The third emperor of the Sui Dynasty

Chapter 308 Everyone Loves the Ogre Demon King

Luoyang and Ziwei Palace.

As Wang Shichong implemented the castrated version of the land equalization system and the imperial examination system, the prestige of Zheng Guo's court was gradually established, and of course Wang Shichong's prestige became more outstanding.

Whenever Wang Shichong accepted the audience of the officials to deal with government affairs, he would give him sincere advice.Sometimes he took a few entourages to patrol the thoroughfare, and he didn't set up guards to prohibit pedestrians. The people just had to give way. Living in the palace, I can’t understand the real sentiments and opinions of the people. I, Wang Shichong, did not covet the throne. My purpose is to let everyone live a good life. So now I am like an ordinary official, and I will handle everything personally. And comment on the gains and losses of the government with the common people. I am worried that there are restrictions on the palace gates, and everyone’s opinions will not be passed on. Now I sneak out to listen to everyone’s opinions.”

Not only that, but he accepted cases in Xichaotang and listened to folk suggestions in Dongchaotang.It's just that hundreds or thousands of people come here every day, and the letters and memorabilia are already very complicated, and it's rare to think carefully, and they stop going out after a few days because they are busy with state affairs.Then, he left the work of receiving petitioners to the crown prince, Wang Xuanying. The daily trivial matters made Wang Xuanying one head and two big, but Wang Shichong had to obey orders, so he had no choice but to hold on. Where is the prince?However, the benefits are also obvious. Not only has his image of being close to the people been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, but also his level of governance has risen steadily.

Duan Da and Yun Dingxing entered Ziwei Palace side by side.

"My lords, Your Majesty has been waiting for a long time." At the door, an old eunuch saluted the two of them.

"Understood." Duan Da and Yun Dingxing nodded one after another, and their faces were a little dignified.After Li Yuan retreated to the south, recently he has been increasing his troops in Shangluo and Fangling counties. The breath of war has enveloped Luoyang, but Wang Shichong is not yet ready for the battle.One is that the territory is small, with only five counties of Henan, Hongnong, Xiangcheng, Fuyang, and Xingyang; the other is that Wang Shichong has not yet recovered from the trauma of the war.

According to Wang Shichong and other counselors' predictions, if this battle is postponed for another half a year, after Wang Shichong recovers, he can fight Zhu Can with peace of mind. As long as he controls the area north of Han River in Xiyang and Nanyang, the south can be stabilized. , but Li Yuan, who had gained a foothold in Fangling, obviously also saw the key point, and was not going to give them half a year.

I can't wait!

At this moment, both of them felt very heavy, and hurried to Wensi Hall.After seeing the ceremony, under Wang Shichong's signal, they sat down.

"Look at this, this is probably the best news in this period of time." Wang Shichong passed an urgent report to the two for circulation, smiling.

Duan Da and Yun Dingxing were amazed when they heard the news. During this period of time, the battle cloud was dense, and there was basically no good news. Some time ago, there was news that Li Yuan intended to form an alliance with the Yu Sui Dynasty. Fortunately, before they could react in time, Guanzhong had already been captured by Yang Yu. It's a pity that, together with tens of thousands of people in Guanzhong, they all belong to Yang Tong.Then most of the news received was that the princes of the four directions were about to move, and Li Mi also fought with Du Fuwei in the Jianghuai area.

Although Wang Shichong occupies the five counties in the Central Plains, he has natural disadvantages such as small strategic depth, small population, and surrounded by land. None of Yang Tong in the north, Li Yuan in the west, and Li Mi in the east is a fuel-efficient lamp, and the Central Plains is safe. Yang Tong and Li Yuan can fight Wang Shichong with all their strength, but Wang Shichong must take care of all directions, which is why Wang Shichong dare not open up a battlefield now. The number of troops he can get is too small, not even [-]% of Yang Tong's. In other words, Wang Shichong has less than [-] soldiers and horses. After defending the Quartet, the number of troops that can maneuver is even more pitiful.

The content of the urgent report was not much, but it was enough to surprise the two of them. Under the pressure of Li Yuan, Zhu Can, the man-eating maniac, presented himself as a vassal to Wang Shichong. But dare to do great things, very courageous.

……

Zhu Can was the most brutal of the princes from all walks of life. He was a small official in the county at first, and later joined the army to fight against the rebels in Changbai Mountain. The thief, nicknamed "Kadahan Thief", claimed to be "King of Garuda".

Zhu Can has a cruel temperament, and he has no great ambitions, let alone any lofty political ideals.What he is passionate about is attacking cities and conquering territory, killing and cannibalizing each other.He led such an inhumane army, slaughtering east and west, conquering counties and counties, regardless of good or evil, good or bad, killing them all, leaving no dog or dog behind.

Plagiarizing between the Han River and the Huai River, every time a prefecture and county was conquered, the food accumulated in the prefecture and county was not exhausted, and then moved again. There was nothing to plunder, and there was no food in the army, so Zhu Can asked the soldiers to cook women and children to eat.After conquering Nanyang, Zhu Can declared himself Emperor of Chu.

Since being beaten out of Shangluo County by Li Xiaogong, the range of activities has been in Xiyang and Nanyang.
The enemy he was facing at this time was Li Xiaogong who had defeated him. Although Li Tang made a gesture ready to move, in fact, Li Daozong had already led an army of [-] into Xiyang County and hid in Nanxiang County. Li Xiaogong led an army of [-] to attack the city in Xiyang. After he captured the last Danshui County, he led the army to station in Nanxiang County, which is only [-] miles away from Li Daozong's secret camp.

After Li Tang made the judgment that the Sui Dynasty would not interfere, he decided to lay down a piece of territory in the south and capture the Jingzhou area where Xiao Xian was located, but Zhu Can blocked their northward and eastward advance, so Li Tang first wanted to Destroy Zhu Can.It was only when Li Xiaogong took Xiyang County that he got the news that Zhu Can had surrendered to Wang Shichong.

When Li Xiaogong marched, he was also paying close attention to the changes in the situation.

In Nanxiang county government office, Li Xiaogong and Li Daozong who had just arrived discussed the countermeasures. Li Xiaogong walked a few steps with his hands behind his back and said: "Wang Shichong led an army of [-] to help, but the marching speed is not fast."

Li Daozong asked with a smile: "I don't know what Wang Shichong thinks?"

"I led the army to fight Zhu Can fiercely, but Wang Shichong didn't take the opportunity to attack. His performance was very strange."

"Wang Shichong hopes that we and Zhu Can will lose both sides, and then reap the benefits of the fisherman?" Li Daozong asked.

Li Xiaogong said: "I think Wang Shichong is forcing Zhu Can to let go of his military power and follow his arrangement with peace of mind."

"In this case, we need to annihilate Zhu Can's army as soon as possible to prevent the two armies from joining forces."

"I also know that the situation is critical!" Li Xiaogong said worriedly: "The key now is to see Zhu Can retreat to Nanyang, we have no chance to defeat the enemy."

"Brother!" Li Daozong smiled and said, "When my brother was attacking the city and plundering land, my younger brother was not hiding in the forest to feed mosquitoes. Instead, he contacted two people."

"Who?" Li Xiaogong wondered.

"Lu Congdian, Yan Minchu." Li Daozong said with a smile: "Lu Congdian was originally a Zuo Lang in the Sui Dynasty. Yan Minchu was originally a Tongshisheren in the Sui Dynasty, and the second son of the great Confucian Yan Zhitui. Both of them lived in Nanyang because they were demoted. Zhu Can invited them to be his guests. Later, Zhu Can lacked food, so he ate their entire family. The two hated him deeply, but they had to manage the "capital" for Zhu Can, and they had a certain status in Zhu Can's army. I have a plan to defeat Zhu Can."

Li Xiaogong was overjoyed.

……

Zhu Can is superb in martial arts and has a vicious appearance. He is a person who has little intelligence but lacks great wisdom. He has no political acumen, and he has never thought of dominating the world. He likes to fight with a large army. His joy drove him wild with excitement.

Prior to this, Wang Shichong had sent people to persuade him to surrender many times, but Zhu Can flatly refused, and this time the Tang army went south, which made Zhu Jie feel great pressure. He knew that his sins were serious, and no one but Wang Shichong Dare to contain yourself.

However, Zhu Can still had an army of [-] in his hands. He believed that he still had hope of defeating the Tang army. Therefore, after Zhu Can expressed his surrender to Wang Shichong, he did not go to Luoyang for a long time.

This morning, Zhu Can heard that Li Xiaogong led an army of [-] troops to attack Nanyang City, and Zhu Can ordered the army to prepare for the battle. At this time, Yan Minchu, a counselor, hurried to Zhu Can, "Your Majesty, I have an urgent message from you."

Zhu Can is a self-willed person. He uses Yan Minchu as his mastermind, more to deal with the messy issue of equal results for him, rather than like others to interfere.

Zhu Can asked with an unhappy face, "What news?"

"I heard that the Tang army was robbing the people of Xiyang for rations. I thought that the Tang army must be short of food, so Li Xiaogong was eager for a decisive battle."

"What does this mean?" Zhu Can's voice was extremely loud, and it took a lot of courage to speak to him.

Yan Minchu said: "If we close the city and don't fight, the Tang army will be forced to retreat after the food and grass run out. Your Majesty can chase them down and defeat them in one battle."

"How do you conclude that Li Xiaogong is short of food?" Zhu Can is no fool, he knows how powerful the powerful officials in Guanlong behind Li Tang are.
Lu Congdian continued: "After Li Tang was kicked out of Guanzhong by Yang Tong, he did not bring any property with him. In addition to the severe drought this year, it is normal for the Tang army to be short of food."

Zhu Can thought about it, and felt that this was also the case. He poked Yan Minchu's chest heavily with his finger, showing a mouthful of white teeth, and said coldly, "If what you said is wrong, I will stew you when I come back!"

Yan Minchu trembled in fright, this man-eating demon king was not just joking.

Zhu Can immediately closed the door and did not fight. The Tang Army sent soldiers to Nanyang City every day to scold and provoke Zhu Can, trying to provoke Zhu Can to fight.

Three days later, the city guards suddenly reported that the Tang army had retreated. Zhu Can was overjoyed and went out of the city to check the Tang army camp in person.

Tang Jun left very hastily, at least half of the tents were not dismantled and taken away, but there was not a single grain.

At this time, a soldier rushed over and handed a dumpling to Zhu Can: "Your Majesty, I found it at the fire head of the Tang Army."

Zhu Can crushed the pancakes and saw that there was very little wheat flour, and most of them were chaff, wild vegetables and wheat bran. He was secretly delighted, and hurriedly said, "Where is the Huotou military tent? Take me to see it."

The soldiers led him to the Huotou military tent. Most of the tents were filled with pots and pans that could not be taken away, and there was nothing inside. Zhu Can found a corner that was a little damp, and he immediately ordered, "Dig it out for me to have a look!"

Several soldiers dug up the soil, and there were leftover vegetables from Tang Jun's meals. Zhu Can took a closer look and found that they were all cooked leaves. He immediately ordered: "Gather the army and follow me to chase!"

……

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(End of this chapter)