Between the two Han villages was a rather vast highland, where Geng Chong's American army camp was stationed. The fortresses were continuous, with the "Liao" flag fluttering, and they looked very orderly. Obviously, the commander of the troops was by no means mediocre.
In the commander's tent of the Chinese army, a burly veteran general sat behind the commander's desk. This man was Geng Chongmei, the military envoy to Luzhou appointed by Yelu Deguang.
A person is obviously not as good as his name. Compared with his name, Geng Chongmei's appearance is hard to compliment. His complexion is purple and black, and his mustache is as thick as a pole. However, such a rough-looking man has a delicate heart.
Very talented.
Geng Chongmei is a "Yan" who was born in western Liaoning. At the end of the Tang Dynasty, the world was in chaos. His father and ancestors all rose from the military. During the Liang and Tang Dynasties, the Geng family had become the most representative military-bureaucratic-landlord class in Hebei.
Since the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, internal strife in the Central Plains has continued. Yelu Abaoji took advantage of the situation to rise and unify the Khitan tribes. After becoming strong, he repeatedly invaded the south and plundered the Han population and property. Due to geographical reasons, the Geng family was also among those plundered.
Entered the Khitan Kingdom and submitted under its rule.
After the rise of the nomads, there was no one who did not want to invade the Central Plains from the south. Yelu Abaoji was a hero, and he would not want to invade the Central Plains where internal strife was constantly occurring. However, when he proclaimed himself emperor and established the country, and unified the Khitan tribes, the Liang and Jin Dynasties in the south were competing for hegemony.
, Li Cunxu led Hedong to rise.
Although Li Cunxu, Emperor Zhuangzong of the Tang Dynasty, was a famous "political idiot", he was an out-and-out genius in military affairs. Especially in the early period of his rule, the Jin army in Hedong was an extremely powerful force.
After Li Cunxu destroyed Liu Shouguang and occupied Youyan, he completely gave up the idea of Yelu Abaoji going south. At that time, Li Cunxu was not easy to mess with!
However, although going south was not advisable, it could not stop the Khitan's ambition and yearning for the Central Plains. As a large number of Han people were plundered and brought into the country, Yelu Abaoji continued to absorb the culture and talents of the Han people.
The fashionable and young Geng Chongmei, with his literary and military talents, his knowledge of Hu and Han culture, and his integration into the blood of the Hu people for countless generations, gradually gained the attention of Yelu Abaoji and was worshiped as a general.
The official position of Tongshi is to do the work of translation, but it is a bridge for political and cultural communication between Hu and Han under the Khitan rule, and it is very valued. And every Tongshi is a close minister of the Khitan Lord, integrating into the Khitan rule
Class, talent, learning and ability are recognized by the rulers.
Those Han generals were actually the managers of Han affairs in Khitan, such as Han Zhigu, Zhang Li and Zhao Yanshou mentioned before, including Geng Chongmei.
After Yelu Deguang succeeded to the throne, the process of Sinicization of Khitan was accelerated, and Geng Chongmei was even more important and became Yelu Deguang's confidant. When the Khitan army went south, Shi Jingtang was appointed as the "son emperor", and Geng Chongmei played a role in it.
A very important role.
This time, Yelv Deguang went south to destroy the Jin Dynasty, and Geng Chongmei also accompanied the army as a general officer. At that time, Guo Lin, the governor of Yizhou, used his city power to resist the Khitan army and held Yelu Deguang at bay for a long time. Until Du Chongwei led the Jin army to surrender, Geng Chongmei took action.
, arrived at Yizhou, lured Guo Lin's soldiers to surrender, and immediately killed Guo Lin, and Yizhou was captured.
It can be said that Geng Chongmei, a man of both civil and military power, had extremely strong political and military planning abilities, and was also a die-hard traitor. He was not an easy person to deal with.
However, Geng Chongmei in the tent did not look very good-looking at this time. His already dark complexion looked even more gloomy, and even his thick gray beard seemed to be full of worry.
His worries probably come from two aspects. The first is naturally the situation in Luzhou. He is now a military envoy appointed by the Lord of Liao and has the important task of controlling the key areas; the second is naturally the worries about his heart.
The Liao Kingdom was worried about the rule of the Central Plains.
Geng Chongmei is a knowledgeable person. He has already realized how dangerous the Khitan situation is in the Central Plains. He is not as "naive" as Yelu Deguang. The people of the Central Plains are not so easy to bully. When they break out, hundreds of thousands of Khitan troops will
What we are facing is the situation of "all people are wiped out and the enemy is the enemy".
And now, bad news keeps coming from various states, which corroborates his guess. There is civil unrest here, mutiny there, one state has died down, another state has started again. Especially after Liu Zhiyuan became emperor, the situation was completely out of control.
As a close confidant of Yelu Deguang, Geng Chongmei had always advised him, but Yelu Deguang would not listen. No matter how wise a monarch is, he will not listen when he is complacent. Geng Chongmei was appointed as the governor of Luzhou.
, to a certain extent, it can be regarded as Yelu Deguang's "denigration" of him.
The leading army set off from Kaifeng, marched westward to Luoyang, crossed Heyang in the north, and entered Zezhou. The distance was not too long, but Geng Chongmei insisted on walking for nearly ten days, especially after hearing the news about the troops sent from Hedong.
Played slower.
This was the second day of garrisoning in Gaoping. Luzhou was dozens of miles away to the north, but Geng Chongmei chose to hold back. He always felt uneasy in his heart. In other words, he did not have much confidence in competing with Hedong for Luzhou, especially
It was when he only had these thousands of "Yan soldiers".
What was on the handsome desk for him to study were the maps of Ze and Lu states. With his eyes fixed on Shangdang City, Geng Chongmei could not help but murmur: "I don't know what the situation is or where Liu Jun is!"
Perhaps the chanting had an effect, but suddenly the voice of the Ya soldiers came from outside the tent: "Commander, the scouts have arrested a man from the north, claiming to be an envoy from Luzhou, and saying that he has something important to see him!"
With a dark face, Geng Chongmei regained his energy, narrowed his sharp eyes, and immediately waved his hand: "Take him into the camp!"
Not long after, a very ordinary man was brought into the tent. He was still wearing a military uniform and looked exhausted. He looked at the man for a while and asked, "Who are you? What's the matter?"
"The villain is a personal soldier of Zhao Xingqian, the envoy who stayed in Luzhou. This time he went south on the envoy's order to ask for help from the commander-in-chief!" The man took a few deep breaths and replied immediately.
Narrowing his eyes, Geng Chongmei asked: "How is the situation in Luzhou now?"
"Thousands of troops from Hedong have moved south. The Shangdang troops are weak and there are people with different intentions. Zhao Shijun may not be able to resist, so he sent a villain to ask for help. Please ask the general to send troops north as soon as possible. If it is too late, the city will not be protected!"
Looking at Geng Chongmei, the man replied nervously.
Hearing what he said, Geng Chongmei's face showed little emotion. His eyes flashed and he asked coldly: "Who is the person you said has different intentions?"
"Li Wancao, the commander of the Surui Army, and Gao Fang, the judge of Jiedu!" The visitor immediately named Gao Li.
Hearing this, the guard in Geng Chongmei's eyes dissipated a little. Before setting off, he had asked Zhang Cong'en to find out about the situation in Luzhou. If there were differences between Gao Fang and Li Wanchao, it would be true.
After thinking for a while, Geng Chongmei suddenly asked: "Is Shangdang still in the hands of Zhao Xingqian?"
The visitor shook his head.
"No?" Geng Chongmei's voice became a little colder.
Seeing this, the man quickly replied: "I don't know, I am galloping south for hundreds of miles. Maybe the soldiers from Hedong have arrived at the city at this moment, maybe Shangdang has fallen..."
"Is that so?" Geng Chongmei muttered, walked up and down, thought for a while, then suddenly turned his head and stared at the man: "Where is the Hedong Army?"
The man was stunned and quickly shook his head: "You don't know!"
"Take him down to rest!" After observing the visitor for a while, and seeing that there was nothing unusual about him, Geng Chongmei then ordered: "In addition, order the scouts to expand the scope of the investigation and send people to Shangdang to check."
Geng Chongmei did not let Geng Chongmei wait long, but the exact news came from the north. As soon as his scouts left Yangtou Mountain in the north, they ran into the cavalry led by Han Tong and strangled them, killing and wounding more than ten cavalrymen.