In the evening, thick dark clouds shrouded the city, and the strong wind made the woods roar.
Grass clippings and leaves were blown all over the sky, and the bowls and chopsticks offered by relatives in front of the solitary grave were blown away all over the ground.
An army passed by quickly. They had seen the city from a distance, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
Sparse thunder rang out in the sky, shaking the earth.
Someone looked up at the sky. Lightning illuminated the wheat fields in the distance, and the sparse wheat swayed feebly.
"Go quickly!" an officer urged.
The sergeants bowed their heads and walked silently.
They are perseverant. Even if their morale is low, they still persist in fighting numbly, waiting for the slim chance of a turnaround.
"Quack!" The crow flew out of the black cloud, landed on the branch, and stared at the soldier who was on his way.
"Bad luck!" Someone cursed in a low voice and quickened his pace.
Bianzhou City is already very close, close enough that you can clearly see a series of withered heads hanging on the city walls.
After the King of Liang returned to Bianzhou, he ordered the execution of the families of Zhang Guihou, Du Yanqiu, Liu Han, Zhang Jun, Guo Shaobin and others. They are now hanging on top of the city as a warning to others.
A huge bolt of lightning struck, and heavy raindrops fell.
The sergeants quickened their pace and rushed into the city in formation.
We’re finally home! Everyone doesn’t want to think about anything now, they just want to be reunited with their families as soon as possible. After nearly a month of expedition, they finally repelled the Xia thieves’ formidable army at the gate of Xiangyi County, and they were really exhausted both physically and mentally.
In front of the gate of Prince Liang's Mansion, several fast horses arrived and gave a few instructions.
Soon, the door opened and a group of people came out.
Zhu Quanzhong, whose robes had been wetted by raindrops, rushed over on the "Yizhangwu". His beard had not been trimmed for many days and was in a messy state. His temples were white with frost, and silver threads were flying in the strong wind. His brows were furrowed, and his eyes were filled with anger.
There seems to be an inexorable fatigue.
After handing the riding whip to Zhang Lang, the commander of the guards, Zhu Quanzhong strode into the courtyard.
"Husband." Zhang Hui greeted him.
Zhu Quanzhong was filled with worries and casually looked at the women dressed up to welcome him, feeling even more irritated.
"It's all gone." Zhu Quanzhong kept walking and subconsciously stopped at his daughter-in-law Liu from the corner of his eye.
Zhang Hui was a little sensitive and looked even more sad.
"Your Majesty..." Zhang Hui followed in. Just as he was about to speak, he was interrupted.
"Let Zhang Lang come in." Zhu Quanzhong waved his hand and said.
Zhang Hui quietly retreated.
After a while, Zhang Lang walked in and saluted: "Why are you summoned, Your Majesty?"
"Is everything okay in the city during these days when I go on an expedition?" Zhu Quanzhong asked, sitting in his study, having changed into a new robe and holding an account book in his hand.
"Back to your Majesty, everything is normal, nothing unusual."
"That's good." Zhu Quanzhong said, "Have you caught everyone who should be arrested?"
"Ding Zhihang has been arrested." Zhang Lang replied: "He was hiding in the house of the wealthy Liu Sanlang. He was reported and captured just now. Ding Hui's family members are also among them."
Ding Zhihang was the eldest son of Ding Hui and had been serving as a hostage in Bianzhou. After hearing that his father surrendered to the King of Xia and was appointed, he hid in a hurry, but he was still caught.
"All men will have their waists cut off from the market, and the women's family members will share their rewards with the expedition sergeants." Zhu Quanzhong said with a cold face.
"As ordered." Zhang Lang sighed inwardly and went out to make arrangements.
Zhu Quanzhong stared at Zhang Lang's back until he completely disappeared in the rain curtain, then he snorted coldly, got up and walked to the window, looking at the flowers that were damaged by the violent storm.
He has not given up yet, and he is not a person who likes to give up. As long as there is a chance, he will struggle until the end.
The Xuzhou War has been over for more than a month.
During this period of more than a month, the Xia rebels launched a fierce offensive. They divided their troops into three groups. One group attacked the Wei family from Xuzhou; the other group captured Bozhou and then headed north to Songzhou and moved eastward to Suzhou; the group invaded eastward from Zhengzhou to threaten Bianzhou.
In the direction of Zhengzhou is the Tiande Army, which has the capital, and Henan Fuzhou has tens of thousands of soldiers. It is not a particularly big threat in terms of strength, but it is very annoying to be close at hand.
In Wei's direction, the Jianrui Army, the Zhongwu Army, and the Iron Cavalry Army were the main forces, and they had been trying to capture the city. Fortunately, the Jianrui and Zhongwu armies had only the same combat effectiveness, but the defenders were very tenacious, and later on they were assisted by the Tianwu Army.
, there is no worry of collapse in the short term.
The Songzhou battlefield is a bit troublesome.
The thief commander Zhe Zongben led the main force of the Wei Sheng Army, which is overwhelming and has now occupied the entire territory of Bozhou, Linhuan County of Suzhou and parts of Songzhou. If he had not personally led the rescue force, Xiangyi would have fallen. There are currently thousands of Shenwu troops.
If people stay in Xiangyi, they should be able to resist for a while.
But the overall situation is still very passive. Zhu Zhen's betrayal caused extremely bad effects and far-reaching consequences. If Cao and Shan were in hand at this time, the strategic situation would be greatly improved.
What a pity! Hateful! Tragic!
Zhu Quanzhong sighed and sat down weakly.
Zhu Zhen's parents were in Bianzhou City. He did not move. On the contrary, he secretly sent someone to comfort him. It sounded aggrieved, but he had to do it. Under such circumstances, he still had expectations for Zhu Zhen. A few days ago, he
Once I sent a messenger to Caozhou to talk about my childhood friendship. Alas, I hope it will work.
Persistence! As long as you persist, there may be a turn for the better.
Every time he thought of this, Zhu Quanzhong became motivated and could temporarily suppress the devil in his heart. He couldn't imagine what he would do if he really came to the end of the road. He didn't think about it, but his daughter-in-law Liu's snow-white breasts suddenly appeared in his mind.
.
If there is really no way around it, maybe...
****
There was also a heavy rain in Youzhou, which slightly washed away the scorching summer heat.
Li Kuangchou's wife, Mrs. Zhang, was smiling and playing with her children under the pavilion. Li Keyong looked at her with a smile for a while, then returned to the government office with a straight face.
"Commander." Gai Yu bowed his hands, and Zhou Dewei also stepped forward to salute.
"How should we fight the battle in Yanbei? Do you two have any strategies?" Li Keyong asked.
Gai Yu was his old man Yuancong, and Zhou Dewei was his favorite rising star. Li Keyong was very concerned about their opinions.
"Commander, General Zhou and I have discussed it together, and the current plan is to unite with the Khitans to defeat the Xia thieves." Gai Yu said: "The thieves are powerful, and now no one party is enough to defeat the enemy alone. Yanbei Grassland
Above, golden knives, black swords, flying bears, many military trumpets, and even armored cavalry have appeared. The bandit commander Yang Yue is not well-known in the Central Plains, but he is well-known in the northwest. He is bold and aggressive in his troops.
They are very difficult to deal with. According to the usual style of Xia thieves, most of the Tibetan troops have mobilized tens of thousands of soldiers and horses. This time the thieves have either a hundred thousand riders or none, which is not far behind."
"Must we unite with Khitan?" Li Keyong raised his eyebrows and asked with some dissatisfaction.
He brought more than 10,000 Hedong cavalry to Youzhou, and there were nearly 10,000 cavalry in the Yan region, both Tibetan and Han. To be honest, there were quite a lot of these troops, as long as they were not stupid enough to compete with the Xia thieves.
After all, both the Jin army and the Yan army are dominated by infantry. When they fight on the grasslands, they also dispatch a large number of infantry, which can also play a great role.
"With the help of Khitan, the chance of winning will be much greater." Gai Yu said confidently: "The traitor commander Yang Yue is in Daning with tens of thousands of soldiers and horses, patrolling erratically. Judging from his actions, it seems that he wants to occupy it and will not leave.
A threat to Xin, Yi, and Gui Zhuzhou was nailed. If the commander personally leads the main force to go north to Yizhou, Yang Yue will definitely come to fight. The commander can strengthen the wall and defeat the enemy, and fight against the thieves. At this time, if the Khitan goes south from the flat pine forest, Fu
With Ruyuan on his side, more than a hundred thousand warriors are coming to kill him. The bandits will definitely be in chaos, and then they will have a chance."
"The Khitans are so ambitious that luring them over would not be a good thing." Li Keyong frowned and said, "If they make any conditions, it would be difficult for me to agree to them."
"Why do you need to worry, Commander?" Gai Yu said with a smile, "I just received an interesting news. On the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, King Xi went to Zhu to take advantage of the opportunity to go south to defend the enemy, and suddenly led more than 3,000 troops to rush west to Ruyuan, and the Khitan pursued him.
Not as good as that. When Xi heard about it, many people fled to the west. Yesterday, there was news that King Xi went to Zhu Liya's tent in the ancient city of Huaihuang, listed the Khitan's crimes, and called on Xi, Ping, Shiwei, Bohai, Tatar, and Jurchen
Discuss it."
Li Keyong couldn't help laughing after hearing this.
To be honest, he also hated the Khitans. After the Pingding Camp and the Second Prefecture were pacified, he incorporated many Khitans and Xi people living there, but most of them fled. It is said that they went north to the Khitans.
The Khitans also took in the rebel generals Gao Siji and Liu Rengong of Youzhou, thousands of them before and after them, and they did not give them any face, which was really abominable.
The sworn brother persuaded the Khan of the Yaonan clan, and Li Keyong was very happy after hearing this.
"Commander, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to unite with the Khitan. Don't miss it." Gai Yu reminded.
"Who is calling the shots in Khitan now?" Li Keyong asked.
Gai Yu was helpless. He had told King Jin before, but he didn't seem to take it to heart.
"Of the eight tribes of Khitan, the Diela tribe is the most powerful, and the descendants of the Eight Tribes are Yili Jin." Gai Yu explained: "The Yelv family was the Yili Jin of the Diela tribe, and they actually control the tribe. At present, the person in charge of the Yelv family is Yelv Shi.
Lu, when Hende Jinyi Khan of Yaonan clan ascended the throne, Shi Lu was in Yue, and it has been more than ten years now."
In the past, members of the Yelu family were only Yili Jin from the Eight Tribes of the Khitan, that is, military commanders. However, the Turkic official name Yu Yue means prime minister, who was in charge of military and civilian affairs. After more than ten years, Hende Jin Khan was almost eliminated.
Well, his position in Zhu Xi's tribe is not much better than that of King Xi.
Shilu loved his nephew Abaoji very much, and took advantage of the opportunity of serving as Yu Yue to select eight elite troops to form the guard army of Hendejin Khan, and appointed Abaoji to serve as Tama Wansali, that is, the guard officer.
And Abaoji was also very powerful. He led the Khan's bodyguards to conquer the east and west, and fought in the north and south. He repeatedly defeated powerful enemies. He defeated the Xi, Shiwei, and Tatar tribes and all surrendered and captured them.
The large number of people, property, cattle and sheep further widened the gap between the strength of the Diela tribe and the other tribes, making them unbeatable.
Coupled with the support of the Yishi tribe, which has always been a fraternal tribe with them, and the help of foreign aid such as the Uighur Shulu tribe, the Diela tribe has become increasingly uncontrollable. Controlling the military and political power of the eight tribes is a piece of cake. Maybe the Yelv clan
People will be elected as khan next time.
"Is Shi Lu easy to deal with?" Li Keyong asked suddenly after being silent for a long time.
Gai Yu's face lit up and he said, "The commander-in-chief can just send his envoy. It won't take much trouble anyway."
Li Keyong was still a little worried. He felt that the Khitans were also very dangerous because they had greater attraction and unification ability to the grassland tribes. Wouldn't it be a joke if they took the opportunity to annex the tribes in northern Yan?
Gai Yu and Zhou Dewei remained silent, quietly waiting for him to make a decision.