The famous book tour starting from the Red House

Chapter 421
But Gao Qiu received the imperial decree from the Taoist emperor and returned to the yamen in the next court, so he summoned the two brothers Dang Shiying and Dang Shixiong, his confidant generals, to discuss countermeasures.

Hearing Gao Qiu's explanation of the reason, Dang Shiying said with a smile, "Xiangxiu wants to increase the morale of a thief and destroy his prestige. A mere thief, what a shame!"

Seeing that Dang Shiying was so composed, Gao Qiu immediately relaxed, "What's the general's plan, tell me quickly!"

Dang Shiying replied, "The thieves live in the water, and they can't be recruited unless they are ships. The two previous invasions were all suppressed by horse infantry. Therefore, they failed, and they were tricked by the thieves. Enxiang only needs to allocate a water army, and the land and water will advance together. , Can those thieves turn the world upside down?"

Gao Qiu felt very reasonable after hearing this, and thought of one person at that time.The man's surname was Liu, and his name was Menglong. He lived in Jinling Healthy Mansion and was the commander of the water army.

It is said that when this person was born, his mother dreamed that a black dragon flew into her belly, and she gave birth.When he grew up, he knew the nature of water well. He once made great achievements in beating bandits on the Xiajiang River in Xichuan.

Gao Qiu immediately mentioned this person and asked the party brothers for their opinions. Both of them were very kind.Later, Dang Shixiong recommended Shi Jiedu as the land commanding general.

Speaking of these ten festivals, the origin is quite legendary, they were also originally from the green forest.Later, during Zhezong's reign, he was recruited by the imperial court and made many achievements in recent years. They are all brave and good at fighting, and most of them have elite soldiers and powerful generals.

These ten people are: Wang Huan, the Jiedu Envoy of Hebei Province in Henan, Xu Jing, the Jiedu Envoy of Shangdang Taiyuan, Wang Wende, the Jiedu Envoy of Hongnong in Beijing, Mei Zhan, the Jiedu Envoy of Runan in Yingzhou, Zhang Kai, the Jiedu Envoy of Zhongshan Anping, and Jiang Xia. Lingling Jiedu Envoy Yang Wen, Yunzhong Yanmen Jiedu Envoy Han Cunbao, Longxi Hanyang Jiedu Envoy Li Congji, Langya Pengcheng Jiedu Envoy Xiang Yuanzhen, Qinghe Tianshui Jiedu Envoy Jing Zhong.

Unexpectedly, Gao Qiu frowned when he heard about these candidates. Dang Shixiong was very puzzled when he saw this, and hurriedly asked why.

Gao Qiu explained, "The people recommended by the general are all chosen at the moment. It's just that many generals gather together in one place rashly. If there is no important minister to lead the battle, I'm afraid they will fight on their own, which is not beautiful."

The Dang family brothers looked at each other after hearing this, and after a while, Dang Shiying suddenly hesitated and said, "There is a candidate for the young general, but I don't know if the Taiwei can accept it?"

"General but it doesn't matter."

Dang Shiying looked at Gao Qiu and said, "This person is right in front of us, he must be the Taiwei!"

"Ah, this..." Gao Qiu shook his head and declined without thinking, "I am in an important position, how can I leave my post without authorization? It's not right, it's not right!"

Don't look at Gao Qiu's beautiful words, in fact, he has self-knowledge, he has a clear understanding of how much he has in his family, and knows that he is not a talent for commanding troops, so how dare he take such a risk?
As Gao Qiu's confidant, Dang Shiying certainly knows what kind of guy Gao Qiu is.But he had good reason too, and listened only to him,
"Master En, think about it carefully, with Liu Tongzhi and Shi Jiedu going out this time, it is not an easy task to deal with that little Liangshan bandit.

But as Enxiang said, if there is no one with high morals and high prestige to sit in the town, I am afraid that they will not be able to subdue those arrogant soldiers.May I ask, who is more important than the Taiwei now that the court is full of people? "

Although Dang Shiying spoke vaguely, but Gao Qiu heard the meaning in his words, he was a little moved for a while, and thought to himself,
"That's right, with so many soldiers and horses, plus a group of brave generals, are you afraid that you won't be able to wipe out that gang of bandits? When I succeed in victory, won't the officials give me a higher look and won't let him be childish?" Be more beautiful than before!"

The more Gao Qiu thought about it, the more he felt it was reasonable, but after all, he was used to rich clothes and rich food for many years, and he was a little greedy for life and afraid of death, so it was difficult to make up his mind, so he said,

"Stand back, both of you, let me think about it again."

When Gao Qiu was hesitating, another bad news came from Huaixi, saying that Wang Qing had also rebelled.

What's more, because Huaixi is located in the south, the local soldiers and horses are not as elite as in the north, so Wang Qing's momentum is much greater than that of Tian Hu and Mu Xu.Just the news that came back said that once Wang Qingfang made a move, the power swept through the five prefectures and thirteen counties, and now it is still uncertain what will happen!
After learning of this urgent report, Zhao Ji no longer had the mind to practice Taoism, so he hurriedly summoned a group of confidants to the palace to discuss countermeasures.

Faced with this tricky situation, even Cai Jing was a little embarrassed. He was the first to raise an objection when he heard that Zhao Ji wanted to send troops to suppress the rebellion.

"Officials, if there is a three-way army, the treasury may not be able to make ends meet, unless the sealed pile treasury is used."

The Fengzhu Treasury is one of the internal treasuries established by Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin after the founding of the Song Dynasty. It houses the massive wealth confiscated when the Song Dynasty conquered all countries, and subsequent monarchs also added more.The purpose is to use it as military funds or ransom for recovering Youyun Sixteen States.

Although Zhao Ji is a pleasure-seeking emperor, he didn't dare to risk violating the precepts of his ancestors and easily open the pile locker.So after hearing Cai Jing's words, he quickly shook his head and refused,

"It's absolutely impossible. If I set this example, how will I see Taizu Taizong in the future."

Then he asked again, "Could it be that the country is in such a difficult situation that you can't even get the money to put down the rebellion? Wang Aiqing, you are the Secretary of the Ministry of Household Affairs. Come and tell me where all the money from the treasury has gone?"

When Wang Fu heard this, he was dumbfounded, he didn't know how to answer, he couldn't tell the master in front of him that he lost all his money.

The few people present were all Zhao Ji's confidantes, so each of them knew very well where the treasury's money had gone, but none of them dared to mention this in front of Zhao Ji.

Therefore, when faced with the question of Zhao Guan's family, everyone seemed to have become dumb, and they all sat with their eyes open, no one willing to help Wang Fu.Among them, Cai Jing gloated in his heart, waiting to see Wang Fu's good show.

And there is a reason for Cai Jing to behave like this.

However, it is said that Cai Jing has always been at odds with Zheng Juzhong in the court, but Wang Fu, as a member of the Cai party, prefers to make friends with Zheng Juzhong.For this matter, Cai Jing advised Wang Fu several times, hoping that he could draw a clear line with Zheng Juzhong, but Wang Fu always turned a deaf ear.

After this back and forth, cracks appeared in the relationship between Cai Jing and Wang Fu.In particular, Wang Fu has become more and more favored by Zhao Ji in recent years, and gradually no longer regards himself as the Cai Party, and even challenged Cai Jing's aspect.

Under such circumstances, in order to deal with Wang Fu, Cai Jing deliberately gave up the post of Minister of the Household Department, which he held concurrently, on the grounds of old age, and his party members elected Wang Fu to take over.

The reason for this is that Cai Jing had already predicted that Wang Fu had no ability to collect enough money for Zhao Ji's enjoyment.

Cai Jing originally thought that he would have to wait a few more days before seeing Wang Fu's misfortune.But he didn't want the incident to happen suddenly, and this day came so quickly.

Sure enough, after Zhao Ji finished asking, seeing that Wang Fu's face was earthy and unable to answer, his face was covered with frost, and he sighed angrily, "You are not as good as the Grand Master. The post of Minister of the Household Department should be taken over by the Grand Master. Wang Aiqing continues Be the school secretary."

After talking about the punishment of Wang Fu, Zhao Ji asked Cai Jing why the treasury was so tight.Cai Jing was much more tactful, and immediately used the Western Xia war and natural and man-made disasters as excuses to prevaricate.

Zhao Ji didn't delve into the matter, but instead said sullenly, "Since this is the case, can't we let the thieves grow bigger?"

Cai Jing replied, "Don't worry about officials, Wang Qing of Huaixi was just a prodigal son of Tokyo City in his early years, and he didn't have much ability in him. Even if something happened today, it was just a boil and moss disease, not a serious problem.

After the rebellion between Tian Hu and Mu Xu is settled down, it's all right to go back and deal with him.The most urgent task at the moment is to pacify Hedong as soon as possible, lest the thieves become powerful and affect the safety of northern Xinjiang, and give the Liao Kingdom an opportunity. "

Thinking of the losses suffered by the imperial court from the Liao people over the years, Zhao Ji agreed with Cai Jing's words very much, and immediately sent someone to send another edict to Tong Guan, urging him to start fighting against the chaos as soon as possible.Then he asked Gao Lian whether he could choose a good general and when he planned to conquer Liangshan.

After several days of ideological struggle, Gao Lian had already made a decision in his heart.At this moment when the official asked about it, he stood up at the right time, and first talked about the difficulties of this expedition, and then he took the initiative to invite Ying, declaring that he would personally take command and fight the thief for the emperor, with a loyal air.

This action won Zhao Ji Longyan great joy in one fell swoop, and immediately rewarded Gao Qiu generously, and passed down the decree, entrusting the matter to him to handle.

Since Gao Qiu recommended himself, he wanted to personally command the troops to conquer Liangshanbo, so he naturally wanted to ensure that the trip was safe.

After he returned to the Privy Council, he first issued a document to Shi Jiedu, ordering them to lead [-] elite soldiers to meet up at Jeju Prefecture recently, and those who arrived late would be dealt with by military law.

Then he transferred Liu Menglong from the Health Department, and ordered him to lead [-] elite soldiers to come to obey orders at Xingye.He also sent his confidant, Niu Bangxi, the captain of the infantry, to teach him to go up and down the river, and to collect ships in the river, and send them to Jeju for delivery.

After finishing all this, Gao Qiu felt that it was not enough, so he took his party brothers to the imperial army and selected [-] warriors who dared to fight.

After more than half a month passed like this, seeing that the food supervisor had prepared the food, grass and supplies needed by the army, the emperor Zhao Ji even issued an order to urge the army to rise.

Gao Qiu took his time and went to the Jiaofang Division to select more than [-] singing girls for entertainment with the army.

Feeling that everything was in order, Gao Qiu chose an auspicious day to sacrifice the flag, bid farewell to the emperor and the officials who sent him off, left Tokyo City, and headed for Jeju Prefecture.

It's just that this guy was born as a rascal, as soon as he left the capital, he immediately revealed his true colors, indulged the soldiers on the road, went to the village to plunder, and the people suffered, not just one.

Gao Qiu's commotion was so loud that Zhang San and others had spread the news to Liangshanpo earlier.

Xu Guanzhong, who was staying behind, heard the news, and he dared not neglect it, so he hurriedly called all the leaders to gather in the Yi Hall for a discussion.

When everyone arrived one after another, Xu Guanzhong explained the matter first, and then listened to the opinions of the leaders.

Lu Zhishen hesitated and said, "Gao Lian's visit this time is not kind, our village has less than [-] horses, should we ask the village owner for help?"

Xu Guanzhong shook his head and said, "Xiaosheng will send someone to send a letter to the village master to inform him of the details of the matter. But I will explain in the letter that I suggest that the village master does not need to return to help, so as not to fall into the enemy's plan to encircle Wei and rescue Zhao, which will damage Hedong event."

After hearing this, everyone was uproarious, and they were all a little scared.After all, Gao Qiu has commanded [-] horses this time, and Shi Jiedu and others are used to being good at fighting, so they are worried that they will not be able to handle it.

Seeing this, Xu Guanzhong coughed lightly, and comforted the leaders with a smile, "You don't need to panic. In Xiaosheng's opinion, those Gao Qi people are nothing more than chickens and dogs, and it is not difficult to break them."

Seeing Xu Guanzhong showing such confidence, everyone finally let go of their hearts, and asked about Ji Jiang's plan in one go.

Xu Guanzhong, on the other hand, said, "No hurry, everyone just follow my orders."

As he spoke, he called several leaders and whispered an explanation in their ears, ordering them to act according to the order without any mistakes.

However, the ten Jiedu envoys set off one after another after receiving the order from the Privy Council.Among them, Wang Wende, the envoy of Hongnong Festival in Beijing, was the first to rush to Jeju.

When Wang Wende's army marched to a place called Fengweipo one day, suddenly a puma army rushed out from the forest, and the leader was Shi Wengong.He reined in his horse to block Wang Wende's way, and after fighting with each other, he fought violently.

How could Wang Wende be Shi Wengong's opponent? After more than [-] rounds of fighting, he was exhausted and had to lead his army to retreat. It may be that he met Yang Wen, the governor of Jiangxia Lingling, and the two joined forces. Double battle Shi Wengong.

Seeing that Shi Wengong was defeated and fled in the direction of Liangshan, Wang Wende and Yang Wen had no time to think, and the soldiers chased after him.

Unexpectedly, it was Xu Guanzhong who was luring the enemy to go deep, the two ambushed in the middle of the way, they were defeated by Wu Song and Yang Zhi's troops, and most of the troops were lost.Yang Wen was picked off the horse by Shi Wengong who had turned back, and lost his life on the spot. Only Wang Wende fled to Jeju City with the remnants.

When Gao Qiu led the army to arrive, he heard that as soon as Fang joined the battle, he had killed a general and nearly [-] horses. He was furious and wanted to order someone to push Wang Wende out and behead him.

Thanks to the intercession of the other eight Jiedu envoys, Gao Qiu spared Wang Wende's death penalty and ordered him to be beaten with fifty army sticks as a warning to others.

Due to the loss for a while, Gao Qiu did not dare to underestimate Liang Shan's group anymore, and listened to the opinions of the generals with a rare humility.After some deliberation, it was finally agreed to send people to take turns to fight first, to test the quality of the enemy, and then talk about other things.

So, for the next period of time, there were generals leading troops to fight every day.Some people from the Liangshan side came out to fight at first, but after a few days, they began to shrink back.

Seeing this situation, Langya Pengcheng Jiedu envoy Xiang Yuanzhen said that it was because Liangshan had few soldiers and did not dare to fight any more, so it would be better to raise all the troops and advance by land and water, and go straight to the Liangshan camp. And down.

Gao Qiu and all the generals were deeply convinced when they heard the words, but Wen Huanzhang objected. The reason he gave was that the Liangshan River was more than [-] miles away, and there were many water networks inside. The enemy was more familiar with the waterways, so they should not rush Enter.

This statement was not wrong, but Wen Huanzhang forgot his identity, he was just a counselor recruited by Gao Li at will, the purpose was to show that he was a virtuous corporal, how could he really care about the opinions of a scholar?

In addition, this statement was suspected of belittling Liu Menglong, and he took the opportunity to reprimand him.Later, Liu Menglong assured Gao Qiu that his navy could gallop across the river like a flat land, and a small water park was nothing to worry about.

Gao Qiu was overjoyed by Liu Menglong's words, and he thought he had the chance to win, so he decided to attack with the whole army tomorrow.

At dawn the next day, following Gao Qiu's order, more than [-] troops marched to the edge of Liangshan Po.

Gao Qiu personally commanded half of the army, and was in charge of responding at the water's edge. Liu Menglong led the water army as the vanguard to open the way. Kill the generals towards the depths of the water.

(End of this chapter)