I became a saint by picking up corpses in Water Margin

Chapter 387: Let’s Play an Exciting Game

On the ninth day of August, Sun An and Li Yanxian each led 10,000 infantry and cavalry and left Zhending through the two southeast gates respectively.

Although Sun An wanted to compete for credit, he and Li Yanxian, as the chief and deputy chief of the Pingbei Army, were a whole outside the court at this time. If they hindered each other, they would only make things difficult for others.

Yang Chang had already said that after Lin Chong took Xiangzhou, he would help Yan Qing and Sun Li take Cizhou.

Lin Chong was in charge of military affairs of Huai and Wei states. The number of troops under his command was the largest in Hedong. If he helped others take Xiang and Ci states, he might also want to take Ming state.

Sun An felt that it was better to compete with Lin Chong externally than to compete internally.

Lin Chong has already taken Huaizhou and Weizhou. If he can take Xiangzhou and Cizhou, a total of four states will be taken for Yang Chang. Sun An and Li Yanxian have already taken Zhending at this time. If they can take Zhaozhou, Xingzhou and Mingzhou, it will be a draw.

Of course, if Sun An and Li Yanxian are successful enough, they will have a chance to secure the four states and then compete with Lin Chong and Yan Qing for Cizhou.

There is actually a basis for Sun An to think this way.

First of all, the main force of the Jin army in Hebei has always been in Zhending and Yanjing. As for Zhaozhou, Xingzhou, Cizhou and other places in the south, after Yang Chang took down the Pingding Army, only a small number of troops were left to maintain their rule, which basically meant that they had a strong opponent.

Secondly, the enemies in Xiangzhou were powerful. Wu Yong had 20,000 soldiers at that time. He was also the former military advisor of Liangshan and knew Lin Chong and others well.

The back and forth is the advantage.

Also.

Yang Chang also left something to say.

After recovering Hebei, he intended to let Sun An and Li Yanxian take charge, which meant that they would have to work together in the future and should not have conflicts over competing for credit.

At this time, it is in our interest to fight for honor and unite against foreign enemies.

last night.

The two discussed for a long time and finally reached a strategy of "divide the forces to attack the weak and combine the forces to attack the strong".

Sun An left Zhending's south gate and took the western route, first taking Luancheng and Yuanshi counties in his own prefecture, then entering Zhaozhou to take Zanhuang, Gaoyi, Baixiang, and Lincheng counties, then entering Xingzhou to attack Neiqiu, Longgang, and Shahe.
Li Yanxian left the east gate of Zhending and took the eastern route, first taking Haocheng (now Gaocheng) in his own prefecture, then entering Zhaozhou to take Pingji (now Zhaoxian), Ningjin, and Longping counties, and then entering Xingzhou to attack Yaoshan, Renxian, and Nanhe.
If everything goes well on the journey south, the two men will split their forces to capture the city as planned. If they encounter stubborn resistance from the defenders, the two forces will join forces to attack the city.

When Lin Chong captured Huai and Wei, Yang Chang not only personally helped to contain Song Jiang, but also sent capable generals such as Ruan Xiaoqi and Sun Xin and his wife.

In order to treat everyone equally, Lu Zhishen, Liu Tang, Suo Chao, Li Yun and other generals from Yangqu were evenly distributed to Sun An and Li Yanxian's accounts, so the two of them had a more luxurious lineup than Lin Chong.

Of course, Lu Junyi from Zhending who came with them, who was the envoy that Sun An felt was a headache, did not cause any trouble for the army heading south.

Yang Chang specifically summoned Lu Junyi here not to take over the southern states, but to become a hands-off boss.

At that time, Tong Guan was the envoy of Hedong and Hebei. Song Jiang and Lu Junyi were summoned from the battlefield in the south of the Yangtze River to Hebei to defend against the Jin army and quell local rebellions. They stayed in Zhending for a long time.

The Jin people had been entrenched in Hebei and Yanjing for several years and had established a strong presence. The people around Yanjing, in particular, had been citizens of the Liao Kingdom for more than a hundred years and citizens of the Jin Kingdom for several more years, but had actually been citizens of the Song Dynasty for less than a year.

Making them feel a sense of identity is not something that can be achieved overnight.

Yang Chang did not have enough troops at the moment. No matter how outstanding his personal abilities were, facing Salihe's escape tactics, he was able to take the city but not defend it.

As the saying goes, it is easy to conquer a country but difficult to keep it.

Once the small number of troops were dispersed to various places in Hebei and Yang Chang could not take care of them all, they would most likely be defeated by the enemy one by one. At that time, the loss of troops and generals would affect the overall strategy, and the myth of being undefeated in the past few years would also be lost.

Yang Chang was able to quickly recover Hedong because he had developed in Weisheng and other places for several years in the early stage, accumulating the foundation for recovering and defending it. However, this foundation was limited and could not directly cover Hebei.

Steady and steady progress is the right way to go.

After careful consideration, he decided to use Zhending as an outpost temporarily, and only after the states outside Taihang gradually stabilized and the two southern courts had no worries would he formally take over Hebei.

If time drags on until the civil unrest in the Jin Dynasty ends and the main force of the Jin army returns to the front line, will there be no chance?
Actually not.

Yang Chang promised Zhao Fujin that he would rescue Zhao Ji before next summer.

If the Jin Dynasty had restored internal stability and turned its attention back to the area south of the Great Wall, Yang Chang would have been able to kill Wuqimai half a year ago and would have been able to kill the emperor at the same time.

On the day Sun An and Li Yanxian left the city, Yang Chang handed over all the military and political affairs of Zhending City to Lu Junyi.

Isn’t Lu Junyi a civil servant?
He used to be the commander of Yongning Army, and at that time he was in charge of both military and political affairs. Moreover, Zhending has just been recovered. According to Yang Chang's practice of recovering prefectures and counties, there will be a period of military management. Lu Junyi is more than qualified to do this.

However, on the day Lu Junyi took over, a "civil uprising" broke out in Zhending.

Less than two days after the Jin army arrived, the people saw the garrison leaving the city, thinking that they were also going to give up Zhending and that they stayed behind just for show.

Thousands of excited people surrounded the provincial government office to petition.

Lu Junyi's explanation didn't work, and he couldn't be violent with the people, so he hurried to the backyard to find Yang Chang and reported with a guilty look:
"Prince Jin, the people in the city think we are going to abandon them. Many of them have surrounded the government office to petition us. It is useless for me to persuade them. What do you think we should do?"

"These poor people have been abandoned many times, and they really don't feel safe. You need to comfort them, and not beat, scold or intimidate them. It's best to find a few representatives of public opinion, or find the leader of this group of people, and you can solve the problem perfectly by convincing them."

"I thought so too, but the leader said he knew the King of Jin. Even though he knew my order, Lu Junyi, he didn't believe what I said."

"Why?"

Yang Chang was puzzled.

Lu Junyi is known as the Jade Unicorn of Hebei. Logically, he is well-known in Hebei, and he has been stationed in Zhending for half a year. How could the people here not believe him?

"To be honest, I'm ashamed to say that the fame I had back then has been ruined. You forgot that Song Jiang colluded with the Jin people and caused me to suffer a great defeat in Baozhou. Even the Yongning Army's base was lost, so the people here don't buy it."

"Where is the leader of the people? Have you found him?"

"I found it. He said he knows the King of Jin and he only believes you."

"Does he know me? Do I know him?"

Yang Chang was stunned when he heard this, and asked tentatively with empty eyes: "Could it be Zhang Ergou?"

"Prince Jin has great foresight, and this person is the leader"

"Okay, since you asked for me, take me to see him!"

"Thank you, King Jin."

Lu Junyi nodded happily and clasped his fists, while at the same time bowing to Qiu Qiongying with full of apology.

At that time, Yang Chang had finished arranging his work and was accompanying Qiu Qiongying in the backyard to practice painting halberd. Lu Junyi felt that he had disturbed her.

"Madam, you can practice it yourself. I will go to the front hall to see you and will be back soon."

"Oh"

Qiu Qiongying simply responded. She actually didn't want to practice halberd much. In the past two months, Hu Sanniang and Zhao Fujin both went to the front line, but Qiu Qiongying wanted to pretend to be Yang Chang. She stayed in Yangqu as a spiritual leader for a long time. She came to Zhending just to have a good fight, but she didn't expect Li Yanxian to win without bloodshed.

Sun and Li went south to capture prefectures and counties, while Yang Changze stayed in Zhending City and did not leave. This was a rare time for Qiu Qiongying to enjoy her husband alone. She wanted to fight but did not want to leave her man, but she was uncomfortable staying in Zhending, so she made this silent protest.

When Zhang Ergou saw Yang Chang come out, he immediately stopped his companions from making noise and once again expressed his concerns as a representative. However, after Yang Chang made a guarantee, everyone immediately dispersed happily.

The provincial government office, which had been packed with people just now, instantly returned to its solemn and deserted state.

Yang Chang dispersed the crowd in just a few words. Lu Junyi not only lamented his great prestige, but also found him alone afterwards with full of apology, blaming himself: "Please forgive my incompetence for troubling you with these trivial matters."

"It doesn't matter. Ordinary people have limited knowledge and are easily influenced by others. Besides, it's a good thing for the people to support us. If we don't listen to their voices, what's the difference between us and the Jin people?"

"Your Majesty loves his people like his own children, which is a blessing to the people of Zhending."

Seeing Lu Junyi agreeing, Yang Chang's expression suddenly became serious, and he said in a deep voice: "Today's people are all kind-hearted. I am not afraid even if they have bad intentions, but I can't be everywhere. We still have to be vigilant against this kind of kindness being led by people with ulterior motives to do evil things, especially since Hebei has been lost for several years, and the situation here is very complicated."

"Ah? Then what should we do? If you are not here, will the people not be allowed to plead for their lives?"

"I can't handle this now. Otherwise, I'll be faced with all the trivial matters. How can I have the energy to do other things?"

Read the error-free version at 69shuba! 6=9+shu_ba is the first to publish this novel.

"Then this."

Yang Chang held out his hand to stop Lu Junyi, because he knew he couldn't explain it, and then muttered: "In order to give ordinary people a chance to speak, but not to affect the normal operation of the government, a new system must be designed from top to bottom. Of course, military control of Zhending is not necessary now, but it will be necessary to recover Hebei in the future."

"Oh."

Although Lu Junyi didn't understand, he felt it made sense.

The Sparrow Army made great contributions in defeating Song Jiang. Yang Chang originally planned to let Sun Xin and his wife take charge, but the original intention of the Sparrow Army was to conduct secret surveillance. Its function was similar to that of the spies of the East Factory in the Ming Dynasty, but there were great differences in details.

If there are no special circumstances, the voices of the people are mostly confined to the county and township levels and are basically impossible to go up. However, if there is judicial corruption, lazy governance and corrupt officials, all that is left above is peace and prosperity.

In history, many emperors who worked hard to govern the country became somewhat senile in their later years. People around them praised them as wise and holy rulers, and they lived a life of luxury, which meant that the people were well-fed and well-clothed.

If you hear too much nice words, the truth will disappear. Once you enter the information cocoon, you will be completely detached from reality.

Why not eat minced meat?
Who doesn’t have 500,000 yuan?
To solve the problem of low income, you can use your private car to do some work to earn extra money, or you can rent out your idle house.

Sometimes I should look for the reasons myself: Has my salary increased over the years? Have I worked hard?

People from different classes see the world differently.

The powerful cannot empathize with the lower classes because they really cannot understand. Just like the farmers living in the deep mountains and forests, who have been confined to a small world all their lives, they feel that the difference between themselves and the emperor is probably the golden hoe used by the other.

Yang Chang is going to practice Taoism in the future, so he not only wants to leave a good team for his son, but also a good system.

In addition to local military and civilian supervision, there also needs to be a channel for the people to report to the authorities. Even if the feedback from this channel is not that fast, even if only a small amount of information can be randomly extracted in a year, as long as it exists at the grassroots level, there is a glimmer of hope, which can also deter local political chaos.

of course.

It is not easy to keep the channels clean all the time, for fear that the process links may be corrupted by others, which will eventually make the system either ineffective or become a tool for local tyrants to annex.

Therefore, Yang Chang is very cautious about this. He will not easily take it out without careful consideration and verification.

It was a rare opportunity to have time not to fight, so Yang Chang tried his best to make up for Qiu Qiongying's feelings. Even though she was the boldest among the three women, she was still one of the princesses after all, and she couldn't be impatient during the day, so he mainly practiced martial arts to enhance their relationship.

While practicing martial arts, you can also make yourself sweat and enjoy Yang Chang’s free time alone.

It's a pity that Old Lu doesn't understand romance and comes to the backyard again and again to disturb their world. How can Qiu Qiongying be in a good mood?

Generals Sun and Li led their troops south for only two days and they captured five cities in succession, namely Luancheng, Yuanshi, Zanhuang, Haocheng and Pingji. The good news was sent back to Zhending from time to time, which made Qiu Qiongying feel itchy.

So on the night of August 12, Qiu Xiaomei started to talk to Yang Chang, and took advantage of the fact that Yang Chang was in his prime, and acted like Hu Sanniang:

"Official."

"I also want to fight in the battlefield. Anyway, Lu Junyi is definitely guarding us. We have nothing to do here except sweating day and night. Why don't we just quietly follow Sun An and help?"

"I remember you said that Li Yanxian has made many contributions, which puts a lot of pressure on him. He is your confidant."

Yang Chang stayed behind to act as a stabilizer to prevent Salihe from making a comeback with his troops and to guard against Wuzhu's return to Hebei.

Sun An and Li Yanxian rarely have the opportunity to lead troops. Just like Lin Chong restrained Song Jiang, Yang Chang also has to help the two generals to restrain the main force of the Jin army.

However, Qiu Qiongying was standing by, like a snake cocoon, so Yang Chang had to respond.

Going south to help Sun An is definitely not feasible, but there is no news about Wuzhu at this time, maybe we can go to Zhongshan Prefecture to scare Salihe?
Thinking of this, Yang Chang held Qiu Qiongying down and said meaningfully, "You want to fight, right? Let's go out of the city early tomorrow morning and have some fun."

"Yeah, eh? Let's have some fun?"

Qiu Qiongying reacted and asked in an ambiguous tone: "How do you stimulate it?"

"you guess?"

"You are a bad person, but I like you."

On the morning of August 13, Yang Chang explained everything to Lu Junyi, and under the pretext of going out to scout the enemy situation, he took Qiu Qiongying out of Zhending.

The couple rode out of the east gate side by side. Qiu Qiongying saw that there was no one outside the city, and thought that it would be faster for them to travel on two horses, so they did not need an attendant to follow them.

But after Yang Chang left the city, Qiu Qiongying found that the direction was not right, and it seemed that he was heading northeast all the time.

She didn't take it too seriously at first.

It was not until Yang Chang took her across the bridge and arrived at the north bank of the Zishui River in the north of Zhending that she realized something was wrong. (Zishui River is now the Zihe River, a tributary of the Hutuo River)
"Your Majesty, isn't Zhaozhou south of Zhending? Why are we here?"

"Who said we were going to Zhaozhou?"

"Where are we going?"

"Zhongshan."

Qiu Qiongying was stunned when she heard this, and then asked excitedly: "Zhongshan Prefecture? The place where Salihe retreated?"

"correct."

"Just the two of us?"

"Yeah, exciting, right?"

(End of this chapter)