Chapter 92: Change of Sky
Chapter 92: Change of Sky (Additional chapter for leader Tang Jinyu)
Perhaps because the war had just ended, the fifth night was relatively quiet.
Mi Huang sent out a large number of cavalry to scout the enemy situation. The news they reported back was that the Western Army had set up camp in the Mangshan area, apparently waiting for the arrival of a large group of troops. This made him very relieved.
That night, Shao Xun hardly stopped to rest. He had too many things to do and could not delay.
He directly found Hou Hu and Fan Cheng, and annexed the remaining troops of Man Fen who had lost their leading general.
At this point, the Wang Guojun’s central army had more than 3,300 combat soldiers, organized into six groups, and the extra one was Chen Yong’s group.
There were also 3,000 auxiliary soldiers, organized into five groups.
He Lun's army had over 5,000 men.
Wang Bing's lower army consisted of two thousand men.
There were still more than 2,000 members of the Miao Yuan tribe in the city.
The Chief Justice Zhou Fu had several hundred soldiers.
After some twists and turns, the "East China Sea Gang" once again gained the upper hand in Luoyang City, and its advantage increased dramatically.
At dawn, Shao Xun, who had not slept all night, hurried back to Jinyong City and went to sleep in his clothes. Before going to bed, he ordered Jin San and Lu Heigou to bring 600 soldiers from his own camp to the palace city and station them in front of Taiji Hall for training.
This night was more or less a torment for Wang Yan, the Minister of the Left.
When daybreak came, he got up angrily after tossing and turning all night, and walked back and forth in the courtyard in a very bad mood.
At the beginning of the Si hour, Wang Dun, Zhou Fu and others hurried over.
Wang Yan invited everyone into his study and sat there in silence.
"I didn't expect to end up making things worse." Wang Yan said with some annoyance.
Wang Dun and Zhou Fu looked at each other.
Originally, Shangguan had great power in the city, and he also held the prince hostage, plundering on a large scale, and was extremely ambitious. When everyone saw that something was wrong, they united to get rid of him.
Now it seems that Shangguan Si was indeed eliminated by accident, but the East Sea Kingdom army acted very quickly and swallowed up the remnants of friendly forces. After one night, the situation in Luoyang city had completely changed.
Miao Yuan and Chen Jing were originally invited today, but neither of them came. Their attitudes were clear.
"As far as I know, the one who led the people to repel the Western troops yesterday was Sima Shaoxun, the lieutenant of the Donghai Kingdom. He was also the one who advocated annexing the defeated soldiers and controlling the remnants of Man Fen." Zhou Fu said, "Right after the battle, he took advantage of the favorable opportunity when the royal army was defeated and the camps were in panic, and acted suddenly, as fast as lightning, and annexed all the tribes in one go. Not only that, Shaoxun also sent hundreds of soldiers into the palace, stationed in front of the Taiji Palace, and held the prince and the queen in his hands. In my opinion, this boy is very ambitious, and I'm afraid he is another Shangguan Si."
Wang Yan was speechless.
I really underestimated this soldier. He was like a poisonous snake, hiding in a dark corner, waiting for the opportunity to appear, and immediately launched a fatal attack without hesitation.
"I have said before that this person is thick-faced but evil-hearted, and a traitor pretending to be loyal." Wang Dun said angrily, "Brother, you just don't agree with me."
Wang Yan glared at Wang Dun.
Wang Dun sneered and didn't take it seriously.
He is just like this. He is not afraid of his brother's blame at all, and his brother will not blame him anyway.
"Now that things have come to this, why are we still talking about this?" Wang Yan let out a long sigh, getting rid of the anger in his chest.
"It has come to this—" Wang Dun chuckled, imitating his brother's tone, and then changed the subject, saying: "It's time to find out more about Shao Xun's methods. We can contact his generals secretly to see if there is any chance."
"Chu Zhong, you are too rash." Wang Yan taught him a lesson, and said earnestly: "We don't know what kind of character Shao Xun has, so don't act rashly. If he is a violent person like Zhang Fang, I'm afraid he will end up making things worse."
Wang Dun was a little dissatisfied and wanted to say something, but he retreated under Wang Yan's gaze and replied in a low voice: "Okay."
Wang Yan sighed lightly. Chu Zhong was even more aggressive than Mao Hong, but that was not a good thing.
People like Shao Xun have become a powerful force, and we should think of a way to deal with them.
Wang Yan felt a little helpless about this matter.
He hated dealing with people like Zhang Fang and Shao Xun the most.
He was never afraid of debating, writing poetry, comparing family background, building relationships, and planning conspiracies and intrigues, and even felt like a fish in water.
But people like Zhang Fang will never compare with you on these things.
He is moody and kills people at will. He doesn't listen to reason at all. Sometimes he doesn't even give you time to react and will cook your whole family. It's really heartbreaking.
At this time, what's the use of having more troops in other states? They can't help at all.
"Since the Minister of Justice is on good terms with Mi Huang and Mi Zihui, maybe we can talk to him and get the upper hand?" Zhou Fu suggested, "Mi Zihui is from a prominent family in the East China Sea after all, so he might be easier to deal with."
Wang Yan stood up irritably and remained silent for a long time.
In fact, he also felt that Mi Huang was easier to deal with, after all, he was a scholar.
Although Shao Xun had an official rank, he had no personal character - a person's personal rank was determined by his family background and local rank.
When a lowly person suddenly gains power, it is easy for him to become greedy, tyrannical and cruel, just like Zhang Fang, Shangguan Si, and even Gou Xi.
Power is a very fascinating thing. If you are not careful, you will become addicted to it, then behave inappropriately, die, and your family will be destroyed, becoming a laughing stock of the world.
"Let's wait and see for now." Wang Yan made the final decision: "Zhang Fang is still in Mangshan. Once the main force arrives, he will surely attack the city. If there is any trouble at this time, it may not be a good thing."
Everyone has their own opinion as to who is better at controlling Luoyang, Zhang Fang or Shao Xun.
Besides, it seems that Shao Xun cannot have the final say alone.
He also had Mi Huang above him, and He Lun and Wang Bing by his side. Even Miao Yuan, although he had lost his spirit, could still be restrained. In short, Zhang Fang brought more disasters, and everyone was a little overwhelmed by him.
Choose the lesser of two evils. Let's do it this way for now.
******
Shao Xun slept for less than two hours when he suddenly woke up.
There was no way. At this moment, he couldn't numb himself and fall asleep peacefully.
"Chen Yougen!" he stood up and shouted.
"General." Chen Yougen walked in with a smile.
"General?" Shao Xun laughed in silence.
He "proclaimed himself" as a general, so strictly speaking it doesn't count. But as long as the soldiers recognize him, it's not a big problem.
His biggest worry now is what he said to Mi Huang before: "My prestige has not been established, and my favor has not been bestowed."
I have gained some prestige.
He displayed his martial arts in the arena, and yesterday he drove the enemy cavalry who tried to seize the gate out of the Daxia Gate.
But this prestige is weak and unstable and should not be taken lightly.
"Where is the governor?" Shao Xun asked while getting dressed.
"Let's go see Wang Pushe." Chen Yougen brought the military uniform and helped Shao Xun put it on.
Shao Xun frowned.
I didn't see this person during the fight yesterday, but he shows up again now. He is quite scheming.
To be honest, until now, he felt that Wang Yan was better than Wang Dao, but when he thought about the status of the two in history books, he could only be speechless.
"Has Miao Yuan gone to defend South City?" Shao Xun asked as he took the corn rice handed to him by Chen Yougen and took a few bites.
"He went." Chen Yougen said, "He also sent people to Jinyong City, saying that he was confused for a moment and made a big mistake. Now he is willing to serve the governor as his master and has no second thoughts."
"What does the governor say?"
"The governor is a kind man. He comforted him and ordered him to continue to lead his troops and defend the South City."
"With two thousand new soldiers, I'm afraid it will be difficult to defend South City. It depends on when Zhang Fang can figure out the real situation." Shao Xun said with a smile.
In short, the more than 2,000 new soldiers under Miao Yuan, who had only been trained for three or four months, could still bluff people when standing on the city walls, but once they started fighting, they would show their true colors. Now it depends on when Zhang Fang can see through the pretense of those people in Nancheng.
However, Zhang Fang is in the north, and South City is the relatively safest side - theoretically speaking - maybe Miao Yuan is lucky and did not encounter Zhang Fang's main force.
In addition to Miao Yuan, Wang Bing guarded the East City, and Shao Xun gave him additional auxiliary troops of the central army.
He Lun's troops were numerous and guarded the relatively important West City.
Shao Xun led his troops to fight the enemy in the north city.
There are still more than a thousand mobile troops left in the city, ready to rush to provide assistance at any time.
Before going to sleep last night, Shao Xun even discussed with Mi Huang and planned to recruit servants and soldiers from wealthy families to temporarily form an army.
Yes, the rich and powerful troops will grow on their own just like leeks in the field.
Take the Yu family as an example. The previous group of people were recruited by Shao Xun. In May of this year, hundreds of people from Yingchuan came to Luoyang. Isn't this automatic growth?
Furthermore, there are scholars and merchants from other places coming to Beijing. Nowadays, if you dare to travel alone, I respect you as a man, you must travel in groups.
Therefore, there are actually quite a few private armed forces in Luoyang City, but they are relatively scattered and no one is organized.
Mi Huang basically agreed with Shao Xun's suggestion.
But he felt that this matter could only be handled with the intervention of Wang Yan.
Wang Yifu was the man of high expectations in the world and was also an excellent eloquent person. If the imperial court stepped in and Wang Yan assisted him, this matter would not be difficult to accomplish.
Shao Xun had nothing to say about this. When he went to persuade the noble families to hand over their private soldiers, people thought they were here to rob like Shangguan Si. Wang Yan was indeed the most suitable person to come forward.
"Fame really can make a living!" Shao Xun sighed as he ate, and at the same time he did some self-reflection to see if there were any omissions in his recent actions.
What is my goal?
At this stage, it is to increase fame, cultivate private soldiers, and at the same time continuously strengthen the prestige in the central army and even the upper and lower armies to create a fait accompli.
If Sima Yue appears again in the future, he will have more bargaining chips.
So what are the measures?
After thinking about it, there is actually no need to stand in the open. Leading the soldiers well, stabilizing the troops, and winning the battle are better than anything else.
Wang Yan likes to be in the spotlight, so let him be in the spotlight, I don't mind. But the benefits should not be reduced, this is the bottom line.
Finally, there is the difficulty.
At the current stage, the biggest difficulty is that we have swallowed up too many defeated soldiers and friendly forces. The troops are confused and cannot effectively exert their combat effectiveness. This is a part that we need to work hard to resolve.
After figuring it out, he was no longer confused and became more determined.
The scenery is really different when the boss is not at home.
Where there is a power vacuum, it is naturally a paradise for ambitious people.
(End of this chapter)