The strong general Liu Yifang returned to Youzhou four days later than expected. It was already midnight when he drove into Jixian County, but regardless of his fatigue, he went straight to the mansion of the chief manager Luo Yi. The master and slave held candles to discuss for more than two hours.
, until the window paper shone brightly, then everyone went to rest with red eyes.
It was past midnight the next morning, and Luo Yi couldn't wait to rush to the meeting hall. He ordered his soldiers to beat drums and gather together, and summoned all his subordinates to discuss the next move.
Rumors that the negotiations with Boling failed have already spread in the army, so the younger generation of generals are gearing up. Youzhou has always valued military merit, but currently there are few cavalry capable of competing with the Tigers and Tigers near Luo Yi's territory.
Therefore, attacking Boling is the only opportunity that many officers can seize in recent years. If they miss it, they don't know when they will get it again.
Some veterans on the battlefield and civilian staff looked solemn. The wealth in front of them was hard-won, and 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 there were many factors that affected the outcome.
, it’s not just the comparison of the military strength between the enemy and ourselves. An accidental heavy rain or a plague without warning may destroy a great army. Therefore, it is better to be more cautious when making decisions. To avoid this
If your speculation fails, you will be chased by others, and you will lose even the capital you need to settle down.
The argument between the aggressive and the 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 in the commander's position, everyone tries to limit the scope of their attacks.
Within the framework of not treating the person personally, if there are occasional violations, they will be corrected quickly 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.
The whole letter was written in four parallel lines, and it didn't look like it was written by a warrior at all. But the people in Youzhou still understood the meaning expressed between the lines. The Boling Army was perfunctory, and perfunctory with a look of contempt.
Talking about "the duty of a general is only to protect", it seems as if the Youzhou Army is a group of hungry bandits who conquered the world just to sit on the ground and share the spoils. Talking about "strict military discipline and practice more benevolence and righteousness", it seems like the whole world
Except for General Li, all the other generals are gangsters who commit crimes and will be punished sooner or later. Since you, Li Xu, have the heart of a saint, why don't you dedicate the foundation of five and a half counties and then retire to Linquan? That's not it.
Do you plan to support your troops with self-respect and look for 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 drums and sound 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 to the heroic cavalry for "supporting the imperial court and relieving the people's suffering". He would not watch helplessly as the achievements of the people of Youzhou were wiped out by some officials with ulterior motives.
'There is a wise 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, many Youzhou generals, based on the idea of knowing themselves and the enemy,
They all got to know each other more or less. In their opinion, Li Xu was a kind of military general with an extremely upright temperament, and rarely talked to people in a roundabout way. Including the last letter asking the Tigers and Horses to go north to the grassland to take the Turks' retreat, it was just a matter of chatting for a few words.
The stakes are clearly explained. Unlike this time, 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 treat the Boling Army as an ally. What the other party promised is to wait for the Youzhou Army to deal with it.
After Dou and Gao rebelled against bandits, they expressed their merits to the court on behalf of all the generals instead of recommending Luo Yi as Hebei's ambassador for arresting arrests. Moreover, the premise of this move was that the Youzhou army could really wipe out the rebels and restore order in Hebei. In Dou,
Before the Gao Er bandits were destroyed, there was no substantive agreement between the Boling Army and the Youzhou Army.
"You are 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 let Shen not be angry and was the first to stand up.
Express your 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 belongs to the government in this dynasty, the Six Counties and Youzhou are both within the territory of the Sui Dynasty, and there is no need to have strict restrictions like 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 flow of grain and pig iron will 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,
By the end, Cao Yuanrang was so angry that his face was black and blue, and he roared.
Luo Yi, the general manager of Youzhou, entrusted Liu Yifang with two tasks. The first one was to make an appointment with Boling to jointly send troops to clean up the rebellion in various counties in Hebei for the imperial court. The second one was to agree to a price that was mutually acceptable to both parties.
Youzhou exchanged pig iron, horses and leather for grain from the six counties of Boling. No matter which of these two agreements was reached, in the eyes of the outside world, it was equivalent to tying Boling to the Youzhou chariot. But Liu Yifang left for less than half a month
, actually didn’t get any benefit at all.
"As for the rawhide and the war horse, the other party made an opening!" Ignoring Cao Yuanrang's anger, Liu Yifang shrugged and continued. He looked down on the bluffing Cao Yuanrang, but he was unwilling to hurt the relationship with this person. Because
The real situation of the other party is definitely not as impetuous and ignorant as it 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. In this regard, discerning people learned from Cao Yuanrang and General Zhongwu Infantry last year
This can be seen in the outcome of the dispute between the two. Cao Yuanrang, who deliberately slandered his superiors, was demoted by one rank, while the infantryman who had followed Luo Yi for many years was sent to sit outside the wall. It was not so much that Luo Gong valued him.
Because of his ability to stand alone, it would be better to say that he was kicked out of the Youzhou Army's decision-making circle.
"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, Commander-in-Chief, for your kindness. As for private transactions, the six counties have never banned them, 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 himself. Li Xu ruled for six years
The iron ore output in the county is not high, and rawhide and war horses are even scarcer. If Li Xu wants to develop and strengthen, the three goods provided by Youzhou are indispensable. However, Boling took advantage of the weakness of high taxes in various places in Youzhou.
They declined the proposal in disguise, and through discussions on supply and price, it became clear that they might have a very close ally.
The source of the iron ore may be Hedong. After all, Li Yuan and Li Xu are called uncles and nephews of the same clan. As for the rawhide and war horses, apart from the three counties of Liaodong under Luo Yi's rule, they can only come from the Hu people. Thinking of this, someone immediately remembered
Thinking of Pan Zhanyang, who delivered the letter for Li Xu that day, he 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 and agreed with his colleagues' speculation. "From the area controlled by Xue Shixiong, you can also walk to the Khitan tribe. Good horses and rawhide are sold there.
De has always been humble, and his surname is Li, who is a merchant, so he knows these things very well!"
"It's not a big problem if they are Khitans. What I'm worried about is the Turks. Legend has it that a white wolf named Li once held 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.
Worried and genuine.
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. Not to mention the distant ones, in Yanmen County, which is directly adjacent to Hebei, Liu Wuzhou started to attack
Under the banner of the Little Khan under the Turks, they were attacking cities and territories everywhere. If Li Xu was forced to do something desperate and followed Liu Wuzhou's lead in attracting foreign invaders for help, Youzhou would 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 with righteous indignation. They did not consider at all how different they were from the Turks by provoking a war for no reason.
"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. The Huben cavalry is stationed at the frontier, and its main opponents are the Turks. From Luo Yi onwards
Right down to the ordinary soldiers, no one with more than ten years of military experience has 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 can't collude with foreign enemies to humiliate his ancestors!" Luo Yiyao, the chief manager who has never spoken.
He shook his head and rejected this possibility.
Slandering your opponent cannot improve yourself. The General Manager of Youzhou disdains doing so. He understands Li Xu as well as he understands his own past. This man comes from a humble background, so deep down he is very proud. This man has sacrificed more than the children of the aristocratic family.
It cost dozens of times to climb from an ordinary soldier to a high position as a general step by step, establishing a prestigious reputation. This person will cherish his reputation like a feather, and will never be so short-sighted as to collude with foreigners for temporary gain to taint himself.
Luo Yi could even predict 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 annihilated, and guessed that before he arrived in Boling,
When it came time to attack, it was the Youzhou Army, so preparations were made in advance.
"Then why are you hesitating, Commander? Hebei is the foundation of the Overlord, and Yuan Shao laid the foundation there. Instead of waiting for Li to continue to grow, we should uproot him as soon as possible!" Just as Luo Yi was praising his opponent,
Cao Yuanrang, who misunderstood his original intention, jumped out of the queue again and loudly suggested.
"I have had this intention for a long time. I want 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
He said that he also met another group of people in Boling, so I have to be cautious!"
"Who?" Seeing Luo Yi's hesitation, several young generals asked in unison, knowing that this person was the key to all the problems.
The expression on Liu Yifang's face was obviously hesitant, and his eyes turned to Luo Yi, but there was no objection from the coach. After thinking about it, he introduced it as simply as possible: "Li Shimin, the second son of Li Yuan from Hedong, Ying Yanglang general!"
