Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 333 Xu Su's End of Chaos
"The flames of war illuminate the nine provinces, and the cold armor reflects the Wu hook."

"Don't say there are no heroes in the wild, heroes emerge in troubled times."

On the tenth day of the first lunar month in the fifth year of Xiantong, when troops were frequently mobilized in the Hehuai area, Huang Chao in Yuanju County, Caozhou, also wrote a poem.

"Uncle, Wang Xianzhi was just a salt smuggler back then, but now he has a hundred thousand followers. This world is really wrong!"

Huang Cun sat on a chair in the study with an indignant look on his face.

A few days ago, the news that Wang Xianzhi led his troops northward and recruited bandits in Suzhou with a force of 100,000 spread throughout the He and Huai regions.

At the same time, the troops of the Zhongwu Army, Xuanwu Army, Yicheng Army, Huainan Army and other armies began to mobilize.

Huang Cun looked down on Wang Xianzhi, but he was still worried and asked, "Uncle, will the war reach Yuanju?"

Yuanju County is only three hundred miles away from Suzhou. If the war really breaks out, the Huang family will probably be in a worse situation.

"It's hard to say..."

Huang Chao blew the ink dry, then walked to the window sill with his hands behind his back.

It was not long after the New Year, and the snow was still piled up in the corners of the yard.

In such cold weather, if a war broke out and the whole family had to migrate, this was definitely not what Huang Chao wanted to see.

"Uncle, Wang Xianzhi can command a hundred thousand followers. If you had your good reputation, I'm afraid you would have hundreds of thousands of followers if you just raised your arms!"

I don’t know what Huang Cun was thinking, he actually used this kind of thing as a metaphor.

Huang Chao frowned slightly at his words, but did not interrupt him. Instead, he said slowly, "Aye is old, do you want him to hide from us?"

"Why are you hiding here and there?" Huang Cun said indignantly:

"The Central Plains is in such a mess right now. If someone were to start a rebellion in the north and join forces with Wang Xianzhi in the south, they might be able to sweep through all the towns and let..."

"You are just daydreaming!" Huang Chao interrupted Huang Cun's remarks and then explained to him:
"When I was taking the imperial examination in Chang'an, I saw many soldiers from the vassal states who stayed in the Chang'an Jinzouyuan."

"Let alone the powerful armies of Longyou, Hexi, Youzhou and Lulong, the Xuanwu and Zhongwu armies alone are not easy to deal with."

"The eight garrisons in the He and Huai regions have a total of nearly 150,000 soldiers. Even if only 60% of them are in armor, there are still 90,000 armored soldiers."

“Even if we can mobilize hundreds of thousands of people with a single wave of our arms, they are still just hundreds of thousands of flesh and blood.”

"Can your fists and farm tools penetrate the armor?"

When Huang Chao was in Chang'an, he talked a lot with Chen Ying and Yang Xin.

Among them, they not only knew the sharpness of armor and battle formations, but also knew the general situation of the government troops.

"Uncle, you also had a relationship with the Longyou Army? Why haven't I heard you mention it?"

Huang Cun was interested, and Huang Chao saw that he was interested, so he said:

"It was by chance that we got in touch. They invited me to Longyou in the past, but I was too proud to go."

"Later, Liu Jieshuai of the Longyou Army gradually became more powerful, and many young men from various states also went to join him. I was not outstanding at all, so I was not brave enough to go with him."

Huang Chao sighed in his heart, thinking that he was too concerned about his reputation in the past.

If I had gone to Longyou at the beginning, I would not be threatened and scolded by the small county magistrate of Yuanju County and would not dare to get angry.

"It would be nice if you went..."

Huang Cun couldn't help but sigh after hearing this, thinking that since he had an uncle who held an official position in the Longyou Army, even the county magistrate of Yuanju County would have to speak nicely to his Huang family.

Huang Chao didn't say anything, just nodded slightly.

"My dear! My dear!"

Suddenly, hurried footsteps and calls were heard outside the study.

Huang Chao and Huang Cun looked at each other. Before they could react, they saw the servant rush into the study and bowed hurriedly, saying:
"My dear, the master of the family was so angry that he fainted in the government office and was sent back. He is now in the main hall!"

"What do you mean?!"

The two men's eyes were wide open and they ran to the main hall in panic.

After a dozen breaths, the two of them hurriedly ran into the main hall. Sitting in the main seat was Huang's father, his face was pale, and his heavy breathing like a bellows could be heard as his chest rose and fell.

Huang's father was surrounded by servants, and there was also a doctor treating him.

The people from the government office had disappeared. Huang Chao didn't bother to ask and hurried forward: "How is my father?!"

The doctor did not reply in a hurry, while Huang's father closed his eyes and breathed heavily.

Although he was awake, he didn't dare to speak, as if he was worried that he would not be able to breathe.

After a long time, the doctor withdrew his hand from taking the patient's pulse and began to tinker in the medicine box.

"Go get some tranquilizers according to this prescription. Mr. Huang is really angry and needs to take some tranquilizers right now."

The doctor finished speaking and then looked at Huang Chao: "Mr. Huang, please follow me out."

Huang Chao said nothing, but followed him out of the main hall.

Although he did not know medicine, he knew that taking tranquilizers to treat anger attacks was only a temporary solution and not a cure for the disease.

The two walked to the side room outside the main hall, and then the doctor bowed to Huang Chao and said:

"Forgive me for being blunt, but Mr. Huang is old and has gone through this, so I'm afraid it will be difficult for him to recover..."

Upon hearing this, although Huang Chao was prepared, his heart still twitched a few times.

"If you can take good care of yourself, maybe you can get through this safely, but I just heard a few people from the government complaining, I'm afraid..."

The doctor didn't know whether to say it or not, but Huang Chao bowed hurriedly and said, "Please teach me, sir!"

"Mr. Huang is a good man. This cannot be done." The doctor hurriedly helped Huang Chao up, and then told Huang Chao what happened in the yamen.

The cause of the incident was that the various towns had increased taxes due to Wang Xianzhi's rebellion, and the Huang family was charged 3,000 dou of official salt.

In addition, the price of official salt that had been agreed upon previously also changed, from 500 coins per dou to 600 coins.

It was just a matter of two sentences, but the amount of money the Huang family had to pay increased from 3,500 strings of cash to 6,000 strings of cash.

It is true that the Huang family has been trading salt for generations, but the expenses of dealing with officials and paying salt households are also high.

The Huang family had to pay 6,000 strings of cash in one go, and the only option was to sell the land.

Huang's father argued with Magistrate Wang, but Magistrate Wang asked the Huang family to borrow money from the government.

"My dear, you also know that it is not easy to borrow money from the government office."

"Mr. Huang was unwilling, so Magistrate Wang threw the case and swore a few words, which made Mr. Huang furious..."

The doctor sighed and said this, Huang Chao felt cold all over when he heard it, and it was not until a moment later that anger began to burn in his chest.

He could accept Magistrate Wang's humiliation because he had indeed spent a lot of his family's money on the imperial examinations over the years and had not achieved any good results.

But he couldn't swallow the insult from County Magistrate Wang...

"Thank you for your advice, sir. I already know about this matter. Mr. Lao will run a trip for my father."

Huang Chao bowed and saluted, and the doctor left the room after hearing what he said.

He was well-known as a doctor, and several major commoner families in Yuanju County paid him money and grain every month, so naturally he did not need any medical fees.

"uncle!"

Not long after the doctor left, Huang Cun rushed into the ear room angrily, his face flushed with anxiety.

"That old dog Wang Huaide! How dare he insult Yeye like that!"

"What's wrong?" Huang Chao frowned, and Huang Cun said:

"When he sent someone to send Yeye back just now, he told Huang Zhangshi to let Yeye raise enough money and food for the official salt before the autumn harvest. Otherwise, he would charge my entire Huang family with the crime of selling private salt!"

"Autumn harvest..." Huang Chao murmured, his face gloomy: "There are still three and a half months, there is still time..."

"Uncle, you won't give me money and food, will you?" Huang Cun was a little flustered and continued:

"There are only 4,000 guan of wealth left in the family. If we want to collect this amount of money and food, we must sell the land."

"us……"

Huang Cun wanted to say more, but Huang Chao raised his hand to interrupt him: "He wants money and food, I will give it to him, and see if he can take it!"

Without waiting for Huang Cun to ask, Huang Chao continued to look at him and said, "Send someone to withdraw 500 strings of cash, send someone to buy private iron outside the city, and recruit craftsmen to go to the farm west of the city."

"Ship the private iron to Zhuangzi. I have my own use for it..."

Huang Chao didn't say it clearly, but Huang Cun was no fool. Being young and energetic, he was a little excited: "Uncle, are you going to..." "Just go and do your work, don't ask me any questions!"

Huang Chao looked at Huang Cun coldly. Huang Cun swallowed his words and said, "But yeah, they..."

"I know." Huang Chao's eyebrows showed sadness, and then he said:

"I won't tell Ye Ye about this for now. Let's wait until the autumn harvest to see what Wang Huaide's attitude is."

"Okay!" Huang Cun agreed, and then according to Huang Chao's instructions, he sent people to purchase private iron in batches and recruited more than 30 craftsmen to go to the village outside the city.

In the following days, Huang Chao behaved himself and only sent people to inquire about the news from the south from time to time.

At the same time, as the troops from various towns were mobilized, the imperial edict sent from Chang'an was also delivered to Linghu Tao.

"Among the disciples, the Huainan Jiedushi and the Minister of Rites Linghu Tao..."

"The decree is as on the right. Please obey it and implement it. Be careful!"

"The minister accepts the order!"

Yang Fugong handed the imperial edict to Linghu Tao, who stood up and bowed to Yang Fugong, saying:
"Military Supervisor Yang has arrived. I am a little bit neglectful. Please don't be offended, Military Supervisor Yang."

"Of course I won't be surprised, but I just want to know why the troops from all the towns have already arrived at the border of Suzhou, but why did the envoy stop at Linhuai?"

Yang Fugong looked calm, but his voice was full of gunpowder.

Linhuai County is the seat of Sizhou, backed by Baishuitang (Hongze Lake).

If an enemy army came to attack, Linghu Tao could escape calmly by boat.

Of course, he couldn't tell Yang Fugong about this, so he could only say:
"I was worried that the supervisors would run away, so I stayed here."

"Now that the military supervisor has arrived, it's time for me to set off north."

During the conversation, Linghu Tao turned sideways and motioned Yang Fugong to check the main hall of the yamen.

Yang Fugong looked and saw a huge sand table placed in the hall.

He walked into the hall and immediately observed the contents of the sand table.

The sand table covers the Hehuai area, with hundreds of yellow flags planted, and dozens of black and red flags planted in Suzhou.

"The yellow flags represent our official army, and the black and red flags represent the rebel army."

Linghu Tao's followers walked into the hall and started talking with Yang Fugong:

"At present, the troops of various towns have gathered outside Suzhou. Yicheng, Zhongwu, and Xuanwu armies have 20,000 soldiers stationed on the front lines of Song and Bo, and Tianping and Pinglu have 6,000 soldiers stationed in Yizhou."

"Huainan divided its troops into three groups, stationed in Haozhou, Sizhou, and Chuzhou respectively. The number of soldiers stationed in the three states is nearly 15,000."

"The troops of these six towns are surrounding us from all sides. It can be said that they are setting up an ambush from all sides."

"Now we just need to wait for a certain military disc to arrive, and the troops from all the towns will move forward together to encircle and suppress the rebel army in Suzhou!"

Linghu Tao spoke eloquently, and Yang Fugong frowned slightly when he heard what he said, but he couldn't see any problem.

He calculated that there were nearly 150,000 registered officers and soldiers in the Hehuai area, but the six garrisons had only sent 40,000 officers and soldiers.

From this perspective, there are probably quite a few unfilled vacancies in the registered officers and soldiers in each town.

However, he was not in the mood to discuss this issue. After all, each town had vacancies and he could not control it even if he wanted to.

With this in mind, he continued his discussion with Linghu Tao:

"Forty thousand soldiers are still too few. We should ask the various garrisons to continue to increase their troops, especially the Xuanwu, Zhongwu, Yicheng and Tianping armies. At least another nine thousand soldiers should be added to make up the total of fifty thousand."

"Okay!" Linghu Tao agreed without hesitation. After all, this was not a call for soldiers from Huainan, and it had nothing to do with his interests.

After agreeing, he discussed other details with Yang Fugong, and they did not leave until midnight.

Within a few days, all the towns received military orders from Linghu Tao requesting additional soldiers.

For a time, various towns continuously dispatched soldiers to the front line, and Wang Xianzhi and Pang Xun in Suzhou naturally got the news.

At this time, Wang Xianzhi dispersed his troops to various counties in Suzhou, some to forge armor, some to plunder villages and take the people hostage. Although the number of troops under his command was not as many as 100,000 as he claimed, there were at least 60,000.

With the help of Xu Ji, Zhao Keli, Yao Zhou, Zhang Xingshi and other four people, Pang Xun of Longji Mountain gathered the deserters of the Silver Knife Army and some bandits around Longji Mountain.

Now he was camping openly at the foot of Dragon Ridge Mountain, with nearly three thousand soldiers with silver swords, door carvings, and horses inside and outside, as well as more than five thousand bandits who lacked weapons and armor.

After the troops from various towns surrounded Suzhou, Wang Xianzhi sent someone to invite Pang Xun.

On the 14th day of the first lunar month, Pang Xun led 8,000 troops south, while Wang Xianzhi led his troops north. The main forces of the two armies met outside Fuli County, the seat of Suzhou.

Looking down from the sky, Fuli County was surrounded by tens of thousands of troops, and the most eye-catching thing was the "silver light" of the camp outside the city.

The three thousand Silver Sword Army and the more than a thousand Tianping Army that had been reinforced were confronting each other in the camp. Each of them was wearing armor and equipped with a dagger, a spear, and a crossbow.

The Silver Sword Army has more numbers and stronger momentum, but the Libra Army is not bad either.

"Susu..."

The spring breeze blew, and the flags of the Tianping Army and the Wuning Army fluttered in the camp. The soldiers of the two armies stood on both sides. Although the atmosphere was not tense, there was a subtle sense of contest.

Outside the tent, Wang Xianzhi and Pang Xun led their troops to meet each other. At the same time, they looked at each other, with scrutiny and temptation in their eyes.

Standing behind Wang Xianzhi were generals such as Shang Junchang, Shang Rang, Liu Yanzhang, Cao Shixiong, and Bi Shiduo, all of whom were tall and strong and had an imposing manner.

Behind Pang Xun were Xu Ji, Zhao Keli, Yao Zhou, Zhang Xingshi, Zhang Guan and other generals of the Silver Knife Army. Although they were notorious, they had been hiding in Longji Mountain for a long time, so they were inevitably thinner and less imposing.

Wang Xianzhi glanced at Pang Xun and saw that he looked ordinary but had a sharp gaze, which showed that he was obviously a man of great potential.

Pang Xun was also looking at Wang Xianzhi. He saw that although Wang Xianzhi looked like an ordinary man, he had a sense of majesty in his every move. He couldn't help but nod secretly in his heart.

After a while, Wang Xianzhi was the first to break the silence, bowing and saying, "General Pang Jie, please come into the tent and have a chat."

Pang Xun bowed in return, saying in a calm tone, "You are too polite, Marshal Wang Jie."

The two men walked into the tent side by side, and the generals followed closely behind them. No conflict occurred.

The seats had already been arranged in the tent, and everyone sat down as host and guest. Although Wang Xianzhi had few elite soldiers under his command, he had many followers, so he naturally sat in the main seat.

Pang Xun was quite tactful and did not fight for the host position, but was content to sit in the guest seat.

Seeing this, the other generals of the Silver Knife Army followed Pang Xun and sat on the left, while Shang Junchang and others of the Tianping Army sat on the right.

After everyone was seated, Wang Xianzhi spoke first, his tone slightly solemn:

"General Pang Jie, although we have many men and generals, we are short of armor, weapons, and food. The only good fighters in the army are the more than 4,000 armored soldiers in your hands and mine."

"Now, the Yicheng, Zhongwu, and Xuanwu armies have tens of thousands of troops stationed on the front lines of Song and Bozhou, and the Tianping and Pinglu armies are also stationed in Yizhou."

"If we add the Huainan troops stationed in Hao, Si, and Chu in the south, we are completely surrounded. The number of government troops is no less than 60,000 or 70,000."

After he finished speaking, Wang Xianzhi observed the attitudes of Pang Xun and the others, and seeing that they were not stage frightened, he continued:
"The only thing we can still use now is the Tongji Canal in Suzhou."

"Millions of soldiers and civilians in the two capitals rely on the grain transport. If the government troops dare to attack, we can capture Fuli County, cut off the grain transport, and force the court to recruit us."

After Wang Xianzhi finished speaking, there was silence in the tent, and everyone was waiting for Pang Xun's response.

But before Pang Xun could speak, Xu Ji behind him stood up with a displeased look on his face: "General Wang Jie, I'm afraid this plan is not appropriate!"

Wang Xianzhi frowned slightly. He didn't know Xu Ji, but he knew that the person who could speak over Pang Xun must be an important figure in the Silver Knife Army.

Therefore, facing Xu Ji's rebuttal, he did not get angry easily, but asked: "What do you think?"

Wang Xianzhi's question made everyone look at Xu Ji, and Xu Ji was not afraid of the stage and said bluntly:
"If we wait until the government troops attack before we take over the counties of Suzhou, we will have no defenses on the plains. The government troops will continue to harass us with their elite cavalry and horsemen, and we will only be defeated miserably!"

"Then everyone will think, how should our two armies deal with the government troops?"

Wang Xianzhi did not refute Xu Ji, because Xu Ji's words did make sense, and Xu Ji also took the opportunity to say:
"If you ask me, the imperial court has already labeled you and me as rebels, and now they are sending troops to encircle and suppress us. This situation is not a recruitment, but a siege!"

"In that case, then what are we discussing here? What are we being careful about?"

"Since you are a rebel, then do what a rebel should do!"

Xu Ji glanced at everyone and finally set his eyes on Pang Xun.

He had a plan, but he couldn't bring himself to express it.

Otherwise, when the imperial court seeks amnesty in the future, they will certainly regard him as a thorn in their side because of his proposal.

Feeling Xu Ji's gaze, Pang Xun cursed inwardly, but still had to stand up and glance at everyone:
"General Xu is right. A rebellious soldier should do what a rebellious soldier should do."

"I propose that we attack Fuli County today, use Fuli as the seat of government, and attack the counties of Xuzhou and Suzhou to cut off the grain transport!"

(End of this chapter)