tremendous pressure. The plan to send troops to Longzhou It will also fail.
Wu Jie rushed to Hanzhong immediately and found Lu Fayuan.
"Reporting to the Xuanfu Envoy, the Jin soldiers are now insufficient and no longer as strong as before. This is our opportunity to gradually counterattack. I will send troops to the south to Monk Shang Yuan to contain the Jin soldiers and the puppet Qi army. Chen Qing's army will send force to the north. , gradually regained the north of Shaanxi Road, and finally both sides cooperated to seize Guanzhong, Xuanfu Envoy, this is an opportunity we have only obtained after many years of hard work, we cannot let it go in vain!"
In front of a civil servant like Lu Fayuan who is proficient in officialdom struggles, Wu Jie is obviously no match. Lu Fayuan said calmly: "The strategic change cannot be decided by you or me. We must ask the officials for instructions. If the officials agree, then we will If the officials object to sending troops, it means the time is not yet ripe."
"But whether the time is ripe or not, only we know best. In the past few years, the Jin Kingdom attacked Dashan Pass, which cost a lot of financial and material resources. Now that they are tired, it is time for us to fight back."
"General Wu!"
Lu Fayuan stretched out his voice impatiently, "The war against the Jin Kingdom is under the overall command of the officials. We can't just think about the western front, we must consider it all. The current confrontation situation is the tone set by the officials. We must
To overthrow it and implement a counterattack, of course, we need the approval of the officials. I will send someone to report to the officials, so just wait patiently!"
Lu Fayuan pushed the decision-making power to the emperor, which really depressed Wu Jie. He could no longer object and had to stand up and leave.
I left the Xuanfu Siguan Yamen with deep emotion in my heart. Lu Fayuan was only a little better than Zhu Shengfei, but he still refused to delegate power in major military decisions. He also had to interfere in small matters such as sending troops to Shang Yuan.
In the end, he actually vetoed it. Wasn't it always his own decision to send troops to the monks? Why should he object?
At this moment, Wu Jie deeply felt the pain of being suppressed by civil servants. No wonder Chen Qing refused to join the Sichuan-Shaanxi Xuanfu Division. From this point of view, Chen Qing was so lucky and wise.