Chapter 341: Trivial Schemes
Chapter 341: Trivial Schemes
Xiao Xia's 100,000-strong army had arrived at Yanshi County, only fifty miles away from Luoyang. At this time, Xiao Xia suddenly received news that an army appeared about ten miles ahead, with about seven or eight thousand people. Judging from the flags, it should be the army of the King of Han.
The arrival of this army was very strange. Although he didn't know the reason, Xiao Xia still ordered the army to encircle and suppress this army.
This army was none other than the King of Han's army retreating from Luoyang City. It had a total of more than 8,000 people, led by General Yu Gongli. Yu Gongli also found something wrong. The army that broke into the city consisted of only a few thousand cavalrymen, not the tens of thousands of troops he had thought. If this was the case, he would suffer a great loss if he withdrew from Luoyang.
More importantly, if he lost Luoyang in vain due to misjudgment, the King of Han would never forgive him. You know, the King of Han was planning to ascend the throne and become emperor in Luoyang. Now that the capital was lost, how could he explain to the King of Han?
Yu Gongli was really worried. He did not dare to give up Luoyang and head north, so he led his army to retreat eastward to Yanshi County, wanting to wait and see the situation before making a decision.
But Yu Gongli never dreamed that the real danger was not in Luoyang, but in Yanshi.
At noon, the Han army was resting in a forest. Suddenly, the ground began to tremble, and someone outside the forest shouted, "It's the cavalry! The cavalry is coming!"
The soldiers were terrified and got up and ran out of the woods. They saw a cavalry running past from the north a mile away. They were not coming to kill them, so many soldiers breathed a sigh of relief.
But Yu Gongli was devastated because this cavalry cut off their retreat to the north.
Soon, a huge black mass of the main force appeared, stretching as far as the eye could see, with a total of more than 100,000 people.
All the soldiers looked at each other, they were really doomed.
At this time, a group of cavalry came running and gradually approached the woods. The leading cavalry shouted: "I am delivering a letter to you under the order of General Manager Xiao!"
The cavalry shot an arrow, which was a headless arrow with a letter stuck on it. The cavalry turned around and went back.
A patrolman ran up, picked up the letter, ran back, and handed it to the commander Yu Gongli.
Yu Gongli opened the letter and read it. It was a letter from Xiao Xia to them to persuade them to surrender. The letter said that they were all Sui soldiers and he did not want to kill each other or fight against each other. He hoped that Yu Gongli would take the initiative to lead the army to surrender so that he could continue to serve in the army. If he did not want to join the army, he could be released and return to his hometown to farm.
Of course, Xiao Xia also had a prerequisite for making this condition, that is, this army did not burn, kill, and loot in Luoyang, and its military discipline was still good.
If this army behaved recklessly in Luoyang, he would simply annihilate them all.
His generals all advised: "General, surrender! At least we can return home safely."
Yu Gongli also sighed in his heart, an army of one hundred thousand!
He had no choice but to give the order: "Order the entire army to lay down their weapons, take off their armor, and surrender to the Liangzhou army."
Yu Gongli led his army to surrender. Xiao Xia accepted the army and incorporated them into his own army. Xiao Xia still retained the honors of Yu Gongli and other generals, and at the same time conferred them with the titles of general and lieutenant general.
At this time, Pei Renji, who occupied Luoyang, sent his son Pei Xingyan to meet Xiao Xia and expressed his willingness to hand over the army to Xiao Xia.
Xiao Xia was overjoyed, and immediately appointed Pei Renji as the Grand General, Pei Xingyan as the Grand Imperial Secretary, and appointed Pei Xingyan as the Huben General in his army, commanding 10,000 cavalry.
It doesn't matter if Pei Renji wants to join his father, but Xiao Xia must keep Pei Xingyan by his side, as he is the third best hero of the Sui and Tang Dynasties!
However, Pei Renji was more realistic and he decided to surrender to Xiao Xia. He was deeply moved by Xiao Xia's kindness in recognizing his talent. You know, he had been loyal to the King of Han for ten years and was only a small Yitong, the eighth level of honorary officer. However, Xiao Xia suddenly promoted him to the rank of General, which was the third level of honorary officer. He was promoted five levels in a row and was only one level away from being promoted to the rank of Pillar of the State.
Xiao Xia ordered Pei Renji to lead 10,000 troops to defend Luoyang, and personally led an army of 100,000 to continue advancing towards Hangu Pass. Of course, he went into Guanzhong in the name of assisting in the defense of Chang'an.
Rang County was the seat of Nanyang County and the northern gate of Jingxiang. Its strategic location was extremely important. Emperor Yang Yong appointed Wu Yunzhao as the governor of Dengzhou, in charge of the four counties of Nanyang, Xiyang, Yuyang and Huai'an, and commanding an army of 30,000. If they wanted to attack Wuguan, they had to pass through the jurisdiction of Dengzhou Governor's Office.
Thirty thousand troops were stationed in various places, including 20,000 in Rang County and the other 10,000 troops were scattered in various places.
That afternoon, Zhang Hua, the chief secretary of Dengzhou General Administration Office, returned home as usual. Zhang Hua was in charge of the political and financial affairs of the entire Dengzhou General Administration Office and had enormous power. Of course, he also had a prominent background as he was one of the former aides of Emperor Yang Yong.
After Yang Yong ascended the throne, Zhang Hua was appointed as the Chief Clerk of Dengzhou General Administration Office and Governor of Nanyang County. To a certain extent, Zhang Hua was actually a military supervisor sent to monitor the Wu brothers.
Although the Wu brothers were skilled in martial arts, they came from a poor family and were born thieves. Yang Yong asked Wu Yunzhao to guard Nanyang out of a sense of fiction. In fact, he did not trust the Wu brothers.
Zhang Hua's carriage suddenly stopped, and his men reported that two young women were outside stopping the carriage to complain.
Zhang Hua opened the car window and looked out, only to see two young women kneeling on the ground. They had waists as slender as willows, faces as white as peach blossoms, and skin as white as snow. He was immediately aroused.
Zhang Hua opened the car door and asked, "What do you want to sue for?"
One of the women said, "Master, we are from Xinye County. We are the concubines of Huang Jun, a wealthy family in Xinye. Our master passed away last month and left us 10,000 strings of cash each, but the eldest wife refused to acknowledge it and kicked us out of the house. We are homeless and have come to complain to you, Master, and ask you to help us sisters!"
The two delicate and beautiful girls made Zhang Hua's bones soften. It seemed that there was not only beauty but also money to be gained. Zhang Hua nodded in sympathy, "Don't worry! I will make the decision for you."
"Thank you, sir. We are homeless. Can you find a place for us to stay overnight?"
Zhang Hua was just what he wanted. He stroked his beard and said with a smile: "If you don't mind, you can stay at my house for one night."
"How dare we complain, it's just that, sir, we are so tired that we can't walk any more."
The two women acted coquettishly together, and Zhang Hua's belly was burning with fire. He waved his hand and smiled, "Okay! You get on my carriage."
"Thank you, sir!"
The two women got into the carriage weakly. Soon, the doors were locked, the thick curtains on the windows were quickly drawn, and sweet laughter came from the carriage.
Several guards nearby rolled their eyes. They knew Zhang Changshi too well and estimated that he could no longer hold back.
The carriage had just gone a dozen steps when Zhang Hua suddenly ordered, "Turn around and go to the dock outside the city to get something!"
The carriage turned around and drove out of the city.
In the carriage, Zhang Hua sat upright with a pale face. Two women sat on his left and right, with two sharp daggers against his waist.
The two young women were Li Luming's subordinates. They took advantage of Zhang Hua's lustful weakness and used the beauty trap to hold him hostage. This was Xiao Xia's petty scheme.
(End of this chapter)