Jiuxi

Chapter 509 Chapter 507 [New sprouts]

It was the tenth day of the first lunar month in the fifteenth year of Jianwu's reign in Da Qi.

The New Year's Day is gradually coming to an end. Although the atmosphere in Yongjia City is not as lively as in previous years, the people have no less to talk about.

The battle in Jiangbei took a turn for the worse. First, the Dingzhou Army gained a firm foothold with the support of the Huaizhou Army, and successfully prevented the main force of the Jing Army from continuing southward, preventing the entire Dingzhou area from falling under the iron hooves of the Jing Army's cavalry.

Next, the Jingzhou Army showed great success, defeating the 110,000 Yan Army with 60,000 troops in Xifengyuan, forcing more than half of the enemy's casualties. Not only did it relieve the crisis in Xilinguan and Gaotang City, it also spread the war to the north. In the heart of Yanmoyang Road, the army is now besieging Yongqiu City, and the situation is excellent.

At the beginning of the war, due to the fierce attack of Jing's army, the Daqi frontier army was in a very passive situation, and people in various places in the south of the Yangtze River were inevitably panicked.

Especially in a well-informed place like the capital, although there have been no signs of anyone being ready to take action, concerns about the situation on the border have gradually become the mainstream view.

When the news came back that the Jingzhou Army had defeated the main force of the Yan Army in Xifengyuan on the last day of the 14th year of Jianwu's reign, the haze hanging over Yongjia City was swept away.

And here in the capital, there is also one thing that the people are talking about.

At the Zhengdan Festival, the emperor was the main priest, and the prince stood beside him.

At present, the Jingzhou army has about 100,000 troops in Dingzhou, and the remaining troops are stationed in the northern Yan capital area. If Qing Yugong wants to annihilate the Jingzhou army outside Yongqiu City, he cannot lead only 40,000 troops. .

Li Zongben was well aware of his father's character. When he saw Lu Chen starting to speak, he quickly persuaded him: "Father, Lu Chen is right, please take a rest."

This is the first time in fifteen years, which means that the position of the prince is as stable as a mountain and no one can shake it.

Under the premise that Emperor Jing would continue to deploy soldiers and horses from the North Campus, Qing Yugong had the Xiashan, Fangcheng and Dingbai armies under his command, with a total of more than 200,000 people.

The frontier army is in full swing, the situation in the capital is stable, and the prince behaves like a wise king. These situations will undoubtedly make people feel at ease.

Gui Qiuliang, the principal of the imperial hospital, came out of the inner hall with a sweaty face and a slightly pale face. He saluted Prince Li Zongben and said, "Your Highness, you can come in."

Li Duan pondered for a moment and then asked, "What do you think?"

Lu Chen responded: "This news was sent by Wang An, so there should be no problem. No matter how many backhands Qing Yugong still hides, at least he only has 40,000 Jingjun around him."

Li Duan smiled slightly, looked at this young and calm minister, and said warmly: "Then are we going to let the Beijing army go north?"

Lu Chen sighed in his heart and had to describe the situation in the north in as concise language as possible, and finally said: "Your Majesty, your strategy has worked. This morning I received a message from Fei Ge from Jiangbei. Qing Yugong personally led the 40,000 Jing army. Heading south, we are expected to reach the north of Yongqiu City in ten days. At present, the situation in Dingzhou is still stable, and the Jingzhou army is attacking vigorously, but our army has also held Yongqiu firmly on the front line of Jishantun. , everything is going according to your plan.”

However, in the Wenhe Hall of the Imperial Palace, the atmosphere was a bit solemn.

In the past six months, the prince's reputation has gradually increased. He is as diligent as the emperor today and has a high understanding of the way of governing the country. Under the guidance of many important ministers, his progress can be described as a thousand miles a day.

Li Zongben immediately motioned to Lu Chen next to him with his eyes, and they entered the inner hall together.

On the dragon bed, Li Duan was leaning on a soft pillow. He was getting weaker than he had been a year ago, and no medicine or stone could alleviate it.

Li Duan nodded.

Obviously he felt that Qing Yugong definitely had more than this amount of troops.

Li Duan was not overjoyed. He asked softly: "Forty thousand Jing's troops?"

Lu Chen thought for a moment and said, "There are two possibilities. One is that Qing Yugong is still suspicious. He doesn't want to reveal his strategic intentions prematurely, so he just puts on a posture to scare the Jingzhou Army. The other is that he He was deliberately showing weakness, because once all Jing's troops went south, Commander-in-Chief Li would definitely avoid his attack, which might result in Jing's army going south in vain. On the surface, he only went south with 40,000 troops, but in fact he secretly dispatched troops. Building an encirclement may catch the governor off guard.”

Lu Chen couldn't bear it when he saw this, and said sincerely: "Your Majesty, why don't you take a rest for two days and then look at it again."

Lu Chen concluded: "But no matter what the possibility is, as long as Qing Yugong leads the troops to Moyang Road, it has met His Majesty's expectations. I believe that Governor Li can create a perfect retreat process, and Qing Yugong and Jing Jun will be defeated." The main force is introduced into our preset battlefield.”

Li Duan forced a smile, but stubbornly shook his head and said to Lu Chen, "Speak."

Lu Chen nodded and said, "It should be so. The so-called putting on a show, since Qing Yugong has led troops to support Moyang Lu Yan's army, our army in Beijing must also go north to support Governor Li, otherwise Qing Yugong will definitely be suspicious."

Li Duan thought for a long time and said slowly: "Let Liu Shouguang lead the brave Huwei Army and Changwei Army northward, with a bright banner and a big fanfare."

Lu Chen responded respectfully: "I obey your order."

In fact, he was very worried about those people in Jiangbei. Xiao Wangzhi, Lu Tong and Lin Xi were facing the Jing army in Dingzhou, Li Tianrun and Li Bingxue were facing the Yan army and the upcoming Qing Yugong outside Yongqiu City, and even Wang Chulong They all ran to Gaotang City, which was not far from the front line.

In short, almost everyone he cared about was already around the battlefield, but he couldn't go north to fight alongside them.

At least not for the time being.

Li Duan seemed to know what he was thinking, and said with relief: "I need you to take charge of the Beijing army."

Lu Chen lowered his head and said: "Your Majesty, I know what I should do." Li Duan nodded happily and said: "Very good. You go to the Military Academy with my decree, tell them the latest arrangements, and let Liu Shouguang leave the capital. I went to the palace before and I had something to tell him."

"The minister obeys the order."

Lu Chen bowed and then respectfully left.

He walked out of the Hening Gate in the north of the palace, and the soldiers of the imperial army guarding the palace gate saluted neatly. Qin Zilong, who was waiting in the square outside the palace, quickly came up with the soldiers of the Hou Mansion.

"To the Military Academy."

"Yes, Lord Marquis."

Dozens of riders headed north along the wide Royal Street.

Lu Chen turned around and looked at the young man in the team, smiled and said, "Come on."

Although Li Gongxu has not lost the youthfulness of a fourteen-year-old boy now, because he is taller than his peers, and he goes out with the soldiers all day long, he at least seems to be quite gregarious. He has the temperament of an elite frontier army.

He rode his horse to Lu Chen's side, and the others, including Qin Zilong, subconsciously pulled back a little distance.

Lu Chen asked: "Are you comfortable staying with them?"

It has been more than a month since Li Gongxu came to Shanyang Hou Mansion. At first, he had been looking forward to asking Lu Chen some questions, but Lu Chen never gave him this opportunity. He only left him in the care of Qin Zilong, and then seemed to have forgotten his existence. .

Qin Zilong and his soldiers were inevitably a little curious. They thought that this young master with a top family background would not be able to hold on for long. He might make a fuss about returning to the Li family in three to five days. At worst, he would go to the old prime minister of the Li family. complain.

After all, it is really indescribable for a promising young man from an aristocratic family to hang out with a group of rude military men all day long.

However, Li Gongxu stayed peacefully, going out with the soldiers every day, and then escorting him according to Qin Zilong's arrangements. The rest of the time he studied in the house in the Hou Mansion without any pretentious and arrogant behavior. This made Qin Zilong and Others' opinions of him quickly changed.

At this moment, hearing Lu Chen's concern, which was over a month late, the young man replied concisely: "Back to the Marquis, Commander Qin and the others take good care of me, and there is nothing wrong with me."

Lu Chen had a strange feeling that Li Gongxu seemed to have a shadow of him when he was young.

He was very aware of the boy's recent situation, and Qin Zilong would report the truth in private every few days.

Extremely patient.

This is Lu Chen's evaluation of Li Gongxu, and for a fourteen-year-old boy, patience is an extremely rare quality.

Young people at this age are full of energy and restless. Even if the Jinlin Li family cultivates gentle scholars, they cannot erase human nature. Li Yunyi is an example of going to the other extreme.

This was the first time Lu Chen had seen someone as completely genuine and calm as Li Gongxu.

Thinking of this, he said gently: "After you go back today, you pack your luggage and I will have someone take you back."

Li Gongxu was shocked, and now he showed some nervousness that a young man should have, but he still said with hope: "Master Hou, my grandfather said that I don't need to go back to visit, I just need to learn skills from Master Hou. "

Lu Chen shook his head and said, "I'm not asking you to go back for a visit. What I mean is that you don't have to stay with me as a personal soldier."

Li Gongxu raised his head and looked at each other, with confusion and deep disappointment in his eyes. He hesitated and said: "Master Hou, is there something I did wrong? If so, please show me, and I will correct it immediately."

"of course not."

Lu Chen did not continue to show off. He turned to look at the young man and said calmly: "Are you really planning to serve as my personal soldier? What good will this do to you? Don't think about it. Since I have accepted you as my disciple, I will naturally do my best to Mr. When I have to go out to lead the army in the future, you must pack your bags immediately without delay. The rest of the time, you can stay at home and study hard. I don’t want others to think of you as Lu Chen. A rude and shallow disciple was brought out by a virtuoso guy.”

Li Gongxu suddenly realized and said subconsciously: "It turns out that the Marquis is confirming whether I am qualified to be your disciple during this time."

"very smart."

Lu Chen smiled and then said: "When you get back, pay my respects to the old prime minister for me."

Li Gongxu said loudly: "Yes."

As the sun set, Li Gongxu walked out of the Shanyang Marquis Mansion with his extremely simple luggage and boarded the carriage prepared for him by Lu Chen.

Before leaving, the young man turned around and looked at the majestic Shanyang Marquis Mansion. Under the gaze of Qin Zilong and others, he kowtowed with great respect and solemnity.

This is his way of respecting his teacher.

(End of this chapter)