Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 268: Losing Again
"..."

Ever since Zhang Chang told us about the battle damage, the atmosphere in the tent had become heavy.

After all, the Longyou army still has three cities in front of them: Guzang, Jialin and Fanhe.

Even if the Uighurs fled, Jialin and Fanhe could capture them without bloodshed, but Guzang had to be fought after all.

How many casualties will they suffer after taking Guzang?

Now more than 20% of the brothers have been killed, and there will be more than 2,870 tombstones on the Phoenix Mountain in Linzhou.

"For those who died in this battle, their families will be relocated to Didao City, and the state government will send people to build brick and tile courtyards. In addition, they will be granted 100 mu of land, five cattle, 50 dan of grain, and 10 bolts of linen as compensation. The same standard will be applied to the disabled."

"Those who participate in this campaign, in addition to the promised promotions for breaking the enemy's formation and capturing the flag, will also be awarded ten strings of cash, two oxen, and ten bolts of cloth."

After Liu Jilong made his promise, Zhang Chang and others bowed and said, "General, you are so righteous!"

"Rewarding merits and punishing faults is the way it is." Liu Jilong said in a deep voice:
"The pensions and rewards here will be announced to the three armies tomorrow. Don't let anyone defile them!"

His words obviously showed that he was worried that someone would suck the blood of the soldiers and wipe out their entire family.

Even though the Censorate under Cao Mao continued to inspect various states, Liu Jilian was still worried.

Only by bringing the martyrs' relatives to Linzhou and keeping them under his supervision can he feel at ease.

Thinking of this, Liu Jilong also thought of the Guzang City.

He was eager to capture Gu Zang, but compared with the lives of his soldiers, Gu Zang could be put aside.

"Cao Mao and Li Shangyin, you two will lead a thousand elite cavalry and two thousand armored soldiers to rush to Jialin and Fanhe."

"If the enemy escapes, you can enter the city and report back. If the enemy stays, you should surround the city until I capture Guzang."

"As for how to attack Guzang, for now, we will use catapults to attack and the army to surround it."

After Liu Jilong finished speaking, Li Shangyin, Cao Mao and Zhang Chang all bowed to him.

But afterwards, Zhang Chang asked again: "General, what if Dugazhi wants to surrender?"

There are many Umo tribesmen in the city, and how to deal with them has become a problem facing everyone.

Although Liangzhou had 600,000 to 700,000 acres of arable land, all of that was left by Liu Jilian to the immigrants to Hankou.

There are already more than 40,000 Hu people in Changsong, and judging from the population in Guzang City, it is probably no less than 100,000.

With so many people, just feeding them would be enough to consume 70% to 80% of the arable land, not to mention the subsequent immigration.

In response, Liu Jilong also said: "I am naturally very troubled by this matter."

"But the Emu are herders after all. As long as they don't cause any trouble, the government can hand over the captured herds to them for herding."

Liu Jilian naturally hated the enemy troops who killed his soldiers, but he also knew one thing, that is, the environment of Helong made it impossible to physically destroy a nation.

This is not to say that it cannot be done, but that it is not necessary.

One hundred thousand Umu people are indeed a lot, but it is not difficult to assimilate them as long as they are dispersed into different states.

After assimilation, Longyou will gain 100,000 manpower and be able to reclaim more than 100,000 or 200,000 acres of wasteland every year.

There are now more than 200,000 Han people in Longyou. Even if we take in these 100,000 Umu people, we can still stabilize them.

When his plan to plunder the population of Xichuan succeeds, these few people will be nothing to him.

Thinking of this, Liu Jilong said in a deep voice: "Let's attack the city first, and it won't be too late to discuss it after we take Guzang."

"Yes!" The three of them bowed in response, and at this time the soldiers also brought the meals.

Zhang Chang took the wine jug filled with four taels of rice wine and tasted it carefully.

In front of Liu Jilong and the other two were grilled lamb chops, lamb legs, and rice made from lamb bone soup.

The mutton was rather tough, obviously from wild yellow sheep.

In less than half an hour, Liu Jilong and his companions finished their meal. The three of them went back to rest, and after Liu Jilong had his meal, he returned to his bed and dozed off for two hours.

At the hour of Mao, the rustling sounds of soldiers putting on armor began to be heard in the military camp. Liu Jilong also got up and went to an open space in the military camp to practice his martial arts.

Li Shangyin and Cao Mao led their troops out of the camp and marched towards Jialin City.

After they left, the Longyou Army was left with only 900 elite cavalry, 2,800 armored soldiers and 1,000 wounded soldiers in Guzang.

Of course, there were also more than 18,000 civilian laborers following the army.

These civilians cleaned up the battlefield in the west of the city, collected and cleaned the captured armor, and burned the corpses.

The bodies of the Longyou soldiers who died in the battle were placed in urns, while the bodies of the Uighurs who died defending their positions were burned on the spot.

By noon, Liu Jilong had not received any news from Cao Mao and Li Shangyin, but instead received news from Zhang Huaishen.

"Report to General Liu Jie, Envoy Zhang has stationed troops at Sanquanyanzi. Last night, some Hu people from Jialin and Fanhe went north and were intercepted and killed by our army."

"More than 20,000 foreign invaders were intercepted, and our army captured nearly 40,000 Uighurs, including no less than 500 armored soldiers, but some of them still fled to the Guyan Sea."

"Envoy Zhang has issued a message to return victoriously, and has ordered his men to pass this letter to you, the commander..."

Inside the tent, Liu Jilong watched as the soldiers of the Hexi Army reported military intelligence to him and took the opportunity to present him with a letter. He immediately signaled Zhang Chang to take it.

Zhang Chang took the letter, opened it, and after confirming that there was no problem, he handed it to Liu Jilong.

The content was an invitation letter from Zhang Huaishen to Liu Jilong, inviting him to send troops to Juyan Lake in the autumn to wipe out the remnants of the Uighurs who had fled to Juyan Lake.

He probably planned to bring the 20,000 foreigners and 40,000 Uighurs back to Ganzhou.

Thinking of this, Liu Jilong was not surprised. He just picked up his pen and wrote a letter, accepting Zhang Huaishen's invitation and saying that he would send 2,000 elite cavalry to cooperate with him.

"Take this letter to Envoy Zhang, and also tell him that I will report back on this matter."

"Take your orders!"

Tang Bao took the letter from Liu Jilong, and then Zhang Chang sent someone to escort him out of the tent with gifts.

After he left, Zhang Chang looked at Liu Jilong and said, "General, how are you going to report to Envoy Zhang?"

Liu Jilong took a deep breath and said, "What Hexi lacks is nothing but food and people."

"We are also short of population, so naturally we can't give them to them."

"He lent me food in the past, and now he comes to help me again. I will send him some food to help him recover Xizhou!"

Although there is a great demand for food in Longyou, there are too many places to get it.

Shannan West Road and Jiannan Road both produce grain, and you can buy grain if you have money.

Anyway, after Liangzhou is recovered, the Liangzhou official road will become the main trade route between Hexi and Longyou. At that time, countless spices will be sold to other places through this place, and Longyou will also be able to profit from it.

It is not difficult to buy and sell tens of thousands of shi of grain and give them to Zhang Huaishen.

Thinking of this, Liu Jilong looked at Zhang Chang: "How is the situation in Guzang?"

"This morning they saw our army split up and tried to break out from the north gate, but they were blocked by the soldiers guarding the bridge at the north gate and failed."

Zhang Chang responded and then fell silent.

At the same time, the catapults continued to attack, and the number of catapults on the battlefield reached as many as forty, and they were still being built.

Liu Jilong and Zhang Chang arrived at the battlefield, but saw that many bricks on the east city wall of Guzang were broken and fallen off, but the overall wall was still intact.

"We can take this opportunity to see if our city defenses need to be strengthened."

Liu Jilong looked at the wall of Guzang and said this, and Zhang Chang naturally nodded in agreement.

The methods of wrapping bricks with rammed earth are basically the same. In terms of solidity, Guzang City is similar to those fortified cities in Longyou.

Taking advantage of the opportunity to attack Guzang, we can look at the flaws in Longyou’s own city defense.

While the two were making such noises, small tribes such as the Uighurs and the Umu from the south continued to move north with their herds.

Due to the hasty breakout, Xianli did not have the time to take away too many herds.

Most of the herds they brought from the Juyan Lake were taken by the Longyou Army.

By dusk, news came from the west.

The two cities of Jialin and Changsong were empty. Li Shangyin had already led 500 elite cavalrymen to Jialin, and Cao Mao led another 500 elite cavalrymen to Fanhe.

The two thousand armored soldiers will rest for one night and return to Guzang tomorrow.

As a result, Guzang was the only place in the entire Liangzhou that had not been taken.

Liu Jilian was not in a hurry, but continued to deploy troops to surround Guzang and did not launch a rash attack.

While he deployed his troops to besiege Guzang, unrest was growing in the Tang Dynasty to the east.

After March, Qiu Fu in eastern Zhejiang fought several battles with the government troops and won successive victories.

Zheng Zhide, the governor of eastern Zhejiang, was unwilling to give in, so he continued to recruit brave men and sent generals such as Shen Junzong and Zhang Gongshu to lead an army of 3,000 to take the initiative to attack.

On the tenth day of March, the two sides fought a fierce battle to the west of Shan County.

At that time, there were three streams to the west of Shan County. Qiu Fu deployed his troops to the north of the three streams, but secretly set up an ambush to the south of the three streams. He also blocked the upper reaches of the streams to make them shallow enough to wade across.

Soon after the two sides started fighting, the peasant army pretended to be defeated and lured the Tang army into pursuit.

When the Tang army was halfway across the river, Qiu Fu sent people to dig out the blockage. The water from the three streams rushed in violently, causing the Tang army's armor and soldiers to be swept away and countless people to drown.

Shen Junzong, Zhang Gongshu and other Tang army generals hurriedly ordered the army to retreat. Qiu Fu took the opportunity to command the peasant army ambushed in Xinan to move out in time.

The Tang army in eastern Zhejiang was surrounded and annihilated, and only Tang generals Shen Junzong and Zhang Gongshu escaped.

After the great victory at Sanxi, the peasant army became more powerful and the refugees and small groups of peasant armies nearby joined the rebel army led by Qiu Fu. Qiu Fu had more than 30,000 soldiers and horses under his command.

On March 12, Qiu Fu issued a manifesto, claiming himself as "the military commander known to all the world", established the reign title of Luoping, appointed Liu Sheng as the chief strategist, and Liu Qing and Liu Congjian as deputy commanders, actively stored grain, manufactured equipment, and prepared to seize Liangzhe.

Upon learning of this, the Inspector Zheng Zhide hastily dispatched light cavalry and asked Chang'an to send the Zhejiang West Zhenhai Army, Xuanshe Xuanzhou Army, and Fujian Weiwu Army to provide assistance.

When the news reached Chang'an, Li Chen had to urgently convene a regular court session. "Liangzhe is the lifeline of the imperial court's tax revenue. This thief dared to establish a new era. He must not be forgiven!"

"We should send troops from Zhenhai, Xuanzhou, Weiwu and other places to western Zhejiang to encircle and suppress this bandit!"

"Yes, yes!"

Faced with Qiu Fu's rebellion, both the Southern Court and the Northern Court agreed that it should be suppressed.

After all, for them, people's rebellion is absolutely unacceptable, not to mention that the place of rebellion is the purse of the Tang Dynasty.

If Qiu Fu occupied Liangzhe, it would inevitably affect the financial resources of the imperial court, not to mention that Qiu Fu might be able to recruit soldiers and horses by relying on the wealth of Liangzhe.

Thinking of this, even Li Chen on the golden stage kept coughing:
"Ahem... this matter... I'd like to ask the gentlemen to come up with... ahem... an idea!"

Li Chen could not hide his illness at this moment. Although he claimed that he had a cold, his pale face was worrying.

Even so, the ministers did not dare to raise any questions, because most of those who questioned the cause of the emperor's illness were banished.

Everyone could only ignore the emperor's illness and focus the topic on Jiangnan and Henan.

"Zheng Guancha has been besieging the rebels for several months, but he has not been able to capture them. I'm afraid he doesn't know how to fight."

"I think it would be better to send a general who knows military affairs to the east of Zhejiang, and at the same time recruit troops from Huainan, western Zhejiang, and Fujian to encircle and suppress these officials."

Linghu Tao took the initiative to bow, and Jiang Shen, who was in charge of finance and had just become the co-prime minister, also bowed and said:

"I think it would be better to ask Minister Cui to control the three armies and suppress these officials!"

Upon hearing this, although Li Chen was unhappy with Cui Xuan's actions, he could not find any fault with Cui Xuan because he had handled the Xuanzhou army very properly before.

After thinking for a moment, he nodded and said, "In that case, I will follow what you two gentlemen say."

"In addition, Wang Shouwen, the rebel from Henan Province, has occupied Puzhou for a long time. Why has Prime Minister Pei failed to suppress him?"

Li Chen was worried that Pei Xiu would become arrogant, and Linghu Tao was able to comfort him by saying:

"Your Majesty, Puzhou is a large city, and the rebels have instigated the people of Puzhou to become enemies of the imperial court, which is why it has taken so long to capture it."

Li Chen was not satisfied with Linghu Tao's explanation, so he coughed and said:

"Before May, I hope to hear the news that the Puzhou rebels have been suppressed..."

After he finished speaking, Li Chen wanted to say something else, but an urgent report came from the entrance of Zichen Hall.

The eunuch on duty took the urgent report and walked into the hall and bowed: "Your Majesty, there is an urgent report from Xuzhou."

"Nian... cough cough!"

Li Chen coughed and gestured, and the eunuch opened the urgent report and read:

"Pengcheng officials reported to the emperor that Wuning Jiedushi Kang Jirong did not care about his soldiers, so the soldiers shouted and chased him away."

The Xuzhou Wuning Army had repeatedly expelled the Jiedushi, and everyone had long been accustomed to it, so there was no big reaction.

After hearing this, Li Chen took a deep breath, suppressed the discomfort in his throat and said, "Appoint General Tian Mou of the Left Jinwu Army as the governor of Wuning, and demote Kang Jirong to Hunan."

"Your Majesty the Holy Ming..."

Looking at the ministers praising him, Li Chen said with all his might, "Since this is the case, do you have anything else to report?"

"Your Majesty, Hexi Surveillance Commissioner Suo Xun, Liangzhou Governor Suo Zhongyi, and Liangzhou Deputy Governor Wang Duanzhang have submitted a petition requesting the court to send troops to retake Liangzhou."

Xiao Ye came out and bowed to report his crime. Li Chen said in a deep voice, "These three people lost Liangzhou, yet they still have the nerve to come to me... ahem!"

The uncontrollable discomfort made Li Chen cough. Seeing this, Linghu Tao bowed and said:

"Your Majesty, the three of you have served the imperial court in guarding the borders, and you have indeed made great contributions. However, Liangzhou cannot be recovered for the time being. Why not appoint someone else to another position?"

Linghu Tao was implicitly reminding Li Chen that the three of them were working for the imperial court after all.

Although Liangzhou was taken away by the barbarians, they had completed the task of isolating Hexi and Longyou.

If the court is abandoned after its death, how many people in the various vassal states will help the court in the future?
Li Chen obviously understood this truth, so after Linghu Tao pointed it out, he waved his hands helplessly and said:
"That's all. Demote Suo Xun to be the governor of Qianzhou, Suo Zhongyi to be the chief officer of Qianzhou, and Wang Duanzhang to be the deputy governor of Qianzhou."

Qianzhou is one of the top three prefectures in Qianzhong Prefecture in terms of population, but even so, its population is only over 20,000.

In addition, the local southern barbarians and southwestern barbarians lived together with the Han people, making it difficult to govern and often regarded as a barbaric place.

It can be said that Li Chen had dismissed these three people and would probably not use them again in the future.

Linghu Tao was very satisfied when he saw this and did not intend to continue seeking benefits for the three people.

As for Wang Zongshi, it was good enough that he did not kill Suo Xun and the other two. It was impossible for him to speak for them.

"Okay, everyone, please leave."

Seeing that everything was arranged, Li Chen immediately stood up and walked towards the side hall.

Although he still pretended to be fine, his steps were very unstable and everyone could see his physical condition.

After he walked into the side hall, the ministers left the Purple Palace one after another.

Among them, Zhang Yichao looked worried, while Zhang Yitan had a big smile on his face.

After the two of them left Daming Palace and boarded the carriage, Zhang Yitan took the initiative to say:
"Erlang is so worried, is he worried about your Majesty's health?"

"Hmm..." Zhang Yichao nodded, and then said:
"I have had the honor of meeting Prince Yun and Prince Kui."

"Prince Yun is very cautious in his words and deeds, but I heard from the ministers that Prince Yun has been behaving like this for more than ten years."

"If I could be released from this repression, I'd probably indulge myself..."

Zhang Yichao had met Yun Prince Li Wen. In his opinion, Li Wen acted cautiously, which was obviously the result of an overly depressing environment.

Such people are not uncommon in history books, but most of them cannot help but indulge themselves after their repression is lifted.

Given the current situation in the Tang Dynasty, it would probably not be a good thing if an indulgent emperor were to arrive.

"Where is King Kui?" Zhang Yitan couldn't help asking, while Zhang Yichao shook his head and said:

"Kui Wang likes fancy clothes. Although he is favored by Your Majesty, he is still young after all."

"If Your Majesty is fine this time, King Kui may be able to show his talents."

"If Your Majesty..."

Zhang Yichao did not continue speaking, but Zhang Yitan chuckled after hearing this:

"Erlang, you just think too much. If you can be more open-minded, like me, then there won't be so many things to worry about."

"Today, the father and son of the Suo family were banished to Qianzhou. I am very happy to see this. When you return to the mansion later, remember to drink with me."

Zhang Yitan's hearty laughter dispelled much of the worry on Zhang Yichao's brow.

"Don't worry, bro. I will definitely drink with you today."

Zhang Yichao responded, but at the same time Zhang Yitan said, "Stop the car!"

The driver stopped the carriage immediately upon hearing this. Zhang Yitan opened the carriage curtain. Zhang Yichao was very puzzled: "Brother?"

"Haha, Yang Yaya seems to be in a good mood."

Zhang Yitan smiled and Zhang Yichao followed his gaze and looked outside, only to see Longyou's Yameng Yang Xin and a man in his thirties getting off the car and preparing to walk into the West Market.

After Yang Xin, who was caught, reacted, he immediately bowed and said with a smile:
"Don't tease me, Changshi. I just came to the West Market to greet an old friend. I don't usually come here."

"Old friend?" Zhang Yitan looked at the thirty-year-old man beside Yang Xin who looked unhappy. The man felt his gaze and immediately bowed and said, "Greetings, the Attendant."

"Hehe, why are you frowning, little friend?"

Zhang Yitan was old and liked to talk with young people, so Yang Xin often visited his house.

Faced with the man's unhappy expression, he also asked curiously.

Seeing this, Yang Xin said, "Emperor, my old friend failed the imperial examination, and I was just trying to help him."

"Oh?" Zhang Yitan looked at the man in front of him and then laughed heartily:

"My friend, there is no need to do this. I see that you are in good health. Even if you fail the imperial examination, you can still join the army. You don't have to stick to one path."

"Thank you for your advice, Minister Chang. I really don't plan to continue taking the imperial examination..."

The man spoke dejectedly, and seeing how depressed he was, Zhang Yitan stopped trying to persuade him and just shook his head and looked at Yang Xin.

"Have fun, otherwise when you reach my age, you won't have the chance to play anymore, hahahaha..."

Zhang Yitan waved his sleeves to signal the driver to drive. Seeing this, the driver shook the reins and continued to drive towards the mansion.

Yang Xin and the man bowed to see them off, and then he said to the man:

"Mr. Huang, those were Zhang Situ and Zhang Changshi from our Guiyi Army. Even my commander-in-chief respects them very much."

"Since Zhang Changshi said that you will be successful if you join the army, why don't you just follow me and join the army in Longyou!"

The only person who could be called Mr. Huang by Yang Xin was Huang Chao, who had been preparing for the imperial examination for three years.

But his three years of preparation were a joke, but he never made the list.

It is precisely because of this that he is so decadent, and even when faced with Yang Xin's recruitment, he is not interested.

"My thoughts are confused at the moment, so let's discuss joining the army later."

"Now that Henan Province is in chaos due to the war, I just want to go home to see my father and father, make sure they are safe, and then show my filial piety to them."

"Okay!" Yang Xin did not want to spoil the fun and said immediately:

"Since you are confused, drink some wine to sober yourself up. I promised Chen Ying that I would treat you well, and I can't let him think that I neglected you."

"Let's go! Go to Yangliu Pavilion and order ten girls to help you have fun!"

(End of this chapter)