In the edict just read out by the envoy from Luoyang, Emperor Sima Chi of the Jin Dynasty not only requested Liu Yu to lead the Qingzhou Army to withdraw from the occupied territories such as Jibei County, Taishan County, Dongguan County and Langya County in the name of the Emperor.
Moreover, Liu Yu was relieved of his duties as General Zhengdong, Commander-in-Chief of Qingzhou Military Affairs, and Qingzhou Governor, and was transferred to Jizhou Governor, Commander-in-Chief of Jizhou Military Affairs, and General Anbei.
In a peaceful world, this appointment would be nothing more than a normal transfer from one state to another.
However, at this time, the world was already in chaos. All the officials in various prefectures and counties regarded the territory under their control as their foundation, and no one was willing to touch it lightly.
Moreover, everyone now knows that Wang Jun, the governor of Youzhou, has proclaimed himself the governor of Jizhou. If Liu Yu accepted this appointment, wouldn't he completely offend Wang Jun?
After hearing the contents of these edicts and facing the angry generals, Liu Yu not only did not feel angry, but was a little confused.
Such a stupid order, why did Liu Yu send a special envoy when he knew it was impossible to obey it?
At this time, Liu Yu looked at the emperor's envoy surrounded by Qingzhou generals and felt pity for him.
Doesn't this messenger know how difficult this task is?
Just when Liu was thinking about this, Gao Cheng, the emperor's envoy, was actually so frightened that he could hardly stand.
Although Gao Cheng knew that this matter was not simple when he received the order from Grand Tutor Sima Yue to go to the Qingzhou thieves to declare the edict.
Sure enough, when Gao Cheng learned the content of the edict, he almost fainted from fright. The content of the edict was obviously to anger Liu Yu, the traitor who was separatist in Qingzhou.
After Liu Yue saw the edict, he would definitely become angry and rebel again. At that time, Gao Cheng, as the emperor's envoy, would definitely be in trouble. He might even have his neck cleaned and pulled up to the high platform as a sacrificial flag. Where are the items.
Gao Cheng knew that all this was because Taifu Sima Yue knew that Gao Cheng himself was a disciple of the emperor's teacher Wang Yan, and Wang Yan had just been arrested and executed by Taifu Sima Yue not long ago. The crime was to confuse the emperor and corrupt the government. , in fact, it was just because Wang Yan and others supported Emperor Sima Chi.
Although Gao Cheng had no evidence of involvement in this matter, in Sima Yue's eyes, he was basically a thorn in his side.
That's why Gao Cheng got such a person who could be said to be willing to die.
However, Gao Cheng was a handsome man with a majestic appearance and a dignified appearance. Although he was already panicking inside at this time, the solemnity and seriousness on his face only made him look even more serious in the eyes of the uninformed person. They all thought that this messenger of the emperor was worthy of being a noble messenger of the emperor.
Unfortunately, Gao Cheng's majestic appearance could not save him.
Several Qingzhou Army generals had gathered around Gao Cheng and began to question him for daring to declare such an indiscriminate edict.
"Liu Yu, you are deeply favored by the country and have the army of a state. When Luojing was in crisis, not only did you not want to go to the capital to serve the king, but you started a war because of personal grudges, causing military disasters in the state and county, and looting and occupying the state and county city. Yi, but there is still a little bit of loyalty to the emperor and the country!"
Gao Cheng's words were so rude that he almost made it clear that Liu Yu was a traitor.
The Qingzhou military generals nearby became even more angry and noisy after hearing this.
After Liu Yu's general Li Feng heard this, he immediately drew his knife in his hand and rushed in front of Gao Cheng, with the sharp blade pointed directly at his neck.
Seeing that someone was threatening the safety of the emperor's envoy, all the subordinates behind Gao Cheng showed their timidity. Not only did no one step forward to protect him, but they all shrank back like frightened quails.
"You are a bastard. Why did the emperor want to take away the territory that our general gained through his own skills with just a silk letter?" Li Feng asked unceremoniously.
If Liu Yu is really a serious court official, if he moves elsewhere, he will usually transfer Yamen Army generals like Li Feng and Zhao Kun together. If that is the case, everything they do in Qingzhou will be nothing. There is no more protection.
Moreover, the generals of the Qingzhou Army such as Li Feng and Zhao Kun have regarded Qingzhou as their own territory. All their land, wealth, women and other assets in the past two years have been located on the boundaries of Qingzhou. .
How could all this be lost just because of an edict from the emperor?
Hearing Li Feng's loud questioning, the rest of the Qingzhou military generals followed closely and started shouting.
"Li Feng is right. Why should the emperor transfer us away with just an edict?"
"That's right, that's right, we followed the general to conquer Qingzhou, not the emperor who rewarded it. Why should we listen to him?"
"If we recognize him as the emperor, he is the emperor. If we don't recognize him, then the emperor is nothing."
Hearing so many absurd and outrageous cries, Gao Cheng couldn't help complaining in his heart. Sure enough, sure enough, these Qingzhou troops were all traitors with bad habits that are hard to change. These remarks were simply lawless.
Gao Cheng's entire family was under the control of Grand Tutor Sima Yue, which was used to prevent Gao Cheng from escaping halfway, or directly defecting to the Qingzhou thieves.
He knew that if he easily lost his reputation as the emperor's messenger and left the Qingzhou Army with a look of greed for life and fear of death.
I'm afraid Taifu Sima Yue is going to cause trouble for himself, and it will definitely be troublesome.
At that time, not only you, but your family will also be unlucky.
It's not good anyway.
Gao Cheng suppressed the fear in his heart, as if he couldn't see the steel knife on his neck, raised his upright face, and said loudly.
"Liu Yu, the emperor has long known about your ambition and your intention to seize the counties of Xu and Yan. Now he has ordered King Donghai to lead a hundred thousand elite troops to garrison in Xingyang, and ordered King Langya to send a hundred thousand soldiers to the north. If you still refuse to get lost, Once you know, the two armies will attack within ten days, and by that time, they will definitely crush you into powder."
"Thanks to the emperor's benevolence, he can't bear to start another war to poison the people. As long as you can withdraw from Taishan, Dongguan, and Langya counties, you can forget the past."
After Gao Cheng said this, he couldn't help but feel relieved. He could say it like this. Sima Yue, the king of East China Sea, should not embarrass his family again. After all, he risked his life to make such a point.
Gao Cheng had the face of a decent man, and his words were inherently credible. These words that the two armies were coming calmed down some of the Qingzhou Army's generals.
Everyone in the Qingzhou Army knew that although they were fully prepared for their attack on Taishan and other counties this time, they had to rely on mountain roads for transportation. If two imperial troops from the west and one from the south came to attack at the same time, the situation of the Qingzhou Army would be really bad. Very passive.
Therefore, Gao Cheng's intimidating words, which were full of loopholes, actually made many Qingzhou military generals panic.
"Hahaha, what a bluff!"
Just when some people were confused, Liu Yu suddenly burst into laughter.
"What you said about King Donghai and King Langya sending troops to attack is simply ridiculous. Sima Yue, the nominal prime minister of the country, is actually a cunning man who brings disaster to the country and the people. Our Qingzhou army was originally loyal and virtuous in the field. Since Qingzhou After my father entrusted Qingzhou to us, everyone in the Qingzhou army worked together, and in the eyes of Sima Yue, who brought disaster to the country and the people, he regarded all of this as an enemy."
Liu Xuan looked at the emperor's envoy and found that he had shown that his lie had been exposed, so he smiled contemptuously and continued.
"If Sima Yue really has the strength to mobilize an army of 200,000 to besiege our Qingzhou Army, then he can't act quietly and then take the opportunity to take Qingzhou directly. How could he send a so-called angel to talk about threats? So, these are just ridiculous bluffs of yours."
After hearing Liu Yu's words, the generals who were initially a little surprised suddenly realized.
Yes, the Qingzhou Army has repeatedly heard about the behavior of Sima Yue, King of the East China Sea. This Sima Yue has always acted cunningly. If he really had the strength to encircle and suppress the Qingzhou Army, he would have quietly acted long ago. It is impossible to send an emperor's envoy and preach about an army of 200,000.
Seeing that the lie to scare people was exposed, Gao Cheng, as the emperor's envoy, wanted to speak again, but before he could say anything, Liu Yu preempted him again.
"Okay, don't say any more."
Liu Yu waved his hand, interrupted the emperor's envoy who was about to speak, and continued.
"Originally, I wanted to treat the emperor and the court in Luoyang in the same way as ordinary states and counties. However, now it seems that your puppet emperor is useless. It is not as effective as the words of a general of the East China Sea King Sima Yue. , your remarks should have been made by Sima Yue."
Liu Yu originally planned to force the envoy to persuade the soldiers of Langya County to surrender, but now it seems that what the envoy said was that he was not afraid of death, and he would probably not agree if forced.
Moreover, Liu Yu had probably guessed the purpose of why Sima Yue, King of the East China Sea, sent a death envoy here.
As the relationship between Youzhou and Qingzhou becomes closer and closer, Sima Yue has begun to plan to make Liu Yu and Wang Jun turn against each other.
Regardless of whether this appointment is successful or not, Sima Yue can then tell the world, and then naturally force Liu Yu to rebel.
In this way, Wang Jun, who had recently been fishing for fame and reputation, aiming to make himself desirable to scholars, had to draw a clear line with Liu Yu.
After guessing this, Liu Yu felt a little ridiculous.
Now it seems that I have no good impression of the Jin court, and I have no good impression of Sima Yue, the big troublemaker. There is no obstacle in my heart to smashing all the names of the Jin court.
At this moment, Liu Yu felt that instead of continuing to worship the Jinshi, which was about to become obsolete, he might as well find a way to start a new one.
However, this is not the most appropriate time. At least we have to wait until Taishan County and Langya County are occupied. At that time, the Haidai land with Mount Tai as the center can be truly connected together, and there will be the ability to calmly deal with the surrounding hostile enemies. Neighbor's capital.
Regarding this so-called emperor's envoy, Liu Yu was too lazy to continue to talk to him, and then ordered people to drive them out. As for where these people wanted to go, that was not a matter of concern to the Qingzhou Army.
Subsequently, Liu Yu ordered the entire army to launch a final all-out attack on Kaiyang City, whose city walls had been severely damaged.
In just half a day, the Qingzhou Army relied on its powerful strength to completely defeat the defenders in the city.
Under the persuasion of Kong An, the leader of the party who had just been recruited, many county soldiers who were familiar with Kong An gave up their weapons and surrendered without any resistance.
In fact, when these poor county soldiers learned about the high reward offered by the Qingzhou Army, they all defected one by one and began to turn around and attack.
In Kaiyang City, in the governor's mansion.
At this time, the Langya County governor's residence was the last stronghold of the garrison in the city, and the entire outside of the high wall had been occupied by the influx of Qingzhou troops.
Ge Rong, the lieutenant of Langya County, was originally a military officer of the prefect Peng Lan. After hearing that the Qingzhou army had captured Zhongqiu, Peng Lan, the prefect of Langya, fled south to Yangzhou alone overnight.
As the lieutenant of Langya County, Ge Rong became the general of the city's defenders. Although Ge Rong went out of the city for sneak attacks and blocked the gaps in the city wall, he broke the rules of defending the city.
However, when the Qingzhou Army launched an all-out attack, Ge Rong's army still did not have the strength to fight.
In less than half a day, the entire Kaiyang City was lost. Ge Rong, who was no longer able to break out of the city, had to lead the remaining troops to retreat to the prefect's mansion, preparing to continue to resist.
Ge Rong thought that he was originally a commoner of Langya, and he was recognized by Prefect Peng Lan to be among the officials in the county. Although Peng Lan escaped, Ge Rong did not want to be known as a coward.
Even if he dies, he can still repay the kindness of Prefect Penglan for supporting him for so many years.
However, Ge Rong was determined to die, but the Langya County soldiers around him didn't want to die.
If Ge Rongping hadn't been a very good person and had a high prestige among the county soldiers, and the Qingzhou Army had never been in a hurry to attack, these weak county soldiers could have lasted for so long. Otherwise, they would have dispersed long ago. .
As the shouts of the Qingzhou Army outside the wall became louder and louder, everyone knew that if they continued like this, they would be dead. They did not want to accompany Ge Rong to death.
Then, the defenders took advantage of Ge Rong's unpreparedness, swarmed up and threw Ge Rong and several of his followers to the ground, and then immediately lowered the flag to the Qingzhou Army outside the wall.
"Stop shooting arrows, we surrender!"
"We have captured Ge Shenjun. We are willing to surrender."
When Liu Yu learned that the last stubborn defender had given up resistance and chose to surrender, he immediately ordered people to find who the Jin general guarding Kaiyang City was.
All this is because Liu Yu felt that the development of the war so far was beyond his expectation. He never expected that the county soldiers in Kaiyang City could resist for a long time after the city was broken. .
This greatly refreshed Liu Yu's understanding of the soldiers of the Western Jin Dynasty.
Therefore, he wanted to see with his own eyes the Jin army general responsible for defense.
