Wife, you didn't really drug me, did you?

Luoyang, a millennium-old imperial capital, was the capital of thirteen dynasties. Its political status is self-evident; to control Luoyang is to control this thousand-year-old heritage.

Secondly, there is its military and geographical location. It is situated in the center of the world, with Longmen to the south, Mangshan to the north, the ancient Xiaohan Road to the west, and Hulao Pass to the east. It has a well-developed water system and has been known as a place surrounded by mountains and rivers since ancient times.

By occupying this place, troops can be transported in all directions. They can advance north to occupy Dadu (Beijing) or retreat south to protect Hubei.

By occupying this area, Huangzhou Prefecture would have virtually secured control over this vast territory in the north.

Therefore, Chen Jie's request can be described as extremely ruthless, both tactically and strategically.

Liu Bowen wasn't stupid; he saw through Chen Jie's strategic intentions at a glance. However, he was helpless because he was the one asking for help, and since he was asking for help, any request the other party made was reasonable.

Frankly speaking, if Liu Bowen were in Chen Jie's position, he would have made a similar request.

As Chen Jiu Si, he certainly wouldn't really join forces with Zhang Shi Cheng to deal with his own lord. After all, from his observations over the years, although Chen Jiu Si acted like a tyrant, he also helped the people to recuperate, opened up trade routes, and reformed the bureaucracy. Under his governance, Hubei Province was thriving.

Such a person has ideals in mind, and such a person would not easily ally with Zhang Shicheng.

However, if Chen Jiu Si helps his lord, then Zhu Chong Ba, who will control the five circuits and eighty-one prefectures of Jiangnan, plus Haozhou, and most of Henan, will become the most terrifying force in the world.

Chen Jiu Si did not want to be annexed, so he could only advance into the northwest and southwest regions.

That is, Hubei, Sichuan, Shaanxi, Shanxi, and Qinghai. Even so, they are still weaker than his lord. Therefore, he wants to occupy the area from Luoyang in Henan to Nanyang to form a defensive line. In this way, he can rival his lord.

Having thought all this through, Liu Bowen looked at Chen Jie and said, "Lord Chen, I'm afraid I need to go back and report this to my lord so that he can make the final decision."

Upon hearing this, Chen Jie replied, "That is certainly the case."

……

Liu Bowen and Tang He took Chen Jie's request back to Zhu Chongba for a decision. They also took back news of the mutual respect between Chen Jie and Liu Bowen, as well as Chen Jie's words of recruitment to Liu Bowen.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Chongba showed no joy on his face, but merely feigned a hearty laugh and said, "Haha, Mr. Liu is indeed in high demand. It seems I have a good eye for people, hahaha..."

Tang He and Liu Bowen both smiled obsequiously. Zhu Chongba said, "Mr. Liu, we are not petty people. Chen Jiu Si is indeed a remarkable person. If you like him, you can go and seek refuge with him. We will not stop you, we will not stop you at all."

Upon hearing Zhu Chongba's words, Liu Bowen felt a chill run down his spine for some reason, and an indescribable fear enveloped him.

At this moment, Liu Bowen immediately knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, I know the principle that a subject should not serve two masters. I would never do such a rebellious thing."

Zhu Chongba laughed loudly: "Bowen, what are you doing? It's as if I don't trust you."

"Have our relationship as ruler and subject fallen to such a point?"

Zhu Chongba looked at Liu Bowen with a smile on his face, but there was no smile in his eyes, only naked probing.

Liu Bowen felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave. He knew a thing or two about the kind of person his master was, and it seemed that his master had become suspicious of him.

Liu Bowen immediately knelt down and said, "Your Excellency, this is clearly a scheme to sow discord!"

Zhu Chongba then stood up with a smile, helped Liu Bowen up with both hands, and said, "Bowen, look at you, how could I not see through your scheme to sow discord?"

"Don't worry, I know what's going on. Chen Jiu Si is trying to sow discord between us with just one sentence. He underestimates me, Zhu Chong Ba."

After saying that, Zhu Chongba helped Liu Bowen up and then said to Tang He, "Go to Huangzhou Prefecture again and tell Chen Jiu Si that I have agreed to all his conditions. Luoyang will belong to him!"

Upon hearing this, Tang He said, "Ah, Your Majesty, Luoyang is an important town."

Zhu Chongba said, "If I can get Chen Jiu Si to help me once in exchange for Luoyang, this deal is still worthwhile."

After saying this, Zhu Chongba said to Liu Bowen, "Bowen, you've worked hard. Go and rest. I still need your help to formulate the next strategy."

Liu Bowen immediately cupped his hands in greeting, then turned and left.

Once outside, a person approached and asked, "Teacher, are you alright?"

Liu Bowen wiped his forehead and said, "It's nothing, it's nothing."

The two then left.

At this moment, Tang He watched Liu Bowen leave and then said to Zhu Chongba, "Sir, I'm afraid the way you treated Mr. Liu just now might have made him resentful."

Zhu Chongba said, "I did it on purpose."

Zhu Chongba said, "Tang He, you've noticed that this Mr. Liu has never been on our side. Even when he knelt in front of us just now, we could tell that he looked down on us deep down."

"Ah, take a higher position? No way, I think Mr. Liu is very respectful to those who take a higher position."

"Hehe, what's our background compared to Liu Bowen's? These people love to look down on others, there's nothing we can do about it."

After saying this, Zhu Chongba continued, "Alright, let's not talk about this anymore."

“Listen to me, when you go to Huangzhou Prefecture this time, tell Chen Jiu Si that I will give him Luoyang, but he will still be needed to help complete this important matter.”

After saying this, Zhu Chongba paused for a moment and said, "If he agrees, you should immediately go north to Luoyang and give orders to Feng Sheng, who is stationed there, to withdraw his troops from Luoyang and immediately garrison at Hulao Pass, build fortifications on the spot, and be prepared to counterattack Luoyang at any time."

"Yes!"

Upon hearing this, Tang He immediately agreed and then returned to Huangzhou Prefecture.

Upon arriving in Huangzhou Prefecture, he stated his terms. Chen Jie chuckled and said, "Your King Wu is quite generous. Since that's the case, if Luoyang is mine, I will agree to your King Wu's terms. If the time comes, I can join forces with him to annihilate Zhang Shicheng!"

Tang He immediately clasped his hands in thanks and said, "Thank you, Lord Chen. I will head north now to announce the King of Wu's order to abandon Luoyang. Lord Chen can send troops to take over."

Chen Jie chuckled and said, "Alright, then I'll have to trouble you."

After saying this, Tang He turned and left, heading directly north to give Feng Sheng the order to withdraw his troops.

After listening to this, Chen Jie pondered for a moment and said, "Pass on my order to have Chen Xiaohu lead 20,000 troops to garrison Luoyang."

"Yes."

Upon hearing this, a messenger immediately rode swiftly to Shanxi to deliver military orders to the White Tiger Army, which was at the forefront of the attack.

The White Tiger Army now has more than 40,000 men, half of whom are stationed in Luoyang and the other half are used to quell banditry in Shanxi and other areas. This is just right.

Having done all this, Chen Jie marked it on the map. With Luoyang as a point of reference, it was equivalent to directly setting up a barrier in the northwestern regions. In this way, he could focus on managing the Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Qinghai regions. In addition, the matters in Shu were almost resolved. Jin Yanzi personally took Chen Jie's letter to Mount Emei and delivered it to Abbess Juemie. Abbess Juemie was very happy to see that it was a letter from Chen Jie, after all, Chen Jie and Abbess Juemie were old friends.

Furthermore, Chen Jie also mentioned that after the Huangzhou Prefecture army enters Sichuan, the Tang Clan will be subordinate to Emei. This is of great importance to Abbess Juemie, who is determined to glorify Emei.

With the help of Abbess Juemie, there was basically no resistance in the entire Shu region.

The remaining resistance came from Tang Clan disciples, who all became docile under Jin Yanzi's attack. Jin Yanzi, following Chen Jie's orders, did not exterminate the Tang Clan but instead sowed discord within them.

By supporting an undervalued member of the Tang Clan to become its leader, the Tang Clan can be kept in check. This way, the Tang Clan will be mutually restrained, and Chen Jie can easily take over the Tang Clan's hidden weapon techniques and develop them into his own forces.

Chen Jie had always wanted to establish a secret service department, and he planned to hire some people from the underworld to run it.

However, martial arts practitioners would not easily submit to the imperial court, so Chen Jie set his sights on some already ruined sects, and the Tang Clan was a good fit, as its hidden weapons and stealth capabilities were quite formidable.

Of course, all of this is still in the planning stage; it's not yet time for Chen Jie to close the net.

Upon receiving Chen Jie's order, Chen Xiaohu immediately led his troops to Luoyang. At the same time, Feng Sheng also led his troops to withdraw from Luoyang. As his name suggests, Feng Sheng was extremely uncomfortable to see the vast city of Luoyang being handed over to others. However, since the order had already been issued, he was powerless to change it.

At this moment, one of Feng Sheng's soldiers looked at him and said, "General, are we just going to hand over Luoyang to the White Tiger Army like this?"

After a long silence, Feng Sheng said, "We will fight back one day."

Meanwhile, Chen Xiaohu, standing atop the city wall of Luoyang, watched Feng Sheng and his group depart.

The lieutenant behind him said, "These guys are still not convinced. We've already taken the city, what do they have to complain about?"

Chen Xiaohu looked at him and said, "You're wrong to say that. We're all soldiers. Who would willingly hand over their city? I can understand their feelings right now."

The lieutenant looked at Chen Xiaohu and said, "Commander Hu, is it wrong of us to take the city?"

Chen Xiaohu said, "Soldiers take obeying orders as their duty. From a soldier's perspective, there is no right or wrong. We are just carrying out a mission."

"What if we don't look at it from a soldier's perspective?"

The deputy general asked, and Chen Xiaohu looked at him and smiled, "If we don't look at it from a military perspective, then we have even less right to say this. As the art of war says, 'To subdue the enemy without fighting is to win.' Our lord took this ancient capital without losing a single soldier. What an amazing achievement that is! How can you and I question it?"

"If we consider it from a political perspective, it's an extraordinary feat. With just one word, he managed to win back an entire city. This is legendary throughout history, isn't it?"

Upon hearing this, the deputy general immediately clasped his hands and said, "How dare I say anything bad about the prefect? ​​I only said a few words because I heard that Commander Hu pitied these people."

Chen Xiaohu said, "Chen Liu, you are also one of us from Mianshui. You have been following me for many years, but you must remember one thing: never question the prefect. Also, I am not pitying them, but I am just feeling that soldiers still have to obey politics."

"If I were Feng Sheng today, I would definitely be seething with anger. When our two families fall out in the future, he won't show us any mercy."

"So you all need to be on your guard, don't slack off, work hard to strengthen the city's defenses, and enforce military discipline. We need to make Luoyang as impregnable as a fortress, so that when Feng Sheng returns to fight back, we can have a good fight with them and let them know that we didn't win the city through trickery and schemes. We can take it back anytime we want!"

Upon hearing this, the deputy general replied, "Yes, I understand. If they dare to invade again, we will make sure they never return."

Chen Xiaohu nodded slightly and then said, "Alright, stop looking. Pass on my military order: the entire army must maintain discipline, not disturb the people, appease the populace, post notices, and invite the respected elders of the city. I will speak with them personally."

The lieutenant replied, "Yes."

Chen Xiaohu asked, "By the way, has the civil official sent by Huangzhou Prefecture arrived yet?"

The deputy general said, "We have arrived. Luoyang is an important town, so the prefect has sent the former prefect of Jingzhou to pacify the people."

"The Prefect of Jingzhou, oh, I do know a thing or two about this person. With him around, the people can be appeased."

After Chen Xiaohu finished speaking, he walked down the Luoyang city wall!

……

After Chen Jie and Zhu Chongba reached a deal, Zhu Chongba officially began fighting against Zhang Shicheng.

October of the fifteenth year of the Zhizheng era.

One month after Zhang Shicheng declared himself King of Wu, Zhu Chongba raised the banner of punishing the rebel and led his army in a three-pronged attack on Zhang Shicheng.

The left wing army, led by Grand Marshal Xu Da, with 50,000 troops, attacked Quzhou.

The right wing army, led by General Tang He, led 50,000 troops to attack Yangzhou.

Finally, the central army, led by Zhu Chongba and with Chang Yuchun as its deputy, led 100,000 troops to attack Hangzhou.

A major battle was imminent, and the three armies launched a swift and decisive attack on Zhang Shicheng. Upon learning of the situation, Zhang Shicheng was greatly alarmed and immediately dispatched his general Li Bosheng with 50,000 troops to defend Quzhou.

Before leaving, Li Bosheng vowed that he would never lose Quzhou, and that if he did, he would bring his head upon himself.

It is well known that the attacking force often needs to be one or even two times larger than the defending force to have a chance of taking down this tough nut, so Li Bosheng felt that he would not lose.

Zhang Shicheng also believed it and directly called Li Bosheng "my Han Xin".

Immediately afterwards, he dispatched his general Lü Zhen with an army of 50,000 to Yangzhou to deal with Tang He.

Lü Zhen was also a hero. After receiving the order, he also made a pledge: if he could not defeat Tang He, he would bring his head to face him.

Upon seeing this, Zhang Shicheng exclaimed excitedly, "Lü Zhen is truly my Fan Kuai!"

Thus, the two armies set off, while Zhang Shicheng personally led the remaining 80,000 troops to support Hangzhou, preparing for a major battle with Zhu Chongba.

And so the war began.

The fighting began in October and lasted until late October. The first news that came was that Xu Da captured Quzhou and Li Bosheng led his troops to surrender.

Upon hearing this devastating news, Zhang Shicheng angrily berated Li Bosheng, calling him an incompetent fool who dared to compare himself to Han Xin, a complete waste.

Before this news could be fully digested, news broke that Yangzhou had been defeated, and Lü Zhen had also been decisively defeated by Tang He, and had fled back to Hangzhou.

Zhang Shicheng was furious and immediately led 10,000 Koga ninja troops to attack Hangzhou, where he fought a major battle with Zhu Chongba outside the city.

turn out!
Zhu Chongba suffered a crushing defeat! (End of Chapter)