Great Han Empire

Chapter 446
In June, Youzhou.

After Li Hong received the news of the great victory at Yanmen Pass, he was ecstatic and immediately ordered the whole army to be notified.

At the same time, he urgently ordered Yan Rou from Juyongguan and Wen Chou from Feihu Fortress to gather troops as soon as possible to defeat the Karasuma rebels.The Xianbei people were completely defeated in the Juzhu Fortress, and they withdrew in embarrassment. The meaning of the Karasuma people's attack on the Feihu Fortress has been completely lost. Ran Ran and Gao Chan will soon lead the rebels to evacuate Feihu Island.

Li Hong then sent Zhao Yun to Lucheng with [-] cavalry to join Gongsun Zan. With the cavalry captain Gongsun Zan as the main general, he immediately attacked Tuyin City in Youbeiping. After taking Tuyin City, the army continued to march eastward to attack western Liaoning. rebels.

Xian Yufu and Zhu Mu raised objections to Li Hong's arrangement.Kui Tou and Tuoba Feng withdrew their troops, but this did not solve the threat of the Xianbei people to Yanmen Pass, nor did it solve the threat of Murong Feng to Youzhou.Now that the food and pay for the army is cut off, it is barely maintained by the General Zhenbei's mansion sending food and pay from Bingzhou.If Dai County in the north of Youzhou and Youbeiping County in the east go to war at the same time, the defensive force in the middle will be very weak. If Murong Feng attacks southward from the direction of Yuyang and Lulongsai, then Youzhou will be very dangerous.

Li Hong insisted on his own opinion.He said that the Karasuma people in Daijun and Shanggu, as well as the rebels in western Liaoning must be dealt with first, otherwise, the battle situation in Youzhou will be a game of dead chess. Fight simultaneously on the battlefield.

At present, Tuobafeng has suffered serious losses, and we are also unable to attack due to the shortage of food and pay due to domestic floods. This is the perfect opportunity for the leader and other Xianbei tribes to kill Tuobafeng and wipe out the northern Xianbei.From the perspective of stabilizing the Xianbei Kingdom and firmly occupying the northern border counties, the commander-in-chief will definitely not go south to attack at this time. He will put all his attention and energy on the internal stability of the Xianbei Kingdom.As long as there is no accident in the Xianbei country, the land occupied by the northern border is safe, and he still won the battle of the northern border in the end.Think about it, the commander-in-chief sent the black eagle cavalry to Yuyang, but he still stayed in Huoyunyuan. What is the reason?For no other reason, he was worried that once he left Huoyunyuan, the ministries of Xianbei would take the opportunity to attack each other and sabotage his plan to invade the south.After the defeat of the Xianbei people at Yanmen Pass, the most anxious thing is the commander.Now, he may have left Huoyunyuan and rushed to Danhan Mountain.Xiongba stationed in Yuyang and Mijia in Lulongsai had just been defeated by Xianbei and the country was unstable. They must obey Murongfeng's order and guard the city to the death, just in case.

Therefore, attacking the Karasuma people in Daijun and Shangya at this time is our best chance.If at this time we are tired of food and wages and all the ministries stay in Youzhou without moving, we will actually miss the only chance to actively reverse the passive situation in Youzhou.

After a few months, Murong Feng completely stabilized the inside of Xianbei, and it was our turn to suffer.On our left are the rebels of Daijun and Shanggu Karasuma, in the middle is the Xianbei army of the commander-in-chief, and on the right are the Karasuma rebels of Liaodong and Liaoxi and the Yellow Turban army of Zhang Ju and Zhang Chun. Our army is tightly clamped in Ji The whole city cannot be moved.Whether these three groups of troops attack at the same time or stand still, it is the same for us. We can neither actively launch the three-way attack, nor be able to resist the three-way enemy's attack. We can only defend very passively. The result is to stick to Jicheng.If the battle in Youzhou ends in this situation in the second half of the year, the victory of Yanmen Pass will be lost. The 10,000+ Yellow Turban Army will die in vain. The situation in northern Xinjiang has not improved, but worsened. up.

We can only take advantage of the short period of time when the Xianbei are hesitating to launch an attack, and first cut off all the left and right wings of the Xianbei people, so that when the Xianbei people stabilize the prairie, all their opportunities have been lost. Fight to the death with us.At that time, even if they don't fight, we will launch a strong attack to hold back Murong Feng's army, so as to provoke civil strife in Xianbei.

Xian Yufu asked, when we decided to abandon Yanmen Pass and lure the enemy to go deep, the purpose was to severely injure the Xianbei's military strength to arouse conflicts among Xianbei's various ministries, and then use their civil strife to consume their strength to defeat the Xianbei.Now that the battle at Yanmen Pass is over, and we played it perfectly, why can't we wait now?Could it be that Murong Feng will definitely be able to suppress the contradictions among the various ministries of Xianbei and prevent civil strife?If the conflicts among the Xianbei ministries intensify and civil strife erupts uncontrollably, Murong Feng and Tuoba Feng will have no time to look south, and they will withdraw their troops back to the prairie, and we can regain the lost ground without bloodshed.Without the support of the Xianbei people, what are the rebellious Karasuma people and Zhang Ju Zhang Chun's rebels?It's a fight.

Zhu Mu also dissuaded him, saying that instead of attacking at the risk of losing all food and grass in Youzhou, it is better to garrison troops and defend half of Youzhou.

Li Hong firmly shook his head in disagreement.He said that Xianbei people are not idiots.If there is no war in the northern border, Murong Feng's army will look at both the north and the south, not to mention the leader, even Tuoba Feng will swallow his anger.As long as the northern border is raging and Murong Feng's army can't take care of themselves, Kui Tou and Tuoba Feng will naturally fight without any scruples.To cause chaos among the Xianbei people is not only to injure them and irritate them, but also to provide them with opportunities to fight and add fuel to the flames, otherwise the Xianbei people will live in peace and unanimously under Murongfeng's best mediation. .After all, the benefits obtained from internal fighting cannot be compared with the benefits obtained from invading the Han Dynasty. If there are greater benefits and temptations, who will fight internally?If the war drags on until next year and Tuoba Feng recovers a little bit of vitality, Xianbei will be even less chaotic.

Xian Yufu was persuaded by Li Hong, and he said with a smile, you have repeatedly urged Xu Rong to launch the Yanmen Pass War as soon as possible, and you have talked about the prospects of the Yanmen Pass War in a hype, but in the end you still want to fight, and you are still in this kind of situation. Situation hit.It's too dangerous to be in such a dangerous position.How to guarantee the food and salary in the battle of Youzhou?How to solve?Will His Majesty and the court agree?
Li Hong sighed, and said that His Majesty and the court could deal with it well. He said that the Wuwan people and Xianbei people took advantage of the fact that the army's food and pay were cut off, and launched an attack first, and the army had no choice but to fight back.We used this reason to implore His Majesty and the imperial court for food and payment support, and told them that if they did not fight, Youzhou would be lost.I think, under such circumstances, His Majesty will still agree.

Zhu Mu grimaced, shook his head and sighed, General, you only care about the safety of the northern border, and you don't care about the life and death of the Han Kingdom. If you go your own way, you will drag the Han Kingdom into an even more miserable abyss.After hearing this, Li Hong said unhappily, I am General Zhenbei, and my mission and responsibility is to ensure the integrity and safety of my Han territory. up?Did I take back the northern border, or did I harm the Han Kingdom?

Zhu Mu was not afraid of Li Hong's reprimand, and retorted loudly, "Master General, have you considered that millions of people in the Han Kingdom have suffered from floods, and they are homeless, suffering from hunger and cold, and mourning everywhere. Instead of rekindling the flames of war, we will use up the last bit of financial resources of the Han Kingdom for the barren and uninhabited frontier land.Your Majesty and the imperial court have repeatedly ordered you to withdraw your troops and cease the war for disaster relief, but how did you do it, General?The General not only forced Master Xu and the Yellow Turban Army to launch the Yanmen Pass War, but also launched the Youzhou War, General, are you arrogant and wanton? What is the law of the country?In addition to fighting in northern Xinjiang, do you still have the emperor of the Han Kingdom and the people of the Han Kingdom?It cost a lot of money to fight this battle, but the Karasuma rebels may not be wiped out, the ant thieves may not be able to be pacified, and the lost land in northern Xinjiang may not be recovered, but what about the victims?They will die from hunger and disease. Could it be that the lives of my millions of disaster victims are not worth these frontier wastelands?When a person dies, he is gone, and when the land is lost, it can be regained. Compared with the two, which is more important, can't the general weigh it?This battle cannot be fought, nor can it be afforded.I implore the general, for the sake of the Great Han Kingdom and the people of the Great Han Kingdom, withdraw the military order and withdraw the troops back to Jicheng.

Li Hong considered again and again, looked at the silent generals in the tent, and finally shook his head. He said to Zhu Mu, if this battle is not fought, the opportunity to recover the lost land in northern Xinjiang will be missed in a short time.If this opportunity is missed, the battle at Yanmen Pass will be in vain, and the time to recover the lost land in northern Xinjiang will be extended indefinitely. In the end, I don’t know how long it will be delayed. If it drags on for five or eight years, it will probably be even more difficult for these border counties Take it back.Li Hong said, we can calculate an account by taking back the lost land in northern Xinjiang in five years. In five years, we need more troops, we need to fight more battles, and we will lose more soldiers because of this. Therefore, the people of the Han Kingdom will have to pay more taxes, and the Han Kingdom will have to bear a heavy burden for five years, and the military funds spent in these five years are an astonishing figure. It really dragged the Han Kingdom into the abyss of suffering.We are now launching the Youzhou War, trying to take back all the lost land in northern Xinjiang in one year. Compared with taking back the lost land in northern Xinjiang in five years, which is more important?Even if millions of refugees starved to death because of the Youzhou War, we still have a good deal.Everyone must think, within five years, because of the loss of the northern frontier county, how many people in the Han Kingdom were ravaged and died under the iron heels of the Hu people?In five years, in order to pay more and more taxes, how many people were forced to leave their homes and become refugees and died miserably?Long-term pain is worse than short-term pain. For the future of the Great Han Kingdom and the future of the people of the Great Han Kingdom, northern Xinjiang must be stabilized as soon as possible, and the lost land in northern Xinjiang must be regained as soon as possible.

Seeing that he could not convince Li Hong, Zhu Mu was heartbroken, and he tried his best to persuade him again. Now that the disaster of the Yellow Turbans in the Han Dynasty is getting worse, if the millions of disaster victims cannot be relieved and resettled in time, they will immediately rise up under the incitement of some rebels and raise their troops. Riots, siege of cities and villages, burning, killing and looting.General, think about it, what will happen to the four prefectures of Ji, Yan, Qing, and Xu once the millions of disaster victims riot?What kind of situation is my Dahan Congress?To fight against the outside world, the inside must be settled first. This is the law of the ancestors, how can it be wrong?

Li Hong didn't take it seriously, he smiled and said to the generals that the disasters of the yellow scarves have gradually become rare in recent years, even if there are individual rebels, they can't cause any big waves, and they can't shake the foundation of the big man.Northern Xinjiang is certain, the army is going south, what rebellion can't be put down?What's more, Luoyang still has the Northern Army, and the prefectures and counties also have the county soldiers. What are you worried about?Back then, Zhang Jiao and Zhang Niu Jiao were so powerful, but they were killed in a blink of an eye.

Without further explanation, Li Hong waved his hand and ordered the generals to return to their headquarters, preparing to attack Yuyang in order to cope with the attack on the rebels by Yan Rou, Gongsun Zan.

Zhu Mu looked up to the sky and sighed, his heart ached like a twist.He told Song Wen and Yu Peng, who were sitting on the side, that in order to make meritorious deeds, the General has long left the fate of the country and the people out of the blue. Still wrong.He asked the two of them, why did the two adults not say a word from the beginning to the end?Do the two adults also agree with what the General has done?Are the two adults also greedy for fame and power?Song Wen smiled and said, Lord General has Lord General's thoughts, Lord Zhu has Lord Zhu's point of view, Lord Yu and I don't want to interfere, but we think that Lord General should see a little more far-reaching than Lord Zhu's views .Yu Peng continued, Master Zhu is too pessimistic.My Great Han Kingdom has nearly 400 years of foundation, how can a bunch of ants and thieves can shake it, Master Zhu underestimates my Great Han Kingdom.Zhu Mu was so angry that he almost fainted.He cursed bitterly, if the general insists on going his own way, sooner or later the Han Kingdom will be buried in his hands.Song Wen hurriedly waved his hands and said, Lord Zhu, don't talk nonsense, you can't say such words casually, you will be beheaded.Zhu Mu scolded, I'm going to die of anger, and I'm afraid of beheading?
Seeing Zhu Mu sighing and walking away with his hands behind his hands, Yu Peng said worriedly, "Brother Gongding is crazy."

Song Wen said with a smile: "It's good to be crazy, lest you be beheaded by an adult."

===

Li Hong wrote to the Son of Heaven, saying that the Karasuma rebels attacked Feihu Fortress again, Zhang Ju and Zhang Chun also reorganized their troops and started a counterattack, and the army had divided up to meet the enemy.He told the emperor that this battle might not end in a short time. In order to ensure the defense of Youzhou, he begged the emperor to raise military funds to support the war in northern Xinjiang. At the same time, he also explained the situation in northern Xinjiang to the emperor in detail. The development of the battle with Northern Xinjiang may have a profound impact on the Great Han Kingdom.Li Hong hoped that his memorial could convince the emperor and a group of ministers at Shangshutai.

Li Hong also wrote an urgent letter to Xu Rong.In the book, Li Hong explained the reasons for launching the Youzhou War and the possible consequences one by one. He asked Xu Rong to do everything possible to provide food, salaries and ordnance for the Youzhou battlefield, even if the people of Bingzhou only had one meal a day. It is also necessary to maintain the food and grass needs of the Youzhou battlefield.Li Hong said that if the emperor and the court disagreed with him to continue fighting and asked him to withdraw troops from Jicheng, he planned to resist the order and not obey it.Li Hong vowed that he would lead the army to win this battle, take back Yuyang and Lulongsai, take back Liaoxi and Liaodong, put down the rebellion of Karasuma people and ant thieves, and drive out Xianbei people. If you don't go back to Bingzhou, you can die in Lulongsai.

In addition, Li Hong also wrote a letter to Qu Yi, asking him to make every effort to overcome the difficulty of cutting off food and pay, and try to send troops to Meiji to drag the Hun rebels to the south of the Yellow River, making them unable to support Tuoba Feng.Without the strong backing of the Xiongnu rebels, Tuoba Feng was like a wounded warrior with another broken arm, making his strength even weaker.

===

After Yan Rou received Li Hong's military order, she immediately summoned Yan Wuwei, Lu Pofeng, and She Moci to discuss it, and then rushed to the Daicheng area of ​​Daijun with [-] cavalry to look for opportunities.At the same time, Lu Pofeng took a hundred guards to Baishan.He went to find Lou Lu.

In the middle of this month, under the order of Li Hong, Lou Lu rushed back to Youzhou from the Great Wall Fortress with a thousand Baishan Karasuma soldiers.Li Hong said, when you bring people back to Baishan, first gather your father's clan, and if anyone doesn't listen to you, they will be chopped off with a knife.Behind you is the emperor of the Great Han Kingdom, the Mansion of General Zhenbei, and tens of thousands of troops from the Northern Expedition. Who would dare not listen to you?After you become the leader of the tribe, immediately gather the Karasuma tribe that did not participate in the rebellion in Baishan, and elect the king of Shanggu Karasuma.Of course, this king must be you, otherwise, after I finish fighting the Xianbei people, I will march into Baishan and drive all the tribes of Baishan to extinction for the crime of treason.

Lou Lu was furious, and said, "Master General, what is the meaning of this? I, Lou Lu, led the Karasuma iron cavalry to follow you in the north and south. There is no credit but hard work. Could it be that after I fought for several years, I finally gave Baishan Karasuma brought about such an ending?"

Li Hong said unceremoniously: "You are you, and they are them. Do you think you can save the whole tribe with your merits? If you want to save them, you can. Ask the Shanggu Karasuma tribes to elect you as king immediately, otherwise... ..."

Lou Lu said: "This king is self-proclaimed by the adults of our tribe. The emperor of the Han Dynasty has never recognized it, and it is useless."

"Who says it's useless? According to your military exploits, it's more than enough for the emperor of the Han Dynasty to make you the king of the entire Youzhou Karasuma. Don't worry, I will write a letter to the emperor, asking the emperor to canonize you as the king of Shanggu Karasuma As soon as the imperial decree arrives, I will send it to you immediately, and I want to see how many Karasuma people dare to defy the imperial decree of my Great Han Emperor."

Lou Lu was so forced by him that he had no choice but to go back to Baishan overnight with 1000 troops.After Loulu went there for more than half a month, nothing happened, and there was no news at all.Now that the imperial decree canonized by the Son of Heaven has arrived, he hasn't even sent a message to the camp.When Lu Pofeng went to Baishan, he was ordered to deliver the imperial decree, and he was accompanied by an official from Beijing to announce the decree.Yan Rou said, Commander, you should go there yourself, with your reputation in Shanggu Karasuma, Baishan Karasuma dare not do anything to you.If something happens to Lou Lu, you come back immediately, but don't send the news to the general first.Lu Pofeng was slightly taken aback, and asked why?Yan Rou said that something happened to Lou Lu, and with the general's temper, he was bound to start a massacre, but this killing will make Youzhou even more chaotic.Karasuma people have surrendered to the big man for many years. Although there are occasional rebellions, this does not mean that all Karasuma people are rebels.If we want to pacify Youzhou as soon as possible, we must first appease the Karasuma people, supplemented by killing them, so that the situation in Youzhou can be quickly stabilized.

Lu Pofeng and She Moci were very moved when they heard what Yan Rou said.Lu Pofeng asked, if something happened to Lou Lu, the general would know sooner or later, and he couldn't hide it.Yan Rou said, let's tell Master Liu the news first, and then Master Liu will pass the news to the general, and the matter will be settled.When Mr. Liu was in Youzhou, he treated Karasuma people equally with kindness and power, and did many good things for Karasuma people. Karasuma people were very grateful to him and worshiped him as a god.Master Liu has repeatedly told the general that in order to quell the rebellion in Youzhou, the rebellion of the Karasuma people must be quelled first, and there is a very simple way to quell the rebellion of the Karasuma people, and that is to appease.Your Excellency General has already scared them away, all that remains is to send people to the west and east of Liaoning to appease them.Mr. Liu said that if he came forward to appease, he would definitely get twice the result with half the effort.I heard that Master Wei, the head of the Shepherd's Mansion in Youzhou, has secretly rushed to Liaodong.So, as long as you tell Master Liu about this, Shanggu Karasuma will be fine.Master Liu used to be the general's superior, and he was kind to the general, so the general could still listen to what he said.

Daijun Karasuma Master Ran Ran and Shanggu Karasuma Master Gao Chan immediately withdrew their troops after receiving the news that Murongfeng had sent someone to send Yanmen Pass to defeat. All the time was lost, and the army's way of retreat was completely blocked by Yan Rou.Yan Rou's sudden appearance caught them off guard, and the two of them beat their chests and stamped their feet in regret.

Ran Ran and Gao Chan have been cautious since leading the army to attack the Feihu Fortress, but this time they were completely fooled by Yan Rou.Ever since Yan Rou led his troops into the customs and stationed in Zhuolu, they have been closely monitoring Yan Rou, lest their retreat be cut off by this famous horse thief. The two stationed a considerable number of troops in Dangcheng and Daicheng, but After Yan Rou stayed in Zhuolu City for a few days, she hurriedly retreated to Juyongguan.The two thought that Murong Feng had launched an attack in the direction of Yuyang and Lulongsai, and Yan Rou had gone out to support them, so they relaxed their vigilance.How did they know that Yan Rou had been staying in Juyongguan all the time and never left the pass.

The two were accidentally seized by Yan Rou, and they hit each other with one blow. The Karasuma rebels were suddenly in a desperate situation.

The reason why the two rebelled was because they believed in Murong Feng's intelligence and strength.Murong Feng promised them that as long as the two lead troops to attack Feihu Fortress, contain the Han army's strength, and help him take Youzhou, the land of Daijun will be given to Ran Ran, and the land of Shanggu will be given to Gao Chan.How could the two of them refuse such a huge temptation?Moreover, Murong Feng only told them to pretend to attack the Flying Fox Fortress, but did not tell them to attack the Flying Fox Fortress with all their strength. It would be an idiot not to agree to such a good thing without risk.But the development of the battle situation was completely beyond Murong Feng's expectations, and it also affected Ran Ran and Gao Chan.Not only did the two lose 4000 to [-] troops in the Flying Fox Fortress, but they were also besieged by Yan Rou in conjunction with the Bailu Tribe and Wuye Tribe in Taihang Mountain.

Just when the two were discussing to storm Daicheng, Wen Chou rushed out of Feihu Valley with 2 Han infantry, and completed the encirclement of the Karasuma rebels with Yan Rou's cavalry army.Now more than 50 Karasuma cavalry are surrounded by more than [-] miles of mountains from Daicheng to Feihuyu, and cannot enter or leave.Ran Ran and Gao Chan's souls were scattered, and the warlord stormed Dai City, preparing to fight a bloody road.But as soon as they started to attack Daicheng, Wen Chou attacked their rear army, forcing them to be unable to take care of both ends, and they were in a panic.

Ran Ran despaired and said to Gaochan, even if we take down Daicheng, there is still a dangcheng behind, and when we take down Dangcheng, there are probably not many people left.Surrender.When Gaochan thought of Tituo who was beaten to annihilation by the leopard Li Hong back then, her heart was cold and she was very frightened.He told Ran Ran that if he surrenders now, he must be dead.The leopard will not let us go, let's fight, just rush out.Ran Ran said that Lord Liu Yu Liu is in charge of Youzhou now, and he will surely survive if he surrenders.Back then, King Wuyan of Khan and Lu and Suli and Queji from Xianbei failed to attack Lulongsai, but were attacked by leopards in Bailing Ranch, and the whole army was wiped out. What happened?Master Liu Yu Liu let them all go.If we surrender to Lord Liu and send more livestock and treasures to make amends, not only will we not be beheaded, but we will be released by him to continue to lead our tribe.Gao Chan pointed to the Han army and said, "That's the leopard's iron cavalry, not Master Liu's army."Stop dreaming, and think about the consequences of surrender.Leopards and Gongsun Zan are the same, bloodthirsty.When the leopards fought against Titus in Hengling, they killed Titus and his soldiers completely. Have you forgotten?

Yan Rou was worried when she saw that the Karasuma rebels were attacking too hard.First, he was worried that he would lose too much and let the Karasuma rebels break through and run away. Second, he was worried that killing all the Karasuma rebels would be a big blow to the Karasuma rebels who recruited the Karasuma rebels in western and eastern Liaoning.If the Karasuma people in Liaoxi and Liaodong refuse to appease because of this, the suppression of the rebellion in Youzhou may take a long time.

"Urgently write to Mr. Liu, please send someone to Daicheng immediately to appease the Karasuma rebels."

===

Zhao Yun hurried to Lucheng with Li Hong's military order.

Gongsun Zan was overjoyed when he heard that he was going to send troops to attack Tuyin. He immediately arranged for Han Qiong, captain of Bohai County, to guard Lucheng with [-] soldiers, Zou Jing of Qingzhou with [-] soldiers to guard Yongnu, and Zhao Yun and himself with [-] cavalry and [-] infantry. , hurried to Tuyin City.

Garrisoned in Tuyin are the rebel general Zhao Cheng and Liaoxi Karasuma's young commander Ta Dun, with three thousand infantry and five thousand cavalry.Ta Dun saw the Han army approaching aggressively, and ran away with his cavalry without saying a word.This was specifically confessed to him by Bailang King Qiu Liju of Karasuma in Western Liaoning before he withdrew from Tuyin.Qiu Liju said that if the Han army came to attack, they should evacuate immediately and take the iron cavalry back to Karasuma's territory in western Liaoning.The Karasuma people lost more than half of them this time. If they don't preserve their strength, they will die in the future. If they are not killed by the Han people, they will flee to Xianbei to become slaves.

Zhao Cheng led his troops to defend the city, and the two sides fought fiercely for a day.That night, the gate of Tuyin City was opened, and Gongsun Zan and Tian Kai rushed in with their infantry, hacked around and took down Tuyin City.As soon as Zhao Cheng escaped from the city with his personal guards, Liu Bei who followed him cut him to the ground and killed him with a knife.In the middle of the night, he led people to kill and disperse the rebels. The one who opened the city gate was an officer under the late Youbeiping prefect Liu Zheng. In order to avenge his old master, this man endured the humiliation and surrendered to the rebels. Today, he finally got his wish.

Li Hong was overjoyed when he received the good news from Gongsun Zan, and without hesitation ordered him to lead his troops into western Liaoning to attack Feiru.Feiru is the temporary capital of Dayan Kingdom built by the rebels. It is only more than 100 miles away from Tuyin, and it can be reached in one day.The leaders and family members of the rebel army, the last remaining 6 horses, and a large amount of looted money and materials are all here.Neither Zhang Ju nor Zhang Chun expected that Li Hong would command the army to fight over so soon.Although they also made preparations in advance and transferred some of their family members and money to Xiangping City in Liaodong, Xiangping City is seven or eight hundred miles away from Feiru, and the trails along the way are rugged and difficult. The relocation is time-consuming and laborious, and Liaodong is very desolate. Poverty, many people are unwilling to leave their hometowns to survive in such a far place, even Zhang Ju is unwilling.Last month, when the rebel leaders heard that the three prefectures of Ji, Yan, and Qing in the Han Kingdom were hit by floods, they all clapped their hands and celebrated.In their view, the Han army would not be able to defeat them anyway.In Youzhou, Karasuma rebels from Shanggu in Daijun are now attacking Feihu Fortress, and Murongfeng from Xianbei has occupied Yuyang and Lulongsai. In addition, the Han army has lost its food support and is unable to move. It is completely safe, and you can sit down and breathe comfortably.However, just over half a month later, the Han army suddenly killed Feiru, which made them terrified, so they had to defend the city.

Gongsun Zan stationed his troops on the west bank of the Xuanshui River. Facing the garrison force several times his own, he was fearless, thinking day and night about how to break the city.

While Li Hong kept delivering food, grass and military equipment to him, he urged him to lay down Feiru as soon as possible, and break through the city at all costs, fast, fast.Li Hong said that the food and grass could be delivered for up to ten days. After ten days, not only Gongsun Zan had no food and grass, but even Li Hong's Northern Expeditionary Army had no food and grass.Li Hong now gave Gongsun Zan all the grain, grass and military equipment stored by the Northern Expeditionary Army.Now, Gongsun Zan can only continue to maintain the army's attack if he defeats Feiru and uses Feirucheng's spoils to supplement the army's needs.

===

In June, Jinyang.

Xu Rong first received Li Hong's letter, and he immediately recalled Yantie Captain Xie Ming.After Xie Ming arrived at Longshan Camp, Xu Rong immediately summoned Zuo Yan, Li Wei, Tang Fang, Tang Yun, Xiao Lan and other senior officials of the Zhenbei General's Mansion to discuss matters.After reading Li Hong's letter, everyone was dumbfounded. They couldn't believe that this letter was written by Li Hong himself.It's not that Li Hong's decision was wrong, but that Li Hong's decision was not made at the right time.Now the imperial court has almost completely cut off the food and salaries of the troops in northern Xinjiang for disaster relief. It is inconceivable that a small town north general's mansion can support the food, grass and ordnance of the entire Youzhou battlefield.In fact, this is impossible at all, Li Hong, the general of Zhenbei, has gone crazy.

Tang Yun smiled bitterly and said, "My lord, you should find someone else to do my errand. I really can't do it anymore. Even if you chop me into meat, that's only enough for one person to eat a few meals, not a few months." what."

Xu Rong said calmly, "Let's discuss it first and think of a way."

"My lord, there are now more than 7 infantry and cavalry troops in Youzhou, and they are distributed in different battlefields. The amount of food, grass and ordnance required is astonishing. There is no way to think about it." Tang Yun said, "Now we can buy it even if we have money There is no food. The emperor has ordered the states and counties all over the country to collect the surplus grain from the grain depots of all states and counties and send it to the disaster area. No one is allowed to use it for other purposes or buy and sell it privately.

"Then there's no food in the grain depots of the powerful and wealthy?" Xu Rong asked.

"Yes, and there are a lot of them. As far as I know, the food hoarded by the rich people in the Sanfu area of ​​Chang'an alone is probably enough to feed [-] troops for three months, maybe more than three months, but we can't afford it." , now the price of each stone valley in Chang'an City is five times the usual price, and we can't even afford it."

Xu Rong looked at Xie Ming.Xie Ming said that it is possible to find ways to raise part of the money, but food is so expensive, no amount of money is enough.Xu Rong asked, can't we raise more money?Xie Ming said embarrassingly, unless all the salt and iron profits turned over to the emperor every month were deducted, but that was the emperor's money, who would dare to touch it?
Li Wei waved his hand and said that it was not an appropriate way to raise money to buy food.The more we buy food, the higher the price of food, and we still can't afford it in the end.In my opinion, it is better to wait and see if His Majesty will agree to the general's northern border strategy.If Your Majesty and the imperial court agree to this strategy and allow the general to go to war, then your Majesty and the imperial court must find a way to raise military funds for the army, if not all, at least a large part of it, so that I will leave it to the generals in Zhenbei. The burden will be much smaller.

Zuo Yan looked at the crowd and said, "Don't you think that it is very inappropriate for the general to do this? Especially for the current Han Dynasty, this kind of militaristic approach may drag the entire Han Dynasty down." collapse."

Everyone looked at Zuo Yan in surprise.Xiao Lan said softly: "Should we join forces to persuade the general to give up the strategy of the northern border? After this battle, we will cause far more damage to the Han Kingdom than the damage caused to the Han Dynasty by the Hu people who captured Youzhou." .”

Xu Rong frowned slightly, with a slightly dissatisfied expression, obviously he was not used to hearing such objections.Li Wei, Xie Ming, and Tang Yun were stunned, as if they had never thought that they could oppose the general's decision.

At this time, Tang Fang put forward the same opinion as Zuo Yan and Xiao Lan, and he directly expressed his opposition.In his view, the more than 5000 million people of the Han Dynasty are far more important than the counties and counties outside the Great Wall in northern Xinjiang.In order to preserve the vitality of the Han Dynasty, to stabilize the hearts of the people in the world, and to save the lives of the people, I would rather give up the land temporarily.Tang Fang said that the country has declined, the people's hearts have been lost, and the people have died. What's the use of those pieces of land?Even if it is taken back, can it be held?If the country is strong, the hearts of the people are stable, and the people are rich, it is a trivial matter to lay down a large piece of land, not to mention recovering a few lost lands.

Xu Rong had no expression on his face, and was very unhappy in his heart.He and Li Hong had the same thoughts, he would rather lose his head than lose his land.What is the Han Kingdom?What is a man of the people?What is a Han soldier?If you can't even defend your own country, are you still a Han citizen or a Han soldier?For him, it was absolutely impossible to give up the land. He would rather let a hundred thousand soldiers die in battle than let the Hu people occupy an inch of Dahan.

"We'll discuss it tomorrow."

===

(End of this chapter)