First Minister of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 179 Zhu Can's Great Defeat
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Seeing his son Fan Da asking, County Magistrate Fan explained it in detail, and Fan Da shook his head and smiled after hearing this.

"Aye is really worrying too much," Fan Da said with a look of news on his face, "Zhu Can's crime is too numerous to write down. From the reactions of the people in Xichuan, it can be seen that Zhu Can will definitely lose. What I worry about is nothing more than worrying about Gao Chong's safety. I believe that Zheng Siqing will only be more concerned about this than Aye."

Magistrate Fan was a little confused, "Can my son elaborate?"

Seeing that there was no one around, Fan Da said in a low voice: "Zheng Siqing comes from the Zheng family in Xingyang, which is one of the four Kanto surnames, and Gao Youzhi comes from the Bohai Gao family. Xianggong is respected, only Gao Xianggong can compete with Pei Xianggong, do you think this Zheng Siqing will put Gao Xianggong's only son in danger?"

The four Kanto surnames are Fanyang Lu, Qinghe Cui, Xingyang Zheng, and Taiyuan Wang. Although the Bohai Gao family is not among the five surnames and Qiwang, it is also a top family and belongs to the Kanto line. Yan Guogong and Guan Bai Shizhong are the leaders of the Kanto family.

The six surnames in Kansai are Jingzhao Wei, Jingzhao Du, Hedong Pei, Hedong Liu, Hedong Xue, and Hongnong Yang, and the most distinguished one at this time is Pei Ji, who was born in the Pei family of Hedong. , Guan Bai Shangshu Youpushe, can be called the leader of the Kansai family.

These two people are in charge of Shangshu Province and Menxia Province, the second of the three provinces. They are the first and second assistants of the current dynasty, belonging to the Kansai and Kanto respectively.

As for the other person, Liu Wenjing from the Liu family in Pengcheng, who was granted the title of Duke of Lu, assumed the position of Minister of Zhongshu on behalf of the power of Zhongshuling, and belonged to the Jianghuai lineage.

Hearing Fan Da's succinct explanation, County Magistrate Fan felt relieved, but seeing Fan Da frowning in thought, County Magistrate Fan asked directly: "What do you think, my son?"

Fan Dalue thought about it and said straightly: "Zhu Can's defeat is a foregone conclusion. If a child wants to become an official, he needs to be famous and make meritorious deeds. This Zhu Can is the best certificate of fame."

County magistrate Fan was startled when he heard the words, and hurriedly said: "Zhu Can has a great reputation as a murderer, so don't be reckless, my son."

Seeing this, Fan Da shook his head and smiled: "Aye, don't worry, my son is not a schemer. When I traveled to Huai'an (later called Xianzhou), I met a hero named Yang Shilin. This man was from a local wealthy family. The family has a huge fortune. He has great prestige in the local area, and he wants to do a big business. He wants to recruit Yang Shilan, persuade him to raise troops, capture Dengzhou, surround and kill Zhu Can, so as to make a career.

Hearing this, County Magistrate Fan was shocked, "This...is this sure?"

Fan Da waved his hands and smiled, "How can one be very sure in a troubled world? If you are [-]% sure, you can do something."

Immediately reassuring his father, Fan Da was very decisive, packed his bags, and took a few entourages to Xianzhou that night. At this time, Xianzhou was also called Huai'an County and belonged to Wang Shichong.

Zhu Can attacked fiercely for a day, but Niuwei Mountain was easy to defend and difficult to attack. The mountain road was narrow and there were many rocks on the mountain. On the first day, the arrows were not consumed, and only the rolling stones smashed Zhu Can's troops into a mess.

In desperation, Zhu Can ordered the fire to burn the mountain, but as October approached, the vegetation withered and it was not easy to burn, and Gao Chong shoveled the surrounding area to flat ground to form a isolation zone in order to build a smokeless stove. is useless.

To be honest, when Zhu Can set fire to the mountain, Zheng Yuanzhen almost couldn't hold it back. Later, when he saw the sparse fireworks, Zheng Yuanzhen called the local people to inquire, and learned that Niuwei Mountain was a rocky mountain, mostly stones, and not much vegetation. , Zheng Yuanxuan felt relieved.

For two days in a row, Zhu Can personally put on his armor and attacked the mountain. Niuwei Mountain was named Niuwei Mountain because it was narrow and long like a oxtail. Zhu Can suffered heavy losses and made no progress, and his logistics was in short supply, and he was about to run out of food.

In desperation, Zhu Can had no choice but to order the last wave to attack the next day, and if he could not break through, he would retreat to Dengzhou.

The original intention was to go to Shangzhou to plunder, but now that the food and grass are running out, it is no longer enough to support the plunder in Shangzhou. More importantly, Zhu Can is worried that Shangzhou will also be solid and clear, so he is really desperate.

In the early morning of the next day, Gao Chong endured the soreness in his arm and carried the stones to the top of the mountain together with the soldiers. Rong Zheng beside him touched the wound of the arrow with a look of resentment, "General, why didn't Zheng Siqing support you?"

Gao Chong looked in the direction of Xichuan City, and cursed secretly in his heart: If we don't support today, we will really be doomed.

But he said: "Why panic, we have enough food, and the bandit army at the foot of the mountain is still hungry." Hearing this, the soldiers on the side also grinned, "Zheng Siqing's [-] elite will be at the bottom of the bandit army. Give them a fatal blow when they are tired, and the bandit army will definitely be defeated," Gao Chong continued.

Rong Zheng also reacted, and said with a straight smile: "The general is right, the rebel army is hungry, and when the time comes, they will be attacked by the enemy, and they will have no way to go to the sky and no way to enter the earth."

Seeing that the two generals were so relaxed, all the soldiers also grinned. For the past few days, Zhu Can's army had attacked desperately. Most of the 2000 Tang troops on the mountain were killed.

With the sound of the horn, Zhu Can's bandit soldiers came to attack the mountain again. Gao Chong put on simple leather gloves and leaned his hands on the stone pile. If there were no these piled stones, Niuwei Mountain would have been breached long ago.

Lifting up the stone and throwing it vigorously, it is very powerful, hitting the head will kill you, and hitting the body will hurt you, but Zhu Can's troops are not afraid of death, looking at the Tang Jun on the mountain, his eyes are red, perhaps in their view, that is all It is carnivorous.

It was only a few days of strong attack, Zhu Can suffered tens of thousands of casualties, he just cut a bloody road, and was about to approach the mountain gate. Zhu Can was overjoyed, raised his knife and shouted: "The first climber will reward three beauties."

As soon as the reward came out, those bandits screamed and rushed upwards. In a short while, the pressure of the high charge increased sharply, and they had already fetched the long spear, sandwiched it on the stone pile and stabbed downward.

At this moment, only the sound of rumbling drums was heard, and the Tang army in the distance marched in a neat formation, heading straight for Zhu Can's rear army to attack. The entire Tang army in Xichuan City attacked. In charge of rites and music, but not powerless.

Tang Jun, who was recharging his energy, struck hard from behind, and Zhu Can's army panicked. They were attacking the mountain with howls, but now they were attacked from the front and back. Zhu Can was so frightened that he had to give up attacking the mountain and retreat to Dengzhou.

Zheng Yuanxuan ordered the whole army to pursue and kill them, and gained a lot along the way, but it was a pity that Zhu Can led thousands of elites and escaped long ago, and his whereabouts were unknown.

In this battle, first the walls were cleared, and then the grain road was attacked. Finally, Gao Chong's troops restrained Zhu Can's army from attacking the mountain.

(End of this chapter)