First Minister of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 257
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After seeing all the generals, Gao Chong went to the camp in the west of the city without delay, and assembled his troops.

In the west of the city, in the big camp of the government soldiers, with the sound of drums, there was a sudden commotion, and groups of government soldiers rushed to the school field sparsely.

Gao Chong's expression was heavy, and Li Yuan who was on the side seemed to be slapped in the face, and immediately reprimanded: "Let them hurry up, why is the assembly so slow?"

Until the three-way drum sounded, Gao Chong boarded the high platform and ordered: "Count the number of people."

The generals were busy counting the soldiers and horses under their command, and it was still Pan Ding, who reported with a dark face: "There should be 150 and six men, but there are actually 820 and three."

"What's the reason for the three people from 330 who didn't arrive?" Gao Chong raised his eyebrows and asked.

"Either ill or injured", Pan Ding was surprised that Gao Chong's arithmetic was really good, and he did not think twice about counting the number of people who did not arrive, and said casually.

"Where is Jiang Song?"

"The end is here", Jiang Baoyi hurriedly stepped forward to obey orders.

"Go and verify this matter, if you don't come without reason, you will be expelled from the camp," Gao Chong said mercilessly.

Pan Ding and the others panicked and were about to defend themselves, seeing Gao Chong's indisputable expression, they had no choice but to back down.

"The roll call at the school grounds, if you don't come for no reason, what's the use of staying", Gao Chong said bluntly: "You don't have to worry about the lack of troops, the saint has sent a large army to support them, and they will arrive soon."

All the generals were delighted when they heard the words. If there is support from the imperial army, there is nothing to be afraid of, such as Deng Shiluo.

Li Yuan was anxious when he heard the words, and was about to go up, Gao Chong shook his head to signal, but fortunately Li Yuan was not stupid, seeing this, he could only hold back and didn't ask.

"Bring it up", Gao Chong shouted loudly when all the generals were delighted.

Dozens of servants from the General Manager's Mansion immediately carried several large boxes to the general's platform, Gao rushed forward to open the boxes, and saw that there were strings of newly made Kaiyuan Tongbao in the boxes, and the eyes of all the soldiers lit up when they saw this.

At the beginning of the year, Li Yuan ordered the abolition of the five baht coins made in the Sui Dynasty, imitating the strict specifications of the five baht coins in the Western Han Dynasty, and casting the "Kaiyuan Tongbao" with better quality.

Kaiyuan Tongbao is made of bronze and white copper. The copper is pure, thick and solid, and it is not easy to wear. It has been widely welcomed by the people since its implementation. It is more valuable and durable than the old five baht. Jinzhou is close to Gyeonggi. , There are several boxes of newly made Kaiyuan Tongbao coins in the treasury.

"Today, Yingmao officers and men will hang twice each, and in the future when they defeat the barbarians, there will be another big reward." Gao Chong held up a hanging coin and said loudly, "Wan Sheng in the Tang Dynasty."

When all the soldiers heard this, they were taken aback for a moment, but they were ecstatically surprised, and shouted loudly, "The Tang Dynasty is victorious", and the sound of the mountain's shout shook the whole city.

Since ancient times, money has touched people's hearts, especially since Li Yuan was stingy, since he took office as the governor of Jinzhou, the local soldiers of Jinzhou have not seen a single copper coin as a reward.

The simple reward of money has such magic power. The government soldiers who were originally weak, now happily lined up to receive the money. After hearing Gao Chong say that there will be a big reward after defeating the barbarians, they even whispered to each other. appearance.

When Li Yuan saw the government soldiers queuing up to collect the money, he felt a dull pain in his cheeks, so he had to turn around and leave. After Gao Chong returned to the main tent of the Chinese army, Li Yuan hurriedly asked: "Yuzhi, you actually reported it to the court? Really? Are there reinforcements?"

Once Gao Chong reported the truth to the court, then Li Yuan was defeated in several battles, and he would definitely be impeached for concealing the fact that Li Yuan had been defeated several times.

Gao Chong glanced at Li Yuan's words, and nodded in Li Yuan's astonished eyes, "Indeed, it has been reported, the barbarians invaded, it is impossible to hide it from the court, but the court did not send reinforcements, the reason why I said there were reinforcements is to cheer up military spirit".

"Gao Youzhi, you are so brave, how dare you betray me?" Li Yuan was furious when he heard this, pointing at Gao Chong and angrily reprimanded him.

Gao Chong's face became serious when he heard the words, "I have no obligation to conceal the matter for the king. If I don't report it, I will also take responsibility if the matter is leaked, but please rest assured, the king, when I defeat Deng Shiluo, the king will not only be innocent, but will have meritorious service." ".

"Then what if you lose?" Li Yuan asked back.

"If you lose, what's the difference between reporting and not reporting?" Gao Chong raised his eyebrows and said, "Once the battle is defeated, the barbarians will break through the city and loot the people. Can the king continue to conceal such a heinous event?"

Li Yuan frowned and thought about it, it seems that this is indeed the truth, seeing Li Yuan still grumbling, Gao Chong smiled and said: "Don't worry, my lord, I have a plan to defeat the enemy in my heart, this battle must be won."

Li Yuan was overjoyed when he heard the words, and asked: "Is the plan going to come out?"

"We need to use the banner of the king's armor," Gao Chong said bluntly.

"Why do you want this?" Li Yuan asked alertly.

"The mountain people have their own tricks, the king sits in the city and waits for the good news," Gao Chong said with a smile.

After sending Li Yuan away, Jiang Baoyi just came back, "Youzhi, according to what you said, the 300 people who were late were taken outside the camp for resettlement."

Then Jiang Baoyi was very puzzled, "On the surface it was said to be expelled from the camp, but in fact it was still kept. What is your plan?"

Gao Chong looked at the map and pointed to a mountain peak marked on the map, "Bao Yi, I will give you a task. Tomorrow morning, I will lead these 300 people to Nangong Mountain to explore the road. If they encounter enemy troops, they will return immediately."

"Fake defeat?" Jiang Baoyi was startled when he heard the words, and then smiled wryly: "Yuzhi, have you never seen the state of these 300 people? , but really lost."

Gao Chong raised his eyebrows and smiled, "Wouldn't that be better, and make the enemy more convinced."

Jiang Baoyi responded when he heard the words, although he was puzzled, he insisted on not asking.

"Be careful in everything and take your own safety first," Gao Chong ordered in a low voice.

Jiang Baoyi nodded and took the order. To put it bluntly, these 300 people were the flags, the flags used to lure Deng Shiluo into the trap.

The next day, Jiang Baoyi left the camp, led the three hundred crooked melons and split dates, and went straight to Nangong Mountain.

At the beginning, the 300 people did not have any abnormalities, and walked forward honestly until they got closer and closer to Nangong Mountain. Most of these 300 people were locals from Ankang, and they were familiar with the road. Looking at this familiar road is already surprising fear.

"General, Nangong Mountain is not far ahead. It's the lair of barbarians. You can't go there," said a captain trembling.

"It's the old lair of barbarians, why can't we go?" Jiang Baoyi scolded angrily: "You can't do anything, just ask the crime rationally. Now is the time to take the crime and make meritorious deeds. I will find out the situation in the mountain later, not only innocent, but also return to the camp. There will be rewards later.”

The school lieutenant didn't dare to say any more when he heard the words, so he had to say in a low voice: "Then we can't go too deep into the mountain, we only have 300 people, if we meet barbarians, it will be over."

Jiang Baoyi flicked the spear in his hand, "Anyone who dares to retreat will be killed without mercy."

The team continued to march and reached the foot of Nangong Mountain. The soldiers became more and more nervous, but under Jiang Baoyi's urging, they had to bravely move forward.

(End of this chapter)