Chapter 64 Smart Man
It's not that He Xi didn't know Wang Yu's behavior in Kaijing. It's just that he can't understand how threatening this thing is.
In He Xi's view, this was simply a case of seeking medical attention in a hurry.
Even if a temporarily recruited army has weapons, how much combat effectiveness can it have?
Don't use simple ancient weapons. Knives and guns and the like. It seems that you can kill people with a knife. I thought ancient army training was simple. If the ancient army was really that simple, there would not be thousands of official troops chasing hundreds of thousands of peasant troops in the late Ming Dynasty.
Even if He Xi spends the winter in Pingcheng. There is not much time left for Wang Yu. It is simply not enough to train a large army, and it is simply useless.
It's just that there are some inside stories that he doesn't know.
In Li Chenggui's view, Wang Yu has gone crazy.
Now his orders cannot go out of Kaijing, so they are only effective around Kaijing. If he goes south, the wealthy families in the south won't listen at all. Li Chenggui learned that the southern scholar-bureaucrats were also preparing to establish a new king. It's just that it's hard to choose this new guy.
As mentioned above, there is no more recent branch among the five branches of the Goryeo royal family. Since it is a distant clan. Then anyone can join. How much difference can there be between a seventh-generation grandson of a certain emperor and an eighth-generation grandson of a certain emperor?
But the benefits of supporting the establishment are too great.
It is normal for it to be difficult to reach a unified opinion for a while.
Wang Yu's madness lies in the fact that he broke many unspoken rules and promoted many slaves to become officials. He also raided the properties of wealthy families in various parts of the capital and distributed them to slaves to serve as soldiers. These people are a mob, but once these slaves have freedom and property, how much fighting power they have. It was something Li Chenggui couldn't figure out. Maybe it's strong, maybe it's weak.
But Li Chenggui couldn't wait any longer.
Because Li Chenggui was also a member of the Goryeo aristocracy and belonged to the Li family in Quanzhou.
Neither Li Chenggui nor the people in Li Chenggui's circle would tolerate this kind of behavior that clearly trampled on the dignity of the nobles and nobles. That’s what’s so positive.
He Xi didn't know this, but didn't want to ask more. Said: "Then how will General Li attack? Is he going to attack Xijing City first?"
Xijing is Pyongyang.
It is the last line of defense in the northwest of Kaijing. Xijing is also the center of the Datong River Basin. Once Xijing is conquered and the Datong River is crossed, there will not be many natural dangers to open the capital.
Li Chenggui said, "I am not planning to attack Xijing. Xijing was captured by the Red Scarf Army before. The foreign ministers also participated in that battle." Li Chenggui's eyes seemed to flash across the mountains of corpses and seas of blood. Goryeo attacked the city from three sides. The Red Turban Army was in internal strife. Backup is poor. Even so, the Koreans still spent a lot of effort to overcome Xijing. However, after defeating Xijing, they did not continue the Western offensive against the Red Turban Army for a long time because their vitality was severely damaged.
After that battle, Goryeo fortified Xijing.
Nowadays, it can be said that Xijing is the second largest city in northern Goryeo after Gaijing. Very sturdy. Easy to defend but difficult to attack. Although Xicheng is difficult to attack, it really is nothing in front of Xijing.
"The biggest problem in Xijing is that there are no soldiers. The tens of thousands of troops who originally guarded Xijing are now outside Pingcheng." Li Chenggui continued: "Originally, the puppet king was worried about the safety of Xijing, so he set the battle line outside Xijing." In fact, Wang Yu was not worried about the safety of Xijing, or he was worried that Li Chenggui had too much power. Xijing and Pyongyang had different wishes for the Goryeo court. If Li Chenggui took control of Xijing, it would be a threat to Wang Yu. He then sent Li Chenggui to the front, and Xijing chose another guard general. He also intended to keep Xijing's general and Li Chenggui in check.
It's just that Wang Yu still has some skills beyond mobilizing troops and generals.
"Goryeo had a shortage of troops and horses, and Xijing was also very empty of pay, so a lot of troops and horses were transferred from Xijing. Now in order to put up a front, Xijing has added many troops to the troops that left, and now Xijing's defenders Less than 10,000, and the Xijing guard general’s surname is Cui.”
"It is not enough to pose a threat to the army's rear route. If you have an idea, you can try to recruit one or two to surrender. And opening the capital is the key to the problem."
When He Xi heard what Li Chenggui said, he had some doubts in his heart. But I believe in Li Chenggui's military authority, and at the same time I also believe in Li Chenggui's status in history, and his reputation as the first famous figure in Goryeo. So I agreed.
Li Chenggui did what he said.
On the second day, he led his troops and set off.
------
Outside Xijing City, Goryeo.
The Datong River is sparkling.
At this moment, Li Chenggui's army was crossing the river in an orderly manner. Ye Chen stood on the bow of the boat, looking at the beauty of the Datong River. with the surrounding terrain. Although he fought hundreds of miles into Goryeo and rushed directly to the outside of Kaijing City, he spent most of his time wandering around the barren mountains and ridges. And big rivers have to be avoided.
Fortunately, Goryeo is not a big country. Most rivers originate from Changbai Mountain and its remaining veins. It’s only a few hundred miles from upstream to downstream. Downstream, the river is wide and difficult to pass without a boat. But there are many places upstream where it is possible to ford.
Ye Shen had walked that way before and had never been here before. On the way back, we had to cross the river from the middle reaches, and everyone knew the fate. He was bitten hard by Li Chenggui.
Ye Chen thought of the past and glanced at Li Chenggui beside him.
I had all kinds of emotions in my heart at the same time.
Life is so mysterious. The two people who were fighting each other before were actually on the same boat now.
Li Chenggui was inspecting the enemy's situation, and it was as he expected. Not a single soldier of the Xijing garrison was sent out. Even Datong Jiang didn't think about guarding for a while. He saw Ye Chen looking at him and asked, "What's wrong?"
Ye Chen said: "Nothing. I just want to ask you something, do you know about Meng Brother Timur?"
Li Chenggui suddenly smiled and said, "Do you know how I caught you during the Battle of Kaicheng?"
Ye Chen said: "I stayed in that temple for too long."
"No." Li Chenggui said: "Anguo Temple is a royal temple. Not only is it huge in scale, but also because it has the support of the royal family, the monks inside are arrogant and domineering. The ordinary people will not pass by, let alone the current chaos of war. No one pays attention. How about Anguo Temple? Now you have restrained yourself well. Slaves from all over the country report to you. So, I didn't know where you were at first. I didn't expect that you dared to stay dozens of miles outside Kaicheng. Until someone told me. "
Ye Chen was stunned and said, "Brother Meng Timur?"
Li Chenggui said: "Yes, it's him. Today's battle, the Jurchens always collapse, it's his fault."
Ye Chen was silent for a while and said, "Is this true?"
Li Chenggui said: "Do I need to lie to you? Originally, Timur, the fierce brother, wanted to take your head and sacrifice it to me. But you are very wary of the Jurchens, and he can't do this. Nowadays, many Jurchens are simple-minded. Although you lost the battle, they have no intention of giving up on you."
Ye Chen was surprised to digest these contents. Although it was the weather that was about to enter winter, he was still sweating through his clothes. Thinking about what happened before, I am really scared now.
Ye Chen said, "Why? I don't think I treat him lightly."
Li Chenggui said: "Because, he wants more. What Timur wants is not just the commander of the Ming Dynasty. He wants to be a prince. He wants the armor and weapons in your hands. As long as thousands of armors are in your hands, Take advantage of the war between the Ming Dynasty and Goryeo to gather the Jurchens and establish a foothold in the upper reaches of the Yalu River and the Haixi area. It will become a large tribe with hundreds of thousands of members. Even Yuan Ting will look up to him."
"Then he's not afraid of the Dong Chuang incident?" Ye Chen asked.
Li Chenggui said: "Don't be afraid. Because in his plan, I am the one who kills you."
Ye Chen said: "Then he------"
"Dead." Li Chenggui said: "On the battlefield, I captured him and kept him first. You also know what happened later. In this case, this person will be embarrassed by everyone, so it is better to die cleanly."
Ye Chen learned a lot from He Xi and was taught by his father. After trying to figure out Li Chenggui's thoughts, it is wrong to say that Li Chenggui was prepared to surrender to the Ming Dynasty from the beginning. But Li Chenggui had the intention of easing up with Daming from the beginning.
Meng brother Timur did not expect this. Li Chenggui was determined not to kill Ye Chen. Even if they are captured.
This was wrong, and his behavior of jumping between the two countries was immediately liquidated.
Ye Chen smiled bitterly and said: "Actually, he is not bad. He is just too smart."
Yeah, so smart.
Ye Chen always felt that he was a talent that could be created. I still think about him now. But I didn't expect to get such news. He died silently in a corner of Pingcheng.
