Jiang Ji was on the move, secretly meeting with the major families in Hebei County, trying to persuade the families in Tianshui County to respond to the Northern Expedition of the King of Hanzhong and surrender the county.
As for Zhang Xi, he has led the army to the west county city.
Originally, according to the plan, Zhang Xi planned to leave a force in Xi County, besiege Xi County without attacking, and lead his troops to Ji County, trying to conquer Ji County as quickly as possible, and use the city defense of Ji County to attract Guo Huai's troops. The Liangzhou Army moved south, creating conditions for Ma Chao to defeat the Liangzhou Army in a roundabout way.
But as soon as Zhang Xi sent Jufu and his troops to besiege Xi County, the gates of Xi County were opened.
Liang Xu took the elders from Xi County and township together and went out of the city to ask for surrender.
Jufuna is a depressing place.
Finally, after Deng Ai's recommendation, I caught up with the Northern Expedition, but there was no chance of making any achievements along the way.
To conquer Wudu County, that is to lead troops to various counties to receive official seals and city defenses. It is not a challenge at all. Let alone Zhang Xi, even Jufu himself feels that this is not a military achievement.
As for the task of attacking Qishan Fort, the general Zhang Xi considered it a tough one, so for the sake of safety, Wei Yan was asked to lead the attack.
Jufu was the most junior general under Zhang Xi. Even if Wei Yan did not go, Zhang Yi should be the one to lead the army, so this opportunity would not be Jufu's turn to lead the army.
Now it's okay, I finally have a mission to lead the army to besiege Xi County. Even if it doesn't require immediate capture, it is at least a serious military mission. But this Xi County actually surrendered like this? !
No, can't you pretend to hold on for a while? !
But since they surrendered on their own initiative, Jufu could not launch an attack just for his own merits, so he quickly reported back to Zhang Xi and asked Zhang Xi for instructions on what to do next.
Originally, Zhang Xi was preparing to take Wei Yan and Zhang Yi north to march to Hebei County, but Ju Fu came to report that Xi County had surrendered directly.
What's going on? Is it possible that the dispatch of troops this time can go as smoothly as in history and cause the three counties to surrender? !
Zhang Xi didn't dare to think of such a good thing, but now that Xi County has chosen to surrender, it is indeed a good thing.
Zhang Xi immediately ordered Jufu to take over the defense of West County and wait for the arrival of the subsequent army of the King of Hanzhong. On his side, he had to rush to Jixian to have a fight with Tianshui Qilin'er Jiang Boyue.
Then Jufu sent Liang Xu to Zhang Xi's army because Liang Xu said that he had important military information to report to Zhang Xi.
Liang Xu obviously didn't want to just get the title of a reduced general. He wanted to be someone who made meritorious service to the Han Dynasty.
Therefore, Liang Xu hurriedly asked to see Zhang Xi and told Zhang Xi the agreement between him and Jiang Ji.
The instigators of this matter were Liang Xu and Jiang Ji. If Zhang Xi could capture Ji County without bloodshed, then Liang Xu would definitely be the biggest contributor.
After listening to Liang Xu's story, Zhang Xi was a little confused. Isn't Jiang Jiong Jiang Wei's father? !
Why is this person still alive? !
Also, if you say that Jiang Wei negotiated with you to surrender together, then Zhang Xi can still believe it. After all, it is Jiang Wei. But is this Jiang Jiong, like his son, also a die-hard defender of the Han Dynasty? !
This is not impossible, after all, Jiang Wei was taught by his family.
Regarding Liang Xu's words, Zhang Xi believed half of it and the other half. That was purely out of caution and he didn't dare to believe it all.
Anyway, he was going to Ji County. As long as he arrived in Ji County, he would know the truth of the matter.
Therefore, although Liang Xu kept urging Zhang Xi to march as quickly as possible along the way, and he was afraid that things might change if it was too late, Zhang Xi did not completely obey Liang Xu.
Zhang Xi indeed asked the army to march quickly, but he never gave up investigating various places during the march. At the same time, he also tried his best to ensure the formation of the troops during the rapid march and try not to let the troops disperse.
In this way, even if he is attacked halfway, Zhang Xi can immediately command his soldiers to form a defensive formation, so that others will not take advantage of the disorganization of the formation to sneak attack and break through.
Just like this, Liang Xu was a little anxious.
After all, Liang Xu didn't know the specific situation in Ji County now. If Zhangxi's march was slow, and Jiang Jiong failed to persuade the noble families in Ji County to surrender in time, Guo Huai would have already led his troops to Ji County. Then Trouble.
But Liang Xu could understand Zhang Xi's purpose of marching like this. Liang Xu never thought that Zhang Xi could trust him unconditionally with just a few words of his own.
Therefore, Liang Xu proposed to Zhang Xi that he could allocate four to five hundred of his men, put on the clothes of Tianshui County soldiers, pretend to be defeated, and rush back to Hebei County to find out the truth.
If Jiang Ji has taken care of everything, then there is no danger in going back by himself. But if there are any changes on Jiang Ji's side, by going back in advance, he will be able to know some of the situation and inform Zhang Xi when the time comes.
After Zhang Xi thought about it, it seemed that this was not impossible.
If Liang Xu was deceitful, then the four to five hundred soldiers returning to Hebei County in advance would not seem to have much effect. Anyway, although he was marching at a fast speed, he did not abandon his formation and could switch to defense at any time. .
If Liang Xu sincerely surrenders, it is also a good idea to let him go back to inquire about the news first and cooperate with the inside and outside.
Therefore, Zhang Xi gave Liang Xu more than 400 soldiers, changed into the clothes of Tianshui County soldiers, and asked him to pretend to be defeated and set off first, while he still led the army to march at a normal pace.
Liang Xu led hundreds of people disguised as defeated soldiers and ran to Ji County in advance. As soon as they arrived at the city gate, the city gate of Ji County opened before anyone could tell them to open the door.
Immediately afterwards, hundreds of soldiers rushed out of the city and surrounded the hundreds of people led by Liang Xu.
Liang Xu's heart sank, and he immediately thought that Jiang Jiong's secret plan had been exposed, and he had fallen into a trap.
But after all, Liang Xu was from a big family. Although he felt guilty, he finally sensed something was wrong. Although the soldiers who came out of the city surrounded them, Liang Xu did not see any nervousness on the faces of these soldiers.
This doesn't look like he's going to turn against you and beat him up.
This made Liang Xu a little suspicious, so Liang Xu decided to play it safe for the time being.
"Why did you surround us?!" Liang Xu deliberately shouted loudly, "We fought in hundreds of battles and broke through the siege to report the news. Why did you do this?!"
At this time, a man finally came out from the tower and said, "Liang Xuxiu is too talkative, yet he still refuses to dismount, so he ordered the soldiers to put down their weapons."
Liang Xu heard this and looked up. It was Zhao Ang, the governor of Yizhou.
Liang Xu was very hesitant.
Now I still have hundreds of people and weapons in hand, and there are not many soldiers leaving the city. If I break out of the siege at this time, there is still hope.
But once you put down your weapons, it's not easy to run.
Liang Xu didn't know whether he should take this risk. When he was hesitating, he saw another person appearing on the tower.
Jiang Xu.
"Liang Zhang, please don't panic. Now that the war is unknown, we have no choice but to do this. The priests and soldiers should throw away their swords and armor, so you can enter the city alone." Jiang Xu shouted to the bottom of the tower.
The appearance of Jiang Xu gave Liang Xu some comfort, but in the end it was not as good as Jiang Ji. Liang Xu was really not sure whether Jiang Ji had convinced Jiang Xu.
However, seeing Jiang Xu is better than not seeing it at all. Maybe this is the message Jiang Ji gave him. After all, there is no reason for Jiang Xu to side with the Zhao family and betray his younger brother to gain so-called wealth.
Therefore, Liang Xu decided to take a gamble and ordered the soldiers to take off their armor and weapons, and then dismounted and entered the city alone.
Zhao Ang, who was on the tower, was somewhat relieved after seeing Liang Xu giving the order with an angry look on his face, throwing away his weapons and armor and entering the city.
Five days ago, Tianshui County's meritorious Cao Jiang Ji returned to Hebei County alone. He said that when Ma Zun, the prefect of Tianshui County, visited West County, he heard that the Shu army had left Qishan Road to attack Tianshui and was about to arrive in West County. He immediately abandoned the county officials and soldiers and fled. , went north alone to seek refuge with Guo Huai, the governor of Liangzhou.
After Jiang Ji and Liang Xu discussed, they decided to keep Liang Xu in Xi County to resist the Shu army. Jiang Ji ran back to Ji County to report the news and let Ji County take precautions.
At this time, Ma Zun, the prefect of Tianshui County, was away, and the person with the highest official position in the city was probably Zhao Ang, who was nominally the governor of Yizhou, but was actually idle in Ji County.
After Jiang Ji returned to the city, he reported to Jiang Xu, and Jiang Xu took Yin Shang and others to find Zhao Ang, hoping that Zhao Ang would come forward to take charge of the defense of Ji County.
Yu Gong, Tianshui County is now leaderless. He, Zhao Ang, has the highest official position. He should indeed stand up and organize the defense of Hebei County.
In private, Zhao Ang is also a member of the Zhao family in Ji County. It is unjustifiable for him not to stand up and defend Ji County.
Therefore, Zhao Ang accepted Jiang Xu and others' request to take charge of the defense work in Ji County.
But the problem is that as a member of the Ji County family, Zhao Ang is also aware of the relationship between the four major surnames in Tianshui. Zhao Ang is quite wary of Jiang Xu asking him to take charge of defense.
Why don't you, surnamed Jiang, come forward on your own? ! You, Jiang Xu, are the prime minister of Tianshui County and the second-in-command of Tianshui County. If Ma Zun runs away, you will be the highest officer of Tianshui County.
You don't come forward, but you want me, the unrelated governor of Yizhou, to come forward to organize Tianshui soldiers to defend Ji County? !
Furthermore, Zhao Ang was also skeptical about Jiang Ji's report. Is it ridiculous that Ma Zun, the prefect of the county, left the county officials and soldiers alone and escaped by himself without seeing the enemy? !
For this reason, the first thing Zhao Ang did after taking over the defense was to summon Jiang Ji and ask about the specific situation.
But what Jiang Jiong said was clear and logical, including what Ma Zun said, how he and Liang Xu persuaded him, and how Ma Zun insisted on leaving in the end. There were no logical loopholes at all.
Finally, Jiang Ji added this sentence.
"If the Governor of Zhao doesn't believe it, he can write it to the Governor of Guo in Liangzhou and ask about it and he will find out!"
When Zhao Ang heard this, he was right.
There is no point in spreading rumors about this kind of thing. After all, you only need to write a letter and ask Guo Huai.
Moreover, Ji County is very close to Pingxiang County, and the round trip only takes seven or eight days. It makes no sense for Jiang Ji to lie on this matter.
In this way, Zhao Ang had to accept the fact that Jiang Jiong said - the dignified prefect of the county was so frightened that he ran away before he saw the enemy.
What the hell is this? !
Then, Zhao Ang received a report, saying that there were broken troops approaching outside the city gate, and the leader seemed to be Liang Xu from Tianshui County.
Zhao Ang was immediately shocked and quickly ordered the city gates to be opened to admit the defeated troops into the city.
But, he was stopped.
It was none other than Zhao Ang's wife, a rare woman in the world - Wang Yi.
(End of chapter)
