"Brigade commander, have you heard?" Han Hun, the leader of the Yamen Army team under General Zuowei, lowered his voice and said to the brigade commander Zhou Heng next to him.
Zhou Heng said in a cold voice without even raising his eyelids.
"What did you hear?! I didn't hear anything!"
Zhou Heng, who had just failed to beg for rations from the camp general and was whipped twice, was now filled with resentment.
Han Hun didn't take it seriously and came closer and said.
"I heard that the cavalry soldier Ding Yi who escaped a few days ago is back again."
Zhou Heng glanced at him and said.
"If he dares to come back, isn't he seeking death!?"
"That's not necessarily the case. I heard that Ding Yi is no longer an ordinary person. He is now close to the general."
"General?!"
"Yes, that's the rumored general appointed by the secret edict, Liu Yu."
"I heard that the newly appointed general Liu Yu is going to lead us back to Yanzhou. If this is the case, wouldn't it be unnecessary to go to Jiangdong to flee?"
Han Hun's words immediately moved Zhou Heng's heart.
Zhou Heng looked in the direction of the Military Division's camp and murmured.
"As long as I can return to Yanzhou, from now on, I will farm at home every day. As long as I can have a mouthful of food, I will never leave home again. Talking about being a king and being rich, and building festivals and titles are all bullshit."
After saying this, Zhou Heng stared blankly in the direction of Yanzhou in the north, as if he saw the three thatched houses that he had not seen for several years. They were his poor but warm home with parents and brothers.
Hearing Brigadier Zhou Heng's words, Han Hun also felt sad in his heart.
"In the second year of Yongjia, when I left home, I was still thinking about getting a military title. But now, I just want to return home and see my mother at home. If I really go to Jiangdong, wouldn't it be like this? I can never go back in my life.”
Zhou Heng and Han Hun were both recruited by King Sima Yue of the East China Sea when he was in Yanzhou. The reason why they joined the army was simply that when they had no money to eat, they not only wanted to have enough to eat, but also wanted to gain a future and wealth. That’s all.
However, after several years of campaigning, soldiers from good families with no background like Zhou Heng and Han Hun were just brigade commanders no matter how great their military exploits were.
If you want to continue to be promoted and become an officer at the level of general, you must either have a prominent family background or have outstanding military achievements. Otherwise, you will have to be a Qiu Ba for the rest of your life.
Just as Zhou Heng and Han Hun were grieving, a discussion was going on in the Central Military Department not far away from them that was about to decide the fate of these 100,000 people.
"What is your official position with Liu Yu now?" As one of the three princes of the Jin Dynasty, Wang Yan always spoke with such magnanimity.
"Replying to Lieutenant Commander, I am now serving as Cao of the Eastern Army."
When facing the high-ranking officials of the Jin Dynasty, such as Taiwei Wang Yan and Xiangyang King Sima Fan, Ju Xian always showed caution as usual when speaking.
However, this time, as Liu Yu's envoy, Ju Xian came to the Jin court's march to Taiwan. Because there were tens of thousands of Qingzhou Army's fierce warriors behind him, Ju Xian always had a bit more toughness in his heart that he didn't have in the past.
"Hmph, you are a traitor who dares to pretend to be a traitor, Xiaoxiao. I am extremely merciful by not sending someone to take you down and put you to death on the spot. You actually dare to stand up for the Qingzhou traitor and talk shamelessly about taking charge of all the armies in Xingtai. , simply extremely arrogant.”
Sima Fan, the king of Xiangyang, did not have Wang Yan's superficial self-cultivation, so he immediately reprimanded him sharply.
As the current leader of the clan, Sima Fan, King of Xiangyang, immediately received a response from the rest of the people as soon as he said this.
Suddenly, the fact that Ju Xian was controlled by Liu Yu, the traitor from Donglai, and he was responsible for his campaign against Gou Xi was revealed by these Jin court ministers.
Upon hearing these responsibilities, if it was the former Ju Xian, he would either crawl on the ground in fear and plead guilty, or he would deny it in every possible way and refuse to admit it.
However, after being promoted to serve as a staff member in the Qingzhou Army, he gradually became infected by the atmosphere in the Qingzhou Army.
Seeing these ministers and clan members who were all showing their fierceness and seemed to want to eat him, Ju Xian not only was not afraid, but instead remembered what Liu Yu had said when he met him before he came here.
"These halls full of court officials are now dead bones in their graves, but they don't even know it yet."
Ju Xian felt courageous when he thought of this, and said without changing his expression.
"What His Highness the King of Xiangyang said are all old things. Nowadays, things have changed. What's the point of talking about them? Today, Liu Jixing is already the Duke of Qi, a great general, and a great governor appointed by the imperial edict. He is already a real governor. Even your Majesty, who has heard about the affairs of the state, no longer cares about these trivial matters in the past, so does the King of Xiangyang still want to go beyond his duties and reward and punish the minister on behalf of the emperor?"
Ju Xian was originally a bus commander in Luoyang City, a minor official with a salary of only 600 dan. If he were not a forbidden minister of the emperor, I am afraid that the current ministers and clans would not have much impression of him.
Sima Fan, the king of Xiangyang, never expected that Ju Xian, a low-ranking official who once had six hundred stones, would be so arrogant. He couldn't help but become even more angry. Just when he was about to give orders to the soldiers on the left and right to capture Ju Xian, the people around him Taiwei Wang Yan suddenly grabbed Bai Dao.
"Ju Shisi, you said that Liu Qingzhou asked us to stay in the nearest city and wait for him to lead his army. Is that right?"
Taiwei Wang Yan's tone was not like that of King Sima Fan of Xiangyang, who seemed to be asking for help. Instead, his tone was very kind.
Because Taiwei Wang Yan knew that even if he caught and killed Ju Xian, it would just be a bad breath, which would have no effect on the current situation, and would not bring any benefit to the hundreds of thousands of officials and soldiers. The advantage is that it will anger the approaching Qingzhou Army Liu Yu.
Liu Yu sent Ju Xian as an envoy this time, mainly for two reasons. One is that Ju Xian once served as the bus commander of Luoyang, and was a close servant of the emperor. He was familiar with the situation of the ministers in the DPRK, and he was more or less familiar with it. If you have connections, you won't be unfamiliar with the place, and your head will be chopped off as soon as you enter the Jin court.
The second aspect is that Ju Xian's son Ju Peng has already become a general of the Qingzhou Army and is now the governor of Changguang County. In this way, there is no fear that Ju Xian will secretly collude with Liu Yu to betray Qingzhou. Army.
Moreover, Liu Yu could also detect the changes in Ju Xian, who had been serving in Liu Yu's shogunate.
At this time, Ju Xian has already recognized the strength of the Qingzhou Army, and has also recognized the Qingzhou Army's ability to stabilize one side in troubled times. Liu Yu feels that he is not a bad person, although Ju Xian doesn't say it. , but his heart is already very different from the past.
After hearing what Taiwei Wang Yan said, Ju Xian said seriously.
"Yes, before leaving, the general asked me to tell the ministers in Xingtai that the Hulu in Yingchuan County must have learned about the death of Taifu. If they pursue lightly, they may not even leave the territory of Liang Kingdom. If the officers and soldiers were overtaken by the Hulu cavalry while they were running away, it would probably be a military disaster. Therefore, the general said that the Taiwei and other ministers should first find the nearest city to garrison and wait. The general led his troops to respond."
As soon as Ju Xian finished speaking, Sima Fan, the King of Xiangyang on the side, could no longer hold back and immediately spoke sarcastically.
"Hehe, he is a great general, but he is just a treacherous man from Luoyang who pretends to be an edict. Does he have uniforms, seals, ribbons, and honor guards?!"
What Sima Fan mentioned are all necessary ceremonial utensils for high-ranking officials of the general level, but these things are only available in Luoyang. Nowadays, the war is in chaos. If an edict can be sent to Liu Yu, it will be Sikong Xunfan. It is impossible to have these things as a result of the efforts of others.
Hearing the questioning of Sima Fan, the king of Xiangyang, Wang Yan, the Taiwei next to him, immediately cursed Sima Fan, the king of Xiangyang, for not understanding current affairs.
After King Sima Yue of the East China Sea died of illness, the officers and generals in Xingtai elected Taiwei Wang Yan as marshal. However, Wang Yan knew his own level and did not dare to take on this important task, so he appointed Sima Fan, King of Xiangyang. Unexpectedly, this Sima Fan I have the same thought, and I am also afraid of not being competent.
Therefore, after Sima Yue's death, Taiwei Wang Yan and Xiangyang King Sima Fan were both in power in Xingtai at this time.
Sima Fan had an upright temperament, and what he said was, in the view of Taiwei Wang Yan, a completely meaningless battle of wills.
"Hahaha, what King Xiangyang said is wrong. How could the edict appointing a general be a forged edict? Yang Mao, the governor of Yanzhou, has already received the edict. Could it be said that Yang Mao, an old official of the king of Donghai County, would accept a forged edict? ?”
"Or is it that Yang Mao, the governor of Yanzhou, can't even tell the difference between a genuine edict and a fake one?"
Yang Mao, the governor of Yanzhou, was not only a confidant of Sima Yue, King of the East China Sea, but also a close attendant of Sanqi Shilang. He was very familiar with imperial edicts.
Taiwei Wang Yan and others were already very clear about Liu Yu's requirements, which were nothing more than these.
The first one is that Taiwei Wang Yan and others will lead hundreds of officials and soldiers in Xingtai to stand firm in the nearest city, waiting for Liu Yu to lead the Qingzhou soldiers to take over.
As for the second item, after Liu Yu arrives, all the officials in Taiwan, the Chinese army and other armies must follow Liu Yu's Qingzhou army back to Yanzhou Cangyuan, and then everyone can decide whether to stay or go.
As for the last item, senior officials such as Taiwei Wang Yan must go west to Luoyang with Liu Yu to welcome Emperor Sima Chi to Yanzhou Cangyuan. As for whether the capital will be officially moved, it is not clear.
After fully understanding these conditions, Taiwei Wang Yan pretended to let Ju Xian rest first and ordered people to take Ju Xian and the dozen or so Qingzhou soldiers accompanying him down.
Regarding this situation, Ju Xian didn't understand. After all, he had already roughly guessed the current situation. Taiwei Wang Yan was not the one who could make the final decision. He had to work with Xiangyang King Sima Fan and others. resolution.
After Ju Xian left, Taiwei Wang Yan discussed these three conditions with the Xingtai ministers present.
"These three conditions are all arrogant ambitions. One by one, they are all vicious plots." Sima Fan, the king of Xiangyang, first angrily rebuked.
"Yes, Lieutenant, the Qingzhou bandit wants us to stop advancing eastward and hold on to one city. He clearly wants us to sit back and wait until he leads the front two of the Qingzhou bandit army so that he can kill us all."
"That's right, it's ridiculous that the Qingzhou thieves are saying that the barbarians from Yingchuan are chasing our army. Those barbarians can only have 30,000 or 40,000 light cavalry. We have 100,000 people. Even in a field battle, how can we still be afraid of the barbarians? .”
As the elite troops of the Central Plains dynasty, these officials were inexplicably confident in defeating the pursuing Huru.
In the eyes of these nobles and dignitaries, the officers and men of the Chinese Army would risk their lives to protect these noble nobles, even if they had no military supplies, even if they were hungry, thirsty, exhausted, and even if their hearts were in panic, they would fight to the death to protect them. .
Taiwei Wang Yan was originally a person with few principles and no clear understanding of the situation. He just heard Liu Yu's envoy Ju Xian speaking with certainty that the wolves and tigers were chasing Hulu from behind. , so I wanted to discuss this matter with fear.
However, according to the words of a group of princes and princes, even if there are chasing Hulu cavalry, it is impossible to defeat tens of thousands of elite Chinese troops.
Therefore, Wang Yan now believes that the first so-called request for the army to enter the city and hold on to the city is completely a conspiracy to intimidate and block Liu Yu.
After Liu Yu's first request was simply rejected by all the officials and ministers, there was no need to discuss the remaining two conditions.
All the officials and ministers present were happy that they had seen through the conspiracy of the Qingzhou thief Liu Yu, and they were even more ridiculous for Liu Yu's stupidity.
A little thief in the late Han Dynasty actually despised these famous officials and celebrities.
"Where is the nearest city here?"
Although Wang Yan believed that this was Liu Yu's conspiracy, he still agreed with the idea of holding on to the city.
Today, all the officials and soldiers in Xingtai have traveled nearly a hundred miles, sleeping and eating in the open air along the way. It would be necessary if there was a city where they could stay for a day and a half.
Upon hearing Taiwei Wang Yan's inquiry, a man on the side immediately came forward.
"Reporting to Lieutenant Commander, the nearest city is Ningping City, which is twenty miles ahead."
"Ningping City?" Wang Yan, who claims to be familiar with the naming system of counties and counties all over the world, is a little unfamiliar with such a name.
"Yes, Taiwei, this Ningping City was originally a separate county. It was established since the Han Dynasty. However, since the chaos at the end of the Later Han Dynasty, the population of Ningping County has been exhausted. When our dynasty was founded, this Ningping City The county has already been withdrawn and merged into Ku County, leaving only Ningping City."
After the official finished speaking, he took out a map of Yuzhou and gave it to Taiwei Wang Yan and others.
"So it's here. Isn't it just on the bank of the Shah River in front?" Wang Yan was very satisfied with Ningping City after looking at it.
"Okay, in that case, let's go to Ningping City to rest for a day, and then head east at full speed to prevent the Qingzhou thieves from catching up with our army."
"Ningping City is indeed a good place."
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