Traveling through the early Tang Dynasty starts with hanging

Chapter 141 Persuasion
Xiangzhou, Junyi, and the county government gates are open, and a group of people are coming out in a file. The leader is a big man with white hair on the sideburns, with broad shoulders and a strong body, with a long knife on his waist, but his face is quite worried.

Hearing the noise, the big man turned his head to stare. At the corner of the street, more than a dozen handymen were pushing a young scribe.

"This man is from Beizhou. He has little talent and learning, but he has a dissolute nature and is despised by the villagers." Junyi ordered Cui Xianshou to take two steps forward, and said softly: "I heard that this man used to have an old relationship with Liu Heitai .”

The big man frowned slightly, snorted, but didn't speak.

This is Cheng Mingzhen, the general manager of Weizhou. He was a county magistrate under Dou Jiande in his early years, but before the battle of Hulaoguan, Cheng Mingzhen defected to Li Tang.

In the battle of Luoshui, Cheng Mingzhen obeyed the orders under Li Shimin's command and cut off Liu Heita's grain road. The latter had to abandon the Luocheng he had just captured and lined up to fight, but was finally defeated by Li Shimin.

But he also paid a high price. His mother, wife and children were all killed by Liu Heita.

Cheng Mingzhen glanced at Junyi Commander Cui Xianshou, and was about to turn around and leave. He used to be a county magistrate in many places, and he was well-known in administration.

The scribe who was being pushed and shoved was from the Beizhou family, and Cui Xianshou was a son of the Qinghe Cui family, maybe there was something wrong with it, this was an attempt to kill someone with a knife.

At this moment, a young scholar not far away seemed to see Cheng Mingzhen, and suddenly shouted: "A certain person is sent by the king of Huaiyang to meet the governor of Weizhou!"

The sound of hurried footsteps came, followed by a short reprimand, and Ma Zhou, whose clothes were all torn, glared at Cui Xianshou... Don't think about it, this guy must have been stopped by someone!
The reason is simple, Cui Xianshou and Ma Zhou have a grudge.

Ma Zhou's trip to Guanzhong, to put it mildly, was a tour, but in fact he couldn't stay in Hebei anymore. He offended the Cui family of Qinghe, so naturally he was in trouble everywhere.

Wanting to go to Beijing to show off his ambitions, Ma Zhou chose the East Palace, but unfortunately, Cui Xianshou's elder brother worked in the East Palace, so he had to stay in Zhujiagou in the end.

Cheng Mingzhen looked at Ma Zhou, "Where is King Huaiyang now?"

"In Guantao City."

"What is the proof?" Cui Xianshou said coldly: "Liu Heitao's army stormed Guantao. This thief is known for his cunning, and Director Cheng has to guard against it."

Cheng Mingzhen nodded slightly. In the military newspapers these days, Liu Heitai attacked Guantao Buke, and maybe he deliberately lured Xiangzhou and Weizhou to send troops to encircle and wipe them out in one fell swoop.

"Of course there are proofs." Ma Zhou tidied up his clothes and said with a sneer, "But Manager Cheng, please repel the idlers."

Cheng Mingzhen glanced at Cui Xianshou, this sentence obviously meant something... It seems that the two people really have enmity.

Cui Xianshou's face was ashen, and he was about to reprimand him, but Ma Zhou rushed forward and said sharply: "Last year in the Luoyang war, Wang Shichong asked Dou Jiande for help, and the envoys Wang Wan and Changsun An Shihou bribed Qinghe Cui, so that Dou Jiande led the army to go south."

"Shut up!" Cui Xianshou yelled angrily: "Qinghe Cui family, a thousand-year-old family, how can I tolerate you..."

"Qinghe Cui family, a thousand-year-old family, how did you come out of a generation like you!" Ma Zhou interrupted: "Didn't you still follow Dou Jiande to the tiger prison? How did you escape with your life?!"

Cheng Mingzhen didn't bother to care about these messes, so he drove Cui Xianshou back to the county government office, and took Ma Zhou to the military camp outside the city.

As soon as he sat down, Ma Zhou took out a sign from his arms and handed it over.

Cheng Mingzhen took it for a closer look, frowned and said, "The King Huaiyang gave it to you?"

"Duke Yuan paused in the battle of Xiabo, King Huaiyang fell into the battle and was captured. Six days ago, the Tang army captured Jieli Khan's eldest son, Yugushe, and exchanged him for King Huaiyang." Ma Zhou answered quickly and clearly. Said: "Now the manager of Wei Zhoutian is also in Guantao City."

Cheng Mingzhen nodded slightly. Last year he was under Li Shimin's command, and he had seen this plaque in the hands of several colleagues... This is the iron plaque of the general status of the six guards around the Qin Palace, for example, Qi Shanxing had one.

Tian Liu'an was also from the Prince Qin's residence, so he naturally had one too.

"Does Manager Cheng know that the Turkic army has returned to the north?"

Cheng Mingzhen's heart was shocked by Ma Zhou's first words. Although he sent many scouts to inquire about the situation in Weizhou, he didn't know the news.

"conclusive?"

"There is no doubt about it." Ma Zhou licked his dry lips, "Five days ago, Liu Heikai was forced by the Turks to attack Guantao, but he was still unable to overcome it, and suffered heavy casualties. The Turkic army had no choice but to return north to the grassland."

"Such a major event, we only need to send more scouts to find out, why should I lie?"

Cheng Mingzhen nodded slightly, it was indeed so, and after thinking for a while, he asked in a low voice: "The envoy of King Huaiyang came here, why?"

"Send troops." Ma Zhou said decisively, "We must send troops to help Guantao."

"In Guantao City, there are enough soldiers and food, and they are as solid as gold, so there is no need for assistance."

"The King of Huaiyang and Manager Tian want to destroy Liu Heita, so we ask Manager Cheng to send troops to help."

Cheng Mingzhen was startled, and shook his head reflexively, "The scouts reported back, the enemy army attacked Guantao, at least [-] soldiers, even if Weizhou, Xiangzhou, and Weizhou work together, it will be difficult to counteract."

"Five days ago, Liu Heitai took turns attacking the city with tens of thousands of soldiers." Ma Zhou obviously typed out a draft of the road, and immediately replied: "At dusk, Liu Heitai withdrew his troops, and Su Dingfang, the former elegant and virtuous son, led five hundred elite cavalry to the battle. , defeated nearly ten thousand enemy troops."

Cheng Mingzhen frowned. He had a low status under Dou Jiande in the past, so he had heard of the name Su Dingfang.

"Half a month ago, the manager of Xingzhou burned the granary, and Su Dingfang burned the grain and grass raised by Liu Shishan in Beizhou..."

Cheng Mingzhen stood up against the case, his expression greatly moved, "Liu's bandit army is short of food!"

Ma Zhou nodded wearily and said: "It's not like last year. This year, the Hebei Road is completely barren, and there is an extreme shortage of food. There are two big fires. There is no need to cut off the food road. Liu Heita's army is already short of food."

"The attack on Guantao was unsuccessful for ten days. The casualties were heavy, the morale of the army was low, and the Turkic army returned north to the grassland..."

Cheng Mingzhen walked back and forth in the tent in a hurry, thinking repeatedly in his mind that he had more than a thousand cavalry and two thousand infantry, which was not a strong force, but if he added Qi Shanxing's troops, it was indeed possible to win the battle.

But first, we need to send scouts to inquire about the battle situation in Weizhou, to make sure that the Turkic army has really returned to the north.

But if the battle is defeated, the Tang army in Hebei Road will be wiped out...

As if aware of Cheng Mingzhen's doubts, Ma Zhou said in a more serious tone: "It is difficult for the reinforcements from the central court to come to help in a short time. What can I do?"

Cheng Mingzhen chuckled, "Just now, I said that Guantao City is as solid as gold."

"That's right." Ma Zhou sighed, "If Director Cheng refuses to send troops, Guantao can only stick to it... Liu Heitao can't break Guantao, so he should attack Liyangcang."

Cheng Mingzhen sneered, how could he leave Liyang Cang to Liu Heita?

"If Manager Cheng imitated Xingzhou's trip, he set everything on fire..."

After a pause, Ma Zhou continued: "At that time, the court will definitely send a general to lead the troops northward...Liu Heita, who is short of food, will naturally be hard to resist."

Looking up at Cheng Mingzhen, Ma Zhou said the last sentence, "Then Liu Heitai can only flee to the grassland again and attach himself to the Turks."

"Bang!" Cheng Mingzhen kicked over the table in front of him.

The old mother, wife and children all died at the hands of Liu Heitai. This hatred is irreconcilable. How could Cheng Mingzhen tolerate Liu Heitai's escape? !
Ma Zhou let out a sigh of relief, he finally lived up to his trust, as long as Wei Zhou was willing to send troops, even if Qi Shanxing didn't want to send troops... he could only do so.

(End of this chapter)