Jiuxi

Chapter 758 756 [Half of Fame]

There was constant fighting in the northern part of Shazhou.

Nan Yong's strategic intentions were almost written on his face, and he didn't even make any confusing arrangements.

As the Jing army retreated rapidly, Kang Yanxiao, the commander-in-chief of the Taixing army who had been leading troops in battle all his life, immediately judged the opponent's intentions. He immediately contacted Chengzhou Governor Tong Shiyuan and Shazhou Lord Luo Yaozong, and the three parties launched a strong attack on Feiniao Pass.

This battle lasted for more than half a month, and the Jing army was trapped in an area less than 30 miles north and south of Feiniao Pass. They paid the price of nearly 30,000 casualties. Generals Du Hu, A Xian, Huo Yu and others died in battle one after another, and finally they escaped.

It was not that the Dai army could not defend the only important road, but that the 30,000 elite soldiers led by Guiyou appeared at the southwest corner of Nanjing Road in Jingguo, and could go south to Feiniao Pass in three to five days at most.

Geshu Songping, the Privy Councilor of Dai State, was obviously unwilling to engage in a head-on fight with the enemy. After sending troops to symbolically block the enemy, he promptly led his troops to retreat to the northwest and retreated back to the territory of Dai State.

Nan Yong returned with more than 10,000 defeated soldiers. He did not blame Guiyou for not arriving in time. At this moment, the queen's brother had turned into a walking corpse.

After this defeat, Nan Yong knew that he had become a complete laughing stock in the court of Dajing, and the rise of Chemugun was just his wishful thinking.

At the same time, the situation in the northern part of Jingzhou was changing rapidly. As Wu Yanshu was forced to shrink the front line, more than ten cities changed hands again and returned to the rule of Da Qi.

Lu Chen has not been idle during this period. Taking advantage of someone's illness to kill him is what he is best at. Since Wu Yanshu sent his elite troops to rescue Nanyong's troops, he certainly would not miss this opportunity. Recovering the lost cities was one aspect, and he also created a lot of trouble for the retreating Jing army.

Of course, due to his deliberate restraint, there was no major battle involving tens of thousands of people between the two armies.

The Jing army retreated to the Tongbai defense line, and the border boundary between Qi and Jing returned to the pattern before the Battle of Kaocheng.

Lu Chen promptly ordered the Feiyun Army and Panlong Army to return to Dingzhou to prevent Wu Yanshu from making a feint to the east and attacking in the west again. As for the Zhenbei Army, Guangling Army, Dingbei Army and Rui Shi Battalion, they continued to stay in Jingzhou. Because the losses of the various armies in Jingzhou had been very heavy in the past six months, during this period when troops had not yet been replenished, the Dingzhou Army had to help the Jingzhou Military Governor's Office to hold up the defense line.

The adjustment and integration of the various armies in Jingzhou was not easy, and Lu Chen was naturally in charge of all of this, and Liu Shouguang had no objection at all.

After all, the emperor announced to the world that Lu Chen would be the commander-in-chief of military affairs in the three states in northern Jiangnan.

On a sunny afternoon, several sturdy and capable men came to the Governor's Mansion. One of them, led by Qin Zilong, came to the study where Lu Chen was.

"Greetings, sir."

The visitor paid his respects meticulously and respectfully.

Lu Chen looked at the other person calmly and said jokingly, "After two years in the capital, you have become more and more like a noble person."

The man who came was Tan Zheng, who had been a personal soldier beside Lu Chen for a period of time. Later, he became the leader of the Lu family's secret guards together with Qu Zhong and Jiang Sheng, and operated a large underwater network in the capital.

He said with some fear: "Sir, you are embarrassing me."

"Tell me, what's the matter that brought you here?"

Lu Chen's words just now were half teasing and half warning. He always remembered the teachings of Grandpa Li Daoyan. His confidants would naturally not be arrogant when they were around him, but once they were away from him, they could not guarantee that they would not have uneasy thoughts. Therefore, in addition to giving these people sufficiently generous treatment, he also had a monitoring system founded by Wang Chulong. At the same time, he would occasionally use personal letters to tighten the strings in their hearts.

Tan Zheng said more respectfully, "I am following Madam Wang's orders to report to you the major events that have occurred in the capital in the past few months, and to listen to your instructions in person."

Through Tan Zheng's statement, the picture of the capital and the court gradually unfolded before Lu Chen's eyes.

After staying in Jinlin County for more than half a year, Qin Zheng, the former director of the Weaving Bureau, finally set out for his hometown with his family. The journey was safe and sound without any accidents.

Right Prime Minister Zhong Cheng was impeached by the censors one after another. Although the Left Prime Minister Xue Nanting stood firmly with him, the sharp-tongued censors were not afraid. Xue Nanting had repeatedly petitioned the emperor to severely punish the censors who heard rumors about the incident, but the emperor politely refused, saying that it was a good thing for the country to have honest ministers.

The Minister of Revenue Jing Qingshan is smart and capable. The boundary law has been fully implemented in the thirteen prefectures in the south of the Yangtze River. I believe that the situation of Da Qi will be better next year.

Some court officials impeached Han Zhongjie, Marquis of Yongyi, believing that he should bear full responsibility for the disastrous defeat of the Jingzhou army. It is said that the emperor kept all the impeachments and vaguely revealed his approval.

Gao Huan, the Minister of Punishments, was reported to have abused his power to accept bribes, and his home was filled with countless gold and silver. The emperor was furious and demoted him back to his hometown in Longlin. However, the position of Minister of Punishments has been vacant until now, and is temporarily managed by two vice ministers.

At this point, Tan Zheng said thoughtfully, "Sir, the emperor may have suspected that there was some kind of connection between you and Minister Gao because of the assassination case, so he dismissed Minister Gao from office."

Lu Chen showed a hint of approval and said slowly, "You have indeed made great progress."

Tan Zheng bowed his head and said, "It's all thanks to the Lord's cultivation. There is one more important thing. Following the Lord's instructions, I and my brothers secretly investigated the rebellion in the capital, but we were stopped by someone."

"Prevent?"

Lu Chen's eyes narrowed slightly, and he immediately realized that there was something else going on.

Tan Zheng replied, "The other party did not hide their identity. I met the leader. He carried the private seal of Lord Qin of the Weaving Department with him, and said frankly that it was Lord Qin's intention for us to stop in time. The other party said that the Weaving Department has a deep foundation, especially in the capital, where there are elites. If we continue to investigate, the emperor will definitely know about it, and I am afraid that it will bring unnecessary trouble to you." Lu Chen was silent for a moment, then he took a sip of tea, skipped this sensitive topic, and said calmly: "When Gao Huan was dismissed from office, he carefully sent someone to ask me for help. I told him to stay calm. As long as the emperor does not want to kill him, it is okay to be patient for a while. Madam Wang asked you to report this matter to me in person because she knew that I would definitely not swallow this bad breath, so you should also take action."

Tan Zheng was excited and said quickly, "Please give me your instructions, sir!"

Lu Chen pondered for a moment and said, "The emperor dismissed Gao Huan because he didn't want to see the disaster of collusion between civil and military officials. I can understand his idea, but he can't do things this way. I am fighting for the country on the front line, but he always makes some small plans. It really fails to live up to the teachings of the late emperor. In this case, you should return to the capital immediately and have someone announce the memorial to the world."

Tan Zhengying said: "I have already made preparations and am only waiting for your order."

"besides--"

Lu Chen paused for a moment, and said without question: "From now on, all intelligence from the capital will be sent directly to me. Don't disturb Madam Wang for the time being."

Tan Zheng knew this very well, and said humbly, "Yes, sir, I wish you a happy birth of a son, and may the blessings last for generations to come."

"You guy."

Lu Chen smiled and shook his head, saying, "Some things should not be said carelessly. Go ahead, I don't have any money to reward you."

"Yes, my lord."

Tan Zheng bowed and left immediately.

Lu Chen stood up with the teacup in his hand and walked to the corridor. Looking at the clear sky above his head, his heart was filled with emotions.

The war in Jiangbei has temporarily come to an end, and Feiniao Pass has been regained by Shazhou. I believe that after this loss, Luo Yaozong will definitely learn a lesson and will not make that mistake again.

As the Jing army retreated in the north of Jingzhou, the lost cities had been recovered, and Taikang, which was located at a strategic point, had been successfully recovered, which barely made up for the losses caused by the defeat in Kaocheng. Next, the Jingzhou Governor's Office only needed to lick its wounds and recover its vitality, and at most it would not start a war again for two or three years.

As for the Dingzhou Military Governor's Office, it reaped great rewards. Taking over Yaoshan Pass meant that they could threaten Heluo at any time. The annihilation of tens of thousands of Jing troops in that battle was a victory worthy of being written about.

In general, the Jing army had a clear advantage in the first half of the battle. If Lu Chen was not resolute enough, they might have been able to sweep Jingzhou. However, with Lu Chen's several large-scale raids and diversions, the Qi army successfully reversed the situation, and in the end they actually gained a lot of advantages.

As the absolute hero who turned the tide, Lu Chen was not in a mood to be complacent at the moment.

He recalled what Tan Zheng had reported, and disgust gradually appeared in his eyes.

Gao Huan's dismissal from office was actually nothing. Ups and downs were common in officialdom. Lu Chen was capable enough to help him get back on his feet. It was just that the emperor's impatience in this matter made him feel sick.

For the emperor, collusion between civil and military officials both inside and outside the country is indeed a taboo, but how to deal with it is also a science.

If he could understand the difficulties Lu Chen faced on the frontier, he would at least wait until the war was over, or use more tactful means, such as transferring Gao Huan from the Ministry of Justice on the pretext of his old age and giving him a noble position to retire. After all, the court was not short of such people.

Lu Chen sneered twice and whispered to himself: "Old Prime Minister, this is the reason why you asked me not to return to Beijing, right?"

This statement is certainly not made casually.

One day after Li Daoyan resigned and returned home, Lu Chen received a secret letter from the old man who sent his loyal confidant. The content of the letter was simple. In addition to encouraging and praising Lu Chen, the core was only one sentence, which was to let Lu Chen stay in Jiangbei and guard the border for Da Qi without having to return to the capital.

The old man also cited the examples of Xiao Wangzhi and Li Tianrun, both of whom were frontier army commanders who had been away from the capital for nearly ten years.

At this moment, Lu Chen thought of what Tan Zheng had said just now. Qin Zheng did not hesitate to expose his identity so that they would stop investigating the secrets of the capital.

Lu Chen felt a surge of depression in his heart, shook his head and sighed: "Forget it, since you all don't want me to go back, then I won't go back for the time being. It's just that they like to fight among themselves so much, I don't mind adding fuel to the fire."

He looked outside and raised his voice slightly, "Someone come."

Qin Zilong quickly showed up, bowed his head and said, "Master."

Lu Chen's eyes were as sharp as a knife, and he said in a deep voice: "Send Han Zhongjie to the capital. He has been lying down for so long, it's time for him to move his body around."

Qin Zilong said loudly: "Yes."

Lu Chen turned and walked away. The old faces of Li Daoyan and Qin Zheng appeared in front of him. He couldn't help but whisper to himself with a hint of sadness.

"You old guys..."

(End of this chapter)