Soon after the news of Zhou's death reached Luoyang, another urgent report came from the southeast, saying that the Jin Kou had invaded the border and that the Xuzhou army was showing signs of instability—which was also expected by Pei Gai.

Thinking back a few months ago, before and after ascending the throne and practicing Zuo, most of the ministers suggested that they should not move lightly on how to deal with Su Jun, and that it would be better to appease and restrain them for the time being.

In fact, Tao Kan, Pei Wei and others don't like Su Jun very much - let's say that he is the old department of the Son of Heaven, and he has not followed it for a long time, and he has finished developing from Xiangqing and Xu, and he is basically uncontrolled, and he is not in harmony with Bian Yan, Xi Jian and others; Let's say that he is a local force, he suffered a defeat in Yan County, but it is inconvenient for Zu Ti to punish him directly, but to take into account the opinion of the Son of Heaven...... This is a dog who fights with human power and stabs leaks and bad reviews for the master's family, it's really annoying!

However, hate is hate, Su Jun's actions are common in troubled times, and the court really has no excuse to clean him up directly. And if he is immediately summoned to ask him and his subordinates are co-opted, he is afraid that there will be chaos in Yanbei and it will hinder the overall situation of Zu Li's Northern Expedition......

Only Wang Gong raised an objection, saying: "Although Su Jun's army is numerous, it is not strictly organized, and its generals are also arrogant, so it is not difficult to divide and control." Now its main force is in Yanbei, the food is poor, but the imperial court can calm down the division of a brigade to the east, how dare he echo the thief? If it is returned to the east, it may be far away and difficult to control. ”

Zu Na immediately refuted: "Yanbei is close to the end of the day, even if Su Jun does not rebel, even if Yun Qi's army is not organized, it will be hastily absorbed and easily dispersed into thieves." If Yanbei is chaotic, it will harm the war in Hebei, can Qing afford it? ! ”

Zu Na knew that Zu Ti was in charge of a heavy army, and he would be jealous of the imperial court, and he could make the Zu family glorious because of his military merits, so in order to help his brother protect the rear, he was very unlikely to force Su Jun - first bomb him back to the east, and then slowly try to absorb him.

Hua Ting ordered Su Jun to withdraw from Yanbei and changed his name to the governor of Xuzhou to guard Huainan. Su Jun was forced by Xie Feng and did not dare not retreat, but begged Pei Tong to help him play and ask him to increase his army to the third brigade. Pei Tong agreed on the surface, but in fact, he secretly played it and presented it to Luoyang, saying that Su Zigao had a heart of disobedience and a sense of secession, hoping that the imperial court would take precautions as soon as possible.

Wang Gong took the opportunity to offer a plan, "If you want to take it, you must give it first" - Su Zigao, don't you want the establishment of three brigades? Okay, here you go, but at the same time, you will be relieved of the post of brigade commander, and Zhang Jian, Guan Shang, and Kuang Shu will be promoted to colonels, so that you will be the commander of the three brigades. In this way, the generals will compete, and Su Jun's control will inevitably decline, so that it will be convenient for the imperial court to free up his hands to clean him up after pacifying Hebei.

When offering advice, Hu Fei was on his side, and when he heard the words, he advised: "If Su Jun has been, you can summon him to the court to ask; If he is guilty, the court can explicitly order him to crusade; Today's trickery is to promote the opposite! Could it be that Wang Jun really wants to kill Su Junhu? ”

Wang Gongxin said that I just wanted to kill Su Jun, that guy was arbitrary and domineering, not only was he a tumor that had to be cut off for the country, but he was also a nasty guy for me. immediately cross-examined: "The imperial court has made Pei Xingzhi sarcastic Su Jun and made him scatter his soldiers, and if he doesn't listen, the opposite has already been revealed, but he is tired of the war in Hebei, and he can't make a clear edict to fight." Therefore, I offer advice to weaken his army so that it will not be a great trouble for the court. Could it be that Jun Bei has any good plan to make Su Jun not be chaotic?! ”

Pei Gai himself also felt that this kind of method was not very kind, and it was indeed only a "poisoner" who could arrange it...... But he didn't like Su Jun very much, he thought that with Guo Mo Zhuyu in front, this notorious traitor in history, could look a little like this timeline? Who would have thought that guy would have finally come this far.

Thinking that he was fighting in Guanzhong at the beginning, he had no time to take care of Xu Fang's old base, so because of Xie Feng's recommendation, he sent Su Jun to the east, putting a guy with a "back class" in a place of suspicion. If Su Jun was willing to fight in the Imperial Treasure Season, maybe Pei should still consider trying to give him a good result; But that guy didn't save Shao Xu first, he couldn't wait and see in Yanbei, and was defeated in Yan County, which led to Zu Qi's impeachment, and then refused to disperse, and only sent the underage second son to Luoyang, which really wiped out the last bit of self-blame in Pei Gai's heart.

Pei Caixin said that I have ordered the generals to be vigilant against the tendency of warlordization, and now that the warlord is around, can he still lift the board high and gently put it down? Su Zigao, you don't have long eyes, come against my blade, don't kill you as a chicken cub to the monkey, all the generals should think that the court is not mighty, and the Son of Heaven is too generous!

Then how will I receive the military power of the ancestral clan in the future?

Therefore, Wang Gong's plan was finally adopted.

Wang Gongjiu is adjacent to the Qingzhou Army, and he knows the inside story very well, so he set up this poisonous plan. You must know that among the generals in his army, Han Huang and Ma Xiong are the bravest, and they also think highly of themselves, but they have been separated from the two as brigade commanders, and Zhang Jian, Guan Shang and Kuang Shu are appointed. Sure enough, Xu Fang was edicted, Su Jun was furious, and Han Huang and others were also dissatisfied, so Jia Ning, who joined the army, took the opportunity to instigate him to send someone to secretly cross the river to contact Wang Dun, and implore Wang Dun to cross the river and go north, claiming that he was willing to be the internal response.

Wang Dun consulted with his cronies, and Shen Chong said: "Su Jun is an old general of the Chinese lord, but he is dissatisfied with the title for a while, and he wants to keep his own ears and retreat, and he is not sincere to obey." If, as he said, our army crosses the river to attack Huainan, the Chinese lord may hope for Su Jun and issue an edict as he wishes, then he will break his oath and send troops to attack me. Don't listen to Ming Gong. ”

Qian Feng said, "No." If Ming Gongzhi is in Baojiang, or there is no need to listen to Su Jun, if there is hope to restore the Central Plains, then such a good opportunity, how can it be missed? If they can take the opportunity to cross the river and gain a firm foothold in Huainan, they are expected to plot against Yan, Yu, and even Deqing and Xu. Although Su Jun tempted me, I moved forward cautiously, so why should I be afraid of his oath? If I don't listen to him, Su Jun will complain to me, not only will it be difficult to cross the river in the future, but he may invade the south......"

In the end, Wang Dun adopted Qian Feng's words and ordered the general Deng Yue to lead 5,000 troops to cross the river in advance to capture Lujiang County. Su Jun really reported to Luoyang urgently, asked for more of his title of governor of Yuzhou, and allowed himself to appoint the generals under his command, so that he could send troops from Xuzhou to rescue Lujiang.

Pei Wei said angrily: "This is to blackmail the imperial court, if Su Jun and the others rebel!" Wang Gong also said: "The minister suspects that the southern soldiers are summoned by Su Jun." Then he asked: "Marshal Jinzu has broken the army in Santai and entered Xiangguo, even if he can't overcome it this year, the thief is not able to recover, and Hebei is almost pacified." The imperial court happened to send the division of the first and second brigades to the east, and in the name of the imperial Jin Kou, Su Jun was actually collected. ”

So he issued a privy council and sent troops to rescue Lujiang; At the same time, he wrote to Su Jun and allowed him to cross the line to defend against the enemy. In fact, since the Han Dynasty, there has always been only a rule that the county and the state are not allowed to cross the border to catch thieves. That's why Pei Wei said that Su Jun was "blackmailing the court" - if you don't give me a name, I won't go if I should go.

Recently, the old generals of the Guanzhong Army in Luo have all watched the ancestral army in Hebei, and Liu Yang and others in Bingzhou, and they are really greedy. Everyone said that the strong enemy will be destroyed, and the world will be decided, if there is no chance to lead the troops to the battle, then we will be inferior to Liu Yang in the future, and they will be fine, if they are all lower than the old generals of the Zu family, isn't it too frustrating? Is the surname Pei or Zu in this world?

Therefore, every day, people go to the Privy Council to sit on guard, listen to the news in the province at any time, and see if there is any task, so that they can grab it as soon as possible. Military operations often involve secrets, and the top and bottom of the province dare not easily divulge them, but it is inconvenient to turn away the people sent by the generals—besides, whether they want food or soldiers, as long as their identities are not suspicious, they cannot be mixed up in the province for any reason—and most of the generals sent by the generals are clever people, who can often smell some smell through the speed of the officials running back and forth, the expressions on their faces, and the thickness of the case files in their hands.

Therefore, Guo Mo was still making arrangements in the province, and he had not yet decided who to send to reinforce Lujiang, so Zhen Sui, Lu Yan and other generals came to visit. As soon as Zhen Sui met, he said, "But do you want to send troops to the party?" Your Majesty promised me in the past, Lao Guo...... Deputy Guo Shu must not be delegated to others! ”

Guo Mo shook his head at him: "That's not the case—General Zhen is still waiting for the summons." ”

Zhen Sui can't say it, even if he is not preparing to send troops to the party, depending on your posture here, there will be something to go on. I'll line up here first, and see if you dare to get past me and call someone else.

Before the words fell, Lu Yan arrived, Zhen Sui's eyes immediately widened, rushed over and grabbed Lu Yan's collar, and asked, "But did Deputy Guo Shu summon you?" How dare you snatch the food from the master's mouth?! ”

Lu Yan saw that Zhen had arrived first, and he couldn't help but secretly complain in his heart - it is estimated that no matter where he fights this time, unless it is just a trivial matter such as catching thieves and suppressing criminals, it will not be my share...... But if it is such a trivial matter, Zhen Sui is not willing to go, as a major general and brigade commander, there is no reason to take it lightly.

Guo Mo waited for a while, and saw that except for Lu He, the main generals had gathered in the province, so he called everyone into the hall, dismissed the idle people, and informed them: "It is really the Jin Kou who invaded the territory and invaded the Lujiang River, I intend to make Lu He lead his troops to rescue, what do you think?" ”

Zhen Sui shouted on the spot: "I can't wait for someone to come, Xiao Lu doesn't come but dies, and the deputy is so biased!" Could it be that he was bribed by Xiao Lu? Guo Mo glared at him, and said in his heart that in the past, I was afraid of you, but now I am the deputy privy envoy, and I will grasp the military and political affairs and military orders, and I will be stuck in your lifeline! If this barbarian dares to collide with me again, I will not be able to go into battle for 10,000 years!

Lu Yan asked, "The governor of Xu Fang is Su Jun, and the Lujiang River is adjacent to it...... I don't know how many Jin Kou there are, but Su Jun can't be royal, but has to send troops and horses from the center? ”

Guo Mo lowered his voice and said: "Su Jun is arrogant, he dares to condone the enemy and threaten the imperial court, it is because of the order of the imperial court that he will send out a division, called Yu Jin Kou, in fact, in response to the situation, he also wants to collect Su Jun's soldiers." After a pause, he said: "Therefore, it is not a pure military battle, the court may order the prince to accompany him......" Squinted at Zhen Sui: "General Zhen is afraid that it will be difficult to cooperate with the prince, or it is more appropriate to order Lu He." ”

Lu Yan immediately arched his hand and said: "The deputy wants to be appointed to Lu He, is it because he has a long background and is a township with Su Jun?" However, we are generals, only in charge of the military, how to deal with Su Jun, and the prince will plan it on behalf of the sky, since this is the case, why bother with Lu He? I am quite familiar with the terrain between the river and the Huai, and I can also receive orders. ”

Zhen Sui pouted and said, "Isn't the old man familiar with the terrain between the river and the Huai?" ”

Guo Mo tapped a few cases with his fingers, stopped the quarrel between the two, and asked Zhen Sui: "If this trip to Lujiang is not a one-day or two-day work, then the Son of Heaven will allow General Zhen to attack the party, will he give up?" ”

When Zhen heard this, he was a little in a dilemma...... Of course, he would prefer to send troops to the party and engage the Zhao army instead of going south to fight the Jin soldiers - what is the quality of the Jin soldiers, isn't he clear? What's the beginning! However, the battle of Shangdang has not yet been confirmed, and the battle of Lujiang is just around the corner......

Guo Mo took the opportunity to persuade and said: "Shangdang is mountainous, and General Zhen is also accustomed to killing enemies in the mountains, so it's better to wait for the battle of Shangdang for a while—will Your Majesty really hand over all the merits of exterminating karma to the ancestral family?" Naturally, the party and Leping want my family to ...... The court went to get it. He persuaded Zhen Sui to retreat, and ordered Lu Yan to lead his troops to the expedition.

Lu Yan was overjoyed and said secretly: The barbarian is coarse, and he doesn't know the general trend of the world. Now that the ancestral army is approaching Xiangguo, will the six branches of the party still defend Shangdang and Leping, and not try to go to the rescue? At that time, the so-called battle of the party will only be an armed takeover, and what a big deal it will be.

Guo Mo drew up a plan, and Pei should approve it, so Lu Yan and Wang Gong set out on the same day and led a brigade to Lujiang to rescue.

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Let's say that Deng Yue led 5,000 Jingzhou troops to cross north from Shicheng, first broke through Anhui County, and then pointed north to Linhu and Xiang'an.

Lujiang County and Huainan County to the north originally belonged to Yangzhou, and Pei should be in charge of the Jin Dynasty, so that the Jiangnan regime could not occupy this important bridgehead position in Jiangbei. The new Yuzhou assassin is the ancestor of the young man, who rushed to the rescue from Chen County.

Yuzhou was originally the base before the Northern Expedition of Zu, although there were not many soldiers, but most of them were guards, elites, Zu Yue mobilized the soldiers of the surrounding counties and counties, there were 7,000 people, it was from the east bank of Chaohu Lake, galloped to Linhu and Xiang'an.

When the Jin army heard the news, they immediately went out of the Yangtze River by boat and boat, and controlled the Dongguan Pass, so that the Chinese army could not cross. Zuyo was forced to settle in the nest and could not move forward for half a month. He asked Su Jun to come from Xuzhou for reinforcements, but Su Zigao ignored it.

Su Jun sent people into Luozhong to secretly inquire about the movements of the imperial court, and when he heard that Lu Yan led his troops south, he couldn't help but be stunned and said: "I have three brigades, enough to resist the Jin Kou, and the imperial court will not order Lu Yan...... I played it the day before yesterday, and I refused to allow it if I wanted to! ”

Kuang Shugui advised: "The governor should rush to the west, join forces with Zu Yuzhou, and hope to break the Jin Kou before General Lu arrives, then you can make a contribution to Zhou Yi!" If not, collect warships and pretend to cross the river to attack Jiankang, then the Jin Kou will retreat. Don't wait and see, make the court even more suspicious! ”

The Jin army was actually summoned by Su Jun on his own initiative, and Su Zigao had only discussed this matter with Han Huang, Jia Ning and others, but Kuang Shu was his heavy general, and he had followed him for many years, and he had a thick foundation in the army. Therefore, I compared the Wu general Zhou Yi in the Three Kingdoms era - as long as he retreated from the Jin Kou, he could be falsely claimed to be a trick to lure the enemy!