"Commander, Pei is here." In the Xiaojiangkou Military City, soldiers came to report.
"The supervisory troops are here, please restrain yourself, gentlemen." Zhe Zongben joked, then changed into military uniform and went to the dock to greet him.
"Pei Suishi" is Pei Yuan. He was the magistrate of Sanyuan County many years ago. He later defected to Shao Shude and moved through the state and county system. This year, he went to the shogunate to serve as an army attendant, and was then sent to Zhe Zongben's side. He has more
The first envoy position: Shannan Road recruiting envoy.
As the name suggests, the pacifier is someone who recruits surrenders and accepts rebels. But in fact, there is another level of identity: overseeing the army.
This is something that everyone understands, but doesn't say it openly.
Pei Yuan's current official is the governor of Yanzhou, and his replacement is Cheng Rui, who was transferred to Shangzhou.
However, Pei Yuan will not actually take office. Next, his main job will be to act as a praise figure next to Zhe Zongben, and at the same time recruit various miscellaneous soldiers to serve the great cause of Shuofang Army.
My officer, my dispatches are in a mess, which is the beginning of the feudal separatist regime. There is nothing I can do about it.
Since the difficult times, the official system of the country has begun to develop in strange directions, and now chaos has occurred frequently. By the time of the Five Dynasties and the Northern Song Dynasty, the chaos would reach its peak.
It is very powerless to change because you have no name.
Marshal Shao's official position was just the governor of Lingzhou. He was the governor of Shuofang, commanded the four provinces of Guanbei, and established and appointed other envoys. Strictly speaking, they were all dispatches, the so-called "envoy posts."
Marshal Shao's subordinates, such as Li Yanling and Ren Yuji, are theoretically on the same level as him.
We are all Jiedushi, no one is higher than others.
This is the lack of name.
However, the princes and princes of the dynasty do not have the power to establish a feudal state, and they are just a kind of honorary title.
The limitations of the Jiedushi system!
The imperial court deliberately pretended to be deaf and dumb to avoid the expansion of the vassal town, although this is now a trend that is unstoppable.
Shao Shude realized the danger many years ago.
Names are sometimes useless and sometimes very useful.
At that time, we strived for the command and establishment of envoys in the four provinces of Guanbei. This was a reflection of this worry. However, we were still not satisfied and felt that it was not safe enough. Later, we simply merged the towns and restored the Dashuofang Town of the Tianbao period, namely Xia Sui, Shuofang, Tian
The four towns of De and Zhenwu were merged and he took charge personally.
The Ten Prefectures of Shuofang are now the most powerful vassal town in the ruling area. Not to mention the military strength, other vassal towns only have thousands of state soldiers, but Shuofang Town has more than 150,000 field troops, still in Weibei and Hua
Garrisoning troops in Zhouzhou, Shaanxi, Shannan West Road, Fengxiang, Longyou, Hexi and other towns is a crushing advantage.
In terms of population, there is currently no vassal town that can match the ten prefectures of Shuofang.
This model of strong trunks and weak branches has been implemented so far and is working well, but I still feel that there are still some shortcomings.
Next, Shao Shude is also thinking of ways to see how to further move within the existing framework.
Although both Shao Shude and Zhu Quanzhong are very dissatisfied with this framework, for now, everyone is still enduring it and no one dares to throw it away.
I can only wait for the opportunity slowly.
"Zheshuai." Pei Yuan quickly saluted before the ship was stable, with a very respectful attitude.
Zhe Zongben returned the gift.
He noticed that there were quite a few ships coming this time, bringing not only supplies but also many people.
In addition to the civil servants, there was also an escort consisting of a hundred soldiers, each armed with a crossbow and a sword.
This is the personal guard of the Advocate. It is said that they are all descendants of Lingzhou Feng, Zhao, Qiu, Song, Weicai, Yeli, Wuzang and other tribes, and they come out to practice with the Advocate.
"I just heard that Commander Zhe had won a great victory and captured and killed more than 20,000 thieves. This really shocked me." After getting off the boat, the two of them headed to the military city. Pei Yuan said in a tone of surprise and admiration:
"With this great victory, it will be much easier to recruit people. This is the result of defeating the commander."
"The first achievement in this battle was undoubtedly Li Yanling of Jinzhou. It was he who raised a lot of money and food, which made me determined to mobilize troops south to fight the enemy decisively and finally win this victory."
"How can Commander Zhe be so humble?" Pei Yuan said with a smile: "I have also heard about the tyranny of the Wei Sheng Army. In military battles, in the final analysis, we have to fight with swords and guns. To defeat the enemy in array, we should be the proudest warriors.
In this battle, it is most important to defeat the commander and take the credit."
Zhe Zongben smiled and stopped arguing.
After the two entered a house, the guest and host took their seats.
"Zhao Kuanglin has agreed to surrender, but his son Zhao Cen led the troops to stay in Suizhou. It is hard to say whether he will surrender in the end." Zhe Zongben said: "More than two thousand thieves stationed in Gucheng escaped by boat overnight, and Gucheng ordered Jingdao to open the door.
The city asked for surrender. Wang Chong, with the help of two ancient generals, rode eastward to Xiangyang and Dengcheng County surrendered. Yicheng County sent envoys to contact them and expressed their willingness to surrender. The gates of Xiangyang, Nanzhang and Yiqing counties were closed and they refused to surrender.
, Lexiang County is far away and we haven’t sent anyone there yet.”
Of the seven counties in Xiangzhou, two have already surrendered, one seems to be about to surrender, one has an unclear attitude, and three have clearly not surrendered. However, this may be because currently only the cavalry is advancing eastward, and more than 5,000 infantry are still on the way.
The speed is slow and may change in the future.
"Zhao Fan, the governor of Tangzhou, has fled back to Biyang. This time he brought 7,000 infantry and thousands of cavalry, but only about 200 escaped. Of the 8,000, half were Yamen troops, and they suffered heavy losses. Today's
In Tangzhou, there are about 4,000 government troops, most of them infantry. The state soldiers and county soldiers have been wiped out, and the countrymen from Tutuan were temporarily recruited to guard the city, which can be said to be extremely dangerous."
"Xiangzhou dispatched 6,000 infantry and cavalry, and half of them have returned. Now there are about 8,000 government troops, and about 2,000 state and county soldiers. They are frightened and dare not fight anymore."
"The Suizhou army was almost completely wiped out. There are about two to three thousand state and county soldiers left, and their strength is greatly reduced."
"In Yingzhou, the main force of the state and county soldiers has been lost. Hundreds have returned. The place is empty and can be easily taken."
"Only Dengzhou still has more than 6,000 government troops and more than 4,000 state and county soldiers, so its strength is relatively complete."
Zhe Zongben introduced the situation in the seven states of Shannan East Road one by one after the battle. Pei Yuan was greatly inspired after hearing this.
The results were so great that no one expected.
According to the previous deductions by the generals of Duyuhousi, it may take about two years of hard fighting to successfully capture Fang, Deng and other states, make an emergency landing in Xiangzhou, and face the complex changes brought about by the intervention of the Xuanwu Army.
But what is the situation now? Suizhou is very likely to surrender, Yingzhou is empty, but it can be successfully captured, and Fangzhou is isolated in the west. Even if it does not surrender, it will eventually fail. If you include the things captured from Feng Xingxi
Junzhou, the northwest of Xiangzhen, and the four southeastern states were about to be captured directly.
Wandering war kills people!
"What's the situation in Fangzhou now?" Pei Yuan asked.
"Li Bai, the military envoy on the right side of Zhaoxin's army, recently fought with Sun Dian. He sent his weak soldiers to fight, but retreated after being defeated. He deliberately left gold beads on the road. Fangzhou soldiers fought for them, were defeated, and beheaded hundreds of them."
Those old thieves in Jinzhou, Zhe Zongben also shook his head and said: "Li Bai probably doesn't have many soldiers at hand. The Dingyuan army has entered Fangzhou, and Sun Dianying can't afford to make a big splash. Even if he doesn't surrender, he can only defend Fangling."
, there is no other way.”
"Perhaps it can be said that it will come down." Pei Yuan said.
"It depends on Pei Shijun's methods." Zhe Zongben said with a smile: "But from my point of view, the focus now is not even on Xiangyang, but on Tang and Deng."
"This is true knowledge and insight." Pei Yuan also smiled and said: "Tang and Deng are actually the key."
…
It was sunny on July 29, the third year of Dashun.
In Xiangyang City, people were in panic and were frightened three times a day.
After the navy fled back to Hanyinyi with the defeated soldiers, thousands of people poured into Xiangyang City in a chaotic manner.
Zhao Kuangming, who stayed in Xiangzhou, sent people to take care of and rectify the situation, and at the same time sent envoys to various states and counties, asking them to recruit native Tuan villagers, rectify their defenses, and prepare for a decisive battle.
Zhao Kuangning returned to Xiangyang with a sigh.
He thought a lot along the way, and in the end he was filled with regret.
Why do I have to fight in vain? Isn’t it better to fight slowly and steadily?
It's a pity that there is no such thing as regret in the world. If you lose, you lose. This is a fact and cannot be undone. What we should do now is to face the reality, calm people's hearts, rectify the remaining troops, and prevent the situation from deteriorating further.
"Second brother, Brother Yu asked someone to check the inventory yesterday and decided to pay 100,000 pieces of silk and 300,000 bolts of silk, with humble words and generous gifts, in exchange for the Zongben retreat." In the study, Zhao Kuangning found his brother for a secret discussion.
As the central node for supplying goods to some southern vassal towns, Xiangyang is also an important commercial town, and there is no shortage of goods. Even though the Zhao family is not very good at running the place, they are there, so it is not a problem to come up with 400,000 yuan of silk.
.
"Brother, what if Zhe Zong doesn't want to retreat? There are more than ten thousand of them, even thousands of armored cavalry. They are extremely powerful. If they are determined to attack and plunder the place, we can't stop it.
Ah." Zhao Kuangming said.
This is indeed a place worth worrying about.
Zhe Zongben might not be able to attack a big city like Xiangyang, and it would be difficult to conquer fortified cities like Tang, Deng, and Sui, but he could plunder the countryside. What could he do with them when he lost the ability to fight in the field?
Moreover, he should have collected a large number of surrendered troops. If he followed Qin Zongquan's example and used his headquarters as the backbone to reorganize the surrendered troops, and then coerced the local men and women to fight in a snowball-like manner, more than 100,000 people would be at his fingertips.
Hundreds of thousands of people attack the city, regardless of casualties. If a group of people die, they will capture a group of strong men, and the strong women will return. If they attack repeatedly, who can withstand it?
"If he is unwilling to retreat, then send an envoy to Bianzhou to ask Zhu Quanzhong for help." Zhao Kuangning said decisively, obviously having made up his mind.
Zhao Kuangming remained silent.
Zhe Zongben cannibalized people, but Zhu Quanzhong stopped cannibalizing?
But there is nothing we can do about it. Who will suffer a huge defeat?
Introducing the Bianjun forces into Xiangyang is extremely risky, but it also has advantages, that is, it will give you more confidence when bargaining with Zhe Zongben, which may make him less aggressive, and finally negotiate a plan acceptable to everyone.
"Tang and Deng are the most important to follow the three states. My brother has also sent the shogunate and his assistants to go quickly. They are all members of the Zhao family. When the late emperor was still alive, he also took care of them. In this critical autumn, why can't we bear to betray them?
I'll go away." At this point, Zhao Kuangning was also a little sentimental. The foundation that his father had laid was handed over to him within a few months, and it had fallen to this point.
The key now is to stabilize Tang, Deng and Suizhou first.