Elegy of Tang Dynasty

Chapter 569 The advantage is mine
Outside the city of Ye County, Laizhou, thousands of soldiers and horses were lined up.

Among them were soldiers from the Silver Spear Filial Piety Army as well as Pei Min's trusted soldiers, totaling several thousand people.

They set out from Penglai, Dengzhou, and headed southwest along the coastline, passing through Huangxian, Dengzhou, and soon arrived at the city of Yexian, the capital of Laizhou.

Ye County is not large in scale. Donglai, located west of the city near the sea, has hundreds of soldiers guarding the city and has accepted the command of Fang Chongyong.

After all, the one they are carrying now is the banner of Prince Yong Li Lin. There is no need for the isolated troops in these counties to hold on, and they will not sacrifice their lives in vain for Li Heng, who killed his father and the king.

Now only Ye County is left as the provincial capital.

It is certain that it can be taken, it just depends on how it is done, whether it requires force or not, and how much the loss will be if it is a siege.

Li Lin looked at Fang Chongyong, who was riding on his horse with a calm demeanor, as if waiting for Ye County to open the city gate, and immediately felt a little unhappy.

So he pretended to flatter and asked, "I heard that General Fang Jie is a very capable commander and a master at using his troops. His Silver Spear Filial Piety Army is even more capable of fighting ten to one. How about you show me your skills now? I have never seen the Silver Spear Filial Piety Army show its might."

The angle of his question was very tricky, and it was obvious that he had some bad intentions.

"Your Highness, the best military operation is to attack the enemy's plans, the next best is to attack their alliances, the next best is to fight in the field, and the next best is to attack the city. I believe that the governor of Laizhou will open the city gates and come out to welcome Your Highness.

I’m afraid that the Silver Spear Filial Piety Army won’t have a chance to show its abilities this time, and I’m afraid that Your Highness will be disappointed.”

Fang Chongyong said indifferently, and hit back at Li Lin's words with a sly hint.

Let me attack the city for you to watch? Do you think this is a monkey show?
War means death!

Fang Chongyong was too lazy to complain about the loser Li Lin.

"Has the letter of surrender been shot into the city?"

Fang Chongyong asked He Changqi beside him in a deep voice, if the letter of surrender was not shot into the city, it would be a lot of fun.

The Laizhou governor, who was unaware of the situation, might have thought that there were bandits on armed patrol outside the city.

"Replying to the commander, the arrow has already entered the city. I saw it with my own eyes, and a soldier guarding the city picked up the arrow."

He Changqi clasped his fists and bowed, reporting.

Hearing this, Fang Zhongyong nodded slightly, still maintaining a calm attitude.

Logically speaking, there was no reason for the Laizhou governor not to open the city gates. Even the troops guarding Donglai had "surrendered". What was the point for the united soldiers of Ye County to continue to hold on?
However, we cannot rule out the possibility that there are fools in this world.

The thinking of a fool cannot be judged by common sense. Accidental rollover cannot be ruled out.

Fang Chongyong rode on his horse, patiently waiting for the governor of Laizhou to open the city gate. Although his face was calm, he was also very anxious in his heart, and his outward calmness was all fake.

If the governor of Laizhou resisted to the end, he would have to kill the chicken to scare the monkeys, which would be very unwise from a strategic point of view.

There was Qingzhou behind them, which was an upper state with a large population and strong power. They needed to take the official road to Beihai County first, then from Beihai to Yidu, the capital of Qingzhou, and then from Yidu to Bochang in the north.

There was a large ferry crossing on the Ji River with boats available for transporting troops.

From then on, one could reach Bianzhou directly by water without any stops along the way.

If Ye County does not surrender, the subsequent prefectures and counties probably will not surrender either, unless the governor of Laizhou is hung on a flagpole and paraded through the streets for public display.

I don't know if it was the inner prayer that worked, or if Li Lin's flag was really useful. In less than half an hour, the east gate of Ye County was wide open.

An old man in a scarlet official robe sat slumped in a sedan chair, carried by two young men.

In full view of everyone, they came under the flag of General Fang Chongyong.

The bamboo sedan chair was put on the ground, and Fang Chongyong also dismounted to check.

He observed carefully and found that the old man in the robe of the historian had a bloody linen cloth tied on his head, and even the blood on his face was not completely wiped clean! He looked very embarrassed.

What’s more important is that this man reeked of alcohol and didn’t look like he was knocked unconscious. Instead, he looked like he was still hungover.

Wearing an official robe, drunk, with a broken head, being carried out, all of this seemed... a bit abstract.

"Is this the governor of Laizhou?"

Fang Zhongyong walked forward and asked one of the young men who was responsible for carrying the sedan chair in confusion.

"Yes, Lord Zheng, I am your uncle.

Not long ago, when he was eating mutton in a basin in the inner courtyard of the government office, he was hit on the head by a falling tile... and then, that's it."

Zheng Zhen's nephew Wang Zai explained the situation in a concise manner. Of course, there is no need to elaborate on the details of his uncle's wild and invisible behavior.

Li Lin and Wei Zichun on the side were dumbfounded.

A tile hit the governor's head, and then the city gate was opened. Who would believe such a weird thing?
But no matter what, Ye County was finally taken down. Is this the legendary "divine help"?

Many people present had a feeling that they were "destined to be with you".

"You will come with me to Bianzhou to serve as an official, and your uncle will continue to serve as the governor of Laizhou."

Fang Chongyong looked at Wang Zaishuo and then instructed He Changqi, "Send someone to inform Che Guangqian to take over the Donglai Guard. The officials in Ye County will remain the same and let them do their own thing."

Hearing this, Wang Zai heaved a sigh of relief. Fang Zhongyong crossed his arms and saluted, saying, "I thank General Fang Jie for his generosity."

"Your Highness, we can continue our journey after we replenish our baggage in Ye County. We will finish all the chores within an hour. You can just enjoy the scenery outside the city. There is no need to go into the city and cause trouble."

Fang Chongyong walked forward, bowed to Li Lin calmly and said, appearing calm and composed, as if he was taking nothing seriously.

Seeing Fang Zhongyong "handled" all the problems so cleanly and neatly, and remembering that he had said before that he would let the Silver Spear Xiaojie Army "perform" how to attack the city, Li Lin felt like he was slapped in the face and wished he could find a hole in the ground to crawl into.

He felt like a clown who knew nothing.

Wei Zichun also noticed that Li Lin's face was not right. He leaned over and whispered to comfort him: "Your Highness, when you ascend the throne, you will have great righteousness, and you will naturally be able to recruit talents and control the prefectures and counties. There is no need to rush."

Li Lin nodded silently, but felt that things might not be that simple. At least not as easy as Wei Zichun said.

Wang Zairang asked the magistrate of Ye County to open the treasury and replenish the supplies for the Silver Spear Xiaojie Army, and then followed Fang Chongyong and his party westward to Qingzhou.

After nightfall, Zheng Yan, who was lying on the couch in the government bedroom, finally woke up.

He looked at his nephew beside him and asked in confusion: "Where is Wang? Where are the troops outside the city? Where is the county lieutenant? What happened?"

Zheng Yan's memory still stayed at the moment before he fainted. His string of questions made his nephew at a loss for words.

"Uncle, the Silver Spear Xiaojie Army has left. You are still the governor of Laizhou. Wang Zai has followed General Fang Jie to serve as an official in Bianzhou. Everything is fine."

Zheng Zhen's nephew only spoke the nice things and roughly recounted what had happened.

"So, I betrayed the imperial court and joined the rebels without thinking?"

Zheng Yan suddenly felt a headache coming on. It really hurt! The place on his head that was hit by the tile seemed to have scabbed over, itching and hurting.

"Uncle, how can you say he followed the enemy? That was Prince Yong's team. The emperor killed his father and his emperor. Is he worthy of being the emperor?"

Zheng Yan's nephew argued.

In fact, this may not be a decisive factor, but it is a good excuse to convince yourself to "get by".

He also understood that the old days would never return. Once Li Lin was wiped out, he would be in trouble too.

As expected, Zheng Zhen sighed and said, "Prince Yong sent someone to lobby for us before, but your uncle rejected my proposal. I just don't want to get involved in such things. If things go wrong, my family will be confiscated and my clan will be exterminated. I didn't expect that I couldn't escape this disaster."

Although Zheng Zhen worked hard to slack off and lived a very carefree life while in office, he also had his own survival wisdom.

First, he did not take the initiative to oppress the people, and second, he did not join the vassal kings to cause chaos. In this case, even if he resigned, he would just return to his hometown and become a rich man.

A hundred and fifty years of life is like a fleeting moment. If you have limited abilities, don't mess around. Sometimes it's not a bad thing to make do. Where can you find something perfect in the world?
After all, there are only so many people with high positions and high salaries. Since there is no hope of climbing up, it is better to live one day at a time. Who knows, after a few decades, you will have earned it all back.

"You should go to Bianzhou as well. Prince Yong is ambitious and will be crowned a king sooner or later. You will have more opportunities if you go to Bianzhou. I am old, so I can only make do in Laizhou for a while.

Now that we are trapped in this situation, we should stop thinking about protecting ourselves and just go all the way to the end."

Zheng Yan sighed and said to his nephew, full of worry about the future. …

The issue of Laizhou's ownership was successfully resolved, and it was highly "destiny-like". This made Li Lin and his party feel that "the advantage is in me", and their mood also improved a lot.

The army continued to march southwest and arrived at Beihai County two days later. Further west was the densely populated area of ​​Qingzhou, where the provincial capital Yidu was located.

The magistrate of Beihai County opened the city gate and knelt down without a second thought. The other party, Chongyong and his group, bowed their heads and kowtowed, expressing their willingness to submit to Prince Yong, and scolded Li Heng for killing his father and the king, calling him worse than a beast.

For these prefectures and counties far away from the central government of Chang'an, don't expect the local administrative chiefs to be brave and unyielding.

At the beginning, Prince Yong Li Lin did not have a strong army under his command, so naturally the chiefs of the states and counties did not want to bother with him. But with the addition of the Silver Spear Filial Piety Army and Fang Zhongyong, the effect was completely different.

Li Lin has already made up for his weakest link, and with his strong army lined up outside the city, no one would be so depressed as to go against their own head.

While his troops were taking over the treasury, Fang Zhongyong asked Wei Zichun, "Mr. Wei, I heard that you visited the governor of Qingzhou before. What do you think of him?"

Being asked about this suddenly, Wei Zichun was stunned at first, then he smiled and explained: "This man is called Helan Jinming, he is quite talented in writing, but as for his personality... he is quite slick and he is a person who curries favor with the powerful."

Wei Zichun was the chief of staff of Yong Wang Li Lin, and he himself was not a person who was indifferent to fame and fortune. But he said that Helan Jinming was a person who curryed favor with the powerful, so it was hard to say what kind of person he was. At the very least, he was below the baseline and had no moral integrity.

Fang Zhongyong lowered his voice and asked, "I heard that Helan Jinming's wife is very beautiful and was transformed from a fox demon. Is this true?"

ha?
Wei Zichun was unable to recover for a while and was stunned by this "legend".

There are notes on "strange stories" from the Tang Dynasty everywhere, and widely circulated legends are heard from time to time. It is not uncommon for fox demons to transform into beautiful women to serve in the bedchamber.

But for a governor to marry a fox as his wife... is truly unheard of.

Seeing that Wei Zichun didn't say anything, Fang Zhongyong continued to ask, "There are also rumors that Helan Jinming raised many dogs and liked to eat dog feces every day. I wonder if this is true?"

"That's absolutely impossible!"

Wei Zichun was so scared that he waved his hands quickly.

The last time he saw Helan Jinming, he found that this person really liked to "pretend". His clothes were always neat and new, spotless. He also had a light fragrance on his body, and he looked like an immortal. He had a feminine appearance, and was so elegant that he was a bit "seductive".

It is unbelievable and unimaginable that a person who pays so much attention to personal appearance actually likes to eat dog feces on a daily basis.

"Mr. Wei, how do you think we should arrange this person? I heard that when you went to persuade Helan Jinming, he expressed his support for His Royal Highness Prince Yong on the surface, but when it came to handing over power, he refused in every possible way.

Is this true?

With such a person in charge of Qingzhou, I can't sleep well in Bianzhou. I have to be ready to lead troops to suppress the rebellion at any time."

Fang Zhongyong hinted to Wei Zichun calmly.

Upon hearing this, Wei Zichun recalled his experience in Qingzhou. His face suddenly darkened. While feeling angry, he also secretly lamented that Li Bai was a big mouth and could not hide anything. He actually told Fang Chongyong about his failure with Helan Jinming.

At that time, several of Prince Yong's staff (including Li Bai) went to various states in Jiaodong to lobby the governors of various states. The governors of other states all refused sternly and even threatened to report Li Lin's illegal plot to the court.

Only the Qingzhou governor Helan Jinming had a pleasant conversation with Wei Zichun.

However, having a pleasant talk is one thing, but handing over power, paying, and working hard to get things done are another.

Helan Jinming is a typical scumbag: he doesn't take the initiative, doesn't refuse, and doesn't take responsibility.

You asked me whether I support Prince Yong or not, then I definitely do. But if you ask me to spend money and send troops to let Prince Yong's cronies take charge of Qingzhou, that is absolutely impossible.

Support can only be verbal support. I have promised not to send troops from Qingzhou to attack Prince Yong. Isn't this support?

This is what Helan Jinming meant at the time.

Faced with this kind of stubborn person who could be spoken to nicely but was stubborn, Wei Zichun had no choice but to return to Qizhou in disgrace and report to Prince Yong Li Lin.

"In your opinion, Marshal, how should we deal with Helan Jinming?"

A cold light flashed in Wei Zichun's eyes, and he asked in a low voice.

"Eh? Did Helan Jinming marry a fox demon? Rumor has it that fox demons like to cultivate with boys' blood, but I don't know if it's true or not."

Fang Chongyong suddenly brought up this topic again.

Wei Zichun suddenly realized, slapped his forehead and said, "Yes, I remember it now. People in Qingzhou privately said that Helan Jinming often secretly sent people to capture boys and girls and bring them to his house to pray for his wife.

Later, the children disappeared, and it was thought that they were killed by the fox demon. The people were angry but did not dare to speak out, but they were afraid of Helan Jinming's power and did not dare to seek revenge on him. "

"Oh! So that's how it is! Then he really deserves to die!"

Fang Zhongyong also "suddenly realized" and then added: "How should we deal with those who are accomplices to the evil?"

He turned his head and looked at He Changqi who was guarding him and asked, "He Lao Hu, tell me, what should we do with those who are accomplices of the tiger?"

"Hui Jieshuai, those who are accomplices of the tiger should be killed to eliminate harm to the people!"

"Yes, Not Bad.

"When we get to Yidu City and Helan Jinming comes out from the city to greet us, you can chop off his dog head without saying anything and hang it on the parade ground in the city as a sacrifice to the heavens! Is that ok?"

Fang Chongyong patted He Changqi on the shoulder and asked.

"It's a trivial matter. Killing Helan Jinming is like killing a pig or a dog!"

He Changqi complained with disdain.

Fang Zhongyong nodded slightly. He liked He Lao Hu's execution ability.

Killing Helan Jinming was intentional, just to establish authority.

The so-called way to control subordinates is to use both kindness and severity.

If we don't kill one or two provincial governors, outsiders will think that Yinqiang Xiaojiejun and Fang Chongyong are good guys, and we can just pretend to surrender to fool them.

People all have the bad habit of being "mean". It is necessary to set up negative examples, deal with some self-righteous people, and then hang them high on the flagpole.

This step of establishing authority must not be skipped.

"Mr. Wei, I will help you vent your anger outside Yidu City later, how about that?"

Fang Zhongyong looked at Wei Zichun with a forced smile and asked.

His sharp eyes seemed to see through Wei Zichun's thoughts. The chief aide of Prince Yong Li Lin had no choice but to cross his arms and bow to Fang Zhongyong and said, "Thank you, Marshal Fang Jie, for presiding over the righteous cause. The death of Helan Jinming is not a pity."

Wei Zichun's eyes were full of murderous intent. Some people can be killed or not, but he was unlucky and ran into the edge of the knife, so there was nothing he could do.

Revolution is not a dinner party, and neither is the struggle for power.

Since Helan Jinming had been hypocritical in dealing with Prince Yong's envoy before, he should have guessed what would happen to him when he fell into disgrace in the future.

He was treated as an example, firstly to deter villains, and secondly to free up his position for someone else to take over.

This kills two birds with one stone.

Wei Zichun glanced at Fang Chongyong secretly, and only then did he feel that Fang Jieshuai in front of him was meticulous and deep-minded, and was really difficult to deal with.

Perhaps, asking Fang Chongyong to support Prince Yong is no different from trying to get the skin of a tiger.

The risk is simply too high!

Wei Zichun glanced at Prince Yong Li Lin, who was admiring the scenery at the side and had no sense of crisis at all. He really felt a sense of helplessness as if "I am disappointed in my parents".

He sighed deeply and couldn't help but worry about this mentally deficient prince of the Tang Dynasty.

Although ascending the throne and becoming emperor can strengthen the legitimacy of imperial power, it cannot improve Li Lin's own ability.

To seize the world and secure the throne, one needs not only the invisible and intangible "righteousness", but more importantly, the quality of the emperor himself.

Li Lin is not fit to be a ruler!
(End of this chapter)