Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 260: The Fall of Liangzhou
"Dang...dang...dang..."

On the fifteenth day of the twelfth month of the twelfth year of Dazhong, as the morning bell rang, all the ministers came to the Purple Palace for the regular court session.

"Joining the class..."

As the Minister of the Honglu Temple chanted the salute, officials from the Southern Court and the Northern Court came in one after another, looking very unhappy.

Several memorials submitted yesterday provoked the ministers' moods, causing some ups and downs.

First, Li Chengxun reported the great victory in Zhengping, which caused the officials of the Southern Court and the Northern Court to relax.

Then Cui Yu, Jiang Xi, Zheng Zhu and Ma Mingguang jointly impeached Li Chengxun for falsely transmitting military intelligence, which led to the government army's disastrous defeat in Linfen. Officials from the Southern Court and the Northern Court tried to think of countermeasures.

Before they could figure it out, they received a memorial from Li Chengxun explaining that they had defeated no more than a thousand elite cavalrymen led by Cui Yu and others. It was actually because Cui Yu and his four men were not disciplined enough that they gave the rebels an opportunity.

Now the remaining rebels are no more than 2,000 cavalry, and they have all fled to Heyang. Li Chengxun requested to enter Heyang to suppress the rebels.

Before Li Chengxun's memorial of explanation had cooled down, another memorial was sent from Heyang at midnight last night.

Wei Ao, the governor of the three cities of Heyang, reported to the court that more than 3,000 rebel cavalry had fled into Zezhou, and asked whether the court needed troops from Heyang Town to fight against the rebels.

For a whole day and night, the Southern Court and the Northern Court were severely tormented by the military situation in Hedong Road.

Now they were completely clueless about the situation in Hedong Road. After all, Li Chengxun reported a great victory, but Cui Yu, Wei Ao and others also reported that the rebels still had several thousand elite cavalry.

In this case, is the great victory that Li Chengxun mentioned true or false?
For a moment, the scene was shrouded in fog and the ministers were exhausted.

"Congratulations..."

"Tens of millions of years old!"

"Be flat!"

Following the reminder from the Minister of the Ministry of Rites, all the ministers congratulated him, and Li Chen, who walked up to the Golden Platform and sat down, responded by asking him to stand up.

After all the ministers sat back on the crescent stools, Li Chen spoke:

"A few days ago, Li Chengxun, the punitive envoy, reported the great victory in Zhengping, saying that he had defeated 30,000 rebels, including 3,000 soldiers, and only a thousand cavalry escaped to Yicheng."

"The governors of Hezhong, Jingyuan, Bining, Fengxiang and other towns believed the good news, so they were attacked by the enemy's elite cavalry at night and lost more than 8,000 soldiers."

"The military supervisor Ma Mingguang impeached Li Chengxun for falsely reporting military information. Li Chengxun claimed that the bandits had a thousand cavalrymen left in the north, but now that the rebels have joined forces, they only have more than 2,000 cavalrymen."

"The enemy army broke through Yicheng and entered Heyang. Wei Ao, the governor of the three cities of Heyang, reported that the enemy army had more than 3,000 cavalrymen and fled to Weizhou, and requested a petition to attack them."

Li Chen sorted out the timeline and then said, "After the rebels entered the Guannei Road, I remember that they only had 3,000 elite cavalry left."

"It has been nearly two months since the campaign began, and the imperial court has lost more than 17,000 soldiers and horses, while the enemy army is still rampant, with hundreds more cavalry than before."

"Please tell me what is going on..."

At this point, Li Chen felt a little itchy in his throat and wanted to cough.

He was just worried that his ministers would notice his weak body, so he forced himself to endure it.

As he finished speaking, Linghu Tao took the initiative to stand up and bowed:
"Your Majesty, after the rebel army entered the river, they incited the barbarians from Hedong to join the army, thus strengthening the army to more than 30,000."

"It is also true that General Lee Seung-hun defeated the rebels and that they fled eastward."

"However, the generals never expected that the rebels had a backup plan in the north, which is why they attacked the imperial army at night."

"In my opinion, the number of elite rebel cavalrymen who attacked the Linfen government troops at night should be no less than 2,000, and the number of elite rebel cavalrymen who fled to the south should be around 1,000."

"Li's victory in the attack is true, and what Envoy Cui and others said is not wrong."

Linghu Tao explained the situation, but his last sentence was meaningless.

There must be something wrong with Li Chengxun, Cui Yu and others, otherwise they would not have suffered such a great defeat.

Li Chen frowned, and Xiao Ye stood up and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty..."

"Now that the troops of the various towns have suffered two consecutive defeats, their morale is low. I think we should dismiss the troops of the various towns and return them to their garrisons, leaving the elite cavalry of Pingxia behind and appointing another envoy to encircle and suppress the rebels."

After Xiao Ye finished speaking, Linghu Tao bowed and said:

"Your Majesty, I think it would be better to ask Prime Minister Pei to control the troops of Xuanwu, Yicheng, Zhaoyi, and Heyang to fight against the rebels."

"Besides, since the rebels want to enter Wei Bo, we can order He Hongjing of Wei Bo to keep the enemy outside the town."

Both Xiahou Zi and Li Chengxun failed to command the army properly, and the rebels moved into Hebei and Henan.

The only person with prestige and the ability to control the troops here was Pei Xiu, who had advised Li Chen to establish a crown prince and was deposed as Xuanwu.

Li Chen felt a little unhappy when he suddenly heard Pei Xiu's name, but he also knew that now in Henan and Hebei, Pei Xiu was the only one suitable to control the attacks of various towns.

If we delay any further and wait for the rebels to enter Wei Bo, things will become difficult.

Thinking of this, Li Chen could only speak: "Pei Xiu, the co-prime minister and governor of Xuanwu Army, will serve as the commander-in-chief of the Chishui rebels' expeditionary camp and control the towns of Xuanwu, Zhaoyi, Heyang, Yicheng, and Tianping."

"Your Majesty the Holy Ming..."

Seeing that Li Chen agreed, all the ministers praised him for his wisdom.

However, after the selection of the envoy to attack, there was another important matter that Li Chen needed to resolve.

"Your Majesty, the 600,000 strings of cash and silk that were embezzled from the treasury have already been used up."

"Now that the scattered soldiers from Fengxiang are returning to their towns, they need hundreds of thousands of strings of cash as rewards. And the soldiers from Henan and Hebei towns may need money and food to fight against the rebels."

"It is difficult to finance the finances, and there is no money or food to distribute. I beg Your Majesty to make a decision..."

Jiang Shen, who was in charge of Duzhi, stood up and spoke. Li Chen's face turned dark after hearing what he said.

The national treasury is empty, and yet he is asked to make a royal judgment. How can he make a royal judgment?

Under the current circumstances, the only option is to increase taxes, but the flood in July is still fresh in our memory. If another disaster occurs after this tax increase, he will be blamed again.

Thinking of this, Li Chen remained silent, but his eyes looked at Linghu Tao and Xiao Ye.

Upon seeing this, Xiao Ye immediately stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, half a month ago, the Ganzhou Uighurs and Liangzhou Umot rebelled and marched south to invade Liangzhou. Liangzhou asked for help."

"The Annan in the south has sent the Tuman to invade Annan, and Jiaozhi is short of money and food."

"In addition, the rebels have entered Hebei. These three military operations, one in the east, one in the west, one in the south, and one in the north, all require money and food to solve."

"I think that the only way to solve this problem is to increase taxes by three cents!"

When Xiao Ye brought up the issue of increasing taxes again, the ministers looked at each other, not daring to interrupt or refute.

After all, in the current situation, if taxes are not increased, something bad will happen somewhere in the east, west, south or north.

In this regard, Li Chen could only say: "Hebei, Huainan, and Henan have just suffered a disaster, and people's livelihood has not yet recovered."

"This time, the tax increase will focus on other provinces!"

"Your Majesty is wise!" Xiao Ye breathed a sigh of relief after hearing Li Chen's words.

As long as the court agreed to increase taxes, even without Hebei, Henan and Huainan, a considerable amount of money and grain could be raised just by relying on the east and west provinces of Jiangnan, the three rivers of Bashu, and Hedong.

"After raising money and grain, dispatch troops from Tianxiong, Huining, Shuofang and other towns to rush to Liangzhou to help. We must protect Liangzhou!"

"I accept the decree..."

After Li Chen finished speaking, Linghu Tao quickly agreed. Seeing this, Li Chen also felt that the itching in his throat was unbearable, so he immediately got up and left Jintai.

Amid the singing of "May you live tens of millions of years" by his ministers, Li Chen walked into a side hall and waited for the ministers to leave before he coughed violently.

"Cough! Cough! Cough!"

His cough was heavy and long, as if he was going to cough out his lungs.

Not only that, after a severe cough, he also had a dull headache, and only after taking three doses of long-term medicine did he see any improvement.

Even so, his face was pale, as if he had lost all life.

Li Chen looked at his own face in the bronze mirror and could not help but look at the imperial physician Li Yuanbo:

"Doctor Li, can this longevity medicine really keep me alive until I am seventy years old?"

Li Chen looked at Li Yuanbo, who was over eighty-three years old, and couldn't help asking.

Upon hearing this, Li Yuanbo immediately said, "Your Majesty, I am able to live to this age only by taking longevity medicine."

"Your Majesty is coughing now because of the long-term medication. I am starting to use coughing to expel the foul air from your body."

"As long as Your Majesty can survive this, not to mention seventy, even a hundred years old is just around the corner!"

Li Yuanbo's youthful face and white hair, coupled with his vigorous physique at the age of eighty-three, made Li Chen unable to help but believe it.

Seeing this, he could only put aside his doubts and nodded:
"I understand, please go down."

"The minister will leave..."

Li Yuanbo left the Purple Palace, and at the same time, the court also issued edicts to various provinces.

First, Pei Xiu served as the envoy to suppress the Chishui rebels and controlled the orders of various towns.

The second is the intention to increase taxes except for Hebei, Henan and Huainan.

Since these taxes were imposed temporarily, they had to be paid within one month after the imperial edict arrived at each place.

The four provinces of Gyeonggi, Dugi, Hedong and Guannei learned the news the fastest and began to raise funds for the three-cent tax.

Although the imperial court only collected three cents, this three cents tax increased to varying degrees after it fell on the prefectures and counties, making the burden on the people even heavier.

While the court was raising money and food, Pei Xiu began to gather troops from Xuanwu and Yicheng and march north after receiving the imperial edict, and ordered the Tianping Army to guard both sides of the Yellow River.

On the 25th day of the twelfth lunar month, Pei Xiu gathered 2,000 elite cavalrymen from Yicheng and Xuanwu towns and 20,000 cavalry and infantry in Zhengzhou, waiting for He Hongjing of Weizhou to take strict precautions, and then forced the rebels to head for Huaizhou in Heyang Town. However, he was a little slow after all, so when the imperial edict reached Weizhou, Wang Shouwen and others had already bribed the troops of Weizhou under the jurisdiction of Weizhou, and passed through the most difficult Taihang Mountains and arrived on the Hebei Plain.

After the imperial edict arrived in Weizhou, He Hongjing ordered the generals to expel Wang Shouwen and others.

Wang Shouwen crossed the frozen Yellow River and entered Huazhou, where he was blocked by the Huangtou army of Xuanwu Town. After losing 300 Hu cavalry, he fled to Puzhou in Tianping and called on the hungry people of Puzhou to rebel.

When Pei Xiu learned the news, he sent the Zhaoyi Army and the Pingxia Army south, while the Heyang Town remained stationed in Heyang. He personally led the Xuanwu Army, the Yicheng Army, and the Tianping Army to encircle and suppress Wang Shouwen.

When the three armies were on the move and tried to completely encircle Puzhou, the ringing of bells also announced that it was the thirteenth year of Dazhong.

"Dang Dang Dang..."

A moment after the bells and drums of Chang'an sounded, a group of light cavalrymen rushed into Chang'an City from the Jinguan Gate and headed towards Beisi.

Wang Zongshi had just changed into new clothes when he heard hurried footsteps.

"Lieutenant, urgent news from Liangzhou..."

Wang Zongshi turned around and frowned slightly, "Why can't we wait until the second day of the New Year?"

When he finished speaking, he also saw the expression of the person who came, and immediately had a bad feeling in his heart.

"Lieutenant, Liangzhou City was broken, and Hexi Surveillance Commissioner Suo Xun led more than 200 cavalrymen to escape to Huizhou."

Wang Zongshi's pupils shrank at the servant's words. He said in disbelief, "It's only been under siege for over a month, how come the city was breached?!"

The servant did not dare to delay and quickly opened the letter and handed it over:

"The Uighurs and the Umu gathered nearly 300,000 people and marched south, with more than 8,000 elite cavalry and armored soldiers alone."

"Hexi Defense Envoy Suo Xun, Provincial Governor Suo Zhongyi, and Deputy Envoy Wang Duanzhang fought hard to break through the siege and escaped to Huizhou."

"Now the Uighurs have occupied the two counties of Jialin and Fanhe, and the Umos have occupied the two cities of Guzang and Changsong!"

"Suo Xun urgently requests the court to send troops to take back Liangzhou!"

Upon hearing this, Wang Zongshi cursed: "You murderous peasant, you lost Liangzhou and you still have the nerve to talk about recovering it!"

God knows how much money and grain he spent to allow Suo Xun to take control of Liangzhou.

It has only been more than two months since the Chishui Army started the rebellion, and Liangzhou has been lost.

Not to mention the money and grain he lost, just the thought of how the emperor would view him made Wang Zongshi angry.

"Go to the palace, I want to tell His Majesty about this!"

Wang Zongshi gave some instructions and then had to bite the bullet and go to the palace on the festive New Year's Day to tell the emperor the bad news.

An hour later, when Wang Zongshi knelt outside the side hall of Zicheng, he gritted his teeth and told Li Chen the news of the loss of Liangzhou.

Li Chen, who was sitting in the side hall, could not help but cough violently for more than ten times. After a moment of silence, he spoke:

"Since Liangzhou has been lost, there is no need to rush to recapture it for the time being."

"Let's first solve the problems in Annan and Puzhou. Send someone to tell the gentlemen about this."

"I understand your instruction!" Wang Zongshi responded quickly and then slowly stood up.

After he stood up and left, Li Chen in the side hall walked to the window with a pale face, supported by Ma Gongru.

"Your Majesty, are you really not going to recover Liangzhou?"

Ma Gongru heard everything just now and couldn't help feeling a little regretful.

Li Chen glanced at him and said slowly:
"After I get through this, and deal with the barbarians and rebels in Annan and Puzhou, it won't be too late to mobilize troops to retake Liangzhou."

"Later, you will draft an imperial edict and send it to Xiahou Zi in Xichuan and Cui Shenyou in Dongchuan, asking them to repair the passes and be careful against Nanzhao."

Ma Gongru heard this and whispered, "Your Majesty, you are worried about Nanzhao..."

"Yes!" Li Chen agreed, frowning as he looked out the window at the Daming Palace, which had been swept clean of snow.

"If there was no instigation from Nanzhao, why would the Liao people in Qianzhong and the barbarians in Annan rebel at this time?"

"It's nothing more than seeing the smoke of war rising everywhere in our dynasty, and thinking of taking advantage of the situation to rob."

As soon as he finished speaking, he took his hand away from Ma Gongru's forearm, walked back behind the desk as if he had regained his vitality, and buried his head in handling government affairs.

However, while he was busy with government affairs, Guangwu County, more than a thousand miles away, was very lively.

After New Year's Day, tens of thousands of soldiers in winter clothes were jogging around Guangwu County.

In the distance, more than 3,000 elite cavalrymen were also training in horse riding and honing their martial arts.

At this time, a group of light cavalry came galloping from the direction of Wuquan in the south. After inspection, they entered the south gate and entered the city.

Compared to the past, Guangwu County has expanded three times in the past year.

Even so, the houses in the city are still crowded, and many people even set up tents on open space and live in them.

The light cavalry rode past them and headed straight for the Guangwu County Government Office.

Soon, hurried footsteps were heard in the hall of the county government.

"General, things are getting serious in the east. Liangzhou in the north has finally been lost, and the imperial court has increased taxes again!"

Cao Mao hurried into the inner hall and soon saw Liu Jilong, as well as Zhang Chang, Dou Bin, Ma Cheng and others who were sitting in the inner hall drinking tea with Liu Jilong.

"Damn it, Liangzhou is finally lost!"

"Things in the east?"

"Has Wang Shouwen's gang of rebels not been wiped out yet?"

In the hall, Ma Cheng was the first to ask, and Cao Mao also walked in. After handing over the military information to Liu Jilong, he told everyone about the things happening in the east in a vivid manner.

It talks about the Battle of Linchuan, Wang Shouwen's entry into Hedong, the disastrous defeat at Zhengping, the great victory at Linfen, the entry into Wei Bo, and the death defense of Puzhou.

"Now the court has ordered Pei Xiu to gather soldiers from Zhaoyi, Heyang, Xuanwu, Yicheng, Tianping and other towns to encircle and suppress them. I think they will probably die in Puzhou this time."

Cao Mao was very sure about the fate of Wang Shouwen and others. After all, although Pei Xiu was not as good as Bai Minzhong, he was not someone Xiahou Zi and Li Chengxun could challenge.

Xiahou Zi and Li Chengxun would fall into the trap because they underestimated the enemy, but Pei Xiu would not.

Not to mention that officers and soldiers from Zhaoyi and Xuanwu towns gathered in Puzhou. With Wang Shouwen's 3,000 cavalry and several thousand hungry people, it would be considered a good thing if he could hold out for three months.

"General Jie, the imperial court has increased the tax by 3 cents in order to suppress them!"

"Also, you would never have thought that Suo Xun actually fled from Liangzhou to Huizhou and left Liangzhou to the Hu people!"

Cao Mao sat back in his seat and leaned forward to talk to Liu Jilong about other important matters.

Upon learning that Suo Xun had escaped, Zhang Chang, Ma Cheng and others all looked at Liu Jilong.

"General Jie, Suo Xun has escaped, so we..."

"No hurry." Liu Jilong spoke slowly, and then continued;
"It's a bit too embarrassing for us to rush to retake Liangzhou just when Suo Xun has fled."

Hearing this, Zhang Chang could not help but say, "But if we continue to wait, after a few months when the imperial court has dealt with Wang Shouwen and his men, they will definitely come back to retake Liangzhou."

"Recover Liangzhou?" Liu Jilong couldn't help but sneered:

"The court has increased taxes several times, and the people have long been starving and miserable."

"Now that the tax has been raised by another 3 cents, do you think the people are really animals that do nothing and let them be slaughtered and bled?"

"In my opinion, there will be unrest in all directions within this year, and the court will not care about Shangliang Province at all."

After he finished speaking, he stood up and pointed to the Helong map hanging behind him, and placed his hand in the direction of Hongchiling.

"We don't need to rush. We will wait until the snow in Hongchiling melts in March, and then we will send troops to retake Liangzhou."

"But Wang Shouwen, a mere bastard, has caused such unrest in the entire north. It seems that the imperial court is just a facade."

Liu Jilian knew before that the Tang Dynasty under Li Chen was very weak and had been living off its past achievements.

But he didn't expect that a group of disorderly soldiers like Wang Shouwen could actually break through Guannei Road and Hedong Road.

Although there was a factor that some military governors did not want to cause trouble and let the enemy go, it can be seen from the fact that Xiahou Zi and Li Chengxun failed to destroy Wang Shouwen's troops after two months of attack.

If there was ever a conflict between Longyou and the imperial court in the future, relying on Longyou's terrain and its strong cities and powerful soldiers, it might not take long for him to force the Tang court to the negotiating table.

In addition, the Tang court suffered so many casualties in this battle that it would be impossible to recover in the short term.

Judging from several battles between Wang Shouwen and the government troops, the cavalry and mule troops in the various towns were insufficient, and the average marching speed was between 40 and 50 miles per day.

Compared with them, the marching speed of the Longyou Army is now about eighty miles.

This is just the normal marching speed. If it is a forced march, it can be even faster.

Using speed to defeat the slow has always been Liu Jilian's forte, but this style of fighting is based on the premise that his cavalry and cavalry infantry are equipped with enough military horses, riding horses and draft horses.

At present, the horse farms in Longyou can provide these top, middle and lower-grade horses stably, but Liu Jilong is still not satisfied.

However, once they capture Liangzhou and seize the herds from the Ganzhou Uighurs and Liangzhou Emu, the horse farm in Liangzhou will be upgraded to the level of the Longyou horse farm.

Thinking of this, Liu Jilong turned around and sat down, looking around at everyone and said:

"Get ready, send troops to Liangzhou in March!"

"In this campaign, I will not only recover Liangzhou, but also turn the Ganliang grassland in the north into a horse grazing land for my Han people!"

(End of this chapter)