Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 169 Appearances are in harmony but minds are separate
"Beep--"

"Woooooooo..."

At dusk, the fire illuminated both sides of the Wei River Valley.

More than 1,500 surviving soldiers looked at the bonfire and their former comrades lying on the firewood. Many of them felt sad and couldn't help sobbing.

"The number of soldiers who died was ninety-eight. Please record their life stories, names, and places of origin."

"When we recover Weizhou, we will take their ashes back to Linzhou. I will build a monument of merit for them in Linzhou..."

Under the firelight, Liu Jilong spoke these words in a hoarse voice. Chen Jingchong, Shang Duoluo and the other three stood behind him, hiding their eyes under their iron helmets.

The fire burned for half an hour. Liu Jilong personally led people to collect their ashes, sealed them in pottery jars, and carefully placed them on the carriage.

One hundred elite cavalrymen, more than a thousand civilians, and horse-drawn carriages were waiting nearby.

As the last urn was placed, Liu Jilong joined the team.

"Captain Dou Bin of the 12th Lanzhou Regiment!"

"The general is here!"

Liu Jilong stopped and looked at the young captain in his early twenties in front of him with complicated eyes.

"Bring the brothers' ashes and documents back to Didao safely, and bury them in a beautiful place outside Didao City. Don't go too far, we will visit them again in the future..."

"The last general takes command!"

Dou Bin stood straight, and Liu Jilong bowed to him when he saw this.

Dou Bin returned the greeting with neither arrogance nor servility, and Liu Jilong turned around and left.

"Cross the river..."

At his command, six hundred elite cavalrymen, eight hundred armored soldiers, one thousand newly armored soldiers and four thousand civilian laborers began to cross the river.

At the same time, Chen Jingchong also led more than a hundred elite cavalrymen to escort more than 7,000 captured civilians back to Weiyuan.

Liu Jilian led his troops to Xiangwu County, more than ten miles away, and arrived at Xiangwu before 21 p.m., but the result was the same as last time in Weiyuan.

Xiangwu County, located in a river valley basin, has its gates wide open at this moment and is shrouded in darkness with only a few lights.

Liu Jilong sent Zhang Chang to lead elite cavalry to investigate. Not long after, Zhang Chang rode back and bowed:
"Governor, there are only about a hundred people in the city who are hiding and refusing to flee to Longxi with Lu Ruyue and his men."

"Brothers, I have seen that the government warehouses and treasuries have been emptied, and many people did not even have time to take away their pots and pans."

"According to what the people said, Lu Ruyue and his men retreated to Longxi overnight."

"It's less than thirty miles from Xiangwu to Longxi. I guess they have already arrived in Longxi and are preparing to build city defenses."

Zhang Chang told Liu Jilong all the information he had found out, and he nodded:

"The army will enter Xiangwu and move to Longxi tomorrow."

As soon as he opened his mouth, the Longxi army began to move into Xiangwu County. As the seat of Weizhou, Xiangwu's city scale was naturally not much inferior to Baohan in Hezhou.

Xiangwu is located in the river valley basin on the south bank of the Wei River. It is four miles wide from east to west and nearly thirty miles long from north to south. It is the location of Longxi County in later generations.

This river valley alone is enough to cultivate 300,000 to 400,000 acres of arable land, not to mention the many river valley plains along the way from Weiyuan to Xiangwu.

Thinking of this, Liu Jilong finally relaxed his tense nerves. After a quick night's rest, he left a thousand new soldiers to garrison Xiangwu, and took six hundred elite cavalry, eight hundred armored soldiers, and two thousand civilians to continue chasing towards Longxi County in the south.

Heading from Xiangwu to Longxi, we passed through various terrains, first wide, then narrow, then wide again, and then narrow again.

When reaching the first narrow passage, Liu Jilong learned from the Tangqi that the ferry bridge ahead was damaged.

The Wei River flows southward within Xiangwu, and Xiangwu is in the west of the river, while Longxi is in the east of the river. If you want to go to Longxi, you can only cross this ferry.

Now it is damaged, and what is worse is that the north and south sides of the bridge are damaged at the same time, which means that the Longxi army needs to build a new bridge by themselves.

There was no other choice but to patiently wait for people to build a new bridge.

While he was building the ferry bridge, in Longxi County, less than fifteen miles away from him, Shang Yanxin, Lu Ruyue and Zhe Buhui had already gathered all their troops and sent several light cavalry to Qinzhou.

Longxi County, Weizhou, was originally the Shiyuan Road in the Han Dynasty. It was abolished as a town many times, which shows that the terrain is not suitable for setting up a county.

Even if a county is established, the county seat alone occupies most of the river valley plain.

Because of this, when Lu Ruyue and his men brought the people of Xiangwu to Longxi, the entire area south of Longxi County was filled with tents.

Women and children stayed in the tents, while more than 4,000 foreign soldiers and 3,000 strong slaves were conscripted to the northwest of Longxi City.

That is the official road from Xiangwu to Longxi. Walking one mile north from the north gate of Longxi, there is a narrow place less than 200 steps wide.

However, after passing this narrow area, there is farmland to the north that is five miles long from north to south and two miles wide from east to west.

It’s a pity that this piece of arable land was abandoned because of the escape of people from Longxi. Now, Longxi has finally attracted nearly 20,000 people, but all of them are fleeing.

"The trench must be dug deep enough, and all the stones must be piled up to form the foundation of the city wall!"

"Don't be lazy!"

"If you want to live, work faster!!"

Outside the north gate of Longxi County, nearly seven thousand men work here.

They transported the river rocks away from the river and dug countless trenches on the not-so-wide flat land outside the north gate.

After the battle with Daxia, Lu Ruyue and his men realized the power of the Longxi army's catapults, so they ordered their people to collect all the materials that could be used for slingshot and transport them to the foot of the city wall and tamp them into the wall foundation.

“Gee…Gee…”

To the north, a scout team galloped from north to south. They rushed into Longxi City and soon dismounted in front of the government office.

The leading centurion hurried into the yamen, came to the main hall and bowed to Lu Ruyue, who was sitting in the main seat, and said:

"Qiliben, Liu Jilong and his men have arrived at the west bank of Longxi Ferry. They are now building a floating bridge. It will be completed in two or three days at most."

"What a dog-like fellow! He came so quickly!" Lu Ruyue cursed:

"Two or three days is not enough for us to build a stone wall for the north of the city."

After that, he said to General Lin Ruzhen: "Have the men outside the city work day and night to build the stone wall high enough!"

"Without the stone wall, this place will be like Daxia City, and will be breached by that pig-dog guy Liu Jilong with a catapult!"

General Lin Ruzhen did not agree to Lu Ruyue's military order, but looked at Shang Yanxin.

Shang Yanxin's face looked unhappy, but facing General Lin Ruzhen's gaze, he nodded and said, "You have experience, go and build more city walls!"

"I obey your command!" General Lin Ruzhen bowed and turned to walk out.

As he left, Zhe Buhui asked anxiously, "What happened to Xue Kui?"

"It's been so many days, why is there no sign of mobilization?"

Shang Yanxin also agreed: "No matter what, we should give you a definite answer."

"If there is no news from the cavalry we sent out this time, then we can only go south to Minzhou!"

The two were anxious, and Lu Ruyue was also anxious.

He didn't expect that at the critical moment, Xue Kui of Qinzhou had done nothing for most of half a month.

You have to know that he sent someone to deliver the message very early. If it were someone else, he would have sent troops to Longxi long ago.

"Pig-dog guy, what the hell is he doing?!"

Lu Ruyue cursed in her heart, but on the surface she could only appease Shang Yanxin and Zhe Buhui.

"Don't worry, the Tang Dynasty will not allow Liu Jilong to annex us."

"If we are annexed, Liu Jilong can then invade Longnan to the south, threaten the interior of the country to the north, and advance into Guanzhong to the east."

"Now let's defend the city well. As long as we hold out for half a month, I don't believe Xue Kui won't come!"

In the face of his comfort, Shang Yanxin and Zhe Buhui did not appreciate it.

"Half a month... that sounds nice!" Shang Yanxin said coldly:
"Longxi City is small. Even if it has stone walls, it is not as solid as Daxia."

"We hold on here for half a month. Let alone what will happen if Liu Jilong attacks us, Xue Kui will definitely come after half a month."

"That's right!" Zhe Buhui also echoed.

It’s not that they don’t believe Lu Ruyue, but that they don’t believe Xue Kui.

They had given Xue Kui enough time, but Xue Kui had not shown up yet, and just let them wait.

What if Xue Kui and Liu Jilian are in the same group? Wouldn't they just sit there and wait for death in Longxi?

Seeing this, Lu Ruyue could only grit his teeth and say:
"How about this, I'll send a general to deliver the letter. If even he can't bring back the news, then we'll make full preparations to go south to Minzhou!"

"Okay!" Shang Yanxin and Zhe Buhui stood up one after another and turned to walk out.

"Then we will wait for your good news. I hope you won't let us down..."

Watching them leave, Lu Ruyue hurriedly called his general and ordered him to rush to Qinzhou without stopping.

At the same time as he was making arrangements, a large number of troops also poured into Fuqiang County, Qinzhou, a hundred miles away from Longxi.

As the western gateway of Qinzhou, Fuqiang County has always been an important place for defending against Tubo.

Even so, there were only 1,500 Tianxiong troops stationed here. However, as Lu Ruyue sent people to express his intention to surrender, Xue Kui sent news to Chang'an while mobilizing troops from all counties in Qinzhou to gather in Fuqiang.

The Tang Dynasty stationed a Tianxiong Army of more than 5,000 troops in Qinzhou, and now there are nearly 4,000 soldiers and horses gathered in Fuqiang.

Xue Kui had been waiting in Fuqiang for three days, but the military supervisor Wang Zhonghui would not allow him to break camp, insisting on waiting for Gao Pian's 3,000 Shen Ce troops to arrive before he could set out.

"Three days! I have been waiting for three days!"

"Where is Gao Qianli?!"

Inside the government hall, Xue Kui questioned the military supervisor Wang Zhonghui who was sitting in the hall, but Wang Zhonghui looked calm.

"According to the time, we will almost reach Fengxiang."

As he spoke, he lowered his head, picked up the teacup and took a sip of tea, admiring it in his heart.

The tea in his hand was a gift from Suo Xun, the governor of Huining Army in Huizhou. It tasted great, but unfortunately the yield was not high.

If his cousin wasn't Wang Zongshi, he probably wouldn't be able to drink something this refreshing and sweet.

It was precisely because his cousin was Wang Zongshi that even though Xue Kui was angry, he did not dare to turn against him in public.

"Feng Xiang?"

Xue Kui's face looked grim. It was still more than 400 miles from Fengxiang to here.

According to the marching speed of the Shen Ce Army, it will probably take eight days to reach Fuqiang.

If I lead my troops from Fuqiang to Weizhou, it will take at least two days to reach Longxi, which is ten days...

Thinking of this, Xue Kui clenched his fists in his sleeves and tried his best to suppress his temper and said:
"Lu Ruyue has sent light cavalry one after another. I think he can't hold on any longer."

"Speed is of the essence in war... If we don't send troops soon, I'm afraid Liu Jilong will capture Weizhou!"

"Haha..." Wang Zonghui chuckled:
"Xue Zhuguo's words are too harsh. Shang Yanxin and Lu Ruyue are both good generals who have been in Longxi for more than ten years. Even if they were no match for Liu Jilong, they would not have lost Weizhou so quickly."

"In just ten days, I'm afraid we can't even take Weiyuan, let alone Xiangwu and Longxi."

"Don't worry, Mr. Xue. I have sent someone to urge Gao Pian. He will arrive in Fuqiang in seven days at most."

Wang Zonghui's words almost made Xue Kui lose his temper, but fortunately he was good at cultivating his energy, and he managed to suppress his temper.

"Please hurry up..."

After Xue Kui urged him, he stood up and walked out, but Wang Zonghui ignored him.

An eunuch standing behind him bowed and said softly: "Father, if you lose Lin Wei, I'm afraid the Supreme will blame you..."

"Blame?" Wang Zonghui snorted, "If you want to blame someone, blame Xue Kui. What does it have to do with me?"

Wang Zong had the confidence to say this. After all, Wang Zong held great power in the Northern Division, second only to Ma Yuanzhi and others.

Moreover, the Supreme Lord gradually became impatient with those people, and Wang Zongshi gained his deep trust instead.

Under such circumstances, the Supreme would not blame himself for the two states of Lin and Wei. If anyone had to blame someone, it would be Xue Kui.

Thinking of this, Wang Zonghui looked at the teacup beside him and said, "By the way, how is Huizhou doing?"

"Replying to Father Ye, Suo Xun of Huizhou is quite sensible. He immediately took action after the court ordered him to cut off ties with Liangzhou."

"The palace saw that he was sensible, so they opened several official roads. Except for ironware, all other grain and commercial goods were traded with Huizhou."

"Oh?" Hearing the young eunuch say this, Wang Zonghui also had some meaning:
"So, he made a lot of money..."

"That's true, but he also sent people to deliver a lot of new things to your mansion." The eunuch continued to answer.

Hearing this, Wang Zonghui nodded with satisfaction: "This Suo Xun is a sensible guy, unlike the Zhang uncle and nephew..."

When mentioning Zhang Yichao and Zhang Huaishen, Wang Zonghui showed a little annoyance on his face.

Zhang Yichao and Zhang Huaishen were appointed as the Jiedushi and Defense Commissioner of Hexi, but they were reluctant to express their opinions.

You know, in the area west of Longshan Mountain, every matter has to be reported to the emperor through Wang Zonghui.
The uncle and nephew Zhang Yichao relied on the fact that someone was an official in the court and relied on that person to submit a petition to the emperor, completely ignoring themselves.

Thinking of this, Wang Zonghui felt very uncomfortable.

If Wang Zong had not been afraid of the troops in the hands of the uncle and nephew and worried about the trouble they might cause, he would have dealt with them long ago.

"This Liu Jilong seems to be a general under Zhang Yichao, right?"

Wang Zonghui thought of Liu Jilong who was currently in the limelight. The young eunuch beside him nodded and said, "He was a general under his command. But I heard that he drove Liu Jilong to Lanzhou in order to ensure that his nephew could secure the position of defense envoy."

"Plus, the imperial court did not give him the position of Lanzhou Surveillance Commissioner, so he is not in a legitimate position in Lanzhou at the moment."

"Oh?" Wang Zonghui became interested: "So, he should be very dissatisfied with Zhang Yichao and his nephew."

"This... I'm not quite sure." The young eunuch shook his head.

Seeing this, Wang Zonghui nodded and said, "Send someone to Huizhou to ask Suo Xun about the current relationship between Liu Jilong and Zhang Yichao, the uncle and nephew."

"Yes……"

The young eunuch walked out after hearing this, but when he walked out of the inner hall, he heard a roar coming from the garden, obviously from Xue Kui.

He sneered and then walked out.

At the same time, Xue Kui was standing in the garden with veins bulging on his forehead.

"Speed is of the essence in war. They must know this. If we continue to delay like this, Linwei will be in danger!"

Longxi is of important location and is the only official road from Longxi to Qinzhou.

There are narrow passes in the north and south of this place. It is sandwiched between two mountains in the east and west, and has the Wei River as its water source. It is a dangerous place where one man can guard the pass against ten thousand men.

If Longxi can take this place, it can also use it as a fulcrum to attack Qinzhou, and then take over Longdao and threaten Guanzhong.

Because of this, Xue Kui did not want Liu Jilian to recapture Linwei and Wei states.

But they have dragged on for so long that the loss of Linzhou has become a foregone conclusion.

The loss of Linzhou is irreversible, so we must at least take Weizhou.

But now Wang Zong would keep obstructing him, requiring him to wait for the arrival of the Shen Ce Army before setting out.

By the time the Shen Ce Army arrives, it’s too late to make a profit!
"I want to submit a memorial to the emperor. Please send someone to deliver it to Chang'an as soon as possible!"

Xue Kui took out a memorial from his arms, and the official took it and hurried out.

Soon, a light cavalry rode along the official road towards Chang'an.

Shortly after he left, another group of elite cavalry escorted the foreign cavalry to the Fuqiang Yamen.

Xue Kui, who was angry, had to suppress his temper and met the foreign cavalry who came from Weizhou in the main hall.

"Governor Xue, my family Qi Liben urged you to come to Weizhou. If you don't come to Weizhou, we can only go south to Minzhou!"

The foreign rider who delivered the message this time was a small officer, which shows how anxious Lu Ruyue was.

Xiaojie didn't dare to say that Liu Jilian had already reached Longxi, but just said vaguely that they were going to Minzhou.

Although he kept trying to cover it up, Xue Kui still understood the meaning of his words.

"How many cities are left in Weizhou?"

Xue Kui asked in a deep voice, but his eyes were cold as he looked at Wang Zonghui.

Wang Zonghui didn't care. He just picked up the teacup and sipped the tea, showing an expression of enjoyment.

“Nature is in our hands!”

Xiaojie was worried that Xue Kui would not go to rescue after knowing the truth, so he insisted that Weizhou was still in their hands.

Upon hearing this, Wang Zonghui interrupted and said, "Don't worry, the Heavenly Army is already on the way and will gather in Fuqiang soon and march westward to accept the surrender."

"Go back and tell your governor to wait another ten days. After ten days, I will commend him for his merits and ensure that he becomes rich and powerful."

“Ten days…” Xiaojie’er’s face looked grim, but after thinking about it, he still agreed.

"In that case, I will rush back to Weizhou overnight and tell my family Qi Liben about this."

"Go..." Wang Zonghui signaled him to step down, and after he stepped down, he looked at Xue Kui provocatively.

"Xue Zhuguo, this governor has long said that Lu Ruyue and Shang Yanxin are both good Tibetan generals. They would not be defeated by a young general who has just come of age."

"The commander of this group of people has promised to hold out for ten days. I wonder what else you are worried about..."

Wang Zonghui's remarks were somewhat sarcastic, how could Xue Kui not hear it?

But now he had no evidence to prove that Lu Ruyue and his men had retreated, so he could only allow Wang Zonghui to mock them.

"Wang Dujian, I hope you can urge Gao Yuhou as soon as possible, and don't miss the important matter..."

Xue Kui stood up and reminded him coldly, but Wang Zonghui snorted: "Seven days means seven days, Xue Zhuguo just needs to wait."

Upon hearing this, Xue Kui walked away with a cold face, but Wang Zonghui also snorted coldly and stood up.

But after he had only taken a few steps, he stopped and instructed the young eunuch behind him:
"Send a message and ask Gao Qianli to go faster. If there are not enough carriages, he can be requisitioned to use oxen and horses from all the counties in Fengxiang to make carriages. The faster, the better."

"I obey your command." The young eunuch responded, then turned around and went to give orders.

(End of this chapter)