Chapter 3 After Wu Yi (see below) and Er Ya had a dispute, Li Xu thought more clearly about where to go from now on. As many people have seen, the Sui Dynasty was indeed terminally ill. What he can do now
Yes, I am just trying my best to repay His Majesty the Emperor for his kindness and the teachings of the old General Zhang Xutuo. Even if Wagang can be successfully pacified during this trip, there are still countless thieves causing trouble in other areas. As long as the aristocratic families who control the government still go their own way.
, even if ten Li Xu and Zhang Xutuo join forces, they can't change the general trend of this country's continued destruction.
Therefore, instead of dying in despair like General Zhang, it is better to return to Boling after fulfilling your due obligations to protect the local peace. The court and the powerful officials are guilty of serious crimes, but the local people are innocent. They should not,
There is no need to die for these troubled times. Xuzi thinks that he has no power to save the fate of the entire country, but he knows that he is still capable of protecting a corner of the country. In troubled times, that is his duty and his destiny.
After thinking clearly about the future direction of development, he immediately ordered his brothers to change the marching route and not to actively provoke the newly emerged gangsters in Jibei and Dongping. Instead, he took the team a short detour to the south and took Lu.
There are three relatively peaceful areas including Pengcheng County, Pengcheng County and Liang County County, which are close to Xingyang in a roundabout way.
Although the heavy cavalry and infantry were left north of the Yellow River, the Boling Army's march was still much slower than usual. At present, Henan, known as the granary, is severely dilapidated, with dead grass and shrubs growing on both sides of the official road.
More than half a person tall, most of the forts where people gathered three years ago have been turned into ruins. This situation has brought great trouble to marching and camping. Sometimes, in order to find a campsite that is close to water sources and is not afraid of being set on fire and attacked by people,
, they had to walk for two to three more hours along the dilapidated official road. Sometimes in order to preserve the physical strength of the soldiers, Li Xu had to order the entire army to stay in the county town that they finally found for one to two days, even if they stayed in the city.
, everyone did not dare to relax their vigilance too much. Since the death of old general Zhang Xutuo, the number of people who believe that Li Mi is the true emperor has invisibly increased several times. Within just a few days of Li Xu's stay in Qi County, Wagang
There were already four county towns around the mountain. The officials of the Sui Dynasty used the city and its people to claim credit from Li Mi to obtain the complete city as the foundation. The strength of the Wagang Army grew rapidly, and it became more and more capable of replacing the imperial court. This was the key to success or failure.
Every moment, there are countless "heroes" and "heroes" who try to take advantage of the opportunity to seek wealth or leave their names in the history books. Once someone takes the risk to start an uprising while the Boling Army is resting, the soldiers who are unfamiliar with the place will definitely be beaten.
caught off guard
In addition to being so busy with military affairs that smoke rose from his forehead, Li Xu was also shocked by the war reports that kept coming from various places. Unlike Hebei, which is far away from the center of power, although the security in Henan counties in the important area of Gyeonggi is chaotic, all kinds of news are spread very timely.
While passing through Xiaqiu, the seat of Lu County, he received the bad news that the right guard general Chen Leng, who was ordered to conquer Du Fuwei, was completely wiped out and only escaped with his own life. On the tenth day of the first lunar month, he got a close call in Feng County in the north of Pengcheng County.
In the battle report, the rogue Xu Yuanlang led his troops to bypass Qi County and entangled the bandits near Juyeze and once again captured Yuncheng, the seat of Dongping County. The entire Dongping was no longer owned by the Sui Dynasty. There is another unconfirmed news that sounds even more depressing.
, Zhuojun soldiers who once belonged to the Boling Army fell into Dou Jiande's fake surrender plan in Changhe County a year ago. The general guard Guo Xuan was killed on the spot, and less than 2,000 of the more than 10,000 brothers escaped.
"What are you doing, Yang Yichen?" Wang Xuba was furious at the news of Guo Xuan's death. He beat the tree trunk next to the camp and cursed, "When we left, we entrusted him with a complete army of soldiers and horses. This old man
But he failed to live up to the general’s trust..."
"Young Lao'er will not be interested in the general's territory!" Guo Fang and Guo Xuan are related to each other. In addition to being annoyed, he could not help but make things worse. Last year, the Boling Army took the initiative to kill in Hejian. Part of the reason was fear.
Yang Yichen plotted against the six counties in the name of suppressing bandits. Now that Li Xu himself is not in his hometown, it is inevitable that some shameless guys will forget their righteousness.
"Senior Yang is not that kind of person. Before our own people send detailed battle reports from Hebei, everyone, please stay calm!" Li Xu frowned and advised in a low voice, "Don't spread this rumor randomly, so as not to affect the morale of the military.
As long as Zhao Sima and General Lu are here, there will be no chaos in Boling!"
"What the general said makes sense. Zhao Sima is cautious and decisive. If Yang Yichen used the hands of bandits to frame our people, he would not sit idly by and ignore it!" Zhang Jiang thought for a while and agreed from the side, 'This trip is a bit abrupt!'
When the army crossed the Yellow River, many generals with former county soldiers led by him secretly regretted their original recklessness. In their eyes, the reason why General Li gave up the opportunity to make great achievements in Hebei but took the risk of sending his troops southward was soon revealed.
To a large extent, it is to protect the friendship with everyone, but if the overall situation and the future development of the Boling Army are affected for the sake of friendship, everyone will never feel at peace.
With anxiety and depression, they continued to move forward through uninhabited villages and across the wilderness covered with thorns. Spring came early on the south bank of the Yellow River, almost just after the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. There were already people beside the thawed stream.
The fragrance of new grass on the ground made the war horses extremely excited, and their footsteps were brisk. However, people's mood did not become brighter at all because of the return of spring.
Arriving near Yongqiu on the edge of the canal, the messenger who had detoured from Boling finally caught up with the army. Sima Zhao Ziming reported in detail the reasons for Guo Xuan's death in battle and the aftermath he had done in the letter.
Judging from the wording in the article, Guo Xuan's failure was mainly due to underestimating the enemy, not being framed. His death did not have a great impact on the six counties of Boling. It can even be said that the power of the local wealthy families was weakened a lot as a result.
Zhao Ziming and Lu Qin tried their best to gather the remnant soldiers who had escaped from the battlefield, and sent a sentry horse from the Boling Army headquarters to station in Zhuo County to re-form a horned force with Xue Shixiong's army.
The group of talents selected by Li Xu through the imperial examination last year have gradually adapted to their new identities. With the support of this group of emerging forces, the situation in the six counties is currently very optimistic. Before the end of the year, many people from war-torn areas are crossing the mountains.
Based on last year's farming experience, Cui Qian and other civil officials have tried their best to place the refugees near Yishui, Xushui and Laishui with ample water sources and gentle terrain. In less than two years, those emerging villages will surely provide six
County provides more tax revenue
But the situation outside the six counties is not optimistic at all. It is rumored that Shuofang Ying Yanglang killed Liang Shidu, the county prime minister. Emperor Shizong of the Tang Dynasty.
He was also killed by his general Liu Wuzhou. Hejun rebelled against the Sui Dynasty and surrendered to the Turks. He did not know what the imperial court was planning. Instead of sending any troops to conquer the rebellion, he instead sent the old general Yang Yichen who was fighting the rogue bandits in southern Hebei.
He was transferred back to Jiangdu and served as Minister of War. Just before Yang Yichen left, Yang Shanhui, the governor of Qinghe County who had killed Zhang Jincheng, was defeated by Dou Jiande again, and the entire army was wiped out.
"If this continues, before we reach Xingyang, Luoyang may also be lost to those guys from the imperial court!" After reading the letter from Boling, Zhang Jiang was so depressed that he whipped the withered grass under his feet with a riding crop and sent it flying everywhere.
He learned the word "play" from the former bandit king Junkuokou, and it couldn't be more appropriate to describe the powerful officials in the imperial court. It turns out that there was an agreement between General Li and Old General Yang. When the Boling Army went south to force Wagang
While the army was behind the scenes, Yang Yichen would take the opportunity to join forces with Wei Ji, Guo Xuan, Yang Shanhui and others to wipe out the remaining bandits in Hebei, and then they would all attack from the north and the south, which would definitely make the Wagang army unable to care about each other.
Instead, Guo Xuan and Yang Shanhui were killed by Dou Jiande. Now that the imperial court transferred Yang Yichen to Jiangdu, only Wei Ji was left in the counties in southern Hebei to support the overall situation. The strength of the two thieves Dou Jiande and Gao Kaidao was enough.
The minions sent by the Wagang Army to Hebei, which had entangled Wei Ji to death, just took the opportunity to be transferred back to wait for work and fight against Li Xu.
"Do you think Li Mi is an insider in the court?" Wang Junkuo was also very disappointed with the new news. He raised his thick eyebrows and asked, "Why does every move by the court seem to be cooperating with him?"
On the contrary, we look like we are being plotted together by the imperial court and the Wagang Army!"
"That's not certain. Haven't you ever heard someone say that the emperor cannot surrender, but ministers will be prouder the sooner they surrender?" Guo Fang shook his head and sighed, "Many people believe that he has destiny, so they are eager to follow the dragon.
The merit!"
"Bah!" Wang Xuba spat thick phlegm on the ground and cursed in a low voice, "If Li Mi had been destined by destiny, he would have been chased like a rabbit back then and was hiding in Tibet? Whoever believes that is stupid.
There are many people with the surname Li in the world, and if I had to choose, I would rather believe that the general is the one who receives the destiny, rather than believe that he is the one who receives the destiny!"
After scolding, everyone had to admit that the situation faced by the Boling Army was ten times more difficult than originally imagined. Seventy-eight percent of the way to the west has been completed, and the remaining section is what Zhang Xutuo walked through back then, but he was close to it.
The two cities of Yangwu and Yuanwu on the canal still belonged to the Sui Dynasty, but now they have been completely controlled by the Wagang Army. If the Boling Army still wants to take advantage of the water transportation of the Tongji Canal, it will have to face it alone before reaching Xingyang.
The Wagang Army's pursuit and interception can be estimated based on the time the messenger spent on the road. Before Zhao Ziming's message was delivered, all the Wagang Army's forces sent to Hebei had been withdrawn. This meant that Meng Rang, Hao Xiaode, Wang Deren, Li Shicai, and Wei Liu'er
, Li Deqian, Zhang Qian, Li Wenxiang, Hei She, Bai She, Hu Lv'er, these great thieves who dominate the world, will appear opposite Boling Army at the same time.
Can the four thousand Boling Army defeat so many opponents? Wang Xuba, who had never known panic, hesitated a little. He looked at Li Xu with inquiring eyes, hoping that the coach would make a relatively wise choice.
"When did Zhang Jincheng die at the hands of Yang Shanhui?" As if he was not aware of the expectation in the Taoist general's eyes, Li Xu read the military book again, raised his head and asked the messenger
"Last October, shortly after the general defeated Gao Shida." The messenger was a veteran who had retired due to his age, and he still had the spirit of a soldier. Hearing Li Xu's inquiry, he immediately put his legs together and reported loudly, "But everyone said,
If we hadn't wiped out Zhang Jincheng's main force in one battle, Yang Tongshou would not be Zhang Jincheng's enemy at all!"
As a member of the battle that year, he was deeply proud of the achievements of the Boling Army. At that time, the army first arrived in Hebei and was as unfamiliar with the place as it is now. However, Zhang Jin said that before that, he had traveled through more than a dozen counties and had never encountered any
The enemy: "Now the common people say that only when our general is in Hebei, the army and the army know how to fight." He looked around and added with pride. During his words, the pride of a warrior was evident.
"Daniu, order everyone to go to Yongqiu City to rest for two days. We will break camp early the day after tomorrow and go directly to Li Gongyi's lair to tell the brothers that from here to Xingyang, wherever Fanwagang's army is entrenched on both sides of the canal, we will pick one after another.
