Jizhou was originally the smelting center of the Ji Zhen Army. Ye Jier occupied the official residence where Li Zhuo used to handle official duties as a palace. It was also the headquarters of the Southern Expeditionary Army. Zhou Zhizhong followed the Khan King Ye Ji Er, Prince Mu Ye Ji Luorong and the county.
After Wang Yeji, Baishan and others entered the city, they went directly to the palace for a banquet.
Except for Ye Jiluorong, Zhou Zhizhong and other generals who were delayed by military affairs and had to wait until the last minute to make their trip, the generals from Jixi, Yannan and Yanxi who had been summoned for discussion had already arrived in Jizhou ahead of them.
Yuan Lishan, Zhang Ximing, Yang Wenchang and others who had been surrendered or captured in the battles at Qingqiangling were also invited to attend.
After the Jingbei Hou Rebellion in the Southern Dynasties, Donghu occupied Liaodong. Under Ye Jier's rule, they appointed Han ministers on a large scale and even held civil service examinations in Liaodong. The Han ministers who accompanied Ye Jier in his southern expedition this time were
Almost half of the people came into the hall for the banquet.
Although the Han ministers accounted for nearly half of the people in the hall, their status was obviously lower, not even as high as the Yanxi Zhuhu and the generals from the Goryeo Kingdom.
The Han officials in Liaodong were better off. The land of Liao was divided between Hu and Han. It only took a hundred years for the Yue Dynasty to snatch Liaodong from Goryeo, and it has been sixteen or seventeen years since it lost Liaodong today. The Han people in Liaodong were very interested in the Southern Dynasty.
Without any affiliation, he naturally gained more trust. The Han officials in the hall were mainly Liao people.
Zhou Zhi knew that the status of surrendered ministers and generals was even lower. Naturally, they had to stick together to gain power from each other, but at the same time, they were also worried that they would be jealous and cause death.
Zhou Zhizhong did not recognize Yuan Lishan, Zhang Ximing, Yang Wenchang and others. He had been leading his troops to participate in the war in Yanxi. He only knew the names of these three people but had never met them. After being introduced by Sun Jichang, they were officially recognized.
have met before.
Among these three people, apart from Yang Wenchang who surrendered completely and immediately flattered his new master and persuaded General Changli to abandon the city and surrender, Zhang Ximing and Yuan Lishan were actually under house arrest. This time they were given to
Yezier forcibly invited him to the banquet.
Yuan Lishan sat in his seat, feeling a little uneasy. In the battle in the North, the main force of Hao Zongcheng's troops was wiped out. He led his troops to surround Qingqiang Ridge. With roads cut off and food supplies cut off, there was no hope of survival, so he surrendered. After surrendering,
Yuan Lishan insisted on not receiving an official position, but he was unwilling to commit suicide and did not bother to get close to other surrendered generals and rebel ministers. This time, he was forcefully invited to the banquet and sat among the surrendered generals and rebel ministers. He was really suffering in his heart.
Ye Ji Luorong had a special status. Although there was no possibility of inheriting the throne of Khan, Ye Ji'er treated him very seriously and would always sit by his side to treat him on important occasions.
Ye Ji Luorong stared at Yuan Lishan and asked Ye Ji'er in a low voice: "He still refuses to surrender and takes up the post of general?"
Yezier shook his head slightly and said that he could not compete for merit yet.
Ye Ji Luorong smacked his lips in regret.
Although the Jizhen army was successively led by Li Zhuo, Hao Zongcheng and others, Yuan Lishan and Cheng Tinggui were actually the leaders of the Jizhen generals.
Cheng Tinggui had already died in the battle, so Yuan Lishan and the Yuan family behind him were from a traditional military family of the Yanji border army. Three or four out of ten of the generals who surrendered in Ji Town were involved with the Yuan family. The same is true.
The root cause of Li Zhuo's inability to finally control the Jizhen Army.
Since the Southern Expedition, more than 60,000 prisoners have been surrendered by the Jizhen Army alone. Dealing with these people in this way has caused a headache for everyone in Yejier. The mainstream opinion is to imprison the main generals, disperse the surrendered prisoners, and integrate them into the established
Thanks to their achievements, they can be safely used by the newly attached Han troops.
Ye Ji'er had long established the principle that the surrendered generals should govern the surrendered army. Zhou Zhizhong, Mo Jiben, Sun Jichang and other former commanders of the Han army had not had any different intentions since they surrendered, and they all led the troops with great concentration and effort.
The possibility of being repetitive is very low, and you can use it with confidence, but there are very few generals with the ability to stand alone.
As the war progresses, the scale of the newly attached Han army will become larger and larger. In the later stage, it will be even more necessary for the newly attached Han army to step forward and support themselves from the front. Ye Jier is very eager to have someone like Yuan Lishan.
A demoted general with reputation and talent at the first level can use it with confidence.
Rather than breaking up the 500,000 to 60,000 Ji Town surrender troops and organizing them into various tribes, if Yuan Lishan can sincerely surrender, he can directly get a strong army to use in the battle against Jinhai.
Of course, Yuan Lishan had a great influence on the troops surrendering in Jizhen. If he had the intention to repeat himself, it would bring extremely bad and terrible consequences. If Yuan Lishan surrendered easily, Ye Jier would not dare to reuse him.
Thinking of how to deal with or appoint Yuan Lishan, Ye Ji Luorong also had a headache. He thought to himself: The second brother is always good at employing people and controlling people's hearts, so it is better to leave this matter to him.
In the blink of an eye, he saw Zhang Ximin, who was also under house arrest, sitting there looking calm. Ye Ji Luorong whispered to Ye Ji'er: "This kind of weakling has no real ability.
Learning from Yuan Lishan is not as courageous as Hao Zongcheng seeking death and survival in prison - why not just kill him and leave him to waste food?"
"Hao Zongcheng has the backbone, but he is not dead; Zhang Ximin has no backbone, and he has not surrendered since he was real." Ye Jier shook his head and smiled and said, "When it comes to leading troops in war or providing food and grain, Zhang Ximin has nothing.
He is really capable, but whether Yanjing can be defeated easily, the hope will probably fall on him!"
"How do you say that?" Ye Jiluorong was confused.
"I'll tell you more about it later." Ye Ji'er said. There were too many people and things to deal with at the banquet right now, and he had no time to tell Ye Ji Luorong about this in detail.
Zhang Ximing saw Ye Jiluorong glance at him and then lowered his head and whispered to King Donghu Khan, thinking that he was talking about him. The occasional fierce look in Ye Jiluorong's eyes made him very uneasy.
After Zhang Ximing was captured, he was determined to die generously, but he was not as carefree as Yang Wenchang. His father and brother were two, one was the emperor's prime minister, the other was the chief minister of Prince Ning's palace, and his wife, children and concubines were all still there.
Yanjing made it impossible for him to surrender.
If he surrendered, it would be enough if Donghu could capture Yanjing. Not only would he be able to survive, but he could also convince his father to submit to Donghu and become an important official in Donghu's rule over the Central Plains. At this time, he would not be able to take care of his brother who was far away in Jiangning.
But if Donghu fails to capture Yanjing this time, and instead is driven back to the outside of the Pass by Zhulu Qin Wang’s army, if he surrenders, not only will his father and brother not be able to be saved, but he himself will become a human being inside and outside - Donghu people will eventually
Maybe the responsibility for the defeat will be placed on these rebellious generals.
It's not that Zhang Ximin didn't want to surrender. In his opinion, it was not the time to surrender yet. Therefore, when the Donghu people asked him to surrender, he insisted that he should not surrender. However, he was also delighted by the courtesy they treated him.
Yezier was very aware of his mentality, so he used time and effort to deal with him.
On the contrary, Hao Zongcheng knew in his heart that he was of no use to the Donghu people, so he resolutely sought life and death in prison, refusing to accept any benefits from the Donghu people. He also went on an intermittent hunger strike for several days. After nearly two months of torture, his white and fat body became
Now he is so thin from hunger and scarred by torture, he looks like a loyal general and a loyal minister.
After the banquet, many matters were left to be discussed tomorrow. Ye Ji'er only asked Ye Ji Luorong and several other important ministers to follow him to the back garden to discuss matters. After arriving in the back garden, he sent his attendants to bring Zhang Ximin over.
It has been more than two months since Lin Fu left Jinhai and the Jinhai navy abandoned Hejian and Cangzhou cities and retreated to Jinhai.
In the past two months, the Donghu people have not been forced to encircle Jinhai. However, in the north of Ninghe, the Ninghe camp headed by Ye Jiluorong built a camp with more than 30,000 infantry and cavalry, cutting off the enemy.
The passage from Jinhai to the north is a glimpse of the passage from Jinhai to Gyeonggi. In the Hejian cities in the southwest, Ye Jiduo led 20,000 elite cavalry to guard against the Liang family and his troops heading north from Pingyuan Prefecture in Yannan.
At the same time, it also cut off the westward passage of the Tianjin Navy.
Gao Zongting accompanied Lin Xuwen to stand on the top of the city and look to the north. Scattered around the city wall were horse scouts from Jinhai, and the beacon garrison extended north to the south bank of the Chaohe River.
Since Zhou Pu led the Huaidong cavalry battalion to assist in guarding Jinhai, before the main force of the Donghu people came up to encircle them in large numbers, the defenders could effectively control the dozens of miles deep area outside Jinhai, preventing the Donghu people from attacking.
Sentinels infiltrated.
But Gao Zongting knew in his heart that all this was temporary. As long as the Donghu people pressed their troops and horses to surround Jinhai, the only two thousand cavalry here could only retreat to the inner line, and the role they could play was very limited.
"Can't Jinhai really be defended?" Lin Xuwen asked in a low voice as he sent his retinue aside, leaving only Gao Zongting and Sun Shangwang beside him.
Lin Xuwen’s achievements and foundation are all in Jinhai.
For a long time, Lin Xuwen, Lin Fu and Lin Tingli came from the same Lin clan. They were in the same branch, advanced and retreated together, and supported each other. However, the three were equal in status, and there was no question of who was dependent on whom.
If he gave up Jinhai this time and retreated to the south, his official title would not be reduced, but he would lose his foundation from now on. Lin Xuwen would either choose to be loyal to the new emperor, or he could only rely on Huaidong, and he would never be able to monopolize Jinhai again.
Relatively independent status and power.
Until the last moment, Lin Xuwen was never willing to give up Jinhai easily, so he asked this question.
Sun Shangwang glanced at Lin Xuwen, but he said nothing.
Gao Zongting looked far into the distance and said softly: "After the fall of Datong, the situation in the North has collapsed and is hopeless. But whether Jinhai can hold on depends on how determined Mr. Lin is!"
"How do you say it?" Listening to Gao Zongting's tone, Lin Xuwen seemed to have hope of guarding Jinhai, and there was some expectation in his heart.
"The most important thing to avoid when doing things is to have two ends. Either give up or hold on. You can only choose one to stick to your ambition, but you can't give up and hold on to both. There are more than 300,000 people who evacuated into Jinhai. These more than 300,000 people
We will not withdraw at all, and we can choose to recruit 100,000 strong men into the camp, even if it is to cut wooden spears, as long as the old, weak, women and children are behind us, it will be enough to unite and defend Jinhai!" Gao Zongting said, "Once a large-scale retreat is carried out,
If the sea is evacuated, those who stay behind will have a desire to leave, and their will to defend the city will not be strong. They can hold on at first, but as time goes by, they will feel abandoned, their morale will not be used, and they will not be able to rely on it to defend the city..."
"That's it!" Lin Xuwen took a slight breath and followed Gao Zongting's strategy, which was to use the sea route as a food route instead of a retreat, use the old, weak, women and children as hostages, and coerce the entire city to stay and defend the city with all their strength.
It's just that the cost of doing this is too high, not to mention that such a small city is squeezed into so many small openings. Over time, it will easily induce large-scale epidemics. It is unknown how many lives will be lost in the end. If we really want to put such a small city into
Many people stay in Jinhai City, and the monthly expenditure on food and supplies is a staggeringly large amount.
Gao Zongting glanced at Lin Xuwen and said goodbye to rest. As soon as he got off the road to the city, Sun Shangwang came after him and said in a reproachful tone: "Mr. Gao should not have encouraged the eldest son to guard Jinhai..."
"The longer we defend Jinhai, the better it will be for Huaidong?" Gao Zongting stood still with his arms folded and turned to look at Sun Shangwang.
"Does Mr. Gao really think so?" Sun Shangwang asked.
Gao Zongting narrowed his eyes slightly and looked at Sun Shangwang without saying a word.
Sun Shangwang was only a scholar, but he failed in many examinations. He was so depressed that he could only make a living by teaching in Jinan. Yannan was invaded. Except for his youngest son, his eldest son and his wife were all taken away and there was no news. He followed Lin Fu northward.
King Qin was used by Lin Fu as an official in Jinhai, and he has no official official position so far. Such a character has little reputation, but Lin Fu has used him to preside over Huaidong's affairs in Jinhai for a long time, so he is not an incompetent person.
However, Sun Shangwang usually kept a low profile, and Gao Zongting did not expect that his eyes would be so sharp, and he thought to himself: There is really no one in Huaidong who can be used by Lin Fu.
"Mr. Gao probably thinks that as long as Jinhai can be defended, Yanjing will also have hope of being able to defend it!" Sun Shangwang did not talk about the benefits of holding Jinhai to Huaidong, but directly revealed Gao Zongting's thoughts and said,
"I would like to ask Mr. Gao, even if Jinhai pays a heavy price and holds on for two years, can Jiangning be ready? Can the world avoid the ending of falling apart? Will the Liang family and the Cao family hope to see the Yuan family resurrected?"
"..." Gao Zongting remained silent. When Li Zhuo offered the plan for peace, he staked everything he had before and after his death, hoping to delay it for three to five years and give the Dai Viet Dynasty a chance to breathe. However, since the tenth year of Chongguan,
, Li Zhuo barely managed to hold on on the northern line, but the situation in the hinterland of the Central Plains was only getting worse, without any improvement.
With the Donghu people almost controlling Yanji, the longer Jinhai delays, while paying a heavy price, it will only give the Liang family and the Cao family more breathing time, and will not directly benefit Huaidong and Jiangning.
Rather than expecting the Cao family to leave the pass to contain the Donghu cavalry from advancing southward, Huaidong was more worried that the Cao family would take the opportunity to occupy eastern Sichuan and Bashu.
The Donghu people went south to occupy Youyan. Even if a new emperor was established in Jiangning, the power of the Yue Dynasty would be extremely weak. First, they had to block the She family's offensive from the south. They were no longer able to interfere with the Cao family's invasion of Bashu - this was also the Cao family's separatist rule over Qin.
Shu, the best opportunity to become king in the west - it is obviously difficult for the Cao family to refuse this temptation.
The Liang family probably lost the courage to confront the Donghu people in the battle of Chentangyi. Besides, the Liang family had already suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of the Donghu people in the battle of Chentangyi. Even if the Liang family was given another year or two,
Here, we cannot place our hopes on the Liang family's ability to defend Shandong.
On the contrary, once the main force of the Donghu people is delayed in Yanji and unable to move south immediately, the Donghu people will naturally adjust their strategy in a timely manner. If the Donghu people turn to win over the Liang family and support the Liang family in separatist rule in Shandong, what choice will the Liang family make?
Cao, Liang, and Huaidong are all feudal lords who have separated themselves from each other to this day, and there is no need to be secretive anymore. The relationship between feudal towns has always been based on distrust, mutual wariness, and maintaining one's own interests.
There is no possibility of working together without mutual trust and sacrificing oneself to fulfill the needs of others.
Otherwise, how could the Red Coat Army and Chen Hansan have any chance of taking a breather between Huaidong and the Liang family?
The Donghu cavalry swept the world, and the Liang family naturally had no possibility of surviving alone; similarly, if the Yuan family was rejuvenated, it was also impossible for the Yuan family to continue to let the Liang family separatist areas in the heart of the Central Plains such as eastern Shandong and Hezhong Prefecture.
For the Liang family, the best result is that the world is divided into pieces and the Liang family separates one of them.
Donghu was so powerful that the Liang family did not dare to act rashly. They even wanted to unite with Jiangning and Huaidong to resist Donghu. Once the main force of Donghu was delayed in Yanji and unable to go south, they even consumed too many troops under Jinhai City and temporarily lost the power to sweep the world.
Possibly, the Liang family may make a move to march to Qingzhou and separatize Shandong first.
When Huaidong has reached this stage, in addition to resisting Donghu and the She family, it will not give up its vigilance against the Liang family and the Cao family. It is expected that the Liang family and the Cao family will do the same to Huaidong.
"Mr. Gao also knows that once Jiangning decides to establish a new emperor," Sun Shangwang said, "other than the new emperor, there will be no one else who will be the first to stop the siege of Yanjing.
Holding on at a heavy cost will only give Jiangning the illusion that the crisis has been alleviated. At this time, Liang and Cao are on the outside, and Huaidong is on the near side. Does Mr. Gao believe that Jiangning will join forces with Liang and Cao to suppress Huaidong?
A stupid move?"
Gao Zongting secretly sighed, since Huaidong was determined to give up Jinhai, it would be impossible for Lin Xuwen to stay alone - Huaidong would take care of the overall situation, but he would not make wedding clothes for other families for the sake of the so-called overall situation, let alone risk his own life.
Leave it to others - Gao Zongting asked Sun Shangwang: "Has Huaidong reached this point and there is no way out?"
"This matter is not something Shang Wang can do," Sun Shangwang said, "Your Excellency has always attached great importance to Mr. Gao. Shang Wang just hopes that Mr. Gao will not disappoint you."
"Alas!" Gao Zongting sighed slightly, said nothing more, and walked away.