Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

Chapter 779 Persuasion to surrender and news

"The envoy is so brave, aren't you afraid of being sacrificed to the flag by me?" Shi Shucong looked at the envoy Xia Jun playfully in the courtyard of a high gate in Qi County, and asked.

The soldiers stood behind him expressionlessly, with their helmets and armor on, and sharp weapons in their hands.

"I came here to relieve the worries of the capital, how could I be sacrificed to the flag?" The messenger laughed loudly.

The envoy's name was Pei Guan, the son of Pei Yuan. He looked quite young, but he was actually only in his twenties.

Pei Yuan is still serving in the Tang and Deng Suifu, named Zanhua, but actually a supervisor of the army.During this expedition, he also followed Zhe Zongben and contributed a lot of strategies.

"What worries me, I still need the envoy to teach me." The envoy's reaction was within expectations of Shi Shucong, he asked leisurely.

"In the current situation, the whole territory of Liang is full of flames, and everyone in the family must be able to see it." Pei Guan cleared his throat, and said: "Our army has attacked Liang three times. In the past few months, we have won consecutive battles. Sishui entered Heyin and harassed Zheng and Bian; the middle road repeatedly broke through Pang Shigu, killing more than ten thousand thieves; What do you think of the three-way army?"

"The envoy exaggerated." Shi Shucong smiled and said, "Shuai Ge commanded tens of thousands of troops on the north road, and he has already pushed Fan He back. How can he say that he has fought and won victories? Li Tangbin and Pang Shuai on the middle road faced each other across the river, and there were many fortresses on both sides. Mutual killing and wounding is nothing more than a situation in the middle, not an advantage; the South Road has indeed made some progress, but it will take time. As far as I know, the Weisheng Army broke the Zongzong's original attack on the Dinghui camp and was beaten. The counterattack cost more than [-] soldiers. Bozhou lost ground, and Yang Shihou was gradually regaining it. Dai Siyuan didn't know soldiers, and Zhang Quanyi was not good at fighting, so he was picked on by mistake. Back to Suzhou, your army has less than [-] soldiers and attacked the city. Unfavorable, helpless. In my opinion, this battle will have to be fought for a long time."

"Hehe." Pei Guan laughed and said, "May I ask if Shi Dutou can still go west? The soldiers in the army are clamoring, the crowd is uneasy, and they all want to go back. Your department can't go west. After our department returns, we will defeat Yang Shihou and seize it again." Bozhou, how are you doing?"

"The Battle of Guandu was fought for a year in the past, and Yuan Shao was also very arrogant in the early stage. However, after six months of stalemate, he was finally defeated, and the [-] army was completely lost." Shi Shucong said: "This battle still has to be fought."

"Since you mentioned the battle of Guandu, the king of Liang must compare himself with Cao Cao. But now it is the noble army that is being attacked on the food road. Pang Shigu has more than [-] troops stationed in Xuzhou. No matter how rich Chen Xu is, after this After a few months, they are exhausted." Pei Guan said: "Many people in Zhengzhou have escaped from Bian and Hua, and they are exhausted. I don't know how much food and grass King Liang still has to transport to Chen Xu."

"Don't you know that Weizhou sent a million dendrobiums of grain to Bianzhou last year?" Shi Shucong said in surprise, "Duke Cao didn't have any foreign aid in the past."

Pei Guan smiled, avoiding this topic, and said: "I heard that Zhu Jin in Yanzhou was looting, and Zhang Tingfan, the governor of the probation army, repeatedly asked them to come back for help. Thousands of Huai people went north to Sizhou, Xu Su It's not that safe."

Shi Shucong said with a smile: "When our army returns to help, it will be broken with one drum."

Seeing that Pei Guan was still talking, Shi Shucong waved his hand and said, "Stop messing around with the envoy, tell me, what's the matter?"

"It's a good luck for the head of the clan." Pei Guan said.

"Keep talking."

"Xu Su has been in Shidutou town for many years, and he is deeply loved by the soldiers. He may be a military envoy."

"Oh? Is this envoy position given by Zhe Zongben, or by Shao Shude?" Shi Shucong asked.

"Of course it was King Xia's promise." Pei Guan's words were true.

In fact, Shao Shude had explained in advance that the probation army could be promised to Shi Shucong, and if the Xuzhou Zhao family was willing to surrender, they could continue to serve as Chen Xu Jiedushi.He laughed at himself at the time, ten years ago he would not allow even a single military envoy, and swallowed them all by himself. Ten years later, he had compromised too much, and he was the same as Zhu Quanzhong.

Pei Guan didn't understand that the vassal town under Zhu Quanzhong's name was not very independent, and the control was relatively strict.Except for Zhang Quanyi, all the wealth and goods of Heyang, Xuanyi and other towns were sent to Bianzhou, and the elite soldiers were also incorporated into the Xuanwu Yajun.Even the Yamen in the towns are selling dog meat under the guise of a sheep, with Bian generals as the main ones.

Zhu Quanzhong, there is no compromise, why did King Xia say that?
But that's not the point anymore. The point is that King Xia made a promise to disintegrate Liang Jun quickly.As for how it will end later, you can refer to Shanguo.

"King Xia is quite generous." Shi Shu Cong said with a smile: "But I heard that Li Fan in Shanzhou has resigned. This man served King Xia with his father's rites, but he couldn't bear it. If I leave the town of Xuzhou, I will be lucky. After a few years of military affairs, once King Xia frees up his hand, I'm afraid he will end up in the same fate as Li Fan."

Those feudal towns in Kansai, such as Binning and Jinshang, who have no real names, let him not mention them. Li Fan, Li Xiaochang, and Dongfang Kui, as Shao Shude's vassals, can't say they didn't do their best, but in the end it was What's the end?
Each town selects and sends elites into the Xia army.

The Ya army was sent to guard in wild and remote places, and if there was a rebound, they would suppress it immediately.

The warriors of each town were continuously sent to the battlefield to consume.Shao Shude demanded too much for the goods of the vassal towns, leaving the Jiedu envoys with no money to maintain the original size of the army.

Years passed like this, swallowed by the last bite.

Shao Shude's bad deeds are seen by all military leaders in the world.What's the use of letting you be eloquent?

"Shi is too worried. King Xia..."

"That's all, needless to say." Shi Shucong raised his hand to stop, and said, "I'll let you go back. You told Qi Bizhang that he released my soldiers, spread rumors, and disturbed our army's morale. .But Feisheng, Xiongwei, and Konghe still have [-] tigers. If they refuse to accept, they will come and fight me. If they don’t fight, they will go back wherever they come from. We will not violate the river.”

Strictly speaking, Shi Shucong's words are already "disloyal".Zhu Quanzhong asked you to reinforce Yingzhou, but as soon as something happened in the old nest, you ran back in a hurry.Although there was a threat of mutiny by the sergeants, the task Zhu Quanzhong had given him was indeed not completed, and there was no way to wash it away.

The so-called "well water does not violate the river water", isn't that just a way of supporting soldiers to wait and see?Who can't see it.

There seems to be a reason why Shi Shucong was killed by Zhu Quanzhong with an excuse in later history.Why didn't you find someone else to do the dirty work of regicide?It just happened to be Jiang Xuanhui, Zhu Yougong, and Shi Shucong.

"Come here, send the envoy out of the city." Shi Shucong said with a big hand wave.

******
Xiangcheng Daying received news of the military chaos in Yunzhen on February 28.Li Tangbin locked several important military newspapers together in a wooden box, then handed them over to the courier and sent them to Shao Shude.

There is a system in the country and the court, and emergency military situations are usually delivered by express couriers five hundred miles away.Especially important military newspapers, the messenger travels [-] miles a day.More important than this is probably the lychees eaten by Concubine Yang Gui. This is the highest level of "military intelligence". The messenger's daily delivery distance is even more than [-] miles, which is basically desperate.

From Xiangcheng to Liangzhou, according to the normal speed of five hundred miles, it can be delivered in five or six days.

After leaving the post station, the messenger rushed to another post station thirty miles away at the fastest speed and spared no effort in horsepower.After arriving at the location, change horses and people and continue to rush, a relay cycle from one station to the next.

The station system is very important to a regime.

It was already the fifth day of March when Shao Shude received the news. At this time, he had just crossed the Heli Mountain gorge and was hunting and training with the various tribes accompanying the army.

Heli Mountain is the place where Huo Qubing defeated the Xiongnu, and now there is another general of the Han family hunting here, but everyone calls him Khan, which is also ridiculous.

In fact, Shao Shude received more than one message.

This morning, there was a military report from Jouzhou that the Yinshan Tatars, Heiche Shiwei, Xixi, Uighur, and Tuyuhun had violated the border by tens of thousands of cavalry, and the Qibi tribe had lost tens of thousands of cattle and sheep, urgently calling for help.

Zhe Silun, the envoy of the Huaixi Festival, reported urgently that Yang Xingmi, with more than [-] elites as the backbone, recruited more than [-] soldiers from the Tutuan villages in An, Huang, and Qizhou, and besieged Anzhou, Pingjingguan, and Lishan. Guan and other places, all night long.In addition, Xu Wen and other generals were sent to lead hundreds to thousands of elite soldiers. They followed the trails in the mountains without any luggage.

Of course, what angered him the most was the military chaos in Yunzhen.But there is no one to blame for this matter, maybe only Zhu Xuan and Zhu Quanzhong can be blamed, if they didn't make trouble, why did it come to this.

"It's understandable that the Qibi Department asked me for help." General Shao Shude handed the report to Chen Cheng, and said, "But Zhe Silun's request for help is unusual."

There is no doubt that this is a leapfrog report, and it may even have the tacit approval of Zhe Zongben.

"Your Majesty, it's my servant's fault." Chen Cheng sighed, "It's hard to understand that Xingmi is so insane that he puts away money and doesn't fight to discount his family."

The prefectures of Tang, Deng, Sui, and Huaixi were broken, and there were only so many troops. In order to cooperate with the war against Liang, it was necessary to focus on it.Chen Cheng suggested that the two towns of Tang and Guang send out the main force to cooperate with Li Tangbin, and use partial divisions to defend against Yang Xingmi.Now it seems that Yang Xingmi kept raising his bets, and his determination was unexpected.

"Chen Changshi has done it, and I have done it too." Shao Shude said: "Li Keyong repented so quickly, I didn't expect it. Brother Yi is a good-faced man, and he values ​​friendship. What he promises, he won't let it go If you regret it so quickly, something must have happened in the middle."

Chen Cheng nodded in agreement.

The battle of cutting beams had already seen the dawn of a great victory, but now there are twists and turns, and it is a pity that it will continue to stalemate.

"Chen Changshi, can we benefit from the southern front?" Shao Shude asked.

"The king means..."

Shao Shude pointed to the Tibetans who were chasing prey at the foot of the mountain, and said: "These people are naturally not good enough. Even the subordinates of Hongyuan Palace in Liangzhou who went to Liangzhou a while ago are not very good. But they can go to Rouzhou, which is their home field .Li Ke used his words without faith, which is very annoying. He is afraid that he doesn't know how many tribes I have, so this time, let him see the real grassland khan's fighting style."

The grassland khan's way of fighting is naturally to drive cattle, sheep, and carts, wherever he goes, where he fights, and where he grazes.

During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the Hu people went south to the Central Plains in large numbers.When the tribes were fighting, they fought for the city, and after fighting each other, they scattered. I went to the east gate to graze, and you grazed at the west gate, and then continued to fight for the city. The people were displaced.

"The commander-in-chief wants to conquer Rouzhou himself?" Chen Cheng asked.

"I won't go!" Shao Shude said: "I ordered to set up the Yinshan camp in Rouzhou, and Yang Yue was recruited. The Shaqi and Hexi tribes dispatched 3 men and told them that [-] people will be given to me. Gather up enough horses, don't get some infantry to fool me. The Six Great Inspection Envoys sent [-] Ding from the tribe, Longyou Town..."

Shao Shude pondered for a while, and said decisively: "[-] riders from Longyou Town, go northward in Liugu. The [-] riders will gather in Rouzhou, and they will be unified under the command of Yang Yue."

"The three armies of Heiji, Jindao, and Feixiong will go to Rouzhou to obey orders."

"Your Majesty, there are so many tribes, and they still have to drive cattle and sheep to fight. Although the grass will turn green next month, after this battle, the wealth of the tribes will be almost the same?" Chen Cheng asked.

"The prairie fights profusely. If you can't get anything, you will naturally get poorer." Shao Shude said: "Tell Yang Yue, I won't set restrictions on him, he can fight as he wants, if he can't get anything, he can't maintain the war. Take him as a question."

Chen Cheng was speechless.It's not like you don't know Yang Yue's courage, my lord.Give him more than [-] riders, and he can pierce the sky for you. God knows where he will hit.

"My lord, will it..." Chen Cheng was a little worried.

"No. I still know about Yang Yue. He won't harm Datong, Youzhou and other towns too much." Shao Shude said.

But in other places, it's hard to say, the fighting style here is really radical.

"Where is the Iron Forest Army?" Shao Shude asked again.

"Escort the princess, prince and others back to Lingzhou." Chen Cheng replied.

"Chen Changshi hasn't answered whether I can benefit from the southern front." Shao Shude said.

"Your Majesty." Chen Cheng saluted, and said, "My Majesty, please don't use your troops on the southern front. The countryside is dilapidated, and my master has fled in large numbers. I really can't support it."

To be honest, the two towns of Tang and Guang shouldn't have so many soldiers, they can't afford it.

Originally, there were few people, and they were repeatedly killed by Ding Hui and plundered into the country, and most of the people fled.Later, the situation gradually stabilized, but the wars became more frequent, the population was lost, and the fields were barren, all relying on the support of gold merchants, Xiangyang and Guanzhong.For this reason, the people in Guanzhong shouldered a heavy burden, and there were many fugitives who could not bear the service.

The southern route has indeed reached its limit.

"Then the northern line." Shao Shude said firmly: "How much wheat did Heyang plant last winter?"

"Huai and Meng prefectures have developed more than [-] hectares of land." Chen Cheng said.

"It's growing so fast." Shao Shude said pleasantly, "After the wheat is ripe in June, we can raise more soldiers."

"Pass my order, all the guards led by Hongyuan Palace, Yulin Palace, and Woyang Palace will be dispatched. Yongqing and Yinchuan two pastures will prepare horses and go all the way south. The sooner the better, cross the river at Pujin Pass and gather in Jinjiang Wait for my order." Shao Shude said.

Now that the Yellow River has not yet thawed, the grain and grass in Hezhong and Jinjiang must be transported to the front line through Zhiguan or Xiaohan Mountain Road.But if the army eats in Jinjiang, the cost is very low.

"The iron cavalry army will follow me back to Zendan, and choose horses! The Dingnan army will stay where they are, and wait for me to come."

"Your Majesty, is this a conquest? Are you not going to Qibei?"

"Do you know what I am most worried about?" Shao Shude asked.

"The king should be worried about Yang Xingmi." Chen Cheng replied.

"No, Yang Xingmi will help Zhu Quanzhong no matter what. What I worry about is the matter of Yunzhen. Zhu Jin is actually an ambitious person. If he annexes Yunzhen, Wang Shifan will be in danger. If Li Keyong captures Cangjing will become one with Zhu Jin who is in the hands of the three towns, and the situation will become more complicated. At this time, it is necessary to cut the mess quickly." Shao Shude said.

"But Ganzhou is quite far away from the Central Plains. Why bother? This battle, if we fight slowly, we will eventually win. But if we miss this opportunity to subdue the Tatar tribes, we will have to spend more time next time." Chen Cheng said .

"Is it far?" Shao Shude laughed.

The emperors and ministers of the Northern Song Dynasty believed that it would take a month for the Liao reinforcements to reach Youzhou, but Brother Yeluxiu gathered a large number of horses and maneuvered for more than 1000 miles in six days, which exceeded the limit of the imagination of the emperors and ministers of the Northern Song Dynasty.

The distance of more than 2000 miles is very far?They all say I am a fool, this time I will play with you with the style of a fool.

(End of this chapter)