As soon as Lu Zhi heard Xia Houxuan say Lu Zhongxiong's name, tears immediately came to his eyes. He grabbed Xia Houxuan's arm tightly and confirmed again excitedly but very cautiously:
"What Taichu said about Lu Zhongxiong, is he a brother of Zhong, a majestic hero?"
"It's this person!"
"So...where is this person now?"
After seeing Lu Zhi's excited reaction, Xia Houxuan was certain in his heart that Lu Zhi was Lu Zhongxiong's long-lost brother. , or Huang Hua, or Fan Yang, there is no way he can trust him. Only Lu Zhi has nothing to do with the Sima family, and is a well-known upright person. If he can really reunite him with the Lu Zhongxiong brothers, then Lu Zhi will definitely It would be the strongest help for him to gain a foothold in Chang'an. These thoughts suddenly circulated in Xia Houxuan's mind, and he immediately answered Lu Zhi:
"Lu Zhongxiong is serving as the seventh-grade tent commander in charge of two hundred Xuanjia guards at my younger brother's house in Luoyang!"
When Lu Zhi heard this, two lines of pure tears fell down like a river bursting its banks:
"My dear God, it has been fifty-three years since Li Jue and Guo Si rebelled against Chang'an. My brothers from the Lu family were finally reunited after being separated in their infancy..."
In the third year of Chuping, not long after the Lu brothers were born, Chang'an was conquered by Li Jue and Guo Si, and the family was displaced. Seeing Lu Zhi's joy at knowing that his brother was still alive, Xia Houxuan couldn't help but be moved by Lu Zhi's love and righteousness. That night, Xia Houxuan didn't know how much he drank and how much he talked to Lu Zhi. He only knew that he vomited a lot that night and slept soundly for most of the next day.
Not far from the tower, Xia Houba and Xia Houxian, father and son of the Shu Guards, had been secretly observing the movements on the attic. Seeing that the crisis had been resolved, they finally breathed a sigh of relief. Xia Houxian looked at his cousin Xia Houxuan and his cousin Xia Houfeng who had been away for many years in the attic. He was very excited and his eyes could not help but burst into tears.
At the same time, Guo Huai, who was secretly observing in another place, finally understood that Xia Houxuan, the highly respected nephew of Cao Zhen who had guarded Yongliang for many years and was good at winning people's hearts and was both civil and military, was not an easy idiot to deal with. In addition, all the people around Xia Houxuan are not in the pool, not to mention that Xia Houxuan has also mobilized 10,000 elites from Luoyang's Chinese army battalions this time. If he confronts them head-on, he may suffer a lot. It seems that in order to avoid causing more trouble, I can only temporarily recognize Xiahou Xuan as the governor of Yongliang and the coach of Northwest China.
______________
One day later, Deng Ai, Le Fang, and Fan Can, who joined the army from Zhengxi Mansion, finally arrived in Chang'an and successfully reunited with Xia Houxuan and his party.
As soon as Xiahou Xuan was free, he immediately took Xiahou Fengfei to find Xiahou Xian. The three brothers had been separated for many years, so naturally they had endless thoughts in their hearts. The three of them discussed the plan of the expedition to Shu. Making plans and strategies, while drinking and reminiscing about the past, it was so happy.
Xia Houxuan even warmly invited Xia Houxian, who was well versed in the art of war and had outstanding abilities, to serve as his fifth-grade military advisor in Zhengxi Prefecture. Xia Houxian originally wanted to fight alongside his cousin, so he readily agreed.
After Xia Houxuan appeased and won over the famous clans in Yongzhou and Liangzhou, he began to gradually control the Yongzhou army.
He first allocated 6,000 of the 10,000 Chinese troops brought by Luoyang, and then divided these 6,000 into two battalions, led by Qian Jia and Qian Hong respectively, and brought with them the money he had accumulated in the Changling Marquis Mansion over the years. , purchased a large amount of cattle, sheep, fine wine, and cloth, and went to the two most critical camps in Yongzhou, Zuofufeng County and Youfengyi County, to reward the army. After the favor was completed, Xia Houxuan secretly ordered Qian Jia and Qian Hong not to begrudge Zhengxi Mansion's power to kill first and report later. Once any soldiers and officers who committed crimes or violated military disciplines were found, regardless of their status or status, they would immediately engage in military law enforcement.
As for the military camp in Jingzhaoyin Chang'an City, Guo Huai was personally in charge, so Xiahou Xuan had no chance to directly intervene.
In this way, Xia Houxuan won over Lu Zhi, Wang Hun and other generals and senior officials of the Xizhou clan at the top, and used both kindness and power at the bottom, quickly establishing his own image and majesty of being clear-cut in rewards and punishments, and selfless.
Faced with this series of actions by his new boss Xia Houxuan, Guo Huai, a former general and governor of Yongzhou, could only feel itching with hatred, but he had no solution for the time being.
After Xiahou Xuan established his authority, the next step should have been to promote new people and gradually replace Guo Huai's cronies. However, the war was imminent, and it was taboo to change generals before the battle. It would make the generals and soldiers feel uncomfortable, so Xiahou Xuan was not in a hurry. Proceed to this step.
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In the city, under the North Tower next to the site of the Weiyang Palace of the Han Dynasty and next to the arsenal, are the areas where the respective offices of General Zhengxi and Yongliang Governor Xiahou Xuan and former general Guo Huai, the governor of Yongzhou, are located.
At this time, a messenger hurriedly entered the residence of General Zhengxi.
"Informing the Governor, the general has led his troops to station at Tongguan for supplies and rest. At around noon on the day after tomorrow, he will lead the Chinese army to Chang'an and join our Yongzhou troops."
After hearing this, Xia Houxuan nodded and said:
"I understand. You go and inform Governor Guo and ask him to prepare for the reception as soon as possible. Go ahead."
With the war approaching, Xia Houxuan often felt inexplicable heart palpitations.
What he has been worried about is that if this battle is defeated, hundreds of thousands of Wei Erlang may die in a foreign country and be buried in horse leather.
The tragedies he witnessed when he was a boy are still vivid in his mind.
Lu Ming, that boy who was once as old as himself, might not have died if it hadn't been for the war between Wu and Shu.
And his own master, Yu Gui. His life was also taken away by the cruel war.
Xia Houxuan didn't dare to recall it anymore.
At this moment, he only hoped that he and General Cao Shuang could win the battle and win the battle without sacrificing some of Wei's passionate sons.
——————
Governor Cao Shuang led the remaining 10,000 Chinese troops, non-stop from early morning to dusk, and finally arrived at Chang'an City in the evening.
The outline of Chang'an City in the sunset gradually became clearer at this moment. As a large banner with the words "General Wu'an Hou Cao" embroidered in gold and fluttering in the wind suddenly appeared, the majestic Cao Shuang, who was covered in military uniform, riding a horse and riding a horse, was quickly seen outside Qingmen. The generals of the Yongliang army who were waiting to greet him noticed.
"The last general is waiting for you, the great general!"
Outside the city, Xia Houxuan, the supreme commander of the Western Front, was leading Yongliang generals such as former general Yongzhou governor Guo Huai, conquest of Shu guard Xia Houba, general conquest of Shu Sima Zhao and other Yongliang generals to respectfully greet Cao Shuang's carriage.
Cao Shuang, escorted by a group of majestic retinues of the general, climbed to the east gate inside the Qingmen of Chang'an City. At this moment, he climbed up and looked into the distance, looking at the banners, generals, and flags under Chang'an City that were as dark as black clouds. The soldiers and the phalanx suddenly felt an inexplicable and intense pleasure in their hearts.
This is the satisfaction that the pinnacle of power brings him.
He couldn't help but close his eyes, imagining the glorious scene of his triumphant return and the attention of everyone. For a moment, he couldn't help but feel excited.
After Cao Shuang reviewed the army, he soon came to the east of Chang'an City and the Military Lecture Hall in the former site of Changle Palace. Cao Shuang summoned generals Xiahou Xuan, Guo Huai, Xiahou Ba, as well as Deng Yang, Yang Wei and others to join the army, planning to join the army. An urgent and important military meeting was held here.
This was their last official meeting before going off to the expedition. Because once the army goes south, it will enter the Qinling Mountains that stretches for hundreds of miles, and there will be no time and conditions for gathering.
Cao Shuang ordered people to take out the map of Yongzhou and Yizhou that accompanied the army and hang it in the lobby. Cao Shuang stared at the map for a while, then looked at Taichu:
"Captain Xiahou, you are the deputy commander-in-chief of this battle. Please first tell me about the troops stationed in Yongliang's prefectures and counties, the Chinese army transferred from Luoyang Zhongzhou, as well as Yongliang's grain, grass, baggage and other men, horses and materials."
In the past few days since Xia Houxuan came to Chang'an, he had already grasped these situations clearly. With this in mind, he pointed at the map of the army and immediately told everyone in the hall about the situation of the Yongzhou armies:
"Everyone, let me tell you about this western expedition and the situation of our armies in Yongzhou.
The three auxiliary defenders of Zuo Fufeng, Right Feng Yi and Chang'an, excluding the garrisons, can send out 20,000 soldiers and 28,000 civilians;
The four counties of Chencang, Guangwei, Tianshui and Longxi, excluding the garrisons, can recruit 24,000 soldiers and 20,000 civilians;
In addition to the 20,000 elite soldiers of the Luoyang Chinese Army, this group of soldiers and horses totals 64,000 soldiers and 48,000 civilians. It only takes one day to gather at the northern foot of the Qinling Mountains.
The three counties of Anding, Xinping and Beidi in the north can dispatch 15,000 soldiers and 26,000 civilians. It will take two to three days for these troops and horses to reach the southern foot of the Qinling Mountains.
In total, our army can dispatch about 80,000 soldiers and more than 70,000 civilians this time. As for the stocks of grain and grass in each route, the total is two million hu of dendrobium, which is enough for our army for half a year. "
The location of the army's granary and the route of the grain road were top secret, so Xia Houxuan was inconvenient to disclose it and did not explain it in detail.
After hearing Xia Houxuan's detailed report, Cao Shuang felt even more confident. He drew out the sword from his waist, pointed it at the Qinling Mountains on the map, and said loudly:
"Generals, I have been planning carefully these days with the rest of the army, and found that this time our army goes south to Shu and crosses the Qinling Mountains, there are four roads to take.
The first one is to go west from Chang'an City, along the bank of the Weishui River for more than 300 miles, then go south from the Chencang Plank Road, take the Chencang Road, and enter Dashan Pass in the west.
The second route is to enter from the Xie Valley, take the Baoxie Road, go south along the Baoshui River, and reach Hanzhong.
The third option is to go directly south from Chang'an, go straight to Luo Valley, take the Tangluo Road, first arrive at Chiban Pavilion, then go west along the Mian River, and approach Hanzhong.
As for the fourth route, it goes over the mountains and ridges from the Ziwu Valley Road and slowly goes south.
I don’t know what the generals think, but you might as well speak freely and express your opinions! "
After hearing what Cao Shuang said, the generals in the palace naturally had their own ideas. At this moment, a loud voice sounded, telling an eye-catching strategy for entering the army.
