Xie Linong looked at Baofeng County and saw that it was sparsely populated and that many shops had been burned down, and his teeth itched with hatred. When he got here, Yang Tiansong had already led the army away and rushed to Ye County.
After thinking about it, Xie Linong said: "We won't enter the county town. We camp outside the city and have a rest for the night. We will go to Ye County tomorrow! Yang Tiansong kills people and sets fire. He has done many evil things. We must not let him go!"
The people below promised and arranged for people to start setting up camp.
Xie Linong sent someone into the city, called out the remaining officials inside, and asked them about Baofeng's losses.
After passing Baofeng, many people who were dissatisfied with Wang Xiaolie joined Yang Tiansong's team. Yang Tiansong now has nearly 200 people under his command, which is double the number he had during the Ruzhou rebellion.
The current situation gave Xie Linong a huge headache. If it is a large army, it will certainly not be able to go south unless it conquers Ye County. But Yang Tiansong is different. He is a bandit now. There are only one or two hundred people, and he can get through by taking a small road at night. After passing Ye County, it is no longer under Wang Xiao's hunting jurisdiction. What should I do?
At this time, Wang Xiaolie was arranging for people to transport the captured Yang Jin supplies back to Ruzhou. In this battle, he made a lot of money. Yang Jin brought out most of Zhengzhou's material population, giving Wang Xiaolie a huge advantage.
While Wang Xiaolie was carefully checking the inventory of supplies in the commander's tent, a soldier came in and crossed his hands and said: "Zhizhou, we have found out the news about Yang Jin! After the thief entered the mountains, he followed the mountain path to Lu. We’ve gone to Shan County!”
After hearing this, Wang Xiaolie couldn't help but frown. Asked: "It's not unusual to have a small road to Lushan County. But when he gets to Lushan County, he can break through the county seat at once? As long as he stops for two or three days, he will be overtaken by our army. Is there still a way to survive then?"
The soldier said: "I heard from the locals that there is a road that bypasses the county town and goes straight down to Lushan Pass. The pass of Lushan Pass is Sanya Village. In the past, the imperial court stationed troops and officials there. When the Jin soldiers came south, everything was abandoned and there was no Guarded by people!”
Wang Xiaolie had not had much time to occupy Ruzhou, and he was not very clear about the local geography. After hearing what the soldiers said, I knew it was not good. I always thought that as long as I controlled Lushan County, I would seal Lushanguan. If not, it would be very troublesome.
After thinking for a while, he asked the soldiers to go down, and Wang Xiaolie ordered to call his generals.
Everyone entered the handsome tent, sang the promise, and took their seats.
Wang Xiaoxing said: "I just received news that Yang Jin went straight to Sanya Village at Lushan Pass from the mountain road. We only have more than a hundred people in Lushan County, and there is no one stationed in Sanya Village. It seems that we can't stop him. Live in Yangjin. After passing Lushanguan, Yangjin entered Dengzhou."
Shao Ling asked hurriedly: "Did Yang Jin just let Yang Jin run away like this?"
Wang Xiaolie shook his head and said nothing, obviously undecided. After a while, he said: "Tan Yan, the governor of Dengzhou, was originally a minor official. After the Jin army defeated Dengzhou, the officials fled, so he came out to gather men and was appointed as the governor by the court. I heard that he didn't have many soldiers. I'm afraid I can't resist Yang Jin. Although we were defeated, Yang Jin recruited and dispersed, and now there are nearly a thousand people."
After hearing this, several generals looked at each other. Shao Ling whispered: "Zhizhou means that we should chase after him?"
Wang Xiaolie sighed: "I am the magistrate of Ruzhou. I don't know if there will be any gossip when we chase to Dengzhou. Furthermore, it is not only us who are fighting Yang Jin, but also the Zhai family army. We chased to Dengzhou, and they What would you think?"
Niu Gao said: "You don't have to worry about these things when facing thieves. Now we have arrived at Henan Mansion, so what?"
"That makes sense." Wang Xiaolie thought for a while, "It's just that if we don't report Dengzhou to the governor, it's always not good for us to cross the border directly. But if we send someone to report, the messenger will go back and forth for many days, and who knows where Yang Jin will be at that time ?”
After hearing this, the generals already understood that Wang Xiaolie wanted to chase Dengzhou. There are just many restrictions that cannot be decided at the moment.
After lowering his head and thinking for a while, Shao Ling said: "Zhizhou, now is no better than in peacetime, and we can't do everything according to the rules. Yang Jin has thousands of people, and based on what he did in Zhengzhou, I don't know how many people there are in Dengzhou. Tan Yan's troops are not large, how can he resist it? It is best for us to follow Yang Jin and save Dengzhou."
Wang Xiaolie nodded, frowned, and said nothing.
Zhang Jun is still in Dengzhou, so Wang Xiaolie certainly knows the strength of Dengzhou. If Yang Jin only brings a thousand men, it will not be easy to attack Dengzhou. But this guy is no ordinary person. According to what he did in Zhengzhou, it is not uncommon for the grain to be robbed and the strong men to join the army by the time they reach the Dengzhou city. At that time, Dengzhou couldn't stop him.
Wherever they went, they robbed all supplies and forced all the strong men into the army. This is easier said than done. Not every robber has this ability. You have to be ruthless in heart, tough in means, and personally charming, but being ruthless is not enough. In troubled times, robbers are everywhere. But why some bandits can snowball and grow rapidly, while others cannot, has a lot to do with the bandit leader.
Of course, very few characters who develop in this way can achieve great things in the end. Most of the people who succeeded in the end did not develop quickly in the early stages, but their strength was solid and their foundation was laid firmly.
In troubled times, everyone has a role to play. Just like the shengdan on the stage, no one can be missing. The Jin army's offensive was fierce, and Zhao Gou was still unable to form an effective rule, so these characters emerged in troubled times.
Wang Xiaolie could tell that Yang Jin was the one. People like him will emerge in large numbers in the next few years. They are the protagonists of this era, stirring up the world. It's just that most of their ups and downs have become the military achievements of the successful ones, and will not be recorded in history with great splendor. At this time, Han Shizhong, Yue Fei and others were not developing rapidly and were inconspicuous. But when they mature, most of these momentary figures become stepping stones for their development and growth.
Should we pursue Yang Jin? Definitely going to chase it. Wang Xiaolie was hesitant about how to use Yang Jin as much as possible.
Wang Xiaolie was interested in sending Zhang Jun to Dengzhou. Only one Ruzhou is not enough to survive in this troubled world. The closest places with the capital to dominate are Dengzhou and Xiangyang Prefecture.
Wang Xiaolie's most hoped-for outcome is for Yang Jin to go south to Dengzhou and drive Tan Yan away. Chase Yang Jin yourself, and then drive away or kill Yang Jin, thereby occupying Dengzhou. If you occupy Dengzhou and add your own Ruzhou, you will also occupy Tangzhou in the middle. Only with the three states in hand can we have capital.
After thinking for a long time, Wang Xiaolie said: "We previously agreed with Captain Zhai that if Yang Jin goes to Lushanguan, we will pursue him. We will ask Captain Zhai to come over later to discuss the matter. No matter what, we must pursue Yang Jin." , we can’t let him cause trouble again!”
The generals said yes. It can be seen from Wang Xiaolie's expression that this matter will never be that simple.
