More than 3,000 soldiers were in a state of panic. One moment they said that the Xia thieves were going to besiege the North City, the next they said that the Xia thieves had retreated, and then someone jumped out and said that the Xia thieves were going to massacre all the soldiers and civilians in the city. Rumors spread and everyone panicked... …
In the evening, the city gate was forcibly opened, and some people came out of the city in a noisy manner and rushed toward Zhongli City. Most of them were the family members of the generals in the city.
The sergeants watched silently and did not stop him.
Su Junqing led a group of people back to Mengzhou. He originally thought that he would send a hanging basket from the city to meet him. He had a nephew serving as a general in the state, so there was no problem in going out of the city. But the city gate was open, and there were constant quarrels in the city. He was very surprised.
Later, the 500 Bian troops stationed in the north city couldn't stand it anymore, so they went to the streets to maintain order, and then closed the city gate.
But just after a while, the people who had left the city came back again, crying loudly outside the south city, and shouting for the door to be opened.
Zhongli City refused to let them pass, and the navy of the Bian Army blocked the passage of the pontoon bridge on the pretext that there might be spies among them.
Su Junqing came to Xiebin's house with a black look on his face. It seems that the battle a few days ago really destroyed the morale of Mengzhou's soldiers and civilians. What are they doing now? If they are attacked at this time, everything will be ruined. Rest.
Xie Bin was drinking in the courtyard. When he saw Su Junqing coming, he invited him to join him.
"General Xie, you are still in the mood to drink, but do you know that our wealth and life are in danger?" Su Junqing said bitterly, then sat down, picked up the wine bottle, poured himself a bowl, and drank it all.
"What did Shao Shude say again?" Jie Bin frowned and sighed.
After so many years of hard work, it was just a dream in the end, and it was about to be nothing.
"Shu De has said that if he doesn't open the city early the next morning to ask for surrender, he will advance his army to attack the city. After the city is defeated, not a single blade of grass will be left."
Jie Bin was shocked when he heard this, and put down the wine bowl he was holding, and said: "The Prince of Shao Lingwu County has always been generous and has never done anything to massacre a city. Isn't that right?"
In fact, not only Shao Shude, but any high-level warlord has never done this.
Xie Bin thought for a while, it seems that Zhu Quanzhong has not massacred the city, nor Li Keyong, nor Yang Xingmi. Luo Hongxin? Wang Rong? Wang Shifan? Shi Pu? Li Kan? Zhu Mei? None of them seem to have.
Those who brutalized the people were mainly Huang Chao, Qin Zongquan's subordinates, and Li Hanzhi was also counted.
Compared with the late Han Dynasty, the discipline of the troops of the military leaders in the feudal towns does not seem to be worse. There is looting and rape, but mass murder is not enough to vent anger or have fun.
When Shao Shude threatened to massacre the city, he was probably just trying to scare people casually.
But still very nervous!
"General Xie, what time is it now? The king of Lingwu County has dozens of states and is extremely powerful. What he wants to do is not completely up to his own mind?" Su Junqing said anxiously: "It is to massacre Mengzhou. , so what? Is there anyone else who can avenge us?"
"If Mengzhou is massacred, its reputation will be ruined. The states will fight to the death to resist. How dare he?" Jie Bin said hesitantly.
The current situation in the world does not mean that if you are strong, I must surrender to you. Massacre of the city will do more harm than good, and it will only make people disgusted.
When the king of Dongping County attacked Shipu, the battle was so difficult, and he did not order the massacre of the people of Xuzhou. Li Keyong and Meng Fangli fought fiercely for several years, and his military discipline was so bad, but it was just looting, and the siege of Xingzhou was so It lasted for a long time, and in the end not even anyone from the Meng family was killed.
It’s not that I don’t want to, it’s that I don’t dare.
After all, the Meng family is also the envoy of Zhaoyi. If you slaughter the Meng family, who will dare to surrender in the future? No one can compete with others these days. At worst, they will fight to the death with you.
"Even if Mengzhou is not slaughtered, General Xie, do you think this city can be defended?" Su Junqing said in a different way.
"If Zhongli City and Nancheng send troops to reinforce and transport materials to repair the city wall, we can defend it."
"If we kill all the people, who are we?" Su Junqing asked.
This problem hits a dead end.
If the warlord has no soldiers, you are nothing. When the Xia army besieged Beicheng, the Mengzhou soldiers were the first to bear the brunt. The Bian people would definitely be happy to see them finish their fight.
"Alas." Xie Bin sighed again and asked, "Then what do you think we should do?"
"General Xie, may I ask where Commander Zhang is?" Su Junqing found out that Zhang Quanyi was not there as soon as he entered the city, but he still wanted to confirm.
"I went to Nancheng to meet Zhu Yougong."
"Could it be that Zhu Yougong succeeded Pang Shigu in commanding the army?"
"It's far behind." Xie Bin said: "Pang Shigu commanded an army of 100,000 people. It is impossible for Zhu Yougong. He is only responsible for the defense of Mengjin. There are other generals in other sections."
"With so many generals, there must be a commander in chief, right?"
"It can only be that one." Xie Bin didn't say the name, but Su Junqing had already guessed it.
"Hey, we've gone too far again." Su Junqing quickly brought the topic back and whispered: "General Xie, I know Zhang Shuai is kind to you, but in this situation, we have to consider our wealth and life. I have a letter here, You’ll know it as soon as you see it.”
After that, he handed over a tightly sealed letter.
Although Jie Bin didn't know much about literacy, after taking it open and reading it carefully, he understood the general meaning.
Surprisingly, it was a letter written to him by Li Tangbin, the Heluo military envoy of the Xia army. In addition to talking about old friendships, the letter also persuaded him to surrender and allowed him to serve as a general in Lingbao and still control the old army. This was obviously not a decision that Li Tangbin could make. Yes, but with Shao Shude's permission.
Su Junqing stood aside and wanted to read it. He originally thought that Jie Bin didn't know much about literacy and wanted to ask him for help. However, after reading it, he carefully put it away and hid it in his arms. He was very disappointed.
"General Xie, how are you?" Su Junqing asked expectantly.
Xie Bin didn't hide it and said directly: "The King of Lingwu County allows me to join the Baoyi Army as a general in the outer town."
This is not bad!
Su Junqing is a bit sour, but that's what a good martial artist is. He has soldiers on hand and is straight-talking. There are more than 3,000 infantry troops and 500 cavalry troops in Mengzhou City. Now they all obey the orders of Jie Bin. Shao Shude only had this little capital when he started his career. .
"The prince of Lingwu County always keeps his word." Su Junqing calmed down, smiled, and said: "Wang Yao in Hezhong said that he would be recommended as the military governor, so he recommended him. Li Fan of Shaanxi Province is still the military governor of the Baoyi Army. Apart from anything else, this credibility alone makes people speechless and very convincing. Now that General Xie has received the promise, his position as Lingbao General will definitely be secure."
Xie Bin's face was slightly happy. Indeed, Shao Shude was very trustworthy, which was very different from Zhu Quanzhong.
He and Su Junqing are not Zhu Quanzhong's subordinates, and there is no betrayal of Zhu Quanzhong. Even their lord Zhang Quanyi is not Zhu Quanzhong's subordinates. They are dependents. Strictly speaking, they are not related to Wang Yao, Li Fan, Wang Bian, and Zhuge. Zhong Fang and the like are relatively similar.
Perhaps due to personality reasons, such as being very tolerant, Zhang Quanyi looks very much like Zhu Quanzhong's subordinate, but he is fundamentally different from people like Hu Zhen. At least the officials, the army, and money and food matters are all under his own control. Theoretically speaking, He said, if you want to send money and food to Bianzhou, just send it; if you don’t want to send it, don’t send it.
But Hu Zhen did not have this power. After collecting the taxes on Huazhou's money and grain, all of them were sent to Bianzhou except for those in Liuzhou. The same was true for Weibei, Pining, Jingyuan and other towns on the Shao Shude side. His army supply yamen were stationed in various places. When warehouses are set up, local governors or governors have no right to interfere with the money and grain stored in them.
Since he is not a subordinate, there is not much psychological burden when betraying him. The only obstacle is Zhang Quanyi's attitude. He still refuses to say the word "surrender". He may still want to take over the military power. He is someone who has experienced Those who eat old things are very sensitive to military power.
"General Xie, have you made up your mind?" Su Junqing was a little anxious. The longer things drag on, the easier it is for things to change. If you continue to hesitate, if the Bian Army brigade enters the city, will you let them in or not?
"Zhang Shuai is still in Nancheng..." Xie Bin had one last concern, not wanting to cheat his old boss and his in-laws.
"General Xie, why not attack and kill the five hundred Bian people in the military camp first, then seal off the whole city and strictly prohibit entry and exit to prevent the news from leaking out. After Zhang Shuai comes back, it will be too late to regret it." Su Junqing suggested.
"The people of Bian are good at fighting, but I'm afraid it won't be easy to kill them."
"Why don't I ask the shogunate to send wine and meat to the army, and when the Bian people relax their vigilance, General Jie will lead his troops to attack and kill them, and great things will be done."
Xie Bin glanced at Su Junqing again. This hairy awl has always impressed him these days, so cruel!
Since the difficult times, the governors of each town took advantage of the opportunity of giving banquets and laboring the army, and killed countless arrogant generals. Su Junqing's plan was also a routine operation.
Xie Bin nodded silently.
…
Xie Bin and Su Junqing were planning a bloody conspiracy, while Shao Shude was in Heqing County to meet Han Quanhui, who had slipped away from Chang'an.
"Greetings to King Xia." Han Quanhui knelt down and said flatteringly.
"What does Han Palace Supervisor mean by this?" Shao Shude asked with his heart moving.
"Back to the king, Xia and Bian are at war, water transportation is cut off, the situation in Chang'an is unstable, and there are many sergeants making noises. The saint convened Yanying to ask questions, Cui Zhaowei proposed to promote the princes of Lingwu and Dongping, and to grant the title to the two kings of Xia and Liang. He wanted to order them We will end the fight and reopen water transportation. Wei Zhaodu seconded the proposal." Han Quanjie said: "Most of the envoys have already left Chang'an and are going to Anyi and Bianzhou."
Chen Cheng and Zhao Guangfeng looked at each other.
Shao Shude and Zhu Quanzhong were given the title of king. In fact, Wei Zhaodu mentioned it when he came to resolve the fight last time. Shao Shude did not want this false name before, but he did not object last time. Firstly, the world already had Dong Chang as the king of Yue, and secondly, it was a matter of course.
It's almost time.
"Your Majesty, you pity me for my hard work in guarding the vassal, so why reward me so generously?" Shao Shude said with a look of shame on his face: "There are saints above, and there are no sages left in the wild. Cui Zhaowei is in charge of Nanya and has made great achievements. Wei Zhaodu is in charge of three divisions and is loyal and honest in matters.
There is a style of literature and chastity. If a saint has such a talented person to help him, why worry about the hopeless revival?"
Han Quanhui laughed dryly along with him.
"Who is an angel?" Shao Shude asked.
"Heir to King Xue Li Zhirou."
"Oh? It's actually a clan?" Shao Shude was a little surprised.
But it’s not really that big of a deal. As soon as the royal clan of the dynasty has passed the fifth server (there is no emperor within the fifth server), they can pass the exams and become officials. There are not a few clan officials who serve as officials. After all, they are far apart in blood, so no one thinks of them as such.
Well, the royal family seems to still have some problems. When Emperor Wenzong invited the daughter of Li Xiaoben, a member of the royal family, to stay in the palace, the ministers scolded him, saying, "The emperor will show up to be filial to my daughter immediately." He did not dare to play with this daughter of the royal family anymore.
"Yes, it is said that Li Zhirou will soon serve as Zong Zhengqing and will be highly regarded." Han Quanjie replied.
"Yes." Shao Shude nodded and asked again: "The Han palace eunuch came all the way, isn't he just a tip-off? What else is there?"
"The Palace Supervisor of Ximen also sent his servants to persuade Xia to stop the troops in Bian and restart water transportation. The imperial government's financial situation is difficult and it is really unsustainable." Han Quanhui said with a bitter face: "The rewards of the Shence Army have been cut too much, and the sergeant
We may cause rebellion at any time. I recently heard that Shi Zan and Li Kuangwei were bewitching the soldiers and making many strange moves. The supervisor of the Ximen Palace tried to persuade them to no avail, so he sent his servants to the king's army."
Shao Shude smiled. It was you who decided to accept Li Kuangwei into the court. Do you regret it now?
"The war is almost over. I have not impounded the ships in the transfer yards of Shaanzhou, Heyang, and Heyin. I will write a letter later about transporting young people along the way and let Shaanxi and Guozhou handle it as appropriate. As for Zhu Quanzhong,
I can’t control it anymore,” Shao Shude said.
"With your Majesty's words, water transportation will be worry-free," Han Quan said happily.
The powerful eunuchs are also afraid of big-headed soldiers. This is the characteristic of the times. What can we do?
After getting the promise from Shao Shude, Han Quanhui left with satisfaction.
Chen Cheng and Zhao Guangfeng stepped forward to congratulate each other. Shao Shude waved his hand and said: "The battle situation is still important. Fu Cunshen has led his army to cross the Qinshui River, right?"
"The river we crossed yesterday, the vanguard party has arrived in Xiuwu County, but there is no one around." Chen Cheng replied.
"The Bian bandits have retreated, but they have not retreated completely. How should our army deploy in the next stage?" Shao Shude walked to the map and looked at it.
Gao Renhou's army has arrived near Mengzhou, and now they are waiting for news from Zhang Quanyi. The vanguard cavalry went out and arrived at Wen County, but they were also deserted.
Now it seems that the Bian army is really mainly defending the stronghold. Do you want to learn from Yu Wenzhou in the past? I am not Gao Huan. It is crazy to lose 70,000 troops and horses for a jade city.
He also knew the mentality of the Bian army. In order to declare their presence, and to leave a bridgehead for future counterattacks, they could receive the army crossing the river and avoid being attacked halfway across the river.
Zhu Quanzhong is still planning a counterattack. Shao Shude smiles, which will change your mentality.
"Commander, the location of Huaizhou is extremely important. It is only sixty miles away from Taihangxing in the north, and it is also close to Qinshui River. It can also reach Jiyuan and Zhiguan in the west. We need to garrison troops."
"Wuzhi County also needs to station troops."
"If Mengzhou is captured, heavy troops will be needed."
"The remaining cities, towns, and passes do not need to be heavily defended."
Chen Cheng pointed out several places in one go.
"You are guarding against both Zhu Quanzhong and Li Keyong." Shao Shude laughed.
"Heyang is located at a strategic location, so it can only be like this." Chen Cheng replied: "Since the difficult times, Heyang has not only been the gateway to the Eastern Capital, but also shielded the periphery of Guanzhong. After the Battle of Feixiang in the Huichang period, Heyang still frightened Wei Bo and Ze
The role of Lu."
Heyang is indeed a magical place.
The original name was "Heyang Three Cities Jiedu Envoy". In the second year of Jianzhong, "Lu Sigong, the Minister of the Ministry of War and the Eastern Capital Remainer, was appointed as the Jiedushi Envoy of the Three Cities of Heyang and Heyang in Zheng, Ru, Shaanxi and Dongji Observation."
In May, "Li Peng, the deputy envoy of Heyang Festival in Huaizheng, was appointed as the envoy of Huaizhou Festival in the three cities of Heyang, and the five counties in Dongji were still under the jurisdiction of Yan."
When the territory was the largest, it included the five prefectures of Linghuai, Zheng, Ru, Shaanxi, and Wei, plus the five counties of Dongki including Heyang, Heqing, Jiyuan, Wen, and Wangwu. It was also called the Huaiwei Jiedushi.
In the third year of Huichang, Liu Zhen, the governor of Zhaoyi, merged the five counties of Dongji that supplied goods to the Heyang army and established Mengzhou. At this time, these five counties also changed, that is, this would be Heyang
, Wen, Jiyuan, Sishui, and Heyin five counties. At this time, the Heyang Jiedushi had jurisdiction over the three prefectures of Meng, Huai, and Ze. Zezhou was added to it when Jingxin was appointed Jiedushi in the fourth year of Huichang.
Legally speaking, Zezhou is actually the jurisdiction of Heyang Jiedushi.
However, during the reign of Emperor Wuzong when he was fighting against Zhaoyi and Liu Zhen, Zezhou was never captured by the army and eventually surrendered. Zezhou has been under the control of Zhaoyi's soldiers for fifty years. Even in the official documents of the imperial court, Zhaoyi was appointed
Jiedushi always wrote "out of the town Zelu". The inconsistency was incredible. It was not until the Zhaozong Dynasty that a formality was completed to legally classify Zezhou into Zhaoyi Town.
Meng and Huaizhou may not be big places, but they have great potential.
When Huaizhou was at its peak, the five counties had a population of more than 300,000. Mengzhou had a slightly lower potential, but it was still the same. There was no pressure at all to support a population of 600,000 in these ten counties, and it could even be more. After all, most of them were
Plains and rich in water resources. The Yellow River was still very popular until the Northern Song Dynasty, when the Yellow River overflowed and destroyed Zhongli City and Heyang Pass on the sandbank in the middle of the river.
"Can Heyang be allowed to regain control of Weizhou?" Shao Shude suddenly became interested and asked.
Weizhou governs the five counties of Ji, Wei, Gongcheng, Xinxiang, and Liyang. There are nearly 300,000 people and a lot of wealth. It is right next door. Marshal Shao is itching.
"Commander, let's take care of Huai and Meng Zhou first," Chen Cheng said with a wry smile.
"But I am short of people." Shao Shude said: "The 10,000 households of the Hexi tribe who are fighting outside the Xiashi Fort can be transferred to Heyang for resettlement. If they become more prosperous, they can defeat the 10,000 households of the Hexi tribe. These people are still too few.
On the other side of the Qingtang Dynasty, the cavalry army reported to Siyu. There were many complaints from the Tibetan people, and there seemed to be some unusual movements. They wanted to join the Zhenguo Army, the Xinquan Army and other Tibetan tribes to fight against it, but they could not be mobilized for the time being. There were only 20,000 households, which was not enough.
!”
"How many people does the commander plan to hire?"
"If there were 100,000 households, I would cross the river every day to fight Zhu Quanzhong." Shao Shude joked.
Chen Cheng and Zhao Guangfeng also laughed.
The commander-in-chief often said that in the world today, Zhu Quanzhong is the most similar to him and has the greatest potential to dominate the world, because both of them started from scratch, built the army with their own hands, and have outstanding prestige. This is why they are obsessed with it.
"Commander, let's resettle these 20,000 households first," Chen Cheng advised.
"That's right." Shao Shude nodded and said: "There are 10,000 households in Hexi. I have ordered the five thousand cavalry of Yinqiandu to leave Shuozhou and go to Shengzhou to 'escort' them. They will be placed in Jiyuan County. There are 10,000 households in Hexi.
The people should be resettled in Hanoi County."
In fact, the common people are not without it.
After a game, Suzhou Governor Long sent 5,000 Yumen troops eastward, passing through Hexi, Shuofang and Weibei to garrison Heyang.
Shao Shude once said that if you first deceive the soldiers, you will naturally want to bring their families over later, but you don't know if Long will rebel because of this. This requires repeated testing and long-term planning.
"Wuzhi County, let the Tiande Army guard it first. In two days, I will lead the Tielin Army to Huaizhou and Hanoi. The Lingxia Fan tribe has 8,000 cavalry. Wait for the news first. I want to see what Zhang Quanyi is doing.
If everything goes well, we will move into Heyang North City."
