Five Dynasties River Mountains Fengyue

Chapter 283 Two Flowers

At the end of March, the spring breeze is bright and everything grows. The red flags are fluttering on the avenue, and the flimsy flags are fluttering in the mountains in the spring breeze. The continuous procession continues for four or five miles without seeing the beginning and the end.

The reason why the flags are light and thin and flutter in the spring breeze is because most military flags are sewn with precious silk.

There are more than 20 luxurious chariots and horses in the Chinese army, and they followed the army to the north. If there were not so many sergeants in the front and back, they would have thought it was a trip of dignitaries.

It’s not bad to say that, this is the convoy of Meng Xuanzhe, the crown prince of the Shu Kingdom. Decorated sword hilts, although silk is abundant in Sichuan and is also the main economic crop in Shu, but it is still too extravagant, and it does not look like going to war.

After successive defeats on the front line, Emperor Meng Chang discussed with his ministers and decided to let the prince personally lead the troops to the north to rescue, and at the same time selected more than ten thousand elite imperial troops to lead the north.

Meng Chang and the top officials of the Shu Kingdom also subtly noticed that the soldiers of the Shu region were unwilling to serve the country, but his body could not be used by the emperor himself, so they asked the prince to lead the army to deter all places.

On the other hand, Prince Meng Xuanzhe was young and intelligent, and good at official script.

At the age of 14, he was awarded the title of King of Qin, the inspector Taiwei, and Tongping Zhangshi, and sentenced the six armies to be guards. He is a smart man, and everyone regards him as the last hope.

But after Meng Xuanzhe left Chengdu, he didn't go north immediately. Instead, he took his concubine with him and traveled all the way. The army moved slowly, and the soldiers had no fighting spirit at all.

I don't know whether he did it on purpose or by nature. He wobbled until the end of March and the beginning of April before the army arrived in Mianzhou (Mianyang). As a result, on the night when the army entered the city, Meng Xuanzhe had just stayed with his concubine, when suddenly a message came from outside the door There was a chaotic sound, and his close servant eunuch kept knocking on the door to wake him up.

Meng Xuanzhe became sleepy, opened the door and asked impatiently, "What's going on in the middle of the night?"

"Your Highness, the big thing is not good, the big thing is not good, the news came from the north overnight, the Zhou army broke through the Jianmen Pass, and the forward has almost arrived in Mianzhou!"

"What!" Meng Xuanzhe jumped up, his clothes disheveled and his hair disheveled, "Really!"

"Really, it was said by those who fled from the north. They said that Shi Congyun personally led the troops to charge the battle and broke through the Jianmen Pass. Wang Zhaoyuan ran to Zizhou and was captured by the Zhou army!"

Without further ado, Meng Xuanzhe immediately said, "Hurry up and prepare the horse, I want to go back to Chengdu!"

"Is this overnight?" the eunuch asked in a low voice.

"You are talking nonsense. If you don't leave now, when will you wait? When the Zhou army enters the city and arrests me!" Meng Xuanzhe immediately urged: "Hurry up!"

The eunuch nodded, still a little melancholy: "Then, where is the army?"

"Are you a pig!" Meng Xuanzhe became even more impatient: "You don't think that these 1 people can stop Zhou Jun? Idiots are dreaming! It's urgent, and I don't care about other things. The right way is to go back to Chengdu immediately, otherwise the small Life is at stake."

The eunuch nodded, and immediately went to prepare the horses with a lantern, while Meng Chang went back to the house and put on clothes to keep out the cold, preparing to run overnight.

The graceful concubine on the bed also heard what he said just now, and she pulled the corner of his clothes pitifully: "Your Highness, please take this concubine with you, don't leave me here!"

Meng Xuanzhe looked at the naked concubine Ai, and said directly: "How can I control you now, I heard that Shi Congyun doesn't kill people, but fortunately, beauty, you take refuge in him, and he will treat you well then."

After speaking, she broke free from the teary-eyed beauty, turned around and left without hesitation.

That night Meng Xuanzhe directly left the army and the actor Aifei he brought with him, and fled back to Chengdu from Mianzhou overnight.

Just as he expected, the next day, the forward of the Zhou army arrived outside the city of Mianzhou, and issued an ultimatum, demanding that the governor of Mianzhou and the guards surrender within five days. There was chaos.

The army in the city wanted to organize resistance, only then did they realize that the coach had run away!
So the army, which was originally in disarray, quickly dispersed.

Afterwards, Shi Congyun, the legendary king of Zhou and Qin, led the main force all the way south, and along the way, Mianzhou, Zizhou, etc. waited for the wind and descended one after another.

When the central army of the Zhou army arrived in early April, there was no resistance from the prefectures and counties along the way. The governor and the guards took the axe and the official seal, and led the local officials to welcome the Zhou army outside the city.

When Shi Congyun arrived in Mianzhou, it was already the beginning of April, the weather was getting warmer, and thousands of miles were green with beautiful mountains and clear waters.

Later, I also learned that Meng Xuanzhe, the prince of Shu, abandoned the army and fled after arriving in Mianzhou.

Shi Congyun was not in a hurry to go south. He did not forget that he came here this time to get money and food. After passing the Jianmen Pass, Chengdu was no longer dangerous to defend.

Along the way, the surrendered states and counties were settled, the government treasuries of each state and county were sealed up, the properties were checked, and they were prepared to be brought back to Daliang, and then the army did not rush south.

They traveled all the way from Xingzhou, Xixian, Sanquan, Lizhou, Jiamengguan, Jianzhou, and Jianmenguan to Mianzhou.

In terms of straight-line distance, it is about [-] miles from Xingzhou to Mianzhou, but the Qinling Mountains and Daba Mountains are the barriers, and the road is detoured.

Go east from Xingzhou to Hanzhong, from Hanzhong to the west to Sanquan, from Sanquan to the south to Lizhou, from Lizhou to the west to Jianzhou, and then go south to pass through Jianmen Pass and Jianzhou The gate goes southwest to Mianzhou, Zizhou and so on.

The twists and turns of this road have already exceeded thousands of miles, and in less than two months, they rushed on the thousand-mile mountain road, and there were dozens of battles, large and small, and they went straight to Mianzhou without stopping.

This is no longer a simple sentence that can be finished if the commander is well commanded and well dispatched. Most of the soldiers of the Zhou army have shown a strong will to fight and the ability to endure hardships and stand hard work.

At this point, Shi Congyun was not in a hurry. On the one hand, he asked the soldiers to rest and recover, and on the other hand, he waited for the scattered troops to return to restore the army's organization.

After entering the hilly area around Chengdu, there is no need to emphasize the importance of military speed, because there are plenty of roads to Chengdu from here.

With the return of several chasing troops one after another, it also brought good news.

Murong Yanzhao and Dang Jin pursued for hundreds of miles, directly from Hanyuanpo all the way to Zizhou. After chasing for more than 200 miles, they captured Wang Zhaoyuan and his entourage of 27 officials.

Shi Congyun ordered some dishes in the government office in Mianzhou and asked Dangjin to come over for dinner and report the situation to him at the same time, while Murong Yanzhao went to settle down the army under his command. Dangjin gobbled it up and told him about the situation excitedly.

After Wang Zhaoyuan escaped from Hanyuanpo, he headed all the way to Mianzhou, but he turned to Zizhou halfway. They only found out the news after they caught the prisoners and asked them.

Then he changed direction and chased towards Zizhou. Before reaching Zizhou, Wang Zhaoyuan ran to a farmer's house outside the city and hid. His soldiers detained the couple from that family.

The couple's son went home from herding cattle and found something wrong with the house on the road far away. He dared not go back. When he met them, he cried and told them that bad people had entered the house. Dang Jin immediately understood what was going on and took people over to surround the house. They stopped and arrested Wang Zhaoyuan and the 20 people accompanying him.

Shi Congyun asked him: "Where is that family? You didn't harm anyone, did you?"

"No way!" Dang Jin said with a serious face, "Everyone taught by the commander-in-chief remembers that when I left, I left two strings of money for that brat and a bag of meat for their family. We can't catch Wang Zhaoyuan if he doesn't report the letter. "

Shi Congyun laughed, Dangjin felt like a fierce fighter without much thought, he liked such a person very much.

"Did Wang Zhaoyuan say anything when he was arrested?" He continued to ask.

"He's a coward. He was so old that his face was full of snot and tears. He also scolded us. If the accompanying civil servants of the Privy Council didn't stop him, his brothers would almost beat him up."

"What did he scold you for?" Shi Congyun asked curiously.

"He scolded us for being rude, said he was familiar with military books, but he met us reckless men who didn't read, said he was wronged by himself, and said that we don't know how to fight anyway, it's just nonsense.

Commander-in-Chief, I can't figure it out. He has been arrested by us. It is easier to kill him than a chicken. Why does he still say that we don't know how to fight? " Dang Jin asked in a daze.

This kind of question is indeed too advanced for a rough person like Dang Jin, "He called it the spiritual victory method."

"I still don't understand."

"If you can understand there is a ghost, then you are as stupid as him." Shi Congyun laughed, and then said: "You can just treat him as a fool, but this time you and Murong Yanzhao did a good job. Wang Zhaoyuan was caught, but innocent people were not hurt.

The Zizhou side probably also saw your soldiers outside the city, and was so frightened that they sent someone to find me and surrendered. This credit is also credited to both of you. "

When Dang Jin heard this, he grinned, knelt down on one knee and saluted in a dignified manner, and then said: "Thank you, Commander!"

Afterwards, after the army settled down and the treasury was sealed and handed over to Pan Mei for inventory management, Shi Congyun met with some close people of Shu Prince Meng Xuanzhe who stayed in Mianzhou, and got to know Meng Xuanzhe a little bit.

The officials of Mianzhou were almost unanimous in their denunciation of their original prince, saying that he was an idiot, flamboyant, with an actor, and his concubine sent troops to Mianzhou with a splendid army flag, but when they heard that the Zhou army was coming, they immediately left The army fled back to Chengdu alone.

The generals and officials of the Zhou army almost regarded him as a joke, calling him an idiot.

After Shi Congyun learned about some things, he felt that Meng Xuanzhe's resignation to resignation had a good side. For example, when he was about to escape, he actually said that he would ask his concubine to take refuge in him.

When it's hot, Shi Congyun is definitely not greedy for his concubine.

It's just that many high-ranking men in history faced this kind of situation, and nine out of ten would kill their concubine as well, so as not to be tarnished by the enemy, and their possessive desires were also satisfied.

Meng Xuanzhe ran away and returned to escape, and the idiot was the idiot, but let his beloved concubine seek refuge with the enemy to survive, at least it shows that this person is not that bad in nature.

The situation in the Kingdom of Shu cannot be changed by a prince leading troops. There is no war for a long time, there is no mental preparation, and peace for too long is only the first reason.

What Shi Congyun has seen and heard along the way further validates his idea. The fundamental reason is that the people in Shu are unwilling to fight for the post-Shu regime.

This is generally the case in Shu. The former Shu and later Shu at the end of the Tang Dynasty, Zhang Xianzhong at the end of the Ming Dynasty, and Liu Bei at the end of the Han Dynasty were all foreigners who led troops into Shu to establish political power.

At the beginning, when the foreign regime was strong and strong, it could still deter and suppress the local people, but after a long time, no one is stupid. Why do you ride on our heads and receive support?
If you submit to the imperial court and return to one family in the world, then all parts of the world will support one imperial court together. The separatist regime in Shu means that the people of Shu Kingdom will support one imperial court alone.

The land of Shu is so big, and it is impossible to fight outside. After a long time, the people will definitely not want it. At this time, the people of Shu land should fight desperately for the Meng family, so how can they be willing.

This is not something Meng Xuanzhe can solve alone, so he has some reason to say that 1 people are useless.

In any case, everyone regarded the crown prince as a laughing stock, and Shi Congyun only thought he was funny.

While waiting in Mianzhou, a messenger also came from the south, bringing great news.

It was a letter written by Li Chuyun himself. The date of writing the letter was five days ago, on the first day of April. The letter was sealed with wax to make it waterproof. It contained a lot of content, as many as three pages.

Describe in detail the operations of the Eastern Route Army in the past two months.

Li Chuyun gathered troops from all walks of life in Jiangling, and then advanced by land and water, the army marched into the Three Gorges, broke through Sanhui (now northeast of Wushan, Sichuan), Wushan and other Shu army strongholds, beheaded Shu general Nan Guanghai, etc., and captured the commander of the war capital of Shu Yuan Dehong.

In this stage of the battle, a total of more than 200 people from the Shu army's water and infantry were captured, and more than [-] warships were captured.

At the beginning of March, take advantage of the victory and advance rapidly to Kuizhou.

Kuizhou (Fengjie, Chongqing) is the mouth of the east of Shu Kingdom. The mountains are dangerous and the river is turbulent. The Shu army built a pontoon bridge on the Suojiang River in the east of the city, with triple wooden fences on it, and stone cannons along the Jiajiang River. The defense was strict.

Li Chuyun and his generals went [-] miles east of Hengjiang Tiesuo. After discussing, they felt that the water was heavily guarded and it was difficult to win. In order to avoid attacking the weak, they ordered part of the navy to land on boats and directly fought against the Shu army on the riverside.

Relying on the soldiers to seize the pontoon bridge bravely, control the iron chain, and then the water army also launched an attack, and the water and land cooperated to break through the Shu army's defense line in one fell swoop.

But then the army encountered difficulties, the Kuizhou Jiedu envoy Gao Yanchou stood firmly on the wall, and the defense was well organized. In addition, Kuizhou was dangerous and could not be crossed. The army was blocked for a while and made no progress.

When Li Chuyun and the others were blocked at the foot of Kuizhou city, and there was no progress for [-] days, Wu Shouqian, the supervisor of Kuizhou, refused to accept Gao Yanchou.

So he led more than a thousand people from his troops to fight rashly, and was defeated by Li Chuyun himself.

Then Dong Zunhui and Luo Yanhuan, who had been prepared for a long time, led the army to follow the defeated Shu army and broke into the city. Gao Yanchou led the army to fight with them in the city.

Zhou Jun successfully occupied Kuizhou, and then went up the west of the Yangtze River, conquered Wanzhou (now Wanxian City, Sichuan), Kaizhou (Kaixian), Zhongzhou (Zhongxiang), Suizhou (Suining) and other states, and approached Chengdu. All goes well, the army is expected to arrive at the city of Chengdu around mid-April.

After reading the battle report, Shi Congyun immediately asked Fu Zhaoyuan to inform the whole army of the battle situation, let the whole army know that the East Route Army is about to reach Chengdu, boost morale, and at the same time arouse everyone's competitive spirit. After all, they are not far from Chengdu. Not far away.

I felt so sad that Gao Yanchou, who had fought against him before, had such a miserable end.

Mrs. Huarui once wrote a poem "14 people were disarmed, and none of them was a man" to mock the army of Houshu. Generally speaking, the first half of the sentence is reasonable, but the second half is wrong.

At least in Shi Congyun's fight, although the overall lack of combat effectiveness, there are still a few soldiers with strong fighting spirit, such as captured Han Baozheng, Zhao Chongtao who died in battle, Gao Yanchou who fought to the end in the east, etc. Let's not talk about skills for the time being, but there is a bloody spirit to fight to the end, and they are all heroes.

When this letter was delivered, it can be said that the north and the south are blooming. Now that the two armies are approaching Chengdu, there is no hope for the Kingdom of Shu.

Shi Congyun integrated the battle reports from his side with those sent by Li Chuyun, and wrote a letter himself, sending the situation of the two armies back to Daliang in an expedited manner. send back.

The next step is to go to Chengdu.

On the eighth day of April, Shi Congyun ordered the whole Zhou army to march from Mianzhou to Chengdu, more than 200 miles away, after the rectification.

And their North Route Army, from the 2 people who left Sanguan at the beginning, now has more than 3 people. This is because many soldiers of the Shu army who surrendered along the way were recruited.

On the way the army marched towards Chengdu, states and counties along the way surrendered without hindrance.

(End of this chapter)