In the fifth year of Tianfu of the Later Jin Dynasty and the third year of the Khitan Huitong, June 940 AD.
After Zhang Zhao led his army to the Luotuoyan Assembly Hall to attack the local tyrants of Lin and other states, he immediately disbanded the Qiang cavalry in the seven states of Yin, Xia, You, Sui, Qing, Hui, and Wei in Xiazhou, and only brought the leaders of each department and a small number of fine cavalry with them.
superior.
In early July, Zhang Zhao passed through Yanzhou and arrived in Lingzhou for the first time.
Zhang Xichong, the captain of the inspection camp and the governor of the Lingwu Army, was ill at the main gate and greeted Zhang Zhao with the courtesy of a courtier.
Zhang Xichong, the military governor of the Lingwu Army, can be said to be a rare normal person among martial artists in this era.
But in fact, what he is good at is not leading troops to fight, but stabilizing the place, and being a privy envoy or prime minister is what suits him best.
Historically, Zhang Xichong's betrayal of Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures by Shi Jingtang shattered all the glory he had achieved in leading his troops back to the south. His hometown fell and he could not save it, and he finally died of depression.
But in this time and space, although Zhang Zhao failed to prevent the Khitan from seizing the Sixteenth Prefecture of Yanyun, he showed the ability and desire to compete with the Khitan. Therefore, although Zhang Xichong suffered a serious illness, he did not die of depression.
Of course, Zhang Zhao should treat such a heroic figure with courtesy.
Just because Zhang Xichong did not forget the country, did not serve as the governor of the Khitan town, and showed his heroic spirit of 20,000 people returning south, he deserves Zhang Zhao's respect.
Zhang Zhao took Zhang Xichong and Pei Yuan's hands and walked into the Lingwu Army Jiedushi Office together. He first went to the back hall and met with Zhang Xichong's mother and Pei Yuan's parents.
In particular, Pei Yuan's parents, wife and children were rescued all the way from Tokyo, which was extremely thrilling.
If Zhang Liecheng hadn't mobilized the temples around Luoyang to cover up, Shi Chonggui would have almost discovered him.
After visiting their families to show their closeness, Zhang Zhaocai followed Zhang Xichong and Pei Yuan to the Lingwu Army Jiedu Office and met with the generals and commanders of the Lingwu Army.
The Lingwu Army currently has 8,000 soldiers, of which 1,000 have been assigned to guard Youzhou by Zhang Zhao, and 2,000 are still in Zhang Zhao's army.
Most of the remaining 5,000 people were stationed in various places, and their combat effectiveness was not strong. There were less than 1,000 soldiers and horses under the command of a man named Wang Yanzhong, and they were fairly effective in combat.
Zhang Zhao immediately rewarded all the soldiers and generals, established a new Shizhou to the north of Lingzhou, which was later Shizuishan City, and appointed Wang Yanzhong as the envoy of Shizhou Town to lead the army to garrison.
Zhang Zhao had already received reports from Pei Yuan that Wang Yanzhong was the leader of the Han army in Lingzhou and had always been dissatisfied with his treatment.
Of course, it was also related to Zhang Xichong's temperament of praising scholars and despising military men. Wang Yanzhong felt that he was not reused, so he complained a lot.
This was a normal phenomenon, so Zhang Zhao did not plan to do anything to Wang Yanzhong. Instead, he gave him the position of Shizhou Town Envoy, and also rewarded him with thirty pieces of colorful silk and ten kilograms of tea and sugar.
If he can serve faithfully, he can be appeased. If there is still resentment, it will not be too late to deal with it.
After the banquet, Zhang Xichong and Pei Yuan came to Zhang Zhao's room in the evening. The old man and the young man came to persuade him to enter.
That's right! It's just to persuade people to come in.
Because of Zhang Zhao's current situation, a somewhat funny King of Han and the Ambassador of Hexi Longyou Jiedu were completely unsatisfied.
For example, he currently occupies the three prefectures of Lingwu Jiedushi, the four Dingnanjun prefectures, as well as Qingzhou, which belongs to Pingning Jiedushi, and Yuanzhou and Weizhou, which belong to Jingyuan Jiedushi.
These places are not the territory of Longyou and Hexi. According to the rules, Zhang Zhao has no control over these places.
Now there are only two choices, either Zhang Zhao goes to the court to continue to ask for concurrent posts as the military commander of the Lingwu Army, the military commander of the Dingnan Army, and the military commander of the Qingyuan Army.
But this is just a thought. Unless Zhang Zhao puts the knife on Shi Jingtang's neck, he will never agree.
Then there is only one choice left. Zhang Zhao follows the example of Jingnan, Ma Chu, and Qian Yue and becomes an independent vassal state, calling himself the king, or even becoming a king like Hou Shu, Southern Tang, and Southern Han.
Zhang Xichong said sternly to Zhang Zhao: "Now that the emperor has lost his virtue, especially by issuing an edict to let Wu Luan and others leave Yunzhou City, he has lost the hearts of the world.
If the king does not let go at this time and still regards himself as a vassal of the Central Plains, the road ahead will become increasingly difficult.
It is also impossible to explain the king’s actions as a minister of the state, but he also wanted to capture Lingwu, Dingyuan, Qingyuan and other places.”
Pei Yuan also nodded, "This is the best opportunity. Your Majesty will take advantage of Shi Jingtang's loss of virtue and raise the banner of the dynasty.
It shows that when the Guiyi Army returned home from thousands of miles away, they returned to the great dynasty and were not traitors seeking glory.
In this way, we can not only relieve the shackles of the Guiyi Army, but also win over the hearts and minds of those in the world who are dissatisfied with the Khitan heroes."
Guo Tiance was extremely excited. If Zhang Zhao wanted to establish an independent country, he would have to be at least one of the Privy Council members, right?
"Your Majesty, time waits for no one! You are already the younger brother of the Khitan Emperor, how can you be subordinate to others again? Or should you be subordinate to that emperor?"
"Please, Your Majesty, come to the throne and lead us to restore the dynasty!"
As soon as the three men persuaded them to go in, the generals behind him began to make loud noises, and Zhang Zhao looked in front of him.
Regardless of whether it is a general like Ma Yaozi, a confidant like Barbarian Xiong or Dunzhu, a fake like Murong Nobunaga or Li Cunhui, or even an outsider general like Zhe Deyuan, his eyes are all sparkling.
.
As long as Zhang Zhao becomes the leader of the country, they can go one step further! It's not just that he, Zhang Zhao, wants to be the leader of the country, but these people are waiting to become the founding heroes of the country!
"Okay!" Zhang Zhao gritted his teeth. This was not the time to make concessions. At this time, he had to express his attitude as soon as possible.
"Since all the ministers and ministers support me, I will no longer allow the Emperor Na'er to be his minister. I must let him call me uncle!"
Seeing that Zhang Zhao agreed, everyone burst into cheers. At this time, Zhang Xichong came forward and took out an edict and said it to Zhang Zhao.
"The imperial court had dismissed Lingwu Jiedushi and Yuying from Lingzhou governor two months ago. The new Jiedushi Feng Hui has arrived with hundreds of tooth soldiers."
Only then did Zhang Zhao know that Zhang Xichong and Pei Yuan were working for him despite the imperial edict and not obeying the imperial edict. He couldn't help but be deeply moved, but Zhang Zhao took a breath of cold air immediately afterwards.
However, I am no longer breathing cold air for Zhang Xichong and Pei Yuan, but I am also breathing cold air for this guy named Feng Hui.
Where does this stupid boldness come from?
The Lingwu Army is like this. Is it false to think that King Zhang Zhao has tens of thousands of cavalry?
Li Yiyin has tens of thousands of soldiers and horses left. How dare he come to take office with a few hundred tooth soldiers?
"Does your Majesty know who Feng Hui is?" Zhang Xichong looked at Zhang Zhao with a smile and asked.
"I don't know yet. Could it be that there's something behind it?" Upon hearing this, Zhang Zhao seemed to have some secrets and immediately became a little interested.
Zhang Xichong stroked his beard, with a look of reminiscence in his eyes.
"Feng Guangzhao is from Weizhou. He should be 46 years old this year. He met a certain person several times a few years ago.
He was born in the famous Wei Boya soldiers. He was originally a member of Yinqiang Xiaojiedu. He was first a subordinate of Yang Shihou, and later he was under the command of the former Emperor Li Keyong. Then he rebelled to Houliang and became a subordinate of Wang Tiejian and Wang Yanzhang.
Will.
After Zhuang Miao entered Luo, he fought again and participated in pacifying the Yang Li Rebellion in Luzhou and the battle to destroy King Shu.
Since the massacre of Wei Bo's army, Feng Hui and his accomplices Wu Jixing and others are the only remaining members of the Silver Spear Effect Festival."
Good guy, this resume is really rich. He was born in the famous Yinqianxingjiedu among the famous Wei Boya soldiers.
He has been with Li Keyong and with Wang Yanzhang, fighting all the way from the end of the Tang Dynasty to the present. After almost all of Wei Boya's soldiers were killed, Feng Hui can still survive until now.
"Has your Majesty seen Feng Hui's temperament?" Zhang Xichong asked with a smile.
"If you have breasts, you are a mother! Isn't this Wei Boyabing's usual style?" Zhang Zhao said with a smile.
Zhang Xichong's face turned serious, "Your Majesty is right, Wei Boya's soldiers are indeed mothers if they have breasts. Because of this, they were slaughtered three times, and even their family members were killed."
But Feng Hui is different. He likes wealth, but he gets it wisely.
Other Wei Boya soldiers committed murders because they were not given enough money, but Feng Hui would respectfully write down the reasons every time before leaving with his followers, never killing anyone indiscriminately.
Although it has been repeated several times, it can still be reused, and its people are more talented, whether it is leading troops or governing local areas, they all have means.
He is no less brave than the king, and he has the elites from Shanshan City around him. He is also from a wealthy family, and he can read and write poems."
"Oh? So that's it! There are some tricks."
Zhang Zhao was really surprised. Among the so-called Emperor of Chang'an and Wei Boya Bing, who were such bad examples of military democratization in the late Tang and Five Dynasties, could there be an outlier like Feng Hui?
"Moreover, the Silver Spear is so powerful that no one can match it since the decline of the Tang Dynasty.
Zhu Liang relied on them to defeat the former Emperor Wu repeatedly in Hebei, and Zhuang Miao also relied on them to break through Daliang and destroy the Zhu family.
Although the king's subordinate Han Shandu is brave, his combat power is still slightly inferior."
Zhang Zhao laughed a few times. He still knew how many jins he had, and how many jins Yan Jin, Ma Yaozi and others had.
His Han Shandu was armed with gold-finger weapons such as cloth-covered iron armor, divine arm bows, and pear-shaped spears, and was fed with generous treatment.
It can be said to be a rare and powerful army, but compared with monsters like the Silver Spear Houtiao, which can be called war machines, it is definitely inferior.
“Mr. Defeng is still worried about X’s face!
The Silver Spear Festival originated from the powerful vassals in the world, and generals like Li Cunxiao and Wang Yanzhang were helpless. They could influence the situation of the Liang and Tang dynasties. My city of regret is definitely not as good as the Silver Spear Festival Capital of the past."
After saying that, Zhang Zhao stared at Zhang Xichong, "Does Mr. Defeng want someone to recruit Feng Hui? How can Mr. Defeng not know that the effectiveness of silver spears has always been violated?"
Zhang Xichong bowed his head to the end and then said: "Of course the magic weapon must be in the hands of Master Tianzong Ying. The silver spear always follows Luo Shaowei, and Yang Shihou and other mediocre people will naturally hurt others and themselves.
But the king is different. With the power of the king, Feng Hui and others are far away from their homeland. If we can make good use of these people and teach them the skills of spears and sticks, military formations, use their courage, and abandon their bad habits, then these people will
It will become a sharp sword in the hands of the king!"
Zhang Zhao was moved. The biggest problem with the Hexi soldiers and horses was that they had never fought against the top armies of the Central Plains. Neither the Dingnan Army nor the Lingwu Army were actually the most powerful.
Now Zhang Zhao is basically certain that the cavalry of the Guiyi Army should be the top ones at this time, but what about the infantry? It's really not necessarily certain.
The backgrounds of the people under him are all too low. Yan Jin, Ma Yaozi and others all climbed up to the level of team leader, and Zhang Zhao himself is even half-understanding.
To be honest, I am able to survive until now, to a large extent, because I have been abusing food.
Rookies are constantly coming to the door, giving the Guiyi Army plenty of opportunities to level up, thus improving enough combat effectiveness.
But soon, he will embark on the journey to officially conquer the world, and he needs to improve the combat effectiveness of the Guiyi Army in all aspects. Thinking of this, Zhang Zhao stood tall.
"Then please invite Mr. Defeng to go with me. Let's go meet Feng Hui. If you really want to be talented, you must respect him!"
Zhang Xichong was overjoyed and knelt down on the ground, "I am so bold and want to ask for a favor from the king!"
"But it doesn't matter!" Zhang Zhao pulled Zhang Xichong up and said.
"In the past, the Pining Jiedu envoy Jingnan and Pizhou defense envoy Wu Yanwei and others who followed the Hechuan rebellion were some rural party members brought from Youzhou.
Although they are guilty, please forgive them because they have a home and cannot return, so that they can do your best for the king."
Zhang Zhao remembered that the Wu defense envoy and more than a thousand Jinnan troops who followed He Chuan's rebellion were used by him as cannon fodder when he attacked Li Congduo, but not many people died at that time.
Zhang Zhao hated them for plundering the place and threw them into the mountains of Shanzhou to eat snow.
He originally said not to kill these people, so he let them destroy themselves.
But I didn't expect that it was Zhang Xichong who brought it, yes! It seems that Zhang Xichong was the former Jingnan Army Xing Ning Jiedu Envoy.
"Okay! When we return to Liangzhou, we will pardon them when the country is founded."