Chapter 379: The forces of Lianghuai

To the west of Zhengzhou, on the wide official road covered with black snow mud, grain trucks covered with oil cloth, large trucks with wheat poles and hay, supplies trucks, huge flatbed trucks carrying ladders and siege trucks, swaying and siege trucks, swaying and squeaking forward. Snow flakes in the sky were flying. It was the middle of winter, and the cultivated fields and droughts on the roadside were filled with unmelted snow, and the dense forests in the distance showed a blurry outline.

The 200,000 Tang troops stepped on the mud, braving the fine snow, accompanied by shouting and cursing, the crackling sound of whips and the creaking of the axles, and advanced eastward. The sound was huge, like the tide of the sea, stretching for dozens of miles. From time to time, you can see dying animals or animals lying on both sides of the official road, and occasionally a large cart with wheels facing the sky. Sometimes a team of cavalry rushed into the crowd, so the soldiers kept shouting, cursing, and the horses stood up and screamed constantly. A large cart full of food and grass would roll down the slope, and the people on the cart would also roll down.

A team of cavalry surrounded an officer and flew past the team like lightning, galloping straight towards the central army. The horse's hooves were flying, snow splashing everywhere, and the soldiers on both sides could not escape. More people cursed. Although they were both Tang troops, their right arm did not have a blue ribbon, which means that they were miscellaneous local soldiers.

The rude screams and scolding followed the officer's face immediately became more gloomy. Although he was wearing military uniforms, he was a civil servant. This person was Lai Wang, the governor of Xiangzhou. He was originally a doctor of Shanzan of the Eastern Palace. After Tianbao surrendered to King Qing Li Cong in the eleventh year, he was promoted to the governor of Xiangzhou. After the Anshi Rebellion broke out, in order to prevent An Lushan from moving south from Jingxiang, he also responded to Li Longji's call to recruit more than 20,000 soldiers, and joined forces with the governor of Nanyang, Tian Shengong in Huaixi, and Helan Jinming in Huainan.

After Cui Qianyou failed to attack Chang'an and the Chang'an court changed drastically, Lai Wang became nervous. He was a confidant of King Qing. At present, the local prefectures and counties have not been involved in the purge of King Qing. However, Lai Wang has already prepared for the future. The person in power is Li Qing, the number one enemy of King Qing Li Cong. Sooner or later, he will not let him go.

On the other hand, news has been reported in the court that after the rebellion has been quelled, the troops in the hands of all princes must be disbanded, allowing farmers to return to the fields and merchants to return to the market. At this point, Lai Wang and others have different opinions. Nanyang governor Lu Jing advocated obeying the arrangements of the court and returning to the fields, but Lai Wang and Tian Divine Gong refused to give up their own army, while Helan Jinming had an ambiguous attitude and had never been willing to express his opinion.

After receiving the order from Li Qing to fight against Xiangzhou, although everyone did not dare to resist the order, they were unwilling to help. Except for Lu Jing bringing all the more than 10,000 people in his hand, the rest of the people were all left, and most of them only brought some troops to help the war. Lai Wang was entrusted by everyone to find out Li Qing's tone.

After Lingbao collected 100,000 Hedong Army, Li Qing reorganized them in Luoyang, sent nearly 50,000 of them back to his hometown, and all the others were dispersed and organized into the Anxi Army. After completing the reorganization, he immediately sent 30,000 people to Hedong, and together with Xin Yungao's original 20,000 people, a total of about 50,000 troops to prevent An Qingxu from taking the opportunity to seize Hedong. Li Qing himself led 200,000 troops to Zhengzhou.

In the middle of the team, about 5,000 iron-armored cavalry formed a square formation, all of which were Arabian horses, black bright light armor, short bows on their shoulders, horizontal swords on their waists, and long spears in their hands. They were all strong and had a cold and solemn eyes. This was Li Qing's direct guard. All the cavalry were carefully selected from the 200,000 army, mainly from the Anxi Army.

Li Qing was at the back end of the team at this time, with dozens of flags waving behind him. He was also wearing shiny black iron armor and a golden helmet on his head, shining brightly in the sun, looking particularly dazzling.

At this time, he saw a team of cavalry coming from afar and stopped a thousand steps away from him. Then a personal soldier stepped forward to report: "General, the governor of Xiangzhou is here to ask for a visit!"

"Please come up and talk!"

Li Qing pulled out of the queue. After a moment, Lai Wang came to him. He jumped off the horse and bowed to Li Qingshen. He almost bowed to the ground. "The army of prime minister is coming, Lai Wang is here to welcome him late. I hope to forgive me!"

Li Qing hurriedly turned over and dismounted, held Lai Wang's arm and straightened him, patted his shoulder and smiled, "Mr. Lai guarded Xiangzhou, so that An Lushan's army could not go south, and made great contributions to the country. I have ordered the Ministry of Personnel to draft the Ministry of War. After the rebellion is quelled, seven dukes will be granted. Xiangzhou Lai Wang ranked fifth, and Nanyang Lu Jing ranked sixth. It is a gratifying congratulations!"

Li Qing was surprised when he said something big. He couldn't believe his ears and was granted the title of Duke. This was a title that only founding heroes! He began to stutter, "Prime Minister, I have no contributions and no effort. How dare I rank at a high position? I really dare not accept it. Please consider it!"

Li Qing shook his head and said, "I know whether there is any credit or not. It is not necessary to attack the city and kill the enemy to make meritorious service. If you did not become the barrier for An Lushan to go south, once An Lushan takes Huaixi and Jiangnan, my Tang Dynasty will be over! Therefore, I deserve it as the Duke of the State."

Lai Ying was both happy and ashamed. He remembered the military affairs again. He felt nervous and asked tentatively: "I heard that the court asked the rebellion to quell the rebellion and returned to the field. I am willing to hand over the army to the prime minister and let the prime minister arrange it!"

"I can't afford to support the army!" Li Qing laughed up to the sky, and his laughter gradually diminished. He waved his hand and said, "Don't guess it before the official documents of the Ministry of War are coming down. It's easy to take things out of context. Only know one but not the other."

Speaking of this, Li Qing pondered for a moment and said, "Since you ask about this, I might as well reveal it to you first. After quelling the rebellion, some soldiers must be discharged from the army and farming to serve as farming, but not all. Otherwise, how to maintain Neijing? The court's plan is to set up 30 regiment training envoys across the country, and the governors of the above prefectures serve as regiment training envoys. Take your Xiangzhou for example, you are preparing to set up the Xiangzhou regiment training envoys, which will be 10,000 soldiers, and the local governments will be responsible for maintaining local public security in Xiangzhou, Suizhou, Jingzhou, Guizhou, Xiazhou and other places. Lord Lai is the governor of Xiangzhou and will also be the first regiment training envoys in Xiangzhou. Similarly, Lord Lu Jinglu of Nanyang will also serve as the governor of Dengzhou regiment training, but the military strength is 8,000. The size of each regiment training envoy is different, and the military strength will be arranged inconsistent."

Li Qing's words made Lai Wang feel completely relieved. Although the troops and power of the regiment training envoy could not be compared with the governor, they were also considered local princes. It seemed that this was Li Qing's reform of the government troops, binding the regiment training envoy and the governor to solve the source of money and grain, and at the same time, let civil servants serve as regiment training envoys to prevent the second An Lushan from appearing. In this way, the combat power of the local army would be greatly weakened, just so that his Anxi Army would dominate the entire family. It was indeed smart to calculate, but it was a blessing in disguise that his own army could be retained. Although he did not know his term of office, at least there would be no change in the short term.

"The Xiaguan wants to dare to ask more questions. Huaixi Tian Shengong and Huainan Helan Jinming, I wonder what the Prime Minister is going to make arrangements?"

Li Qing smiled faintly and said, "Everyone knows the true nature of merits and demerits. If you come, you will know that you are. Don't ask more questions from others."

"Yes! The prime minister will remember the lessons taught by him!"

In a large mansion near the east gate in Zhengzhou, Lai Wang, Tian Shengong, Helan Jinming, Ji Guangchen, and the newly arrived Xuzhou governor Li Huan gathered together to discuss the news that Lai Wang came from Li Qing. The group training made this new thing puzzle them.

What they are concerned about is how to preserve the benefits gained in the An Lushan rebellion, otherwise what is the difference between them and those who were short-lived in the rebellion? Title is one aspect, but more importantly, whether the control of the territory obtained in the war can continue.

Except for Lai, everyone was worried and didn't know what their ending was. The room was silent, and everyone was thinking about their own thoughts.

"Will there be a fraud?"

The person who was shocked was Li Huan. He was also a member of the Tang Dynasty. His blood relationship was slightly remote, but his hatred towards Li Qing was no different from that of ordinary members. With prejudice, every word Li Qing said seemed to be bloody. He believed that Li Qingzhao and others were going to attack Xiangzhou was to eat them, so he refused to set out for a long time, but he was worried that he would miss any benefits. So after observing for a long time, he found that Li Qing did not do anything to others. He came late. Xuzhou was closest to Zhengzhou, so he was the last one to arrive.

Seeing that everyone's eyes looked at him, Li Huan cleared his throat and said, "Li Qing acted ruthlessly and used all means to achieve his goals. The first emperor abdicated was the one who forced the palace to force the palace to do it, and then monopolized the power. This man started his business with military power, how could he allow us to sleep soundly on his bed? Now he has launched a group training envoy. Can he really tolerate the existence of local princes? So I thought there might be some fraud in him, and things might not be that simple!"

After Li Huan said that, seeing everyone talking in a low voice, she couldn't help feeling a little proud. When she turned her eyes, she saw Lai Ying looking at him with a contempt. Li Huan couldn't help but say angrily: "I'm a messenger, do you think I'm worried about it?"

Lai Ying stood up and said, "If you are Li Guangbi, I believe that, but you are not. You are so arrogant. You are so arrogant. Your tens of thousands of people are probably not enough for people to get stuck in their teeth. Once the twenty-two troops pass through the border, your Xuzhou and Chenliu will be swept into powder. Does he still have to worry about his hard work and plot against you?"

"You can't say anything!"

Xuzhou Governor Ji Guangchen stood up and shook his head and said, "It is right for governor Li to be vigilant in times of peace. Although each of us seems to have few troops, there are more than 100,000 people in total. Li Qing will not ignore us. I have always thought that An Qingxu's troops in Xiangzhou are only 60,000, and the 20,000 people in Xue Song in Weizhou are only 80,000. He doesn't need to mobilize such a force and exert the Guanzhong army. I think there must be a deeper reason, but I dare not guess."

Seeing Ji Guangchen opposed him, he was really unhappy. He raised his tone and asked, "According to the Governor Ji's intention, is the group training service fake?"

"No!" Ji Guangchen shook his head gently and said, "The regiment training may be true. I thought this was a fig leaf for Li Qing to use the right prime minister to command the army. The governor could lead the troops. Why can't the prime minister? The question is that the regiment training commander should be the ones we here? Or his own confidant, this is the most important thing."

"Jun Ji said it very well, it is exactly what I thought!"

Li Huan stood up and glanced at Lai Ying with a squint, "If we all unite and become a force, then Li Qing would never dare to touch us easily. On the contrary, if everyone is like someone, getting small profits and forgetting the great power, then we will die sooner or later!"

"Whoever says you get small profits and forget the righteousness!"

Lai Ying was furious, and drew his sword in his hand, pointed at Li Huan's nose and shouted: "Tell me clearly, just call me if you have the will!"

"Okay! Stop making trouble!" Tian Shengong, who had been silent, stood up. He was the most powerful among these people, with more than 50,000 soldiers, Shen, Guang, Tang, Ying, and Shou in Huaixi. Li Huan's words just now were what he had always thought about, how to capture everyone's power in his hands.

Since Li Huan put forward this topic, he continued to say, "In fact, the so-called court is his court of Li Qing. He is responsible for the emperor and ordered the princes. There are very few forces that can compete with him. The Hedong Army led by Changsun Quanxu in Hedong, Li Guangbi, and other forces in the two Huaihe areas. If we want to not be defeated one by one by one by him, we must unite, join forces and elect our common leaders, so that we can protect our interests. Look, are I right?"

The first person to express his opinion was naturally Li Huan. He stood in the middle of the house and whispered loudly: "I agree with General Tian's words. We should all unite to deal with Li Qing!"

"There is no question of dealing with it, it can only be said to be a confrontation!" Ji Guangchen also expressed his opinion.

At this time, Helan Jinming, who was sitting in the corner of the room, raised his hand and said, "I agree too!"

In the end, only Wang was left. Seeing that everyone's eyes looked at him, he smiled coldly and said, "This leader, could it be General Tian's recommendation!"

"No! Tian Mou was a little talented and knowledgeable, how could he take on this important task!"

Tian Shengong stood up and smiled and said, "I recommend someone who is respected and a direct descendant of the royal family. He will lead everyone. It is justified. This person is the successor of Guo King Li Ju."

The prince of Guo, Li Ju, now lives in Yingzhou, and has been living a life with Tian Shengong's face.

Li Qing's army was stationed about ten miles south of Zhengzhou City. This was originally the Xingyang Grain Depot. After the An Lushan army opened, the granary was looted and burned, leaving only dark ruins. However, the terrain was open and there were good fortifications, so it was selected as a temporary garrison. In the evening, more than 200,000 troops set up a camp of more than ten miles, like millions of mushrooms emerging on the ground at the same time, without a glance.

The next day, it was just tingling and bright, and there were guests in Li Qing's tent. The hearty laughter penetrated the morning fog and could be heard a hundred steps away. This was the governor of Nanyang Lu Jing. He disdained to be with Tian Shengong and others. Before dawn, he brought more than 10,000 people to join Li Qing.

Lu Jing was thin, but his voice was very loud. He could not hide his words in his heart. Li Qing almost didn't need to ask him. He took the initiative to pour out the situation in the two Huai Rivers. However, when the voice was small, Lu Jing's voice could be tightened immediately. "The Prime Minister, among the generals of the two Huai Rivers, Tian Shen Gong is the strongest, with more than 60,000 people, and it is not a mob. He once fought a battle with the generals of An Lushan, Linghu Chao, and 30,000 to 30,000. He tied with 10,000 troops. Later, Ji Guangchen arrived with 10,000 troops and killed Linghu Chao and fled. He had two tricks to lead the troops, but he was also ambitious. It was probably not that easy for the Prime Minister to remove his army from the field."

Speaking of this, Lu Jing added a little lips and said unsatisfiedly: "If the forces of Lianghuai are compared to a snake, then the magic weapon of Tian is the seven inches of the snake. If you pinch it, it will solve the problem of Lianghuai. Alas! Speaking of our Lianghuai, the land is rich and the products are rich...."

Li Qing listened silently, picking up the teapot from time to time to fill his cup, and always keeping a smile on his face. Lu Jiong talked for a quarter of an hour until he picked up the cup and found it was empty. Then he finally realized that he was overwhelming. His words stopped abruptly and scratched the back of his head and said apologizing: "I can't hold back the topic for a while, disturbing Prime Minister Guoqing to listen."

"It's okay! Although the envoy of Lu talks a little too much, he doesn't sound bored if he says something."

Li Qing filled the water for him and smiled and said, "The envoy of Lu is concerned about the court and is loyal to you. You will still bring your army back to Nanyang. I will send another 30,000 troops to help you. After my army crosses the Yellow River, I will stabilize the situation in the two Huai Rivers for me. After the quellation of the rebellion, I will definitely use it for you."

Lu Jing was overjoyed, and he immediately said goodbye and left. Li Qing ordered General Xi Yuanqing to lead 30,000 troops to go south with him. After all the above matters were arranged, it was already dawn.

Li Qing stood up and walked slowly outside the tent. The morning air was fresh and cold. The purple-red morning glow reddish reddish his face. He straightened his waist hard and moved his muscles and bones.

After he packed up the scattered troops in Hedong, he would face the forces of the two Huai Rivers. They were different from the simple soldiers in Hedong. Instead, they were real local forces, controlling local government affairs and controlling local finances. The army was also privately invested by them. They had a strong family nature. To put it seriously, this is the prototype of separatist rule in the vassal states. Simply mobilizing or promotion cannot solve the problem. It is even more undesirable to compromise with them and seek solutions that both sides can accept. As long as the army is in hand, they will inevitably grow and their control over the local areas will become deeper, and finally form a trend of being too big. The separatist rule in the vassal states in history was finally formed due to the compromise between the Tang Dynasty and various local forces. The dilemma of the two Huai Rivers must be resolved as soon as possible, but they cannot use force easily. Otherwise, it will be difficult to alarm the enemy and then gather everyone. Li Qing pondered for a long time. If he wanted to resolve the situation in the vassal states, he had to find a breakthrough.

Li Qing walked around the camp with his hands behind his back and returned to the handsome tent. Seeing that the sun was already high, no one of the generals of the two Huai Rivers came to pay his respects except Lu Jing. It seemed that the plan of the group training mission yesterday did not work, so everyone was still wary.

It was at this moment that a soldier rushed over here, "Report to the General, the governor of Xiangzhou came to ask for a meeting!"

"Bring him to see me!"

Li Qing smiled slightly on his face. Just as he was about to go to bed, someone sent a pillow.

Lai Wang was soon brought into the tent. Although he agreed to Tian Shengong's initiative yesterday and supported Siguo King Li Ju as the leader of the two Huai Rivers, he still had his own plans. If Tian Shengong did not propose Siguo King Li Ju, he might have worked with everyone to protect his own interests. But now he has seen Tian Shengong's ambition, that is, to support Li Ju as a puppet, and to stand up for the rich Jianghuai as the foundation, and to stand up to compete with Chang'an. Although he would not be the emperor for the time being, the momentum of separatism had been established.

Once he tied up a chariot, he would be in control. Not to mention that the position of governor of Xiangzhou is difficult to protect, even his 20,000 people will be taken into his pocket by Tian Shengong sooner or later. After a night of consideration, since Li Qing no longer makes things difficult for him for Li Cong, and promised him to be the Duke of the State, why should he make a wedding dress for Tian Shengong?

"I am guilty of being a humble official, so I come to ask the Prime Minister for his death!" Lai Ying was no longer as reserved as yesterday, and he knelt down as soon as he entered the tent.

Li Qing hurriedly stepped forward and helped him up, comforted him, "Sir, you are so rude, get up and speak!"

As he said that, Li Qing looked at him briefly and saw that his face was haggard, with a circle of blue around his eyes, and bloodshot could be seen in his eyes. It seemed that he had not slept well last night and hesitated for something all night. Li Qing had already felt a little clear in his heart, but he still kept silently ordered his personal soldiers to serve tea to Lai, and was not in a hurry to ask him.

Lai Wang did not drink tea. He hesitated for a long time before finally making up his mind to say to Li Qing: "I was the first to surrender to King Qing to get the position of governor of Xiangzhou. I wonder if the prime minister knows about this?"

Li Qing patted his shoulder gently and smiled, "You are worried that the feud between the original minister and King Qing will involve you! The so-called prime minister can hold a boat in his stomach. If I don't even have this measure, why should I be the right prime minister? No matter whether you were once the confidant of King Qing or Yang Guozhong's confidant, it is no longer important now. What is important is what position you stand in the future. I can tell you clearly now that as long as you can help the original minister solve the problem of the two Huai Rivers, I will never treat you badly!"

Speaking of this, Li Qing whispered to him: "The Minister of Works and the Minister of Works, and the Minister of the Central Committee, are your reward for your loyalty to the true nature!"

Lai Wang's legs began to tremble slightly. The price offered by Li Qing made him feel excited. He was originally a Jinshi, and it has always been his lifelong ambition to join the general. It was extremely difficult for him to get from the idle position of Doctor Zanshan of the Eastern Palace to a local official like the governor of Xiangzhou. Now Li Qing has granted him the Minister of Works and stepped into the cabinet one step, which makes him not ecstatic.

With a 'Pu!', Lai Ying knelt on the ground on both knees. He swears to the sky with a trembling voice: "I Lai Ying wish to be loyal to the prime minister. If I have two hearts, my descendants will be slaves and will never turn over!"

"Don't make such a heavy oath!"

Li Qing smiled and helped him up, patted his hand and said, "I have always been a employed person. Since you are loyal to me, I might as well tell you the truth. This time, this Eastern Expedition, Ping An Qingxu is a false sense, and taking the two Huai Rivers is a true sense. I want to find the safest solution. Do you have any good suggestions?"

Lai Yan suddenly broke out in a cold sweat, and was indeed arguing by Li Huan. Li Qing said to him yesterday that he set up a regiment training envoy, retaining local troops, etc. It was really a fraud. Fortunately, Tian Shengong proposed Li Ju's matter, otherwise he would be confused and would not know how he died at that time.

Thinking of this, he wanted to take out his heart and give it to Li Qing, and hurriedly said to him in a low voice: "Yesterday, his subordinates met Tian Shengong, Li Huan, Helan Jinming, Ji Guangchen and others...."

Lai Wang told Li Qing all the content of yesterday's secret meeting word for word, and finally said: "If the prime minister wants to do it, I suggest that I have crossed the Yellow River and then take action. First, they are far from their nests, and second, Shandong Xu Shuji will also come here, but they can be solved together to save future troubles."

Li Qing listened without saying a word, his eyes gradually narrowed into a slit. He didn't expect that Tian Shengong had such ambitions and supported another clan to fight him, so he underestimated him a little.

He sneered in his heart. Lai Wang's words were indeed consistent with his ideas. It was precisely because Xu Shuji from Shandong had not arrived that he decided to take action after crossing the Yellow River. Now that Lai Wang surrendered to him, he was more confident. He took two steps behind his back and suddenly turned around and said, "I will let the five thousand personal guards go back to the camp with you and mix in your army. You must try your best to cooperate with Tian Shengong, so that he will not be suspicious. As soon as there is news, I will send someone to report to me!"

In the afternoon of the same day, Li Qing immediately ordered all armies to set off for a total of 270,000 troops to head north. At this time, the Yellow River had frozen and there was no need for a ferry. The army rushed across the ice and marched northward. On the afternoon of the third day, the army arrived in Heyang. Xu Shuji, Shandong, led 30,000 troops to join Li Qing. Since then, all armies have arrived, totaling 300,000 troops, of which Li Qing's main force is about 200,000, and the remaining 100,000 troops are scattered troops from all over the country, and the 40,000 troops are the most prosperous with the Tian Shengong.

At this time, Li Qing's army was more than 200 miles away from Xiangzhou. In order to prevent An Qingxu from ambushing halfway, Li Qing ordered the marching speed to slow down and sent a large number of scouts to explore the way. That night, the army stayed overnight in Heyang.

Although the 300,000 Tang troops nominally respect Li Qing as the supreme commander, in fact, Tian Shengong and others still had their own formations. They never reported the commander's camp, but instead sent a messenger to keep in touch with the camp. After receiving Li Qing's dispatch, they also assigned their own generals to carry out the execution. They even kept a certain distance from the main camp when camping at night, and were very careful, for fear that Li Qing would be annexed by a careless person.

As the sky was getting dark, Li Qing received a secret report from Lai Wang. Tian Shengong ordered him to invite everyone to his camp tonight to discuss how to maintain the independence of each army during the battle.

This was a rare opportunity. Li Qing immediately notified himself to mingle the five thousand personal guards who came to the camp and were ready to take the opportunity to act.

The main purpose of Tian Shengong personally led his army north was to take advantage of the opportunity of Li Qing's army to persuade everyone to obey his unified command, so as to capture the forces of the two Huai Rivers into his hands. It was his long-planned plan to push the king of Guo Li Ju to come forward, not only did the court not find his excuse for rebellion, but also could get the support of other opponents of Li Yu in the court.

Once he controls the prosperous Jianghuai, Yangzhou and other places, he can still go south and include large areas such as Jiangnan, Shannan, and Lingnan, which have empty troops. In this way, he will have the strength to compete with Chang'an. Once the conditions are ripe, he will also play the slogan of clearing the emperor and competing with Li Qing.

Things were indeed very smooth. With the cooperation of Li Huan, he had reached an agreement with everyone to support the successor Guo King Li Ju as the lord of the two Huai Rivers. Tian Shengong immediately sent someone to Yingzhou to inform his brother Tian Shenyu that he could start preparing. Once the rebellion was over, he would immediately lead the army from both Huai Rivers to return to Yingzhou.
To be continued...