First Minister of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 263 Zhao Jun Wang Li Xiaogong
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Exit Ankang City, go all the way to the southeast, enter Kuizhou at the junction of Jinzhou, Kuizhou, and Fangzhou, and then cross the river and go straight to Renfu City.

It would be shorter to go directly to Kuizhou from the south, but it would be closer to Tongzhou. At this time, Tongzhou was not under the actual control of Datang.

Along the way, Gao Chong was thinking about how to deal with Ran Zhaoze, the barbarian king who occupied Kaizhou and Tongzhou. Ran Zhaoze was a Kaizhou barbarian who had occupied Kaizhou since the 13th year of Daye.

When Gao Junya recruited Sichuan and Shu, Ran Zhao expressed his attachment. However, when Li Tang conquered Wang Shichong, Dou Gui brought a large number of Sichuan and Shu troops out of Sichuan to assist Li Shimin. Kaizhou and Tongzhou were close to Fangzhou, and the distance to the Central Plains was even closer. Recently, more government soldiers were dispatched, and Kaizhou was empty. Ran Zhaoqing took the opportunity to rebel, and then captured Tongzhou.

Both Kaizhou and Tongzhou are mostly mountainous, and the barbarians are like fish in water in the mountains and forests. After Li Xiaogong came to Kuizhou, he attacked Kuizhou several times, but they all returned without success. Also had to temporarily suspend troops.

But Gao Chong knew very well that if he wanted to conquer Xiaoliang freely, Ran Zhaoqing had to be eradicated. Otherwise, Kuizhou would be empty and Ran Zhao would be in trouble. Once Ran Zhao was allowed to occupy Kaizhou, Tongzhou, and Kuizhou In other places, strangling the gates of Sichuan and Shu, and guarding according to the danger, it will make it a climate.

Passing through Fangzhou, at this time the Shangjin Military Mansion has been succeeded by Rong Zheng as Hushi General, time is in a hurry, Gao Chong also has no intention of going to reminisce about the old days, and went straight to Kuizhou.

Two days later, looking at this fortified city by the river, Gao Chong couldn't help feeling agitated. He didn't go directly into the city. Busy with sweat profusely.

"Lang Jun, it should be King Zhao and the others." Gao Chong focused his attention on the ship, and Gao Xiong behind him reminded.

Gao Chong turned his head to look, and saw Li Xiaogong and others coming towards the river, Gao Chong rushed forward to meet him, "Gao Chong has met King Zhao Jun, and after a few months of separation, the king's style is still the same."

"Youzhi, don't come here without any harm", Li Xiaogong was very eager, he put his arms around Gao Chong's arm and said with a smile: "Youzhi has shown his might in Jinzhou, it's really amazing."

Gao Chong is humble.

When they came to the chief manager's office and took their seats, Li Xiaogong sighed: "Yuzhi took over Deng Shiluo of Jinzhou, but this king was so ashamed by Ran Zhaoze of Kaizhou. I am really ashamed."

Gao Chong didn't want to say much when he heard the words, so he could only comfort him and said: "Just now when I came here, I saw the contiguous warships by the river, they are very mighty. Your Majesty wants to supervise the construction of warships and manage Jingchu, but also guard against barbarians and protect them. It is extremely difficult for the people to live in peace.”

Hearing this, Li Xiaogong felt very relieved, as if he had found Zhili, he complained again and again, "You don't know, this king really has no skills at all, supervising ships, training soldiers, and guarding against those barbarians, and That Kaizhou barbarian was too treacherous in the mountains and forests.

Don't be afraid of Youzhi's jokes, supervising the construction of ships requires a lot of wood, and the men sent by the king to cut wood have been attacked by barbarians many times, but when they enter the wild mountains and forests, the barbarians are as slippery as fish in water, it is really hateful."

Gao Chong also frowned when he heard the words, and said directly: "Your Majesty is here to manage Jingchu, Xiao Liang must have known about it a long time ago, then Ran Zhao must have been bought by Xiao Liang just like Deng Shiluo, and he wants to manage Xiao Liang , we must first get rid of Ran Zhaoze’s worries.”

Li Xiaogong frowned, "Exactly, that's the case, but this king..." Li Xiaogong sighed heavily as he spoke, it seemed that he was really annoyed by Ran Zhaoze, Gao Chong also understood this.

"May I ask Your Majesty, how many troops are there in Kuizhou now?" Gao Chong asked directly.

"Youzhi is now the Sima of Kuizhou, and has the right to intervene in military affairs. Now Kuizhou has a total of [-] land and water troops, including [-] infantry and [-] sailors." Li Xiaogong said confidently, "This Although the Wanshui Army has only been newly built for a few months, the king has strictly ordered daily drills and non-stop daily, which is already worthy of great use.”

Hearing this, Gao Chong hurriedly began to praise, Li Xiaogong suddenly asked: "I heard that when Youzhi was in Jinzhou, he lured Deng Shiluo out of the mountain, and when he attacked the city, he won the victory with a surprise attack. I wonder if this strategy can be used to deal with it?" Ran Zhaoze?"

Gao Chong smiled wryly when he heard the words, shook his head and said: "The reason why a trick is a trick is that it is unexpected, once it has been used, it will be difficult to be effective the second time.

What's more, I have also known Ran Zhaoze, who is different from Deng Shiluo's reckless background. Although Ran Zhaoze is a barbarian, he comes from a wealthy family and is quite knowledgeable, so he should not fall for this trick to lure the enemy.

On the other hand, since Ran Zhaoze's rebellion, he has stayed in Kaizhou and Tongzhou, and has never invaded Kuizhou, which shows that Ran Zhaoze is very afraid of the king and will never leave the mountain easily."

Hearing Gao Chong say that Ran Zhaoze was afraid of him, Li Xiaogong was also satisfied in his heart, since Ran Zhaoze rebelled, Li Xiaogong was helpless, but many people in the army of the court had a lot of words towards him.

Just when Li Xiaogong was frowning, Gao Chong had an idea and said, "But in the end we still have to lure Ran Zhaoze out of the mountain, or we can change our thinking."

"Youzhi has a plan?" Li Xiaogong asked in surprise.

Gao Chong was noncommittal, and asked instead: "I heard that your majesty recruited and appointed many children of Bashu tribal leaders?"

Li Xiaogong nodded when he heard the words, "This move can subdue the hearts of his tribe."

Seeing that there was no one around, Gao Chong laughed softly and said, "Does it mean to be a hostage?"

Li Xiaogong smiled when he heard the words, "You are very clever".

"Forgive me, there must be some of these Bashu children who have contact with Ran Zhaoze. If the king releases the news, he will say that the imperial court has sent people to attack Xiao Xian soon," Gao Chong said with a smile.

"You mean to lure Ran Zhaoze to attack?" Li Xiaogong was not mediocre, so he immediately realized it.

And Li Xiaogong was not surprised that some of the Bashu disciples secretly communicated with Ran Zhaoze. After all, no matter how he tried to comfort him in Bashu, he was still an outsider, not as close as the locals.

"That's right, Ran Zhao is secretly throwing himself at Xiao Xian. If Kuizhou's soldiers and horses are all out, I don't believe he can resist such a big temptation from Kuizhou. Even if he knows that there may be an ambush, he can't let go of this golden opportunity. If Ran Zhao is really cautious and holds back, then Xiao Mian will definitely urge him to send troops, after all Kaizhou is behind our army."

Gao Chong suddenly realized that he was already familiar with these calculations. Perhaps because of his thinking, he always felt that there were still some "righteous wars" in the wars of this era. Go ahead.

The infantry drew firepower and the cavalry charged from behind. Such a simple tactic was tried and tested by Li Shimin time and again.

Li Xiaogong and Li Yuan both sent troops into the mountains to confiscate the barbarians. Combat in the mountains and jungles is the specialty of the barbarians. The trained soldiers of the Tang Dynasty are more suitable for fighting in open areas. The strength of attacking the enemy is how to be undefeated.

For example, many conspiracies and tricks in "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" actually did not exist in the real Three Kingdoms at the end of Han Dynasty. Perhaps in the Song, Ming and Qing Dynasties, conspiracies and tricks were used frequently.

(End of this chapter)