Chapter 244: Mind

From the beginning of the dispatch of troops, counting the time spent on the march on the way and staying in Wuwei County, a total of less than twenty days have passed, and Song Jianbu of Jiuquan County, which once dominated one side, has been wiped out, such a record is taken for granted in the eyes of Chen Cheng and Li Kan Liangxing and others, but in the eyes of Cheng Yi and Cheng Yin, it is a little shocking.

Among the princes of Xiliang a year ago, the oldest ones were Han Sui, Li Xiangru, as well as Ma Teng and Song Jian. Among these four people, Han Sui has already relieved himself of military power and gone to Yinchuan to retire. Ma Teng and Zhao Yun, the general under Chen Cheng, formed a family, and Song Jianbing was defeated and died, leaving only Li Xiangru and a lone seedling still in Longxi.

Li Xiangru was once appointed by the imperial court as the Taishou of Longxi, but he sided with the rebels in the great rebellion that swept Liangzhou. Later, he followed Han Sui and suppressed other Western Liang princes. People of his time, such as Beigong Boyu, Li Wenhou and the like, have already died and perished, but only he is still in the position of Longxi Taishou.

Hearing that Song Jian was defeated and killed in less than 20 days, Li Xiangru, who had been staying in Longxi, was greatly panicked, and he hurriedly reported to Yinchuan, saying that he was old and immature and could not bear the responsibility, and wanted to hand over the position of Longxi Taishou, and like Han Sui, he went to Yinchuan to retire.

When the recital was sent to Yan Zhong, Chen Cheng was still on the way back to the court, so he stayed in the middle for the first time. It means that we know about this matter, so let's not deal with it for the time being, and wait for a few days.

When going to Jiuquan, the army moved quickly, almost at a lightning speed, crushing the soldiers and horses under Song Jian's command. After spending several days dealing with the beginning and end of Jiuquan, when he returned with his troops, the speed was much slower, and the march was only fifty miles in a day.

When the army returned to Yinchuan, in addition to Li Xiangru's resignation, the recitals of the other county taishou were also delivered. Except for Lu Fang and Fu Gan, who were sincerely congratulating, the other princes were shocked and frightened. It was not a matter of once or twice for the princes of Xiliang to attack each other, but the defeat was so rapid that no one could have imagined in advance.

In the past, the melee between the princes of Xiliang, except for a few times, was mostly chaotic, everyone fought each other, injured each other, and then went home to lick their wounds. Generally speaking, it is not going to kill both sides, because Xiliang has too many careerists.

Now that Song Jian is dead, everyone else is coveted.

"These are the chapters of the Taishou in various places," Yan Zhong said to Chen Cheng: "How to reply, I still have to ask the prince to show me." ”

Chen Cheng flipped through it casually and said, "It's good to have an idea about this kind of thing, why bother asking me?" ”

Yan Zhong said with a smile: "I can handle other people's songs, but Li Xiangru's resignation still needs to be decided by the prince." ”

Li Xiangru, the Taishou of Longxi, may have been too scared, and after the resignation list, he didn't wait for Yinchuan to recover, so he brought more than 100 people to Yinchuan on his own. He bought a manor outside the city and bought a lot of fields, as if he planned to live in Yinchuan for a long time.

Chen Cheng listened to Yan Zhong finish talking about Li Xiangru, so he didn't answer first, but asked, "What does Bo Dao think should be done?" Do you want to send a new Taishou to Longxi, or continue to let Li Xiangru do it? ”

Yan Zhong stroked his beard and said, "In my opinion, it's better to let Li Xiangru continue to be this Longxi Taishou." ”

Chen Cheng didn't ask the reason, and said, "Then let him go back and continue to be in charge." ”

Now that the princes of Liangzhou have all surrendered, there is only one Li Xiangru, and he is no longer in his eyes. Even if Longxi, Wudu, Anding and other places are reversed together, he is confident that he will wipe them out.

Chen Cheng said: "Our military broke Jiuquan, and many civil and military officials such as prime ministers from Song Jian and below were killed, and many official positions were vacant over there. I'm going to let Hou Xuan and Ma Play go to Jiuquan to guard the town, and then seal some Hanyang Haoqiang to pass, do you think it will work? ”

"Seal the Jiuquan?" Yan Zhong pondered for a while and said, "It's already close to the Western Regions, the land is barren, and it is often harassed by the Xianbei and Wusun people, but I'm afraid that no one wants to go." ”

"I've seen it in Jiuquan, and although the conditions there are not as good as those in Hanyang, they are much better than in Mobei, and farming and grazing are not a problem." Chen Cheng said: "The main problem in Jiuquan is that there are too few Han people, if there are more registered people, there will be a lot to be done in the future." ”

"After the princes and princes have said yes, most of the people are only looking at the present, and those who can see a little farther can be called wise." Yan Zhong said: "Now that no one wants to go, can they still forcibly tie people up?"

"Can't you?"

Yan Zhong laughed and said, "Of course not. The population of Xiliang is already small, and there are even fewer Han Chinese, and if we move the population to the borderlands, our strength will also be weakened. It is better to go east with all our strength first, if Guanzhong can be captured, the population can increase to more than 400,000 households, and then it is not too late to emigrate to the border areas. ”

Chen Cheng looked at Yan Zhong with a thoughtful expression, and said, "Then order that the right of each county to execute prisoners be withdrawn, and if there are any criminals in the future, they will all be sent to Jiuquan!" ”

"Well, that's a good idea." Yan Zhong changed his words and said: "I heard that before Song Jian died, he said that Han Sui had contact with him, I wonder if after the prince captured Jiuquan, did he find the correspondence between Han Wenyue and Song Jian?" ”

"I found some letters."

"Oh," Yan Zhong was overjoyed, leaned forward, and asked, "Is there any evidence of Han Sui's fornication with Song Jian?" ”

"I don't know."

"Don't know?" Yan Zhong was stunned for a moment, and then came to a clear conclusion: "Hasn't the prince had time to dismantle it yet?" It's okay, I'll help the prince see it. ”

"Well, I'm afraid Bo Dao won't see it."

"Why? Could it be that it has been transferred to the Department of Thorn History? ”

"No," Chen Cheng said with a smile: "On the day I attacked Lufu County, I burned all the correspondence I found!" ”

"Ahh Yan Zhong shouted, "How could the prince burn all such important evidence? ”

Chen Cheng snorted and said with a smile: "Song Jianjiu is in Xiliang, which of the princes of Xiliang has no past with him?" Instead of making people panic, it is better to burn it clean. ”

Yan Zhong was stunned for a while, and then said sincerely: "The prince's mind is beyond my reach. ”

This year is already the second year of Chuping, and it has been almost three years since Chen Cheng came to Liangzhou with the remnants of the defeated army. In three years, he first attacked the Xiongnu in the north, captured the two counties of Shuofang and Wuyuan, and gained a firm foothold in the north. Then, in the first year of Chuping, although he failed to complete the goal of attacking Sanfu, he took the opportunity to dismember Han Sui's territory and expanded his power to Hanyang and Wudu. This year, he wiped out the self-established Song Jian forces in one fell swoop, and completely brought the entire Liangzhou under control.

The once unruly princes of Xiliang knelt down in front of Chen Cheng's horse obediently. The 110,000 Han households in Liangzhou, the hundreds of thousands of Qiang tribes and the Huns all became the people under Chen Cheng's rule. After many years, today's Liangzhou finally has a unified voice again.

Every time he thought of the fact that Liangzhou had been reunified, Huangfu Song felt very worried. He knew how brave and good the Xiliang people were, and most of these border warriors were very brave because they were too poor. The imperial court repeatedly solicited and discussed, but the results were all unsuccessful.

Now that the counties of Liangzhou have fallen, even the military capital is no longer owned by the imperial court. If the Xiliang Army, which has become more powerful, comes again, will he still be able to stop it?

Huangfu Song didn't know if he could stop it, what he knew was that more than half of the elite troops under his command had been withdrawn, although some of the people and villagers who had been requisitioned in Guanzhong had been supplemented, so that the number of the right Fufeng garrison had not decreased, but how could those newly recruited soldiers and horses compare with the elite who had been trained for a long time?

After being sent back to Fufeng by He Jin, Huangfu Song strengthened the defense line near Chencang, and at the same time tried to get armor equipment and food from Chang'an, and then retrained the army. But now the imperial court is exhausted, and although there are still nearly 200,000 troops, it can no longer be moved.

The troops on the front line in the Central Plains have not been paid military salaries for more than nine months, and now they are now unable to even eat enough. And because the Guanzhong area was drawn too badly, Ding Yuan also began to separate from the Luoyang court, no longer obeyed the orders of the imperial court, and began to act freely.

After thinking for a long time, Huangfu Song finally started writing and wrote a letter to Yan Zhong who was far away in Yinchuan. Yan Zhong served in his shogunate and once persuaded him to rebel, but he flatly refused. But in the end, Yan Zhong still got involved in the rebellion.

In the letter, Huangfu Song first praised the exploits of Yan Zhong and Chen Cheng in Liangzhou, reviewed the friendship between the two, and told the current general trend of the world, and then said that since Chen Cheng had accepted the canonization of the imperial court, he should take state affairs as the priority, and should not incur infamy for eternity because of temporary delusions.

The letter was delivered to Yinchuan before the snow fell, and after Yan Zhong heard that it was sent by Huangfu Song, he did not open it first, but washed his hands with freshly produced soap, and then wiped it clean with a towel before unfolding the paper. He read the letter many times, and then sat in the courtyard in a daze, not even hearing Yan Xing call him several times.

"Uncle, uncle!"

Yan Xing's voice became louder and louder, and finally woke up Yan Zhong, who was immersed in his memories. He came back to his senses and asked, "What's the matter?" ”

"Jing'er, she is pregnant now, it is inconvenient to be at home alone, I can only go home once in ten days in the army, so I want her to come to my uncle's house for a few days."

"Huh? Oh, it's a good thing, it's a good thing," Yan Zhong seemed a little distracted, and his speech was not as sharp as usual, "Even if you let her come, I'll arrange for a few more people to take care of her." ”

Yan Xing asked, "What difficulties did my uncle encounter today?" ”

"Difficult? What can I do? Inexistent! Yan Zhong waved his hand and said, "It's just that the old man wrote a letter from the past, which reminded me of many things in the past, and I was just in a trance." ”