Wu Zhiyuan is Yao Jin's confidant general and his right-hand man. Another general, Pei Xin, was also trained by Yao Jin. However, after all, Pei Xin was born in the Wenxi Pei family. Now his rise is very strong and he has gradually become his own line.
In other words, he has chosen to join the Conglong faction. It can be seen from his appointment as the leader of the rapid direct attack army that he is now the leader of the army directly under the King of Jin.
Yao Jin decided to cultivate Wu Zhiyuan with all his strength. Wu Zhiyuan was no weaker than Pei Xin in terms of leadership, personal force, combat strategy, etc., but he did not get as many opportunities as Pei Xin.
So this time Yao Jin's order to Wu Zhiyuan was to capture Xingzhou and then attack Zhaozhou according to the situation. After Wu Zhiyuan captured Xingzhou, reinforcements of 5,000 cavalry immediately arrived, leaving Wu Zhiyuan with fifteen thousand
Thousands of troops.
General Wu Zhiyuan transported all the money, grain, and treasures from the Longgang palace back to the county government warehouse. He gave the state government two thousand shi of grain to help the victims, and the other 10,000 shi of grain as military rations for the northward march to Zhaozhou.
In terms of money, Wu Zhiyuan gave Cao Linghui 20,000 yuan and ordered him to pay the three months' salary owed to the officials, while other gold, silver, jewelry and jade were sealed in the warehouse.
This is an important principle of the Jin army. All captured gold, silver, jewelry and jade must be transported back to the Chang'an Treasury. The generals understand that these wealth will become the foundation of the new dynasty in the future.
Three days later, Wu Zhiyuan left 2,000 logistics soldiers to garrison Longgang County. He led 10,000 infantry and 5,000 cavalry to the north.
There is still about three hundred miles to go from Longgang County to Zhaozhou. The official road goes north along the Zhang River. In the evening, the army was stationed near Taiping Town, north of Ren County.
At this time, the scouts sent three days ago sent Wu Zhiyuan information about Zhaozhou, and Wu Zhiyuan summoned several of his generals to discuss combat strategies.
"Zhu Tao's 10,000 troops are currently in Xiangcheng County, the southernmost part of Zhaozhou."
Wu Zhiyuan used a few stones to express the current situation, "Zhu Tao's main force is attacking Xindu County, and there are still 10,000 troops staying in his hometown. There are currently only 20,000 troops in Jingxing and Feihuxing in the west. We are currently in Jingxing.
The army contained the other party, so Zhaozhou only had an army of 10,000 people."
Wu Zhiyuan pointed at the enemy's back and said, "There are no troops stationed in Pingji County in Zhaozhou Prefecture. If we send out surprise troops to capture Pingji County, the enemy forces in Zhaozhou will most likely be facing a pincer attack from the north and the south, and they will most likely save their troops and evacuate eastward to Xindu County.
Meet Zhu Tao's main force."
Lieutenant General Gan Xin said excitedly: "General Wu is right. Our greatest advantage is that our infantry also has war horses. We can fully utilize this advantage, seize the initiative, and defeat the opponent at the minimum cost."
Wu Zhiyuan gave a thumbs up and praised: "Lao Gan has made great progress in the past few months!"
Gan Xin said proudly: "That's because I already know more than 3,000 characters, so reading ordinary documents and reports is no longer a problem."
Guo Song's evaluation of Gan Xin is that the details are rough and the pattern is large. The reason for the rough details is that he has a low education and is illiterate. He himself is fully aware of this. This year he worked hard to read and learn. After his wife died of illness the year before last, he
At the beginning of the year, he married the daughter of Zhan Tong, a great scholar in Xingzhou, and asked his wife to teach him how to read and write. He has indeed made great progress in the past few months.
Yao Jin saw his progress, and this time Wu Zhiyuan became the commander-in-chief of the Northern Expedition, and Gan Xin got the opportunity to serve as deputy general.
Wu Zhiyuan said to the generals again: "I now have an army of 15,000. I think I can take a risk and use the trick of doubting the enemy's strength to defeat the opponent."
All the generals immediately became excited and shouted together: "General, do it!"
Yang Meng hesitated and said: "General, it is not wise to divide your troops too much!"
Wu Zhiyuan waved his hand, "The division of troops is only known internally by us, how could the enemy know about it? Don't be too suspicious, as it will delay the opportunity for war."
Although Yang Meng felt something was wrong, he couldn't say much. After all, he was not a direct descendant of the King of Jin, but a subordinate of Li Huai'en, and he did not have a high say in the army.
Wu Zhiyuan immediately divided his troops and ordered Lieutenant General Gan Xin to lead 5,000 infantry to detour and kill Zhipingji County in Zhaozhou Prefecture. He also ordered the cavalry to lead Yang Meng to lead 5,000 cavalry to ambush near the official road going east. He himself led 5,000 troops and
The two thousand civilians who transported military supplies for him dressed up as infantry and mingled with the team, pretending to be more than 10,000 troops and continuing their march north.
Three days later, Wu Zhiyuan's army had arrived at the border of Xingzhou and Zhaozhou, about forty miles away from Xiangcheng County. Wu Zhiyuan ordered a large camp to be set up.
Zhaozhou currently has 10,000 troops, led by Zhu Tao's confidant general Lu Jinsuo. The 10,000 troops are stationed in Xiangcheng County in the south of Zhaozhou. Xiangcheng County is located in the southernmost part of Zhaozhou. This also shows that Zhu Tao's army is preparing to go south to capture Xing.
state.
At this time, Lu Jinsuo also received news that the Jin army had sent troops to Xingzhou. He felt a little uneasy, so he did not dare to continue southward and stopped in Xiangcheng County. He also sent spies south to Longgang County to inquire about the Jin army.
Lu Jinsuo is about forty years old and can be regarded as a veteran of the Youzhou Army. He has followed Zhu Tao for many years and has won Zhu Tao's trust. This time Zhu Tao ordered him to occupy Zhaozhou and Xingzhou as a test, so he invested
The number of troops was not large, only 10,000 troops were deployed. If the Jin army attacked Xingzhou and Zhaozhou in a large scale, they would abandon these two states and concentrate their forces to protect Jizhou.
But the Jin army only sent out 10,000 troops this time, neither more nor less. Zhu Tao and Lu Jinsuo couldn't figure out whether the Jin army just wanted to keep Xingzhou, or did it want to make a full-scale counterattack and recapture Xingzhou and Zhaozhou?
"General Lu, I prefer the latter!"
Jia Shu, the counselor accompanying the army, said to Lu Jinsuo: "It seems that the Jin army still wants to concentrate its forces to fight for Jizhou, so it only sent Wu Zhiyuan to lead 10,000 troops north. They obviously want to control Xingzhou and make Xingzhou become the peripheral defense zone of Mingzhou.
Moreover, if the Jin army wanted to seize Xing and Zhao states with all its strength, Yao Jin should lead the army himself instead of letting one of his generals take the lead."
"What about sir's suggestion? What should I do next?"
Jia Shu pondered for a while and said: "The general's 10,000 troops are a little thin and it is difficult to divide the troops. Why don't the general apply to the prince for another 5,000 reinforcements? Then the 10,000 troops will be placed in Xiangcheng and the 5,000 troops will be placed in Pingji. That's it.
There is depth, otherwise once the general is defeated and there is no support behind him, Zhaozhou will definitely not be able to defend it."
Lu Jinsuo thought about it and felt that it made sense. Pingji County was empty and he had no support behind him. It was indeed more dangerous, but his own military strength was not enough and he could no longer divide his troops to defend Pingji County. So it was best to ask for help from his lord.
There's a solution.
"Sir, you are right, I will send a pigeon message to the lord right now!"
The 5,000 infantrymen led by Gan Xin galloped all the way. The Jin army had a huge number of war horses, which has always been an advantage of the Jin army. This advantage allowed ordinary infantry to obtain a war horse for transportation.
They went all the way north from the official road in the west. Three days later, five thousand troops arrived at Zhipingji County, Zhaozhou Prefecture.
Generally speaking, the status of the county where the state seat is located plays a very important role in a state. It not only concentrates the money and grain of the state, but is also the political, military, economic, and commercial center of the state, and often has the largest population.
Once the prefecture is lost, it basically means that the entire state has fallen. If you control the prefecture, you can occupy other counties in the state with only a few hundred soldiers.
When the army came to the city, the governor Bai Xiu and the chief minister Tao Yeqiu immediately surrendered. They were both from the commandery family. Bai Xiu came from the Bai family in Xingzhou, and Tao Yeqiu himself was from a wealthy family in Zhaozhou.
Although these noble families and wealthy families may not necessarily be prominent in the imperial court, they often control local states and counties. No matter which vassal comes to power, they dare not act rashly against them and must rely on the family power behind them to rule the place.
When martial arts flourished and literature declined more than 20 years ago, these aristocratic families still insisted on running schools and recruited students from all over Hebei. After completing their studies, these students became civil servants in various counties through mutual introductions. The outstanding ones or
The children of aristocratic families served as county officials and state officials, so the local officialdom from the top to the bottom was basically controlled by the major aristocratic families.
It was not until the Song Dynasty that the aristocratic family began to decline. The fundamental reason was that the official school flourished, and generations of official school students entered local officialdom, gradually replacing the aristocratic family's control of the local area.
Chang'an recruits 500 Mingjingke people every year in order to break the control of aristocratic families on the bottom of local official circles and strengthen the court's control over local officials.
The arrival of the Jin army also caused the whole city of Pingji County to celebrate, especially the hundreds of thousands of people who cried with joy. The Jin army's occupation of Zhaozhou meant that they could also buy 140 Wen of salt, which meant that they could also buy salt for 140 Wen.
Like the people of Mingzhou, all kinds of taxes are exempted and the heavy shackles on them are removed.
Hundreds of thousands of people spontaneously took to the streets to sing and dance to celebrate the new life of Zhaozhou. The Jin army officers also received great honors. When they entered the city, hundreds of thousands of Zhaozhou elders ate pots of pulp and warmly welcomed the arrival of the Jin army.
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The dozen or so officials Zhu Tao left in the city were terrified and fled out of the city one after another. Several of Lu Jinsuo's confidants rode to Xiangcheng to report the news.
Lu Jinsuo also received a reply from Zhu Tao two days later. Zhu Tao was unable to divide his troops to support him, but ordered him to temporarily give up attacking Xingzhou and defend Zhaozhou. Once Zhaozhou fell, the east gate of Jingxing would be exposed to the Jin army.
Lu Jinsuo was extremely disappointed, but he had no choice. Xiangxian County was too small to defend, so he had to withdraw to Pingji County and hold on. Just when Lu Jinsuo was about to withdraw his troops and return to Pingji County, news came that Pingji County had been attacked and lost by the Jin army.