Chapter 255: Induce but not send

In mid-November of the sixth year of Xuanren, the court formally appointed Zhang Huanshi to lead the Minister of War and the Censor of the Ministry of War, and to work with the Minister of the Central Secretariat and to ping Zhang's affairs, and appointed him as the Grand Marshal of the Western Expedition, and was fully responsible for handling matters in Hexi and Anxi. The original Minister of War Cui Qinggong was changed to the Secretary of the Ministry of War. In addition, the court suddenly appointed Zhang Potian, who had been unemployed for many years, to take over as the Minister of the Ministry of War.

After a series of personnel changes, 50,000 Longyou Army troops were divided into two groups, one by one, and they rushed to Dasan Pass to replace the Fengxiang Army's defense. The other was guarding the Xiegu, and 5,000 people were assigned to guard Ziwu Valley to prevent Zhu Li from attacking Chang'an from surprise troops.

At the same time, Zhu Li's vanguard failed to raid Dasan Pass and retreated 30 miles to wait for the main force to reinforce. At this time, Zhu Li finally listened to the repeated persuasion of his brother Zhu Tao and his adviser Qi Lu. After changing his offensive posture, he began to enter the defensive stage and sent envoys to the court, declaring that he had no intention of rebellion and "not looking at Guanzhong."

After entering Guanzhong, Zhang Huan's army was not in a hurry to attack. On the one hand, it guided the refugees who escaped from Hanzhong to visit Longyou. On the other hand, it expanded the grain warehouse and actively prepared for war. The army was invading the attack posture high, but it was not triggered.

In early December, the situation in Hanzhong gradually stabilized, but the news that Cui Qinggong wanted to attack Huainan spread like wildfire. Chang'an's eyes looked back and turned to the southeast.

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The river was flowing, and the sky was clear. A fleet of 300 large ships sailed on the Yangtze River, carrying the breath of Bashan and Shu River to the southeast. This was an army that was marching thousands of miles to the Jianghuai River to support the Chu family. A few days ago, Chu Xingshui took a detour to Fengxiang and asked Zhang Huan to send troops to support Huainan. Although they were thousands of miles apart, Zhang Huan still generously agreed and ordered 30,000 Longyou Army to board the ship from Nanping County, southern Shu.

The fleet had sailed for five days. On that day, the fleet passed Yiling. In front of it was Yidu City. The river surface suddenly became wider, with the sky and water connected, and the river breeze with a fishy smell came from behind, slapped the merchant ship flag and sounded like a loud breeze.

At the bow of the first ship, Lin Jiuhan, dressed in a short shirt, looked into the distance, and the excitement and solemnity in his eyes were revealed at the same time. Today is exactly thirty years old. The man stood at thirty. Lin Jiuhan, thirty years old, has been out for fifteen years. He once carried a lonely sword across the banks of the Huai River, making the name of a "heroine". He was once bound to the battlefield and escaped by the grim smile of the god of death. However, no matter how brilliant the past years were, no matter how mature his mind was, he could not compare with his mood at this moment. It was difficult to suppress the excitement in his heart. The endless fallen trees were rustling down, and the endless Yangtze River rolled. Until today, at the time of thirty, he had a heroic heart that lived up to this life. Looking at the vast river with the sea and sky, Lin Jiuhan almost roared for a long time.

‘This trip to Jiangnan is called saving Chu, but it is actually to set up chess. After the two Huai Rivers affairs are over, you can lead the army to Changsha to monitor the abnormal movements of the two Huai Rivers, and respond to our outside Longyou....’

Zhang Huan's instructions seemed to be still flashing in his mind at this moment, and he took a national long-term chess step, which marked that the governor's thinking had broken through the shackles of all regions and began to care about the world. This burden was handed over to him Lin Jiuhan. Lin Jiuhan was excited, and he suddenly had the urge to die for his confidant.

"General Lin." A soldier shouted on the lookout tower, "There is a ship to stop him in front of the right."

Lin Jiuhan was slightly stunned. He then walked to the right boat string to look under the head, and saw more than a dozen small boats lined up. Lin Jiuhan was carrying heavy responsibilities. He did not dare to be careless and immediately ordered his left and right, "Let the brothers all enter the cabin."

After a moment, the boat approached the big boat, and they suddenly dispersed like a group of flexible small fish, shuttled back and forth between the big boats. There were about a dozen soldiers on each boat, some shouting loudly to stop the boat, and some stretched out their long hooks to find the place where the hook was lowered.

Lin Jiuhan's deputy general Lu Sheng looked for a long time. He suddenly pointed at a middle-aged officer on the boat and turned to Lin Jiuhan and said, "General, this is the army of the Wang family in Shannan. In front of him is Yidu City, there are three thousand troops stationed there. The tall and thin one is Yang Hao, the military commander. I know him."

During this Eastern Expedition, Zhang Huan specially selected three thousand Jingchu soldiers from the army to accompany him. Deputy General Lu Sheng was from Changsha County. He had served in the Shannan Army, so he recognized the officers on the boat at a glance. He sneered disdainfully: "The only thing they have to do here is to blackmail the passing merchant ships. I guess they regarded us as big fat sheep from Shu!"

Lin Jiuhan pondered for a moment, then said to the owner of the ship behind him: "Master Li, come forward and ask, how much do they want to buy a road?"

This time, the troop transport ships mainly collected cargo ships from seven large merchants on the Minjiang River and three merchants on the Yangtze River. Among them, nearly 100 large ships of thousands of stone were collected from the Min'e Trading Company, the largest Min'e Trading Company. Li Dongzhu of Min'e Trading Company felt sorry for the ship and insisted on following the ship owner. He often sailed on the Yangtze River and knew the toll market well, so he said with a bitter face: "General, there is no fixed number. For a large fleet like this, they have to be on the ship for inspection and then make a reservation."

Lin Jiuhan's face darkened and he said to Li Dongzhu: "Go and ask and ask them to offer a price."

"I'll go now." Master Li didn't dare to say anything again and went in a hurry to negotiate.

"Bang!" He punched the ground. Before Li Dongzhu, who had just boarded the boat to prepare for negotiation, he was hit by the military commander Yang Hao and punched him in the river. He scolded angrily: "Damn it, you dare to bargain. Don't you understand my rules?"

Several boatmen hurriedly jumped into the river to rescue the boss. The river was cold in December. Several boatmen worked hard to find the boss Li Dongzhu and tied him up with a rope, so that the people on the boat could pull the boss Li Dongzhu, who had lost half his life, little by little.

The military commander Yang Hao relied on his army and was a little more cruel than the robber. He had long lost his patience and shouted loudly: "Go to me to dock, and whoever dares to escape will sink."

On the big ship, deputy general Lu Sheng hurriedly said: "General, they really know how to drill a boat, so it's better to dock!"

Lin Jiuhan's eyes showed murderous intent, and he smiled coldly and said, "Since you don't want to live, you will be fulfilled!"

"Dang!" Lin Jiuhan gave the order, and three hundred large ships that stretched for several miles slowly sailed towards the Yidu City embankment.

On the shore, five or six hundred soldiers who had been waiting for a long time cheered when they saw the big ship sailing towards the shore. Since Zhu Li took charge of Shuzhong, the busy river road has become increasingly deserted. This fleet of hundreds of large ships has not met for two years. It is like a man who is eating braised vegetables suddenly saw big fish and meat placed on it. How could they not be ecstatic?

But no one expected that what was coming to them was not a big fish and meat, but a god of death.

The order had been passed down, and the soldiers had put on their armor, their swords were unsheathed, and the arrows were on the side of each ship. There were countless crossbowmen hiding, holding their breath, waiting for the command of the team.

In fact, this kind of large ship can only stop at most a dozen ships at a time on the recession of Yidu City. The impatient soldiers on the shore have already run to the recession to wave and shout. They are already impatient and want to get on the ship for a "routine inspection". Seeing more than a dozen large ships docked, less than fifty steps, the sails have fallen, and the soldiers can't help laughing.

But an accident happened at this moment. The big ship suddenly turned around and drove parallel to the embassy. More than a dozen big ships were connected in a line, like a tall city wall.

The soldiers and horse envoy Yang Hao was furious. He was about to order the water ghost to dig the boat, but a red flag rose slowly on the first big ship. A shout broke out from more than a dozen big ships. Nearly a thousand fully armed soldiers appeared on the side of the ship. Everyone held a crossbow, and a fierce murderous aura rushed towards him. Just as the soldiers on the shore suddenly became silent, arrows on the boat were like rain, and overwhelming arrows shot towards the shore. A wailing sound suddenly sounded on the shore. More than half of the five or six hundred soldiers were shot down. All the rest were scattered and stumbled back and fled. Seeing that the situation was not good, Yang Hao turned over and jumped out of the river, but was shot in the back by an arrow. He screamed wildly and fell heavily into the river.

The sails of the ship rose again and headed deep into the river. The shore became very quiet. Hundreds of dead bodies piled up on the shore in a row. Occasionally, the groans of undead people came out, and blood gathered into the river, flowing into the river, rendering a red color.

Just after the fleet left, he slowly stretched out a yellow hand from the water and climbed the bluestone on the bank with difficulty. An officer with an arrow on his back gradually surfaced. He lay on the bluestone and gasped. After a while, he looked at the shadow of the ship that had gone away and couldn't help but mutter, "Are they going to attack Xiangyang?"

The big ship was like a line of egrets, and had disappeared far away at the end of the water and sky.

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Chencang County, Fengxiang Prefecture, is located at the temporary command center of Longyou Army. In the early morning, the city gate was heavily guarded, and nearly 100 farmers who entered the city to sell vegetables were lined up for inspection.

At this time, a carriage galloped from the west under the escort of more than a hundred cavalrymen. On the window, Hu Weiyong, wearing a gauze hat, was protruding his head to look at the city wall. He had lived in this area for many years and was very familiar with it.

The carriage was close to the city gate, and the vegetables sold people dodged a path. A cavalry went forward to submit a token to the defender. After the defense was inspected, the carriage immediately released it. The carriage drove into the city gate. At this time, the city of Chencang County was already a scene of war. Most shops were closed, and there were no pedestrians on the street. There were only a group of soldiers patrolling. You could not see a carriage full of military goods galloping past the street. A cavalry asked for the road, and the carriage immediately turned right and headed towards the county government.

The county government is located on the central axis of the county town and is quite old. It has now been temporarily changed to the temporary headquarters of the governor. Zhang Huan also lives in the county government. He has been in Fengxiang for almost ten days. His injuries have been much healed under the careful care of Cui Ning and Yang Chunshui, and he can basically walk downstairs.

At this moment, Zhang Huanzheng, Lang General Li Shuangyu and Cao Hanchen were studying the battle situation in the room. However, they were not studying the battle situation in Hanzhong, but the battle situation in Hexi. Just two days ago, the Tang army in Zhangye suddenly launched a large-scale attack on the Tubo army in Jiuquan County, and Wang Siyu from Dunhuang County also cooperated with Helou Wuji to lead 20,000 cavalry to encircle the northern part of Hexi, and had seized Yumen Pass and cut off the Tubo army's retreat.

There is a sand table in the middle of the room, which clearly marks the mountains, rivers and the Gobi desert in Hexi. The cities are like a string of pearls, scattered on the narrow Hexi Corridor.

Zhang Huan stared at Yumen Pass tightly. His brows frowned, his fingers moved west along a green line, and finally stopped at a pass. The south side of the pass is the starting point of the high Qilian Mountains, and the north side is the vast desert. This is the end of the Hexi Corridor and the east gate of Anxi and Beiting. It is extremely dangerous in geographical location, but there is no name on the sand table.

"General Cao, what's the name here?"

Cao Hanchen lived in Anxi since he was born and was very familiar with the geographical environment here. When he saw Zhang Huan asking himself, he quickly replied: "This place is called Xingxing Gorge, which is the only way to go to Anxi."

"Is the governor worried that the Tubo people would come from Anxi to pick him up?" Li Shuangyu, who was next to him, suddenly asked.

Zhang Huan nodded, and he said with some concern: "Anxi's intelligence is still a month ago. Everything will happen this month. I am worried that the Uighurs have withdrawn their troops with the cover of heavy snow. If Anxi's Tubo army comes to aid, Wang Siyu will be attacked from both sides."

Speaking of this, Zhang Huan pointed to Xingxing Gorge, "But if we take this place first, even if the Tubo army comes to help, we can prepare calmly."

As soon as Zhang Huan finished speaking, a laugh came from the door, "The governor not only had to consider the Tubo army coming to aid, but also the abnormal movements in Lingwu County."

When Zhang Huan turned around, he saw the Chief Secretary Hu Weiyong appear at the door. He didn't know when he would arrive? Zhang Huan couldn't help but be surprised and happy and said, "Why are you here, sir?"

"I heard that the governor was injured by an arrow, and the wife was very worried, so she ordered me to come and send a letter to the governor." Hu Weiyong walked up, took out a letter and put it on the table, and smiled and said, "I will live up to my trust and complete the task successfully."

Seeing that he was talking interesting, Zhang Huan couldn't help but pick up the letter and smiled, and gave a wink to the personal soldiers. Several personal soldiers hurriedly stepped forward to move the sand table, but Hu Weiyong stopped them, "Don't move, I might use this item later."

Zhang Huan glanced at him deeply, and immediately waved his hand and said, "Sir, please sit down and talk."

He sat down opposite Hu Weiyong, Li Shuangyu pulled Cao Hanchen, and the two quietly retreated. Zhang Huan pondered for a moment and asked, "Mr. Tsai said that Lingwu County was moving, what does this mean?"

Hu Weiyong took out a letter from his arms and handed it to Zhang Huan, "Reasonably, I shouldn't interfere in military affairs, but this matter is of great importance, so I came to discuss with the governor."

Zhang Huan received the letter and then realized that the letter was written by Tuoba Wanli, the King of Dangxiang. In the letter, he first expressed his desire for Zhang Huan to go north, and then revealed to Zhang Huan that the Shuofang Jiedushi Li Zhengji had been collecting food on a large scale recently and began to gather troops from Hui County.

'Hui County!' Zhang Huan was shocked. According to his understanding with Pei Jun three years ago, Hui County could not garrison there except for beacon fire garrison. How could Li Zhengji send troops to Hui County? Is this Pei Jun's intention? No! Pei Jun is asking for help now, hoping to restrain Zhu Li for him, and the Tang army is attacking Hexi on a large scale. He will not bear the reputation of obstructing the recovery of his old place, so Pei Jun will never send troops to Hui County at this time.

Then what does Li Zhengji mean when he does this?

Suddenly, a thought flashed through Zhang Huan's mind, "Is that?" He looked at Hu Weiyong incredibly.

Hu Weiyong nodded slowly, "I mean that too."

Zhang Huan couldn't help but feel the chaos inside. He stood up and walked to the window. The problem was not what Li Zhengji wanted to do. There was still 150,000 elite troops in Jincheng County, and he was not afraid of him coming to attack. This was not important. What was important was that Li Zhengji was most likely to act without Pei Jun's authorization. What did this mean? If the speculation was true, I'm afraid another Cui Qinggong was about to be born.

"Governor, this is our chance to regain the Shuofang." Hu Weiyong looked at Zhang Huan's back and said slowly: "We should create opportunities to let Li Zhengji become independent, so that we can become famous in the army and recover the lost territory three years ago in one fell swoop."

Zhang Huan did not answer him. He still stared at the few bare old trees in the distance, his eyes full of worry. After a long time, he shook his head gently, "Sorry! My husband and I may have different ideas."

Hu Weiyong's eyes showed a look of confusion. He hesitated and asked, "Is the governor worried that he will be unable to deal with the bullish battle?"

“This is just one aspect, but not the main reason.”

Zhang Huan turned around and walked slowly to the sand table. He tapped the position of Xingxing Gorge with his fingers and said, "Recently, I have been considering whether to take Anxi with the flow or stop at this Xingxing Gorge, and put Anxi in five years, or ten years later, whether to fight against foreign countries or to settle the country first. This is actually a question of which is more important. Is it important to maintain stability within the Tang Dynasty, whether the people live and work in peace and contentment, or to recover their hometowns and expand outward?"

Speaking of this, Zhang Huan turned his head to look at Hu Weiyong. His eyes had become bright and firm. "It was not until this time that I decided to make the Fengxiang strategy that I finally decided to stop the battle in the Western Regions at Xingxing Gorge for the time being. Turning to the east, I want to eliminate the local warlords who want to split the Tang Dynasty, reorganize the military system, restrict land annexation, and attack aristocratic families. After the Tang Dynasty is back on track, let our soldiers regain our hometown and expand our territory to the West."

Hu Weiyong let out a long sigh, "I finally understand, then, let's change our thinking when dealing with this Li Zhengji."
Chapter completed!