Northern Prefecture Rivers and Mountains

Chapter 180 Summon

A bolt of lightning struck down with a deafening bang, as if it was going to split the sky and the earth apart.

The supervision team's affairs were arranged properly, and Liu Daogui was on a non-stop inspection of agricultural affairs in various places. The crops were growing well and were in the pulping stage. With this heavy rain, a good harvest this year was guaranteed.

Moreover, the heavy rain also made the Yan army dare not cross the river easily. Although the fort was not built, Cao Ji mobilized young and strong men to divert the Si River eastward, connecting the mudflats and ponds into one.

Large areas of mulberry and willow trees were also transplanted.

Each dock is located in a strategically placed area with dangerous terrain, overlooking the surrounding area and blocking the only passage.

However, the foundation has just been laid. Once it is completed, not only the Xianbei cavalry, but even their scouts will not be able to get through.

Once you come here, you can’t go back.

However, Murong Long on the opposite side was not interested in this land at all. All villages, big and small, were destroyed, and the population migrated to Huatai and Puyang areas.

The west bank of Surabaya has become a wasteland.

"According to this trend, the Yan army will sooner or later abandon Gaoping, Rencheng and other counties."

After being promoted, Wang Yuande became more diligent and conscientious.

"Oh my, then the area around Si Shui will all be ours, and the entire Yanzhou will also be ours in the future!" Liu Zun was overjoyed.

Liu Daogui shook his head. "How could it be that easy? The west bank of the Si River is completely flat. With our current population, it's impossible to cultivate it. Even if we do start farming, the Xianbei cavalry will arrive in no time, and the food will be cheap for them."

The North is vast and what it lacks is not land, but population.

Murong Long moved the already small population to the banks of the Yellow River, which was considered a strategy of clearing the countryside.

Farming also has costs and the investment is very large. Liu Daogui is not interested in that now. It would be good enough if he could develop Lu County.

Seeing that it was going to rain heavily, he had no choice but to ride back to Pingyang City.

On the way, he met Liu Huaisu.

As soon as he saw him, Liu Daogui knew that something big had happened in the south, otherwise he would not have come to Lu County in person.

"Agui, the Tianshi Dao has risen in rebellion! The commander-in-chief has summoned all the troops to Jingkou to discuss suppressing the rebels."

"What's the situation?" Liu Daogui was not surprised at all.

The imperial court has been struggling for so long, the Tianshi Dao should have taken action long ago.

"The Three Wus and eight counties were all lost. The evil bandits gathered a crowd of over 300,000 people, burning granaries and houses, cutting up trees and filling up wells, looting property, and killing those who opposed them. Women, children, and infants could not be gathered together, and they were thrown into the water, where they were said to become water lilies... The Three Wus had become a den of ghosts."

There was a hint of grief and indignation in Liu Huaisu's voice.

After all, he has studied for several years and still has his country and the world in his heart.

Liu Daogui's heart sank as well. He had known for a long time that the Tianshi Dao was not a good thing, but he did not expect that their methods were so brutal. They were truly worthy of the name "demons and thieves".

They not only shook the foundations of the aristocratic families, but also shook the vitality of China.

Among Yan, Wei, Qin and Liang, the Three Wus were the last pure land in the world, accommodating a large population.

In the past, when the West Palace and the North Palace faced off, they both retained some anger and did not fight to the death.

Sun En almost uprooted all the aristocratic families with the surname Qiao. The heaviest casualties were suffered by the four high-ranking families of Sima, the two Wangs, and Xie, who were almost killed.

With more than 300,000 bandit troops, the imperial court can only rely on the Northern Army.

"I'll go back now." Liu Daogui didn't expect that this day would come so quickly and so violently.

Liu Laozhi sent someone to call him back to Jingkou, which indirectly indicated the improvement of his status.

This rebellion is just another time of dividing the meat at the table.

Unlike the last time, the status of the humble family was becoming increasingly prominent. The fact that the Tianshi Dao could cause such a big commotion itself demonstrated the incompetence of the noble families. When Sun En landed in Shangyu, he had only 10,000 or 20,000 ragtag troops, yet he was able to easily break through the Eastern Capital of Kuaiji.

All we can say is that these high-ranking families deserve it.

Liu Daogui returned to Jingkou with more than 20 soldiers and Liu Huaisu on horseback.

On the way, Liu Huaisu told the whole story of the chaos.

Sun En's slogan was to capture Jiankang and replace the Sima clan...

He wanted to overthrow the Sima family, and it didn't matter that Liu Daogui couldn't control him.

But if he wanted to attack Jiankang, the 300,000 evil bandits would definitely pass through Jingkou, and Liu Daogui's entire family, except Cao Sifei, were all in Jingkou.

And given the evil thief's style of doing things, he will definitely kill people indiscriminately.

The Northern Palace Army claimed to have 80,000 troops, but in fact it had only about 50,000, including 5,000 naval troops under Hu Bin, 8,000 "Taiwanese soldiers" under Xie Yan, 5,000 expeditionary troops under Huan Hong, and palace troops scattered under the command of Liu Laozhi, Sun Wuzhong, Gao Yazhi and others.

However, after Xie Xuan left office, the Northern Army fell into disintegration.

Only the generals of the Northern Palace know how many troops they actually have.

Liu Daogui's army headquarters was in a state of disrepair, and half of the 5,400 soldiers had been killed.

Xie Yan's Taiwanese troops were inherited from his brother Xie Xuan's troops, but they have had little presence in his hands for so many years. They have been stationed in Jiankang and have not participated in major wars for many years. There was no sign of this "elite" during the battle between Beifu and Xifu at Xinting, and it is estimated that their situation is not much better.

It is not easy to train an elite army, but it only takes one or two years to destroy an elite army.

Apart from the Northern Army led by Liu Laozhi, Sun Wuzhong, Gao Heng, He Qian, Liu Gui and other former Northern Army generals, it is difficult to say how strong the other troops are.

It’s not that Liu Daogui looked down on these children of the aristocratic families, but the incident of Wang Ningzhi had refreshed Liu Daogui’s understanding of them.

He actually wanted to rely on "ghost soldiers" to resist the Tianshi Dao. He is simply possessed.

Given the situation at the time, if we had been a little more prepared, we wouldn't have ended up in such a mess.

There is also Sima Yuanxian, who was a genius in internal fighting, but his governance was a mess. This chaos was ultimately caused by him.

Heavy rain poured down, and the sky and the earth were covered in a gray haze, but no one showed any intention of stopping and they quickly headed south.

When they arrived in Guangling, Liu Huaishen, Gao Xun and Zhao Lunzhi had already gathered four groups of troops, more than 2,000 people. They did not look worried at all, but rather happy. They probably wanted to go to the Three Wus to make another fortune.

Over the Yangtze River, mist and rain are rolling.

It took a whole day to get 2,500 soldiers from the invaders across.

Jingkou had already been under martial law. The Tianshi Dao not only had a large number of people and was powerful, but also had a very large navy that could land anywhere on the Yangtze River at will.

The imperial navy was completely defeated by Sima Huizhi at the hands of the Western Palace Army, and at this time it was no longer possible to defend the Yangtze River.

In other words, the evil bandits could attack both sides of the Yangtze River at will, and even Jiankang was in danger.

When they arrived at Jingkou, various troops had already gathered outside the city.

Liu Daogui took a quick look and identified the flags. There were Liu, Sun, Gao, and He, but there was no sign of "Xie".

The Xie family held an exceptional position in the Northern Army. In the Battle of Feishui, Xie Yan was among the generals who crossed the river and attacked first.

Without his family's big flag, I always feel like something is missing.

Liu Daogui thought that Xie Yan had already gone south, but unexpectedly, gongs and drums were deafening in the west, and an ox cart was slowly approaching, followed by a large flag with the word "Xie" on it.

The big blue ox is covered with colorful silks, and behind it are various colorful flags that are dazzling.

A dozen cavalrymen in distinctive armor rushed forward, shouting, "The General of the Guards, the Imperial Guards, the Commander-in-Chief of the Military Affairs of Wuxing and Yixing Counties, and the Governor of Xuzhou have arrived!"

(End of this chapter)