Memoirs of the Heavenly Khan

Chapter 442 Kill him while he is sick
Before dawn broke in Luoyang, the neighing of warhorses shattered the pre-dawn tranquility.

The gates of Jinyong City slowly opened, revealing a gaping maw like that of a giant beast, swallowing an army that had come from Chang'an.

……

"Prime Minister!"

Hu Sichun, still half asleep, woke up groggily to the sound outside the door, still grumpy from waking up.

"What's the matter?"

"The King of Qin has arrived in Luoyang!"

Upon hearing this, Hu Sichun was so frightened that she rolled off the bed and woke up immediately.

"When did this happen?"

"No one was alerted by what happened at the hour of Yin today. The King of Qin led a thousand cavalry directly into Jinyong City."

Upon hearing this, Hu Sichun realized that only Li Shuang could enter Luoyang City so quietly without being known by others.

Hu Sichun thought for a moment, then, seeing that the servant remained motionless, angrily said:

"You dog, bring me my clothes. I need to wash up before I go to see the King of Qin."

……

After Hu Sichun finished washing up and entered Jinyong City, the entire city came to life.

Inside the Jinyong Palace, Li Shuang sat at his desk, reviewing military intelligence reports sent from Henan. Before him, scholars from the Imperial Academy, including Lu Bian, Yang Yin, and Changsun Yu, moved about, organizing documents and maps, and processing military intelligence from the front.

Hu Sichun stumbled into the side hall, bowed respectfully, and said:
"Your Majesty, I am late."

Li Shuang tapped the table in front of him, looked at Hu Sichun, and asked:
Do you know what the situation is like in Henan right now?

Hearing this, Hu Sichun couldn't discern the emotion in Li Shuang's words. She swallowed hard and simply spoke the truth, saying:

"Jia Xianzheng and Jia Xiandu are incompetent and greedy for merit. They led their troops deep into Lijiang without discovering the Liang army's ambush, resulting in the annihilation of our entire army. Now, bandits are rampant in several prefectures of Henan. It is only thanks to the prior arrangements made by General Hou Jing that the prefectures and counties we captured were not lost again."

"Looks like you're not completely out of your mind yet!"

Li Shuang chuckled and looked at Hu Sichun. But these simple words sent a chill down Hu Sichun's spine.

Of the 30,000 Northern soldiers and dozens of Northern generals, some died and some surrendered; Northerners had become a minority in Luoyang. He, the prime minister who was of Northern origin, now felt extremely uneasy in the Luoyang court.

"I am guilty, and I am willing to resign from the position of Prime Minister."

"There's no need for that. You didn't fight this battle, so how can it be attributed to you?"

Li Shuang's words eased Hu Sichun's mood.

"Your Majesty is benevolent!"

Just then, Changsun Yu took a prepared account book from his hand and walked up to Li Shuang.

"Your Majesty, this is the military supplies that we have calculated for the front lines."

Li Shuang looked at it and handed it to Hu Sichun.

Hu Sichun bent down, took it, glanced at it, and immediately said:
"I will immediately draw from the treasury and transport it to the front lines."

"Go!"

After Hu Sichun left, Li Shuang leaned back in his chair, stroked his beard, and said:

"Summon Yuwen Tai, Grand General of the Northeast Circuit and Duke of Yan, and Gao Huan, Grand General of the Hebei Circuit and Duke of Anyang, to lead their troops to Huatai within twenty days."

"promise!"
-
Jiankang.

"Your Majesty, after Hou Jing fled back to Yuzhou, he held fast to Guangling City, and our army was unable to capture it."

In the imperial court, Zhu Yi reported the latest situation at the front to Xiao Yan. At this moment, Xiao Yan paid no attention to Hou Jing.

The 30,000-strong northern army in Henan was completely annihilated, and the remaining refugees were utterly incapable of fighting. Without the northern army to suppress them, these refugees raised the banner of rebellion.

Henan is currently vulnerable and urgently needs troops to defend it.

Xiao Yan knew that Li Shuang couldn't gather so many seasoned veterans in a short time.

The annihilation of these 30,000 northern troops led to the rise of bandits and rebellions in various regions and prefectures. It would take time to quell these bandits and rebellious prefectures.

However, the Jiankang court did not intend to head north and recover Henan.

Firstly, General Chen Qingzhi was seriously ill, and even if they were to head north, they could not find a suitable candidate with the prestige and qualifications to lead the northern expeditionary force in a hurry; secondly, the Jiankang court was more concerned about Sichuan and Chongqing.

"Let them withdraw!"

Although the Liang army won the battle, they did lose the land north of the Huai River. In addition, the Jiankang court was under great pressure because they needed to resettle the prisoners and refugees.

Just then, Zhu Yi stepped forward again, cupped his hands, and said:
"Since last year, the Northern barbarian Da Yeshuang has been relocating people to Sichuan, causing resentment among both Han and Yi people. Our army should take advantage of this great victory to advance and conquer Sichuan, rescuing the people from their suffering."

The entire Jiankang court was in a state of great anxiety.

Of course, it wasn't because of Zhu Yi's claim that both Han and barbarian people resented them. They were afraid that if the tens of thousands of households that migrated from Guanzhong to Sichuan really managed to eliminate the barbarians in Sichuan, then the entire Sichuan region would fall under Li Shuang's control.

According to the intelligence gathered by Liang Jun, this trend is indeed present in Bashu.

The people from Guanzhong who migrated to Sichuan were given weapons, and some even had armor. After entering Sichuan, they recaptured the counties that had been vacant.

It should be understood that these vacant counties only lost their officials and registered households. Due to the large-scale exodus of the original Shu people under the attack of the Liao and Man tribes, it does not mean that there were no people in these counties.

Compared to these barbarians, the Guanzhong people who migrated to Sichuan and Chongqing were more powerful and better equipped, and they won more battles than they lost.

If the Liang army really ignores the situation, it will probably be long before the Liang Kingdom loses Bashu forever.

As Zhu Yi spoke, Xiao Yan, unlike usual, hesitated slightly, then called out a name.

"Shixun!"

Prince Xiao Ji of Wuling stepped out of the procession and bowed, saying:
"My son is here!"

Xiao Yan then looked at the ranks and pointed to several generals, including Hebasheng and Chen Baxian.

Those whose names were called stepped forward and bowed, saying:

"Chen is here!"

"The Prince of Wuling, Xiao Ji, is hereby appointed as the General Who Conquers the West, and is also granted the title of Governor of Yizhou. He is to oversee the military affairs of the eight prefectures of Yi, Ba, Tong, Nanliang, Xin, Wan, Li, and Beiyi. All generals shall be under his command. An army of 100,000 shall be raised and launched to attack Shu in the coming days."

The assembled officials were all deeply shocked by these words.

Mobilizing an army of 100,000 was a huge investment, demonstrating Xiao Yan's determination to recover Bashu.

More importantly, none of the princes, including Crown Prince Xiao Gang, had ever commanded such a large force, which shows Xiao Yan's fondness for Xiao Ji.

Xiao Ji was somewhat excited, his voice trembling slightly as he said:
"My son, take your orders!"

Xiao Yan nodded, and then said:
"An imperial edict was issued to Xiangyang, appointing Lan Qin as General Guanglie, Colonel Pingxi, Governor of Liang and Nanqin Provinces, and in charge of military affairs in the four provinces of Nanliang, Nanqin, Beiqin, and Sha, to advance into Hanzhong and capture Nanzheng."

After issuing the order, Xiao Yan looked at the assembled officials in the hall and said:

"In this battle, all officials, from top to bottom, must work together with one heart and one mind to achieve complete victory in one battle and reclaim Ba and Shu!"

"I will take your orders!"

……

(End of this chapter)