On the occasion of rebirth Zhou Sui

Chapter 374 Cui Family of Qinghe

Since the fourth year of Renshou (AD 604), King Yang Liang of Han Dynasty and Duke Cui Che of Yan State issued a proclamation in the name of Emperor Yang Guang's parricide, public opinion in various places has been in an uproar. Some people believed it deeply, while others scorned it.

For Cui Che to raise troops, the Boling Cui family naturally had overwhelming support.

He led his army southward from Xianyu County, and when passing through Anping County, among the clan's descendants, those who studied literature brought their own pens and inkstones, and those who practiced martial arts brought their own bows and horses, and they followed him one after another.

When Cui Che's so-called army of 200,000 troops, but actually 85,000 troops, arrived in Jizhou, as his envoy, Wei Zheng from Julu also took the lead in arriving at Qinghe County, Beizhou (now Qinghe, Hebei Province).

Qinghe County is the ancestral home of the Qinghe Cui family. It is not far from Jizhou Prefecture's Xindu County (today's Hengshui, Hebei Province). It is only two hundred miles apart. With Mai Tiezhang, you can walk there and back in one day.

Cui Che moved to Xindu County, which undoubtedly deepened the Cui family's perception of troubled times in Qinghe.

Wei Zheng held his head high and argued with the Cui clan of Qinghe about their interests:

"Since the Qi Dynasty was destroyed in the previous Zhou Dynasty, we people in Guandong have been oppressed repeatedly, and the late emperor even issued an edict not to allow us to forge weapons privately, and treat us like bandits.

"In the past, when the barbarian armies were strong, we had no choice but to remain useful and serve them on our knees.

"Now that Duke Yan is sitting on the elite troops of Yan and Zhao, he is holding high the flag of righteousness and suppressing the riots. Who in the land of Hebei can show his strength!

"Li Jing is a great leader. Duke Yan is marching south with an army of 200,000 people. But those who resist stubbornly will surely become enemies!"

In fact, without Wei Zheng's persuasion, the Cui family of Qinghe was already dissatisfied with their situation in the Sui Dynasty.

After the fall of the Northern Qi Dynasty, the Guandong scholars suffered a huge psychological gap.

On the one hand, they flaunted their noble blood, but on the other hand, they had to face the situation where most of the interests in the court were divided among the nobles of Guan Long.

Those Guanlong nobles have always been looked down upon by the Five Surnames and Seven Clans, thinking that they are all barbarians.

For example, Yang Su hoped to marry the Cui family of Qinghe, and asked for his son Yang Xuanzong to marry Cui Zhou's daughter. Cui Zhou was only a minister of the fifth rank, while Yang Su was the minister Zuopushe and the Duke of Yue at that time, and he was a veritable civil servant. head.

However, Cui Wei thought that Yang Su's ancestor was pretending to be the Yang family of Hongnong, so she despised him, spoke disrespectfully and had an arrogant attitude, which made Yang Su walk away in anger.

The Cui family of Qinghe was dissatisfied with being politically marginalized, but it was only because of the stable rule of the Sui Dynasty that they swallowed their anger.

Now that Cui Che is raising his troops, to the Hebei scholars, he is not only a strong soldier and a strong horse, but as the grandson of Cui Jishu, he is also from a famous family and is one of our own with noble blood.

After Cui Che gained the support of the Fanyang Lu family and the Boling Cui family, the only top noble families in Hebei were the Qinghe Cui family and the Zhaojun Li family.

The Li family of Zhaojun and the Cui family of Boling have been married for generations and have a close relationship. They are also Cui Che's mother clan.

When Cui Che was in Dingzhou, he had already sent people to Zhaozhou to get in touch with them. However, since Cui Che planned to drive directly to Xiangzhou, the Li family of Zhaojun decided to wait and see the success or failure. If Cui Che could really defeat Li Jing, he would seize the opportunity. Xiangzhou and Zhaozhou will change their flags.

As for the Cui family of Qinghe, they have to make an immediate decision now, because Beizhou is on the road that Cui Che must pass to attack Xiangzhou.

After Wei Zheng made an impassioned speech, he was invited to a side hall to drink tea, allowing the elders of each room to deliberate on their own.

After a long time, the leader of the Qinghe Dafang, as a representative, approached Wei Zheng and promised to secretly help Cui Che capture Beizhou, but until Cui Che and Li Jing decided the winner, the Cui family in Qinghe would not send their children to openly participate.

Wei Zheng understood this. Cui Che had been prepared to divide his troops to besiege Beizhou from the beginning. Now that the Cui family of Qinghe is willing to help, it is an unexpected surprise.

On September 16th, the fourth year of Renshou (AD 604), Cui Che's vanguard Mai Tiezhang led 10,000 silver-saddled Khitan cavalry, and took the lead in arriving at Qinghe County, the seat of Beizhou, and stationed outside the city. Cui Che arrived later .

That night, there was an internal response in the city. Mai Tiezhang led his troops into the city. Without much resistance, they captured Qinghe County and captured the governor of Beizhou alive.

After taking control of Qinghe County, Cui Che immediately ordered people to invite the heads of the Cui family in Qinghe County to recall the glory of their ancestors with them in order to deepen their feelings for each other.

The next day, the remaining counties in Beizhou surrendered. With the secret cooperation of the Cui family in Qinghe, Cui Che captured the entire territory of Beizhou without any bloodshed.

Top clans such as the Qinghe Cui Clan and the Boling Cui Clan undoubtedly penetrate all aspects of the prefectures and counties where their clans are located.

Their children or in-laws can be seen everywhere in the local military and political system.

This is why Liu Fang, as the general manager of Dingzhou, still has to obey Cui Che's orders. Dingzhou is already under the control of the Boling Cui family.

On the day he captured Beizhou, Cui Che appointed Huang Baiji as the governor of Beizhou. He led his army southward along the Zhang River, aiming directly at Maozhou (governing Guantao County, now Handan, Hebei) located between Beizhou and Xiangzhou. Guantao County).

In Guantao County, the governor of Maozhou was already in fear.

Even though the southern part of Hebei is densely populated and economically developed, due to the fear of the imperial court, it has been continuously subdivided, resulting in a single state that actually does not have a strong military force.

Facing the approach of Cui Che's army, the governor of Maozhou urgently asked Li Jing, the general manager of Xiangzhou in the southwest, for help.

At this time, Yang Guang's edict forbidding Li Jing to go north to fight Cui Che had not yet been conveyed to Hebei, so Li Jing summoned his cronies to discuss countermeasures.

Due to Cui Che's rapid arrival, Li Jing only gathered 100,000 troops from the prime ministers, Ming (who governed Yongnian County, now Yongnian District, Handan, Hebei), and Wei (who governed Guixiang County, today's Daming County, Handan, Hebei), and defended the four prefectures.

Most of the officials were afraid of Cui Che's strong army and were unwilling to rescue Maozhou, but hoped that Li Jing could hold on to Yecheng and wait for reinforcements from the court.

After all, their mission was not to put down Cui Che's rebellion by themselves, but to wait for the court's counter-rebellion army to arrive. However, Li Jing and others did not know yet that the court had already made a plan to first move east of Hebei and then to Hebei.

Among the crowd, only Li Jing suggested that the army should go north. He added:

"Ming Gong gathered soldiers from the four states and went north to rescue Maozhou. Relying on the city, it was not without the strength to fight.

"If we insist on guarding Yecheng and ignore Maozhou, it will definitely lead to catastrophe."

Li Jing heard this and said doubtfully:

"Why did the pharmacist say that?"

Li Jing explained:

"Cui Che is a person who likes to play tricks.

"Maozhou is the gateway to the three states of Xiang, Ming, and Wei.

"Now Duke Ming has sent elite troops from Ming and Wei states to Yecheng. Once Cui Che knows about it, after capturing Maozhou, he will definitely abandon Xiangzhou and capture Ming and Wei first.

"Ming, if Wei makes a mistake and the soldiers worry about their families, how can they have the will to fight?

"At that time, Cui Che will attack Yecheng again, and the people in the army will be in panic. How will Duke Ming retreat from the enemy?"

Li Jing frowned. He also knew that what Li Jing said was reasonable, but compared to the newly built Yecheng, Maozhou was not a fortified city. Li Jing was really unsure whether he could hold the city if he rushed north to support Maozhou.

(End of chapter)