First Minister of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 175
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Zhu Can's army is all from mountain bandits, they are brave and ruthless, and they are extremely fierce when they fight. When it comes to individual combat capabilities, they can be called the strongest soldiers in the world. It is because Zhu Can's troops have no formations to speak of.

During the battle, when Zhu Can gave an order, a swarm of bees swooped and swung their knives to kill. In this way, what they faced was a neat and uniform formation of the Tang army. , and then with a long spear, Zhu Can's bandits and rogues were caught off guard.

In a war involving tens of thousands of people, individual bravery is extremely small, and in the end it depends on the cooperation of the army.

On the days when Gao Chongwo was training troops in Shangjin, Shangzhou, Chang'an City was not peaceful.

After Li Yuan succeeded to the throne, Xue Ju of the Western Qin Dynasty made some moves. Taking advantage of the regime change in Chang'an and the Tang Dynasty's unstable foothold, he ordered Luohu, the Marshal of the Eastern Road of the Western Qin Dynasty and Yixing King Zong Luohu, to plunder the border areas.

What Xue Ju didn't expect was that Zhang Changxun, the general manager of Fengzhou in the Tang Dynasty and the Duke of Anhua County, was a ruthless man. He immediately led the army to defeat Zong Luohu and almost wiped him out. Rescue Zong Luohu.

It was originally a partial friction, but now that Xue Ju, the emperor of Western Qin, led his army to attack, Zhang Changxun scolded Zong Luohu for being shameless, so he had to turn around and ask Chang'an for help.

Li Yuan immediately ordered: Li Shimin, the king of Qin, was appointed as the marshal of the march, set up the Marshal's Mansion, and led Liu Wenjing, the Duke of Shi Lu, Yin Kaishan, the Duke of Sima Chen, and Liu Hongji, Chai Shao and other eight major commanders, commanding [-] troops to meet Xue Ju.

When Gao Chong from Shangzhou heard the news, Li Shimin had already led his army to the expedition, and Gao Chong was very anxious.

Because Gao Chong was deeply impressed by this battle, the result was the great defeat of the Tang Dynasty, Xue Ju was ashamed and killed more than [-] Tang troops, Liu Hongji, Li Anyuan and others were all defeated and captured.

And the cruel Xue Ju cut off the heads of [-] Tang soldiers killed in battle and built it into a Beijing temple.

Since Gao Chong knew this would be the result, if he did nothing, he couldn't bear it. He just raised his pen, but he didn't know how to write it. If he spoke bluntly, how could he convince Li Shimin? After all, nothing happened.

After thinking about it, Gao Chong exchanged pleasantries first, and then wrote directly: "...Xue Ju's army goes deep into the land alone, and the battle line stretches for thousands of miles. His food and grass are bound to be in short supply. Moreover, Xue Ju is determined to avenge his shame and is eager for success. The second son may start from here. ...In addition, Liu Zhaoren rose up and recovered, or was eager to perform meritorious service, and the second son was cautious..."

Although Gao Chong felt that this exhortation might seem a bit abrupt, and perhaps in the eyes of others, Gao Chong was meddling in other people's business, and even had a high opinion of himself, but Gao Chong believed that Li Shimin would never be annoyed by this letter. Just ask for a clear conscience.

Jing Guan, Liu Hongji and others who were built by Tang soldiers were captured. Thinking of these, Gao Chong couldn't turn a deaf ear.

Just when Gao Chong was worried about the Northwest War, a big man came to Shangzhou, who was the emperor's imperial envoy who was ordered to inspect the armies.

This person's name is Zheng Yuanxuan, and his official worship is Taichangqing.

Taichangqing is a member of the third rank, that is, the chief official of Taichang Temple, and one of the nine ministers. He is in charge of the etiquette of the ancestral temple and the rituals and music of group sacrifices. He is extremely noble.

And Zheng Yuanxuan inspected the armies with the high position of Tai Changqing because of his military talent.

Zheng Yuanxuan was the son of Zheng Yi, the governor of Qizhou in Sui Dynasty and the Duke of Pei Guo. He grew up with his father in the army since he was a child.

In the last years of Daye, he was appointed as the prefect of Wencheng. When Li Yuan entered Guanzhong, Zheng Yuanxuan judged the situation and came down from the county, and Li Yuan relied heavily on it.

At the beginning of the Tang Dynasty and the reform of the military system, the imperial court did not know much about the situation of the guards and military mansions. Li Yuan ordered Zheng Yuanxuan to inspect the military mansions in the pass. He will arrive in Shangzhou tomorrow, and Shangjin Military Mansion is one of the few in Shangzhou. One of the upper houses.

The arrival of Zheng Yuanxuan made all the military residences in Shangzhou panic. Of course, except for the Shangjin military residence, along the way, Zheng Yuanxuan’s picket records for the military residences along the way were full of notes. There are many old and weak, all of which are recorded truthfully by Zheng Yuanxuan.

Firstly, he was an official of the third rank, so he was extremely dignified, and secondly, Zheng Yuanxuan was born in the Zheng family of Xingyang, so Zheng Yuanxuan didn't have to worry about anything until he went to Shangjin Military Mansion.

Gao Chong was frank and frank, so he would not be afraid of anything. When he saw the military demeanor of Shangjin Military Mansion, Zheng Yuanxuan was really surprised.

On the school grounds, [-] sergeants held horizontal knives, chopping horizontally and vertically. After a practice, they turned out to be neat. Recruits who are less than one month old?"

Gao Chong nodded, "All the tools were recruited after I took office, and it has only been ten days since then."

Zheng Yuanxuan walked among the queues, tsk-tsk loudly, "It's really a strong army, and the fruit of you is the father's military strategy."

Hearing these words, Gao Chong, Rong Zheng and other generals of the Shangjin Military Mansion all smiled. It seems that this inspection, the Shangjin Military Mansion has received a good comment.

Zheng Yuanxuan stayed in the Shangjin Military Mansion for several days, watching Gao Chong personally lead the team to practice every day, even if he kept a straight book and recorded truthfully, then Zheng Yuanxuan set off for Xizhou.

Gao Chong always felt that Zheng Yuanxuan's trip was not simple. On the surface, he was inspecting the various armies, but this route was really worth considering. He came to Shangzhou first, and then went to Xizhou.

Sure enough, three days after Zheng Yuanxuan left, Gao Chong received the news that the puppet Chu Emperor Zhu Can personally led an army of [-] to invade Xizhou.

Then Taichangqing Zheng Yuanxuan relied on the imperial decree in his hand to temporarily restrain the soldiers and horses of Shangzhou, Xizhou, and Junzhou, and recruited soldiers from the three prefectures, and rushed to Xichuan, Xizhou to assemble within five days.

If it was a coincidence, Gao Chong wouldn't believe it even if he killed him, but it happened that Zheng Yuanxuan happened to be patrolling Xizhou when he encountered Zhu Can's invasion.

What's even more coincidental is that Li Yuan also issued an order in advance that in case of war, he can temporarily restrain his troops and horses. Isn't this a prophecy? The only reasonable explanation is that all this was planned by Li Yuan and others.

Xichuan County, the administrative seat of Xizhou, is where the army gathers, and the storm is about to come.

Zheng Yuanxuan, with a helmet on top and armor pierced through his armor, changed from his elegant appearance dressed as a scribe before, holding a saber in his hand, which was extraordinarily majestic.

"The Zhu thief invaded the country, everyone should work together to protect the country and the people. This official is ordered in the face of danger. The holy decree is for this. If there is any violation of the order and disobedience, the military law will be followed." Zheng Yuanxuan looked solemnly, looking at the gathered generals and said sharply.

As soon as the words fell, Gao Chong took the lead in saluting and echoing, "The last general obeys orders", after that, the hussars and chariots of all the military houses echoed loudly, at this time, naturally he would not sing against Zheng Yuanzhen.

Zheng Yuanxuan glanced at Gao Chong, nodded, turned around and sat down at the desk.

"The Zhu bandits are numerous, and our army is only ten thousand. According to my opinion, we may be able to hold on to the city. Zhu bandits are all bandits, arrogant and ruthless. You must be impatient, and you can find an opportunity to break it at that time, what do you generals think?"

(End of this chapter)