The first target of the Wang army was Tangyang County, Julu County (southwest of present-day Lucheng, Hebei).

The book of soldiers said that the soldiers and horses did not move, and the grain and grass went first.

In fact, before the soldiers and horses moved, public opinion must also go first.

Wang Lang first took the lead in attacking the hearts of public opinion, and then quickly took control of Hebei.

The book of soldiers also says that soldiers are not tired of cheating.

Wang Lang falsely claimed that he was the illegitimate son of Emperor Cheng, and so many people responded, which once again fully shows that flickering can sometimes play a certain role.

For these, Liu Xiu and Ren Guang both plan to learn and apply them.

Ren Guang produced a lot of essays, saying:

"Da Sima Liu Xiu led the city head Zilu and Lizidu to come from the east with a million-strong army to crusade against Wang Lang and other thieves!"

(The great Sima Liu Gong will take the city head Zilu and Lizi to fight millions of soldiers from the east and attack the rebels!) ）

He sent many light horsemen to gallop all over Julu County and spread the inscription widely.

The vast number of cadres, soldiers, and civilians received the documents and told each other from time to time, and they were under tremendous psychological pressure and did not know what to do.

That's what Liu Xiu wants.

Whether Liu Xiu uses troops or administers the government, the best policy he adopts is that ideological and political work should be carried out first and run through the whole process. That's it

It is the so-called "soldier who surrenders without a fight." ”

Pi Tong's vanguard arrived in Tangyang County, which had been returned to Wang Lang.

Pi Tong deployed troops outside the city and arranged for his right-hand men Zhang Wan and Yin Sui to infiltrate and launch a propaganda war first.

After Zhang Wan and Yin Sui entered the city, they quickly carried out their work, and told the cadres and the army and the people to take great righteousness (Xiao Zhao Zhimin), and called on everyone to abandon the darkness and turn to the light, and rise up to oppose Wang Lang and support Liu Xiu.

Of course, Liu Xiu also knows very well that ideological and political work is necessary, but it is not omnipotent.

While doing a good job in patient and meticulous ideological and political work, we must be well prepared to do so, and we must also immediately and ruthlessly do so when the critical time comes.

This is true both in the use of troops and in the administration of government.

People say that "both civil and military", "soft and hard", and "grace and power" also mean this.

In the evening of the same day, Liu Xiu led the army to the outside of Tangyang City, lined up the troops, arranged the formation, and arranged for the knights to gallop back and forth with torches high.

For a time, on the fields and by the river, people everywhere shouted and neighed, and the lights were bright.

(Many of them ride the fire, filling the middle of the Ze.) ）

Look at it, Tangyang, are you eating a toast or eating a penalty bar!

Faced with this situation, Tangyang's cadres immediately opened the city gates, expressed their surrender, and welcomed Liu Xiu.

Immediately afterwards, Pi Tong continued to go north to Zhenxian County (now northwest of Ningjin, Hebei) and successfully recovered the county.

When Pi Tong was fighting smoothly, a huge change occurred in the letter of the base camp of the royal army!

It turned out that Liu Xiu's army was originally 10,000 people, and the troops were very tight. As soon as the army was opened, the defense of Xindu was naturally empty.

When the Wang army was victorious in Tangyang and Zhenxian, Wang Lang sent troops to copy Liu Xiu's back road: attack Xindu.

There is a big family in Xindu City, the owner is called Ma Pet, who was instigated by Wang Lang to rebel, promised to cooperate with Wang Lang, and was named the king of Xindu.

One night, Ma Pet joined forces with other heroes to open the city gates and bring Wang Lang's troops into the city.

Xindu was controlled by Wang Lang overnight.

Ma Chong arrested Liu Xiu's appointment of Xindu County Acting Taishou Zongguang, Pi Tong's father, younger brother, wife and children, and Li Zhong's mother and wife, Jean

They wrote letters and greetings to Pi Tong and Li Zhong, demanding that Pi and Li surrender.

Although Li Zhong pays attention to etiquette and is a plain person, he and his father are both born in the two generations of Duwei, and they are not soft when they really use martial arts.

At this time, Ma Pet had a younger brother who happened to be serving as a lieutenant under Li Zhong.

Li Zhong found him, severely reprimanded the Ma family for his treachery, and gave the letter to Wang Lang.

Immediately, Li Zhong beheaded him.

(The blame is to betray the city and kill him.) ）

Here, Li Zhong expressed his firm determination to follow Liu Xiu, be loyal to his duties, and swear to fight Wang Lang to the death.

His generals were astonished and said:

"Now that our family is in the hands of others, killing Ma Pet's younger brother is a bit too much, right?!"

Li Zhong said firmly:

"If we don't kill the thieves, it can only affect us to fight the enemy."

(If the thief is not punished, then the two hearts are also.) ）

When Liu Xiu heard this, he was very impressed by Li Zhong and said to him with concern:

"Now that our troops have been established, general, you can lead your troops back to rescue your relatives. A reward of tens of millions of dollars can be offered, so that officials and ordinary people can be together

Come to the rescue. The cost comes from me. ”

(Now that our army has been completed, the general can return to save the old mother, wife, and son, and it is advisable to recruit the people who can get their families, and give tens of millions of money to take from me.) ）

Li Zhong was very moved by Liu Xiu's concern, and said sincerely:

"Thanks to the great kindness of Ming Gong's trust in me, I only want to repay the service, and I dare not take care of my family and relatives."

The letter received by Pi Tong from his father was written by Pi's father under the coercion of Ma Pet, and the main meaning is:

Surrender quickly, surrender and immediately give the title, and if you don't surrender, you will destroy the nine clans.

(Those who descend are knighted, and those who do not descend are exterminated.) ）

At a critical time, Pi Tong, like Li Zhong, showed absolute loyalty to Liu Xiu and the great cause of reviving the Han dynasty.

Pi Tong received his father's letter and burst into tears.

Persistently grief-stricken and determined, he wrote back:

"In the service of the monarch, it is difficult to take care of the family. The reason why our family can still live peacefully in Xindu today is because of the blessing of Liu Gong (Liu Xiu).

。 Now that Liu Chengcheng is working hard for national affairs, I can't have any selfish thoughts. ”

(Those who serve the monarch are not allowed to take care of their families.) Tong's relatives have so far been at ease with Xindu, and Liu Gong's grace is also. The public side fights for state affairs, and Tong must not revert to private affairs. ）

When I talk about this, I can't help but feel emotional!

When Liu Xiu was in an extremely difficult situation in his life, these heroes and heroes, whether they were officials or for the people, whether they knew or were strangers, threw them one after another

The family gave up his business, desperately went to him, followed him, was born and died, shared weal and woe, and had no two hearts in his life.

Why are they doing this?

Why???

…………。

Unfortunately, I have been thinking about this question for many years and have not found a satisfactory answer.

I'm sorry, but I looked through the relevant history books, but I didn't see a serious discussion.

Since I have said this, I will not assume superficially that this answer must be related to the reason why Liu Xiu was able to dominate the world.

Let's move on.

Liu Xiu hurriedly sent Ren Guang to lead some of the men back to save Xindu.

Who knows, these soldiers led by Ren Guang had just reached the halfway point, and before they arrived in Xindu, they deserted one after another and surrendered to Wang Lang in groups.

You said that you have an army of millions, Wang Lang doesn't know, the people don't know, don't we know yet?!

Just won two battles in front, and the old nest (Xindu) behind him was copied, how to fight next?

You Liu Xiu, this 10,000 people and monkeys, can beat Wang Lang?

Wang Lang is a ready-made master, let's follow him, isn't it just to eat when he is a soldier?!

…………。

Ren Guang had no choice but to return in vain.

It was at this time that the Genshi Dynasty sent troops to attack and soon took Xindu, and the families of Pi Tong and Li Zhong were spared.

As for why there was such a military operation at this time, there are profound reasons and complicated processes in it, and we will talk about it later.

But it is undeniable that this objectively helped Liu Xiu.

In order to firmly control the base camp of Xindu, Liu Xiu arranged for Li Zhong to immediately bring people back and serve as the acting taishou of Xindu County.

Li Zhong returned to Xindu and immediately searched for the powerful families in the county who were attached to Wang Lang, and killed hundreds of people.

Soon, Ren Guang, who accompanied Liu Xiu to conquer Wang Lang, was sent back to the county to continue to perform the duties of the Taishou, and Li Zhong also served as his original county governor.

However, Liu Xiu never forgot the two.

Just when Liu Xiu led his troops to crusade against Wang Lang and fell into a predicament, two more people provided him with great help.

One is Liu Zhi and the other is Geng Chun.

Liu Zhizi Boxian, a native of Julu Changcheng (now Xinhebei, Hebei), is a local prominent family.

After Wang Lang became emperor in Handan, all parts of Hebei looked forward to the wind. Ren Guang in Xindu, and Pi Tong in Hecheng led the army and the people to refuse to surrender as Taishou, Liu

Zhi Ze, his younger brother Liu Xi, and his cousin Liu Xin led their relatives and friends to raise thousands of troops, and guarded Changcheng as a civilian person, fighting against Wang Lang, waiting for Liu Xiu, and becoming

The political and military forces of the independent side.

Liu Xiu's army passed through Changcheng, and Liu Zhi and others immediately opened the city to greet him. Liu Xiu was overjoyed and thanked Liu Zhi.

Liu Xiu led Wang Jun to rest in Changcheng.

Here, Liu Xiu appointed Liu Zhi as the general of Xiaocai, Liu Xi and Liu Xin as partial generals, and Feng Ge'er as liehous.

(Wen Shizu returned from thistle, but opened the door to welcome Shizu, with Zhi as the general of the cavalry, Xi and Xinbian generals, all of whom were liehous.) ）

Since the fight has begun, you can't stop for too long where you can rest.

After a little rest and supplies, Liu Xiu led his army to continue northward, and in Yucheng (now Ji County, Hebei), Geng Chun led more than 2,000 relatives and friends to greet him.

Geng Chun is everyone's acquaintance.

When Liu Xiu first came to Hebei, he arranged for him to stay in Handan.

Wang Lang became the emperor in Handan, and the first thing to be won was of course Geng Chun. Because Wang Lang was too fierce at that time, everyone was caught off guard.

Liu Xiu fled south from Jixian in a hurry, and Geng Chun also escaped from Handan overnight with Yin Xin and his entourage.

(Pure holding and fleeing from the city at night.) ）

Although Liu Xiu's ideal of starting a business was temporarily frustrated, Geng Chun was not discouraged at all. He returned to his hometown of Songzi County and quietly developed his power and accumulated energy.

Now, here's your chance again!

As soon as Liu Xiu led Wang Jun to arrive, Geng Chun and his cousins Geng Xin, Geng Su, and Geng Zhi immediately led their relatives and friends to the rendezvous.

This time, all the Geng family members were dispatched. There are some old and sick people, and even the coffins that they have prepared for the funeral have been brought in by the car (known as "carrying" in history

wood").

This fully demonstrates the determination and confidence of Geng Chun and his family to follow Liu Xiu at all costs!

The team of helping the old and the young, the thirsty eyes, and the look of death as home, what a touching scene!

In fact, the old Geng family could have lived in their hometown in peace, and it was not so hard.

We also introduced a little earlier, Geng Chun's family is the surname of Julu, and his father Geng Ai is more successful as an official.

He himself had just been appointed by Li Yi, a senior cadre, as the cavalry captain of the guarding side.

In other words, with strong family accumulation, skillful social experience and shrewd political techniques, no matter how the dynasty is changed, the Geng family can do it

Smooth transition and successful preservation of vested interests.

Geng Chun's father and son entered the government from the Western Han Dynasty to Wang Mang, and the beginning is not declining, which illustrates this.

However, after being disappointed again and again with Wang Mang and Gengshi, Geng Chun set his sights on a goal: to revive the Han family.

At the same time, he also had his eye on one person: Liu Xiu.

Then leave everything behind, follow this person, go towards this goal, and never give up until death!

Liu Xiu was very moved by Geng Chun's loyalty, and officially clarified the position of the Geng brothers:

Geng Chun is a former general and is named the Marquis of Geng Township; Geng Xin, Geng Su, and Geng Zhi are partial generals; The brothers led the front army to take the lead (vanguard) together.

The addition of Liu Zhi and Geng Chun greatly strengthened the strength of the Wang army.

Of course, this also greatly strengthened Liu Xiu's confidence.

Liu Xiu decided to continue to wave his army north.

The royal army surrendered Songzi County, and then captured Xiaquyang County.

At this time, some soldiers who had originally fled, recently joined, and had just surrendered gathered one after another, and the army soon reached tens of thousands.

(The crowd is a little together, and there are tens of thousands of happy people.) ）

Soldiers are fast. Liu Xiu led the royal army to take advantage of the victory to the north, and soon took Lunu, the capital of Zhongshan State.

It is worth noting that when Liu Xiu waved his division to fight, he did not fight for the sake of fighting.

He used all combinations.

The first is to expand the team step by step while conquering the city.

As we introduced earlier, Liu Xiu took three-pronged measures in order to strengthen his military strength and change the unfavorable situation of less to more for Wang Lang as soon as possible.

Now it seems that such measures have been successful.

Second, it is necessary to use both civil and military forces, and at the same time attack by force, it is necessary to quickly and extensively carry out ideological mobilization and propaganda and appeal.

In fact, before Wang Jun left, Liu Xiu and Ren Guang had already achieved public opinion first.

Wherever Wang Jun went, Liu Xiu had to dispatch brave and warlike elite cavalry, issue documents, distribute leaflets, denounce Wang Lang as a fake, and call on the masses

The military and civilian cadres responded to Liu Xiu's army and jointly fought against Wang Lang, and received a positive response from the relevant counties.

(The soldiers who passed the line were sent to the border, and the county responded to the attack.) ）

These propaganda and mobilization efforts have provided very good ideological guidance, public opinion support, and cultural conditions for the military campaign against the king.

Third, we have tempered and trained cadres in actual combat, which has not only achieved considerable results, but also laid a solid organizational foundation for the next step of the great cause of rejuvenation.

Regarding the importance of cadre work, we have said it many times before.

Wang Mang was ruined by the employment of people, and he was about to be destroyed by the employment of people, and Liu Xiu was alerted to this.

As for Liu Xiu's way of knowing and employing people, it has extremely rich content, and it is also a precious wealth in the excellent traditional culture of the Chinese nation

Continued in detail.

Now is not the time, because Liu Xiu is courting Wang Lang, the complex and sharp political and military struggle has just begun, and the wonderful wisdom and action are big

The play was about to be played, and we missed it as soon as we got distracted.

In front of us, although Liu Xiu is still in adversity, a large number of heroes and people with lofty ideals have also gathered around him desperately.

Liu Xiu, with his outstanding wisdom and broad mind, provided them with a stage to fully display themselves, and they also did their best for Liu Xiu to be able and loyal.

Even the net worth of life.

In other words, Liu Xiu inspired them with his personality strength, and they followed Liu Xiu unwaveringly, life and death, and the two defeated countless together

Difficulties and obstacles have reversed and rewritten Chinese history.

Liu Xiu established an extremely deep and intimate relationship with them in the bloody storm.

This relationship is not only a clever combination of political interests, but also a very rare rational mutual trust and emotional blending between outstanding figures.

When I am surrounded by countless trivial and noisy social life in history and reality, it should be me to see how these people behave in person

We are a very precious enjoyment.

Okay, we're talking about it here, and a new situation is happening over there.

Just when Liu Xiu's army was conquering Lunu, Geng Chun was busy and sent his brothers Geng Xin and Geng Su to quickly return to their hometown Songzi County to take care of themselves

Set fire to your house and that of your friends and family!

(But to make Xin and stay and burn his house.) ）

History called Geng Chun's move "burning".

Liu Xiu was also surprised by Geng Chun's move, and hurriedly asked the reason.

Geng Chun believes that at present, Wang Lang's power is still quite strong, most of Hebei is still under his control, and the war against the king is at a critical moment. If you burn down the houses in your hometown, you can cut off the retreat of your relatives and friends, so that everyone can be with you.

followed Liu Xiu with a dead heart and no second heart.

He replied:

"Personally, I think that Ming Gong's single-handedly coming to Hebei did not bring huge wealth, and you cannot use heavy rewards and rewards to gather and motivate the soldiers

The only thing that can unite and unite everyone is your personality. For this reason, everyone is willing to join you. Now Wang Lang has set himself up as the emperor, let's lift

The military crusade, these states and counties in the north are full of doubts. Although I have brought my whole family, relatives and friends to you, even the old, weak, sick and disabled, I still bear it

Heart, lest any of your relatives and friends have two hearts. Therefore, I burned down the houses in my hometown and cut off the back road, so that everyone had no worries about looking back. ”

(Eavesdropping on the Ming Gong bicycle in Hebei, not having the savings of the house, rewarding the bait, can gather people also, in vain with kindness, is the old people are happy.) Jinhan

Dan is self-reliant, Beizhou is puzzled, although the pure family is rejected, the old and weak are in the line, and I am afraid that the guests of the sect will not have the same heart, so they burn the house, and they will not look back. ）

Geng Chun in order to follow Liu Xiu "carrying wood and burning the house", his loyalty and sincerity are obvious, Liu Xiu was deeply moved by this, and admired it for a long time!

When I said this, it suddenly occurred to me that Wang Mang was tyrannical and lewd, if he thought about how his senior cadres treated him, he should really be immediately

Palm your own face; When the first emperor Liu Xuan was sobering up, if he thought about how his senior cadres treated him, he should really hit the wall immediately.

Just when the situation of the crusade against Wang Lang was very good, a very real and serious problem was placed in front of him:

Liu Yang, a descendant of Emperor Jing of the Western Han Dynasty and King Liu Yang of Zhending (now Shijiazhuang, Hebei), raised troops to join Wang Lang and had more than 100,000 elite soldiers. And it was really Liu Xiu who went south

The must-go choke point for hitting Handan!