After Xia Houying came over, Jia Heng and Jia Mu had a hasty lunch in Rongqing Hall. Before they could say a few more words to everyone, a nun suddenly reported that the troops in the Beijing camp had been assembled and asked Jia Heng when they would set off.
, then without further delay, he and Princess Xianning left Rongguo Mansion accompanied by Xia Houying and the guards of Jinyi Mansion.
In full view of everyone, he was destined not to say goodbye to Yuanchun, Baochai, Yuanyang, Qingwen, Xichun and others. In the end, he only said a few words to Qin Keqing to say goodbye.
After Jia Heng left in a furious manner, the previously noisy atmosphere in Rongqing Hall now felt a lot of depression.
Xiangyun's eyes were lost in thought and he murmured: "Brother Heng just left like this?"
"The military situation is like raging. The troops in Henan are pressing hard. Brother Heng can't be delayed." Tan Chun said clearly, and couldn't help but think of Princess Xianning and Xia Houying, and then thought of the previous proposal to go to Luoyang. Yingli's
He frowned and finally sighed.
Jia Mu comforted her and said, "But please, don't worry too much. When has Brother Heng not been winning a battle outside?"
Qin Keqing nodded and said, "Old lady, I know this."
But after all, she couldn't follow her husband to Henan like the Xianning princess, and her husband was gone for who knows how long, and in the end she didn't have time to say goodbye.
Now her husband is not only her husband, but also the support of the entire Jia family. He will never be able to return to the time when he was in Liutiaoer Hut.
Xiang Yun pouted her pink lips and said with regret: "Third sister, I also want to go to Henan. Brother Heng didn't even ask me. I'm not afraid of the bumps and hard work."
Tanchun: "???"
"Sister Yun, war is no joke. Brother Heng will take you there and take care of you." Daiyu glanced at Xiangyun and said.
"What about the third sister?" Xiangyun Pingguo's face looked a little unconvinced.
"Third sister, if you follow me, you can still help Brother Heng." Daiyu said softly.
Listening to the laughter of several little girls, the worries in Jia Mu and Qin Keqing's hearts gradually dissipated.
Yuanchun took a sip of fragrant tea, a trace of worry appeared on his brows, and he sighed a little in his heart.
I hope Heng brother is safe and returns home soon.
Baochai's face also had a look of worry.
Not to mention that everyone in the Jia family was worried about Jia Heng's expedition, it was said that Jia Heng, Princess Xianning, and Xia Houying, under the protection of Jinyi Mansion, rode fast horses to the capital camp. At this moment, the cavalry of the capital camp were getting ready in the south of the city, with flags and flags flapping.
The sound of horse hooves sounded in the foothills.
Jia Heng led a group of dozens of cavalry to follow the front line and merged under the Chinese flag.
"Jie Shuai." At this time, Pang Shili, the commander of the Yangwei camp, greeted him with fists clasped in his arms and called out.
Jia Heng asked: "The sentries have been sent out."
When a large army approaches, they will scout ahead and report later. There are often a large number of scouts sent out first to respond to the news at any time.
Pang Shili cupped his hands and said, "Reporting to Commander-in-Chief, General Xie has led five hundred cavalry and sent them out in batches."
"It won't be too late, let's set off with the army!" Jia Heng drew out the Emperor's Sword from his waist, and with an order, the endless cavalry behind him galloped their horses and whipped, and set off in the direction of Luoyang in a mighty manner.
In the evening, Kunning Palace, the quiet and soft golden sunset shines into the palace. There are groups of palace maids beside the beams, pillars and curtains, and the eunuchs stand with their hands down, not daring to leave their atmosphere.
Since the emperor heard the bad news about Henan and fainted after vomiting blood, the entire Kunning Palace was shrouded in a gloomy atmosphere. Xia Shouzhong, the eunuch in charge of the Sixth Palace, even punished two palace ladies who were not doing well, making the atmosphere in the harem even worse.
Replaced by chilling.
Even after lunch, the Supreme Emperor and Empress Dowager Feng brought the concubines over to visit Emperor Chongping, but he still didn't feel much relieved.
"Your Majesty, the soup is ready." Dai Quan had a white cloth wrapped around his head at this time, and the blood stains were still visible. He was holding a bowl of soup in his hand, came close and said in a low voice.
At this time, Queen Song's chief female officer took the medicine bowl, took a sip first, and then handed it to Queen Song.
Queen Song stirred it with a spoon and said softly: "The imperial doctor said this is a medicine for replenishing blood energy. Your Majesty, please use some."
While talking, he scooped up a spoonful of the decoction, raised his pink lips with rose petals, blew on it, and handed it over.
Emperor Chongping did not continue like this, but took the medicine bowl, picked up the spoon to stir, and asked: "Concubine Rong is still angry with me?"
Princess Xianning followed Jia Heng to Henan. This move was strongly opposed by Xianning's mother concubine, Concubine Duanrong. When Jia Heng left the palace and went to the capital camp to dispatch troops, she was still trying to persuade Emperor Chongping to take it back.
Success.
The Empress of the Song Dynasty was startled, and she sighed quietly: "Your Majesty, Jin Yang has already gone to persuade her. In addition, he has also sent Xia Houying from the palace to escort Zhi'er. Zhi'er's trip should be foolproof. My sister will eventually do it.
Figured it out.”
Emperor Chongping paused slightly with the spoon in his hand, stared at Dai Quan, and said, "Has the Beijing army set off?"
"Just now Jinyi Mansion came to report that the cavalry from the Beijing camp went to Luoyang first. Now Jia Ziyu also led the troops and set off." Dai Quan said quickly and respectfully.
The Prime Minister of the Ming Dynasty was still in a state of lingering fear since he mistakenly sent a good news, causing the emperor to vomit blood and faint.
Emperor Chongping nodded and murmured: "Soldiers are valuable and quick. If the court does not check the victory report and delays it for another three to five days, I am afraid that Luoyang will be in danger. With Ziyu gone, at least Luoyang will be saved. As for Kaifeng,
The civil unrest over there will take some time."
Dai Quan felt a chill in his heart and did not dare to respond.
Empress Song turned to look at the frowning Emperor Chongping. Her soft voice tried to soothe the emperor's anxiety and said: "Since Jia Ziyu has sent troops to Henan, I hope your majesty can relax. Didn't Jia Ziyu say it before, your majesty?"
The dragon's body is the most important thing, and he can calmly calm down the others."
"Zi Tong, why don't I know? It's just that it's inevitable that it won't settle down." Xu Shi was suffering from illness. This emperor, who had always been resolute and determined, rarely revealed some true thoughts.
"But it doesn't help that Your Majesty is so uncomfortable in the bedroom. Since Jia Ziyu has deduced the situation early, I think the chaos in Henan will be put down soon." Empress Song took Emperor Chongping's hand and said with relief.
.
Emperor Chongping sighed, then looked at Dai Quan and said: "Let the internal guards keep an eye on Henan's movements at all times. No mistakes can be made this time."
When Dai Quan heard this, his face paused and he cupped his hands in response: "Yes, Your Majesty."
…
…
Henan, Kaifeng Prefecture
This capital city in the Song Dynasty was once bustling and bustling, but it had only been in the hands of bandits for a day and was already enveloped in an atmosphere of terror and murder.
The streets were sparsely populated, and corpses and blood stains were seen from time to time on the roadside. Except for the Gao Yue soldiers with red headscarves on their heads, there was no common people coming and going, and it was deathly quiet.
From time to time, women's screams and screams came from the houses, occasionally breaking the silence.
Some criminal thieves and death row prisoners who were originally from the prisons of various counties infiltrated into Gao Yue's troops. Naturally, they had no military discipline to speak of, and raped and plundered in Kaifeng City.
Gao Yue, who proclaimed himself the "Generalissimo of Fengtian and Advocate for Righteousness", had set up the anti-Han banner and "restored the Ming Dynasty", so he naturally understood that Zhu Yuanzhang, the founder of the former Ming Dynasty, had used the red scarf army to cause trouble.
thing.
The former Ming Dynasty lasted for more than a hundred years and died in Jiajing. There are still some old and young people among the people and scholars who miss the former dynasty.
At this moment, the twilight is closing, the sky is vast, lanterns have been hung up on the front porch of the government office. The newly released "Generalissimo" Gao Yue is wearing a mountain armor inside and a black cloak outside. Surrounded by the guard general Ma Liang and others,
Take a big step into the official office.
During the gathering at noon in front of the government office in Kaifeng, Gao Yue sacrificed the head of Zhou Dezhen, the governor of Henan Province, to the flag, made a blood alliance with the rebel generals, and named himself generalissimo. The leader who led 12,800 people under his command was named general.
The small leader who leads three to five hundred people is given the title of captain. At this moment, Gao Yue's troops are mostly gathered in the form of a loose alliance, with about thirteen or four groups, large and small.
Shao Yingchen, who was in the government hall directing the civil servants stationed in Kaifeng to count the treasury, saw Gao Yue come in and said: "Commander."
"How's it going? How is the storage in Kaifeng Mansion's treasury?" Gao Yue didn't waste any time. He sat on a chair nearby and asked in a loud voice.
Shao Yingchen frowned and said: "Commander, after an overnight inventory, we found that the Kaifeng Mansion's treasury contains about 300,000 shi of grain, 2,370 taels of gold, and 94,600 taels of silver. There is not much silver and grain in the treasury.
If we open warehouses to stock up on food and recruit refugees, we will be able to barely support us for a month."
Even though Kaifeng Prefecture is the government of Henan Province, its financial situation is quite bad. The annual tax revenue is only 700,000 to 800,000 taels. It has to accept transfers from Shenjing, and the money on its books is less than 100,000 taels. This is
Used to pay officials' salaries and military pay.
Shao Yingchen's previous expectation of opening up the treasury to provide relief to the poor, and then the people from the surrounding prefectures and counties in Kaifeng Prefecture would gather to respond, has been greatly reduced.
Gao Yue said in a deep voice: "Most of the rich households in the provincial government are rich and unkind. I have just ordered Wei Song to lead people to torture the wealthy merchants in Kaifeng Prefecture, collect all their money, recruit heroes, and some corrupt officials, not only
We want to kill them all and confiscate their property and use it for military purposes."
Shao Yingchen frowned and said: "If it spreads like this, the gentry and merchants in other provinces will hate the marshal deeply."
"We can't control that much now. Besides, when we raised the army, we originally raised the army to advocate justice. Now if we don't kill all these corrupt officials who are unkind and use their money to help the poor, no one will follow us." Gao Yue's eyes were burning.
Said.
Shao Yingchen said: "Every house and village in the city is killing people and setting fires. The marshal should send someone to restrain the military discipline. Otherwise, we will lose the support of the people."
"Sir, let them enjoy themselves first, and then they can resist the encirclement and suppression by the army later." Gao Yue frowned and said: "My brothers hate these evil big families, so I have to let them out.
.”
If he doesn't feed his men, how can they be willing to fight with him through life and death? After looting, he will tighten military discipline tomorrow and kill a few unlucky guys. That's the right thing to do.
Shao Yingchen wanted to say something else, but Gao Yue interrupted him with his hand. Then he walked to the map and pointed at the land of Luoyang, and said: "Sir, what if I use my light cavalry to attack Luoyang?"
When Shao Yingchen heard this, his expression suddenly changed and he said urgently: "Luoyang is a big city and now Kaifeng is just one day away. It is the time to recruit heroes. We still need to accumulate our strength. After the heroes from all over the country respond, we will have a brief confrontation with the imperial army."
After that, we should go south to Huaiyang to seek the foundation of the king's hegemony."
This was also Shao Yingchen's plan for Gao Yue. After causing trouble in Henan and shaking Chen Han's center, he then destroyed the south.
"Opportunities must not be missed, they will never come back." Gao Yue looked solemn and explained: "Sir, the court still doesn't know that Kaifeng Mansion has fallen into our hands. We can take Luoyang with lightning speed. Sir, look at the map.
The distance we are waiting for is similar to the distance between Shenjing and Luoyang. By the time the imperial court sends troops to help, we will have already captured Luoyang."
Shao Yingchen said: "Commander, we are a long-tired army. We only have two or three thousand light cavalry, attacking day and night. There are Luoyang guards in Luoyang Prefecture, and there are also the guards of the vassal in Henan Prefecture. We are bound to be frustrated, and there are also
Sishui Pass blocks us in front."
"Sir, you overestimated the officers and soldiers of Henan Guard and Luoyang Guard. Judging from these few battles, the officers and soldiers have been out of battle for a long time, and most of them are old, weak, sick and disabled, and they are simply vulnerable!" Gao Yue pondered for a moment and said: "
As for the Bishui Pass, I don’t know anything about it. It has long been in disrepair and the guards are only a thousand old troops. With a little dash, we can go straight to Luoyang."
This was not the first time that he had a disagreement with Mr. Shao. He had been proven right several times before. For example, this time, although the attack on Kaifeng Mansion was a bit hasty, it turned out to sweep through Henan and gather nearly 100,000 people.
The same is true now. If we don't capture Luoyang and only capture Kaifeng, the so-called idea of disrupting the hinterland of Chen and Han is just wishful thinking.
Moreover, before the arrival of the official army, they avoided their sharp edge and turned south to Runing and attacked Huainan. Not to mention whether the poor people who had recently gathered under them would follow them, they were just running back and forth like this. The brothers under them would not be able to breathe for a moment, and they would definitely suffer.
Unspeakable.
In fact, this is because Gao Yue and his men have been entrenched in Huguang since they started their troops, and they have not been chased and intercepted by the army to the point of annihilation. Although Shao Yingchen planned for him to use the "roving bandit" strategy to fight across the country, Gao Yue himself was also good at it.
, his subordinates, in fact, are not mentally prepared to fight in various places.
Especially after the crowd gathered to capture Kaifeng Mansion, the situation was very good, and of course they did not want to rush south.
Even Li Chuang, who lived in the late Ming Dynasty, was forced to fight in various places because of the heavy encirclement and suppression by the army.
"Sir, the day before yesterday, the Zhao brothers from Mangshan, Luoyang asked people to deliver a message quickly. Their people have sneaked into Luoyang secretly. As soon as we arrive, we can cooperate internally and externally to capture the city of Luoyang!" Gao Yue's eyes fell on the map with a look on his face.
He said excitedly: "If Luoyang is captured and the two big cities in the Central Plains fall into our hands, then the world will be truly shaken. Then according to the teacher's words, we can approach Huaiyang and look south to Jinling."
At this moment, several generals who came in from outside, including Gao Yue's subordinates Li Zimin, Lai Haiyuan, Wei Bochuan and other generals, entered the yamen hall, applauded and said: "Brother is right, the Han Dynasty has occupied Jinling, so it's great."
The world."
Shao Yingchen looked at the people who came in and sighed in his heart.
Gao Yue laughed heartily and said: "These brothers have come back just in time. How can we brothers conquer Luoyang together?"
Li Zimin smiled and said: "Brother, the surrounding counties have not been captured yet. Should we wait until they are captured? I am looking at Lanyang, and several counties in Tongxu have not been captured yet."
Doubts arose in my mind. Didn't I just say that I wanted to capture Jinling? Why did I change it to Luoyang?
"It's too late. There's not much money to be made in Kaifeng Prefecture, and the treasury stores in these counties are also limited. Even if we win or not, it's just a little more powerful." Gao Yue said, explaining: "We are now using
Fight quickly and slowly, before the imperial court reacts, it is important to capture Luoyang first."
Lai Haiyuan's eyes lit up and he asked: "Brother, do you want to take Luoyang?"
Wei Bochuan's face turned purple. Hearing this, he smiled and said: "I think we have to capture Luoyang. Although Kaifeng is the provincial capital, it's really just that. Luoyang is a big city. If it falls into our hands,
hey-hey."
Gao Yue smiled and said: "We are summarizing, and we still need to hear what Mr. Shao wants."
As he said that, everyone looked at Shao Yingchen.
Shao Yingchen pondered for a moment, then walked to the map and said in a deep voice: "If you want to take Luoyang, you still need a quick word."
Gao Yue felt happy when he saw this, knowing that Mr. Shao had approved his idea.
The two of them had agreed before that if Luoyang was desirable, they would make a decision immediately.
Shao Yingchen's eyes wandered between Kaifeng Mansion and Luoyang City, and said in a deep voice: "The so-called military speed is so great, but now that Kaifeng City has been defeated, the news cannot be suppressed. There is no guarantee that the Henan Mansion over there in Luoyang will not be alert, leaving behind
We are not given much time, only two or three days, and it depends on the defensive strength of Sishui Pass. Of course, as the marshal thinks, Luoyang is the place where grain is transported to Shenjing, so it can cut off the water transportation, even if it only cuts half of it.
Months later, even the divine capital will be shaken."
"Sir, that's exactly what I mean. Just taking Kaifeng will not hurt the court very much. Only taking Luoyang and cutting off the water transportation will cause the Chen and Han court to be in great embarrassment. If we use heavy troops to suppress it, we will wait for it."
If the people of Henan fight against them, even if they are defeated, they can retreat to Runing Mansion and go south to Huaiyang. This is to choke the throat and cut off the belly." Gao Yue said, slamming his fist on the land of Luoyang, and said:
"Sir, this Luoyang is where Chen Han used Shenjing to clamp down on the north and south. This move is precisely to cut off the throat. To say the least, even if he loses, he will return to Runing Mansion and head to Huainan again."
Shao Yingchen frowned and said with a look of thought in his eyes: "It's just that if the general attacks with light cavalry, he will be weak. If he gathers a crowd to attack, the imperial court will definitely respond in advance."
This is the reason why Mr. Shao has always believed that Luoyang is undesirable. If Gao Yue's cavalry is currently attacking, if there is a trace of news, it may be broken on the way to Luoyang. Even if he is lucky enough to approach Luoyang and work hard for the expedition, once
Being frustrated will actually hurt your morale.
"Don't worry, Mr. Shao, I will attack with three thousand light cavalry. I will keep watch along the way and act according to the opportunity. If anything goes wrong, I will return immediately." Gao Yue said with shining eyes.
Shao Yingchen was silent for a moment, suppressed a trace of uneasiness in his heart, and asked: "When will the commander set off?"
"It's not too late, it's now." Gao Yue looked at the night outside and said, "If everything goes well, we can arrive at Luoyang City as early as tomorrow night."
However, judging from the current situation, even if the court learned the news yesterday, it will still take some time to mobilize troops and generals.
