Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 215 Who is the villain?
In early April, outside Guangwu City on the banks of the Wunishui River, groups of people were scattered in the fields to farm, including many soldiers wearing war jackets.

Due to the slightly colder weather this year, spring ploughing was postponed from the end of March to April.

Even so, the military and civilians in Guangwu County were not slow in their actions. At present, tens of thousands of acres of arable land have been planted with crops, and most of the remaining land has also been planted with crops as a result of the hard work of the military and civilians.

"Buzz rumbling..."

"Beep--"

Suddenly, the sound of dull horse hooves was heard in the distance, and the soldiers and civilians outside Guangwu County ran towards the city gate as if they had rehearsed, after the wooden whistle sounded.

"Beep--"

The whistle sounded outside Guangwu County, and people from all the city gates rushed into the city.

In the distance, more than a dozen light cavalrymen were riding their horses towards them, but they were not in a hurry. Instead, they looked to the north from time to time, while waiting for the people to enter the city.

Soon, when the people rushed into the city gate, they followed into the city and closed the gate tightly.

"Your Majesty!"

The sound of hurried footsteps was heard in the Guangwu County Government Office. When the general walked into the courtyard, he saw his envoy chatting and laughing with several officials in light green official robes.

Seeing the general coming, Li Yizhong asked, "What's the matter?"

"Troops are coming from Liangzhou!" The general bowed and saluted, and Li Yizhong snorted coldly when he heard it.

Ever since Rebajian lost contact, Li Yizhong guessed that they were in great danger.

Because of this, he had already made preparations for both situations. On the one hand, he asked Suo Xun for help, and on the other hand, he trained the soldiers and civilians in the city, so as to prevent the Liangzhou troops from taking advantage of the opportunity.

Fortunately, Suo Xun did not let him down and brought him good news.

Although it cannot meet my expectations, it is enough.

"Angel, look..."

Li Yizhong pretended to be sad, stood up and bowed, saying: "Zhang Huaishen just found out that the court was going to assign Lanzhou to Longyou, so he immediately sent troops to seize it!"

"Don't worry, Governor Li. The imperial court will make the decision on this matter!"

The official in the light green robe stood up, snorted coldly and walked out. Li Yizhong hurriedly followed with a smile on his face.

He had no grudge against Zhang Huaishen, but Zhang Huaishen blocked his way.

Originally, he was thinking of relying on Guangwu to join Liu Jilian, but now that he has a better development, he naturally would not sit in an isolated city.

Following the official in light green robes out of the county government office, Li Yizhong and his party walked towards the north gate tower.

A quarter of an hour later, shortly after they arrived at the north gate tower, they saw dust rising from the northern official road and the Three Stars Flag fluttering in the wind.

Soon, a thousand elite cavalry arrived at the foot of the city. Jiu Juyan also rode his horse from the team to the other side of the moat and looked up at the city gate tower.

"Governor Jiu, I don't know what brings you here from Liangzhou?"

Li Yizhong asked Jiujuyan in a loud voice. Jiujuyan still bowed but said coldly:

"Envoy Zhang has a military order. I have been ordered to take over as the military governor of Guangwu Army. Please ask Governor Li to open the city gates immediately!"

Jiu Juyan was unaware of the changes in the city, and Li Yizhong laughed when he heard it, "I wonder whose military order Envoy Zhang is following?!"

"Li Yizhong, what do you mean?!"

Jiu Juyan called him by his name, and at this time the official beside Li Yizhong also held the imperial edict in both hands and stepped forward and sang:

"The Supreme Emperor has issued an order to order Li Yizhong, the governor of Lanzhou and the military governor of Guangwu Army, to move to Ganzhou and transfer the governor of Ganzhou."

"Weizhou Governor Chen Jingchong was transferred to Lanzhou Governor..."

"I wonder whose military order the general outside the city received to come here and take over Guangwu?"

"Is this military order more important than the Supreme Imperial Edict?!"

The sudden appearance of the angel made Jiu Juyan's face change drastically. He never expected to meet an angel with an imperial edict here, and he never expected that Li Yizhong was transferred to Ganzhou as the governor, and Chen Jingchong was about to serve as the governor of Lanzhou.

He and Chen Jingchong were both servants of the Zhang family. After Chen Jingchong followed Liu Jilian to Longxi, he also took care of Chen Jingchong's family. But now Chen Jingchong is actually getting involved in Lanzhou?
"Could it be General Liu Jie..."

The figure of Liu Jilong flashed through Jiu Juyan's mind, and at a certain moment he even felt that this was done by Liu Jilong and Li Yizhong.

However, this thought did not last long before he shook it out of his head. Now he was only concerned about how to deal with this matter.

"The general will not dare!"

Facing the imperial edict, Jiu Juyan was still a little timid and naturally did not dare to speak nonsense to the angel.

"Humph!" Seeing Jiu Juyan give in, the angel immediately ordered: "Since there is nothing else, please return to Liangzhou."

"Lanzhou belongs to Longyou. Governor Liu will send troops to take over Lanzhou soon."

"As for me, I will go to Liangzhou with Governor Li later to read the imperial edict."

Facing the imperial edict in the angel's hand, Jiu Juyan tightly grasped the reins and had to bow: "Yes!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he turned his horse around and ordered his men: "Retreat!"

The reins of the horses shook, and more than a thousand elite cavalry turned back and headed north.

At the same time, Li Yizhong also bowed to the angel and said, "Thank you angel for saving me. I will serve the court until my death!"

"Li, you are too kind." The angel helped Li Yizhong up, and Li Yizhong also asked:

"I don't know when Longyou will send troops to Guangwu. Can I notify them?"

Hearing this, the angel also explained: "I have been away from Chang'an for half a month. According to careful calculations, it should be another three to five days before Liu, the governor, will receive the imperial edict."

"Before that, please ask Governor Li to wait until the Longyou troops arrive and then escort me to Liangzhou to read the imperial edict."

"By then, Governor Suo of Huizhou will also send troops to support us."

"Of course." Li Yizhong bowed, his eyes flickering.

He knew that Zhang Yichao and Zhang Huaishen had become the people the court wanted to eliminate.

He also saw some clues from what the angel did just now.

The imperial court gave Guangwu to Liu Jilian for no reason, and let the angels use the banner of the imperial court and Liu Jilian to suppress Hexi. The purpose was nothing more than to create a situation that Liu Jilian had surrendered to the imperial court and was ready to work with the court to deal with Hexi.

Based on his understanding of Liu Jilong, Liu Jilong would not do such a thing.

In addition, the angel just said that he would set out half a month in advance, which made Li Yizhong even more certain that the court had concealed it from Liu Jilian and cut off Liu Jilian's connection with Hexi first.

Even if Liu Jilong realized what was happening afterwards, it would be of no avail. A rift had already arisen between him and Zhang Huaishen. Even if Zhang Huaishen could understand him, others might not.

This person just said that he and Suo Xun needed to meet up in Liangzhou. From this perspective, the other imperial edicts in the angel's hand might be directed at Liangzhou.

Thinking of this, Li Yizhong couldn't help but sigh, feeling a bit sad.

However, no matter how uncomfortable he felt, he was more concerned about whether he could take over as the governor of Ganzhou.

The current governor of Ganzhou is his father, and the succession between father and son has allowed their lineage to gain a firm foothold in Ganzhou.

Li Yizhong couldn't help but sigh. After all, he and his son had originally planned to gain a foothold in Lanzhou, but after going around in circles, they finally returned to Ganzhou, and this time they had the support of the court.

Such enormous wealth actually fell into their hands.

It’s a pity that after running Lanzhou for several years, he finally had to give it to Liu Jilong.

"Forget it. After I take away the soldiers and relatives, there won't be many people left. It's not bad to do a favor."

While thinking, Li Yizhong smiled and led the angel, taking him back to the yamen to drink and eat meat.

After they left the city gate tower, Jiu Juyan also led his troops back to Changsong.

It was five days later when he led his troops back to Changsong and met Zhang Huaishen.

"Envoy, there is a change in Lanzhou!"

Jiu Juyan hurried into the inner hall of Changsong County Yamen and told him everything that had happened in Guangwu County.

Zhang Huaishen originally had a slight frown on his face, but as he heard what followed his frown became tighter and tighter.

At the same time, Zhang Huaijian, Du Wanmeng, Zheduosibie and others, who learned that Jiujuyan had withdrawn his troops, also hurried over and just heard what Jiujuyan said.

"Damn it! How dare Liu Jilong take Lanzhou away?!"

Zhang Huaijian slammed his fist on the table, and Du Wanmeng's chest heaved with anger.

Zhe Duoxibie didn't say anything when he heard this, but Jiu Juyan seemed to be hesitant to speak.

"Crack!"

Zhang Huaishen broke the brush in his hand with one hand, but he did not react immediately. Instead, he connected various pieces of information in his mind and then asked Jiu Juyan:
"Do you think Liu Jilong will join forces with the imperial court to deal with us?"

"I..." Jiu Juyan wanted to deny it, but he felt that he had not seen Liu Jilong for many years, and maybe Liu Jilong had changed.

"I don't know... probably not... or maybe..."

He hesitated, unable to say what he was unsure of, and the same was true for Zhang Huaishen. The Liu Jilong in their memory was the Liu Jilong of several years ago, and they had no idea what the current Liu Jilong looked like.

People can change. What if Liu Jilian is really bribed by the imperial court and decides to deal with them?

Zhang Huaishen was unsure, and after thinking for a while, he said, "Jiu Juyan, take dozens of light cavalry and go to Wuquan via Huizhou. I want to know what Liu Jilong is thinking."

"Yes!" Jiu Juyan bowed in response, and regardless of his fatigue, he turned around and led his troops to Wuquan.

After Jiujuyan left, Zhang Huaijian could not help but ask, "Envoy, why do you have to do this?"

"What if the imperial court is trying to sow discord?" Zhang Huaishen asked Zhang Huaijian, but Zhang Huaijian clenched his fists and said:
"I think Liu Jilong has changed a long time ago. He said that he would return the Five Springs after conquering Hezhou, but he has been attacking cities and seizing territories in the past few years since he conquered Hezhou, and he has not returned the Five Springs."

“In my opinion, even if Liu Jilong didn’t know about this, he would be happy to accept Guangwu!”

Zhang Huaishen looked at Du Wanmeng and Zhe Duoxibie after hearing this: "What do you think?"

"We..." The two hesitated. Seeing this, Zhang Huaishen raised his hand and said, "That's enough."

"Send someone to tell my uncle about this, quickly."

"Yes!" Du Wanmeng agreed, turned around and ordered the cavalry to deliver the message to Dunhuang.

While Zhang Huaishen was making his arrangements, Chen Jingchong of Weizhou also met the angel from the court and received the imperial edict on behalf of Liu Jilian.

After receiving the imperial edict, he rushed to Linzhou without stopping, and arrived in Didao the day after Zhang Huaishen made the deployment.

"Come on!"

"Come on!"

Chen Jingchong led more than ten soldiers into the Protectorate, shouting for the commander-in-chief, very anxious.

Gao Jinda, Cui Shu, Cao Mao and others who were handling government affairs in the main hall heard the noise and came out to see who was making the noise in the Protectorate, but they saw Chen Jingchong instead.

"Governor Chen, there are still nearly three months before the general gathers the troops from all the towns. Why did you come here so early?"

"The court has issued an order. Where is the commander?"

Facing Gao Jinda's questioning, Chen Jingchong revealed the soldiers behind him, one of whom was holding a long box containing the imperial edict in his arms.

"I'll go and invite the commander!" Cao Mao hurriedly spoke up upon seeing this. Gao Jinda and Cui Shu also turned sideways and motioned Chen Jingchong to enter the main hall.

A quarter of an hour later, Liu Jilian and Cao Mao returned to the Protectorate.

As soon as Liu Jilong entered the main hall, Chen Jingchong opened the wooden box, took out the imperial edict, and shouted, "General, the court is trying to sow discord between us and Envoy Zhang!"

Upon hearing this, Liu Jilong snatched the imperial edict, opened it and read it quickly, then handed it to Gao Jinda and others.

"This court is so cruel!"

"Your methods are so treacherous, how can you live up to the dignity of the imperial court!"

"It's ridiculous..."

The content of the imperial edict sent by the court to Liu Jilong was not long. It simply hoped that Liu Jilong would quickly recover the two states of Shankuo. At the same time, knowing that Longyou was exhausted, the court placed Lanzhou under the jurisdiction of Liu Jilong, transferred Chen Jingchong as the governor of Lanzhou, and ordered Gao Jinda to serve as the governor of Weizhou concurrently.

"The court couldn't possibly not know that Wuquan is in our hands. I think they did it on purpose!"

Chen Jingchong couldn't help but speak. After all, he was a servant of the Zhang family. Although he followed Liu Jilong, he still respected Zhang Huaishen and Zhang Yichao very much.

Now the court has chosen him to be the governor of Lanzhou. Isn't it just to make him repay Liu Jilong's kindness with enmity in order to provoke Zhang Huaishen?

“It was intentional.”

Liu Jilong turned around and walked to the main seat and sat down. He pondered for a moment and said:

"We are about to recapture Shanzhou, and now they are doing this, I am afraid they are going to attack Hexi."

"General, what should we do?" Gao Jinda asked with a bow. Liu Jilong frowned and said:
"Ignore it for now and retake Shanzhou first."

"Also, send someone to tell Dou Bin in Wuquan to send someone to bypass Guangwu and go to Liangzhou to contact Zhang Huaishen, and bring the imperial edict sent to us by the court to Zhang Huaishen. After Zhang Huaishen reads the imperial edict, he will naturally know who caused this incident."

"Yes!" Gao Jinda agreed, and then arranged for someone to pass the news to Wuquan.

Everyone tacitly agreed not to mention the matter of Wuquan, because Wuquan is now the gateway for trade from Longyou to the north.

If Wuquan is given up, Hexi will be able to directly threaten Didao, and the Linglong trade route that Chen Ying has worked so hard to open up will be blocked again.

Although this is somewhat immoral, now is indeed not a good time to return the Wuquan, not to mention that the problem now is not the Wuquan, but Guangwu and even Liangzhou.

If Zhang Huaishen fails to handle the situation properly, it will be easy for the Hexi Guiyi Army to lose the good situation.

However, just because no one else mentioned it didn't mean Liu Jilong wouldn't mention it.

Facing everyone's silence, Liu Jilong said, "The Five Springs must be returned to Envoy Zhang. When I recover Shankuo and the two states, and Envoy Zhang resolves this crisis, we will definitely return the Five Springs!"

Although Liu Jilong said this, he actually did not think Zhang Huaishen could handle the situation well.

Since the Ganzhou Uighurs and Liangzhou Umu had invaded Ganzhou and Liang before, they would definitely not have invaded only once.

Faced with this situation of internal and external troubles, the Hexi Guiyi Army probably did not have the courage to continue the stalemate in Liangzhou. Otherwise, the Guiyi Army in history would not have jointly governed Liangzhou with the Tianping Army sent by the Tang Dynasty after regaining Liangzhou.

If Zhang Huaishen was forced to retreat back to Ganzhou, he would naturally have no chance of taking Lanzhou. Even if Liangzhou fell into the hands of the imperial court, it would sooner or later be plunged into civil strife due to the unrest among the various Hu people.

After solving the problems of Shankou and other states, he would face the dilemma of having nowhere to develop.

When he took control of Tuyuhun, not to mention the issue of hundreds of thousands of foreigners in the Tuyuhun area, the altitude issue alone was enough to overwhelm his logistics.

Instead of searching the mountains and seas on the plateau, it is better to wait for civil unrest in Liangzhou and then go north to recapture Liangzhou.

After regaining Liangzhou, he will also deal with the Ganzhou Uighurs and Umu in the Ganliang grassland.

He was not worried about this.

The Hexi Army was unable to deal with the Ganzhou Uighurs and Liangzhou Uighurs because they were held back by the Tuhun and Anxi Uighurs in the west, resulting in nearly 10,000 troops being left in the four towns of Guashayisu.

Zhang Huaishen was unable to give his full effort in his two northern expeditions because he had to leave troops behind to guard against the Chishui Army, but the Longxi Army was different.

If Zhang Huaishen retreats back to Ganzhou, they will be able to deal with the Tuhun and Anxi Uighurs in the west. As for the so-called Chishui Army, Liu Jilian also has a way to make them get out.

Once these external problems are resolved, the rest will not be as simple as a northern expedition.

If Dugazhi and Chengle had not moved westward, I would have considered myself incompetent for not defeating and exterminating them.

Thinking of all this, Liu Jilong also recalled the most important thing in his mind at the moment.

Only by doing this well can he march his troops eastward without restraint in future troubled times.

"Okay, I'll leave it to you guys. I'm going back to university first!"

Liu Jilong stood up and walked out. Gao Jinda and others looked at each other, and finally bowed to see him off.

At the same time, the entire Longyou was busy because the summer harvest was approaching.

However, compared to Longyou, Suo Xun of Huizhou did not care about these things, because he knew that he would soon leave Huizhou and go to the larger Liangzhou.

The court did not disappoint him. On the tenth day of April, an army marched from the direction of Jingyuan.

"Are these the two thousand new soldiers recruited by the imperial court?"

"After more than four months of training, this is all..."

In front of the gate tower of Ulan County in the north of Huizhou, Suo Xun looked at the two thousand new soldiers marching in the distance and sneered.

He narrowed his gaze and focused on the Huining Army outside the north gate.

Two thousand five hundred Huining troops were stationed outside the city. They were wearing bright armor and most of them were strong, far more than the two thousand new recruits from the imperial court.

"Envoy..."

When Suo Xun was satisfied with the soldiers under his command, the voice of the state chief historian came from beside him.

"Sir, Huizhou has only 3,000 soldiers and horses. You are going to Liangzhou with 2,500 men this time. Isn't Huizhou's army too weak?"

"Hmm?" Suo Xun asked in confusion, then looked at the people in the city.

Huizhou was a mixed population of many foreigners and Hu people. Although Suo Xun took advantage of the war in Guannei Road to absorb thousands of hungry people, it was undoubtedly very difficult for Huizhou, with a population of less than 30,000, to feed 3,000 armored soldiers, not to mention that Suo Xun had to bribe the Beisi.

All these money and grain expenditures were extorted by Suo Xun from the people of Huizhou.

Huizhou's land tax, commercial tax, miscellaneous taxes and other taxes have long become a huge burden on the people of Huizhou.

The Chief Secretary was worried that after Suo Xun took his troops away, the people of Huizhou would take the opportunity to cause chaos.

Suo Xun snorted coldly when he heard this: "I am leaving this time to govern Liangzhou."

"Here in Huizhou, you lead the armored soldiers and Hankou to patrol the streets with weapons. I want to see which blind foreign dog dares to cause trouble!"

He said this with great confidence. After all, five hundred armored soldiers and more than two thousand Han men were enough to suppress those barbarians and foreigners.

Thinking of this, Suo Xun looked outside the city and said, "When the two thousand new soldiers from the imperial court arrive, I will lead the army across the river and rush to Liangzhou."

"When I take over Liangzhou, the first person I will deal with is this villain Liu Jilong!"

(End of this chapter)