Late Tang

(Thanks to mulake, Yingdao★, Guoguo University students for their support!)

When Li Jing entered the Governor's Mansion, which had been used as the temporary commander's mansion, Li Zhen, Jing Xiang, Gai Yu and others were discussing matters, and Li Jing's father-in-law Zhang Rui was also there.He had already accepted Li Jing's request a few days ago, and officially took up the post of governor in charge of civil affairs in Hebei province, but he hadn't taken up the post yet. He was with Li Zhen and others these days, so he was familiar with official duties.

Seeing him coming, everyone met each other, Gongsun Lan, Zhong Cheng of the Supervision Department and Lang Zhong of the Investigation Bureau, said: "The king came just in time. I have an urgent report that has just arrived here, and I am about to send it to the king."

Seeing her serious face, Li Jing knew it must be an urgent matter.He opened his mouth and said, "What's the hurry? But what happened in Huainan?"

"There are indeed some abnormalities in Huainan recently, but no specific situation has been discovered yet, but today I just received information from the north that Li Keyong has sent troops to Lulong and is mobilizing troops to attack Junduguan."

"Li Ke used this time to attack Lu Longjun?" Li Jing couldn't help being taken aback when he heard this.

"This one-eyed wolf is probably trying to take advantage of the fire. Right now when Lu Long's army is at its weakest, our army is going south. At this time, he is attacking Lu Long's army. It is obvious that he wants to grab the food and pick peaches." The new son-in-law, who just joined Zhang Rui, who became the governor of Hebei, interjected, twirling his beard. He already regarded the four towns in Hebei as his territory, so how could he watch Li Keyong suddenly intervene.

"One-eyed wolf?" Gai Yu, an old subordinate of Li Keyong, couldn't help laughing when he heard the new nickname given by Zhang Rui.Li Ke used his nickname Hei Ya'er in his early years, but after he rebelled against the Tang Dynasty, some people called him Feihuzi. Speaking of which, the character for tiger was still taboo in the Tang Dynasty.After Li Keyong rebelled against the Tang Dynasty for the second time, Shatuo generals had long been used to calling Li Keyong the Shatuo King.

Regardless of whether it is a tiger or a dragon, these are taboo words. Li Ke's arrogance is evident when he dares to use the word "dragon" to call him a commander in chief.

But at this time, Zhang Rui was even more serious. He neither called him Flying Tiger nor One-Eyed Dragon, and directly took a new nickname, Li Keyong, One-Eyed Wolf. Hearing this nickname, everyone couldn't help but smile.Although this handsome father-in-law was from a wealthy businessman, it was not easy. Thinking about it, he was able to hold on to the city under the siege of Zhu Wen, which really showed some ability.

Li Jing's eyes flickered, but he was not worried about Li Ke's attacking Lu Longjun, after all, he was the one who issued the military order.If Li Ke Yongzhen fights Liu Yue, Li Jing will actually be the biggest beneficiary. After all, Li Jing has a [-] garrison in Hebei.

When two tigers compete, the third tiger, Li Jing, must win in the end.

However, it is not easy for Li Ke to use this guy. Just seeing that he seized the opportunity to rebel against Tang for the second time and got himself a Yanmen Town in a blink of an eye, it can be seen that this is no ordinary person.

If it was said that Li Jing issued a military order to him, Li Keyong would immediately send troops in accordance with the order, and Li Jing would not believe it even if he was beaten to death.How could someone who dared to rebel twice against Tang Dynasty care about the military orders of his enemy, Li Jing?

When Li Ke sent troops to Lu Long so quickly, Li Jing couldn't help feeling suspicious.Li Keyong knew Li Jing stationed [-] troops in Moying, and also stationed tens of thousands of troops in Tan, Ji, Shun, Ping, and Jingyan Mountains. Anyway, Li Keyong's current strength is too different from Li Jing's. If he If you stay honestly in Daibei, then Li Jing will ignore him temporarily because of Liu Yue's territory.But if he hits Lu Long, even if he can defeat Liu Yue, it is obviously unrealistic for him to pull his teeth out of the tiger's mouth and take millet out of the fire in front of the powerful forces of the Qin army.The biggest possibility is that both Li Keyong and Liu Yue suffered losses, and finally You and Zhuo fell into Li Jing's hands.

Li Ke is not stupid, so why does he still do this?

"Has there been any secret actions in the four towns of Hebei recently?" Li Jing turned to look at Gongsun Lan.

"One-eyed wolf once sent people to Junduguan to persuade Liu Yan to surrender." Gongsun Lan replied.

Gai Yu, who was twirling his beard, tore off one of his beards at once, bared his teeth in pain, but he didn't care about it, narrowed his eyes slightly, and exclaimed: "Your Highness means that Li Ke used to attack Liu Yue? False, in fact, the two are secretly making peace?"

Gai Yu's words surprised everyone. If Li Keyong secretly communicated with Liu Yue, then their target would be obvious, and it would only be Qin Jun.

"Even if Li Keyong and Liu Yue are added, they will not be our opponents. They are trying to strike a stone with an egg, and they are overestimating their capabilities." Guo Chengan said with a sneer.

Li Jing shook his head, "Since Li Keyong is sending troops to the army at this time, I am afraid that the secret agreement between them has been reached. This is a sign of immediate action. Moreover, if my guess is correct, Li Keyong will definitely not stop Teaming up with Liu Yue must have secretly reached an agreement with the four towns in Hebei. Li Keyong's strength in adding the four towns is not weak."

Gongsun Lan followed Li Jing's thoughts, and raised her beautiful eyebrows, "If you say it this way, then this piece of secret must be quite big. Since Li Keyong can form an alliance with the four towns, maybe he will also form an alliance with the Khitan Ally."

Jing Xiang also interjected, "Before the commander-in-chief ordered the mobilization of soldiers and horses from all the towns to attack Huangchao, but the three towns of Huainan, Zhenhai, and Ganhua did not obey the order. Maybe Gao Pian, Zhou Bao, and Shi Pu might also be involved. .”

Although on the surface Li Jing and the towns are in peace, Li Jing and Gao Pian had a fierce conflict, even Zhou Bao had a conflict, and with Shi Pu, now the Qin army has just occupied Sizhou.

There was a sound of breathing in the hall, and everyone looked a little bad.

If this guess is true, then the Qin army will have many enemies at once.

"What are you afraid of? Soldiers will block you when they come, and water will flood you." Li Jing smiled lightly, as if he didn't care.This expression made everyone feel at ease.

"The Supervision Office will immediately notify all the bureaus to conduct a comprehensive investigation of the matter." Gongsun Lan immediately said that the Supervision Office has not found any useful information about this matter, so it is undoubtedly negligence.

Li Jing nodded, and patted Gongsun Lan's arm again, "I can't blame the Supervisory Office for this matter, you have just been established."

Jing Xiang, Chief of the Staff Council, is in charge of strategic affairs. The current situation is also a sign of dereliction of duty for Jing Xiang, and his face is a little flushed at the moment, "Your Highness, if the towns join forces, our current situation is very dangerous. Our strength Although it is strong, it is not enough to fight on various battlefields at the same time. This court believes that we should adjust our strategic layout to cope with the current situation."

"What are your plans?" Li Jing asked.

Jingxiang thought for a while, "This court believes that the situation in Hebei should be the most important thing. If there is a loss in Hebei, our army will be separated from the north and the south, which is very unfavorable. Therefore, I think that the army that entered Henan should withdraw to Ziqing, and Henan should eliminate Ziqing." In addition to Qingzhou, the four states of Mi, Yi, Yan, and Ji can be retained, and the rest of the states will be abandoned, and the troops will be shrunk back to the defense. In the south, we will carry out a defensive plan. Our main force will be withdrawn to Hebei, and part of the troops will be withdrawn. Ma transferred to Liaoxi Province to guard against Khitan. The most important thing is to gather heavy troops in Hebei, prepare for a decisive battle with the four towns in Hebei, capture Youzhou, and block Li Keyong to the west of Taihang Mountain."

Jing Xiang's plan is somewhat conservative, but very prudent.From an overall point of view, the Qin army's battle line is indeed stretched very long.Although it is said that more than a dozen prefectures in Henan were easily occupied, these prefectures and counties, due to continuous natural disasters and military disasters, are actually the most prosperous land in Henan right now.

If the Qin army wants to stick to these sites, the line of troops will be very long, and the defense will become more difficult.

Ten fingers spread out, not tightly clenched into fists.For the current Qin army, the territory is not the most urgent need. The key is to maintain military deterrence and not to disperse the troops too much.As long as the Qin army abandons these newly acquired basins in Henan and leaves Yiyan and other four states, then they will keep the hilly areas of Shandong in their hands. Even if Gao Pian and others really send troops to the north to control these favorable areas, Gao Pian will not It's hard to do anything, the Qin army can hold Shandong firmly in the south.

The most critical thing is Hebei. Li Keyong's cooperation with the four towns in Hebei is a great threat.

It's just that although this proposal is very prudent, if it is followed, it will mean that the Qin army will give up the land of the seven states of Hai, Si, Yun, Pu, Cao, Hua, and Song that it has just occupied.And in this way, Hu Douzhou and Yu Zhou had to give up the two key points on the water.

These sites have not been acquired for a long time, and they have not been warmed up yet, so whoever wants to give up just like that.

In fact, although most people think that Li Keyong may really have united Gao Pian with Sizhen, Khitan, etc., they are not too worried.It would be too much for me to be scared and retreat without fighting as soon as I heard that the other party was joining forces.

Gai Yu, Minister of the Ministry of Officials, was the first to raise an objection, "Even if Gao Pian sends troops, there is no need to be afraid. My subordinates think that we are fully capable of fighting on the north and south fronts. For Gao Pian, we can use offense as defense and strike first to be strong." A certain proposal, send troops to Xuzhou immediately, as long as we take Xuzhou first, then connect with Sizhou, and defend it along the Huaihe River, then don't say that Gao Pian is coming, even if Gao Pian and Zhou Bao join forces, we don't have to be afraid of him. According to Xuzhou and Sizhou, controlling the Huai River, we can completely block the southern soldiers to the south of the Huai River."

Wang Pu, Shangshu of the Ministry of War, also nodded in agreement, and he would not agree to give up the seven states that he had just won for nothing. "The headquarters also agrees with the Tianguan's proposal. It is more beneficial to block the enemy to the south of the Huai River than to give up the seven states and allow the enemy to attack the land of Qilu. If we give up the seven states, we will only benefit Huang Chao, Gao Pian and others. , One declines and the other rises, which is very unfavorable to us.”

Although Zhang Rui is now the governor of Hebei, he is unwilling to give up Songzhou to Huang Chao, and seconded Gai Yu's plan to capture Xuzhou.

On the contrary, Li Rang, Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, was also from Henan, but he agreed with Jing Xiang's plan to abandon the seven states of Henan.His idea is to consider the people's livelihood and finances of the Ministry of Households. Over the years, Li Jing's power has been entirely based on business and industry, using business to support the army and feed back agriculture.To put it bluntly, in the current situation on Li Jing's side, finances depend entirely on the ports of Denglai and southern Liaoning, which are well-developed cities and ports.Liaodong, Liaoxi, Xi'an, Dongbeiping and other places have huge military and political effects, but in terms of finances, they are completely a big hole that cannot be filled.

Li Jing's development strategy in Dengzhou at the beginning was completely a blood-sucking development plan, using the alternative method of industry and commerce to develop in a blood-sucking model.But now, every time the territory expands by one state and one county, Daxingtai has to use the treasury to subsidize it. The larger the territory, the more Daxingtai will subsidize.

If we maintain a healthy expansion rate, we can fully support it with the current fiscal revenue.But Guan Jian is that the current expansion rate of Daxingtai is too fast.In a few months, twenty states were expanded at once. These states and counties could not obtain fiscal revenue for a while, but had to invest a lot of fiscal expenditure.Especially in places like Henan, if you look at it purely from a financial perspective, the gains outweigh the losses.

Henan is sparsely populated, especially the young and the strong. The young and the strong have either died of famine or military chaos these years.The combined population of the [-] prefectures in Henan that are now newly occupied is not much stronger than that of Dengzhou, and it is still full of old and weak.

What's more critical is that if you want to occupy the land of the seven states, you need a lot of soldiers and horses on this plain. Guan Jian has no danger to defend, and you have to be surrounded by enemies.To the south is the Huainan Army, to the west is the Qi Army, and to the north is the Army of the Four Towns of Hebei. This area is not easy to defend.

For a while, the whole room was full of civil and military arguments, and the debate continued. Li Jing frowned tightly, but couldn't make a decision.