The sound of war drums outside the city wall of Licheng County was earth-shattering. Tens of thousands of soldiers of the Tang Army pushed the ladders and carried the siege ladders, overwhelmingly attacking the city wall. Arrows rained from the sky, densely shooting at the soldiers of the Tang Army. The soldiers of the Tang Army raised their shields high and risked their lives.
They ran with arrows, and people kept falling to the ground after being hit by arrows.
The 30,000 Bian Song Army led by Li Mian, the 30,000 Imperial Shence Army led by Qu Huan, and the 30,000 Boying Army led by Liu Qia, totaling 90,000 troops besieged Qizhou.
However, Li Na pretended to accept the emperor's order and sent his substitute to the court, but he fell ill in Luoyang. He used this time difference to prepare for war urgently, mobilized the troops from various states to Qizhou, and transported a large amount of military supplies and food to Qizhou.
After ten days of emergency transportation, the Ziqing Army basically completed its war preparations. Li Na immediately declared himself King of Qi and established the State of Qi.
The eunuch Song Fengchao who presided over the occupation of the Central Plains suddenly realized it. He became angry and ordered an army of 90,000 to attack Qizhou with all his strength, regardless of casualties. He wanted to capture Qizhou within ten days and cut Li Na into pieces.
Aerial ladders were hooked on the battlements, and a large number of siege ladders were erected. Tang soldiers climbed up bravely, but the rolling logs and rocks on the top of the city fell like hailstones, and barrels of kerosene flowed down the ladders, burning rapidly.
When they got up, the Tang troops on the ladder were burned and screamed miserably. They jumped into the moat to escape. The entire moat turned into a sea of fire. The Tang troops suffered heavy casualties. In just half a day, the number of casualties exceeded 3,000.
The commander-in-chief of the three armies, Li Mian, couldn't stand it anymore. The enemy's firepower was too powerful. If the attack continued like this, the Tang army would lose tens of thousands of casualties and still not be able to capture the city. He immediately ordered: "Make the gold and withdraw the troops!"
‘Dang! Dang! Dang!’ the withdrawal bell rang, and the 30,000 attacking Tang troops retreated like a tide.
At this time, the supervisor Song Chaofeng came angrily and asked sternly: "Why should we withdraw our troops?"
Li Mian really despised this eunuch, who knew nothing and still held great power. At first, everyone said that they could not trust Li Na and could not give Li Na time to prepare for war. They wanted to immediately surround Qizhou and cut off the food and military support of Qizhou.
But this Song Chaofeng refused to agree and wanted to implement the emperor's plan. In the end, it was discovered that he had been deceived. Li Na had also completed war preparations. Now he was anxious. He did not follow strategies and attacked the city regardless of the cost. He would only lose the Tang army in vain.
Soldiers' lives.
Li Mian suppressed his dissatisfaction and said: "The rebels are well prepared and have high morale. The kerosene is especially sharp. It will do too much damage to our siege weapons. If we continue to fight like this, our casualties will soon exceed 10,000, and we will not be able to capture the city."
.”
Song Chaofeng shouted in a high-pitched voice: "How can we fight without killing people? The rebels will always run out of fuel. As long as they can capture the city, I can accept even if half of the soldiers die."
Liu Qia beside him couldn't help but said: "Supervisor, if half of our brothers die, our morale will collapse. Then the enemy troops will rush out of the city and we will be defeated. The commander is right. If the situation is not right, we must immediately
Stop the fighting and stop the losses.”
Qu Huan, the leader of the Shence Army, also advised: "Now the enemy's morale is strong, and 20,000 people can exert the power of 50,000. We should besiege the city, gradually weaken the enemy's morale, and use time to win the war. This is
Smart thing to do.”
"It is our family that should answer to the Emperor, not you. I don't care. You can answer to the Emperor yourself!"
Song Chaofeng snorted loudly, turned around and stormed away angrily.
The three of them looked at each other and shook their heads. If the eunuchs took over the military power, it would be a misfortune for the army.
The three of them were about to discuss the military situation, but Song Chaofeng came in like a whirlwind and said to Liu Qia: "I have just received the emperor's order, ordering you to immediately lead the army to Yuzhou to intercept Li Xilie's northward march."
........
After Li Xilie was knighted by the court, he immediately felt the weakness of the court, and he knew that his opportunity had come.
Li Xilie immediately took the initiative to ask Ying to go north to attack Li Na. Without waiting for the imperial court's consent, he led an army of 50,000 to Yuzhou and targeted the hinterland of the Central Plains. After being ordered to retreat by the imperial court, Li Xilie immediately showed a ferocious face, proclaimed himself King of Huai, and announced the establishment of Huai.
They burned, killed and looted all the way to Bianzhou.
At this time, the hinterland of the Central Plains was empty. All the Central Plains armies were besieging Qizhou. Only a few state soldiers were left, unable to resist the ferocious Huaixi army. The situation in the Central Plains was very critical. Li Shi had no choice but to use flying pigeons to send orders to Liu Qia, the governor of Boying Jiedu.
He led his 30,000 troops to intercept Li Xilie's army heading north.
At the same time, the imperial court sent Longwu General Ge Shu Yao to lead 30,000 Shence troops to the Central Plains to cooperate with Liu Qia to suppress Li Xilie's rebellion.
Liu Qia's 30,000 Tang troops withdrew westward, which greatly reduced the pressure on Li Na. He adopted the advice of military advisor Wu Shan and temporarily recruited 20,000 troops in the city, exempting them from taxes for ten years. He took advantage of the Tang army's siege and failure to attack the city and trained his soldiers with all his strength.
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In Hebei, Ma Sui, the military governor of Hedong, and Li Baozhen, the military commander of Zhaoyi Army, jointly attacked Weizhou again, while Wang Wujun led 30,000 troops south to rescue Wei Bo's army. Fierce fighting broke out again between the four armies in Weizhou.
Wang Wujun and Tian Yue simultaneously requested the support of the most powerful Zhu Tao. Zhu Tao was extremely cunning. On the surface, he personally led the army to the south, but he sent General Ma Wei with 20,000 troops to sneak attack the Yiwu Army and swallowed up Yizhou and Dingzhou in one fell swoop.
and Hengzhou.
Yiwu Jiedushi Zhang Xiaozhong led his army to retreat southward in panic, but was ambushed by Youzhou cavalry led by Zhu Tao in Shiyi County. Zhang Xiaozhong was defeated and all 15,000 troops surrendered.
Zhu Tao did not stop. Taking advantage of the opportunity when Ma Sui, the governor of Hedong, led the main force to fight in Weizhou, he led 30,000 elite troops to Jingxing and entered Hedong, targeting Taiyuan Prefecture. Li Huaiguang, who was left behind in Taiyuan, urgently asked the court for help. Ma Sui
He also had to divide his troops into 20,000 troops and ordered his deputy general Li Sheng to withdraw to Hedong to fight against Zhu Tao.
The battlefields in Hebei and the Central Plains were in full swing, and the war also spread to Hedong. Taiyuan was anxious, and the government and the public were shaken for a while. Taiyuan was the land of the Dragon King of the Tang Dynasty, and was named the northern capital. Its strategic position and geographical location are extremely important, and there must be no room for error. Two consecutive battles
That day, Li Shi summoned his ministers to discuss the rescue of Taiyuan.
But at this moment, news came from Hedong. Li Sheng, the deputy envoy of Hedong Jiedu, led 20,000 Tang troops to win three battles in Pingcheng County, Yizhou. He defeated Zhu Tao's 50,000 Youzhou troops and set up an ambush in Shuque Valley.
After annihilating five thousand Youzhou cavalry, General Zheng Jingji led only a few dozen cavalrymen to flee north in panic.
Li Sheng led his army to pursue north, using the strategy of attacking in the east and attacking in the west, pretending to be the main force of the pursuit of the enemy, but returned to annihilate Zhu Tao's 10,000 rear troops in Shiai County. Zhu Tao was defeated in five battles and lost all his food, grass and baggage.
He had no choice but to lead his defeated army to Feihuxingcang and return to Hebei in panic. The plan to capture Hedong was completely ruined.
When the news came, the government and the public were in joy. Emperor Li Shi made Li Sheng the military governor of Longyou, a regular attendant of Zuo Sanqi, and was given the title of Duke of Jincheng County.
At night, Prime Minister Lu Qi appeared in the study room of Yuan Mansion. Yuan Xuanhu took a sip of tea and said: "Zhu Tao rebelled in Youzhou, and his secret letter to Zhu Si was intercepted by Ma Sui. Under the current circumstances, Zhu Tao
It is no longer realistic for Si to continue to serve as the Jiedushi of Jingyuan. I have sent someone to send him a letter asking him to voluntarily resign from the post of Jiedushi of Jingyuan. The key is who will take over the post of Jiedushi of Jingyuan. Does Lu Gong have any ideas?
"
Lu Qi thought for a while and said: "Last month, the imperial court appointed Cui Kuan as the Jiedushi of Shuofang. The former Jiedu envoy Hunyang entered the court and was named General Zuojin Wuwei. The emperor is very likely to let him take over as the Jiedushi of Jingyuan.
.”
"no!"
Yuan Xuanhu shook his head decisively and said: "Hunyao is too powerful and cannot be appointed as the Jiedushi of Jingyuan."
Lu Qi knew that Yuan Xuanhu must have some ideas, so he asked: "What does the head of the family mean?"
Yuan Xuanhu said slowly: "It would be best to promote Shi Yao Lingyan, the governor of Jingyuan Prefecture, to serve as the governor of Jiedu."
"Yao Lingyan is a civil servant, so it is unlikely."
Lu Qi rolled his eyes and said: "It is better to let Peng Wang Li Jiyuan lead the Jingyuan Jiedushi, and Yao Lingyan will stay behind. This is very reasonable!"
Yuan Xuanhu praised: "This is a good strategy!"
Lu Qi said again: "It's not enough for me to say it. I have to let the people around me give me advice. The emperor trusts the internal officials more. Does the master of the family understand what I mean?"
"Please rest assured, Prime Minister, I have already made arrangements. Not only that, but the safest way is to make Hun Yao unable to hold office."
Lu Qi was startled and said quickly: "Zhang Yi died suddenly. The emperor has become suspicious. We cannot let ministers die accidentally again."
Yuan Xuanhu chuckled, "Don't worry! I have my own sense of proportion."
...........
Lu Qi said goodbye and left. At this time, Li Man, who was hiding in the back room and eavesdropping, came out. She sneered and said: "The master of the house has his own sense of discretion, so he won't let me do the hard work again!"
Yuan Xuanhu said calmly: "Since I invited you here, I naturally hope that you can help. I don't want you to kill him. As long as he is injured or sick, can't you do something as small as this?"
Li Man sat down and said, "I have done a lot of things for you, but there is no benefit at all. The head of the family is willing to invest 500,000 yuan in Zhu Si, why does he not get a dime from me?"
"You are a descendant of the Yuan family..."
Before Yuan Xuanhu could finish speaking, Li Man waved his hand to stop him, "You know I'm not!"
Yuan Xuanhu smiled bitterly and said: "Your father is also the deputy head of the Yuan family after all. He was expelled from the family and had no choice but to do so. We still have his spiritual throne in our annual sacrifices. Why don't you want to be a descendant of the Yuan family?"
"Don't say these nonsense, show some sincerity!"
Yuan Xuanhu looked at her for a moment and said, "I guess you don't care about money, so what do you want?"
Li Man smiled slightly and said, "I heard from Master that Yuan Mansion has a collection of magic weapons."
"You mean Zhan Lujian?"
Li Man nodded, "This is the sincerity I want."
The Zhanlu Sword had been collected by the Yuan family for hundreds of years. Yuan Xuanhu was really reluctant to part with it. He pondered for a long time and finally agreed, "I can give it to you."