The rooster crows and the neighborhood is in a hurry.
On the dewy ridges of the fields, farmers were holding sickles, preparing to cut the wheat.
The woman got up early in the morning and was busy preparing meals and carrying them to the field.
When the old woman went out to collect firewood, she did not forget to ask the children to drive the sheep out to graze.
It will be the Autumn Society Festival in a while, and the two sheep at home can be sold and exchanged for some fabrics, salt, needles, thread, and other things.
The life of a farm family is not well-off, and everything must be calculated clearly.
The scholars who passed by said that Marshal Li of Yanzhou was out of tune and had no ability. He lived his life drifting with the flow and had no ambition to make progress.
Goodbye!
In the past two years, Marshal Li has been unable to push for classes, as if it doesn't matter if he takes more or less. There are also fewer sergeants, and several forts have been abolished, but the party members have not taken the opportunity to cause chaos. Isn't this the best thing?
Result?
Farmers just want to live a stable life. It doesn't matter if they live a poor life, and the sunflower seeds in the garden can fill their stomachs. But once chaos breaks out, the troops are sent to the garrison, the countryside is ruined, and the bandits are raging, then they can still live their lives.
?
In the past few years, there have been newborn children everywhere in the country. Everyone is grateful to Marshal Li.
Marshal Li has now moved to Zhuangzi outside Yanzhou City.
He won't live here for long, he will move to Lingzhou within three or two months.
The Prince of Lingwu County gave him a mansion, which was said to have been built by the shogunate and was very impressive.
The house is nice, but the neighbors are a little strange.
In fact, there are many such houses in the northern part of Huaiyuan County, all built by the shogunate. Some are empty, and some are already occupied.
Li Xiaochang inquired about it and found out that Dongfang Kui's house was not far from his home, separated by a canal.
On the left is his long-time friend Tuoba Sijing. Across a small forest on the right is Zhuge Zhongbao's mansion.
There is a temple in the northernmost part of the mountain. The eminent monk Jiezan, invited from the Qingtang Dynasty, opened the forum to give lectures and preached to various Dangxiang tribes who were grazing nearby.
Who are these people!
Does Prince Lingwu want to gather all his defeated generals together and watch them every day to strengthen his dignity?
No, I am not a defeated general. I surrendered to Prince Lingwu very early.
I really can’t stay in Yandan Prefecture any longer.
The story of colluding with outsiders and killing the athletes of this town has spread throughout the two states and fourteen counties. The reputation among the local soldiers and scholars has been extremely bad. What can I say?
The servant brought wild rice, vegetables and chrysanthemum wine.
After Li Xiaochang finished eating casually, he sat under the elm tree in front of the door and looked at the post road across the water.
Dust was flying on the post road, and one team after another of soldiers marched southward.
A tourist rider crossed the river to this side and soon disappeared into the mountains.
It took a whole day for the army to pass by.
Ten counties in Yanzhou, four counties in Danzhou, five counties in Yanzhou, and four counties in Fangzhou, a total of 23 counties, with more than 200,000 households, plus many tribes, should all fall under the control of Lingwu County King
Hands on.
No one can resist!
Li Xiaochang was also an old soldier, and he knew that the soldiers heading south were all good soldiers who could fight, and they were better than Yanzhou soldiers and Yanzhou soldiers.
But to be honest, Yan Yanbing is also a veteran who has been trained for many years. His shooting, spearmanship, and formation skills are not bad, but why is he not as good at fighting as Xia Bing?
Morale is the key.
Nowadays, the gap between the individual skills of the large-scale soldiers in the towns of Guanzhong, Hebei, and Henan, as far as the infantry is concerned, except for the temporary state soldiers, county soldiers, united soldiers, and regular government troops, is not so large that it is ridiculous.
, but the combat effectiveness displayed varies widely.
It’s still a matter of morale!
If the commander loses the morale of the soldiers, whether the soldiers are willing to fight to the death for you is a very serious question.
No matter how skilled the archers and horses are, if they lack fighting spirit, the army will not be able to fight.
"There is no more protection for the two towns. We can only protect the two towns." Li Xiaochang returned to the elm tree again, drinking and eating under the starlight.
The farmers in the fields have returned in twos and threes.
There was a little satisfaction on their tired faces. If they work hard for a few more days, this year's harvest will be safe in the warehouse, and next year's life will be guaranteed.
Li Xiaochang raised his head and looked at the sky. The moon was bright and the stars were sparse. There had been no rain recently. The people were enjoying the convenience and the harvest was worry-free. It was so good.
After the farmers returned home, they gently closed the firewood leaves. The women brought steaming meals to the table, and the children ran around and played non-stop, as if there was endless energy in their little bodies.
In the woods outside the village, birds fly into the new nests they have built.
On the path in the forest, a wild old man was leaning on a cane, calling the chickens who were out looking for food to return to their nests.
The shepherd boy sat on the back of the ox and passed slowly by.
There are some farmers eating in the fields beside the forest. They want to stay up late and work harder to harvest more.
In the grass and on the willow tops, cicadas and crickets sang loudly.
An autumn night in Yanzhou can be so peaceful and harmonious.
****
"Poof!" He slashed with the sword, and the old head rolled to the ground.
The eyes on his head were not closed, still staring at the child lying beside him. That was his grandson, only four years old this year, but he still died before him.
The naked woman looked at the roof with blank eyes, letting the beast soldiers on her body wreak havoc.
Her husband was taken away with his hands tied behind his back and became a member of the Dingzhuang. From then on, he traveled across the country. If he was lucky enough, he might become one of these beast soldiers in the future.
The Bian army had arrived in Zezhou, and Li Hanzhi reduced his troops from various places and moved closer to the city.
In order to prevent the Bian people from harvesting the grain left by the barbarians, Li Hanzhi ordered all ministries to collect grain on the spot and transport all the grain to the city.
The strong and strong will be recruited into the army, while the old and weak, women and children will serve as cooks. Nothing can be left behind for the Bian army coming from afar.
The commander-in-chief of the Bian Army was Deng Jijun, and the deputy commander-in-chief was Zhu Chongjie, with more than 10,000 troops. There were also two generals, Li Chan and Li Chongyin, each leading thousands of troops. Three groups attacked in unison, charging at them with great momentum.
The brave general Ge Congze led more than a thousand elite cavalry from Zhou Ze and rushed to Luzhou day and night to reinforce Feng Ba's more than 3,000 men who had entered the city.
Behind them, Zhang Quanyi of Henan Prefecture also moved, personally leading an army of 5,000 people, and heading towards Zezhou together with Zhu Youyu's troops who arrived earlier.
I heard that Zhu Quanzhong led his army out of Bianzhou, gathered people and horses along the way, and was almost at Heyang.
Troops gathered, flags and flags were hunted, and a bloody battle seemed inevitable.
There was the sound of rapid horse hooves outside the door, followed by a scream.
After a moment, a large group of soldiers broke into the house, and several sergeants from Li Han's tribe who were enjoying themselves in the house drew their swords to fight.
However, their resistance was in vain, and they were soon chopped into several pieces. The woman on the bed also suffered a disaster, but she didn't say a word when the ax came, as if she had died long ago.
Yang Shihou strode in.
"Pack it up, I'll stay here tonight." There was only one village like this in the wilderness. Li Hanzhi was ruthless enough and burned down the house. Did he not plan to live a better life?
I heard that he was in charge of Zezhou, and he invaded Jin and Jiangzhou in the middle of the river day and night, collecting their wealth to reward the army, and plundering their people for food. Yang Shihou was also deeply impressed by this former general. Although the beast soldiers were brave, they could not last long.
To lose.
He suddenly thought of Fu Cunshen and Wang Jianji. How were they in Shuofang?
"Lieutenant general, it's all cleaned up." A soldier came over to report.
Yang Shihou glanced at the blood-stained and fishy-smelling house, but he didn't mind it and sat directly on the bed.
After defecting to Zhu Quanzhong, due to his valor in combat, he was promoted two levels in a row and was transferred to the military residence of Zhao Chang, the military governor of the Zhongwu Army, as a general in charge of thousands of troops.
After the military orders for this Northern Expedition were passed to Chen Xu, Zhao Chang did not dare to neglect and immediately sent Yang Shihou as the vanguard. He led thousands of soldiers to Zezhou on a starry night journey. He also led an army of more than 7,000 to escort grain, grass, and equipment.
, rushed to Zhengzhou to join the main force of Zhu Quanzhong's troops.
Caizhou's Fengguo Army also sent 4,000 troops, which are still on the way.
This was another large-scale campaign comparable to the attack on Wuning Shipu, with a huge momentum.
Xuanwu Town, as well as Xuanyi Town, Zhongwu Army, Fengguo Army, Youguo Army (Henan Prefecture), and Heyang Town, all five vassal vassal towns, were dispatched. I wonder if Li Ya'er can withstand it.
Youzhou and Datong towns have already sent troops!
During the battle, Yang Shihou did not take off his armor, but slept with his clothes on.
But somehow, he thought of Fu Cunshen and Wang Jianji again.
He had no ill feelings toward Wang Jianji, but he was deeply jealous of Fu Cunchen.
I was almost killed by him when I was in the river!
That man seemed fair and reasonable, but he was by no means pedantic and would show no mercy when it was time to kill.
Haha, the pedantic people who came out of Li Hanzhi would probably have grass on their graves three feet high, if they hadn't been eaten.
Hundreds of horses were exchanged for his family. Fu Cunshen was so valuable. Shao Shude really didn't hesitate to spend money to win people's hearts!
If this price had been offered to me, I would have
The more Yang Shihou thought about it, the more irritated he became, and a violent and murderous impulse surged in his chest.
I remembered the sound of horse hooves outside again, and the sergeant's shouts and questions.
"Who?" Yang Shihou stood up quickly, silently stringing his bow and asked.
"It's Deputy Envoy Xie of Xuanyi Town." A sergeant replied, "Coming from the river."
Xie Tong? Yang Shihou thought for a while, and it seemed that he was an aide to Prince Dongping in his early years.
After the king of Dongping County attached himself to Wang Chongrong, Xie Tong was appreciated by the king and sent to Shuzhong. He was recommended as the governor of Lingzhou, and later he was transferred to the governor of Tongzhou, Shannan West Road. Because there was no one in charge, he was dismissed and idle for four years.
After a long time, seeing that the Dongping County Prince was developing well in Henan, he came to serve again and was granted the title of Bozhou Tuanlian Envoy, and then moved to Xuanyi Jiedu as Deputy Envoy.
Although his position is high, he is actually far away from the inner circle. Now that the commander-in-chief has three masterminds, Jing Xiang, Li Zhen, and Wei Zhen, there is no place for Xie Tong to stay.
Otherwise, can he be sent out repeatedly to do this and that?
"Thank you, deputy envoy." Yang Shihou curtly saluted.
"General Yang." Xie Tong said with a tired look on his face: "Is there any water in the camp? Jin, Jiang is in chaos, there is no one inhabited for hundreds of miles, and someone has not eaten for two days."
Yang Shihou ordered his soldiers to bring some cakes over.
Xie Tong first distributed it to his entourage, kept one piece for himself, and devoured it.
"Isn't Vice Envoy Xie going to Lingxia?" Yang Shihou didn't shy away from anything and directly stated his guess.
Xie Tong remained silent and did not answer.
"The Xia soldiers will not attack Hedong." Yang Shihou continued: "Shao Shude has a kind face and a dark heart, but at this juncture, he will only help Hedong and will not stab his back. This man's brain is much better than the average vassal commander.
Already."
"Does General Yang know that trouble comes from his mouth?" Xie Tong couldn't help but ask.
Yang Shihou chuckled.
If you don’t leave me here, I will leave you somewhere. Shao Shude and Zhu Quanzhong can raise an army from scratch, why can’t I?
However, he finally listened to Xie Tong's advice and stopped talking loudly.
"Deputy Envoy Xie had better leave tonight. Li Ke pretended to be Li Cunxiao and has led 5,000 horses south to Luzhou. They might come to Zezhou at some time. If a fight breaks out, I won't take care of you."
Xie Tong swallowed the last bit of bread, roughly straightened his beard and robe, stood up, saluted Yang Shihou, and said, "Thank you, General Yang, for your gift of rice."
Yang Shihou was startled, and after a moment of silence, he returned the salute and urged: "Let's go quickly, the fight is really about to start."