Chapter 536 Liu Zhiyuan's predicament and Murong Xinchang's enlightenment
On the 20th day of the first lunar month of the first year of Shaoming in Zhangzhou, in Zhujiachuan, Shuozhou, the Zhou army that went to besiege Shuozhou began to withdraw to Fuzhou in an orderly manner.
The main force of the more than 20,000 troops was composed of the Datong Army of Xia Suidao of the Zhou Kingdom, plus the Zhejia Army from the far side who had received the title of Marquis of Yincheng from Zhang Zhao.
In addition, Yang Hongxin of Linzhou also mobilized more than 2,000 troops, and the Dangxiang tribes from various places sent more than 4,000 troops in total.
For the poorly populated and remote Daibei land, dispatching more than 20,000 people is almost all their wealth, so the attack power is still very good.
Zhe led his army to conquer Shenchi, Xincheng, Loufangguan and other places many years ago, but after reaching Shuozhou City, he was a little unable to conquer.
This army was originally not an elite force in the Zhou Kingdom, not to mention the equipment. It was completely different from the imperial guards of the Zhou Kingdom, but in terms of Daibei, its relative combat effectiveness was good.
Moreover, the Khitan people in Shuozhou City were surprisingly strong. Zhe Cong was far from siege weapons, so they could only continuously raid the Khitan manors outside the city that had been moved to control the place.
At the same time, although the Khitan army from Datong City did not dare to fight against the Zhou army, they were cavalry and had not left Shuozhou. They could not drive them away even if they were far away.
After the first day of the Yuan Dynasty, a group of cavalry suddenly broke into more than ten miles outside Shuozhou City from Daibei Yanmen Pass. Although there were only a few hundred people, it was already a very dangerous signal.
Because the cavalry coming was not Liu Zhiyuan's Hedong cavalry or Tuguhun cavalry, but the Khitan cavalry.
There is only one possibility for the Khitan cavalry to come out of Yanmen Pass. This is Liu Zhiyuan's permission. They came to fight rather than wait and see.
Zhe Congyuan knew in his heart that Zhi Congyuan most likely had someone come to scare him into withdrawing his troops.
But Zhe Congyuan did not dare to take a gamble. For the safety of the more than 20,000 troops, he could only decisively choose to retreat.
Although in this way, all the cities built in the early stage were basically lost, Zhe Congyuan or Zhang Zhao's goal has been achieved.
That is to let Xia Sui and the local snakes in the Fulin area be completely branded as the Great Zhou Dynasty, and at the same time test their mobilization ability.
Liu Zhiyuan was actually not far away, watching the Zhou army led by Zhe Congyuan evacuate amid the snowflakes, his hands tightly holding the reins, his dark face covered with frost.
The Datong Army and Fuzhou Zheyuan, Linzhou Yang Hongxin, should have been a force he could rely on, but due to a series of mistakes and misunderstandings, he was finally pushed to Zhang Zhao.
If we had more than 20,000 soldiers and horses in hand, it would not be possible. Now, almost three months later, Hedong soldiers and horses still only occupy the Hebei prefectures and counties on the side of Taihang Mountain.
Others were afraid of Liu Zhiyuan's black face, but Gao Song was not afraid. He wore a leather robe with a distinct Khitan style, and his bald hair was clearly visible on his head that was deliberately not wearing a hat.
"King Peiping, the conditions for great stability are still valid. It is impossible for the Khitan to cede Yunzhou, but as long as a few thousand people can be released back, the four states of Dai, Shuo, Wei, and Yi south of Yunzhou can be handed over.
The King of Peiping and the Han people from the four states can also stay."
Liu Zhiyuan looked at the hair on Gao Song's head and couldn't help but sneered, "Yunzhou is the land of China. Any talk of ceding it will only make you laugh!"
Gao Song showed an indifferent expression on his face, "Whether it is ceded or returned, it doesn't matter to us and the people outside the Great Wall, but Yunzhou really can't give it.
Because Wu, the eldest son of Da Xiangwen and others who wanted to support King Dongdan, wanted to be the emperor, without Yunzhou, we would not be able to fight against the emperor's brother Yelu Lihu. King Beiping also knew this.
If the king insists that we return to Yunzhou, then we might as well surrender to the emperor's brother Li Hu."
It turned out that after Yelu Wuzhi returned to the north, he collected the remaining defeated soldiers along the way. Although he was constantly attacked by the Han people in Hebei, he finally escaped back to Youzhou because Zhang Zhao did not send out large troops to pursue him.
After joining the thousands of defenders in Youzhou City, there were more than 10,000 soldiers and horses.
They jointly elected Yelu Bei's eldest son Yelu Ruan as emperor, occupied Youzhou, Yunzhou and surrounding areas, and expressed their desire to cooperate with Liu Zhiyuan many times.
As for why they still recommended Yelu Ruan at this moment? There is nothing they can do about it.
Even the Khitan people were horrified by the cruelty of Shulu Ping and Yelu Lihu, their mother and son.
You must know that the Queen Mother dared to force the ministers to die in front of Yelu Abao's coffin.
At that time, Zhao Siwen, a minister of the Han Dynasty, asked her why the queen was not buried. Shuluping immediately said, "It's not that I don't want to go underground to follow the late emperor, but I can't go because my sons are young and weak and the country has no owner!"
Then he cut off his right wrist with his own hands and calmly sent it to Yelu Abaoji's coffin as a burial substitute.
Such ruthlessness! No, it should be said that she was ruthless. It shocked everyone, so she got the nickname Queen Mother of Broken Arms.
But his son Yelu Lihu was even more ferocious and cruel than Shuluping, and his brain was not very good, he knew how to kill people for fun, and he didn't look like a human king.
If Yeluwuzhao and the others went back like this, they would definitely be beheaded and their tribe would be annexed.
Because Shulu Ping, Yelu Lihu and his son no longer need them at all, they swallowed up their tribes and eliminated all those close to Yelu Deguang, so that the mother and son could firmly control the Khitan.
Therefore, for the sake of their own safety and power, the Khitan soldiers and generals who returned from a disastrous defeat collectively elected Yelu Ruan.
They also hope that 7,000 men from Gao Song's command will join them. With 20,000 men, they can barely fight against Shuluping and his son.
Liu Zhiyuan weighed it for a long time. He didn't believe that without Yunzhou, Yelu Wuzhi and others would succumb to Shuluping. However, he didn't have the capital to gamble now, so he could only turn around and persuade Gao Song.
"You, Gao Mohan, are not from the Khitan. Even if you are, even Emperor Er and other emperors have died in Henan. Can you still not see the general trend of the world clearly?
The rise of the Han Dynasty and the decline of the Hu Dynasty are inevitable, so why can't we stay in the east of Hedong, join a certain family to destroy the kid from the west of Hexi, and enjoy the glory and wealth of the Central Plains?"
Gao Song laughed inwardly, you Liu Zhiyuan only have less than 50,000 troops, and your elite level is not as good as the Liao army that went south last year. How can you defeat the King of Zhou?
But of course he would not say this on face, "A certain person is nearly forty years old, and all his original children have been killed in Goryeo. If even the children in Liaoyang are gone, I am afraid that I will have no future in this life."
Moreover, most of the soldiers and horses under your command have family members outside the fortress. Their hearts are uneasy and the troops are anxious to return home. If they are forced to stay, they may not have much fighting power. Please have mercy on us and other foreign barbarians."
Liu Zhiyuan was indeed unwilling to let these thousands of people go, but if he didn't let them go, he didn't seem to be able to take advantage of them.
It's just that now Zhang Zhao occupies the land of Henan, and there are also the rear areas of Guanzhong and Longyou in Hexi. It is really impossible to fight against the tens of thousands of people in Hedong alone!
The envoy from the Liao Kingdom on the side saw Liu Zhiyuan's expression softening and immediately spoke to persuade him.
"When I came here, my lord and Da Xiangwen told my ministers that if the King of Beiping was willing, my lord would be willing to spend some time with the King of Beiping in Dingzhou.
If your Majesty has any other conditions then, you can discuss them face to face. Now that the Southern Dynasty is in great power, we two sides need to keep watch and help each other!"
Having said this, Liu Zhiyuan could only nod. Dingzhou is now half in the hands of Liu Zhiyuan and half in the hands of the Khitans. It is a good place for a meeting.
So he said to the Khitan envoy: "That's good, why not set it in a month's time. At that time, a certain family will have a quiet time with your Lord and Daxi in person."
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Qiande Palace, Chongde Palace, Zhang Zhao is listening to Hebei's report.
This time Liu Zhiyuan seemed to have received huge benefits. He occupied five or six states in Hebei, and his territory almost doubled.
But in Zhang Zhao's eyes, Liu Zhiyuan's expansion also gave him a clear understanding of Hedong's military strength, which was still in the fog.
Zhang Zhao discovered that Liu Zhiyuan's headquarters had less than 30,000 infantry and cavalry in total, and the rest were almost all Hedong Fan tribe cavalry.
With such little strength, if Zhang Zhao were Liu Zhiyuan and he was already that old, why would he be struggling if he quickly surrendered south and became a hereditary prince?
He seems to occupy most of Hebei now, but it only takes one battle and his true colors will be revealed immediately.
Without soldiers and horses, no matter how much territory they occupy, it will be in vain. The overall strength of Hedong is probably far inferior to that of Meng Shu and Southern Tang.
While Zhang Zhao was listening to the report, the old brothers entered the palace noisily.
From Yan Jin and Ma Yaozi to Man Xiong and Dunzhu, plus Murong Nobunaga and Li Cunhui, this is Zhang Zhao's core force.
The old brothers all got hereditary and unreplaceable titles, and they were all very happy.
However, after Zhang Zhao waited for them to sit down and drank a few glasses of wine, he suddenly sighed.
Ma Yaozi touched the prince's crown on his head out of habit, and said to Zhang Zhao proudly.
"Sage, are you worried about the situation in Hebei? Humph! Liu Zhiyuan is so clueless. He has a weak army and is still resisting. Such ungrateful people, please ask the saint to send someone to Hebei. With only 20,000 troops, they can surely capture this farm slave alive!"
When the others heard this, they immediately got excited and scolded Liu Zhiyuan one after another, saying that they wanted to share the saint's worries.
Zhang Zhao waved his hand, "There are dead bones in Liu Zhiyuan's tomb. I'm not worried about this person, but I just received news from Khotan.
King Hamid of Persia actually sent troops to attack and kill Rashid Saliman, and also wanted to annex Huwen City.
The Zhenyuan Kingdom advocated that Bingzhong colluded with Jide Nyimagon, King of Guge of Tubo, and also blocked the road to Tianzhu."
Rashid Salaiman was an important chess piece that Zhang Zhao placed in the northeast of Huwen City (Kabul) to control the trade routes. He also sent people to the seaside near Yanqi and participated in the event to recommend Zhang Zhao as Yinli Khan. He can be regarded as a relatively Be loyal.
The Zhenyuan Kingdom claimed that Bingzhong was Cao Yanmian's uncle, and the Zhenyuan Kingdom was an important country established after Zhang Zhao destroyed Xia Xi of Tianzhu.
The original intention was to use it to control the Tianzhu continent, but only a few years after leaving, Zhang Bingzhong closed the door and wanted to stand on his own. He didn't even send anyone to congratulate Zhang Zhao on his birthday or on his enthronement.
"Huwen City and Tianzhu were conquered by us in the past with a narrow escape. Without the kindness and trust of the saints, the Persian kings Hamid and Zhang Bingzhong would have lost their heads long ago. How could An have enjoyed wealth again?
Since you are so ignorant of loyalty, please ask the sage to give me a letter of five thousand in vain, and I will go and cut off the heads of these two thieves and come back and offer them to the king!"
After Bai Congxin heard this, he shouted angrily.
Hearing this, this group of old brothers recalled the glorious days of Khorasan and Tianzhu in the river, and one by one they wanted to kill Hamid and Zhang Bingzhong.
Among the crowd, only Murong Nobunaga lowered his head. Looking at the howling Bai Congxin and others, he suddenly thought that his cheap father's hereditary title might not be so easy to obtain.