The Emperor ordered Zhao Tang

Chapter 288: Another Battle at Shayuan (Part )

"call…………"

Li Keyong took a few deep breaths and finally finished his madness.

"General, we must be cautious about this matter." Gai Yu, who was in an anxious mood, was the first to speak.

Li Keyong nodded. He also knew that this was a major decision point. The four towns of Heshuo plus Li Sizhou, Geshu Jin, Yin Shouzhi, Li Cunxiao, one observation, and three defense forces of 60,000 people, who would come for real and who would play a fake game was secondary. Even if only one of them came for real, he couldn't afford the risk!
What’s most annoying is that there are visitors from all directions, making it impossible to focus on just one side.

"Write a letter to the Sixth Brother. Don't think too much. Jie and Zhou granted him the imperial seal to Hedong with the intention of sowing discord and instigating the inferiors to overthrow the superiors. My family has always been a place where fathers are kind and sons are filial, and brothers are friendly and respectful to each other. Don't be disturbed by such a villain's tricks." Li Keyong said softly.

Gai Yu gave a wink and Secretary Wang Gui began to write.

With Li Kening's identity, prestige and status, the sage has now appointed him as the commander and supported him. Once the king encounters an accident, Hedong will quickly complete the power transition. The sage's move is insidious. Playing the emotional card is indeed a necessary first strategy.

"Lord Gai," Li Keyong ordered again, "You meet Shangguan Daozi and Gao Yang in person. Tell them that I have no intention of overthrowing the Holy Tang Dynasty, nor do I seek to fight against Heshuo. But Jie and Zhou's conditions are harsh, so I will fight and negotiate at the same time, and I will withdraw my troops when we reach an agreement."

The source of this conflict is Lingxia. Now that Li Gao is dead and the rebels are badly hurt, there is no need to continue to provoke trouble. If the previous demands can be negotiated, then we can talk about it. If not, then we can force Li Ye to restore his official position, and then go home with the wealth he made, which is not a loss at all.

If Li Ye is unwilling to make peace, then both sides will be in trouble!

"Shangguan Daozi said something." Gai Yu added: "The saint must not allow anything to happen, the eunuch must die, and he is not allowed to retaliate against the ministers."

"Promise him!" Li Keyong gritted his teeth.

"Wait." Li Keyong thought for a moment and added, "I heard that Wang Rong is obsessed with cultivating immortals, so he sent some scriptures and instruments. Wei Bo... robbed a batch of their wealth last time, so he sent 10,000 pieces of silk to General Tian."

Gai Yu smiled with relief.

There is nothing better than changing your temper.

"Youzhou..." Li Keyong hesitated. Gai Yu immediately shook his head: "Youzhou is a tiger and wolf, the hero of the world. Liu Rengong is ambitious. Since he intends to join the saint in fighting against the enemy, there is no mediation. We can only prepare for war."

"That's all." Li Keyong sighed and said calmly, "Send a letter to Shi Shanyou, ordering the Datong Army to guard the border carefully."

"Where is Li Renmei in the Lanshi direction?" Gai Yu asked.

"We can just clear the fields and defend. Winter is coming, and Li Renmei has limited troops, so he can't cause any trouble." Li Keyong said, "The key to this battle lies in Zuo Fengyi and Youzhou. If we can defeat Youzhou, I'm not afraid of Li Qilang! In the past, 5,000 soldiers were able to defeat his 100,000. Today, even if 50,000 soldiers don't break him, it won't be difficult to get him to sit down and have a good talk. The vassal states are full of enemies, how can he have so much energy to waste on me?"

Gai Yu agreed with this statement.

The general approach to attacking is to start with the easy and then move on to the difficult.

Fighting to the death with Hedong will only benefit people like Zhu Dalang.

The king also took advantage of this point of the saint and that's why he decided to enter the pass.

Fight a few tough battles with the saint and let him see the might of our army, which will be enough to make him give up and stop while he is ahead.

"So, then issue the order. Let's feast the soldiers tomorrow to defeat the army of Jie and Zhou!" Li Keyong spread out the sheepskin and rubbed his big hands slowly on the Guanzhong topographic map: "Zhou's army is strong in numbers and convenient logistics, but the soldiers are mixed. Our army is strong in unity, and all soldiers are strong.

If you can kill a chicken, even Jie and Zhou will be terrified."

The big hand stopped above Shayuan. Li Keyong said with a fake smile, "I have figured out Jie and Zhou's idea. They want to waste time. Waste time until winter comes and my food supply is difficult to support. Waste time until Heshuo sends troops to intervene. Waste time until Li Sizhou, Li Cunxiao and other rats create a big mess behind me and make me angry. In short, waste time until I have no intention of pulling and leave on my own. Then he will take advantage of the situation to chase me and tear off a few pieces of my flesh."

"I have no intention of fighting him, but I still have to pretend to fight him, to scare Jie and Zhou and see what he will do. Zhao Fu's 30,000 troops will guard Shayuan alone, far away from the main army..."

Thinking of the dog-footed emperor's words "cut off his legs!", Li Keyong was furious again and slapped Shayuan: "Call out 20,000 soldiers from the Tielin Army, the Congmazhi Army, and the Weibao Army! Raid Shayuan and kill Zhao Fu first! Killing him as Jingzhao Yin last time was not enough for him to learn a lesson. This time, saw off his brother-in-law and see if he will cry or make a fuss!"

"Here!"

Li Ye, he already hated him deeply. When you were in a precarious situation, he helped you through the difficulties. He just gave you some advice on national policy and made some requests that were not particularly excessive, but you responded like this. Is this how you treat your uncle, the hero of the Jingnan Campaign? "Bang!" Li Keyong suddenly got angry and split the table in half with a knife: "You dog emperor, I fuck your mother!"

After a pause, he looked up to the sky and sighed, muttering, "Who do you think the saint is?"

Gai Yu didn't say anything.

Li Keyong said to himself, "After February 22 next year, the saint will be thirty. Although he is capable and has a rare shrewdness at his age, no one dares to look down on him, but he also has the most common characteristic of his age - taking things for granted."

"All kinds of restructuring and reforms, armed conquests, conspiracies and intrigues... He is trying to solve several generations of problems by himself and transform Sheng Tang into what he envisions... Oh, he will be thirty next year. With his strength, how many decades will he have left? Two at most. His disciples are still so young, and the eldest is a waste. After he dies, everyone will do what they want. They are just playing a game with him."

Is this a curse because he feels he can't win? Gai Yu pretended not to hear it and said quietly: "After the troops withdraw, the saint will definitely attack Lingxia again. The major forces of the Uighurs, the Guiyi Army, the Long family, and the Tubo are just grasshoppers after autumn. It's not easy to intervene in Guanxi, so the towns in Heshuo and Henan can be slowly won over to form an alliance, including Zhu Dalang, to prevent him from continuing to make achievements in the east."

"How did the discussion about the marriage with Zhu Dalang go?" Li Keyong asked with his eyes slightly narrowed.

"I have sent people to contact his confidants privately." Gai Yu replied: "First, Zhu Dalang's children are still young and there is no suitable match. Second, Zhu Dalang's attitude is quite ambiguous. It seems that he is not satisfied with the status quo and intends to make a comeback."

"Let's plan slowly. With Zhu Wen dead, the past of Liang and Jin will be wiped out." Li Keyong sneered, "You can let him know and let him take the opportunity to recapture Luoyang or attack Wei. If he doesn't take Henan, then wait for me to return and attack Wei Bo together and divide its land. Our Wei Bo soldiers are very rich, and they have sent out elite soldiers and brave generals, as well as military armor and beautiful women--"

"King." Gai Yu uttered a word.

Li Keyong stopped talking and nodded, saying, "I will not be indecisive. I will focus on the present and kill Zhao Fu."

******
The first round of mediation among the four towns achieved some results.

For example, Li Keyong retreated three steps and moved his camp thirty miles away from the saint.

For example, Li Keyong repeatedly and earnestly submitted a petition to apologize, saying, "I am a common criminal, and I dare not return to your majesty's territory without permission." - The words were beautiful, but he did not mention withdrawing troops, and even increased the troops. This made the emperor very nervous. He wanted to stop there, but was unwilling to compromise and pay substantial benefits. He was a complete idiot. Of course, he ignored it.

As a result, the mediation did not achieve the core purpose of stopping the fighting and achieving peace.

Since neither the sage nor Li Keyong was willing to give in, they could only watch the father-in-law and son-in-law fight.

From the beginning of November, the situation accelerated suddenly.

On the seventh day, the Tiansheng Shenming Army rushed into Jinzhou and engaged in a fierce battle with the rebels on Li Keyong's grain road.

Li Renmei, who was in charge of the battle of Tongwancheng, gave Li Zan an additional 5,000 soldiers, strengthening his army to 12,000, and ordered him to attack Lanzhou. Li Zan captured Lanzhou and killed Liu Dian, the commander of the Kelan army. Liu Dian's wife fled to Taiyuan with their only son Liu Zhiyuan, who was still in her swaddling clothes, and the defeated soldiers. Li Zan again besieged Zhaluping.

On the ninth day of the eleventh month, Zhao Kuangning, Yuwen Qi, and Zhao Kuangming arrived, claiming that they would enter the pass to attack Li. The sage has no need for this yet, so please be patient.

In mid-November, a messenger from Fanyang came from the north, saying that Youzhou had sent 40,000 troops to attack Datong and Daizhou, and subdued part of the Hedong garrison. Li Kening sent troops to rescue them, but was defeated, and the generals He Gongya and Ma Sixun were killed in the battle.

The situation in the north seemed to be okay and beneficial to the saint - although only temporarily, after all, Li Keyong's focus was not here, and if he could not make any progress, he might as well surrender - but the situation in the east deteriorated rapidly.

Zhu Dalang was still determined to take over Xuanwu, or he thought that Emperor Li would never allow him to dominate Xuanwu. He sent Xu Huaiyu, Gao Jichang, and Zhu Youlun to lead 50,000 troops to recapture Zhengzhou and Luoyang. The people of Tokyo were terrified and fled to the valleys. The Bian army rushed into Shanzhou. Officials sent by the court to the area, such as the military supervisor and censor Gui An, fled to Xiangyang and Nanyang.

When the news of the raid on the den spread, Li Sizhou and his men would be displeased. Where to go? Back to Guanzhong? Can the saint afford it? Go and fight Zhu Dalang for the territory? Can he win? In short, the saint's situation does not look good.

In late November, heavy snow fell in Youfufeng, Jingzhaoyin, Zuofengyi, Shangjun, Hezhongfu and other places, and the temperature in Yongliang dropped sharply. The people who followed the court to Baoji were frozen to death and starved to death in the streets, and even the well-dressed families were not immune. At this time when the cold killed people and animals and people were in panic, Li Keyong, who had repeatedly refused to give in, finally launched a large-scale attack.

During this period, just as Li Keyong planned, the two sides actually talked for more than a dozen times. His demands had been lowered from the initial one to just restore his position and title. But the saint still refused. There was nothing he could do. If he couldn't get the words, he had to use his fists. Of course, his idea had not changed - he just wanted the saint to take a step back and give him face.

Li Keyong, who originally thought that it would be difficult to win and there was no point in dragging it out, was planning to just leave and go back to have a verbal battle with the saint. However, the small group evaluated and felt that since he did not bow his head in the face of a large army, it would be even more difficult for him to leave. Once he left, he would probably be branded as a thief forever.

But, is there a difference?
Even if Emperor Li took a step back now, he would not be able to change his mind that Li Keyong was already on his kill list.

If you can't come up with five million, then I'll use your life, Li Keyong, to pay for it!
I am connected with you by heart, why are you playing tricks on your son-in-law?
Bah, what the hell!
******
Shayuan, this place has long been a purgatory.

(End of this chapter)