First Minister of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 315

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After noon, Yongzhou Inspector Ran Rencai led Yongzhou officials to the south gate to bid farewell to the Lingnan appeasement army. The drums and music were played in unison, just as high-profile as when they entered the city.

"Since Gaozhou is attached to you, then so-and-so congratulates you in advance to appease Lingnan, and so-and-so serves you a celebration wine in Lingling, and you can drink it when you return." Ran Rencai laughed loudly. This is all the time promoting that Gao Chong will go to Gaozhou.

Gao Chong laughed and said: "I believe this wine will be drunk soon, brother Zhengwen, gentlemen, take your leave."

Leaping horses and whips, high-spirited, under the watchful eyes of the crowd, the [-] troops rushed to Lingnan majesticly.

Huojia City, more than [-] miles north of Lingling, after Li Yibing left Youzhou and went south to Hebei, Li Shimin immediately sent his troops north when he heard the news, and entered Feixiang.

Although Li Yi is fierce, cunning, headstrong and arrogant, it is undeniable that Li Yi is really good at using soldiers, and he can be called talented but not virtuous.

So far, Liu Heita has been trapped in the encirclement of the north and the south, but Liu Heita is not a mediocre person. In order to avoid fighting on two fronts, he immediately divided [-] troops and handed them over to Zuo Servant She Fanyuan, and ordered him to stick to Mingzhou. Liu Heita led the main force The army went north to meet Li Yi.

The army moved slowly, and after leaving Yongnian City, the administrative center of Mingzhou, they had not traveled more than a hundred miles, and it was already dark, so Liu Heita set up camp at Shahe.

At the same time, in the west of Yongnian City, hundreds of people were haunting the darkness, moving freely and swiftly among the mountains and ravines.

"Are you sure you can hear the drums on the Red Mountain?" The leader is tall and strong, with a bearded face, very mighty, his eyes are shining in the dark night, he looks like a mighty general .

"Cheng Mingfu don't worry," a thin man beside him said in a low voice: "A certain grew up in Mingzhou, and knows everything about this place like the palm of his hand.

There used to be a temple on the Red Mountain, and the bell rang every day, and the city was clearly visible. We waited for more than sixty drums to ring together, and it would surely shake Yongnian City."

Ming Fu is the honorific title for the county magistrate, and it turned out that this tall, strong, bearded man was actually a county magistrate.

"Very good", the curly bearded man heard the words and sighed: "I Cheng Mingzhen lost the city and lost the land, and I know that the guilt is inevitable, but if this plan can frighten Liu thief away and make meager achievements, I can feel at ease."

It turned out that this man was Cheng Mingzhen, magistrate of Yongnian County in Mingzhou.

Cheng Mingzhen was originally the magistrate of Pule County under Dou Jiande's command. During his tenure, he had outstanding achievements and a good official reputation. Cheng Mingzhen not only excelled in literary governance, but also in martial arts. He trained troops to defend the city in Pule County, and the surrounding thieves did not dare to set foot.

After Dou Jiande executed Wang Fubao, Ling Jing and other meritorious generals and self-destructed the Great Wall, Cheng Mingzhen became discouraged and took the initiative to surrender to Tang Dynasty. When Dou Xia perished, Li Yuan appointed him Yongnian magistrate.

Yongnian County is the administrative seat of Mingzhou, and its importance in Daxia Kingdom is the same as that of Wannian County and Chang'an County in Chang'an City, its status is self-evident.

After Liu Heikai's rebellion, the momentum was like a broken bamboo. Chen Junbin, the governor of Mingzhou, knew that there were few soldiers in Mingzhou, and Mingzhou was the capital of Dou Xia's regime. To welcome Liu Heikai, Chen Junbin discussed with Cheng Mingzhen, took the initiative to retreat, temporarily avoided the front, and led his officials out of the city to seek refuge.

This move is not a cowardice, but a wise move.

As soon as Liu Heitai's troops arrived, the powerful families in Yongnian City gathered together to revolt and opened the city gate to welcome Liu Heitai into the city. Chen Junbin and others were able to survive because they retreated early.

Speaking of Chen Junbin, he is not mediocre, he is from the Southern Chen royal family, and his father is Chen Boshan, the third son of Emperor Chen Wen and Chen Qian, the king of Poyang.

Chen Junbin was erudite and talented. After Chen's death, he entered the Sui Dynasty and served as the governor of Xiangguo County.

After Li Yuan established the country, he brought the county under his control, made him the governor of Xingzhou, and was named Duke of Dongyang County. After Dou Jiande was pacified, he was appointed governor of Mingzhou.

After withdrawing from Yongnian City, Chen Junbin went to Chang'an on his own, but Cheng Mingzhen felt depressed, so he led hundreds of soldiers, relying on his familiarity with the terrain, to circle the mountains outside the city.

Today I heard that Li Yi was attacking rapidly, and after Liu Heita led his army northward to meet the attack, Cheng Mingzhen had a plan. He led his men to beat sixty big drums outside the city overnight, shaking the city. It would be best to alert Liu Heita to return to Yongnian City .

If Liu Heita's march could be delayed, Li Yi, King of Yan County, would have more time to regain lost ground. The situation on the battlefield was changing rapidly. Liu Heita led the main force to make more arrangements.

They smeared and sneaked all the way, relying on their familiarity with the terrain, they successfully reached Hongshan. Hongshan is located in the west of Yongnian City. The soil is mostly red, so it was named Hongshan.

"If I were the general of Ming Province and stationed in Hongshan, I would be able to echo Yongnian City and be invincible." Cheng Mingzhen said in a deep voice, looking at this easy-to-defend and difficult-to-attack mountain on top of Hongshan.

Then the sixty big drums were divided into two rows. Cheng Mingzhen arranged for strong men to hold drumsticks and stuff their ears with cloth balls. When the shadow of the moon shifted, Cheng Mingzhen covered his ears and gave an order.

The sound of the rumbling war drums shook the sky and the earth. Hongshan was slightly higher than the west city gate. In the dark and windy night of this month, the sound of the drums spread quickly throughout the city.

The guard was shocked and flustered. He hurriedly reported to the guard, Fan Yuan. Fan Yuan woke up from his sleep and was at a loss. no?"

After calming down a bit, Fan Yuan grabbed the guards and asked urgently, "Is the Tang army besieging the city?"

"I... haven't seen the siege", the guards were already panicked, and it was even more unbearable to see that the dignified Zaifu was also so panicked.

"Okay, very good." Fan Yuan wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, "It's fine if there is no siege, you, you, and the rest of you, all go out of the city and chase after the king quickly, saying that the king's capital is in danger when Li Shimin's army arrives. Come to the rescue."

The few soldiers named by Fan Yuan did not dare to delay, and immediately went out of the city overnight to chase Liu Heitai to the north.

"Cheng Ming Mansion, several riders left the city and headed north." Cheng Mingzhen arranged sentries at various gates, and as soon as the people in the city who asked for help left the city, Cheng Mingzhen knew about it.

"My plan is over," Cheng Mingzhen said happily, and immediately ordered to stop beating the drums and retreat quickly.

"Why don't you continue to beat the drums to intimidate the bandits?" the subordinate asked in puzzlement.

"In the dark night, there was a sudden thunderous drum sound, and the bandits couldn't distinguish it in a panic. They would definitely think that our army was coming, but if they continued to beat the drums and didn't see anyone for a long time, the guards in the city must be suspicious," Cheng Mingzhen patiently explained. road.

All the people suddenly realized when they heard the words.

Sure enough, seeing the thundering drums stop, Fan Yuan was wearing armor, looking from the west gate, he could only see darkness.

"The Tang army should be stationed on the Red Mountain. It is not suitable to investigate at night, for fear of being ambushed. You wait for the city to stick to it. Don't slack off and wait for the king to come to help," Fan Yuan said solemnly.

Once Cheng Mingzhen got his plan, he didn't stay there, and went south overnight to join Li Shimin, the king of Qin.

(End of this chapter)