The governor of Jiangzhou was called Zhao Wencai, one of the first batch of Jinshi after the restoration of the imperial examination. If he could serve as an official in Jiangzhou, he must have a deep relationship with the Pei family. Zhao Wencai was actually a disciple of the Pei family.
These famous families attach great importance to the cultivation of talents. They not only cultivate their own children, but also run schools everywhere to select the best talents for training.
Zhao Wencai was a native of Linfen County, Jinzhou. When he was ten years old, he was admitted to the Sanjin Academy in Linfen, which was a school funded by the Pei family. At the age of sixteen, he was selected to study in the Pei family of Wenxi. At the age of twenty-six, the Pei family sponsored him to enter.
He rushed to take the exam in Beijing and passed the 17th place in the Jinshi examination. He was awarded the title of Registrar of Hongdong County. Even his wife was the daughter of the Pei family.
With the support of the Pei family, Zhao Wencai was promoted step by step. Three years ago, he was officially appointed as the governor of Jiangzhou. Zhao Wencai became an out-and-out member of the Pei family's faction.
When the Hexi Army captured Taiyuan and wiped out the Yuan family, Zhao Wencai immediately asked the Pei family and received an eight-word reply, 'Be silent and wait and see what happens'.
That is to say, don't express your position and wait and see how the situation changes. Only then did Zhao Wen understand the caution of the family leader. In the end, the southern part of Henan was invaded by Zhu Si or captured by Guo Song. It's hard to say now. The best way is to wait and see.
Ten days ago, the Hexi Army wiped out Li Dan's 20,000 troops and broke through the Ratque Valley. Zhao Wencai immediately received an express letter from the head of the Pei family, asking him to secretly submit a letter of allegiance to Guo Song.
The main reason why they did not publicly declare their allegiance was because Li Huaiguang still had 10,000 troops stationed in Jiangzhou, and they had to treat them with caution.
That morning, Zhao Wencai received a document from Li Huaiguang, ordering him to recruit 7,000 militiamen within three days and send them to Luzhou for training.
Of course Zhao Wencai knew that the so-called recruitment of militia soldiers was just an excuse to recruit troops. The advantage of doing so was that there was no need to pay a sum of money and food to settle down like recruiting soldiers. Militia groups were generally used to maintain local security and were half soldiers and half farmers, so they did not have to leave.
The local government is responsible for establishing the township.
But recruiting an army is different. You have to go to the battlefield and cannot be forced to join the army. People in Hedong are generally unwilling to join the army. Especially in the southern part of Hedong, which is generally wealthy, young people are even less willing to join the army.
Li Huaiguang also knew that direct recruitment could not recruit people, so he simply forced various states to form militia groups, and then transformed them into soldiers through centralized training.
This kind of trick is enough to deceive children. Who among the governors and magistrates would fall for it?
The key is the last sentence. Anyone who does not carry out the order will be killed without mercy. Who is he trying to kill? It is obvious that he wants to kill state officials and county magistrates.
Zhao Wencai thought for a long time and asked his staff to invite Zhuo Yong.
Not long after, the staff Zhuo Yong hurried over. Zhuo Yong was about forty years old and was also a talented and learned person trained by the Pei family. However, they did not have the opportunity to come to the front, so they served as staff behind the scenes and made suggestions. Zhao Wencai joined Guo Song.
This is the letter Zhuo Yong sent to Huoyi County.
Zhao Wencai handed Li Huaiguang's documents to Zhuo Yong, "Mr. Zhuo, look at this order. Li Huaiguang is so anxious that he will jump over the wall."
After Zhuo Yong read the order, he couldn't help but gasped. He only recruited 20,000 troops in total, and Jiangzhou had to bear nearly 40% of it. It was obvious that he wanted to kill Zhao Wencai.
"It seems that Li Huaiguang's 10,000 troops are about to retreat to our Zhengping County."
"How do you say this?"
"It's very simple. The envoy will definitely not execute this order, but Li Huaiguang must let the envoy carry out the order. The only way is to let the army supervise it and mobilize at least five thousand troops."
The 10,000 troops used by Li Huaiguang to defend Zhu Si are currently stationed at the junction of Jiangzhou and Puzhou. Zhuo Yong is right. Li Huaiguang will definitely send troops to Zhengping County to supervise the formation of a militia.
"Then how should I deal with it?"
Zhuo Yong thought for a while and said: "This matter is rather urgent. I suggest that the Hexi Army be immediately asked to send troops to Jiangzhou. On the other hand, the envoy should also give in and pretend to form a militia to deal with Li Huaiguang."
Zhao Wen nodded, and he immediately sat down and wrote a letter and handed it to Zhuo Yong, "I would like to ask Mr. Zhuo to go to Huoyi County again and deliver this letter to Ambassador Guo for me."
"The Pei family also wants to say hello," Zhuo Yong reminded Zhao Wencai.
"I know, I will send someone to Wenxi County immediately."
...........
Guo Song's 50,000-strong army has been reorganized, but he is in no hurry to go south and is ready to go. In addition, he still has to wait for Zhu Si's movement. Zhu Si cannot just watch him devour the southeastern part of Henan Province, and he will definitely take action.
Rather than being stabbed in the back by Zhu Si, it is better to stop quietly and wait for Zhu Si to make the first move.
At this time, Guo Song received the latest news. Zhu Si had sent 3,000 troops to Yuxiang County in the southeast of Puzhou. This is very interesting. Zhu Si should have occupied Hedong City, but he bypassed Hedong City and stationed in Hedong City.
To the south of the city, this was obviously to avoid the plague in Hedong City.
Guo Song was inspecting the training of the new army on the school grounds. The new army was the surrendered Jin army. Through training, they were transformed into qualified Hexi army, tough, obedient, determined and physically strong.
At this time, a soldier ran up and said: "Let me report to you, Zhuo Yong from Jiangzhou is here again, saying that I have something urgent to ask you!"
Guo Song nodded, "I understand!"
These days, he has accepted the surrender of state officials from Fenzhou, Jinzhou, Xizhou, Cizhou, Yizhou, Jiangzhou, and Qinzhou. Seven of the ten states in southern Jinzhou have surrendered to him, leaving only Luzhou and Zezhou.
The two prefectures are still in the hands of Li Huaiguang, while Puzhou is in the hands of Zhu Si.
Among these seven states, Jiangzhou is the most important, with the largest population and the concentration of aristocratic families. The Wenxi Pei family is one of the five surnames and seven hopes in the world.
Guo Song was most concerned about Jiangzhou, and Li Huaiguang was also very conscious. He sent 10,000 troops to station in Jiangzhou, not only to defend Zhu Si, but also to monitor Jiangzhou.
Guo Song quickly came to the tent, and his soldiers brought Zhuo Yong in. Zhuo Yong quickly bowed and saluted, "See you, Ambassador Guo!"
"What's the emergency, Mr. Zhuo?"
Zhuo Yong took out a letter and presented it to Guo Song, "This is an urgent letter from Governor Zhao. Li Huaiguang began to recruit troops by forming militia groups in various states. Jiangzhou was under the greatest pressure and wanted to form 7,000 militia groups at one time."
Guo Song took the letter and read it again, smiled slightly and said: "We are actually forming a militia. Isn't Li Huaiguang unable to provide money and food?"
"No, the key to recruiting soldiers is that no one is willing to join the army, so we simply use deception to get the states to form militia groups, and then take the militia groups to Luzhou for training, and then they are forcibly incorporated into soldiers."
Guo Song pondered for a while and asked: "The letter said that Li Huaiguang's army would monitor the formation of a militia. Is this possible?"
"Reporting to the envoy, when I set out, I received news that five thousand troops were on their way from Wanquan County to Zhengping County. If Governor Zhao does not obey his orders, he will be killed by them."
Guo Song took a few steps with his hands behind his back and said to Zhuo Yong: "I will immediately send troops to Zhengping. I ask Governor Guo to cooperate with me and wipe out the five thousand enemy troops in Zhengping County."
Zhuo Yong took Guo Song's letter and hurried back to Jiangzhou. Guo Song immediately issued two orders, ordering Ma Weijiang to lead five thousand troops to occupy Linfen County in the south of Jinzhou and cut off the official road between Luzhou and Jiangzhou.
He personally led 30,000 cavalry south to Jiangzhou. Since Li Huaiguang divided his troops and stationed them, he concentrated his troops and defeated them one by one.
.........
Zhengping County is a large county with a population of nearly 200,000. There is only one medium-sized military camp in the city and there is no martial arts field. It can garrison 10,000 troops. Currently, 5,000 troops coming from the south are stationed in the military camp.
The governor Zhao Wencai has been extremely busy in the past two days. He led his officials to various counties to issue tasks and form militia soldiers. Jiangzhou has a population of more than 500,000. It is not difficult to form a militia of 7,000 people. In fact, Jiangzhou already has tens of thousands of people.
The people's militia group was gradually disbanded after the Jingyuan Mutiny. Now it is not difficult to reorganize it. In just three days, a militia group of 7,000 people was formed.
Zhao Wencai set up camp outside the city and waited for the militia groups from various counties to arrive and gather. However, he was uneasy. On the one hand, Li Huaiguang gave him a very short time, only five days. He did not dare to delay. On the other hand, he was worried about forming
Too quickly, before Guo Song's army arrived, the militia was taken to Luzhou for training, and he himself became a sinner in Jiangzhou.
At noon that day, Zhao Wencai was reviewing documents in the official room. Someone outside said: "Mr. Zhuo is back!"
Zhao Wencai stood up in a hurry, surprised and happy, and hurried to the door. Zhuo Yong walked in quickly. He winked at Zhao Wencai and said with a smile: "I've only been here for a few days, and Zhengping County has changed a lot!
"
Zhao Wencai took a look at the people working outside and said, "What does the head of the family say? Let's go inside and talk!"
The two walked into the back room. Zhuo Yong took out Guo Song's letter and handed it to Zhao Wencai. He lowered his voice and said, "Guo Shijun's army will arrive tonight and we need our cooperation."
Zhao Wencai read the letter and nodded, "I know what to do!"
At this time, a fierce voice outside asked: "Is your governor here?"