Shen Chiqian led his men to the left and right to protect Huan Xi, Xie Yan, and Bian Dan, who retreated toward Qu'a overnight. They hurriedly ran for more than 20 miles, but Yu Xi's rebels were not chasing him, so he stopped and took stock. The number of sergeants was 92 less than the 500, and many people were injured. Shen Chiqian felt very uncomfortable——
Xie Yan suddenly exclaimed: "No, Fan Wuzi is still in the city, and Wu Meng and He Qian haven't followed him out either!"
Fan Ning had been feeling cold for the past two days and had rested early at night. When everyone rushed out of Jingkou City, they were in chaos and had forgotten about Fan Ning, the literary master of Sizhou. However, He Qian got separated when he left the south of the city——
Huan Xi's face was wrapped with a strip of cloth, covering most of his nose and mouth. He made a loud sound and said, "The Fan family and the Yu family are family friends. Yu Xi will not harm Fan Wuzi's life. As for He Qian, I'm afraid he will be in trouble."
Xie Yan was silent, He Qian was originally a general under Yu Xi, and he was dismissed because of a rift with Yu Xi. If he was captured by Yu Xi, he would inevitably die, and if Fan Ning fell into the hands of a traitor, even if he could save his life, it would be a stain in the future. As his career was unfavorable, he had no other choice but to get to Qu'a first.
Everyone rushed to Qu'a County before dawn. Hongrong, the magistrate of Qu'a County, welcomed Huan Xi and others into the county government office. On the one hand, he sent people to report the emergency to Kyoto, and on the other hand, he sent county soldiers to garrison Qu'a New City to resist Yu Xi. —
Before noon that day, Fan Ning and He Qian led a group of officials to Qu'a. Xie Yan was overjoyed, but it turned out that Fan Ning also left the city in chaos last night. At dawn, they met He Qian and a group of officials who had dispersed. Knowing that Huan Xi had gone to Qu'a, he came to meet him -
Huan Xi was kicked out of Jingkou only half a month after he took office. Although this was not entirely his responsibility, he felt that his face had been completely lost. Moreover, his left cheek was damaged and there would be a big scar after the injury healed. Isn't it a big loss? He was in a bad mood, so he summoned Shen Chiqian to reprimand him, saying that Shen Chiqian's sergeants refused to move forward last night, causing the loss at Jingkou——
Shen Chiqian was so angry that he wanted to retort. He remembered his teacher Chen Caozhi's parting instructions, so he suppressed his anger and defended himself without being humble or arrogant. He explained the tactics of the infantry battle formation. In the situation like last night, if they moved forward like a swarm, not only If they cannot recapture Jingkou, all of them will fall into the hands of their enemies——
Xie Yan on the side saw Huan Xi venting his anger on Shen Chiqian. He shook his head secretly and said to himself: "At that time, people said that my fourth uncle was a proud man who could not lead an army and alienated the soldiers. This Huan Bodao was even more of a fool. How can there be a state?" Fang Zhen's magnanimity! Chen Zizhong knows people very well, assisting Huan Xi and secretly seizing his power. It is really a clever plan to steal the power. Otherwise, how could Huan Wen be willing to rebuild the Beifu army!" Now he and Bian Dan analyzed it for Shen Chiqian.
Huan Xi had no intention of punishing Shen Chiqian, but he was just upset and wanted to find someone to vent his anger on. He scolded Shen Chiqian and waved his hand to let Shen Chiqian go out.
In the evening of the same day, an urgent report from Qu'a was received in Beijing, and Taicheng was in turmoil. Emperor Sima Yu urgently summoned Wang Biaozhi, the minister of command, Xie An, the leader of the Central Army, Xi Chao, the minister of the Central Secretary, Wang Yun, the minister of the fifth army, and other important ministers to discuss countermeasures. Xie An , Wang Yun ordered the army and the capital soldiers to enforce martial law inside and outside, and to guard the six gates. Xi Chao sent people to Gushu overnight to report the news of Yu Xi's rebellion to Huan Wen. Huan Wen was furious when he heard the news, and sent a message to Xi Yizhi, the prefect of Gaoping, and Guo Long, the patrol guard of the army. After gathering troops and horses to attack Yu Xi, he once again led 3,000 soldiers into the capital. This was the third time Huan Wen entered Jiankang in just six months.
On the fifth day of March, Yu Xi led a rebel force of 1,500 people to attack the new city of Qu'a. Hongrong and Shen Chiqian, the magistrates of Qu'a, held firm. Yu Xi was unable to capture Qu'a. Wu Zun suggested that he go directly to Jiankang, as long as he captured the city. Jiankang, then everything would be fine. However, at this time, Yu Xi heard that the two thousand infantry of Gaoping Governor Xi Yizhi and the wandering army guard Guo Long were heading towards Qu'a, so he did not dare to bypass Qu'a to Jiankang, fearing that he would be attacked from both sides, so he decided to Temporarily retreating to Jingkou, pretending to depose the emperor's decree and recruiting rebels, while waiting for Yuan Zhen's response in Shouzhou. The day after Yu Xi captured Jingkou, he sent envoys to Shouzhou and asked Yuan Zhen to raise troops to kill Huan Wen together. Yu Xi believed Yuan Zhen will raise an army. Huan Wen has long had ambitions to control Jingkou and Yuzhou. If Yu Xi is destroyed, Yuan Zhen will definitely be Huan Wen's next target to be eradicated——
The prefect of Gaoping, Chi Yizhi, and the two thousand infantry of Guo Long, the governor of the army, joined Qu'a and the county magistrate Hongrong, and more than two thousand soldiers of Shen Chiqian, the governor of Beifu, joined forces. More than four thousand soldiers surrounded Jingkou City. ——
Yu Xi closed the city to defend himself, and there was a stalemate for a while.
On the afternoon of March 12, a small boat crossed the river from the north to the south bank of Jingkou. A sergeant stopped him for questioning. The person who came said it was Sima Chen Caozhi of Sizhou——
Everyone knew the name of Chen Caozhi, the "Jiangzuo Weijie". Although the sergeants did not recognize Chen Caozhi, they saw that the leader was tall, tall, handsome and cheerful. Several people went to see Xi Yizhi, the governor of Gaoping——
…
Chen Caozhi, Su Qi, Liu Laozhi and more than 30 people crossed the river to Pengcheng on February 22nd. Pengcheng is the administrative seat of Xuzhou. It is located at the strategic point between the north and the south and is a battleground for military strategists. For decades, the Jin Dynasty Yan fought for it and changed hands several times, and now it is temporarily controlled by the Jin army. Due to frequent wars, there are few residents in Pengcheng, only the defenders. The Liu Laozhi clan in Pengcheng now lives in Xiaxiang County, more than 200 miles southeast of Pengcheng. ——
Chen Caozhi went to Huaiyin on February 28th and paid a visit to Xu and Xi Min, the governor of Yanzhou and Pingbei general. , there was no way to see him all the way, but when they met this time, his appearance was indeed extraordinary. After the conversation, he was even more worthy of his reputation. He treated Chen Caozhi very politely, introduced Chen Caozhi to the civil and military officials in his tent, and introduced the docks in Lianghuai. Current situation——
Chen Caozhi stayed in Huaiyin for two days, then traveled to the northwest. On March 4th, he went to Xiaxiang County to visit Liu Jian, Liu Laozhi's father, and presented the letters written by Xie Wan and Fan Wang to Liu Jian. Liu Jian was over fifty. , is no longer as majestic as it once was. When Xie Wan was the governor of Yuzhou, Liu Jian served as the general who conquered the captives. Before Xie Wan defeated Shouzhou, he sent Liu to build Ma Tou City. Liu Jian was one of the few old Yuzhou generals who had a close relationship with Xie Wan. Both Xie Wan and Fan Wang praised Chen Caozhi in their letters and asked Liu Jian to fully support Chen Caozhi in recruiting Huaibei fortresses. Liu Jian saw that Chen Caozhi was too handsome and did not seem to be the man to lead an army, so he tried to get along with Chen Caozhi. Unexpectedly, Chen Caozhi was familiar with military classics, had fluent answers, and had many original ideas. Although it seemed like talking about military affairs on paper, as a young celebrity famous for his mysterious talks, Chen Caozhi's knowledge of the use of troops had impressed Liu Jianda. In order to be surprised, Liu Jian thought that his son Liu Laozhi would have a great future in following this person. Liu Jian immediately prepared to accompany Chen Caozhi personally to lobby the five major Wubao in Lianghuai and Huaihe Rivers despite his old illness.
These five forts are: Lulongtian Clan, Qiaojun Dai Clan, Nanyang Cai Clan, Hanoi Guo Clan, and Julu Wei Clan. Pingyu Sujiabao, which has hundreds of private soldiers, pales in comparison to these five forts. , each of these five large forts has tens of thousands of refugees and thousands of private soldiers. The forts are strong and large in scale. They are located in the Huaibei area where Jin and Qin are bordering Jin and Yan. They are the areas that Qin, Jin and Yan all want to win over. Because some large tribes in Guan, Long and Henan have surrendered to Di Qin or Xianbei respectively due to pressure, now only these five Wubao are like independent small kingdoms. Although they accepted the title of general and governor granted by the Jin court, But he did not listen to the orders of the Jin court. If Chen Caozhi could get the support of these five refugee clans, the Beifu Army would be able to quickly build a powerful armed force. Of course, it would take more than one person to convince these rebellious refugee commanders. An easy thing——
On the sixth day of March, Chen Caozhi, Liu Jian, and Liu Laozhi were preparing to go to Xiapi to meet Tian Luo, the head of the Lu Longtian clan. Before they set off, they received an urgent report from Xi Min that Yu Xi had rebelled and Jingkou
Fall——
Chen Caozhi was greatly surprised. Jingkou was now the seat of Sizhou. As the commander of the army, Sima of Sizhou must rush back to try to quell the rebellion. He immediately bid farewell to Liu Jian and promised to see him again after Yu Xi's rebellion was put down——
Liu Jian asked Liu Laozhi to divide the 500 private soldiers of the Liu clan in Pengcheng and take 300 to quell the rebellion. Although these Liu clan private soldiers were all over forty years old, they were all strong soldiers who had fought with Liu Jian for many years.
When crossing the Huaihe River on the seventh day of March, Chen Caozhi suddenly thought of something. Since Yu Xi had rebelled, he must have tried to expand his power with an imperial edict. Yuan Zhen in Shouzhou was tabooed by Huan Wen. Yu Xi might have invited Yuan Zhen to help him, so he immediately ordered Su Qi to lead the three troops.
Ten people went south to Shouzhou at starry night, blocked the main roads from Chuzhou to Shouzhou, and intercepted suspicious people. If nothing was found within three days, a few people were left to go to Shouzhou to inquire about the news, and the rest returned to Jingkou to meet up——
Su Qi took the order and left. Chen Caozhi and Liu Laozhi led more than 300 people to travel hundreds of miles in a day. On March 12, they arrived at the north bank of the Yangtze River. On the other side was Beigu Mountain, and at the foot of Beigu Mountain was Jingkou City.
Chen Caozhi first sent several people across the river to inquire about the news. After receiving the news that Jingkou City was under heavy siege, he ordered a group of Liu's private soldiers to be temporarily stationed on the north bank. He and Liu Laozhi brought several people across the river to meet Xi Yizhi, the prefect of Gaoping.
, Xi Yizhi is a brother of the Xi Chao clan. Hearing that Sima Chen Caozhi of Sizhou was coming back, he hurried out to greet him. He Qian and Shen Chiqian heard the news and hurriedly came to meet him——
Chen Caozhi inquired about the situation and told Xi Yizhi and others that he had sent people to Shouzhou Road to intercept Yu Xi's messenger. Although Yu Xi might not necessarily take this step, he could always take precautions and take precautions before they happen.
Wrong, Xi Yizhi thought so, and decided to postpone the attack on the city, while sending people to send food to the north bank to support the private soldiers brought by Liu Laozhi. The three hundred Liu Laozhi's private soldiers still remained in the north of the Yangtze River, and might be of great use.
That night, Shen Chiqian came to Chen Cao's military tent to explain in detail the incident of Yu Xi's capture of the city that day. He was extremely dissatisfied with Huan Xi. Chen Cao spoke kindly to comfort Huan Xi and said that after the rebellion was suppressed, he would ask the court to provide compensation to those Wuxing warriors who died in the battle. He also detailed
Ask about the situation of the infantry formation fighting that night and think about improvements——
Three days later, Su Qi hurried back, and as expected, he kidnapped three people. One of them turned out to be Yu Xi's son Yu Youzhi. Su Qi then gave Yu Xi a secret letter found on Yu Youzhi's body and presented it to Yuan Zhen. Chen Caozhi
After reading it, he handed it to Xi Yizhi, who read the letter and said secretly: "Huan Da Sima Su hated Xi Zhonglang and Yuan Zhen's military power. Now that I have received this letter, I am afraid that after Yu Xi's rebellion has been put down, he will use troops against Yuan Zhen again."
