Chinese New Year

Chapter 543: The Old Dengs Moving Around

In the last few days of late September, the post roads leading to Anping were crowded with people shouting and horses neighing.

Wang Yan visited his friends on his way from Nangong to Qinghe and said that this was the scene he saw along the way.

"If the Xiongnu cavalry came to attack us, I don't know how many heads we could have picked up." Liu Ling pointed at the old and young people who were resting on the side of the road and said, "It looks like they have not been in battle many times. They panicked when they heard the sound of horse hooves."

When the guards heard this, they all laughed.

Apart from farming, the only value of these people is wandering around in the ravines.

However, the outer barriers of Anping City have been cleared. Now various siege equipment has been driven to the city and the ant-like siege has begun. These people with weak combat power have become a burden.

The siege was brutal. Even though the troops had been repeatedly tried to win them over over these days, some people still couldn't bear it and fled.

These people have been recorded, the main messenger has been beheaded, and his family will be held accountable later.

If nothing unexpected happens, the troops of the Puyang and Dongping counties can be fully equipped, and even more troops can be deployed.

The offensive against Anping adopted two methods: attacking the city and conquering the hearts of the people. The enemy army will not be able to hold out for too long. Perhaps the outcome will be clear in October.

When we reached Baigoushui, we stayed overnight in a manor.

Upon learning that Wang Yifu, who was highly regarded by the world, was coming, the owner of the manor named Cui, who lived in the western part of Dongwu City, was very enthusiastic. He first asked his entire family to come out to pay him a visit, and then personally prepared an exquisite banquet to entertain Wang Yan and his entourage.

Wang Yan could not refuse, and after some socializing, he was arranged to stay in a quiet house for the night.

The place where they live is called a manor, but in fact it is more like a fortress.

The place is small, the walls are thick and high, and there are many people on night patrol, looking as if they are facing a great enemy.

The back wall of the house is also the northern outer wall of the fort. Wang Yan climbed up to the second-floor attic and looked at the flickering lights in the distance.

"The autumn harvest is over, why are there still young men working outside?" he asked curiously.

The manor clerk who came with him came over to take a look and replied, "My lord, the clan is pressing us to hand over 5,000 bundles of hay within three days, so we are cutting hay by lamplight at night."

"Is it because of the Battle of Anping?"

"Exactly."

"On nights when the wind blows hard and the cold dew is deep, it is miserable." Wang Yan sighed.

As a famous scholar who never touched women's daily lives and even thought his wife's talk of money was vulgar, Wang Yan had been tormented by Shao Xun over the years. He was often dragged here and there, and he really saw a lot of grassroots people's livelihood scenes, and he was more and more moved.

"With constant wars this year, is it possible for the village to survive?" Wang Yan turned around and asked.

"We can survive," said the strategist, "but some people will starve to death."

"Why?"

The accountant stammered and dared not say anything.

"There are no outsiders here, but you can talk as you please." Wang Yan said.

"The harvest was a little poor this year, and we can barely make ends meet." The chief strategist said, "When the war started, the Xiongnu took away a batch of grain from the farm, and the warehouse was empty. At the beginning of the month, Lord Chen sent people to collect grain, and the last bit of grain was given away. Even that was not enough, so we had to collect grain from the farmhands to make up the number. They were already hungry, so it was inevitable that people would starve to death."

"Are there any corvée labor or military service?"

"How could there not be any?" The accountant said with a wry smile, "My son was conscripted once to deliver food to Nangong County. There were more than a hundred people when he went, but a dozen were missing when he came back."

"died?"

"Some died of exhaustion, but most of them escaped."

"escape?"

"Steal food and escape at night."

"Don't care?" Wang Yan asked.

Dianji sighed and did not answer.

"What will you do if the Huns come again and demand grain from you?" Wang Yan asked again.

"I'm afraid we can only fight. We can't afford it." The strategist said numbly, "If we give them food, they will starve to death. If we don't give them food, they will be beaten. So let's fight. We may not die."

Wang Yan remained silent.

He looked at the patched clothes on the accountant, sighed, and said, "Thank you for waiting for me. Go to bed early."

The accountant bowed and left.

"My lord, the dinner we just had had wine and meat. I thought this farm was very rich, but I didn't expect that the family assets have been emptied out so far." Liu Ling said in surprise, standing at the door.

"What you hear and see may not be true," said Wang Yan.

Seeing Liu Ling was stunned, he smiled and said, "But this village is indeed not rich. Hebei has been in war for a long time, and no matter how much wealth there is, it will be wiped out."

"If Hebei fights more, won't life in Henan be better?" Liu Ling said.

"Yeah..." Wang Yan replied vaguely.

Before we knew it, the battlefield had shifted to Hebei.

No matter how the battle in Hebei goes, Quanzhong has already achieved half of the success.

It is true that Henan will also have to send troops and some money and food to fight in Hebei, but the most important thing is that Henan will no longer become a battlefield. This is the most critical thing.

By being able to achieve this, Shao Quanzhong's position in Henan became more and more stable.

On the morning of the first day of October, after having a hearty breakfast, Wang Yan looked at the nephews and nephews of the manor owner who had come to see him off and made a few comments.

Everyone in the manor was extremely excited. They sent a hundred soldiers to escort him on the spot and arranged a place for Wang Yan to rest on the way.

Liu Ling was stunned.

When he traveled with Mr. Chen, he was often turned away.

The manor closed its gates tightly as if facing a great enemy, making it seem as if they were here to rob.

Wang Yifu was warmly received wherever he went, and his popularity was truly impressive.

If he speaks ill of Mr. Chen behind his back, it would be really troublesome...******
While Wang Yan was heading to Qinghe, Yu Chen, Zhang Bin and others arrived at Linlu County, Ji County.

The situation in Linlu is rather chaotic.

The nearest Jin army was Li Chong's unit stationed in Anyang, with a total of two thousand Luonan prefecture soldiers and two thousand prefecture soldiers.

The Linlu nobles had a tendency to be fence-sitters. On the one hand, they pledged loyalty to the Jin army, on the other hand, they were secretly communicating with Shi Hu, who was training his troops in Ji County.

There were several thousand infantry and cavalry escorting Yu Chen, all of whom were transferred to Yu Chen by Shao Xun from Anping. Not long after entering the city, the scouts came running back to report the military situation.

Then the city gates were closed, and the young men climbed up the city tremblingly, holding simple weapons.

Yu Chen watched coldly, thinking that if he hadn't come today, Linlu might have surrendered.

"I have been stationed in Ji County for several years, but it fell into the hands of the Huns. When I came back, everything had changed and the people had changed." He sighed secretly and said in a low voice.

"Lin Lu's killing of officials and his rebellion are already the legacy of Lord Yu," said Zhang Bin.

"Thank you for your good words." Yu Chen said with a wry smile.

In fact, the biggest problem was that when he defended to the end, his orders could no longer be issued outside the county, and he could no longer command the entire county. In addition, when he retreated, he took away many people who were loyal to the Great Jin, and his foundation in Ji County became even worse.

Fortunately, it’s not too late to come back and there is still time to make amends.

After the army marched north, people in Linlu County killed their officials and rebelled. People in Ji, Gong, Huojia and Xiuwu counties also responded. However, Liu Ya of Hanoi reacted quickly and only sent more than 2,000 cavalry to take a look around, and the commotion was quelled.

After Shi Le was defeated, people in the county town and Gong County rebelled and both sides fought each other.

When Shi Le's generals Kong Tuan, Zhao Lu and others heard that Yecheng had been lost, they immediately gave up their attack on Anyang and headed south to Ji, where they suppressed the rebellion and settled there.

Therefore, Ji County is now divided.

Chaoge and Linlu were in the hands of Shao Xun, and the other four counties were controlled by Kong Tuan and Zhao Lu.

They originally had more than 5,000 cavalrymen, but after Shao Xun incorporated many tribes, more than 2,000 of them escaped one after another. Now there are less than 3,000 left, all of whom are soldiers from the Shangdang Wuhuan, Jie people, Xiongnu and other tribes - in short, all those whose homes were in the area controlled by Shao Xun have run away.

Shi Le conducted remote operations in Changshan and instructed Kong Tuan and Zhao Lu to come under Shi Hu's command.

Shi Hu has also arrived in Ji County and is arguing with Liu Yao.

He wanted to find a place to cross the river and go south, taking advantage of the emptiness of Henan to plunder Yan and Yu. Liu Yao asked him to go to Fangtou and Chaoge areas and find an opportunity to destroy Shao Xun's fleet.

The two sides are deadlocked here.

Yu Chen naturally didn't know Shi Hu's plan. After he climbed to the top of the city wall, he saw a cavalry unit of only about 500 people coming from the south. They should be Shi Hu's troops.

There are also hundreds of people in the north of the city, they should have come from the direction of Fukouquan. They are the troops of Liu Yao's general Huyan Mo - Huyan Mo, one of Shi Le's "Eighteen Riders", was requisitioned by Liu Yuan in his early years and never returned. He is actually now considered a member of the Pingyang court, after all, his surname is Huyan.

After looking for a while, Yu Chen went to find the county magistrate to find out what happened.

"Most of the country heroes are waiting and watching," said the county magistrate.

"The Fukouquan group doesn't appear often. They come for a day or two and then disappear again. At most, there were more than a thousand riders."

"It should be difficult for them to raise food and grass, so they can't hold out for long. According to the woodcutters in Linlu Mountain, they are grazing horses in the Zhang River Valley. There are pack horses from Shexian County that carry food and meat to provide some supplies. But the mountain roads are dangerous and the supply is not smooth, so there are only a few soldiers and horses on this road, and they have to retreat after a few days."

"If Commander Li sends an army from Neihuang, perhaps they can be driven away."

"Over in She County, I heard that there was a huge battle with corpses and blood, and the Xiongnu people were capturing people everywhere to fill the ditches. There are also people coming from Linlu, but I haven't heard of any of the nobles paying taxes and sending people. They are all waiting and watching!"

……

The county magistrate said a lot, and Yu Chen listened silently. He comforted him and ordered him to supervise the city defense.

"How is it?" Yu Chen looked at Zhang Bin and asked.

"Yu Gong's legacy is still there," Zhang Bin repeated, and then added: "We can send envoys to each village to explain the righteousness, use threats and inducements, and never let the Xiongnu get supplies. If they can't raise food and grass, the bandits will not be a concern."

"Commander Li may move forward from Neihuang." Zhang Bin added, "Neihuang is crucial and cannot be lost, but Wei, Dunqiu, Yangping and other counties are all royal territory, so they can be moved forward. Fangtou and Chaoge are both fine. In this way, when the rural leaders hear that the royal army is coming in large numbers, they will be more at ease and will not easily surrender to the Xiongnu."

"However, these are just tricks. The key situation is still in Anping. If we can recover it soon, we can lead our troops westward. When Liu Yao heard this, no matter how unwilling he was, he had no choice but to retire."

Yu Chen nodded secretly, and then asked: "Is there any possibility in Shangdang..."

"Difficult." Zhang Bin shook his head and said, "Master Yu, don't underestimate the enemy. Liu Hezhu and his son surrendered to Master Chen. Wouldn't Liu Yao be alert? The strong men of Liu Runzhong and Liu Bo were brought to Ji County by Shi Hu, while the old and weak were left in Shangdang as hostages. Liu Yao would definitely send people to keep a close watch on them. If they didn't rebel then, now that they are in Ji County, there is no possibility of rebellion."

"The Jie people are greedy and despicable, and are not worth discussing with." Yu Chen sighed.

Zhang Bin looked up at the towering mountains in the west and remained speechless for a long time.

He also felt a little regretful.

In the past two months, he has been observing what Shao Xun has done, and overall he is quite satisfied with it.

He was stronger than Shi Le, but because of this, he was destined not to rely on himself as much as Shi Le did.

Therefore, for the future, he also needs to huddle together with others for warmth.

What a pity.

The enemy cavalry in the south of the city circled around, saw that there was no opportunity to take advantage of, and left.

Yu Chen breathed a sigh of relief after hearing the report.

As long as the southern front does not collapse and there is no large-scale surrender to the enemy, his mission will be considered a success.

This is not the main battlefield after all; Anping and Shexian are.

Wang Yan should have arrived in Qinghe by now. With his lobbying, the Cui family might end their wait-and-see stance and send troops to support Lord Chen.

Yang Chen also went north to Boling and Hejian to visit the Cui family and other big families, and urged Su Qiu, the general of Lukou Town, not to play tricks.

With the addition of some people who were personally met by Mr. Chen some time ago, the war can still be maintained.

The piece of fat meat, Hebei, is already in our mouth. Even if we cannot swallow it for the moment, we will never spit it out.

"Investigate the enemy's situation." Yu Chen called the Zhonglang Liu Anzhi who was escorting him and instructed him, "Go to Dangyin via Anyang tomorrow. Report the situation here to Lord Chen."

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(End of this chapter)