However, in Yiling City, Xiazhou, which is adjacent to Jingzhou, Song Hao, the biggest winner who has just seized the land of Sizhou and opened up contacts with Qianzhong Road, is not much happy;

The foundation of the Jingnan Army of more than 20,000 people under his command was compiled from the Zhongwu Army and Duan Yanmo's Taining Army brought by himself, plus the Tutuan and Zhenjun troops supplemented in Shannan Dongdao.

Therefore, from the very beginning, he could not fully control the situation; This time, it was easy for him to send Duan Yanmo and his old Taining Army to seize the territory of Shimen Manxiangzhu in Lizhou; It can be regarded as completely mastering this team.

However, the three prefectures he newly conquered, namely Xia (Yichang, Hubei), Wan (Wanzhou, Hubei), and Gui (Zigui, Hubei), were all small and inferior states with narrow land and poor people, limited population and output; After the encirclement and slaughter during the occupation of those thieves, in fact, the assistance that can be provided to him is quite limited.

In fact, the territory of the three states is full of mountains and deep gorges, and the only flat land and river valleys are scattered along the rivers; In total, only five counties of Tianfu are produced, and they are even inferior to the four counties of Lizhou in the Lishui Basin.

Coupled with the shipping and trade routes into Sichuan that had been cut off for a long time, it was at least not enough to support his expanded Jingnan army.

And the hinterland of the Jianghan Plain, which is the most elite and rich in Jingnan Jiedu, is still in the hands of the thief army, and belongs to the strongest of the five roads.

As for the Qianzhong Road, which has opened up the connection, although there are more than a dozen prefectures under the leadership, such as Qian, Chen, Jin, Shi, Wu, Ye, Yi, Bo, Si, Fei, Nan, Xi, Qin, Zhen, Chong, etc., they are mostly remote places with poor mountains and bad waters, and barbarian intricacies;

The observation of Qianzhong made Gao Tai a clansman brought by Gao Yu when he was in Annam, and he was still under the threat of the Lingxi thief army, so he could only connect the feudal tribes south of the Wujiang River and the small vassal states in the west.

However, the worst news doesn't stop there; Right now, Zhu Jingmei, the new Jingnan supervisor sent by the imperial court, is also sitting in front of him and waiting for his reply. In addition, Zhu Jingmei brought Chen Ru's helmet and armor hanging down beside him.

"This is not only the decree of the Holy Lord, but also the kindness of Father Tian."

Seeing that he was silent, Zhu Jingmei frowned slightly and said seriously.

"You must know that leading troops into Shu to escort the prince is Jane's contribution to the emperor's heart, and it is comparable to what he has obtained from a corner of the thief. Moreover, Shuzhong has always been famous for its abundance, as long as it is favored by the Lord, it is also an idle thing to raise tens of thousands of soldiers and horses. ”

"When the time comes, don't say that it is just a town in Jingnan, even if it is a town in Liangchuan and Liangshan (south), it is not unthinkable."

"Thank you for the noble person's mention and indication, Song will go and order the soldiers and horses; At present, the local affairs of Jingnan will also ask the nobles to take me for one or two. ”

Hearing this, Song Hao, who looked vicissitudes of life, couldn't help but stand up and say.

In Jingzhou, a hundred miles away, Liu Jurong, the envoy of Shannan Jiedu, who was dressed in scarlet clouds, was also looking at the Jiangling city wall that had been filled in the trenches, mottled with traces of smoke and fire, and gaps everywhere exposed wooden fences, but still unmoving; All kinds of heavy feelings of helplessness, unwillingness, and resentment flashed in my heart.

However, with the envoy who went south to Xiangzhou, he brought the news that the Yellow Rebel Thief Army had already invaded Guanzhong, and after the Anshi Rebellion, the disaster of Xifan, and the Jingyuan Change, the Tang Dynasty Emperor was fortunate for the fourth time; He already knew that his offensive was going to be in vain.

It took a lot of effort and preparation for him to reverse and transpose the situation with the thief army. He also made every effort to send the manpower and material resources of the eight states in the eastern province of Shannan, and finally sent 30,000 troops by land and water, known as the southward strategy of 50,000 people.

The only result of the all-out efforts of the Xingshi was to burn some Zhuangzi and Tunsuo north of Jingzhou, and even with the containment and support of the Taiping thief army, even the Tianmen City, an important gateway and stronghold, could not be breached, but only divided and trapped for a while.

Strictly speaking, in the past few months, under his command and supervision, the Shannan army actually broke the defense of the city wall several times and broke into it. The commander could not resist the strength of the thief's firearms, and was cut off and annihilated in it, or was driven out with heavy casualties again.

The other party's guard surnamed Chai is just a little-known figure among the thieves, but he can fight to the death with his army according to the city and never retreat, and he also cracks many of his own strategies one by one; Even the internal response arranged in advance by the other party was led out by the other party's design.

However, even if he insisted on not withdrawing from the army, his officers and soldiers would "help" him make the decision to retire. Especially the guest troops in the Shannanxing camp. After all, their hometown is being ravaged and poisoned by the bandits.

If you don't know about it before, it's okay to block the news; However, after the imperial court summoned the envoys of King Qin to the army, he could no longer suppress their movements and voices;

And the local children of Qizhou in Shannan Dongdao are not much better, and they are also worried about the emptiness of the place after the transfer of the guest army; After all, there are also local disasters and famines in Shannan, and the displaced people are constantly traveling, and there are infiltrations and instigation of riots before the grass thieves.

Therefore, the whole army was reasonable, and they no longer had the intention of continuing to fortify the city in vain in vain in the land of Gangneung, which had been attacked for a long time. Under this kind of stone, no matter how high his prestige and decisiveness are, he can only appease and deter for a while.

If you continue to insist on going your own way, I am afraid that you will be counterattacked and countered by your subordinates; even encountered the same fate as the military commanders who died in office before. At least the court was no longer able to administer justice for him.

After all, he was only coerced by Pang Xun's rebellion in his early years, and he was born as a military official in the imperial court anyway, and he became a town commander because of the situation after watching the bloody battle. Although it has a shrewd and discerning evaluation, it also has corresponding deficiencies.

At least in terms of background and qualifications, they are naturally lower than Gao Shi, Zhou Bao's lineage of veteran generals, or Cao Quanxi, Wang Chucun and other imperial court members selected generals from their backgrounds; It can't be compared with Chengde Wang Jingchong, Fan Yang Li Keju, and those feudal town marshals who are inherited from father to son and controlled by lineage.

At this time, he was even more upset, and some local "father's and elder representatives" in the army who heard the news also cried wolf-like trumpets on the spot after being blocked outside his tent.

"Shuai, Shuai, you must not go."

"Please also ask the officers and soldiers to stay."

"Liu Shuai, the official army is gone, what can we do?"

"Isn't it going to fall into the clutches of the thieves again."

They are all the families of the big families who fled to Xiangzhou in Shannan under the ravages of the thief army, and they have just relied on the momentum of leading the return of the official army, liquidated the poor stick and recaptured the property before it is hot, and they are going to abandon and flee again, so how can they be willing.

What's more, it is the so-called truth that people who leave their hometowns are cheap. Before that, there was also the arrangement of Shannan Jiedu to collect and shelter them, in order to counterattack and come back; But after this retreat, it may not be so easy to make a comeback.

Without the support of these lands and industries and the service of many tenants and slaves in their hometowns, even if they fled to the north, they would not be able to maintain even basic dignity and livelihood when they used up the financial resources they had brought with them and borrowed money from the local children.

Of course, Liu Jurong would not really sit idly by and ignore their rashness, and then commanded left and right:

"Give them all the extra weapons and the military that you can't take away. How much can I buy some time and buffer for the officers and soldiers. ”

"Let the baggage brigade and the rear army set off first, and the left army will cooperate with the fleet to protect the wing waterway, and I will personally lead the rear of the Ya army and supervise the formation."

However, with a burst of noise and fighting, some subordinates immediately reported loudly

"The thieves in the city have been killed."

。。。。。。。。。。

And the land of Guanzhong, which the world is concerned about.

"Ascension...... Twilight Goes to Bed...... Thieves and corrupt officials steal silver and grain......"

"Eat your mother, eat your mother...... The rich family recruits concubines to please your mother......"

"Eat no meat, cry without tears...... The poor people in the world are all hanging beams..."

"Welcome the Yellow King, look forward to the Yellow King, the Yellow King is coming and does not pay for food, and the poor and poor in the world sing happily."

Near the end of the evening, under the remnant sun like blood, in the sound of songs, Huang Chao's subordinates entered Li Xiang into Chang'an City. Subsequently, Zhang Zhifang, the general of Tang Jinwu, led dozens of civil and military attaches to the hegemony to meet Huangchao.

Huang Chao sat in a huge chariot decorated with gold, silk curtains, and color barriers, and his subordinates were all draped in hair, wearing red silk brocade clothes, and followed with weapons in hand, and the ironclad cavalry walked like flowing water, and the roads were jammed with heavy vehicles, and the army stretched for thousands of miles.

The residents of Chang'an gathered on the road, and Shang Rang, as the leader, announced to the people one by one: "I, the Yellow King, raised troops for the people!" It's not like Emperor Li of the Tang Dynasty didn't love you, you just have to live and work in peace and contentment, don't panic. He also ordered the military to patrol the streets day and night, strictly punish and prohibit lawbreakers who take advantage of the chaos and looting, and the city will be at peace for a while.

That night, Huang Chao neither entered the inner nor went to the Daming Palace, but ordered the palace gates to be blocked to keep the status quo unchanged; He took his relatives to stay in Tian Lingzi's house near the palace gate. The other leaders of the rebel army also sought the residence of the minister.

The soldiers of the rebel army who then entered the city were also quite rich in their pockets because they plundered all the way, and when they saw the poor and sick people in the market, they often gave thousands of generous alms or gifts of rice and grain.

So the voice of gratitude for Dade overflowed in the market. However, that night, Shang Rang, who was in charge of the affairs of the whole city, recruited Lin Yan, who was supervising the market, to supervise the ban:

"You hurry up and spread the word, don't let those songs and folk songs spread in the army anymore, now the king is going to sit in the golden palace and govern the world, and you must also collect the hearts of the people in the pass and the old officials of the previous dynasty; There is no need for these anachronistic things. ”

"Then I'll have people make up songs to sing in the market."