Chapter 4: Subversion (Part 2) Pei Ren was basically jealous of Li Xu becoming his immediate boss, but when he saw that the other party was willing to taint himself in order to defend himself, he felt the evil fire in his heart. After calming down, he thought about his recent experiences, sighed, lowered his eyelids, and turned his head back to the map.
When Zheng Bo saw that Pei Renji had stopped first, he also let out a low "hum" and looked away from the opponent's face like a knife. Li Xu knew that he could not resolve the knot between Pei and Zheng with just a few words. Knowing that Zheng Bo, the governor of Xiangcheng County, was the core of the various county soldiers, he stopped dwelling on the matter and smiled, turning the conversation back to the current battle situation.
"Everyone just said they were unwilling to fight with Wagang, but it's not that they are afraid. The crux of the matter is that there are traitors in power and the court is unfair, isn't it?" He still had a smile on his face, as if he was chatting with a group of old friends. He complained, not thinking that he was discussing with everyone military matters involving the lives and deaths of tens of thousands of people.
"The generals and others dare not criticize the government, but the county soldiers are all motherless children. This is also known to everyone!" County Lieutenant Zhou Ying stood up and responded loudly.
"Since ancient times, emperors have always been hungry, but our brothers have been hungry for almost half a year!" Zhaowu Colonel Huang Qiao added loudly
The generals talked to each other and summed up several reasons why they did not want to go to war. In the final analysis, they were all afraid of being abandoned by the court if they lost the soldiers in their hands. They did not even have the face to explain to the elders in their hometown.
"I have no control over what the imperial court did in the past!" After everyone had finished explaining their reasons, Li Xu nodded and continued to ask: "But if I promise you, from now on the county soldiers will receive the same food, grass and pay as the government soldiers. The weapons and equipment will be given the same as the imperial soldiers, the battle losses will be replenished in the same way as the imperial soldiers, and the meritorious service will be promoted in the same way as the imperial soldiers. Are you willing to go with me to meet the heroes of Wagang?"
"Of course I do! Who likes to huddle in the city with a bad reputation, watching the thieves come and go as if they are in no one's land!" As soon as he finished speaking, Zhou Ying was the first to stand up and express his position.
"The question is, is the general sure enough to get money and food for us? Back then, Dongdu had promised General Zhang countless supplies, but he always used rough roads as an excuse to delay it until the old general died..." Zheng Bo didn't believe Li Xubi. Zhang Xutuo is still very capable, so he responded cautiously
He deliberately kept his voice low, but everyone present heard clearly. This time, Pei Renji did not get up to argue with him, because he did not get a penny from Dongdu after he took over the money and food pension for the children of Qijun under his command. His old acquaintance was willing to seek an official position for him, but his distrustful attitude toward the county soldiers was exactly the same as when Zhang Xutuo was in office. It did not change at all because the leader of the army was now named Pei.
Li Xu glanced around and saw expressions of longing and disappointment on everyone's face. He knew that he was getting closer to the expected goal, nodded, and gave a positive answer with a smile.
"On my way here, I have already opened the passage to the southeast of Xingyang. As long as everyone works harder, we can take back the entire Tongji Canal, so that all the money and grain handed over to the imperial court by the counties will continue to flow from Caishui and Tongji Canal. Your Majesty sent me an imperial edict from the ground and approved my authority to mobilize supplies from the counties in Henan. So after the canal is opened, we will use the money and grain owed by the counties to satisfy the brothers' supplies first, and then send them to the Eastern Capital!"
This was one of the purposes of his aggressive war in Yongqiu and near Kaifeng. On the way to Xingyang to take office, he found that although the war was spreading everywhere, the treasury in many places was still filled to the brim by officials.
They dare not and are unwilling to use part of it to relieve the people. They have no reason to embezzle what should be transported to the imperial court. Therefore, restoring the channel connecting the imperial court and local areas has become the first goal of Asahi's troops. As long as he firmly grasps the control of the canal,
If he has the right, he will not worry about the soldiers under his command being as short of food and clothing as the children of Qijun
After hearing Li Xu's words, the generals were stunned for a moment, and then exploded with a bang. They didn't expect the new coach to be so bold, and even dared to withhold the supplies sent to Dongdu. But then they thought, the counties in eastern Henan
The connection with Luoyang has been cut off for more than a day or two. Li Xu's doing this cannot be considered as actively provoking trouble. Besides, what if it makes Dongdu dissatisfied? General Li's golden sword was given by the emperor, and the King of Yue
No matter how arrogant the people around you are, they will not dare to challenge the authority of the emperor and the late emperor.
"Yes, anyway, Dongdu said that if the roads are not smooth, we can't send money and food to us. Likewise, we can't send it to him!" Zhou Ying shouted loudly, fearing that the world would not be in chaos.
"If we hadn't opened the canal, Dongdu still wouldn't be able to catch anything this time. At least the adults can get some!" Huang Qiao, the captain of Zhaowu School, stroked his beard with a smile on his face, as if he had seen the money and grain being transported to Guancheng.
"Your Majesty has granted the power of general, and the general will naturally arrange the food, grass and baggage of the counties in Henan!" Pei Renji's gloomy face looked much brighter. He smiled and said, "But I'm afraid there are still two things that are not right. First,
, what should the counties do if they still refuse to hand over the money and grain on the grounds of poor roads? Second, we currently control the west bank of the canal, but the Wagang Army may cut off the river from the east bank at any time, how should we respond? "
"There is only one way to force them!" Li Xu replied loudly without thinking, "If the counties refuse to send money and food, I will send troops to escort the Wagang thieves who dare to block the road and rob. We are officers and soldiers, can we really do that?"
Are you afraid of these bandits?"
"Yes, let's compete with them and we can't let the thieves hold our necks all the time!"
"Fight, if you dare to snatch the food from our rice bowls, are the weapons in our hands just for viewing?!"
The generals were so excited when they heard this that they were shouting at each other, almost forgetting that just a quarter of an hour ago, they had announced that their morale was low and they could not leave the city to fight against the Wagang Army.
"But before going to war, we must at least replenish some supplies to each department. Otherwise, the morale will still be low, and there may not be a chance of winning against the Wagang Army!" Pei Renji pondered for a moment and added
"I will ask Governor Yu to open the Guancheng warehouse, and first allocate grain from the warehouse to you according to the actual number of people under your command, and first make up for the needs for two months!" Li Xu was prepared for this problem, smiled, and gave
A very satisfactory answer for everyone
"It would have been better if you had come a few months earlier!" Pei Renji nodded, and there was regret in his words, implying that with so many officers and soldiers in Xingyang County, no one would have the courage to use the official warehouses left over from the late emperor's time to meet military needs.
As a result, hundreds of thousands of stones of grain stored in Luokou Warehouse were obtained for free by the Wagang Army. If everyone had known this result earlier, it would be better to take the risk and share it. Let’s read the first release on the literature website. Please come and support the drunkards.
"Yes, the general came here a few months ago. It is estimated that Gongxian County Magistrate Chai Xiaohe will not be cornered and surrender to the Wagang Army." Zheng Bo sighed and took over Pei Renji's words for the first time.
The bad news that Gong County and Luokou Cang were captured by the Wagang Army came on the third day after Li Xu entered Guancheng. According to rumors, Xu Maogong, the thief, was already preparing to withdraw his troops, but Chai Xiaohe, the magistrate of Gong County, and
However, the two supervisory censors, Zheng Ting, could not withstand the huge pressure of the reinforcements being wiped out halfway, so they surrendered the city in order to protect themselves. The Wagang Army loaded all the grain in the Luokou warehouse into trucks and transported it in with the help of hungry people and common people.
In order to have food to eat in Baihua Valley, a large number of hungry people turned to thieves, which suddenly increased the number of Wagang soldiers in Baihua Valley to more than 100,000. Coupled with the weapons and armor "gifted" by Liu Changgong, their prestige was greatly enhanced.
"I don't think the same thing will happen again in the future!" Li Xu stopped the two of them and said very confidently that he needed to maintain the atmosphere in front of him and not let the mistakes that had already happened destroy the morale that had been mobilized so hard.
With only four thousand cavalry in hand, he could not defeat the Wagang Army. In his eyes, all county soldiers can be good helpers, it depends on how the general uses them.
"The last general is willing to lead his troops to clean up the remaining bandits on both sides of the canal!" Wang Bian, the tiger-toothed general who had been listening to everyone's discussion, saw that Li Xu had won the support of everyone, and stepped forward to volunteer. Previously, he only admired Li Xu's
Brave, but at this moment, he is grateful that the imperial court sent such a bold and courageous general to take charge of the overall situation at the critical moment. If no big surprise occurs, Wang Bian can be sure that the ragtag group of people in Wagang are definitely not like this.
General Lee's opponent
"The last general is willing to fight side by side with Mr. Wang!" Zheng Bo, who had given Li Xu countless problems, was also satisfied, stood up, stood solemnly and held his hands.
"I am willing to go with you, Mr. Wang!"
"I hope that the general will act accordingly!" Upon seeing that Zheng Bo had expressed his stance, the generals also expressed their willingness to accept Li Xu's mission.
"In this case, the general will return to Hulao, and all the county soldiers will come out of the seclusion to meet!" Pei Renji promised with a smile, unwilling to be left behind.
"Everyone, please be patient. We will discuss how and when to send troops later!" After winning the initial support of the generals, Li Xu immediately went to fight with the Wagang army without any hurry. He smiled and said,
said
"What are you discussing? I'll just listen to your arrangements!" Zheng Bo said the same sentence again, but the expression on his face was almost completely different from before.
"Yes, we will do whatever you say, no ambiguity!" The generals once again stated their willingness to obey Li Xu's orders.
"Everyone trusts Li so much. Thank you very much." Li Xu smiled and held his hands in a very graceful manner. "But before assigning tasks, I have to ask you a few questions?"
"General, if you have anything to say, feel free to ask. As long as the brothers know it, we will never hide it!" All the generals stood upright and responded loudly.
