(Thanks to ioio6699, Crazy Kitty, Yanzhi for the big reward, and thanks to KILIO for the big opinion)
The army set off, but it was not very fast. Many people felt that the prince's dispatch of troops seemed a bit abnormal. Moreover, Liu Ling led the troops to go on an expedition less than a month after Emperor Xiao was buried. This was obviously a bit rude. But now in the court, Liu Ling
There are some who are not pleasing to the eye, but no one dares to stand up and criticize. Not to mention the series of halos above Liu Ling's head, which of the three military aircraft ministers currently in charge of the government are not inextricably linked to Liu Ling?
Relationship?
Everyone also understands why the regent Liu Ling left Taiyuan in such a hurry. In fact, there is nothing left for Liu Ling to miss here. With the sudden death of Emperor Xiao, the family love that Liu Ling once swore to protect has also disappeared.
Don't say that Emperor Xiao left a bloodline, don't say that he was the regent of the Han Dynasty, Liu Ling actually didn't care about these seemingly honorable things. What he wanted might be very simple.
But things are different now. Emperor Xiao's departure has taken away some or even most of Liu Ling's beliefs. What else does he have worth protecting? If so, maybe it's just a promise of his own.
Some people also say that Liu Ling led his troops to leave so eagerly because he was extremely disappointed with the court. The regent may never come back after leaving this time. Emperor Xiao suppressed him at the beginning, so the regent still had some scruples.
But now His Majesty Emperor Ming is still young, and the government is controlled by Liu Ling's people. Who else can restrain him? Now Liu Ling has the power to have troops, and he leads his troops south to join the Fuyuan army to start a war with Zhou Dynasty.
With the current corrupt situation in the Zhou Dynasty, there is no doubt that Liu Ling's ability to lead troops to fight will break out a piece of land.
When the time comes, he has tens of thousands of powerful soldiers and a large piece of land. The sky is high and the emperor is far away. Why will he come back? Liu Ling doesn't want to rebel against the Han Dynasty, but seizing a piece of Zhou Dynasty and becoming independent does not count as direct rebellion.
Right? Although this is just the speculation of some people, they actually do not blame Liu Ling in their hearts. Many people are even thinking in their hearts that if the regent really ascends the throne as emperor in the land of Zhou Dynasty, it will not matter.
It was a treasonous thing. After all... what Emperor Xiao did had driven Liu Ling to death. If it had been anyone else, he might have done the opposite ten or eight times.
Ten thousand soldiers from the God War Camp, three thousand Shura Camp cavalry, and six thousand auxiliary troops from the Baggage Battalion marched slowly with a large amount of equipment and baggage. On the first day, they only walked fifty miles before setting up camp. On the second day, they walked sixty miles.
, walked fifty miles on the third day, and on the fourth day the army arrived at Zhuma County, where Liu Ling defeated Ouyang Zhuan's 200,000 rebels with 10,000 troops from the Shenzhan Battalion. Liu Ling seemed to feel something, and ordered the army to rest for a day in Zhuma County.
Leave again the next day.
Hua Ling, Zhao Er, Wang Banjin, and Zhao Ba, four of Liu Ling's old subordinates, followed the regent and arrived at the high slope not far from Zhuma County in the light night.
The place where the battle camp showed great power and defeated Ouyang Zhuan's main force in one fell swoop.
The time was not so long apart, but everyone actually had the illusion that the world had changed a lot. If you think about it carefully, although the year name was changed to the first year of Datong, it was only more than two years before Ouyang Zhuan was defeated.
The reason why everyone has this somewhat desolate illusion may be because too many things have happened to the big man during this period.
"Has everything been arranged?"
Liu Ling stood on a high slope and looked at the wasteland where the battle had been fought, which had now turned into vast fields. He felt something in his heart, but his tone of voice was still calm.
Zhao Ba, the general in charge of tonight's shift, bowed and said: "Go back to your lord, the arrangements have been made. The scouts and rangers have been sent out, and the tents, vehicles, and horses have all been arranged."
Liu Ling nodded and pointed to the tens of thousands of acres of fertile land in front of him and said: "Look, how big the changes have been. It has only been a little over two years. The once devastated wasteland has turned into fertile farmland. Tens of thousands of rebels are buried here.
, I didn’t expect it, but it turned into a good fertilizer for crops. I guess no one expected this outcome when they rebelled, right?”
"Yes, not long after the autumn grain was put into the warehouse, my lord, you can see that the wheat seedlings have sprouted. Looking at this large field, there will definitely be another good harvest next summer."
As if sensing some emotion in Liu Ling's words, Wang Banjin deliberately changed the subject and did not continue to dwell on the rebellion.
"Yes, the people are actually very easy to be satisfied. In just two years, the people of the Han Dynasty have become quite wealthy. They have more than enough food and money in their hands, and their lives are ordinary and fulfilling. With such a life, who would think
What about rebellion?”
Liu Ling answered, and the topic returned.
Wang Banjin sighed, knowing that there was still a knot in the prince's heart that had not been untied. But it was difficult for everyone to persuade him, and they didn't know how to persuade him. As Liu Ling's old subordinates, everyone knew that the prince had done nothing wrong.
If I am really wrong, it is that the prince's contribution to the court is too great, too much. And the prince has never thought of rebelling from the beginning to the end. This is something that everyone knows well. If the prince and the prince were in another position,
, no one has the confidence to endure it. And similarly, the people standing around Liu Ling now may respect Liu Ling far more than they are loyal to the court. Even if Liu Ling suddenly declares rebellion,
No one would say a word no, and even vaguely, everyone had considered in their hearts, if the prince really ascended the throne and became the emperor, would this big man be better off?
This question has been swirling in each of their minds, and it has never dissipated. But they know that the prince will not rebel. Even if Emperor Xiao has done everything possible, the prince still has not rebelled. As for Emperor Xiao's method of dealing with the prince,
Everyone was helpless and looked down on him from the bottom of their hearts. If the prince really wanted to make himself emperor, how could Emperor Xiao's seemingly cruel methods stop him? With the prince's prestige in the military, all he had to do was stand up and shout.
, will you worry about not having supporters?
Can the three thousand black unicorn troops loyal to the emperor really withstand the attack of the three guards in Taiyuan City? Zhaoxian, Chen Yuanshan, and Wang Banjin, these three were extremely disappointed with the imperial court.
People, I'm afraid they are really looking forward to Liu Ling's rebellion more than anyone else.
"Tell the soldiers that they are not allowed to trample on the farmland when they start pulling out the day after tomorrow. Anyone who disobeys the order will be killed."
Just when everyone was speechless, Liu Ling himself changed the topic elsewhere.
"Here!"
Everyone clasped their fists and leaned down.
Liu Ling said: "We will leave the day after tomorrow. We can reach Qingzhou in seven or eight days at the latest. There have been two consecutive years of bumper harvests. The grain stored in Qingzhou's warehouse has reached millions of stones. When passing by Qingzhou, the army will replenish the grain and grass. No need for more."
We only need to bring enough food for ten days, and then let Xie Huanran, the governor of Gyeongju County, send the food and grass to Yuzhou. The food and grass in Bingzhou warehouse has been transported south a few days ago. We are walking slowly, and we are expected to
When we arrived in Yuzhou, the food and grass from Bingzhou had almost arrived."
"Your Majesty..."
Hua Ling hesitated for a moment and then said: "Your Majesty, I have something unclear."
Liu Ling smiled and said: "Do you think I am too impatient? This battle against Zhou is too hasty?"
Hua Ling bowed and said: "I don't dare. I just feel that the law on our Han Dynasty's farming has only been promulgated for more than two years. If we wait another year or two, our granaries will be fuller and our elite troops will be reduced."
After that, our big men can only mobilize about 50,000 troops now, and my subordinates are afraid of insufficient troops."
He is Liu Ling's confidant, so he has less scruples when speaking.
Liu Ling smiled and said: "You are right, the southern expedition should indeed be postponed for another two years. The strategy I formulated two years ago was to strengthen the army within five years, and the southern expedition can only be carried out when the time is five years later. But now
But it’s different.”
He sat on the ground, not caring that it was cold.
"The Great Zhou Dynasty is now in chaos. It is no longer the all-powerful Great Zhou Dynasty two years ago, but is now in disarray. The generals of the Twelve Guards of the Great Zhou Dynasty are in charge of their own affairs. Riots are frequent and the people are in dire straits. The army cannot coordinate and unify, although it is still
There are hundreds of thousands of people, but it is not difficult to defeat them one by one. If we wait two years, if a powerful force gradually calms down the chaos in the Zhou Dynasty, or supports Chai Rong's descendants, or establishes himself as emperor, then we can
Although our Han Dynasty’s treasury is full, it will be more difficult to send troops.”
"It is true that our available troops now are around 50,000, but these 50,000 are real veterans of hundreds of battles. Their combat effectiveness was originally equivalent to that of the Twelve Guards of Zhou Dynasty. Now the generals of the Twelve Guards are recruiting heavily.
The new recruits are frantically expanding their military strength, but the mixed combat effectiveness of the old and the new is no longer a match for our army. Although Jinzhou Menghu claims to have 50,000 lions, less than half of them are good at fighting, and their troops are divided into two places. I still have the king in Jinzhou City.
With internal arrangements, it is not difficult to capture Jinzhou. Using Jinzhou as a base, we can capture Danzhou and Yanzhou to the west, Jiangzhou and Jiezhou to the south, and if we go southeast, we can capture Huaizhou and Zhengzhou, and we can approach Kaifeng!"
"Although our 50,000 soldiers are not many, if used properly, we can carve out a territory in the vast territory of the Great Zhou Dynasty. Using the money and food from our Han Dynasty treasury to supply 50,000 horses and horses, the consumption is not very huge. And Meng Hu's management
Jinzhou has been held for many years, and if we take Jinzhou, we will not worry about the lack of food and grass. If there are more soldiers, the supply will be insufficient."
"Three hundred miles south of Jinzhou, there are tens of thousands of rebels from Xiao Po's army in Ruyun Mountain. We occupied Jinzhou from north to south, and Xiao Po's army was in a trap to attack Meng Hu. Meng Hu only brought 20,000 cavalry, so we could fight in the field.
It's OK, but if the attack fails, Jinzhou only needs to defend for a month and his cavalry will be unable to hold on. Xiao Pojun only needs to stab him in the back, and Meng Hu can only turn into a dead tiger."
Liu Ling smiled and said: "What we have to worry about now is not winning without a fight. It is the next step after occupying Jinzhou. It will be easy to win against Menghu."
He stretched out his hand and turned it slightly and slowly.
