During the discussion, Wei Fufeng learned some serious facts. First, after Wang Jian captured Chengdu, he ordered his general Li Jian to lead 10,000 troops south to attack Rongzhou within a few days.

A battle broke out with the outer military forts of Rongzhou. Three military forts were breached and one hundred and fifty soldiers were killed.

After the Shunan Military Mansion learned of this, they sent 20,000 troops north to resist the enemy. They are now stationed in the north of Shunan County to confront the invading Li Jian army.

In addition, 10,000 more Xichuan troops were stationed in Zizhou, Xichuan, making the hostile situation clear.

There is also insufficient grain storage in southern Sichuan. Once a fierce war breaks out and farmland in Changzhou and Luzhou is plundered, it will be the consequence of grain shortage. Defending against the attack of the Xichuan Army will be a passive and bitter battle.

Of course, Wei Fufeng understood that the attacking side had flexibility and could move in and out of troops.

The defending side is in a position of being unable to defend itself, so it builds military forts to form strategic defense strongholds.

After understanding the situation, Wei Fufeng said: "The war troops from Fuzhou returned to Yuzhou, and the troops from Yuzhou went to Nanxi County to be stationed on standby. Five thousand troops from the Liao Human Race were transferred to Fuzhou to guard. Lu Qing was transferred back to command and stationed in Nanxi County.

military strength."

"Your Excellency, you plan to intimidate the Xichuan Army into retreating?" Old Feng asked.

"No, take the initiative to attack Jiazhou and station until the south bank where the Dadu River and the Min River meet. Our army only has half of Jiazhou and uses the natural dangers of the river to resist the enemy. The Nanxi County garrison in Rongzhou can respond to changes in the situation from east to west at any time." Wei Fufeng.

said.

Everyone nodded, and Commander Zhang Tianyu said: "Commander Lu is still building a city in Qianzhou, and his subordinates are willing to go to Nanxi County to lead the army and station it."

"You should still command Fengli Camp. The main reason why we are calling Lu Qing is that we can attack Rongzhou and Lingzhou. Lu Qing was born in the Gongjing Army and is familiar with the geography." Wei Fufeng explained.

The officials were surprised, and Lao Feng said: "Sir, the Dongchuan Army has always been at peace with us. It seems inappropriate and premature to be aggressive at the moment."

"Our army does not want to start a war lightly, but Wang Jian has Xichuan, and the Dongchuan Army has been unwilling to ally with us, so the Dongchuan Army is likely to join forces with Wang Jian, so our army took the initiative to reach an alliance with Yang Shouliang, and I took Rongzhou

He Lingzhou, Yang Shouliang and other Dongchuan rule." Wei Fufeng said.

The officials were surprised. Old Feng was surprised and said: "Not long after the Battle of Jinzhou, Yang Shouliang was willing to turn enemies into allies?"

"The vassals and towns are like vassal states. There are only interests between the kingdoms, and there is no absolute distinction between friends and foes. Yang Shouliang was concerned that Xingyuan Prefecture was threatened by Jinzhou. Our army took the initiative to make peace and promised not to take advantage of the opportunity to attack, so Yang Shouliang set his eyes on

To Dongchuan." Wei Fufeng explained.

Old Feng nodded and said: "Yang Shouliang attacked Dongchuan and occupied Jianmen Pass to advance troops. In fact, he should have taken Dongchuan first. The gain outweighed the loss by attacking Jinzhou. It was a mistake."

"Yang Shouliang's attack on Jinzhou was forced by Yang Fugong. Yang Fugong wanted to invade Jinzhou, intimidate the court in Chang'an City, and intend to reinstate his official position." Wei Fufeng explained.

Old Feng nodded, and Wei Fufeng added: "There are variables in this matter. We can only wait for Yang Shouliang to send troops after attacking Dongchuan, so we must not let it out. All excuses for troop deployment are to resist the Xichuan army."

The officials agreed and then discussed military and political matters.

Wei Fufeng made appropriate adjustments to the officials based on the reports and suggestions from the Governor's Office. Those who were capable were promoted, while those with poor abilities or those who violated the law were transferred to unimportant official positions. Taking into account the stability of people's hearts, officials were not demoted or killed.

After the meeting, Wei Fufeng and Lao Feng, accompanied by Huben Guards and Qianhe Guards, patrolled the city and arrived at the south gate of the inner city.

Wei Fufeng climbed up the tower and looked out, seeing that the vast outer city had taken shape.

The undulating city wall is like a prostrate dragon. The two visible city gates on the left and right have been built. The green city gate part is perfectly integrated with the rammed earth city wall. The parapets and crenellations on the city gate are complete, but there is no city tower.

The vast newly built outer city has six gates, two in the southeast and two in the west. In the future, a watchtower will be built in the middle of the city wall. Now the west wall of the inner city is being demolished, and the stone is used to build the waterfront wall.

Inside the outer city, there is a neat and spectacular scene. An artificial river that curves like a jade belt runs through the city. Large bamboo buildings are distributed in a square area. The crisscrossing dirt roads extend in all directions. There are also large areas of green space where vegetables are grown.

or food.

Wei Fufeng was delighted when he saw it and said with a smile: "Old Feng, the changes here are so great."

"The changes are great, and this is due to the bamboo forests in southern Sichuan, which can build bamboo houses as soon as possible to allow the refugees to live in a stable place." Old Feng Xinyue said that this is the result of his hard work.

Wei Fufeng nodded and asked: "How are the monks at Bao'en Temple doing? Do you have any complaints?"

Old Feng said: "There should be no complaints. After they came, their subordinates took special care of them. They provided them with food and accommodation, and also asked them to take charge of the layout of the temple. Moreover, there are tens of thousands of Buddhist believers here, so they are naturally happy to be here."

.”

Wei Fufeng nodded, and Old Feng added: "There is another matter. Some wealthy families in Yuzhou have taken the initiative to request to use the confiscated fields to borrow deeds in exchange for buying land on the river bank in the city. They want to build docks and various commercial buildings."

Wei Fufeng thought for a moment, nodded and said: "Yes, but you can't sell it at a low price, and you can't sell it for too much. You have to leave room for rewards for officials, and wealthy families from other states who have loan deeds can also come.

Buy it instead."

Old Feng nodded and said: "Some officials said that with the participation of those wealthy families, Bacheng can quickly become prosperous and may become the second Yangzhou City."

Wei Fufeng nodded happily after hearing this. He wanted to make Bacheng a prosperous city in southern Sichuan.

The geography of Yuzhou extends in all directions. It is connected by the Jialing River in the north, various resources in the upper reaches of the river in the west, the circulation in the lower reaches of the river in the east, and the Fuling River in the south can be connected with the Central Guizhou Road. If it is managed properly, it is a cornucopia.

Then I heard Lao Feng ask: "Sir, are there any people who have come over to take up posts in Jinzhou?"

"No, southern Sichuan belongs to me. I will not let my family members intervene. I will use my wife's family at most. As for the Jinzhou side, after it is stabilized, I will not interfere too much in the military affairs." Wei Fufeng answered affirmatively.

...

Wei Fufeng's series of military and political orders came out, and the war troops guarding Fuzhou moved to Nanxi County in Rongzhou.

Fuzhou left behind the garrison army and the 5,000 Liao human troops who left, plus the 1,000 regiments affiliated with the governor, for a total of 11,000 troops.

The so-called war army refers to field soldiers recruited from various military offices to temporarily form a military force for combat. The garrison of the war army does not change permanently. The lieutenants of the army are rotated regularly, and the number of soldiers remains unchanged.

The commander Lu Qing was ordered to return to Yuzhou and had a secret discussion with Jiedushi Wei Fufeng, naturally on how to attack Rongzhou and how to defend it.

For Rongzhou, Wei Fufeng was bound to win, firstly, it could become a strategic barrier between Yuzhou and Luzhou, and secondly, the salt well resources. When sea salt could not be transported, the gain or loss of well salt was related to the success or failure of the foundation.

The day after the 20,000 war troops arrived in Nanxi County, they continued their march to join the 20,000 field troops from the Shunan Military Mansion.

Three days later, 40,000 troops attacked the 10,000 Xichuan troops in a mighty manner.

The 10,000 Xichuan Army could only retreat. Although the armor coverage rate of the 40,000 Southern Sichuan Army was extremely low, the numerical gap was too large, and the Southern Sichuan Army was no longer a rabble in terms of morale and fighting spirit and organization.

After advancing and retreating, the Xichuan Army retreated to Longyou County on the north bank of the junction of the Dadu River and the Min River.

Twenty thousand troops from southern Sichuan were stationed on the south bank, while the troops from the southern Shu army retreated and returned to Gaoxian and Dousha counties to station themselves.

The duties of the field soldiers of the Shunan Military Mansion were mainly to suppress the Bo people's areas internally and to deter the Nanzhao Kingdom externally.

...

Li Jian, the camp commander of the Xichuan Army, stood on the north bank of the Dadu River and looked at the South Sichuan Army Camp on the south bank. He had a Chinese character face, even sideburns, and frowned. He felt helpless. The South Sichuan Army was stationed on the south bank, leaving him with nothing to do.

The order to attack Rongzhou actually had two purposes. One was to test whether Rongzhou could be captured, and the other was to deliberately provoke the Southern Sichuan Army and arouse the ambitions of the Southern Sichuan Army.

Li Jian sent out generals from Rongzhou to persuade the governor of Rongzhou to surrender, but he was politely refused.

The governor of Rongzhou who once attached himself to Wang Jian changed his attitude to wait and see. In fact, he was not optimistic about Wang Jian.

The second purpose is to arouse the ambition of the Southern Sichuan Army to invade Xichuan. It can be said that Xichuan has experienced many years of war, and its population and wealth have been greatly damaged, which can easily arouse the ambitions of foreign vassals.

Wang Jian had long paid attention to the rise of the Southern Sichuan Army, but if he did not capture the city of Chengdu, it would give Chen Jingxuan a chance to breathe. Chen Jingxuan was pardoned by the emperor and reinstated as the military governor of Xichuan.

But by the time they captured Chengdu, the Southern Sichuan Army in the south had become a powerful vassal with solid foundations and stable people.

Wang Jian is brave and good at fighting, but the basic conditions for a war are military strength and financial resources.

Wang Jian was able to mobilize 70,000 to 80,000 troops to invade southern Sichuan, but after years of war, the people of Xichuan were in peace of mind, and the officials and wealthy families who had surrendered to Wang Jian were unwilling to continue to suffer losses.

Wang Jian needed to lure the snake out of its hole, provoke the Southern Sichuan Army, and prompt the Southern Sichuan Army to attack Xichuan.

Li Jian acted according to the order and stormed the outer forts of the Southern Sichuan Army. He captured three forts and lost 600 troops. Dozens of the Southern Sichuan Army who were eventually made prisoners were also killed, in order to anger the Southern Sichuan Army.

The counterattack army of the Southern Sichuan Jiedushi was fierce, but it was obvious that it was mainly defensive and was not willing to attack Xichuan at all.

Li Jian had nothing to do. If he crossed the river and attacked, it would just be a food delivery and he couldn't afford the loss at all.

...

The post-war scene in Chengdu was one of depression. The vast city was obviously empty, and there were almost no civilians on the streets. Instead, there were only soldiers in various styles of clothing walking around.

There is a palace in the inner city of Chengdu, which is the emperor's palace outside Chang'an.

Historically, many emperors of the Tang Dynasty took refuge in Shu. The palace in Chengdu was built by Xichuan Jiedushi Chen Jingxuan for Emperor Xizong of the Tang Dynasty during the Huangchao Rebellion.

A palace with high walls and green tiles, and red doors with flying eaves.

In the Yangxin Hall, Wang Jian is wearing a purple robe and jade belt, sitting high on the big chair behind the Dragon Case. He is about forty years old, tall and tall, with sharp eyebrows and tiger eyes, and a three-inch long beard. He has an extraordinary majesty behind the case.

There were also dozens of civil and military officials sitting in the Hall of Yangxin, all of whom were advisers and generals whom Wang Jian trusted. The main advisers were Zhang Qianyu and Zhou Zou, and the generals were all close guards.
Chapter completed!