Chapter 333 Exchange Conditions
Chapter 333 Exchange Conditions
Xiao Xia and Li Yuan sat in the hall.
"Uncle, what are your plans for the next step?" Xiao Xia asked.
Li Yuan hesitated for a moment and said, "I plan to go to Jiangdu. On the way, Yuwen Kai and I reached a consensus to go to Jiangdu to seek refuge with the King of Jin."
Xiao Xia smiled and said, "My father is no longer in Jiangdu, but in Hefei County, Lujiang County."
Li Yuan secretly felt lucky to have met Xiao Xia, otherwise their trip to Jiangdu would have been in vain.
Li Yuan thought for a moment and asked again: "How many troops does the King of Jin have?"
"About 60,000, all of whom are soldiers who support him. He has deep roots in Jiangnan and Huainan, and has very good relations with the local nobles. Almost all the soldiers are appointed by him."
Li Yuan nodded, "I see. I was wondering how the King of Jin could have 60,000 troops so quickly."
Xiao Xia smiled and said, "Leave the 10,000 troops in Uncle Shi's hands to me!"
"this."
Li Yuan showed an embarrassment on his face. He was going to use these 10,000 troops as a token of his allegiance to the Prince of Jin. Xiao Xia's request made him feel very embarrassed.
Xiao Xia smiled slightly and said, "It's the same thing whether you hand it over to me or my father. I will write a letter to my father and explain the situation to him. I will face a big battle soon. He will approve of the decision made by my uncle."
"Will the King of Han attack Liang County?"
Xiao Xia shook his head. "It's not the King of Han's army, it's the Baohui. I just got the news that the Baohui has captured Liyang Warehouse and is recruiting soldiers. They have the food and weapons in Liyang Warehouse, and their army is growing rapidly. They will soon go south to fight for the Central Plains. Uncle Shi's 10,000 troops are a timely help to me."
Li Yuan smiled bitterly and said, "It would be best if I could write a letter to the King of Jin and ask for his opinion. If he lets me leave the army behind, I will hand it over to my nephew."
"I'm afraid we won't make it in time. It will take at least ten days to go back and forth."
Li Yuan looked troubled. "What should I do? I have already told the King of Jin that I will lead the troops to join him. Nephew, I am in a dilemma!"
Xiao Xia knew that his father also wanted these 10,000 elite soldiers and might not give them to him.
It seems that he will not give in easily unless Li Yuan is given some benefits.
Xiao Xia smiled slightly and said, "I know your uncle's difficulties. How about this! The position of Sima in the General Administration Office is vacant here. I will appoint Jiancheng as Sima. How do you think?"
Li Yuan was quite tempted by the conditions offered by Xiao Xia. Strictly speaking, the 10,000 troops were not entirely his own bargaining chips. Half of them were due to Zhou Fashang's contribution.
When they arrive at the King of Jin, it is still unknown what benefits these 10,000 troops can get. If they are replaced by a Sima of the General Administration, the benefits will be obvious.
This is what they mean by two birds in the bush are worth a bird in the hand.
"Nephew, are you sure you can convince the emperor?"
Li Ye nodded slightly and said to Li Yuan: "The emperor is now afraid that I will join forces with the King of Han. He even gave me all the taxes of Liangzhou, not to mention a general manager? Don't worry, uncle, even if the emperor is unwilling to appoint, I will let my father appoint. I have 50,000 troops in my hands. Who dares not to give me this face?"
Li Yuan stroked his beard happily and said, "That's fine, but Jiancheng doesn't have enough experience and he's still young. It would be better to let Chai Shao be the Sima. Also, I'm a little worried about General Zhou. I'm afraid he wants to pledge allegiance to the King of Jin."
'What a fucking greedy guy!'
Xiao Xia cursed inwardly, then laughed and said, "There is no problem for Chai Shao to be the Sima. If Jiancheng is willing, he can also be my subordinate. I will appoint him as the assistant general of the Cangcao of the General Government. This position happens to be vacant at the moment."
The former Cangcao Assistant General Wang Hongye was also Liu Huan's man. He had been dismissed by Xiao Xia for suspected major corruption. Xiao Xia originally wanted to appoint Wei Zheng, but Wei Zheng's foundation was too weak, which would make many people jealous, especially Du Wen and Pei Kun would be dissatisfied.
The key is that Wei Zheng lacks experience and needs to hone his skills for a few years.
Li Jiancheng was the eldest son of Duke Tang, so no one dared to say anything when he was appointed as a military officer.
The key is... he has to get these 10,000 troops. Li Yuan's eyes lit up. This position is good, not too high or too low, just right for Jiancheng, and it is also a good training for Jiancheng.
Li Yuan stroked his beard and smiled, "Thank you for your concern, nephew. I will leave Jiancheng to you, and I will go talk to General Zhou!"
Li Yuan came out of the office and immediately found Zhou Fashang.
"General Zhou, I just talked to Chief Butler Xiao. Now the country is ready to make a move and may launch a large-scale attack on the Central Plains. Chief Butler Xiao hopes that you can stay and help him defend the Central Plains. I have agreed. I hope that the general will put the overall situation first and cooperate with Chief Butler Xiao to retake Luoyang once the opportunity is ripe."
Li Yuan was very good at talking. With just one sentence "cooperate with Chief Eunuch Xiao to retake Luoyang", he had Zhou Fashang under control. At the same time, the four words "the overall situation is more important" also suppressed any thoughts of Zhou Fashang.
Zhou Fashang bowed and said, "I obey your orders!"
Li Yuan then left Chai Shao and Li Jiancheng to Xiao Xia, and he and Yuwen Kai went to Hefei to seek refuge with Prince of Jin. Xiao Xia wrote another letter to his father, explaining the situation in the Central Plains.
After Li Yuan left, Xiao Xia appointed Zhou Fashang as the commander of the left army, and ordered Zhou Fashang's deputy general Lian Kuang to lead 5,000 troops to guard Hulao Pass.
At the same time, Chai Shao was appointed as the Sima of the General Administration Office, and Li Jiancheng was appointed as the assistant general of the General Administration Office's warehouse department.
Xiao Xia immediately wrote a memorial and sent someone to Chang'an through Wuguan, asking the emperor to agree to his appointment.
It was thought that there would be a fierce battle in Liyang Warehouse, but no one expected that the defending general Song Fei had secretly joined the National Protection Association a few years ago. However, it was not surprising, as his grandfather Song Hun was the governor of Weizhou in Northern Qi. As a result, the 3,000 defenders of Liyang Warehouse surrendered without a fight.
Cang Cheng Chen Zhu committed suicide for his country.
The Liyang Warehouse, which stored more than 10 million shi of grain and countless military supplies, fell easily into the hands of the Baoguo Association.
In addition, more than a thousand official grain-carrying ships anchored on the Yellow River were also seized by the National Protection Party’s army.
Baoguo used the food supplies in Liyang Warehouse to recruit troops. Young and strong people gathered like ants, and more than 100,000 people were recruited in just ten days.
On the other side of Liyang Warehouse is Baima County, Dongjun. During the Three Kingdoms period, Yuan Shao sent troops from here to attack the Central Plains.
At this time, Gao Zhu was looking at the other side of the Yellow River with high spirits. He had ordered Shan Xiongxin of Dongping County to lead 5,000 troops to capture Baima County to cover his army's crossing of the Yellow River.
Over the Yellow River, thousands of craftsmen are busy building a floating bridge. They use iron chains to connect the bow and stern of the large ship, put two ships side by side, also fixed with iron chains, then lay wooden boards, and finally pull a long iron cable.
The ship they used was a thousand-stone grain-carrying ship, which was relatively flat and very suitable for building a pontoon bridge.
At this time, Gao Shida came over and said a little worriedly: "Master, the newly recruited soldiers have not been trained yet. Isn't it a bit hasty to cross the Yellow River like this?"
Gao Zhu shook his head. "Opportunities won't wait for us. We have already reached a consensus to attack and train at the same time. Don't change it!"
Gao Shida said helplessly: "Master, there are 50,000 troops of Xiao Xia in the three counties of Liangzhou. Do we really have to obey the order of the King of Han and fight a decisive battle with the Liangzhou army?"
Gao Zhu sneered and said, "How is that possible? Our target is Qi County and the counties of Shandong. That is where our roots are. Crossing the Yellow River from Baima County is just a show for Yang Liang. After crossing the Yellow River, what else can he do about us? The army will head east directly and not provoke Xiao Xia."
Gao Shida finally breathed a sigh of relief, "The leader is very wise!"
At dawn, an army of unknown origin arrived at Baima County. The leading generals were Shan Xiongxin and Hou Junji. Hou Junji also received a hero's invitation and went to join Shan Xiongxin.
Shan Xiongxin recruited troops in Dongping County and Jiyin County at the same time, but the recruitment in Jiyin County suffered a severe blow. His nephew Shan Mao fled to Liang County with 500 men, and finally all the Xiao Xia troops were wiped out.
However, Dongping County was very successful in recruiting soldiers and successfully recruited 5,000 soldiers. Less than a month after training, he received an order from the president Gao Zhu, ordering him to capture Baima County at the end of May and cooperate with the army to cross the river to the south.
Baima County is the seat of Dongjun County. It originally had 4,000 soldiers, but they were transferred by Xiao Xia to Songcheng County for training. Currently, there are no soldiers stationed in Baima County. Shan Xiongxin seized this opportunity and led 5,000 troops to seize this important ferry on the south bank of the Yellow River.
(End of this chapter)