Late Tang

(Thanks to Mayflower 001, liujunliu, Lin Zhuhou for their support, thank you!)

When Li Jing landed in Vladivostok, Li Keyong finally fulfilled his wish to become the Jiedushi of Hedong, Yin of Taiyuan, stay behind in Beidu, and Tongping Zhangshi.

On the first day of April, Taiwei, Zhong Shuling, and King Li Keyong of Jin triumphantly entered Jinyang City with his 10 soldiers and horses.Although among the 5 men, [-] were recruited by him from the short men among the civilian husbands just before his departure from Luoyang, and half of the other [-] men were newly recruited by Li Siyuan and Li Sizhao.His current [-] soldiers and horses are no longer the elite Shatuo who once ruled the world undefeated.

After a long journey, they seemed a little disorganized, their soldiers and horses were exhausted, and their morale was low.They wore all kinds of clothes and robes, including black Shatuo military robes and red Tang army robes, and even some soldiers who were originally Luoyang Qi army wore white Qi army uniforms.In addition, most of the recruits who were originally civilian craftsmen were still wearing blue, brown, gray, white and other colors and various styles of clothes.

Their weapons are also varied, some are carrying two-foot long spears, some are holding eight-foot long spears, some are carrying horizontal knives, machetes, some are carrying shields, horn bows, and some are carrying iron whips and iron bones. , Iron Mace, and Meteor Hammer.In short, their weapons are very messy, varied and varied.

Even their flags are not uniform and complete.

The entire team looked like a rabble, with less than [-] cavalry with horses, and the rest were all infantry on foot.

The cavalry is in the front, the infantry is in the middle, and behind is a cavalry guarding 20 people and many vehicles.

Among the 20 people are old and young, young men and young women.Some of them were soldiers and artisans recruited by Li Siyuan and Li Sizhao, but more than half of the original 10 people were recruited into the army.In Luoyang, Li Keyong reached a deal with Yang Fuguang, Zheng Congyu, etc. Zheng Congyu went south to Luoyang to take over as Luoyang Liushou, Henan Yin, Dongdu Jidu Defense Envoy, Jingdong Xingyingdu Commander and Marshal of Shannan Roads and Western Henan Towns.Li Keyong succeeded Zheng Congyu's original position and successfully won the important town of Hedong.On this trip north, Li Keyong collected many people from Luoyang and Henan and took them away. Many of the people were refugees, but Li Keyong generously provided food to the refugees in exchange for them to follow him to Taiyuan.In troubled times, population is also a very important resource.

In the end, he gathered 20 troops and [-] people. Before leaving, he searched the territories he occupied, took all the supplies he could take away, and asked for money from Yang Fuguang. For a batch of grain, he also very naturally went to ask for a batch of grain from Zhu Asan, whom he had always looked down upon.

Facing the request made by Li Keyong's emissary, Zhu Quanzhong was stunned for a long time.But in the end Zhu Quanzhong still did not refuse this request, and collected a batch of grain, cloth and military equipment for Li Ke to use.When receiving these materials, Li Keyong inevitably looked down on Zhu Quanzhong more and more, and even regretted that he wanted less materials.

When passing through Hezhong Town, his son and daughter's in-law Hezhong Jiedu Envoy Han Wang Wang Chongrong also generously gave him a batch of money, food and supplies. Hezhong Town has two pools of salt, which is relatively rich.Now that Li Keyong has become a neighbor with He Zhongzhen again, he is naturally not stingy with this brother, in-laws and neighbors.

The other Jiedu envoys and righteous brothers who are also Yang Fuguang's adopted sons also collected some money and food for him, so this time when he went north this time, Li Keyong felt a little stronger again.Although he has only a mob in his hands at this time, even the real Shatuo fighters in it are less than one in ten, and there are even fewer elites.But he was very happy and satisfied to be able to get to Hedong Town without bloodshed.Although this is also because Hedong Town is now the first town to bear the brunt of Li Jing's southward travel, and it is also surrounded by two towns, Wang Chongrong of Hezhong Town and Wang Rong of Chengde Town.The stronger towns are not willing to leave the town, but those with Li Jing in the front and Wang Chongrong and Wang Rong in the back are going to the dangerous place, while the smaller ones are willing to go to Hedong Town. After all, Hedong Township has always been It is one of the important feudal towns of the Tang Dynasty, but they are not strong enough, and they cannot compete with Li Keyong.

Yang Fuguang asked Li Keyong to go to Hedong Township because he was the only one in the towns who was familiar with Li Jing and had a deep grievance against Li Jing, so he couldn't do it at all. The person who dissolves.It is most appropriate for him to go to Hedong Township to stare at Li Jing.

In Hedong, arrange Li Keyong to defend Li Jing, and in Henan, arrange Zhu Wen to defend Li Jing.Yang Fuguang also planned to recruit Cheng De and Wei Bo to defend Li Jing together.

Yang Fuguang has no personal grudge against Li Jing, and even had a good cooperation experience back then.But the emperor hated Li Jing, and to deal with Li Jing, he naturally had to follow the emperor's heart.Even if today's world is completely in Tian Lingzi's hands, this will not change.

Li Keyong rushed to Taiyuan impatiently at this time, entirely because of his son-in-law, Chengde Jie Shuai Wang Rong was taken to Yanjing by Li Jing as a hostage, and Chengde Town was almost swallowed up by the Qin army just now the reason.Whether it is for Li Keyong, Yang Fuguang or their entire alliance, although Chengdezhen is not yet a member of their alliance, the preservation of Chengdezhen is also a barrier for them.Today, from Taiyuan in Hedong to Bianzhou in Henan, Deng Ru in Shannan, Caizhou in Huaixi, and the heartland of the Central Plains have now become the sphere of influence of their alliance.

However, this alliance is not yet stable, especially after the old eunuch Tian Lingzi made a sudden move, they still have to fight against the Sanchuan towns headed by Tian Lingzi, and they have to continue to compete for support from the Guanzhong towns. Too much energy, and no preparations to deal with Li Jing's possible southward travel at any time.Therefore, it is urgent for them to try to maintain the status quo in East Hebei and prevent Li Jing from going south.It is precisely because of this that Li Keyong was able to get the position of Hedong Jieshuai so quickly.

Li Keyong rushed back to Hedong, not only to take over Hedong Town as soon as possible, but also to guard against Li Jing, and at the same time, to prepare to intervene in the situation in Hebei.

In front of the gate of Jinyang City in Taiyuan Prefecture, Li Ke reined in his horse and looked at the city carefully.When he first rebelled against the Tang Dynasty, he tried to capture Taiyuan, but unfortunately, he failed.Later, when Zheng Congyu came, this guy managed Taiyuan like an iron bucket, and there was no chance.But in 30 years in Hedong and 30 years in Hexi, who knows, Zheng Congxun drove him out of Hedong and managed Taiyuan for so many years, but now, he has to hand over this place to himself.

In Taiyuan, Li Yuan and his son used this to achieve the foundation of the Tang Dynasty. Now, he lost Daibei, but he gained Hedong again.

"Li Jing, I've let you down. I, Li Keyong, are back!" Li Keyong clenched his fists tightly, his one eye shining with madness. "Let's read the libretto on a donkey, we'll see!"

As soon as he entered the city, Li Ke quickly dispatched troops to take over the entire city, and immediately began to seal up the warehouse.The soldiers left behind in Hedong blocked him, Li Ke rode his horse over, drew his sword, and chopped off the head of the little officer with one sword.

"Sacred will of the Son of Heaven, Zheng Xianggong and this king have swapped. From now on, all military and horse officials in Hedong Town will be dispatched by this king. All the treasury money and food will belong to the commander-in-chief. Without the order of this king, anyone Don't take any action. If you disobey, this is the end!"

The power of the sword shocked the soldiers left behind in Hedong. On that day, Li Ke used all the 3 people left behind in Hedong Town to reorganize into his own army.

In Shuai's mansion, Li Keyong could not help laughing out loud as he listened to the adopted sons reporting their rich family fortunes in Hedong Township one by one.

Zheng Congxuan is really good at governing the region. Since he took over the Hedong Township for the second time, relying on his deep reputation and the group of capable officials brought in from the imperial court, he has managed the Hedong Township in an orderly manner and the treasury has been abundant. , Now, all this is cheap for Li Keyong.

"What's going on with Li Jing now?" After laughing, Li Keyong immediately asked again.With the rich wealth of Hedong, he couldn't help but want to trouble Li Jing.

"From the news I just received, it seems that Li Jing led his army to the Bohai Sea, and went to fight with the Khitan and other Northeast tribes' allied forces."

"Is this really true?" Li Ke stood up straight in a jerk, staring with one eye.

Shi Yan, who was almost killed by Li Jing at the foot of the Yin Mountain, nodded, "This is the news that has been confirmed repeatedly. Li Jing has indeed personally conquered Haidong, and, according to the information we got, he took away 20 elites."

Li Keyong's face changed slightly, and he squeezed his beard and narrowed his one eye slightly. He organized his thoughts in his mind, and gradually, he began to become clearer and clearer.

"Damn it, Li Jing made such a big battle a few years ago, saying that he wanted to destroy Chengde, it seems that the drunkard's intention was not to drink."

Shi Yan followed suit and said, "Moreover, he killed two birds with one stone. He deployed such a large formation, mobilized troops, successfully frightened Chengde, captured Dingzhou easily, and forced Chengde Town to surrender. At the same time, he sent Wang Rong to the In fact, Li Jing's mobilization was true, but the labeling of Chengde was false. They actually used the labeling of Chengde as a cover to secretly assemble the army, but rushed to the Bohai Sea to fight against the tribal coalition forces. Li Jing Jing is very insidious and cunning. Now Chengde Town has been fooled, Jie Shuai has been sent as a hostage, and a state has been lost, and in the next short time, he will definitely not dare to touch Qin Fan any more. And As for Li Jing, he brought a large army to the Bohai Sea. It is estimated that the coalition forces do not even know that Li Jing is on the way. When they were still confused, Li Jing suddenly appeared on the battlefield in Bohai Sea. It is estimated that the tribal coalition forces will suffer a lot. .”

Li Cunzhang was a little puzzled: "It's always been the first thing to do to fight against the outside world. Why didn't Li Jing directly attack Cheng De, but went to the Bohai Sea thousands of miles away to fight?"

"That's because you haven't figured out which is inside and which is outside for Li Jing and Qin Fan. At this stage, for Qin Fan, their real center is north of the Yellow River, specifically the Bohai Rim. Therefore, Chengde is actually outside the core circle around the Bohai Sea, while Liaodong and Liaoxi are inside, or in other words, behind this circle. Chengde Town has no strength to pose a real threat to Li Jing, but the tribal coalition forces are in The northeast rear that really threatens Li Jing, once the tribe breaks through the defense line of the Bohai Sea, it will be able to rush into Liaodong and Liaoxi, directly threatening his inner circle. Therefore, Li Jing chose to deal with the tribal coalition first, just because he must be safe when fighting against the outside world. This strategy." An Jinjun said slowly.

Li Keyong nodded, obviously not thinking that Li Jing's strategy was right or wrong.There are priorities. Li Jing has been grabbing territory in the hands of the Hu people for these years. Li Jing died, even if Li Jing didn't fight.The Hu people have been forced to this point, if Li Jing still doesn't take the opportunity to fight the Hu people to avoid future troubles, then there is something wrong with his brain.

But Li Jing's strategy was right, so it would definitely not be a good thing for them.If Li Jing wins this battle, then he will really have no worries. At that time, there will be no forces in the entire Northeast that can interfere with Li Jing.Li Jing can really go south with peace of mind. At that time, without Li Jing being restrained, who can stop him?

"Maybe we can take advantage of Li Jing's personal expedition to Bohai to do something!" (To be continued.)