What caused shock was not only Liu Xiu's amazing record, but also the very ambiguous banner he used.
Prosper the Han Dynasty!
Is the Han Dynasty in decline now?
The royal family occupies a stable position in Guanzhong and has a large number of elite soldiers. The rebel army is now at an absolute disadvantage. Another force fighting against the imperial court is the princes and kings of the Liu family.
What kind of Han Dynasty should be revived?
The implicit meaning of these words is clearly that whether it is Wang Mang or the princes and kings, I think these people are not good enough. The country of this great Han Dynasty depends on me!
It is unbelievable that a descendant of a distant clan would dare to make such a statement among the world.
Liu Xiu's sword pointed at Qi, and he moved to Hebei, Chen and Xu. Whether he faced the princes' subordinates or the rebels, he won consecutive battles.
During the Battle of Jingnan, the princes of Guandong said that they had no more than ten thousand people, no more than a thousand households, and no more than a hundred soldiers. This was indeed not wrong.
But a strong soldier with less than a hundred and an ordinary militia with less than a hundred are completely different concepts.
The people under Liu Xiu's command who had followed him all the way from Nanyang County, as well as those who had been following him since arriving in Guandong, many of them were capable of leading armies in combat. Under the strategic plan formulated by Liu Xiu, they attacked and conquered from all directions. .
After many small and large battles, he continuously annihilated the armies of princes and kings. The most important thing is that he not only used force, but also used a variety of methods in this process, and finally gained the recognition of the princes of Guandong.
The overlord of Chu who was invincible on the battlefield at that time left a huge lesson to the world.
Force can conquer the world at once. But it will be lost in the end.
So these families gradually moved from behind the scenes to the front to support him. The only problem was
By this time, the court could no longer ignore Liu Xiu's strength.
Especially after Liu Xiu finally gained a foothold, he launched the slogan of "promoting the Han Dynasty, restoring Zhengshuo, promoting the Liu family, and defending the world".
Although Liu Xiu's forces did not have the political program and slogan to kill Wang Mang and eradicate the Demon Queen.
But this slogan also questions whether the Liu family is in charge of the Chang'an regime!
Who knows whether Liu Xiu's forces will complete the ideological transformation of questioning the princes and kings, understanding the princes and kings, and becoming the princes and kings?
Who dares to bet on this matter?
…
In Yanzhou, as the war progressed more smoothly, Liu Xiu swept across the five most populous states in Guandong, especially Qingzhou and Yanzhou.
Although order here has not been restored, the big warlord has disappeared.
However, Liu Xiu's biggest disadvantage became apparent at this time. He was not a Han orthodox, and the power of the five surnames had its limits. Moreover, he could not unite with every powerful person. Even the powerful scholars from various states who gathered under his command had already begun to fight for power. , the factional struggle intensified, and they used their own resources to secretly coerce Liu Xiu to favor his side.
Liu Xiu knew that this was bound to happen.
But at this time, Liu Xiu knew that it was time for him to make the next step.
After emerging from the trapped dragon situation in Nanyang County, he has truly become a hidden dragon that is about to take off.
At this time, Liu Xiu should have started to govern the five states, and then slowly united or suppressed the powerful people in the five states, allowing these powerful people to provide money and troops, and his strength would quickly expand.
But the reality did not give him such a chance. The imperial court had already begun to send out troops to eliminate Liu Xiu, and the internal struggle fell into another fight.
Liu Xiu must go west.
He held a swearing-in meeting in Xiangying City where the original Chu Kingdom was located. "Now that the situation in the world has reached this point, only the puppet imperial court and I, Xing Han, are left. Defeat the army of the puppet imperial court, and the world will be restored." On track.
I, Liu Xiu, was originally the eldest son of Yuanzhi. I am able to reach this stage because of God's favor and the following of heroes.
This is a heavy burden given to me by God, allowing me to shoulder the responsibilities of the world.
What can I say?
The only thing that can be done is to respectfully carry out God's orders.
Fengtian Jingnan is at this moment. "
After the swearing-in, Liu Xiu led an elite army of 50,000 people all the way west to the first pass in Luoyang, Hulao Pass.
Liu Xiu used the tactic of showing the enemy that he was weak to lure King Liang's army out of the pass, and then lost the battle and successfully entered the main pass of this many passes.
He stationed thousands of people here as a base for advance, attack, retreat and defense.
The reason why the imperial army arrived belatedly was because after a fierce debate, they finally came to the conclusion that Liu Xiu must be eliminated.
No matter what Liu Xiu wanted to do, whether to rebel and become emperor, or to enter Chang'an and replace Wang Mang as the ruler, this was unacceptable to the royal family, dignitaries and officials.
Because Liu Xiu completely represents another political force!
Once Liu Xiu entered Chang'an, he had his own close relatives and his own political team to become new dignitaries. He was also close to the Confucian classics family in Guandong, and there were a large number of scholars who could serve as officials.
All this is a devastating blow to today's big figures in the court.
At this moment when the situation in the world is gradually becoming brighter, the imperial court is finally willing to take action with all its strength.
In the past, he was hesitant when fighting the rebels and the coalition of princes and kings, but now he is trying to suppress Liu Xiu with thunderous force, which can almost be called an attack that empties his family's wealth.
Even Luo Qi, who was now drifting away from Wang Mang, did not raise any objections.
Because in his opinion Liu Xiu is an extremely good commander, and he does not need to be crushed by absolute strength, but there is a real possibility that Liu Xiu will defeat him one by one.
In order to prevent accidents, Luo Qi also paid special attention to the generals who went on the expedition, because he was worried that the now somewhat suspicious Wang Mang would let his cronies serve as generals, resulting in one general being incompetent and exhausting the entire army.
In the end, Wang Mang still had some sense and just let his clansmen and cronies serve as supervisors of the army.
Luo Qi actually didn't want Wang Mang to intervene at all, but this was impossible. Wang Mang was extremely powerful, unless Luo Qi now directly let the court be torn apart from the decision-making and execution levels.
After several years of working together, the gentlemanly friendship that once existed between him and Wang Mang has basically been lost.
He even directly criticized Wang Mang, saying that since his abilities were limited, he should abdicate in favor of someone more powerful instead of continuing to hold power.
Faced with Luo Qi's accusations, Wang Mang, who had been hit hard over the years, said rather defensively: "Since Wen Qi said this, who is the wise man who can save the world?
Are they a member of Queen Mother Zhao’s tribe?
Or are the Luo clan members going to personally save the world from decline?
If this is the case, Mang will abdicate and give up the position of Great Sima General to the wise man. "
Since I can't do it, if you ask someone who can do it, I'd like to see if he can do it.
But if Wang Mang is replaced, the court will not have to deal with the outside world. The civil war will have to be finished first.
In the end, the matter was shelved, and the imperial army entered the Heluo area, and then approached the Hulao area. A total of eight armies, each with 50,000 people, including thousands of soldiers in each, were stationed in the cities around Luoyang. , blocking Liu Xiu's strategic transfer path.
Liu Xiu, however, calmly defended Hulao Pass and the surrounding passes, harassing the court's logistics. The 400,000 people were under great logistical pressure every day, and breaking even one point was a huge achievement.
…
Chang'an.
Luo Qi sat in the room, frowning slightly. As the imperial army set out to conquer Guandong, Guanzhong became less peaceful than before.
Monsters, ghosts, monsters, and monsters all began to breed quietly. These things were like weeds, which could never be cut down or killed.
Zhao Hede walked in with exquisite snacks. Niao Tingting's biggest characteristic is that she is as warm as spring water. There is no part of her body that is not soft and waxy, and her posture is swaying when she walks.
"My dear, are you still worried about the war in Kanto?
The people heading to Guandong are all veteran generals, and the number of soldiers far exceeds the rebel army. There will be no surprises. Maybe the good news from Guandong will arrive tomorrow. "
Luo Qi took Zhao Hede into her arms and sighed: "Madam, you don't understand that in the face of real geniuses, so-called experience is not worth mentioning, especially war."
There was silence in the room, and Luo Qi still had something to say, which was that the family seemed to be changing from supporting the imperial court to remaining neutral.
The indifference to the actions of the Guandong princes at least shows that the family feels that Liu Xiu is more representative of the world than Wang Mang.
"Is Liu Xiu really that good?
If the imperial army really fails, what should I do to end with dignity?
At least the lady and our child should be saved. "
…
boom!
Countless meteorites fell from the sky. It was originally a dark night, but these countless rays of light illuminated the military camp.
Countless people’s faces were covered with deathly ashes!
"O Lord Su Wang!"
————
After attacking Heluo and descending to Hulao at night, he sent out 400,000 soldiers recklessly. Then he acted arrogantly and said to his left and right: "I will send 400,000 soldiers, step on the earthquake mountain, throw a whip to cut off the flow, and ten enemies will be defeated by one. How can we be invincible?" ?”
After hearing Mang's words, he sneered with the generals and said: "It is natural to rise and fall, and military strategists are fighting. How can we talk about the number of soldiers? Mang has ten defeats, and I have ten victories. Now that I dare to invade, three thousand fierce tigers are enough to make Mang's army huge." Return defeated."
Then we fought in Heluo. Suddenly, a spark fell into the camp. The night was dark and misty. The troops were frightened. He said: "This King Su has helped me and I have succeeded in conquering the enemy today!"
Go forward boldly and decide in one battle, it’s God’s blessing! ——"Book of the Later Han Dynasty·The Chronicles of Guangwu"
(End of chapter)
