Lizhou, later known as Guangyuan, Sichuan, is the gateway to northern Sichuan, bordering the Jialing River to the west, and sheltered by mountains to the north, south and east. It has been an important route into Sichuan since ancient times.
It was an autumn morning, the mountains and fields were lonely, and the military camp was silent. Suddenly, flags were fluttering outside the camp, horses were whistling in the wind, and countless knights came in a hurry. They soon poured into the military camp, followed by bulging vehicles.
The sound of fighting sounded, and the entire military camp became commotion. Countless Song soldiers came out of the barracks, wanting to see what happened.
"According to the imperial edict of the Emperor of the Song Dynasty, Cao Youwen is in charge of Lizhou West Road, and Yu Jie is in charge of Lizhou East Road, and all military affairs of Lizhou Camp are taken away. After all the generals have finished their meals, hurry to the barracks to assemble!"
The heralds galloped in the military camp and loudly conveyed military orders.
Although Lizhou is a border area, there has been no fighting since the Song-Jin War ended two years ago, so military affairs are also slack. In addition, Lizhou Zhizhou was in charge of military affairs, civilian officials led the troops, and civilized military affairs were used. The contempt of civilian officials for military personnel also invisibly caused the military's morale to slacken.
"General, something big happened!"
In the barracks, Cheng Xin, deputy commander of the Lizhou Division, was washing his face when the sergeant ran in in a panic.
"Panic! What happened?"
After Cheng Xin washed his face, he slowly sat down on a chair nearby.
"General, the imperial court has sent a Shangguan here. I heard that Yu Jie is in charge of Lizhou East Road. After dinner, please assemble all the above generals in the barracks!"
"What?"
Cheng Xin couldn't help but be stunned by the sergeant's words.
There had long been rumors in the army that the emperor would send a group of officers from the Jinling Martial Arts Hall to the army. Unexpectedly, they would arrive so soon.
"Where's Mr. Zhizhi?"
Zheng Sun, the Sichuan envoy who took office last year, promised him that he would be appointed as the governor of Lizhou West Road, but the court has not responded. Now it seems that there may be a problem.
"The villain asked the new general and said that Mr. Zheng has been transferred back to Lin'an!"
The sergeant's answer made Cheng Xin look ugly and cursed secretly in his heart.
Needless to say, all the gold, silver and jewelry he gave to Zheng Sun were wasted.
These shameless scholar-bureaucrats, whose faces are thicker than the city walls, take money but don't do anything, and don't even say hello when they leave. They are really like grandsons.
"Who is the new governor?"
Sichuan established the post of envoys and entrusted officials to the frontiers. Could it be that the imperial court changed its orders from day to day and had something to do with Shi Miyuan's downfall and the new emperor who ascended the throne?
"Back to the general, it's the original Sichuan envoy Cui and Cui Xianggong."
"It turned out to be him."
Cheng Xin nodded, feeling slightly relieved.
Cui Yu was smart and capable, and he admired him very much. He thought that there would be no problem in taking his position as commander of the Lizhou West Road.
"Wait!"
Cheng Xin was suddenly startled and asked:
"You said you are here to control Yu Jie of Lizhou East Road. How will Chen Li be accommodated?"
Chen Li was the commander-in-chief of the capital of Xingyuan, that is, the pacifier of Lizhou East Road and the commander-in-chief of the capital. Since the person coming is the governor of Lizhou East Road, how should Chen Li arrange it? Or the pacifier of Lizhou East Road?
"I don't know either. But I heard..."
Cheng Xin didn't know about these things, and they, the soldiers in the army, certainly didn't know about them.
"What did you hear? Tell me!"
Cheng Xin subconsciously felt something was wrong and asked impatiently.
"Yes, general. I heard that the new governor of Lizhou West Road... seems to be called Cao Youwen, and he will arrive soon..."
The sergeant's words made Cheng Xin stunned and slumped down on the chair.
In this way, his position as the commander-in-chief of Lizhou was completely overturned!
"General, do you want to drive these guys away? The brothers from Lizhou and Lizhou only recognize you, Cheng Shuai!"
At some point, Wang Kui, the commander of Lizhou West Road and Xihe State, came in and said viciously.
"That's right, brothers are working hard, why should outsiders pick the peaches?"
Li Zhongde, the deputy governor of Lizhou East Road, also said angrily.
Xingyuan Mansion is an important frontier town, and Li Zhongde has served on Lizhou East Road for many years. Although he is also the deputy governor, he is also Cheng Xin's confidant and best friend.
"Don't act rashly yet. If things get too big, it won't be good for anyone."
Cheng Xin looked ugly and said to Li Zhongde:
"Li Er, go and call all the brothers above the rank of general from the two roads. Let's go and pay a visit to the Commander-in-Chief of Lizhou East Road."
Cheng Xin stood up and frowned.
These newcomers may be coming with bad intentions.
"General, would you like to call Ma Zhong and the others?"
"No need. These people can't pee in the same pot as us. Don't pay attention to them."
Cheng Xin snorted coldly, feeling extremely annoyed.
Everyone thought that he was going to be the commander-in-chief of the Rongsi Army in Lizhou. Who knew that when things came to a close, an outsider plucked the peach.
How could he raise his head in front of everyone?
Cheng Xin strode out of the barracks with a livid face.
"The last general, the deputy commander of Lizhou Rongsi, is Cheng Xin, and the deputy commander of Lizhou East Road is Li Zhongde. He leads two generals, big and small, and has seen the Xingyuan Rongsi commander in chief!"
Cheng Xin and others entered the barracks and greeted Yu Jie together.
In his mid-twenties, this new guy is too young.
And the generals next to him, some of whom are obviously less than 20 years old, are surprisingly young.
Why is the emperor so crazy? Why did he send these stupid young men here?
"General Cheng, General Li, generals, nice to meet you, nice to meet you. Commander Cao will be here soon, generals may as well wait."
Yu Jie smiled with a smile on her face, cupped her fists in salute, and looked at these border troops.
Lizhou West Road was not under his jurisdiction, but Cao Youwen arrived later, so he could only act on his behalf, first gathering the generals from the two Lizhou Roads, and then issuing general orders with Cao Youwen.
Although Lizhou was under the jurisdiction of Lizhou West Road, both Lizhou Roads trained troops in Lizhou Camp. After the new soldiers were organized and trained, they were then replenished in each military prefecture of the two routes, so it was regarded as a common supply camp for both Lizhou routes.
Of course, in addition to organizing and training the new army, new sergeants must be recruited in Sichuan in order to meet the requirements of the 100,000-strong army on both sides of Lizhou.
These frontier generals looked pretty good, not pot-bellied or frail, and the soldiers in the camp were still energetic.
However, these people have contemptuous eyes, many of them are full of anger, and they seem to be difficult to control.
It seems that what Cui Yu said is right. These generals are used to being domineering and have serious xenophobia. I don't know if he and Cao Youwen can convince the public?
"Commander Yu, I dare to ask, how should Chen Li, the commander of Xingyuan Rongsi, be placed?"
Li Zhongde, deputy commander of Lizhou East Road, asked directly with a dark face.
Everyone is ambitious, and so is Li Zhongde. I originally thought that Chen Li, a civil servant, was only temporarily in charge of the capital and would eventually fall to himself. Who would have thought that if Yu Jie came, he would definitely be out of luck.
"To be honest with you, Chen Shuai is a civil servant, and his mission is to be the pacifier of Lizhou East Road and the magistrate of Xingyuan Prefecture. From now on, he will only be in charge of civil affairs. Guo Zhengsun, the pacifier of Lizhou Rongsi, will also be in charge of civil affairs, Lizhou Rongsi and Xingyuan Rongsi. General Cao Youwen and I will each take over the military administration."
Yu Jie said with a smile, and Cheng's confidence sank.
His dream of becoming a military commander in Lizhou was indeed shattered.
"General Yu, General Cao is here!"
Before the sergeant finished speaking, Cao Youwen and others had already walked in, covered in dust.
"I've met General Cao!"
Cheng Xin and others saluted together, all surprised.
Each of these new generals is younger than the last, which is really puzzling and angry.
What did the emperor think and why did he send these young guys here? Isn't this a slap in the face to them?
"Brothers, nice to meet you, nice to meet you."
Cao Youwen bowed his hands and returned to the center of the room to stand. The generals stood on both sides according to their rank.
Although everyone was dissatisfied, they still had to abide by the rules of the camp.
"Brothers, I will now read out His Majesty's imperial edict regarding the appointment and adjustment of military positions for each brother. Your Majesty has said that fame, wealth and honor will be obtained immediately. The positions are only temporary, and future promotions will all depend on the military merits of each brother."
Cao Youwen looked at the generals and took out Huang Chengcheng's imperial edict.
"I will obey His Majesty's teachings!"
All the generals stood up together, clasped their fists and saluted, their hearts pounding.
My personal future probably depends on this will.
"Where is Cheng Xin, the former deputy commander of Lizhou West Road?"
Cao Youwen took the imperial edict and said loudly.
"Cheng Xin is here!"
Cheng Xin walked into the hall and knelt down on one knee to salute.
"Cheng Xin's original position remains unchanged. He is still the deputy capital commander of Lizhou West Road. He leads three thousand troops to guard Xianren Pass and is in charge of Dashan Pass, Huangniu Fort, Qifang Pass, Fengzhou and Wuxiu Pass!"
"minister......"
Cheng Xin was extremely embarrassed, his face was red and white, and he was speechless for a moment.
The official's reinstatement seemed to save his face, but in fact it was a done deal.
"General Cheng has been through life and death in the frontier fortress, and all the brothers obey him. Why not let him serve as the commander-in-chief of Lizhou? This is unfair!"
Li Zhongde, the deputy commander of Xingyuan Rongsi, was angry and spoke out first.
"Why? This is unfair to General Cheng! We don't accept it!"
"Without General Cheng, Lizhou Rongsi simply stopped!"
The generals spoke one after another, impassionedly, and complained about their boss Cheng Xin.
The old generals in the other camps remained silent and calm.
"What, are you going to disobey the imperial edict?"
Cao Youwan shouted angrily, and a group of officers came in with long guns in their hands. They were all young officers who graduated from the Jinling Martial Arts Hall.
These men were wearing helmets and had spears in their hands, and the air in the barracks suddenly became chilly.
"General Cheng, this is the emperor's decree. Do you want this place to become a river of blood?"
Yu Jie looked at Cheng Xin who was kneeling on one knee and said coldly.
"What, do you want to do something? Come on!"
"That's amazing! Can't you even say a word?"
\"I crawled out of the dead, and I'm still afraid of you?\"
Li Zhongde, Wang Kui and others showed no fear and had a strong sense of provocation.
Some other generals took a few steps back, as if they did not want to get involved in the fight between the two sides.
"Prepare!"
Yu Jie's face darkened and he shouted loudly.
The officers raised their spears together.
"stop!"
Cheng Xin was sweating profusely. He stood up, took the imperial edict, stretched out his arms, and stood among the generals and officers holding spears.
He could tell that if he didn't stop it, he might really bleed for five steps.
"General Cao, General Yu, calm down!"
Cheng Xin saluted the gloomy-looking Cao Youwen and Yu Jie with clasped fists, then turned around with a serious look on his face.
"You don't obey the emperor's will, are you going to rebel?"
Now that the deal is done, why bother arguing about the length of time? The future is long.
"No, no! Brothers are just complaining about the general!"
"General, brothers have no bad intentions, they just want justice!"
Li Zhongde and Wang Kui smiled apologetically, nodded and bowed.
All the generals obeyed, and Cheng Xin nodded with satisfaction.
"This is a military camp. Listen to the imperial edict and don't make things difficult for the two generals!"
"Yes, General!"
Li Zhongde, Wang Kui and others saluted Cao Youwen and Yu Jie with fists in their hands, repeatedly confessed, and stood back.
Cao Youwen and Yu Jie looked at each other. Cao Youwen waved his hand gently, and the officers with guns retreated.
If things get serious today, they will not hesitate to kill people to establish their authority and shed blood for five steps.
