Dawn of the Empire

Chapter 4 (Chapter 81 Emperor Xu Zhuanzheng-1

The Liao army marched southward and the two sages competed to issue edicts. The prefectures and counties along the Huaihe River and the Yangtze River were full of scenes of chaos. One after another abandoned their jobs and fled. Amidst the turmoil, the town police camp temporarily stationed in Ezhou ushered in several unexpected guests.

"Master Chen?" Chen Dong walked into the big tent, Yue Fei hurriedly stood up to greet him, his face showed a look of surprise, and a layer of haze was cast over him.At this time, Xijing was urging the court to congratulate the new emperor, but the Lishe scholars were vigorously clamoring to continue respecting Zhao Ke as the king, and denouncing Zhao Qi, Cai Jing and others as "chaotic" ministers and thieves. Also faintly heard the wind.Before Chen Dong opened his mouth, Yue Fei took out a volume of imperial decree and handed it to him, and said in a deep voice, "This is the decree of Xijing." He led his troops to Xiangyang to join forces with Liu Yanqing to prevent the main force of the Liao army from going south.When Chen Dong watched the will, Yue Fei also looked at him.His face is full of dust, and his eyes are bloodshot. When he entered the tent of the Chinese army just now, his feet were floating, and his legs were unconsciously in the shape of a circle. Obviously, this trip was not easy.

After reading the imperial edict, Chen Dong was silent for a moment, and asked, "The current situation is 'turbulent', does the general have any plans?"

Yue Fei was slightly taken aback, he thought for a moment, and said in a deep voice: "The Liao army marched south, and there are not many soldiers available in the southern states and counties. If they all gather in Xiangyang, I am afraid that they will be criticized by the northern captives, just like the Huangchao army in the Tang Dynasty. Generally, several roads are directly taken from our Jianghuai, and even double roads are copied from Guangnan two roads. If the southeast is corrupt and the land of wealth and wealth falls into the enemy's hands, then although Jingxiang has assembled a large number of troops, they will be defeated before a battle. Moreover, Liao Although the main force of the army has conquered Bianliang, there are heavy troops in Luoyang in the west and Hedong in the north, and they are facing enemies on both sides. We must transfer all the soldiers and horses from the southeast to Xiangyang."

Yue Fei was originally Wang Yan's confidant general. After the change of commander in Southeast, he refused to accept Liu Yanqing, and his troops were quite suppressed.After joining forces with Liu Yanqing and Liu Yanqing, they are single and weak, and it is hard to say whether they can form a whole. Therefore, from the commander Yue Fei to Wang Gui and Zhang Xian, most of the generals are reluctant to join forces in Xiangyang. After Bianliang fell and the official family was taken into captivity, they slowed down their journey and settled down in Ezhou.However, if it involves support, he still dare not express his attitude easily.

Chen Dong nodded, closed his will, and said in a deep voice, "When the official family was still in the palace, Bianliang was in danger, and they ordered the soldiers and horse kings of the world. I didn't expect that Cao Di was camped in Xijing, and Liu Yanqing was camped in southeast. Wei Jieshuai can't be bothered, just sit back and watch the officials be deceived by the northern captives, and Bianliang fall. Now that the officials have no edict to abdicate, they dare to set up another emperor, they are "disorderly" ministers and traitors!" He sighed He said in a low voice, "On the way here, I heard that Wu Angying, Xu Rubi and other lords did not kneel down to the captives in the Liao camp, but died for righteousness. Chen is just a scholar. He wants to kill the thief, but he is powerless. If General Yue If you want to serve Zhao Qigong as the king, Chen will not force you. You should go to your own death and follow Wu Angying Xu Rubi and other lords in the spring. If General Yue is willing to plant a banner of righteousness, respect the emperor and not obey the order of chaos, Chen A certain person is willing to run the southeast state for the general. I dare not say anything else. There are thousands of benevolent people in the Lishe, all over the state and county. The inside is for the general's shogunate, and the outside is for the general's eyes, eyes and eyes. Recruiting troops and buying horses, donating food and salaries for the general, and many other complicated and inconvenient matters, I am willing to take care of them.”

The more Yue Fei listened, the more he frowned.Since Zhao Qi proclaimed himself emperor, the gentry of Lishe near Ezhou have jointly petitioned for the petition.The misdeeds of Cao Di, Cai Jing, Zhao Qi and others were compiled into ballads and circulated everywhere. Even the common people in the market knew that Cao Di, Cai Jing, Zhao Qi and others sold the real emperor to the Khitan people for personal gain.The words of the scholars and common people were very fierce, which made Yue Fei hesitate after receiving Zhao Qi's edict.Not long ago, Zhao Ke promoted him to three levels in a row, and the Henghaixiang Army was also promoted to the Suppressing Forbidden Army. The prosperity of grace is rare in this dynasty.Now, although the official family is embarrassed by the northern captives, they are still alive, and there is no edict to abdicate and pass on the throne, so they choose someone else as the king.

Although Chen Dong's official position is only the magistrate of Guangzhou and the promotion of the city ship secretary, his colleagues in Lishe are all over the states and counties in the world.Especially after the Liao army invaded the south and the magistrates of prefectures and counties abandoned their posts one after another, the gentry in many places were struggling to maintain them. Many of these scholars who were influential in the local area but had no fame were members of the Lishe.However, today's world is in chaos, and compared with scholars Qingyi, only those with strong soldiers and horses have to support the emperor.The three major battalions of Xijing, Southeast, and Hedong have all embraced King Jing Zhao Qi as emperor. It can be said that almost all the forbidden troops will fight against Zhao Qi. This is the general trend.The township army adapted from the Henghaixiang Army has a staff of just over 8000, of which there are only [-] capable soldiers in Ezhou, and the strength is very different.Although Yue Fei is loyal, he is not a reckless man with only the courage of ordinary people. The disparity between strength and weakness makes him have to think twice before acting.

After probing each other, both of them were full of worries, and they both calmed down, groaning silently.The candles in the tent were burning, clearly illuminating Yue Fei's hesitant expression.Chen Dong sighed secretly, thinking, even Yue Pengju is like this, I'm afraid that other generals have already come up to Zhao Qi to congratulate him.Is it true that those who steal the hook punish those who steal the country?Has the world just fallen into the hands of 'traitors'?

After waiting quietly for a long time, Yue Fei suddenly sighed: "Your Majesty treats Fei as a soldier of the state, and Fei should repay him as a soldier of the state." He made up his mind, and without hesitation, he said to Chen Dong: "The Liao army is in a hurry to go south. Build the camp in Ezhou, and send generals Wang Gui and Zhang Xian to collect troops from the Jianghuai River to the east to help the southeast counties counter the Liao army. Most of these generals are from the north, and they are not familiar with the southeast. I hope Master Chen Give me a helping hand."

Chen Dong immediately said: "Chen is obliged to do so!" He hesitated for a moment, then said in a negotiating tone, "What is the name of the town's eastward advance?"It is no small matter to go out of the defense zone without authorization, or even collect other soldiers and horses as Yue Fei said.Therefore, Chen Dong was thinking carefully, if he wanted to be justified, he had to first create momentum.Since Cai Jing and other "treacherous" parties coerced Zhao Qi, the pro-establishment leader of Southeast states and counties, to usurp the throne, the name of Feng Zhengshuo's crusade against the usurper and rebel party could be used.

"Your Majesty Chen, don't worry," Yue Fei said in a deep voice with a complex expression on his face, "Your Majesty's will will come." After speaking, he took out another imperial decree from his bosom, and handed it to him together with the gold plate wrapped in it. Chen Dong.Chen Dong took it over hesitantly, and was immediately overjoyed.It turned out to be an imperial decree written by Zhao Ke, entrusting Yuefei to be the envoy of the town's governor and commander of troops and horses in the south of Xiangyang, urging the town's governor to double the road and march all the way, and to reunite with Nanshou's holy driver as soon as possible.At the same time, let Yue Fei control the soldiers and horses of the states and counties in the south of Xiangyang, and the army of King Qin who met along the way went north with the town's leader to meet Shengjia.It can be seen that this imperial decree was written hastily, and the wording is quite vague, and it is not clear which counties and counties are in the south of Xiangyang.In a narrow sense, it refers to the area of ​​Jinghu South Road and Jinghu North Road. In a broad sense, Southeast Zhou County is also within the south of Xiangyang.

"This is..." Chen Dongxian was astonished. After thinking about it for a while, he figured it out and sighed, "It's God's will."

The official Nanshou was quite hasty, and the accompanying soldiers and horses were only five thousand forbidden soldiers.When the official family was the crown prince, they had old grievances with Liu Yanqing, who was deployed in the southeast camp.Liu Yanqing held 8000 elite soldiers and waited in the north of Xiangyang. To Zhao Ke, it was like a thorn in his back.So before he left Bianliang, he first issued a golden edict ordering Yue Fei to speed up his journey to the north in order to preserve Shengjia.Because Yue Fei's suppressing army only had [-] people, all the soldiers and horses in the south of Xiangyang were under Yue Fei's command, and he could gather as many as tens of thousands of people as possible, so that he could rival Liu Yanqing in terms of military strength.As for whether these soldiers and horses were elite, and where the food and pay for the march northward would come from, Zhao Ke had no time to think about it before he fled in a hurry.Afterwards, Zhao Ke was captured by the Liao army not far from Bianliang, but the imperial edict was sent out in a hurry.Although it is meaningless to arrange for Yue Fei to check and balance Liu Yanqing, it is lost in the east and harvested in Sangyu.This imperial decree gave Yue Fei the name of collecting troops from the Jianghuai River and even operating the southeast to welcome back the holy driver.

"I just received this imperial decree, and before it was announced to the public, I got the news that the Holy One was taken into captivity and King Jing stood on his own." Yue Fei's face was a little gloomy, "What news can be spread more than gold letters?" The cards are still fast? Naturally, it was the news from the pigeon station. It is hard to believe that they supported King Jing so quickly, and they did not intend to put the officials in danger." He paused and sighed, "Although Yue There are only 8000 people in hand, and Cao Di and Liu Yanqing add up to more than [-] people. However, Your Majesty treats Fei as a national soldier, and I will repay him as a national soldier. Fei is willing to work together with Lord Chen. In time, we will recover Henan and Hebei, expelling northern captives from outside, eradicating traitors from inside, and welcoming saints back to Beijing."

In Ezhou, no one else knew about Zhao Ke's imperial decree.Once it is made public, the suppressing police will immediately become a thorn in the eyes of Zhao Qi and others, and the counties in southeastern states will also be forced to choose sides between the suppressing police and Zhao Qi.However, since Yue Fei has made a decision, he is not afraid that the opponent will attack him with all the troops from all over the world.Chen Dong also deeply believed that if the name is not correct, the words will not be smooth. At this time, if there is an edict written by the official, he must immediately take it out and compete with the 'traitor' party for the hearts of the southeast.

The members of Lishe have a reputation in the local area, but they have no reputation and no soldiers if they want to stand against Mrs. Zhao Qi.Since Yue Fei was going to send generals to collect Jianghuai troops, Chen Dong asked him to send dozens of people, ranging from 200 to hundreds of people, to prefectures and counties with strong Lishe, to help Lishe expel the puppet lords and Khitans. Officials with false orders, and then the Lishe can recommend local prestigious gentry to run the prefectures and counties.In this regard, Chen Dong's consideration can be described as a rainy day.The imperial decree in Yue Fei's hands was only to rectify the army and horses. Since Lishe accused the "treacherous" party of usurping the throne and expelled false officials, it was even more impossible to appoint local officials without authorization.As an expedient measure, we can only use Huang Zhoushan's theory of public elections to maintain the prefectures and counties first, govern the place for the town government, and deliver food and salaries.Since the officials were elected by the gentry from all over the country, no matter how much the "treacherous" party criticized them, it could not be said that Yue and Chen had the intention of usurping.