There are mostly low mountains and hills to the north from Yunpan Ridge, and passing through the rebel-controlled area to the north, there are countless wild trails for small groups of elite troops to choose from, so they don't have to worry about being blocked and intercepted by rebel scouts.
Han Qian and Jiang Huo were escorted by Zhao Wuji, Xi Faer and other guards. In just four days, they managed to pass through the low mountains and shallow hills in the west of Langzhou, found a fishing boat on the river bank, crossed the river, and entered Jingzhou.
Cheng first went to see Zhang Wei, the governor of Jingzhou.
Yang En happened to have just arrived from Ezhou at this time, and was preparing to take a boat from Jingzhou to Yiling controlled by the Shu army.
To be honest, even if the Shu army did not want Chu to completely capture Tanzhou, it was unlikely that they would kill the Chu envoys. However, the journey was dangerous and Yang En could face the trip so calmly, but Han Qian was
I admire his courage.
"Even if Tanzhou and Liang Jun cannot guess the imperial court's intention to negotiate peace with Shu, if Yang Hou steps into Shu, Tanzhou and Liang Jun's spies lurking in Shu will definitely be ready to take action if they hear the news. There are several young people around me
, who are good at scouting and spying, please also ask Yang Hou to take them with him to prevent any loopholes in the guard." Han Qian asked Yang En in the banquet hall of the back house of Jingzhou Governor's Mansion to agree to take Zhao Wuji, Xi Fa'er and others with him.
Come to him and protect his personal safety after entering Shu.
Zhang Pei will send a warship to take Yang En to Yiling. The Shu army will be mainly responsible for the escort after arriving at Yiling. However, the peace agreement within the Shu army will be full of differences and disputes.
Generally speaking, no matter what the outcome of the peace negotiation is, Yang En has an old friendship with Wang Jian, the lord of Shu, and the Shu army will not openly harm Yang En. However, if someone deliberately exposes a flaw in the guard matter, it will allow assassins from Tanzhou or Liang to succeed.
,what to do?
"Yang Houmo wants to refuse. If an accident happens to you in Shu, peace talks will be difficult to achieve. I don't know how many more lives of generals will be sacrificed." As a general at the same level as Du Chongtao, Zhang Wei naturally treats a junior figure like Han Qian.
There is no need to show enthusiasm, but Yang En also felt the same way about Han Qian's concern when he went to Shu as an envoy.
Even if Han Qian doesn't send anyone, he will send a few elite veterans from his side to protect Yang En's safety after he enters Shu.
The Ma family also knew that Tanzhou would not be able to support much on the front, and could only count on the Shu army and Liang army to restrain the main force of the Chu army and force the court to acquiesce to the fact that the Ma family separatist Tanzhou.
At this time, the Ma family had a mission to Shu. Knowing the news of Yang En's mission to Shu, how could they not risk their lives to sabotage the Chu-Shu peace talks?
As for Han Qian and Zhang's use of troops against Tanzhou, which coincided with the plan, and advocated using Louchuanjun warships to send some of the elite troops to the north of Chenzhou to join the Wuling army, Zhang Wei was noncommittal.
There are advantages to using strange things, but the dangers involved are also great. Moreover, Tanzhou adjusts the deployment of troops very quickly on the inner line. In the end, the elite troops are sent from the Yuedong Camp to the Yuanjiang River Basin to join the Wuling Army, which may not be able to play a big role.
.
Of course, even if the troops were sent out in a strange way, the elites directly under the jurisdiction of the county prince's palace would be mobilized. Heavy casualties would also be a setback to the strength of the county prince's palace. This decision required deliberation among the generals of the county and prince's palace. As an outsider, it was even harder for Zhang Wei to say anything.
Jingzhou is still under the direct jurisdiction of the imperial court. As a general at the same level as Du Chongtao, Zhang Wei only needs to obey the emperor's orders and cooperate in fighting.
Han Qian and Jiang Huo stayed in Jingzhou for half a day, and after exchanging information on the current status of Jingzhou's soldiers and horses and the Wuling Army, they said goodbye to Yang En and Zhang Pei, and took a warship from the Jingzhou Water Camp to go down the river and rush to the east of Yueyang City.
At the camp, meet the third prince Yang Yuanpu and the others.
Han Chengmeng and Qiao Weiyan also followed Han Qian and Jiang Huo back to Yuedong Camp.
Although Zheng Hui left Jinling for Xuzhou in mid-September last year, Emperor Tianyou waited until the end of the year to issue an edict to remove Ma Yin, Zhao Sheng, Luo Jia and others from their official positions and summon them to Beijing. The matter of reducing the vassal was officially launched.
Open the curtain.
It was only then that Han Qian "absconded" according to the order and merged with his father Han Daoxun into Xuzhou, and it was finally made public.
This incident is truly a mixture of sorrow and joy for the Han family.
I spent more than a year in fear and panic. I didn't know how much money was extorted from the county prince's palace. Although the third prince later said that the money was borrowed to spend military funds, he did not return it in the end, so he still had to bite the bullet.
Go and ask for it?
Naturally, I am happy that the third uncle and his son turned out to be "loyal ministers and good generals" who acted according to the order. The reason why the Han family was implicated before was actually because His Majesty wanted to deceive Tanzhou. So they were wronged during this period, and Your Majesty will naturally have some feelings.
compensate.
Han Daoming was transferred to the position of Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs after the year, and the Yandangji Manor was returned to Han Qian's name and temporarily handed over to the Han family to run it. The Han family was also given an additional land and house of more than 1,000 acres. Han Daoming's two adult concubines, Han Chengmeng and Han Jianji,
His sons-in-law, Qiao Weiyan, Chen Zhiyong, and his second wife's eldest son, Han Duan, were all given official status. They also specially ordered Han Chengmeng, Han Jianji, Qiao Weiyan, and Chen Zhiyong to serve as officials in the prince's palace and hold other positions.
The Han family was naturally aware of Emperor Tianyou's intention of making such arrangements.
Jiang Huo set off from Yuedong Camp and sneaked to Chenzhou. Han Chengmeng and Qiao Weiyan also ignored the danger and bravely followed through the enemy territory, hoping to meet Han Qian and his third uncle Han Daoxun.
However, Han Qian did not welcome them in Yunpanling and even refused to allow them to go to Qianyang to meet his father Han Daoxun.
Han Qian decided to go to Yuedong camp to meet the third prince in person, so they had no choice but to bite the bullet and follow him all the way north.
Han Qian didn't take the initiative to talk to them along the way. They tried to force themselves on him, but Han Qian ignored them.
Yuedong Camp is located on the remaining veins of the northwest foothills of Mufu Mountain.
The low hills and hills in this area are only 30 to 50 feet high. Compared with Wuling Mountain, the 1,000-foot-tall majestic peak Roudonkey on Xuefeng Mountain is by no means as high as it is. However, the mountain is close to the river bank, but it also appears to be rugged and steep.
Yuedong Daying is built along the mountain and stretches for nearly ten miles. To the east is Yunxi Ferry, which is also an important post station east of Yueyang City.
At present, the army has established a large camp on the western slope of Qiu Mountain, forming a trend of approaching Yueyang City, while a large amount of grain and more people are gathering at Yunxiyi in the east.
The third prince, Yang Yuanpu, is currently here. In addition to nearly 50,000 soldiers, there are also more than 50,000 soldiers and civilians recruited from various places. Together with nearly 10,000 mules and horses, the daily consumption of food and horse materials is as high as 4,000 to 5,000 shi.
So many.
Such a large-scale war, not counting the three directions of Jingzhou, Hongzhou and Wuling armies, but only the Yue'e direction, would cost 14.5 million yuan for half a year.
Han Qian took a boat to the pier in front of Yunxiyi before disembarking. Seeing the boats and boats here, and the busy traffic, he secretly felt that it was thanks to the Emperor God You who raided the Feng family that he made a lot of money, so that he could pay back the expenses of the Jingxiang war.
He had enough energy to launch the campaign to reduce the vassal status of Tanzhou.
Shen Yang, Li Pu, Yang Jian and others are all in the western camp. In Yunxiyi Dazhai, Chen Jingzhou, Zhou Yuan, Zhang Qian and others led their troops to garrison and sort out the transshipment of grain and grass.
When Han Qian landed, Chen Jingzhou, Zhou Yuan, and Zhang Qian all came out to greet him in person, as well as a group of guards led by Han Jianji.
"His Highness has an order to invite you to meet at Xishan Camp when you land." Han Jianji said bravely.
Han Qian glanced at his cousin Han Jianji and did not comment. Instead, he first had a chat with Chen Jingzhou, Zhou Yuan, Zhang Qian and others.
Zhou Yuan naturally felt deep resentment towards Han Qian in his heart, but he had to admit that the Han family and his son were indeed capable of what others could not.
Although the imperial court did not pay much attention to the role of the Yuanjiang direction when it formally planned to reduce the vassal state. It was far less important than the Hongzhou and Jingzhou directions. However, by this time, progress in the other three directions was slow. Only the Wuling army followed the Yuanjiang River. Going down, the momentum is like breaking bamboo.
In Xuzhou, the Han family's father and son not only resolved Tanzhou's concerns about contacting the Wuxi barbarians, but also annihilated more than 4,000 Tanzhou elites. They also successfully contained nearly 10,000 Tanzhou troops in the lower reaches of the Yuanjiang River, reducing the imperial power in the other three areas. directional pressure.
Otherwise, Tanzhou can dedicate at least 20,000 more troops to strengthen the defenses in Jingzhou, Yuezhou, and Hengzhou.
Zhou Yuan joined the army as Cang Cao, the prince of the county. This time in the army, he was mainly responsible for assisting Shen Yang in logistics and other matters. He knew very well that when His Highness sent Jiang Huo to Chenzhou to ask for advice, Han Qian was not required to come. Yueyang, naturally it is possible to vaguely understand Han Qian's intention of coming to Yueyang in person.
Zhou Yuan had his own opinions on which direction to strengthen the use of troops in the future, but he also knew in his heart that in front of Han Qian, his opinion was no longer important. In the end, he could decide the next direction of using troops in front of the third prince. Han Qian, Shen Yang, Hou Ye and Yang Jian.
If they had a dispute, they would have no choice but to send people to Jinling to request an order.
After a short while, Han Qian said goodbye to Chen Jingzhou, Zhou Yuan, Zhang Qian and others: "I will go see His Highness right now, and I will catch up with you all when I have some free time."
Han Qian and Jiang Huo were accompanied by several guards. They ignored Han Jianji who came to greet them with the guards of the county prince's palace. When the guards brought the horses, they got on their horses and rushed to the Xishan Camp.
Qiao Weiyan and Han Jianji murmured for a while, and then they came over and said, "Second uncle, he personally escorted several ships of grain and grain. He is at Yunxiyi at this time, and is also preparing to leave to see His Highness the Third Highness."
"What does it have to do with me whether Han Daochang is in Yunxi or not?" Han Qian glanced at his cousin-in-law Qiao Weiyan and asked with an evil look on his face.
Qiao Weiyan was startled when he saw Han Qian calling his second uncle by his name without any scruples in front of everyone, obviously he would not let go of his old grudges easily.
"Since you are all working for His Highness, I advise you to be careful and don't let me know if you make any mistakes. Otherwise, I don't mind if the world praises me for my righteousness in killing my relatives."
Han Qian said these words, got on his horse, galloped up the post road to the west of Yunxi Post, and rode towards the Xishan Camp...