On May 22nd, Li Laiheng finally brought only two thousand people to Tongbai Mountain to meet Li Guo's army. After all, he couldn't worry about the Ge Liyan He Yilong and Lao Hui who were entrenched in Chengtian Mansion.
When the Chuang army annihilated Zuozhen, they not only occupied the city of Chengtianfu, but also the surrounding prefectures and counties such as Jingshan and Jingling.
The invading army wanted to mop up Zuo Liangyu's remnants, but at the same time they had to guard against the revolution. When they returned to the two camps, and even the Xiying camp, which was active in the Wuchang area, Li Laiheng was of course unable to free up his troops.
Li Laiheng himself was worried about King He Jin of Zuo Jin and King Liu Xiyao of Zhishi. Although He Jin was caught by Li Laiheng because of his mistake in defending Suizhou, and he was severely reprimanded in front of the generals, his prestige was greatly affected; but Liu Xiyao was at Nanshuimen.
He performed outstandingly in the battle, and like Lin Chengcheng, he was also a rare water warfare talent in Li Laiheng's pocket. Li Laiheng had to reuse King Jishi to recruit Zuozhen Navy.
The young tiger commander was afraid of wolves in front and tigers in the back. He was also worried that after the two battalions of the Revolutionary Army occupied Chengtian, it would develop into a military group that could not be defeated. He was also worried that He Jin and Liu Xiyao would not be of the same mind as him.
At this time, Li Guo arrived in Huguang with an army of 30,000. In fact, from an ordinary person's perspective, it was undoubtedly a great benefit to the invading army, which was short of direct troops. Li Laiheng could use his adoptive father's 30,000 fresh troops to fight for the next
The legacy of Zuozhen was the biggest fruit gained in the battle to swallow up all the prefectures in Huguang.
But how can Li Laiheng be an ordinary person...
In Huguang, he had always been "inventing another thing" on his own, and was even suspected of "setting up a new central government." He judged the nobles with a villain's heart, and of course he was more or less afraid that Li Guo would come to seize power.
"Niu Jinxing proposed a plan to ask the Grand Marshal to send a general to go south to the Chu Territory. This was of course intended to plot against the Palace Master... But the Generalissimo did not need anyone else, but used a supplementary commander to lead the troops. It was obviously an act of trust in the Palace Master. As long as the Palace Master has no ambitions.
Hey, why worry? Even if we only bring one or two guards to greet you, I'm sure there won't be any surprises."
Fang Yiren waved his fan gently, and the breeze slowly blew away the heat of early summer. He was quite amused by Li Laiheng's "short-sighted" thinking. It is said that the authorities are confused, but bystanders know clearly. Not to mention that Li Zicheng sent Gu Kecheng south to reinforce Li Laiheng not long ago.
If the Generalissimo really wanted to plot against Li Laiheng, why would he only send 30,000 people?
It was only Li Laiheng who had something in his heart that made him so flustered. After several persuasion from Fang Yiren, he wiped his sweat several times before finally settling on:
The first thing is to ask Liu Xiyao and Lin Chengcheng to reorganize the naval fleet that Zuozhen surrendered;
The second thing is that two generals, Gu Kecheng and Gao Yigong, led thousands of troops south to station at the front line of Dahong Mountain to watch out for the two revolutionary battalions entrenched in Chengtian Mansion. Did Li Laiheng mobilize the young men of his old brothers from the camp?
The mind is unknown;
The third thing was to fine He Jin a certain amount of salary and reduce the post-war rewards of his troops in the name of poor command during the defense of Suizhou. Then, in the name of extrajudicial mercy, he was exempted from this penalty and weakened He Jin.
It is not clear whether the effects of prestige and troop control are really miraculous, or whether they are self-defeating.
Except for the first point of these three strategies, which was suggested by Fang Yiren, the second and third points are all from the praise paintings of the Army Sima Gu Junen.
Fang Yiren had some objections to this, but since Li Laiheng finally accepted his method and only brought 2,000 people out of Tongbai Mountain to greet Li Guo, Fang Yiren said no more.
This time Li Laiheng also brought Chen Kexin, who was serving as governor of De'an Prefecture, because Li Guo did not lead the troops alone. Li Guo's deputy Chen Xin, a Ming scholar who had joined the Chu army in Kaifeng, and
Chen Kexin is also an old friend.
The reason why Chen Kexin was able to join Li Laiheng's command was because Chen Xin had early suggested that he go south to observe the policies of the Chuang Army. After he heard that Chen Xin had defected to the Chuang camp and was appointed as Li Guo's deputy, he volunteered to follow Li Laiheng.
Go and greet.
Er Chen is an old friend, and Chen Xin seems to have a good impression of Li Laiheng, which naturally greatly reassures Li Laiheng's heart.
When Li Laiheng walked near Chushan Town, he saw the message posted by Li Guo's army to calm the people:
To suppress the troops and calm the people:
The emperor of the Ming Dynasty was unkind, doted on eunuchs, overemphasized education, was greedy for taxes, and imposed heavy punishments, which could not save the people. They depleted the army, plundered people's wealth, raped wives and daughters, and sucked the marrow and peeled off the skin. I have been a good farmer for ten generations.
An army of benevolence and righteousness has been urgently raised to save the people from ruin. Now we have decided on the Central Plains and marched to the three states of Chu. We have sent a sign to inform everyone: Do not panic, soldiers and people, and please take care of yourself. Anyone in each camp who is good at killing good people will be killed. Your people are confident of victory.
There is a long cry to welcome my king's master, and I will put him in charge. The rest will not be given military uniforms, and it is difficult to distinguish between jade and stone.
This statement.
"Okay, the Chuang army has become the king's army, and will no longer be like a rogue bandit. The great cause is almost certain."
Chen Kexin repeatedly praised Chen Kexin's message of suppressing troops and bringing peace to the people. After reading it, Li Laiheng ordered his troops to camp and rest in Chushan Town, waiting for the arrival of Li Guo's army.
In order to welcome Li Guo's 30,000 troops, Bai Wang and Bai Jiuhe specially transferred a batch of grain and supplies from the jute area in the rear. In addition to summer grain, there were also various clothing, straw sandals, arrows, gunpowder, and even some grass.
Daily necessities such as fans, hemp ropes, headscarves, and felt hats are really complete, and everything is missing.
This was also to demonstrate to the Central Plains invaders the material achievements of Li Laiheng's strategy in Chu.
"Commander, the replacement has arrived!"
The mighty pro-military general Zhang Pizhu rushed back with a dozen cavalrymen. Smoke and dust billowed in the distance, and he could tell that the army was approaching. Li Laiheng breathed out in his heart, took down the tiger head waist knife that Li Shuangxi presented to him and handed it over.
Give it to Chen Kexin to ride out of the camp alone without any weapons.
"Father!"
Li Laiheng shouted loudly, but the person walking in the front was not his adoptive father Li Guo, but Chen Xin, a Jinshi who served as Li Guo's deputy.
Chen Xin was riding on the horse, and he bowed his hands to Li Laiheng with a little embarrassment and said: "The young tiger commander is riding alone to meet him from afar. I will immediately report to the replacement commander."
"Hahaha, what a joke."
Li Laiheng laughed softly a few times, shrugged his shoulders, and felt that half of the pressure in his heart suddenly disappeared. After a while, his adoptive father Li Guo, whom he had not seen for a long time, came running towards him on horseback. Li Guo's expression was still solemn, but in his solemnity
Underneath, it is difficult to conceal the emotion and longing for seeing each other again after a long separation.
He flew to Li Laiheng's side, also without weapons, and put one hand on Li Laiheng's shoulder. His eyes were slightly red, and he whispered: "Good...that's good! You have grown a little taller and your body is stronger."
many!"
Li Guo's first words after seeing Li Laiheng finally made all the small thoughts in Li Laiheng's chest disappear. He took a deep breath and felt an unbearable and suppressed emotion suddenly surge in his chest.
To be fair, Li Laiheng didn't have deep feelings for Li Guo, his cheap adoptive father. But people are not grass and trees, and the concern revealed in Li Guo's words at this moment finally made him couldn't help but blush.
"Father..." Li Laiheng quietly wiped the corners of his eyes and held Li Guo's extended right hand, "I have killed Zuo Liangyu. Although there are still many officers and soldiers in the prefectures and counties of Huguang, their actual strength is It’s already very weak, so there won’t be many fierce battles... I’m only worried that Zhang Xianzhong, He Yilong, Ma Shouying and others will cause rebellion!”
Li Guo nodded and said in his trademark deep voice: "You know the situation in Huguang best. We who come from the north are all guests, and we need to hear your explanation. The generalissimo is establishing a business in Kaifeng and recruiting All the heroes from the Central Plains, Yuan Shizhong, Li Jiyu, Shen Wandeng and others have joined the camp. But recently, Yuan Shizhong suddenly defected from the army and caused trouble between Liang and Song Dynasties... So I understand your point very well. Be attentive. ”
He then pulled Chen Xin over and introduced him to Li Laiheng: "This is Chen Xin, whose pseudonym is Wang Chen. He is a scholar with a great education and a reputation as a Jinshi. He is not even as good as Niu Military Advisor. The generalissimo has been appointed by default. He has come to be the envoy of Jingxiang Festival."
Jingxiang Jiedushi? Li Laiheng was shocked, but he still replied calmly:
"Although Wang Chen and I have never met, we have exchanged many letters through Wen Gu... Wen Gu is an old friend of Wang Chen, and he is now serving as the governor of De'an Mansion under my supervision."
Chen Kexin was also surprised and curious about Li Guo's sudden mention of the term Jingxiang Jiedushi. He secretly looked at Chen Xin and saw Chen Xin nodding slightly, feeling much more at ease.
Sure enough, Li Guo immediately explained: "The Generalissimo already knew about the Huguang Army's annihilation of Zuozhen from scratch, and Military Advisor Niu also believed that the Army could sweep across the land of Sanchu in just a few days. So before I led the troops south, the Generalissimo had already We have appointed military envoys from various places in Sanchu."
Li Laiheng knew that his Huguang Jiedushi would be in danger, and he became nervous again. He asked in a low voice: "What do you mean by the general arrangement?"