In fact, Zu Ti's illness had already improved greatly in the summer of this year. He originally wanted to leave the council immediately, but was repeatedly dissuaded by his wife Xu, Zu Lian, Xu Liu and others, saying that my lord, you were like this last time, and your illness was better, so you were busy with state affairs, which led to repetition, and now it is time to accept a lesson, right? Xu Liu also said: "In the army, I can plan for my father-in-law." It is expected that the thieves want to raise troops in a big way, and when it is after autumn, there is no need to bother at this time. ”

Not only that, but they also blocked the news that Zu Ti's illness had eased slightly, so that the ministers and generals would not take the initiative to put military and political affairs on Zu Ti in the name of visiting the sick or congratulating.

Soon after, news came that the Guanzhong army broke Shihu and entered Taiyuan. When Zu Ti heard the news, he lay on the couch and pondered for two days in succession, and then warned his children and nephews, saying: "To the outside world, I am seriously ill and ......."

His plan was to simply continue to pretend to be sick, and obstruct Xun's interference in military affairs in many ways, and even kill a commander of the Chinese army, so that Shi Le would be light on Luoyang. If he is alive and kicking, or if the Chinese army has a new master, it is estimated that Shi Le will not dare to act rashly; And if he knew that he was still sick, or even dying, and the imperial court did not kill the commander of the army, Shi Le dared to send a large army to reinforce the party and try to recapture Taiyuan.

Once the Qianjun army crossed the Taihang Mountain, Zu Shizhi could personally take the Chinese army, or rendezvous with Li Ju, break through the Hanoi defense line, or cross north from Yanzhou, and go straight between Handan and Xiangguo, and give Shile a kick!

Of course, he also considered that Shile might take a defensive position in an all-round way, and the main force would attack and be tired, and even try in vain to take advantage of his serious illness and the chaos of the Chinese army, and then seek to threaten Luoyang from Hanoi or Yanzhou, as he did last time. For the former, Zu Ti thought that with the strategy of Feng Long and Su Jun, it was not so easy to attack the second city, and when the time came, he would take advantage of the fatigue of the veteran soldiers of the Qian army division to mobilize it by attacking Xiangguo, and then destroy it. For the latter, to be honest, Zu Shizhi thinks that it is really a good idea, and Shi Le should not dare to do it - that is, he has to fight hard, but can you fight hard?

- Zu Ti still didn't know Shi Le after all, and only Zhang Bin knew Shi Le, so when Shi Le smiled and asked him: "Taifu Su knows me, then in Taifu's opinion, who will I use?" Zhang Bin will sigh gloomily and say that you probably have to listen to Zhang Jing......

Therefore, when the news of the fierce attack of the Qiang army came, Zu Ti would continue to pretend to be sick in order to paralyze Shile. He couldn't believe Xun Di and others, so even his own family members had half concealed it, only Zu Jian and other nephews, as well as his son-in-law Xu Liu, knew that the adult was now seriously ill and had recovered seven or eight points, not only could he jump on the ground, but also eat half a bucket of rice and five catties of meat for each meal......

But Zu Ti also miscalculated two things, one is that Su Jun insisted on suppressing bandits in Mount Tai and refused to go north to rescue Yici, which not only made Feng Long's lone division advance and almost wiped out the entire army, but also made the city of Yici fall by the Zhao army in just a few days. When Zu Ti heard about this, he couldn't help but scold, saying: "I don't want Pei Wenyue to be under his command, there is still this fang!" I will kill Su Jun and avenge Shao Sizu! ”

The second thing he miscalculated was that he thought that since Xu Liu had been appointed as the temporary commander before the sickbed, he would be able to order troops to go out within three or five days, and he could cross the river in Yanzhou and go to Hebei. Who would have thought that Xun Di's bureaucratic habits were very heavy, and he was not very willing to fall into the hands of Zu Ti's son-in-law again, and he had to discuss repeatedly in the province, and was finally forced by Yin Qiao, Wang Zhuo and others, so he asked Xu Liu to be the leader of the central army. After a delay of several days, the army did not move, and not only did the news come that Shile had not withdrawn his troops, but also heard that Shi Le did not withdraw his troops, but directly crossed the river to kill Yanzhou.

When Zu Li heard the newspaper, he couldn't help but be surprised: "Is it better to gamble than the thief?" Then he laughed: "I will be captured here!" ”

So he continued to pretend to be sick, but he hid beside Xu Liu, and instructed Xu Liu to gather all the departments, take Zu Ji as the vanguard, and go to rescue Yanzhou first. But at this time, Zu Ti had already made up a plan to show the enemy weakness, induce him to go deeper, and encircle and annihilate him in Xingyang County, so Zu Ji only defended Yan County for a few days, and when he saw that the enemy was strong, he immediately retreated in order to preserve his strength; And Xu Liu was deliberately slow in marching, and was almost sprayed in the face by Zhang Ping and Fan Ya.

Zu Ji naturally knew that Uncle Cong had recovered from his illness and was in the army, so he dared to speak ill of Xiahou Cheng, and said: "Although I can't kill you, I have someone who can kill you!" "Who can kill Xiahou Cheng? That is naturally the ancestor of "Fake Huangyue".

There are only two people in the Jin Dynasty now, who bear the name of "fake Huang Yue". The fake Huang Yue's real name is the fake Jieyue, which is slightly higher than the envoy's Jiejie, but in the time of Emperor Wei Wen, "Cao Zhendu, the general of the army, supervised the Chinese and foreign military, and the fake Huang Yue, then the president's internal and external armies." This is because there are many marshals in Wei and their authority is very heavy, so they don't fake Huang Yue and can kill the ministers. Theoretically speaking, all the generals who lead the troops in the war zone can be killed without playing the fake yellow Yue.

Xiahou Cheng is not a history of bicycle assassination - after the "Yongjia Rebellion", it is estimated that there is no history of bicycle assassination - but a general of the history of assassination, which can be regarded as a general, east of Tongguan and north of the Yangtze River, are all the war zones of Zu Ti, and he naturally has the right to kill Xiahou Cheng.

Zu Ji and others secretly hated the imperial court for removing Zu Yue Yanzhou from the post of assassin and succeeded him with Xiahou, so they wanted to find an excuse to get rid of this person in order to teach Xun Dang a lesson. After he arrested Xiahou Cheng, he did not send it to Luoyang, but sent it to Xu Liujun, just to borrow the sharp blade of Zu Li. Although Zu Ti had no intention of killing, he had to get Zu Ji's retribution, and he had to do it - this was an endorsement for Zu Ji afterwards, counting Xiahou Cheng, who was ordered by his ancestor general to be arrested by Zu Ji, so that he could be killed in front of the army; If not, how could Zuzi be qualified to arrest a state assassin?

Now that Xu Liu is gathering in Xingyang to make a decision, Zu Ti originally didn't plan to show up, but when he saw Zhang Ping and Fan Ya playing tricks, he refused to obey Xu Liu's order, and was forced to be helpless, so he coughed and walked to the hall.

When the generals saw this, they were surprised and delighted, and they fell to the ground. Xu Liu also hurriedly stepped aside and let Zu sit on the case. Zu Ti immediately ordered Xiahou to come up first, and reprimanded him in person for the crime of cowardice and escape, that is, with the authority of the fake Huang Yue, he ordered to be beheaded and hung in the city. Xiahou Cheng couldn't help but be stupid when he saw that General Zu was in good spirits and seemed to have no sick appearance, and then he wailed repeatedly, but in the end he was dragged out......

Zu Li's move, firstly, is to endorse Congzi Zuji, and secondly, to warn the generals. He said: "My plan is the same as what the leader of the army said, and the Qing and others should be ordered, that is, in this Xingyang County, to fight with the thieves. The slave side lost Taiyuan and Xihe, Leping and Shangdang were also in danger, and he did not seek to recover and merge the state, and refused to defend himself, but wanted to attack Luoyang urgently.

"Today, I am based on Yan, Henan, and Si three states, and there are Qing, Xu, Guanzhong Pei Da Sima can be the backing, such as Huai Wan Jin, and the people of the thousand gold. If you are frustrated, you can only retreat to Chenggao; If the slave is defeated, I can then sweep Hebei, and he will die without a day! Only the great Sima is in the west, and he has repeatedly frustrated the thieves, and I am in the east, but I can't build an attack, but I am defeated by the thieves, so what face will I have to return to the pilgrimage? Even the Qing and others should be ashamed!

"The secretary and others must work hard, do not violate my orders, and do not neglect them. Anyone who is cowardly in the battle will be killed, just like Xiahou Wenzi! Whoever does not obey the command will not be forgiven! I will lead Qing and others to break the karma here, in order to write a famous history, pass on the honor to the descendants, and bring the mountains and rivers! ”

All the generals bowed their heads and said: "Dare not obey the order of the Ming Gong!" ”

So according to the original plan, Zu Ti ordered Zu Ji to protect Yangwu, Wei Ce entered Juan County, Zhang Ping and Fan Ya respectively stationed in the two small cities east of Xingyang - Licheng and Longcheng, and Feng Tie was stationed in Guancheng in the southeast. Zu Ti will be the main force and stick to Xingyang, but he still fights the banner of Xu Liu, the leader of the army, and strictly orders that in the army, there are those who dare to reveal that General Zu personally led the troops, behead!

Seventy percent of the ancestral army has been reorganized into the Chinese army, in addition to the former army of the ancestral department left in Luoyang, in addition to the right guard army of the Pei Pi department of his system is still stationed in Henan County, the five armies are gathered, the number is about 30,000. As for the more than 20,000 soldiers and horses that have not yet been incorporated into the Chinese military system, they came from Luoyang to transport grain under the command of Changshi Zhang Chang, and they arrived in a short time; Soldiers in nearby Xingyang, Henan, and even Xiangcheng County in northern Yuzhou have also received military orders and are about to come together.

The total number of troops is estimated to be around 70,000.

On the other hand, Zhao Jun claims to be 300,000, of course no one believes this. According to the estimation of Zu Ti, Xu Liu and others, Shi Le did not dare to mobilize the troops of Leping and Shangdang, nor did he dare to mobilize the troops of Hanoi for the time being, and the soldiers and horses of the two prefectures of Weiyou and Hebei, as well as the five counties in the east of Sizhou, were 150,000 people. It is true that if he swept up the number of troops in the territory and went to the front with both the old and weak, the 300,000 people could barely get it, but—do you have enough food to eat?

If you really send 300,000 people over, it is indeed possible to defeat the Jin Zhongjun army and advance to the vicinity of Luoyang just by relying on the number of people, but it is estimated that at that time, you will basically have to stop! Soldiers without food, although millions are not enough to be afraid - when Shi Hu was defeated and returned to Jinyang, the soldiers had no fighting spirit and only tried to plunder, which is an example in front of him.

But in order to strengthen the generals' fighting heart, Zu and Xu still gave a discount, saying that the Zhao army was no more than 100,000 people. Then I am fighting on the inside line, and I have a strong city to rely on, as long as I command properly and the soldiers use their lives, how can I not win?

At the same time, Zu Ti ordered Su Jun, who was still wandering near Mount Tai, to immediately move west to the Jishui area and try to cut off the retreat of the Qi army - although Zu Ti hated Su Jun to the core, but he could still use the other party for the time being, so he had to not do anything in advance, and planned to wait until he defeated Shi Le, and then settle the account.

The arrangement was set, so he waited for the army to come, and then the next day, before the army arrived, Wang Gong's information was sent to the Xingyang army first. Wang Zici summarized it according to many sentinels, and finally came to the conclusion that the number of the army was about 150,000 - in fact, he said 20,000 more, but he was not afraid to say more, if he said less, the front-line generals would have the intention of underestimating the enemy, and once defeated, part of the responsibility might be pushed to his Wang Gong. Zu Ti couldn't help laughing: "As I expected. ”

The number of the army is unprecedented, and its intention to attack Luoyang with all its strength and make a shocking gamble is completely clear and no longer suspicious. In addition, Wang Gong also made a list of the main generals of the Qiang army, and Zu Li carefully checked it, and couldn't help but wonder: "Why is Zhang Bin not among them?" ”

In the past year or so, Cheng Yao gradually cut off contact with Wang Gong, and shot to kill Wang Gongmi's dispatch to Xiangguo, before exposing more than a dozen details because of the spread of news, so for the more detailed inside information of the Qianjun, Wang Zici failed to find out - including predicting the direction of its main attack in advance. But what exactly will he be recruited, he has his own relatives and ancestors to send him away, which cannot be hidden from those who have a heart.

As for Luoyang, the same is true, the government and the opposition have long been stabbed into a sieve by Cheng Yao - as for Chang'an, it is not possible, the distance is too far, with the level of communication in these years, it is very difficult to transmit news in time, and the loyalty of personnel is not easy to guarantee, which is also the reason why Wang Gong invited Dongzhen to invite himself and did not stay in Chang'an Wanli to pull the line. Cheng Ziyuan stayed in Xiangguo, so he handed over the relevant contact channels to Zhang Jing of the first party.

From this, Shi Le also received information that Xu Liu, the new commander of the Jin Dynasty, was the leader of the central army and led the five armies to go on the expedition, plus the soldiers and horses that might be temporarily gathered from nearby counties, it was estimated at 60,000 to 70,000 people. He asked Zhang Jing: "Who is Xu Liu?" ”

Zhang Jing replied: "He was born in the Xu clan of Runan, and his sister is the step-family of Zu Li, and he married the daughter of Zu Ti as his wife, so he is the son-in-law of Zu Ti. ”

Shi Le pursed his lips and said I know all this-"I asked Qingqing, what is his temperament and talent?" ”

Zhang Jing replied: "Xu Liu has prestige, he was once the ancestor of Sima, helping him coordinate military affairs, and he is now three years old. It is said that he has a lot of talent in planning and planning, but he has never been a soldier. The Jin people are accustomed to making scholars generals, and there is no need to worry. ”

Shi Le shook his head and said, "Zhuge Liang, whom Taifu admires very much, isn't he a scholar?" I heard that Xu Liu Naizu recommended him on the sickbed, so naturally there is a reason for it, and I can't underestimate the enemy. However, its march was slow, I don't know if it was Xun Di and others who were restrained, whether the generals were not convinced, or there was no other trickery - what do you think? ”

Zhang Jingdao: "As a scholar, it is common for him to be cowardly at the beginning of his heavy responsibility. The generals of Luoyang can only obey their ancestors, not their sons-in-law, and they can also be imagined. As for Xun Di and the others, it is also reasonable......" Seeing a slight dissatisfaction on Shi Le's face, he hurriedly continued: "Your Majesty, how can there be an army of beginner generals who can convince the generals?" Then he is not mobilized effectively, and the army is naturally slow. The minister was only worried that he would not dare to fight a decisive battle with His Majesty, but only between Xingyang and Chenggao, relying on danger and defending, it would not be easy to break. Therefore, our army should move forward quickly, and Xu Liu's arrangement cannot be completed. ”

Shi Le immediately ordered Li Han to lead the front army to advance quickly, and then was blocked under Yangwu City, and the sentinels went out in all directions, and detected that the Jin army had been united, and guarded Xingyang, Juan County and other cities. Zhang Jing said: "If the general is cowardly, the armies will be difficult to fight - Zu Jizhi hurriedly withdrew from Yanzhou, you can know it." The subordinates can divide the army to guard the cities, and His Majesty leads the main force to Xingyang, but if Xingyang is broken, Chenggao will also be successful! ”

As for the matter of Zu Tishi's unification of the Jin army, Cheng Yao's spies could not be investigated, and Shi Le and Zhang Jing naturally did not know. Because Zu Ti also concealed Xun Di and other courtiers, he planned to wait for the official battle before opening the hole cards. The law in the army is strict, and since it is different from the DPRK and China, how can it be so easy to find out the inside information?