Emperor Taizong's Growth Plan

Chapter 320
On the south bank of Yongzhou, above the position of the cloud army, the sound of military drums agitated the morale of the army.Crossbowmen, crossbow carts, and catapults all shot together, arrows rained, and rocks fell continuously, heading straight for the opposite bank.

The Xia army camp on the opposite bank counterattacked very weakly at this time.

On the surface of the Yongjiang River, the Leizhou Navy, which has been blocking the river for a while, preventing Di Qing from killing him to the opposite bank, only resisted a little at this time, and then turned the bow of the ship, heading southeast downstream, and retreating to Leizhou .

Numerous cloud troops crossed the Yongjiang River in boats, and finally completely captured the Wuzhou camp that had blocked them for more than several months.

Just looking at the messy and empty camp in front of them, the faces of all the generals of the cloud army were a little ugly, and they all said to Di Qing:
"Marshal, look at the traces, it has not been a few days since the Xia army has withdrawn!"

"Please give the order from the commander-in-chief, send the cavalry with the tail to chase and kill them!"

"Marshal, the last general is willing to lead the army!"

"..."

Now among the numerous armies in Yunguo, Anbei General Cheng Bushibu captured Jiangyang County, Shicheng County Wu Zixu defeated the Xia Kingdom's southwest frontier army and captured Dejiang County, Anton General Yang Dayan defeated Li Chao's navy in one battle and forced to land in Li Chao.All of them are famous all over the world and powerful in all directions.

Only their Yongzhou army has the most soldiers and the strongest combat power.But for several months, because of the blockage of the Yongjiang River, the Yun army, without naval aid, could only station on the south bank.Apart from killing the more than [-] Xia Army Beisai Jingqi who attacked and killed Di Qing, there were no brilliant results.

After finally reaching the other side, they found that the Xia army had already withdrawn, leaving only an empty battalion for them.

As a result, the generals of the Yongzhou camp, who had accumulated a lot of depression in their hearts because of the military chaos in the camp before and the two incidents of stopping the Yongjiang River for several months, became even more excited and wanted to lead the army. Chase and kill, to relieve the suffocation and indignation of the army for several months!
But at this moment, Di Qing, when he heard the call for battle from his generals, his expression was serious, and he shook his head and refused:
"The Xia army is not fleeing, but retreating in an orderly manner. The commander of the Xia army, Deyang Hou Qimo, we have been fighting with him for several months, and only his advances and retreats are measured and well-organized. Presumably when he evacuated, he must have arranged for a backup. Our army hastily pursued, I am afraid that we will fall into Xia Jun's plan and increase the damage!"

Xia Guo, the Marquis of Deyang, deployed his troops extremely rigorously and cautiously, and also had a measure of advance and retreat, decisive and courageous, he was worthy of being a famous general in the world.

Although before that, he personally led the army to besiege and kill Di Qing, because Xiao Cheng had insight into all the schemes, and he almost died in the rebellion.But when the two armies confronted each other later, even though they were facing an existence like Di Qing, they were able to hold their positions firmly for several months, preventing the Yun army from attacking the north bank.

With such an existence, Di Qing didn't think that when he evacuated, there would be no follow-up arrangements!
Seeing that the faces of the generals were still indignant, Di Qing calmed down and said softly:

"Your Majesty's grace, I thought I was waiting for the army to fight outside, and ordered to reward the army. Now that Wuzhou has been captured, it is just a matter of days to rectify the troops and horses. The wine, meat, and money needed by the army will arrive soon, and the soldiers below must be given Let's rest!"

Xiao Cheng issued an order to reward the army on New Year's Eve, but the war was still going on before, so it has been delayed until today.

Di Qing paused, then continued:
"Also this time, when the Wuzhou camp was captured, all the officers and men died, and once the achievements of the meritorious service were paid off, this commander should also report to His Majesty and the court for approval..."

Hearing that there are many things in the imperial court, such as wine, meat, gold and silver, and rewards for meritorious deeds, although there is still resentment between the brows of the generals, they have calmed down a little after all.

Seeing this, Di Qing looked around at the generals, his expression turned serious, and he said sharply:
"Now Wuzhou is in the hands of our army, and Xiaguo Hechi County no longer needs to guard it. After repairing for a few days, the army dispersed and took over the various cities in Hechi County. Temporary military control and restoration of order. Waiting for officials to be dispatched in the court, and then formally Hand over the people's livelihood... wherever the army goes, there will be no crime in the autumn. If anyone violates the military order and disturbs the people, they will be killed!"

At this time, Di Qing first mentioned the rewards, and then made it clear that the army is governed by the law, and the army is strictly prohibited from invading the area. Obviously, this arrangement is intentional.

The people in the southwest of Xia Kingdom, because of the plague, most of them did not resist submitting to Yun Kingdom.

This popular support is hard-won, and it was obtained by spending a lot of manpower and material resources in the court. It must not be lost because the army disturbed the place!Especially next to it, there is Xiangzhou County, which expelled Xia Guo officials, and the villagers self-government, secretly watching.

Although Di Qing came to Yongzhou camp not long ago, the corpses of the generals who planned the mutiny at the beginning, and his performance in running the army during this period have already given him enough prestige.

Under his warning, the generals immediately turned serious, cupped their fists and said:

"Follow the Commander's order!"
-
In the county mansion of Dejiang County, Wu Zixu lowered his eyebrows as he looked at a scholar standing in the hall.

The person in front of him, with a sharp mouth and monkey cheeks, was full of cunning, very similar to the role of a dog-headed military adviser next to a bandit.

In fact, this occupation is really not much different.

Shaoyang Commandery Weicheng, Lu Xingxian, is now Shaoyang County Commandery Murong Fu's deputy, temporarily in charge of documents and political affairs.

Lu Xingxian looked at Wu Zixu, who was still young despite his half-white hair, and a hint of envy flashed in his eyes.

The emperor of Yunguo appointed talents and abilities, and only valued talent and learning, regardless of background or age.

In front of him is Wu Zixu.However, at the age of [-], he will be able to command a large army, and thus have a chance to become famous in the world in one battle.In the world, all ambitious scholars can't help yearning for it.

Such a king, if he had decided to go to Yunguo to participate in the imperial examination, would he be able to achieve something now?
"Wei Cheng Lu Xingxian of Shaoyang County?" Wu Zixu asked in a deep voice.

Lu Xingxian came back to his senses slightly, restrained his mind, immediately bowed down and said:
"Lu Xingxian, I have met Mr. Wu!"

Wu Zixu smiled slightly and said:

"Your General Murong sent you here, but you admire me Dayun Wang Hua and want to join you?"

When Lu Xingxian heard this, he immediately showed a look of admiration, and said:
"Master Wu is really amazing, he can see what my general means at a glance!"

"The court of the Xia Kingdom regards the common people as worthless, and my general has long been dissatisfied. It's just that before, there were Xia's forces on all sides, and we could only bear the humiliation for the big plan! Now, the Dayun Heavenly Soldiers have arrived, and my general has the intention to set things right. Reward!"

Earlier, after Murong Fu rejected Ju Meng's proposal and sent troops to respond to Yunguo's army's suggestion, the sticky staff had concluded that Murong Fu was not to be trusted, and cut off all ties with him.

After Murong Fu found out that the forces hidden in the sticky pole were hidden, he didn't take it seriously at first.After all, the country of Xia is powerful, separated by two counties, Dejiang and Hechi, it is impossible for the Yun army to attack him in Shaoyang County in one go.

Who would have thought that in just a few months, the situation in the southwest of Xia Kingdom had already collapsed, and the land of six counties had gone to four counties.Yunguo's two armies had even arrived near his Shaoyang County, and they were about to encircle him.

As for Xia Guo, while urging him to send troops to defend against the army of Yun Guo, he also rushed to dispatch troops to take over the defense of Shaoyang County.Looking at this posture, one could tell that he wanted to swallow his power in one gulp.

In front of them, there was an army of Yun Kingdom that was in full swing, and it was difficult to resist.Afterwards, there was King Qi of the Xia Kingdom, who was coveting and harboring evil intentions.In this way, how can Murong Fu sit still?Without further ado, he immediately dispatched Lu Xingxian, a recently recruited scholar under his command, to secretly contact the Yunguo army, hoping to win a chance for himself!
After Wu Zixu heard Lu Xingxian's words, he nodded casually and said:

"Since that's the case, how does your General Murong want to do it?"

When Lu Xingxian heard the words, he immediately lifted his spirits and said quickly:
"Now Xia's army wants to use Shaoyang County's Wuling Mansion and Yongzhou as the base, and deploy a large army to strengthen its defenses, in a vain attempt to resist the Dayun Heavenly Soldiers. My general, I want to invite Lord Wu to join us, and take the Wuling Mansion under the cooperation of inside and outside. Welcome Dayun Tianbing to Shaoyang County!"

Wu Zixu frowned when he heard this, and said in a deep voice:
"I ask directly, what does your General Murong want?"

Wu Zixu obviously didn't believe the words that he admired Wang Hua!

The fact that Murong Fu was born in Yunguo and worked for Xiao Cheng is also a secret of the stick, Wu Zixu naturally does not know.

Therefore, in Wu Zixu's view, Murong Fu is a savage with a lot of means.Taking advantage of the turmoil in the southwest, he took advantage of the momentum and was recruited by Xia Guo, turning him into the actual controller of Shaoyang County.

Such a character dares to make small moves at this time, obviously it is impossible to be sincerely attached!
Hearing Wu Zixu's culture, Lu Xingxian hesitated for a while, gritted his teeth suddenly, and said:

"Your Excellency is wise! My general wants to serve His Majesty the Emperor Dayun, and he will stay in Shaoyang County forever to resist the Xia Kingdom's invasion!"

Hearing this, Wu Zixu fell silent immediately.

After a long time, he just said in a strange tone:

"Your general, why do you have such an idea?"

Hearing this, Lu Xingxian's face flushed slightly.

This request, even he himself felt a little unreasonable.

Why did his general take it for granted that Yun Jun would help him drive away Xia Jun, and then hand over the entire Shaoyang County to him?

At this time, Lu Xingxian's eyes were a little erratic, he lowered his head and said:
"My general is ready to open the gate of Wuling Mansion as soon as Lord Wu leads the troops. At that time, even Yongzhou will have to abandon the Xia army's defenseless land. At that time, it will only be Shaoyang. The county, even Anshun County, and even Jiangcheng Mansion cannot be defended, and the entire hinterland of Xia Kingdom is at the mercy of His Majesty Dayun Emperor."

"His Majesty the Emperor Dayun was able to defeat Xia Kingdom and become the ruler of the world. My lord, you are powerful in the world, and you are among the world's famous generals. You have all the high officials and nobles in your hands. My family, General Murong, can also serve in the Dayun Kingdom. Work together, everyone gets what they want Please. Wouldn’t it be beautiful to do so?”

Now Xia Kingdom's second southwest line of defense is Xingyuan Mansion, Wuling Mansion, and Yongzhou, with Jiangcheng Mansion as the center to resist the attack of the Yun army.If the Wuling Mansion is compromised, there will be loopholes in this line of defense, and the entire southwest of Xia Kingdom may be abandoned, and even the Yun army will invade the hinterland of Xia Kingdom.

Of course, all of this is only possible under the smoothest circumstances.

After all, Xia Guo's side is not all incompetent and mediocre people!

The most likely situation is that the Wuling Mansion was destroyed, but due to the lack of troops under Wu Zixu's command, it was difficult to occupy the entire Shaoyang County in the first place.The other two cloud armies were not allowed to follow up immediately, but the Xia army who had withdrawn from Wuzhou chose to resist desperately.In the end, the war between Yunguo and Xiaguo, which had subsided somewhat, continued to be caught in a tug-of-war.

Thinking of this, Wu Zixu's eyes flickered, and he couldn't help showing a bit of struggle and hesitation.

He bears a family feud, and what he thinks of all the time is that he wants to lead the army to attack Jinling City.So at this time, the choice he most wanted to make in his heart was naturally to take a gamble.If it can be successful, then Xia Guo will definitely suffer great damage and accelerate its defeat, and the day when his family feud will be avenged is not far away.

But with reason in his heart, he kept telling Wu Zixu at this time that the chance of success of this method was too small!

Don't look at the state of Yun Kingdom that seems to be invincible, its soldiers are in full swing, and the world is bowing its head.But in fact, even counting the newly obtained land of the four prefectures of Yongzhou and the four counties in the southwest, the national power of the Yun Kingdom is far inferior to that of the Xia Kingdom.

In terms of population, Xia Country has a large population, more than three times that of Yun Country.In terms of territory, the Xia Kingdom occupies all the rich and prosperous lands in the world, with a vast territory, larger than the four Yun Kingdoms combined.The gap between the national power of small countries and big countries cannot be changed overnight.If it really fell into a long-term war, it must be that Yun Kingdom cannot sustain it first!

At this time, Lu Xingxian didn't know why Wu Zixu was struggling, but continued to persuade:

"If Mr. Wu can speak a few words of kindness for my general in front of His Majesty Dayun, my general should present you with a generous gift!"

At this time, Wu Zixu came back to his senses, and when he heard Lu Xingxian's words, he looked up at him for a long time, and suddenly laughed.

The original hesitation and hesitation in his eyes disappeared at this moment, replaced by a few traces of mockery.

In the current situation, whether it is the Xia Army consolidating the defense line or the Yun Army attacking Shaoyang County, it is impossible for Murong Fu, who is taking advantage of the chaos, to continue to occupy Shaoyang County!
If he made up his mind to take refuge in either side of Yunxia, ​​he would not lose his wealth and title.But if you still can't see the situation clearly at this time, it's just a dream to think about preserving power between Yunxia and Xia!
Putting the hope of capturing Wuling County on such a person, it is ridiculous to calm down and think at this moment!

With their IQs, Xia Guo may have noticed all these small actions at this time.Don't let Xia Guo play tricks at that time...

Thinking of this, Wu Zixu shook his head slightly, and didn't bother to talk to Lu Xingxian any longer. He cupped his hands in the direction of Zhongqing City, and said:

"Although I am quite tempted, it is a pity that I have received His Majesty's decree a while ago, and the army has suspended the offensive. His Majesty's decree was issued, and I am not easy to disobey it. So, please go back!"

Lu Xingxian was startled when he saw Wu Zixu, who was still hesitating just now, suddenly changed his attitude, and quickly said:

"Master Wu, we can talk about this matter again!"

Even if he doesn't give the entire Shaoyang County, but a few cities as a reward, he can go back and do business, right?Wu Zixu's categorical refusal is really incomprehensible!

"My general really intends to serve the Dayun Kingdom. Master Wu, if you..."

Wu Zixu was too lazy to continue to spend his thoughts, and signaled his soldiers to take him away.

After driving the people away, Wu Zixu groaned for a while, then got up and went to the desk, and wrote down all the pros and cons of today's incident on the memorial, and then summoned his own soldiers, and asked:

"Hurry up and send this secret book back to Beijing, and present it to His Majesty!"

"Yes, my lord!"

　There is one more chapter, probably later...

　　
　
(End of this chapter)