Elegy of Tang Dynasty

Chapter 507: To defeat Cao Gong, it is better to use fire attack
As the matter was of great importance, Li Lin had to summon his close staff and officials in charge of specific affairs to discuss how to deal with Fang Zhongyong and his Silver Spear Filial Piety Army, whose intentions were unclear.

In addition to close confidants such as Wei Zichun, Li Bai, Xue Liu, Li Taiqing, Liu Julin, and Cai Xun, Dou Shao, who was in charge of handling miscellaneous affairs of the prefectures and counties, and Li Xian, who trained his troops, were also present.

These two were originally arranged by Ji Ge to be Li Lin's spies, responsible for monitoring Li Lin's every move. However, Ji Ge himself fled to Hedong, allowing Li Heng to seize the throne. Dou Shao and Li Xian lost their backing, became unpopular both inside and outside, and were excluded everywhere.

If he had not had some talent, he would have been dismissed by Li Lin long ago.

Everyone gathered in the study of Prince Yong's Mansion. Li Lin did not hesitate to ask Li Bai to tell the whole story in public.

Not everyone is like Li Bai, with a mind full of romance. These people are more concerned about people's hearts and minds, changes in the situation, and even the complex thoughts of Li Lin himself.

It was no secret that Fang Chongyong led his troops eastward, but Li Bai still brought two new pieces of information this time.

First, Fang Chongyong had the idea of ​​attacking Hebei. Regardless of whether this was crazy or not, at least it would not do any harm to Yongwang Li Lin.

The second reason is that Fang Chongyong is not a die-hard "Li Heng party". Once Li Heng loses his position on the throne, he may change his position at any time.

In other words, the military pressure that Li Lin is currently facing may not be as great as imagined.

This is interesting!

"Your Highness, Fang Chongyong changed his name to Fang Qing to express his aspirations.

In the past, he was loyal to the saint, and changing his name meant severing ties with him. It is understandable that he supported a certain prince.

This time when Li Taibai negotiated with him, Fang Qing was humble and cautious. It can be seen that he was also looking for a prince to rely on.

With the strength of the Silver Spear Xiaojie Army, a surprise attack on Qizhou would be a piece of cake. If they wanted to take action, they would have done it long ago.

I think Fang Qing doesn't want to do it.

Your Highness might as well lend him Lu County for a while. If he can return it later, Your Highness can further win him over, and it would be best if you could take him and the six states of Xuanwu Town for your own use.

If Fang Qing wanted to do what Liu Bei did to borrow Jingzhou, then Lu County would be an enclave, isolated from Jizhou and far away from Bianzhou, and it would be difficult for it to maintain itself. At that time, he would have to confront Huangfu Weiming's bandit army in the north and guard against us in the east.

How could Fang Qing stay in such a dangerous situation?

What Li Bai said this time is mostly true, Your Highness has no need to doubt it."

Wei Zichun stood up and saluted Li Lin, obviously defending Li Bai and supporting the cooperation with Fang Chongyong.

Li Bai was introduced by him, so this matter has a lot to do with Li Bai. In other words, it also has a lot to do with Wei Zichun himself.

He would definitely support Li Bai and stand up for him no matter what.

This was the unspoken rule of interpersonal relationships in the officialdom of the Tang Dynasty: once a bureaucrat made a mistake, the person who recommended him would also be punished or isolated by his colleagues.

In other words, once the client is in trouble, the introducer should also stand up for him/her and help wherever he/she can. Helping others is helping yourself.

This is both a matter of mutual protection among officials and also a matter of human relations.

As the "chief" in Li Lin's court, Wei Zichun's words still carried a lot of weight. He spoke out in support of Li Bai, and the tone of the conversation in the study immediately tended to cooperate with the Xuanwu Army.

However, Liu Julin, who was well versed in military affairs, had a different opinion.

He stood up, bowed to Li Lin and said, "Your Highness, if it is really as Li Bai said, then there is nothing to say. But people's minds are hidden, who knows if Fang Qing has colluded with Huangfu Weiming and is now here to deal with Your Highness? It won't take much effort to say some nice words."

Liu Julin was worried that others would not believe him, so he pointed at Li Bai and said, "What Li Taibai said is just one-sided. As for the personal jade pendant, you can buy dozens of them in any county town and keep them close to your body. What does this prove? If the troops of Xuanwu Town come to Licheng, it will not be a pity for Li Taibai to die, but how will Your Highness deal with it then?"

Hearing this, everyone in the study had different expressions. Some smiled without saying anything, some fell into deep thought, and some just looked at Li Bai with meaningful eyes.

Only the person involved, Li Bai, blushed and felt extremely humiliated!
"Your Highness, I want to gamble my life with Liu Julin!

If Fang Qing does anything wrong, I am willing to commit suicide to apologize!
But if everything goes well, and Fang Qing finally returns Lu County and leads his troops back to Bianzhou, then Liu Julin will also commit suicide to apologize!"

Li Bai stood up, pointed at Liu Julin and shouted loudly.

There's something interesting to watch!
Everyone in the study looked at Li Bai. They all knew that Li Bai had been a knight-errant in his early years, so it was not surprising for him to say such words.

But this does not mean that they look up to Li Bai.

Because the direction of the matter is obvious, Gao Shang did not appear here!
Why didn’t Gao Shang come?
Because his left arm was cut off by Fang Chongyong, now Fang Qing.

He would never agree to cooperate with the Xuanwu Army under any circumstances.

Li Lin did not allow Gao Shang to attend the meeting, but his own opinion was already obvious.

This is one of the reasons why Wei Zichun dared to support Li Bai. He understood people's hearts better than Li Bai, and he also saw through Li Lin.

So even if Wei Zichun doesn't stand up and express his position, someone else will.

Li Bai is the stupidest one among them.

In response to Liu Julin's provocation, Li Bai really didn't need to be so excited and stand up to gamble his life with the other party. He just kept silent, and naturally someone would stand up and scold Liu Julin.

As expected, Li Xian, who was in charge of military affairs under Li Lin, stepped out and saluted Yong Wang Li Lin with his hands crossed:

"Your Highness, given the current situation, we should not go to war with the Xuanwu Army. Fang Qing's position is unclear, but he has not used troops against us, so we can indeed win it over. It's just a Lu County, so it's okay to lend it to him.

As for the future, we will talk about it later.

Liu Julin has selfish motives in this matter, Your Highness, please do not be deceived by him."

Li Xian is not just slandering others, but using advanced "yin and yang magic" to do bad things.

What selfish motives does Liu Julin have?

Li Xian just didn't explain clearly and used the routine of "false accusation". As for why he said this, it was actually very simple, because Liu Julin had been a governor and was quite knowledgeable about military affairs. He had always been eyeing Li Xian's position. In the past, he was a trusted aide to Li Lin and caused a lot of trouble for Li Xian.

If you do something on the first day, I will do it on the fifteenth day. When I see you make a mistake, I stand up and push you down to add insult to injury. There's nothing strange about that, right?
"Okay, no need to argue."

Prince Yong Li Lin waved his hand impatiently, and the study suddenly became quiet.

"How about this, Li Xian will lead 500 soldiers to Lu County to contact Fang Qing's Silver Spear Filial Piety Army, and there is no need to say anything else."

Li Lin waved his hand and didn't want to hesitate any longer.

After winter comes, the surface of the Yellow River freezes over, and there are many sections where it is only convenient to cross the river after winter.

The Hebei rebels will then march south in large numbers and attack at multiple locations. This can be judged without much military knowledge.

Who dares to say that Huangfu Weiming will not make a "roundabout" move?

Li Lin was also very panicked about this!
Now that Fang Chongyong is willing to fight through Hebei, no matter what the outcome of this battle is, it will make Huangfu Weiming anxious for a while and will make Li Lin live more comfortably this winter.

The enemy of my enemy is my friend!
So we can give Lu County to Fang Chongyong for use. We can still help in this regard.

Many times, when a lord seeks advice from his staff, it is not because he does not know how to choose, but because he hopes that his staff can give him a reason to "convince" him and make him more resolute in his belief. Li Xian quickly crossed his arms and saluted.

Liu Julin was embarrassed. He said this in the hope of proposing the idea of ​​"expanding the army". Then the newly trained army would most likely be under his command, and he would gain military power from then on. Seeing that the world was becoming more and more chaotic, he couldn't sleep well without soldiers.

Liu Julin didn't think he had done anything wrong at all.

Unexpectedly, Li Lin directly agreed to Li Bai's suggestion and immediately put Liu Julin on the fire.

Liu Julin looked at Li Xian with some annoyance, but the latter turned his head away, pretending nothing had happened, and didn't even look at him.

……

The autumn harvest season in the north is generally after the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, which is about a month earlier than in the south. Henan and Hebei are both in the north, but the climates are slightly different, and the autumn harvest in Hebei is earlier.

Recently, Huangfu Weiming has been busy arranging matters related to the autumn harvest. He has given holidays to the Tuanjie soldiers and asked them to go home to farm, because the busiest time of the year is approaching.

Wei Jian's arrival strengthened the logistics system and internal affairs of the Hebei rebels, and also stabilized the people of Hebei.

Now the world is in chaos, and the opportunity to take advantage of the situation is out of reach. We can only wait patiently for the situation to change. Therefore, developing production, strengthening military strength, and replenishing the treasury are all things that must be done.

Huangfu Weiming also gradually gave up his delusion of eating a big fat man in one bite, and planned to accumulate strength this year, and strive for Chang'an within three to five years, and advance steadily.

He can afford to wait, and so can Prince Rong Li Wan.

Simply put, Huangfu Weiming hoped that Brother Ji would die of old age or illness. Since then, the legitimacy of Li Wan, Prince Rong, has been greatly strengthened. Once the military has an advantage, it is easy to "wash your name and go ashore."

Early in the morning of that day, Huangfu Weiming received a secret report saying that the Xuanwu Army had entered Yunzhou on the south bank of the Yellow River, occupied Liangshan north of Daye Lake, and built a camp there with unclear intentions.

The scout reported it to Wu Lingxun who was guarding Liaocheng in Bozhou, and Wu Lingxun immediately sent someone to inform Huangfu Weiming of the matter.

"What is the Xuanwu Army doing in Yunzhou?"

Huangfu Weiming felt puzzled, but when he thought about the "ultimatum" issued by Fang Chongyong before, he seemed to understand his intention.

It was aimed at Yongwang Li Lin, and he wanted to swallow up Yunzhou, Jizhou and Qizhou.

However, he was a little unsure, so he immediately sent someone to Liyang to call the "front-line commander" Li Guiren to Yecheng, and the two discussed important matters in secret.

In his study, Huangfu Weiming spread out a less detailed map on the table, and marked Yuncheng, the capital of Yunzhou. He also wrote the word "Liangshan" in the north of Yuncheng near Daye Lake.

This place is too small, just a small market town formed by merchants gathering at the ferry. Only maps drawn by professionals at the national level of the Tang Dynasty will mark it. Huangfu Weiming was just giving it a hint at the moment, so that Li Guiren could understand it.

"Fang Qing seems to be going to attack Jeju and Qizhou. As for Yunzhou, there aren't many soldiers and horses, so let's not talk about it."

Huangfu Weiming pointed at Liangshan on the map and said.

This place can be used as an outpost for attacking Jeju and Qizhou. The grain and fodder transported from Bianzhou can be directly piled at Liangshan Ferry for military supplies. The cost of this grain transportation route is extremely low, and it is much cheaper than transporting grain by oxen and horses.

"The Xuanwu Army's move doesn't seem like a joke."

Li Guiren knew as soon as he looked at the map that Fang Chongyong was very good at commanding troops. The route he chose fully guaranteed logistics and retreat, so he was not at all afraid of Li Lin's counterattack.

It was very comfortable to go all the way along the Jishui River.

This move is a determination to win!

Of course, Li Lin's army could also station troops in Liangshan and then follow this waterway to fight Fang Zhongyong! Why didn't he go?
In fact, the reason is very simple, it is simply that we cannot win.

"Fang Qing issued a letter asking Yong Wang Li Lin to pledge his loyalty to Li Heng. However, Li Lin has not responded so far, and has only sent troops to station in Dong'e to prevent the Xuanwu Army from advancing eastward.

A fight seems imminent.”

Huangfu Weiming continued to explain.

Since reconnaissance on the south bank of the Yellow River was extremely risky, the scouts of the Hebei rebels only found out this much and had no more detailed intelligence.

Although the Silver Spear Filial Piety Army is still quite far from Licheng, Licheng is also on the bank of the Jishui River. If Fang Zhongyong leads his troops to attack Licheng, he can reach the city in one day and one night!
This is the meaning of "if you don't move, you're fine, if you move, you're like thunder!" He didn't play any slow games with Li Lin, such as occupying a mile of land today and taking a city tomorrow.

Li Guiren nodded slightly, and roughly understood why Huangfu Weiming called him over.

If the purpose was just to prevent Fang Chongyong from crossing the river, then they could directly dispatch troops to Bozhou on the north bank of the Yellow River and deploy defenses in the Bozhou area. There would be no need to call him over.

Huangfu Weiming asked him, the "frontline commander", to return to Yecheng. In fact, he wanted to ask him: while the main force of the Xuanwu Army was advancing eastward, should we launch a full-scale southern expedition in advance? Attack Bianzhou in advance!
According to the established plan, the Yellow River froze after winter, and the logistical supplies for the Hebei rebels were ready! At this time, Li Guiren was appointed as the commander-in-chief, responsible for various matters concerning the 100,000-man army's march south to Henan.

Moreover, they have already made proper deployment in Liyang, using it as the base for the main force of the army to be stationed. They will cross the river from Liyang and head straight for Bianzhou!
Other troops will attack separately along the Yellow River and attack in a coordinated manner!

They would attack the weak spots in Xuanwu Town. If the defenders in a certain place could not be defeated, they would summon troops from other places to surround and defeat them!
This open and aboveboard plot was like a mountain pressing down on one's head. By then, even if Fang Zhongyong had a thousand abilities, he could only make the Hebei rebels suffer a little. In the end, he would still not be able to defend Bianzhou and would have to retreat to Bozhou, which was a place with a network of rivers and streams!

"General, we are fully prepared this time, so we shouldn't act rashly. Why not wait another month?
Once the river freezes over, even if Han Xin were to be resurrected, he would not be able to stop us."

Li Guiren persuaded.

The opportunity is indeed good, but don’t lose the big picture for the small!

Because of the well-developed waterways in Bianzhou, even if the Silver Spear Xiaojie Army attacked Yunzhou or even Jeju, it would be easy for them to return to defend by water!

The water route starts at 500 miles a day!
To defend Bianzhou, we still have to go downstream, which means we have to travel eight or nine hundred miles a day!

Li Guiren didn't think it was a good idea to attack in advance.

The Yellow River had not yet frozen at that time, and after reaching Henan, the supply lines of the Hebei rebels also became a problem.

"You are right. We should resolve the problems in Henan Province in one fell swoop. We cannot alert the enemy now."

Huangfu Weiming took a deep breath and nodded slightly.

Their plan has already been executed to the second half, and they really can't stop. If they use troops in advance, the early preparations will be useless, and if they suffer a small defeat, all the preparations will be in vain.

But as long as they wait until winter, they can maneuver freely in Henan! The right time, right place, and right people are all on their side.

War has a rhythm, and you should try to use your troops according to your own rhythm.

"Thank you for your hard work. Go to Liyang and organize the troops. The food and fodder have been transported almost completely. When the soldiers of the United Army finish the autumn harvest and return to the team, it will be time for us to sweep across Henan Province.

By then, we can also deal with Prince Yong as well.

As for the Silver Spear Filial Piety Army, Fang Qing, and the six states of Xuanwu Town, let them be proud for a while."

Huangfu Weiming resisted the temptation to take a retreat route and decided to follow the established plan and accomplish his goal in one fell swoop!
After taking control of the various states in Henan Province, we can expand southward to Lianghuai, with abundant financial, material and human resources. We can advance westward to attack Luoyang from two directions and obtain a capital city of great political significance.

By that time, the world will be at least half-cleared, if not completely cleared. The general trend will be established, and there will definitely be many people who will come to rely on him.

Then force the emperor of Chang'an to abdicate and march into Chang'an as a matter of course. What can't be accomplished?
After Li Guiren left, Huangfu Weiming clenched his fists and secretly warned himself that a little impatience would ruin a great plan, so he must be patient!
Patience can turn into gold!
(End of this chapter)