To realize this bold statement, it is useless to just shout slogans. Yang Xingmi knew that Luzhou alone was not enough to compete with Sun Ru.
Yang Xingmi's plan was to annex Hongzhou (now Nanchang City, Jiangxi Province) first, so as to develop and grow, and secondly, to avoid Sun Ru's attack.
Think tank Yuan Xi quickly called a halt and patiently analyzed the pros and cons for him:
Hongzhou has been separatist by Zhong Chuan for seven years. Today's Hongzhou has a large number of soldiers, sufficient food and grass, and everyone is united. Although it is remote, it is difficult to deal with, so it is best not to provoke it.
At the same time, Yuan Xi gave a reasonable suggestion: attack Xuanzhou.
Xuanzhou is the capital of Xuanshe Road. Qin Yan, the original observer of Xuanshe Road, was seduced by Bi Shiduo and settled in Yangzhou. He claimed to be the acting envoy of Jiedushi (Quanzhi Huainan Jiedushi), and then promoted his subordinate Zhao Kun, the governor of Chizhou, to be the observer of Xuanshe Road. Just over a year.
Now, Qin Yan was killed by Sun Ru, Zhao Kun lost his backer, and his foothold in Xuanzhou was not stable, his foundation was still shallow, and he himself had bad conduct, and the army and the people were resentful. Xuanzhou is really a God-given lord, and he would not be comfortable if he did not take it.
Yang Xingmi nodded frequently.
Yuan Xi then offered another plan to outwit Xuanzhou:
First, he bribed Sun Duan of Hezhou and Zhang Xiong of Shangyuan with large sums of money, asking them to act as bait, plunder the territory under the jurisdiction of Xuanshe Road, and lure Zhao Kun to send troops. Then Yang Xingmi sent troops to intercept and kill him halfway, replacing the critical battle with field battles.
To sum up: let your teammates lure the opponent out of the tower and squat in the grass.
Sun Duan of Hezhou and Zhang Xiong of Shangyuan had no reason to refuse this temptation. Both parties benefited, so they readily sent troops to go to Xuanshe Road to smash, smash, loot and burn.
Zhao Kun sent troops to resist, and Sun Duan and Zhang Xiong completed their mission as actors and packed up their loot and returned home. Yang Xingmi successfully ambushed Zhao Kun's troops, took advantage of the victory to surround Xuanzhou, and repelled Chizhou Governor Zhao Qian (Zhao Kun's brother) who came to rescue him.
After besieging Xuanzhou for nearly a year, a mutiny broke out in Xuanzhou city. Zhao Kun was expelled by his general Zhou Jinsi and was captured alive by Yang Xingmi's favorite general Tian Bo when he fled. Soon, the Xuanzhou defenders launched another mutiny, captured Zhou Jinsi alive, and then surrendered to Kaicheng.
Yang Xingmi settled in Xuanzhou.
After entering the city, most of the generals were busy with the Japanese entering the village and snatching gold, silver and silk. Only one general escaped from the low taste. He first took control of the granary and cooked gruel to feed the hungry people in the city.
Under normal circumstances, those who are not deceived by the petty gains in front of them have great ambitions in their hearts; those who are not fettered by vulgar tastes are because their realm and pattern have already exceeded the ninth level.
For example, after Liu Bang, the king of Han, invaded Xianyang, all the generals also grabbed money, grain, and women. Only Xiao He rushed to save the legal books of the Qin Dynasty.
The man who helped Yang Xingmi control the granary was named Xu Wen.
Obviously, Xu Wen is also a good person among people.
When it comes to Xu Wen, many people may be unfamiliar with it, but when it comes to his great-grandson, I am afraid that everyone knows and understands him. That is the Southern Tang Dynasty that "asking you how much sorrow you can have is like a river of spring water flowing eastward." The successor is Li Yu.
Mr. Li's father, Mr. Xu, is also not a man of ethics, but a popular product of the Tang Dynasty and Five Dynasties that we have mentioned countless times - the godson (adopted son, fake son, adopted son, still son) tradition.
The stories of Yang Xingmi's founding of the country, Xu Wen's usurpation of power, and the tragic poet Li Yu will be described in detail later. The key figure connecting the past and the future - Xu Wen, came to prominence in the Battle of Xuanzhou, entered Yang Xingmi's vision, and entered the stage of history, so I will mention it here.
Yang Xingmi's handling of the defeated army in Xuanzhou also reflects his broad mind and the confidence of the winner.
For example, Zhou Ben, the general under Zhao Kun, was the leader of the three armies and was extremely brave, which caused Yang Xingmi to suffer a lot. After being captured, Yang Xingmi expressed appreciation for his heroic performance and invited him to join his team, allowing him to continue to lead the troops. General Zhou Ben has since become an important general in Yang Xingmi's group;
Zhao Kun's group of civil servants were on the run, but Li Decheng was the only one who was loyal and never abandoned him, risking his life to follow him. Even if Zhao Kun was captured alive, he would not live alone. Yang Xingmi highly praised Li Decheng's spirit of loyalty to the master and married a woman named Yang from his own clan to him as his wife.
Afterwards, Yang Xingmi went to the court to inform him of the current situation in Xuanzhou. The imperial court issued an edict and appointed Yang Xingmi as the Observer of Xuanshe Road.
As expected, Sun Ru did not leave Yang Xingmi too many opportunities and sent troops to attack Yang Xingmi's hometown, Luzhou.
Cai Chou, the guard general of Luzhou, presented the city and surrendered.
Yang Xingmi took a breath. If he had not followed the advice of his adviser Yuan Xi and not captured Xuanzhou, but instead trapped Luzhou or sent troops to Hongzhou, he would have inevitably become a prisoner of Sun Ru's traitors today.
"I have Yuan Xi, so why worry about losing the world?"
Yang Xingmi regarded Xuanshe Road as a new revolutionary base and managed it carefully.
At this time, Bianzhou sent an envoy to convey Zhu Wen's message:
"Zhao Kun is an old friend of mine. I will not comment on the feud between you and him (Yang Xingmi annexed Xuanshe Road), let alone interfere. I only hope that I can take it for granted (Zhu Wenbiao reported that Yang Xingmi was the leader of Huainan Please allow me to take my old friend Zhao Kun to Bianzhou for retirement."
Zhu Wen's desire to take in Zhao Kun was obviously not purely out of so-called friendship, but contained political purposes. Provide shelter for the landless officials, and then find the right time to escort him to a certain place, take the opportunity to extend his sphere of influence, or use it to fish. For example, he escorted Liu Zan, the governor of Chuzhou, to his post, and fished out Xuzhou Shipu, etc. It's a common practice among politicians.
Zhu Wen took in Xuanzhou Zhao Kun, which was obviously to pave the way for his future intervention in Xuanshe Road. This is Zhu Wen's "friendship".
Faced with Zhu Wen's request, Yang Xingmi was in a dilemma. Letting Zhao Kun go would be tantamount to setting a trap for oneself; not letting him go would refute Zhu Wen's face.
If something is not decided, ask Yuan Xi.
"Yuan Xi, what do you think?"
Yuan Xi said this is not simple? For any problem that seems like a dilemma, there is always a best-of-both-worlds solution. The strategy given by Yuan Xi was to receive orders at the front door and kill people in the backyard.
So Yang Xingmi killed Zhao Kun and handed Zhao Kun's head and a letter to envoy Zhu Wen, saying to the effect: "I am very sorry, Comrade Zhao Kun has unfortunately died in the rebellion. I will offer his head in the hope that Duke Zhu will I am sorry for your loss."
Not long after killing Zhao Kun, the think tank Yuan Xi suddenly fell ill and died.
After learning the news of Yuan Xi's death, Yang Xingmi looked up to the sky and cried bitterly, "God, don't you want me to achieve a great career? Why do you want to chop off my limbs!"
After crying for a long time, Yang Xingmi shook his head and sighed, sobbing to himself: "I am naturally generous and kind, but the strategies Yuan Xi gave me always killed people. Maybe this is the reason why he lost his life." Be broad-minded.
There may not be ghosts and gods in the world, but there is karma.
Yuan Xi's intelligence is obvious to all, and it was with his assistance that Yang Xingmi walked all the way until he acquired Xuan She Dao. However, Yuan Xi's underhanded damage is also unvarnished, and his strategies always revolve around the theme of "killing". He previously killed angel investors, business partners Zhang Shenjian, Gao Ba and others, and now he killed Zhao Kun. , vicious and unbenevolent.
Yuan Xi's death caused heavy losses to Yang Xingmi, but it could not shake Yang Xingmi's determination to dominate.
After just a few months of consolidation, Yang Xingmi sent his favorite general Tian Wei to attack Changzhou and compete with Hangzhou Qian Liu for territory.
