Late Tang

(Thanks for Wuwei's so-called reward, there are only two updates today, sorry!)

A thick fog rose in the middle of the night, covering Yangzhou, a metropolis in Huainan, in a vast expanse of whiteness.

The city sleeping in the thick fog suddenly let out a few meows, and then dogs barked continuously from all directions.Accompanied by cats barking and dogs barking, there was a sudden sound of footsteps in the city, and groups of Huainan Army soldiers with torches poured out of the barracks ferociously, breaking into the quiet night city.

Some people who heard the noise just opened a crack in the door, and before they could see what happened, the door was kicked open, and several soldiers with fierce faces announced the martial law regulations loudly, making all families Close your doors.

Zhang Laosan, who had been kicked in the waist, hurriedly retreated into the door with his teeth grinning, and closed the door.After closing the door, he rubbed the bruises on his waist, but in his ears, he heard a burst of shouting and shouting from the shop opened by the Dengzhou businessman next door.

Back in the room, his wife hurriedly asked, "What happened outside, but the army is in chaos?"

Zhang Laosan shook his head and sighed, "It's not a rebellious soldier. Those soldiers are breaking into the Dengzhou shop. It's probably the same as a few days ago. They are arresting them."

The wife asked in amazement: "A few days ago, the commander-in-chief ordered them to be released. Why did they come to seize and raid the shop after a few days?"

"These are all matters from above, let's just stop worrying about it." Zhang Laosan rubbed his waist and got on the bed.

The wife was still there sighing, "The owner and the couple of this Dengzhou shop are not bad. Zizai opened this shop here, and they are usually very polite to us. What a good couple. Why did they encounter such troubles?" Well, I heard that Commander Gao and Prince Li of Dengzhou are at odds, and the unlucky ones are the people below."

Overnight, the atmosphere in Yangzhou changed drastically. The merchants from Dengzhou who were released just now were arrested again last night. All the shops in Dengzhou were also sealed up and their goods were confiscated.Even many people from Dengzhou who had settled in Yangzhou for many years did not escape, and were arrested and imprisoned one after another.

Not only in Yangzhou, but also in various states and counties in Huainan Township, shops in Dengzhou Township were seized overnight and people were arrested everywhere.

Early in the morning, Gao Pian was convening the generals to discuss matters at the Yangzhou Marshal's Mansion Festival Hall.

Dozens of generals under Gao Pian's tent, including Zhang Lin, Liang Yan, Chen Gong, Feng Shou, Dong Jin, Yu Gongchu, Yao Guili, Bi Shiduo, Zheng Hanzhang, Zhang Shenjian, etc., gathered together.

Today's meeting, all the generals basically knew that it must be related to that Li Junwang.Last night, Gao Shuai suddenly issued an order that shook the whole city, and today he summoned all the generals to discuss matters, how could everyone not know Gao Shuai's thoughts.

Previously, Gao Shuai sent Lu Yongzhi to the north to negotiate with Li Jing, but now it seems that the matter has not been negotiated.Negotiations with Li Jing failed, so the next step is probably to do it.Most of the generals Gao Pian sat down were generals in the army, and whoever got his current position didn't fight with his head on his trouser belt.But Li Jing was just a farmer a few years ago, but now he has become the king of the county.The group of shrimp soldiers and crab generals under him are all chickens and dogs ascending to heaven.I heard that there are 30 soldiers and horses in the town [***], and most of the generals below are people in their [-]s and [-]s.

This is just a joke, everyone in their teens and 20s is a general, a general, a county king, etc., this group of people are working so hard, is it in vain?

Gao Shuai wanted to teach Li Jing a lesson, and they all supported him.If people like Li Jing don't teach them a lesson, they really don't know how much they weigh.

"The commander-in-chief previously sent Mr. Lu to the north to discuss with Li Jing. But Li Jing was so domineering that he didn't pay attention to us at all. This matter must not be tolerated. Since Li Jing is so ignorant, then the commander-in-chief has decided to give Li Jing Take a look."

Gao Pian thought about it all night last night, and he didn't need to do much to deal with Li Jing.He personally led 1 elite soldiers to the north, and then summoned Zhenhai, Zhedong, Xuankan, Ganhua, Taining, Tianping, Xuanwu, and Zhongwu to send troops.There is no need for the towns to actually send troops, as long as the symbolic surnames send hundreds of people to bear the banners of the towns.To deal with Li Jing, [-] people are enough.Moreover, he didn't think that this battle could really be fought. It is estimated that once his side made preparations to send troops, Li Jing's side would have to send someone to subdue him.

Under Gao Pian's command, the two bravest generals are Zhang Lin and Liang Yan, both of whom have followed Gao Pian for many years.Gao Pian said to the two: "Li Jing is too arrogant and must fight back. Two generals, how do you think we should deal with Li Jing?"

Zhang Lin pondered for a while, and said: "Li Jing has just been crowned king, and he is proud of his youth. Right now he has [-] soldiers in his hand, and he is a powerful domain in the east. Now after he has captured the Liaodong Peninsula, he is sending troops to the west of Liao, and he is determined to win the land of Yingzhou. If we At this time, when he led his troops northward, Li Jing could not deal with the Khitans in western Liaoning with all his strength. He would either give up Pingliao for the time being, or he would give in to us, lest we really go to his lair. I think Li Jing would not If you choose to confront Gao Shuai head-on, you can only bow your head."

Liang Yan, on the other hand, said worriedly: "General Zhang is right, but Li Jing is in Ping Liao. Is it inappropriate for us to send troops from behind at this time? If Li Jing refuses to compromise, we will be in trouble at that time. Should we fight or not?" Fight? Moreover, Li Jing is deeply trusted by His Majesty, if the court and His Majesty come forward, what should we do? If we retreat halfway because of this, it will be even more detrimental to Gao Shuai's prestige. I think it is better to talk to Li Jing again?"

After the two generals finished speaking, the generals discussed it.

Bi Shiduo, the surrendered general sitting at the bottom of the table, said: "Then Li Jingxiong is based in the East China Sea and has 20 elite soldiers, and he is deeply favored by the emperor. Generals, don't look at Li Jing as young, but he is very good at training and leading troops. In just a few years Time can be crowned as the king of the county, not only by paying tribute to the emperor. At that time, he was able to rise up in Ziqing Town, regain Liaonan, then enter Youzhou, and then enter Daibei University to defeat the Shatuo Army, and then moved to the Central Plains. Until now He served as the chief protector of Andong, the Jiedu envoy of Lulong Army, the Jiedu envoy of Pinglu Army, the Jiedu envoy of Datong Army, and the Jiedu envoy of Zhen [***], this person is not an idle person, so don't underestimate the enemy."

The three Shatuo generals, Li Guochang, Li Youjin, and Li Jinzhong, who were sitting by the side, all remained silent with dark faces.Although Bi Shiduo's words were harsh, they were not wrong.When the imperial court used troops to replace the north, although Li Jing was very cunning and rarely fought a frontal battle, Li Jing was indeed cunning in using troops, and he always shot at critical moments every time.And after a few battles, Zhen [***]'s ability to fight head-on is also very strong, which is still impressive.

Although they hoped that Gao Pian would lead the army to deal with Li Jing, they did not dare to hide the truth.Faced with Gao Pian's question, all three nodded, agreeing with Bi Shiduo's assessment of Li Jing and Zhen's combat power.

"Then mobilize more soldiers and horses. Two fists are no match for four hands, and tigers can't hold back a pack of wolves. No matter how powerful Li Jing is, if our towns send troops together, Li Jing will not be an opponent. Don't brag about Li Jing too much, Where was Li Jing when the commander-in-chief defeated 20 southern barbarians in Annan?" General Yu Gongchu couldn't understand how everyone praised Li Jing.

Gao Pian nodded in satisfaction, "General Yu is right. Li Jing is not afraid of being able to fight. This commander likes strong opponents. We will transfer [-] elite soldiers from Huainan, and ask Zhenhai Commander Zhou to send [-] troops, and then the other towns will send troops. Let’s gather [-] soldiers and horses. Tell the generals, after Li Jing is eliminated, Li Jing’s money, food and military equipment will be shared by each family, and divided according to the number of troops sent. Those who send more troops will get more points, and those who send fewer troops will get less.”

Soon, the results of the meeting were decided.

Gao Pian is going to have a head-to-head confrontation with Li Jing.

On the same day, Gao Pian issued a military order to the Huainan prefectures, and dispatched 3 troops from the prefectures, counties and dental soldiers to gather in Xuyi and Shanyang Erchong Towns on the south bank of the Huaihe River in Chuzhou.At the same time, Gao Pian sent envoys to Zhenhai, Ganhua and other towns to contact the towns to deal with Li Jing together.

Half a month later, Huainan's [-] troops had arrived at the two important towns of Xuyi and Shanyang in Chuzhou on the south bank of the lower Huaihe River.Gao Pian personally led Zhang Lin, Liang Yan and other generals to Chuzhou.

Dengzhou had already received news of Huainan's actions, but Gao Pian did not see the expected weakness of Li Jing.

Not only did no one come from Dengzhou, but envoys were sent to the towns for a long time, but the towns didn't respond at all.

Gao Pian urged him several times, and finally got some news that made him extremely angry.

His sworn brother, General Shence, Zhenhai Jiedu envoy Zhou Bao, has reached a settlement with Li Jing.Zhou Bao returned all the goods and people in the shops, and Li Jing also gave Zhou Bao a large amount of money and food, which was considered to be the end of the previous matter.Now that the two families are reconciled as before, Zhou Bao refuses to send troops to support Gao Pian's military action.

Under the leadership of Zhou Bao, Zhixiang of Probation Army, Yang Zhizhi of Taining Festival, Cao Quanzhang of Tianping Army, Xue Neng of Zhongwu Army, and Murenyu of Xuanwu Army all successively reached a settlement with Li Jing.All the towns returned the shops, goods and people detained by Li Jing, and even reached further cooperation agreements with Li Jing.

Except for Huainan, Li Jing's business routes expanded greatly.

Gao Pian was so angry that he wrote a letter to question Zhou Bao. The two exchanged letters, and soon they scolded each other in the letter. The brotherhood for many years was cut off.

In anger, Gao Pian led his troops northward, preparing to send troops alone.

As a result, Zhixiang sent troops to blockade the Huaihe River, Sishui River, and the canal, and refused to let Gao Pian borrow the road to go north.The angry Gao Pian prepared to send troops directly to the probation army to attack Xuzhou.As a result, the naval forces in the town of [***] assembled on a large scale at the mouth of the Yangtze River, preparing to attack Yangzhou.Surprised, Yu Gongchu and other generals who stayed behind repeatedly sent messages to Gao Pian for help. Gao Pian had to temporarily suspend his plan to go north and dispatched troops to return to Yangzhou.

But when he returned to Yangzhou, another envoy from the emperor arrived, announcing an edict to reprimand Gao Pian for arbitrarily dispatching troops and other matters.Even Tian Lingzi sent secret envoys to Yangzhou to accuse him of such nonsense.

At this time, although Gao Pian still planned to lead his troops to the north, he was troubled both at home and abroad, and was reprimanded by the emperor, the ministers of the political affairs hall, and Tian Lingzi, and the towns such as Zhenhai and Ganhua were hostile.At the same time, there were complaints from various clans in the country, secretly accusing Gao Pian's actions of causing them heavy losses.

Sitting on the top of the tallest tower in Yangzhou City, watching the warships in Changjiangli Town [***] cruising unscrupulously, showing off their might, Gao Pian gritted his teeth and said harshly: "Send someone to Xiao's house in Lanling, and invite them to come forward!" Make a trip to Dengzhou to make peace with Li Jing." (To be continued.)