Chapter 4: Subversion (Part 5) The mighty general Liu Yifang returned to Youzhou four days later than expected. It was already midnight when he drove into Jixian County. However, regardless of his fatigue, he broke into the mansion of the general manager Luo Yi. After holding the candle and discussing for more than two hours, until the window paper shone brightly, they went to have a rest with red eyes.
After almost half an hour the next morning, Luo Yi couldn't wait to rush to the meeting hall and ordered his soldiers to beat the drums and gather together, summoning all his subordinates to discuss the next step.
Rumors that the negotiations with Boling failed have already spread in the army, so the younger generation of generals are all gearing up to take control of Youzhou. Youzhou has always attached great importance to military merit, but now there is a lack of troops close to Luo Yi's territory that can compete with the Huben cavalry. Therefore, the opponent's attack on Boling is the only opportunity that many officers can seize in recent years. If you miss it, you don't know when you can look forward to it again.
Some battlefield veterans and civilian staff looked solemn. The wealth in front of them was hard-won. They did not want to lose the prosperity they already held in their hands because of a hasty decision. Moreover, the war was dangerous and the battle was fierce. There were many factors that affected the outcome, not only Just the comparison of the military strength between the enemy and ours, an accidental heavy rain, or a plague without warning, may destroy an army that has fought hundreds of battles. Therefore, we can make decisions more cautiously. It is better for everyone to be cautious to avoid speculation that fails and is defeated instead. People are chasing after you, and you have even lost your capital to live and settle down.
The argument between the aggressive and prudent factions has been going on for a long time, and no one can convince the other. Therefore, every time there is a disturbance in the outside world, the two sides must have another quarrel in private. But with Luo Yi suppressing it from the commander's position, everyone tries to limit the scope of attack to the opponent. Occasionally there were violations within the framework of not dealing with people, but they were quickly corrected to prevent the entire Youzhou Road from suffering losses.
This time, Luo Yi didn't give anyone time to show off their rhetoric. As soon as everyone arrived, he ordered Liu Yifang to take out a letter said to be autographed by the champion general Li Xu and read it in front of everyone. Let's read it first on Literary.net
The whole letter was written in four parallel lines, and it didn't look like it was written by a warrior. But the meaning expressed between the lines was still understood by the people in Youzhou. The Boling Army was perfunctory, and said it with a look of contempt. "The duty of a general is only to protect", as if the Youzhou Army was just a bunch of hungry bandits who conquered the world just to sit on the ground and divide the spoils. They talked about "strict military discipline and practice more benevolence and righteousness", as if there was no one but Li Li in the world. Except for the general, the other generals are all gangsters who commit crimes. Sooner or later, God will send you to you. Since Li Xu has the heart of a saint, why not dedicate the foundation of five and a half counties and then retire to Linquan? Isn't it just to support the army? Self-respect and the plan to find the right opportunity to compete in the world?
But this letter cannot be regarded as completely perfunctory. At least Li Xu stated in the letter that if Luo Yi, the general manager of Youzhou, went south to destroy Dou Jiande, he would "beat the drums and sound the horns to strengthen the general's conduct", and promised to fight against Dou Jiande. After Gao Kaidao was wiped out, he immediately came to His Majesty the Emperor to express his gratitude for the heroic cavalry's contribution to "supporting the imperial court and relieving the people." He would never watch helplessly as the achievements of the people of Youzhou were wiped out by some officials with ulterior motives.
"There is a clever counselor beside Li Xu who is giving guidance." After listening to the letter, both the adventurous and conservative factions came to the same conclusion. Regarding the nature of that close neighbor, and based on the idea of knowing oneself and the enemy, many Youzhou generals were somewhat In their opinion, Li Xu is a kind of military general with an extremely upright temperament. He rarely talks to people in roundabout ways, including the last time he sent a letter asking the Tigers and the Ben Iron Cavalry to go north to the grassland and take the Turks' retreat. He also explained the stakes after a few words. It must be obvious that it is not like this time at all. It gives people endless room for imagination, but in fact it is equivalent to not promising any benefits.
It is obviously far-fetched to use this letter as an excuse to declare war. It will only make onlookers think that the Youzhou Army is angry, but it is even more impossible to regard the Boling Army as an ally. What the other party promised is to wait for the Youzhou Army to eliminate Dou.
, after Gao Lianglu rebelled against the bandits, he expressed his merits to the court on behalf of all the generals, instead of recommending Luo Yi to be Hebei's arrest ambassador. Moreover, the premise of this move was that the Youzhou army could really wipe out the rebels and restore order in Hebei. In Dou, Gao Er's thieves did not
Before the destruction, there was no substantive agreement between the Boling Army and the Youzhou Army.
"You're a cunning boy! May I ask General Liu, has Boling agreed to another mission entrusted to you by the Marshal?" After whispering a few words with several similarly young generals around him, Cao Yuan was not angry with Shen and was the first to stand up.
express one's anger
"No!" Liu Yifang shook his head and smiled bitterly, "They say that the government does not compete with the people for profit. Although ironware is resold by the government in this dynasty, the six counties and Youzhou are within the territory of the Sui Dynasty, and there is no need to be as strict as the Turks and Goryeo. So as long as
We allow merchants to buy and sell pig iron here, and carefully consider taxes and fees. The circulation between grain and pig iron can naturally be driven by the people, and there is no need for the government to intervene!"
"Then why are you hesitating? Just call us! They refused to accept the two suggestions made by the commander-in-chief. It's obvious that they don't take We Youzhou seriously because of the support of the Hunjun!" Before Liu Yifang could say anything else,
After finishing, Cao Yuanrang was already angry and his face was black and blue, and he roared:
Luo Yi, the general manager of Youzhou, entrusted Liu Yifang with two tasks. The first was to make an appointment with Boling to jointly send troops to sweep away rebellions in the counties of Hebei for the imperial court. The second was to allow Youzhou to do so at a price mutually acceptable to both parties.
The state exchanged pig iron, horses and leather for grain from the six counties of Boling. No matter which of the two agreements was reached, in the eyes of the outside world, it was equivalent to tying Boling to the Youzhou chariot. However, Liu Yifang had been away for only half a month, and he actually didn't do anything.
No benefits gained
"As for the rawhide and war horses, the other party made an opening!" Ignoring Cao Yuanrang's anger, Liu Yifang shrugged his shoulders and continued that he looked down on Cao Yuanrang who was bluffing, but he was unwilling to hurt the relationship with this person because of the other party's true situation.
He is definitely not as impetuous and ignorant as he appears on the surface. The reason why this person repeatedly pretends to be crazy and stupid in public is just a way of dealing with the forces behind him. People with discerning eyes have seen this since Cao Yuanrang had a dispute with General Zhongwu and two infantrymen last year.
It can be seen from the results of the handling that Cao Yuanrang, who deliberately slandered his superiors, was only demoted one level, while the infantry who had followed Luo Yi for many years was sent to guard outside the fortress. It was not so much that Luo Gong valued his ability to take charge of his own affairs.
Said that he was kicked out of the decision-making circle of Youzhou Army
"They said that the price of their own goods is much lower than that supplied by Youzhou, and the quantity can meet the needs of the military. So thank you Marshal for your kindness. As for private transactions, the six counties have never banned it, so naturally they will not interfere too much!"
As soon as he said these words, Cao Yuanrang's arrogance was suddenly reduced by half. Iron ore, rawhide and war horses are necessary for the preparation of the army. Therefore, the transaction request put forward by Youzhou is not only beneficial to his own family. The iron ore of the six counties under Li Xu's rule is
Mineral output is not high, and rawhide and war horses are scarce. If Li Xu wants to develop and strengthen, the three goods provided by Youzhou are indispensable. However, Boling took advantage of Youzhou's weakness of excessive taxes and declined the proposal in disguise.
, and through discussions on supply and price, it was vaguely revealed that they may have a very close ally.
The source of the iron ore may be Hedong. After all, Li Yuan and Li Xu are also known as uncles and nephews of the same clan. As for the rawhide and war horses, except for the three counties of Liaodong under Luo Yi's rule, they can only come from the Hu people. Thinking of this, someone immediately remembered
Pan Zhanyang, who was delivering the letter for Li Xu that day, frowned and exclaimed: "The person named Pan last time was not some kind of steward of the Khitan people? Could it be that the Khitan people have been supporting him?"
"Support is not necessarily certain, but there must be contact between each other!" Liu Yifang nodded, agreeing with his colleague's speculation, "From the area controlled by Xue Shixiong, you can still go to the Khitan tribe and sell good horses and rawhide.
Damn, Li is a merchant and knows these things very well!"
"If it's the Khitans, it's not a big problem. I'm worried about the Turks. Legend has it that the man named Li once had a white wolf in his hand, which was regarded as a sacred object by the Turks." Shi Qinyong, the marching commander under Luo Yi, thought for a while and said worriedly.
If the reality is as he expected, the situation will become even more complicated and confusing. At present, the Sui Dynasty is on the verge of collapse, and many foreigners who originally surrendered to the Central Plains have shown their claws again. Needless to say, in Yanmen County, which is close to Hebei, Liu Wuzhou attacked the Turks.
The little Khan's banner is everywhere to attack the city. If Li Xu is forced to do anything, and he follows Liu Wuzhou's example and recruits foreign invaders for help, Youzhou will immediately face the danger of being attacked from both sides.
"How can this person be so shameless? He even dares to collude with the Turks!" Several Youzhou generals were dissatisfied and cursed angrily, not even considering how different their own actions of provoking war for no reason were from the Turks' behavior.
"No matter what, we have to be careful! What the Turks hate the most is us Youzhou!" Several other veterans who have followed Luo Yi for many years suggested that the Tiger and Ben Iron Cavalry should be stationed at the frontier. Their main opponents are the Turks from Luo Yi down to
Ordinary soldiers, those with more than ten years of military experience, have never had their swords stained with Turkic blood.
"Ziyi and I have speculated last night that the man named Li will not form an alliance with the Turks. Although he is a bit ungrateful, he cannot collude with foreign enemies to humiliate his ancestors!" Luo Yi, the chief manager who had never spoken, shook his head.
Shaking his head, rejecting this possibility
Slandering an opponent cannot elevate oneself. The Chief Manager of Youzhou doesn't bother to do so. He understands Li Xu just as he understands his own past. He understands that this person came from a humble background, so deep down he is very proud that this person has paid dozens of times more than the children of the aristocratic family.
At the price, he has climbed from an ordinary soldier to a high position as a general step by step, and established a prestigious reputation. This person will cherish his reputation like a feather. He will never be short-sighted to the point of colluding with foreigners for temporary gain to defile himself. Luo Yi can even do it.
It is expected that Liu Yifang could rush back so quickly with Li Xu's autographed letter because before he arrived in Boling, Li Xu, who was far away in Henan, had already received the news that Xue Shixiong's army had been wiped out, and guessed that the person who did it was Youzhou.
army, so we made corresponding preparations in advance
"Then what are you hesitating about, Commander? Hebei is the foundation of the Overlord. That's where Yuan Shao laid the foundation. Instead of waiting for Li to continue to grow, we might as well uproot him as soon as possible!" Just when Luo Yi was praising his opponent, he misunderstood.
Cao Yuanrang, who realized what he meant, jumped out of the queue again and loudly suggested
"I have long wanted to fool me with a few empty words. Li's calculations are very good, but he underestimates us!" Luo Yi nodded with a sneer, and then added very hesitantly: "But Ziyi said
He also met another group of people in Boling, which made me have to be cautious!"
"Who?" Seeing Luo Yi's hesitation, several young generals knew that the coming person was the key to all problems, so they asked in unison.
The expression on Liu Yifang's face was obviously hesitant, and his eyes turned to Luo Yi, but after thinking about it for a while, there was no hint of objection from the coach, and he introduced it as simply as possible: "Li Shimin, the second son of Li Yuan from Hedong, General Ying Yanglang!"