On the sixth day of March in the fifth year of Qianning, Shi Chencheng, the chief minister of the Xia Palace, arrived in Qizhou.
The battlefield on the Eastern Front became increasingly complex. As Shao Shude's chief staff officer, Chen Cheng, who had been "dominating" in Bianzhou before, finally rushed over.
Almost at the same time as him, Wang Shijie, the younger brother of Wang Shifan, the governor of Ziqing, also came.
Naturally, when Chen Cheng led Wang Shijie into the city, he passed by the training ground where General Tu was trained.
The sergeants on the school field are practicing military formations.
It's not that they don't understand military formations. In fact, they are all veteran warriors and can make common formations. What they need now is skilled cooperation. There is no other shortcut for this, they can only practice.
Wang Shijie is wearing a Confucian shirt and looks like a hairy awl. But if you look carefully at his hands, they are covered with calluses and his complexion is extremely dark, you can tell that he has practiced martial arts hard, although his interest seems to be in Confucianism.
Being good at both civil and military skills is generally the standard for those who come from a military school family. Martial arts are a must. As for culture, it depends on how hard you work. Some people are only proficient in writing, while some are even good at poetry and poetry.
But if you are "creating a generation", then you don't have this condition. Just like Li Siyuan from Hedong, he doesn't even know the words.
"General Wang, General Wang?" Chen Cheng shouted softly.
"Oh, Chen Changshi is so lost in thought." Wang Shijie smiled awkwardly and said.
He was the fourth among Wang Jingwu's disciples and had three elder brothers: Shiyue, Shifan and Shike.
Wang Shijie's position in the shogunate was Duya Yamen. Considering his background, he was regarded as Wang Shifan's confidant.
Chen Cheng smiled without saying a word and led Wang Shijie into the Yamen.
The generals above and below are basically murderous murderers, but their temperaments are actually quite different.
Wang Shijie was a warrior and had many highly skilled warriors under his command, but he always felt that they were different from General Tu's soldiers. It wasn't the appearance or skills, but the "flavor" they naturally exuded.
This "taste" is expressed through small details such as eyes, postures, movements, etc. It cannot be learned through deliberate learning. It is a person who has experienced many things and opened up a certain knot in his heart, looked at a certain thing, and broken it. Developed a certain fear and accumulated certain characteristics gained from experience.
This trait allows them to better utilize their strength without becoming stiff; use their skills better without losing sight of their usual training standards; and better understand the orders of their superiors without mishearing them. ; Make better decisions on the battlefield and avoid being so stupid that you don’t know what to do.
It seems nothing if you look at one person alone, and the improvement is limited. If millions of people are like this, then the overall improvement will be amazing. The outcome of a battle sometimes depends on some small details.
"Alas." Wang Shijie sighed secretly.
The Pinglu Army urgently needs experience to improve this trait. They are not bad in other aspects, just like the unripe fruit. If you give them some time and let them undergo the baptism of war, they may be able to pierce the window paper. Enter the next level.
Xia Jun was not so powerful at the beginning. Everyone has a growth process.
"See King Xia." In the prefectural government office, Shao Shude was sitting at the top. He had an air of dignity that was easy to recognize. When Master Wang came up, he bowed and saluted.
"Sit down." Shao Shude smiled gently.
Although he was an enemy and Wang Shifan often scolded him, Shao Shude did not blindly look down on him. At least in his opinion, the Wang brothers still had merits.
True brotherhood and brotherhood are not sarcastic words.
Before Wang Jingwu died, he asked his sons not to separate their families, but to love and support each other. The brothers really did it. The elder brother did not envy his younger brother for being a governor, and the younger brother also thought about the family.
Damn it, if all my, Shao's, sons were so brotherly and respectful, I would be able to smile.
"Why did Wang Shuai send you here?" Shao Shude asked.
"Returning to Your Highness, your two armies have been fighting for more than a month, and there have been many casualties. The wife has lost her husband, the son has lost his father, the brother has lost his brother, the people have lost their crops, the officials have lost their salaries, the top and bottom are uneasy, and all industries have been destroyed." Master Wang
He said: "Brother, I feel sorry for the hardships faced by the people, and I am willing to stop fighting and beg for alliance. What do you think of Your Highness?"
Begging for alliance is actually a euphemism for vassalage.
Wang Shifan's begging for alliance shows that he does not want to fight, which shows that his ambition is far inferior to that of Zhu Xuan and Zhu Jin.
And the reason why he dared to bring up this matter was probably because he had seen the current situation. In the Central Plains Four Battles, there are enemies in all directions, and you may not be able to take action.
The news about the Jin army is now somewhat clear.
Li Kening, Li Keyong's younger brother, sat in Zezhou and took a peek at Heyang.
Judging from the information we heard, this route should be a partial one. For example, Shi Jiantang, the general of Tianjingguan Town, and Li Zhou, the general of Malaoguan Town, are both emerging generals in their twenties.
Li Kening probably doesn't have many soldiers. I heard that more than 10,000 people under his command are in Xingzhou, and the number stationed in Zezhou is estimated to be only this number.
However, he can also command Li Hanzhi and Xue Zhiqin's troops. There are no more than 30,000 troops on this route, and the quality of them is also very doubtful. They are not necessarily all Yamen soldiers, town soldiers and the like.
In Daibei, they only knew that Kang Junli was in charge of the defense, but they had no idea of the size of the troops.
But in any case, Zelu and Daibei should have taken advantage of the natural dangers of Taihang and Hengshan to focus on defense. Li Keyong led his elite troops to Weibo to cause trouble for Shao Shude.
In addition, the attitude of the vassal towns in Hebei is also worth noting. They have a natural dislike for the Xia army who held high the banner of reducing the vassal. Even if they no longer like Li Keyong, they will not undermine him at this time, and will even provide necessary assistance.
This should be where Wang Shifan’s confidence lies.
"I raised an army of 300,000 to march eastward. It's not that easy to retreat," Shao Shude said.
As soon as Master Wang heard the instruction, he immediately replied: "Brother, I have something to say. If your highness retreats, I am willing to lose 200,000 pieces of money, 200,000 bolts of silk, and 200,000 pieces of grain to the army. From now on, it will always be the norm every year. King Xia
If you trust people, your word will be known to everyone in the world, and you will never betray your alliance. In this way, the people will be safe."
Ziqing is still rich! Shao Shude thought to himself, the clam salt ponds radiate to parts of Hebei and Henan. Prefectures such as Denglaiqing also boil sea salt. In the past, Wu Shaocheng in Huaixi used cowhide to exchange salt with Ziqing Town. In addition, do
Being a second-tier merchant in sea trade is probably also very rewarding. Apart from anything else, just exporting horses is a big business.
Seeing that Shao Shude was silent, Master Wang was slightly anxious and stopped talking.
Chen Cheng winked slightly, and Shao Shude understood and found an excuse to let Wang Shijie go to the hotel to rest first.
"Chen Changshi showed me with his eyes, he must be able to teach me." Shao Shude said with a smile.
"Your Majesty, the Jin troops have moved south, and now Yun and Yan's troops are likely to fight?" Chen Cheng asked.
"Li Keyong can bring up to 50,000 people here." Shao Shude said: "As long as the towns in Hebei don't send troops along with him, they should still be able to cope with it."
"The towns in Hebei will not send out large armies, but they can still do it if they provide some money and food and send out a few soldiers and horses." Chen Cheng said: "Your Majesty, Yan, the two towns of Qi are not in peace. Zhu Jin and Wang Shifan still have ten people.
With Hu Zhen alone, can Ge Congzhou and others eat more than 10,000 yuan?"
Shao Shude shook his head.
Anyway, he doesn't like the combat effectiveness of Longxiang, Guangsheng, Shenjie, Longhu, Pengri, Pengsheng and other armies. In field battles, they may not be able to defeat Yan and Qi's troops. He can only use some strategies.
, the chance of winning will be greater, such as the time when Yan Bao was tricked by Kang Fu and had to ride alone to avoid it.
But most of the battles in the world are frontal battles without tricks. If the combat effectiveness is not good, the restrictions will be too great.
In the past, when Zhu Zhen, Ding Hui, Ge Congzhou and others were in the Chao Army, did they have any outstanding achievements? They were beaten like dogs everywhere and ran away. At that time, Li Keyong was like a god in front of them
The character repeatedly used less to hit more and destroyed the nest army, relying on his strong combat power.
But after they led the Liang soldiers, they let the Jin soldiers suffer. Why?
"Now that Yunzhou is empty, strong, and protecting the country, the Zhongwu and other armies are broken, and they will not fight to the death. If Li Keyong crosses the river and goes south, who will stop him?" Chen Cheng asked.
His meaning is very clear. If you want king against king, the main elite force should be used to deal with Li Keyong, and the remaining miscellaneous soldiers should deal with Zhu Jin and Wang Shifan. I am afraid that they will not be able to handle it, and the battle will become a stalemate.
"What does Chen Changshi mean?"
"It would be much easier for me to ask Wang Shifan to beg for alliance, collect him some money, silk, food and grass, and then concentrate on dealing with Li Keyong and Zhu Jin. Yanzhen's strength is far inferior to Ziqing." Chen Cheng said, and finally,
Looking at Shao Shude, he added: "First deal with Zhu Jin, and then go back and deal with Wang Shifan."
"Accepting vassals again?" Shao Shude suddenly became angry.
How many vassals have you collected along the way? Longjian, Xingyuan, Zhongyi, Eyue, Chenxu, Hezhong, as well as Tang and Deng of the Yue family, Huaixi, there are thunders everywhere, and I don’t know when I will be free.
Clean up.
Many things affect the whole body. If you clear one, others may not take it seriously. If you clear two, the other vassals will comfort themselves that that person has a way to die. When you clear three or four, everyone will suddenly be shocked.
What will it look like when you wake up and there will be flames all over the place?
Compromise, compromise, compromise to the end, is it to establish a post-Liang Dynasty, a post-Tang Dynasty?
Houliang was the smallest dynasty among the Five Dynasties. Zhu Quanzhong fought hard for 29 years and won countless decisive battles in his life. Other dynasties would have unified the world long ago.
In the early years of the Republic of China, Emperor Taizong defeated Dou Jiande's 100,000-strong army in one battle, and Hebei was basically pacified. If it had not been for Emperor Gaozu's improper operation later, there would not have been Liu Heitai's repetition. But Zhu Quanzhong won countless battles in Hebei and annihilated the army.
The number was several times that of Dou Jiande's entire force, but he was unable to pacify Hebei until his death. In the end, he was unable to break free from the encirclement of Li Keyong, Yang Xingmi, Li Maozhen, Wang Jian and others, and his success failed.
Later Liang was actually destroyed by the reduction of vassalage. Shao Shude didn't know what Zhu Quanzhong was thinking in the last ten years of his life, and he was probably very desperate. If you eliminate one "Dou Jiande", there will be dozens or dozens of "Dou Jiande" who will jump out to fight with you.
, there are careerists everywhere who will drive you crazy and force you to compromise.
The Later Tang Dynasty continued on the basis of the Hou Liang's reduction of vassals, and finally died in the reduction of vassals, and was blown to pieces by landmines in the vassal town.
I don't want to establish a short-lived dynasty called Later Xia or Northern Xia in history books!
"Your Majesty..." Chen Cheng called softly.
Shao Shude almost failed to control the tiger in his heart.
He took a deep breath. Since the Eastern Expedition, he has taken two risks. A few days ago, he turned over and looked at Zhu Qiong's bloody head, and there was no sense of violation at all. If he continued, he would become more and more perverted.
"Transfer the left and right volunteers over." Shao Shude ordered.
"Your Majesty?" Chen Cheng was surprised. He felt that his strategy was feasible. Sometimes there was no need to force it. Taking a step back was for better progress in the future.
"Li Keyong wants to fight, so I will fight with him." Shao Shude said: "I understand Zhu Quanzhong very well. He is a capable person and a poor man, but I don't want to follow his old path. This is a dead end. I am better than him.
If we have the advantage, we may be able to seize the opportunity. Let Yi Congjun set off immediately and arrive at Yunzhou within twenty days. If we miss the deadline, let Mo Zangjieming go back to Hengshan to farm."