Yelu Deguang's eyelids twitched suddenly, while Wei Wang Zhao Yanshou, Hou Yi, and Geng Chongmei knelt on the ground, too scared to breathe.
Especially Zhao Yanshou, Zhao Kuangzan was his own son! Moreover, selling Hezhong Mansion in this way directly led to a chain reaction later, which was a huge sin.
The city of Puzhou in this river is small and strong, and can still threaten the Yellow River waterway. It is far more suitable for defense and blocking than places like Luoyang.
However, Yelu Deguang still had to be considered a wise master after all. After a quick mental calculation, he suddenly laughed three times and helped Zhao Yanshou up from the ground.
"Children are unreasonable and may have thought that someone was a cruel barbarian like Shi Hu, so they thought of surrendering to the Tibetan thief Zhang Zhao.
But all the ministers know that I, Yelu Deguang, am the benevolent emperor and the lord of the Central Plains.
The King of Wei does not need to blame himself, just follow me and defeat the traitor Zhang, so that everyone in the world can see who is the rogue."
Zhao Yanshou was moved to tears. He did not stand up following Yelu Deguang's support. Instead, he knelt down again and kowtowed to Yelu Deguang three times.
"Your Majesty is kind and virtuous, I am indescribably grateful. The rebellious son Kuang Zan turned to the thieves. This is because I failed in my upbringing. I would like to ask my troops to be the vanguard of the army and clean up the Zhao family."
Yelu Deguang quickly waved his hand and pretended to be very kind and said to Zhao Yanshou.
"How can there be an emperor who makes his father kill his son? What's more, our Daliao cavalry comes and goes like the wind, and it is easy to kill the Zhang thief.
The King of Wei is familiar with the people's sentiments in the Southern Dynasties, so it is better to urge the dredging of the Bian River so that the army can reach Luoyang as soon as possible."
Zhao Yanshou's eyes darkened. Yelu Deguang seemed generous, but in words he deprived him of the power to command the Han army and gave him the extremely difficult task of dredging the Bian River.
However, Zhao Yanshou did not hesitate at all, and immediately responded with tears of gratitude and crossed his hands.
"I obey your order. I will do my best to dredge the Bianhe River within ten days."
The reason why Zhao Yanshou issued the military order was because he knew very well that if the task of dredging the Bianhe River was not done well, then Yelu Deguang would have reason to punish him.
The reason why he is not punished now is to prevent the Han soldiers from being frightened.
But if he failed to dredge the Bianhe River, it would be a failure in his work, and there would be no psychological barriers to punishing him.
"Your Majesty, Hezhong and Shaanzhou have been lost, and now only Luoyang City can defend Zhang Thief.
Luoyang has eight dangerous passes, Mangjiao is solid, Mengjin is convenient, and the Heyang pontoon bridge is convenient. Now our army is slow in action. If Luoyang is occupied by Zhang's thieves, we will be extremely passive."
If we say who the Khitan people were most trustworthy in terms of military affairs at this time, it was none other than Gao Song, Gao Mohan and Yelu Wuzhi.
Yelu Wuzhi was supervising the army from behind, and Gao Song was beside Yelu Deguang. He was the one reminding Yelu Deguang at this moment.
Yelv Deguang also had great trust in Gao Song, because this time he went south to destroy the Jin Dynasty, Gao Song took the most credit.
It was Gao Song's plan to not only kill the Jin general Liang Hanzhang, the military envoy of the Yongqing Army in Beizhou, and cut off the Jin army's retreat, but also to send people directly to Kaifeng Prefecture in Tokyo, the capital of the Jin state.
"In Luoyang, Ma Da leads an army of 10,000 to guard it, and there are more than 3,000 Jin troops. As long as our army leaves Bianshui, Luoyang will be close to Chichi. How can Zhang thief capture Luoyang quickly?"
Xiao Han, a turtle grandson, was a little jealous of Gao Song's favor with Yelu Deguang, so he would find fault with every suggestion Gao Song made.
Hearing this, Gao Song didn't even look at Xiao Han, but directly lowered his voice to Yelu Deguang and said, "Your Majesty, first there was a sudden change in Hezhong Mansion, and then there was a betrayal in Shaanzhou and Wu Xingde. Han'er is really untrustworthy.
The person I am concerned about is the three thousand Han troops in Luoyang City. Moreover, Ma Du is more than brave but not very strategic.
If Zhang thief sends his elite cavalry to double the route and come to seize the barrier, he is afraid that Liu Yuan's lesson of losing his head will happen again.
I ask the emperor to send three thousand elite cavalry as the vanguard to gallop to Luoyang to stabilize the city defense."
Yelv Deguang couldn't help but nodded his head, "Mohan is really my loyal minister. I will give you three thousand iron cavalry. You will set off immediately. You must defend Luoyang."
As soon as Gao Song went down, Han Kuangsi came forward and said, "Your Majesty, the Zhang bandits in Hexi are very cunning and have many fierce men under their command.
Wu Ziyun said, "When using troops, you need to judge the enemy's reality and strength, and take advantage of the enemy's danger." The Art of War also says, be lenient when anticipating the enemy, and be strict when defending against the enemy.
Zhang thief came down the river with a fierce momentum. From the minister's point of view, we need to defend it first to stabilize it, and then find a plan to defeat the enemy.
But since we have to hold on securely, we must not leave any gaps. Liu Zhiyuan from the east of the river has thirty thousand troops, and he wants to sit on a mountain and watch the tigers fight. It is as dangerous as a light on my back.
I ask your majesty to summon Wang Jun and give him generous gifts of gold and silver, as well as titles. Only then can I go to Taiyuan with him, explain his reasoning, and persuade soldiers and horses from Hedong to come to help him."
Although Han Kuangsi is a Han, their family is different from the families of Zhao Yanshou and Geng Chongmei. The Han family is from the Khitan itself.
This was because Han Kuangsi's father, Han Zhigu, was married to Yelu Abaoji as a retainer of Shulu Ping, the Queen Mother.
It can be said that Zhao Yanshou was not even included in the Eight Banners of the Han Dynasty in the Liao Kingdom, but the Han family was a slave of the Yelu family! He was closer to the royal family of the Liao Kingdom than any servant of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Otherwise, Han Kuangsi's son Han Derang would not be able to roll onto Xiao Chuo's bed and let Liao Shengzong consider him his father.
At that moment, when he heard that Han Kuangsi was going to persuade Liu Zhiyuan, Yelv Deguang took a few steps closer and asked in a deep voice: "Liu Zhiyuan is a hero, are you confident?"
Han Kuangsi nodded slowly, "It is precisely because Liu Zhiyuan is a hero that he will not be inferior to others.
Thief Zhang is also a hero. Can An allow Liu Zhiyuan to wait for the opportunity in Taiyuan?
I ask your Majesty to guard the front line of Luoyang closely until the traitor Zhang is exhausted and the soldiers and horses from Hedong arrive, which will be the day for his death."
.
.
Yelu Deguang decided on the basic strategy of holding on to Luoyang, defeating Zhang Zhao's spirit, and then counterattacking. He also sent Zhao Yanshou to dredge the Bianhe River at all costs, and Han Kuangsi even set out for Taiyuan.
Zhang Zhao's actions were even faster. As soon as the plan was drawn up, Zhang Zhao appointed Murong Nobunaga as the vanguard troops and horses, Zhao Hui and Qiongre Duojin as the left and right formation envoys, Zhe Deyuan, Wang Shenqi, Zhao Kuangyin, and Zhao Yanjin.
, Zhang Xibao and Chen Tingxiao were the capital of Yuhou.
Four thousand selected cavalry were selected to go straight to Luoyang by land. At the same time, the army continued to advance down the Yellow River by water and land.
Murong Nobunaga and others flew all the way, passing Mianchi in just two days, and on the fourth day they bypassed Hangu Pass and entered the Luoyang Basin.
Historically, there were three Hangu Passes. The one in Lingbao County was the Hangu Pass of the Warring States Period. The Hangu Pass in Xin'an County, Luoyang was built by Yang Pu, the general of the building ship in the past, in order to become a Guanzhong man, and of course to protect Luoyang.
Therefore, the newly built Hangu Pass was often called Hanguan Pass by people at that time.
By this time, Hanguan Pass was almost abandoned, and the Khitan people did not station troops here. There were only more than a hundred Heyang Han soldiers guarding it.
In such a treasure land as Luoyang, it was so fun to hunt grass and valleys everywhere, but it was hard to bother to station people in this remote pass.
As soon as Murong Nobunaga arrived, he immediately took control of the Han soldiers guarding the pass.
These Han soldiers were originally stationed here. After the Khitans arrived, supplies were immediately cut off. They could only go hunting in the Xiaoshan Mountains, fish in the streams, and grow some food to make a living.
Now that things were like this, how could they resist? Instead, when they saw the Yongliang army arriving, they immediately gathered around to complain and rushed to lead the way to Luoyang City.
Murong Xin Changsheng resisted the urge to rush directly to Luoyang City. There were still more than 3,000 Heyang troops in the city. If he rushed over like this now, he would not be able to distinguish between ourselves and the enemy, and would have taken advantage of the Khitans in vain.
So Murong Nobunaga immediately sent Zhao Hui, Zhao Yanjin and Zhao Kuangyin into Luoyang with letters written by Li Congyi to establish contact with Li Jianchong.
Brother Zhao was a little depressed. How should I put it? On the one hand, he was very happy after arriving in Yongliang.
Every day they practiced martial arts, hunting, and battle formations with the heroes in the army. King Zhang also specially sent officers to teach them the art of war, strategy, and calculation.
Especially the BMWs and Baojia from Liangzhou, Zhao Kuangyin was gifted several sets, all of which were the best of the best.
During the Western Expedition to Gaochang, Zhao Kuangyin beheaded generals and captured the flag. He was promoted to the forty-fifth rank. From the eighth rank to the rank of Yilang, he was actually appointed as the general of the capital of Hanshan.
The more than a hundred riders under his command are all the best among the best, not to mention Shandu's status.
This grace cannot be said to be too high.
But he was still a little unhappy, because Zhao Kuangyin clearly felt that King Zhang felt an inexplicable alienation from him.
He really wanted to be the king's adopted son, but it was said that Wang Shenqi was about to be chosen, but he still couldn't see any sign of being chosen.
Nowadays, everyone in the Yong Kingdom hopes to become the adopted son of the great king. Needless to say, there are benefits, and there is no need to change his surname.
This is not like being a son to the king. This is actually a sign of a close minister, and it is a title that no prince will change!
Thinking of this, Zhao Kuangyin took a deep breath. This time, he must win Luoyang so that he can also obtain the status of the king's adopted son.
The three of them led three followers and two soldiers guarding Hangu Pass, pretending to be people from Hangu Pass who went to Luoyang to sell fish, because these soldiers often sold fish in exchange for some salt, cloth, etc.
Zhao Hui took a look at Zhao Kuangyin and knew that he was a close minister of King Yong. He also knew that he was sent here because Zhao Kuangyin himself was from Luoyang, knew the way, and even had relatives around, so he could provide some cover.
The three of them were walking and discussing together. Zhao Kuangyin took a piece of cloth with the city defense and street conditions of Luoyang in his memory and explained them one by one to Zhao Hui and Zhao Yanjin.
After Zhao Yanjin listened, he told Zhao Kuangyin about the situation in Luoyang City.
After all, Zhao Kuangyin had been to Hexi for more than two years and did not know much about the current situation in Luoyang.
"The Heyang Army in Luoyang has about three thousand people, but when the Jin Dynasty went north to attack the Liao Dynasty in the past, he had already drained most of the elite Heyang Army.
Therefore, of the three thousand Heyang troops, at most one thousand are capable of fighting. It is unrealistic to rely on them to expel the ten thousand Liao troops in the city. We can only ask them to open the city gate and let my army enter the city."
Saying that, Zhao Yanjin nodded at the west gate of Luoyang, "These thousand men are worthy of fighting against the Heyang Army. They are controlled by two Du Yuhou under Li Jianchong. One of them is Li Jianchong's son and he is quite familiar with a certain person, so let him solve the problem anyway."
Not big.
Another person had the same surname as General Zhao and was a native of Luoyang. His name was Zhao Hongyin.
His guarding the west gate of Luoyang is very important, but he has not had many contacts with a certain family. It is said that he is skilled in bow and horse and is not easy to make friends with.
Whether we can successfully bribe this person is the key to whether we can capture Luoyang this time."
"Ah!" Zhao Kuangyin was suddenly stunned, Zhao Hongyin, isn't this his father?
That's not right! Before he went to Hexi, his family had moved to Kaifeng Prefecture in Tokyo. Why did he return to Luoyang?
Out of caution, Zhao Kuangyin asked in a trembling voice: "This Zhao... uh, is the Marquis Yu of Zhao Du nearly fifty years old? He has a wife and a concubine, his wife is Du Shi, he has two sons and a daughter, and the eldest son is away from home?"
Huh? Zhao Yanjin looked at Zhao Kuangyin in surprise, why are you so excited? Why do you know so carefully?
How could he investigate this thing so carefully?
But at this moment, a Heyang soldier who was carrying fish with them turned around and said.
"How did you know about this husband? Marquis Yu from the capital of Zhao was transferred from Tokyo just a few years ago. He is indeed nearly fifty years old. He has a wife, a concubine, two sons and a daughter.
I heard that his family's elder brother was highly skilled in martial arts and followed the big shots to live in Liangzhou, Hexi...
Huh...? Uh...!"
Speaking of this, the soldier carrying the fish was stunned. He looked at Zhao Kuangyin with his mouth open. Zhao Hui, Zhao Yanjin and his son also looked at Zhao Kuangyin.
Zhao Kuangyin pointed at his nose and smiled bitterly, "Perhaps, probably, this Zhao Du Yuhou who guards the west gate of Luoyang is an adult of a certain family."