The First Great Ancestor of the Five Dynasties

Chapter 557: Troops march into Yangzhou
In June of the third year of Xiande, just as Chai Rong Yujia was setting off to return to Kaifeng, the Tang Dynasty Lord Li Jing sent the marshal of all the troops in the north of the Yangtze River and the King of Qi Li Jingda to lead [-] elite troops. Chen Jue, the privy envoy, was appointed as the military envoy. Du envoy Bian Hao was an envoy to support the capital's army and crossed the river from Guabu Ferry, intending to go to Liuhe for siege.

After the Tang army crossed the river, Li Jingda learned that Zhou General Han Lingkun led a cavalry army to raid Yangzhou, and urgently ordered Lu Mengjun, the right guard general stationed in Taizhou, to lead more than [-] Taizhou troops to rescue Yangzhou.

Li Jingda continued to lead the main force of the Tang army to Liuhe to besiege.

The main purpose of Li Jingda's dispatch of troops this time was to regain Chuzhou. Only by conquering Liuhe first could the Tang army continue to march to Chuzhou.

Zhao Kuangyin, who was stationed in Chuzhou City, learned that the Tang army was attacking in large numbers. He sent people to report to Zhu Xiu quickly and led [-] troops to garrison Liuhe.

Zhu Xiu rushed from Haozhou to Yangzhou, and when passing through Tianchang County, he received an urgent report from Zhao Kuangyin and Han Lingkun.

Liuhe has Zhao Kuangyin in charge, and Zhao Hongyin, the commander of the battalion and horse army, also led an emergency reinforcement of [-] cavalry from Haozhou. Zhu Xiu can rest assured.

Han Lingkun put forward a bold idea in the emergency report.

He had led a cavalry raid on Yangzhou before, and found that Yangzhou City was empty of defenses. Hundreds of cavalry soldiers rushed to Yangzhou City. Only then did the Tang soldiers who defended the city react. They hurriedly closed the city gates and organized people to counterattack with bows and crossbows.

If they attack by force, Han Lingkun is sure to capture Yangzhou within one day.

However, Tang Army general Lu Mengjun was on his way to Yangzhou with reinforcements, so this was not the best time to attack the city.

Han Lingkun sent someone to notify Mi Xin, asking him to lead the infantry to Shaobo Town, northeast of Yangzhou City, while he himself led the cavalry to retreat west.

At the same time, rumors spread that the Zhou army hadtily withdrew because it was unable to resist the Tang army's reinforcements due to insufficient strength.

Shaobo is the only place Lu Mengjun must pass through to reinforce Yangzhou. Han Lingkun led the cavalry in a large circle and secretly returned to Shaobo Town, preparing to ambush the Tang army's reinforcements here.

Zhu Xiu couldn't help but smile knowingly when he learned about this plan. He immediately approved it and sent people to Han Lingkun's army to order him to execute it.

According to the historical trend of later generations, after Han Lingkun occupied Yangzhou, he learned that the Tang army was recruiting large-scale reinforcements, and hurriedly sent people to Zhao Kuangyin of Liuhe and Zhang Yongde of Haozhou for help.

Zhao Kuangyin had few troops and was unable to rescue him, so he was asked to defend Yangzhou City no matter what.

They even sent someone to warn that if Han Lingkun's troops dared to evacuate from Yangzhou and passed through Liuhe, they would be punished as deserters and have their legs cut off!

Han Lingkun had no choice but to grit his teeth and defend Yangzhou, and finally found a chance to defeat Tang Jun's reinforcements in the direction of Shaobo.

Zhang Yongde led his troops to rescue him, but he arrived a step too late. Yangzhou and Liuhe won a thrilling victory, defeating the Tang army twice.

It can be said that in the original history, Han Lingkun's Yangzhou victory was forced by Zhao Kuangyin.

This time, Han Lingkun had an advantage in the number of soldiers and horses. The previous great victories in Chuzhou and Tianchang had also boosted his confidence. He also had the help of the fierce general Mi Xin, so he took the initiative to request an ambush of the Tang army in Shaobo Town.

Zhu Xiu naturally followed the trend and agreed to the plan.

If Lu Mengjun had sent more detective horses to investigate and knew the true strength of the Zhou army near Yangzhou, he would not have rushed to Yangzhou City in a hurry.

It's a pity that this old general of Ma Chu, known for his brutal killings, is obviously a reckless man who doesn't know how to use his brain.

Zhu Xiu stayed in Tianchang County for two days to handle military affairs on various fronts of the Zhou army in the lower reaches of the Huaihe River.

Shi Kuangwei and Tian Chongjin's troops had already set off from Duliang Mountain and marched towards Chuzhou.

General Zha Baojing of the Tang Army took advantage of the dense water network between Hongze Lake and Baima Lake to set up many water forts and advance layer by layer to guard against the Zhou army.

Shi Kuangwei led the army to fight against the Tang army in Chuzhou initially, and they all won, and they were advancing towards Shanyang.

Zhang Yongde has wiped out the remaining forces of the Tang Army in Haozhou and returned to Haozhou City to sit in command and observe the situation to determine whether it is necessary to send troops for rescue.

In Shouzhou, Li Chongjin, Wang Yanchao, and Si Chao divided their labors and cooperated with Lin Renzhao, the Tang army's reinforcement general, for several battles near Anfeng County, with each side winning or losing. The siege of Shouchun continued.

When Han Lingkun annihilated the Tang army in Tianchang, the Southern Tang Tianchang envoy Geng Qian, who had disappeared and disappeared, suddenly returned to Tianchang County, met Zhu Xiu, and was willing to surrender to the Zhou Dynasty. At the same time, he offered more than [-] shi of military rations and horse materials.

Zhu Xiu asked about the situation and found out that Geng Qian was from Tianchang County and his family had a manor outside the city.

Long before Zhu Xiu led his army to set off from Sizhou, he secretly transported all the military rations hoarded in Tianchang to the cellar of Geng's Manor for safekeeping.

No wonder the Zhou army failed to find a single grain of grain after occupying Tianchang County.

Geng Qian was in his 60s and at the end of his life. He knelt in front of Zhu Xiu and cried with snot and tears, begging him to let the Geng clan go.

For such influential local bureaucratic landlord families, Dazhou will naturally give preferential treatment to those who surrender voluntarily.

Immediately, Zhu Xiu wrote a memorial for him and quickly sent it to Kaifeng. He also sent troops to escort Geng Qian and the Geng clan members north to Huaibei.

If nothing unexpected happens, the Tianchang Geng clan will move to Huaibei to settle down from now on.

With the grain in hand, Zhu Xiu did not panic. On the one hand, Zhu Xiu sent people to Sizhou to mobilize the follow-up grain and fodder. On the other hand, he recruited Sizhou and Suzhou civilians to build city defenses and granaries in Tianchang. Based on Tianchang, Liuhe and Yangzhou, he built a triangular defense system. The three places were built into the Zhou army's military base on the north bank of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River.

After dealing with these, it was already the end of June, and good news came from Yangzhou and Liuhe.

On the Yangzhou side, Han Lingkun and Mi Xin successfully ambushed Tang army reinforcements in Shaobo Town, killing more than [-] enemies and capturing nearly [-], and the rest were routed.

Lu Mengjun, the right-guard general of the Southern Tang Dynasty, was captured alive by Han Lingkun.

In Liuhe, Zhao Kuangyin took advantage of the Tang army's march towards Liuhe when he was at a disadvantage in terms of military strength. He took the initiative to attack and won successive victories. Finally, with the support of Zhao Hongyin who arrived in time, the father and son worked together to defeat the Tang army's stronghold.

The commander of the Tang army, King Li Jingda of Qi, panicked and led his troops to cross the river and retreat south. The soldiers of the Tang army fought for the boats to cross the river, and there were internal fights, resulting in countless casualties and drownings.

In this battle, the Tang army suffered more than [-] casualties in Liuhe, thousands more were captured, and the rest fled.

After two big victories, the elite corps deployed by Tang Jun around Jiangning was completely lost.

If Li Chongjin's defeat of Liu Yanzhen's [-]-strong army in Zhengyang had given Southern Tang the first impression of the strength of Zhou's army and the pain of breaking his flesh and blood, then the great victory of Chuzhou was a severe blow to Southern Tang's wound, breaking the bones.

The two great victories in Liuhe and Yangzhou were another two stabs in the heart and lungs of Nantang.

Since then, all the elite soldiers in the south of the Yangtze River have been lost and their vitality has been severely injured.

In early July, Zhu Xiu and Shi Xiangwen arrived at the city of Yangzhou.

Han Lingkun came out of the city to greet him personally.

"The last general has met Deputy Commander Zhu!"

After not seeing each other for two months, Han Lingkun was in high spirits and his voice became much louder.

Zhu Xiu got off his horse and said with a smile: "General Han won the great victory in Yangzhou, and the military report was sent to Kaifeng. Your Majesty's Sacred Heart is very happy, and the award edict will be delivered soon!"

"Hahaha~ The Emperor Lai Sheng was so blessed and his soldiers sacrificed their lives that they were able to defeat the Tang Army Xiaoxiao in one fell swoop! I also want to thank Deputy Marshal Zhu for his kind words for the last general!" Han Lingkun said with a smile on his face.

As the commander-in-chief of the Zhou Army on the Eastern Front, all military reports must be stamped by Zhu Xiu with the seal of command before they can be reported to the court to be effective.

The great victory in Yangzhou was immediately known to the court and praised by the emperor, which was inseparable from Zhu Xiu's timely report.

Naturally, it was Zhu Xiu who had the final say on how to write the credit book.Han Lingkun knew that he was a smart man, and of course he would give Zhu Xiu a share of the credit.

Zhu Xiu looked up at the majestic Yangzhou City and asked casually: "General Han has captured the enemy general Lu Mengjun. You may want to bring him up later and let me ask him a few words. Then send someone to escort him back to Kaifeng and ask your Majesty to deal with it."

"This" Han Lingkun's tone paused, and his expression was obviously unnatural.

"Deputy Commander Zhu has worked hard for coming from afar, so it's better to go to the city and have a good rest beforehand." Han Lingkun stepped aside and asked Zhu Xiu to go first to the city.

Zhu Xiu smiled and nodded, "That's fine."

When Zhu Xiu led Shi Xiangwen into the city, Han Lingkun gritted his teeth and followed behind with concern.

Yangzhou has been a prosperous place in the Jianghuai region for more than 300 years since Emperor Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty was granted the title of King of Jin.

Li Jing promoted Yangzhou to the Eastern Capital and allocated funds to repair the city defenses, but he did not expect to send a capable general to lead a heavy army to garrison here, which gave the Zhou army an advantage.

Zhu Xiu led his army out of Sizhou, captured Chuzhou, attacked Tianchang and Gaoyou, and garrisoned Liuhe. However, the Jiangning court never thought of gathering troops and horses in Yangzhou as a counterattack position.

It wasn't until Zhu Xiu sent troops from Chuzhou to Yangzhou that Li Jing thought of urgent reinforcements to Yangzhou.

How can we be invincible if we know it later?
This also reflects that the Jiangning court organization was huge, bloated, stiff and numb, and was unable to cope with the large-scale offensive of the Zhou army from top to bottom.

In the minds of Jiangning's monarchs and ministers, the Huainan defense line has two major focuses, one is Shouzhou and the other is Chuzhou.

Therefore, the Jiangning court focused its attention on these two places from the beginning. Qi King Li Jingda crossed the river from Guabu and did not go to rescue Yangzhou, but instead went to attack Liuhe, which shows that Li Jing was very eager to regain the lost territory of Chuzhou.

Chuzhou is a barrier to Jiangning. Without the barrier, Li Jing and the people in Jiangnan were restless.

But if Li Jingda led the Tang army to rescue Yangzhou first, stabilize Yangzhou's defense, use it as a fulcrum in the north of the Yangtze River, and then march towards Chuzhou, the current situation might be different.

There is a palace in Yangzhou City, which is the place where Li Jing stayed when he visited the Eastern Capital occasionally.

After Han Lingkun occupied the city, he ordered it to be blocked.

Naturally, Zhu Xiu was not qualified to live in the palace, so he ordered people to keep him under strict supervision until the court sent someone to receive him.

Zhu Xiu lived in the Yangzhou government office, while Han Lingkun lived in the military envoy's residence at the other end of the street.

At night, Zhu Xiu was not in the mood to appreciate the prosperity of Yangzhou. Kaifeng, Jiangning, Shouchun and other places sent a lot of information, including those from the Wude Department, Zangfengying and the Police Department, and he was busy reviewing and replying one by one. .

In the room, Shi Xiangwen was already sleeping soundly. Since leaving Suzhou, Zhu Xiu lived with Shi Xiangwen most of the time for safety reasons.

Hu Guangyue ducked into the room and reported in a low voice: "Master, it has been found out that General Lu Mengjun of the Tang Army has been secretly killed by Han Lingkun!"

"I know." Zhu Xiu was writing quickly at his desk without much reaction to this.

Hu Guangyue said: "My lord, according to the rules, Han Lingkun is not qualified to deal with the generals of the Tang army without authorization. He must report to the lord and the court! He has violated military orders by acting so recklessly. If His Majesty finds out, he will inevitably be punished."

Zhu Xiu dipped his pen in ink and said with a smile: "Just watch, Han Lingkun will come to me and confess this matter early tomorrow morning."

Hu Guangyue said in surprise: "He didn't try his best to conceal it, how dare he take the initiative to confess?"

Zhu Xiu glanced at him and said, "You have to learn this from Han Lingkun and know what can be concealed and what cannot! According to Han Lingkun's character, he is not afraid of being punished by His Majesty. The worst he can do is to offset his merits and demerits.

He was worried that this matter would implicate me, so he couldn't justify it emotionally.

Lu Mengjun was a general of the Tang Army. He was apparently captured alive, but he died unexpectedly for no reason. If there is no reasonable explanation, let alone him, even I will be punished by Your Majesty.

This matter is related to military discipline. Your Majesty attaches great importance to military discipline and will definitely order a strict investigation.

Once this happens, even I will be in trouble. "

Hu Guangyue scratched his head: "So, Han Lingkun is quite upright and will not let the father-in-law take the blame for him."

Zhu Xiu smiled slightly and was noncommittal.

Han Lingkun always behaves kindly, but that doesn't mean he won't play tricks.

The matter of killing Lu Mengjun was actually a big or small matter, and there was no need to offend him just to shift the blame.

He knew better that Chai Rong would not really punish Zhu Xiu because of Lu Mengjun.

In Kaifeng, Ma Qing secretly reported that Queen Fu Jinzhan's deadline was approaching. Fu Jinhuan had already entered the palace in advance to prepare for the funeral, and the county government was left in charge of Feng Qingchan.

Zhu Xiu rubbed her brows, let out a long sigh, and stared at the flickering lights, with a trace of sadness lingering in her heart.

A generation of virtuous queens cannot escape the fate of history.

For Chai Rong, this was the biggest blow to his life after the Guangzhengdian Incident and the Kaifeng Massacre in the third year of Qianyou's reign.

Shaking his head and sighing softly, Zhu Xiu burned the Ma Qing secret report and watched the ashes fall from his hands.

Picking up the Shouchun secret report, Zhu Xiu quickly calmed down and read it carefully.

After eight months of siege in Shouchun City, both the Zhou army and the Tang army who were defending the city were very exhausted.

As the Tang Army was the one that held firm, the situation was naturally even worse. The food shortage alone was enough to shake the will of the Tang Army.

Zha Hui said in the secret report that he learned through Zheng Chong that the debate over whether to continue to hold on or surrender under the command of Tang Army General Liu Renzhan in Shouchun City has become increasingly fierce.

The main war faction and the main surrender faction are at loggerheads, and no one can convince the other.

The leader of the main surrender faction was none other than Liu Renzhan's youngest son, Liu Chongjian.

Zheng Chong was Zheng Cunlu, the former guard officer next to Li Hongji, the crown prince of the Southern Tang Dynasty. After Zhu Xiu assassinated Li Hongji, he was angered and was demoted to Shouzhou and exiled to the army.

Over the past few years, Zheng Chong has been favored by Liu Renzhan for his bravery and has been promoted all the way. Now he is a well-known soldier of the Qing and Huai army.

Behind the scenes, Zha Hui also borrowed the name of Changxing Trading Co., Ltd. to clear the way for Zheng Chong to make money in Jiangning and manage connections in the court.

Thanks to Zha Hui's deliberate friendship, Zheng Chong already owns a small share of Changxing Trading Company in his private name, and can receive considerable dividends every year.

Zheng Chong only knew that the Xu family of Wu County and Taifu Zhou Zong were behind Changxing Goods Company, but he did not know that the real proprietor was Zhu Xiu who was far away in Kaifeng.

After several years of operation, Changxing Co., Ltd. has considerable influence in Shouchun. In addition, coupled with a group of Qing-Huai military commanders who made friends through Zheng Chong, once this line is activated, it is very likely that Shouchun will surrender in a short period of time.

Zhu Xiu intended to keep this great achievement in his pocket, so he always ordered Zha Hui to calm down and not to scare the snake.

It's a pity that he never found the opportunity to intervene in the Shouzhou war.

Thinking about the entire Huainan war situation until late at night, Zhu Xiu lay on the table and fell asleep.
(End of this chapter)