Chapter three hundred and seventy ninth: Chaos will begin
At the beginning of the twelfth year of Daye, there was no New Year celebration in Dongdu City at all. The reason was naturally because of a rumor that had just spread among the people of Dongdu. Zhang Xutuo, who was known as the ever-victorious general of the Sui Dynasty, was killed in a few years. A few months ago, he was defeated by bandits and died in battle.
Logically speaking, the battle on the battlefield originally had nothing to do with the people of Dongdu, but now everyone knows that the world is about to be in chaos, and the only one who believes that the world is peaceful is the emperor in the palace. Well, originally there was Zhang Xutuo who could reassure the people, but now even Zhang Xutuo is dead, and a certain panic has spread in the Eastern Capital.
Of course, this kind of panic is only limited to civilians. In the eyes of those in higher positions, although things are a bit bad, they have not yet reached the point where they have lost confidence. The five most powerful soldiers in the world have only lost one counter-insurgency army. That's all, although Zhang Xutuo is dead, there are still Xue Shixiong, Qu Tutong, and Wang Shichong. Even if it's not good, there is still the world's number one Imperial Forest Army in the Eastern Capital. How can the mere Wagang Village resist? Lang Hua, with this in mind, most people in the court still sang and danced every day.
In Liang Guogong's Mansion, although there was not as much laughter and laughter as those of the officials, it was still quite relaxed. My eldest young master was a majestic relative of the country, and rebelling against thieves was something that was too far away. However, compared to the servants, In a small courtyard in the inner courtyard, the atmosphere seemed depressing. Wan He and others all gathered in the side room, watching an old man with a white beard taking the pulse of a strong man lying on the bed. The strong man looked like he was suffering from pain. He was seriously injured and his face was as pale as paper, but it was Qin Qiong who had just been sent to Luoyang for treatment today.
After a long time, the white-bearded old man put Qin Qiong's wrist back, stood up and walked towards Wan He and others. Seeing this, Wan He and others came forward to greet him, and Li Jing immediately asked: "Uncle, how are you doing?" ,"
"Well, it's nothing serious, but I lost too much blood. I need to take good care of it in the past two months, and use more expensive medicinal materials on weekdays. But in this regard, I think the Duke of the country should have no problem," the white-bearded old man is. The first Chao Yuanfang of the Royal Hospital, just as Wan He had guessed before, this Chao Yuanfang is indeed a disciple of Ziyun Temple and the younger brother of Li Jing's master Ziyun Zhenren. However, Chao Yuanfang has no talent in martial arts. Instead, he is thinking about it. He discovered a way to use Zixia Gong to treat diseases, so he was invited to the Royal Hospital to treat the royal family. Originally Wan He was not qualified to ask Chao Yuanfang to treat Qin Qiong, but with Li Jing's identity , which is much easier.
After hearing what Chao Yuanfang said, Wan He immediately nodded and said: "No problem, no problem, as long as it can cure his injury, it doesn't matter how much it costs." Wan He was right about this. For Young Master Wan Speaking of which, the most indispensable thing is probably money.
Chao Yuanfang just nodded and said no more. He wrote down a few prescriptions and medical instructions beside him, then left directly and went back. Of course, Li Jing, his nephew, also went to see Chao Yuan off. After the party, he glanced at Qin Qiong who was lying unconscious on the bed. Wan He winked at everyone. They all exited the room and sat down directly on the stone chairs in the small courtyard. As soon as they took their seats, Changsun Wuji I couldn't help but sigh and said: "I didn't expect Marshal Zhang to go like this, alas,"
At that time, Zhang Xutuo also served as a general under Changsun Sheng, and he had a good relationship. It is precisely because of this that after the fall of Changsun's family, Changsun Heng'an could serve in the counter-rebellion army. If it weren't for Zhang Xutuo, Help, I am afraid that the Changsun family has long been in ruins, and Changsun Wuji is also grateful to Zhang Xutuo. Now that Zhang Xutuo died in the battle, Changsun Wuji can't help but feel emotional. Of course, among everyone here, The person who had the deepest relationship with Zhang Xutuo was Pei Xingyan.
Hearing Zhang Sun Wuji mention Zhang Xutuo, Pei Xingyan's eye circles turned red and he rubbed his eyes hard. After learning about Zhang Xutuo's death, Pei Xingyan almost rushed directly to Xingyang. Thanks to Wan He and Li Jing, he stopped him After hearing that his father Pei Renji was safe and sound, he endured it. He saw Pei Xingyan clenching his fists with both hands, turning his head, clasping his fists and shouting at Wan He: "Young master, let the last general go to Xingyang, and make sure to give up Zhai." Bring back Li Mi’s head.”
"Don't worry," Wan He frowned and pressed down on Pei Xingyan with his hand, telling him to calm down first. Then Wan He said: "The bandit army is strong now, and General Pei only has less than five thousand men." Although the defeated army of the people and the counter-rebellion army have left seeds, making a comeback cannot be achieved in a day or two. Zhai Rang and Li Mi are both rebels, and they cannot escape. There will definitely be a chance to avenge you."
Pei Xingyan also knew that if he ran to Xingyang now, he would not be able to get revenge at all. He waved his fist angrily, but in the end he could only give up. Then Wan He said to Fang Xuanling and Changsun Wuji: "Your Majesty, An edict has been issued and I have agreed to my advice. Twelve groups of envoys have been sent to local armies in various places to organize a crusade against the rebels. Among these twelve groups of soldiers and horses, it has been confirmed that there is a group from Heng'an and General Pei. , with this decree, at least Hengan can continue to stay in Hebei, and General Pei can also recruit troops independently in Henan,"
Recruiting troops independently is a very taboo matter. Although Changsun Heng'an is still in Hebei, the soldiers and horses under him are not recruited. Instead, they absorb troops from various places in battle after battle. Only then did he gradually increase his strength. If he independently recruited troops, at least it would be against the rules. At worst, it would be an attempt to rebel. Therefore, with this power to independently recruit troops, Pei Renji could also In the shortest possible time, restore the strength of the counter-rebellion army.
Fang Xuanling and Changsun Wuji both nodded. Such a result could not be better for Wan He. Whether it was Changsun Heng'an or Pei Renji, both of them listened to Wan He. If something really happens, Wan He raises his arms and calls out, and Changsun Heng'an and Pei Renji will definitely respond. At that time, Hebei and Henan will directly belong to Wan He. Of course, this premise is that Changsun Heng'an and Pei Renji can take advantage of Hebei and Henan. From now on From the looks of it, Changsun Heng'an is fine, but Pei Renji's side is slightly lacking in the face of Wagangzhai, which has just won and is gaining momentum.
Fang Xuanling narrowed his eyes and said: "I learned about the process of this battle from the sergeant who sent General Qin here. I always felt that something was wrong. Although Marshal Zhang advocated the importance of troops and speed, it did not mean that he He would rush forward greedily and chase the bandits from Luokou Cang all the way to Dahai Temple. This is not Marshal Zhang’s style of using troops. There must be some content in it that we don’t know.”
Fang Xuanling's words were also recognized by Changsun Wuji, but the intelligence information they obtained was too little to find out the truth. Wan He shook his head, it was useless to talk about it now. Well, Zhang Xutuo has died in battle. Even if he is traced, Zhang Xutuo cannot come back to life. Then, Wan He said again: "By the way, during the morning meeting this morning, Yu Wenshu suddenly proposed that he should build a "Dragon Boat got the emperor's consent. Cui Minxiang protested, but the emperor scolded him and drove him out of the palace with sticks."
"Build the dragon boat," Fang Xuanling and Changsun Wuji shouted almost at the same time. Then they looked at each other with worries on their faces. Finally, Fang Xuanling sighed, shook his head and said, "This We have just experienced the defeat of Dahai Temple, and the emperor still wants to tour the south. He is so extravagant and lustful, how can the Sui Dynasty not be completed?"
Changsun Wuji also smiled bitterly and shook his head. His father, Changsun Shengna, had devoted his whole life to the Sui Dynasty. His eldest brother was even killed by the King of Han during the Han Dynasty Rebellion for his loyalty to the Sui Dynasty. However, the Changsun family supported him. The king turned out to be such a foolish king, which made Changsun Wuji feel more bitter than others. Changsun Wuji shook his head and said: "I just gave up the idea of the Eastern Expedition, and now I have to patrol the south again. Our Holy Lord is really A Lord who refuses to rest,"
Fang Xuanling and Changsun Wuji were talking to each other so much that Pei Xingyan was like a question mark. Although Wan He's face didn't change much, his heart was turned upside down. He had learned from the history of later generations. It is known from the textbook that Yang Guang finally went south to Jiangdu and was strangled to death by Yu Wenhuaji. However, Fang Xuanling and Changsun Wuji guessed that Yang Guang was going to visit the south just based on a few words. This is a real skill, but Shocked, Wan He had already known that these two people were not ordinary people, so he quickly regained his composure and said in a deep voice: "If the emperor is really going to visit the south, in your opinion, should we Follow along,"
Originally, according to Wan He's wishes, he naturally didn't want to follow Yang Guang to Jiangdu, but he knew that Yang Guang's departure would be a bloody storm, but now Wan He's thoughts are different. He stayed in this era for longer and longer, and he understood the situation of this era more clearly. Although going to Jiangdu was a bloody storm, staying in the Eastern Capital was not a good thing. The Eastern Capital was the capital of the Sui Dynasty. , in the eyes of bandits from all walks of life, that is a big piece of fat. If Yang Guang goes to Jiangdu, the imperial guards stationed in Dongdu will definitely take him away. When the time comes, what will Dongdu do to resist those who get wind of it? The bandits who came here seem to have changed hands several times in history before finally falling into the hands of Li Tang. During this period, Wan He didn't know what kind of looting Dongdu suffered, so he stayed behind. Dongdu is not a very safe thing.