Next to the road from Luoyang south to Longmen is the place where Guan Yu's head was buried during the Three Kingdoms period. Guanling, also known as Guanlin because of the many cypress trees, is located a few miles north of Longmen.
Due to the popularity of "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms", the Ming Dynasty scholars and people's worship and belief in Guan Yu became more and more prosperous. The place where Guan Yu buried his head became more and more important, the corridors of the temple became more majestic and gorgeous, and the stone tablets inside and outside the courtyard became more and more erected.
more.
In particular, although the cypress trees planted in the past have been cut down by wars, there are still three to four hundred trees. They are green and lush, which is in sharp contrast to the surrounding dilapidated villages.
After Li Laiheng and his party left Luoyang, when they were still about ten miles away from Guanling, they saw a large black cypress forest emerging from the east in the bright dawn, protecting the temple.
Although the army was withdrawing from Luoyang, Li Laiheng did not feel sad. His arrow wound had not yet healed, but he was still very optimistic about the future. Li Laiheng gently lifted the silk rein, the war horse raised its head and neighed, its four hooves quickened, and then it flew away.
go.
In an instant, a group of people on horseback came out from Guanlin and came to greet Li Laiheng. The people who came were Li Shiwei's tribe who had withdrawn from Fengpoling Village. They were closer to Longmen and Guanling in the south of Luoyang than Li Laiheng.
Some of them got here first.
Li Laiheng galloped up to Li Shiwei's horse, threw a jug of wine to him, and said with a smile: "You haven't tasted the treasures captured in Prince Fu's Mansion, have you? We don't know if we will capture the Prince's Mansion next time.
When is it!"
Li Shiwei caught the flask with both hands, but then returned it to Li Laiheng. His face turned red and he whispered: "Zhang Shao, I didn't perform well in Fengpo Ridge this time. It was all thanks to Miao Lichen's help."
To survive the crisis, I have no shame in drinking. And I heard Mr. Leshan say that a general should set an example. I have decided not to drink at all, so as to set an example for the soldiers, so that I can maintain a vigilant spirit at all times."
"Hahaha! Okay!" Li Laiheng was stunned for a moment, then took the jug and laughed loudly. He was very satisfied with Li Shiwei's growth. Although Li Shiwei was not a genius like Guo Junzhen who was born with a keen sense of smell, he was not
Hao Yaoqi is a fierce general who is unparalleled, but he can take the initiative to study, improve himself, and be strict with himself. Although he does not have the qualifications of a famous general, he has the talent of a strict general.
"The whistle."
Guo Junzhen also drove his horse over. In the past few days, he had been solely responsible for the defense in the north of Luoyang. He had performed very well against the superior armies of Li Xianfeng, Chen Yongfu and Gao Qian. He stopped in front of the pines and cypresses in Guanling and sighed:
"Luoyang is a great city, but it's a pity that we don't have the strength to maintain our dominance."
Li Laiheng parked his horse beside the pine and cypress trees, handed the wine flask to the guards, and asked them to deliver it to the soldiers who were injured in the Luoyang defense battle. Then he replied: "Most of the Luoyang city wall has been demolished, and now it is also destroyed."
It can’t be said to be a great city. With the current strength of the Chuang Army, it is not yet at a level where it can hold its ground. For a period of time, it is still necessary to defeat the enemy by marching!"
Guo Junzhen also dismounted from his horse to rest. He nodded and said, "But with the sentry's tactic of 'defending the danger but not the city', the city wall is no longer of much use to us."
"Well...the news from Marshal Du has also arrived."
Li Laiheng pointed to the direction of Kaifeng in the east, and then said to the generals of the Little Tiger Team who had gathered: "The marshal surrounded Kaifeng for several days and nights, using Niu Jinxing's strategy, and attacked the city with hundreds of tricks. But Kaifeng is really a famous and impregnable city, and we attacked it fiercely.
It could not be broken for several days, but Yang Wenyue, the governor of Baoding, led Hu Dawei's troops to cross the Yellow River."
"The marshal had no choice but to lift the siege of Kaifeng and lead the main force to move to the south bank of the Yellow River to meet Yang Wenyue and Hu Dawei's troops."
Hu Dawei is Lu Xiangsheng's old tribe. When the Donglu invaded the fortress, all the tribes were defeated. Only two troops, Hu Dawei and Yang Guozhu, held on to the end. Yang Guozhu has now been transferred to Songjin, and Hu Dawei is leading his subordinate Xuan Dajun.
The best of them followed Yang Wenyue, the governor of Baoding, and went south to Henan to participate in the suppression campaign.
Li Laiheng took out a letter and said: "This is an urgent message from Uncle Yufeng. The marshal left Ruzhou and before the raid on Kaifeng, he left Uncle Yufeng to collect the local bandits in Ruzhou. He sent a flying cavalry to deliver an urgent message, saying
The main force of the Chuang Army fought fiercely with Yang Wenyue at Taojiadian on the south bank of the Yellow River. Both sides suffered similar casualties. However, after the siege of Kaifeng was broken, the marshal could only lead his army to withdraw to southwest Henan."
When Hao Yaoqi heard the bad news, he immediately exclaimed: "If we had known this, we should have tried our best to persuade the old boss. Let him not listen to Niu Jinxing's strange trick, and we should do our best to stick to Luoyang!"
Fang Yiren objected to Hao Yaoqi's statement. He said: "Luoyang will abandon its defense sooner or later. Although the marshal failed to break through the city walls of Kaifeng, the main force of the invading army traversed Ruzhou and the surrounding counties of Kaifeng, and must have recruited a large number of new troops.
The strength has improved. It is the best way to increase the overall combat power of the Chuang Army as soon as possible."
"Leshan is right." Li Laiheng balled up the letter in his hand, walked to the horse, patted the saddle and said, "Uncle Yufeng wants us to join him at the northern border of Ruzhou Prefecture, and then pick up the main force of the invading army.
Withdraw to Song County in the west of Ruzhou, and then withdraw from Song County into Xiong'er Mountain."
Li Laiheng's failure in attacking Kaifeng was expected by Li Laiheng, but there was no psychological preparation for others. Gao Yigong frowned after hearing the news, but after hearing the retreat route mentioned by Li Laiheng,
, his face finally looked better.
Gao Yigong added: "Fortunately, we have pacified Yu Dazhong of Pingfeng Village in Song County. Located between Luoyang and Ruzhou, Li Jiyu of Dengfeng Yuzhai has also formed an alliance with us. The army can pass through Ruzhou unimpeded.
, Dengfeng, Song County, retreat safely to the two mountains."
It seems that Li Zicheng was not defeated by Baoding Governor Yang Wenyue and the general Hu Dawei. In addition, the invasion army took the initiative to withdraw from the siege under Kaifeng City, so Li Laiheng estimated that the main force of the invasion army would not suffer great losses in Kaifeng.
Thinking about it this way, coupled with Li Zicheng's gains from conquering Ruzhou and the surrounding counties of Kaifeng, the strength of the Chuang army should have increased rather than declined, and it has increased a lot.
He had something in mind, and after everyone had rested, he put on his stirrup and mounted his horse. He ordered the generals to lead their own troops, and the whole army turned eastward from near Longmen, and first joined up with the troops and horses Tian Jianxiu had left in Ruzhou, and then
Then retreat together into Xiong'er Mountain and Funiu Mountain.
After the officers and soldiers at the rear, Henan Governor Li Xianfeng "recovered" Luoyang with the cooperation of the Little Tigers, he received a batch of "Tiandewang" honor guards made by Li Laiheng.
Li Futai is currently busy writing a memorial on how he fought fiercely to suppress bandits and captured Li Ziquan, the deputy commander of the camp. A large number of gentry who were detained by Li Laiheng in Prince Fu's Mansion also became his witnesses after being rescued by Li Xianfeng. This made his
Lubu Feijie was quite credible, making it difficult for Gao Mingheng to boycott him for a while.
But He Renlong's cooked duck fell into Li Xianfeng's mouth, and He Renlong had fought with the Chuang Army for so many years. How could he not know if Li Zicheng had a second brother who was a bullshit "King of Tiande"?
If He Renlong is a decent man, the evidence he holds in his hands is enough to make Li Xianfeng die without a burial place. Fortunately, he is as smart as Zuo Liangyu, and he received the news that Li Xianfeng "recovered" Luoyang and captured Li Ziquan.
Afterwards, He Renlong immediately realized the truth.
When Li Laiheng led his troops to Ruzhou to meet the main force of the Qin army, He Renlong also led the main force of the Qin army to Luoyang. However, he was not here to expose the truth, but to use the large amount of evidence he had in hand to force
Li Xianfeng cooperated with him and got a piece of the "King of Heaven's Virtue".
He Renlong was fighting as a guest in Henan, and he wanted to use this to get the full support of Henan Governor Li Xianfeng; while Li Xianfeng only had Chen Yongfu and Gao Qian under his command, and he also hoped to get He Renlong's troops.
The support of the powerful Qin army.
The two hit it off immediately and became a team in Luoyang City. Together they rewrote several memorials and sent them to Beijing. They boasted about how they defeated the intruders in Luoyang, rescued the gentry, captured and killed the intruders' deputy commander, Tiande Wang Li Ziquan, and so on.
Due to the endorsement of He Renlong and the Luoyang gentry, although Li Xianfeng's so-called memorial to capture and kill King Tiande was full of flaws, someone from the Ministry of War also pointed out: "I heard that Li Ziquan was just an instigator for thieves and was not a famous leader. In the past, the memorial was against the leader.
There is no such person by name. Because the thieves fled out of Luoyang, when there was nothing to do, they had to put on a show to cover up their past."
However, after the tragic defeats in Xiangyang and Luoyang, Emperor Chongzhen suddenly received the good news that Li Xianfeng, the governor of Henan, and the commander-in-chief of the Qin Army congratulated Renlong on capturing and killing the second-in-command of the thieves. He was already crying with joy and almost going crazy.
No one among the ministers and officials in the court wanted to take advantage of this bad luck and told Chongzhen that the so-called great victory in Luoyang was just a lie. Everyone just followed Chongzhen's character and praised him for his skill in appointing officials and deploying troops.
It was amazing, especially since He Renlong's transfer to Henan was Yang Sichang's "legendary policy" before his death, so it was even more boasted by the court officials in Beijing.
Chongzhen himself also felt that Yang Sichang died in state affairs and worked too hard for himself. After seeing the good news sent by Li Xianfeng and He Renlong, he thought of the past when he gave Yang Sichang wine on the platform and missed him even more.
Governor Yang.
Then he ordered the Ministry of Rites and the palace officials to make preparations, saying that Yang Sichang would be worshiped at various altars in the capital with the highest standards of etiquette.
When the emperor's battle was so big, the courtiers did not dare to talk back, and the case of King Tiande became an ironclad case.
Li Xianfeng, the governor of Henan, not only was not ordered to commit suicide by Chongzhen because of the loss of Luoyang and the fall of Fufan, but instead he received many commendations for this achievement.
As the Governor of Baoding Yang Wenyue went south to Henan, the newly appointed Governor Ding Qirui and the Governor of Qin Fu Zonglong went to Shaanxi. Chongzhen ordered that before Ding Qirui and Fu Zonglong arrived in Shaanxi, the Governor of Henan Li Xianfeng and the Governor of Baoding Yang Wenyue would first jointly command the suppression campaign in Henan
The big picture.
In this way, Li Xianfeng gathered Chen Yongfu, Gao Qian's two troops of about 5,000 Henan troops, and He Renlong's troops in Henan, with about 5,000 troops, as well as Baoding Governor Yang Wenyue's supervisor and Hu Da
There are about 10,000 people in the Wei Department.
The government army was able to gather about 20,000 soldiers in central Henan.
After the main force of the Chuang Army passed through Luoyang and fought in Kaifeng, it also grew to a scale of eight to nine thousand soldiers and thirty to forty thousand followers.
In addition to the main force of the invading army, Li Laiheng's troops, including Gao Yigong and Bai Wang, as well as soldiers from various villages, had about 2,500 soldiers and 5,000 to 6,000 followers.