Chapter 755 Unable to Fight Back
Chapter 755 Unable to Fight Back
All the guards surrendered, and Wang Jing reluctantly became the other side's adviser. Shi Xiaozhen smiled and asked, "What do you think of the military value of kerosene?"
Wang Jing stood on a high place, looking at the black oil seeping out of the cracks in the soil by the river. He sighed and said, "Your army has directly occupied Fushi County. Doesn't that explain everything?"
"I still want to hear Envoy Wang's opinion!"
Wang Jing pondered for a moment and said, "Kerosene has existed since ancient times. Whether it is effective in the military depends on its production. For example, turpentine can ignite at a touch and has a fierce firepower, but its production is low and it easily disperses, so it cannot be used on a large scale in the military. But oil is different. It is very stable and has a high production, so it can be used on a large scale in the military. Therefore, its appearance is as powerful as your gunpowder. Unfortunately, we discovered it too late."
At the end, Wang Jing could not help but sigh. Shi Xiaozhen smiled and said, "I know that Envoy Wang hopes to use it to deal with the Xue army in Longyou, but won't it be the same if we use it in the future? We are all Sui soldiers, unless Envoy Wang denies that he is a Sui minister."
"You don't need to use such words to squeeze me. I am a minister of Sui Dynasty, but I am also loyal to the King of Tang."
Shi Xiaozhen waved his hand, "Let's not talk about this anymore. Envoy Wang taught us how to use oil. I will write a report to the emperor and mention your advice!"
Wang Jing pondered for a moment and said, "I've looked at it carefully. First, it needs to be precipitated. Build a sedimentation tank to sink the impurities to the bottom, and then remove the top layer of kerosene. Next, filter it. Filter it several times to get purer kerosene. At this time, the kerosene is actually very powerful. If conditions permit, you can also try distillation. I estimate that you will get a very scary kerosene. I don't know what it looks like, but you can give it a try."
"Envoy Wang can go to the Luoyang Firearms Institute for testing!"
Wang Jing said after a while: "General Shi means that I can't go back to Chang'an?"
"We can go back in the future, but not now. We must not let Chang'an know the secret of kerosene, otherwise there will be a war and many young and strong people in Chang'an will die. Our emperor believes that the Great Sui has lost too many people and cannot afford to lose young and strong people. Therefore, the strategies we adopt are to cut meat with a blunt knife, such as the salt war, and try to win without fighting."
"But I have to report to the emperor, what should I do?"
Shi Xiaozhen smiled and said, "Just write the report, and we will deliver the letter for you!"
Ten days later, Li Yuan received a report sent by Wang Jing, which stated that the black oil production in Yan'an County was too low and the impurities were too heavy, so it did not have much military value and was far less than turpentine. In addition, he agreed with the opinions of the previous salt-hunting team that the salt in Yan'an County was not practical, but he would continue to search for salt lakes or salt wells in various places, which might take several months.
Wang Jing’s report really disappointed Li Yuan, so he had to put the oil issue aside and no longer pay attention to it.
Wang Jing's home is located in Anshanfang. It is a two-courtyard house covering an area of one acre. He lives here with his wife Liu and their two sons. The eldest son is nine years old and the second son is six years old.
At noon that day, two young women came to Wang Jing's house. They handed a letter to Wang Jing's wife Liu and took out Wang Jing's token of love, which was a jade pendant. Liu immediately recognized her husband's jade pendant and read her husband's handwritten letter. Only then did she realize that her husband had gone to Luoyang.
"You are?"
"We are the Luoyang Internal Guards, and we will escort Madam and the two young masters to Luoyang. Envoy Wang is worried that you will be persecuted by the King of Tang."
"what should I do?"
The leading female soldier of the inner guard said, "Madam, please pack your things first. We will arrange a carriage to send you and the young master away from Chang'an City to Huayin County before dark to wait for a few days. Then we will leave Guanzhong for Luoyang with the caravan delivering salt." Liu sighed softly. She didn't want to leave Chang'an, but it seemed that she had no choice.
Three days before the end of March, Emperor Yang You announced his abdication and abolished his imperial title, officially ending the Sui Dynasty in Chang'an.
Although it was not explicitly stated in the abdication edict, all officials knew that the emperor could not have two Great Sui Dynasties, but only one authentic one, and that was the Great Sui Dynasty of Luoyang.
The emperor abdicated, the imperial title was cancelled, and a dynasty ended.
The King of Tang still exists, but Li Yuan has not stated whether he is loyal to the Sui Dynasty. Everyone is speculating whether Li Yuan will follow Dou Jiande's path and proclaim himself the King of Tang. Except for not proclaiming himself emperor, there is no difference between this and declaring himself emperor.
In fact, Li Jiancheng had already rushed to Luoyang to negotiate with the court, and Yang You was also sent back to Luoyang. They could also submit to the Tang Dynasty, but there were conditions. The condition set by Li Yuan was to split Guanzhong.
On the fourth day after the abolition of the imperial title, Li Yuan suddenly received news that 30,000 Sui troops crossed the Yellow River and occupied Yan'an County and Diaoyin County.
This news made Li Yuan nervous, and he immediately summoned important officials for an emergency discussion.
Li Yuan is indeed very nervous now. He has transferred all the troops in Guannei Road to deal with Liang Shidu and Li Gui. 50,000 troops are concentrated in Pingliang County and Jincheng County. There are almost no troops in other Guannei counties. At this time, the Sui army breaks into Guannei. What can they use to resist?
Pei Ji said quickly, "Your Highness, don't worry too much. I think this is pressure for negotiation. This situation is very common. We have been without troops in Guannei Road for more than two months. The other side did not send troops early or late, but they sent troops just when we were negotiating. Your Highness, this is not a coincidence."
Li Yuan walked a few steps with his hands behind his back and said, "I'm afraid they will get a taste of the sweetness and lose their defense, and occupy our entire Guannei Road."
Everyone was silent. This was indeed very possible. At this time, Wen Daya, the military secretary, said, "Your Majesty can ask the prince to question them directly and criticize them for taking advantage of others' misfortune. At least put pressure on them on a moral level. We are struggling to resist the invasion of the Turkic forces, but they are stabbing us in the back. This is too unrighteous."
The military officer Wu Shigui of the Armor Division also said, "Your Highness, what Wen said makes sense. We cannot fight on four fronts militarily, so we can at least morally condemn the Luoyang court. If the other side still wants to save face, it should have a certain effect."
Li Yuan nodded and sighed, "Guan Nei Dao is already a fish on the chopping board. It depends on whether Xiao Xia will show mercy."
After Xiao Xia ascended the throne, the only agency he abolished was the Intelligence Department. He no longer needed to deploy intelligence points in various places, so he merged the Intelligence Department into the Privy Council, making it an agency under the Privy Council.
Subsequently, the number of intelligence points in various places was reduced to ten. Apart from Chang'an, there were Longyou, Shuofang, Hexi and other places. Only one intelligence point was retained in Guannei Road, in Pingliang County, to understand the counterattack of the Tang Wang army against the invasion of Liang Shidu.
This led to a problem. Xiao Xia did not know that the Guannei Road was completely empty, so when his army occupied Yan'an County and Diaoyin County, he suddenly found that his army was not blocked by any army.
This completely disrupted his plan. He occupied Yan'an County for kerosene, and occupied Diaoyin County in order to connect with Yulin County in the north. The Sui army stationed 3,000 troops in Yulin County. After occupying Diaoyin County, the 3,000 defenders of Yulin County had a way to retreat.
Now Xiao Xia faces a choice. Should he go north to seize Shuofang County and Yanchuan County as originally planned, or change the plan and go south and west to seize Shang County, Beidi County and Honghua County?
(End of this chapter)