"The second request is about refugees. When there is a war, a large number of refugees will inevitably flee. His Royal Highness the King of Jin hopes that the general's army will not plunder the people and not hinder their escape."
Perhaps because the anger from just now was still there, Qiu Jingzhong said in a cold tone: "I can only say that I will try my best. Once the battlefield is spread out, I will not be able to control many soldiers."
Gongsun Liangsi said coldly: "It's best to restrain them, otherwise the Jin army will conflict with you in order to protect the people. That is not what we want to see."
Qiu Jingzhong opened his mouth wide. Only then did he understand what the other party meant. The Jin army would also appear on the battlefield.
"What if Zhu Si's army is disturbing the people?" Qiu Jingzhong asked unwillingly.
"We will warn Zhu Si that if he does not enforce military discipline, the 50,000 Jin cavalry will never stand idly by!"
.........
Gongsun Liangsi said goodbye and left. Qiu Jingzhong paced back and forth in the room with his hands behind his hands, feeling depressed. Both Sizhou and Bozhou were taken away by the Jin army. The territory of the four states he originally planned was suddenly reduced by half. There is good news.
It was also difficult to restore his depression at this time.
Hou Xicai came back after sending Gongsun Liangsi away. Seeing that Qiu Jingzhong was still unhappy, he persuaded him with a smile: "General, please be more liberal! We got 80,000 sets of soldiers and armors, and we thought they were exchanged for Bozhou and Sizhou. Guo
Song's favor is hard to win. We have to pay the price, right?"
Qiu Jingzhong let out a long sigh, "After a big battle, I'm afraid there won't be any place to replenish the troops. The Jin army is too ruthless. It's enough to take away Sizhou and Bozhou, but what about the 35,000 scattered troops? Even if
You can give me half!"
What Qiu Jingzhong was depressed about was not that the two pieces of territory were gone, but that the 35,000 scattered troops he had regarded as his own were gone. There were 20,000 people in Sizhou and 15,000 people in Bozhou. His military strength could have reached ten
Fifty thousand people, now 35,000 people have flown.
Hou Xicai continued to persuade him: "General, war itself is a trade-off. If we defeat Zhu Si's army, we will get a large number of surrendered soldiers, so we don't have to worry about replenishing our troops."
Hou Xicai's persuasion relieved Qiu Jingzhong's knot a lot. He nodded and said, "Let's forget about it for now. Let's discuss how to deal with Zhu Si's army's attack."
.........
The news that Qiu Jingzhong captured Songzhou and Xuzhou finally reached Zhu Si's ears. Zhu Si had never been so furious. He slashed and hacked in the inner study with his sword, scaring Wang Xianzhong and several eunuchs to the point where they rolled to the ground.
If they escape a step too late, their heads will be in danger.
How could Zhu Si not be furious? Songzhou and Xuzhou were his first and second largest production areas. In particular, these two states had a lot of official land. Half of the military rations came from these two states. Songzhou and Xuzhou were lost.
His army will soon be hungry.
At this time, Liu Sigu was hurriedly found by someone sent by Wang Xianzhong. Only he could dissuade the furious emperor.
When Liu Sigu arrived, Zhu Si was exhausted. He was sitting on a chair panting. He also threw his long sword aside. Zhu Si was too fat. The few swings he had just made made him use up his strength in anger.
The ancient power has now calmed down, and he is unable to bear it.
"Your Majesty, please calm down. Your Majesty does not need to be so angry!"
"How can I not be angry? The generals of Guo and Song are loyal, but my men have turned traitorous one by one. I treat them well, why should they betray me?"
Speaking of this, Zhu Si couldn't help crying. He was indeed heartbroken. One of his most trusted generals also betrayed him.
Liu Sigu sighed, "Your Majesty, in the final analysis, it is still a matter of power. Qiu Jingzhong has controlled the Feixiong Guard for seven years. It has been too long. When the Feixiong Army became his private army, his ambitions naturally burst out."
"He wants to be the king, and I let him do as he pleases, but... he occupies Songzhou and Xuzhou, which are the two largest grain-producing areas. Half of my military rations come from these two states, and the military rations are insufficient.
Something big is going to happen!"
Liu Sigu felt helpless. Of course he did not want a civil war to break out. If Qiu Jingzhong occupied Sizhou or Bozhou, he could persuade Zhu Si to be patient. But Xuzhou and Songzhou were different. These two states were not only among the top grain-producing states, but also
Occupying 30% of the population, if the cancer of Qiu Jingzhong is not dug out in time, the entire body will soon fester.
"Your Majesty, since war is unavoidable, we should implement it as early as possible. While Qiu Jingzhong's foothold is not stable, we can take back Songzhou first, and then stabilize our position. In this way, we can confront Qiu Jingzhong in Xuzhou, and our losses will be reduced by most.
."
"But without the food from Xuzhou, I'm still worried that the military rations will be insufficient!"
Liu Sigu smiled slightly and said: "Your Majesty, we don't need to provide food for the 80,000 Flying Bear Army. In fact, it's about the same."
Zhu Si was stunned for a moment, then he patted his forehead and said with a smile: "I'm really confused. Just follow the military advisor's advice, how should we fight this battle?"
Liu Sigu pondered for a while and said: "The minister suggested that the general Wang Zhongmou should be the main general, the Leopard Tao army should be the main force, and 30,000 scattered troops should be the reserve troops. We should set out tonight overnight. The troops will be very fast and Chou Jingzhong's army will be caught off guard.
"
"Then why not let Xiao Wanding lead the Tiger Guards there?"
Liu Sigu smiled bitterly and said: "Wei Chen, tell the truth. General Xiao lacks actual combat experience. He is not Qiu Jingzhong's opponent. It is better not to let him go into battle."
Liu Sigu knew what he was doing. Although Xiao Wanding kept saying that he transported his troops properly and thwarted Chou Jingzhong's attempt to attack the palace, Liu Sigu knew that he actually fell into Chou Jingzhong's plan of diverting the tiger away from the mountain and deceived his 100,000 troops to go north. Chou Jingzhong then
We were able to leave Luoyang smoothly.
Zhu Si was also a military governor, and he knew that Liu Sigu was right, Xiao Wanding was indeed no match for Qiu Jingzhong.
He immediately issued an order: "Publish my decree and summon General Wang Zhongmou to see me immediately!"
One of the eunuchs went to deliver the order. At this moment, Liu Feng hurried over to ask for an audience with the emperor.
"Your Majesty, I have something urgent to report!"
Liu Feng took out an envelope and presented it: "This is a letter from King Guo Song of Jin to His Majesty. Someone put it in a blank envelope and gave it to Wei Chen. Wei Chen opened it and found that it was a letter to His Majesty!"
When Zhu Si heard that it was a letter from Guo Song, he quickly took the envelope and saw the words on the envelope: 'To Mr. Dongge from the Master of Mingyu Hall!'
Most people can't understand it, but Zhu Si knows that Mingyutang is the name of Guo Song's official room, and Dongge is the inner study room where he is now. It is considered an informal letter.
Zhu Si opened the envelope and found a folded plain paper inside. He unfolded the letter and there were only a few lines on it, "I heard that Mr. Dongge wanted to recruit rebels. This is your internal affairs. The Jin army will not interfere, but I ask you to restrain it."
Army, please don't disturb the people, otherwise the 50,000 Jin cavalrymen on the east route will never stand idly by and watch, above!'
It is signed by Jin Wang Guo Song, with a private seal stamped below.
Zhu Si was not angry at all. He stared at the letter blankly, his heart filled with fear. He understood the unknown words in the letter. Guo Song actually deployed 50,000 cavalry to watch the battle.
"Your Majesty, what did Guo Song say?" Liu Sigu asked quietly from the side.
Zhu Si handed the letter to him, and Liu Sigu hurriedly read the letter. He was also secretly surprised. He suddenly realized that Guo Song had the intention to control this war, but his thoughts changed very quickly, regardless of Guo Song.
Manipulating the war or not, this battle is inevitable. Even if they don't fight this battle, Guo Song will still control Qiu Jingzhong to weaken them.
Liu Sigu glanced at Zhu Si and saw that his eyes were still a little confused. Apparently he had not seen through the door yet. Liu Sigu quickly said: "Your Majesty, it is normal for Guo Song to pay attention to this war. He wants to take the opportunity to win people's hearts. We don't want to
Just leave him alone."
"But...where did he deploy 50,000 cavalry?" Zhu Si was still puzzled. They were separated by Caozhou and Bianzhou. Did Guo Song want to capture Caozhou or Bianzhou?
"Your Majesty, the Jin army should be in Yanzhou, which borders Songzhou."
At this time, the eunuch reported at the door, "Your Majesty, General Wang Zhongmou is here."
........
Zhu Si's southern expedition army set out the next day. When they conquered Qi State at the beginning of the year, they still had half of the supplies and grain that they had not used, which happened to be used in this expedition against Qiu Jingzhong.
Food and supplies are stored in Chenliu County, which is a famous transit area for grain and grass supplies. Hundreds of thousands of stones of grain and large quantities of supplies are stored there. Currently, 80,000 scattered troops are assembled in Chenliu County to protect Chenliu County.
Food and grass supplies.
This time to conquer Qiu Jingzhong, Zhu Si dispatched 90,000 troops, including 50,000 Leopard Tao troops, 10,000 Tiger Guard cavalry and 30,000 scattered troops, commanded by General Wang Zhongmou.
Wang Zhongmou is about forty years old, with a tall and thin body, a thin face, and a cold look in his eyes. He was also one of the generals who participated in the Jingyuan Mutiny. Now let alone Qiu Jingzhong, who has followed Zhu Si like this for more than twenty years.
There were only three senior generals who had participated in the Jingyuan Mutiny. In addition to Wang Zhongmou, there were also Huben Guards' right general Han Min and left general Zhang Ting'an.
This time the general commanding 10,000 Tiger Guards cavalry was none other than Left General Zhang Ting'an.
The 60,000-strong army left Luoyang and marched toward Chenliu County in a mighty manner.