After Luo Shu killed He Lanshi, he then used his power to intimidate and induce him in the political arena.
A group of twenty-one people returned with He Lanshi's head. Bai Xiangui and Zhang Gongshen escorted Luo Xin south alone, bringing thousands of Luo Shu's horsemen, plus many domestic servants, dead soldiers, and strong men brought from Gu'an. , five thousand horse-mounted infantrymen gathered in the east of Youzhou, and then headed towards Youzhou City with great fanfare.
The cities, military camps, and gathering places of the Youzhou clan were all alerted along the way, and Luo Shu lost no time in sending his confidants holding He Lanshi's head to announce, asking these people to join the team.
Along the way, all the officers, soldiers and noble families were frightened and followed them one after another in panic. By the time they reached the gates of Youzhou City, tens of thousands of people had gathered.
What happened next was unexpected and reasonable. When the troops arrived at the east gate of Youzhou City, the news of Helan Shi's death must have come in. However, Wei Wenda could not muster the courage to directly order Guancheng to resist, nor did he Come out of the city to meet... In fact, when Luo Shu came to the city, several Zhonglang generals, Youzhou Camp, local officials, and local wealthy people came out of the city to greet him. The defenders at the top of the city could not stop them at all, and actually allowed the city gate to open wide. , and then evacuated the city after obeying the order from nowhere, and handed over the city defense to the soldiers and horses brought by Luo Shu.
After entering the city, Luo Shu first announced to everyone that he wanted to go home yesterday and stayed in a manor in the southeast of the city at night. However, he received an invitation from Helan Shi and asked him to go to the checkpoint at the foot of Luoshan Mountain to meet him. After discussing the affairs of the General Manager of Youzhou in person, they arrived there and rested for half the night. However, they were attacked by He Lanshi early this morning. They had no choice but to fight back. Instead, they took advantage of the terrain and the desperate assistance of many brothers to kill the opponent.
Of course, the matter is only related to Helan Shi, and since Helan Shi is dead, at most two cities in Anle County will be taken back, and no one else will be involved. Moreover, he made it clear that he planned to appoint General Zhao Bazhu, He Lanshi's in-law, as the prefect of Anle County, to be responsible for the whole matter and not to be involved in it.
Although the military attachés in Youzhou knew that something must be fishy, they still doubted it at this time, and they all praised General Luo for his tolerance.
Immediately, someone volunteered to be summoned, and as expected, Zhao Bazhu, the general of the lieutenant, was found in Wei Wenda's house. The latter hesitated for a moment, and finally came to see Luo Shu together with Wei Wenda.
Arriving at the inner street of the East City Gate, Generals Wei and Zhao saw that all the other important figures in the upper and lower cities had gathered and stood behind Luo Shu. He Lanshi's head was hanging high above the East City Gate. He couldn't help but feel that Shocked, he could only step forward and bow.
However, just as he bowed down and before he could say anything, Bai Xiangui, Luo Shu's number one confidant in front of him, suddenly turned around, bowed to his general, and then raised his voice in the road ahead of the two men:
"My lord! I don't know whether Manager Li is alive or dead, but there is chaos in the north, and Hebei is in a state of turmoil, but Youzhou can no longer be without a master. Today, everyone in Youzhou is unanimous. Please don't refuse, and take up the post of manager of Youzhou." Protect the country and the people!”
After saying that, Fu simply knelt on the ground in the street and bowed his head.
The two generals of Wei and Zhao were confused for a moment, but unexpectedly, starting from Luo Shu's headquarters, all the generals and officers bowed down one after another, and then the generals who were already close to Luo Shu also followed suit, except Zhang Gongshen, who was standing behind Luo Shu. The people, who had already spoken, stood there with their swords and spears in hand, and all looked around... Seeing this, the few people who did not worship also quickly bowed down, but Wei and Zhao, after looking at each other, did not dare to Going against the overall situation, he only got down on one knee under Luo Shu's disdainful gaze.
Luo Shu laughed on the spot and immediately stepped forward to help Wei Wenda: "General Wei is my closest brother and my son-in-law, how dare you come to worship me?"
When Wei Wenda heard this, he suddenly let out a sigh of relief and was relieved on the spot.
Bai Xiangui and others immediately stood up and cheered. Then the headquarters who followed Luo Shu in and took control of the city defense also cheered and called the general manager.
Therefore, everyone knew that General Luo Shu and General Luo won the battle in Youzhou.
Since Luo Shu presented himself as the general manager of Youzhou, he was not in a hurry to do anything else. Instead, he opened the treasury first, took out the silks, satins, gold and silver cloth, and rewarded the officers and soldiers of each department in turn according to their rank. As a generous gift, he sent envoys to the garrison and county guards of the actual counties attached to Youzhou to tell the story of the incident. At the same time, he asked the leaders of the counties and ministries to come to Youzhou headquarters to make reports.
At the same time, with Zhao Bazhu as the chief general, his son Luo Xin as the deputy general, and his confidants Bai Xiangui and Zhang Gongshen as the suppressors, he led as many as ten thousand people, including Hou Junshu, to take over Anle County.
When the army arrived in Anle, the Helan clan had already divided into two groups. Helan Shi's biological brother and the only remaining master of condensation pills in the family, Helan Cong, directly led hundreds of elites from the family and nephews and nieces to the north, while the remaining tribesmen opened the city. Surrendered to Zhao Bazhu publicly.
Let's say that Luo Shu was originally one of the two local competitors for the governor of Youzhou, but now that Helan Shi has died, Helan has escaped, Zhao Bazhu easily took over Anle, and Wei Wenda married his daughter Xu to Luo Xin, naturally the other surrounding border counties They will not continue to wait and see, but come to Youzhou City to pay an audience.
In just a few days, before the weather turned cold in early November, Youzhou had already completed the change of ownership.
At this time, Zhang Gongshen, who had been appointed as the captain of the Guna City garrison, asked Luo Shu a question and a request through Bai Xiangui. The question was, should he move his wife to Guna City? If not where to place it? The request was to let him go south to General Tomb again and finish the mission of the previous messenger.
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In response to this, Luo Shu, who was busy with his busy schedule, responded very simply and generously. He personally summoned Zhang Gongshen and told him face to face that they were all brothers, and his wife was placed in the headquarters of Youzhou, the old residence in Gu'an, and the capital of Gunan. It's optional, but Jiang Lingzheng needs Zhang Gongshen to take a serious trip.
Zhang Gongshen felt a little relieved and came back to ask what he said after arriving at Jiangling.
Luo Shu responded face to face: "Be friendly as before, exchange information with each other, and keep each other in his place to avoid miscalculation and war."
Only then did Zhang Gongshen feel at ease, and he did not dare to neglect. He led several cavalry and set off south that day. When they passed Hejian, they discovered that the Hejian Army had been disbanded and Xue Changxiong had returned to Hejian. It was obvious that the Deposed Dragon Gang and the Hejian Army He was actually well aware of what happened in Youzhou, and reacted very quickly, immediately stopping the military confrontation that had caused great pressure on both sides.
Moreover, if the guess was correct, an envoy from Youzhou should have arrived in Hejian to comfort and explain, which made Zhang Gongshen feel more relaxed.
After crossing the Qingzhang River, the troops of the Dragon Gang who had originally gathered here also returned to their respective camps, which made Zhang Gongshen feel more relaxed.
However, in mid-November, as Zhang Gongshen led several cavalry to Jiangling City, he felt a little disappointed. This was not because he heard a lot of true and false news about the chaos in the south after arriving here, but because he said At this time, he suddenly realized that the children's hundred-day foundation building was almost completed, which made him feel inexplicably that it was better to stay here and finish the matter that day.
And next, he turned out to be the Zhang Xing he saw in the base-building camp. Only then did he realize that it was Chief Zhang himself who had taken over his job.
At that time, Zhang Xingzheng was sitting cross-legged on top of a rammed earth-like wall in the increasingly permanent camp. He didn’t know whether he was looking at the children below or the eight big characters written in plaster on the opposite wall - that is, "Study hard." "Every day goes up."
All in all, it was a bit of a trance.
"I already know the situation in Youzhou." Zhang Xing looked in front of him and listened carefully to Zhang Gongshen's words. He thought for a while and then suddenly turned around and spoke. "But I'm still curious about one thing. General Zhang, has the situation in Youzhou already reached such a point? The dispute just started, and there was a life-and-death fight? If not, how could He Lanshi die so simply? If so, why did the people around him obey afterward? So fast?"
On the rammed earth wall like a city wall, there was no one else except Jia Runshi and a few guards standing more than ten steps apart. Zhang Gongshen hesitated for a moment and replied: "In fact, the people inside Youzhou are not that high." , otherwise He Lanshi would not have died easily."
Zhang Xing suddenly realized: "That means someone strikes first and breaks the rules. This has its advantages, but it also has its disadvantages...it depends on the situation."
Zhang Gongshen did not say a word or make any unnecessary movements.
"Actually, it's okay. It's fast here in Youzhou. Finally, there is a result..." Zhang Xing continued. "It's not like other places where there are constant civil strife, and some where people are just sitting around and feeling helpless, which makes people confused."
"May I ask Chief Zhang, where is this happening?" Zhang Gongshen was an envoy from this place after all, so he naturally asked after hearing this. Especially after he thought for a moment, he found that the other party's description was not consistent with what he had learned about the situation in the Central Plains and Huainan along the way.
"This is the latest news. It comes from the south of the Yangtze River. It is said that Xiao Hui has escaped after talking a lot about it. Xiao Hui has swallowed up Jiujiang. So what do you think, should we go down the river to attack Yujiuluo in Xuancheng?" Zhang Xingya didn't mean to hide anything, so he just started talking about it.
"That should be the case, right?" Zhang Gongshen thought for a moment and spoke cautiously. "The battle in Jiujiang is going so smoothly, the morale of Liang's army is strong, and there has been no disaster in the south. The food will not be consumed so quickly. Moreover, although it is November, it has not yet frozen here, let alone Jiangnan?"
"They stopped." Zhang Xing said with a smile. "Because he was afraid of being punished by Jiangdu for speaking out, he only stopped in Xuancheng. The two masters gathered together. Liang Jun did not dare to go there for a while. Instead, after Jiujiang took over, the communication between Jiangxi and Hunan became smoother, which caused an accident. ...The people of Jiangxi and the people of Hunan started to argue. The heroes of Hunan claimed to be Xiao Huiyuan, but they were inferior to the people of Jiangxi. There seemed to be some argument about unfair rewards and punishments after the war. Anyway, they just led their troops away, and the people of Jiangxi made a fuss. It is said that the Hunanese rebelled, and even sent troops to chase them, but the Hunanese counterattacked, and thousands of people died... Now there are any theories. Some people say that Xiao Hui drove the tiger to devour the wolf, but some people say it is true. The Fire Cult secretly worked it out to destroy Xiao Hui's foundation and take advantage of the situation to replace him. However, more people still said that it was just a gang rivalry between the powerful gangs in Hunan and Jiangxi. There was no other conspiracy. Anyway, I didn't know it would be... What's the result?"
After hearing this, Zhang Gongshen felt both absurd and natural. After a while, he just sighed: "This is the way of the world. The world is about to collapse. People's hearts and morals are going downhill. I can't hold it back."
Zhang Xing looked at the other party in surprise, and then continued the introduction: "As for sitting around and wasting time, I'm talking about Dongdu. Uncle Cao didn't go to Guanzhong at all."
"I've heard about this." Zhang Gongshen nodded, but asked for advice seriously. "But what on earth is Uncle Cao Huang waiting for? What good will it do to him if Guanzhong is completely wiped out?"
"He's waiting for Taiyuan to move first." Zhang Xing had nothing to hide. "Guan Long is not just a member of Cao Wei's family. It's obvious that Uncle Cao is targeting the Bai family, and it's not like Dongdu has made other moves... Do you know Wei Shengji, the owner of the hut?"
"Of course I know, he is considered the person who has the best chance of becoming the new Grand Master..." Zhang Gongshen blurted out.
"This person has served in the Wei army, and he returned to his hometown to settle down after entering the Grand Master realm. The Eastern Capital ordered the towns in the south to go north for rescue, and the other towns were blocked or simply did not move, but this person accepted the appointment of the Eastern Capital , as the general manager of Dongchuan March, led 30,000 Badi Huangman soldiers to go north." Zhang Xing gave a brief introduction. "If this person goes, the situation in Guanzhong will be somewhat better... There is no shortage of soldiers, no shortage of people, and countless warehouses. It only lacks a backbone... Of course, it is not enough to repeat the overall situation. After all, the Wu Clan is Come out in full force.”
"So, the key point is Dongdu and Taiyuan. The Cao family and the Bai family are attrition." Zhang Gongshen blurted out.
"Not bad." Zhang Xing just nodded. "I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing."
Zhang Gongshen said nothing.
And Zhang Xing was too lazy to say any more: "You can ask about the rest of the situation, but there is only one thing. The so-called good beginning leads to a good end. The young and girls here are all caused by you and others. I am just... I'll take care of it on my behalf, but we'll have to see Ji Zhu in a few days to find out, it's up to you to decide the outcome!"
Zhang Gongshen bowed his head sincerely: "That's what I meant."
Zhang Xing nodded, finally stood up, and was about to leave.
Unexpectedly, after walking a few steps and about to jump off the rammed earth wall, Zhang Gongshen suddenly came and shouted: "Chief Zhang!"
Zhang Xing turned around in surprise.
"There is something that I am particularly curious about." Zhang Gongshen answered it seriously. "The situation is so chaotic. Except for a few official figures and the elders in the family, everyone is actually scrambling. Why is Chief Zhang so young but so calm?"
"It's not that I can keep my composure, but I always feel that if I can't sort it out, clarify the priorities, and prepare a supporting grammatical system, and expand without authorization, I'm afraid that I won't be able to protect it, and I also have the idea of preempting the situation." Zhang Xing answered frankly. "However, this may not be a good thing. In troubled times, no one is sure. If the opportunity to win is lost because of this, it is just a joke."
Zhang Gongshen nodded and said nothing more, but he already understood in his heart - this is the whole story of the Deposed Dragon Gang's movements in Hebei. Chief Zhang hopes that after expansion, he can quickly settle down the place without any worries, so he wants to shrink and wait, and do a good job He is ready to wait for an opportunity to act again. It is for this reason that he will try his best to maintain the balance in Hebei at the lowest cost. This is not only to avoid a war, but also to prevent the Hebei official and military forces from having an overall leader, so that he can defeat them one by one in the future.
Zhang Xing didn't care what the other party was thinking, and jumped off the rammed earth plywood wall, left the place, and headed into the city.
In fact, the two of them just talked about the internal strife in the Jiangnan Rebel Army and the confrontation in the eastern capital of Taiyuan, and did not talk about other directions, because the news, needless to say, had already spread to the streets.
Moreover, there really isn’t much to say, it’s just a war:
After the Wu Clan invaded, the Du Po Formation that originally stopped for a moment paused. After discovering that Dongdu actually stood still, he became bolder and accelerated the sweep and control of the six counties (four counties) of Huaixi. After realizing that After Huaiyang received political asylum from the Deposed Dragon Gang and isolated Yiyang in Huainan, they quickly adjusted their strategy and moved toward the eastern part of Huaiyang, Huai'an, and southern Xiangcheng. It was like a person who was usually very hungry suddenly encountered an opportunity to eat. I can't control it, as if I want to conquer the whole territory of Huaixi, I can eat as much as I can.
Zhang Xing sent a letter to ask him, but he was just perfunctory.
And don't mention it. With the current situation, the people of all counties and counties are extremely depressed. In addition, Du Po Zhen's impressive record in the Central Plains before. Wherever he dared to resist, he actually got a tailwind.
However, Du Po Zhen's behavior further triggered a chain reaction. You must know that Dongdu had previously issued a call to support Guanzhong and resist the Wu clan. Among other things, Wang Daiji, who controlled Huainan through internal coercion, was a very loyal minister. , immediately tried to go to the east capital in the name of King Qin, and then immediately collided with Du Po's formation in Huai'an. The two sides fought one battle on land and two on the water. Wang Daiji's troops were all new recruits, especially the navy. Du Po Zhen, who was not from the Huaiyou League, was so powerful that he lost three games in a row and returned to Shouchun.
At the beginning, Du Pozhen did not dare to pursue him because he was already bordering another big force, Bai Hengyuan, who controlled the Jingxiang area. The Wu brothers were running rampant in this area that day, and they suddenly encountered Bai Hengyuan. Yuan, Dongdu and Han Yingong from the east attacked from three sides and collapsed instantly.
However, what is interesting is that although Bai Hengyuan also received a request from Dongdu to lead his army northward, he just did not move. He neither went to Dongdu nor followed Hanshui Wuguan to Kansai. Dong Du reported that he was also stopped by Du Po Zhen, a gangster from the Deposed Dragon Gang.
Du Po Zhen didn't even know he was so brave, but this didn't delay him from waking up, and then quickly organized his troops, came to the Huai River he was familiar with, and aimed at Shouchun.
This incident caused considerable turmoil within the Deposed Dragon Gang, because Du Po Zhen was nominally the peripheral of the Deposed Dragon Gang. If he lost, that would be fine. If he won, he would take down Wang Daiji, who had no military experience. Take it away, what does that count?
The key is, if Du Po Formation has more than ten counties in Huaixi and Huainan, who will be the boss?
This is not an impossible thing. You must know that most of the separatists are not stable. They have unpopular hearts, weak economic foundation, and no organizational strength and organizational centripetal force. Therefore, a single raid will often cause several states to be destroyed. The situation of the county changing owners is like some cool novel.
In this case, most of the time, it’s all about luck and courage.
In fact, this is also the reason why Zhang Xing repeatedly emphasized organizational construction and the integrity of the local official system in Delong.
In short, these days, due to the violent situation in various places, Zhang Xing has once again been under huge pressure to send troops, and he himself has once again fallen into wavering... The reason is simple, if the previous denial of sending troops can be called It is strategic determination. The further back he goes, the reason he denies sending troops will become absurd, because he himself is planning another larger-scale troop dispatch, and the risk is greater.
Especially as this plan becomes more and more complete, many people have gradually agreed and joined it.
For example, Xie Minghe and others, as well as several generals including Niu Da, have gradually joined in.
Arriving at the city, entering Cangcheng, and just sitting down, Zhang Xing got the message. It turned out that Luo Shu sent Zhang Gongshen and other envoys to show weakness, but at the same time, after the leaders of the various counties and counties in Youzhou gathered in the Youzhou stronghold, they suddenly mobilized The army raided Dai County. Gao Kaixing, who was a private salt dealer, rebelled directly and surrendered to Luo Shu, while Gao Taoist priest hurriedly walked west and fled into northern Shanxi.
Zhang Xing was silent for a moment, then facing the assembled subordinates, he first gave an instruction: "Xiao Jia, go and talk to Zhang Gongshen. It's none of his business. Let him get things done with peace of mind."
Jia Runshi handed over and left. Chief Zhang just looked at everyone from behind: "What do you think? Do you want to send troops?"
"We definitely can't send troops..." Chen Bin was the first to answer. "At the very least, we can't send troops to Youzhou. It's across the river. Although Daijun's second high official obeys us on the surface, he is actually a rebel general in Youzhou. Moreover, there are two or three counties separated by it, so he is really out of reach... But the world is in chaos, and the people inside are uneasy, and if we don’t take some actions, people will have doubts.”
The others looked at each other, mostly nodding in agreement.
"What should we do?" Zhang Xing asked seriously.
"How about hitting the river?" Someone instinctively suggested. "Didn't the chief say that we should make friends at a distance and attack at home?"
"Hejian didn't fight before, but now he has withdrawn his troops and fights again, wouldn't it make people laugh?"
"But if we don't attack Hejian, it won't suit our strategy to attack other places... We can't attack Dongyi."
"Make a big resolution?"
"If there is no serious matter, how can we make a big resolution? We just made it in the first half of the year."
"How about holding a memorial ceremony? To honor the three splendors and four emperors?"
"How about holding another military sports meeting... seizing the dragon, shooting, tug-of-war, and wrestling?" someone suggested.
"That's it." Zhang Xingye suddenly interrupted everyone and issued an order.
Everyone was stunned for a moment, but then they realized that Chief Zhang was still unwilling to send troops.
Just like that, everyone dispersed, with only Xiong Bonan, Chen Bin, Xu Shiying, Dou Lide, Ma Wei, and the newly joined plans Niu Da and Xie Minghe remaining at the end.
At this time, Ma Wei asked seriously: "Chief, it's unexpected that Dongdu doesn't move. What if Dongdu keeps moving?"
Zhang Xing was about to reply, but Chen Bin said seriously: "Chief, I have discussed it clearly with several people. We all think that it is easy to attack Liyang itself. What is difficult is the subsequent food transshipment, and the most fearful thing is the Grand Master of Dongdu. Personally lead the elite counterattack... Therefore, even if the situation is chaotic now, I still want to say that since the chief has left this matter to me to judge, then I must do my best for the chief and the Deposed Dragon Gang, so Dongdu will not move , we can’t move either.”
"If that's the case, isn't it a good thing?" Xu Shiying suddenly said with her hands tied up. "If he really doesn't move and just sits back and watches Guanzhong being desolate, we will be better off. We will follow the original plan and not touch Liyangcang. We will just wait until next spring when everything is green and the food is exhausted, so we can go straight to the river."
Unexpectedly, everyone present below Zhang Xing did not smile, and the atmosphere became more solemn. Even Chen Bin did not nod.
In the end, Xiong Bonan was the first to be impatient and frowned at his brother-in-law: "If that's the case, that's fine, but what about the mess in the Central Plains of Hebei? Our food can support ourselves, how can we appease the rivers that have been taken down? Time, let Hejian people not starve to death? Not to mention Youzhou? Moreover, the situation is very clear at the moment. These people only see their own territory and soldiers and horses. They don't care about the life and death of the people. They send out troops faster than the other, and the military food is consumed every time. Faster than one, where will we get food? As rebel leaders, do we really care? Let them starve to death in front of the warehouse?"
Doulide nodded immediately.
Xu Shiying hesitated to speak and could only shut up.
At this time, Chen Bin also sighed: "No matter what, the chief entrusted me with this matter, but I can't guarantee that it will go smoothly. I always feel ashamed."
Many people in Mawei nodded.
Zhang Xing was silent for a while and responded with difficulty: "I have three things to say... First, the situation is now chaotic and our pressure is increasing. I don't know whether I should take Li Yang. Cang, or should I expect Uncle Cao Huang to leave Dongdu, so I need you to analyze the pros and cons for me and explain the rights and wrongs without hesitation. I will try my best to listen; secondly, I ask you to believe me, no matter what the situation is. I will definitely try my best to weigh the pros and cons and justice before making a decision. I hope everyone will unite and help me succeed. Thirdly, in the current situation, we still need to respect the previous agreement and maintain strategic focus. If Uncle Cao from the Eastern Capital leaves, we will take Liyang; if not, we will take Hejian after the spring plowing!"
These words were serious, and several people nodded naturally. Only Xu Shiying and Niu Da instinctively looked at each other, because these two people instinctively thought of one thing, that is, the last time the other party said this, it seemed that they were in Lihu that day. in the rain.
Thinking of that scene, Xu Shiying almost blurted out what to say.
Unexpectedly, Niu Da was ahead of him and responded seriously: "Of course I want to seek revenge on Qu Tu Da, but I trust the third brother's decision more! As soon as I said goodbye to Dongdu, I thought about saving my life. Now that things have happened , never forget one day!”
Zhang Xingwei sighed, looked around and said: "Everyone, this is the basis for our success! No matter what the situation is, as long as we can unite and work together, no one can be our opponent."
Xu Shiying shut up.
