Five Dynasties River Mountains Fengyue

Chapter 299 The general trend of the world
In late May, the weather was getting hotter and hotter. Shi Congyun's boat was going very fast. It planned to go down the Yangtze River from Chengdu, down the Yangtze River, and pick up Prime Minister Wang Pu in Jiangling. Then it entered the waters of Chaohu Lake and arrived in Luzhou. , North to the Huaihe River, Bianshui to return to Beijing.

On the way, Shi Congyun stayed in Jiangling for a day to welcome Wang Pu, who was preparing food and grass for the East Route Army, on board, then inspected the Jingnan Army, and explained some things to Wang Huan.

Wang Huan was originally from Hedong, and was a general of Later Tang and Later Shu.

Shi Congyun was captured when he attacked the four prefectures in Guanzhong of Houshu for the first time.

The officials were very emotional about Wang Huan's affairs. They did not kill him, but commented: "The three states have surrendered, and Wang Huan stood alone. Several times he used letters to surrender, but Huan didn't answer. As for fighting hard, he was captured. Although he couldn't die, he was loyal. It does what it does. It can be used to persuade the king."

Later, General You Xiaowei was added as an official, and then he led the navy with Si Chao in the Battle of Huainan, and made great contributions under Shi Congyun's command.

Shi Congyun also appreciates Wang Huan's bravery, so he knows that as long as there is a war, he will be transferred to his subordinates, and he will follow him to fight in the north and south.

Wang Huan is not young, he is 54 years old, he has no strategy, but he is brave and not afraid of death, and it is the same as the first time he fought in the mountains of Qinling.

His former opponent was also one of his most trusted generals at this time, so Shi Congyun replaced Li Hanchao at this critical moment and asked Wang Huan to guard Jiangling for him.

The Jingnan army who inspected Jiangling during the day, when Shi Congyun drank with him in a river pavilion outside Jiangling city in the evening, they turned away from each other, and the two talked about things while drinking.

"This time it's a big deal. I don't care if the land of Jiangling is in anyone's hands. I just want you to come." Drunken, Shi Congyun looked at the rolling Yangtze River opposite, and said to Wang Huan.

"I'm sure I won't disappoint the Commander. Don't worry, the Commander will not be able to shake the sky anywhere in the south!" Wang Huan said swearingly.

Shi Congyun nodded, "If you have any questions, you can ask Pan Mei in the south.

General Wang is not young, and it has been hard for you to fight everywhere these years. After this incident is over, if you want to enjoy the family life in peace, find someone to tell me that I will transfer you back to Daliang to enjoy the blessings. If you still like the battlefield , and continued to guard Jiangling for me. "Shi Congyun said, Wang Huan is indeed not young, and for brave generals like them, because they have been in the battle all year round, they have suffered a lot of injuries.

So people like Zhao Chao, when they were about the same age, the officials arranged for them to be high-ranking officials, and they were no longer allowed to fight.

Wang Huan bowed his hands and knelt down: "Commander, I owe all my credit to him. Back then, I was in the Puppet Shu Kingdom. No matter how hard I fought, I was not afraid of death. My colleagues surrendered long ago, so it was useless.

Following the commander-in-chief is the credit for these years. I am old, but I still have strength, and I can still gallop on a horse and kill the enemy. "

Shi Congyun nodded, and stretched out his hand to help him up: "Of course that's good, I still don't want you to quit, it's the best thing if you can persist."

"I have many children and grandchildren, so I am not afraid of death." Wang Huan said seriously.

Shi Congyun nodded, "Then entrust Jiangling to General Wang!"

Staying in Jiangling for a day, Shi Congyun talked with Wang Pu, then led his army to continue down the Yangtze River, arrived in Luzhou from the Yangtze River, inspected the Zhenhuai Army stationed there, met Si Chao, and told him to pay attention to the south of the Yangtze River trend.

Then he went north to the Huaihe River and arrived at Zhengyang and Shouzhou. Shi Congyun was deeply impressed by this place. His battle for fortune and his first command battle started from here.

At the same time, he also thought of Liu Renshan who had been an idle official in the capital.

He thought in his heart that when he returned to Daliang, he would go see him when all the dust settled. If Liu Renshan still had the intention of becoming an official, he could be employed. He was a rare good general.

One hundred thousand troops came to Huainan in the Great Zhou Dynasty. He defended the isolated city for more than a year, and took the initiative to lead troops out of the city to counterattack Li Jixun's camp. I'm afraid I won't be able to enter Shu.

It is reasonable for the officials not to use Liu Renshan, because Liu Renshan dealt a heavy blow to Zhou Jun. At that time, Li Jixun reported that there were not many casualties, but the real situation was very miserable.

The Hu Jie army is one of the most elite troops of the Zhou army. They besieged the city with several times their strength and were attacked by Liu Renshan's troops. The casualties were heavy, and the enmity of the soldiers was also there. Therefore, even if the officials cherished their talents, they did not dare to use Liu Renshan at will. .

But the situation is different now, five or six years have passed since the events of those years, and when he takes over everything, he can go over everything again, and that will be his chance.

In the last ten days of May, the army turned to the vortex and went northward, entered Bianshui, passed through Songzhou and soon entered the border of Daliang.

By the end of May, the army had reached Daying in the north of the city, only more than 50 miles away from Daliang City.

Shi Congyun was not in a hurry to return to Daliang City, he just sent people to send Xiao Huanghua and Fei back to the mansion, and at the same time sent people to Beijing to tell the court that he would settle the army here and wait for the land army to arrive and settle down before returning Beijing met with the officials, reported the results of the battle, and handed over military power.

Such a move is not suspicious. After all, the army needs to settle down and cannot enter the city. It is a routine operation every time it comes back from a war.

However, the changes in the other armies still attracted the attention of interested people.

Wang Zhong, the inspector of the capital, successively gathered the soldiers who were originally distributed in the various battalions of Daliang City to the North Camp.

Ordinary people don't see anything, but smart people have already noticed something strange, this action makes no sense
There are several large camps around Daliang, many of which have been added one after another.

Unlike Chang'an, Daliang was surrounded by a flat river, and the only danger was the Yellow River in the north, so it was usually guarded by heavy troops, and there were several large camps in all directions outside the city.

Like Chang'an, it is very costly to defend the capital. East Tongguan, Xisanguan, Nanwuguan, Beixiaoguan, etc. are blocked by the Yellow River in the west and there are few ferries. A small amount of troops can protect the safety of Kyoto.

The Tongguan area is praised as "Hundred Two Qin Pass", which means that a hundred people attack and only two people can defend it.

Relying on the dangers of mountains and rivers can greatly reduce the cost, and a small number of troops can protect the safety of the capital.

But the beams are not good, and the surrounding areas of Kaifeng are dangerous except for the Yellow River in the north when it is not frozen, and there is no danger around Kaifeng.

The Yellow River could not be held for a long time because of too many crossings. Since the Five Dynasties, there have been many wars across the river in the north, and none of the Yellow River was finally able to hold on.

There are many ferries on the Yellow River, and the flow rate is far less than that of the Yangtze River. At this time, it will freeze in winter, which is hard to guard against.

In this case, the only way to secure the line of defense is to rely on the accumulation of troops, setting up large camps around the capital, and stationing a large number of troops.

One of the main reasons for the collapse of the Northern Song Dynasty was the "redundant soldiers". The garrison near Guangjing City in the Northern Song Dynasty was almost the sum of the standing troops of the Han and Tang Dynasties, and sometimes even more.

This kind of large-scale army raising will definitely be dragged down for a long time, and the most important thing about such a redundant army is the geographical location of the capital. There is no danger of mountains and rivers, and it can only rely on people.

At this time, Da Zhou has gradually begun to have such a trend.

For example, five years ago, when the first emperor wanted to attack the Southern Tang Dynasty, the first thing he did was not to send troops, but to conscript more than [-] civilians to overhaul the city walls of Kaifeng.

At that time, the officials were courageous, and he must have understood the danger. If the army was not in the capital, if the Khitans took the opportunity to attack south, it would be very dangerous for the beams to be defended, so they could only build the city wall first and then take a gamble.

This cost a lot, more than [-] laborers, it is certain that it is a waste of money, but there is no way, the geographical location of the beam determines that it is not safe at all.

At that time, Khitan also took advantage of Zhou Guo's attack on the Southern Tang Dynasty to send troops, but Xiao Siwen, who stayed behind in Nanjing, had no military strategy and was not very courageous. He took the opportunity to seize several counties in the north of Da Zhou to pay the emperor of Liao Kingdom, and then hastily withdrew his troops.

If the Khitan people were really cruel and sent troops to the south at that time, it would be very dangerous for the main force of the Great Zhou Dynasty to be in Huainan.

But the opportunity is not for everyone.

After that, Dazhou paid more attention to the defense near the capital, successively added large camps around, and stationed more soldiers in all directions.

These big battalions are used to defend the capital, but at this time they are all gathered in the northern camp, which is not conducive to the defense of the capital. Why did Wang Zhong, the inspector of the capital, do such a thing?
Wang Pu was one of the smart people, so he was worried. He secretly reported the matter to the queen mother, thinking that Wang Zhong's dispatch was not good for the defense of the capital, but there was no response to relieve his suspicion.

The Empress Dowager just called him to the side hall and told him that this was what she meant. All the armies in the capital needed to change their defenses, so they simply concentrated in the camp in the north and let Qin Wang Shi Congyun take the opportunity to rearrange the defense area to avoid trouble in the future.

He didn't believe it at all.
Already vaguely aware of the strangeness in his heart, and a few days ago his family's cook woman came back in the morning and said in amazement that there were rumors in the market that a black dragon appeared in the Jialing River in early May, riding the clouds and driving the fog.

In mid-May, fishermen on the banks of the Yellow River in Zhengzhou picked up a strange stone. It was black and had dragon patterns on it.

These miracles were spread in Daliang, but Wang Pu frowned after hearing this.

The next day when he was drinking with his old friends in a restaurant, he heard someone downstairs whispering something like "On the day of triumph, King Qin will be the emperor".

He was shocked, and asked those young people where they heard it, but they said they heard it from the teahouse, and everyone was talking about it.

Immediately, my hands and feet felt cold, such treasonous rumors could be spread in teahouses and restaurants!

He was about to get angry, but his old friend stopped him tremblingly, dragged him out of the restaurant, and persuaded him earnestly, "Since this has been said in the streets and no one has complained to the officials, it has already shown the direction of the people and the trend of the times. Fighting against the sky will not lead to a good death"

What his old friend said made his face turn pale, and he didn't dare to speak for a while.

It's just that all kinds of strange things these days made him understand more and more that King Qin has the ambition of being a great ancestor!I'm afraid it's going to change soon
Wang Pu was the most embarrassing, he has always been stubborn, unyielding, the immortal Guo Rong promoted him, he was kind to him, and he was unwilling to betray him.

However, Qin Wang Shi Congyun understood him best. Whether it was his strategy of focusing on Khitan first from the south to the north, or his views on the situation in the world, he was a rare confidant.

However, things have come to this point, and at this moment, he is in a dilemma, which makes him sad no matter what
In the next few days, Wang Pu tossed and turned at home day and night, thinking over and over again, not knowing what to do, and unexpectedly fell seriously ill, refused to report to the sick, and lost a lot of weight.

Until early June, old friend Li Gu came to see him with some gifts.

Wang Pu met his old friend on the bed, the light in the room was not very good, he half-lyed by the window, and asked all the servants at home to go out, seeing that Li Gu found a stool by himself and sat down by the bed, he was not in a hurry say.

The room was quiet for a while, Wang Pu swallowed saliva to moisten his throat, and then said hoarsely: "Is King Qin going to make a move?"

The old friend did not hide it, and nodded slightly.

Wang Pu let out a long sigh, and it took him a while to recover, "Does Mr. Li know?"

Li Gu nodded again.

Now the light in Wang Pu's eyes became much less, and he was speechless for a while.

Li Gu said to him in a low voice: "When the old man heard that you were sick and would not go to court, I knew that you must have seen it with your cleverness. In fact, there are many smart people in the world. Not only you can see it, but many people have guessed it, but they all know it." Do not say, is the default.

There are a few Hanlin scholars who have even secretly written the edict of the Zen position, just waiting for the king of Qin to enter the capital, so that they can claim their merits and receive rewards."

"It's come to this point, what's wrong with the minister!" Wang Pu couldn't help scolding.

This time it was Li Gu's turn to sigh: "Old man knows that you are quick-tempered and always strong.

But now that King Qin has no way out, think about it, all the armies inside and outside the capital, and all over the country, have followed King Qin to fight the world. Even if he doesn't want to, is there any way out?

Murong Yanzhao and Li Hanchao from Guanbei, Li Chuyun and Wang Shenqi from Heyang, Si Chao from Huainan, Wang Huan from Nanping, Pan Mei from Wuping, Guo Tingwei and Cao Bin from Shu.

Even the two leading generals in the capital, Shi Yanchao is the father of King Qin, and Wang Zhong is the direct descendant of King Qin;

And those people around the King of Qin, Wang Quanbin, Shao Ji, Liu Qingchuan, Fu Zhaoyuan, Gao Huaide, Dong Zunhui, Luo Yanhuan, Shen Zhiyi, etc., who are not the generals who have followed the King of Qin to conquer the world these years?
The son of the Duke of Wei married the younger sister of the King of Qin, and Dou Yi, the Minister of Dali Temple, and Wang Pu, the Prime Minister, all accompanied the King of Qin.

Even if the king of Qin is willing to abide by the courtiers' festival, are they willing?

These people guard the world's key points, hold the world's military power in their hands, conquer half of the Zhou Dynasty, guard the four sides of the territory, and each of them is brave and good at fighting. If they make trouble, this big country will be destroyed in an instant, and it will be torn apart. "

Li Gu didn't talk about things with personal feelings, but slowly talked about the general trend of the world: "This is the general trend of the world, you and I are just ordinary people, don't embarrass yourself like this.

What's more, to put it bluntly, although the officials have great talents, it is an indisputable fact that King Qin's achievements are far superior to those of the officials.

There was an uproar in Daliang City, but no one stood up to oppose it. You and I can't control people's opinions. "

The old friend Li Gu bowed, opened some windows, and let the sun shine in: "No matter how strong you are, can you compete with the sky? King Qin's destiny belongs to him, and the people's hearts want him, so why should you hesitate?

You, Wang Wenbo, have always been wise and resourceful. Back then, you wrote to the official family that the destiny is based on the hearts of the people. Those who win the destiny will win the world, and those who win the hearts of the people will win the world. Now that the matter is imminent, why am I so confused? "

Wang Pu was speechless for a while by his old friend. This is indeed what he said when he wrote a letter to the official. The words are very bold.
For a while, his mind was in a mess, and he was a little confused.

In the evening, Li Gu ate some mutton soup with him and drank two cups of wine before leaving.

The next day, Wang Pu recovered from his illness and began to go to court to deal with matters.

On the second day, while he was processing the memorial in the Chuigong Hall, he saw the Empress Dowager's younger brother coming out of the palace, and had a few words with Luqiu Zhongqing, the deputy envoy of the Privy Council, in the side hall.

Wang Pu deliberately stopped what he was doing, leaned over and vaguely heard words such as "everything is ready" and "invite the commander into the palace", and his heart suddenly jumped.

(End of this chapter)