Zezhou, Gaoping County, north of the city.
Between the two Han villages is a rather vast highland, where Geng Chong's US military camp is stationed. The fortresses are in a row, the "Liao" flag is fluttering, and they look very orderly. Obviously, the commander of the troops is by no means mediocre.
In the Chinese army commander's tent, a burly veteran general sat behind the commander's desk. This person is Geng Chongmei, the envoy of Luzhou appointed by Yelu Deguang.
The person is obviously not as good as his name. Compared with his name, Geng Chongmei's appearance is really hard to compliment. His complexion is purple and black, and his mustache is as thick as a pole. However, such a rough-looking man has a delicate heart and is extremely talented in literature.
Geng Chongmei is a "Yan" who was born in western Liaoning. At the end of the Tang Dynasty, the world was in chaos. His father and ancestors both rose from the military. During the Liang and Tang Dynasties, the Geng family had become the most representative military-bureaucratic-landlord class in Hebei.
Since the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, internal strife in the Central Plains has continued. Yelu Abaoji took advantage of the situation to rise and unify the Khitan tribes. After becoming stronger, he repeatedly invaded the south and plundered the Han people's population and property. Due to geographical reasons, the Geng family was also among those who were plundered and entered the Khitan Kingdom and submitted to its rule.
After the rise of the nomadic people, there was no one who did not want to invade the Central Plains from the south. Yelu Abaoji was a powerful leader, so he would not want to invade the Central Plains where internal strife was constant. It was only during the process of proclaiming himself emperor and establishing the country and unifying the Khitan tribes that the Liang and Jin Dynasties fought for hegemony in the south, and Li Cunxu led the rise of Hedong.
Although Li Cunxu, Emperor Zhuangzong of the Tang Dynasty, was a famous "political idiot", he was an out-and-out genius in military affairs. Especially in the early days of his rule, the Hedong Jin army was an extremely powerful force.
After Li Cunxu destroyed Liu Shouguang and occupied Youyan, he completely gave up the idea of Yelu Abaoji going south. At that time, Li Cunxu was not easy to mess with!
However, although going south is not advisable, it cannot stop the Khitan's ambition and yearning for the Central Plains. As a large number of Han people were plundered and brought into the country, Yelu Abaoji continued to absorb the culture and talents of the Han people.
The fashionable and young Geng Chongmei, with his literary and military talents, his knowledge of Hu and Han culture, and his integration into the blood of the Hu people for countless generations, gradually gained the attention of Yelu Abaoji and was worshiped as a general.
The official position of Tongshi is to do the work of translation, but it is a bridge of political and cultural communication between Hu and Han under the rule of Khitan, and it is very valued. And every general is a close minister of the Khitan Lord. He has integrated into the Khitan ruling class, and his talents and abilities have been recognized by the ruler.
Those Han generals were actually the managers of Han affairs in Khitan, such as Han Zhigu, Zhang Li and Zhao Yanshou mentioned before, including Geng Chongmei.
After Yelu Deguang succeeded to the throne, he accelerated the process of Chineseization of Khitan, and Geng Chongmei was even more important and became Yelu Deguang's confidant. When the Khitan army went south, Shi Jingtang was appointed as the "son emperor", and Geng Chongmei played an important role in it.
This time, Yelu Deguang went south to destroy the Jin Dynasty, and Geng Chongmei also accompanied the army as a general officer. At that time, Guo Lin, the governor of Yizhou, used his city power to resist the Khitan army and horses, and held Yelu Deguang at bay for a long time. Until Du Chongwei led the Jin army to surrender, Geng Chongmei went out to Yizhou, lured Guo Lin's soldiers to surrender, and immediately killed Guo Lin, and Yizhou was captured.
It can be said that Geng Chongmei, a man with a strong political and military planning ability, is also a die-hard traitor. He is not an easy person to deal with.
However, Geng Chongmei in the tent did not look very good-looking at this time. His already dark complexion looked even more gloomy, and even his thick gray beard seemed worried.
His worries generally come from two aspects. The first is naturally the situation in Luzhou. He is now a military envoy appointed by the Lord of Liao and has the important task of controlling the territory; secondly, he is naturally worried about the Liao's rule over the Central Plains.
Geng Chongmei is a knowledgeable person. He has already realized how dangerous the Khitan situation is in the Central Plains. He is not as "naive" as Yelv Deguang. The people of the Central Plains are not so easy to bully. When they break out, hundreds of thousands of Khitan troops will face the situation of "everyone is wiped out and the enemy is in a state".
And now, bad news continues to come from various states, which corroborates his guess. Civil turmoil here, rebellion there, this state will cease, and that state will rise again. Especially after Liu Zhiyuan proclaimed himself emperor, the situation completely got out of control.
As a close confidant of Yelu Deguang, Geng Chongmei had always given advice, but Yelu Deguang refused to listen. No matter how wise the monarch is, he will not listen when he is satisfied with his ambition. Geng Chongmei was appointed as the governor of Luzhou. To a certain extent, it could be regarded as Yelu Deguang's "denigration" of him.
The leading army set out from Kaifeng, marched westward to Luoyang, crossed Heyang in the north, and entered Zezhou. The distance was not too long, but Geng Chongmei insisted on walking for nearly ten days, especially after learning the news about the troops sent from Hedong. Played slower.
This was the second day of garrisoning in Gaoping. Luzhou was dozens of miles away to the north, but Geng Chongmei chose to hold back. He always felt uneasy in his heart. In other words, he did not have much confidence in competing with Hedong for Luzhou, especially It was when he only had these thousands of "Yan soldiers".
What was on the handsome desk for him to study were the maps of Ze and Lu prefectures. With his eyes fixed on Shangdang City, Geng Chongmei couldn't help but murmured: "I don't know what the situation is, where Liu Jun is!"
Perhaps the chanting had an effect, but suddenly came the notification voice from the Ya soldiers outside the tent: "Commander, the scouts have arrested a man from the north, claiming to be an envoy from Luzhou, and saying that he has something important to see him!"
With a dark face, Geng Chongmei regained his energy, narrowed his sharp eyes, and immediately waved his hand: "Take him into the camp!"
Not long after, a very ordinary man was brought into the tent. He was still wearing a military uniform and looked exhausted. He looked the man over for a moment and asked, "Who are you? What's the matter?"
"The villain is a personal soldier of Zhao Xingqian, the envoy who stayed in Luzhou. This time he went south on the envoy's order to seek help from the commander-in-chief!" The man took a few deep breaths and replied immediately.
Narrowing his eyes, Geng Chongmei asked, "How is the situation in Luzhou now?"
"Thousands of troops from the east of Hedong have moved south. The Shangdang troops are weak and there are people with different intentions. Zhao Shijun is afraid that he can't resist it, so he sends a villain to ask for help. He asks the general to send troops north as soon as possible. If it is too late, the city will not be protected!" Looking at Geng Chongmei, the man replied nervously.
Hearing what he said, Geng Chongmei's face showed little emotion. His eyes flashed and he asked coldly: "Who is the person you said has different intentions?"
"Li Wancao, the commander of the Surui Army, and Gao Fang, the judge of Jiedu!" The visitor immediately named Gao Li.
Hearing this, the guard in Geng Chongmei's eyes dissipated a little. Before setting off, he could ask Zhang Cong'en to find out about the situation in Luzhou. If there is any difference between Gao Fang and Li Wanchao, it is also true.
After thinking for a while, Geng Chongmei suddenly asked: "Is Shangdang still in the hands of Zhao Xingqian?"
The visitor shook his head.
"No?" Geng Chongmei's voice became a little colder.
Seeing this, the man quickly replied: "I don't know, I'm running south for hundreds of miles. Maybe the Hedong soldiers have arrived at the city at this moment, maybe Shangdang has fallen..."
"Is that so?" Geng Chongmei muttered, walked up and down, thinking for a while, then suddenly turned his head and stared at the man: "Where is the Hedong Army?"
The man was stunned and quickly shook his head: "You don't know!"
"Take him down to rest!" After observing the visitor for a while, and seeing that there was nothing unusual about him, Geng Chongmei then ordered: "In addition, order the scouts to expand the scope of the investigation and send people to Shangdang to check."
Geng Chongmei didn't have to wait long before the exact news came from the north. As soon as his scouts left Yangtou Mountain in the north, they ran into the cavalry capital led by Han Tong and strangled them, killing and wounding more than ten of their cavalry.
