After a dispute with Erya, Li Xu thought a lot more clearly about where he would go in the future. As many people have seen, the Sui Dynasty was indeed terminally ill. All he can do now is to try his best to repay the emperor.
Your Majesty's kindness in knowing you and the virtue of the teachings of the old general Zhang Xutuo are nothing more than the kindness of the old general Zhang Xutuo. Even if Wagang can be successfully pacified in 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 there are ten Li Xu
Joining forces with Zhang Xutuo cannot change the general trend of this country's continued demise.
Therefore, instead of dying in despair like General Zhang, it is better to return to Boling to protect the peace of the place after fulfilling one's due obligations. The court and powerful officials are guilty, but the local people are innocent. They do not
There should and was no need to die in these troubled times. Xuzi asked himself that he did not have the power to save the fate of the entire country, but he knew that he was not as good at guarding a corner of the country. In troubled times, that was his duty and his destiny.
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After thinking clearly about the future direction of development, he immediately ordered his brothers to change the marching route. Instead of actively provoking several newly emerging thieves in Jibei and Dongping areas, he took the team a short detour to the south and took the route.
Lujun, Pengcheng and Liangjun are three relatively peaceful areas that 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.
At more than half a person's height, most of the fortresses where people had gathered three years ago had turned into ruins. This situation brought great trouble to marching and camping. Sometimes, in order to find a place near the water source without fear of being set on fire and sneak attack,
To camp, they had to walk for two to three hours along the dilapidated official road. Sometimes in order to preserve the soldiers' physical strength, Li Xu had to order the entire army to stay in the county town they finally found for one or two days.
Even if they stayed in the city, everyone did not dare to relax their vigilance too much. Since the death of the old general Zhang Xutuo, the number of people who believe that Li Mi is the true emperor has increased several times. In the short few days that Li Xu stayed in Qi County,
Within a few days, Sui officials from four counties around Wagang Mountain asked Li Mi for credit for the city and its people. With the complete city as a foundation, the strength of the Wagang Army grew rapidly, and it became more and more capable of replacing the imperial court.
.At this critical moment of survival, 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, he will be in an unfamiliar place.
The soldiers will definitely be 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 the counties of Henan, which belongs to the capital of Gyeonggi Province, is chaotic, all kinds of news spread very quickly.
Just in time, when 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 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 at hand, the rogue Xu Yuanlang led his troops to bypass Qi County and entangled the bandits near Juye Ze to once again capture Yuncheng, the seat of Dongping County. The entire Dongping was no longer owned by the Sui Dynasty. There is another unconfirmed news that sounds like
What is even more depressing is that Zhuojun soldiers who once belonged to the Boling Army fell into Dou Jiande's false surrender plan in Changhe County a year ago. The general guard Guo Xuan was killed on the spot, and less than two thousand of the ten thousand brothers escaped.
"What are you doing, Mr. Yang Yichen?" Wang Xuba was furious at the news of Guo Xuan's death in battle. He beat the tree trunk next to the camp and cursed. "When we left, we entrusted him with a complete army of troops. This old man
But I failed the general’s trust..."
"Young Lao'er won't be interested in the general's territory!" Guo Fang and Guo Xuan are related, and when they are annoyed, they will inevitably think about the worst. Last year, the Boling Army took the initiative to kill in Hejian, partly for the reason
He was afraid that Yang Yichen would use the name of suppressing bandits to plot against the six counties. Now that Li Xu was not in his hometown, it was inevitable that some shameless guys would forget their loyalty in the name of profit.
"Senior Yang is not that kind of person. Until 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.
With Zhao Sima and General Lu 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 Hong thought for a while and agreed from the side. 'This trip is a bit strange.
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
The troops went south largely to preserve the friendship with everyone. But if friendship affects the overall situation and the future development of the Boling Army, everyone will never feel at peace.
With anxiety and depression, they continued to move forward, passing through uninhabited villages and crossing 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. By the thawed stream,
Greenery has sprouted from the ground. The fragrance of new grass makes the horses extremely excited and their steps are brisk, but people's mood has 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. In the letter, Army Sima Zhao Ziming reported in detail the reasons for Guo Xuan's death in battle and the aftermath he had done.
Judging from the wording in the letter, 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 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 troops.
The batch 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 have turned over.
People came to invest in the mountains and ridges. Based on last year’s farming experience, Cui Qian and other civilian officials tried their best to place the refugees near Yishui, Xushui and Laishui, where there was sufficient water and gentle terrain. Within two years, those emerging villages would surely
It can provide more tax revenue for the six counties.
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. The county rebelled, claiming to be the prime minister, and connected the Turks to the north. And Wang Ren, the governor of Mayi County
It is said that Gong was also killed by his general Liu Wuzhou, and Hejun rebelled against the Sui Dynasty and surrendered to the Turks. I don’t know what the imperial court planned. Instead of sending any troops to conquer the rebellion, they instead fought against the rogue bandits in southern Hebei, making it difficult for them to fight.
The old general Yang Yichen who solved the problem was transferred back to Jiangdu and served as Minister of War. Just as 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 Hong was so depressed that he whipped the withered grass under his feet with a riding crop and sent it flying everywhere.
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He learned the word "play" from the former bandit king Junkuokou, and it was a perfect way to describe the powerful officials in the imperial court. Originally, there was an agreement between General Li and Old General Yang that when the Boling Army went south to force Wa
While Gang's army was retreating, 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. Then everyone would attack from the north and south, which would definitely make Wagang's army unable to look at each other. Unexpectedly, Boling's army and Wagang's army had not yet waited for the enemy.
When the troops moved into action, Guo Xuan and Yang Shanhui were killed by Dou Jiande. Now the imperial court transferred Yang Yichen to Jiangdu. In the counties in southern Hebei, only Wei Ji was left to support the overall situation. With Dou Jiande and Gao Kaidao as the two thieves,
His strength was enough to entangle Wei Ji to death. The minions sent by the Wagang Army to Hebei just happened to take the opportunity to be transferred back to wait for work and face 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 true. Have 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 obey.
Dragon power!"
"Bah!" Wang Xuba spat thick phlegm on the ground and cursed in a low voice. "If Li Mi had been destined by destiny, would he have been chased like a rabbit back then? Who would be stupid to believe that?
"There are many people with the surname Li in the world. If I were asked 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 could not help but 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 was all walked by Zhang Xutuo back then. It's just that
At that time, the two cities of Yangwu and Yuanwu, which were close to the canal, still belonged to the Sui Dynasty, but now they are 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 fight before reaching Xingyang.
Facing the Wagang Army's pursuit and interception alone. Based on the time spent by the messenger on the road, all the Wagang Army's forces sent to Hebei had been withdrawn before Zhao Ziming's message was delivered. That means that Meng Rang, Hao Xiaode, Wang Deren,
Li Shicai, Wei Liu'er, Li Deqian, Zhang Qian, Li Wenxiang, Hei She, Bai She, Hu Lv'er, these great thieves who dominate the world, will all appear on the opposite side of the Boling Army at the same time.
Can the four thousand Boling Army defeat so many opponents? Wang Xuba, who never knew what panic was, hesitated. He looked at Li Xu with inquiring eyes, hoping that the coach would make a relatively wise choice.
"When did Zhang Jinchen 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 document 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. When he heard Li Xu's inquiry, he immediately put his legs together and reported loudly. "But everyone.
They all say that if we hadn’t wiped out the main force of Zhang Jincheng’s command 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 conquered more than a dozen counties and had never
Encountering an 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. The pride of a warrior was evident as he spoke.
"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. Tell the brothers that from here to Xingyang, where Fanwa Gang's army is entrenched on both sides of the canal, we will see a challenge
One!" Li Xu nodded with satisfaction and ordered. (To be continued)
