The post roads between Chang'an and Shaanxi were filled with troops retreating hastily.
The baggage vehicles were scattered in a mess.
Corn and wheat were scattered all over the ground, and grass clippings were dancing in the wind.
In a semi-dry pond beside the road, a luxuriously decorated luxury car leaned sideways in the mud.
The carriage board was covered with arrows, the draft horse was dead, and the blood was soaked in the blue-black mud.
Opposite the pond is a sparse forest.
The withered grass is interspersed with shrubs, and the sun shines on them, giving off a dazzling golden color.
Under the light, there were densely packed corpses.
They are like thatch cut down by the strong wind, they all lie down.
The pursuing cavalry flashed past.
They followed the smooth post road and chased through Lishan Mountain, Yinpan Ancient City, and Xinfeng Pavilion...
"Pa!" The saint slapped the table hard.
Ximen Zhongsui's face was expressionless, as if he had expected it.
"How dare Hao Zhenwei be so domineering?" The saint's anger could no longer be suppressed, and his lips trembled unconsciously. If you look carefully into his eyes, there may be a flash of panic, regret and other complex emotions.
The Jingyuan army was in chaos and fought all the way to the capital. Hao Zhenwei, the governor of Tongzhou, and Wang Bian, the governor of Huazhou, each sent more than 10,000 troops to help, but Hao Zhenwei changed his route halfway and attacked King Qin's Huazhou army.
Wang Bian was unprepared. The sergeants' spears and armor were placed on the baggage vehicles, and their bows were not strung. They were caught off guard and suffered heavy losses. The entire army was defeated and retreated to Huazhou.
The soldiers from Tongzhou stopped following the king and pursued him along the Liangjing Post Road, heading towards Huazhou.
Four lines of Qinwang soldiers and horses were destroyed in this way!
Gold merchant Li Xiang has not made any move yet, and the only one he can count on is Xia Bing.
"Your Majesty, now is not the time to talk about who is right and who is wrong." Ximen Zhongsui sat opposite the saint, and while slowly adjusting the cuffs embroidered with animal patterns, he said: "Now we can send an envoy to confer Hao Zhenwei the National Army Day.
Save the envoy, give him good comfort, and then order him to march westward to aid the capital. Furthermore, if there is any disharmony, if the saint patrols eastward, he can also ask King Qin to protect him."
The saint was stunned.
This time he was indeed reckless.
Unexpectedly, after the Shence Army's tiger skin was peeled off, even the princes in Guanzhong would not obey orders.
Why does it take King Qin to get the title of Military Envoy of the Zhenguo Army? I destroyed another family, and all of them were in Tonghua and Huazhou. Didn’t the court have to hold their noses and admit it?
unwise!
The saint really felt a little regretful.
But of course the saint was not at fault. He could only blame the warriors for being domineering and ungrateful, and they all deserved to die. However, the saint took pity on him and thought of his hard work and merit, so he was unwilling to pursue the case.
"Ximen Palace Supervisor, then send a capable person from the Northern Division to carry out imperial edicts to Tongzhou and give Hao Qing the title of Zhenguojun Jingjie?" the saint asked hesitantly.
It was obvious that he had lost confidence now and was doubting himself. He no longer had the arrogant and arbitrary attitude that he had before when he said he would march to the west.
"Your Majesty, you must have important ministers."
"Who can take on this great responsibility?"
"Luo Quanguan, the deputy envoy to the Privy Council, is capable and talented. He can be sent away with the imperial edict."
"Then it's settled." The saint sighed slightly, his brows almost knitted into a ball.
"Your Majesty, there is one more thing." Ximen Zhongsui said again.
The saint's heart was raised: "What's the matter?"
"Now the only one we can count on is Xia Bing." Ximen Zhong said: "Shao Shude is a man who can't do it early without any benefit. If he wants Xia Bing to come to Beijing as soon as possible, he must be rewarded."
"What reward?"
"Jingyuan Town is great."
The saint breathed a sigh of relief, which he could accept.
If Tonghua is included, there are only three vassal towns in Guanzhong that are not members of Shao Shude's party. Now that they have gone to Jingyuan, the strength of the gold merchants is a little weaker. The Zhenguo Army is a big town, and they can still contain one or two.
How come state affairs have reached this point?
Seeing the saint's relieved look, Ximen Zhongsui sighed secretly. He was not that optimistic.
Tonghua Prefecture, the gateway to Jingdong, is also a large county with dense population.
Although Hao Zhenwei and Wang Bian are domineering, they know how to run the place and encourage production. They have accumulated considerable strength in the past few years.
Huazhou, in particular, is known as the first state in Jingdong and is known to be prosperous.
There were military disasters during the Chao Rebellion, but after Wang Bian took office, he continued to absorb the refugees from Guandong, cleaned ditches, drained swamps, reclaimed farmland and orchards, and now it has become a phenomenon.
Moreover, it is at the heart of the trade route, connecting Shangluo in the south, Shannan East Road and even Jingnan, reaching Tongzhou, Hezhong and Yifang in the north, Jingzhaofu and Chang'an in the west, and connecting Shaanxi, Guozhou and Luoyang in the east. The annual commercial tax amount is huge.
The self-produced tea is even exported to Guanzhong, Lingxia, Yifang, and Hedong, and the goods are abundant.
No matter who Hao or Wang actually holds the post of military envoy, he will definitely become a powerful vassal commander if he has a household registration of 700,000, a good rice and wheat harvest, and can collect a large amount of commercial taxes.
Ximen Zhongsui suspected that the current strength of Hezhong Town was not much stronger than that of the Zhenguo Army. Jin and Jiangzhou were repeatedly invaded by Li Hanzhi. The fields were barren and the people were displaced. Although the core Hezhong Prefecture was relatively stable, its overall strength
It must have dropped significantly.
No wonder Hao Zhenwei took the opportunity to attack.
If Wang Bian continues to develop, absorb more refugees, and collect more business taxes, over time, the gap in strength between the two sides will become wider. By then, Huazhou will annex Tongzhou, not Tongzhou annexing Huazhou.
Does Shao Shude also covet the same two states of China?
No, Ximen Zhongsui can be sure that Shao Shude has always wanted to swallow this piece of fat.
But the saint didn't want to give it, and Ximen Zhongsui actually didn't want to give it either. If he did, he would only have Jingzhao Mansion on hand. Even though it has more than two million people, it's still nothing more than fish and meat on someone else's chopping board?
Perhaps it is time for the saint to make a good alliance with Li Keyong and Zhu Quanzhong. To deal with the behemoths in the north, only Hedong and Henan, both behemoths, can compete.
The Tielin Army is on its way to Yijun County.
Shao Shude asked Chen Cheng and Zhao Guangfeng to get on the carriage and discuss the war in Hedong together.
"Commander, you can only be a thief for a thousand days, but there is no reason to guard against a thief for a thousand days." Zhao Guangfeng said: "For Hedong, Datong Town is very close at hand and can be attacked at any time. Once the main force of our army is gone,
In Guanbei, Li Keyong can attack at any time. He also has staff who can see the situation clearly. I think that Li Keyong has now realized that we will not really fight, make rapid progress, and stop when he sees good. The commander-in-chief might as well
Think about it carefully, if Li Keyong occupied Yunzhou, what would you do? Should you launch an army to attack, or would you hold your nose and admit it?"
"Both sides will suffer losses in the expedition, and Zhu Quanzhong took advantage. I feel uncomfortable holding my nose and admitting it, and will also lose a lot of grassland interests." Shao Shude sighed.
If Zhu Quanzhong hadn't been by his side, he would have fought to the death with Li Keyong!
That's all, it's useless to say such harsh words. You're acting like a girl. There are no ifs in the world.
"Li Keyong actually took advantage of this passive situation between Shuofang and Xuanwu." Shao Shude smiled and said, "They say Li Keyong is greedy. He wants to fight here and there.
, In fact, I am the same. But nine out of ten things in the world are unsatisfactory, and how can you take advantage of them everywhere? I count on Zhu Quanzhong and Li Keyong to fight, and Zhu Quanzhong counts on me and Li Keyong to fight. This situation, sworn brother, seems dangerous.
If you are exhausted, you are actually as stable as Mount Tai."
Of course, it may not be appropriate to say that it is as stable as Mount Tai. Hedong is sandwiched between the two powers and is extremely passive strategically. Anyone with a discerning eye can see this. This is a fact.
But Hedong itself is very powerful and difficult to fight, especially from north to south.
Li Keyong took advantage of the mentality of Shao Shude and Zhu Quanzhong and moved around to gain as much benefit as possible and increase his strength. From the perspective of Hedong, it was indeed good.
"This is not the handiwork of my sworn brother, or is it a house? It doesn't look like it." Shao Shude said to himself.
"Commander, I heard that the wife of the king of Longxi County, Mrs. Liu, has always been very wise. When Li Keyong went on an expedition, he often accompanied him and served as counselor to the military aircraft. This may be her handiwork." Zhao Guangfeng said.
Chen Cheng stood aside and said nothing.
He was a little embarrassed. Because he had strongly advocated assisting the Datong Army at the beginning, but now it seems that it has no effect. He only won Shuozhou and collected some tribes, and it may not be able to sustain it for a long time.
"She has figured out Zhu Quanzhong's and my thoughts. My sister-in-law is a capable person." Shao Shude said with a smile: "But she only had this chance to send an order to Deputy Envoy Song to contact Helian Duo and send him a batch of grain and grass.
Cattle and sheep. Order Yang Jun of the Xinquan Army to reinforce the Shuozhou city and prepare it properly."
He has seen Yunzhou City. The city is high and the pond is deep, making it difficult to fight. Historically, Li Keyong did not capture it, but instead blocked it for a long time. Helian Duo himself committed suicide and recruited many people from the grassland, but there was not enough food to eat.
, and finally abandoned the city and left.
But once the Yunzhou City was no longer a stronghold where they could take a breather, Helianduo, who fled to the grasslands, could not withstand the Hedong Army's attack and was eventually destroyed.
"Don't worry about the situation in the north for now. Now we have to deal with the Guanzhong affairs. Is there any response from the imperial court about the establishment of a town in Weibei?"
"Commander, no." Zhao Guangfeng replied: "The envoy came last time, but he only urged our army to go south as soon as possible."
"Today, I am not as easy to talk to as the late Emperor. He is very eager to cheer up, so I still have to endure him. Do you two have any good ideas?"
"Commander, you may be able to let the news go to the memorial hall. Zhang Jun wants to enter Chang'an, depose the emperor, and support King Ji as the new king. Besides, King Qin's army in Shuofang passed through the prefectures and counties with insufficient supplies and insufficient winter clothes. The soldiers were hungry and cold. , we all complain that the imperial court is not considerate of us, why not rush into Chang'an and make King Ji the new king, there will be a generous reward." Chen Cheng, who had been silent for a long time, finally came up with a plan.
This strategy is quite so-so, and it is more in line with people's impression of martial arts.
Since the Anshi Rebellion, the identity transformation between the rebels and the counter-rebellion forces has been extremely random. The court's cunning operations have turned the counter-rebellion troops into rebels countless times.
In short, this strategy is in line with people's perceptions and has high "credibility".
Even if the saint sees through that this is Shao Shude's move to exert pressure, but it involves the throne and life, do you dare to bet? What if you are really crippled?
"Where is the Jingyuan Army?"
"They were stopped by Prime Minister Du Rangneng at Liquan. But this group of people were so hungry that they couldn't satisfy the mere reward of 100,000 bolts of silk. They not only wanted wealth, but also women. Our army just left Fangzhou and left Fangzhou. There are still more than four hundred miles to Chang'an, so for them, there is enough time." Chen Cheng replied: "If the prime minister cannot persuade the rebels, the emperor will have to move."
"Wang Bian of Huazhou is so close, why hasn't he arrived in Chang'an yet?"
Chen Cheng was also a little surprised. Maybe something happened, but it was not a bad thing.