Taiping Inn

If the war in the northwest is still limited to cold weapons, firearms have occupied half of the various military weapons in Liaodong. This gap is due to the finances and systems of both sides.

In terms of system, Qin Qing and Tan Taiyun are called the two kings of the East and the West. But in fact, Tan Taiyun is not good at governing the country. In the past, with the assistance of geomancer Xu Wugui, the northwest still had some court atmosphere. But as the two broke up, geomancer Xu Wugui left Xijing, and the entire Xijing quickly degenerated from a small court to a large sect. It can be said that the Wudao Sect is the court, and the court is the Wudao Sect. The six ministries and nine ministers have become decorations, and the big and small yamen have become halls. It is a mess inside and outside. This forced Tan Taiyun to go west, because the Western Buddhist sect is not much better. Whether it is the Wudao Sect or the Western Buddhist sect, they all rule the world with sects. No one is better than anyone else, and they can fight. On this point, Tan Taiyun is quite self-aware.

On the other hand, after Qin Qing vigorously integrated Liaodong, Liaodong gradually had the atmosphere of the court. Qin Qing had the highest status, he was the leader, and he was in charge of the overall situation. Under him, the military and political were separated, that is, civil and military officials. The civil officials were in charge of politics, headed by Zhao Zheng. The military officials led the troops, headed by Qin Xiang. Qin Daoyuan ranked fourth after the three people, and was the second only to Zhao Zheng in the civil officials faction, holding financial power. Zhao Zheng was similar to the chief assistant of the cabinet and the minister of the Ministry of Personnel, in charge of personnel, while Qin Daoyuan was similar to the second assistant of the cabinet and the minister of the Ministry of Revenue, in charge of money and grain. Qin Xiang himself, as a general, actually took orders directly from Qin Qing himself, which was very different from the civil officials who led the troops in the Wei court.

Of course, Li Xuandu was not in this system, and even Qin Daofang was not counted in this system. Instead, Qin Daofang could barely be counted as Li Xuandu's subordinates.

In terms of finance, Liaodong has Fengzhou, which has the longest coastline. Ships can travel freely between Fenglinzhou and the East China Sea and the South China Sea, which is equivalent to being able to go to Posazhou and the countries in the far west, and maritime trade is prosperous. Moreover, under the frequent wars in the interior, Liaodong has become a pure land. A large number of people have poured in, changing the situation of vast land and sparse population. Liaodong has been able to develop vigorously, and its prosperity has even caught up with the trend of Jiangnan. This is the confidence of Liaodong to support more than 200,000 soldiers.

At this point, Li Xuan can be regarded as a nobleman in the whole Liaodong.

First of all, the marriage between Qin and Li directly opened up the East China Sea, which has the greatest variables. If Li Daoxu does not allow Liaodong merchant ships to pass through the East China Sea, Liaodong will have no way to deal with the maritime power of Qingweizong. In this case, even if Qin Qing married Bai Xiushang, the fleet of Liaodong would not be able to fly across the East China Sea to the South China Sea. This is why Qin Qing has been reluctant to remarry for many years. When his daughter got engaged, he immediately decided to renew his relationship with Bai Xiushang. It was not just because he was concerned about his daughter's feelings, but also because of Li Xuandu.

The second is the Taiping Sect led by Li Xuandu. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is rich enough to rival a country. Therefore, the geomancer Xu Wugui attacked the Taiping Sect several times. The first time Li Xuandu went to Liaodong, he brought a gift to Liaodong, which was a loan from the Taiping Sect. Although it was a loan, not a free gift, no interest was charged, which greatly alleviated the financial difficulties of Liaodong in recent years due to its big steps.

Because of this, the Qin family was very pleasing to Li Xuandu, the son-in-law, and there was no so-called difficulty or contempt. Even before Li Xuandu arrived in Liaodong, Jingxiu had already greeted him in Jinzhou. When he arrived at Yuguan, Qin Qing personally greeted him. Finally, when he arrived at Chaoyang Mansion, Qin Daoyuan and Zhao Zheng received Li Xuandu together, which was not insignificant. As for the marriage of Li Xuandu and Qin Su, it was a natural agreement and smooth sailing.

So no matter how much Li Xuandu opposed his master Li Daoxu's views and practices, he never opposed Li Daoxu himself, and always felt extremely grateful to Li Daoxu. Not to mention that it was Li Daoxu who picked him up from the dead, he could not repay Li Daoxu's teachings and the status and identity he gave him, which made him what he is today. If he was just a wanderer in the world, how could he be treated differently by the great master? How could he easily cross the threshold of the Qin family? How could he get to know and befriend the young master and young lady of the Xiangfu? Not to mention the various opportunities in the future.

With the news that Li Xuandu successfully took over the Qingwei Sect and the Li family, the Qin family was very lively during the New Year. The core children of the Qin family understood that although they were both the Li family and the Qingwei Sect, Li Xuandu's power was very different from Li Daoxu's power. It's not that Li Xuandu would sell out the interests of the Li family, but it would be beneficial to the alliance between the two families. First, the son-in-law is closer, and the father-in-law is always one level lower. Second, Li Xuandu has a clear goal and is more enterprising than Li Daoxu, who is increasingly disgusted with the world.

As expected, one month after Li Xuandu came to power, the fleet of Qingweizong went north to bombard Bohai Prefecture, which shocked the court. When this news came, everyone in Liaodong was excited.

If the marriage between Li Xuandu and Qin Su prompted the marriage between Qin Qing and Bai Xiushang, then Li Xuandu's decision to start a war in Qizhou this time prompted Qin Qing to make up his mind to raise troops to march north.

How can I let others snore beside my bed?

Although the Golden Horde has no time to take care of Liaodong because of internal strife, it does not mean that the Golden Horde does not have the ability to do so. In other words, the initiative to fight or not to fight is always in the hands of the Golden Horde. If Liaodong wants to completely seize the initiative, it must make the Golden Horde lose the ability to attack Liaodong, which means that no one can sleep soundly beside the bed.

This is the purpose of Qin Qing's planning of this northern expedition.

Qin Qing's Northern Expedition was not a whim, but had been preparing for a long time, but there was no suitable opportunity. Just as Qin Qing was worried that he was attacked by the Jin tent when he entered the pass, Qin Qing was also worried that the imperial court took the opportunity to attack Youzhou when he entered the northern expedition. . At present, the golden tent was trapped in internal strife, and Li Xuan attracted most of the court's attention to Qizhou, which was undoubtedly the best time for the Northern Expedition.

The strategy of this Northern Expedition is also very clear. It is not to directly attack the royal court, but to eliminate the vitality of the Jin Treasure on the front line of Liaodong as much as possible.

To this end, when Qin Qing convened a meeting of relevant military and political officials at the Heishui Prefecture in Liaozhou, he clearly stated that lions fight rabbits with all their strength, kill chickens with ox swords, and strive for a quick battle. Moreover, unlike the Northern Expedition of the two emperors of the Great Wei Taizu and Taizong, this During the Northern Expedition, it did not occupy land, plunder the livestock population, and did not set up a Dushi Guard. It strives to encircle the circle, defeat one by one, and annihilate the enemy quickly.

In this battle, we marched in three directions. Jing Xiu led more than 30,000 left army and sent troops from Youzhou; Qin Xiang led more than 30,000 right army and sent troops from Liaozhou; Qin Qing personally led more than 40,000 middle army and sent troops from Fengzhou. There are more than 100,000 people in total, accounting for half of the total Liaodong army, and it should not be underestimated.

Before Qin Qing left, because his daughter was not around, he only said goodbye to Bai Xiushang.

Bai Xiushang was not worried about Qin Qing's safety. After all, the national master of the Golden Entrance was dead, and the shamanism suffered heavy losses. In addition, the infighting between the Golden Entrance is endless. If you want to leave a person with immortality, you will not be able to do anything but dreams. .

Bai Xiushang joked: "If I remember correctly, it is not the first time you have led troops, but it is the first time you have led troops to fight on such a large scale. I am not worried about your safety, I just hope you don't make jokes. , embarrassing."

Qin Qing didn't care and said with a smile: "Looking at the champions back then, experience is important, but sometimes, talent is still important. Moreover, there are many generals in the army this time, and I will listen to their opinions. If it really doesn't work, I will still You can charge and get into battle, and you can get a thousand horses, it's always possible."

Qin Qing was cautious and did not like to take risks like Song Zheng. He naturally did not fight unprepared battles, so he made some estimation early before deciding to lead the troops himself. His disadvantages are just as Bai Xiushang said. His first large-scale leadership is inevitable that he lacks experience. His advantage is that although he led more than 10,000 people for the first time, there is no problem of insufficient prestige and inability to subdue many generals. There is no need to worry that the generals below are dissatisfied, and they can obey orders. Considering that the Liaodong army has been fully integrated over the years and relying on firearms, the strength of the Liaodong army is above the iron cavalry of the Jin tent, as long as the Qin Qing is in line with the rules, there will basically be no big problems.

Qin Qing said: "The "Plan for Attack" says: 'If you do not know the affairs of the three armies but the politics of the three armies, the soldiers will be confused; if you do not know the power of the three armies but the duties of the three armies, the soldiers will be doubtful.' It means that you do not understand Interfering in the internal affairs of the army will confuse the soldiers; not knowing how to weigh military changes and interfering in the command of the army will confuse the soldiers. From these two points, the Liaodong Iron Cavalry can have Today, I always participate in it, and naturally there is no "not knowing the affairs of the three armies". The key is "the power of the three armies". If you don't lead the army personally, you will always be talking about the war on paper. This is also one of the reasons why I decided to lead the army myself."

Regarding this, when Li Xuandu interviewed Qin Qing last time, Qin Qing also revealed a certain tone and asked for Li Xuandu's opinions, and Li Xuandu expressed support.

It's funny to say that Li Xuan is not familiar with military affairs. The reason why he gave a positive answer was because in the "Tian Chess Game", Qin Qing sent Jing Xiu to lead the cavalry 20,000 first to enter the pass, and Qin Qing personally led the infantry and cavalry. Thirty thousand followed up slowly, plus auxiliary soldiers and followers of the military and civilians, a total of 200,000 troops were said to have gone south to pass. After fighting with the Qingyang Sect of Song Zheng, the Qingyang Army won thirteen consecutive victories, forcing the Qingyang Army to be able to defend the imperial capital, Jinzhou, Zhongzhou and some prefectures and counties of Zhili.

Judging from the deduction results of the "Tian Chess Game", Qin Qing's ability to lead troops is not bad. In addition, when Li Xuandu went to the Golden Sect, he once saw a small group of cavalry fighting against the Golden Sect at night without taking over the night. , he trusted the combat power of the Liaodong army very much, and Li Xuan naturally would not object to Qin Qing leading the troops himself.

Bai Xiushang reached out to help Qin Qing tidy up his lower clothes and said softly: "Go early and come back early, wait for the good news."

Qin Qing nodded, turned around and walked out of the big tent, and looked up and saw that there were all iron armor.

Forty thousand troops were divided into three huge battle formations, and the darkness spread to the end of sight.

A servant led Qin Qing's mount, and Qin Qing turned over his horse, and the black war horse slowly stepped on it.

Qin Qing lifted the reins: "Take the camp!"

The army moved with a loud bang.