When I received the news that the emperor's personal envoy Hu Fu had ordered the death of Shi Lan Changhao, the governor of Guizhou.
Ouyang Rong was in the main hall of Jiangzhou Hall, having a meeting with Wang Lengran, Yuan Huaimin, Yan Liulang and other six military officers to discuss the matter of material reserves in the city.
Since the fall of Hongzhou, the formerly loose Jiangzhou lobby has become more united.
Wang Lengran and other officials who had never been seen in the past were present. The main hall was rarely crowded every day, and meetings were held every day to receive battle reports from the direction of Hongzhou.
"What, Lan Changhao is dead? Was... given to death by the envoy Hu Zhong?"
Wang Lengran, who was a secret ally with the governor of Guizhou, was holding a copy of the latest Lingnan intelligence report with a strange expression on his face.
Ouyang Rong, who was lowering his eyes to record the amount of newly delivered food in the city today, put down his pen and turned his head.
Wang Lengran, Yuan Huaimin, Yan Liulang and others also turned their heads in surprise and looked at a certain person in the main hall, the envoy Hu Fu.
They have strange eyes.
"this……"
Khufu was shocked, suppressed his blush, and gritted his teeth and said:
"That's nonsense. The Zajia family has only been to Tanzhou Prefecture as far as this trip, and has never passed through Lingnan Road. Where did it go to Guizhou to issue such a ridiculous order?"
"Isn't it a secret message from the emperor sent by my father-in-law to be executed secretly?"
Thinking of His Majesty's character, Wang Lengran asked cautiously.
"Fucking fart. No."
Khufu couldn't help but uttered a curse word and stamped his feet:
"Don't look at the Zajia family. The Zajia family didn't do it. The saint had other plans... The Zajia family doesn't know, but the emperor's personal envoy in Guizhou is definitely not the Zajia family."
Everyone looked at each other, dumbfounded.
Khufu raised his eyebrows and asked, "Master Wang, where does this news come from?"
Wang Lengran was worried and Zhongzhong said:
"It was the first-hand news brought by some Lingnan merchants who had just arrived at Xunyangdu in the morning.
"These merchants travel all over the world and are active in the two lanes. They are the most well-informed and can run the fastest."
Khufu defended: "It cannot be said that three people became a tiger, and it became a rumor."
"Eunuch Hu is right."
Wang Lengran forced a smile and nodded, analyzing and saying:
"Lan Changshi is the chief official of Guizhou and takes the post of governor on his behalf. He is loyal to His Majesty. How can he possibly say that he will die on the basis of death and conspire to rebel? It is simply ridiculous. There must be rumors."
He turned his head and ordered with a straight face:
"Yan joined the army and arrested those profiteers who were spreading rumors. At this critical moment, it would be fine if we did not cooperate with Shi Jian. He dared to make lies to confuse the public, which made people panic..."
Khufu's expression softened a little, but a word came from beside him:
"No, it's you. The one who gave Lan Changhao death should be you, Eunuch Hu."
Everyone was stunned and turned to look, only to see Ouyang Rong, who had been listening, speaking calmly.
"What does Ouyang Changshi mean? The Za family is obviously here." Khufu frowned.
"Who said Eunuch Hu must be there?"
He said calmly, a few simple words, but they touched the heartstrings of the audience:
"As long as the Guizhou Hall thinks it is Eunuch Hu, and the seal and handwriting are safe, then he is the emperor's personal envoy."
Wang Lengran and others around him were still confused, but Khufu froze.
The tall eunuch, who had a beard again today, broke into a cold sweat:
"Seal oracle..."
Ouyang Rong looked at him without saying a word.
"Ouyang Changshi is saying that Cai Qin's people pretended to be Zajia and lied about the emperor's order to kill Lan Changhao?"
Huf felt troubled and paced back and forth.
As if he was remembering something, Wang Lengran on the side broke into a cold sweat and became restless.
Even more panicked than Khufu who failed in his duty.
Ouyang Rong watched coldly, thinking about other possibilities. During this period, he glanced at Wang Lengran.
I roughly know what he is worried about,
Lan Changhao was the culprit who delayed Cai Qin and other garrison soldiers, and Wang Lengran was also an accomplice.
Even though Lan Changhao was thousands of miles away, he was designed to die.
In addition, not long ago, Hongzhou City fell, and the trainer of the Hongzhou Military Mansion, Zhechong Changshi, was disemboweled in public.
It is conceivable that it is difficult for him, Wang Lengran, to run away.
Naturally panicked.
Ouyang Rong looked away and frowned slightly.
At this juncture, with this kind of news coming out, is it really just as simple as revenge?
Why can Zhu Lingxu, who is similar in nature to Lan Changhao, be fine if he surrenders?
By the way, Ouyang Rong also felt that something was wrong about Zhu Lingxu.
In the main hall, everyone had different thoughts.
On the afternoon of the day when the "rumor" came out in Guizhou, Khufu left Xunyang City with a heavy heart.
Hurry north and return to the divine capital.
Ouyang Rong saw Khufu board the ship at Xunyang Ferry and watched the ship go away.
He stood on the ferry with long sleeves, and the river wind blew his sideburns and snow-white sleeves.
On the way back riding Dongmei, Ouyang Rong glanced at the street.
Xunyangdu Wharf and Dongshi Street, which were bustling and bustling not long ago, are at least half as crowded as before.
Moreover, most of the pedestrians on the street were busy walking, walking in a hurry and not staying much.
Most of the businesses along the street have closed down, and the remaining half are packing up their stalls and preparing to close down and run away.
There were obviously not many pedestrians, and it was the turn of spring and summer, but the street was quite empty.
The atmosphere was a bit bleak and solemn.
From ancient times to the present, war has been the greatest destabilizing factor.
Businessmen seek advantages and avoid disadvantages.
In particular, a certain kind of storm is brewing in Hongzhou, the hinterland of Jiangnan Road, and people with a discerning eye can already smell the atmosphere of military fronts faintly pointing towards Jiangzhou.
Xunyang City, which sits on the busiest port in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, is naturally a prophet of the Spring River's flooding.
The impact of the Hongzhou Rebellion was immediate.
In the past few days, there have been a lot of passenger ships coming and docking from the upstream west direction of Hongzhou.
The merchants were all well-informed people. After receiving the news of the Hongzhou Rebellion, they ran from the west of Jiangnan Road to the southeast in advance.
In this era, Jiangnan Road was not prosperous and prosperous everywhere; the richest area was in the southeast.
The southeast is actually the hinterland of the Yangtze River, commonly known as the Jiangnan hinterland, and it is also a tax-rich area of the Zhou Dynasty. This area alone accounts for nearly 30% of the dynasty's fiscal revenue.
Jiangzhou and Hongzhou are the western gates that guard them.
Jiangzhou, which has the first ferry in the middle reaches and controls the throat of the Yangtze River, is also the gateway to the southeast.
Losing Hongzhou is like losing your lips.
And once Jiangzhou is lost, it means that it has no teeth and can be stabbed into the "stomach" in one step.
Therefore, in Xunyang City, even the officials who indulge in making noises know the importance of Jiangzhou at the moment.
Once something goes wrong, no one can escape.
This is why Wang Lengran and other officials in Jiangzhou Hall began to feel frightened and stressed.
Ouyang Rong came to his senses, patted Dongmei on the head, and returned to the Jiangzhou lobby.
In the following days, the number of ships anchored at Xunyang Ferry increased day by day.
However, there are new ship faces almost every day.
Because most of them were forcibly intercepted by the Xunyang Ferry, they had to dock at the ferry and wait for the Shipping Department at Jiangzhou Hall to search and check the documents before they could leave that night or the next day.
This is the suggestion put forward by Ouyang Rong.
Ships going to the southeast must be anchored and inspected to prevent Hongzhou rebels from hiding and going deep into the southeast.
At the same time, ships coming from the southeast and bound for Hongzhou must also be docked and inspected to prevent them from transporting important materials to the enemy.
It's just that the latter are relatively rare, and Jiangzhou Hall just takes precautions early.
As a result, there was an endless stream of boats, coming and going.
The merchants traveling on Jiangnan Road have a very keen sense of smell.
Some businessmen discovered that a certain weak official, Shi Zheng, was leading people to quietly renovate Suojiang Tower and Huilongji.
As if smelling a certain atmosphere, some gossip spread like wildfire,
So the merchant ships west of Jiangzhou rushed south and took advantage of the window to leave.
Ouyang Rong watched all this silently, did not stop him, and continued to be "prepared for any emergencies".
At the same time, he, Wang Lengran and other officials in Jiangzhou Hall were also waiting for reinforcements from the court.
At present, the news that Cai Qin and other garrison troops captured Hongzhou has already spread north to Luoyang. The imperial court has reacted and reinforcements from all directions are gathering.
However, Hongzhou, which is closest to Jiangzhou, has fallen into the hands of the enemy.
The latest large-scale military headquarters is still downstream in Yangzhou.
But Hongzhou is directly adjacent to Jiangzhou,
Even if you take the waterway, the distance from Yangzhou to Jiangzhou is much farther.
The imperial reinforcements will inevitably be slower, it's just a matter of how much slower.
As a result, the previously rebellious Wang Lengran changed his attitude 180 degrees and began to swallow his anger and fully support Ouyang Rong in hoarding food and water and strengthening the city defense.
Wang Lengran also took the initiative to take out the discarded weapons from the arsenal of the Third Zhechong Prefecture in Jiangzhou, collect iron materials, and help him melt them into iron chains...
Throughout early August, everyone in Jiangzhou City hoped to hold on until reinforcements arrived.
The latest news coming from Hongzhou is that after the fall of Hongzhou City, all the county towns in the territory are being taken over by Cai Qin's army one by one, either surrendered or defeated with the slightest resistance.
Cai Qin's army, which had gathered six to seven thousand men before, was digesting the territory of this state. It was recruiting troops and making preparations.
The next time they capture Jiangzhou, they don't know how many troops they will bring.
But there was one thing that puzzled everyone in Jiangzhou.
Everyone knows that Xunyang City controls the Yangtze River waterway and is so important as the gateway to the southeast.
After Cai Qin's army captured Hongzhou City, he immediately led his troops to attack Jiangzhou without making any preparations.
Why is this?
Did they have no ambition to enter the southeast, so they only captured one Hongzhou to prove their qualifications for recruitment and control the scale?
Or, knowing that Xunyang City has already made preparations to defend the city, are you preparing a big one?
No matter what, the temporary silence in Hongzhou made everyone in Jiangzhou and other surrounding counties feel a little relieved.
At least we're a little closer to reinforcements arriving.
But this kind of calm before the storm makes people particularly worried and frightened...
It is different from their entangled mood of joy and fear.
Hongzhou's steady approach made Ouyang Rong's heart gradually sink.
The feeling is not good.
In his eyes, it would be a good thing if Cai Qin's army immediately attacked Jiangzhou after taking Hongzhou.
first.
Not to mention the secret friendship between Qin Heng and Su Qian, maybe Ouyang Rong could persuade Cai Qin to surrender during the siege and interrupt the momentum of Cai Qin's army.
Let’s just say that if Cai Qin’s army attacks Jiangzhou non-stop, it will have two benefits:
First, Xunyang City can rest and wait for work, but Cai Qin's army will move in one after another, and they will definitely be tired.
Even if the morale of conquering Hongzhou is high, this kind of defensive battle will greatly consume the morale of the attackers, not to mention the easy-to-defend terrain of Xunyang City, which is surrounded by mountains and rivers.
The second is to be able to state one point clearly and unmistakably.
That is to say, Cai Qinjun's rebellion was not deliberate and well-prepared, but just a whim.
The differences are huge.
Because Cai Qin's army has only been able to hold one banner so far, that is, the commander is cruel and the garrison returns home.
This is why people all over the world, including Ouyang Rong, subconsciously sympathize with Cai Qinjun.
In addition, Cai Qinjun did not have much righteousness to continue to expand the situation after solving the problem of Jiangzhou's return home.
What, will there be another "Qingjun side" later? Then some selfish motives will be obvious.
Therefore, regarding the possibility of Cai Qin's army attacking Jiangzhou immediately, Ouyang Rong already had a countermeasure in his mind and responded calmly:
He was originally prepared, but when Cai Qin's army besieged the city under the banner of returning home, he cooperated with Qin Heng to force Wang Lengran and arrest the coach of the third Zhechong Prefecture in Jiangzhou, Zhechong Changshi and other generals who advocated delaying the resentment of the garrison.
,
They were executed in public at the top of the city to appease their anger.
Then Ouyang Rong, as the chief historian, made his attitude clear again and entertained the families of three hundred Jiangzhou garrison soldiers, thereby dispelling the rationality of Cai Qinjun's rebellion and breaking the siege of Xunyang City.
Even when Cai Qin and other garrison soldiers were "resentful and puzzled", he was able to take advantage of the situation and defeat Wang Lengran.
Handled cleanly.
He was able to easily solve the problem in Prince Xunyang's Mansion and lead Li Xian and others to break through this birdcage.
Moreover, Cai Qinjun also lost his mission to return home.
They are already in their hometown, and the garrison troops in Si'an, Hongzhou, and Jiangzhou will naturally not have long-lasting military troubles.
Even if a fight is necessary, the following officers and soldiers will be able to take advantage of the great righteousness and gradually suppress the chaos.
But now, as if he knew some kind of conspiracy of Ouyang Rong, the situation did not develop in this direction.
Cai Qin's army in Hongzhou did not attack Jiangzhou immediately!
Instead, he was like an eagle, waiting quietly without moving, not knowing what he was waiting for.
Ouyang Rong frowned.
Of course, few outsiders knew about his relationship with Qin Heng and the predicament of the Xunyang Palace at the same time, so there was a high probability that it was not really aimed at him, nor was it really a roundworm in the stomach, it might just be a coincidence.
But Cai Qinjun's unusual restraint reflects the preparation and planning behind it.
If Jiangzhou has been delayed for a long time, a certain kind of momentum and military morale will always exist, like a sword hanging over Jiangzhou's head.
Let’s connect it to the story of Cai Qin’s army not long ago defeating the officers and soldiers of Hongzhou like a god.
And that "rumor" coming from Guizhou.
Ouyang Rong smelled the aura of smart people of the same kind, and increasingly felt that there was someone behind it...
Just ten days after Khufu left Jiangzhou.
A piece of news was brought by ship passengers escaping from the west.
This time the source of the news actually came from a litchi envoy from the west corner of Lingnan Road.
He fled north in a hurry and arrived at Xunyang Ferry in a panic. The news he stammered fell on the ears of everyone in Xunyang, like a thunder:
The former governor of Meizhou, now the Sima of Raozhou, seized the title of British Duke Li Zhengyan and raised an army to rebel in Guizhou Prefecture, Lingnan Road.
He levied soldiers and horses from a state and raised the banner of "Kuanfu Liqian".
At the same time, it was announced that the current king Lixian of Xunyang would use the reign name of the former emperor when he deposed the emperor...the first year of Sisheng!
The world was shocked.
Some new book friends say that they can’t read enough. I would like to recommend Xiaorong’s old fairy tale book "I Have a Sword Fairy Wife" to new friends. It is a daily dog food novel with multiple female protagonists in fairy tales. It can be eaten in large quantities, as long as it is full.
The good brothers who are delicate and daily can be healthy. The portal is below