Chapter 177 Lonely Ghost

Chapter 177 Lonely Ghost

Chapter 177 Lonely Ghost
On the third day of July, it drizzled.

The whole army had a great feast last night, with plenty of wine and meat, and received a large amount of supplies.

As we set out today, morale is still high.

In addition to the Yamen troops and private soldiers brought by Shao Xun, the vanguard was also equipped with 500 light cavalrymen of the Cavalry Corps and 5,000 young men from Sizhou. They drove thousands of carts, carrying enough food and equipment to last more than a month, and marched towards the northeast.

On the day of the Chinese Valentine's Day, the army camped in Chaoge County.

The county town changed hands repeatedly between the rebels and the government troops, and the hundreds of remaining households in the city were trembling like quails.

Shao Xun did not make things difficult for them. He let them stay outside the city and paid to recruit more than 20 craftsmen and guides to accompany the army.

At this time, he received a military report from Ji County: Gou Xi attacked Dongwuyang and won the first battle, but it did not state whether the city was recaptured or not, nor did it mention how many enemy troops were killed or wounded.

Tang Jian handed Shao Xun a letter from Lvliu Garden.

After exchanging the letter, he arranged for his personal soldiers to deploy the defense.

This man was originally the owner of the cottage. After being captured, he was straightforward and regarded himself as a guest of the Shao Mansion. He did things in an orderly manner and arranged the defense meticulously. He never looked at what he should not look at and never listened to what he should not listen to. It can be seen that he has his own set of values ​​and is relatively sensible.

After Shao Xun opened the letter, he knew it was written by Lan Ji.

The letter mentioned that her elder brother Le Kai (with the courtesy name Hongxu) had resigned from his official position and returned to his hometown to manage the family business. After hearing that his sister was pregnant, he traveled north from Nanyang to visit her at Lvliu Garden.

Wu Qian followed the previous instructions and discussed the sale of horses with Le, and finalized an order of 500 horses, to be delivered after the autumn harvest in August.

When Lan Ji's mother found out that her daughter was pregnant without any status, she cried all day long and sent her eldest son to bring dozens of servants, a large amount of gold and silver utensils, household items, and money - she didn't say why, and Shao Xun guessed that she probably hoped Huang Mao would be nicer to her daughter.

After staying in Chaoge for one day, they continued northward, passed Dangyin, and arrived at Anyang County on July 12, where there was no enemy troops.

That afternoon, they set up camp near Anyang Bridge in the north of the city. At this time, the "elusive" Lu Zhi appeared again.

"I heard that the Grand Tutor wanted to appoint Lord Lu as the chief priest. Why don't you accept the appointment?" Shao Xun asked with a smile as he led Lu Zhi into the camp.

In fact, he knew that the position of Jijiu was not a position of real power, and Lu Zhi could go or not.

If there had not been the meeting at Jinmenwu, Lu Zhi might have gone there after hesitation - as a subordinate of Sima Ying, wouldn't Hu Wu Fuzhi have been appointed as a Zhonglang official?
Now Lu Zhi is like a wandering ghost, running around mysteriously, and no one knows what he is thinking.

"Shao Jun, don't go any further." Lu Zhi said directly without answering.

"Why?" Shao Xun asked curiously, "The scouts reported that there are a few bandit troops in Yecheng. I am the vanguard, so I must defeat them."

"That's not the bandit army." Lu Zhi shook his head and smiled bitterly: "Ji Sang did leave hundreds of bandits in Yecheng, but they have escaped. A few days ago, General Shi sent people to occupy Yecheng."

"Shi Chao?"

"Exactly."

"He's really capable of making trouble!" Shao Xun slammed the table and said, "Let him go. I don't care where he goes, but let Yecheng go."

Lu Zhi shook his head and sighed.

"Lord Lu." Shao Xun looked at him and said earnestly, "At this point, you still can't make up your mind? Generals Shi Chao, Lou Bao, Lou Quan, Hao Chang, and Wang Chan, the fewest of them have less than a thousand soldiers, and the most have only a few thousand. The morale of the army is low, and there is a shortage of food and weapons. How can we fight? Now Gou Xi is leading 50,000 troops to attack Dongwuyang, Liu Yu has more than 20,000 people, and the Grand Tutor is also leading 30,000 troops stationed at Guandu, ready to cross the river to the north at any time. If these 100,000 people come over, I'm afraid all the generals will be crushed to pieces."

Lu Zhi remained silent.

Shao Xun snorted coldly and said nothing. Someone wanted to commit suicide, and he couldn't stop him.

Shi Chao and others were former generals of the King of Chengdu, and Ji Sang was also under the banner of the King of Chengdu. If these people were unwilling to surrender, he would kill them as enemies. After all, Shi Chao and Ji Sang were allies in name.

"If you are willing to marry the Crown Prince's wife, I will risk my reputation and perhaps persuade Shi Chao and others to surrender." After a moment, Lu Zhi looked at Shao Xun with a burning gaze and said.

Shao Xun shook his head and refused.

Lu Zhi and his gang were still thinking about starting an uprising in Hebei. But after five or six years of hard work, the foundation they had finally built was all in Henan. If they went to Hebei, the soldiers would not agree.

Furthermore, he also wanted to form an alliance with the Yu family, and through the Yu family and the Chen family he was trying to win over, he hoped to open a gap in Yingchuan County and stabilize this direction. How could he marry the Le family?

They are just a bunch of wandering ghosts from Hebei, they are not important enough and he is not interested in them.

"Oh!" Lu Zhi sighed.

He was a smart man and of course knew that Shao Xun was unlikely to leave Henan, but he just felt quite regretful.

Such a capable young general would be quite useful in Hebei. He was still so young, so it was not impossible for him to give up his foundation in Henan, lead the old troops of King Chengdu, and start a new struggle in Hebei.

However, it is indeed a bit too much to ask. Giving up the foundation that you have worked hard for many years and starting from scratch is not a decision that everyone can make, unless you really can't stay in Henan.

"Lord Lu, don't get involved with Shi Chao and the others. It will lead to no good. If you come to help me, you will be in charge of all government affairs. How about that?" Shao Xun said sincerely.

When Lu Zhi heard this, he smiled bitterly again and said, "How much government affairs can you handle with your small family business?"

"Mr. Lu, my family business is not big, but it is different from that of ordinary people." Shao Xun said, "I am walking a difficult road, but it is also a stable road. After our last meeting, Liang County and Guangchengze area have changed a lot. Come and see it when you have time."

Lu Zhi's curiosity was aroused.

He was not well-informed and had no idea what Shao Xun had done, so he nodded and said, "The royal army has entered Hebei, so we really can't stay here any longer. We can go south to Liang County to see Shao Jun's family business."

"There's no rush." ​​Shao Xun held his hand again and said with a smile, "There are wars everywhere now, bandits are rampant, and the roads are often blocked. Lord Lu might as well stay in our army for a few more days, and after we return victorious, we can go back to Luoyang together, okay?"

After Lu Zhi thought for a moment, he nodded gently and said, "Okay. But I have to go to Yecheng first."

"This is serious business, go early and come back early." Shao Xun said.

******
Lu Zhi left that day.

Shao Xun waited until the next day, then ordered the entire army to cross the Huan River and attack Yecheng, forty miles away.

From a tactical point of view, if one wanted to attack and destroy the fifty to sixty thousand rebels scattered in Yangping and Pingyuan, there was no need to go through Yecheng at all.

But to be frank, wars throughout history, both in China and abroad, cannot escape the word "spectacle".

During the Anshi Rebellion in the Tang Dynasty, Li Mi suggested that a part of the troops be separated to go out of the border from the north of Hetao, pass through Datong, and attack Youzhou in a roundabout way to "overthrow the enemy's nest", but Suzong could not resist the political significance of recovering Luoyang and refused, continuing to grind meat in the Central Plains.

Sima Yue also could not resist the political significance of recovering Yecheng, so he went around in such a big circle, which actually gave Ji Sang sufficient time to adjust. He was really unique.

At this time, Liu Yu led his army out of Ji County leisurely, but the speed was very slow, less than twenty miles a day.

He maintained close correspondence with Sima Yue in Guandu, and messengers went back and forth almost every day, bringing the latest instructions from the Grand Tutor.

"Tian Zhen, Tian Lan, Li Yun and others want to surrender to the Grand Tutor. The Grand Tutor is pleased and orders them to lead the army south." After reading the letter, Liu Yu said to Wang Jun, Shen Ling and others.

"Can the Beggar Army fight?" Shen Ling was a little confused.

"He still has some fighting power. If he couldn't fight, he would have been swallowed by others long ago." Liu Yu said: "Even if he doesn't have fighting power, there will always be a chance when Shao Xun is seriously injured."

Shen Ling nodded slightly.

The Beggars' Army was a semi-official and semi-civilian organization.

Sima Teng brought them from Bingzhou. Leaders at all levels were generals from Bingzhou, and there were also a large number of Bingzhou soldiers in the Qihuo Army.

But their previous official positions were no longer valid. After Sima Teng's death, they were like motherless children, like wandering ghosts, not knowing where to go.

With the status of Taifu, it would be a piece of cake to subdue him.

Now there happens to be a place where they can be used. If they can perform outstanding deeds, they will be formally recruited without any problem.

Tian Zhen, Tian Lan, Li Yun and others might be able to regain their official positions - they were officials in the first place, and it was not difficult to restore their official status. They might even go a step further and get promoted.

If they fail to make any achievements, no one will care about them, and the Taifu will lose interest in them. At most, he will recruit some of the most active people to serve as new knives and thugs to help the Taifu suppress Hebei.

It would be perfect if Shao Xun and the Qihuo Army could eliminate Ji Sang for the Taifu and then fight each other.

In short, judging from the current situation, the opportunities are still quite large.

Killing Ji Sang eliminated external threats, and killing Shao Xun eliminated internal threats. How wonderful.

Shao Xun is a man who really has no idea what he is doing. What is your background? You are so arrogant and you dare to take the Jingu Garden in your hands. You really don't know what you are talking about.

Liu Yu wanted to see, if Shao Xun's Yamen Army and private soldiers were consumed in the war, how would he be able to keep the three manors around Luoyang?
How could he hold on to the thousands of Xianbei horses he had looted?

When the time comes, I will go to see Le myself. Will he dare to refuse?

Oh, and there is also Jing. Oh, how pitiful it is to see such a beautiful woman, how could she give herself to Wang Yan?
On July 15, Liu Yu, who had not yet reached Chaoge, received news: Shao Xun recaptured Yecheng.

Without any hesitation, he immediately sent an envoy with military orders, ordering them to march eastward as quickly as possible and attack Jisang.

(End of this chapter)