After a quick calculation, Li Shan set out to return to Beijing at the end of the first month and arrived in Chang'an at the beginning of February. It has been half a month since he left Daizhou. The strange fact that he has not been awarded a reward has caused a lot of discussion in the court.
Li Shan waited silently and worriedly, still wondering what kind of result he would be waiting for, but unexpectedly, something happened that caught him off guard.
"Are you Fan Feng?" Li Shan put down the book and looked at the middle-aged man in front of him with great interest.
This is a very ordinary middle-aged man. From his clothes to his appearance and height, as well as his words and deeds, he is very ordinary. If he is thrown into a crowd, he will not stand out at all.
"The villain pays homage to the Duke of Guantao County."
"Get up." Li Shan pondered for a moment, "I will change my name from now on."
Fan Feng was startled, and glanced at Fan Shiyi from the corner of his eye, then bowed deeply and said, "I pay my respects to you, my dear husband."
The change of title means joining the Li family.
As early as the beginning of last year, Li Shan wanted to recruit people who were good at tracking. Fan Shiyi recommended his brother Fan Feng, who was from Xia County, Jiangzhou, Hedong. He was recruited as a Xiaoguo in the former Sui Dynasty and became an elite scout in the army.
Li Shan couldn't bear to talk about this person's rough experience.
In the second year of Wude, Liu Wuzhou invaded Hedong and almost penetrated Hedong Road. Pei Ji led his army and suffered repeated defeats. Song Jingang's troops pressed Jiangzhou... At this time, Pei Ji played a very cool maneuver.
At that time, Jiangzhou no longer had the troops to stop Song Jingang, who was aggressively attacking. Pei Ji ordered the people in Yicheng, Jiangxian, Quwo and other cities to evacuate south... Where should they retreat south?
Xia County.
Then Pei Ji ordered his soldiers to burn all the savings brought by the people who retreated south, which directly led to a great chaos. After Song Jingang entered Jiangzhou with overwhelming force, he pursued them one after another and successively attacked Yicheng and Jiangxian County. At the same time, Lu Chongmao of Xia County
Kill the county magistrate and raise troops to respond.
All in all, that was the most dangerous moment in Li Tang's reign.
To the west of Jiangzhou is Puzhou, and further to the west is Jingzhao Mansion. If Song Jingang did not go south but to the southwest, don't worry... Wang Xingben, the general manager stationed in Puzhou at that time, raised troops to rebel against the Tang Dynasty, and the Tang army could not conquer it for a long time.
In other words, if Song Jingang had not eaten the fat meat that Pei Ji brought to his lips, but had gone straight into Puzhou and cooperated internally and externally, he would have been able to quickly invade Jingzhao Mansion, and there would have been no more Li Shimin sending troops to Hedong to stage a counterattack
’s drama.
Although he suffered repeated defeats and even broke out a rebellion in Xia County, it was because of this incident that Pei Ji was quickly reinstated by Li Yuan after he was imprisoned and his official position was restored.
But many people knew very well that Pei Ji's various actions were not based on military considerations, or even for the Li Tang Dynasty, which had only been established for two years. All he wanted was to welcome the Pei family.
If Song Jingang had not pursued the chaotic Tang army and people to the south, he would have probably marched to the southwest, trying to invade Puzhou where he joined forces with Wang Xingben, and then invade Jingzhao Mansion... In fact, Li Yuan had planned to do so at that time.
Abandon Hedong and only stick to Guanzhong.
It was precisely because of Pei Ji's arrogant maneuvers that Song Jingang's marching route changed... That's because Wenxi County is in the southwest of Jiangzhou. If Song Jingang wanted to attack a key problem, Wenxi would be a chess piece that had to be pulled out.
.
In the end, Li Shimin led all the troops in Guanzhong and sent general Qin Wutong to lead a partial force to attack Wang Xingben. The main force crossed the Yellow River, stationed in Jiangzhou, and confronted Song Jingang at Baibi... What followed was the famous Battle of Baibi.
Song Jingang's entire army was defeated. Li Shimin personally led 800 cavalry and did not dismount for four days and five nights, chasing after them and recovering all the land east of the river.
And Baibi is not far from Wenxi County.
Ling Jing, Su Dingfang, Ma Zhou and Li Shan reviewed this battle, and they had to admit that Pei Ji's tricks to protect the Wenxi Pei family bought precious time for Li Shimin to send troops to Hedong.
But at the same time, the entire Jiangzhou, except for Wenxi County in the southwest and Hejin County near Longmen, was a scorched earth... Especially Xia County, which rebelled against the Tang Dynasty, was ordered to massacre the city personally by Li Yuan.
Fan Feng's family was destroyed in this way. There were seventy-three members of the family, but Fan Feng fled the city with his mother on his back. His father, uncle, grandfather, wife, and children all died in Xia County.
Fan Shiyi's recommendation was one of the reasons why he took this person into his sect, but Fan Feng's hatred for Pei Ji was also another reason... Li Shanzai explained the war to Fan Feng in detail.
"You and I both support our widowed mother. This is filial piety." Li Shan said softly: "But there are three types of unfilial piety. The greatest is not having children. If you are intentional, you can do it in Zhuangzi... Fan Shiyi, I will leave this matter to you.
"
Fan Shiyi smiled and patted his chest, promising to choose a good child-rearing partner who would give birth to three children in two years and have both children.
Li Shan smiled and scolded: "You're such a skinny guy and you haven't gotten married yet, so let's get married together."
"Thank you, sir." Fan Shiyi winked at Fan Feng.
Fan Shiyi is also good at tracking, but he is young after all, and Fan Feng joined the army at an early age and suffered such a disaster. He is quite famous and knows very well what the young man in front of him is thinking... What is it like to be ordered to track the whereabouts of officials in the DPRK?
How can you trust yourself easily when it comes to confidential matters?
The Li family left their home and provided money and people to support Fan Feng's widowed mother, and also married him and had children to continue the bloodline. This was a favor... If Fan Feng did something wrong, he was a hostage.
Over the years, Fan Feng, who was supposed to be dead, took his mother into hiding and even worked as a thief.
Later, his mother contracted a cold and gradually became seriously ill, so Fan Feng entered the customs and settled in Ningzhou. Fan Shiyi and Fan Laosan's branch belonged to the Pengyuan family of Ningzhou.
However, the Fan family is also an ordinary farmer. Fan Shiyi invited Fan Feng here because of Li Shan's miraculous medical skills... Well, Li Shan kicked this skinny monkey several times for this matter.
But Li Shan couldn't do it, and there were many famous doctors in the Imperial Medical Office, so a famous doctor's post was enough. Now Fan's mother had already recovered, and it was for this reason that Fan Feng joined the Li family.
Li Shan asked a few more casual questions. After the foreplay was complete, he asked about the serious matter, "Who was found guilty?"
Fan Feng did not speak and kept his head bowed in a solemn posture.
Fan Shiyi leaned into Li Shan's ear and whispered a few words.
"What?" Li Shan raised his eyebrows, "It's actually..."
Taking a deep breath, Li Shan stood up and walked around for a few steps, his face gloomy. He didn't expect that after checking again and again, he finally found the head of Qi King Li Yuanji. This was an unexpected answer.
Logically speaking, it should be related to the East Palace. How could it involve Li Yuanji?
Li Shan's eyes were deep, and he still remembered visiting Li Qianyou before he went to Dai County. Li Yuanji happened to be present and even started to act as a matchmaker. Xu Hongnong, Yang's daughter, obviously wanted to recruit and win over him.
Li Shan suddenly remembered that Zhang Wenguan had talked about Dongshan Temple a few days ago, and Princess Yang of Qi seemed to be very repulsive towards him... Could it be that she was influenced by Li Yuanji?