Zhou Bin's left eye was cut with a knife in his early years, making him ugly and hideous, but his right eye was intact and he stared at the Prime Minister with his bright eyes.
In the later stages of the Xuzhou War, Huaidong used a strategy of spreading salt to melt the ice, defeated the three troops of Chen and Han, and captured Xuzhou City. Chen sent heavy troops, and Xu Si's defense line was complete. In fact, Beiyan was forced to defend the river with heavy troops.
The possibility of Xusi's defense line crossing southward was reduced to a minimum.
After the Xuzhou War, Lin Fu must shift his concern about Northern Yan's southern invasion to other directions.
The Changle Army occupied Xiangyang and Suizhou, together with Nanyang to the north, and was located in the core area of the Han River Channel on the west line. The southern troops could move north, or the northern troops could move south. By taking this route, they could avoid the Qinling Mountains and the Huaishan Mountains and the Huaihe River.
It can block the river and occupy the upper reaches of the Han River connecting the Yangtze River to the south.
Therefore, the Changle Army became the most unstable factor in the North-South confrontation, and the defense line built by Liang Chengchong's headquarters in Nanyang to the north of the Changle Army was too thin.
Once Beiyan eliminated the threats from Guanzhong and Hezhong Prefecture on the right wing, Liang Cheng rushed 20,000 troops and more than 100,000 civilians to build a defense line in Nanyang cities. In front of hundreds of thousands of troops, it was as thin as paper.
Faced with hundreds of thousands of Beiyan troops marching south from the western front, one has no confidence in the Changle army's will to resist.
Luo Xiancheng was suspicious by nature and had no ambition. In other words, it should be considered a good thing. However, when the Yanlu were about to invade the south, Luo Xiancheng became more dangerous to half of the country in the south.
After the war in Xuzhou, Lin Fu, on the one hand, strongly supported Liang Chengchong to establish himself in Nanyang, and on the other hand, he transferred dozens of secret agents headed by Zhou Bin from the Military Intelligence Department to infiltrate into Suizhou as vagrants.
In addition to collecting intelligence, a more important task is to try to win over and divide the generals of the Changle Army; Wang Xiang has also fallen into Huaidong's sight long ago.
Wang Xiang was forcibly captured by Luo Xiancheng in his early years and joined the gang. He was not good at using troops, but he was good at governance. He was Luo Xiancheng's right-hand man. Luo Xiancheng led his troops to move between Huai and Han, and finally managed to gain a foothold in Suizhou. Wang Xiang took great credit.
Of course, Luo Xiancheng and Wang Xiang also had many disagreements. Wang Xiang advocated occupying Xiangyang, with Nanyang and Suizhou as the two wings of management. However, Luo Xiancheng was originally afraid of Chen Zhihu's military force and had no intention of confronting Jinghu, so he focused on managing Suizhou.
Wang Xiang had major differences with Luo Xiancheng and other generals of the Changle Army on matters such as whether to enter Jiangxi, whether to accept Jiangning's recruitment, and whether to borrow Chen Hansan's military rations at this time.
The Yanhu troops and horses have already detoured back to the western front to attack the western Qin area. Although the Cao family repelled the first attack, the Cao family has exposed many serious problems on the western front, making it difficult to determine how long the Cao family's defense in Guanzhong can last.
Not to be defeated by the Yan and Hu armies.
Guanzhong has fallen, and Liang Chengyi of Hezhong Prefecture is unable to support his attack. Nanyang's defense line will also be as thin as cicada wings and cannot be sustained for a long time. The Yanhu army is likely to break through the obstacles on the western front within two years and push its troops to Xiangyang.
Under the city.
In comparison, the possibility of Huaidong's troops pacifying Jiangxi within two years is not high.
Even if Jiangxi can be regained in two years, Chizhou will be bordered by Yue Lengqiu's troops in Suizhou, and Luzhou will follow the state, separated by Huaishan Mountain.
If the Hu horses move south in two years and Huaidong troops have not yet arrived, then if you want to prevent the Changle army from surrendering to Yanhu, you will need to take advantage of the internal conflicts in Suizhou. Either weaken the capitulation generals in the Changle army or strengthen the Changle army.
The power of generals who do not surrender is equally important, rather than simply weakening the overall strength of the Changle Army.
After Lin Fu went south to Luzhou for inspection, Zhou Bin raised the possibility of directly wooing the Prime Minister.
Lin Fu, Gao Zongting, Song Fu and others spent a long time before finally deciding to ask Zhou Bin to sneak to Suizhou again to have a showdown with Wang Xiang.
Wang Xiang believed in Zhou Bin's identity, and he was even suspicious when Zhou Bin offered the medicine. However, Zhou Bin was ordered to protect Su Mei in his early years and had a cover identity in Jiangning. After Su Mei went to Chongzhou, Zhou Bin's cover identity has been
Use—Xiang Wang sent people to investigate Zhou Bin, and naturally no flaws were found.
However, once Zhou Bin reveals his identity and thinks that Zhou Bin can easily traffic a large amount of illegal salt and iron materials to Suizhou, Prime Minister Wang will have nothing to be suspicious of - there is often only a thin layer between truth and lies.
Paper.
It's just that the king is confused. The troops from Huaidong have not yet arrived. If he can persuade Luo Xiancheng to accept Jiang Ning's offer, he can send an envoy to Suizhou to discuss the matter openly. Jiang Ning has no actual control over Suizhou. So-called
Recruitment and canonization have no substantive significance. There is really no need to expose Zhou Bin who has been lurking for a long time.
If Zhou Bin takes the initiative to expose his identity and has ulterior motives, although Wang Xiang is favored by Luo Xiancheng, he has assisted in political affairs for many years and his subordinates do not directly control military power. He is really not a good candidate for Huaidong to win over - judging from the current situation.
, Huaidong is unlikely to send troops to Suizhou first.
Facing Zhou Bin's advice, Wang Xiang just smiled bitterly: "I'm just a literary thief, I don't have the strength to tie a chicken, and I don't have half a soldier capable of fighting. I can't help myself. What can I do?"
Zhou Bin took out a letter from his arms, pushed it in front of Wang Xiang, and said: "This is a private letter from my lord to Mr. Wang..."
Zhou Bin was already one of the most important private gangsters traveling to and from Suizhou. Suizhou wanted to obtain salt and iron, so he tried his best to win over the gangsters. He borrowed a road from Huaishan to enter Suizhou, but he was not afraid of being searched by Changle's army.
Prime Minister Wang opened the letter and read it carefully:
"Fu lived in the Jianghuai River. Dukes of Qin, Cao, Zhou and Fu all praised the prince for having the ambition to stabilize the people and the land. He also offered it to Luo Gong and had a good plan. He sent people to Suizhou to hear the people's voices and knew that Xiang followed the people.
I deeply feel the loyalty of the prince, and the heroes of the world yearn for it. I feel regretful that I cannot talk to the prince face to face, so I can only borrow pen and paper to write about my aspirations in the world. At that time, the relationship between Huai and Han was fragmented.
The Hu soldiers were trapped in the pass, and in the middle of the river, Nanyang was unable to support a lonely tree. They arrived at Huaihan in an instant. Fu wanted to ask the prince, where would Huaihan be? Huaihan was lost, Jinghu collapsed, and the Hu soldiers drank in the Yangtze River, and the great country was about to collapse.
If you are in danger of falling to barbarians, you have to plan it..."
Lin Fu's letter did not go into any details, but just pointed out the severe situation facing the Western Front.
Wang Xiang folded the letter and Zhou Bin took it and burned it to ashes by the candle fire, leaving no trace.
Wang Xiang sighed: "Everyone was speculating that Duke Chong Guo should plan to attack Jiangxi at this time. I didn't expect that Duke Chong Guo was so far-sighted..."
"My master often says, 'If you don't have a long-term plan, you will have immediate worries.'" Zhou Bin said with a smile, "Master Wang should also have a long-term plan!"
Computer access ~ wa]po "I have no power to tie a chicken, and I have no soldiers under my command who can fight. My only role is probably to say a few words in front of Luo Shuai," Wang Xiang said with a bitter smile, "If Chongguo Gong leads an army
When we arrived at Suizhou City, I naturally knew the current affairs and advised Luo Shuai to seek a rich and noble prince. However, at this time, Huaidong soldiers and horses were stationed in Luzhou. They were hundreds of miles away from Suizhou in the deep ridges of Huaishan Mountain. Yue Lengqiu led his troops to cross the river and march north to occupy the city.
I am afraid that I will take Yicheng and march west along the southern foot of Huaishan Mountain to compete with Chen Hansan for Qichun and Huangmei. Speaking of this, I am confused, why did Duke Chong Guo give Yicheng to Chizhou?"
Huaidong took Yicheng and marched westward along the southern foot of Huaishan Mountain. As long as Chen Hansan could not gain a foothold in Qichun, he would be able to border Suizhou. Only then would there be conditions for accepting Changle's army - but Huaidong could not abandon Yicheng.
He abandoned Yicheng and gave it to Chizhou. But at this time Zhou Bin came to surrender again, which of course made the king suspicious.
"If Marshal Luo can be surrendered, his wealth will be guaranteed," Zhou Bin said, "But to be honest, the Privy Council has been observing Marshal Luo for a long time, but in the end they only felt that only the king can rely on his trust..."
"Please tell me in detail, Mr. Zhou," Wang Xiang said.
On the one hand, Yue Lengqiu occupied Chizhou, and there were only two counties on the west bank of the Qiupu River. The westward passage along the south bank was indeed too narrow, and with heavy troops in Huaidong stationed in Xusi, it was not appropriate to divide the southern line into two routes to attack the She family. On the other hand,
On the other hand, Chizhou is too close to Jiangning, which can be said to be a critical point. If you want to ask Yue Lengqiu to give up Chizhou, you can only give up the area west of Yicheng on the north bank to Yue Lengqiu to fight for.
Chen Hansan's movements in the Huaishan Mountains and the signs of his remnant troops moving south had already alerted Huaidong. Regardless of Yue Lengqiu and Chen Hansan, the She family's fight for victory in the eastern Hubei region finally ended.
There are only four forces that may follow the bordering states: Jinghu, Nanyang, Chizhou and Huaixi. In comparison, the mountain trail from Luzhou to Suizhou through the deep ridges of Huaishan Mountain is too dangerous and tortuous.
Don't worry about the border anymore.
For a long time, there was no possibility for Huaidong to directly annex Changle's army - therefore, directly recruiting Anluo Xiancheng in the name of the imperial court had no substantive meaning.
Just like the Song family did to Mindong, Lin Fu asked Zhou Binqian to come to Suizhou this time to win over the prime minister directly. In fact, he wanted to play a secret game in the hinterland of Huaihan for the future.
"Master Wang, Commander Luo and Zhong Rong had different opinions on Chen Hansan's borrowing of military rations, and there were many disputes. I heard that Marshal Luo has stopped listening to Master Wang recently. Zhong Rong even threatened Master Wang with weapons, and Luo Shuai
Shuai just scolded him softly. Mr. Wang could not take back the matter of Chen Hansan borrowing military supplies. I think Zhong Rong would also use this matter to ridicule Mr. Wang in the future. Mr. Wang took the opportunity to leave Suizhou and go to guard a remote place.
What a difficult thing!" Zhou Bin said.
Wang Xiang stayed in Suizhou and stayed with Luo Xiancheng, and he was always just a vassal of Luo Xiancheng. In his early years, Luo Xiancheng was not yet powerful, so he was quite able to listen to Wang Xiang's opinions. In recent years, Luo Xiancheng wanted to enjoy himself, and became more and more impatient with Wang Xiang. In the future, Luo Xiancheng wanted to enjoy himself.
When the Yan army attacked, even if Wang Xiang tried his best to persuade Luo Xiancheng to defend, the effect would be very limited.
Instead of staying in Suizhou and being increasingly marginalized, it is better to assign oneself, leave Suizhou and stay alone.
In the future, when the Huaidong army arrives, and Wang Xiangneng can lead the defenders to surrender, a big gap will immediately appear in Suizhou, just like Quanzhou in Eastern Fujian, and it will be much easier to regain Suizhou.
If the Yan soldiers arrive first and Luo Xiancheng leads the Changle army to surrender without mercy, Suizhou can still hold on to a corner of the country, just like Jinhai. Containing the enemy forces can buy more time for Huaidong's troops to mobilize.
"Where should I go?" Wang Xiang asked.
"Chaishan!" Zhou Bin said.
Among the eight counties in Suizhou, Chaishan is located in the deepest part of Huaishan Mountain. It was originally under Lishan County and the Chaishan Inspection Department was established. Chaishan County was newly established just before the chaos in Huaisi. Chaishan County is connected to Xinyang Luoshan to the north and Luzhou to the east.
The old port is adjacent to it. The mountains are high and the valleys are deep. The old port is only connected to Luoshan by a narrow and winding canyon. Large groups of soldiers and horses cannot pass through. Only bandits, mountain people, medicine merchants or private lords often use it.
The main passage between Tongbai Mountain and Huaishan Mountain is mainly between Lishan Mountain and Luoshan Mountain. Lishan County, located at the western foot of Huaishan Mountain, is the barrier to the northeast of Suizhou. Chaishan Mountain, located between the heart of Huaishan Mountain, becomes the edge controlled by the Changle Army.
region. If the war hadn't caused a large number of people to flee into the Huaishan Mountains to survive, Luo Xianchengdu would not have bothered to send troops to control Chaishan Mountain.
Wang Xiang failed to borrow military supplies from Chen Hansan, and he devalued himself and asked to guard Chaishan alone, which would not arouse the vigilance of Luo Xiancheng and other generals of the Changle Army.
Although Prime Minister Wang does not lead troops in politics, his reputation in the Changle army is very high, and he will inevitably be able to win over some middle- and lower-level generals who are unwilling but like-minded to go to Chaishan. He can only manage them well, and he can become a reliable soldier.
.
Although there is no broad road connecting Chaishan and the old port of Luzhou, so large groups of troops cannot move, but a hundred or so people can go back and forth across the mountains in ten days and a half. It can take a year or even longer.
, Wang Xiang was able to manage Chaishan into a military stronghold in Huaixi Province.
More importantly, Lin Fu hoped that Wang Xiang could help Huaidong and open a troop dispatch plank road across Huaishan Mountain between Chaishan and the old port.
"Huaishan Plank Road!" Wang Xiang was shocked.
"Yes," Zhou Bin said, "Huaishan Mountain has been a gathering place for bandits since ancient times, and it is directly related to the dangers of the mountain. Hundreds of soldiers and horses want to enter the mountain to suppress the bandits, but their actions are extremely slow. Hundreds of soldiers and horses can easily do it.
Due to the counterattack of thieves, there are many cottages in Huaishan Mountain, and only 23 out of 10 are under the control of the imperial court. Luzhou will open a passage to Chendian Mountain in the west in the name of connecting cottages in the old port territory, but to
Chaishan, and even the passage west of Chaishan that extends to Lizhou, we can only count on Lord Wang..."
Huaidong occupied Luzhou and controlled the eastern foot of Huaishan Mountain. No matter how powerful it was, it could not build mountain roads into the area controlled by Suizhou.
In particular, Chaishan itself is located deep in the Huaishan Mountains. The road from Chaishan to the west to Lishan County is also dangerous and winding, making it difficult for soldiers to pass. Only Wang Xiang could use the name of strengthening control of Chaishan to recruit civilians to build the connection between Chaishan and Lishan.
The passage between them - that is to say, as long as Wang Xiang and Huaidong cooperate well, this passage across Huaishan Mountain will be able to hide from the sight of all forces!
"When the Chu and Han Dynasties were fighting, they had the strategy of 'building a plank road in the Ming Dynasty'. Duke Chong Guo had great foresight and built a troop dispatching channel in the heart of Huaishan Mountain. It will surely be used as a stratagem in the future," Wang Xiang praised, "but this heart of the land
To build a channel for troops, the money and food consumed would be incalculable..."
"Master Wang, are you willing to go to Chaishan?" Zhou Bin asked.
The king looked down and thought: Chaishan is located in the hinterland of Huaishan Mountain. Although it is remote and poor, no matter what Luo Xiancheng chooses in the future, if he and his disciples go to Chaishan in person, even if it is not the best, they can stay in a corner and calmly watch the changes in the world.
.
He does not seek to be heard and reached by the princes, but seeks to be able to stand alone; and speaking of the general situation of the world, the only one who can compete with Yan and Hu is Huaidong.
After a long time, Wang Xiang took a step back, bowed towards Luzhou in the southeast, and said: "I have been so earnest in asking Chen Hansan to borrow military supplies, but Luo Shuai couldn't hear a word and went in, and there was no one in Suizhou who could do it.
There is no place for me, so I can only follow Duke Chong and ask for peace and quiet in Chaishan..."
Wang Xiang still left some room for himself in his words, but Zhou Bin just ignored it and said happily: "I will return to Yijiang immediately to report the good news to my lord..."
When Zhou Bin arrived at Yijiang, the news that Chen Hansan led his troops into Qichun also reached Yijiang.
Yijiang is the Wuyang of later generations. The source of Yiyang River comes from Gucheng County at the southern foot of Maoshan Mountain, and flows into the Yangtze River from the east of Yijiang City via Lishui River. Today, Yijiang has become the most important garrison of the Huaidong Army on the west line of Jiangning.
The prefecture was also placed under the jurisdiction of Yijiang, with a total of more than 60,000 water infantry under its jurisdiction.
In addition, large-scale training of supply troops will be conducted as reserve troops and stationed in Yijiang and Luzhou.
The news that Chen Hansan led his troops to enter Qichun reached Yijiang, making it difficult for Lin Fu to sleep peacefully on the Mid-Autumn Festival night. He sent Gao Zongting, Song Fu, Ao Canghai, Chen Huawen, Ge Cunxin, Zhou Pu, Sun Zhuang, Zhu Ai and others to
Summoned to discuss military matters.
"Luo Xiancheng did not have the intention of being submissive, so he used Chen Hansan to gain a foothold in Qichun to weaken the pressure that Jinghu and Chizhou might have on Suizhou. With the support of the She family and Luo Xiancheng behind him, the development of Chen Hansan's remnant forces in the Ezhou area was afraid.
It will be faster than we imagined." Lin Fu stared at the map, and the ruined eastern Hubei region was still a blank area on the map. Because it was located on the outskirts of Suizhou, it had been cleaned by Luo Xiancheng and his troops. After the Changle army withdrew, Jingzhou
The lake has never sent troops to take over, and the refugees have formed associations and bandits.
Thinking about it with your toes, the bandits in eastern Hubei must be inextricably linked to Luo Xiancheng. Luo Xiancheng wanted to keep a low profile and not arouse the alert of other forces, so he retreated to Suizhou and Xiangyang, but in the peripheral areas of Suizhou,
He must not be willing to let others take it away, but if he insists that Chen Hansan go to the east of Hubei to establish a foothold, the situation will be completely different.
Edong and Ezhou and Jiangzhou face each other across the river. The She family insists that Chen Hansan establishes himself in Edong. This is something that anyone with a discerning eye will know at a glance.
"In any case, even if a troublemaker like Chen Hansan comes in and Jiangzhou is threatened by Chizhou and Ezhou, the She family will not dare to have too few troops in Jiangzhou," Gao Zongting said, "and once Yue Lengqiu follows
When Chen Hansan and the troops of the She family stationed in Huanglongling on the north bank engage in battle, the war will not stop, and the impact on our military deployment in western Zhejiang in the autumn will not be too great..."
Sometimes a great victory is not necessarily required. The She family currently has 160,000 to 70,000 troops and controls most of northern Fujian and Jiangxi. As long as it is forced to continuously increase troops and military consumption to the outer defense line, it can continue to weaken the She family and intensify the situation.
The purpose of following the She family's westward migration was to conflict with the local forces.
"The blind man is back!" Xu Daozi, who was staying overnight, came in to report.
"Oh," Lin Fu said happily when he heard that Zhou Bin had arrived in Yijiang, "call Blind Zhou over quickly..."
Before Zhou Bin could take a breath, he rushed to the capital hall where the matter was being discussed. Seeing that the hall was filled with key figures from Huaidong, he reported: "Wang Xiang is willing to cooperate with us to guard Chaishan Mountain and repair the mountain road..."
"Okay!" Gao Zongting said with a smile, "If we can really build a military channel between the Huai Mountains, we can equip one hundred thousand troops!"
Lin Fu wanted to transfer Yicheng to Chizhou, and he would lose the direct way to seize the hinterland of Suizhou, so he had to bite the bullet and open up a channel in the hinterland of Huaishan Mountain so that he could compete strategically in the future.
Furthermore, Huaishan Mountain is thousands of miles deep. Due to the dangerous roads, the government's control over Huaishan Mountain has always been weak, making it easy for bandits to live in. Most of the villages in Huaishan Mountain are both bandits and civilians. And Huaishan Mountain is located in the hinterland of the Yangtze River and Huaihe River.
The gathering of thieves caused great damage to the peripheral prefectures of Shouzhou, Xinyang, Haozhou, Luzhou, Ezhou, Suizhou, and Jiangxia. These areas, which should have been land of plenty, have been affected by the constant robberies of the Huaihe River in recent years.
The actual tax potential is far weaker than that of the Jiangnan region.
To strengthen control over Huaishan, building roads and improving traffic conditions are the first prerequisites.
Lin Fu said to Song Fu: "Song Gong issued a military order for me, asking Tang Xitai to lead two battalions of armored soldiers. Ten thousand troops will immediately go into the mountains of his hometown to suppress the bandits." He then said to Zhou Bin, "Since the king is cooperating with us,
If you go over this time, you will stay to help Wang Xiang manage Chaishan. Keep it strictly confidential, and you can’t ask too many people to take you there. Carefully select some reliable people to go with you; build roads on both sides first, and connect them first with
The trails are connected by secret paths and will be widened at the end! It is not possible to transport rice to Chaishan at the moment, but we can add more salt, iron and medicinal materials so that you can raise more rice from the hinterland of Suizhou in Chaishan."
Although it is difficult to open a mountain road in the hinterland of Huaishan Mountain, as long as Wang Xiang and Zhou Bin can raise the rice grain to sustain the livelihood of 20,000 to 30,000 men, it will not be difficult to open a channel from Lishan to Chaishan. Of course, Suizhou is known to have troops.
Of the two hundred thousand, the number of capable soldiers was only about fifty thousand. It would certainly not be an easy task to raise enough rice and grain to sustain the livelihood of two to thirty thousand men and their families in Suizhou.
It's a pity that the medicine road between Huaishan Mountain is too dangerous. Before the plank road is built, it is impossible to transport large quantities of materials between Chaishan Mountain and the old port. It is enough to refuse to directly send troops to occupy it. Why bother to expend such effort?
Nowadays, the blockade of Suizhou is very strict in various places. Salt and iron are more expensive than copper in Suizhou. In comparison, even though rice is still in short supply, it is the most abundant material in the hands of Suizhou's Le army.
Organizing two hundred people to walk between the Huaishan Mountains in the name of a private lord, transporting 20,000 to 30,000 jins of rice grains by camel back and forth in a month, he cannot be called a king at all. Zhou Bin persisted in Chaishan for a few more days, but he could make 20,000 to 30,000 jins of rice every month.
The input of salt and iron is completely different.
Suizhou is located at the western foot of Huaishan Mountain, and the uncontrolled area in the hinterland of Huaishan Mountain is even larger than Suizhou Prefecture. A large number of mountain people also live and breed in the Huaishan Mountains, making use of the sloping fields and valley farming between the valleys.
, live in a village. With salt and iron, they can exchange rice grains with the mountain people and village people to solve part of the rice grain shortage.