The third emperor of the Sui Dynasty

Chapter 665

Liang County is the area from Kaifeng to Shangqiu. Tongji Canal passes through the county, and there are rivers such as Bianshui, Jishui, Huanshui, Suishui and so on. The river network in the county is criss-cross and the transportation is convenient. The city has built a freight transfer station and built hundreds of large warehouses, which not only have the convenience of transportation and material storage and transportation, but also are surrounded by fertile fields, and it is also a county with a very dense population in the Central Plains.The importance in the Central Plains is second only to the Heluo area.Thanks to various advantages, after Li Mi's Xingluo City fell, he once wanted to set up his own capital here.

When Li Mi and Wang Shichong fought, because Li Mi was mostly on the offensive side, Liang County did not suffer too much trauma, and became Li Mi's important food production area, so when defending the Sui army.Xu Shiji asked his deputy Chen Zhilue to lead an army of [-] troops to sit here, forming a corner with Pengcheng and Huaiyang counties.Therefore, it became one of the key targets for Li Jing to divide Xu Shiji and Wang Bodang. As long as Liang Jun was captured, Xu and Wang would fall into a situation where they would fight each other.The eastern commander Yang Gongren was in charge of this battlefield. When he received news from Yang Tong, he cooperated with Li Jingzhi's strategy and appointed Pei Xingyan and Gao Yaxian to capture Liang County.

The news of Li Mi's defeat in Jiangdu has come, and the hearts of the Wei army are fluctuating. Chen Zhilue is an experienced general who knows that the result of dividing the troops will be that his army will be eaten by the Sui army one by one, so he gave up most of them. A county concentrated the army in Songcheng County, but despite this, he was still a prominent part of the triangle defense. With Xu Shiji and Wang Bodang being pinned down by the Sui army, everything had to rely on himself.

He also divided his army into three, of which [-] troops guarded Songcheng, and the other [-] troops were stationed in Yucheng in the northeast of Songcheng and Zhecheng in the southwest. This was also a defensive method as a last resort. , Because these three cities are the territory that Liang County cannot lose, and the loss of any one city will affect the overall situation.

This is not what Chen Zhilue is worried about. The key is that the business of Liang County is monopolized by a few Dongguan gentry, so he only controls the army, but the economy and people's livelihood are almost in the hands of the Dongguan gentry, even Li Mi. Look at the faces of these gentry.

Because Li Mi slaughtered the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River and the Sui Dynasty raised the banner of justice, these gentry saw that Li Mi was like a grasshopper after autumn, so they cut off the grain trade with Li Mi's army. Coupled with the fall of Jiangdu, the food supply of Song City Tensions are becoming more and more serious, and it is far from enough to feed [-] troops and [-] civilians with old grain alone, let alone supply the people in the city.

The lack of food for the gentry directly caused the price of food to soar. In just a few days, the price of food increased tenfold.

The soaring price of grain also made many merchants see business opportunities, and they organized fleets to buy grain from various places, but they were intercepted by the Sui army in the canal, causing heavy losses to the merchants, and the grain purchase plan failed.

Chen Zhilue was also under great pressure. At this time, Songcheng County was in chaos due to the frequent deployment of troops, but the people in Songcheng were surprisingly calm. Just a few days ago, a riot broke out in Songcheng County. Mi Fengchao was suppressed by the army, and more than a dozen leaders were publicly executed.

The street is very quiet, Doumi has risen to a horrifying 10,000 yuan, and every family has to save food and clothing, hoping to survive this war. They know that as long as they persist until the end of the war, both the Sui Dynasty and the Wei Dynasty will adjust grain to stabilize food prices. , This is the valuable experience of the people in troubled times for many years.But this is only the local people. For the [-]+ victims who fled from various places in Liang County, [-] yuan for a bucket of rice is tantamount to murder and robbery. The hungry people are forced to sell their meager property in order to survive.

So when the Sui army came suddenly, the Wei army was in a hurry and the atmosphere was tense, but the people living here did not have many common enemies. On the contrary, many people hoped that the Sui army could break through the city as soon as possible and end this damn war as soon as possible.

On the top of the city, Chen Zhilue looked at the Sui army on both sides of the Tongji Canal outside the city, and his heart was extremely heavy.

Song City is a county government, with a circumference of more than 4 miles and six gates. At least [-] to [-] people are needed to completely defend it, and the [-] troops in his hands seem to be far from enough. The disastrous defeat in Jiangdu has seriously shaken the morale of the army, making everyone pessimistic about the Great Wei Dynasty, and feel that our army is not an invincible opponent of the Sui army at all.

Liu Zhi, the prefect of Liang County next to him, saw Chen Zhilue's worry, and comforted him: "I have sent people to report urgently to General Xu and General Wang. Liang County is an indispensable county for our Great Wei. I believe that the two generals The general will definitely send troops to support, as long as we hold out for about ten days, the reinforcements will arrive."

Chen Zhilue smiled wryly, as long as the Sui army attacked the city aggressively, he might not be able to hold it for three to five days, but the Sui army seemed to have no plans to attack the city yet, maybe they still have two or three days.

"The pressure on the two generals is extremely high. I'm afraid they can't be counted on. Even if they send troops, I'm afraid they will not escape the bad luck of being hunted down by the Sui army's cavalry."

Speaking of this, Chen Zhilue said to Liu Zhi: "We only have [-] troops, and there are at least six places that need to be defended. If the Sui army attacks from the six cities, I don't even have a reserve army, and I have no soldiers to maintain order in the city. , Once the hungry people make trouble again, we will be in big trouble. I think we'd better open warehouses to help the victims."

Liu Zhi said with a sad face: "Because of the limited transportation capacity, when the Holy Majesty launched the Western Expedition, the grain from the Jiangyang warehouse was given priority to Zhongli County. It has been a long time since there was no grain ship from Huaibei; Jiangdu is now lost, and the grain from the south can no longer be counted on. How can we help the victims with less than [-] shi of grain in the county warehouse? If the relief is given to the victims, the local people may not be satisfied?"

As the prefect of a county, Liu Zhi certainly didn't want a civil uprising. He thought for a while and said, "There are tens of thousands of shi in Bianshuicang. I don't know if the general can..."

"Absolutely not, absolutely not."

Chen Zhilue's face changed slightly: "The Bianshui warehouse is the granary of the army. I plan to double reward the soldiers. Only in this way can the soldiers in the army be stabilized. If it is used to relieve the victims, what will the soldiers do? If the soldiers are dissatisfied, We can't keep it for ten days."

Liu Zhi sighed and said, "If the Sui army captures Song City, the food will not be able to be kept. It is better to hide it with the people so that it will not be taken away."

Chen Zhilue pondered for a moment, then shook his head resolutely and said: "I also know that the envoy has a good idea, but I can't bear the consequences of the army's mutiny, so please forgive me!"

"Let's do this." Chen Zhilue's eyes flashed coldly, and he said coldly, "Since the gentry in the city don't cooperate, then I will follow the example of the Holy Majesty and slaughter them all in the name of collaborating with the enemy, and use their food to help the victims."

Chen Zhilue was originally from a noble family in Lingnan, from Xin'an County. Yang Guang expanded the Xiaoguo Army in Jiangdu. He led more than [-] soldiers to recruit and became a general of the Xiaoguo Army.

Li Yuan occupied Daxing, the capital of the Sui Dynasty, in the name of anti-Sui tyranny. However, the Tang army had just entered Guanzhong and was not able to gain a firm foothold. It was attacked by Xueju's 30 troops from the Western Qin Dynasty, but the Tang Dynasty defeated the Western Qin army with 13 troops.This was a crucial battle for the Tang Dynasty to gain a foothold in Guanzhong, and it was also one of the reasons why history praised Li Shimin's military talents. The common people, the income from conquests, and their children’s treasures are all owned by the Khan.” This made the Turks support the Tang Dynasty and together with Li Shimin’s company defeated the Western Qin army.

Li Yuan not only surrendered to the Turks, but also changed the flags of the army. The flags of the Central Plains are generally red, while the ethnic minorities in the north like to use white. And white is exactly the color of peach blossoms, "red and white complement each other like a garden", and it looks like peach blossoms from a distance.

When the news of "If you can follow me, don't invade the common people, and conquer the gains, the children's treasures, all the Khan will have them." The news spread to Jiangdu through the Dugu family and other Guanlong nobles. The superior, General Yu Huaji of Youtunwei, launched a mutiny.Chen Zhilue is also one of them. He knows that once he is defeated, Yang Tong will never let him go, so no matter whether it is public or private, he must stick to Song City. In order to achieve this goal, he doesn't care about the gentry.

"This... I'm worried that there will be chaos." Liu Zhi hesitated a little. He was a lowly scholar in Luoyang, participated in Yang Xuangan's rebellion, and had a friendship with Li Mi. After Li Mi entered the Wagang Army, he was reused. favor.

"Isn't it chaotic enough now?" Chen Zhilue snorted coldly, "As soon as these gentry saw that the situation in our dynasty was not good, they all spoke out for the Sui Dynasty. Get started, and sooner rather than later."

"Alright." Liu Zhi pondered for a while, and then agreed to Chen Zhilue's plan. As a habitual rebel, his situation was not much better than Chen Zhilue's.

Chen Zhilue was supported, and he said overjoyedly, "Then let's make a plan."

"Go back to the tower."

.........

into the night.

Songcheng Zheng's Mansion secretly gathered a group of people, all of them looked solemn, and no one spoke.

"Everyone, the Son of Heaven is not benevolent. He regards our gentry as worthless. He slaughtered all the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River for money and food. Now that Jiangdu has fallen, the logistics and supplies can no longer keep up. As far as I know, not only Liangjun's army is short of food, but also Xu Shiji. , Wang Bodang is also at risk of running out of food. Li Mi needs a lot of money and food to fight against the Sui Dynasty, so as long as he kills us, he can get a lot of money and food."

Zheng Renyuan of the Zheng family in Xingyang who is talking, the family will not put all eggs in the same basket, and the Zheng family is no different.

At the beginning, some of them surrendered to Wang Shichong, and others surrendered to Li Mi. When the people in Zheng's ancestral house were slaughtered by the "rebel army", the Zheng family was divided into two, one part supported Li Yuan, and the other supported Li Mi. Zheng Detao, Zheng Ting, Zheng Qianxiang and others are all descendants of the Zheng family in Xingyang. The branch based in Liang County has Zheng Renyuan as the head of the family. However, Li Mi's massacre of the Jiangnan gentry and the unfavorable form have aroused Zheng Renyuan's vigilance. When all the children of his own family died in Zhongli County, he knew that the Zheng family had no influence in the Wei Dynasty, and he was afraid that he would follow in the footsteps of the Jiangnan gentry, so he discussed with Cui, Lu and other representatives of the Kanto gentry who were also based here. way out.

Zheng Renyuan's expression was very solemn, and he looked at the patriarchs and representatives of the gentry that he had invited, and said in a deep voice: "Li Mi went to Huainan personally, but under the bloody battle of the soldiers of the Sui army, he couldn't make any progress. Instead, Emperor Shengwu took him to his lair , the army was defeated by Zhongli, and it is said that Li Mi had fled to Huaiyang. But given his current situation, I am afraid he could not last long. We all know that the Sui Dynasty expanded rapidly in recent years, and there was a serious shortage of officials. As long as we donate Song City and help the Sui army, even if we cannot hold important positions in the Sui Dynasty in the future, we can become normal citizens with Sui nationality. In this way, our children can also participate in the imperial examinations of the Sui Dynasty. In the end, his knowledge is unmatched by poor scholars, and it is not difficult to win the ranking."

Speaking of this, he looked at everyone again, and said with a smile: "For our thousand-year-old gentry, the most indispensable thing is time. We don't fight for the day and night, and we don't fight for the next generation. We can't compete in this dynasty, the big deal is next Let's fight for one generation. As long as we have the opportunity, we may not be unable to influence the successor of Emperor Shengwu."

"Zheng Gong's words are extremely true." Lu Hong of the Lu family said with a smile: "Not long ago, Emperor Shengwu wiped out the officialdom and killed hundreds of officials. How can a person control the power of the country if he loses himself and cannot even control his own behavior?"

"Lu Gong is right. Talented people can rejuvenate the country, but mediocrity can only destroy the family. If Emperor Shengwu Wu reuses mediocre talents, his Great Sui will definitely not last long."

"I don't know what the envoy wants to do?" Cui Yan, head of the Cui family in Boling, asked with a frown. When Yang Tong unified Jizhou and Youzhou, he wanted to go back, but Yang Tong asked how to prove that the land is You, now prove that the person lying in the cemetery is your ancestor' These two problems are difficult, the Lu family, the Boling Cui family, the Qinghe Cui family, the Zhaojun Li family, and the Bohai Gao family have become the laughing stock of the world. Dong hates it deeply, but time has passed, and the former enemy turned into a "guardian of the gentry". This made them all decide to put aside their past grievances and plan to approach the Sui Dynasty. They refused to sell food to the people of Songcheng because they wanted to curry favor with Yang. Dong's first resort.

"Now that the Sui army is approaching the city, it's time for us to make contributions." Zheng Renyuan said with a smile.

"Although the morale of the Wei army is low, there are still [-] people in the city." Cui Yan pondered for a while, and then said: "Including the civilian men recruited by Chen Zhilue, there are [-] soldiers. What should we do? Chen Zhilue participated in the murder Your lord, this kind of person is definitely not a kind person.”

If you want to rebel without soldiers, isn't that courting death?
"After Emperor Shengwu defeated Li Mi in Liyang last year, all the Xiaoguo troops who participated in the Jiangdu Rebellion were slaughtered. It can be seen that Shengwu has a deep complaint against these people. It is also because Chen Zhilue is a thief in the Jiangdu Rebellion One of the first, so we should give him to Emperor Shengwu, as the saying goes, wealth and wealth are found in danger, how can we get enough capital for promotion without taking risks?" Zheng Renyuan said.

The crowd nodded.

It's no secret, everyone knows it.

"Don't worry, everyone, my Zheng family has already prepared. Wang Xing, the guard of the north gate of Song City, is a disciple of my Zheng family. There are [-] elite Sui Dynasty soldiers under my command who can be mobilized."

five hundred?

The muscles on everyone's faces twitched violently, what can 500 people do?

"500 people is indeed a little less, but it's okay if we donate the city gate." Zheng Renyuan smiled and continued: "There are still many disaster victims in the city, as long as they are mobilized, the whole city will surely fall into chaos. Among them, with Chen Zhilue's 2000 soldiers, the defense is still insufficient, how can he have the strength to counter the rebellion? As far as I know, each family has some young and strong servants. The combat power is not good, but it can also play a role in chaos."

"Since Mr. Zheng has a detailed plan, I, Mrs. Lu, will follow Mr. Zheng's lead." Lu Hong gritted his teeth and agreed.As Zheng Renyuan said, risks and opportunities coexist. If you want to occupy a place in the world, you must pay a corresponding price. If you don't take a risk, who is sure that Yang Tong will let them go?You must know that they were the main force who abused Yang Tong at the beginning. In order to kill him, they did not hesitate to frame him in various ways, hoping that Yang Guang would convict him. .

"My Cui family also has [-] young adults, and I am willing to send them to Zheng Gong." Cui Yan also said.

"What do you want Zheng Gong to do?" At this moment, a sneer suddenly came from the entrance of the lobby.

When everyone turned their heads, their expressions changed drastically.

I saw Chen Zhilue stepping in with more than a hundred personal guards. These guards were bleeding from their swords and swords, and their bodies had a strong smell of blood.

"what."

A housekeeper came in a hurry, and when he passed by Chen Zhilue, he chopped off his head with a knife.

Zheng Renyuan was shocked in his heart, and forced himself to say calmly: "What is the meaning of General Chen?"

Lu Hong also said sharply: "Is General Chen trying to take this opportunity to kill us all?"

"That's right." Chen Zhilue sneered

"You..." Zheng Renyuan was terrified and sat down on the ground.

"I originally wanted to come to my family, but it happened that Zheng Gong summoned the heads of all the families to gather, which saved a lot of trouble." Chen Zhilue was also fortunate in his heart. If it was a day or two late, these people would probably offer sacrifices. The city surrendered, and ordered harshly: "I will exterminate these thieves."

After hearing Chen Zhilue's words, these personal guards immediately went crazy. Regardless of these high-ranking patriarchs, they launched an attack without hesitation.

"Go in." At this moment, a group of dead men from the Zheng family who heard the news rushed outside launched an attack, and suddenly, endless screams spread into the hall.

"Sure enough, I want to rebel."

Seeing more than a hundred dead soldiers coming, Chen Zhilue let out a loud roar, and rushed into the rebellious army, waving the mock knife in his hand, and saw the rebels fell to the ground one by one, the guards were high-spirited, and they all leaned on their weapons He killed the dead soldiers of the Zheng family.

These people are all the original Xiaoguo army, all of them are brave and good at fighting. Although the dead soldiers of the Zheng family are brave and fearless, how can they be the opponents of the dignified and upright army who cooperate with each other tacitly?It was quickly slaughtered.

Zheng Renyuan and the others looked panic-stricken. How did they expect Chen Zhilue's soldiers to be so powerful?Zheng's dead soldiers didn't even have a chance to resist.

"A group of drunks and rich people want to rebel. They are really asking for their own death!" Although Chen Zhilue is a king-killing general, he does not look down on these boasters from the bottom of his heart. These days, knives are the sharpest What are weapons and books?
"kill!"

A group of personal guards rushed into the hall like a tiger, and slaughtered the fleeing gentry leaders.

After losing the leaders of these people, the dead soldiers of the Zheng family were quickly wiped out. The Zheng family was full of corpses, and no one survived. All those who dared to rebel were killed by Chen Zhilue.

"All the families that participated in the rebellion will be punished." Chen Zhilue gave the order without hesitation. None of these great families is a good thing. Since they are killed, they must be killed. Only by cutting the grass and roots can we ensure that Song City will not be chaotic. There is food relief for the victims, so that the people of Hecheng can stabilize and not cause trouble to the army.

On the third floor of an inn opposite Zheng's mansion, a dark-skinned young man sighed: "Not enough successes, more failures."

"It's normal." Another Tsing Yi said indifferently: "Hey, with Chen Zhilue doing it, this saves the Holy Father a lot of trouble. Anyway, we have a lot of ways to open the city gate, and we didn't even think about relying on these gentry. But these people died well, at least, they can make Song City mess up for a while."

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My daughter has been sick and hospitalized for the past two days, so I can't keep up with the update for a while, I'm really sorry.

(End of this chapter)