Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 463 Many Surrendered Generals (A Long Chapter of 10,000 Words)
"The guilty general Lu Yanhong (Han Jian) ​​pays his respects to the Commander-in-Chief..."

On the second day of the eleventh month of the eleventh year of Xiantong, as Husi Guang led 10,000 Han troops to Biyang County, the seat of Tangzhou, Lu Yanhong and Han Jian, who were stationed there, immediately chose to open the city gates and surrender.

The two men looked respectfully at Husi Guang, who was only thirty-seven or thirty-eight years old but already commanded an army of his own. It was impossible not to feel envious.

However, they were more amazed by the discipline and formation of the Han army than by their envy.

The winter months are cold, especially in Tangzhou, where the humidity is high and the weather is damp and cold, not to mention the cold winds that constantly blow into the basin from the northeast.

Despite the freezing cold, the 10,000 Han soldiers remained perfectly still, and not a single soldier rubbed their hands or stamped their feet in the cold.

If they weren't so close that they could tell they were living people, Lu Yanhong and Han Jian would probably have suspected they were terracotta warriors in armor.

"Susu..."

"Damn it, this weather is so cold."

"Shut up, all of you..."

A cold wind blew, and a commotion arose behind Lu Yanhong, while in front of him stood Husiguang with a slightly furrowed brow.

Lu Yanhong and Han Jian didn't need to turn around to know what the Zhongwu Army behind them looked like. After all, Qin Zongquan had taken a large number of armored soldiers north, leaving Tangzhou with less than a thousand armored soldiers and two thousand newly recruited soldiers.

These new recruits had no armor, not even winter coats; they were only dressed in thin clothes and shivered in the cold wind.

"Useless as a clay chicken or a clay dog, utterly useless..."

Lu Yanhong and Han Jian were sizing up the Han army, while Husi Guang was naturally also sizing up the Zhongwu army.

Unfortunately, the elite of the Zhongwu Army had long since perished on the battlefields of Longxi and Longdong. Although Qin Zongquan's Zhongwu Army had been training for more than two years, the overall armor coverage rate was very low, and the quality of the soldiers was even more appalling.

Husi Guang already had an idea for this army, whose armor coverage was less than a quarter. He decided to distribute the land equally among the troops, pay them off, and then disband and reorganize them.

However, to disband these troops, he couldn't just say it; he also needed to demonstrate his strength.

Thinking of this, Husi Guang turned his horse around, suddenly drew his sword from his waist and raised it high: "Raise the flag!"

"Uuuuuu——"

Three horn calls pierced the clouds from the Han army's ranks, and the air currents from the fluttering of more than two hundred banners caused dust to rise outside Biyang City, startling many gray sparrows from the city walls.

Ten thousand people moved as if they were extensions of their own arms; their movements, though not perfectly synchronized, were certainly quick to react.

The Zhongwu Army, who had been laughing and joking, quickly fell silent and stared nervously at the Han army in front of them.

"Commander, what's wrong...?"

Lu Yanhong and Han Jian were startled, thinking they had fallen into a trap, but Husiguang's next words made them understand Husiguang's intentions.

"Our army has marched 120 li day and night, and our banners are inevitably dirty. We will simply roll them up as needed."

After Husiguang finished speaking calmly, Lu Yanhong and Han Jianli immediately realized that Husiguang was demonstrating his strength.

Traveling 120 li by day and night may seem like nothing, but if the two of them were leading the Zhongwu Army behind them, it would take them at least three days to complete the journey.

The difference in quality between the two sides is evident, not to mention that after a forced march of 120 li, the Han army could still maintain such a neat formation and remain as immovable as a mountain.

"His Highness has already submitted a memorial to the Emperor, and hereby appoints you two as Generals of the Fourth Rank, Lower Mingwei, pending the stabilization of Tangzhou before granting you substantive official positions."

"As for the fact that you two, both military commanders and colonels, have been granted honorary titles and given land to settle your families, do you have any questions?"

Hu Siguang spoke calmly, and Lu Yanhong and Han Jian exchanged glances, naturally not daring to disagree.

If they go back on their word, Husi Guang will probably lead his troops to annihilate them all here.

"Thank you for your great kindness, Your Highness..."

The two men saluted first, and the military academy students behind them followed suit.

"The army is entering the city!"

Upon seeing this, Husi Guang ordered his men to move into Biyang. Soon, under Husi Guang's command, the Han army began to advance and then launched attacks in different directions to accept the surrender of the remaining seven counties.

At the same time, Husi Guang also sent a fast horse back to Chang'an to report the news of the recapture of Tangzhou and to inquire about how to deal with the thousands of Zhongwu Army soldiers.

Tangzhou is strategically located, serving as the gateway to Jingxiang. Northern forces seeking to seize Jingxiang would never easily let this place slip by.

Therefore, when Tangzhou was lost, the neighboring Caizhou quickly received the news and rushed north to inform Qin Zongquan of the matter.

"Asshole!!"

Upon learning that Lu Yanhong and Han Jian had betrayed him and handed Tangzhou over to Liu Jilong, Qin Zongquan, who had just led his army to join forces with Sun Ru and successfully captured Liang County, angrily overturned his table.

The meat on the table rolled all over the floor, with pieces of raw meat of varying fat and lean meat scattered everywhere. However, their colors were not the usual red and white of raw meat; instead, they were red and yellow.

"General, is Liu Jilong perhaps planning to take this opportunity to fight us?"

Sun Ru bowed and asked, while Qin Zongquan also came to his senses upon hearing this.

Although he successively captured Xuzhou and Chenzhou, defeated the newly recruited Zhongwu Army, and even advanced into the outskirts of the capital, these were all minor skirmishes.

Liu Jilong's cavalry was no pushover. Although he claimed to have 50,000 troops, he actually only had 30,000, of which no more than 10,000 were armored soldiers.

Now that Tangzhou has been lost, his troops have dwindled to over 20,000 men, making him no match for Liu Jilong.

Thinking of this, he said with a grim face, "The most urgent task is to attack Luoyang, force the Emperor to recognize me as the Military Governor of Zhongwu Army, and order Liu Jilong not to enter Zhongwu!"

As he finished speaking, he looked at the two generals behind Sun Ru. The two were very young, the former being only in his early twenties and the latter only eighteen or nineteen.

"Liu Jianfeng and Ma Yin, you two immediately lead 5,000 troops as the vanguard of the main army and capture Linru and Yique counties!"

"Your subordinate obeys!" The two men replied without hesitation, but Sun Ru said, "Our army only has Qin Yan, Zhao Deyin, and Qin Gao in the rear. If Liu Jilong really wants to attack Zhongwu, can we hold it?"

"We have to defend it even if we can't!" Qin Zongquan said coldly without hesitation, "Let them capture wild people and bring them into the city. No matter what method they use, they must defend these three prefectures for me!"

He knew in his heart that he had to firmly hold onto the three prefectures of Zhongwu, while Ruzhou could be used as a bargaining chip to be returned to the imperial court.

However, Liu Jilong's army is powerful. If he were to recklessly attack the three prefectures, the troops he left behind would likely be unable to hold them...

"You son of a bitch! Bring me my heart and liver!!"

Qin Zongquan's outburst caused Sun Ru and the others to lower their heads knowingly.

As Liu Jianfeng and Ma Yin left the tent, they happened to run into two soldiers who had somehow brought back a naked woman who looked no more than fourteen or fifteen years old.

The woman's body was covered in scratches and beatings. Her eyes were numb as the soldiers slit her throat, cut open her stomach, and took out her hot heart and liver.

Upon seeing this, Liu Jianfeng and Ma Yin, even though they had been forced to eat human flesh by Qin Zongquan, still felt a chill.

The two quickened their pace and left, then mustered their troops and led them north.

Of the 5,000 loyal soldiers, only 2,000 were veterans, while the remaining 3,000 were new recruits.

The armor they wore was taken from the Tang army after they had just captured Liang County.

Of the five thousand infantrymen, fewer than two thousand were laborers driving their carriages. These laborers had been ruined and killed by them, yet they dared not resist.

The wagons only carried armor; the bows, arrows, and long weapons were all in the hands of the Loyal Warriors, and their food supplies were pitifully scarce.

Looking at the less than three hundred cartloads of grain, Liu Jianfeng couldn't help but say, "Damn it! It was one thing to eat meat when we didn't have grain before, but now that we have grain, why aren't they allocating more?"

"This amount of grain is at most three hundred bushels, enough to last seven days at most. This is forcing us to eat 'lucky meat'!"

After Liu Jianfeng finished his rant, several officers around him echoed, "Didn't the imperial court allocate 50,000 shi of grain?"

"And some of them conquered three states and obtained a considerable amount of grain, at least seventy or eighty thousand shi, why isn't the grain being distributed?"

"Damn it..."

Ma Yin was only nineteen years old. Seeing that everyone had started cursing, he naturally couldn't remain silent. Otherwise, if the news leaked out, they would definitely think that he had betrayed them.

Thinking of this, Ma Yin said, "After capturing Linru and Yique, we can't possibly hand over all the grain."

"At that time, we'll conscript some able-bodied men from the city and requisition some carts and horses to transport the grain. We'll take as much as we can; I certainly don't want to eat meat!"

Ma Yin's last words truly expressed the sentiments of everyone.

Although most of them had eaten braised pork, it was out of necessity when there was no other food.

It's just unknown whether Qin Zongquan, Sun Ru, and the others have gone mad from eating too much of the "lucky meat" and "lucky people." Now that they have food, they even want to capture "lucky people" and cut off their "lucky meat" to eat.

The crowd harbored resentment, and Ma Yin harbored even more resentment.

When he first joined the Zhongwu Army, he became a captain through his bravery and strength. He thought he could find a good life, but he never expected that although he got a higher rank, he was driven half crazy.

Now, whenever he sees meat, he can't help but think of the "lucky meat" he used to eat.

If he could, he would only want to be a lowly official, leading the people under his command to cultivate the land and ensure that he always had food to eat.

But with the current turbulent situation, he himself is uncertain, and he doesn't know when he might be beheaded.

Thinking this, Ma Yin looked around along the official road and saw that on both sides of the road leading to Linru, countless farmlands had been abandoned for countless years, with weeds growing up to waist height, and even some white bones could be faintly seen in the grass.

Looking at this chaotic scene, Ma Yin could only feel that human life was as worthless as grass. He then shook the reins and quickened his pace toward Linru.

As they headed to Linru, news of the fall of Liang County reached Luoyang, causing panic among the officials there.

Many pleasure boats on the Luo River were bought up, and nobles transported their wealth onto the boats, sending servants to guard them day and night so that they could escape at any time and avoid the disarray that occurred when Luoyang fell.

Not only princes and nobles, but even Li Yi, the Crown Prince who was in charge of the country, sent the Shenwu Army to control the two shipyards in Luoyang, forcibly requisitioned all the ships that had not yet been launched, and ordered the craftsmen to speed up the construction.

Some timid officials, on the other hand, went through connections to be assigned to local prefectures and counties.

Their first choice was Jiangnan, followed by Qilu, and then Hedong.

Wei Zhuang, Pi Rixiu, and others wrote poems about these scenes to satirize these corrupt and cowardly officials.

Faced with Qin Zongquan's continued northward advance, the imperial court had no choice but to hold the Luoyang pass and wait for Gao Pian and Kang Chengxun to attack Qin Zongquan.

However, Kang Chengxun, who was highly regarded by the court, learned that Gao Pian had sent troops north, so he immediately dispatched only 5,000 Yiwu and Heyang troops to the north to provide reinforcements, while he continued to lead the main army to besiege Huang Chao.

On the fifth day of the tenth month, Kang Chengxun recovered the entire territory of Hezhou, and his army began to march north to launch an attack on Chuzhou.

Huang Chao ignored this and simply ordered the withdrawal of troops from Chuzhou and Yangzhou, seemingly preparing for a decisive battle with Kang Chengxun in Zhaoyi County.

After Huang Ye and others withdrew from Yangzhou, Zhu Wen immediately sent troops to occupy Yangzhou and dispatched a fast horse to Luoyang to report the victory, claiming that he had beheaded 50,000 rebel soldiers, recovered Yangzhou, and reopened the Grand Canal.

As Zhu Wen captured Yangzhou, Li Hanzhi, who was in Chuzhou, seemed to realize that Huang Chao was declining, so he took the initiative to surrender to Kang Chengxun and offered up Chuzhou.

"Li Hanzhi, a criminal general, pays his respects to the magistrate!"

Outside Dingyuan City, Li Hanzhi led his 6,000 troops out of the city to surrender and handed over the seal of Chuzhou to Kang Chengxun.

Seeing that he was not carrying any weapons, Kang Chengxun immediately stepped forward under the protection of Li Keyong and others and took the seal from his hands.

"Good, good, good. To realize one's mistakes and return to the right path is a great virtue."

Seeing that Li Hanzhi was sincerely surrendering, Kang Chengxun was finally relieved. He took the seal and handed it to Li Keyong, then reassured Li Hanzhi:
"The Yellow thief is good at bewitching people. You are all common people, and you have only committed such a wrong thing because you have been bewitched."

"Now that you have realized your mistake and returned to the right path, I am willing to lend you a helping hand."

"Once the Yellow bandits are quelled, I will petition His Majesty to grant you the position of governor of a prefecture."

Kang Chengxun's offer of the title of Prefect of a province filled Li Hanzhi with ecstatic joy.

Although he possessed Chuzhou, given his status, it was impossible for him to truly own it.

If he gained the approval of the imperial court and was appointed as the governor of a prefecture, he would have an official position and would no longer have to live in fear.

"Thank you for your kind promotion, Your Excellency. I am willing to serve as your vanguard and fight against the Yellow bandits!"

Li Hanzhi made a swift move, and Kang Chengxun, upon hearing this, stroked his beard and laughed, "No need, no need."

After responding, he immediately gestured for Li Hanzhi to look at Li Keyong and introduced him, saying, "This is Li Keyong, son of Li, the Defense Commissioner of Datong. He is known in the army as Flying Tiger, and his nickname is Li Crow."

"His three thousand elite cavalrymen from Daibei were brave and skilled in battle, and their iron hooves swept across the Yellow River and Huai River regions without any rivals."

Kang Chengxun praised Li Keyong to the skies, saying he was unparalleled. Although Li Hanzhi scoffed inwardly, he had heard of the formidable strength of the Shatuo cavalry. Furthermore, having just surrendered, he wanted to cultivate good relations with everyone, so he boasted:

"I have long heard of a man in the court known as Flying Tiger. Back then, Wang Xianzhi's army of hundreds of thousands was defeated by Flying Tiger leading his elite cavalry. Today, I have finally met him, and he is indeed a young hero!"

People naturally enjoy being praised, especially when they are young and impetuous.

Li Keyong was very pleased with Li Hanzhi's flattery, but he still looked down on him for betraying his master and surrendering.

"Right now, the bandits Huang have gathered their troops at Zhaoyi. Does Governor Li know what Huang intends to do?"

Seeing that the situation was about right, Kang Chengxun immediately began to inquire about the intelligence regarding Huang Chao's gathering of troops and recruitment of righteous men.

In response, Li Hanzhi bowed and said, "The bandit Huang previously said that it would be difficult to stay in Huainan, and the only option is to break through and head north."

"This humble general suspects that the bandit Huang is probably planning to gather his troops and break out of Sizhou to head north."

"Hmm..." Kang Chengxun frowned and responded, then turned to look at the generals: "What do you all think?"

"The Yellow bandits either want to fight a decisive battle with our army or they want to gather their troops and break out of the encirclement."

"My lord, speed is of the essence in war. We should head north immediately and catch them off guard!"

"Yes!"

Everyone had a similar opinion: no matter what tricks Huang Chao used, they should just attack him directly.

After all, there were still 12,000 to 13,000 Tang troops in Zhaoyi City and along the Huai River, while they had 26,000 troops here, including Li Hanzhi.

No matter how you look at it, they are the ones with more men than women.

With that in mind, Kang Chengxun no longer hesitated and said directly, "In that case, the army shall immediately head north and we must not let the Yellow bandits escape back to Henan!"

"Your subordinate obeys!!"

The crowd bowed in agreement, and then ordered the three armies to march north. Li Hanzhi also quickly conscripted laborers and contributed several thousand shi of grain from Dingyuan City.

Having obtained these thousands of bushels of grain, Kang Chengxun became even more confident, believing that he would completely defeat Huang Chao in Sizhou.

However, when Huang Chao was leading his troops north, he waited in vain for Li Hanzhi. Even if he was slow to react, he knew that something must have happened to Li Hanzhi.

Outside Zhaoyi City, 100,000 people surrounded the city in layers, but only about 30,000 of them were soldiers; the remaining 70,000 were displaced people who had been forced into the city.

They were serving as laborers for the Qi army at this time, and the amount of food and supplies they provided for the horses each day was considerable.

Seeing that Li Hanzhi had not arrived yet, Huang Chao decided not to wait any longer and instead summoned all the generals in the army.

"Long live your Majesty..."

The generals entered the tent and shouted "Long live Huang Chao!" but Huang Chao had no time to linger there and said directly:

“Huainan cannot be left undefended. I deliberately left Luzhou and Hezhou undefended to lure Kang Chengxun away. The old traitor has indeed fallen for the trap.”

"Now that their army is in the south and our army is in the north, it is the perfect time to break out."

After Huang Chao finished speaking, the generals finally understood why he wanted to gather his troops. Huang Chao continued:
“Ge Congzhou has been holding out in Shouchun for nearly three months. If no rescue is provided, things will inevitably change.”

"I intend to lead a large army westward, seize the opportunity to attack Shouchun, severely damage the government troops, and then support Ge Congzhou's northward march towards Qi and Lu!"

Huang Chao's choice was not wrong. With the Yangtze River blocked by Song Wei, he could not advance westward or southward, and Henan had been turned into a wasteland. Only by going to the Qilu region in the east of Henan could he have a chance to recuperate.

"Issue the decree that the three armies shall break camp and head towards Shouchun tomorrow, while leaving cavalry to supervise the laborers and make flags to confuse the old traitor."

"By the time that old traitor arrives here, I have already lifted the siege of Shouchun and am now calmly heading north!"

With Huang Chao's order, the Qi army immediately began preparations for breaking camp the next day.

The next morning, the 30,000 Qi troops marched westward with only 20,000 laborers and a month's worth of food. Zhang Guiba led 500 cavalrymen to patrol outside the camp every day, supervising the laborers to prevent them from escaping while also trying to confuse Zeng Yuanyu.

However, Huang Chao underestimated Kang Chengxun's speed of advance, because before Zhang Guiba could even deceive the Tang army for a day, Kang Chengxun led his troops to appear more than ten miles south of Zhaoyi County.

Upon learning that Kang Chengxun was personally leading tens of thousands of troops, the five hundred cavalrymen in the camp were thrown into chaos. Zhang Guiba's younger brother, Zhang Guihou, couldn't help but offer some words of advice:
“Brother, the Tang army has tens of thousands of troops coming. If they find that our army is not in good shape, they will surely come out in full force, and our army will surely suffer a setback.”

Faced with Zhang Guihou's advice, Zhang Guiba frowned, glanced at the already setting sun, and then said:

"Kang Chengxun dared not send troops immediately precisely because he was unsure of our army's strength and weaknesses."

“If our army retreats now, or hides and does not come out, Kang Chengxun will definitely suspect our army and send troops to scout.”

“If we allow him to send troops to scout, our strength and weakness will be exposed. At that time, not only will your life be in danger, but His Majesty may also be caught up.” “I understand.” Zhang Guihou was not a fool; on the contrary, he was very shrewd. Otherwise, he would not have been able to help Huang Ye defeat Zhu Wen so many times.

"Since the old thief is hesitant, our army will take advantage of the situation and launch an attack, making him think that our army is preparing to fight him here."

“That’s right!” Zhang Guiba nodded.
"However, we must not go too far. Once it gets dark, we must immediately withdraw and return. I will lead a hundred cavalrymen to confuse Zeng Yuanyu outside the city, while you lead four hundred elite cavalrymen to take the initiative to attack the old thief."

“Once it gets dark, you and I, brothers, can retreat westward at our leisure. By then, His Majesty will have led his army at least a hundred miles away, and that old thief won’t be able to catch up so easily.”

"Good!" Zhang Guihou was not afraid. Instead, he walked out of the tent, mustered four hundred cavalrymen, and galloped south.

Meanwhile, Zhang Guiba divided his one hundred cavalrymen into fifty teams, each team leading dozens of laborers, and had them move around the camp to create the illusion of troop movements.

When Zeng Yuanyu learned that several hundred elite cavalrymen had marched south from the Qi army camp, he knew that reinforcements had arrived.

He originally planned to lead his troops out of the city to join forces with the reinforcements to attack the Qi army from both sides. However, he found that the Qi army's banners were fluttering inside the camp, indicating that they were deploying troops. He was immediately unsure of what to do and could only wait for the reinforcements to launch their attack before coordinating with them.

Half an hour later, the Tang army, which had just set up camp, received news that the Tang cavalry had been attacked.

Li Keyong hurriedly put on his armor, but before he could step out of the tent, he saw Gai Yu and Kang Junli enter the tent and bow to him.

"The enemy cavalry broke into our cavalry formation several miles away, and were no more than seven miles from our camp."

Upon hearing this, Li Keyong put on his helmet, gripped his sword hilt, and walked outside, not forgetting to instruct, "Tell Governor Kang that I will personally lead the Crow Army to defeat the invading enemy!"

Without giving Gai Yu and Kang Junli a chance to stop him, Li Keyong mounted his horse, gathered five hundred Crow Army soldiers, and galloped out of the camp, heading north towards Zhaoyi.

Two quarters of an hour later, the sun gradually sank below the horizon, and the sky became somewhat gray. Li Keyong led five hundred Crow Army soldiers northward with torches in hand, and sure enough, they encountered Zhang Guihou leading several hundred elite cavalry.

At this moment, more than three hundred elite Shatuo cavalrymen were entangled with him, while Shatuo cavalrymen from other directions were approaching from afar.

"kill!"

Li Keyong spurred his horse into a charge, and the five hundred Crow Army soldiers, seeing this, also raised their spears and charged forward with shouts.

"Damn it, you came really fast!"

Seeing this, Zhang Guihou, who was fighting in the midst of the battle, cursed under his breath and turned his horse around: "Retreat!!"

At Zhang Guihou's command, the Qi army sounded their wooden whistles, and after leaving behind dozens of corpses, they began to retreat, while Li Keyong led his troops in pursuit.

The two sides pursued each other for seven or eight miles, shooting as they went, until the Qi army camp gradually came into view in the distance, at which point Li Keyong had no choice but to rein in his horse and stop.

Seeing Zhang Guihou retreat in a sorry state, Li Keyong coldly turned his horse around and said, "Return to camp and cut off the heads of all the bandits along the way!"

"Yes!" The attendants responded and then followed Li Keyong back to the camp.

After the battle, the Shatuo cavalry suffered fewer than 150 casualties, while the Qi army left behind more than 120 corpses.

Despite the somewhat unfavorable losses, the Shatuo cavalry were scattered and thus easily defeated one by one.

Li Keyong was barely satisfied that he could leave behind more than 120 Qi soldiers, not to mention that he had obtained all the armor and horses, and he could then recruit the cheap Shatuo people to form a new Shatuo cavalry.

After this battle, Kang Chengxun also judged that the Qi army intended to fight them in Zhaoyi, so he did not attack rashly, but ordered the three armies to rest and prepare for the big battle the next day.

Unfortunately, before the second day had even arrived, Zhang Guiba and Zhang Guihou retreated under cover of night and, upon discovering that there were no Qi soldiers or laborers in the camp, began to flee.

Many fleeing laborers were captured by the Tang army's cavalry on the outskirts. Kang Chengxun, who was awakened in the middle of the night, learned that the main force of the Qi army had already broken camp and left in the morning, and that the only ones he had fought at dusk were a few hundred cavalrymen.

"Asshole!!"

Kang Chengxun slammed his hand on the table and stood up, looking at Li Keyong: "Li Lang, send out cavalry to search for the bandits. They shouldn't have gone far yet!"

"Yes!" Li Keyong's expression was also not very good. He did not expect Huang Chao to play this trick of feinting and deception.

He had originally thought he could have a good fight tomorrow, but now that he knew Huang Chao had escaped, he felt like he had punched the water and felt empty.

Soon, thousands of Shatuo cavalrymen began searching along the east and west directions of Zhaoyi, while sending messengers to inform Zeng Yuanyu.

When Zeng Yuanyu learned that Huang Chao had left behind camps and banners to deceive him, he felt humiliated and immediately led his troops to join forces with Kang Chengxun.

As dawn broke, the Shatuo cavalry who went to investigate finally discovered untouched tracks more than twenty miles west of the camp.

Upon learning that Huang Chao had headed west, Kang Chengxun's expression changed drastically: "Oh no, Shouchun!!"

Upon hearing this, the generals' faces all turned grim, and Kang Chengxun hurriedly said, "The three armies shall break camp and march immediately towards Shouchun!"

Under Kang Chengxun's military orders, the newly assembled 30,000-strong army began its westward pursuit.

Three days later, when they arrived in Shouchun, the area outside the city was in ruins, with countless corpses stripped naked and lying across the fields.

At dawn, Huang Chao launched a surprise attack on the remaining troops of less than 10,000 men, rescuing Ge Congzhou and allowing him to break through towards Bozhou.

Upon seeing this, Kang Chengxun had no choice but to immediately send troops to pursue them, while also dispatching a fast horse to deliver a message to Luoyang.

Five days later, Huang Chao led his army through the area, forcibly abducting people and seizing grain from the rural populace. He then attacked Songzhou from Bozhou, seemingly intending to take the northern route into the territory of the Tianping Army.

The message was delivered to Luoyang by fast horse. Upon receiving the news, Li Yi was at a loss and said:

"Now the Yellow bandits are attacking Songzhou. Although they have not yet attacked or looted the prefectures and counties, many rural people have suffered."

"May I ask you gentlemen, how should this matter be resolved..."

Inside the Qianyuan Hall, more than two hundred ministers spoke up upon hearing this.

"Your Highness, you may order Zhang Sitai, the military governor of Tianping Army, to suppress the Huang bandits, order the Xuanwu Army to defend the prefectures and counties, order the Yanhai Army to go north to suppress the bandits, and order the Pinglu Army to be ready to provide support at any time."

"Your Highness, you may order Governor Kang to temporarily refrain from pursuing the Yellow bandits. The most important task at present is Qin Zongquan in the south."

"Your Highness, I second that opinion. We should deal with the traitorous general first."

"Your Highness..."

The ministers offered their advice one after another, and Li Yi thought they all made sense. However, it was impossible not to suppress the Yellow Rebels, otherwise they would become difficult to deal with if the Yellow Rebels continued to grow stronger.

After all, the troops from the three towns of Qi and Lu alone were simply not enough to wipe out the Yellow bandits.

In response, Lu Yan, who had been observing for a long time, took the initiative to bow and say, "Your Highness, I believe that Zhu Quanzhong, the governor of Chuzhou, has made meritorious contributions in recovering Yangzhou and killing bandits. We should take this opportunity to reward him and order him to lead troops north to Yanzhou and Haizhou to suppress the Huang bandits."

"Although the land of Yangchu has suffered from war, it is still the entrance to the canal and is the most important place."

"If Zhu Quanzhong could be transferred away from Yanhai Town, it would undoubtedly be of great benefit to the court. Although Yanhai Town has a large population, it is remote and hampered by the Ganhua Army, Xuanwu Army, Tianping Army, and Pinglu Army, making it difficult to develop."

"In my opinion, transferring Zhu Quanzhong to Yanhai Town to suppress the Huang bandits is the best choice."

Lu Yan's words drew nods of agreement from many people. After all, Zhu Quanzhong had a considerable number of troops, plus the troops from Yan and Hai, and with the assistance of Tianping and Pinglu, even if they were no match for Huang Chao, they should be able to contain him.

If they can keep him in check, and then Gao Pian and Kang Chengxun deal with Qin Zongquan, the situation will become clear.

"What do you think, sir?"

Li Yi asked his ministers, who, upon hearing this, bowed and announced, "We second that proposal..."

“Your Highness, that is true, but Zhu Quanzhong is, after all, a surrendered general. If he were to gain power in Qi and Lu, he would likely become another Li Shidao.”

Liu Zhan suddenly stood up and sang a different tune. Lu Yan's face remained unchanged, but he frowned inwardly.

"Li Shidao?" Lu Yan asked in confusion, then added:
"The land of Qi and Lu has been ravaged by Wang Xianzhi and Pang Xun, and its strength has long been diminished. Not to mention that the imperial court will not sit idly by, even if Zhu Quanzhong has the intention to rebel, the imperial court can control the various towns and quell him. Why should Prime Minister Liu worry?"

Without giving Liu Zhan a chance to speak, Lu Yan continued to look at Li Yi: "Your Highness, I believe there is no better choice now. Moreover, Your Highness is wise and decisive. If Zhu Quanzhong has any treacherous intentions, Your Highness will surely be able to see through them clearly and eliminate them with swift and decisive measures."

Li Yi, who was rarely praised, was suddenly praised by Lu Yan in the imperial court. Moreover, Lu Yan held a high position and was the longest-serving prime minister during the Xiantong era. This made Li Yi very happy.

"You flatter me, Prime Minister Lu. I am merely governing the country based on your advice."

After more than a month of governing, Li Yi had a general idea of ​​how the Southern and Northern Offices treated him.

Apart from Yang Gongqing, the other three officers in the Northern Division did not support him, while the Southern Division remained neutral.

That being said, the Southern Court's attitude also reflected a hope that the imperial court would heed the advice and turn the tide.

This is why Li Yi chose to attribute the credit to the officials of the Southern Court, while simultaneously cultivating an image of himself as someone who humbly accepts advice.

Unsurprisingly, because he humbly accepted advice, many officials in the Southern Court began to stand by his side, and all he had to do was maintain this image.

"I think Lu Yan's words make sense. We should proceed with this plan. However, is Zhu Quanzhong willing to be transferred to Yanhai?"

Li Yi asked Lu Yan, who bowed and said, "As long as we provide him with armor and provisions, I believe he will know his place and head north."

"Since that's the case, then it's settled, and Prime Minister Lu will handle it."

Li Yi slammed his fist on the table and made the decision. Zhu Wen was transformed into the military governor of Yanhai. Liu Zhan looked at Li Yi and opened his mouth, but felt that he could not persuade Li Yi. He could only lower his head helplessly.

Just as he was bowing his head, soldiers suddenly entered the hall, quickly approached the Golden Platform, and whispered to the Minister of the Court of State Ceremonies.

Upon hearing this, the Minister of the Court of State Ceremonies immediately proclaimed: "The fast horses of Henan! Military Governor Wang Chongren has led an army of 20,000 into Caizhou! The general of Caizhou, Zhao Deyin, has surrendered the entire prefecture!"

"it is good!!"

Upon hearing that Qin Zongquan's hometown had been raided, Li Yi stood up excitedly, and the assembled officials bowed to Li Cui.

No one expected that Qin Zongquan would leave such an easily surrendered general to garrison Caizhou.

"Your Highness, now that Caizhou has been captured, if the Qin rebels do not return to reinforce it, they will surely take advantage of the situation to launch a strong attack on Yique County."

"Now that Linru has been captured by the rebels, if Yique County is also captured, the rebels will surely launch a strong attack on Yique Pass, attempting a desperate last stand."

"I believe that we should quickly send Governor Kang's troops north, through Wulao, into Luoyang, to cooperate with Gao Bohai in attacking the Qin traitors from both sides."

Seeing that Zhu Wen's matter had been settled, Liu Zhan immediately began to strive for dominance on the southern battlefield.

Lu Yan remained silent, but Xiao Gou frowned and said, "Kang Jingci previously avoided battle, which may indicate dissatisfaction with the court. How can we allow him to enter Luoyang?"

"I believe that Kang Jingci should be sent north to attack Ruzhou from Zhengzhou, so that he can join forces with Gao Bohai, who is to the east and the south, to attack the Qin rebels from both sides."

"Alright!" Li Yi had no opinion of his own; he simply thought the advice was good and adopted it.

Seeing this, Xiao Gou couldn't help but feel somewhat gratified, and Liu Zhan wasn't upset either, since as long as the goal was achieved, that was all that mattered.

After two major events were announced in quick succession, the court officials thought the day's court session was over. However, soldiers quickly entered the hall and whispered in the ear of the Minister of the Court of State Ceremonies.

Before long, the Minister of the Court of State Ceremonies looked at Jintai, seemingly asking Li Yi whether he should speak.

Seeing this, Li Yi raised his chin and asked, "What is it?"

"Your Highness..." The Minister of the Court of State Ceremonies paused briefly before speaking:

"The military governor Wang Chongren submitted another memorial, stating that the rebel general of Tangzhou had raised an army and surrendered to the Prince of Hanzhong..."

"what?"

The court officials were surprised to find that just as the court was receiving good news, it was struck by bad news again.

Liu Jilong already occupied Dengzhou, and now he has also taken Tangzhou, so it can be said that the Nanyang Basin is entirely in his hands.

If he can restore these two states to their former state, it will be more conducive to his eastward advance.

Lu Yan and Liu Zhan remained silent, but Xiao Gou, who had close ties with Chang'an, could only step forward and bow, saying, "Your Highness, even if a traitorous general surrenders, the Prince of Hanzhong cannot be ignored."

"The most urgent task at present is to send troops to quell the Qin and Huang bandits. All other matters can be put aside for the time being and dealt with later."

Ultimately, the main issue is that the imperial court is currently in a state of decline, unable to even suppress internal problems, let alone break off relations with Liu Jilong in the west.

Previously, Liu Jilong had conquered the five Guanzhong regions from Longyou. Now that he has the five Guanzhong regions in his hands, plus half of the Shannan East Region, if a war were to break out, the imperial court would probably perish.

Thinking of this, everyone fell silent, but Li Yi, who had already learned from Liu Jilong's memorial that Liu Jilong was going to send troops to Tangzhou, was the calmest at this moment.

Upon hearing the news, Li Yi asked Li Cui what to do. Li Cui's idea was to deal with Qin Zongquan and Huang Chao first, then recuperate and wait until Liu Jilong could no longer pretend before taking action.

For this reason, Li Yi did not react much, but simply said, "The Prince of Hanzhong has already submitted a memorial on this matter, and Your Highness and I both feel that there is no problem. Let's let it go for now."

Upon hearing Li Yi's words, the officials in the hall all breathed a sigh of relief.

Li Cui was indeed very reckless back then. He would fight Da Li if he had a conflict with Da Li, and he would fight Liu Jilong if he had a conflict with Liu Jilong. As a result, the situation got worse and worse, and the situation became more and more chaotic.

Now it seems that perhaps due to poor health, he is not as restless as before.

"Do any of you gentlemen have anything else to report?"

Li Yi questioned the assembled officials, who remained silent. Seeing this, he stood up, and the Minister of the Court of State Ceremonies seized the opportunity to announce, "Court adjourned..."

"Long live Your Highness..."

The assembled officials shouted "Long live the Emperor!" and respectfully waited for Li Yi to leave the Qian Yuan Hall before rising and leaving the court according to their assigned ranks.

As prime minister, Lu Yan was undoubtedly among the first to leave the court.

Instead of leisurely leaving the court, he walked steadily out of the palace after exiting the Qian Yuan Hall.

Before long, he returned to his residence by carriage, where Xie Tong, who had been informed in advance, had been waiting for a long time.

"Lu Xiang..."

Xie Tong bowed respectfully, while Lu Yan went straight to the point: "The imperial court has already approved your magistrate's transfer to Yanhai to serve as the military governor of Yanhai."

"However, the Yellow bandits have fled north and are now likely to enter Tianping via Songzhou, or even Yanhai. Your lord has little time left. The court needs your lord to join forces with Xuanwu, Tianping, Pinglu, Ganhua and other towns to suppress the Yellow bandits after he is stationed in Yanhai."

"I can make the decision to transfer 3,000 armored soldiers and 50,000 shi of grain from Liangzhe to your lord. I hope your lord can quell the bandits well and not fail His Majesty's kindness in bestowing upon him the name Quan Zhong."

"I thank you, Prime Minister Lu. I and the magistrate will never forget your kindness!" Although Xie Tong knew that this matter would definitely succeed, he did not expect it to succeed so quickly.

However, when he heard that Huang Chao had broken through the siege and headed north, he guessed that the court was preparing to watch Zhu Wen and Huang Chao fight each other in order to contain Zhu Wen.

Unfortunately, with him scheming by his side, and Zhu Wen being quite capable, after today, the dragon will return to the sea and surely stir up a storm.

"Step back. The imperial edict will be sent to Yangzhou tomorrow. You should go ahead and tell your magistrate to head north as soon as possible. Otherwise, if the people of Yanhai are ravaged by the Yellow Turban rebels, I will be powerless to stop it..."

"Yes."

Seeing that Xie Tong was well-mannered, Lu Yan nodded and then began to see the guest out.

Xie Tong respectfully withdrew from Lu Yan's residence, then summoned a carriage and, accompanied by guards, headed to Luoshui, where they boarded a boat and traveled south.

As they marched south, Zhang Yichao, who had been absent from court for a long time, also received news that Liu Jilong had sent troops to occupy Tangzhou.

Upon hearing this news, he couldn't help but smile as he practiced calligraphy in his study.

"Uncle, are you happy for him?"

Zhang Huaicheng looked at his uncle, who was chuckling, and couldn't help but ask.

Zhang Yichao nodded in response, put down his brush, and said, "Now that he has taken Nanyang, he will probably start advancing eastward very soon."

“But if he marches east now, wouldn’t that mean he’s breaking with the court?” Zhang Huaicheng frowned slightly; he cared a lot about his reputation.

Zhang Yichao shook his head at this: "He would never be so foolish."

“That is…” Zhang Huaicheng asked tentatively, while Zhang Yichao met his gaze and asked in return, “Can’t you see the conflict between the Northern Division and the Crown Prince from your position in the imperial court?”

"That's obvious, but with His Majesty still alive, it's unlikely that anything will go wrong."

Faced with Zhang Huaicheng's words, Zhang Yichao shook his head and sighed, "You are just like your elder brother."

Zhang Huaicheng was puzzled and didn't understand what he meant, but Zhang Yichao continued, "How long has it been since His Majesty attended court?"

"This...it's been about three months, hasn't it?" Zhang Huaicheng was a little uncertain, after all, this emperor was known for not attending court.

"With so much happening, even the most playful person should attend court."

"After such a long absence from court, and the hasty appointment of the crown prince as regent, don't you understand?"

Zhang Yichao sighed: "This Emperor is probably not as well as the rumors suggested; rather, his condition has worsened."

“Once he leaves, chaos will surely break out in the Northern Division, and the city of Luoyang may become turbulent.”

“Your two older brothers will definitely be restless, so you’d better start preparing early.”

"Yes!" Zhang Huaicheng belatedly realized what was going on and quickly agreed, while Zhang Yichao looked out the window at the cold but clean and tidy courtyard, and a look of worry appeared on his face.

"This heavy snow seems to have come far too late..."

(End of this chapter)