Northern Prefecture Rivers and Mountains

Chapter 136 Divide the Meat
To the east of Jingkou is Qu'a.

This place is an important town in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Two hundred years ago, Sun Ce defeated Liu Yao, the governor of Yangzhou, here, and then swept across the Three Wus and laid the foundation for his career.

Now the situation in Jiangdong is changing again, and the troops of the Three Wus are making a comeback.

Liu Laozhi advanced to this place first, and 5,000 Northern Army soldiers were ready to fight, with great momentum.

Soldiers these days are not afraid of fighting or casualties. What they fear most is having no war to fight. Jiangdong is rich, and everyone knows it, so the morale of the Northern Army is very high.

However, when the enemy army was at the gate of the city, Liu Laozhi ordered his troops to stay put.

At this moment, a distinguished guest arrived in the central military tent.

"I once heard that the brilliance of Longyuan could not eclipse the jade of Jingshan; and how could a galloping steed be constrained by the shaft of a salt cart? The general rose from the ranks, unleashed his arm upon the Northern Palace, and fought at the Battle of Feishui, where the drums of the Jie drums startled the cold. The peace of Jiangzuo today is all due to the general. Yet, despite such great achievements, he was reduced to a mere governor of Pengcheng, trapped under the yoke of others, ordered around like a dog or horse. Every time I think of this, I can't help but sigh with regret."

Wang Mi waved his dust tail, and every word he said was like a spring breeze and touching.

At a gathering in Jingkou last year, Wang Gong reprimanded Liu Laozhi in public, and it was Wang Mi who spoke out to help him.

It is obvious that the key to this drama is Liu Laozhi.

As long as he turned against them, the situation in Jiangzuo would change immediately, and the end of Wang Gong and Sima Daozi would come.

Moreover, Liu Laozhi had long been dissatisfied with Wang Gong.

However, Wang Mi's words were grandiose, but there was no actual promise. He only wanted the other party to change sides, but there was no actual promise of benefits.

Liu Laozhi's purple face remained expressionless.

Wang Gong was at least the governor of the Six Garrisons, a figurehead, while Wang Mi was just empty talk...

Liu Laozhi has been traveling the world for more than 20 years. He is no longer a hot-blooded and reckless man. He has been up and down in the officialdom for many years and knows the true faces of the noble families very well.

The Wang family of Taiyuan is not a good person, and the Wang family of Langya just wants to use him.

"A man without faith cannot stand." Liu Laozhi's eyes flashed, actually hinting to Wang Mi to make a specific promise.

Wang Mi certainly understood, "After this is accomplished, we will recommend you to the court as the governor of Qingzhou."

Liu Laozhi stared at him expressionlessly. He was the one who rushed to the front and did the dirty work, but in return he was only the governor of Qingzhou, and he had to recommend him to the court...

The key point is that Qingzhou is an overseas county and has no real power.

In other words, when these nobles were dividing the meat, they were unwilling to give even a bone.

If Sima Daozi disagrees, the Qingzhou Governor might not even get it...

This time, it was the Wang family of Taiyuan who betrayed. After the rebellion was quelled, the court and the gentry investigated, and Liu Laozhi would still be pushed out as a scapegoat and become the target of public criticism.

Su Jun back then was a lesson for us.

The noble families and the imperial court would never let go of generals who rebelled.

In the past eighty years since the migration of the elite to the south, too many such incidents of crossing the river and destroying the bridge have occurred.

It was obvious that the price Wang Mi offered did not meet Liu Laozhi's expectations. "My lord, there is no need to say more. Wang Xin has rebelled. How can I help him to commit such atrocities?"

"This opportunity is rare, General, you must think twice..."

"Don't think twice. The Northern Army is only loyal to the imperial court." Liu Laozhi stood up and walked out of the tent with a look of disappointment on his face.

Outside, a group of Northern Palace generals were as fierce as wolves and tigers. The five thousand Northern Palace soldiers were silent, with iron armor like mountains, flags like clouds, and long spears like forests. The fighting spirit in their eyes was like a raging flame.

The strongest fighting force in the entire Jiangzuo is in the hands of Liu Laozhi. No one in the court or the country can match him in fighting skills.

Even after the defeat at Linzhang, Liu Laozhi returned to Jingkou and quickly raised a Beifu Army. Beifu was his source of strength.

Wang of Langya is a governor of Qingzhou in name only. Even if Liu Laozhi agrees, the elite soldiers and generals of the Northern Palace will not agree!
What you put in your mouth is meat.

"Send out troops and attack the enemy!" Liu Laozhi jumped on his horse and raised his spear.

"Kill, kill, kill!" The soldiers of the Northern Palace shouted loudly, and their voices shook the sky.

The city gate opened, and five thousand infantry and cavalry turned into a long dragon and rushed towards the enemy army outside the city that was like a black cloud.

In an instant, the earth shook and the sky and the earth changed color...

In less than half a day, the war was over. There was a mess outside Qu'a City. Blood gathered into a stream, slowly flowing over the corpses. The living people were still wailing, but soon they were stabbed in the mouth by a long spear and stabbed out from the back of the neck.

The wailing stopped abruptly.

The heads of the rebel soldiers were cut off one by one and piled up by the river, which turned into a small hill in the blink of an eye.

The soldiers scrambled for women, armor, weapons, and livestock.

The woman's cries and the man's lewd laughter merged into one...

On the Kuchu Hill to the east of the battlefield, several people stood for a long time and witnessed the entire battle.

"Liu Laozhi is really smart. He actually let Wang Xin go." Lu Xun's face was full of ridicule.

The 30,000-strong rebel army was defeated by the Northern Army as soon as they met, and Wang Xin escaped alone and disappeared without a trace.

If Liu Laozhi had not shown mercy, Wang Xin would not have been able to escape even if he rode a Ferghana horse.

Xu Daofu said, "Liu Laozhi is a great threat to our Taoist sect."

Sun En cursed, "The Wang Clan of Langya are all useless. With 30,000 men, they were no match for the 5,000 Northern Army. It's one thing for them, but they slaughtered us in a single encounter, leaving us feeling hopeless."

They had originally hoped that the Northern Palace Army and the rebel army would both be defeated, and that the Tianshi Dao would come out to reap the benefits, but they didn't expect that Wang Xin was so incompetent.

Lu Xun looked up at the sky. It was March, and a warm breeze blew eastward, bringing the breath of spring to Jiangdong. "Alas, with Wang Xin's defeat, we can only look for another opportunity. I wonder how many years we have to wait..."

"Not necessarily. The Wang family of Langya has been kicked out, but the outcome among Wang Gong, Sima Daozi, and the Huan family has yet to be decided. You two should wait and see, the best is yet to come."

Xu Daofu's eyes swept across the battlefield and fixed on the big flag with the word "Liu" on it.

In this battle, the Northern Army was simply crushed with ease. You should know that the Langya Wang family was not the only one involved in the chaotic army, there were also many powerful families from the Three Wus. These people's combat power was not bad, but they were still defeated by Liu Laozhi.

The defeat was so tragic...

If the Tianshi Dao wants to succeed, it will have to go through the Northern Palace Army.

Sun En laughed and said, "That's right. Wang Gong forced Sima Daozi to kill Wang Guobao and Wang Xu. He has completely lost face and will not let it go!"

Lu Xun grabbed a handful of yellow earth and sprinkled it into the sky. "The Jin Dynasty has long since become a pile of dry bones. Sima Daozi killed Sima Yao, and the brothers killed each other, which brought about their own destruction. The Sima family has discarded loyalty, filial piety, benevolence, and righteousness like a piece of trash. Heaven has long been wrathful and people have resented it. Chaos is imminent. It's a pity that these 30,000 Jiangdong men will be buried with the Jin Dynasty."

Sun En, however, dismissed it as follows: "One general's success is built on the sacrifice of thousands of men. Those who accomplish great things do not dwell on trivial matters. The deaths of small men are well-deserved and not worth grieving."

When Xu Daofu and Lu Xun heard this, a look of disappointment flashed in their eyes.

The reason why Tianshi Dao failed to grow to the scale of Taiping Dao lies in the Sun family.

Sun En had always considered himself a member of the Jiangdong aristocracy, and he cared only about the prosperity and decline of the Sun family. He did not really care about the people of Jiangzuo...

(End of this chapter)