Elegy of Tang Dynasty

Chapter 477: Heavenly Sacrifice Expert

Outside Yecheng, there stood an altar built by Huangfu Weiming's order. At this moment, "hundreds of officials" gathered and the ceremony of offering sacrifices to heaven was in progress.

This kind of altar was built every year during the Kaiyuan period and the beginning of the Tianbao period, and was dismantled after being used once, which was extremely wasteful.

He would always let the two princes participate in the ceremony of offering sacrifices to heaven as a sign of his favor.

Whoever participated in the Heavenly Sacrifice seemed to be closer to the position of Crown Prince. This was how Ji Ge "raised fish" to maintain the political balance.

Ascending the throne to become emperor was no trivial matter. Even though it seemed wasteful, Huangfu Weiming had to follow the "rules" and build an altar first, then offer sacrifices to heaven, and then set up civil and military officials after ascending the throne to become emperor.

With more vacant official posts, there will be more bargaining chips to win people's hearts. You can't catch a wolf without sacrificing a lamb.

When his attack on Henan failed, he ascended the throne in Yecheng, Hebei and proclaimed himself emperor. Isn't this a kind of celebration of a funeral?

Huangfu Weiming smiled somewhat self-deprecatingly and said to Li Wan, the Prince of Rong, who was beside him: "Your Highness, the ceremony of offering sacrifices to heaven has begun. After the ceremony is completed, you can return to Yecheng to start the coronation ceremony."

Prince Rong Li Wan was a little stunned, and then asked in confusion: "General, shouldn't the Heavenly Sacrifice be held at Mount Tai?"

Huangfu Weiming was also stunned when he heard this. For a moment he couldn't figure out whether Prince Rong was really stupid or just pretending to be stupid!
Brother Ji used to hold a "sacrifice to heaven" every year, which was to ask the heaven for good weather, peace and prosperity in the new year. So the altar can be set up casually.

However, the "sacrifice to heaven" required for ascending the throne cannot be so sloppy, it must be done at Mount Tai.

Or just ascend the throne and stop doing it.

This is just like holding a wedding banquet. You can either not do it and just get the marriage certificate, or you have to hold a grand wedding banquet with proper rules. No one can just go to a restaurant for a meal and be done with it.

On the one hand, when Prince Rong asked this stupid question, it showed that he "knew a lot" and knew the meaning and process of offering sacrifices to heaven in detail. On the other hand, it also showed that he was a complete loser who did not know the priorities.

It is completely impossible to see how dangerous the current situation of the uprising in Hebei is!

"Your Highness, please don't delay the auspicious time. Mount Tai is a mountain, and Mount Taihang is also a mountain. Just show your appreciation."

Huangfu Weiming smiled bitterly.

"Yes, I think too much."

Li Wan quickly bowed to Huangfu Weiming and apologized. However, in this situation, it was extremely inappropriate for Li Wan to bow to Huangfu Weiming!

Huangfu Weiming quickly dissuaded him, "Sorry to bother this old minister. Please go ahead, Your Highness."

Li Wan finally came to his senses, nodded calmly, and walked towards the altar in front.

At this moment, Li Guiren, dressed in military uniform, hurriedly walked to Huangfu Weiming and whispered in his ear for a long time.

Huangfu Weiming, who had been as steady as an old dog, suddenly changed his expression!

"Where is Wu Lingxun? Where are his troops?"

Huangfu Weiming was anxious and angry. He looked at Li Wan who had just walked up to the altar and felt a little at a loss.

"General, Wu Lingxun's troops are fighting with this government army and they are about to collapse.

Am I going to lead the troops to attack?"

Li Guiren asked in a low voice, looking at the civil and military officials participating in the heaven sacrifice, feeling a little undecided.

We can attack, but it will definitely cause a lot of noise. Today is the day when Li Wan, the Prince of Rong, ascends the throne, so there can be no chaos, and it is best not to move the troops.

Otherwise, it is hard to tell what choice those fence-sitters who have just been won over will make.

Li Guiren knew this truth, and Huangfu Weiming naturally knew it too.

"Don't worry about it for now. Let's talk about it after the sacrifice to heaven and the coronation ceremony are over."

Huangfu Weiming pretended to be calm but he was actually very panicked.

"Understood, I will take some elite troops and quietly go to the north bank of the Zhang River to reinforce."

Li Guiren clasped his fists and bowed, then turned and left.

After he left, Huangfu Weiming discovered that his forehead was covered with fine beads of sweat.

……

Going north to the Taihang Mountains is so difficult and steep! The winding and winding paths are so steep that even the wheels of the carts are broken.

The trees are so bleak, and the north wind is so sad. Bears are crouching in front of me, and tigers and leopards are howling on both sides of the road.

This is Cao Cao's description of the Bingye Road in "Ku Han Xing". That year, he was leading his troops to attack Bingzhou. When he was hesitating in front of Huguan and could not advance, he wrote this poem that has been passed down through the ages.

The enchanting Bingye Road is the most legendary road among the Eight Passes of Taihang Mountains. It can also be called the mysterious "Schrödinger's Road".

This route is special.

When Bingzhou and Yecheng are controlled by the same political force, this extremely dangerous road will miraculously become "smooth" and everyone will love to walk on it.

For example, during the Eastern Wei and Northern Qi dynasties, the Bingye Road was the most accessible road between Yecheng and Jinyang. Yes, it was difficult to travel, but it was safe and direct.

Emperor Wenxuan of Northern Qi, Gao Yang, loved to take this road. He traveled between Jinyang and Yecheng more than a dozen times a year!
However, just like the principle of mutual conversion of advantages and disadvantages in the theory of contradiction, the original advantage item, after the external environment changes, the optimal condition is likely to be converted into the worst condition.

This is the case with Bingye Road.

Once Taiyuan and Yecheng belonged to two different and hostile political forces, its advantages disappeared and its disadvantages began to be infinitely magnified, so that those veterans on the battlefield would not leave the Yecheng Road if they could.

Cao Cao's "Ku Han Xing" has vividly explained that taking this route in war is equivalent to playing with life! As long as you don't win, it will be difficult to retreat.

And it is also fair. Whether you start from Taiyuan or Yecheng, the difficulties you face are the same.

Once the army entered Fukou Pass, it would enter a "black box state" where no one could tell what "monsters and ghosts" were waiting for them in those narrow mountain roads. When you reach the exit, you will reach Hukou Pass, and there is no city to repair in between.

The narrow field of vision also forced the scouts on both sides to walk through this road to reach the end point in order to find out whether the opponent has sent troops!

However, there are only thieves who steal for a thousand days, but no one has ever been on guard against thieves for a thousand days. It is indeed not realistic to let scouts walk through this road every day to see if the enemy has made any moves! The only way to judge whether this road is dangerous at the moment is to scout the enemy's military deployment.

If a large army gathers near Huguan, it will become very dangerous to take this road.

Huangfu Weiming, who was cautious in using troops, did not dare to send troops to attack Hukou Pass, but he prepared two lines of defense outside Fukou Xing.

The first line of defense is Zhaoyi County and Fuyang at the entrance of Fukouxing.

Wu Lingxun's three thousand soldiers are stationed here.

The second line of defense was the large camp on the north bank of the Zhang River, with 5,000 soldiers led by Bi Sichen, a Hu general of Turkic origin.

After all, this is not the main line of defense, and there was no news of any movement from the government troops in Huguan, so Huangfu Weiming did not station too many troops here.

He heard that the government troops in Hedong had gathered in Taiyuan and planned to send troops from Jingxing to attack Zhending and cut off the retreat of the Hebei rebels.

Huangfu Weiming had sent someone to pass on the order, ordering Shi Siming to return to defend the city and retreat from Feihu Pass to Hebei. On his side, he asked Li Huaixian to lead 20,000 troops to Xindu, Jizhou. He also recruited soldiers in Xindu and recruited Hebei United Soldiers to strengthen the team, preparing to attack the government troops with Shi Siming.

Li Guiren's troops were concentrated in Xinxiang and Jixian to prevent the government troops from crossing the Yellow River from Henan to attack Hebei. He came to Yecheng today only to attend the coronation ceremony. What Huangfu Weiming couldn't understand was why the government troops rushed out of Fukouxing? Why didn't the scouts in Hedong notice this group of people?

However, it is too late to think about these things. The most important thing now is to complete the coronation ceremony as soon as possible and then deal with these miscellaneous matters!

However, what Huangfu Weiming did not expect was that the troops under Wu Lingxun had been defeated by that army and fled in all directions.

Even Wu Lingxun himself was defeated and captured.

At this moment, on the south bank of the Fushui River, Wu Lingxun was kneeling on the ground with a dejected look on his face. He didn't dare to raise his head, and didn't even dare to look at Fang Chongyong who was wiping the blood off the ancient knife.

"You, Marshal Huangfu, just left 3,000 men at Fukouxing? That was careless, really careless!"

Fang Chongyong looked at Wu Lingxun who was kneeling on the ground and dared not speak. He put the Swift Wind Phantom Blade back into the scabbard and asked with a strange look on his face.

Fukouxing and Bingyedao are such important roads, but they were not heavily guarded, and even a camp was not built at the entrance! I have to say, it was quite perfunctory!

"General Jie, look at the river water, it's bubbling. If we throw this guy in, will he be cooked soon?"

He Changqi pointed at the bubbling surface of the Fushui River that looked like boiling water and spoke like a silly and cute child who had never seen the world.

"I don't know if he was cooked when he was thrown down, but he is definitely dead."

Fang Chongyong made a teasing remark and was too lazy to say anything about He Changqi.

As soon as they came out of Fukou Pass, they saw Wu Lingxun and a large group of people fishing by the Fushui River with a large fishing net!

Very abstract!
Of course, we have to say that Wu Lingxun knows what he is talking about. One of his actions was not surprising at all.

Because Fushui is rich in carp and crucian carp, which are famous for their tender meat despite their many thorns. Ordinary soldiers simply cannot afford to eat this "high-end product".

Now, Fang Youde and his men had burned a lot of the food and fodder of the Hebei rebels, and the military rations were not as sufficient as before. It was not unimaginable to let the soldiers "rely on themselves" to fish and hunt on a daily basis.

Seeing a large group of soldiers fishing by the Fushui River, He Changqi, as the vanguard, was stunned and could not believe that such a thing was happening.

But this did not prevent him from leading a wave of troops to attack and completely defeat Wu Lingxun's troops.

By the way, the fish that were caught ashore were also eaten by the Silver Spear Filial Piety Army. Now Fang Zhongyong was surrounded by the aroma of grilled fish.

"Excuse me, sir, which army are you from?"

Wu Lingxun asked cautiously.

"You see, I haven't even tried him yet, but he's trying me instead.

He Lao Hu, give this hero some relief and let him wake up. "

Fang Chongyong sneered and instructed He Changqi to increase the strength of Wu Lingxun.

Soon, Wu Lingxun, who was beaten black and blue, was brought before Fang Chongyong again.

"What's his name? What's the deployment around Yecheng? Are Huangfu Weiming and Li Wan here now?"

Fang Chongyong asked a barrage of questions, and Wu Lingxun had no choice but to answer them one by one, not daring to hide anything.

"Go back and tell Huangfu Weiming that if he dares to lead his troops out of Yecheng, I will kill him without mercy. I will kill as many troops as he brings!

Go! "

Fang Zhongyong waved his hand and pointed in the direction of Yecheng in the south.

"Eh?"

Wu Lingxun thought he had misheard. It was that simple, he was just going to let him go?

"If you don't leave, do you want me to chop off one of your hands before you leave?"

Fang Zhongyong asked with a frown.

"Okay, okay, thank you, General. Thank you, General."

Wu Lingxun had just taken two steps when he turned back. The other party, Chongyong, clasped his fists and saluted and asked, "No matter what, I have to ask the general's name."

"Fang Qing, courtesy name Jutian."

Fang Zhongyong said with an indifferent expression.

Fang Qing? Never heard of it!
Wu Lingxun nodded silently, secretly sighing that he was beaten by an unknown guy without any chance to fight back!
Sure enough, have times changed?
Wu Lingxun was puzzled. This matter was indeed a bit strange. Why was this person so unknown, yet his soldiers were so elite and fierce?

Even though he did it unintentionally, he took the Bingye Road and went out of Huguan and Fukou, and he still had such good physical strength, he can really be called a brave and good fighter!
With such good soldiers, how could his general be mediocre?

"Our commander was formerly known as Fang Chongyong, courtesy name Guozhong, and we are the Silver Spear Filial Piety Army!
When you go back to report the news, don't be slow and say we are nobody!"

He Changqi reminded coldly.

These words scared Wu Lingxun so much that he staggered!
Fang Guozhong! Silver Spear Filial Piety Army!
Shit! Something big has happened!
Wu Lingxun rolled and crawled towards the south, and did not even pick up his helmet which fell to the ground.

After he left, He Changqi asked Fang Zhongyong in confusion, "General Jie, why did you tell Huangfu Weiming about our news? Wouldn't it be better to pretend to be a pig and eat the tiger while killing them all the way?"

"I estimate that there are more than 30,000 elite soldiers around Yecheng. I was lucky to win against Wu Lingxun just now, but it doesn't mean that I can win every time at a very small cost.

I think that when a strong person shows weakness, it is a trick to lure the enemy into action. When a weak person shows strength, it is also a trick to lure the enemy into not moving.

We now have a total of 3,000 people, and we have no baggage but only dry food. It is obviously best to leave the vicinity of Yecheng as quickly as possible. There is no need to get entangled with Huangfu Weiming.

The more arrogant we were, the less likely Huangfu Weiming would dare to act rashly. By the time they came to their senses, we had already boarded the canal ship and entered the Yellow River. "

"General Jie, you are still the best!"

He Changqi gave a thumbs up and clapped his hands, but soon he frowned and asked, "What should we do next? Should we storm the Zhanghe defense line?"

Before Fang Zhongyong could say anything, Che Guangqian added, "Marshal Jie is trying to scare Huangfu Weiming. Our next step is to head east to Huanshui County. That is an important ferry crossing on the Yongji Canal. If we are lucky, we can find a canal boat there. If we are unlucky and cannot find a canal boat, we can go along the Yongji Canal to Weizhou Yuancheng to look for it. If we still cannot find it, we can go to Beizhou to look for it. We can always find it."

Che Guangqian helped Fang Chongyong explain.

Simply put, Fang Zhongyong did not go south to Yecheng to break through the defense line of the Hebei rebels. Instead, he went east along the canal to find a boat, and then went to Bianzhou by water!

Huangfu Weiming wants to protect Yecheng, so he will not pursue Fang Chongyong and the Silver Spear Xiaojie Army. Instead, he will gather the rebel troops nearby to create favorable conditions for Fang Chongyong and his men to seize the grain boats at the canal ferry.

This is the method of "taking advantage of the weak to show off strength" and mobilizing the enemy according to one's own ideas.

To put it bluntly, Fang Chongyong now has no reinforcements and no food inside, so what's the point of being brave and fighting?

It would be wonderful to seize Bianzhou, get a good piece of land and live there slowly, then watch Brother Ji and Huangfu Weiming fight to the death!
"Pass on my military order. Set out now and head to Huanshui County."

Fang Chongyong ordered in a deep voice.

(End of this chapter)