Dou Jiande captured Liyang again, announced the southern aid to Luoyang, and the fierce general Fan Yuan defeated Xu Yuanlang and conquered Caozhou in one fell swoop; Fortunately, Yang Chong had the advantage in Henan, and Xu Yuanlang did not surrender to the Xia army, gathering men and horses along the way and retreating into Henan to attack Shangqiu and other places. Yang Chong, who had already arrived in Ruzhou, simply ordered Meng Haigong to be the county guard of Liang County and Xu Yuanlang to be the county guard of Qian County, and the area actually occupied by the two was the division of the two counties, and at the same time recalled the troops of Cui Shu and Zhang Gongjin, and lost Weizhou to Meng Haigong.

There was an uproar in the tent, Meng Haigong and Xu Yuanlang were not credible, what if they defected? Hao Ming, who joined the army, tentatively asked: "Guogong is worried about the lack of troops?" ”

Although the Hexi Army has won all the way, Wang Shichong still has 100,000 troops in Hugao, Heyang and other places, even if the Hexi Army has sharp weapons such as heavenly thunder and airships, it is still impossible to conquer a big city like Luoyang at once. Yang Chong looked around the big tent and said: "We have to prepare for the negotiations with Wang Shichong and Dou Jiande in the future, Xiangcheng, Yingchuan, Xingyang, Henan, Chenliu and other counties need to be digested, and Liang County and Qian County can be relieved." ”

This is Yang Chong's consistent style, not in a hurry, occupying the territory to raise the people and the army, and then Xu Tu to forge ahead; The chief bookkeeper Pei Shouzhen asked, "When is Guogong going to negotiate with Wang Shichong?" ”

Yang Chong looked outside the tent and said, "Wait for Ling Changshi to report the victory." ”

Zheng Jun Yizhou Assassin Shi Zhang Yin led 10,000 Zheng Jun in Chengnei, even if the firearms were tight, Yang Chong had to use them; Ling Jing was the chief strategist of Yang Chong's Eastern Crusade, and personally went to Yizhou to take charge of the coordination between the Perak Battalion and Shi Daqian's army. Su Dingfang interjected: "Guogong, Dou Jiande went all the way south, and the East Route Army mobilized ships in Caozhou and prepared to come through the canal; The Western Route Army went straight to Baiya City, probably preparing to cross the Yellow River at Mengjin. ”

Su Dingfang has been running around with Yang Chong in the past few years, and has participated in some battles from time to time, and he has been sharp, Yang Chong nodded appreciatively and said: "Because it is an inevitable route, Wang Ji and Song Jingang will watch him pass, and they will more or less fight a few battles to slow down Dou Jiande's southward speed." We just have to do what we have to do, and the rest is up to God. ”

After Yang Chong captured Dengzhou, he asked Chang'an to transfer Meng Jian and 5,000 cavalry trained in Hedong to help Song Jingang in the battle, just to deal with Dou Jiande; For Dou Jiande, Yang Chong and Wang Ji's only worry is that Liu Heimin will remember the old relationship and turn against him. So when Xu Shiji went south, Wang Ji transferred Liu Heimin to Qu Tutong's command to guard Liyang; Retreating from Liyang to Yecheng, Liu Heimin did not defect, and it is estimated that there should be no problem in the future.

There was a sound of cheerful footsteps outside the tent, and Hu Cao Yuan Junbao asked the officer who ran over loudly: "What about taking Yizhou?" ”

Yuan Junbao is a clever ghost, and he knows that his cousin-in-law is impatient; The officer said as he ran: "Cao Guogong conquered the Tiger Prison Pass. ”

Full of laughter, Yang Chong couldn't help but stand up, and the officer who reported the news carried the tiger on his back, and knelt down in the tent to say: "The last general Zhang Liang, Shen Yue, the Zhengzhou division of the Zheng army, asked to sacrifice the Tiger Prison Pass to be attached, Cao Guogong led a large army to respond last night, and now occupies the Tiger Prison Pass, capturing the rebel King Jing Wang Xingben and more than 20,000 prisoners. ”

"Come on, reward Zhang Liang with twenty taels of gold." After Yang Chong finished speaking, he asked, "Zhang Liang, get up, what position do you hold under Cao Guogong?" ”

Zhang Liang stood up and replied: "It turned out to be the history of Zhengzhou Thorn, and now it is the inspection of Dingzhou." ”

Dingzhou is far away in Hebei, and inspecting Dingzhou is a nominal position, Yang Chong has already seen Zhang Liang's information and portrait, and knows that the person in front of him is Zhang Liang who can go to Lingyan Pavilion in another time and space, nodded and said: "The Yueguo Mansion is going to set up a chariot general, I don't know if you are interested?" ”

Zhang Liang suddenly said happily: "The last general is willing to listen to the dispatch of the national duke." ”

Yang Chong, the Duke of Yue Guo, is not comparable to Xu Shiji's Cao Guogong, Zhang Liang is not a good general, he is good at scheming and abiding by the rules, and naturally knows that the general of the Che Cai is just a start. Yang Chong asked Yu Yu to send a letter to Xu Shiji, one was to call Zhang Liang, and the other was to discuss with Xu Shiji about the establishment of the Zuo Imperial Guard, Yang Chong hoped that Xu Shiji could serve as the general of the Zuo Imperial Guard, and the third Yang Chong asked to lay down Xingluocang and solve the military rations on the spot.

In the middle of the night, the news of Yizhou came, the Hexi army was a city broken before dusk, Zheng Yizhou assassinated Zhang Yin in battle, and more than 4,000 people were captured. In one day, the two lines of defense were lost, Wang Shichong hurriedly transferred Guo Shiheng and Zhang Tongren back to Luoyang, completely abandoning the peripheral positions, and Zhang Jin's right Yiwei immediately captured Shaanxi, Xiong'er, Mianchi, Xin'an and other counties and Chang Ping; In addition to maintaining the northern line dominated by the southern city of Heyang, Luoyang has already presented the other three sides in front of the eyes of the Hexi army.

Yang Chong asked Ling Jing to come forward, released Wang Shiban, and asked Wang Shiban to bring a letter to Wang Shichong to seek negotiations; Wang Shibian didn't expect that he still had a chance to survive, and thanked Ling Jing vigorously. Wang Shibian rode a five-flowered horse and returned to Luoyang City with fifty Zheng Jun captives, which startled Wang Shichong; Even though he was a brother, Wang Shichong still interrogated him for more than an hour, and was sure that Wang Shibian had not deceived him, so he went to read the letter he brought back.

Yang Chongxin wrote politely, and the conditions were not too harsh, but he asked Wang Shichong to cancel the emperor's title, admit his mistake in the book, and then serve as the Great Sui Luoyang Guard, Zheng Guogong, and the army under his command can retain 60,000 people, and be reorganized into the Eagle Yang Army in Liangwei and Luoyang. Wang Shichong watched it twice, became more and more confused, and summoned Duan Da and others to discuss; Huan Fahei said bluntly: "Your Majesty, no, this is Yang Chong's strategy for differentiation, if there are three or four left-behind guards, two generals, is Luoyang still your Luoyang?" ”

Lu Junye, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, was most unaccustomed to Huan Fa's heir, and retorted mercilessly: "Luoyang is now surrounded by the Hexi army, once it is cut off from the northeast of the city to return to Luocang, there will be a shortage of food and other materials, and when the time comes, the people's hearts and the army will be in chaos, and it will be difficult to ask Yang Chong for a decent condition." Yang Chong is also the Duke of Chang'an and Yue Guogong, did his generals rebel? Your Majesty, I think the most important thing is for Yang Chong to make it clear that he will not send people to Luoyang, but he must also ensure the supply of materials in Luoyang. ”

Duan Da and the others all shook their heads, Lu Junye is a scholar after all, too wishful thinking, and Yang Chong is not a fool, can he see this simple delaying strategy? Guo Shiheng pondered and said: "Yang Chong's actions are often not according to common sense, you might as well agree first, for us can only delay the army, it depends on whether Dou Jiande and Du Fuwei can come to the rescue; If it is really hopeless for foreign aid, it is okay to fulfill the agreement. ”

(End of chapter)