Zhao Fan loudly said at this time: "This general will have rewards and punishments. Remember, from the generals to the soldiers, anyone who escapes from the battle will be killed! Anyone who does not listen to orders will be killed! Do you understand?"
"yes."
Twenty thousand soldiers shouted in unison, and their voices echoed through the sky.
Subsequently, Zhao Fan ordered the army to march towards Yangzhou.
Zhao Fan had already judged that Li Quan would attack Yangzhou first, so whether Yangzhou could be saved was the key to this battle.
On the way, Zhao Fan received a report from Tanma, saying that Li Quan was leading an army to attack Taizhou.
Zhao Fan was stunned and couldn't react for a long time. It was as if he had heard false news.
"Is the information accurate?"
"General, please rest assured that the news is absolutely true. I can guarantee it with my head."
"Hahaha,,,"
Zhao Fan was overjoyed and said, "God is really helping me."
Zhao Fan raised his head and laughed, and then he continued without stopping and ordered to continue moving forward. Before, he was worried that he would not be able to catch up with the time, but now he no longer had to worry.
Five days later, Taizhou.
On this day, Li Quan's army reached the gates of Taizhou City.
Song Ji, the magistrate of Taizhou, closed the city gate tightly and patrolled the city with Pan Cheng, the defender. When they saw Li Quan's 50,000-strong army, they were both sweating profusely.
"General Pan, the rebels are attacking in large numbers, what should we do?"
There were only three to four thousand people guarding the city in Taizhou. Facing Li Quan's fifty thousand army, Song Ji's hands were shaking and his words were vibrato.
Pan Cheng was not much better. He said: "Your Majesty, the bandit army is powerful. Why don't we send someone to negotiate with him. As long as he is willing to withdraw, we will give him some money."
"Very good, this is a very good plan."
Song Ji didn't have so much control at this time. As long as Li Quanjun retreated, he would agree to anything.
So Song Ji ordered people to leave the city to discuss the withdrawal of troops.
Li Quan met with the officials sent by Song Ji with great interest. Li Quan asked Song Ji how much money he was willing to pay in grain to redeem the city.
The clerk said: "The governor said that as long as the general is willing to retreat, we can send him 20,000 guan of money, plus 1,000 shi of salt and 3,000 shi of grain."
"Hahaha,,,"
Li Quan laughed, pulled out his knife, and walked over slowly, frightening the clerk to step back, "General, if you don't agree, I will go back and talk to the magistrate."
"No need, I can take the money myself, why do you need to give it to me?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Li Quan slashed with his sword and hacked the clerk to death.
"Send the order and attack the city."
Li Quan gave the order and an army of 50,000 men began to attack the city.
Song Ji and Pan Cheng were frightened and hurriedly ordered people to guard and defend to the death.
During the battle, Song Jidao said: "General Pan, the rebels have already attacked the city. It is useless for me to stay here. I will go and organize young soldiers for the general to strengthen the city defense."
Pan Cheng nodded, "That's very good."
Song Ji held up his skirt and left the city in a panic, running towards the Yamen.
As soon as he arrived at the Yamen, Song Ji took his wife, concubines and children and fled towards the south gate.
At this time, the main attack direction of Li Quan's army was at the north gate, and Song Ji and his party finally escaped from Taizhou smoothly through the south gate.
The war had just begun when Song Ji, the prefect of the state, ran away. When the news spread, the morale of the soldiers defending the city in Taizhou was in chaos. Pan Cheng also knew that the situation was over. Finally, he took a hard turn and ordered Kaicheng to surrender. At this point, Taizhou fell.
Lin'an, Imperial Palace, Funing Hall.
Zhao Yun looked at the memorial sent from the front line and threw the memorial to the ground angrily. Zheng Qingzhi and Han Hong were frightened. They had never seen Zhao Yun get so angry.
Zhao Yun said angrily: "The governor fled and the defender surrendered. You are really a good minister of mine."
Zheng Qingzhi had sweat on his forehead and raised his hand and said: "Your Majesty, please calm down. Song Ji is running away. I have ordered people to arrest him. I believe he will be captured and brought to justice soon."
Han Hong said: "Your Majesty, please calm down. Although Taizhou has fallen, for the overall situation, the benefits outweigh the disadvantages, not all benefits."
Zhao Yun took a deep breath, adjusted his emotions, and calmed down.
Zhao Yun naturally knew what Han Hong meant. Everyone expected that Li Quan would attack Yangzhou, causing chaos and tension in the region.
But now Li Quan is attacking Taizhou instead of Yangzhou. This result is undoubtedly good for the overall situation.
Because Taizhou's strategic position is far inferior to that of Yangzhou, Li Quan's attack on Taizhou undoubtedly delayed the situation in Yangzhou, giving Yangzhou more time to make arrangements calmly, and Zhao Fan also had enough time to enter Yangzhou, making Yangzhou's security more secure.
The security of Yangzhou means the stability of Lin'an, and for Li Quan, his rebel army cannot last long and will surely perish.
Gao Shi carefully picked up the memorial, put it back on the table, and stepped aside.
Zhao Yun stood upright, holding the table with the ten fingers of both hands, and asked Zheng Qingzhi: "I asked the Political Affairs Hall to select the candidate for Jianghuai's establishment, but there is no result yet?"
Because of Li Quan's rebellion, the entire Huaidong and Huaixi regions became a dangerous zone and could get out of control at any time.
In the past, the Jianghuai envoy system was a good job. It had jurisdiction over the Jiangdong and Lianghuai areas and had great power. Everyone was fighting to get there.
But now, no one dares to mention it, and once it is mentioned, it disappears like a plague.
Zheng Qingzhi swallowed his mouth and looked very nervous. He raised his hand and said: "Your Majesty, I also have a few candidates, but when I asked them one by one, they were either sick or pretending to be confused. I knew that if they were used by force, they would
I'm afraid that not only will the matter not be accomplished, but it will also cause chaos."
At this moment, Zheng Qingzhi has realized the difficulty of being an independent prime minister. In the past, when there was only one prime minister in the court, who had all the power, who would not envy him.
But when something difficult happens, as the only prime minister in the imperial court, there is no one to share the responsibility, so it is difficult to say anything.
Zhao Yun frowned, his eyes flashing with anger.
Zhao Yun said: "Show me how many candidates you have, I don't believe it. I usually have high-ranking officials and generous salaries, but if something happens and they are asked to do it, what high-sounding reason can they have to refuse?"
Zheng Qingzhi had no choice but to choose the candidates. There were three in total, but Zhao Yun focused on Zhao Shanxiang.
Zhao Yun looked through Zhao Shanxiang's past experience and saw that he had been serving in the Jianghuai area for twenty-five years since he was a Jinshi in the second year of Qingyuan. He was transferred to Dali Shaoqing last year and edited by Youwendian.
With his qualifications and understanding of the Jianghuai area, he is still a good candidate to serve as the Jianghuai envoy.
Zhao Yun nodded and asked Zheng Qingzhi: "Why is this Zhao Shanxiangzhao unwilling to serve as Jianghuai envoy?"
Zheng Qingzhi said: "I discussed it with him face to face. His reason was that he had compiled too many books and his wrist was no longer working. When the weather changed, the pain was severe. I observed that there was indeed something strange in his wrist. It doesn't look like he was lying."
"pull."
Zhao Yun directly sprayed it, "I asked him to be the envoy of Jianghuai to coordinate local affairs and provide support to Zhao Fan. I didn't ask him to carry a knife and a gun. What does the pain in his wrist have to do with it?"