At present, the factions in the Tang army are very chaotic, and generally speaking, the clan factions are the main ones.
It can be roughly divided into the prince line, the clan line, and the cousin line.
The representative figure of the prince line is naturally the King of Qin Li Shimin, who has nearly 50,000 direct troops under his command. Followed by Li Yuanji and Li Zhiyun.
The clan's military force is weaker than that of the prince's family, and they are mainly dominated by Li Xiaoji, Li Shuliang, Li Shentong and others.
The final line of relatives is even weaker, mainly people like Chai Shao, Dou Dan, and Dou Gui. They are either members of Li Yuan's uncle's family or Li Yuan's consort.
From this point we can see how much Li Yuan trusted the generals of the Li clan.
When Master Feng heard Li Zhiyun mention Chai Shao, he glanced sideways at the figure in front of him and felt slightly uncomfortable.
The princess he married was the eldest daughter of a concubine, while Chai Shao married the eldest daughter. The gap was really huge. Moreover, Princess Pingyang was more powerful than a man. How could anyone accept this?
There are also differences among the princes.
Although Master Feng likes to hang around, it doesn't mean that he is willing to be used as a stepping stone when others compare him with Chai Shao.
"Maybe." He replied absentmindedly.
The army crossed Jingzhou, repaired in Baili City for a day, and then rushed to Anrong Pass within three days.
Chang Da, the governor of Longzhou, greeted Li Shuliang's arrival with a confused look on his face.
He thought to himself, this must be the wrong script. The King of Qin clearly asked him to harass and attack Xue Ju on the flanks, so why now he was asked to shoulder the burden of sneak attacks.
Is there any mistake?
Li Shuliang scolded Fang Qiu and told him, "Young man, you are not mistaken."
Chang Da was also a hero of Yuan Cong who raised the army in Jinyang, but his contribution was small and he only held the position of governor of Longzhou. But this is not bad, after all, he was a governor of a state.
After Li Shuliang arrived, he directly asked Xue Ju about his troop deployment on the Longzhou front. Chang Da was only responsible for the involvement, but he didn't know so much. He could only say that Xue Ju had troops deployed in Liangyuan.
Li Shuliang was very unhappy and scolded Chang Da for not being careful enough, and then naturally took over the command of Longzhou's troops.
Immediately afterwards, Li Shuliang sent Li Zhiyun and Chang Da to Liangyuan to inquire about the news.
"Your Highness, is King Qin really planning to launch a sneak attack on Zhe'an City from Longzhou?" On their way to Liangyuan, Chang Da couldn't help but asked Li Zhiyun.
"Didn't Prince Changping make it very clear?"
"But Your Highness, when you attack Zhecheng City from Longzhou, there are many mountain roads along the way, making it difficult for the army to move forward," he said.
Nonsense, everyone knows the Longshan Mountains. Li Zhiyun comforted him: "Don't worry, Governor Chang. Prince Changping may have a plan."
Apart from saying this, Li Zhiyun didn't know how to comfort him. Who made Li Shuliang want to attack from Longzhou as soon as he slapped his head? It's all your fault that Chang Da played so well and gave Li Shuliang a chance to make a contribution.
"Alas." Chang Da sighed heavily and said sincerely: "To be honest with you, Your Majesty, the reason why my subordinates were able to successfully attack in the past was entirely due to the cover of the mountains. Now if the army attacks Liangyuan, it will attract the attention of the Western Qin soldiers and horses. It is dangerous."
Who doesn't know the danger? The distance between Liangyuan and Anrong Pass is more than a hundred miles, so how can it be so easy to attack?
But who makes our uncle the king of strong words?
When the team arrived at the Golden Thread Valley, it was dark and Li Zhiyun ordered them to rest where they were.
The scout team never lights a fire at night.
Under the tree, Li Zhiyun took out the steamed bun slices and water bag, and chatted with Chang Da while eating.
"Where is Wagang Chang? Can you recognize Chang Jishi?"
"We had a chance encounter. He and I are from the same clan but different branches," Chang Da said.
In the Sui and Tang Dynasties, there were only a lot of big families. The division of various branches can confuse people's minds, such as the Dugu family.
Dugu Xin gave birth to eight sons and three queen daughters. Think about how many more sons Dugu Xin could have given birth to from his eight sons.
This is quite good, just like the Zheng family in Xingyang, which directly divides the "North Ancestral House", "Southern Ancestral House" and "Middle Ancestral House".
Chang Da said cautiously: "Your Highness, in fact, this subordinate has no connection with Chang He."
"Chang Jishi is worried too much. I just asked casually."
Just a casual question?
You think I'm stupid, just ask Chang He casually.
Chang Da kept smiling and talked about interesting things about Longzhou in an attempt to divert attention.
At this moment, Uncle Xie came over quietly.
"Your Highness, a fire was spotted ten miles away."
"Fire light?" Li Zhiyun was startled and asked, "What's the situation? What's the background of the other party?"
Uncle Xie whispered in his ear.
"Really?" Li Zhiyun sounded surprised and uncertain.
Xie Shufang nodded.
Li Zhiyun thought for a moment and then ordered: "Everyone prepare immediately, let's go take a look!"
"As commanded."
The group of people didn't know what was going on, so they could only quietly follow Li Zhiyun to their destination.
An hour later, everyone arrived at a short slope. Li Zhiyun reached out and pushed aside the grass, revealing a pair of eyes, looking down the short slope.
Fires soared into the sky and white flags danced.
I saw that the soldiers were all wearing armor and white cloth. At a glance, I knew that this was a funeral team.
Who died?
"Your Highness, these are the soldiers and horses of the Western Qin Dynasty." Chang Da reminded in a low voice.
Nonsense, I'm not blind. Li Zhiyun said: "I don't know who died."
Chang Da glanced around with a pair of eagle eyes. Suddenly, his pupils shrank suddenly and he stared at a young man next to the fire for a long time.
After a long time, he took a breath and whispered: "Your Highness, have you seen the young man beside the fire?"
"who?"
"The one in black."
Hearing this, Li Zhiyun took out his telescope and aimed at the young man.
"I saw it, what happened?"
Although he didn't know what the long tube in King Chu's hand was, he didn't care. Instead, he continued: "Your Highness, that person is Xue Renyue, the second son of Xue Ju and the false king of Jin."
Nani?
That young man was wearing a white mourning. If he were really Xue Renyue, wouldn't he be able to die?
"Are you sure?"
"My subordinate has fought against Xue Renyue and knows him, so I am absolutely sure."
Li Zhiyun let out a breath and put away the telescope.
He remembered that Xue Ju seemed to have died on the front line.
"Uncle Fang."
"exist."
"Take your people and go back immediately to report to Manager Chai and ask him to bring his people over and intercept this team."
"As you command!"
Regardless of whether it was Xue Ju who died or not, the dozens of scouts Li Zhiyun currently had in his hands were obviously not enough to deal with the opponent's hundreds of people.
Chang Da said: "Your Highness, I can bring someone to arrest one and bring him back for torture."
"That's inappropriate." Li Zhiyun shook his head and refused, "We can't protect ourselves if we alert the enemy."
Are you kidding? He is His Royal Highness the King of Chu of the Tang Dynasty. Once he is caught accidentally, it will affect the overall situation.
Li Zhiyun never does this kind of high-risk, low-reward thing.
Seeing Li Zhiyun's refusal, Chang Da could not help but secretly criticize the king for being cowardly.
One night passed, and the Western Qin team set off again. Li Zhiyun also quietly followed behind him, leaving special marks along the way to guide the Tang army.