Shaoming four years, 949 AD, the fifth day of the fifth lunar month.
Zhang Gao began to dispatch the 30,000 infantry and cavalry he had recruited from the Helong area in batches. Only about 6,000 of them were able to enter the pro-army and forbidden troops, and only 200 entered the capital of Hanshan.
However, Zhang Gao gave them a large number of rewards, which in total would be at least 700,000 copper coins.
And those who killed more than five enemies, or beheaded small officers, were awarded the title of hero of the revival of martial arts.
Bai Congxin returned to the grassland with the tribal leaders on the grassland.
Last month, Hu Guang sent back a military report from Anxi. He had already begun to lead his army across the Tianshan Mountains to raid Suiye, and it was estimated that he had captured it by now.
After this, Hu Guang will stick to Suiye City and wait for the support of the Central Plains army.
Zhang Zhang ordered Bai Congxin to return to the grassland. He was ordered to lead Bai Congxin back to the grassland when autumn was high and the horses were fat.
He left and attacked Hu Guang from both front and back.
At the same time, the remaining 60,000 households in Monan and Mobei will also mobilize at least 20,000 cavalry in the autumn to follow Murong Nobunaga in attacking Wang's Korea.
I, Zhang Tian Khan, know the temperament of these grassland tribes very well. Now that I have become their Great Khan, I cannot let them go too much. When it is time to pull them out to do hard work, I must pull them out and use them hard.
Of course, the benefits that should be given cannot be less.
The more you do, the more they will treat you like a prostitute.
On the sixth day of May, Zhang Xian sent his second son Zhang Xianyu and son-in-law Zhao Kuangzan to Dunhuang, Shazhou on his behalf.
Zhang Shengren originally promised to personally carry Cao Yijin's coffin back home, but it seems that it cannot be fully realized. He can only send his son and son-in-law to wait for Cao Yijin's coffin to arrive in Luoyang, and then personally carry the coffin to Bozhou.
On the tenth day of the fifth lunar month, Zhang Yan personally led 10,000 infantry and cavalry to Chanzhou on the south bank of the Yellow River.
He returned the soldiers and horses in the team who had followed them beyond the Great Wall but were homesick to their respective stations, and then led the 6,000 infantry and cavalry who were willing to continue to fight with meritorious service, and continued south to Caozhou.
Zhang Yan did not return to Tokyo because there was still some finishing work and Pei Yuan needed to continue to be the white face. If he went back, Pei Yuan, the white face, would not be able to play anymore.
So Zhang Yan simply set up a southern marching camp in Caozhou, and recruited the left and right Jinwu Guards, Zuobao Tao Guards, Forbidden Army Hanhai, Yingyang, Hanshandu Neixiangdu and other troops who did not follow the fortress to Caozhou for consolidation and training.
At the same time, Liu Zaisheng, the Duke of Tian Guo, led 3,000 cavalry along the Ying River to Yingzhou (Fuyang, Anhui) in the northwest of Shouzhou, under the order of Zhang Gao, and began to stock up on grain, grass, baggage, etc.
On May 15th, Gao Huaide led two thousand Zuo Jinwu Guards into Haozhou and took over the fifteen thousand army led by Fu Zhaoxu in Haozhou.
The vanguard then went south to cruise around Qingliu Pass, trying to cut off the retreat route of Shouzhou's Qinghuai Army to Jiangning Mansion, and also prevent the Southern Tang Army from leaving Qingliu Pass to reinforce Shouzhou.
At almost the same time, Chen Guogong Ma Zhaoyuan (Ma Yaozi) of Pingzhang, Hubei Province, who was guarding Jiangling, was appointed as the commander of the West Route Army and led 20,000 Jiangling naval forces to Yueyang Prefecture.
He began to train with the Flying Tiger Army under Zhao Yanjin, preparing to attack Ezhou in the Southern Tang Dynasty along the waterway from Yueyang Prefecture as soon as he received the order.
Liu Renzhan of Shouzhou was going crazy with anxiety. He sent a wave of envoys every three days to Jiangning Mansion for help.
First, he asked Li Jing to send troops for reinforcements. After Li Jing ignored him, Liu Renzhan wrote again, requesting to abandon Shouzhou and let the Qing-Huai army retreat to the Hezhou-Qingliuguan line. Relying on the terrain here, he could communicate with the Luzhou Baoxin Army Jiedu Envoy.
Form a horn and establish a defense system relying on the Yangtze River.
Liu Renzhan had already seen that after the loss of Haozhou and Sizhou, Shouzhou was isolated in Huainan and was unable to resist the imperial army's flow down the river. Only the Qingliuguan area with its back on the Yangtze River could carry out effective defense.
This famous general of the Southern Tang Dynasty, who has a reputation for righteousness and killing relatives and has been regarded as a model of loyal ministers for thousands of years, has no doubt about his loyalty to the Southern Tang court. He is also good at training and running the army, marching and setting up battle formations, and fighting to the death on the battlefield.
But he lacks a pair of eyes with political awareness and long-term vision. He only knows that every action he takes is to seize every possible opportunity, and the resistance plan is also the best.
But he could never understand Li Jing's hesitant mood at this time, nor could he clearly see the fate of the separatist countries in the south that had been doomed since Zhang Zhang unified the north and could recruit tens of thousands of elites in the Helong area alone.
He regarded Zhang's protracted process of pacifying the world by only sending out tens of thousands of people at a time as the weakness of the Central Plains and Zhang's character shortcomings.
....
After receiving the urgent report from Liu Renzhan in Jiangning Mansion, Li Jing was immediately struck down by the terrifying feeling.
He recalled the last battle in Huainan, where Zhang Zhao personally led 50,000 elite infantry and cavalry, fighting all the way from Chuzhou to Hezhou, defeating his entire Southern Tang Kingdom's elite one by one, so that Jiangning City was almost without an army to guard the terrifying scene.
.
On May 25, Zhang Gao, who was in Caozhou, received a plea from Li Jing. Li Jing sent Sun Sheng, Feng Yanlu, and Zhong Mo as envoys to appeal to Zhang Gao three times.
Li Jing claimed that he was willing to send the king's younger brother Li Jingsui and his eldest son Li Hongji as hostages to the Southern Tang Kingdom, which was known as the Southern Wu Kingdom. Instead of using the official name of the imperial court, it was changed to Bafu and the prime minister was changed to Changshi.
The honorable ministers of the Southern Tang Dynasty were demoted one level, the kings and dukes in the country were abolished, and they were willing to increase the annual tribute of 400,000 guan to 700,000 guan. They begged Zhang Yan to stop the army and not to conquer the south.
Zhang Yan was too lazy to meet these Southern Tang courtiers. He had already said it to Han Xizai last time.
Now I, Zhang Shengren, have not been home for more than a year. I am preparing for the southern expedition without even entering Kaifeng. I am in such an urgent mood. These conditions proposed by Li Jing have no appeal at all to him. After conquering the Southern Tang Dynasty, everything is at stake.
be mine.
On the third day of June, Zhang Yan led 20,000 trained cavalry to Bozhou, preparing to go south along the Wishui River and enter Haozhou.
At this time, the weather started to get very hot, and there were still about three months until the army officially started fighting. Zhang Gao was ready to give Li Jing another chance.
He ordered Wang Pu, the counselor and political officer, as an envoy to Jiangning Mansion to issue an edict to Li Jing, asking him to capture Liu Renzhan, the governor of the Qinghuai Army in Shouzhou, and deliver him to the court, and let him cross the river to Jiangdu, the eastern capital of the Southern Tang Dynasty.
The government is waiting to be dealt with.
Li Jing received the edict and everyone was numb. Although Liu Renzhan caused trouble, he was the last banner of the Southern Tang resistance faction. If he were captured, it would be no different from surrendering.
Originally, Li Jing was unable to stop the dozens of Southern Tang Imperial Guards who followed Zhang Xian from sweeping Mobei back to the country to promote the benefits of the imperial court, which led to the loss of people's hearts.
If Liu Renzhan is also captured, then despite the fact that there are still dozens of state capitals and five million people in the Southern Tang Kingdom, I am afraid that no one will still be willing to resist.
As for letting him wait for disposal in Jiangdu Mansion, this is absolutely impossible.
Because Li Jing knew very well that if he left Jiangning Mansion, someone would close the gate of Jiangning City the next second and make him a bereaved dog.
These two demands are more outrageous than the other. If you agree to either one, the Southern Tang Dynasty will officially come to an end.
In desperation, Li Jing convened civil and military discussions many times, but in the Southern Tang Dynasty, except for Sun Sheng, Han Xizai and others, everyone had basically lost their will to resist.
And even Sun Sheng and Han Xizai were just coerced by the halo of loyal ministers. Since they couldn't surrender, they might as well protect Li Jing and die in the Southern Tang Dynasty. It would be pointless for them to draw attention to them.
Can't take it out.
In the end, Tang Hao only suggested that Li Jing move the capital to Hongzhou (Nanchang). Tang Hao said that Hongzhou is located southwest of Pengli Lake. Not only does it have the natural danger of the Yangtze River, but also Pengli Lake and its surrounding swamps can stop the Zhou army.
At the same time, east and south of Hongzhou, there are three places where troops can be garrisoned: Fuzhou Zhaowu Army Jiedushi, Qianzhou Baisheng Army Jiedushi (Ganzhou), and Jianzhou Yongan Army Jiedushi.
These three places are far away from China, and there are Wuyi Mountains and mountains to rely on, so it is difficult for the Zhou army to reach them.
Li Jing was very moved, but all the ministers remained silent, and they wished they could give Tang Hao some big money.
Hongzhou, also known as Nanchang, had not developed at all at this time. Originally, this place experienced a wave of great development in the Tang Dynasty. The preface to the Tengwang Pavilion said that Hongdu was the new capital.
However, after the end of the Tang Dynasty, wars broke out on the west coast of Jiangnan, and the Yangtze River was occupied by several countries. Hongzhou's status as a transportation artery declined rapidly. Coupled with the wars, even the Tengwang Pavilion was destroyed by war twice. By the time the Southern Tang Dynasty was established, the
Hongzhou City is small, not even one-fifth of the size of Jiangning Prefecture.
Moreover, Hongzhou is close to Pengli Lake, also known as Poyang Lake. Poyang Lake at this time was not what it would be in later generations, and Yunmeng Daze had not completely disappeared at this time.
Therefore, there are many swamps around Pengli Lake, which are teeming with mosquitoes, gadflies, and crocodiles. The transportation is extremely inconvenient. It is simply a big quagmire.
Once you go there, let alone fight against the Zhou people, whether you can survive or not is a question.
I am afraid that no one except Li Jing and Tang Hao agrees with Tang Hao's proposal.
Li Jingda jumped out at this moment. He raised his hands and said to Li Jing: "Brother, no one who founded the country in Jiangnan since ancient times has been able to dominate the world.
Even if there were no holy masters in the Northern Dynasties, the Southern Dynasties were as powerful as Emperor Wu of the Song Dynasty and Liu Jinu could not unify the north. Emperor Chen Xuan's Northern Expedition also failed in the end.
Now my brother is not as good as Liu Jin in running the country, and even Chen Xu is far superior to his brother.
On the other hand, in the Central Plains, the sacred literature and martial arts of Emperor Shao Ming not only far surpassed those of Tuoba Si, Emperor Ming Yuan of the Northern Wei Dynasty, but also surpassed Emperor Wen of Sui Dynasty who sought to seize his grandson's family property.
Let’s talk about the generals in our country, are there any who can join the king to suppress evil, Tan Daoji, Wu Mingzhiweiji? Liu Renzhan claims to be a famous general, but he is only assigned to these three people to carry shoes.
Can we, Jiangnan, with the likes of Liu Renzhan and Yao Feng, resist generals such as Ma Zhaoyuan, Murong Baipao, Li Cunhui, Yang Jiye, and Zhao Kuangyin?"
Li Jingda's words made Li Jing so angry that he almost lost his breath.
What is even more annoying is that Feng Yanlu, Zhong Mo, Li Deming and other civil servants who he usually counts as his confidants also rush to express their support for Li Jingda.
Of course, there were also those who opposed it. Sun Sheng, Han Xizai and others had a big quarrel with Zhong Mo and others, and the court was filled with smoke and smoke.
Seeing that the situation was critical, Li Jingda rolled up his sleeves and punched Sun Sheng to the ground, who was talking about the natural dangers of the Yangtze River. Then he grabbed Li Jing's sleeves and begged.
"Brother, don't believe the words of Sun Sheng and Han Xi! They seem to be loyal, but in fact they are not loyal at all.
They want to show their loyalty to the world with the lives of their brothers and hundreds of members of our Li and Xu clans!"
Seeing that a fight was about to start in the court, Li Jing felt an even more severe headache. He was not very strong-minded in the first place. Under the heavy pressure, he actually shook off Li Jingda's hand and hurriedly retreated to the inner palace.
But after walking a few steps into the inner palace, I heard a burst of sobbing, and saw Queen Zhong, Princess Ling and others gathering together to cry.
Zhong and other ladies from the deep palace did not know the situation outside and thought that the imperial army had captured Jiangdu Mansion again. When they reached the north bank of the Yangtze River, they opened their mouths in fear and advised Li Jing to surrender.
Li Jing finally couldn't stand it any longer. With his mind broken, he pointed at Zhong and others and cursed, "How do you know, you humble maid? I am the master of the Tang Dynasty. I would rather die than surrender! No surrender! I won't surrender!"
After saying that, Li Jing ran away wildly. Mrs. Ling and others looked at Mrs. Zhong. Mrs. Zhong and Li Jing had always been in love and never said a harsh word to her. Today, she was so insulted that she couldn't help but burst into tears.
"Your Majesty, if your Majesty is like this, let us and the other ladies in the palace join him in martyring the Southern Tang Dynasty!"
Ling and others were not very favored, nor were they queens, so naturally they did not want to die, so they collectively cried for help to Zhong.
"Your Majesty is just saying angry words at this time. The Queen is married to the Empress Dowager Cisheng, the biological mother of the Holy Son of Heaven. Why not send someone to write a letter to appeal to the Empress Dowager Cisheng as your guarantee, and compile a letter to advise the king."
Although Mrs. Zhong said she wanted to die, she didn't want to die in her heart. After pretending to refuse for a few times, she nodded and agreed. In this small pavilion, she wrote a letter to the Empress Dowager Cisheng and ordered her younger brother to cross the Yangtze River immediately.
I went to see Zhang Zhi's biological mother, Mrs. Song, for help.