Chapter 62 "Negative News"

Chapter 62 "Negative News"

Chapter 62 "Negative News"

In the second half of the first lunar month, perhaps because the behind-the-scenes interest transactions had ended, foreign troops began to advance towards Luoyang in batches.

The first group to arrive were the Jizhou soldiers led by Hao Chang, totaling more than 4,000 people, who entered the city through Jianchun Gate.

At that time, Shao Xun was collecting a batch of equipment and supplies. When he just returned to the barracks, he heard a not-so-funny joke: The Youzhou cavalry commander went out of the city and met the Jizhou soldiers who were entering the city. The 4,000 soldiers of Hao Chang's army were directly scattered on the spot...

Shao Xun was stunned after hearing this.

When Ye army commander Qian Xiu heard the news, he was extremely ashamed and directly ordered all troops to station near the city gate and not to cause trouble.

Obviously, this order will cause complaints from the Jizhou soldiers, but it is a good thing for the people of Luoyang.

Compared with the Ye soldiers, the Western soldiers led by Zhang Fang had fewer concerns. They swarmed into the city from Ximing Gate, looting wantonly, and their cries could be heard far and wide.

Sima Yue, King of Donghai, became extremely nervous. He sent people to ask for an imperial edict from the emperor, ordering the western troops to stop looting and withdraw from Luoyang, while he summoned all the imperial guards to discuss countermeasures.

After much discussion, the final result was to keep the troops in place and block all major intersections to prevent the frenzied Western soldiers from attacking the core area and the palace of Luoyang. As for other places, they could only wish for the best. Sima Yue had no choice because the imperial guards did not listen to him very much.

The imperial guards are difficult to command, but the soldiers of the East Sea Kingdom still obey orders.

On the 26th day of the first lunar month, four main military generals, Mi Huang, He Lun, Wang Bing and Shao Xun, were summoned to the Sikong Mansion.

Aides including Wang Dao, Dai Yuan, and Liu Qia were all present, as well as imperial guards general Gou Xi, Imperial Court Assistant Minister Pan Tao, and Ministry of Personnel official Yu Hua.

"The incident of Hao Chang became a laughing stock in the army. Many people said that foreign troops were nothing special and some of them regretted it." Liu Qia spoke eloquently without looking away.

Shao Xun looked at the shogunate's left Sima quietly.

Liu Qia must have been very upset when he failed in the competition for the Lieutenant of Donghai. In fact, Sima Yue should have trusted Liu Qia very much, otherwise, based on his family background, if he had not used his right to vote, Liu Qia would not have been able to enter the officialdom at all.

"This is not a good thing." Wang Dao frowned and said, "The soldiers of the Imperial Guards may regret seeing that the foreign troops are so vulnerable and thinking about their previous victories. Who is guarding Sima Yi's side now?"

"Someone from the Seventh Army of the Imperial Guard."

"Not appropriate, it's better to replace them with our people." After saying this, Wang Dao paused with his gaze on Mi Huang and said, "General Mi may lead his troops to take over Jinyong City. If things go wrong, kill Sima Yi immediately and stop the soldiers from having any hope."

Everyone was talking about it for a while.

If the imperial guards changed their minds, they could indeed rush into Jinyong City and release Sima Yi. But in that case, where would the Minister of Works be? And where would the imperial guards generals who had already jumped ship be?

Sima Yue immediately became nervous.

If Sima Yi could regain the support of the imperial guards, he would be dead. For a moment, his breathing was a little unstable and he felt uncomfortable all over while sitting there.

"Don't worry, Sikong." As one of the only three outsiders present, Huangmen Shilang Pan Tao stroked his beard lightly, smiled calmly, and said, "Killing Sima Yi, why dirty Sikong's hands? I see that Zhang Fang is cruel and bloodthirsty, and he hates Sima Yi deeply. If we hand him over to him, he will definitely die a violent death."

Sima Yue secretly breathed a sigh of relief, forced a smile on his face, and said, "Minister Pan's words make sense. Why don't we send someone to Jinyong City to pass on the order to escort Sima Yi to Zhang Fang's camp?"

"No." Pan Tao shook his head and said, "We have to let Zhang Fang take the person away actively, so as not to damage Sikong's reputation."

"Yang Zhong is still very thoughtful." Sima Yue's smile grew wider. He called a servant and whispered something to him. The servant then left in a hurry, apparently to make a message.

"Zhang Fang, a man who leads beasts to eat people, can actually..." Sima Yue shook his head and sighed. He didn't want to talk more, as if mentioning Zhang Fang any more would dirty his mouth.

Shao Xun, who was sitting behind Mi Huang, couldn't help but take another look at Pan Tao.

This plain-looking old man is really cruel. He uses this strategy of killing someone with a borrowed knife without any hesitation, and his plan is flawless.

Could he be a ruthless scholar like Jia Xu? Perhaps, he would soon be assigned to the Sikong Shogunate. After all, being a court official was meaningless - there was no saying that the staff and officials were superior or inferior. Some people did not even want to be provincial governors, but insisted on working in the Zongwang Shogunate.

"After talking about Sima Yi, let's talk about the situation in Luoyang." Sima Yue stroked his forehead and said in a helpless tone: "The soldiers from Ye are still good. They only loot outside the city. But the soldiers from the west want to enter the city and rob the officials and civilians inside the city. Not only do they rob money, they also kill people. We can't let them go on like this."

What would be the result of letting it go? Sima Yue's prestige would be suppressed.

He was trying to take over Sima Yi's inheritance, so he couldn't have too much "negative news". Reputation was still very important. After all, the world was getting worse and worse, the central government's authority was gradually losing, and local power was being snatched away by aristocratic families step by step. He still needed their support.

Yes, the officials of the noble families in Luoyang seemed weak and could be tied up and killed by a soldier, but they were just representatives of the big families in the capital. Their roots were in the local area, with manors one after another, crisscrossing lands, and thousands of private soldiers. This was their real capital.

If we were to re-investigate the population and the number of acres of land now, we would not know how many self-employed farmers are left. Even the collection of taxes depends on the will of others, and most of the accounts they show you are "fake" just for fun.

Sima Yue knew very well whose support he wanted.

"Why not give Zhang Fang a promotion? He will leave naturally when he has robbed enough," Dai Yuan suggested.

Director Wang remained calm and nodded slightly.

He actually hated Zhang Fang, who had no rules at all. He killed and robbed people at every turn, used human flesh as military rations, and even raped the women of officials and nobles. But now there was really no other way. Zhang Fang had 50,000 troops under his command, and the generals of the imperial guards were difficult to control, so he could only "cajole" him.

"Why not tell Zhang Fang clearly that if he is willing to leave Luoyang, he will be promoted to Right General and Governor of Fengyi." Liu Qia suggested. "Okay." Sima Yue nodded and added, "First let him kill Sima Yi and then leave Luoyang City, then he can be promoted."

No one had an opinion.

Shao Xun was greatly impressed.

It turns out that if you have 50,000 soldiers under your command, you can make the imperial court coax you.

I only have 500 soldiers, but the court refuses to coax me.

It's so realistic.

"Sikong, I'm afraid it will be difficult to achieve your goal just by relying on this." Gou Xi suddenly said, "I am willing to lead my troops westward and form a battle array on the Imperial Street. When Zhang Fang sees this, he may withdraw and retreat outside the city."

Sima Yue was overjoyed.

Gou Xi was the first general of the imperial army to defect, which was of great significance. Now he took the initiative to take responsibility and share the worries of his master, how could he not be happy? Sima Yue had made up his mind that in the future, in the wrangling with Sima Ying and Sima Yong, he would find a high position for Gou Xi no matter what.

He is good at commanding troops and winning battles. He has also been in officialdom for more than 30 years and has sufficient experience. He is definitely the most suitable candidate.

I will use Gou Xi's experience to tell the generals of the imperial army that if you follow me, you will be promoted. If you fight against me, there will be no benefit.

"That's great." Sima Yue stood up and said, "It's settled. Zhang Fang's matter must be dealt with as soon as possible without any delay."

"Yes." Gou Xi replied.

Shao Xun was slightly envious.

The Luoyang Central Army originated from Cao Wei, and at that time there were five camps, including the Central Camp, the Wuwei Camp, etc.

During the Western Jin Dynasty, it became the Left and Right Guards, the Four Armies of Front, Back, Left and Right, and the Cavalry Army, which are the so-called Seven Camps of the Imperial Guards.

In addition, the Sima family made their fortune by relying on the military power outside the city, so the Western Jin Dynasty also set up the Yamen Army and stationed it in the suburbs of Luoyang. Together, the two formed the Luoyang Central Army.

The chief officer of the imperial guards was called "Lingjun" during the Cao Wei period. He was first called Lingjun during the Jin Dynasty, and later changed to Beijun Zhonghou. Then he was changed to Lingjun and Zhonglingjun, and now he is called Beijun Zhonghou.

During the Cao Wei period, the position of imperial guard gradually became an honorary position. For example, Pei Chuo was posthumously awarded the title of Changshui Cavalry Captain after his death.

What could Gou Xi be? Lieutenant General of the Northern Army? Could Sima Yue help him get to this position?
If this comes true, it will be used as a signboard. How lucky!

But Shao Xun was not particularly envious.

If the imperial court can let Gou Xi be the lieutenant general of the Northern Army, it can capture him. After all, they are not your own troops, and you have to surrender them even if you don't want to.

To some extent, Gou Xi is even worse than the local tyrants who brought their own troops to join the army. They brought five hundred slaves to serve as soldiers, and they were the leaders of their own camps. Their subordinates were all their own people, and they could do whatever they wanted. Isn't that wonderful?

"We need to send someone from the Imperial Guards to negotiate." Sima Yue added, "Even if they don't want to drive Zhang Fang away, they can still do it by keeping an eye on the Ye army, right? Ruosi, you go and do this."

"Yes." Dai Yuan stood up and responded.

"Zihui." Sima Yue looked at Mi Huang again and said, "Hurry up on the training. At a critical moment, our own people are the ones we can rely on."

"Yes." Mi Huang replied.

He was a little panicked and glanced at Shao Xun subconsciously.

Yesterday the young master told him the truth. Not to mention the upper army for now, the lower army will not be able to fight a field battle within a year or so.

Mi Huang felt overwhelmed after hearing this.

The lower army recruited more than 200 people. Of the original 700 people, at least 200 of them were recruited later, not to mention a bunch of teenagers. It is normal to spend a year to reorganize, if you don't want them to collapse at the first touch.

As for the upper army, the nine hundred East China Sea soldiers are okay, but the more than a thousand people from Luoyang City are a joke.

Mi Huang was even thinking about being ruthless and breaking off relations with He Lun, eliminating all those bad guys and recruiting young men and defeated soldiers again.

Otherwise, if Sikong wants to mobilize troops this year, should these three thousand people go or not?
It's just causing trouble.

It would be unacceptable not to go.

It's difficult anyway.

Mi Huang's gaze quietly fell on He Lun, flickering.

(End of this chapter)