Xijing, Luoyang.
The majestic and majestic city stands above Luoshui River. It has been baptized by war, weathered, and even though it is constantly on the decline, the historical heritage of the thousand-year-old ancient capital is still there.
It was the end of April, Meng Xia's tail, shrouded in the scorching sun, the weather was a bit irritatingly hot, and the Chinese people who were accustomed to the climate were impatient, not to mention the foreigners from outside the region.
Outside the huge city, there are more than ten camps with various flags, but a few of them are more prominent, with black robes, black armor and black flags. They are from the imperial guards of the New Dynasty in Hedong.
Guanyou is poor, but the situation there is still chaotic and tense. It is not just the "anti-Liao movement". The army of Hou Shu is taking advantage of the turmoil in the Central Plains to be aggressive and continue to invade and expand. It seems that Shu Emperor Meng Chang's ambitions are not small. Not counting the four states of Qin and Feng, he has not finished digesting the results of the battle, but he has the intention of sending troops eastward to invade Jingzhao and seize Chang'an.
After going around a small circle and constructing a barely reliable line of defense to the west of the capital, Liu Zhiyuan led his army to enter Yiluo calmly.
Recently, Emperor Liu Zhiyuan has been in an especially good mood. The strategy of entering into the Central Plains has gone too smoothly. He has been marching straight forward and is invincible along the way. The resistance he faces in reality is far less than expected. Along the way, we have basically spent time recruiting surrenders and accepting rebels, and have made considerable breakthroughs in all aspects.
On the Huaizhou side, after more than a month of siege, Hanoi City was finally captured by Shi Hongzhao. Cui Tingxun, the fake Heyang Jiedu envoy, finally became a loyal minister of Khitan. Of course, he may have wanted to surrender but was unable to do so. It is said that he was in When the city was broken, he was killed by rebel soldiers.
Shi Hongzhao didn't spend much money on his side. He probably calculated the date for Liu Zhi's arrival from the Far East and led his troops to join him in Luoyang.
When they heard that Liu Zhiyuan was coming, the rebels from the Heluo land also gathered and surrendered their loyalty. However, the idea of these people wanting to make a living was more real. After being plundered by the Khitans, not to mention ordinary people, even the army thieves were hungry.
Liu Zhiyuan also accepted them all and selected warriors from them to supplement the Forbidden Army, especially those who had military experience in the Shijin Forbidden Army and could use them. After entering Heluo from the east, Liu Zhiyuan's military strength rapidly expanded, but the difference between good and bad became more and more obvious.
Of course, what pleased Liu Zhiyuan the most was the news of the Battle of Luancheng!
After carefully reading the battle report sent from Zhenzhou and listening to the envoy's description, Liu Zhiyuan couldn't help but break into a cold sweat. After the joy, Liu Zhiyuan couldn't help but feel incredible at the courage and luck of his second son, and couldn't help himself with the brilliant results of the battle.
Compared with the forge ahead and heroic spirit of Liu Chengyou's partial division in Hebei, Liu Zhiyuan's side had an empty army, and the results achieved were somewhat insufficient.
After hearing that the Liao Emperor died and the Liao army was defeated, Liu Zhiyuan's psychological pressure plummeted and his morale improved. He was no longer as conservative as before. In Luoyang Palace City, the Palace of Imperial Civilization met with Xijing officials and began to discuss the matter of changing the country's name. The shabby signboard "Jin Kingdom" has no use value at present and should be abandoned.
At the same time, many generals in the bodyguard army, headed by Shi Hongzhao, requested orders several times, eager to advance eastward and capture Kaifeng. They were also stimulated by the results of the Battle of Luancheng.
Liu Zhiyuan was overjoyed with Liu Chengyou and issued an order again, appointing him as Chengde Jiedu envoy, Hebei military system envoy, Shou Sikong, and in charge of the affairs of various states in Hebei. The name is very resounding, but the actual effect is not great. However, it did give him the opportunity to intervene in the military affairs of the states in Hebei. Later, Liu Zhiyuan agreed to all the army expansion, rewards, and appointment of some officials proposed by Liu Chengyou.
At this time, someone suggested that the second prince had too much power, and vaguely suggested to Liu Zhiyuan that he should take precautions. Liu Zhiyuan was furious when he heard about it. He suspected that he was alienating the relationship between father and son, and ordered the person who made the comment to be killed.
Then, in less than two days, Liu Zhiyuan appointed the emperor's eldest son Liu Chengxun as the envoy of the Anguo Army, the envoy of the governors of Hebei, and the guard Situ. He led the army from Taiyuan and went to Zhenzhou to support Liu Chengyou, and escorted the captured property back south.
Since entering Luo, Liu Zhiyuan, who has been deeply aware of the dilapidation of the capital, has already felt tremendous financial pressure. The large amount of property seized was indeed very important for the new dynasty, which could bring back a lot of blood. If it didn't happen, then he wouldn't think about it. If it did, Liu Zhiyuan couldn't help but not think about it.
You know, in Hedong, in order to support the expansion of the Central Plains, the finances are about to collapse. In order to raise wages, food, ordnance, and uniforms, the Third Secretary Wang Zhang has cut off a lot of hair. Many harsh exploitation methods have been used. People's morale is unstable.
...
In the palace, Liu Zhiyuan met another Jiedu envoy who came to see him, Heyang Jiedu Wu Xingde, which he personally appointed. Liu Zhiyuan was very kind to these commanders who dared to take the lead in the world and expressed their surrender when the situation was still unclear in the early stage, and he personally allowed them to have meals with him as a show of honor.
Wu Xingde must also be a very sensible person. He personally led the army across the river from Mengjin and expressed his intention to escort the emperor to Tokyo. At the same time, he transported all the food and supplies he collected in Heyang as a tribute. Although the amount was not large, it was enough to express his sincerity.
Liu Zhiyuan was very satisfied with such a smart man, and gave him clothes, silk, and good weapons, and encouraged him more. As for Wu Xingde, he was also from Bingzhou, so he treated him more kindly. In this era, there are really Hedong generals everywhere.
"Military discipline still needs to be improved!" After personally inspecting the military camps around Luoyang, Liu Zhiyuan's dark and ugly face clearly showed dissatisfaction. Although the number of troops has increased, the supervision of military discipline has obviously been relaxed.
"We haven't entered Tokyo yet. There are still many disobedient people in Daozhou in the world, and we don't know how many battles we have to fight. We can relax in everything, but not the army!" Liu Zhiyuan's voice was full of anger as he scolded.
All the generals and commanders present only agreed. Shi Hongzhao's face also looked a little ugly. As the commander of the bodyguards' Ma Bu Army and the top leader of the New Dynasty's Forbidden Army, he was naturally responsible for any problems below.
He had a bad temper and lost face in front of Liu Zhiyuan. Naturally, he felt angry and assured Liu Zhiyuan with a sullen face: "Please rest assured, Your Majesty, the general will deal with it seriously!"
Although Shi Hongzhao had a perverse and unruly personality, he still had a good way of managing the army, especially in terms of military discipline, and he used severe punishments and laws to restrain his officers and soldiers. Leading his army southward, his Wu Jie Army completely committed no offense against Minqiu.
Among the armies east of Hedong, only the Wujie Army under the command of Shi Hongzhao could compare with the Longqi Army after reorganization in terms of military discipline. However, because his methods were too harsh, most of the soldiers were afraid of Shi Hongzhao's power and hated him.
Judging from his expression, he might be ruthless again in order to give Liu Zhiyuan an explanation.
