In Yingzhou, Liucheng Town,

As one of the three prefectures of the fourteen prefectures of Pinglu Road, it is the second largest city and military town of Youzhou Prefecture. Liucheng Town, with its geographical hub location, manages the so-called out-of-mountain areas north of the Yanshan Mountains, including Weizhou, Shizhou, Chongzhou, Shunzhou, Shenzhou, Beilizhou, Yibinzhou, and Xianzhou.

In history, it was once used as the frontier town of Goguryeo for the Tang Dynasty's expedition, and before the establishment of the Andong Metropolitan Protectorate, it was also the seat of the Yingzhou Metropolitan Governor's Office that governed the countries of various ethnic groups in the Northeast.

It has been followed to this day, and has become the permanent place of the Andong camp that has been operated by the Northern Dynasty for several generations, as the command center for the long-term strategy of the Northern Dynasty army and the attack on the unruly Andong princes, the transfer of the rear and the strategizing.

In a sense, this was also the place where the powerful ministers who wielded power and the current generation rose to prominence.

Therefore, in fact, as the dominant power and ruling center of the military and political strategy of Pinglu Province, it has always been between the two major factions inside and outside the mountain, Youzhou, the capital of Pinglu Province, and Yingzhou, where Andong Xingying is located, constantly moving and faintly fighting.

Therefore, the successive dynasties have been built to build, and the current Liucheng is already a square city wall within a radius of several miles, the city wall of several zhang covered with hemp stone and gray bricks, the urn city and the corner towers and arrow towers that are set up on all sides, all of which are in the show of the prestige of this as a military town outside the mountain.

However, after the Great War between the North and the South a few years ago, after the Luodu Imperial Court took turns to draw away military strength, the so-called Andong camp actually existed in name only, and only an empty shelf composed of civilian assistants who stayed behind;

In addition, the local army of the four towns of Pinglu Dao was divided several times and followed Su Yuanjing to flee from the Saiwai and crusade against those grassland princes, etc., after a series of wars and events were seriously weakened

As the capital of Yingzhou, Liucheng Dayi, the market is a lifeless, withered and depressed scene, and most of the women and children are old and weak walking on the streets, which is the best portrayal of the current situation.

And the camp mansion in the city has just experienced a high-level meeting full of strife, arguments and bargaining.

On the topic of whether to enter the Luodu, although the messengers from the imperial court, all kinds of coercion and temptation and knowledge of interests, moving with affection and reasoning; But in the end, the generals who were still present were rejected by Zhang Bangchang, who was not in charge of the southern road and Zhang Bangchang, who was in charge of the central and eastern parts of Hebei, and once again vetoed them by a relatively narrow margin.

Subsequently, it was suggested that the canal could be directly broken south into Cangzhou, and that the military could be transported with the help of those sections of the Cao Canal that had not yet been silted, but it was again refuted on the grounds that it was easy to be attacked by the famous Huaidong army from the other side of the Yellow River.

However, the next thing about another thing that has been ripped off several times has already come to a conclusion.

Li Xiyao, the former deputy envoy of Lu Longjun and the regimental training envoy of the capital, has undoubtedly become the biggest disappointment and loser; Not only did he lose most of his military positions and titles, but he was also stripped of his garrison and defense area, and he was also asked to be under house arrest in disguise.

As a federation composed of large and small generals, the four towns of Pinglu Road, including Fanyang, Lulong, Yingzhou (Liucheng), and Jizhen, are not always the same voice and pace, especially after losing the suppression and balance from Luodu.

From the Qinwang faction who actively went to Luodu to the wait-and-see faction who connected the border to protect themselves; From the northward revenge faction, which advocated launching a punitive attack on those steppe princes, to the eastward faction, which advocated taking advantage of the situation, and so on, different views of the same kind emerged one after another at different times and stages.

There were even people who once proposed to follow the example of Zhang Bangchang, the governor of Hebei, and reach some kind of compromise and tacit understanding with Huaidong Town in the south, so as to have fewer worries about other suggestions, but they were quickly ignored by the public.

Some time ago, in order to solve the internal division of the Xue clan in Liaoxi and the elevation of the feudal lords, he tried to compromise and sue for peace with the old enemy Liaodong Luo clan privately, coupled with the arrangements and means left by Su Yuanjing;

In addition to Jizhen, which has already poured out of the nest to attack the outside of the fortress, the remaining three towns of Pinglu Dao, it is easy to reach a certain consensus, and Li Xiyao, who is familiar with the western strategy of Liaoning, will quickly lead an elite group of people to the north, waiting for an opportunity to support the weak Xue family, and quickly pacify the internal troubles and possible turmoil of the Xue family.

Even to create opportunities to thwart and strike, the ambition of the old opponent Liaodong Luo Fan and, if the Xue clan is no longer able to save and cannot do anything, the most unfortunate must also keep the important passage of the army into Andong The Liaoxi Corridor.

It's a pity that although he did a very good job at the beginning, when the general trend was difficult to stop head-on, he resolutely relied on the internal response of the Xue family, hid behind the scenes, and pushed the boat down, almost achieved most of the goals, almost completely reversed the situation, and even far exceeded the expected effect.

In the battle of Dongshan City, not only did he wipe out the powerful factions within the Xue clan who advocated compromise, but he even almost destroyed the dynasty's biggest opponent in Andong, the entire upper echelon of the Xue clan in Liaodong; However, because of the unexpected Huaidong Army, which came to watch the ceremony and accompanied him, suddenly inserted a horizontal bar and failed.

Not only was the good situation lost in the end, but even the Liaoxi Xue clan, a powerful and most closely related local force in the Yingzhou faction, was completely enraged and hated the same enemy, and the united army of the princes gathered by the Luo clan was forced to a dead end.

In the case of serious passivity and disadvantage in the main strategy and overall situation, no matter how hard he tried his best and how many partial victories and advantages he achieved with all his wisdom, it could not help to restore the declining momentum of his own camp in the mountains and rivers of western Liaoning.

Even if he decisively coerced the high-level Xue clan, including the young feudal lord, slaughtered the potential surrender faction in Kaiyi City, and used fraudulent surrender and sneak attacks to provoke and thwart the Luo clan's coalition forces, killing several birds with one stone, forcing the Xue clan to fight to the death and causing more damage to the enemy.

However, the Liaoxi Xue clan, which had high hopes in the north, was inevitably wiped out in the face of the huge disparity in strength, and he could only break through the siege with the last bit of hope and means of support.

However, as a remedy, the Youzhou Naval Division, together with a partial division they were carrying that was ready to break through to the rear of Liaodong, was almost wiped out on the sea because of the encounter with the Huaidong Naval Army.

The support troops and horses, which were easy to organize, also collided head-on with the legendary "invincible" firearms fortification, and fell heavily along the Xiaoqing River, and had to hurriedly retreat under the bad news that the rear grain road was attacked;

The voices in Yingzhou who originally supported and spoke for him had to shut their mouths and change their ways. Because this is already the last bit of spare power that can be drawn out in Yingzhou.

The soldiers who have taken in front and back have also reached nearly 30,000 young adults, which may have been a little relieved in the past; But in the current situation where you can only take care of yourself, it is enough to make every family in the city filial piety, and every household is a major bad news and damage.

At least until the new generation of teenagers in Yingzhou is fully grown; If the losses continue, under the rule of Yingzhou or Liucheng Town, not to mention that there is a serious shortage of manpower to defend the fortifications; I'm afraid that in the coming year, even the people who farm and work will not be able to get together.

In order to draw enough backup troops and horses, even the garrison of some secondary outposts has been withdrawn, and even if it is known that there is a civil strife in the Luo clan now, there is no way to continue to do anything in the short term.

Unless they were determined to break through the Xiaoqinghe defense line in the middle of the Liaoxi Corridor with all their might.

Therefore, Li Xiyao, who was about to flee with his own body in the end, will undoubtedly bear the greatest responsibility and fault.

Even if he could bring back a young feudal lord who claimed to be the Xue family, it would be better than nothing, but it was the current situation in Yingzhou, and it would not be much improved or beneficial.

It's just that when Li Xiyao returned to his residence in the city, he found that even his own soldiers had been replaced, so he could only accept this reality with a heavy sigh.

He pushed the door open and walked in, only to find that there were already visitors waiting inside. ……

And in Penglai Port in Dengzhou, a temporary armed ship regiment is setting sail for the port.

Led by Hu Jingshui, a ship merchant with close ties to Huaidong, they traveled to Osumi Province, located at the southern tip of Dazaifu in Kyushu, Fuso Domain, and was commonly known as Suzushu after the feudal reform.

It is an ancient district consisting of a peninsula and an archipelago because of the volcanic community of Kirishima that became famous for its later years. As a result, the frequent crustal movements that have been followed until modern times have also brought about the production of large quantities of minerals such as sulfur.

However, because the area was a remote area under the rule of Dazaifu in Kyushu, and because the land was barren and the population was limited, the scale of the output was also very small, and it was almost unknown in this era.

The port areas of Kagoshima and Tanegashima, which are the few local populations, are mainly concentrated, and play a role as a transit point for the North-South Sea Trade Route.

The Kuwabara clan, which is currently a representative of the Heiseikyo Imperial Court in the western country, rules over the descendants of the Hayato clan and the Kumatsu clan who have lived here for generations.

Moreover, this is also the closest choice to Huaidong in terms of sea and land distance on paper.

Because, the negotiations and other efforts with the Fuso domain a few days ago can be said to be in vain; It's not those candidates who are in private contact, don't want to do the business or don't want to have the need at all.

However, before the turmoil on the island of Shikoku Oshima subsided, basically no one was able to cross the long coastline and bring the sulfur produced in the Kanto region under the control of the Heiankyo Imperial Court in the north to the main road intact.

Therefore, I can only give up the plan of looking for agents and distributors, and think of some ways directly from the southern region of Fuso.

Of course, this is the advantage of my foresight in geographical knowledge as a modern person. If it weren't for the sulphur crisis, I really can't think of this remote corner of the place where the sea cruise tourism project passed through in later generations.

And Hu Jingshui, alias "Sea Fox", drifted to the local area in the early years because he encountered wind and waves when he traveled to Kyushu with the ship, so he recuperated in the local area for a period of time.

I was very impressed by the coast of the peninsula, which is covered with volcanic smoke all year round. It also indirectly confirmed my thoughts and speculations.