Chapter 128 New Zhang Fang

Chapter 128 New Zhang Fang

Chapter 128 New Zhang Fang

After Liu You surrendered, the grain-collecting army quickly fell into chaos.

Five hundred riders rushed in through the gap.

But he only charged once and immediately retreated in embarrassment.

There were so many people that the horses could not run at all. Some were even pulled off their horses and disappeared in the crowd.

Great!
General Tu's soldiers killed with great pleasure. Most of Liu's 3,000 men were defeated and chased out of the chariot formation, leaving countless corpses along the way.

God have mercy on them, they are still confused and don’t know who beat them.

Who could have arrived so quickly? Even if they had set out from Luoyang without any delay, it was still unclear whether they would have reached Xuchang by now.

But the facts were before their eyes. Swords, guns, and arrows were repeatedly reaping their lives. All the defeated soldiers were struggling for their lives, taking advantage of the cover of night to scatter in all directions.

General Tu chased for a while and then withdrew his troops.

The cavalrymen assigned to the cavalry didn't move at all.

Perhaps because he felt that these defeated soldiers of Liu's army were too poor, Shao Xun did not announce a high reward for them and thought they were not worth hunting down.

Shao Xun just glanced at them and was not surprised.

It's like this if they are not your subordinates.

After receiving the reward in Xuchang, they will help you fight. As for how far they fight, it depends on the mood of the cavalry masters. Perhaps, only Wang Hu can really command them.

Gao Yi had already led people to clean up the battlefield and had obtained more than 2,000 pieces of weapons and armor, of which only one-tenth were iron armor.

Actually pretty good.

Shao Xun once asked someone at the Luoyang Arsenal, but he didn't have an exact number. He only mentioned that when the Luoyang Arsenal caught fire ten years ago, among the 208 million weapons and armors burned, there were only about pieces of iron armor.

From this perspective, the total number of official iron armors in all states in the world is estimated to be no more than 150,000, and the number of private ones is difficult to count.

It was already quite good that Liu You's grain-collecting team was able to collect more than 200 sets of iron armor.

Of course, the leather armor was also very useful, so it was collected as well, and someone was sent to supervise the transportation of the prisoners by car.

"Send someone to report the victory to Sikong." Shao Xun ordered.

Gao Yi was stunned for a moment, then agreed: "Yes."

Shao Xun nodded, found a baggage cart, and slept in his clothes.

After daybreak, the army set out again.

On September 20th, based on the information obtained from interrogating prisoners, they headed straight for Suiyang, where they encountered a troop on the road. After a fierce attack, they killed 500 enemies.

On the 23rd, when they reached the north of Xiang County, they encountered a grain-collecting team, and the people retreated directly into the city.

On the 27th, they quickly moved to the vicinity of Xiao County, ambushed a baggage train, and beheaded more than a thousand people.

Since the continuous battles, the results have been considerable. In the four battles, they fought piecemeal, moving east and west, and their whereabouts were uncertain. They defeated the troops sent by Liu Qiao to collect food and grass, beheaded more than 3,000 people and defeated more than 6,000 people.

Liu Qiao, who was stationed in Xiao County, heard the news, but didn't know what to feel.

He won in a muddle, and was about to lose in a muddle. Now he had less than 5,000 soldiers, and his connection with his old nest, Xiang County, was cut off, and his decline was obvious.

General Tu couldn't fight any further.

During the long war, the loss of horses and mules was great, and it was difficult to replenish them in the wild. Coupled with the loss of personnel, the soldiers all wanted to stop.

But they were not as straightforward as the Cavalry Army. Instead, they put forward their opinions in a tactful way, and Shao Xun took the opportunity to agree.

In fact, he didn't want to beat Liu Qiao to death with a stick. Wouldn't Sima Yue come if he did that?

He cannot come now, otherwise how will the transportation of the Xuchang armory be resolved?

At the beginning of October, he retreated to Ku County and stayed in Ningping City, where he joined forces with Li Zhong's 4,000 infantry who had easily captured Chen County and Xiang County.

At this moment, he was like suddenly returning to the civilized world from the wilderness where there was no mobile phone signal, and messages came in one after another.

******
Sima Yue was reviewing the troops when he received Shao Xun's victory report.

After reading it, I was delighted.

"I finally understand. Among all the generals in Luoyang, only Shao Xun and Mi Huang are worth using." Sima Yue laughed and said, "How dare Liu Qiao, you brat, insult me! I will kill one of his sons and make him vomit blood. I will catch this old villain someday and punish him accordingly."

The ever-larger team of aides joined in the laughter.

The most favored person in recent months is Sun Hui, the supervisor of the record room.

Yes, there were dozens of assistants in the Sikong Shogunate, some were favored, and some were frustrated. Moreover, no one could be favored all the time, there were always ups and downs, just like the competition for favor in the harem.

Sun Hui was originally an aide to King of Chengdu Sima Ying and a descendant of the royal family of Eastern Wu.

After the Battle of Dangyin, Sima Yue was defeated and fled to Xuzhou. Sun Hui came to him and offered advice and suggestions, which were highly valued. He was then transferred to the Record Office to join the army and participate in various decision-making of the shogunate, becoming very popular for a time.

The second most popular person was Sima You, the King of Runan, who had just surrendered. At the end of last year, when Sima Yue was at his lowest point, Sima You sent a letter to express his allegiance. At the beginning of this year, he brought part of the King's army to surrender. Although there were not many people, Sima Yue was very moved, and then he was wiped out in one battle.

Of course, Sima You didn’t care about the loss of the army of his fiefdom; he was only interested in political speculation.

If Sima Yue regained control of Luoyang, all his losses would be compensated and he would make a fortune.

"Your Majesty, you can order Commander He to speed up the advance, control Xuchang, and then lead the main force south to join General Shao's troops to attack Xiao County. In this way, Liu Qiao will surrender." Sun Hui said on the side.

"De Shi's words make sense, so let's pass the order." Sima Yue nodded.

Sun Hui was a military officer in the record room, in charge of clerical work. After receiving the order, he sat back at his desk and began to write.

Sima You took the opportunity to follow Sima Yue and filled the position left by Sun Hui.

"Yongyou." Sima Yue seemed to know that his cousin was coming. After walking a few steps, he suddenly asked, "Do you think Shao Xun is useful? Many people in the shogunate are dissatisfied with him and have many criticisms. Some are true, and some are groundless. He is only eighteen years old, why is he criticized so much?"

"As Uncle said, he is only eighteen years old." Sima You said, "It is normal for people to be jealous of him when he is promoted to a higher position suddenly. Besides, what do you think of Zhang Fang?"

Sima Yue frowned and said unhappily: "Shao Xun and Zhang Fang are not the same kind of people."

"It is true that they are not of the same kind, but they do have something in common." Sima You said, "I believe Uncle knows that Bi Yuan of the Hejian clan was humiliated by Zhang Fang and their relationship is extremely bad. But I happened to hear a secret. At first, Zhang Fang wanted to make friends with the people in Yongfu, but he was repeatedly despised, teased, and humiliated by them, including Bi Yuan."

"Zhang Fang was born in a humble family, and was famous for his bravery. He was careless and often made jokes. People in the Yong Mansion often laughed at him as a military strategist, which made Zhang Fang feel ashamed and angry, but he dared not show it."

"When Zhang Fang won many battles and made outstanding achievements, surpassing those of the military officers and governors of the shogunate, he became even more hated. He was criticized and isolated."

"In addition, he acted recklessly, insulted the women of the nobles, allowed his soldiers to plunder, killed people and made preserved meat, and did all kinds of evil things, which made it even more unacceptable. Only the Prince of Hejian dared to use him. If it were a prince of a clan, he would have beheaded Zhang Fang long ago."

Sima You and Sima Yue are both members of the royal family, so naturally they speak differently. There is no need to look at the issue entirely from the perspective of the gentry.

The same is true for Sima Yong.

This person still prefers to promote people based on their talents. Before Zhang Fang, he had promoted Li Han, who came from a poor family.

Li Han came from a family background, being descended from the Longxi Li clan, but his family background was too humble, which still aroused the dissatisfaction of the Yongfu gentry and he was suppressed.

He bought and sold official positions, promoted petty thieves, and threw all the dirty water on Li Han.

After Li Han became rich, he did promote and employ some of his relatives and friends, but who wouldn't do that? Why accuse the people promoted by Li Han of being "chicken-stealing and dog-stealing"? Is it just because they were born in a poor family?
But he couldn't say much about these things, so he could only keep his thoughts to himself. After all, if he offended the scholars, everything would be over.

Sima Yong knew very well who to choose between Zhang Fang and the aristocratic staff, and he could not go against the trend.

Shao Xun emerged out of nowhere in Yue Prefecture, and his path to wealth was no different from Zhang Fang's. They were both born in the common people, humble, and then established military merits and climbed up step by step.

Zhang Fang was once favored by Zhi Fu, a wealthy man in Chang'an, who provided him with a lot of financial support, allowing him to take a crucial step.

Shao Xun also has a good relationship with the East China Sea tycoon Mi Huang, and Mi Huang is present in several key steps.

To some extent, Zhang Fang and Shao Xun took the same path to success. But then again, if they were born in a common family, what else could they do but take this path? Military merit was the best way, or even the only way.

"Shao Xun allowed his troops to plunder Xuchang, opened the treasury and rewarded soldiers indiscriminately in an attempt to buy the hearts of the troops. What do you think? Will this man rebel?" Sima Yue asked softly.

"Uncle, there are too many things going on right now, so just use his talent." Sima You said, "If he is really too arrogant to be controlled, just strike first and kill him with one blow."

Sima Yue felt a little reluctant.

He now somewhat understood Sima Yong's feelings.

Zhang Fang was from Hejian and was a family general of Sima Yong's fiefdom. This kind of relationship was special. Therefore, even though Zhang Fang had done many evil things and brought countless infamy to Sima Yong, he still couldn't bear to kill him in the end - at least until now, Zhang Fang still led the army and was quite trusted.

Sima Yue asked himself if he had the broad mind of Sima Yong. If Shao Xun was as domineering and difficult to control as Zhang Fang, he would definitely not be able to tolerate it.

Fortunately, Shao Xun has always been relatively respectful and often gives him surprises.

Especially when the Battle of Dangyin failed and the people of Luoyang were in panic, he took the initiative to step forward to clean up the mess and protect the princess and the prince. His contribution was invaluable.

However, he was quite dissatisfied with the fact that Shao Xun allowed his troops to plunder Xuchang. After hearing what Sima You said, he became more aware that Shao Xun had some similar temperaments to Zhang Fang, Li Han and even Gou Xi.

He is greedy, tyrannical and arrogant.

If things continue like this, I'm afraid I'll become Zhang Fang of the East Sea Kingdom.

"Yongyou..." Sima Yue sighed and said, "Go to Xuchang and act on my behalf. Ask He Lun to leave soldiers to guard the city and seal the treasury. Forget about the rewards that have been issued. There is no need to recover them. Ask Shao Xun to return some of the weapons and money he took, so that I can give an explanation to Wu Hui (Sima Hu)."

"Yes." Sima You replied.

"And..." Sima Yue held Sima You and said solemnly, "Warn Shao Xun. My patience is limited. Don't go too far. Money is fine, but what do you want to take the weapons for? How many troops does he have? Do they need so much weapons?"

"Yes." Sima You knew that his uncle had become wary of Shao Xun, just like how Sima Yong once trusted Zhang Fang very much, but eventually became estranged from him.

There now seems to be a sense of mutual exploitation between Uncle and Shao Xun.

Once such signs appear between the monarch and his subjects, the relationship will certainly not be good and will break down sooner or later.

Zhang Fang, Shao Xun, will everyone who has climbed up from the bottom eventually take this path?
Is it natural or forced? Maybe it's both.

Sima You sighed and left slowly.

(End of this chapter)