Outlaws of the Marsh

Chapter 581 Hugh!stop! (Please subscribe!)
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The Jin army was divided into two groups to attack the Song Dynasty. The West Route Army set off from Yunzhong Mansion in early December a little later than the East Route Army, and soon entered the borders of Xinzhou and Daizhou.

On the same day, Daizhou Border Pass urgently reported to Taiyuan Xuanfu Department: "The Jin army has passed Mayi (Shuozhou)!"

After receiving this report, Tong Guan immediately held a meeting with his staff officers Yu Wenxuzhong, Fan Na, Ji Yi Wang Yun, Zhu Yantong, etc., and finally decided to go to Que, that is, return to Tokyo to see Zhao Ji.

Tong Guan told Zhang Xiaochun and Zhang Jia, Zhang Xiaochun's son, Jiyi, "The situation is very critical now. The king must go to the palace to submit a complaint. I can do it tomorrow, and the east of the river will be handed over to the virtuous father and son."

Zhang Xiaochun was stunned, and said: "The Jin people have invaded the Yu League. Your Majesty should gather all kinds of troops and horses here, and try our best to protect our home and country. How can we leave? If your Majesty leaves, people's hearts will be shattered, and you will abandon Hedong and join us." Thieves, since the east of the river is lost, how can Hebei be protected? Let’s beg the king to stay here and do our best to lead the people to serve the country... Majesty, the roads of Taiyuan are dangerous and the city is strong, and people know how to fight. As long as you work together, gold A thief may not be able to break it."

Tong Guan was furious, and said: "This king is only in charge of Xuanfu, not guarding the land. If the Xuanfu department is stationed here to operate, what do you want the commander to do?"

Feeling that the meaning of evasion in his own words was too obvious, Tong Guan's tone softened a little, and he said again: "This king went to Beijing to report to the officials, and immediately sent all the army and horses to support him. This is the way to break the siege of Hedong." It is a good strategy, the king stays here, it will not benefit the land.”

When Zhang Xiaochun heard this, he became angry, and said with contempt: "It's common for King Tong to look like a hero, but I didn't expect the situation to be imminent, but he is so cowardly, the country is in trouble, and he just wants to run away, what kind of moral is it? ", he then looked back at his son Zhang Jia and said: "Hugh! Hugh! My father and son will stick to him!"

Tong Guan became angry from embarrassment, and then left with a flick of his sleeves!
Ma Kuo believed that Tong Guan planned to leave Taiyuan because he was bewitched by the staff of the Xuanfu Department, so he drafted a letter (i.e. official document) for Tong Guan, and he analyzed it as follows:

"Nianhan (Zong Han) despised our Great Song Dynasty because of the defeat of Liu Yanqing's army. After the gap between Zhang Jue and Tianzuo, he listened to Yujian and Xiao Qing's previous words. Go straight in. However, it is widely seen that there are not many thieves and horses invading by the Jin army, only tens of thousands, and they are not invincible. The king should take the opportunity to respond and do his best to draw defenses. There are four people who are afraid of the thieves, but fortunately there are three.

Thieves should avoid Guo Yaoshi's ever-victorious army, who are brave in battle; The beginning and the end are difficult to care about, and the supply of food, grass and luggage is insufficient.These four taboos are also.

Fortunately for the thief, the king retreated, the commanders had no command, the army and the people were discouraged, and they could not reinforce each other; If you are afraid, you will create chaos.These three luck also.

The east of the river is dangerous and has many passes. Everyone knows how to fight, so thieves will not be able to drive away.Only North Road, although there is Tangluo in the military circles from Xiong, Bazhou to Shun'an, Guangxin Army, Baozhou, Zhongshan, and Zhendingfu are all smooth roads. , Dingchang drove southward.Your Majesty should quickly move the Xuanfu Division into Zhending Mansion.Zhending is adjacent to Taiyuan, which is enough to help each other, and the city has a lot of food, and the king will occupy it, and there are many Westerners who are familiar with the defense. Although the gold thieves enter the country, they will never dare to go south.The law of war says: The attacker always works on his own, and the defender always relaxes.It will definitely defeat the sharp soldiers under the strong city. "

Ma Kuo handed this letter to Tong Guan.

After Tong Guan saw it, he remained silent.

Seeing this, Ma Kuo knew that Tong Guan still wanted to go back to Beijing to go to the palace, so he said: "Your Majesty is in charge of the country's army. When it is time to serve the country urgently, you must do your best! Not to mention making friends with Jurchen and restoring the glory of Yanshan Mountain." The matter was handled by Your Majesty. Now that there is such a hole, His Majesty must make up for it. It's not just that other people don't know how to make up for it, and they can't make up for it, but also don't allow others to make up for it. This statement is not specifically about the interests of the country, but also about Your Majesty. Benefits, I beg your Majesty to think about it carefully, don't be confused by the people's sloppy opinions, and trap the country and your majesty in a passive position!"

After Tong Guan listened, his face was gloomy and uncertain, wondering what choice he had?

Soon, Tong Guan let Ma Kuo retreat.

Soon, the Xuanfu Division received a report from the Daizhou Customs, saying that the Jin people had broken through Mayi County, and their horses had arrived at the city of Daizhou.

After Ma Kuo heard the news, he came to see Tong Guan again, and persuaded him, "Your Majesty, you should get to the truth early, lest something unexpected happen!"

When Tong Guan heard this, he was furious, and immediately scolded Ma Kuo, saying, "Because your family is in Baozhou, you want me to go to Zhending, just to go to Baoer's family!"

Hearing the words, Ma Kuo knew that Tong Guan was already scared, and made up his mind to escape from Taiyuan, so he said: "Ma Kuo is willing to go to Beijing with the king, and please don't say anything to hurt Ma Kuo. Ma Kuo just doesn't want the king to lose this. Sweeping fame and integrity, killing everyone for the scolding!"

Tong Guan was silent for a long time, and then slowly said: "How do you not know, I have no soldiers by my side, how can I defend against this great enemy?"

Ma Kuo said: "If the king is really determined, why is there no soldiers? Today, riding into the bandits, who doesn't care about the country and protects the flesh and blood? This is the time when everyone defends their homes and the country, and everyone is a warrior to the death! If the king goes away If you really decide to set up a banner and recruit brave men, you can get a hundred thousand troops in less than three months!"

Tong Guan secretly smiled - he laughed at Ma Kuo too naively, how could Da Jun get it so easily?
But Tong Guan has always liked Ma Kuo, and couldn't bear to discourage Ma Kuo's enthusiasm, so he said, "Since that's the case, my king sent you to Zhongshan and Zhending Mansion to recruit loyal and brave horses, and you will be in charge, how about it?"

Ma Kuo did not shirk, and directly raised six demands with Tong Guan:

"First, please ask your majesty to order Zhongshan and Zhending prefectures and counties to collect worn-out armor and organize manpower for emergency repairs.

[-]. Your Majesty, please order Zhongshan and Zhending prefectures and counties to collect war horses in the territory for use by the horse army.

[-]. Your Majesty, please issue an order to the prefectures of Hebei, ordering them to recruit loyal and brave fighters, choose officials and commanders, and support each other. The family moved closer to the Southern State Army, and gave them thick shirts.

[-]. Ask the king to transfer the elite soldiers from the original route to Hebei and Hedong to assist in the defense.

1000. Ask the king to send [-] people from the Shengjie Army to Zhending, and serve Ma Kuo as a yamen soldier. Ma Kuo regards it as the basis for recruiting troops and horses.

[-]. In the event of an accident, please follow the story of the Tang Dynasty quickly, enter Shu under the command of the emperor, and appoint a minister to stay in the capital to try to recover. "

Tong Guan agreed to all the six conditions proposed by Ma Kuo.

So Ma Kuo went to Zhending Mansion, preparing to create a large army out of nothing.

As soon as Ma Kuo left, Tong Guan led the officials of the Xuanfu Department and left Taiyuan on the back, and returned to Beijing to go to the palace.

……

(End of this chapter)