The Emperor ordered Zhao Tang

Chapter 49: Longshui River Flows East and Hears Crying

Qiyang County.

Located 50 miles northeast of Mount Qi, this is the ancestral temple of the Ji people. King Wen's grandfather, Tai Wang Dan, was threatened by the Rongdi tribe and led his people to move to Qi. They worked on farming and weaving, and after three generations, they destroyed the Xuanniao tribe. Since the Sui and Tang dynasties, the Hu and Han people have lived here together, and they are rich and happy.

However, Fengxiang has been plagued by wars over the past decade or so, with Shang Rang, Li Changyan, Li Changfu, Zhu Mei, Lu Yanhong, Li Maozhen, Wang Xingyu, Yang Shouliang, and Li Jikan fighting each other, and the commander-in-chief and general have been replaced every few days. Qishan is no longer peaceful!

The people fled to the mountains and hills, or died by swords, and only one in ten survived.

In Li Ye’s memory of his previous life, the real disaster that brought devastating disaster to Qishan was the westward invasion of Mongolia.

"The grass is not everywhere at the 120-pass pass, and the Qin capital is dark after ten years of war."

"Looking west to Qiyang, no news, but hearing crying in the east of Longshui!"

"The wild vines are entangled with the bones of the warriors, why does the setting sun shine on the empty city?"

"Who can I ask the sky for the five armies?"

After Temujin died of illness in Qingshuijuncheng, not far from Fengxiang today, his successor Ogedei led his army across Shaanxi, and the first place he slaughtered was Qishan. As for why he chose this place, this poem about mourning and chaos written by Yuan Haowen at that time may be the answer.

When the saint entered the city, Qiyang was already empty.

The Bin people ran in a hurry, leaving discarded equipment and flags everywhere on the street. They didn't even take the wounded with them. They were scattered here and there, sitting or lying, with empty and dull eyes, like zombies. Long Jiejun, who entered the city first, saw them and cut off their heads one by one, regardless of whether they were dead or alive.

There were more than a dozen giant stone mortars outside the county government office, with broken bone residue sticking to the grinding surface. The unfinished meat jerky, with its outline still in the position of being pressed on the mortar, was already rotten and maggoty, with flies and ants crawling all over its face. The semi-fluid filth slowly flowed on the bluestone bricks, and the stench filled every corner, as if a sick pig had been gutted.

Li Dao, the Grand Chamberlain, vomited uncontrollably after just one look.

He screamed and laughed wildly until he was hurriedly carried out of the city by the warriors on both sides.

Li Ye saw a skeleton tied to a pillar, with long dirty black hair hanging down on top of the skull. It seemed to be a woman, with some flesh still left on the torso.

"Xu Yanruo is coming soon, right?" The saint retracted his gaze and instructed Wang Congxun: "Send him a letter. When he gets here, organize the people to clean up the county to prevent the spread of plague. The people who died in vain should be buried in peace as much as possible."

"As you wish." Seeing the saint's unhappy expression, Wang Congxun asked, "Aren't you going to the county government office?"

The saint's expression was stiff, and he turned his horse around: "Let's go back to the camp."

It's a dead city, why would we stay here?

Walking in the quiet spring fields, Li Ye rode on horseback without saying a word. He knew that this was reality, and one person was powerless to change anything. In this era, what was popular was to be more cruel and have no bottom line than others.

Of course, other time travelers might think this way - the world is like this, what's the point of being sad?

But Li Ye couldn't. He had his own principles, no matter if it was just a woman's kindness or sentimentality. He couldn't see men and women being slaughtered and eaten by their own kind and clan in such a way and still be indifferent to talking about the achievements of a great man and praising the martial virtues of the Tang Dynasty with his proud status as an emperor.

The only one who can match this group of warriors is a wild beast like Shi Hu.

I have never felt as strongly as I do today to put an end to this evil world. He is like the ridiculous Odebiao who sails on the Congo River with a leaking ship but still hopes to make a fortune.

Tian Xingjian, the gentleman is self-improvement.

Don't blame the sky or others, the strong fight against the storm of fate.

That's all.

After annihilating more than 3,000 Wuxiong tribesmen entrenched in Qishan, they rested for a few days, waiting for the military supply envoy Xu Yanruo to arrive, on the one hand to replenish food and grass, and on the other hand to transfer the wounded soldiers and horses. The saint had to continue his western tour, so he had to make all preparations.

On April 12, Li Yanzhen, the vanguard commander, reported that a large number of Qi troops were found in Yongxian, Taiheguan, and Purun. There were several hundred or two to three thousand of them, with a total of no less than 20,000. They were either stationed in steep military camps built on the mountains or hiding in the city. It seemed that they had no leader and were in a chaotic state.

Obviously, the Qi army had lost confidence in the future of Li Maozhen and his son, and was unwilling to obey and serve. However, facing the external pressure of Wang Xingyu and the court's crusade, they did not completely fall into chaos. They should be waiting for the "election" of a new Jiedushi, or for some warrior to step out and become the queen to take charge of the overall situation.

However, this matter will be difficult to accomplish in a short period of time.

Firstly, Li Maozhen is not dead yet, and he still has his lackeys working for him, so who knows, he might turn the tables one day.

Secondly, Fengxiang has been an old vassal state for more than a hundred years. There are many officials in the yamen, such as Du Yuhou, Youyishi, Mabu Zongguan, Yaya, and Zhihuishi. There are also Zhen'eshi, Junshi, Chengshi, etc. who are sent outside. They all think they are qualified and no one is willing to submit to anyone else - unless the external pressure is great enough, then they will temporarily put their minds at ease and grab someone to act as the Jiedushi, like Wei Bo, to lead everyone to resist foreign humiliation.

On April 14, Li Sizhou reported that more than a thousand enemy troops were defeated on the outskirts of Linyou County, east of the Qishui River.

The sage attached great importance to this news, because this rebel army was Wang Xingyu's troops.

This guy had already marched to Dazhen Pass to cause trouble for Li Maozhen, and now his troops appeared in Linyou, 200 miles away from Dazhen Pass...

If nothing unexpected happened, something unexpected had already happened - these more than a thousand Binshi probably wanted to return to Bingzhou to re-establish a Jiedushi after their attempt to make trouble failed, and turn Wang Xingyu into a stray dog.

There is no need to think about the reasons for the rebellion.

Wang Xingyu, Li Maozhen, Li Jikan, and Yang Shouliang had been fighting for so long. Yang Shouliang was stabbed in the back by his adopted son, so he hurried home to quell the rebellion half a month ago. He was the first Jiedushi to withdraw.

As for Li Jikan, who had usurped the throne, his subordinates killed him for unknown reasons and appointed themselves as successors. It was still unknown where the bandits had gone. Before Li Ye went to the battle, he knew that Wang Xingyu, who had colluded with Tubo to prepare a counterattack against the invaders in Fengxiang, was in the process of being defeated.

But now it seems that this group of people have lost their courage - there is no news about them.

Perhaps the leading warrior was killed by the Tibetans, and the rest of the people felt hopeless and disbanded on the spot.

At this point, Wang Xingyu, who had the last laugh, was only one step away from taking the fat piece of Fengxiang by killing Li Maozhen.

But the problem is that the Bin people are poor.

After fighting for several months, the situation has reached where there is nothing left to rob and people have to be captured for food.

Moreover, the Bin people were going for wealth and beauties when the whole army was dispatched this time. But there were not many wealth and beauties, and they were so hungry that their eyes were anxious. How could they not find Wang Xingyu to "talk"? But the temptation of annexing Qilong was there, and it was about to be accomplished. How could Wang give up so easily?

The Marshal wants to continue fighting for his own ambition.

The brothers don't want to do this anymore.

The disunity between the superiors and the subordinates must be the reason why the soldiers rebelled.

However, their luck seemed to be not very good. Not only did they fail to kill Wang Xingyu, but they encountered Li Sizhou's 6,000 troops on the way east to Bingzhou and were defeated.

The saint was very happy. In total, he had killed nearly five thousand people including Wang Xingyu.

Wang Xingyu only had 20,000 soldiers and horses. After such a heavy blow, plus the losses of Yang Shouliang and others in the melee, how many would be left? Would he be able to suppress the warriors when he returned to Bingzhou?
Unless he killed Li Maozhen and seized Fengxiang by taking advantage of the victory, how would his men view him if he retreated in disgrace? Would the governor of the neighboring town be tempted? Once a choice is made, the risk will become a real crisis.

At this point, the two fighting tigers, Wang and Li, will end in death. The saints do not intend to intervene, nor do they have the strength to intervene. Qiyang's more than 3,000 Bing troops fought hard for more than an hour with 10,000 infantry and cavalry.

Anyone who can make it to the end with these two will only be more difficult to deal with.

What's more, there are 20,000 people between the two of them - the risk of fighting is too great.

The key to military affairs is to judge the situation and be vigilant at all times.

At dusk on April 14, Xu Yanruo finally brought a large amount of baggage with his entourage and civilians, and the military supply office also moved to Qishan. The baggage brought in various types, including bows and arrows, armor, spears, beans, vinegar cakes, headbands, medicinal materials, fried rice, bacon, honey, wine, etc. The warriors cheered and laughed.

"I am guilty and have missed the deadline." The military envoy Xu Yanruo reported with a tired face: "I have been supervising the transportation of grain and grass in Fengtian, but unexpectedly, General Du suddenly summoned me back to the capital."

"Thank you for your hard work. It doesn't matter if you are a few days late."

Li Ye smiled and comforted him. Seeing that he looked exhausted, he probably must be tired after working all day, so he stopped asking questions and said, "Go downstairs to eat and have a good rest. I still need you to provide me with military support later."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Yes, Du Rangneng temporarily called Xu Yanruo back to Chang'an to get a lot of fresh food.

It's really hard for the old man to spend so much effort to ensure the saint's smooth command of the troops.

Li Ye counted the troops under his command.

The Yingwu Army had a total of ten divisions and five thousand men on both sides, with more than four hundred killed in battle and more than seven hundred wounded.

The Longjie army had three cities on each side, and more than a hundred of the six thousand knights were killed, and many horses were injured, nearly 600. Fortunately, the armor rate was high, and most of them were injured in the legs.

Excluding the wounded, the combat force is about 8,000 people.

Together with the more than 2,300 captured Bin troops, the number of troops actually exceeded the original strength, but Li Ye did not dare to use these people.

Although "the mother follows the milk" is the melody of the times, and there are also cases like Black Cloud Changjiandu and Silver Spear Xiejiedu, who were thieves born from the rebellious army and were immediately recruited as the personal army by the Jiedushi after surrendering, but he asked himself if he was a super killer like Yang Xingmi and Li Cunxu who could subdue the killers.

Moreover, the habits of these Bin people were extremely bad, especially when they vividly described how to quickly clean up the city and how to plunder more wealth and beauties within a limited time, the so-called "happy things", the guarding soldiers could not help but talk to them and ask how they did it.

This restless momentum is very dangerous. If there were not sufficient food and rewards, Li Ye suspected that generals such as Wang Congxun and Liu Xianyuan would lose control of the army, and the Yingwu Army and Longjie Army would embark on the rebellious path of killing generals, mutinying for rewards, and poisoning the people.

We must take precautions before it happens!
What can be done now is to keep the soldiers away from these violent soldiers and not allow the guards to talk to them. As for how to deal with them later, they will think of a way after returning to the court. He does not need a mad dog that can bite its master at any time. No matter how brave such a monster is, what is the use of it?

On April 16, the army dismantled the camp and left Qishan. Wang Shaorong, the general, led his scouts first, followed by the Longjie Army's left and right cavalry brigades, sweeping the enemy along the way. The Yingwu Army led the prisoners and walked at the end, also protecting the baggage carriages and horses. The entire army of more than 10,000 infantry and cavalry, with a majestic military order and a fierce momentum, headed straight for Yong County, 50 miles away.

The sage himself led the Generals of the Central Army Du Luyi, Pei Yan, Chen Quan and other 500 palace guards in the center.

The wheels rumble, the horses neigh, and the brocade clothes rustle.

Because Li Yanzhen informed him that there were a large number of Qi troops in the Yong County area, the saint was very cautious. The team moved and stopped from time to time, and the scouts returned to update the intelligence before continuing to move forward. The soldiers also carried the war equipment that was usually transported on carts this time.

Although some people were scouting the enemy situation, everyone still felt that it was more reliable to carry weapons with them.

It was indeed sweaty to walk while carrying a four or five meter long gun, but it was better than being ambushed by the enemy and losing your life.

Fortunately, Wang Congxun was afraid that something might happen to the Saint, so he slowed down his pace, patting his horse as he passed by everyone from time to time, ordering them to slow down. He also gave them a stick of incense every half an hour to eat, drink water, and rest.

There are thousands of military tactics, but safety comes first. If the troops are not marching in a regular manner, their loved ones will shed tears. Li Ye sat in the armored car, not even daring to doze off. With more than 10,000 troops and carriages stretching for miles, it would be extremely easy to be defeated if they were attacked by the enemy.

I vaguely remember that Sima Yue, the King of Donghai in the Western Jin Dynasty, was ambushed by Shi Le on his way back to his country.

In a hurry, with incomplete equipment, rigid command, lack of physical strength, and poor formation, more than 100,000 people were wiped out.

However, judging from Wang Shaorong's report, the Qi army had no intention of coming out to fight. The scouts searched for more than ten miles, and the Longjie army's cavalry had also spread out quite far, so they did not find any traces of the Qi army's scouts.

Eighteen. The army, marching at a snail’s pace and covering less than twenty miles a day, arrived at the southeastern suburbs of Yong County.

Long Jie's army was extremely violent. They galloped back and forth in the city, whistled at the Qi army on the upper floors, insulted them in various ways, and provoked the Qi army to fight.

Yong County has a very long history.

Duke De of Qin had his capital here, and moved to Liyang during the reign of Ying Quliang. In the Western Han Dynasty, it was renamed Zhongdi County, and soon became part of the Neishi. In the Jian'an period of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Han'an County was established to govern it. Cao Wei changed it to Fufeng County, Sui changed it to Qizhou, and in the Tianbao period, it was renamed Fufeng County again. Emperor Suzong led his army here and named it Fengxiang, and governed it in Yong. It is truly a thousand-year-old ancient city. Except for being frightened a few times by Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition, it has never been attacked by war.

After the middle Tang Dynasty, it was reinforced many times to defend against Tubo, and it was indeed a strong city.

Li Ye stood in front of the car, observing Yongcheng from afar, and asked, "How long will it take to capture this city?"

"It's difficult." Wang Congxun explained with difficulty: "The total number of Qi troops gathered in Xiaoyong City is estimated to be no less than 20,000. If we include the civilians, soldiers and their families, there are probably 40,000 to 50,000."

Zhang Jide also said: "Moreover, there is enough food in the city. Wang Xingyu attacked twice to seize the food, but thousands of people died and he failed."

"He is very motivated to protect his own little piece of land." The sage laughed and said, "How many troops will be needed to conquer it in the future?"

"It's very difficult." Wang Congxun shook his head again and advised cryptically: "If I were a minister, I would never attack. It's easy for the army to mutiniate in a tough battle."

"At least 50,000 troops!"

A heroic military school student glanced at Wang Congxun and took over the conversation with a grin, "Build a siege, flood the city, set fire to the city, dig tunnels, throw rocks to smash the city, there are so many ways, why bother killing people?"

"Oh?" The saint looked at the lieutenant with interest, pressed down Wang Congxun beside him, and asked with a smile: "If I use you as a recruiting envoy and give you 50,000 men, how would you fight?"

"The strongest city in the world is Jinyang. The only city that can rival it is Tongwan City in Xiazhou." The lieutenant was not afraid of the stage. He bowed to the saint and said proudly, "I heard from the elders of the clan that Helian Bobo built Tongwan City. If a needle penetrated an inch, it would kill a person. Can Yongcheng be stronger than it?"

"If the saint gives me 50,000 men, I will attack."

"If you want to go to war in August, you can build high slopes on all sides of the city, then dig a large pond, store water during the rainy season, and wait for an opportunity to flood the city. If you want to go to war in the middle of winter, you can take advantage of the north wind, pile up trees outside the city, and set fire to the city when the wind is favorable. Repeat this several times, and the city wall will collapse. At the same time, you can send people to dig tunnels, and if there is a plague, you can throw sick corpses into the city."

"When the situation is right, we will send all our troops to attack day and night. How long can the Qi bandits hold out?"

"You know quite a lot." The saint praised him and asked, "What's your name?"

"Your Majesty." The lieutenant enjoyed the discussion and said with his head down: "The third lieutenant of the left wing of the Longjie Army - Mei Zang Qiqi."

The saint seemed to recall something, and said, "You were the one who rushed into the Bing army that day and shouted, 'Wu Xiong, die!'"

The lieutenant was surprised and immediately bowed down and said, "It is me!"

"I have read the report written by Commander Zhang for you." The saint squinted his eyes and looked at him. Suddenly, he patted Mo Zangqiqi's shoulder heavily and said, "What a Tangut man! Mo Zang belongs to the Hengshan Pingxia tribe, right?"

Mei Zang Qiqi was even more surprised. He didn't expect that the saint even knew this. He nodded and said, "Yes!"

This is not because Li Ye was erudite or anything, but because the later East Asian bully Xixia was too famous. It attacked the Khitan in the north, took Hehuang in the west, defeated Fan Zhongyan and Han Qi in the east, and reached Guanzhong in the south. Among the descendants of the middle and late dynasties who were in power, Li Ye remembered that there was a woman of the Mo Zang clan who was lewd and lustful.

I didn't expect that this guy is also from this tribe.

"Okay, you are brave and resourceful." The saint is now feeling both happy and worried.

Even the Dangxiang people in the mountains think that it will take 50,000 men to attack Yongcheng, and they have to coordinate multiple methods. Can they still fight?
He would wait and see these Qi bandits, let them kill each other for a while. As long as Li Maozhen couldn't cause any trouble, he wouldn't be in a hurry.

In the next few days, the army took turns to challenge the city and frequently shot letters to persuade it to surrender.

Although the Qi army was leaderless, they were surprisingly unanimous on this matter - surrendering would mean handing over their lives and property to other people's hands, and the sage would not necessarily punish them. If soldiers from outside came in, would everyone's property, wives and daughters be safe?

As for going to war.

The emperor came to punish the military governors, what did it have to do with them? If Li Maozhen was in the city, he would be killed and sent to the emperor to apologize.

The two sides faced off in this strange manner for several days.

On April 20th of the first year of Jingfu, the sage still did not wait for the Qi people to leave the city. After weighing their strength, he did not intend to continue northward to Longzhou and Dazhen Pass and take risks, so he ordered the army to return.

At dawn on the 21st, the army dismantled the camp and returned empty-handed.

He came with murderous intent and left with an arrogant look.

In fact, it's quite good. It means that we didn't suffer any loss at the hands of the Qi people. On the contrary, it made the bandits afraid to come out to fight. We have won in terms of momentum.

As for the duel between Wang Xingyu and Li Maozhen, it was none of the Saint's business. Anyway, he had already earned a certain amount of prestige from this trip, and his "glorious" military exploits of annihilating nearly 5,000 Bin troops in two field battles had established his initial influence in the army.

Back in Chang'an, the court officials should consider changing their target. If the eunuchs want to discipline and control him, they have to think of more ways. Either the emperor dies in obscurity, or he keeps a low profile from now on.

However, no matter what their plans were, the saint had decided to strike first.

Before fighting the outside world, you must first make peace with the inside.

　No way, you don’t talk while reading?
　　
　
(End of this chapter)