At midnight the next day, the Tang army set off from the camp. After walking for about half an hour, a group of about a thousand people suddenly rushed over from the opposite side. Not long after the battle between the two armies, the enemy retreated and fled. In this way, Song Jingang continued to send small groups of troops to fight with the Tang army, using hit-and-run tactics.
Although Jiang Baoyi was a fierce general, he had a short temper and a simple mind. He finally lost his temper and led his troops to pursue the fleeing enemy, regardless of Li Zhongwen's dissuasion. Li Zhongwen had no choice but to follow him. He couldn't let Jiang Baoyi go deep alone, right?
Queshu Valley was originally the valley of the Fen River. Later, the Fen River changed its course and it became a valley. Queshu Valley varies in width. Some areas are very wide, while others are very narrow. Li Zhongwen chased for a while and found that the road was getting narrower and narrower. The mountains on both sides were steep and overgrown with trees. He knew something was wrong. Just when he was about to order a retreat, he saw countless soldiers coming out of the mountains on both sides, followed by arrows raining down...
It turned out that Song Jingang had set an ambush here. He continued to send small groups of troops to provoke the Tang army in the past, just to lure the Tang army to pursue them and fall into the encirclement he set. Song Jingang's soldiers rushed down from the hillsides on both sides, and the Tang army was cut into several pieces. Li Zhongwen led the troops to fight hard and finally broke out of the encirclement. However, Jiang Baoyi was not so lucky. He was captured alive by Song Jingang.
Li Zhongwen led his troops to escape to a safe area. After counting the number of people, only more than a thousand people were left. With just such a small number of troops, it was obvious that they could no longer fight. So, he discussed a way out with his generals. A general said: "All the surrounding prefectures and counties were occupied by Liu Wuzhou, only Haozhou is still in the hands of the Tang Dynasty."
"Okay, let's go to Haozhou."
The Tang army was defeated in consecutive battles, and his father was worried about Liu Wuzhou's invasion. His right servant shot Pei Ji and asked to send him. Abba then appointed Pei Ji as the commander-in-chief of Jinzhou Road March and went to attack Liu Wuzhou, allowing him to do whatever he wanted.
Pei Ji is a cowardly person with no military talent. He personally led an army of 20,000 to fight against Song Jingang. Song Jingang repeated his old tactics, sending a small force to challenge, and then pretended to be defeated and fled. Not knowing what the plan was, Pei Ji led an army to pursue him. However, he was ambushed by Song Jingang and his entire army was wiped out. Pei Ji fled to Jinzhou alone.
Song Jingang won several great victories in a row and was very proud of himself. That evening, after he inspected the camp and returned to the Chinese army camp, he saw a man tied to a wooden stake in front of the military tent. When he walked over and saw that it was Jiang Baoyi, he asked a general standing next to him: "What's the matter?" What's going on?"
"Reporting to the King of Song Dynasty, this person is trying to escape again. We caught him and we are going to execute him."
It turned out that Jiang Baoyi managed to escape back to the Tang Dynasty after being captured in Queshu Valley last time. This time, he followed Pei Ji into battle, was captured again, and tried to escape again.
Song Jingang walked up to Jiang Baoyi, stared at him sternly, and asked: "You were captured twice. I respect you as a fierce general. I didn't kill you twice and entrusted you with important tasks. Why did you run away again?" He did not avoid the other party's gaze, but said calmly: "My wife and children are all in Chang'an, how can I stay here?" When Song Jinjiang heard this, he was stunned for a moment, pondered for a moment, then turned to the general and said: " Let him go."
"King Song, isn't that letting the tiger return to the mountain?"
"Let it go." Song Jingang took a heavy breath.
"Yes." The general said and waved to the soldiers. Two soldiers immediately stepped forward and untied the rope from Jiang Baoyi's body.
Jiang Baoyi moved his wrist, clasped his fists at Song Jingang and said, "General Song's great kindness will never be forgotten!" Song Jingang didn't say anything and just waved his hand. A soldier stepped forward and handed the horse rein to Jiang Baoyi. Jiang Baoyi took the reins, mounted the horse, and rode away.
At this time, a guard ran over, clasped his fists and said, "Tell King Song that Madam is here." When Song Jingang heard this, he was pleasantly surprised: "Where is it?" The guard turned around and pointed with his hand: "It's in the central military tent. Inside." Song Jingang hurried to the central military tent. As soon as he reached the tent door, Liu Ruolan came out with a smile on his face and bowed to salute. Song Jingang quickly pulled her up and said, "Madam, there is no need to be polite. Come and follow my husband into the tent to talk." The two of them walked into the tent and sat down face to face. The guards served the tea and left. Song Jingang held Liu Ruolan's hand. Shou said: "Madam, you have come a long way. It's been a hard journey."
"How can this little bit of hard work be compared with my husband's battles at the front?" Liu Ruolan said with a smile, "My husband has won consecutive battles, and my brother Long Xin is very happy. He has already issued an edict to appoint him as a minister, holding a yellow ax and observing integrity. Jiuxi.”
Song Jingang gently stroked her crotch and said, "As a husband, I don't care about these honors and dignitaries. As long as I can stay with my wife forever, I will be satisfied..."
In the afternoon that day, Li Zhiyun came to the General Manager's Mansion and met his fourth brother as soon as he entered the front yard. The fourth brother pulled him to a remote place and whispered: "Liu Wuzhou and Song Jingang have led an army to attack Bingzhou. I am going to lead the troops back to Chang'an."
"Jinyang won't defend anymore?"
"No more defense. Song Jingang is too powerful. We can't beat him. Thirty-six strategies, walking is the best strategy. You go back and prepare. We will leave the city tonight."
Li Zhiyun returned to his mansion, called Scarface and two subordinate officials over, and said that the fourth brother was going back to Chang'an, and we should quickly organize the team, prepare our luggage, and prepare to follow the army to evacuate Jinyang.
When the lanterns were lit in the evening, everything was ready. Li Zhiyun walked out of the mansion gate and was about to mount his horse. Scarface came over and whispered: "King Chu, I heard that King Qi deceived Sima Liu Dewei and said that he would lead strong troops to fight Song Jingang. Let him He led the old and weak soldiers left behind to guard Jinyang."
Li Zhiyun said "Oh" and was about to mount his horse. After thinking about it for a while, he finally couldn't bear it. He turned around and whispered to Scarface: "Send a confidant to tell Liu Dewei that we are returning to Chang'an and Jinyang." If he can abide by the rules, if he can't, just run away. Pay attention and say it quietly, don't let others know." Scarface nodded, turned around and made arrangements.
Li Zhiyun mounted his horse, led his troops, and followed Fourth Brother's army to withdraw from Jinyang City overnight and headed towards Chang'an.
Several months after leaving Chang'an City, Li Zhiyun finally returned to the Chu Palace. When they heard that he was back, the whole family, from subordinate officials to servants, all lined up in the front yard to welcome him. Li Zhiyun walked into the palace gate with his head held high, waving to everyone with a smile, as if he had not escaped from Jinyang, but a victorious general.
Three days after they left Jinyang, Jinyang City fell. While they were still marching on the road to Chang'an, Liu Wuzhou and Song Jingang successively occupied Jinzhou, Luzhou, Yuzhou, Jiangzhou, etc., and finally captured Longmen Ferry. At this point, except for Xihe City in Haozhou, most of the territory in the Hedong area belonged to Liu Wuzhou, and only a corner of southwest Shanxi was left in the Tang Dynasty.
When the news reached Chang'an, the whole country was shocked. Everyone in the government and the public was in panic. Liu Wuzhou's army was too powerful and his offensive was too powerful. The newly born Tang Dynasty regime was greatly threatened. Everyone in the civil and military court looked worried, but Li Zhiyun was not affected at all and remained cheerful every day. Because only he knows the final result. The Tang Dynasty will eventually dominate the world, and the loss of the Hedong area is just a small episode, nothing at all.
What makes Li Zhiyun happy is that in the few months since he left, his "great cause" has made great progress. When he was in Jinyang, he corresponded with Wei Xiaobao every day. Their messengers travel between Chang'an and Jinyang every day in an endless stream. At present, his business territory has covered the entire Guanzhong area, with hotels opening in every county and banks opening in every state.
Of course, he does not work alone, but borrows ships to go to sea, borrows chickens to lay eggs, and partners with others to do business. He has used all kinds of cooperative systems, partnerships, joint-stock systems, and various modern business concepts. In this regard, Liu Hong, the future father-in-law, is indispensable. He had served in the imperial court for many years and had a wide network of contacts. Although some of the old officials of the Sui Dynasty were no longer officials, they were all wealthy and powerful. They heard that it was very profitable to open hotels and banks, so they started to invest in them. In this way, Li Zhiyun's industry is like a snowball, getting bigger and bigger.
As for the arsenal, it has begun to take shape, with hundreds of craftsmen already employed in the factory. Li Zhiyun divided the more than 60 subordinate officials in the palace into two groups, half of whom were engaged in business operations and the other half who worked in the arsenal as management. In addition to their official positions, those subordinate officials also have part-time jobs, such as factory directors, directors, section chiefs, etc. As for craftsmen, they mainly hold technical positions, such as chief engineer, engineer, technician, craftsman, etc. Everyone is paid according to their position.
The arsenal purchased and made a lot of equipment, but in order to engage in production, the power problem must first be solved. The northwest region originally contained a large amount of coal. Based on the memory of his previous life, Li Zhiyun marked several places on the drawing and gave the drawing to Wei Xiaobao and asked him to send people to find it. Wei Xiaobao sent people to find coal as expected, and then opened a coking plant on the outskirts of Chang'an to refine the coke before transporting it into the city. The craftsmen built boilers and steam engines based on the drawings drawn by Li Zhiyun, using steam power to drive the equipment.
Before Li Zhiyun went to Jinyang, he drew dozens of drawings of various weapons. He also wrote down the structural principles, production processes, performance parameters, etc. of each weapon, bound them into a book, and left them all to Wei Xiaobao. By the time Li Zhiyun came back, the manufacturing of weapons had made great progress. The craftsmen had made grenades, blunderbuss, rifles, grenades, and even a small mortar. Various ammunition had also been produced. developed. Although these weapons are still very rough and there is still a lot of room for improvement, they are already very simple.
