On November 17, Qu Cheng led 15,000 Pingyang troops and finally arrived at Zhengyang City, the county seat of Zhengyang County.
Different from other battles in recent days, the Chu troops defending the city in Zhengyang County were obviously well prepared this time, so Qu Cheng failed to capture the city on that day.
Fortunately, there were not enough Chu soldiers to defend the city in Zhengyang County. Therefore, Qu Cheng spent two days asking his soldiers to cut down the nearby trees to make a long ladder. After paying more than 3,000 casualties, he finally made it on the 19th.
The city was captured early in the morning.
After conquering Zhengyang, Qu Cheng did not send his army to the south this time. Instead, he sent his army to garrison Zhengyang City and quietly waited for the arrival of Zhao Hongrun's army.
This wait lasted seven or eight days.
It's no wonder, after all, along the way, Qu Cheng conquered a total of five cities belonging to big local clans. Just emptying out the treasures hidden by the big clans and families exhausted the five thousand Yanling soldiers who were responsible for moving the property.
Sweating profusely and exhausted, in the end, Zhao Hongrun had to second 5,000 soldiers from Junshui Camp to help the Yanling soldiers move.
In this way, Zhao Hongrun still moved for two full days.
I saw those carriages filled with money and goods being transported to Runan in a mighty manner. The scene was really spectacular.
Looking at that scene, Zhao Hongrun was secretly glad that he had asked the craftsmen from the Ministry of Industry to build enough carriages in advance, otherwise, it would be impossible to transport such a huge amount of property from the local area to Runan in a short period of time.
It was also at that time that Zhao Hongrun realized again that the wealth of the Chu State was simply beyond his imagination.
Once upon a time, he mistakenly thought that the Chu State was a country with poor people, but in fact, the reason why the Chu people were generally poor was because the nobles and powerful forces in Chu controlled almost 90% of the entire country's financial resources. No,
Just by confiscating the cities of only five big clans, including the Peng family and the Lu family, Zhao Hongrun made a lot of money and became extremely rich.
It is no exaggeration to say that the wealth he currently holds in his hands far exceeds the tax revenue of the Great Wei Hubu that year. This is such a terrifying figure. It is enough to drive people crazy.
This forced Zhao Hongrun, who originally planned to lead 10,000 Wei soldiers from the Junshui Battalion directly to Zhengyang, to change his mind midway and ask the Wei soldiers to escort the carriages carrying the treasure in batches to Runan.
Thousands of carriages carrying heavy boxes drove into Runan City, and the whole city was shocked. Because anyone with a sharp mind can guess where the Wei soldiers earned such a huge amount of money and goods.
"We sincerely welcome His Royal Highness Prince Su on his triumphant return."
The clan chiefs who had surrendered in Runan City, headed by Yang Yan Tao of the Yang Yan clan, respectfully greeted him near the city gate.
Regardless of the fact that the Yangyan clan was not a prestigious clan in Runan in the past, even in Runan City, there were many clans that were richer and more powerful than him, but who could tell them to climb up to the Wei army now?
The high branches.
Nowadays, the whole clan in Runan is secretly rumoring that Yang Yanxing, the youngest granddaughter of Yang Yantao, has slept on the bed of King Su of Wei State. This news made the other clan chiefs secretly curse Yang Yantao as a "shameless old man".
"Things". On the other hand, he was secretly jealous of the Yang Tongue family's current dominance.
Because, before leaving Runan a few days ago, Zhao Hongrun had asked Yang Yantao to come forward to appease the Chu people in Runan City, and asked him to be responsible for accepting those Chu people from other places who moved to Runan one after another.
In fact, Zhao Hongrun's idea about this matter is very simple. After all, it is better for him, a Wei man, to come forward to appease the Chu people in Runan. It is better to let Qu Cheng, Yan Mo and other generals who are Chu people come forward to appease them. But Qu Cheng, Yan Mo and others
, and after all, they are not as good as the local clans who originally lived in Runan.
Therefore, Zhao Hongrun casually picked Yang Shitao as the Wei army's spokesperson in Runan. He asked him to come forward to appease the Chu people in the city and ease the tense relationship between the Wei people and the Chu people.
As for the reason for choosing Yang Yan Tao, Zhao Hongrun firmly denied that it was because of Yang Yan Xing. He just felt that the Yang Yan Yi clan was just a small clan in the past. It had a weak foundation and was easier to control. Furthermore, Yang Yan Tao himself was also a coward.
A small, cautious and knowledgeable person would not dare to betray the Wei army.
However, the clans in Runan City who were jealous of Yang Yantao did not view him that way. They secretly resented this and wished they could give all their own granddaughters to Zhao Hongrun in exchange for family benefits.
After all, from a woman's perspective, no matter how old or young, no matter what her status is, no matter which country she is in, women will always enjoy less status in the family than men. If a woman in the family can earn enough profits, I believe that most clans will
They will give it away without hesitation.
Even later, even Yang Yantao himself mistakenly thought that Zhao Hongrun looked at his family in a different light because of his granddaughter, which made him even more complacent. He never thought that Zhao Hongrun was actually so angry that he wanted to kill him.
No, when Zhao Hongrun saw the thirteen-year-old girl Yang Yanxing standing in the team that welcomed him, he felt depressed for a while.
Okay, okay, to be honest, this little girl Yang Yanxing really makes Zhao Hongrun happy, because not only is this girl beautiful, she is like a little beauty, and she is also very simple, and has not been indoctrinated with any nonsense.
, I’m afraid it’s still not clear that she was not “sleeped” by Zhao Hongrun, but that the two of them slept on the bed all night.
The only problem is that this girl is too young. No matter how beautiful and charming she is, Zhao Hongrun doesn't have any convenient temperament for her. After all, Zhao Hongrun likes Miss Su more than such a young girl.
A mature and feminine sensual woman.
As for this little girl, haha, let’s talk about it in ten or eight years.
"Why are you here too?"
Maybe it was for the sake of "sleeping" that when Zhao Hongrun rode his horse through the city gate, he saw the little girl standing next to his grandfather Yang Yantao, her little nose and face turned red by the cold weather.
, I really couldn't bear it, so I got off my horse, took off my brocade robe and put it on her body.
"Grandfather said that I am now your wife, His Highness Prince Su. When your husband comes back, I should go out to welcome you." The little girl said timidly.
woman……
The corner of Zhao Hongrun's mouth twitched a few times, and he wanted to slap the sheep who was smiling "hehe" on the snow.
"Let's go and follow this king into the city."
Stretching out his hand to take Yang Shixing's little hand, Zhao Hongrun carried her onto the horse, and then he also climbed onto the horse, and the two of them rode straight towards the city.
He didn't even bother to pay attention to Yang Yantao, who was always smiling flatteringly beside him.
To be honest, Zhao Hongrun was tolerant enough not to kill this old guy who ruined his reputation with a sword.
It's a pity. That old guy, well, is Yang Yan Tao, and he doesn't care about Zhao Hongrun's indifference to him. Anyway, in his opinion, as long as his granddaughter can please King Su of the Wei Kingdom, the Yang Yan family will have nothing to worry about.
After Zhao Hongrun entered the city, he asked the generals of the Junshui Camp such as Cao Jie, Gong Yuan, and Yu Chun who were guarding the city to deliver the carriages filled with treasures. On the other hand, he sent people to inquire about Gu Liangwei, Wuma Jiao, and Wu Ji.
The progress of the people's attack on Pingyu County.
One day later, the news returned was pretty good. It should be said that the progress exceeded Zhao Hongrun's conservative estimate.
Let’s talk about Gu Liangwei, Wu Majiao and Wu Ji first. Taking advantage of Pingyu County’s current lack of defense, the three of them captured Pingyu County with lightning speed and brought their families to the county seat.
Perhaps because they had no worries, or perhaps because the territorial defense under the rule of Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu was empty, the three of them were not satisfied with the current progress after discussion, so Wumajiao stayed in Pingyu County, while Guliangwei and Wu
Ji and Ji sent their troops to the north. Gu Liangwei was responsible for attacking Xiangcheng, while Wu Ji was responsible for attacking Chen County near Xiangcheng.
After hearing about this, Zhao Hongrun quickly sent a message to Wu Ji, asking him to prepare enough ships after conquering Chen County so that the Wei army could transport a large amount of money and goods to the Wei Dynasty via the Ying River.
As for the route to escort the money and belongings, Zhao Hongrun originally thought of taking the Rushui-Yingshui waterway, but after seeing the distribution of waterways in Chu State, he gave up the idea.
Because taking the Rushui-Yingshui waterway requires a long detour. The most important thing is that the waterway is still in the territory of the Chu State that the Wei army has not yet attacked. In order to prevent unforeseen complications, Zhao Hongrun decided to change the route and let the Yanling soldiers escort them.
The money and goods traveled from Runan to Shangcai. After arriving at Shangshui, they mobilized a fleet from Wu Ji in Chen County, and then sent the warships to carry the money and goods, along the Yingshui River to Caihe, and finally to Daliang, the capital of Chen.
What makes Zhao Hongrun happy is that although he did not regain the lost ground in time, under his dispatch, the guards in Anling, Huaiyang and other counties had already dispatched according to his orders. According to the latest news, the guards in Huaiyang
The Rong army has already recovered Xiping and Shangshui, so as long as Wu Ji captures Chen County, this transportation channel will be completely opened.
It is worth mentioning that Zhao Hongrun's previous considerations were correct. When the news that he defeated Xiong Tuo, Lord of Yangcheng, spread to Zhaoling, Linying, and Xiping, the Chu soldiers who had been guarded by Xiong Tuo in these places were
After being attacked by the local guards of Wei State, they surrendered with little resistance.
Even the Chu soldiers in Xiping and Shangshui who were close to the fiefdom under the rule of Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu had already fled, so that the local guards of the Wei State who had almost no combat experience actually succeeded in their trip.
.
Of course, there is good news, but there is also bad news.
The bad news is nothing more than what Qu Cheng sent to Zhao Hongrun regarding the battle situation in Zhengyang.
Although it took Qu Cheng three days to finally conquer Zhengyang, his failure in defrauding the city of Zhengyang made Zhao Hongrun clearly understand that letting the surrendered Yuan Chu generals go to defraud the city would be a dangerous move in the future.
It doesn't work anymore.
Although he secretly told himself that the help of those surrendered generals so far has been huge enough, Zhao Hongrun still felt a little regretful. After all, if he could not capture the city by deceiving the city, then it would be difficult for him to attack the city of Chu next.
It will undoubtedly go up a few notches.
And just one day later, Qu Cheng sent people to deliver even worse news: He sent people to inquire about Yangcheng, further south from Zhengyang, located in the upper reaches of the Huai River, but learned that Xiong Tuo, the king of Yangcheng, had already passed away.
Through some unknown method, he successfully returned to his own city, and prepared the army more intensively, preparing to defend Yangcheng to the death.
Real destiny...
After hearing the news, Zhao Hongrun couldn't help feeling a little emotional about Xiong Tuo's hard life. In such heavy snow, he was able to successfully return to Yangcheng under the nose of Wei Jun.
However, Zhao Hongrun didn't care much about the new army that Yangcheng Lord Xiong Tuo had hastily formed. Compared with it, he was more concerned about Chu's attitude next.
After all, counting the days, the news here should reach the ears of the King of Chu. By then, war or peace will all depend on the King of Chu's words.
There is no doubt that King Chu's words will directly affect the current situation on Zhao Hongrun's side, and even affect the entire Wei Dynasty.
After all, it is no exaggeration to say that Chu State has the foundation and national strength to fight on two fronts with two countries at the same time.
The terrible thing is that these two countries are not referring to the alliance between Qi and Lu, but the strength to go to war with Wei and Qi at the same time.
Of course, fighting both countries at the same time does not guarantee that Chu will definitely win. This is Zhao Hongrun's biggest reliance now.
But on the other hand, if Chu can still guarantee victory if it fights with Wei and Qi at the same time, then Wei and Qi should stop messing around and surrender to Chu as soon as possible.
Now, it depends on whether King Chu wants to continue the war with Wei.
Although Zhao Hongrun has not yet learned that his sixth brother Zhao Hongzhao has gone to Qi as a hostage in order to gain the support of Qi, he does not mind dragging Qi and Lu into trouble.
After all, the hatred between Qi and Lu against the Chu State is no less than the hatred between Xiong Tuo, the king of Chuyang City, and the Emperor of Wei. If the King of Chu finally decides to continue the war with the Wei State, then Zhao Hongrun will have to find a way to attract the Chu State.
With the main army of the state, try to make the Chu state have loopholes in the distribution of troops, and wait quietly for Qi to take the opportunity to attack the Chu state.
Otherwise, Wei alone would be unable to defeat this huge country like Chu.
At the end of November, Zhao Hongrun led 10,000 Wei troops from the Junshui Camp and set out from Runan again. After two days' journey, Shanshan stationed in Zhengyang and joined Qu Cheng's army again.
During this period, Pingyang Army generals such as Zuo Xunxi, Huayu, Gongye Sheng, Zuo Qiumu, etc. also conquered Queshan and Xincai respectively. This made Xiong Tuo, the once powerful Lord of Yangcheng, now only
There are only three counties left, including Yangcheng, Xixian, and Luoshan. It can be said that the road is at the end of the road.
However, the embarrassing thing is that even though Yangcheng Jun Xiong Tuo only has three cities left, Tianshi is now on his side, so that Zhao Hongrun really can't break through three cities in a short period of time and defeat Yangcheng Jun Xiong.
Tuo captured and killed.
In early December, in the wilderness between Zhengyang and Yangcheng, heavy snow piled up to half a person's height. Under the current situation, even if Zhao Hongrun was not looking forward to capturing Yangcheng, he could only rationally choose to temporarily stop his troops and quietly
Quietly waiting for the heavy snow to end and the ice and snow to melt for the coming spring.
Taking advantage of this free period, Zhao Hongrun simply ordered the armies in each county to rest and reorganize, and according to his previous commitment, he divided the money, rice and grain collected from the big clans into batches and rewarded the entire army, especially the Pingyang Army.
During this period, the army of Chu Yang City King Xiong Tuo was defeated, and Wei Su King Ji Run sent his army to counterattack the Chu Kingdom, and the news that he conquered more than a dozen cities spread like wildfire, not only throughout the Chu Kingdom, but also to the Chu King's Palace.