When Haran Shu led the remaining soldiers and fled to Xingqing Mansion, Zhang Wenqian was surprised when he learned the news.
He was not surprised that Li Xia was able to defeat Haran Shu and capture Liangzhou, but he was surprised that Li Xia dared to mobilize his troops to march westward... And in this way, how empty would Guanzhong and Hanzhong be?
Li Xia does not have many troops at his disposal, and does not have the strength to fight on two fronts. It is indeed risky to send troops to the Hexi Corridor at this time.
In addition, what Li Xia lacks is manpower and material resources rather than territory. Lengthening the defense line in this way will only make his already thin defense line even more stretched.
In this current situation, it is not difficult to destroy Li Xia. There are two ways to fight.
The first is to attack quickly. When Li Xia's troops leave Hexi, important officials such as Ahema or Dong Wenbing can sense the opportunity and send troops to Guanzhong.
Second, in the middle of winter, His Majesty had mobilized more than 100,000 troops and sent two sect kings to march east and west and cross the Yellow River to directly pacify Li Xia.
If Zhang Wenqian were to choose, he thought it would be better to fight faster.
There are many reasons, such as to avoid prolonging the war, wasting the country's financial and material resources by wasting troops and troops; for example, to recover Hexi as soon as possible without delaying his plan to farm and benefit the people in Xixia.
Therefore, Zhang Wenqian immediately repaired a few letters and sent them to Yanjing, Shanxi, Henan and other places.
This day is October 28th, and the messengers set out from Xingqing Mansion.
In the next half month, they passed through the vast Loess Plateau, and on the way they encountered Yang Dayuan's men who were building a base to confront Zhang Jue in Yan'an Prefecture.
After crossing the Yellow River, several messengers traveled separately, and one of them headed for Luoyang...
Tongguan.
A group of carriages and horses came from Chang'an and entered Guancheng. Han Qi'an got off the carriage and looked up, and saw Liu Yuanzhen coming down from the Guan Tower.
Liu Yuanzhen was still in the period of mourning. He was not wearing official uniform or armor. He was only wearing linen clothes. He looked much more mature and steady than before.
"Why did Han Zhonglang come in person?"
"I don't worry." Han Qi'an shook his head and sighed: "I don't know about military matters. This year, after the war in the east, troops were dispatched to fight in the west. After the war in the west, troops were dispatched to fight in the east. It was suspended.
How can I rest assured?"
"Han Zhonglang got to the bottom of it." Liu Yuanzhen said: "It is to fight quickly, not waiting for the Mongolian army to prepare to invade the territory, and to defeat their troops one by one. To use a word commonly used by the prince, this is the 'time lag'."
Within a few words, they had entered the hall. Han Qi'an looked around and saw no one else, so he said: "New news is that the Mongolian army is preparing to invade the country."
"Not long ago, I just said that I got the news that Kublai Khan intends to seize the power of the prince."
Liu Yuanzhen was somewhat gloating about this, wishing that Kublai Khan could suppress all the military power of the princes of the North.
"Since the north is seizing power, can it still send troops?"
Han Qi'an said: "Kublai Khan has indeed begun to deal with the prince, but his method is more sophisticated than we speculated. And it is precisely because he wants to weaken the power of the prince that he must send troops against us."
"Why?"
"Let's put it this way, if you were a prince..."
"It doesn't have to be 'if', I am."
Han Qi'an smiled perfunctorily, dealt with Liu Yuanzhen's inappropriate joke, and said: "You are a prince of the world. You were dissatisfied because you were suppressed by Kublai Khan. You vaguely wanted to contact Sichuan and Shaanxi. At this time, you learned that Kublai Khan had raised more than 100,000 yuan."
When the army attacks Sichuan and Shaanxi, won’t your thoughts rest?”
Liu Yuanzhen couldn't help but be surprised.
"More than 100,000 troops? So many?"
"yes."
"Is the information reliable?" Liu Yuanzhen shook his head and said, "I don't believe it. My Liu family also had good relations with various princes back then. I have tried my best to find out recently..."
"When it comes to series connection, it has to be Wang Xun."
"Wang Zhen?" Liu Yuanzhen said with disdain: "Wang Zhen has been secretly contacting Li Fen for many years. As a result, when Li Fen raised his flag, there were only a few people who responded. He is just a waste."
Han Qi'an waved his hand and said: "It's not that Wang Xun was not good at eloquence and failed to convince the princes, but that Li Fen was too weak and the time to act was wrong. Li Fen was captured as soon as possible, which made the princes panic, which is enough to explain Wang Xizhi's
The connection is fruitful.”
"Han Zhonglang knows the situation in Shandong very well."
Liu Yuanzhen couldn't help but sigh.
He pondered slightly and said to himself: "There is such a person who can see the scene when Li Fen was captured, can find out the thoughts of various princes, and also knows that Kublai Khan raised an army of more than 100,000... This person is led by Wang Xun
The contact should be from the Yan family in Shandong...Dongping? Was it Yan Zhongji who sent the message to Han Zhonglang?"
Han Qi'an shook his head and waved his hands: "There is no need to speculate about this, just know that the news is true."
"The news is true...then we can't keep it," Liu Yuanzhen sighed.
He really couldn't handle Kublai Khan's full blow.
Han Qi'an couldn't help it either.
In recent days, he had been thinking a lot and couldn't think of a solution. Instead, his face became even more sad.
He came up with a lot of ideas, whether to abandon Guanlong and retreat to Hanzhong, or to surrender to the Song Dynasty and ask for reinforcements, but Han Qi'an couldn't make the decision.
Faced with such an offensive, either he must mobilize all the troops in the territory to fight Kublai Khan and decide his survival in one battle, or he must retreat to the dangerous Shu Road... This needs to be decided by Li Xia.
At this time, there was nothing to talk about with Liu Yuanzhen, so Han Qi'an said: "The prince has his own plans. General Liu only needs to arrange his defenses carefully and make sure nothing goes wrong before the prince returns to defense."
"Are you worried that Dong Wenbing will invade while we are recovering the Hexi Corridor?"
"exactly."
Han Qi'an's meaning was simple. Kublai Khan's army of more than 100,000 people did not expect Liu Yuanzhen to defend it, but before Li Xia returned from Hexi, it was Liu Yuanzhen's responsibility to ensure that the eastern front was not lost.
Liu Yuanzhen nodded and said: "Dong Wenbing seems to have been aware of the lack of our military strength, and has repeatedly tested it recently."
"How does he test it?"
"They said they were discussing the redemption of Dong Wenyong and invited me to meet outside Jindou Pass tomorrow..."
Dong Wenbing has been in a difficult situation recently.
He, "Brother Dong", was more trusted by Kublai Khan than other princes. After the Li Fen Rebellion, Kublai Khan began to weaken the power of the princes, except for the Dong family.
Dong Wenbing was promoted to official position instead.
He has replaced the historian Dengzhou as deputy envoy of the Guanghua march to Wanhu, Henan and other routes.
But if you think deeply about this matter, it is easy to have many explanations.
Could it be that because Dong Wenyong was captured, Kublai Khan was no longer at ease with Dong Wenbing, so he was promoted to appease him?
Is it because you want to create a rift between the Dong family and the Shi family, two families that have been married for generations, and divide the Dong family and other princes?
Or truly trust?
Dong Wenbing couldn't tell, but no matter what the reason behind it was, Kublai Khan's trust in him at this time was because of his deep kindness. He must work hard to repay it.
Two things, one is to rescue Dong Wenyong as soon as possible to prevent the Dong family from gradually falling into the embarrassing situation of the Zhang family; the other is to be prepared to regain Guanlong.
Dong Wenbing planned to find a breakthrough in Liu Yuanzhen.
They had a good personal relationship in the past.
On November 14th, the two met outside Jindou Pass...
It's winter, the weather is so cold, and white air comes out every time I take a breath.
The clouds were very low, as if it was about to snow but it had not yet fallen. By the Yellow River north of Jindou Pass, a thick layer of frost had already formed on the steamy grass.
This section of the Yellow River is very fast and usually does not freeze.
However, a layer of ice may have formed where the water is gentle upstream, and in a month or two, we may be able to cross the Yellow River.
Dong Wenbing, with only four attendants, rode his horse to the east of Jindou Pass, where the Song army's arrows could not reach him. After waiting for a while, he finally saw Liu Yuanzhen leading three people out of Guancheng.
"I haven't seen you for many years. How is Zhong Ju doing in the Song Dynasty?" Dong Wen Binglang asked loudly with a smile. Without waiting for Liu Yuanzhen's answer, he raised his hand and pointed not far away, and said: "I asked someone to set up a tent yesterday.
, you have a telescope, but you can see that I am not ambushing you, how about we go over there and talk about it?"
Liu Yuanzhen failed to refute the sentence "It's okay in the Song Dynasty" and felt a little annoyed, but he still maintained the demeanor of a son from a famous family.
"Brother Yanming, please."
When he arrived at the tent, Dong Wenbing got off his horse and signaled to Liu Yuanzhen that he was not armed, and said: "Don't worry, I sincerely redeem my brother and I have no intention of harming you."
"Haha, brother Yan Ming, don't worry. I plan to persuade you to submit to my king, and I will never harm you."
Dong Wenbing laughed, pointed at Liu Yuanzhen, and said, "No wonder you were able to convince Liu Zheng by yourself back then."
Liu Yuanzhen responded: "It's a pity that I didn't know the world's heroes at that time."
"Haha, Zhong Ju was defeated and surrendered. It was just an act of desperation. Why should we talk about him being a hero?"
"My king is indeed a hero, far better than the Hulu."
"After all, it is a matter of monarch and minister. Even if Zhong Ju is a traitor, there is no need to call your majesty 'Hulu'. Follow the Chinese way and be the master of China. You and I both agreed with this truth back then..."
The two of them said it politely, but in fact their eyes were looking around.
After confirming that there was no danger, we entered the tent.
Liu Yuanzhen said: "The Mongolian Khan did not do a good job in governing the Central Plains after all. Even if I didn't say it, Brother Yanming should understand."
"There is no need to talk about whether it is good enough or not. If Li Xia is defeated, everything will be in vain."
Having said this, Dong Wenbing added: "Time is running out, isn't it?"
"Ha." Liu Yuanzhen sneered.
Dong Wenbing tested it, but did not continue to test it immediately. He sighed, poured a glass of wine, sprinkled it on the ground, and murmured: "This first glass is for Liu Gongying's spirit in heaven."
Liu Yuanzhen was silent.
"Zhongjuji mourns and obeys the changes."
"Um."
"Liu Gong was originally a prince of ten thousand households. He fought for generations, held local military power, and governed an area. He was defeated and surrendered. Wouldn't it be a pity to lose these honors?"
Liu Yuanzhen shook his head and was about to speak.
Dong Wenbing raised his hand and waved, and continued: "If Zhongju is willing to return to his rightful ways, he doesn't need to do anything else. He doesn't need to open Jindou and Tongguan, and he can still regain his position as a prince."
"It's ridiculous. Do you really think that the Mongols can always tolerate the princes? Under my king's rule, the laws are clear, and the civil servants and military officers don't have to feel worried and uneasy. On the contrary, it is you who worry day and night that Kublai Khan will die and be cooked. Why bother?
Come?"
"Oh? What did Zhongju hear?"
Liu Yuanzhen knew that he had made a slight mistake, but he didn't show it on his face. He smiled, lowered his head and picked up the wine glass, hiding his expression for a moment.
He held the wine glass but did not drink it, and said slowly: "Brother Yanming, I might as well tell you that brother Yancai has joined my king. Kublai Khan will never trust you again..."
"If you say this, the entire Dong family is still under the rule of the Mongolian Kingdom, and Li Xia cannot trust my third brother." Dong Wenbing interrupted, "These are all nonsense. I believe in your majesty's mind."
"In this case, you don't have to redeem Brother Yancai, just let him assist me, Wang Kuang, to help the world. By the way, Brother Yancai said, no matter what he calculates, Brother Alibu will make a comeback this winter, and I'm afraid your life will be difficult.
Bar?"
At this point in the conversation, everything that needs to be said has been said, and Liu Yuanzhen is at his most proud.
Dong Wenbing suddenly said: "I'm here to give you a chance. Don't think that I don't know that the troops in Guanzhong are empty. Zhang Jue is guarding Yan'an, and Li Xia has gone deep into Longxi. With your small troops, you still dare to expand the front at this time. I
Entering Guanzhong, can you stop me?"
After he finished speaking, he stared at Liu Yuanzhen.
Liu Yuanzhen smiled instead of being surprised, leaned forward and said: "Come on."
"You think I don't dare?"
"You dare, I hope you dare, like Liu Zheng and A Shu, who thought they had seized the opportunity and went deep alone... Oh, no, you can really come in this time. As you said, Guanzhong is indeed empty. Come here
.”
When Liu Yuanzhen said this, his eyes were full of provocation.
He raised his eyebrows and asked again.
"By the way, do you know how many days it took Huo Qubing to fight against the five countries in Hexi, march thousands of miles, and severely inflict heavy losses on the Xiongnu?"