Liu Chengyou walked into the Privy Council, followed Ruan Zheng and Guo Rong, who were talking about something. He raised his hands to stop the two of them, lifted his robe and sat on the short chair given by Zhang Dejun, and asked: "What are you talking about?"
Zhe followed Ruan Yingdao: "The Military Intelligence Department reported that four days ago, Zhou Xingfeng of Hunan defeated Wuling City. As of now, he has completely occupied Chen, Lang, Tan, Heng and other places. I'm afraid there will be no more Zhou family members in Hunan." adversary!"
"Oh?" Liu Chengyou clicked his tongue, not surprised: "Tan and Lang fought fiercely for more than half a year, and finally the winner was determined! Sun Lang and Cao Jin were indeed no match for Zhou Xing, but they didn't To think that the two of them can persist until now!"
"Although the siege by the Tan Army lasted for several months, the results were predictable!" Guo Rong said with a hint of regret in his tone: "I just never thought that other forces in Hunan would sit back and watch the success or failure, allowing the two to attack. .Zhang Wenbiao, who supported his troops in the south, indulged in pleasure and did not cause any trouble to Zhou Xingfeng, allowing him to easily trap the city and defeat it!"
This summer, there was a series of turmoil in Wuling, Langzhou. Starting from Wang Kui, Liu Yan and Pan Shusi, civil strife and bloodshed continued. In the end, two penniless Northern generals, Sun Lang and Cao Jin, became famous overnight. .
Seeing the opportunity, Zhou Xing held high the "righteous flag" and raised his troops to march north. Sun Lang and Cao Jin were not just waiting to be killed. He Lang and Chen's two-state army of 5,000 went south to meet the attack, and the two sides fought in Yiyang.
Yiyang County has been a key area in the military struggle between Lang and Tan ever since Ma Xihe raised his troops. It has been repeatedly devastated by wars and has witnessed almost all wars since the end of Ma Chu. The same is true this time. Yiyang fought fiercely for more than ten days.
However, Cao Jin and Sun Lang were only junior generals, and they were also foreign generals. They betrayed their master and killed generals, and then captured the military city. Although the mixed soldiers gathered in Langzhou, their hearts were unstable, and they were the only ones worthy of their trust. The number of soldiers from the Central Plains who had followed them for many years was no more than seven hundred.
Although Zhou Xingfeng's troops were less than 10,000, those who faced the battle were even more outnumbered. However, Zhou Xingfeng managed his troops well and worked as one, and he had the upper hand from the beginning of the battle.
As for Sun Lang, Cao Jin's successor, although he had few talents, he was also a warrior who walked on the tip of a knife all the year round. Although it was difficult to see his defeat, he sensed something was wrong and decisively withdrew his troops and moved quickly. Zhou Xingfeng took the opportunity to pursue and kill him. Although more than 2,000 soldiers were captured, they still let the two men lead the remaining soldiers and returned to Wuling City.
Zhou Xingfeng took the opportunity to reorganize his troops and use land and water troops to lay siege to the city. Originally, if nothing unexpected happened, Wuling would be defeated in ten days due to the scattered people and internal and external troubles.
[Get Red Envelopes by Reading] Follow the public account [Book Friends Base Camp] and get up to 888 cash red envelopes by reading!
However, rabbits are eager to bite people and dogs are eager to jump over the wall. Sun Lang and Cao Jin made great efforts in the city to resist the Tan soldiers. Although Wuling City has been the source of many years of turmoil in Hunan, it has not suffered much substantial damage. , and after several more military governors, they spared no effort to repair and strengthen the city. In the previous period, they gathered grain from the two states and put it in the city.
Faced with this situation, Sun and Cao defended the city with all their might. Zhou Xingfeng's army attacked twice, and was actually defended for a while. But Zhou Xingfeng's side was lacking in military strength, but it was more than enough to trap it and break it. .
The two sides faced off fiercely inside and outside Wuling. From summer to autumn, it was more than three months ago. Before winter, seeing that the old soldiers in the division were tired and it was difficult to move down the fortified city, some subordinate generals advised Zhou Xingfeng to temporarily withdraw his troops and try again later, but he was
Zhou Xingfeng decisively refused.
He summoned the generals who accompanied the army and said to them: "The city has been besieged for several months without the bandits being strong. I sympathize with the soldiers and do not want to waste more lives in breaking the city. In this way, the Wuling bandits have been weakened and they are just sitting around waiting to be killed. The people in the city have plenty of food."
I am a widower, but I have enough food and warm clothes. How long can I hold on? The matter has come to this, and we must not give up halfway and waste all our previous efforts. If we retreat today, we will come back the next day, and the effort will be doubled! Anyone who retreats again will be killed!
"
In this way, Zhou Xingfeng unified the morale of the army and eliminated Sun Lang and Cao Jin's hope of "strictly guarding the city defenses, draining their morale, and waiting for the enemy to retreat".
Of course, Zhou Xingfeng's stubbornness was also a decision made after considering the situation.
First, the Northern Han Dynasty in the Central Plains was busy with internal affairs and did not care about external affairs. It only issued some indifferent edicts to Hunan, so that Zhou Xingfeng could concentrate on the strategy without worries. The surrounding forces, the Gao family in Jingnan, had always defended themselves.
The Southern Tang Dynasty was severely damaged by Huainan and was undergoing reforms. Later Shu was busy guarding the north. It can be said that Zhou Xingfeng had an almost perfect and stable external environment.
In both cases, Wuling was an isolated city, and the surrounding counties and towns all surrendered to him and provided military service and food. He stationed troops outside and had no shortage of food, grass, weapons, and uniforms, so he had enough confidence. After his governance, Changsha gradually became more and more powerful.
recover.
At this point, I have to mention that Zhou Xingfeng had a good wife. He was murderous and harsh in his methods. He often punished him excessively. He often received advice from his wife and suspended his sentence to accumulate virtue. During the farming season, his wife also
Work in the fields personally to improve people's livelihood and make them less worried.
Of the three, the only ones to worry about were Zhang Wenbiao and other old brothers in the south, who were the real trouble. For these people, Zhou Xingfeng used generous gifts to stabilize them. Especially Zhang Wenbiao, Zhou Xingfeng also selected five beauties.
As a gift, one of the girls became the most beautiful and favorite concubine in his back house.
Therefore, when Zhou Xingfeng was fighting fiercely at Wuling City, Zhang Wenbiao was busy enjoying wine and beauties. Especially Zhou Xingfeng's favorite concubine, whom he had envied as early as in Langzhou, and was now offered to Zhou Xingfeng.
On the couch, he was even more contented and often talked to others. Every time he went around, he was afraid of him being like this.
By this winter, Wuling City had run out of food and was no longer able to resist. With the insurrectionary troops, Zhou Xingfeng easily broke into the city and was able to conquer the city. Although a lot of money and food were lost, the gains after Wuling were more than the sacrifices.
Although Liu Chengyou was busy sorting out internal affairs, he was still paying attention to the war in Hunan and wanted to make inquiries from time to time.
He quickly digested the news that Zhou Xingfeng had broken Wuling. According to the news from Langzhou, Liu Chengyou asked: "What about Sun Lang and Cao Jin? If they escape, they may be able to stay and make some articles in the future!"
Guo Rong shook his head: "Both of them were captured alive. Zhou Xingfeng entered the city and beheaded them both. Their heads were hung at the city gate. In addition, after entering the city, Zhou Xingfeng recruited Lang's soldiers, but he followed Sun and all the people from the Central Plains of Cao.
All the generals were killed, and not a single one of the more than 500 sergeants was left alive!"
Hearing this, Liu Chengyou couldn't help but take a breath and said with concentration: "This Zhou Xingfeng is decisive in killing, and his methods are indeed ruthless!"
"It is reported that Zhou Xingfeng killed the Northern soldiers, nominally to avenge Liu Yan and Pan Shusi. However, I speculate that the Northern soldiers were the source of trouble and killed them to eliminate future troubles. In addition, it may not have deterred Langzhou from surrendering. Heart!" Guo Rong analyzed.
After leaving Wuling City, he sighed and said, "After Wuling City was destroyed, there were less than 20,000 soldiers and civilians left in the city, and most of them were cold and hungry. Zhou Xingfeng mobilized grain relief from Changsha to win over people's hearts. Now, we have collected troops from Langzhou. , based on the essence of Xianghu Lake, we have more than 20,000 troops. As soon as the digestion and recuperation is completed, I am afraid that there will be no more opponents in the land of Jinghu Lake!"
"Zhou Xingfeng, the situation is established!" Liu Chengyou raised his finger and said in a deep voice.
"We can't let him get bigger any longer, otherwise he will be a trouble to the imperial court!" After thinking about it, Liu Chengyou looked at Zhe and Guo: "How do you think we can control it?"
"I and Duke Zhe were discussing the matter just now!" Guo Rong said: "I believe that after the Battle of Wuling, Zhou Xingfeng's next target must be Zhang Wenbiao and other generals in the south, in order to unify Hunan.
However, Hunan has suffered from continuous wars, the most vicious in the past three years. The soldiers and civilians are suffering from it. The soldiers are exhausted and the people are poor, and the mansions are empty. In a short time, Zhou Xingfeng will probably not use his weapons again. But Hugh It will take a year and a half for him to regain his strength, but it will all depend on his choices!"
"If this is true, after a year and a half, the imperial court will have enough energy to get involved in Hunan!" Liu Chengyou thought for a while, and spoke with confidence: "However, now that Zhou Xingfeng has taken control of Langzhou, the imperial court should also have some That's what it means, what do you think?"
At this time, Zhe Congruan said to Li Chuyun who was standing beside him: "Zhengyuan, didn't you have some insights just now? I wish you the best, Your Majesty!"
It can be seen that Zhe Congruan really appreciates Li Chuyun and often looks for opportunities to show it to him. Seeing this, Liu Chengyou also looked at him. Li Chuyun raised his hand and saluted, and said calmly: "Your Majesty, Sun Lang and Cao Jin, killed Jiedu stood up on his own, and Zhou Xingfeng raised the "righteous flag" to quell the rebellion, and the imperial court acquiesced. Now that Cao is the leader, he can send envoys to express Zhou Xingfeng's merits, and at the same time, severely reprimand him for the crime of indiscriminate killing!
The land of Chen and Lang is already firmly in his hands. The imperial court can take advantage of the situation and control the two towns of Wuping and Wu'an to reassure him. However, the Zhou family must control it. There is no one who can achieve this effect in Hunan. Almost like Zhang Wenbiao.
In the previous period, the imperial court issued an edict, and Zhang Wenbiao led the troops northward, hoping to wait for Wuling to be pacified before he could succeed him. Zhang did not move, but now it seems that this is a good thing. Zhang Wenbiao can be promoted to the military governor of Jingjiang, and he can control the whole country. , the five states of Yong, Dao, Gui, and Chen, in their name, will separate them from Zhou Xingfeng in the north and south, and they will naturally fight against each other!"
After listening to his suggestion, Liu Chengyou couldn't help but smile lightly: "Zhou Xingfeng worked hard and planned for a long time. He followed every step and suffered a lot. He just occupied half of Hunan. Zhang Wenbiao only eats and drinks and prostitutes. I gave him the other half with a piece of imperial edict. Haha, This strategy of yours has very dangerous intentions!"
Li Chuyun said: "This is a conspiracy!"
"Even if there are imperial edicts, the southern states are probably going their own way. Even if the imperial court vigorously promotes Zhang Wenbiao, he is probably no match for Zhou Xingfeng and will inevitably be annexed by him!" Guo Rong said.
Li Chuyun saluted again and responded calmly: "Once Zhou and Zhang fight and Hunan raises troops again, the imperial court can issue an edict to stop the war. If not, the Gao clan in Jingnan will send troops south to promise the land of Langzhou. The imperial army will We can follow it southward and capture Jinghu Lake in one fell swoop!"
In a few words, Li Chuyun had planned a blueprint for Liu Chengyou to collect Jinghu Lake, and the feasibility was not small.
Liu Chengyou raised his eyebrows, looked at Li Chuyun a few times, and said: "Collecting Jinghu Lake is the real purpose of Li Qing's plan!"
"Your Majesty is wise!" Li Chuyun said with certainty: "Jinghu is the heart of the world. If the imperial court can take over it, the day when the world will be unified again is not far away!"
