In fact, tens of thousands of Tang army reinforcements had gathered in Jiangzhou at this time.
Li Shentong and Pei Ji followed the imperial edict and came north. In February, they led more than 10,000 troops from the Guanxi Prefecture into Hedong territory.
Later, he summoned people from all over Hedong to transport grain, grass and weapons, which took a lot of time. By the time Li Po led his army to capture Jiexiu in March, tens of thousands of troops gathered in Jiangzhou and had yet to move north to aid Jiexiu.
There was no other way. All the people and horses were mobilized and labor was collected from various places, but everything went very poorly.
There are many reasons for this. One is that there are still some Sui officials in Hedong who refuse to surrender to the Tang Dynasty. Even if some people change their banners, it is only to fulfill the story, but in fact they have no intention to contribute to Li Tang.
How to put it, it can only be said that Li Yuan's stay in Taiyuan was too short, and then he was eager to go south to attack Chang'an, which left a lot of trouble in Jin. In other words, although Jin is where Li Yuan started,
But his foundation in Jin is not that solid.
Moreover, Li Yuan was not from Jin, but was an authentic leader of a powerful clan in Kansai. Kansai was the foundation of his family, and Jin could only be said to be his family's separate business.
Therefore, with the advent of spring, it is already inappropriate to mobilize the government troops. If the army is to be conquered again, the people of Jin, who have suffered from hard labor, will be ready to take action again.
This is a practical difficulty, and the result is that bandits everywhere have increased again. Although officials have not yet been killed to open warehouses, as long as the war continues, it will be a matter of time before the Jin Dynasty becomes chaotic again.
Furthermore, Li Shentong and Pei Ji arrived too hastily. It would indeed take a certain amount of time to gather the troops, and the army could not be organized in a hurry.
The main reason for the delay in mobilizing troops was the strategic issues of the two military commanders.
After receiving Li Zhongwen's letter asking for help, the two immediately summoned their confidants to discuss the matter.
The conclusion drawn is that most of the bandit troops in Bingdai are cavalry, and they come and go like the wind. If the army moves lightly, it is easy for the bandits to take advantage of them during the march. Of course, if they can seize the key point of Queshu Valley, that is another matter.
Seize the Queshu Valley? It's too late.
Several groups of scouts were sent out, but only three came back. Queshu Valley has been occupied by the bandit army.
Now Li Shentong and Pei Ji were completely relieved.
Needless to say, Pei Ji is not familiar with military affairs. He can lead troops as the deputy commander of Jinzhou Road March. Most of them are doing it out of spite.
Who should I be angry with? Of course it’s Liu Wenjing.
Liu Wenjing was well-known for being arrogant about his talent. He had been dissatisfied for a long time because Pei Ji was able to be superior to him even though he did not have any merit.
Therefore, Li Yuan's two old ministers of Jinyang have not stopped since they entered Chang'an.
Pei Ji said in front of Li Yuan that Liu Wenjing was unruly and unruly and at odds with everyone in the army. Even the King of Qin, he repeatedly contradicted him. If he led the army with this person, he might cause disaster in the long run.
Liu Wenjing was even more direct. Whether in front of Li Yuan, in her own residence, or in the army, she never said a good word about Pei Ji. When she met Pei Ji, she would always address him by his old title of Deputy Supervisor, and her contempt was palpable.
.
When I returned to Beijing last winter, I had a big quarrel with Pei Ji in front of Li Yuan.
Speaking of which, Liu Wenjing is very much like the legacy of his ministers since the war in the late Jin Dynasty. During the quarrel, he directly told Li Yuan that I worked hard for the king and had no one to match in military achievements. How could I be under Pei Xuanzhen? How unfair is it for the Supreme...
What he said was almost the same as when General Shi Wansui roared on top of the Golden Palace.
He still didn't think it was his fault, and he confidently wanted Li Yuan to dismiss Pei Ji and then promote him to an official position.
People may be surprised when they hear it later, but at this moment, it is the most typical symptom of a person who is proud of himself.
Just like the close ministers of Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty, many of them slapped the table and glared at Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty Yang Jian because they were competing for merit. Not too many people begged for official status in person.
This is undoubtedly a relatively rough and barbaric trend and is the result of Hu Feng's spread to the south.
By the time of Emperor Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty, he had somewhat restrained himself, because the world had been unified, and most of the famous ministers and generals of that year had been dealt with by Emperor Wen.
When he arrived at Li Yuan's place, he relapsed again, because the war season had come again.
Li Yuan was naturally very angry, but now when he was employing people, he did not get angry with Liu Wenjing, and he was more lenient. In fact, he had kept the matter in his heart.
Pei Ji was worthy of being a civil servant, and he immediately felt that Liu Wenjing's days were numbered.
But after he returned, he was still tossing and turning, and he was extremely angry. The so-called general became a prime minister. This statement had already been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. However, Pei Ji was already a prime minister, but he was repeatedly criticized for leading troops. It was really disappointing.
Don't take this tone.
The result became clear, and soon Pei Ji wrote to Li Yuan, requesting to lead troops in front of the army.
As a friend, Li Yuan understood his difficulties and took good care of him.
Just as Jinyang fell, Li Yuan took Li Shentong as his general, with Pei Ji as his deputy, and led his troops north to Jin, with the natural goal of recovering Jinyang.
These two are Li Yuan's most trusted people. Li Shentong is well-known in the army, and with Pei Ji, Li Zhongwen, Jiang Baoyi, Zhang Lun and others as assistants, he should be able to capture Li Ding'an's son and come to Beijing.
The fall of Jinyang was a big deal, but compared to Xue Ju, Liang Shidu, and Xiao Xian who occupied Kuizhou, although the threat from Li Po's troops was not small, it could only be said to be far away...
In fact, Li Tang's strategic environment was continuing to deteriorate at this time.
Of course, there is good news. Li Shimin led Li Xiaogong and others into Shu, defeated tens of thousands of barbarian rebels near Chengdu, and captured many prisoners.
Taking advantage of the battle between Xiao Mian's army and Kaizhou barbarian Zhaoze, he led his light cavalry to attack the two armies' supplies and broke Zhaoze's rebel army on the bank of the Han River. Xiao Mian's army suffered heavy losses and retreated to Kuizhou in defeat.
During this battle, the situation in central Shu was slightly peaceful. Li Shimin did not dare to stay in central Shu for a long time, so he allowed Li Xiaogong and others to lead an army to encircle Kuizhou. He then used warships and Xiao Xian's army to hold them back on the river, and then led his army back to Guanzhong.
King Qin Li Shimin's battle to become famous came a little late, but after all, he became famous in Shu in just one battle.
Of course, regardless of other wars, Pei Ji came to Jin to perform military exploits. Although he and Liu Wenjing were already fighting to the death, to be honest, he was not an ignorant person who was not easy to get along with others.
Especially since Li Shentong was from the Li clan, so when they came to Jin together, Li Shentong took charge of everything. If there were any difficulties that required Pei Ji to step in, Pei Ji had nothing to say.
Despite Li Shentong's intolerance, he got along well with Pei Ji and gradually relied on him. After all, Pei was not unknown, but was a leader among the big families in Jin.
Now that Queshu Valley is in the enemy's hands, Pei Ji is doing everything he can. With Li Shentong leading the army, he can move forward, retreat, and stop with confidence.
As for Li Shentong, he has many more plans than Pei Ji.
The failure to seize Queshu Valley was a good thing in Li Shentong's opinion, which gave him a very good reason not to go to Jiangzhou.
As more than 30,000 Tang troops were stationed in Jiezhou, he did not believe that there was a possibility of Jiezhou being lost.
The bandit army is occupying Queshu Valley, and they are afraid that they will besiege the city and seek reinforcements.
How could a mere stratagem be seen in the eyes of a self-proclaimed general?
Now he sent troops to Jiangzhou as a deterrent, and with Linfen blocking them in front of him, if the rebel army was trapped under Jiexiu City, they would be unable to advance or retreat for a long time. When the opportunity came, he would lead his troops to the north quickly and seize the Queshu Valley.
It would be better for the bandits to come and fight when the time comes, and they can be annihilated in Queshu Valley. If they escape and rebel against Jinyang... it will not be too late to act rationally.
If the bandit army leaves Queshu Valley, hey, the camera will cut off its retreat, join up with Li Zhongwen's troops, and take advantage of the emptiness of Jinyang to seize it in one fell swoop. If so, who among the famous generals in the world can compare with Li Shentong?
Yes, Li Shentong reorganized his troops in Jiangzhou and urged Dugu Huaien, Minister of the Ministry of Industry, to deliver grain and grass. He was not in any hurry to go north to rescue Jiezhou.
………………………………
Wen Xi, Pei's main residence.
Pei Ji sat across from someone else, the fragrance of tea was faint, and the whole room was peaceful.
Pei Ji sipped the fragrant tea, feeling quite impatient in his heart. He was used to seeing the nobles in the court, and when he returned to Pei's old house again, he always felt a little out of place.
It is true that the roots of the Pei family are here, but without their strong branches, how could the family prosper?
In fact, what he was dissatisfied about was that he had already become a prime minister, but he could not show his dignity when he returned to the main house. The quiet old house seemed to isolate all the prosperity of the world.
The sound of Lang Lang's reading is the main voice in the old house. This place is different from the Wang family's residence in Jinyang. Both here are full of strong aroma of books. It lacks the majesty and heaviness of the Wang family, but has a little more gentleness.
Elegant.
Everything else here will be wrapped in the aroma of books, dispelling all glitz and nothing will show up.
If Pei Ji was still the deputy eunuch of Jinyang Palace, he would have loved to return to his old house to stay for a while, discuss articles with his children at home, drink a few sips of wine, compose a few poems, or talk casually
Let’s talk about external political affairs.
But now, he doesn't want to stay in the old house any longer. It's not that the old house has changed, but that time has changed and he himself has changed.
The gray-haired old man opposite is his cousin Pei Shiqing, the current head of the Pei clan.
Of course, this man was not an ordinary person. He was Hongluqing during the Daye period, received Japanese envoys, and was ordered to go overseas by ship. It can be said that he was the one who traveled the furthest among the Pei family.
During the war at the end of the Sui Dynasty, Pei Shiqing returned to Wenxi and took over the position of leader of the Pei family. When Li Yuan led his troops to the south, he was granted the title of Duke of Wenxi County and appointed as the prefect of Jiang County. He was later summoned to the court. When the Wang family changed, he did not serve him.
The imperial edict was issued, and then he was changed to the governor of Jiangzhou.
Let's say it was because of Pei Ji's influence, a little bit, but not completely. The Pei family was full of talents, and the Pei family leader naturally became more and more prosperous.
Pei Shiqing, on the other hand, didn't attach much importance to power and position. Now he only focused on benefiting the village and urging his children to learn, and he didn't care much about other things.
This is the second time Pei Ji has visited. The previous visit was to recruit troops, but now why?
Pei Shiqing frowned slightly. He didn't like the aura of his cousin. It reminded him of his cousin Pei Ju...