Dawn of the Empire

Chapter 446 Chapter 84

"The current situation is extremely dangerous. The Liao army is already unstoppable, and with the help of many 'traitors' thieves, it is about to sweep! Although there are elite soldiers and generals in the town, there are too few troops to support the building alone. States and counties There are a lot of people with lofty ideals who are calling volunteer soldiers to fight against the bandits, but they are in a hurry. If we can organize these heroes from the rivers and lakes into an army, it will solve my urgent need."

Chen Dong took a sip of his tea and murmured, "Yuanzhi sent me a letter the day before yesterday, asking me to prepare a name to appease the Jingxiang heroes who are willing to serve the country. Right now, the Holy Majesty is embarrassed by the northern captives. Respecting the Son of Heaven, it is inconvenient to set up a new army title for Xu Tu to restore, so as not to fall into the facts of others. Just a few months ago, in order to appease the Taixue scholars, the Holy Majesty filled them into the army and recruited thousands of Bianliang market rangers. Established an army and named it Baoyi Army. After the fall of Bianliang, Master Zhang Shuye, the general manager of the Henan Mabu Army, committed suicide and died for the country, and the Baoyi Army lost its superiors. At this point, Chen Dong paused, looked at Zhao Xingde and said, "Although the Baoyi Army has a reputation, there are only a few dozen 'hair' boys. These juniors, open to Mr. Yuanzhi, shut up to Mr. Yuanzhi, I have admired virtue for a long time. In my opinion, although we are unruly warriors in the Baoyi Army, we respect Yuan Zhi very much. Why don't you recruit them in the name of Baoyi Army? Yuanzhi, you can teach them with etiquette Control these heroes of the rivers and lakes and become another pillar in the southeast half of my Great Song Dynasty."

Hearing Chen Dong's tone, it seemed that he wanted to entrust the Baoyi army to each other. Zhao Xingde said hesitantly: "March and fight, the key is to have military power. Brother Shaoyang once praised Yue Fei as a famous general in ancient times, and the township is in Ezhou There are only more than 8000 elite soldiers available, why not include the rest of the Baoyi Army and Jingxiang heroes together under Yue Shuai's command, and then rectify the township soldiers, regiments, and rebels in all states and counties, and expand the town's army to tens of thousands of people in one fell swoop. Concentration, fighting like arm and finger, can defeat the enemy and win."

His words made sense, Chen Dong nodded, remained silent for a while, and then sighed in a low voice: "Entrusting the country's military power to one person is not the way to seek the country." Seeing Zhao Xingde's face change slightly, he said again, " General Yue's command of the army is indeed outstanding, and he can be called a famous general in the world. But from the top to the bottom of the town, I only know that there is General Yue, and I don't know anything else. I once brought some Qingliu scholars into the town *, in the end, you either bowed your head to General Yue, or it was difficult to stand up." He sighed, "Yuan Zhi, you are right, the military is the most important thing, and General Yue has his reasons for doing this. But, you Have you ever thought about it? Nowadays, the world is in a state of 'turmoil', the people are precarious, and people's hearts are in 'turmoil'. A few years ago, even Fang La and other grassroots people were able to stand on their own and tried to separate the southeast."

"General Yue's loyalty, you and I have always known it, so it's not like..." Zhao Xingde interrupted Chen Dong's words.

"How is Taizu's loyalty to Zhou Shizong?" Chen Dong lowered his voice, "Now the Liao bandits and 'traitors' are powerful, and our forces are weak, so it's okay. I'm afraid that one day, the northern captives will be expelled from the outside, and the people from the inside will be driven away." After the traitor. If only the Zhenguo line is dominant in the army, even if General Yue has no intentions, it is hard to guarantee that the generals will not. If someone wants to repeat the incident of adding the yellow robe, I am afraid that General Yue will not be able to help himself." Chen Dong said slowly , "It is an unprecedented thing to respect the emperor and not obey the orders of chaos. The holy majesty is hanging outside, and it is inevitable to attract people's covetousness. The only way is to disperse the military power a little bit, don't set up other troops, and check and balance with the suppressing party. Preparing for a rainy day is the way to start well and end well. Only then can the loyalty of General Yue be truly preserved."

Most of the scholars in the Neo-Confucian Society have the idea of ​​using literature to control military affairs. If Yue Fei has been in sole control of the military, some people may use this as an excuse to make trouble, and may even accuse Chen Dong and Yue Fei of ulterior motives.Bringing Zhao Xingde out now is also a precautionary measure.When the Neo-Confucian Society was established, Zhao Xingde was pushed to be in charge of the military administration. Although he lived in the Xia Kingdom for these years, this post of adjudicator has never been relinquished.He has been in charge for ten years, and his reputation among the country gentlemen is getting higher and higher, and there is no better candidate for the Lishe to be in charge of the army.

"But..." Zhao Xingde still hesitated, "It's better to specialize troops than divide them."

"If the war requires, the Baoyi Army can naturally obey General Yue's orders. The division of the other army is not to divide the power of General Yue's orders." Chen Dong looked at the soldiers in the water village who were on guard in the distance outside the door. He didn't know what was going on. It was because Zhao Xingde was assassinated, so Lu Mingyu stepped up his guard on purpose. Seeing that the soldiers in the village were quite energetic, and they were not as lazy as the ordinary Xiang army, Chen Dong secretly praised him, and said with a smile, "General Yue's military orders are strict. If you violate the military orders, you must You have to worry about the murderer, Yuan Zhi. You will manage the soldiers and protect the righteous army, and you won’t let General Yue hold each other back in the future, will you?”

Zhao Xingde shook his head, sighed, and said nothing more.Seeing this, Chen Dong didn't try to persuade him any more.

Chen Dong's only concern was that Zhao Xingde led his army to defect to Xia Guo.But he can trust the character of this old friend, if it is difficult to balance the righteousness with reason, at most he will be sealed with a gold seal like Guan Yunchang, and he will never leave with soldiers and horses.And the suppression of the Communist Party is the main force in the southeast to fight against the Liao Dynasty. After all, the Baoyi Army is just a partial division.As long as the suppressing army and the Baoyi army maintain a balance, Xia Guo will not stir up civil strife in the southeast, and it will be easy for Cao Di, Cai Jing and others who went south to the Liao army or are hostile to Kansai.

............

While Zhao Xingde was talking with Chen Dong, in another courtyard not far from here, Lu Mingyu, Luo Xianshi, Zhang Wudi, the leader of Baima Village in Lizhou, Wang Qing, the leader of Suotou Water Village, and others also gathered to discuss.Everyone was a party of bandits and bandits, and each of them had a lot of thought about coming here, and Chen Dong's arrival made the leaders' expectations for Zhao'an quickly intensified.

"If you want to recruit security, you will be an official, but you will be subject to many constraints. I think Mr. Zhao and Mr. Chen will never run away when encountering enemies like Cai Jing. In the future, we will fight the Liao thieves with real swords and guns. " Lu Mingyu said with a worried expression on his face, "If you are under the command of the suppressor or under the control of other generals, not to mention enfeoffing your wife and son and returning to your hometown, I'm afraid there will be more chances of dying in vain!"

"What Lu Zhaizhu said is true. The hundreds of thousands of troops in the north have collapsed! The Khitan people are so powerful, if the government intends to send us to die, we will be a mosquito's leg, which is not enough for others to bite! Bai We will never do anything about the dead!" Wang Qing nodded and said, "Scholars say that everyone is responsible for the rise and fall of the world, but the emperor can't send hungry soldiers, right? Since Chen Dong came in person, let's make an agreement with him first. If there is a shortage of food and wages, the brothers will go back to the village immediately!"

Wang Qing used to be an officer of the Forbidden Army. When he was suppressing bandits, he was forced to become a bandit because he was betrayed by his colleagues.Talking about "delivering" his son, his eyes were very gloomy.Different from ordinary thieves' longing for Zhao'an, Wang Qing's memory of all kinds of strife in the court is still fresh.

"Then what does Village Master Lu mean?" Luo Xian asked without arguing with Lu Mingyu.

"As the saying goes, strength is strong when you unite, and strength is weak when you divide." Lu Mingyu looked around at the dozen or so fellows in the room, "There are more than 10,000+ people, old and young, in Shanshuizhai, but the brothers who can really go to battle can count on their strength. No more than [-]. If the government separates us from the east to the west after the recruitment, then we will have to be mermaid." His gloomy words aroused deep worries in the hearts of all the village owners.In the name of recruiting security, the imperial court used up a group of thieves to trap or kill them or send them to the battlefield. That was the most common thing.The road of Zhao'an may be much more dangerous for bandits without a backing than the grassy rivers and lakes.

"Combination is strong? How do you arrange the seats on each mountain? Who is the big and who is the small?" Zhang Wudi looked at Lu Mingyu with disdain, "Is it possible that the head of the Lu village has the ability to sit in the first place?" Although not very big, Zhang Wudi's bravery is extraordinary, and his reputation in the southeast is not small, so that the nickname "Invincible" is widely spread in the world, and no one remembers his real name.

After hearing Zhang Wudi's words, the other dozens of bandit leaders all looked at Lu Mingyu suspiciously. If he had done so many things, if he said that he had no other intentions, no one would believe him.But with the power of Thirteen Lianhuanzhai, it is impossible to overwhelm the heroes and secure the top spot, unless Lu Mingyu has other trump cards or conspiracy.Among gangsters, trust, even the smallest trust, is almost non-existent.There are many things about calling brothers face to face, stumbling behind the back and stabbing knives.

Zhang Wudi's provocative tone did not arouse Lu Mingyu's displeasure. He laughed dryly: "Mr. Lu owns a few catties and a few cars, and he knows it very well. Even if all the brothers love me and recommend me to take the top spot, the government will Do you agree? The person who sits in the top spot not only commands nearly ten thousand brothers, but also takes care of 10,000+ people in the family. If any of you really have this ability, I, Lu, will never say anything, and I am willing to serve him as the master !” He said it loudly.

All the leaders glanced at each other, and looked at each other in blank dismay. In terms of power, Lu Mingyu was really the biggest group present, but even he couldn't bear such a heavy burden, let alone others.What people in the Jianghu value is strength, without the strength to convince the crowd, to sit in the top spot is to seek death.And the government is not a fool, it is impossible to raise tigers.

"Brother Lu, what do you mean?" Luo Xianshi was thoughtful and guessed something.

"Mr. Zhao," Lu Mingyu said categorically, "in terms of benevolence, righteousness, ability, and reputation, there is no one comparable. We wandering ghosts in the rivers and lakes can only be guided by him. In the future, we may become the golden body of Arhat Let me put the words here, Mr. Zhao is the only one who follows the thirteenth chain village. Wealth and honor have their own destiny, and life and death are in the sky. You can make up your own minds about your own affairs."

The leaders of the water bandits were speechless for a while, and looked at each other again. "...Mr. Zhao,..., is it all right?"