Liu Xiu bowed to Liu Jun and said, "Boyu, I still need to think about this matter."
Liu Jun nodded and did not force Liu Xiu to make a statement immediately. He said with a smile: "Uncle Wen can live in Lunu with peace of mind! Jun still said the same thing. As long as Jun is the prefect of Zhongshan, he will ensure that Uncle Wen stays in Lunu. Safety!"
After Liu Jun's repeated attempts to persuade him to stay, Liu Xiu settled down in Lunu. On this day, Liu Xiu was reading in the study when Liu Jun came to visit and brought someone with him.
This man was young, about 20 years old, tall and strong, with a square head and big ears, a strong back and a strong waist, a majestic appearance, and an outstanding figure.
After the meeting, before Liu Xiu could speak, the young man stepped forward quickly, bowed to the ground, and said loudly: "I, Geng Yan, courtesy name Bo Zhao, pay my respects to Da Sima!"
Liu Xiu returned the gift with his hand, and then looked at Liu Jun with confusion. The latter said with a smile on his face: "Uncle Wen, Bo Zhao is the son of Geng Kuang, the governor of Shanggu!"
Shanggu County is located in Youzhou, and Zhongshan County is located in Jizhou. Although the two places belong to two states, they are adjacent to the north and south. As the governors of the two places, Liu Jun and Geng Kuang often communicated with each other and had close personal relations.
At that time, Geng Kuang and Wang Mang's cousin Wang Ji were classmates. Because of this relationship, Geng Kuang was appreciated by Wang Mang and was appointed as the prefect of Shanggu.
When she learned that the sturdy young man in front of her was Geng Kuang's son, Liu Xiu said with a smile: "It turns out he is Mr. Geng, disrespectful, disrespectful!"
Geng Yan said seriously: "This time when Yan comes to Lunu, he has made a special trip to seek refuge with his lord!"
Liu Xiu was startled, my lord? Before he could react, Geng Yan suddenly knelt down on his knees, kowtowed forward, and at the same time said loudly: "My lord, please accept Geng Yan's bow!"
Geng Yan came suddenly and bowed even more suddenly, catching Liu Xiu off guard. He was stunned for a moment, then hurried forward and lifted Geng Yan up from the ground, with a look of confusion and confusion on his face.
It was the first time that he and Geng Yan met. How could he become Geng Yan's lord? Liu Xiu's mind was filled with confusion.
After everyone was divided into guests and hosts, Geng Yan first told in detail how he came to Lunu.
Geng Yan's father, Geng Kuang, originally had a bad impression of Liu Xuan.
When Liu Xuan proclaimed himself emperor in Nanyang, he sent many envoys to various states and counties to appease him, and one of them came to Shanggu County in Youzhou.
Even though Liu Xuan had just proclaimed himself emperor at that time and the Han army was not yet strong, Liu Xuan's envoy was very arrogant and told Geng Kuang that the Emperor of the Han Dynasty had succeeded to the throne, and whoever surrendered first could regain his title.
This means that if you surrender to the imperial court now, you can still retain your official title.
At that time, the Xinmang court and the Gengshi court were at loggerheads, and Geng Kuang was unwilling to offend the envoys of the Gengshi court.
Since the other party had already made a promise that "whoever surrenders first will be restored to his title", Geng Kuang didn't think too much and handed over the seal and ribbon of his prefect to the envoy, expressing his willingness to submit to the new imperial court.
But what he never expected was that after the envoy received Geng Kuang's seal and ribbon, he had no intention of returning it, and the promise of 'the first to surrender would be restored to his title' was no longer going to count. Geng Kuang was in a hurry. Without the seal and ribbon, he What kind of governor is that?
Geng Kuang turned his back on his promise, and the envoy who turned his back and refused to recognize him had no choice but to do anything, but Kou Xun, the meritorious officer of Taigu County, did not want to do it anymore.
Remember Kou Xun, he is an amazing talent.
At that time, Kou Xun led a group of county troops and surrounded the envoy's residence. Then he took his sword and soldiers to meet the envoy.
The envoy did not expect that Taigu County would dare to treat him like this. He asked Kou Xun, are you threatening me?
Kou Xun said righteously: "If people don't have faith, they won't be established. Without faith, things won't succeed. Without faith, business won't prosper. If the country doesn't have faith, it will decline! If a country has just been established, it will break faith with people and the world. How can it be done?
Can it last?”
The envoy was rendered speechless and silent by Kou Xun. Kou Xun summoned Geng Kuang in front of the envoy and in the name of the envoy. After Geng Kuang arrived, the envoy had no choice but to return the seal and ribbon of the prefect that had been confiscated.
Give it to Geng Kuang.
This incident has always bothered Geng Kuang. It's no wonder that he had a good impression of Liu Xuan. Messengers don't talk about credibility, so how can the person who sends the messenger talk about credibility?
Later, the Han army conquered Chang'an and Wang Mang was killed, which made Geng Kuang extremely scared. He had offended Liu Xuan's envoy at the beginning. Now that Liu Xuan has killed Wang Mang and became the real emperor, will he hold grudges against himself?
In February of the second year of Gengshi (A.D. 24), Liu Xuan made his capital Chang'an. After hearing the news, Geng Kuang immediately sent his son Geng Yan to Chang'an with gifts to meet Liu Xuan. To put it bluntly, he went to express his loyalty to Liu Xuan.
.
Geng Yan, two county officials, Sun Cang, Wei Bao, and dozens of followers, took the prepared gifts and set off from Shanggu all the way south to Chang'an. As a result, just a few days after they left Shanggu County, Wang Lang
He proclaimed himself emperor in Handan.
Wang Lang is a man whose big skills are useless, but his ability to incite and build momentum is very powerful.
When he first proclaimed himself emperor, only a few people in the counties responded to him, but Wang Lang secretly sent many of his men to spread rumors that all the counties in Hebei had surrendered to him.
Geng Yan and others also heard such rumors. Geng Yan scorned them, but the two county officials under him believed them to be true.
Sun Cang and Wei Bao made a plan. Why should they go to Chang'an? Let's go directly to Handan! It is better to meet Wang Lang than to meet Liu Xuan.
The two of them told Geng Yan their thoughts, and Geng Yan became furious and scolded them severely. Sun Cang and Wei Bao didn't say much at that time, and they ran away secretly that night.
Go straight to Handan to join Wang Lang.
The next morning, Geng Yan didn't see Sun and Wei. He immediately realized that something was wrong. They must have secretly defected to Wang Lang.
It's not a big deal to run away two county officials. The key is that Sun Cang and Wei Bao know very well that their father supports Liu Xuan. When they get to Wang Lang's side, they only need to tell Wang Lang about the matter.
Wang Lang will definitely not give up. Otherwise, Wang Lang will send troops to attack Shanggu.
Just at this time, Geng Yan heard that the road to Chang'an was blocked, so he simply did not go to Chang'an and turned back. Passing by Lu Nu, he stopped by to visit the prefect Liu Jun. It was through Liu Jun that he
Only then did I know Liu Xiu was here.
In the past, Geng Yan admired Liu Xiu endlessly, and he was full of praise for the Battle of Kunyang led by Liu Xiu. Now that he heard that Liu Xiu was in Lunu, he immediately wanted to defect to Liu Jun and told Liu Jun.
, the two hit it off immediately.
Liu Jun knew very well that with the power of Zhongshan County alone, he could not be Wang Lang's opponent in any case. If he could win over Shanggu County, even if his own strength was still not as good as Wang Lang, he would at least have the ability to fight him.
capital.
Shanggu County has the Youzhou Cavalry that he envies very much. Although the number is not large, only about a thousand cavalry, when these one thousand cavalry are on the battlefield, their combat power is comparable to that of thousands of infantry.
After listening to Geng Yan's explanation of the causes and consequences, Liu Xiu was overjoyed. If Shanggu County could really stand on his side, his strength would undoubtedly be greatly improved.
After telling all the previous things, Geng Yan said seriously: "Only the four counties of Shanggu, Yuyang, Liaodong and Liaoxi are the most brave in Youzhou's sudden cavalry! The governor of Shanggu is his subordinate Aweng, and the governor of Yuyang and the lord are from the same hometown.
If Shanggu and Yuyang join forces to help the lord, the lord will definitely be able to conquer Handan and behead the prince!"
Liu Xiu nodded while listening, with a smile on his eyes and brows. He asked softly: "Bo Zhao, your Majesty Geng, would you like to help me?"
Geng Yan patted his chest and said confidently: "My master will definitely stand on the side of my lord and kill the rebel king!"
Liu Xiu put his hands on his hands and smiled, saying: "In this case, I can go north together with Bo Zhao."
Everyone present frowned. The situation in Youzhou is still unclear. If the lord goes north at this time, there is no guarantee that danger will not occur. Besides, Geng Yan has just defected, and the lord trusts him too much.
Feng Yi frowned and said, "My lord, think twice!"
Liu Xiu threw his head back and laughed, waved his hands disapprovingly, then pointed at Geng Yan and said boldly: "Bo Zhao is the master of my journey to the north!"
Hearing this, Geng Yan also had a smile on his face and nodded repeatedly.
According to Liu Xiu's plan, he planned to go north with Geng Yan to Shanggu and Yuyang counties to meet with Geng Kuang, the governor of Shanggu, and Peng Chong, the governor of Yuyang respectively.
Peng Chong, the governor of Yuyang, was indeed Liu Xiu's fellow Nanyang fellow.
Peng Chong was from Wancheng and came from a family of officials. His father Peng Hong was a very famous loyal minister at that time. At the end of the Western Han Dynasty, Peng Hong served as the prefect of Yuyang. Later, Wang Mang usurped the throne. Peng Hong would rather die than surrender to Wang Mang, so he was eventually killed.
Killed by Wang Mang.
As they were fellow villagers, they naturally had a natural affinity. Liu Xiu felt that there was still great hope for him to win over Peng Chong.
But before Liu Xiu could follow Geng Yan to the north, Wang Lang's army suddenly attacked.
Liu Xiu's scruples were right. There is no airtight wall in the world. After all, Liu Xiu's hiding in Lunu was known to Wang Lang. When Wang Lang learned about this, he was furious and immediately mobilized the army to conquer the daring people.
Zhongshan County where Liu Xiu was taken in.
Zhongshan County is not a large county. It was formerly the Zhongshan Kingdom and has twelve counties under its jurisdiction. However, these twelve counties are not monolithic. Some support Wang Lang, some support the county government, and some have not expressed their stance.
Now that Wang Lang has sent an army to attack Zhongshan, the county governments that had not expressed their stance before have turned to Wang Lang. The counties that were willing to listen to the county government's command in the past are now beginning to waver.
Upon hearing the news of the attack by Wang Lang's army, Liu Jun immediately came to Liu Xiu to discuss countermeasures with him.
Liu Xiu asked: "Boyu, how many troops do we have available now?"
Liu Jun said seriously: "There are two thousand county troops, county soldiers..." At this point, he paused. Now he didn't know how many county soldiers he, the prefect, could mobilize.
Liu Xiu secretly calculated in his heart that it was still unclear whether the counties would obey Liu Jun's order and send county troops to assist the county. Therefore, we could not count on the reinforcements from each county. In other words, what we could mobilize at present was
Two thousand county troops in Lunu City.
It is reported that Wang Lang sent as many as 20,000 to 30,000 troops this time, and they did not come all the way.
Some of them came from Handan, and the other part came from Zhuojun. The enemy general on the Zhuojun road was none other than Peng Ning.
The enemy general on the Handan road was Yan Feng, Wang Lang's general. Interestingly, among Yan Feng's generals were Sun Cang and Wei Bao, who had previously defected from Geng Yan.
Because Zhuo County was relatively close to Zhongshan County, the soldiers and horses from Penning's route were the first to enter Zhongshan.
Part of the soldiers and horses under Peng Ning's command were his own army, and part were the county troops from Zhuojun and the county troops from Raoyang. They were pieced together to form such a mixed army of more than 5,000 people.
Liu Xiu thought about it for a while and said seriously: "We cannot give the two enemy armies a chance to converge. Since Penning's troops have entered Zhongshan now, we will attack Penning first, and then attack Yan Feng!"
Liu Jun was just a civil servant and had no experience in leading troops in battles before. Now that he heard that Wang Lang's tens of thousands of troops were attacking, he was already panicked and confused. How could he have any ideas?
After hearing Liu Xiu's words, he nodded quickly and said, "Uncle Wen can make the decision in everything!" After a pause, he asked cautiously: "Uncle Wen, do you think we are sure of winning this battle?"