In the front hall of Jiedu Envoy's office, Li Yuan was fully dressed and sitting in the position where Ma Xi'e, Liu Yan and others had given orders. He solemnly conveyed to everyone present the imperial decree's permission to expand the army by 50,000, and ordered Military Superintendent Hu Gui reported the recent results in the hall, and everyone was delighted.
Later, Li Yuan announced that he was about to leave for Beijing, and appointed Liu Jiangsheng to stay in Wuping and control the military.
"Everyone, I will rush to Jinling today to welcome the bride. Lin Sichang, the commander of the capital, will lead a thousand light cavalry to accompany him. The other generals will go to their posts. When I am not in Langzhou, you must urge Wu Ping to strengthen the city defense in Xiazhou County. , patrol day and night, don’t take it lightly! All military and political affairs, big and small, are subject to the orders of Deputy Commander Liu! If there are urgent military matters that need to be submitted to the commander for decision, you can report everything to Xu Changshi, and he will send a message to me!"
Liu Jiangsheng led all the generals and bowed in unison: "General, I obey!"
Before leaving, Li Yuan told Liu Jiangsheng: "The soldiers and horses from Tianyin Mountain are expected to arrive tomorrow, and the merchant ships will dock at Yuanshui Ferry. At that time, Wu Mu will lead the crowd to enter the city from the north gate. Mr. Xu is ready appropriate......"
This trip was to welcome his bride, so after setting off from Langzhou, Li Yuan did not dare to delay at all, and led the Qingqi to gallop quickly on the official road. After passing Dongting Lake, we turned north to Junshan, passed Yuezhou and then headed eastward along the Han River. Five days later we successfully entered Ezhou. It was originally planned to rest for one night in Ezhou, and the next day everyone would board the warship of Long'an Army (Navy Army) here and go down the river, so that they could arrive at Jinling a few days early.
However, when he arrived at Ezhou City at dusk, Li Yuan saw a shocking scene. The city gate was tightly closed at this time, and a large number of disorderly defeated soldiers were gathering chaotically outside the south gate, shouting continuously across the moat. Several military flags with the word "Tang" written on them had been discarded. People trampled on them, and the weapons were thrown crookedly on the ground. Their clothes and armor were disheveled, and their expressions were panicked. They were in such a mess that they had no military appearance at all. However, the Tang soldiers on the city turned a blind eye and did not open the city but did not expel them.
You know, this Ezhou city is well-known as a military center in the Southern Tang Dynasty. How could the Wuchang Jiedu governor of the famous general Liu Renzhan allow a group of broken soldiers to cry outside the city?
At this time, Lin Sichang on the side whispered nervously: "Commander, Ezhou is the hinterland of our Tang Dynasty. It has always been peaceful. How could there be a gathering of rebels? And there is no movement in Ezhou City, which is really strange. Otherwise, the general will lead his troops to find out. Inquire?”
Li Yuan frowned and agreed: "Go!"
A moment later, when Li Yuan closed his eyes and concentrated on the horse, Lin Sichang had already ordered several defeated soldiers to be brought directly to him.
Lin Sichang glared and scolded: "This is Marshal Li, the military governor of Wuping in the Tang Dynasty. Why don't you come and greet me quickly?"
I don't know what happened to these defeated soldiers in recent days. They were like frightened birds. After hearing this, they plopped down and knelt down one by one. Then these seven-foot tall men actually started to cry loudly.
Li Yuan was suspicious, and then said coldly: "How can I, the son of Tang Jun, act like a girl? How can I behave like this and cry like this? What on earth happened? Tell me the truth!"
The leader, a big man, said with red eyes and a trembling voice: "To tell you back to the commander-in-chief, we are all soldiers of Guangzhou Governor Zhang Shao. There was an emergency in Shouzhou the day before yesterday, so we followed Governor Zhang to the rescue, but unexpectedly we encountered him in the Dueshui River. As a result of the ambush, both the governor Zhang and the governor Zhang Chenghan were martyred..."
Li Yuan immediately said angrily: "Nonsense! Shouzhou is an important town in the north of the Tang Dynasty. There are 50,000 soldiers stationed in Qinghuai and Weisheng. How can there be any mistake?" When he said this, he couldn't help but feel in his heart. He became anxious. At this time, the Northern Expedition army should still be fighting fiercely in the Zhou Kingdom. And by calculation, it had been half a month since Yan King Li Hongji led his army to the north for rescue. Could it be that they were all defeated and the Zhou army attacked Shouzhou?
Something strange happened, and Li Yuan quickly asked: "But the Zhou army is besieging Shouzhou City?"
The big man said in fear: "Commander, I really don't know! Governor Zhang didn't say much that day. After receiving the news of Shouzhou's emergency, he led us out of the city! In the battle of the decisive battle, the enemy's flag was raised by us. Never seen it before!”
Zhou Jun claimed to be the King of the Central Plains, and it was dealing with a group of soldiers from the Southern Tang Dynasty. How could it be necessary to cover up its banner?
At this time, the more Li Yuan thought about it, the more confused he became. The Northern Expedition army was an elite division. Even if it was defeated previously, now with the new reinforcements from King Yan, there would be at least 100,000 troops. Even if the Zhou army won a complete victory, the casualties would definitely be considerable. Guo Wei was always cautious. Because of his temper, he should at least be ordered to rest for a period of time. Moreover, Guo Wei was in Yanzhou to personally conquer Murong Yanchao at this time. The outcome had not been decided for several months, and it was difficult to escape. It was already difficult to divide his troops and go south to retreat from the enemy. How could he have the energy to counterattack the Southern Tang Prefecture? Could it be that his godson Chai Rong is possessed?
Li Yuan couldn't help but began to look at the defeated troops in front of him with questioning eyes, and shook his head: "No, Guangzhou is more than five hundred miles away from Shouzhou. Even if Shouzhou is in emergency, he will definitely ask for help from the nearby Luzhou and Haozhou." , there are still two forbidden troops there! Why did you choose to go far away and go to Guangzhou? "
Lin Sichang pulled out his sword with a "swish" sound, put it directly on the big man's neck, and scolded: "How dare you, such hasty rats, deceive the commander?! Tell me, what are your intentions!"
Han Mang's gaze was within reach. The big man swallowed his saliva and quickly bowed his head and said: "Commander, everything I say is true! When we were escaping, we encountered Liu Renzhan and Liu Marshal's troops who came to rescue. Therefore, Liu Marshal He ordered us to come to Shouzhou City to ask for help! From now on, the villain will have no way of knowing!"
Li Yuan felt troubled at this moment, but what the big man said made sense.
A few days ago, Liu Renzhan's department had indeed been ordered to mobilize defenses in Haozhou, and Haozhou was the closest to Shouzhou, so he would not sit idly by. But the Wuchang Army under Liu Renzhan was famously brave. If Liu Renzhan really couldn't cope with it and ordered these defeated troops to come to Ezhou for help, it shows that the enemy must be a tough guy.
Could it be that the Zhou army really moved south in large numbers? If not Zhou Jun, who else would it be? Li Yuan suppressed his mind and calmly recalled what he had known all his life. He suddenly turned over and dismounted his horse. His eyes found a few piles of sand on the ground. He picked up a branch and squatted down to draw a few strange symbols.
Lin Sichang led his soldiers to gather around him. When he looked closely, he found that the symbol was extremely unfamiliar, but the pattern was clearly divided into three layers. From the simple lines, he could probably tell that the top circle looked like the sun hanging high in the sky. The arc moon is in the center, and the bottom is like stars.
Li Yuan threw down the branch, patted away the dust, and said, "Come and take a look. Is the enemy using this banner?"
"This..." The big man hurried forward, stared blankly for a moment, and then exclaimed: "Exactly! The commander is really amazing, how did you know this?!"
Sure enough, Li Yuan's face gradually darkened, and then he said in a deep voice: "This is the sun, moon and star flag of the Tuyuhun tribe."
(Note: Tuyuhun is a descendant of Murong Xianbei, and his nickname means "I admire the virtues of two rituals (heaven and earth), and follow the beauty of three lights (sun, moon, and stars)". Although Tuyuhun died in Tubo at the end of the Tang Dynasty, his tribe did not die, and the divisions A group of people moved to Hedong and changed their surnames to Han to avoid people's attention. By the Five Dynasties period, they had scattered all over the country and produced many good generals.)
When everyone was stunned, Li Yuan gritted his teeth and said coldly: "Li Jinquan has rebelled."
