Xiazhou is located outside the Chang Gorge of Wushan and adjacent to Jingzhou. It belongs to the Jinghu area in the traditional sense. In the early years, it was divided from Jingzhou and established as a separate state. The terrain is closely related to Jingzhou both inside and outside.
After the founding of the Chu Kingdom, the Shu army occupied Xiazhou before the Chu army marched westward. Later, Chu and Shu had to unite to fight against the Liang army. Therefore, the Chu army had no chance to capture Xiazhou over the years.
If Kiazhou is recovered, it will not only mean the ownership of more than 200 miles of land and 300,000 to 400,000 Dingkou, but also means that if the Shu army wants to attack Chu from the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, it can only attack Kuizhou or Kuizhou on the west side of Wushan Changxia.
Yuzhou gathered troops and horses.
This will lose the suddenness of launching a war, and it will be easier for the Chu army to intercept by using the advantageous terrain of the east entrance of Wushan Changxia being located in Xiazhou.
The strategic significance of Xiazhou is already great enough, not to mention Liangzhou, which is located between Yongshu and Shu and is the key point in Guanzhong.
He proclaimed himself a vassal to Chu, ceded the two states of Xia and Liang, and paid an annual tribute of 300,000 yuan in grain and tax. In order to ensure the success of the usurpation, Wang Yong, the Marquis of Changxiang, could be said to have spent a lot of money this time - this also made Li Changfeng secretly frightened.
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Of course, Li Changfeng would not be so naive as to think that Han Qian secretly encouraged the rural princes to usurp the throne, mainly to seek these benefits for Dachu. He sat behind the long case, stared at Guo Rong with a sinister look, and asked aggressively:
"The Marquis of Qianyang made a good plan to surround Wei and beg Zhao. It seems that the Marquis of Qianyang is really determined to help Liang Jun escape from destruction!"
No matter how stupid Li Changfeng was, this time he fully understood that Han Qian's position against the Chu-Shu coalition's invasion of Guanzhong had not changed from the beginning to the end.
Tangyi's attempt to encourage the local princes to usurp the throne this time, whether successful or not, will be a heavy blow to Zhao Mengji's army, which was previously rumored to be entering the territory of Qizhou on the west wing of Yongzhou, and will also force the Northern Expedition to Shu again in a short time.
There is no chance or possibility to attack Yongzhou eastward.
For Da Chu, it will miss the opportunity to completely annihilate the Liang army in Guanzhong. If it wants to cross the Huaihe River, it must also become cautious in using troops in the Hehuai area.
Since the founding of the Chu Kingdom, such a good opportunity to regain the Central Plains has most likely been missed. In comparison, even if the two states of Xia and Liang can be obtained from Shu, the harm will definitely outweigh the benefits, and the losses will outweigh the gains.
Guo Rong, Zhou Pang, Wen Bo and others seemed to treat him politely at this time, but Li Changfeng could guess their intentions.
To put it bluntly, in order to deal with the cross-examination by the court officials afterwards, Han Qian wanted to drag him into the water, making it seem like he, Li Changfeng, was also involved in the conspiracy to encourage the rural prince to usurp the throne.
Li Changfeng smiled inwardly, secretly feeling that he was not that stupid. He thought that Guo Rong and others might detain him at this time, but they would not dare to kill him at will, so why should he go into this muddy water?
Yao Xishui and Fei Wenbo also understood the meaning of Li Changfeng's words, and immediately said: "Qianyang Hou Tiexin colluded with Liang Jun, and we have nothing to say."
Like Li Changfeng, the two of them sat there with their hands in front of the case, ready to be captured.
"How can Lord Li take such slanderous remarks seriously?" Guo Rong said with a smile, "But there is something that Lord Li may not know yet. The Mongols captured Taiyuan Prefecture two months ago. At present, the Mongols have
People blocked the channels in Shangdang, Heshuo and other places, and the news had not yet reached Dachu. The scouts sent by Tangyi risked their lives to get the news back. At present, it can be expected that Tian Weiye, Wang Yuankui and Shi Jizu may have surrendered.
The army entered the Hejin area, does Mr. Li really think that Jiangyin Houhuang, considering General Li Xiu and other generals, is still suitable to continue to lead the Zuowu Xiang army to attack Lantian?"
Taiyuan Prefecture is located to the north of the Taihang Mountains, Zhongtiao Mountains and other lofty mountains. Not to mention the chaos in the Central Plains, it is a peaceful event. In the cold winter with heavy snow and road closures, if you want the news to reach Jinling, it will not take ten days and a half months.
of.
Li Changfeng was not sure whether the information Tangyi received was accurate, but judging from the previous information, the fall of Taiyuan Mansion at this time would not be a big surprise; after all, the court had made such a prediction before, so Guanzhong was not
There is no excessive covetousness.
It was just a prediction, but Li Changfeng was still deeply shocked when he actually heard the news of the fall of Taiyuan Prefecture. He knew in his heart that Tian Weiye, Wang Yuankui and others led the vassal army southward along the Fenshui River Valley, which meant that the Mongol and Weizhou rebels
The army will be able to assemble up to 200,000 troops in the northeast and east of Yongzhou.
At this time, Zuo Wuxiang's army, which only had more than 15,000 soldiers and horses, really had no need to attack Lantian Pass, let alone easily enter the hinterland of Yongzhou.
Otherwise, they would be in danger of annihilating the whole army, not to mention making wedding clothes for the Mongol people.
Seeing the shock and doubt on Li Changfeng's face, Guo Rong and Zhou Tan looked at each other, secretly feeling that although Li Changfeng had defected to Lu Qingxia's group in the court, he obviously did not know about the fall of Taiyuan Mansion at this time.
Of course, Lu Qingxia and Li Zhigao may have just had a cooperative relationship with Guanjiang Tower to benefit each other, but after entering the camp, Yao Xishui and Fei Wenbo, who were far less calm than Li Changfeng, had suspicions on their faces.
They were more excited than shocked, which showed that they knew more details than Li Changfeng.
Guo Rong temporarily left Yao Xishui and Fei Wenbo aside, and continued Li Changfeng's work, asking: "If Taiyuan Prefecture had not fallen, and Tangyi had encouraged the rural princes to usurp the throne, perhaps the princes in the court would still think that Tangyi was an enemy.
, but when the news of the fall of Taiyuan Prefecture and that Tian Weiye, Wang Yuankui, and Shi Jizu led the returning army to attack Guanzhong reached Jinling, did Mr. Li really feel that Tangyi was helping the enemy? Could it be that the dignified Prince of East Zhejiang County, under Li Gong
Will they all be short-sighted from now on?"
Seeing that Li Changfeng was silenced by Guo Rong, Fei Wenbo glanced at Yao Xishui and asked Guo Rong sternly: "Tangyi deceives the emperor and deceives each other and the world. He can do anything, and you are so well-planned and determined."
You encourage the local princes to usurp the throne and secretly help Liang Jun. We can't stop it even if we want to. Why are Master Guo still making noise here? Is it possible that you make so many noises that we will believe that Taiyuan Mansion, which is the most majestic city in the world,
Has it really fallen now?"
"Why don't Master Fei believe it?" Guo Rong turned his head, stared at Fei Wenbo and asked, "Don't Master Fei understand that the strength of a city lies in the human heart?"
"There are so many elite scouts from the Zifang Division, but not a word of news has been sent back to Jinling. Are the scouts sent by Tangyi really better than others?" Fei Wenbo said disdainfully.
"Wan Honglou has stolen so many things from Tangyi over the years. Did he really not know that flying pigeons can also pass messages?" Guo Rong asked, "The Weaving Bureau tried every means to acquire breeding pigeons in Jiangdong some time ago. Is it intended to be given to the palace?"
Concubine, can you nourish your body?"
As is the case with many things, once Tangyi wants to expand, it will be difficult to keep it secret.
It is necessary to maintain homing pigeons at each ministry station and key nodes, and from time to time take them to the wild for release training. Only then can a relatively complete emergency communication network be established, and the secret of flying birds to send messages cannot be completely hidden from the outside world.
At present, all localities need to increase the scale of infrastructure and promote stone mud to various construction projects such as water conservancy and housing construction. Not only the county level has arranged for engineers to build stone mud cellars, but also some important ones that have the convenience of geographical resources.
The township secretary also planned to build a stone mud cellar, and the secret of stone mud firing cannot be airtight.
The inability to burn stone mud nearby for construction of water conservancy, houses, roads, cities and other construction projects is not only detrimental to making full use of the idle surplus labor force in various counties, but also makes transportation and warehousing costs prohibitively high. It is better to use traditional
Sanhe soil acts as a construction adhesive.
Realizing that Guo Rong was trying to trick him, Fei Wenbo felt terrible secretly and kept silent.
Guo Rong looked at the hesitant Li Changfeng and continued: "I heard from Lord Marquis that when King Li was dying, he still thought of his subjects in Chu. The Marquis of Linjin really wanted to see the Humaru cavalry trample the Central Plains.
Is Da Chu falling into pieces?" At this point, Guo Rong turned to look at Yao Xishui and Fei Wenbo, "Or maybe Yao Gongshi and Lord Fei really want to see Da Chu fall into pieces?"
When Guo Rong said this, Yao Xishui could certainly understand his intention. In the final analysis, he wanted them and Lin Jin Marquis Li Changfeng to endorse the matter of encouraging the Xiang Marquis.
In this way, the princes in the court will no longer be able to question Han Qian's unauthorized actions.
After all, Han Qian did not have the strength or confidence to betray his family at this time.
Furthermore, Yao Xishui could also understand the reason why Guo Rong put on such a seductive attitude. In the final analysis, Han Qian still wanted to be able to legitimately have the Youshenwu Army stationed there for a long time and control Liangzhou in the future.
Otherwise, even if Han Qian succeeds in helping the Xianghou usurp the throne, they can block the Han River channel, completely cut off the connection between Tangyi and the Youshenwu Army, and make the Youshenwu Army an isolated force in Liangzhou.
Without the material support of the Tangyi Army, how could the Youshenwu Army hold on to Liangzhou for a long time, a place they were unfamiliar with and would be strongly rejected by local forces, and resist the counterattack of Zhao Mengji's elite army?
And after Wang Yong, the Marquis of Changxiang, secures his position as Lord of Shu, will he really be willing to give up such a strategic place in Liangzhou without any intention of changing his mind?
When the time comes, maybe Liangzhou will become an important bargaining chip for them to win over Wang Yong, the Marquis of Changxiang.
Thinking of this, Yao Xishui and Fei Wenbo became even more determined and ignored Guo Rong's ridiculously shallow temptation.
Zhou Pan said at this time:
"Mr. Yao, Mr. Fei's attitude is like this, and Mr. Li is silent. Maybe we can take a gamble on General Zhang's attitude..."
Hearing what Zhou Pan said, Yao Xishui and Fei Wenbo were stunned again.
Zhang Wei has been very calm over the years and always makes choices after the situation is clear.
For example, during the vassal reduction war, Li Zhigao sent his son Zhang Feng to lead his troops into Langzhou to join the war after seeing Li Zhigao leading his troops into Yuanjiang to join the Wuling Army. Another example is the Jinling Incident, which was only supported by the Chishan Army after the Chishan Army forced Gu Zhilong to surrender.
The third prince; this time the Zuowu Xiang Army was newly formed, and it was only at the end that he agreed to separate a section from the Youwu Wei Army, and his son Zhang Feng would be commanded to be incorporated into the Zuowu Xiang Army and serve as the deputy commander of the capital.
However, Zhang Wei himself was as stable as a rock in Jingzhou. Even though the Cishou Palace tried its best to win over him, he remained lukewarm and kept a distant distance, and did not immediately rush into the arms of the Cishou Palace people to have fun.
The Marquis of Changxiang, Wang Yong, promised to cede Qiazhou after the event was completed. If Zhang Zhi wanted to take over Qiazhou as well and expand the area actually controlled by the Zhang family westward to the Changxia side of Wushan, he would naturally choose to participate in the conspiracy to usurp the throne.
At this time, Li Changfeng, Yao Xishui, and Fei Wenbo represented the Cishou Palace group. If they still firmly opposed it, they would undoubtedly force Zhang Wei to oppose them.
Of course, Zhang Wei didn’t want to express his position at this time, but it was impossible to secretly obtain Qiaozhou afterwards. After all, Tangyi had the initiative to negotiate with the Marquis of Changxiang, and Tangyi could withdraw the Qiaozhou clause from the secret treaty at any time.
Lose.
In that case, if Zhang Wei later wanted to annex Qiazhou, he would have to bear the huge risk of using troops against Shu without authorization.
Only then did Yao Xishui realize that the conditions negotiated by Han Qian and the Marquis of Changxiang Wang Yong beforehand were carefully weighed and considered.
Of course, Zhang Pei may not have much ambition and may just want to maintain the status quo in Jingzhou. Of course, he will not take risks to support any secret agreement.
Since Zhang Wei's attitude is uncertain, Yao Xishui can be sure that Han Qian is unlikely to take the risk of conspiring with Zhang Wei beforehand, but can they bet that Zhang Wei will refuse at this time?
For Zhang Wei, who only occupies Jingzhou, the temptation of Xiazhou is really not that great.
Once Zhang Wei chooses to cooperate with Han Qian, what will they do?
Han Qian was so hateful, he actually included everyone in his chess game, and only now did they understand his plot, and there was not much room for change.
Li Changfeng sighed softly at this time, and said to Yao Xishui and Fei Wenbo: "You can go back to Fancheng alone and discuss it with General Chai?" He then said to Guo Rong and Zhou Zan, "It only takes half a day to go back to Fancheng.
, Mr. Zhou, Mr. Guo, probably won’t be able to wait even half a day, right?”
Li Changfeng had already said so. Yao Xishui and Fei Wenbo were naturally unable to object and decided to leave the final decision to Chai Jian.
They also knew that it would be too late to notify Li Zhigao, who was six or seven hundred miles away. In order to prevent the news from leaking and ruining the long-planned plan, Guo Rong, Zhou Pan and Wen Bo would never agree to give them any information.
Too much time.
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Fei Wenbo came out of the camp and galloped away surrounded by dozens of guards. Before dark, Fei Wenbo and Xu Jing came galloping back again. The two of them brought the conditions proposed by Chai Jian.
Gwangju exchanged with Yangju.
After the event is completed, the Xiangbei Army will send troops to garrison and control Liangzhou. However, as compensation for the Tangyi Army, consideration can be given to merging Guangzhou into the Tangyi camp system and setting up a government. After the event is completed, in addition to the needs of the Youshenwu Army,
Withdrawing from Liangzhou, the local forces in Jingyun and Canglang counties, which were closely related to Zhou Pang and Chen Jingzhou, also needed to move out.
In order to ensure this, in addition to the documents signed by Guo Rong, Zhou Pan, and Han Qian in the era of Wenbo, after the Youshenwu Army captured Liangzhou City, it was necessary to directly hand over the old Jinzhou remnant rule Hanyin City to the east of Liangzhou City.
It is garrisoned by soldiers and horses of the Youwu Guards.
If Tangyi could not accept such conditions, the Xiangbei Army would rather launch a civil war. Not only would they cut off the Han River channel, they would also not hesitate to join forces with Zhao Mengji and Wang Xiaoxian to send elite soldiers and horses to attack the Youshenwu Army from the east wing.
They will also not hesitate to bloodbath the remaining forces in Jingyun and Canglang.
And since Tangyi doesn't want to quarrel with each other, and Xiangbei doesn't want to quarrel with each other, then they have to strive for the most favorable conditions for them.
By abandoning Guangzhou, they can still maintain the passage to expand northward from Nanyang (Dengzhou). At the same time, the Fangcheng gap in the north of Nanyang is sandwiched between Funiu Mountain and Tongbai Mountain, which is easy to defend but difficult to attack, which is more conducive to them saving limited troops.
, but after taking control of Liangzhou, it actually opened the channel for expansion to the Guanzhong area. In the future, it might be possible to join forces with Zhang Wei to seize Shu.
Only such an exchange would bring more advantages than disadvantages to the Xiangbei Army, so it is not impossible to cooperate with the Tangyi Army by holding their noses.
As for the annexation of Guangzhou to Huaixi, the withdrawal of the Youshenwu Army from Liangzhou will greatly increase Tangyi's strength in Huaixi. This will only make Huaidong, Shou Wangfu and other ministers in the court more fearful.
Huaixi, thus relying more heavily on the Xiangbei Army.
"General Chai really has a good plan,"
Guo Rong briefly discussed with Zhou Zang and Wen Bo and decided to accept the conditions proposed by Chai Jian. They returned to the hall to negotiate the final terms with Li Changfeng, Yao Xishui, Fei Wenbo and Xu Jing.
"Since Li Bingbu is here, Li Bingbu will be the first commander in everything. And since we have decided to suspend the attack on Lantian, we can directly transfer Li Xiu's troops back at this time, and Li Xiu's troops will enter after us.
Liangzhou, to resist Zhao Mengji, Wang Xiaoxian led the counterattack. With this arrangement, Sir Fei and Yao Gongshi no longer need to waste time asking General Chai for instructions, right?"
At this time, Guo Rong, Zhou Pan, and Wen Bo expressed their trust in the attitude of the Prince of East Zhejiang Province and wanted to fight side by side with Li Xiu. They even agreed that Li Xiu would lead his troops to directly enter the city they gave up in the early stage.
When the army counterattacked Liangzhou, Li Xiu helped bear part of the military pressure.
Fei Wenbo, Yao Xishui, and Xu Jing had nothing to say about this.
Otherwise, in front of Li Changfeng, they could still suspect that the close relationship between Zhejiang East County Prince's Palace and the Xiangbei Army at this time would not stand the test?
As the Minister of Political Affairs (Deputy Prime Minister) and the Minister of War, Li Changfeng had the right to act in a matter-of-fact manner. Even when it was too late to ask for instructions from Jinling, he was qualified to directly represent the court and accept Cao Yong and Wang Ang's requests for help against the Wuxiang Army on the left and the Shenwu Army on the right.
It even went so far as to make new mobilization of troops and horses among the various departments of the Xiangbei Army and make comprehensive adjustments to the northwest strategy.
Now he nominally supports Li Changfeng as the commander-in-chief and mobilizes troops to encourage the local princes to usurp the throne.
Next, five people, headed by Li Changfeng, Guo Rong, Chai Jian, Wen Bo, Yao Xishui, and Xu Jing, will jointly sign a letter to the court. Everything seems to be a coincidence, and it really seems to have nothing to do with Han Qian.
Yao Xishui felt extremely ridiculous when he thought that the two sides were sharpening their swords a moment ago and almost had a fight, and that at this moment they had reached an extremely fragile and precarious cooperative relationship.
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After everything was settled, a secret agreement was signed and kept. Next, Li Changfeng and Fei Wenbo signed an order. Following the Canglang County Magistrate, the County Lieutenant opened the city gate and let the Shenwu Army on the right enter Canglang City.
Li Changfeng was the Minister participating in the political affairs, and Fei Wenbo was the Marching Sima of the Youwu Guards and the Sima of Junzhou. They could both directly order the Canglang local guards to open the city gate.
And with the letters and orders from the two of them, everything became in line with the imperial order. Zhou An secretly returned to Canglang, so it was natural that he was "too worried about his mother and returned home without permission." If this happened, the imperial court might
At most, he would be dismissed from the post of Jiangzhou governor, right?
At night, Xu Jing carried Li Changfeng's secret message and order letter, and under the escort of several cavalry, left Canglang City and rushed north. They wanted to rush to Jingzikou as soon as possible and hand over the order letter signed by Li Changfeng and others.
Huang Liu, the Marquis of Jiangyin, who sat in Jingzikou.
Regardless of whether Huang Liu will obey the order or not, Li Changfeng still has a secret letter that Xu Jing will send to Wuguan and delivered to Li Xiu who is resting in Wuguan. At this time, they still have to mobilize Li Xiu to lead his troops to withdraw along the west bank of Danjiang River.
Come, so that you can follow the steps of the Youshenwu Army as quickly as possible and then enter Liangzhou along the Han River.
In addition, Li Changfeng also signed a letter with everyone to report secretly to the court on many matters.
Cao Yong and Wang Ang, the prince of Changxiang Marquis, are still staying in Canglang City for the time being. They will wait for a clear order from the imperial court before they take their "credentials" and embark on the road to Jinling - of course, even if the imperial court finally acquiesces
They acted on their own initiative, but until Wang Yong, the Marquis of Changxiang, secured his position in Shu, it was unlikely that he would summon Cao Yong and Wang Ang to Jinling, so as to leave a buffer for all possibilities.
The remaining snow covered the mountain tops and the mountain roads were slippery. Under the few stars, hundreds of small sailing boats sailed from the Han River and Danjiang River and approached the dock southwest of Canglang City.
Seeing this scene, Yao Xishui, who was standing at the top of the city, could certainly guess that Chishan would disperse these small sailing ships into Junzhou for this moment. It should be that with the assistance of the Shanzhai forces, the Xiangbei Army had already deployed along the coast in advance.
No abnormalities were noticed.
After all, they were mostly focused on the large and medium-sized sailing ships of the Chishan Society. There was no reason to cut off the trade links between the Chishan Society and Junzhou before. Who would watch hundreds of small sailing ships crossing the border all day long?
This trade route was first opened by Han Qian with the help of the Xuzhou Ship Gang during the Jingxiang War, mainly to maintain commercial trade with the Shanzhai forces, and it has been maintained ever since.
At this moment, Yao Xishui deeply felt the lack of available manpower. He did not expect that under the nose of the Xiangbei Army, Han Qian was asked to do so many tricks, but they were not aware of it.
The main force of the You Shenwu Army, led by Wen Bo, Guo Rong and others, entered Canglang City, while Xue Chuan and Guo Que led thousands of generals outside the city waiting to board the ship.
Hundreds of small sailing ships could not carry many people, but the first batch of three to four thousand elites sailed up the Han River and attacked the gateways to the east of Liangzhou, such as Xunyang and Hanyin. This was enough to disturb the Liangzhou defenders.
In fact, after Wen Bo led the Shenwu Army on the right to join forces with Xuzhou soldiers and horses who had sneaked into northern Sichuan in advance, even if they could not capture the most critical Liangzhou City, they could still force Zhao Mengji and Wang Xiaoxian to withdraw their troops from Guanzhong and capture one or two fortresses.
Is it the purpose of containing it from behind to prevent it from attacking Shuzhong with all its strength?
Therefore, with the help of Zhou Pan, controlling Canglang and Jingyun cities, ensuring a safe retreat and a worry-free supply of food and fodder, is the most critical move in Han Qian's entire plan, right?