I Xiaoxiong

Chapter 360 Helpless
Xuanjia 23 April.

Jiannan Jiedu's deputy envoy Yan Ting led the soldiers who contributed to the Songzhou War and the suppression of the chaos in central Shu to Beijing, and Zhao Lingqing, king of Shu, brought his family with him.

On behalf of the emperor, His Highness the Crown Prince greeted the general and presided over the banquet.

And Zhao Lingqing, king of Shu, was directly summoned into the palace to have a prelude with the Taoist emperor.

"Minister Zhao Lingqing, I pay my respects to Your Majesty."

"Hahaha, Ling Qing, you and I are uncles and brothers, both descended from Xuanmiao, King Shu Jing is the younger brother of Renmiao, and we are all in the same family, please don't see outsiders in the future."

"Yes, so the younger brother has seen the emperor"

"That's right"

The Emperor Daojun's performance was very close, which made Zhao Lingqing quite flattered.

Although as the emperor said, the lineage of King Shu and Renzong are close relatives, but after all, it is not as good as King Zhou, King Zheng and other clans who are all within the capital and travel a lot.

"Speaking of which, although you and I are close relatives, you seldom see each other. Although Sichuan is known as the land of abundance, the mountains are high and the roads are far away, so it is very difficult to see each other."

"The minister often misses His Majesty even in Shuzhong"

The two monarchs and ministers talked happily, and then the Emperor Daojun asked about the scenery and food along the way, and Zhao Lingqing also answered them one by one.

After Zhao Lingqing left the Daming Palace, his face looked relaxed, but he was actually sweating profusely.

Even if he knows that the most is to move the Shu Palace to the town, he still feels uneasy when facing the emperor who has been in power for 20 years.

Even if he is in a high position, he is the prince of the clan.

A thought flashed through my heart, and it really was "accompanying a king is like accompanying a tiger".

How many times has he met the Daojun Emperor?

But I don't know what kind of mentality should Li Fuzhi, Fu Maoxiu and others see this Taoist emperor almost every day?
Ten days after Yan Ting and Zhao Lingqing entered Beijing, Zhao Yuanying, king of Gaoyang County, the sixth son of the emperor, was granted the title of King of Yi, the deputy envoy of Jiannan Jiefu, and went to Shuzhong to sit in the town.

At the same time, after the Red Lotus Army decided on the strategy of attacking the south from the north, it first pretended to attack Jinzhou, while the governor of Xiangzhou, Wu Kanghou Cheng Jintang, led the army to Shangyong County, Fangzhou. He contacted Zhu Lingshi, the governor of Kuizhou, and agreed to encircle the Jinzhou Red Lotus Army with him.

After Zhu Lingshi received Cheng Jintang's notification, he did not fully agree with the other party's strategy, but only agreed that the other party could help block his southward route to Kuizhou.

After Cheng Jintang received Zhu Lingshi's reply, he smiled and said nothing. In fact, he didn't expect the other party to send troops at all.This is to keep the idea of ​​seeking the best.

Then Cheng Jintang quickly led his army to rush to Jinzhou, but they were all in vain.

Most of the Red Lotus Army fled into the mountains, but a small group of thousands of people went north to Shangzhou with great fanfare.

This move caught Cheng Jintang, and after a short rest in Jinzhou, he quickly went north to pursue it.

After Cheng Jintang led the army northward, Liu Taiqing and Xue Julin got out of the mountains and went straight to the border of Kuizhou and Jinzhou.

At this time, Zhu Lingshi, the governor of Kuizhou, had only 2 people in his hands, and what he had to face was more than [-] Red Lotus Army, twice his strength, and its combat power was greatly increased.

As soon as the two armies clashed, Zhu Lingshi sensed that something was wrong, so for the sake of safety, he retreated all the way to Yong'an.

The Red Lotus Army originally planned to defeat Zhu Lingshi's troops in the field, and then took advantage of the situation to take down Yong'an, that is, to take down the control of the upper reaches of the river.

But Zhu Lingshi's troops are still there, and most of them have retreated into Yong'an. If they want to attack and seize the city by force, it is a bit of a dream, and they can only change the strategy of deploying troops.

"Zhu Lingshi has some knowledge. He retreated all the way and directly retreated into Yong'an, which made our plan come to nothing. If we can't defeat the officers and soldiers in the wild, trying to capture Yong'an head-on is tantamount to nonsense."

Outside Yong'an City, on the watchtower in the Red Lotus Army camp, Xue Julin looked at the top of Yong'an City and sighed.

Yong'an is next to Kuimen in the east, surrounded by water on three sides, and occupies an important water and land area, which is a must-have for military strategists of all dynasties.Therefore, it is extremely dangerous. Although the Red Lotus Army has greatly increased its combat power, it still lacks large-scale siege equipment for siege.

Most importantly, there is no time.

After Cheng Jintang, who was going north, realized that the situation was wrong, he would definitely send his troops south immediately, leaving only half a month for the Red Lotus Army.

If you want a strong bow, it is said that half a month, even half a year may not be able to win it.

"If you want to win Yong'an, the road down the river will not work, and you have to find another way out." Liu Taiqing on the side stared at the city in front of him, but he was constantly thinking about the way out.

"For the present plan, the only way is to go east. Although we can't take Yong'an and join the navy, we can go west to attack Xiangzhou. Xiangzhou's army is in the north. At this time, the defense is empty, even if we can't take Xiangzhou. City, you can also plunder other counties in Xiangzhou, and then you can go along the Han River to touch Jingzhou."

After hearing Liu Taiqing's plan, Xue Julin asked back: "Even if Xiangzhou's defense is empty, what about Jingzhou? Jingzhou Wang Hechen's navy is not easy to deal with."

Liu Taiqing said: "In today's situation, we can only take one step at a time and adapt to the situation. If Fu Maoxiu has not come to Shannan for a day, these officers and troops will not be able to dispatch and command in a unified way. We still have room to turn around. Now we have to find out as soon as possible. A place of shelter, otherwise, when the imperial court pushes forward to strengthen the walls and clear the wilderness in the two roads in the south of the mountain, our life will be even more difficult."

At this time, on the top of the city, Zhu Lingshi was also observing the layout of the Red Lotus Army's camp. He was very surprised that the current level of the opponent's organization was not much worse than that of the officers and soldiers under him. .

It is a bit more courageous than the usual pampered officers and soldiers.

"Cheng Jintang is definitely going to scold me behind my back now." Zhu Lingshi, who was more than eight feet tall, was not wearing armor, but a round-necked military robe, standing on the top of the city like a warrior.

Lieutenant General Wang Heng, who was wearing armor behind him, said: "Master Hou, although our Kuizhou Governor's Mansion is said to be a superior mansion, there are only two armies under its jurisdiction. In the lands of Zhong, Wan, Fu, Yu, and Nanzhou, on the other hand, Marquis Wukang, the new army holding the Grand Marshal's Mansion in his hands has five armies, and the Hengye and Zhenrong armies under the command of the Xiangzhou Governor's Mansion have 3 troops. Da Jun, this important task of suppressing bandits, is it possible that he will push it to our Kuizhou Governor's Mansion?"

"Captain, what General Wang said makes sense. As long as we guard the one-acre three-point land on the Kuizhou side, the imperial court will not embarrass us. The responsibility of suppressing the bandits should be shouldered by Marquis Wukang. Besides, it's not like we didn't send troops. , They have been tricked, we can't do anything alone, retreating to Yong'an is a last resort, if we go out to fight in the city, we will put Kuizhou in danger, the governor thinks twice."

The generals and staff behind him expressed their opinions one by one, all of them persuaded Zhu Lingshi not to go out to fight in the city, and just guard Yong'an.

Although it is said that it is in the army, everything is based on military orders.

Zhu Lingshi himself is not without his own opinions, but he has no desire to fight, and he, the general, has to consider these things.

After all, fighting is not a child's play. If there is no three armed forces to use their lives and work together, how can there be any chance of winning?

"Forget it, order the three armies to take strict precautions day and night."

"promise."

Zhu Lingshi stood firm in Yong'an and stood still, while Cheng Jintang, who was hundreds of miles away, was very anxious.

A few days later, what worried him most happened.

Xiangzhou is in a hurry.

(End of this chapter)