Han Shizu

Chapter 589 The strategy of Jinghu
Liu Chengyou stepped into the Privy Council, and Ruan Zheng was talking with Guo Rong.He raised his hand to stop the two, raised his robe and sat on the short chair provided by Zhang Dejun, and asked, "What is the matter that Erqing is talking about?"

Zhe Cong Ruan Ying said: "The Military Information Department reported that Zhou Xingfeng in Hunan Province broke Wuling City four days ago. Now, it has completely occupied Chen, Lang, Tan, Heng and other places. I am afraid that there will be no Zhou family in Hunan. adversary!"

"Oh?" Liu Chengyou clicked his tongue, not surprised: "Tan and Lang fought hard for more than half a year, and finally the winner was determined! Sun Lang and Cao Jin are not opponents of Zhou Xing, but there is no one. Thinking of it, the two of them can persist until now!"

"Although the siege of the city by the Tan army took several months, the result is predictable!" Guo Rong's tone was a little regretful, and he said, "It's just that I never thought that other forces in Hunan would sit back and watch the success or failure, allowing them to attack Zhang Wenbiao, who supported troops in the south, indulged in pleasure, and did not cause Zhou Xingfeng any trouble, allowing him to calmly break through the besieged city!"

This summer, Wuling, Langzhou, was in turmoil. Starting from Wang Kui, Liu Yan, Pan Shusi, civil strife and constant shopping, finally let Sun Lang and Cao Jin, two penniless northern generals, become famous all at once. .

Seeing the opportunity, Zhou Xingfeng held high the "Flag of Righteousness" and launched the army northward.Sun Lang and Cao Jin were not just waiting to be killed. The Helang and Chen prefectures had [-] troops and went south to meet them. The two sides fought in Yiyang.

Since the time when Ma Xie raised his troops, Yiyang County has always been the focus of the military struggle between Lang and Tan. It has been devastated by wars and almost witnessed all the wars since the end of Ma Chu.This time, too, the two sides fought fiercely in Yiyang for more than ten days.

However, Cao Jin and Sun Lang were only generals, and they belonged to foreign generals. The number of Central Plains soldiers who have followed the two for many years is no more than seven hundred.

Although Zhou Xingfeng had less than [-] soldiers, there was no difference between the number of those who challenged him head-on.However, Zhou Xingfeng was able to control his troops skillfully, with one mind and one mind, and he had the upper hand from the beginning of the battle.

As for Sun Lang and Cao Jin, although they have few talents, they are also warriors who walk on the tip of their swords all year round.Although it was difficult to detect the defeat, he felt that something was wrong, so he withdrew his troops decisively and moved quickly.Zhou Xingfeng took the opportunity to pursue and kill them. Although he captured more than [-] soldiers, he still let them lead the remnant soldiers back to Wuling City.

Zhou Xingfeng took the opportunity to rectify his army and horses, and then besieged the city with land and water soldiers.Originally, if there were no accidents, Wuling's situation of scattered people and internal and external troubles could be broken within ten days.

However, rabbits are eager to bite people, and dogs are anxious to jump over the wall. Sun Lang and Cao Jin made great efforts in the city to repel the soldiers.Although Wuling City was the source of many years of turmoil in Hunan, it did not suffer much substantial damage. With the addition of a few governors, they spared no effort to repair and strengthen the city.

Faced with such a situation, Sun and Cao defended the city with all their might. Zhou Xingfeng's army attacked for two rounds, but they were really defended for a while.On Zhou Xingfeng's side, with insufficient military strength, there is more than enough to trap and not enough to destroy.

The two sides fought fiercely inside and outside Wuling, from summer to autumn, more than three months.Before winter, seeing that the old soldiers were exhausted and the city was hard to get down, a subordinate officer advised Zhou Xingfeng to temporarily withdraw his troops and try again later, but Zhou Xingfeng resolutely refused.

He called together the generals of the army and said to them: "The siege of the city lasted for several months. It is not because the bandit army is strong. It is I who pity the soldiers and do not want to waste their lives breaking the city. In this way, the bandits in Wuling have declined. I am a widow, and I have enough food and warm clothes outside. How long will it be able to last? This is the end of the matter, and we must not give up halfway. If you retreat today, you will come back tomorrow, and the effort will be doubled! "

In this way, Zhou Xingfeng unified the army's morale, and also eliminated Sun Lang and Cao Jin's hope of "strictly guarding the city defense, draining their morale, and waiting for the enemy to retreat."

Of course, Zhou Xingfeng's stubbornness was a decision made after assessing the situation.

First, the Northern Han Dynasty in the Central Plains was busy with internal affairs and had no intention of external affairs. It only issued some innocuous edicts to Hunan, so that Zhou Xingfeng could concentrate on the strategy without distraction.The surrounding powers, the Jingnan Gao family has always been self-defense, the Southern Tang Dynasty was hit hard by Huainan, and it is reforming, and the Houshu is busy with the Northern Emperor. It can be said that Zhou Xingfeng has an almost perfect and stable external environment.

Two, Wuling is an isolated city, and the surrounding counties and towns all surrender to him and provide military service and food.When he stationed troops outside, he had no shortage of food, grass, ordnance, and clothing, and he had enough confidence.Then Changsha was governed by him and gradually recovered.

Speaking of this, I have to mention that Zhou Xingfeng has a good wife.He is bloodthirsty, and his usage is harsh. When he often abuses his punishment, he is often advised by his wife to suspend his sentence to accumulate virtue.During the farming season, his wife also went to work in the fields in person to stabilize the people's livelihood and make them less worry-free.

Of the three, the only ones to worry about are old brothers like Zhang Wenbiao in the south, who are the ones who suffer from the elbows and armpits.For these people, Zhou Xingfeng added and stabilized them with generous gifts.Especially Zhang Wenbiao, Zhou Xingfeng also chose five beauties as presents, one of them was the most beautiful and favorite concubine in his back house.

Therefore, when Zhou Xingfeng was fighting at the foot of Wuling City, Zhang Wenbiao was busy enjoying wine and beauties.Especially Zhou Xingfeng's favored concubine, who was envied as early as in Langzhou, is even more proud of being presented on the couch by Zhou Xingfeng, and often tells people that Zhou Xingfeng fears him so much.

So far this winter, Wuling City has run out of grain and is no longer able to resist. Together with the rebels, Zhou Xingfeng easily broke in and was able to take down the whole city.Although a lot of money and food were wasted, the gains in Wuling were always greater than the sacrifices.

Although Liu Chengyou is busy with sorting out internal affairs, he still pays attention to the war in Hunan, and has to ask questions from time to time.

After quickly digesting Zhou Xingfeng's breaking of Wuling, according to the news from Langzhou, Liu Chengyou asked: "What about Sun Lang and Cao Jin? If they escape, maybe they can stay and make some articles in the future!"

Guo Rong shook his head: "Both of them were captured alive. When Zhou Xingfeng entered the city, he beheaded both of them and hung their heads at the city gate. In addition, after entering the city, Zhou Xingfeng recruited Lang soldiers, but he sent all the Central Plains troops who followed Sun and Cao people into the city. The generals, all beheaded, more than five hundred soldiers, not one left!"

Hearing this, Liu Chengyou couldn't help but took a deep breath, and said with concentration: "This Zhou Xingfeng, killing decisively, the methods are really vicious!"

"It is reported that Zhou Xingfeng killed the northern soldiers, nominally to avenge Liu Yan and Pan Shusi. But I speculate that the northern soldiers were the source of the disaster, and the killing would prevent future troubles. In addition, it may not have deterred the troops from Langzhou. Heart!" Guo Rong analyzed.

Zhe Congruan sighed, and said: "After Wuling City was broken, there were only less than [-] soldiers and civilians left in the city, and they were too cold and hungry. Zhou Xingfeng mobilized food relief from Changsha and invited people to buy it. Now, both soldiers and civilians from Langzhou have been recruited. , according to the essence of Xianghu Lake, there are more than [-] soldiers. As long as their digestion and rest are over, the land of Jinghu Lake may no longer have any rivals!"

"Zhou Xingfeng, the momentum is over!" Liu Chengyou raised his finger and said in a deep voice.

"Don't let him sit still, otherwise, it will be a disaster for the court!" After thinking for a while, Liu Chengyou looked at Zhe and Guo: "What do you think, how can I control it?"

"Your minister and Mr. Zhe were discussing the matter just now!" Guo Rong said: "The ministers thought that after the first battle of Wuling, Zhou Xingfeng's next goal must be Zhang Wenbiao and other generals in the south, hoping to unify Hunan.

However, Hunan has suffered consecutive wars, the most vicious in the past three years. The soldiers and the people suffered from it, the soldiers were exhausted, the people were poor, and the mansions were empty.In a short period of time, Zhou Xingfeng might not use his weapons again.But rest for a whole year and a half, and recover a little bit of vitality, it depends on his choice! "

"If this is the case, after a year and a half, the imperial court will have enough power to meddle in Hunan!" Liu Chengyou thought for a while, and said with confidence: "However, now that Zhou Xingfeng has occupied Langzhou, the imperial court should also have That’s what you mean, what do you think?”

At this moment, Zhe Congruan said to Li Chuyun who was standing beside him, "Zhengyuan, didn't you have some insights just now? Tell your Majesty the truth!"

It can be seen that Zhe Congruan really appreciates Li Chuyun, and often looks for opportunities to show him.Seeing this, Liu Chengyou also looked at him, Li Chuyun raised his hand and saluted, and said calmly: "Your Majesty, Sun Lang and Cao Jin killed Jiedu Zili, and Zhou Xingfeng raised the 'flag of righteousness' to suppress the rebellion, and the court also acquiesced .Today, Sun and Cao are appointed as the head, and they can send envoys to express the merits of Zhou Xingfeng, and at the same time, severely admonish him for the crime of indiscriminate killing!

The lands of Chen and Lang are already in his hands, and the imperial court can take advantage of the situation and take advantage of the situation to take control of the two towns of Wuping and Wu'an to reassure him.However, the Zhou family must control it. In Hunan, the only person who can do this is Zhang Wenbiao.

In the past, the imperial court issued an imperial edict to lead the troops northward with Zhang Wenbiao, hoping to wait for Wuling to be pacified and succeed him.Zhang didn't move, but now it seems that it is a good thing.You can promote Zhang Wenbiao to be the envoy of the Jingjiang Army. In his name, he can control the five states of Quanquan, Yong, Dao, Gui, and Chen, and let him and Zhou Xingfeng divide the north and the south, and they will fight against each other! "

Hearing his suggestion, Liu Chengyou couldn't help but smile a little: "Zhou Xingfeng worked so hard and planned for a long time, followed every step, and it took a lot of hardships to occupy half of Hunan. Zhang Wenbiao only eats, drinks and sexes with prostitutes. I give him the other half with an edict. Hehe, How risky is your strategy!"

Li Chuyun said: "This is a conspiracy!"

"Even if there is an imperial edict, the southern states are probably doing their own thing. Even if the imperial court vigorously promotes Zhang Wenbiao, I am afraid that he is not Zhou Xingfeng's opponent, and it will inevitably be merged by him!" Guo Rong said.

Li Chuyun saluted again, and replied calmly: "Once Zhou and Zhang are fighting each other, and Hunan raises troops again, the imperial court can issue an edict to stop fighting. If you don't listen, then the Jingnan Gao family will send troops south, promising the land of Langzhou. The imperial army, You can then go south and collect Jinghu in one fell swoop!"

In a few words, Li Chuyun has drawn up a blueprint for Liu Chengyou to collect Jinghu, and the feasibility is not small.

Liu Chengyou raised his eyebrows, looked at Li Chuyun a few times, and said: "Collecting Jinghu, this is Li Qing's strategy, the real purpose!"

"Your Majesty is wise!" Li Chuyun said affirmatively, "Jinghu Lake is the heart of the world. If the imperial court can accept it, the day when the world will be unified is not far away!"

(End of this chapter)