Inside and outside Wulou Pavilion, there were sighs and sighs.
The subordinates brought in some bean paste, and Lu Yanwei ate it hastily, with a gloomy look on his face.
It is said that hundreds of years ago, Emperor Guangwu of the Han Dynasty came here from Jinan. He was very hungry, so Feng Yi bought beans.
The subordinates fed Lu Yanwei beans, not to imitate anyone, but because they really only ate the beans.
Cangjing's defeated troops rushed westward and were taken in by Wang Rong, who gave them a chance to breathe. At that time, Lu Yanwei's troops only had more than a thousand soldiers, but he did not give up and continued to recruit more deserters, slowly expanding to more than 2,000. Recently, he recruited some more Cangjing troops.
There were three thousand local outlaws in Jing, Yingmo, Ji and Zhao, and even the defeated Zhao soldiers in Jizhou.
Wang Rong is not easy to get along with.
Because of Yingzhou Shao Bo, the Shao Yang brothers repeatedly sent state soldiers south to raid and loot, so Wang Rong "asked" Lu Yanwei to lead his army to garrison in Wuluo Pavilion and march down to the stronghold to stop the enemy troops.
Lu Yanwei worked very hard and fought several times with the Shaw Brothers and drove them away. Just when he took this as a credit and went to Raoyang to ask for money and food, he was rejected. The Raoyang County Magistrate casually gave away some money and food.
, and then refused to give it.
Lu Yanwei was very angry about this. They were stationed in Wuluoting to protect the safety of Raoyang County. Why was the county magistrate so unwise?
It is even more impossible to say that there is no money and food.
Raoyang County is the city of Lukou in Jin. It was built by Sima Yi when he conquered Gongsun Yuan to transport grain. Emperor Daowu of the later Wei Dynasty was lucky enough to have this city, where he held a banquet for all his ministers and built the town of Lukou. Since the Northern Dynasties, it has become an important transportation thoroughfare, and was built in Shenzhen during the Sui and Tang Dynasties.
Prefecture and Raoyang are both prefectural governors. In the first year of Xiantian's reign, Shenzhou governed Pinglu County. However, after nearly two hundred years of development, Raoyang is still far more prosperous than Pinglu. Even the name of Shenzhou's county is Raoyang.
How could I have no money or food? I just refused to give it.
Lu Yanwei was very angry. After all this time, if he still acts like this, everyone in Chengde might be attacked and destroyed like Cangjing.
But he didn't really want Chengde Town to be destroyed. What would they do if they were bereaved dogs? Flee east of the river? Lu Yanwei was willing, but not all of his men were willing to follow. For some desperadoes, they felt it was better to stay.
Be a thief.
"Woo——" the trumpet sound suddenly sounded, which was a signal that an enemy appeared.
But Lu Yanwei did not move. Some of the Cangjing warriors were indifferent. Some climbed up to the high platform to have a look, and then went down again.
There is also a slightly smaller camp in the southeast corner of the camp.
Wang Du led five hundred cavalry, opened the camp gate, and filed out.
He was also someone who had escaped. He had less than two thousand men, all of whom were Yi Ding sergeants, and his morale was as low as that of the Cangjing warriors.
The attackers were still the men and horses of the Yingzhou Shao brothers. They appeared at the end of the post road from a distance. There was smoke and dust billowing there, as if thousands of warriors were attacking.
"What is the purpose of the royal capital?" Lu Yanwei smiled.
Wang Du was Wang Chuzhi's fake son. Wang Chuzhi had already surrendered to Shao. Without him to persuade him to surrender, Beiguan City would not have fallen so quickly, and Dingzhou would not have been captured so easily.
Lu Yanwei thought to himself that if he were in the position of Wangdu, he would have been demoted long ago. But this guy in Wangdu is still struggling until now, and his ambition is really not small.
Of course, it is impossible for Lu Yanwei to surrender now. His eldest son Lu Kuang was killed, and this is already an unending trend.
Fight until he is dead. Wang Rong is so stupid. After his death, he will still have someone to keep him company on the road to hell.
The sound of war drums gradually sounded, and Wang Du and the Shao brothers soon came to grips with each other.
Lu Yanwei was not interested in watching, so he only sent 300 cavalry out of the camp to raid the capital and monitor the battlefield situation.
The Yingzhou soldiers were unable to break in, but they were also unable to advance to Hejian City, which was seventy-five miles away.
These lonely ghosts are living day by day. How different is Wang Rong, the seemingly majestic military governor of the Chengde Army, from them?
****
Since getting up, Wang Rong has been staring at the map almost all day.
The Xia people had accumulated a large number of troops and horses in the Dingzhou area. According to the numbers found, there were Longxiang, Konghe, Youguo and other armies. These were all the victorious divisions that had just attacked the town of Yiding.
Just yesterday (June 19th), thousands of people from the Youguo Army marched south from Dingzhou, heading straight for Qicheng.
Judging from this intention, it seems that they want to connect with the soldiers and horses in Xingzhou, advance from the north to the south, cut the entire Chengde in half, isolate Zhenzhou, and then slowly eat up the remaining counties in Jizhou and take Shenzhen.
, Zhao Erzhou, wait until the wings are cut off, and then encircle Zhenzhou.
Wang Rong didn't know who made this big move, but he knew that with the current state of the Chengde warriors, it would be difficult to stop the Xia people from implementing this campaign plan.
They had already lost more than 10,000 men in several battles to rescue Dingzhou, and thousands more in Jizhou. They had failed to attack Beizhou several times, and the losses were not small.
Although today's Chengde Town has urgently restored the establishment of an army of 50,000 people and recruited more than 100,000 Tutuan peasants, there is no guarantee of its combat effectiveness.
Yesterday he went to the capital Yuhousi to inquire about his plan. Among the generals, only Duan Liang was willing to lead his army into battle. The others dissuaded him on the grounds that the military men in this town were always good at defending but not at attacking.
At this point, Wang Rong understood everything.
"Alas." Wang Rong sat back on the bed. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Invite Judge Zhou."
After giving the instructions, he studied the map again until footsteps sounded outside the door.
"Commander." Judge Zhou Shi saluted immediately after entering.
"Stop saluting." Wang Rong smiled bitterly and said, "Please make another trip to Jinyang."
"The commander-in-chief has orders, and he must obey them. However, since April, there have been rumors in Jinyang that Li Keyong is resting in bed and rarely sees people. The commander-in-chief should not have too high hopes, so as not to mess up his position.
" Zhou Shi reminded.
"I know." Wang Rong raised his head, looked at Zhou Shi, and said, "You just have to do your best. If you can summon Jin soldiers, I will reward you with ten thousand yuan."
Zhou Shi smiled bitterly.
He has always been involved in secrets, and of course he knows the situation on the battlefield today.
On the other side of Jizhou, the Xia people's Tiande army attacked fiercely, winning consecutive battles, and had a tendency to invade Zhaozhou from the flanks. In the past two days, the Wuwei army came again, and the Tiande army took back its offensive, but its whereabouts are unknown. But in that direction, it is still
There are a large number of Xia Kingdom's forbidden troops and state soldiers and local regiments, and a large-scale attack will be launched at any time.
The Battle of Dingzhou has ended.
Wang Gao, Wang Du and others rushed south in a hurry with a few soldiers and horses. After the Xia people finished resting and regrouping, they were bound to go south in large numbers.
Zhou Shi fully agreed with Wang Rong's judgment. The Xia people wanted to cut the German army in half and encircle and annihilate them one by one. The only one who could stop the Xia people from implementing this battle plan was Hedong. That is, the Jin troops left the Taihang Mountains and either attacked Xingzhou or attacked Xingzhou.
Dingzhou can achieve the effect.
Even leaving Zelu, rushing into Xiangwei, and cutting off Yongji Canal will be effective - this idea of using troops is not as effective as the first two, because the Xia people have already roughly sorted out the captured Youzhou, Cangjing Second Town, and Wei Bo can also
Providing supplies, Yongji Canal is no longer as important as before.
The best way is to let the Jin people attack Dingzhou or Xingzhou to solve all their worries with one move.
"Judge Zhou, please leave early." Wang Rong stood up again and urged: "It will take time for the Jin people to organize their troops and horses. The sooner we get to Jinyang, the better."
Seeing that his lord was so anxious, Zhou Shi had no choice but to agree: "I will go to Jinyang right now, and the commander-in-chief will just wait for the good news."
Wang Rong was a little moved when he heard this. He grabbed Zhou Shi's hand and his voice choked up: "Everything big depends on Mr. Zhou."
Zhou Shi also cried and said: "My Zhou family has been blessed with wealth and honor for generations, all of which were given by the Wang family. How dare you disobey me!"
After that, he bowed and hurried away.
****
A rain came in the summer afternoon, washing away the dust in the streets and alleys of Jinyang.
Li Cunxu reined in his horse, handed the whip to the soldier, looked up at the gloomy sky, and cursed: "It's going to rain again."
Pushing open the vermilion door, passing through the indigo-colored tiled wall, he stopped at the end of the long corridor.
Li Luoluo also stopped not far away.
The two nodded in greeting without speaking, and soon passed each other.
Li Cunxu's mood became even more gloomy.
The eldest brother fought very poorly in Youzhou, not even as good as Shao Siwu, the king of Zhao in Xia Kingdom. He was rushed here and there, from Sanhe to Tanzhou, and from Tanzhou to Youzhou, and back to Yizhou. He was defeated.
After returning home, he was scolded and insulted by his father as expected.
But then again, his performance in Zelu was not very good. The defense was okay, but once he went down the mountain and entered the realm of Xingmingci or Xiangwei, he always won less and lost more. The most recent time, Liu Xun
He even surrendered directly, leaving him disgraced. When his father found out, he was so angry that he got up from the hospital bed, cursed, and then fell asleep again.
Alas, there is bad news everywhere.
Li Cunxu suddenly had no intention of trying to get along with his eldest brother. He was already like a bird, so why did he fight over it?
After entering the backyard of the inner palace, Li Cunxu saw his father who was half lying on the bed to rest.
The once majestic Daibei general was now like a sick tiger, curled up in his lair, half-conscious and half-awake, with no energy at all.
Suddenly I felt a little sad.
"Master." Li Cunxu approached and called softly.
Li Keyong opened his eyes, nodded slightly, and asked, "What's the matter with my son? But someone escaped again?"
"No." Li Cunxu replied: "I only have one thing to do. Cheng De must be saved. If not saved, Wang Rong will surrender sooner or later. By then, there will not even be an alliance left in this huge northern land."
"Yang Xingmi's envoy arrived again the day before yesterday." Li Keyong sighed slightly and said, "I heard that he is not very good either."
Li Cunxu was startled. His father's idea was too unreasonable.
"Traveling secretly across the Yangtze River and Huaihe River for twenty years, I have reached my twilight years." Li Keyong said: "I think back then, when Chao Chao was first in peace, the Qin clan was still raging. I, Shao Shude, Zhu Quanzhong, Wang Chongrong, Li Kuangwei, Wang Rong,
Luo Hongxin, Zhu Xuan, Zhu Jin, Shi Pu, Yang Xingmi and others took advantage of the situation and each dominated one side with tens of thousands of troops."
Li Cunxu listened silently.
"To this day, Wang Chongrong died in the military rebellion, Shi Pu's family set themselves on fire, Li Kuangwei's whereabouts are unknown, Zhu Quanzhong and Zhu Xuan were killed by Shao Shude, Zhu Jin fled to Guangling, Luo Hongxin died of illness in Weizhou..." Li Keyong sighed
Said: "We are the only ones left."
Li Cunxu remained silent.
After the deaths of Cheng Zongchu, Wang Chucun, Zhuge Shuang, Li Kan and others, the group of Jiedu envoys from the Yizong and Xi Zong dynasties finally came to an end. Now more than twenty years have passed, and a group of Jiedu envoys have emerged after the Huangchao Rebellion.
Wow, there aren't even a few left.
It sounded a little sad. When these words came from his father's mouth, Li Cunxu felt even more sad, which meant that the illness had sapped his ambition. He had already surrendered to Shao Shude in will and spirit, because God
No holiday.
"Grandpa, Chengde must be saved." Li Cunxu reminded.
"That's what Dalang told me just now..." Li Keyong looked at the second son and asked: "What do you think will happen now that the search troops and horses are sent eastward? Will the incidents of An Jingsi, Sun Chongjin, and Liu Xun happen again?
?”
Li Cunxu blushed when asked.
Liu Xun was his subordinate at the time, and he surrendered directly with more than 3,000 troops. You said that you can just come back after being defeated. Now that you are defeated everywhere, you may not be punished, but why did you lead the army to surrender to the enemy?
"Master..." Li Cunxu took a deep breath and said: "Please grant me the army to defeat the bandit army. Even if we lose, we will lead our sons back, so that they will not surrender to the enemy on the battlefield."
"Do you know what was said a month ago when the army in Jincheng was about to suffer a calamity and summer was coming?" Li Keyong asked again.
Li Cunxu shook his head.
"A sergeant threatened, 'I have served the Li family for more than 20 years, and my armor has never left my body. We have fought to this day, and the people are destitute and miserable. The people of Taiyuan are crying on the road with many howls. But Li and Shao are happy to go back and forth.
However, we are left alone to fight to the death. Now the whole army is angry and wants to bring down the summer. If you don't obey, you will be rude.'" Li Keyong said in a tone that was mixed with anger, sadness and helplessness.
Li Cunxu was speechless.
Jincheng is outside Yanmen Pass and was once the pasture of the three tribes of Shatuo. His father was born there. The soldiers there actually surrendered, in a way that a general would surrender, which shocked him.
"But -" Li Cunxu said anxiously, "Chengde can still be saved. Otherwise, Hedong will be isolated and helpless, and its fall is not far away."
Li Keyong was silent for a long time. Just when Li Cunxu wanted to urge him again, he asked: "If we go eastward, who will be our general?"
"Please give me the title of commander of the army." Li Cunxu was overjoyed and said immediately.
Li Keyong remained silent.
Li Cunxu was a little angry when he saw it, and said: "If I don't worry about Xin'er's ability to lead the army, I can send Zhou Dewei, Li Siyuan or Li Sizhao."
Li Keyong closed his eyes and thought carefully, then said: "There is only Zhou Yangwu."
But at this moment, Li Cunxian was seen rushing in from outside.
Seeing that Li Cunxu was also there, he saluted the two of them respectively, and then said: "Your Majesty, Gai Taibao has passed away."
Li Keyong sat up suddenly and asked angrily: "Say it again!"
"Your Majesty, Ga Taibao has passed away, and his family is preparing the murder weapon." Li Cunxian repeated it bravely.
Li Keyong heard clearly this time, and felt weak all over, leaning against the back of the bed.
Li Cunxu, with quick eyes and quick hands, hurriedly hugged his father. Li Cunxian also stepped forward to help and called the doctor.
Li Keyong leaned weakly on Hu's bed and shed two lines of tears.
Gai Yu had been with him for many years and was his most confidant. In the new year, his health failed and he was seriously ill and bedridden. Unexpectedly, he left.
"The army will not send out..." Li Keyong was in a daze for a moment, and he had no thoughts.
