After learning that Emperor Tianxuan, his clan, and more than 3,000 princes and ministers had been escorted north by the Red Husbands from Qingcheng Village in the northwest of Bianliang the day before, Xu Huai stood on the cliff speechless for a long time, and then gave orders to stop today's journey.
Prepare your horse and follow him back to Zhouqiao.
At this time, a brand new post road connected the east bank of the Wuzhai River in Qingyi Ridge and the ferry on the north bank of the Huai River in Zhouqiao. The post road passed through the east side of Shimen Ridge and also connected three townships along the way, including the Shimen Ridge Inspection Department.
This is also the western part of the Qingyi Ridge-Zhouqiao-Luoshan defense line. The post road runs about sixty miles from north to south. It is the eastern part of the defense line, from Zhouqiao along the south bank of the Huaihe River to Luoshan City on the east bank of the Shixi River mouth, but
The flow of the Huai River in this section follows the Jinniuling Mountains in an N-shaped circuit, with a total length of more than two hundred miles.
Fortunately, Xu Huai handed over the Guangzhou areas such as Huangchuan, Huaichuan, and Guangshan to the east of Luoshan to the Xuanwei Army under the jurisdiction of the Jinghu North Road Capital Deployment Department.
Jinghu North Road is located in the hinterland of Dai Viet. For a long time, the scale of the Forbidden Army stationed there is similar to that of Jingnan South Road. There are only three compartments of the Xuanwei Army Forbidden Brigade with more than 7,000 troops stationed in Jiangling Mansion, Huangzhou and other places.
However, after the Chihu people invaded the south, Jinghu North Road urgently recruited troops and horses from prefectures and counties. When King Jing went south to Xiangyang, the Xuanwei Army and Jiangling Prefecture Army gathered more than 20,000 people.
When the Chihu people invaded the south again, Liu Xiandu, the pacification envoy of Jinghu North Road, was ready to lead his troops north to King Qin.
However, the peace negotiators in the DPRK still hoped to cross the river with the Chihu people to rule at the last moment. Worried that summoning King Qin's troops and horses would anger the Chihu people and undermine the peace begging, they temporarily sent a message to Jiangling (Jingzhou) and strictly ordered Liu Xian not to send troops north without authorization.
Although Liu Xian was a scholar, like Gu Fan, he had the experience of serving in border states, and he was quite familiar with military affairs. He was not completely ignorant of military matters, so he was able to serve as the strategic and pacification envoy along the way and preside over military and political affairs.
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After King Jing went south to Xiangyang, Xuanwei's army merged with Nanyang's army and expanded to 20,000 men. Liu Xian personally led 10,000 troops to Guangzhou.
Different from Chushan's strategy of leaving the camp to defend the interior, Liu Xian personally led the main force to cross the Huaihe River directly and garrisoned at Huaichuan City on the north bank of the Huaihe River. After arriving in Huaichuan, Liu Xian further recruited Jianyong from refugees fleeing from the south. In just one month,
, bringing the number of Xuanwei troops in Guangzhou to 20,000.
In addition to paying one million guan of grain and grain to Xiangyang as usual, Jinghu North Road can pay for all other grain and grain taxes by itself.
After the Jinghu North Road merged with Sui, Ying and other prefectures and counties, it now has ten prefectures, more than seventy counties, a population of more than six million, and it occupies the rich Jianghan Plain. It can be said that it is rich and powerful.
Not to mention the expansion of the Xuanwei Army to 30,000 people, even if it were expanded to 50,000, 80,000 or even 100,000, Jinghu North Road would still be able to withstand it.
This is something Chushan is far beyond the reach of at this time.
Currently, in addition to the two counties under its direct jurisdiction, Chushan can only receive an additional 500,000 yuan of military supplies from Xiangyang every year.
At present, the annual military supplies allocated to the left and right Xiaosheng Army and the left and right Xuanwu Army are initially set at 1.5 million guan.
As for Shaanxi and Heluo, in addition to completely retaining money and grain for their own expenses in the areas under their jurisdiction, it is decided at the beginning of each year that 6 million yuan of money and grain will be requisitioned from Chuanxia Fourth Road to make up for the shortfall.
Although Lu Wang Zhao Guan has not officially agreed to support Jing Wang Zhao Tuan on the throne, the main force of his troops, led by Ge Boyi, Han Shiliang, Ge Yu and other generals, also traveled from Qingzhou and Qizhou to Xuzhou and Shouchun (
Shouzhou) area; then countless people took their children and fled across the Huaihe River to the south.
Unlike Huainan, which was invaded by the Yellow River in later generations, Huainan East Road and Huainan West Road at this time were also prosperous places comparable to Jinghu Lake and Jiangdong.
If the lineage of King Lu can establish a foothold in Xuzhou and Shouchun, there will be no problem in raising 100,000 soldiers and horses with Huainan's money and food.
of.
Compared with previous dynasties, the southern region south of the Huaihe River has experienced great development since the establishment of the Dai Viet Dynasty more than a hundred years ago.
Farming on both sides of the Yangtze River has developed into a two- or even three-crop system in a systematic way, and the output per mu is three times or even higher than that in the north; the silk and cotton weaving industries in the south are developed, and the shipbuilding industry and coastal salt-making industry are unique, and the production of ceramics
The smelting of metals including copper, iron, gold and silver has surpassed the north in an all-round way; overseas trade centered on Hangzhou and Quanzhou is also booming; the well salt and Sichuan brocade on Chuanxia 4th Road are famous all over the world, and Chengdu has already developed into a city second only to Bian
Liang's super-large city.
Simply speaking from the perspective of money, food, and Ding households, after the situation in the Hehuai River was eroded, Dai Viet still had enough military potential to be tapped to compete with the Red Husbands.
It will take time for the Chihu people to digest Hedong, Hebei and other places. In the future, they will also need to prioritize the threat of Shaanxi soldiers and horses on the flanks. They had to establish the puppet emperor Li Ji in Bianliang to temporarily capture Bianliang's surrendered ministers and soldiers to control the eroded Hehuai area.
This also gave Dai Viet a chance to organize defenses along the Huaihe River and train its new army to gain some breathing space.
However, whether Dai Viet can finally form a check and balance with the Chihu people on the Huaihe River line still needs the test of time.
When Xu Huai returned to Zhouqiao, the envoy sent by Liu Xian, the governor of Jinghu North Road to appease him, had just arrived.
Liu Xian had also learned in Huaichuan that the Red Husbands had sent troops and horses to escort Emperor Tianxuan to the north. He wanted to come to Zhouqiao with Zhao Yi, Duke of Wuwei, who had returned from Shouchun, to discuss with Xu Huai how to persuade him to advance.
Gu Fan led the generals on the southwestern route of Jing to kneel down at the north pier of Xiangyang City to greet King Jing, which was regarded as paving the last plank for King Jing to ascend the throne in Xiangyang.
Including Xu Huai, all the camp commanders and road supervisors have come forward one after another in the past two months, urging King Jing to ascend the throne and inherit the throne, and to lead the resistance against the barbarians and recover the Central Plains as soon as possible in the name of the new king of Dayue, but they did not do anything.
Accepted by King Jing.
At this time, Emperor Tianxuan, his concubines, concubines, royal family members, princes and ministers, and more than 3,000 people were escorted by the Red Husbands and left Bianliang to cross the river to the north. It was obviously the time for Xu Huai and others to come forward again to persuade them to enter.
For the sake of the country, King Jing should no longer refuse the advice of his ministers.
Liu Xian serves as the pacifier of Jinghu North Road, and Zhao Yi, as the only remaining male clan member besides King Jing and King Lu, is naturally above Xu Huai.
If they really wanted to discuss the matter of persuading them to join, Xu Huai should rush to Huaichuan to meet with Liu Xian and Zhao Yi.
Now Liu Xian sent an envoy to Zhouqiao, saying that he and Zhao Yi would come to Zhouqiao to talk to Xu Huai about persuading him to move in. Xu Huai also knew Liu Xian, and Zhao Yi actually wanted to come to Zhouqiao to meet him, and then rush there together.
Xiangyang, directly met with King Jing to persuade him to enter.
After seeing off Liu Xian's envoy, Xu Huai also summoned Shi Zhen, Wang Ju, Xu Wuqi, Su Laochang and others to discuss the matter. In addition to preparing for the trip, the persuasion form also had to be drafted in Zhouqiao in advance.
Drafting the persuasion form is Shi Zhen's specialty, but Shi Zhen still has to stay in Zhouqiao to preside over many government affairs. Xu Huai didn't prepare the persuasion form in advance. He rushed to Xiangyang with a team of personal guards, but he was about to be caught blind.
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Liu Xian, the envoy of the Jinghu North Road Manager, and Zhao Yi, Duke of Wuwei, arrived at Zhouqiao at noon the next day.
At this time, a wharf and a simple military camp had been built on the north bank of Zhouqiao.
According to the old system, Liu Xian, Wuwei Gong Zhao Yi and other figures could never travel with more than thirty-four people in their entourage. Xu Huai's status was inferior to Liu Xian's, and Wuwei Gong Zhao Yi's retinue could never exceed seventeen people.
However, this is a special period. The Red Husband Cavalry is extremely mobile. The two southern invasions were conducted in roundabout ways and drove straight in.
Therefore, King Zhao Tuan of Jing Dynasty made a new rule in Xiangyang. The commanders of the camps and the road supervisors had military commanders, troops and horses were deployed, and they were all general managers. Even if they went to Xiangyang, they could bring all their troops with them.
We have elite soldiers so that if necessary, we will have an elite on hand at all times.
Can be called.
Although Liu Xian had a higher status than Xu Huai and commanded more troops and horses than Chushan, Jinghu was seriously lacking in troops and horses.
The more than a thousand soldiers who crossed the Huaihe River to Zhouqiao were elite soldiers. Although their armor was bright, the horses under their crotches were really useless.
The Jinghu soldiers were not good at riding and shooting, so the more than a thousand elite personal guards who escorted Liu Xian and Zhao Yi to Xiangyang were, on the whole, even far less well-organized than the cavalry compiled by the Western Army.
Xu Huai's status was inferior to that of Liu Xian, but this time he also officially selected a thousand elite cavalry from the existing tribes to form a guard camp, with Wang Ju as the commander of the guard camp, Niu Er, Shi Hu, Wang Zhang,
Wu Chihai, Ji Zhongchang, Shi Xiong, Wang Jun and others are generals. Their combat prowess is comparable to the elites of the Chihu people. How can other cavalry units be comparable?
Although the resources of mules and horses in Chushan are not that abundant, the personal barracks are equipped to ensure that each general has one fighting horse and one camel horse.
In addition to the cavalry establishment of the personal barracks, the six compartments of men and horses organized by the Tianxiong Army at this time were also organized into one battalion of 300 cavalry. This was used as a mobile combat force independently controlled by each compartment to ensure that each compartment of troops and horses must be on the move.
The ability to fight independently against enemy forces in open areas.
After Liu Xian arrived at Zhouqiao, he was filled with envy when he saw Chushan's military appearance. When he stopped briefly for a banquet in Zhouqiao, he repeatedly mentioned that he would fund the purchase of a batch of war horses from Chushan.
However, throughout the south, war horse resources were extremely scarce.
Xiao Linshi led the remnants of the Khitan tribe to move to Qinzhou, and once offered 10,000 war horses, but 5,000 war horses were given to Shaanxi and Heluo.
The remaining 5,000 war horses were divided among the left and right Xiaosheng Army and the left and right Xuanwu Army. Now, even if Jinghu and Huainan spend several times the money and food, it is extremely difficult to replace a qualified war horse.
In addition to more than a thousand high-quality horses in Chushan, which were kept in various pastures in the mountains as stallions, there were only less than 3,000 war horses incorporated into the army. How could there be any excess for the Xuanwei Army?
Faced with Liu Xian's repeated requests, Xu Huai could only refuse without changing his expression.
Duke Zhao Yi of Wuwei had previously set out for Qingzhou to lobby King Zhao Guan of Lu, and then moved all the way with King Zhao Guan of Lu, passing through Xuzhou and finally settling in Shouchun.
Shouchun learned the news that Emperor Tianxuan and his clan were being escorted north, not a little later than Chushan.
King Zhao Guan of Lu, Yang Maoyan, Ge Boyi, Wang Boxian, Yan Shiyong and others traveled for more than a month and led the main force to arrive in Shouchun. They also sent people many times to contact the road supervisors in Liangjiang, Zhejiang and Hunan to seek support.
But they were all rejected.
The influence of Zhou He, Gao Chunnian and others among the officials was not inferior to that of Wang Boqian, Yan Shiyong and others. What's more, Wang Boqian and Yan Shiyong went out of Bianliang to pass the imperial edict and eventually fled to Weizhou to join Zhao Guan, King of Lu.
Suspected of running away from battle.
Of course, the most critical thing is at this time, no matter how stupid the officials in the Southern Road Supervisory Department are, they can still see that King Jing's situation in Xiangyang is far better than King Lu's.
What choice should I make? Do I still need to ask?
At this time, King Lu's family also realized that if they really wanted to confront Xiangyang, not only would it be impossible to win the support of the road supervisors in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, they would not even be able to protect the Huaihe River.
If they can only hold on to the remaining land north of the Huaihe River to fight against the Chihu people, they may even be attacked from behind by Xiangyang. No one is confident that the situation can last long without collapse.
Emperor Tianxuan was escorted north. They expected that King Jing would definitely take this opportunity to ascend the throne and inherit the throne. They were forced to give up their last persistence and decided to support King Jing.
However, they were still wary of Xiangyang, and King Lu's letter to persuade Jin Biao was only to be led to Xiangyang by Wuwei Gong Zhao Yi. King Zhao Guan of Lu, Yang Maoyan, Ge Boyi, Yan Shiyong and others used the excuse that they were in urgent need of defense.
No one is willing to go to Xiangyang to meet King Jing, for fear of being detained in Xiangyang, making it difficult to escape...
