Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

Chapter 431 You are too tender
Zhe Zongben's life in Shangzhou was rich and colorful.

Below Li Tong, second-level officials in prefectures and counties invite banquets twice in three days, go out hunting from time to time, and watch Baixi performances when they come back.

He even felt that there was no polo to play, and it was very boring, so he asked Shangzhou to conscript the people and get him a field, and he became famous for a while—of course it was not a good reputation.

An upright official reprimanded him face to face, but Zhe Zongben gave him a horsewhip without showing any mercy.

Today, Li Tong was standing outside the arena, the cold wind was blowing, and he felt very uncomfortable.

This is to invite an uncle over here!

No, not one uncle, but two thousand uncles!

Zhe Zongben is like this, do you think those big Zhe family soldiers are very law-abiding?Asking for wine and meat from time to time, eating and drinking non-stop, makes people overwhelmed.

A burst of warm cheers erupted in the arena, and Zhe Zongben hit the ball into the hole, and everyone cheered endlessly.

"Haha!" Zhe Zong rushed back to the sidelines, got off his horse, and said, "Have fun!"

"Zhe Shuai, when will you send troops to hunt down the thieves?" Li Tong couldn't bear it anymore, and asked directly.

It's not easy to catch Zhezong these days, because his whereabouts can be called surreptitious. He often goes out hunting, and he goes out for several days.

Well, it was barbecued under Guo, and the soldiers and civilians in Shangzhou saw it.

"No hurry!" Zhe Zongben waved his hand and said, "I have to wait for fifty thousand troops to arrive before I can attack the thieves. Feng Xing's attack is only a small military academy, and he was promoted to governor suddenly. How can he use troops? Li Shi You don't have to worry about it."

Li Tong was speechless for a moment.

Feng Xing attacked with only [-] soldiers, but he was still very brave, and beat the Jin and Shang states to exhaustion.If it weren't for the solid foundation, the tens of thousands of veterans who came from the Chao army back then hadn't been completely decadent, and they might have lost their initial courage.

"Since Li Erlang is here, he will help the old man with a small matter." Zhe Zongben said abruptly.

"What's the matter?"

"I heard that the fish in Shangzhou is delicious. Most of my subordinates are from the northwest. Not many people have tasted this fish, so get me some. It doesn't need too much. It's enough for two thousand soldiers to eat openly."

Li Tong's heart trembled.

In the midst of winter, is it possible that the people will be conscripted to go fishing in the river?

"But is there any difficulty?" Zhe Zongben's voice cooled down.

His personal soldiers also surrounded him, looking at Li Tong maliciously.

"It's cold, it's not easy to catch fish, and the people are afraid to complain..." Li Tong complained.

"Hurry up and prepare! I'll give you half a month. After half a month, I'm going to have a whole fish feast under Guo." Zhe Zongben snorted coldly and said.

Li Tong left in despair.

After the news came out, the whole state was shaken, and there were many rumors and turmoil.

In Wudang County of Junzhou (now under the water near Junxian Town, Danjiangkou), Feng Xingxi, who has been closely monitoring the situation in Shangzhou, laughed.

He is a man who likes to take risks.

At that time, the powerful Sun Xi gathered thousands of people to be bandits and blocked the road to the southeast. Feng Xingxi pretended to submit to Sun Xi and said to Sun Xi, "When the people of the state heard that the Lord had arrived, they all wanted to return. Afraid of being looted by captives and disturbed by them, please stay in the north of the Yangtze River and go alone with a few people in your heart."

Sun Xi was also an idiot, so he agreed, crossed the river alone, and was killed by Feng Xingxi's ambushing men.

After killing Sun Xi, Feng Xing attacked and drove his troops across the river, and the thieves were all defeated, and most of them were incorporated later.

Feng Xing returned to Shijun Prefecture and proclaimed himself Inspector, which was later recognized.

"Zhe Zongben's generation is old and dull, and indulges in pleasure. If he hadn't married his daughter to Shude, how could he command the army?" Feng Xingxi looks handsome and handsome, with a birthmark on his face.

"My lord, Liang Yang's soldiers come east, and Shangluo's soldiers go south. They will all meet in Shangjin. It shouldn't take long. Hope to make preparations early." Quan Shilang, the general of the state, said.

Shangjin, on the east bank of Jiashui (Qianjin River), namely Shangjin County, Shangzhou, and the ancient city of Shangjin in Yunxi County, Hubei Province, was an important place at this time.

West Jingyang, Liang (Xingyuan Mansion), north to Fengxiang, you can go to Guanzhong.

It connects to Shangzhou in the north and goes to Chang'an via Lantian.

The latter road was built in the fourth year of Dezong Jianzhong.At that time, Li Xilie in Huaixi rebelled, according to Dengzhou, cut off the road to the southeast for offering goods, and then repaired the mountain road from Shangjin to Shangzhou to transfer the goods.

It can also go down the Han River to Yunxiang County, Junzhou (now Yunyang District, Shiyan). In this county, there is a transshipment institute set up by the imperial court to transship goods from the southeast to Chang'an.

As for why you can't go by boat, it's because there are waterlogged and Jinger Beaches in the Hanshui River in the south of Yunxiang County.There is a local saying, "Winter waterlogging and summer cleanliness, the mission of the official is broken", and sailing by boat is more dangerous, so she left the boat from the land and went to Tianjin by way.

Therefore, the land traffic from Yunxiang to Shangjin is still good. If Zhe Zongben, Zhuge Zhongfang, and Li Xiang attack Junzhou, it is most likely to gather troops here.

"Three towns join forces, I'm afraid there may be tens of thousands of people, how can we fight against it?" Feng Xingxi's eldest son, Feng Xu, was worried.

The second son Feng Deyan glanced at his elder brother and said: "Father, there is only one move now, before all the Dao soldiers have gathered, strike first and break Zhe Zongben's road. The soldiers of Xingyuan and Jinshang must be terrified. Only then can this crisis be resolved.”

Quan Shilang didn't speak.

In his view, it is risky to preemptively attack Shangzhou, but it is indeed the only way.

If the soldiers from the three towns gather together, the 3000 men under their command can only defend Junzhou to the death, that would be too passive.

The three counties of Junzhou have a population of only tens of thousands. If they are allowed to be plundered by thieves, the days to come will be very difficult.

Feng Xingxi thought for a long time, his face was cloudy and uncertain.This battle is related to the fate of the Feng family, so we have to be cautious.

"Father—" Feng Deyan said anxiously.

"It's done!" Feng Xingxi roared, startling everyone.

"Pull out everyone who can fight, attack Shangzhou, and kill Zhe Zongben by surprise!" Feng Xingxi slapped his thigh and said viciously: "Attacking the enemy is unprepared, this is the best strategy in the art of war, do it!"

Feng Xingxi was a strict man, and no one dared to neglect the order once he gave it.

Three thousand soldiers were stationed in the city, and they were pulled out quickly. After receiving the reward, their morale was greatly boosted, and they left the city in a murderous spirit. It took four days to arrive in Yunxiang County, and then it took another five days without stopping. Arrived in Shangjin County, Shangzhou.

Looking at the green and black city walls from a distance, Feng Xingxi suddenly laughed: "Tomorrow is the time when Zhe Zongben rewards the whole army and eats the whole fish feast, right?"

"Exactly." There was a smile on Quan Shilang's face.

It seems that Shangjin County is not prepared at all. After occupying this city, they can go north to Shangzhou and kill Zhe Zongben by surprise.

"This person ridicules me for not knowing how to use soldiers." Feng Xingxi shook his head and laughed, and said: "If you know that my magic soldiers have descended from the sky, I don't know if you will die of fright."

"Haha!" All the generals laughed loudly, and the soldiers also laughed a few times.

"Be patient later, gentlemen, don't waste time in Shangjin. Let's go straight to Shangzhou, and the soldiers are very fast." Feng Xingxi continued: "Take Shangzhou and plunder at will!"

Everyone's morale was greatly boosted, and they were gearing up one after another, intending to do something big.

"Let's go!" Feng Xingxi got on his horse, pointed his sword at Shangjin County, and said, "Occupy this city."

Feng Deyan answered yes loudly, and rushed over with five hundred elite soldiers.

However, he had just walked dozens of steps when an arrow was shot from a hill on the east side and hit his chest.

With a breast shield on his chest, of course he couldn't die, but he was unprepared and was directly taken off the horse by the powerful feather arrow.

There was a big uproar.

"Whoosh! Whoosh!" Two more arrows were shot, and Zhang Qi and Jue Qi were hit by arrows one after another and fell down without even making a sound.

"There are thieves!" A military academy yelled, but only half of the words were spoken, and an arrow pierced through his mouth, which was really amazing.

"Boom, boom, boom..." The war drums were beating in the hills on the east side and the woods on the west side, followed by violent shouts of killing.

Sergeants from all over the mountains rushed out. They first launched two rounds of volleys, using their powerful infantry bows to kill the Junzhou soldiers who were marching in column formation until they wept.Then he raised his gun and rushed forward like a god of killing.

More than three hundred riders descended slowly from the gentle slope.

The riders tried their best to lean back, and the horn bows in their hands kept shooting. When the bowstring rang, someone always fell to the ground.

Quan Shilang's eyeballs popped out. How many years have he practiced riding and archery?
However, he didn't have time to sigh with emotion. The troops on the march encountered a surprise attack, and they couldn't look at each other from head to tail. This battle is a fart!

"Your Majesty, let's go!" He took the reins of Feng Xingxi's horse, turned around and ran.

Feng Xingxi was also a straightforward person, and he quickly realized that he was about to flee with a whip.

Unexpectedly, another arrow hit the horse.

The horse jumped up in pain, knocked Feng Xingxi to the ground, and ran out.

Poor Feng Xingxi had one foot still hanging from the stirrup, being dragged along by the horse on the ground.

Zhe Zongben turned out from behind the forest, put down the walking bow in his hand, shook his head and sighed: "I'm old, I can't draw a strong bow anymore, and my hands are shaking a little."

Those few arrows just now were obviously shot by him.A mighty and powerful family from the frontier, their archery skills are amazing!
After Feng Xing attacked "run away", Junzhou soldiers lost their fighting spirit and fled one after another.

Soldiers from the two thousand zhe family chased after them, shouting to kill, drawing out their bows from time to time, and when the bowstring rang, some people fell to the ground.

None of these people are weak in archery.

Li Tong watched excitedly, scratching his ears and cheeks.

Zhe Zongben's move is absolutely perfect!
Deliberately spending time and drinking in Shangzhou, indulging in pleasure.After calculating that the time was about the same, he took people out of Shangzhou late at night and went to ambush outside Shangjin County. After waiting for three days, Feng Xingxi finally arrived.

Li Tong was also shocked by the performance of the children of the Zhe family.

For three days, I lay down in the mountains and forests, with no expression of impatience on my face, and the military discipline can be described as strict.In a battle, they lead each other to pass arrows and rush to kill bravely. Even if they don't need clever tricks to ambush and fight in frontal formation, I'm afraid they can beat Junzhou soldiers to pieces.

"Get on the horse and pursue! Don't give the bandits a chance to breathe. Chase all the way to Junzhou." Zhe Zongben ordered.

Junzhou goes down the river, about 360 miles away from Xiangyang.

But Zhe Zongben certainly wouldn't be so stubborn, and dared to attack Xiangyang with two thousand soldiers.

After Junzhou is broken, use this as a basis to collect news from the surrounding area, scout out the wind, and wait for the other two groups of troops to gather before making calculations. This is a mature and prudent strategy.

The Zhe family does not only use strange tricks when using troops, generally speaking, they don't know how to use them either.

The land of Lingxia is flat and extremely empty. It is common for hundreds of miles to be uninhabited. Everyone is used to fighting head-on.

But this Feng Xingxi is too tender!If you do a little trick and you will be fooled, what else is there to say?

"Yes! Yes! Chased to Junzhou!" Li Tong laughed and said: "I heard that Feng Xingxi's niece is beautiful, so I captured it and dedicated it to King Lingwu."

Zhe Zongben glanced at him, and his hand was already on the handle of the knife.

(End of this chapter)