It was only mid-October, and the first snow had fallen, and the ground was covered in snow, which was particularly enchanting.
When Zhe Zongben returned from hunting, he felt powerless.
When he was young, he ate ice and snow, and risked his life to fight for his official position. After becoming the general of the Zhenwu Army, he went on many expeditions with the army, blowing through the biting cold wind on the grassland, and eating the bitter yellow sand in the desert.
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Outside the Yin Mountains, he is constantly chasing the Uighurs, and there is his presence there.
He is seen fighting to the death by the Yellow River to resist Tibet.
He was also seen searching the mountains and forests on Hengshan Mountain to conquer party items.
The five towns along the river all know military envoys. Is it so easy to get them?
To make those warriors with higher eyesight willingly obey, and to make the brave and capable warriors within the family to follow sincerely, the price paid is too high.
In the army, only skills are asked. If you don’t have any skills, but you have a good background? Get out of here!
Ability is also considered in the clan. If the ability is not good, everyone is a descendant of the Zhe clan, so the capable person will naturally occupy the throne. A wealthy family on the frontier cannot afford the price of an incompetent person ascending to the throne, which will lead to death and annihilation of the clan.
In an era when low-level warriors can rise to the top in one step, only they know the price they have to pay.
"Cook this pheasant." Ori Munemoto sighed: "Old man! Ten years ago I could hunt tigers and leopards for several days, but now I can't."
The soldiers went down to work one after another.
Zhao Kuanglin, who came from Suizhou, also lamented that this is what heroes are saying.
"Your Majesty can still fight off Yang Shihou's son, so what's the point?" He was sitting opposite Zhe Zongben, and someone was already making tea with snow water, which was quite interesting.
"Master Yang only has a small number of soldiers, less than 6,000. In fact, he is very powerful. He uses his troops quickly, bravely, and a bit cunning." Zhe Zongben smiled and said, "I am old, and I can't deal with such an aggressive person.
, I often can’t keep up with him, and I don’t know what he is thinking. If my son-in-law uses military tactics like that, putting everything on the table and relying on the overwhelming force to overwhelm others, I can go a few rounds.”
Zhao Kuanglin smiled awkwardly but politely.
Zhe Zong could have made the king's joke, but he didn't dare.
"The art of war for ten thousand people is naturally different from the art of war for one hundred thousand people." Zhao Kuanglin thought about the father-in-law of the King of Xia who was opposite him, and had to show his loyalty and said: "The king's military use is strict and solemn, and he has the style of Wang Jian.
."
Ori Munemoto laughed: "You are also a slippery man."
After laughing, he added: "But you are right about one thing. When you command one hundred thousand or two hundred thousand people, you have to learn how Wang Jian fought. You can't afford to lose."
"Master Yang, he is a talented general. If you say he is handsome, I think he is not even close." Zhe Zongben grabbed the wine bag, took a swig, and sighed: "Good wine."
Well, my son-in-law sent it to my father-in-law. Xiazhou specialty, highly distilled wine.
Now Shuofang and the Second Town of Hexi Province are slowly beginning to promote distilled wine. The by-products are used to feed cattle and increase milk production. The spirits can be sold to the grassland people, which is very promising.
This kind of thing does not need to be forced by the shogunate or the royal palace. When the common people see the real benefits, they find ways to learn it themselves. The trouble is that not everyone can afford distillation equipment, so the current output is still very small.
"Your Majesty, you have been fighting with the Bian army for so long. Among the generals of the Bian army, who do you think is the best?" Zhao Kuanglin took the wine bag handed over by Zhe Zongben, thanked him repeatedly, and asked again.
"Ding Hui is a handsome talent." Zhe Zongben said: "I have never fought against Zhu Zhen, Pang Shigu, and Zhu Yougong. I heard that Zhu Zhen is the most powerful among them, but unfortunately I have never fought against him. Yang Shihou can only be considered
Among the generals, Ge Congzhou is considered to be the best. It's a pity that he has never taken charge of the overall situation, and always takes the lead. I think he is a handsome young man, but he just has no chance."
For a leader of a military and political group, there can be many generals, but handsome talents are undoubtedly the most valuable and valued.
Kansai Warrior Group, Li Tangbin, Zhe Zongben, and Gao Renhou are the three handsome men who stand up to the public. Now it seems that their abilities are qualified. But Zhe Zongben is already old, Gao Renhou is not too young, and Li Tangbin is
We are in our best years, and there will probably be a wave of inspections to see who can succeed in the future.
"The Bian thieves are on the left and right. These people are talented generals. If they are willing to surrender, great things will happen." Zhao Kuanglin took a sip of wine and sighed comfortably.
Zuri Zongben nodded.
The battle with the Bian Army was not short. He had a very strange feeling. If Zhu Quanzhong was at the end of his rope and his fall was imminent, his men would be more likely to surrender than those of Zhu Xuan, Zhu Jin, Luo Hongxin, Wang Rong, and Li Ke.
The possibility is high.
It sounded unreliable, but he felt it was very likely.
To a certain extent, the Xuanwu Army was very similar to the Shuofang Army. Zhu Quanzhong, like his son-in-law, liked to hold most of the power in his hands and did not like to "separate" generals.
The generals have no territory in their hands and no so-called foundation. Surrender is just a matter of changing the lord to serve, and the cost is not particularly high. But if it is other vassal towns, all of them are town generals and governors, then the possibility of surrender is very low.
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Zhu Xuan and Zhu Jin have been beaten for so many years, and there is almost no hope for their subordinates. How many generals will surrender now? They are still resisting stubbornly. You can say that they are ignorant of current affairs, but they are fighting for their own
Fighting for interests is either for the military governor or for yourself. You must resist until you are completely desperate.
Li Keyong, Zhu Xuan, Zhu Jin, Luo Hongxin, Wang Rong, Li Maozhen, Yang Xingmi, etc. all liked to entrust their trusted generals and adopted sons to establish indirect vassal rule. Zhu Quanzhong and Shao Shude were two different species.
"After the first month, Zhao Kuangning may also take action." Zhe Zongben said: "At that time, we will have to rely on ourselves."
Zhao Kuanglin felt a little bitter when he heard this.
After a year of war, they were mainly on the defensive. The local area was devastated, and a large number of people were plundered by Bian bandits. They were completely exhausted and completely relied on gold merchants and the support of the two towns of Xiangyang.
If the money and food of Xiang, Ying, and the three states were lost, life would be even more difficult. Not only did he have to support the army, but he also had to help the people. If the war continued, he was worried whether anyone in Suizhou would surrender.
"Your Majesty, I heard that King Xia is migrating to Heyang on a large scale. Can you ask for some people to come over?" Zhao Kuanglin asked: "There are not many people in Xiangyang, and most of the land is deserted. Why not ask Zhao Kuangning for some abandoned land to resettle the people and produce output?
Money and grain. Some places in Dengzhou are relatively safe, and people can be relocated to farm. Forget about Tangzhou and Suizhou, it will be difficult to face the Bian bandits directly."
"I'm afraid there won't be many people to move here. Even if they come, how will you support them? There will be nothing in the first year." Speaking of this, Zhe Zongben was also a little annoyed.
The son-in-law didn't give face, and would rather immigrate to Meng, Huai, and Shaozhou than send him to Tang and Deng Sui. Although he was worried that they couldn't afford to support him, or that he would be robbed after being sent here, he didn't see anyone. It was too much.
.When my son-in-law comes over next year, we need to have a good discussion with him.
"Speaking of the common people, when it comes to money and food, it's better to go to Du Hong's territory to rob." Zhe Zongben took another sip of wine and sneered: "When we were fighting on the grassland, when did we ever have enough money? It wasn't just to rob!
Du Hong, an actor, has Zhao Kuangning watching in the west and Yang Xingmi invading in the east. Zhu Quanzhong has no ability to save him. He is just a dead dog and will be destroyed sooner or later."
"My lord, I heard that Du Hong intends to surrender." Zhao Kuanglin also knew that this news was unreliable and unconfirmed, and the last time he went to persuade him to surrender ended in failure, but he still said: "Du Hong only controls Hubei now.
, Anzhou, Yuezhou, and Qizhou are called their subordinates, but they are actually allies. If Yang Xingmi hadn't forced them, they could fight on their own. As for the two states of Huang and Shen, one returned to Xingmi, the other returned to Quanzhong, and
He has nothing to do with it. Du Hong can no longer support the current situation, so what will happen if he doesn't surrender?"
Of course, the surrender mentioned here means vassalage, rather than handing over territory, the complete surrender of the army.
Zhe Zongben also began to think deeply after hearing this, and Zhao Kuanglin lowered his head to drink. In fact, he still had some connections in Ezhou and was able to find out some high-level information that was difficult for ordinary people to access.
"Du Hong will not surrender Yang Xingmi." Zhe Zongben said flatly.
Yang Xingmi was so ruthless in his work that as long as he took refuge there, he would lose everything and his life might be at risk. Every time he occupied a place, he liked to clean up the place. He would kill all the high-level officials and replace them with his own people, and he would win over the middle and lower-level people. His
After the circle is formed, it is difficult for outsiders to climb in. It seems that the whole circle is a bit exclusive, and they are not polite to outsiders.
Compared with Zhu Quanzhong and Li Keyong, these two people have no discrimination against people who are demoted. As long as they have the ability, they can be promoted.
Therefore, there is no need for Du Hong to surrender to Yang Xingmi, and there will be no good consequences if he surrenders.
"Du Hong certainly won't surrender. The matter of Wu Dao, the governor of Huangzhou, is right in front of him. How can he ignore it?" Zhao Kuanglin agreed.
"He must be very disappointed with Zhu Quanzhong now." Zhe Zongben added: "It's a pity that our battle was too passive, otherwise we might have succeeded in persuading him to surrender last time."
"Actually, it can't be said that it was completely unsuccessful." Zhao Kuanglin said: "In the battle of Heyang, Pang Shigu's army of more than 100,000 men was aggressive, but he lost his troops and generals and returned without success. King Xia was so powerful that even as far away as Jianghan, Du Hongying also had
I heard about it. Furthermore, why was Zhu Quanzhong unable to save him? Du Hong must have thought about this problem. Either the troops were insufficient or he was afraid, but in short his hands were tied."
"Is it possible for Du Hong to seek help from Jiangling Li Kan?" Zhe Zongben asked.
"Li Kan was ill a while ago, and I'm afraid he was powerless." Zhao Kuanglin said, as if he remembered something, he smiled and said: "There are rumors in Jiangling Mansion that after hearing that His Highness was promoted to the title of King of Xia, Li Kan was so angry that he became furious.
Coupled with the failure of the southern expedition to Langzhou, he fell ill all of a sudden."
"Li Kan!" Zhe Zongben also laughed: "In the past, when I left Kui Gorge, my soldiers were recruited in the northwest. This kind of person is not good to others."
Li Kan's territory is basically along the Yangtze River, with one person serving as the governor of Kui Gorge and Jingnan towns. Over the years, he has been clearing the mountain tops of the separatist territory, and then divided it among his parents and adopted sons. Now there are still Lang and Li Er.
If the state is not conquered, there should be no intention to interfere with other towns.
"Alas!" Zhe Zongben stood up suddenly and said, "Why is my son-in-law still in the capital? I have to write a letter, and I can't wait until next year. It's best to go south as soon as possible, otherwise something will happen later. The sage concubine of Chang'an is so reluctant to let go.