Chapter 842 Lobbyist
Chapter 842 Lobbyist
Starting from the 23rd, large quantities of supplies were delivered continuously within three days.
The troops have almost gathered together.
Before leaving, Shao Xun took one last look at his retreat.
At present, more than 10,000 soldiers and horses have arrived in Yanmen County. Among them, Yang Huiquan, the governor of Longxiang Shogunate, was appointed as the governor of Yanmen (he was dismissed after the incident). He sent a general with 4,800 soldiers and his troops up the Hutuo River to the northeastern mountainous area to choose a dangerous place to build a camp - Shao Xun personally named it "Pingxingzhai".
This route was mainly to prevent the Qi mother and son from taking an unusual route when traveling west, and suddenly break into Yanmen from this place to cut off the entire army's retreat - they didn't do this in the end, but Shao Xun still took precautions.
Liu Runzhong's 5,000 cavalry were scattered throughout Yanmen to suppress the local situation. The focus was to keep an eye on the families of Yuju's tribe and increase the cost of their rebellion.
There were also 4,800 government soldiers and retainers scattered at various passes in Yanmen Pass.
The Xiaba Dongwu troops arrived at Yinguan City in mid-June, and then handed over the defense to the 3,000 Yellow-Headed Army, and continued to head north to the South City Stronghold built by Wang Que'er, and then handed over the defense to the 3,000 Yellow-Headed Army again...
As of today, Dong Wu's troops have arrived in Xinping.
The four cities of Yanmen Pass, Yinguan, Nan, and Xinping (including the earthen city temporarily built on the south bank of Sanggan River) were the four most important nodes on the army's rear route. Except for Yanmen Pass, they were all garrisoned by the Huangtou Army, which consumed a total of more than 10,000 troops.
Shao Xun was wary of the recently surrendered Wuhuan and Hu tribesmen and did not trust them at all, so he did not hesitate to leave a large army behind to cover his retreat.
Yin Xi's troops who were resting in Mayi also received an order to move to the line from Yinguan to Xinping, inspect the grain route, and not be taken advantage of by the enemy - there were no enemies in the rear, so it was obvious who they were guarding against.
After reviewing it and finding that everything had been arranged properly, on the 26th, he ordered Wang Que'er to lead the Silver Spear Left Camp, part of the Yicong Army, 5,000 cavalry of the Yuju Army, 8,000 auxiliary Huangtou Army soldiers, and 4,000 Wuhuan men, a total of more than 25,000 people, to leave Xinping first and head straight for Pingcheng, more than a hundred miles away.
On the 27th, he led his personal army, the Silver Spear Right Camp, Chenliu and Luonan prefecture troops, part of the Yicong army, Dongwu's army, the Huangtou army, 5,000 strong men from the Wuhuan army, and 7,000 surrendered soldiers from the Pu army, a total of more than 49,000 people, and followed closely behind.
It can be seen that the main force has come out in full force and will not give up until the goal is achieved.
With this lineup, even if Helan Aitou had bad intentions and wanted to fight for Pingcheng, Shao Xun would not dare to fight him as well.
That afternoon, Wang Que'er, the commander of the vanguard army, brought several Xianbei envoys.
Shao Xun received the envoy in a newly built camp on the side of the road. The camp was about forty miles away from Xinping and was still expanding. Its main purpose was to store military supplies and fodder.
"I heard that Liu Yueshi sent you to Dai in the past, but you were not happy about it, and were forced to leave later." Shao Xun looked at the silver-haired old man in front of him and asked curiously, "Later, Liu Yueshi ceded the five counties in the north of Xing and moved the people to Yanmen Pass, but you stayed. Why?"
Mo Han was also looking at Shao Xun. He came back to his senses after hearing what he said and remained silent.
Lu Chen and Zhang Bin sat on the left and right behind Shao Xun. They looked at each other and felt that this man was interesting.
"I am staying in Fanzhi on the orders of Liu Bingzhou." Mo Han replied after a long time.
"Tuoba Yilu appointed you as the Left General and trusts you very much. I'm afraid you don't want to leave?" Shao Xun asked softly with a smile on his face.
Mo Han's expression did not change at all, he just sighed: "Your Majesty is right. In the past, I started as a merchant, communicating with various tribes, and I also met my ancestor (Tuoba Yilu), and we had a very close friendship. Liu Bingzhou said that I was familiar with the internal affairs of the Xianbei, so he appointed me as a Zhonglang. When the people were relocated, Liu Gong asked me to stay so that I could contact the Xianbei. When my ancestor heard about it, he invited me to serve as an official in the court, so I went. My family has been doing business in the grasslands and the Central Plains for generations, and most of the family business is in Xingbei, and I really don't want to leave."
"You are honest." Shao Xun said with a smile, "The scouts reported yesterday that your manor was built like a city, with three gates. On the top of the city, brave men were holding swords, strong women were holding knives, and even the old men and boys could shoot arrows. This estate is well managed."
"If not, how can we protect ourselves in Xingbei?" Mo Han did not avoid his family's manor.
The city was called Mohanbi, and from the name you can tell it was a small but strong city, located on the east bank of the Sanggan River (today's Yijing Township, Ying County). It was not on the marching route of the army, otherwise Shao Xun would have wanted to visit it.
The Mo family is a typical frontier noble family, who protected themselves by force and got rich through business, and they were able to get along well with both the Jin and Dai dynasties. Both Liu Kun and Tuoba Yilu wanted him to be an official. The former wanted a middleman, and the latter wanted to unite the local nobles. Besides, they really lacked talent, so they made use of him. During the Tuoba Yilu era, Mo Han ranked behind Wei Cao, Wei Xiong, Ji Dan, Fan Ban, Duan Fan and other Han people or sinicized Hu people, but his suggestions were often adopted.
"Are you here to bring a message to He Li?" Shao Xun asked, "My army has already marched north from Xinping. Don't you think it's too late?"
As they were talking, carriages and horses were like dragons and soldiers were like rain on the road not far away.
The scene of tens of thousands of people marching is hard to imagine unless you see it with your own eyes. When you climb to a high place and look into the distance, you will feel a sense of satisfaction, as if the whole world is in your hands.
Mo Han glanced at him unconsciously.
To be honest, he was quite shocked when he saw Shao Bing for the first time. He was much stronger than the soldiers of Sima Teng and Liu Kun. Perhaps, only such a confident and strong army would dare to fight against Tuoba Xianbei who dominated the grassland.
The winner who emerged from the Central Plains is really very confident.
"Your Majesty, what you said is wrong." Mo Han cleared his throat and said, "Defeating the King of Dai (Tuoba Heli) will only benefit Tuoba Yihuai. Why bother? Since Your Majesty has already obtained the five counties in the north of Xing, you must be anxious to settle the people on the border and educate the Hu people. This is not something that can be done overnight. If you continue to be greedy and reckless, not only will you lose your generals and soldiers, but Dongmugen Mountain may also be taken by Yihuai. By then, he will command all the tribes and become the common leader. Wouldn't it be more troublesome than it is now?"
Shao Xun did not comment, but ordered the commander of his personal army, Huang Zheng, to bring the map, and said, "If we don't get Pingcheng, the counties in northern Xing will never be stable. If Xingbei is not stable, Yanmen and Kelan will not be stable, and I will also not be able to sleep or eat well." "Your Majesty, do you want to take Pingcheng?" Mo Han frowned.
"Why don't you tell me what Madam Qi is thinking?" Shao Xun said, "In this situation, if we don't pay something, retreating with just one word will only make people laugh."
Mo Han's heart moved.
What King Liang said is interesting. If you think about it carefully, it seems that there is room for using the opponent's force to defeat him.
"If Your Majesty can slow down the advance and wait for my lord to defeat Helan Aitou in the north, I will offer Pingcheng to Your Majesty and return to Dongmugen Mountain to gather my old troops." Mo Han said, "If Your Majesty leads the army in a hurry, my lord will be forced to withdraw troops to fight. Regardless of the outcome, this will give Helan Aitou a good opportunity to capture cities and win over other tribes. Isn't this contrary to Your Majesty's wishes?"
Shao Xun fell into deep thought after hearing this.
He knew very well that Mo Han was trying to alienate the alliance between Liang, Wang and Helan, and that these three parties actually had their own ulterior motives.
Although the Wuhuan Wang family had their own small thoughts and interests, they were still controllable as a whole. They also wanted very much to take Pingcheng and connect it with Daijun and Guangning as their base of survival - this was actually larger than the territory of the Wuhuan King Kuxian back then.
According to the conditions offered by Wang Feng before the war, they were willing to offer Dai County and Guangning in order to restore their country.
What does this mean? They want to take over all of Tuoba Xianbei's territory, including Shengle and Pingcheng in the north and south, and for this they can give up Daijun and Guangning.
But is this the result Shao Xun wanted? Of course not.
His highest strategic goal was to build a defense line to the Yinshan Mountains and establish a puppet regime north of the Yinshan Mountains to permanently split the Xianbei. To this end, he only used the Wang and Helan clans, and did not really help them.
If he cannot achieve the highest goal immediately, he will review the situation and make flexible adjustments.
Based on this idea, and considering that Helan Aitou's progress is quite rapid, perhaps we should really make some adjustments?
Mo Han breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Shao Xun thinking.
Madam Qi was right. Shao Xun absolutely did not want to see the power of Helan Aitou and Tuoba Yihuai, the uncle and nephew, grow stronger day by day. He was just using the Wuhuan Wang family. If the situation did not develop in the direction he hoped to see, he would definitely adjust his strategy. By then, the worst would not be them, mother and son, or Yihuai and Helan Aitou, but Wang family and Shiyijian - they might get nothing, and the best outcome would be to establish a country in Xingbei and Pingcheng, but all power in the country would be in the hands of Shao Xun.
"I'll think about this matter again." Shao Xun waved his hand and said.
Huang Zheng understood and stood up and asked Mo Han to leave.
Mo Han bowed and turned to leave.
"Your Majesty." Seeing Mo Han's back going away, Zhang Bin immediately said, "Qi will definitely not be willing to surrender Pingcheng. This is just a delaying tactic."
Shao Xun nodded slightly.
Pingcheng was the southern capital of Dai State and had certain political significance. After returning from the battle, the mother and son of the Qi family did not go directly to Dongmugen Mountain, but came to Pingcheng. There was a reason for this - if Pingcheng was not defended, its prestige would be further damaged, and more tribes would revolt.
According to Mo Han, after the Qi mother and son defeat Helan Aitou, they will surrender Pingcheng. This is simply nonsense because it would be political suicide.
"If your Majesty is worried about the rise of Yihuai, I have a plan." Lu Chen suddenly said.
"Tell me." Shao Xun was a little surprised that it was not Zhang Bin who offered the suggestion first.
Lu Chen stood up, bowed first, and looked a little excited.
He spread out a map and said, "Helan Aitou has led the elite troops of the country to the east. They should be in the northwest of Dongmugen Mountain to persuade the tribes to surrender. They may also have to hold an alliance with the leaders of the tribes. Your Majesty may wish to select the elite troops and go north from Mayi, through the old site of Han Yanmen, and go straight to Shengle. Yihuai's troops are gathered by Aitou from all over the country. They have no people's support and their foundation is shallow. Once attacked, they may not be willing to fight to the death. If you raise the banner of Shiyijian, you may be able to disintegrate some people's hearts."
Shao Xun was silent and said nothing.
Lu Chen's plan was too presumptuous, and even if it was really to be implemented, now was not a good time, so it could only be used as a backup plan.
"Your Majesty, it is better to go north now." Zhang Bin said, "If we don't even take Pingcheng, few people will be willing to surrender. Besides, it will damage our reputation if we openly break the alliance. Even if we gain temporary benefits, it will cause endless troubles in the long run."
Upon hearing this, Lu Chen's face turned slightly red.
"Go north, don't stop!" After thinking for a moment, Shao Xun eliminated all distractions and made the final decision.
(End of this chapter)