One thousand two hundred cavalry, each equipped with a war horse and two pack horses, filed out from Wuyang South City Gate, with a momentum even greater than that of more than 10,000 infantry troops——
Based on the old establishment of the bodyguards and horsemen, there were more than 1,200 horsemen, equivalent to half an army (town).
The guards left the city in advance to clear the official roads, but the large-scale cavalry dispatch still attracted a large number of onlookers.
In order to avoid causing unnecessary panic, notices will be posted for large-scale troop deployments. Even if it is a top-secret military operation, additional reasons will be given to reassure the people.
This time was no exception. The notice that Marquis Jingsheng had sent an imperial edict to Beijing for an audience was posted at the city gate and other places. At the same time, a dozen messengers were sent to Nanyang, Xiangyang, Yingzhou and other places in advance to report the transit matters.
According to the imperial regulations, Xu Huai, as a county prince, was in charge of a town's troops and horses, and it was certain that he would be accompanied by the general Hu Ben when he traveled.
If the number exceeds a certain number, it will be considered a mobilization of troops and horses. Obviously, you cannot leave the garrison area casually and cross the prefecture and county, let alone go directly to the capital to build Ye.
In fact, if you really have to strictly abide by the court regulations, Xu Huai will be severely impeached if he leaves the garrison at will, not to mention the mobilization of a large number of troops before receiving the order from the Privy Council.
However, in extraordinary times, it is impossible to pay too much attention.
Xu Huai could claim that he was acting under a secret edict, but he still needed to send messengers to the prefectures and counties along the way to report in advance to avoid causing unnecessary disturbance and commotion.
Xu Huai was not wearing armor, but was wearing official uniform, sitting on the saddle, and slowly walked out of the city gate surrounded by Wang Ju, Guo Junpan, Zhou Jing, Zhang Xiongshan, Lu Xiong and a group of guards and generals.
Xu Huai saw Zhao Fan's face with twinkling eyes in the crowd, but his eyes only stopped on Zhao Fan's face for a moment, then turned his head indifferently, as if he had never seen him before, and quickly left the official road surrounded by the guards and generals.
The field speeded up and went around to the front of the cavalry unit and hit the road.
The large group of cavalry led by Duyuhou Wu Chihai and other generals still had to slow down a little to avoid excessive physical exertion of the horses and generals; Xu Huai wanted to rush to Jianye as quickly as possible and could only go separately.
Xu Huai, surrounded by his bodyguards and generals and a large group of cavalry, passed through Nanyang Mansion. He was very calm, as if the Chushan messenger was more effective than the Privy Council's order, and no one stopped him to take a look at the secret edict before letting him go.
From Wuyang to the south of Nanyang, it is three hundred miles, and we will arrive in the north of Fancheng County late the next day.
It was already the end of the flood season, and the turbid Tangbai River meandered in the southern part of the Nanyang Basin in Yima Pingchuan, with mighty water flow.
Next to the boundary pavilion between Nanyang Prefecture and Xiangyang Prefecture is a ferry. An official ship stopped in front of the ferry, and a dozen people stood in front of the boundary pavilion to wait.
Xu Huai reined in his horse, stepped forward alone, and saluted Wen Hengyue, who was so emaciated that he seemed about to be blown down by the strong wind at any time under the evening light:
"Why is Wen Shuai waiting for you in person?"
"Your Majesty is guarding Yujiang Town, and there is no room for negligence." Wen Hengyue returned the courtesy and asked seriously, "The last time Chushan's fine cavalry passed through Xiangyang, it was the Dongjing bandits who attacked Hubei. I used my power to do something.
The love is so frightening, but I don’t know why it happened this time - it’s my duty, so don’t Xu Hou blame me for asking unnecessary questions.”
"As it should be!" Xu Huai took out the secret edict from his sleeve and handed it over, "Here is the secret edict. Please check it with Commander Wen..."
Wen Hengyue said: "Since it is a secret edict, you can block the seal and I can check the seal."
Xu Huai folded the edict part over and exposed only the seal part.
Wen Hengyue took out the saved samples for comparison and said to the secretary beside him: "Please note: Marquis Jingsheng, the general manager of troops and horses in the Chushan camp and also knows you, the military affairs of Cai and Liangzhou, and the governor of Mingzhou, Xu Huai, leads the secret edict to lead the election.
The vanguard army of 1,200 brave men rode through Xiangyang, and the seal was verified to be correct..."
After finishing his official duties, Wen Hengyue stepped back to the left and right, looked at the water of the Tangbai River, and said:
"Another secret report came from the capital. Your Majesty fell into a daze two days ago and never woke up again. This God is so unfair to Vietnam. I have been feeling more and more weak recently. Maybe it won't be long before I go to hell with Xu.
When I got together, I wanted to ask Marquis Xu, is it possible to recover the Central Plains?"
"Does Marshal Wen want to hear the truth?" Xu Huai asked.
"My body and bones are already in this state, and Xu Huai still has the heart to tell lies to comfort me?" Wen Hengyue said with a bitter smile.
"If King Huai succeeds to the throne, he may be able to save half of the country." Xu Huai said.
Wen Hengyue didn't ask any more questions, said goodbye to Xu Huai and walked towards the ferry.
After bidding farewell to Wen Hengyue, Xu Huai did not delay and passed through Xiangyang and Yingzhou overnight, arriving at Nancai late the next day. Xu Huai decided to rest in Nancai for a night before setting off on his journey.
Entering Nancai County to rest, Wang Ju and others took the time to rest. In the study of Nancai County Yamenhou's house, after reading the secret edict, Han Gui knelt down beside Xu Huai and advised:
"Jie Shuai, Jianye can't go. Without a complete secret edict, few people in the world will understand the meaning of Jieshuai's fists. It will only make Chushan fall into isolation, thinking that Jieshuai has the heart of a wolf - before the big fish has caught the bait."
, it’s too late for Commander Jie to return to Chushan at this time. Your Majesty passed away, Commander Commander Jie supported the King of Huai, and took control of Huai, and Jing and Xiang were able to control the Hulu, so the situation may not be as bad as Your Majesty feared!"
Xu Huai stood in front of the window and said with his hands folded: "I have made up my mind. Don't focus on trying to dissuade me. You'd better pack your bags and follow me to Jianye. Think more about how to call this place for me on the way."
The trip will go more smoothly..."
"..." Han Gui sighed softly, stood up slowly with his knees supported, and said, "Benefit makes one's mind dim, let alone the benefit of the emperor, the benefit of the country and the country? Han Gui is not worried that this trip will not go well, Han Gui
Gui is more worried about how Jieshuai and Chushan will get along with each other after this trip. Is Jieshuai willing to listen to what Han Gui has to say?"
"You and Shi Zhen both have this temper. If you are not allowed to speak, you will feel uncomfortable." After Xu Huai sat back at the desk, sipping tea, he said, "If you have anything to say, just say it..." "Jie Shuai, this is
At that time, he returned to Chu Mountain and supported the King of Huai. Jing and Xiang could all be included in the commander-in-chief's bag, but Commander-in-Chief insisted on going to build Ye. Even if King Huai promised verbally, seeing Chu Mountain alone in the future would inevitably breed regrets," Han Gui said.
Said, "It happened that the king of Lu was assassinated, and it was a foregone conclusion that the kings of the clans led their troops to the north to return to Mobei to fight for the throne. The distance between the Central Plains and Mobei was long, which forced the enemies in the west of Jingjing, Heluo and Xusu to shrink their defense lines and compete with them.
The Vietnamese soldiers and horses are out of contact. At this time, with the ability of Yue Hailou, Cao Shixiong and others, they will definitely see that the Dongjing bandit army is weak. If they continue to resist stubbornly, their destruction is inevitable - Han Gui, with the help of a villain,
He thought that Yue Cao should secretly teach Sun Yanzhou, and Hu Dangzhou and other thieves would join Ge Boyi in order to plan for the future. Maybe they were already making secret moves at this time. Han Gui thought that Dongzhou Village should close the net in advance for this move.
It is best to close the net and make cooked rice from raw rice. After forcing King Huai to make a promise, it will be difficult to go back on it..."
"..." Xu Huai pondered silently.
"Since the Commander-in-Chief is acting by speculating on the Holy Will, why doesn't he speculate further? Since the Commander-in-Chief is not afraid of criticism from others, why should he worry about a little more Passover?"
Han Gyu advised,
"There are 80,000 young men in Nancai who have been trained. With Fan Zongqi as the general, more than 10,000 strong men have been selected and organized into the camp. Even if they are not as good as Chushan's soldiers, they are enough. What's more, the commander is returning from Jianye.
Previously, Nancai only needed to prepare troops and boats in advance to prepare for any danger and prevent leaks. Commander Jie had to leave early in the morning, and there was still some time to summon Jiang Xie, Xu Sheng, and Fan Zongqi for face-to-face training.
Opportunity..."
Nancai accommodated more than 200,000 hungry people, including nearly 80,000 young men. In the past year or so, in addition to building embankments and walled cities, 80,000 young men were also regularly organized for training.
However, this is just for training as a rural soldier and a reserve member of the Chushan Army.
On the one hand, the strength is certainly far inferior to that of combat soldiers and garrison soldiers. On the other hand, they are only allocated a small amount of weapons, and more of them use wooden spears and wooden shields as training tools. It is impossible to equip them with tens of thousands of sets of soldiers and armors. Chu
The mountains don't have that much inventory either.
Although Nancai can currently select 10,000 Jianrui, but in order to be able to use them, they must first secretly transport a group of soldiers and armors - and there are many lakes and rivers between Jingxiang and Xiang, and they need to prepare enough boats for maneuvering.
.
Of course, if you really want to do this, there will definitely be extremely negative consequences.
The imperial court allowed Chushan to establish Nancai County in northern Hubei and allowed Chushan to recruit soldiers from Nancai. It would only allow young men to be recruited into the army in Wuyang or Xiangcheng, but how could it be allowed to Chushan?
Shan Shan armed these soldiers on a large scale in Nancai? Not to mention tolerated Chu Shan mobilizing these troops at will in Jinghu.
Han Gui's idea was to ignore criticism and implement everything in the name of the secret edict.
Xu Huai stood in front of the window and pondered for a long time, then slowly said: "Call Fan Zongqi, Jiang Xie, and Xu Sheng to the study..."
