On June 28, Gao Yingxiang sent a letter asking Liu Chengzong to help him find a boat on the Yellow River.
He grabbed another handful, and he had a lot of grain carts. There was a blockage of officers and soldiers on the Hancheng side, and the large group of carts and horses couldn't get through.
Liu Chengzong made a choice. He originally wanted Gao Yingxiang to come over from Yanshui Pass, and asked Fu Renxi why he couldn't come over for a while.
After sending two guards to Yanchuan, they found out that the floating bridge was gone and had been destroyed by Gao Yingxiang.
As soon as the wounded soldiers could walk, Liu Chengzong ordered his troops and led the troops out of Lion Bay to march southeast.
When Yang Dingrui heard that he was going to lead his troops to Hukou to see the waterfall, he also ran out.
After passing Yunyan Town, they also let the Gansu soldiers take a look at the battlefield where they defeated the Yanzhou soldiers, as well as the ancient city ruins in the east of the town, with cliff stone carvings carved with emerald clouds and rocks.
Even though a group of wounded soldiers were crossing the border, they still frightened the people in the east of Yichuan County. Liu Chengzong hurriedly asked the Han brothers to go and pacify the people along the way.
Otherwise, according to this situation, all the people who go to the Yellow River will run away, and borrowing and renting boats will only become boat robbery.
When the soldiers arrived at Hukou, Liu Chengzong looked at the majestic mountains and the mighty rivers, and he had only one feeling in his heart.
angry.
I'm angry that I'm not on the other side of the Yellow River, and I'm also angry that the drought has prevented the Yellow River from having so much water.
Hukou is so spectacular when viewed from the other side of Shanxi, but it's almost boring when viewed from Shaanxi.
But this scene is quite interesting to the Ningxia recruits among the wounded soldiers: Hey, this is amazing! The Yellow River still has this thing!
After watching for a while, Liu Chengzong asked the Han brothers to run horses along the river south of the waterfall to collect civilian boats.
He asked Yang Dingrui: "Sir, why isn't there a bridge built here?"
"There used to be a bridge here. In the early Yuan Dynasty, the Mongolian soldiers captured Shanxi. In order to send troops to cross west, they recruited civilians to build an iron cable bridge. In the early years of the Chinese dynasty, the bridge was destroyed. Later, it was used as a ferry and was not built again."
Nowadays, thieves are everywhere and boats are hard to find. Only six boats were found here in Shaanxi, but there is a Hukou Ferry in Shanxi and there are more boats.
Eight miles south of Hukou is Xuanwan, with a wide river surface and gentle water flow. It is called Chuanwo. It is a ferry operated by Shanxi merchants.
But Yang Dingrui said: "On the other side, there were mulberry trees in the Spring and Autumn Period, so it was called Caisangjin in ancient times, and Boathouse is the name of the people recently."
After searching south for several miles, he still couldn't find a suitable boat. Gao Yingxiang was so anxious that he took a boat to cross over.
It’s been a long time since I’ve seen Master Gao. He looked excited and anxious, saying: “With these thirty-odd boats, how long will my people have to cross!”
Liu Chengzong smiled and asked: "Master Gao, how many people do you have? Thirty ships are not enough?"
"not enough!"
Gao Yingxiang waved his hand with pride written on his face: "Now we have 8,000 soldiers, 12,000 donkeys and mules, and more than 3,000 two-wheeled carts alone. Think about it, how long will this take?" ?”
As he said that, Gao Yingxiang showed a complacent look and whispered to Liu Chengzong: "There is more food, and these cars can't finish it in three trips."
Liu Chengzong calculated that Gao Yingxiang had obtained at least 80,000 to 90,000 shi of grain before he dared to say that so many trucks could not be transported in three trips.
Gao Yingxiang saw him lowering his head and counting. There was pride on his face, but more of it was boredom. He said, "Thanks to you for proposing to divide grain in Qingjian. Zuo Guazi and King Huntian didn't enter Shanxi. You Come back to beat Aimu, half of Shanxi's wealthy landlords..."
Liu Chengzong was amused by the way he said this.
The Gao Yingxiang he knew was unsmiling and taciturn. He had never seen him talk so much and be so complacent.
rare.
Gao Yingxiang, who was crossing the Yellow River, saw the group of wounded soldiers around him. Even Liu Chengzong himself was injured, and he thought to himself: The Lion Battalion is facing He Huchen with heavy casualties.
He wanted to comfort him, so he asked: "How many soldiers are there in the Lion Camp? Don't worry, you don't have to worry about food for the soldiers. There are plenty of them."
"well."
Gao Yingxiang sighed, patted Liu Chengzong on the shoulder and said: "Next time, next time the army goes to suppress the army, I will go to fight and you will collect food."
Although food is a good thing, wealth is also a good thing.
But this time it was really disgusting to rob Gao Yingxiang. He never wanted to collect food again in his life.
Liu Chengzong sighed: "Many heroes have died in the Lion Camp. When the work sentry comes back, there will be less than 6,000 soldiers left."
"Um?"
Gao Yingxiang looked sideways, blinked and asked: "I remember that you led the army back to Shaanxi to attack Aimu. You brought more than 3,500 people with you. Did you recruit new soldiers? You also recruited a lot."
As he said this, he shook his head. In the current environment in northern Shaanxi, it is difficult to recruit two to three thousand people.
If other leaders recruit thousands of people, it is possible that they are not afraid of meat and vegetables.
But according to his understanding of Liu Shizi, Liu Chengzong, who had always pursued a policy of elite troops, would not be able to recruit thousands of people in northern Shaanxi as long as he did not change the recruitment conditions.
Even under normal circumstances, among the ten thousand hungry people, there are only 500 who meet the recruitment standards of the Lion Camp.
But now south of Suide and north of Jinsuoguan, where are there tens of thousands of refugees within the Lion Camp's sphere of influence?
Those who could escape had already escaped, those who could not escape were all dead, and the rest were under the command of various leaders.
It’s not like the first two years of the drought.
Gao Yingxiang's face was full of doubts. How could he defeat a strong enemy twice and still fight more and more soldiers from the Lion Battalion?
The one who answered his doubts was Liu Shizi's understatement: "Congratulations to Huchen, the Ningxia soldiers, less than two thousand, have surrendered."
With these words, Gao Yingxiang temporarily exited the chat room.
He just said it lightly, but in fact there were many battles in Shanxi.
When he entered the Jin Dynasty, he had tens of thousands of troops under his command, but they were scattered by a hailstorm. Later, he gradually gathered troops and recruited troops along the way, and there were many mutinies.
Before he grabbed the food, the officers and soldiers didn't want to pay much attention to him, and they only fought a few battles.
But after he robbed a lot of food, officers and soldiers kept appearing from various places without fighting him, just to snatch the baggage.
Some troops even did not line up with him. Instead, the horsemen rushed forward and grabbed the baggage. They carried more than a hundred kilograms of grain and threw it on their horses before leading the horses away.
As a result, Gao Yingxiang fought several fool's battles.
He couldn't leave. There was so much food and property that he could just throw away wherever he wanted.
What's more, even if he threw it, he couldn't throw it into the Yellow River to the officers and soldiers, so he knew it would be stupid to stand still and fight, but he could only do that.
But Liu Chengzong simply defeated the commander-in-chief of the Ningxia border army and surrendered 2,000 people. How many people did he have to attack you?
After a while, Gao Yingxiang adjusted his mood, nodded and asked: "Lion, I want to ask you something. Tell the truth to the master."
Liu Chengzong asked: "What?"
Turning his head, Gao Yingxiang frowned and asked very seriously: "When you were born, was there any vision from the sky?"
He confused Liu Chengzong.
In fact, Gao Yingxiang was not as serious as he appeared. It was just that it was really difficult to adjust his emotions just now. He was afraid of appearing embarrassed after waiting for too long, so he asked this question out of a joke.
Unexpectedly, Liu Chengzong nodded naturally and said: "Yes, I am one month older than the emperor. He was born on the fourth day of the twelfth lunar month in the thirty-eighth year of Wanli, and I was born on the first day of the eleventh lunar month."
"What kind of vision is this? Wait a minute, the thirty-eighth year of Wanli."
Gao Yingxiang thought for a while, then suddenly widened his eyes and said, "Are you talking about the Tengu eating the sun?"
"Master Gao, you know?" Liu Chengzong said happily, "Yes, before my mother gave birth to me, it was dark for a whole hour. Po Wen was so scared that she couldn't find her way. It wasn't until I cried that it was dark."
Gao Yingxiang looked at Liu Chengzong and nodded one after another. He was very impressed by the solar eclipse.
It was winter at that time, and Gao Yingxiang entered the horse smuggling business for the first time, walking south through the desert.
The officer at the border wall had already been bribed, and he was only thirty miles away from safely entering the fort. But he was unlucky and caught up with a group of Ye Bu outside the exit to take back the border wall.
Being caught doing something like this would mean death, and it was getting dark when all thoughts were lost.
The reason why Gao Yingxiang was deeply impressed was not just because the solar eclipse saved him.
Also because around the time Liu Chengzong was born, Gao Yingxiang was kowtowing to God.
Gao Yingxiang summarized four known conditions.
First of all, regarding the hailstorm in Yonghe County, he felt that Liu Shishi was most likely God's own son.
Secondly, on the day God gave birth to a son, he kowtowed to God.
Once again, God allowed him to be his son's master.
In the end, he was decapitated and eaten by Liu Chengzong.
After he cast a layer of mystery on his master-disciple relationship with Liu Shishi, Gao Yingxiang felt that he was also a person protected by God.
It may be a little difficult to want to die in this life.
After thinking about this, Master Gao was in a good mood: "I'll just tell you, I have to tell people about this kind of things earlier in the future."
"Why should I tell people this early?"
Facing Liu Chengzong's rhetorical question, Gao Yingxiang waved his hand and said enigmatically: "You don't understand."
What does the surrender of Ningxia soldiers mean?
Those of you who were born with a vision of a meteor falling from the sky, right? If the meteorite didn’t rain down and kill you all, then that would be a blessing from God.
Gao Yingxiang, who was excited, saw more than 30 small boats transporting soldiers and supplies back and forth on both sides of the Yellow River, and clapped his hands relaxedly: "When will we enter Shanxi next time? I have made arrangements, and all the wealthy places south of Taiyuan have arranged for my own people. "
"Next time we go to Shanxi, we will have internal support."
Now his 8,000 troops are mainly hungry people from Shanxi, and there are less than 3,000 Shaanxi people in them.
The mountain people in western Shanxi are almost repeating the starvation to death in northern Shaanxi in the past two years. It is too horrible to watch.
Almost everything is the same.
In poor areas, if they are afraid of death, they will join hundreds of thieves; in rich areas, if they are afraid of thieves, they will do everything possible to suppress them.
Northern Shaanxi has suffered the same hardships as Shanxi, and it is even more difficult than Shaanxi. After all, when there was a drought in Shaanxi, there were not so many mature old thieves running around.
Gao Yingxiang thought to himself, that is, Liu Chengzong divided the territory in Qingjian, otherwise there is no telling what kind of chaos Shanxi would be this time.
But he didn't expect that Liu Chengzong said: "I don't plan to go to Shanxi. I plan to go to Guyuan."
"Guyuan? I'm familiar with that place. Why are you going there, collecting food?"
Gao Yingxiang traveled back and forth to military towns in Shaanxi when he was young and was familiar with all places. He said: "Although there are Wangzhuang and pastures over there, it is a military town after all. It is not as wealthy as Shanxi, and you are not short of horses. .”
"What's more, the Trilateral General Office is there, so when you go there, the court won't be able to send troops to suppress you?"
"Suppress."
Liu Chengzong said: "Master Gao stayed in Shanxi for a long time. You may not know what happened during this period. Wang Zuogao was surrendered by the army, Wang Jiayin captured Fugu, and Du Wenhuan came to suppress me earlier. Because of Wang Jiayin's affairs, Move back north.”
"That's why you beat him with a cannon at Yanshui Pass for a while."
Even though Gao Yingxiang had not received the exact news, he had some expectations about Wang Zuoguan's surrender, but he really didn't know about Wang Jiayin.
When he heard that Wang Jiayin was besieged, Gao Yingxiang immediately wanted to lead his troops to relieve the siege.
But then I thought: "No, Du Wenhuan was stationed at Yanshui Pass at that time. If he goes north, he can just station in Yanchuan. Why go to Yanshui Pass?"
"He did it on purpose. If you fight him, it just falls into his hands. He may not want to go to Fugu to fight Wang Jiayin."
Gao Yingxiang said: "Then what are you waiting for? Without further ado, you and I will join forces and go to Fugu to help him."
Liu Chengzong waved his hand and said: "No, Master Gao, Wang Jiayin's short siege is not a big deal, but my friend who is aiding Liao in Jizhen sent a message. It seems that the imperial court is preparing for the Guan Ning army to enter Guan to quell the rebellion."
"Guan Ningjun..."
In the shadow of the famous tree, the elite officers and trainers from all over the country are composed of military officers and trainers, and they receive the highest military pay and are stationed on the front line. Everyone is frightened when they hear this.
Gao Yingxiang was no exception. He asked: "Then what do you mean by going to Guyuan and leaving Wang Jiayin alone?"
"Whatever, if you beat Guyuan, isn't this just helping Wang Jiayin?"
Gao Yingxiang understood and surrounded Wei to save Zhao.
The court's military strength was limited and it was impossible to deal with everyone at the same time. As long as Liu Shishi attacked Guyuan, the generals on the border would first save Yang He, the governor of the three sides.
Wang Jiayin's side didn't just relieve the pressure, but at least it was the right medicine.
"What about plundering Guyuan? It looks quite big from the map. It's actually a valley along the Qingshui River. The border soldiers mutinied just last year. Guyuan won't have a chance to make up for it for a while."
"Xiao Guan, remember, you must have it in your hand when going to Guyuan Xiao Guan."
It is self-evident to Liu Chengzong that Xiaoguan is located on the valley road in Liupan Mountain.
If you go to Guyuan and don't hold Xiao Guan in your hand, wouldn't it be in vain?
He asked: "Is the cannon useful?"
"It's very useful, although it's not very useful against enemies who don't form formations, and they can't be hit accurately."
This was the disadvantage that Gao Yingxiang discovered in the subsequent battle. He finally knew why Qi Jiguang had to give up his personal advantage in the north.
It is true that concentrating the advantages and disadvantages can use artillery to obtain a lot of benefits for a period of time, but artillery is not easy to use. After all, only when the shot is accurate, it is possible to have a fatal blow.
"As long as it's easy to use, we don't have a chance to cast cannons for a long time. We must have an Ordnance Bureau, otherwise we can't even repair damaged cannons."
"So, I plan to lead troops to the Lintao and Gongchang areas, occupy them, and raise troops in the fields."
When Gao Yingxiang heard what he said, he shook his head and said, "I'm afraid it's not a sign of recuperation to fight Guyuan before going to Lintao Gongchang."
"I definitely want to recuperate as well."
Liu Chengzong said: "But the General Army Office is as big as Lintao. No matter what, we have to defeat it to make a living. But if we defeat another General Army, I don't think it will be much worse than simply robbing the north and south of Guyuan."
"So it doesn't matter how we fight. It's better to do something big before Guan Ning's army comes. I guess when I reach Guyuan with my front foot, Guan Ning's army will come with my back foot."
Gao Yingxiang also thought this was true, so he asked: "Then when do you plan to set off?"
"tomorrow?"
