There was silence for a while, then Chen Mu looked around and slowly said, "I'm calling everyone here today. I'm sure everyone should know what I'm going to say."
Many of the leaders just looked at each other and did not speak.
Chen Mu continued: "Nowadays, the world is in chaos. It is very difficult to live alone in the world and avoid trouble. If everyone thinks that they have occupied the Five Elements Mountain and obtained a paradise, it is nothing more than a fool's dream."
Yu Du couldn't help but said: "Master Chen, since the bandits invaded Yanzhou a few years ago and we were repelled by Cao Cao, we have never dared to go south and skip Hanoi. We usually make a living by farming in the mountains. Even if
They go out of the mountains, buy salt in Bingzhou, and occasionally sell it to Jizhou. There is no hatred at all, so why are you forcing them on us?"
"oh?"
When Chen Mu heard this sentence, he did not respond immediately. Instead, he lowered his head thoughtfully, while he was pondering over it in his mind.
The Black Mountain Army can survive in the Taihang Mountains for many years, and they do have their own secrets.
The terrain of the Taihang Mountains is complex, and there are indeed many places where you can survive. However, with the arrival of the Little Ice Age, the living environment will become increasingly harsh. In recent years, the Black Mountain Army has not been short of food and clothing, presumably by controlling the transportation hubs in the Taihang Mountains.
With the convenience of the road, we are engaged in the transportation of goods from east to west.
As we all know, Bingzhou is Shanxi and Jizhou is Hebei. Many people think that Shanxi and Hebei are far apart. In fact, these two provinces are very close to each other, but they are blocked by the Taihang Mountains, which is like a natural chasm, giving people a sense of distance.
In recent years, Guanzhong and Bingzhou have been in chaos, and prices have skyrocketed. The salt ponds are controlled by various warlords in Guanzhong and sold from the north to the south. Logically speaking, Qingzhou has not stopped selling salt to Jizhou, but the Heishan Army has purchased salt from Guanzhong and sold it to
Going to Jizhou can only mean one thing - Yuan Shao is hoarding salt and preparing to buy a big one.
It seems that Tian Feng's early strategy can indeed be completely abandoned.
He had previously thought about reducing salt production year by year, just like the reduction of oil production in the Middle East, slowly corroding Jizhou's economy by boiling frogs in warm water, causing internal chaos. Unexpectedly, Yuan Shao had already filed a record. Looking at it this way, some plans
, you have to reconsider.
After a while, Chen Mu said softly: "Chief Yu has misunderstood. I have never told everyone that I want everyone to submit to the imperial court and help the imperial court send troops."
"What does the young master mean?"
Liu Shi asked.
Chen Mu laughed, looked around and said, "Have you ever heard of a man named Zheng Guo in the Spring and Autumn Period of the Pre-Qin Dynasty?"
"Zheng Guo?"
Not to mention the Han Dynasty, which had a low literacy rate, even future generations with advanced information may not necessarily know much about this country.
However, there was still a Feiyan Army leader who had read books before and said: "I know."
Chen Mu then said: "Since you know it, you should know what happened to the Zheng State. To the north of this country is the old overlord Jin State, and to the south is the new overlord Chu State. It is sandwiched between the two big countries, swinging from time to time.
Being pro-Chu and sometimes pro-Jin is a disservice to both ends and will eventually lead to destruction."
"I'm not forcing you to choose to submit to the imperial court, but I want to tell you a truth. That is, there are too many important passages in the Five Elements Mountains. Eight main passages, as well as countless branches, can connect to Hanoi County from the hinterland of Jizhou."
"Whether it is for the imperial court or Yuan Shao, it is an indispensable strategic location. Even if you don't understand its importance, you should know about the Battle of Changping, and you should have heard of the Battle of Jingxing.
In particular, Fukouxing, which connects Taiyuan, Hanoi, and Yecheng, is a top priority and is definitely the key to our competition with Yuan Shao."
"You can choose not to take sides, but whoever occupies Fukouxing will become a threat to us and Yuan Shao. Neither we nor Yuan Shao will tolerate it. So, it's not that you don't want to take sides.
If you don't stand in line, even if the court doesn't force you, Yuan Shao will not give up."
After the conversation ended, many leaders looked at each other and discussed in low voices.
Chen Mu's words have made it very clear that the strategic location of the Taihang Mountains is too important, especially Fukouxing. This road connects Taiyuan, Hanoi, and Yedu. In history, Cao Cao personally led the battle to defeat Gao Gan.
The army passed through Fukouxing and attacked Hukou Pass, destroying Yuan Shao's last remaining power. He wrote the poem "Bitter Cold Journey" to commemorate this.
Fukouxing is connected to Baixing. From Qi County, go north to Lingchuan, then go to Hukou and enter Changzhi. If you continue to go north, you can reach Luxian, which will be Licheng County in later generations. Then pass through Luxian.
Then they arrived at Shexian County, which was less than three hundred miles away from Yecheng. They could reach it by marching in two days.
If you just look at the map, you will find that from Baixing to Fukouxing, it is a circle around the Taihang Mountains and a sneak attack on the butt of Yecheng. Therefore, Yuan Shao in history actually controlled the north of Fukouxing, with his
Gao Gan, his nephew and governor of Bingzhou, occupied Shangdang County and controlled Hukou Pass.
It's the same now. Hukou Pass was indeed controlled by Yuan Shao's men. Of course, Chen Mu didn't plan to imitate Cao Cao and go around such a large circle to attack Bingzhou. Instead, he entered the Zhangshui Ancient Road north of Linli through Baixing, and he could reach it directly from here.
The rear area of Anyang.
But now these places are occupied by the Montenegrin Army. If you want the army to pass through, you have to pass through their territory. So Chen Mu called these people here today to tell them a truth. The world may not be black and white.
, but when a life-and-death situation arises, neutrality and vacillation will become a thorn in the eyes of others.
Because these people are like time bombs that can explode at any time. If they are not dismantled, they will hurt themselves when they suddenly explode one day. Neither Chen Mu nor Yuan Shao can afford to gamble. Therefore, Chen Mu today
I'm here to persuade you with good intentions, and that's it. Next time, maybe it won't be like this, but the army will come.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! "Yuan Shao occupies the north of Fukou County. We just want to hide in the deep mountains and old forests and live in peace. We have not provoked them. Could it be that he will come and beat us for no reason?"
What's more, no matter whether you surrender to the imperial court or surrender to Yuan Shao, you will not be able to escape the consequences of fighting on the battlefield and paying grain and taxes. It is better to hide in the mountains and be quiet."
"Yes, it is true that Yuan Shao is powerful, but we also occupy so many important passes and fight him in the Five Elements Mountains. Are we still afraid of him? Shaofu, if you want us to submit to the imperial court, or
Forget it. We just want to hide away from the world quietly and don’t want to provoke you."
"The imperial court can't afford to offend Yuan Shao, and we can't afford to offend Yuan Shao even more. If the young man wants to find someone to die for, he's looking for the wrong person. There are nearly ten thousand people in our village, and we only have two or three thousand troops. What can we do here?
Function? The young master should find someone else."
Several leaders discussed for a long time, but in the end they were unwilling to surrender.
Wu Lu, the leader of the Wulu Army, said bluntly to Chen Mu: "Young Master, I know you hope that we can serve the imperial court. But the young master should also understand how powerful Yuan Shao is. With the imperial court's few troops, I am afraid that
Hanoi can't hold on for long, why are you still forcing us to die?"
No one wants to make their attitude clear directly, which is understandable. Historically, Zhang Yan surrendered to Cao Cao very early, and Huchuquan also said that he would surrender to Cao Cao after the Battle of Hedong, but it was only in name.
When you really surrender, it's basically when you knock on the door.
In this troubled world, if you want to live for a long time, you still have to bet on both ends and be a loser. Just like Zhang Yan, although he is the court's general in trouble, he has made it clear that he will not send troops, they will never be so early
You will make up your mind.
There is a classic saying in "Let the Bullets Fly": "Whoever wins, they help." People are ignorant and need someone to guide them, and the way of guidance must be clever.
What's more, perhaps in their eyes, even if they have to choose someone to submit to, the imperial court is by no means the best choice.
Because the imperial court is very weak.
The imperial court and Jizhou were already at a life-and-death battle. The imperial court was indeed powerful, but Yuan Shao was even more powerful.
At least on the surface, the imperial court now has only an empty frame, and the entire Sili army has only 60,000 troops. The real strength is in Qingzhou and Youzhou. The strength is too scattered, making it difficult to achieve anything.
This may be the biggest reason why many bandits in the Montenegrin Army are unwilling to surrender.
After hearing the thoughts of many leaders, Chen Mu did not speak, but squinted his eyes and kept smiling. People who are familiar with him should know that this is usually because he is thinking about some plan.
In fact, he does have a strategy.
In order to deal with the Black Mountain Army and gain control of the transportation arteries at the southern foot of Fukouxing in the Taihang Mountains, there are actually two ways.
One is to wait.
When Yuan Shao felt that this group of Black Mountain troops was a nuisance, he wanted to get rid of them and control Fukouxing and Baixing so that he could send troops from Wei County and even Shangdang to Hanoi at any time to surprise the rear.
In fact, Chen Mu didn't believe that Yuan Shao didn't have the same idea as him, which was to use Fukouxing and Baixing to bypass the front line and directly attack the rear grain road or central area.
It's just that Linlu City is blocking the front like a copper wall, because Linlu is an important passage for Baixing. Baixing starts from Qi County, enters Linlu Valley, and then passes through Linlu Mountains to Lingchuan, and then ends at Hukou.
Guan is connected with Fukouxing and finally enters Changzhi.
Therefore, if you can't take Linlu County, controlling Fukouxing is no different than not controlling it. In addition to the imperial army, Linlu Valley also has a large number of Black Mountain troops entrenched in the Lingchuan area to the north. These Black Mountain troops naturally form a group.
barrier.
If one day Yuan Shao feels that he can carry out the plan of surprise attack on Linli, he may break through Lingchuan, and then enter Linlu Valley through the Baixing Passage occupied by the Black Mountain Army, and start attacking Linli.
But before that, as long as Yuan Shao takes action against the Black Mountain Army, Chen Mu can ask Lin Licheng's soldiers to help defend and resist. As long as the Black Mountain Army believes that Yuan Shao will not let them go, then even if these people are no longer willing to submit, they will
He could only throw himself into the arms of the imperial court and could not look back.
The advantage of this method is that there is a high probability of obtaining a large number of Montenegrin troops. The disadvantage is also obvious, that is, it takes a long time. Now he is eager to make a surprise attack on Anyang through the Zhangshui Ancient Road to recapture Youli City, and does not want to waste time.
on these people.
Then the only thing left is the second method.
There was a trace of murderous intent in Chen Mu's eyes, but on the surface he was gentle and said with a smile: "I can understand that you want to live a peaceful life in the Five Elements Mountain. So I never said,
Please submit to me."
"Then what does the young master mean?"
someone asked.
Chen Mu said: "I am not afraid to tell everyone that in the short period of time on the frontal battlefield between Hanoi and Wei County, we and Yuan Shao must be in a stalemate, and it is difficult to distinguish. Therefore, it is very likely that both of us will focus on the Five Elements Mountains.
With the two important roads of Fukouxing and Baixing, I predict that Yuan Shao will definitely leave Hukou Pass and attack Linli. Think about it, who is around Linli?"
"this......."
Everyone, look at me and I look at you, do you still need to ask? Of course, they live around the Linlu Mountains and the Lingchuan area slightly north.
Once Yuan Shao attacked, Lin Lucheng would be protected by them, and would become the imperial army inexplicably.
Chen Mu said with a smile: "So the reason why I am calling you all today is not that you must submit to the imperial court, but that I want to borrow a way from you."
"Borrowing a way?"
Yu Du pondered: "You want to attack Hukou Pass?"
Chen Mu nodded and said: "Yes, not only Hukou Pass, but also the Zhangshui Ancient Road. These two important roads, connecting Yedu all the way and Anyang all the way, are extremely important strategic places. You can attack when you advance, and you can retreat when you retreat."
The defense must be controlled by the imperial court. If you don't want to get involved and get out of the way, the imperial court will give you food, grass and salt in exchange. What do you think?"
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! "Why should I believe you?"
Someone immediately stood up and said: "What if you are taking advantage of the situation on the surface, but actually want to attack us?"
Chen Mu wondered: "What is this leader talking about? Everyone knows better than me what the roads in the Five Elements Mountains look like. Even if I want to attack you and destroy one village, the other villages will soon get the news.
At that time, everyone kept the gate of the village tightly closed, and each attack was no less difficult than attacking Hukou Pass. Do I need to send you food and supplies while attacking you again?"
"Forehead......."
The man was questioned for a moment and could not answer.
Because the truth is indeed like this. If Chen Mu wanted to attack, he would have already attacked. There is no need to provide supplies for the attack. Wouldn't that be valuing the enemy? Even a fool would not be able to do it.
Therefore, taking advantage of the road on the surface is actually an attack, which is unrealistic.
After everyone figured this out, they looked at each other for a while, with unpredictable looks in their eyes.
Wealth and silk moved people's hearts. Although everyone was making a living in the Taihang Mountains, they occupied different places and had different populations under their rule, so classes still emerged.
For example, Zhang Yan has the best territory and the largest population, he is the most powerful and the richest, and he does not need supplies from the court.
And some people are in poor mountains and rivers, with weak strength and a small population. They often suffer from hunger. People in the village often starve to death. If they can get supplies from the court, their urgent needs will naturally be solved.
"I think this is possible."
"Then how can we let the imperial army pass through our mountain stronghold? It's too dangerous."
"Your Huanglong Village occupies a valley and has soldiers and food. Our village is in a mountain valley and we can't survive. Are you still telling me this? I agree anyway."
"I disagree!"
"Huang Long, don't you agree to give it a try?"
"What can you do to me?"
"Stop it, stop it, there's nothing to argue about."
"I think it's okay too. Are we still worried that the imperial army will eat us?"
........
Everyone had just been unanimous in speaking out, but in the blink of an eye, facing the benefits offered by Chen Mu, internal strife began.
Human nature is probably nothing more than this.
Chen Mu smiled slightly, said nothing, stood up slowly, and just said lightly: "If the leaders can come up with a result from the discussion, Mu will be happy to provide everyone with urgently needed supplies such as grain, grass, salt, ironware, etc. In this way, I will give
I’ll come back here tomorrow and I hope you can give me a satisfactory answer.”
After that, he turned around and left.
In place, only the many leaders of the Black Mountain Army who were still arguing endlessly were left.