The three hundred and seventeenth chapter each has a ghost
The envoy sent by Li Zhongchen was his aide Zhang Fangquan, who was from Yingzhou and was a county official. He was about forty years old. He was thin and looked very shrewd.
"I am Zhang Fangquan. I am joining the army from Marshal Li's office. I came here to meet the old prince on orders from Marshal Li."
After speaking, he submitted a letter, "Marshal Li hopes to cooperate with the old prince, respond to the court's call, annihilate Li Lingyao, and share the benefits of sending troops."
"Your lord has also been recruited by the imperial court?" Li Zhengji said with a faint smile.
"Exactly!"
Li Zheng has read Li Zhongchen's autographed letter. Li Zhongchen wrote very humbly in the letter, willing to fight with the old prince and be driven by the old prince. However, on the core issue, he wrote vaguely and just wanted to fight in Huaibei.
Obtaining a bed of land was enough, but he did not write how big the bed was, and he did not mention the number of additional troops.
Li Zhengji sneered and said, "Your master is not sincere!"
Zhang Fangquan said quickly: "My lord is full of sincerity, please tell me."
"Okay, let me ask you, how many troops did you send? Where is Li Zhongchen now? Why didn't it be stated in the letter?"
"To inform the old prince, the number of troops to be sent depends on the upper limit allowed by the court. If you write in the letter in advance that you will send 30,000 troops, if it is not reached, wouldn't you be deceiving the prince? As for where is my master now? He wrote this letter
I was in Hefei when I wrote the letter, but I don’t know where it is now.”
"I know!"
Li Na next to him said: "Li Zhongchen is in Sizhou now, and the army has crossed the Huaihe River."
Zhang Fangquan pretended to be surprised and said: "That's right. It seems that my lord has received the official permission from the emperor to send troops. If the imperial court allows it, he is more likely to send 30,000 troops."
Li Zheng has obtained the information that Li Zhongchen is sending 30,000 troops, but this is already a chess piece on the surface. He needs to know what Li Zhongchen wants to get in the end? This is the key.
Li Zhengji chuckled twice and said slowly: "Since you want to cooperate with me, tell me the truth. Where does the place your lord wants to stay include?"
"This is what I want to say, villain. My lord does not want to have a conflict of interest with the old prince. If the old prince likes the land, we must give in."
"That's a good statement, so let's be honest with each other! Tell me, what does your lord want in the end?"
Zhang Fangquan hesitated and said: "My lord wants to expand his sphere of influence to five states, Haizhou, Chuzhou, Sizhou, Xuzhou and Songzhou. I don't know if there is any conflict with the old prince. If there is a conflict, my lord will immediately modify the plan.
"
Just as Li Na was about to speak, Li Zheng glared at him, and Li Na shut up knowingly.
Li Zhengji smiled slightly and said: "Fortunately, there is basically no conflict. We are mainly in the northern states, such as Puzhou, Yunzhou, Caozhou, Yanzhou, etc. Our strength is limited, and we have not considered going south."
Zhang Fangquan breathed a sigh of relief and said quickly: "Does the old prince need to meet with my lord to clarify the specific method of cooperation?"
Li Zheng already lightly stroked his goatee and said with a smile: "It's not necessary to meet in person, but it is necessary to maintain close communication to prevent misunderstandings. Let's see if sir would like to stay as a guest in our army and contact Marshal Li at any time via pigeon mail?"
"Well... I'll write to the lord and ask him! How will he arrange it?"
"Yes! I look forward to happy cooperation between us."
Zhang Fangquan retreated, and Li Na said anxiously: "Father, Xuzhou is our goal, how can we give it to Li Zhongchen?"
Li Zhengji sneered and said: "Do you really believe Li Zhongchen's plan? The land he wants controls all the water transportation. Will the court allow it? He is not a fool. If he dares to take Songzhou, the prince's 100,000 troops
There will definitely be a head-on attack, of course he knows that, he just said that on purpose to confuse us."
Li Na's face turned red and he quickly bowed and said, "Father, please make it clear!"
Li Zheng glanced at him and said: "You are not young anymore. You should learn more. People like Li Zhongchen and Tian Chengsi are thousands of years old foxes. If you want to fight them in the future, you must be more thoughtful.
If you are not smart enough, you can rely on your staff, so talents are the most important resource for us to strive for world hegemony. We must treat scholars well, so that there will be an endless stream of talents coming to serve our father and son, remember?"
"The father's teachings are remembered by the children."
Li Zhengji then said slowly: "The five states that Zhang Fangquan mentioned just now, didn't you find that one of the most important states is missing?"
Li Na thought for a moment and suddenly realized, "Yangzhou!"
Li Zheng has nodded, "They deliberately avoid Yangzhou. In fact, they are trying to hide it. The place they want is not Songzhou or Xuzhou. They deliberately confuse us. They fabricate the capital out of thin air in order to bargain with us.
We used it for concessions. The more Li Zhongchen avoided it, the more his true intentions were revealed. If I guessed correctly, he wanted to move from Si, Hai, Chu, and Yang to the four states of Huaixi and Huainan. The final goal was
It is to control the entire Jianghuai region."
Li Na nodded, it was his father who saw clearly!
"But Yangzhou is the financial lifeline of the imperial court. Will the imperial court allow him to get involved?"
Li Zhengji sighed slightly and said: "Just like Tian Chengsi dreamed of crossing the Yellow River, Li Zhongchen has been dreaming of capturing Yangzhou for ten years. This desire is deeply rooted in his heart, and he will eventually be possessed by his greed.
Destruction, I am sure that as long as he takes this step, it will be the day of his destruction."
Li Na was convinced. He was silent for a moment and asked: "Father, what should we do next?"
Li Zhengji chuckled and said: "Do you need to say more? Of course we will send troops to Yanzhou!"
.........
On the tenth day of the sixth lunar month, Li Zheng had read out the emperor's edict to the three armies, offered sacrifices to the horse god, and announced the dispatch of troops to attack the traitor Li Lingyao. The 80,000-strong army divided into two groups, marching southward to Yanzhou and into Jeju.
At the same time, Li Zhongchen's army also passed through Sizhou and entered Xuzhou.
In the north, Li Mian's army and Ma Sui's Heyang army were combined into one. Under the command of Li Mian, 40,000 imperial troops entered Bianzhou from Zhengzhou.
Li Mian sent vanguard Li Chongqian with 5,000 troops to take Kaifeng County first. Li Lingyao deceived Li Chongqian because of his lack of troops. He led 20,000 troops out of the city to intercept the imperial vanguard. The two armies fought fiercely east of Kaifeng County. Unexpectedly, Ma Sui led 10,000 cavalry to attack unexpectedly.
, Li Lingyao was caught off guard and was defeated. Li Lingyao only led thousands of people to flee back to Chenliu in panic.
At this time, Li Lingyao finally realized the importance of Tian Chengsi's army. On the one hand, he urgently ordered the scattered troops to return to the city, and on the other hand, he sent people to ask for help from Tian Chengsi.
But Li Lingyao didn't know that his scattered troops had been assembled by Tian Chengsi first. Currently, 30,000 troops were gathered in Baima County, Huazhou, led by Tian Chengsi's nephew Tian Yue. Tian Chengsi occupied Huazhou and
Puzhou.
In the Wagang Mountain military camp, news was sent from Kaifeng Mansion via pigeon mail. Although Guo Song was hiding in the mountains, he always had a grasp of the military dynamics and war progress in various places.
In Guo Song's temporary military room, he stood in front of the map for a long time and meditated. Although he had not read Sun Tzu's Art of War, he had seen a large number of Chinese and foreign war cases. These cases were actually the essence of various military thoughts and cultivated
He sees the breadth and depth of issues.
According to the latest intelligence, Li Lingyao led 25,000 people to defend Chenliu County. Only the armies of Li Mian and Ma Sui entered Bianzhou, which was less than a hundred miles away from Chenliu County. However, the armies of Li Zhengji and Li Zhongchen were busy seizing the opportunity.
The territory is still far away from Chenliu County.
Guo Song was more concerned about the situation in Huazhou. Tian Chengsi's army had regrouped and occupied Huazhou and Puzhou. It was obvious that Tian Chengsi was not active in rescuing Li Lingyao. Everyone had their own agendas and plans.
.
"Do you think Li Lingyao will break out of the city?" Xu Jingnan asked from the side.
Guo Song shook his head, "I think everyone is waiting!"
"What are you waiting for?" Xu Jingnan asked puzzledly.
"Each has a goal?"
Guo Song said lightly: "Li Lingyao is waiting for Tian Chengsi to come to the rescue. To be precise, he is waiting for Tian Chengsi's army to fight with other armies and kill both sides. If he comes out to pick fruits again, Li Zhengji's army has already occupied
Jeju, Yanzhou, Yunzhou and Caozhou did not attack Puzhou. He obviously did not want to have a war with Tian Chengsi prematurely. He was waiting for the imperial army and Li Zhongchen's army to move north.
Li Zhongchen is also waiting. He is very active in seizing the territory, but if he is asked to actually work for the court, he may not be willing. He is waiting for the war to be almost over before finally joining the war."
"Do we need to wait too?"
Guo Song nodded, "We also need to wait, but I estimate that the imperial army should break the situation first. No matter whether it is Li Lingyao or Tian Chengsi, the imperial court has the unshirkable responsibility. Once the war breaks out, the situation will be chaotic, leaving us to fish in troubled waters."
Create opportunities."
Liang Wu said from the side: "I am worried that Li Lingyao will retreat from the south. There is a relatively large gap in the south. If the court does not fill this gap, it is likely to be exploited by Li Lingyao. Why don't we go south to plug this gap."
Guo Song took a few steps with his hands behind his back and said slowly: "You have to keep calm and don't mess up the situation first!"