Guo Song led an army of 70,000 people that had passed Jianmen Pass and was marching southward. The 8,000 soldiers who were originally stationed in Jianmen County were at a loss when they heard that Chengdu had been occupied by the Tibetans. When they heard that the King of Jin had arrived with an army, the 8,000 soldiers who were originally stationed in Jianmen County were at a loss.
Thousands of soldiers, led by general Zhu Yao, surrendered to the Jin army.
Guo Song comforted the surrendered generals with his kind words and kept their official positions unchanged. Zhu Yao was granted the title of General of the Guard and was given the title of Duke of Jianmen County. Guo Song handed over the 8,000 troops to Zhang Tuo, the commander of the rear army, for reorganization, and he continued to lead the five troops.
The main force of 10,000 troops marched south.
The Jin army moved south very quickly and arrived at Basi County, Mianzhou that afternoon. The army arrived on the east bank of Fushui River. It was getting late, so Guo Song ordered to camp on the bank to rest and continue their march tomorrow morning. The soldiers dug trenches.
Making rice in pots is very lively.
Guo Song led hundreds of cavalry and general Li Bing and others to inspect the river crossing situation on the bank. There were many large rivers in the hinterland of Bashu, and the ability to quickly build pontoon bridges was a top priority. After years of practice, the Jin army already had mature construction methods.
For the pontoon method, if it is a small-scale attack, they usually use sheepskin rafts to build pontoons. The advantage of sheepskin rafts is that they are easy to carry, but the disadvantages are that they are not very stable and have low endurance.
If it is a large-scale march, they still have to requisition ships on the spot and use the ships to build pontoons. If they can't recruit ships, they can only cut down trees to make double-layer rafts to build pontoons. The Jin army usually uses iron chains to tie the rafts together.
Fasten it in the middle and pull an iron rope on both sides.
The vanguards of this southern expedition are still Pei Xin and Yang Xuanying. They lead 10,000 cavalry and have already built two pontoon bridges on the Fulishui River.
Guo Song pointed his horsewhip at the other side and said: "We can't underestimate the Tubo army. They used decoy tactics to annihilate 20,000 Southern Tang troops in Yazhou before, which shows that their general is quite strategic. We can't rush for success, otherwise
It will definitely be used by them."
He turned around and saw that the generals had some understanding, and smiled lightly: "If Tubo just comes to grab food, grab a handful and run away, then we must fight quickly and not drag our feet. But if Tubo wants to annex Bashu, then we must
There is no need to rush, we must proceed steadily."
Li Bing couldn't help but ask: "Then how to judge whether Tubo is coming to annex Bashu?"
Guo Song said with a smile: "Then it depends on Tubo's strategic intentions. In fact, their intentions can be seen from some details, such as their attitude towards the capital. If they just want to plunder, then they will definitely burn, kill and loot all over the city. If they
It is for annexation, so they will be more cautious when dealing with the capital, and we cannot let them take over a devastated and dilapidated city!"
All the generals nodded. At this time, the vanguard general Pei Xin came galloping over, followed by a group of cavalry. There seemed to be a few civil servants on horseback inside.
Pei Xin cupped his fists and said, "Your Highness, Wang Lan, the governor of Mianzhou, and Wei Chengyang, the chief governor, would like to see you."
Guo Song smiled and nodded, "Invite them over!"
Not long after, Wang Lan, the governor, and Wei Chengyang, the chief governor, rushed forward. They were both about the same age, in their fifties. Wang Lan, the governor, had gray hair and was thin, while Wei Chengyang, the chief governor, was slightly fatter and had squinty eyes, which made him look ugly.
Like a shopkeeper in a store.
The governor of Mianzhou, Wang Lan, bowed on his horse and saluted, "Wang Lan, the governor of Mianzhou, comes to see His Highness the King of Jin!"
Guo Song had met this Wang Lan. He had a good relationship with his father-in-law Xue Xun.
.
Guo Song had a good impression of him, nodded and said: "Thank you, Governor Wang, for your hard work. During this period, there should be many refugees from Chengdu Prefecture fleeing to Mianzhou!"
Wang Lan sighed and said: "Your Highness is absolutely right. Mianzhou has accumulated more than 200,000 refugees. The sudden influx in the past few days has caught us off guard. We were humble enough to take the initiative to open warehouses and release grain without the consent of the court.
Stabilize the refugees. Once the Bei Yamen finds out, they will definitely remove the lower officials."
Guo Song said calmly: "President Wang is people-oriented and has done a good job. Don't worry about Beiya. This organization will not exist in the future."
Wang Lan was happy and surprised at the same time. He was happy because King Jin recognized his action of releasing grain, but he was surprised because he heard something in King Jin's words and he was going to operate on Beiya.
At this time, Wei Chengyang, the chief officer next to him, said coldly: "It seems that His Highness the King of Jin is not only here to resist Tubo!"
Guo Song glanced at Wei Chengyang next to him and saw that his eyes were a little evasive and his expression was quite unnatural. Guo Song sneered in his heart and said: "If I remember correctly, Wei Changshi was transferred as the governor of Mian last summer, and before that
, you don’t seem to be an official of the imperial court, you are just an oil merchant, I am right!”
The officialdom of Bashu Prefecture was in a state of chaos due to the eunuch party. Selling officials and conferring titles was a common practice, and the prices were clearly marked. One thousand guan could buy a county official, and five thousand guan could buy a county magistrate. Local actual officials were more expensive. Wei Chengyang used 15,000 guan to pay
Ju Wenzhen bought the post of governor of Mian and gave him the title of Duke of Long'an County.
Guo Song's intelligence system in Chengdu is very efficient. He has already figured out these details clearly, and Guo Song has a complete list in his hands.
Wei Chengyang obviously didn't know that his background had been known to the King of Jin. He had just expressed a little dissatisfaction when the King of Jin immediately exposed his background. He was so frightened that he turned pale and could not say a word.
Guo Song coldly ordered: "Drag him off his horse and imprison him, and then hand him over to Su Zhengtai for processing!"
Several soldiers came forward and dragged Wei Chengyang off his horse, stripped off his official uniform, and pushed him away. Wang Lan, the governor next to him, stirred up a storm in his heart. This Wei Chengyang relied on Ju Wenzhen as his backing and never put himself in the situation.
In his eyes, he is corrupt and preys on the common people. His son bullies men and women and commits all kinds of evil. He had a big quarrel with him the day before yesterday over the issue of food distribution. Who would have thought that he would end up like this?
Guo Songxiao asked: "Does the governor have no objection to the removal of this long history?"
Wang Lan bowed deeply and said, "The people of Shu have been in poverty for a long time. With the arrival of Your Highness, the land of Bashu is like the clouds clearing and the sun is shining brightly. This is a great blessing for the people!"
"The governor has been rewarded, what difficulties are there now?" Guo Song asked.
Wang Lan sighed and said: "There are just too many refugees and they have no place to live. Many people are crowded under the eaves of other people's houses. It is really sad for a family to share a quilt. I can only guarantee to provide porridge so that they will not starve to death."
, but even food may only last for more than ten days."
Guo Song pondered for a while and said: "I am afraid that the deployment of supplies from Chang'an is still far away, but if my prediction is good, the Tibetans will withdraw their troops and return to Yazhou in the next few days, allowing the refugees to return home."
Wang Lan was overjoyed, "Will Tubo withdraw its troops?"
Guo Song nodded, "Chengdu cannot be defended, otherwise the eunuchs would not have abandoned the city and fled. The same goes for Tubo. If they don't want to be wiped out by me, they will have no choice but to retreat."
"That's great. As long as the food problem is solved, the refugee problem will be solved."
"Don't worry about food. Chang'an has prepared enough relief food and it will be delivered one after another soon. As long as the summer grain production is not reduced, the impact will not be too great."
Wang Lan was encouraged and said goodbye happily. Guo Song sent 5,000 soldiers to help him maintain order among the refugees, which relieved Wang Lan's worries.
As night fell, Guo Song was considering the military situation in the big tent. At this time, a soldier reported outside the tent, "Your Highness, someone from the Chengdu Intelligence Point has come to report."
Guo Song was slightly startled and immediately ordered: "Bring him in!"
After a while, a young man was brought in by the soldiers. The young man knelt on one knee and reported, "Ma Yong, the Chengdu intelligence point of the Jin Wei Mansion, is here to see His Highness the King of Jin!"
He rolled up his sleeves, and there was a peculiar flying eagle tattoo on his arm, which was the symbol of the Jinwei Mansion and his identity certificate.
Guo Song glanced at the tattoo on his arm and asked, "Why isn't Yang Xiuying here to report?"
Guo Song was a little suspicious. Logically speaking, it shouldn't be just one subordinate reporting. Is there something wrong here?
"Your Highness, Commander Yang has left with the southward relocation team. There is only one person in Ping'an Inn, Beizhi. General Zhou came to the store with eighty brothers a few days ago. Something happened, so Beizhi wants to report."
Only then did Guo Song understand that Zhou Fei was involved. No wonder this guy was coming. He asked again: "How are Zhou Fei and the others doing?"
The clerk Xiao Ma then recounted the story of Zhou Fei and his men being recruited by the Tibetan army, and finally said: "Because the Tibetans wanted to search their bodies, General Zhou could not provide paper information. Some of his information could only be dictated by low-ranking officials."
Guo Song nodded. He could understand that Zhou Fei and the others had seized the opportunity, so he smiled and said, "Tell me! What information have they obtained?"