After a large wave of people returned to Daliang (here it is a big wave, not a big wave), it was already a matter of the spring of the second year. At this time, the flames of war had already burned to the area of Yunzhou and Puzhou. Jing Xiang wrote again: "The country has been defeated year after year, and the territory is getting smaller and smaller day by day.

Your Majesty has lived in the deep palace for a long time, and the people you are plotting are some unlearned and unskilled ministers, how can they know how to arrange national affairs!

When the first emperor was alive, he owned the vast territory of Hebei, and personally led all the famous generals, but he could not destroy the Jin state. Now that the enemy has reached Yunzhou, His Majesty still doesn't seem to care too much.

The minister heard that it has been ten years since Li Yazi succeeded to the throne, and every time he fights, he is charging into battle and always fighting on the front line.

Take the battle of Yang Liu that just happened, for example, he was also the first soldier to carry the siege of the city, so he was able to capture the city in one go.

His Majesty is elegant and calm, and only sends He Gui to confront him, but hopes to drive the strong enemy back, which I think is unlikely. Your Majesty ought to consult the old ministers extensively, to see if there is any other good way, or else I think the country will surely perish.

Although the minister is dull and cowardly, he has also received the favor of the state in the past, and if your majesty lacks talents, I ask that I be sent to the border to serve. ”

Jing Xiang, a native of Dali County, Shaanxi Province, has the word Zhen, and was smart and responsive when he was young. He loves to read, is good at making articles, and is known as a young talent.

Like many scholars, Jing Xiang also rushed to Chang'an to participate in the imperial examination at the end of the Tang Dynasty, but his name fell to Sun Shan.

Perhaps he still wanted to go home and repeat his studies and go to take the exam again, but Huang Chao poured a basin of cold water on the small flame of his hope, and then the rebel army hit Chang'an.

In the troubled times, Jing Xiang had to go to another country to find a way out temporarily. Not accepted. There was a road under his feet, and Jing Xiang went to Bianzhou and took refuge with his fellow villager Wang Fa, who was serving under Zhu Wen at that time.

But Wang Fa couldn't find a suitable opportunity to introduce him to Zhu Wen for a while, and Jing Xiang did not complain, but gave full play to his expertise on the spot. Write letters and recitals for some illiterate soldiers in the barracks.

Jing Xiang's writing is smooth and beautiful, easy to understand, and is very popular with officers and soldiers, and sometimes one or two sentences he wrote are widely circulated in the battalion as epigrams.

The little soldiers always hold a small book there when they have nothing to do every day, and when they go up to take a look, it is impressively written: Jingxiang quotations. It is gold that will eventually shine, and the goddess of opportunity has finally descended on Jing Xiang's head.

Zhu Wen often hears the old man who usually looks stunned and always pops up one or two classic quotes, which is very strange. After inquiring privately, I learned that it was written by a fellow villager of his subordinate Wang Fa, so I said to him: "I heard that you have a very talented fellow, you brought him to let me meet." ”

Seeing Jing Xiang, Zhu Wen asked him: "I know that Mr. is very proficient in the righteousness of "Spring and Autumn", and now I also have some foundation, and I really want to learn the methods in "Spring and Autumn" to fight, in order to have a greater career." I wonder what Mr. thinks? ”

Jing Xiang replied loudly: "The way of using troops from ancient times to the present is to adapt to changes. Surprisingly winning. The ancient customs have not been inherited, and it is the way of using soldiers.

Blindly studying "Spring and Autumn" is to stick to the old ways, and the result can only be vain and ineffective, and it is difficult to win a hundred battles, so it is difficult to have hope for the great cause of the king. ”

Zhu Wen nodded again and again after hearing this, talent. How could he be so level-level, so he immediately let him take up a military position, and every time he marched and fought, he took Jing Xiang with him.

After a short time, Jing Xiang proposed to Zhu Wen to change his civilian position. Because he found that he didn't like to be a military attaché very much, and he was not good at leading troops to fight and command operations, but being a civilian was his specialty. Ordinary people bargain with the boss, and they will definitely be scolded by the boss, but Jing Xiang is a talent, so naturally it is another matter, Zhu Wen readily agreed, and reappointed him as the "Pavilion Inspector",

He is responsible for the drafting of the instrument. Since then, Jing Xiang has become an important staff member of Zhu Wen. Therefore, as a young person, don't be afraid of a low starting point, don't be afraid of many setbacks, as long as you are a talent, as long as you are willing to persevere, as long as the idea is true, sooner or later you will have a bright day. Zhu Wen, with the assistance of Jing Xiang,

The cause of hegemony has gradually moved towards success. Zhu Wen once said with great emotion: "Strange people descended from the sky to support me!" However, Zhu Wen was sometimes stubborn and refused to listen to Jing Xiang's advice. After defeating Zhao Kuangning,

Zhu Wen wanted to take advantage of the residual power that had just defeated Zhao Kuangning to sweep away Huainan Yang Xingmi in one fell swoop. Jing Xiang hurriedly admonished to stop: "We have pacified the two towns in less than a month this expedition, and the land has reached thousands of miles. ”

Zhu Wen was carried away by the victory for a while, and insisted on going his own way, as a result, the army first encountered a storm baptism in the middle, of course, the soldiers were not baptized with a stronger will as Gorky said, but one by one baptized like an eggplant beaten by frost, demoralized, and then lost again and again during the siege of the city, and returned defeated,

Zhu Wen, who suffered a big loss, came to his senses at this time: if you don't listen to Jing Xiangyan, you will suffer a loss in front of you, and you can't be disobedient in the future, and if you don't obey, you will be spanked. Zhu Wen is cunning by nature, often suspicious of the generals, often scolds and kills indiscriminately, and the civil and military ministers are very afraid of him.

However, Jing Xiang is alert and wise, he rarely admonishes Zhu Wen in front of everyone, in order not to embarrass him, he pays attention to the slight changes in Zhu Wen's speech, demeanor and expression, and uses this to figure out what he thinks in his heart.

Sometimes what Zhu Wen did was inappropriate, Jing Xiang took advantage of the situation and hinted at it, and Zhu Wen also understood it once he noticed it, and then he would inevitably correct it. Sometimes, if Zhu Wen's command and deployment were not thorough, Jing Xiang tried to remedy it in time.

After Zhu Wen became emperor, he used Jing Xiang more seriously, and Zhu Wen changed the Privy Council of the former Tang Dynasty to the Chongzheng Yuan, and appointed Jing Xiang as the Privy Council.

At that time, Jing Xiang's position was even heavier than that of the prime minister, and he could first discuss with the emperor in the ban, and then announce the decree to the prime minister.

As for the prime minister's daily invitation, it must also be sent to the emperor through the Chongzheng Yuan first. After receiving this important responsibility, Jing Xiang is even more diligent in government affairs, and he has no intention of internal and external affairs.

Jing Xiang followed Zhu Wen for a total of 30 years, serving in the army, strategizing, and planning day and night. I often say that you can only rest in the saddle. When Zhu Wen was seriously ill, he summoned Jing Xiang to his bed to entrust the affairs of the future, and asked Jing Xiang to expel Zhu Yougui from the capital and take up a post abroad, so Zhu Yougui launched a mutiny and killed Zhu Wen. Establish yourself as emperor.

Zhu Yougui was very jealous of Jing Xiang, although Li Zhen replaced him as the chief official of Chongzheng, but in order to make the ministers cooperate with him, he still appointed Jing Xiang as the prime minister, Jing Xiang accepted the appointment on the surface, but often said that he was sick at home and kept a distance from Zhu Yougui.

When Zhu Youzhen saw the book, he asked Zhao Yan and the Zhang brothers to discuss, and Zhao Yan and the Zhang brothers said that Jing Xiang was complaining about the emperor. is complaining and complaining, so Zhu Youzhen doesn't consider using him.

Zhu Youzhen ordered Xie Yanzhang, the envoy of Heyang Jiedu, to lead tens of thousands of troops to recover Yang Liucheng. Xie Yanzhang, a native of Xuchang, Henan Province, was an orphan since he was a child, he was not smoked to death for heating in the garbage can, nor was he placed on the side of the road to beg after being disabled by a bad uncle, but was adopted by the kind-hearted Ge Congzhou and took him to fight everywhere. Live a life of licking blood with a knife head.

Ge Congzhou saw that he was smart and clever, so he recognized him as a righteous son. Teaching the art of war, Xie Yanzhang did his best. When he became an adult, Zhu Wen made him a cavalry general. At that time, the Liang army dominated the world, He Gui was good at infantry, and Xie Yanzhang was good at using cavalry. For a while, it was called "double absolute".

Xie Yanzhang is good at poetry and books, courtesy of Confucianism, often wears Confucian clothes to lead the army, and seems to have the spirit of a Confucian general. The array was rigorous and neat, and even the Jin army heard of its name.

Xie Yanzhang didn't dare to challenge easily. It was only to build a camp to defend and break the embankment of the Yellow River to block the Jin army. When Li Cunmiao heard that the Liang army was attacking, he rushed to the front line again, personally drove a boat to measure the depth of the water in the submerged position of the Liang army, and tested it with a gun, but he could not touch the ground with a single shot.

Li Cunmiao said to his subordinates: "The Liang army doesn't want to fight, they just want to use water to block our army, we should wade through water to attack them, and we will definitely win." ”

On June 23, 918, when the river fell heavily, just above his knees, Li Cunqiao personally led his army to cross the river first, followed by other armies. Xie Yanzhang led the army on the shore to wait for work, the Jin army could not go ashore, so they had to retreat, Xie Yanzhang ordered the soldiers to go down the river to pursue.

When the Liang soldiers' brigade reached the middle stream, Li Cunqiao ordered the army to counterattack, but Xie Yanzhang could not support it, so he hurriedly retreated to the south bank, and the Jin soldiers followed closely and rushed to the south bank.

The Liang army was defeated, with countless casualties, the river turned red, and Xie Yanzhang was spared. On the same day, the Jin people captured the four riverside villages of the Liang army.

After this battle, the Jin people took control of the Yellow River crossing and planned to invade the Central Plains on a large scale.

Li Cunmiao ordered military horses from all over the country to come to Weizhou to join the army. The concentrated army included 30,000 Youzhou infantry cavalry of Zhou Dewei, 10,000 Cangzhou infantry cavalry of Li Cunxian, 10,000 Xing Wei infantry cavalry of Li Siyuan, 10,000 Yiding infantry cavalry of Wang Chuzhi, and other ethnic minority tribes such as Xi, Khitan, Murowei, Tuyuhun and other soldiers and horses.

In August of that year, the above-mentioned troops, together with the soldiers and horses of Hedong and Wei Bo, held a military parade on an unprecedented scale in Weizhou.

The following shouted: "Good chief! Li Cunmiao smiled and said, "Comrades have worked hard. The soldiers shouted in unison: "Serve the chief...... Since then, the Jin army has kicked off the prelude to the Central Plains.

Zhu Youzhen appointed Liu Cheng as the pacification envoy of Yanzhou and led the army to defeat the Jin army. Li Cunqiao personally led a large army to Yang Liu, intruded Yun, Pu and other places, and then went up the embankment of the Yellow River and set up a military camp in Majiadu.

At that time, He Gui and Xie Yanzhang led the main force of the Liang army to be stationed in Xingtai Village in the north of Puzhou, and the two armies held each other without fighting. With the painful lessons of the previous times, Li Cunmiao still did not repent, and still liked to personally lead a small number of cavalry to approach the enemy's camp for voyeurism, and was found many times and was almost beaten to death, but each time Li Shaorong was desperately protected to survive.

Wang Rong, the king of Zhao, and Wang Chuzhi sent messengers to send letters and persuade them many times: "The lives of all people in the world are tied to the king, and the hope of the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty is also tied to the king, how can you despise your body so much!" Li Cunmiao smiled and said to the envoy: "If you want to stabilize the world, how can you achieve your goal without going through a hundred battles yourself?"

Could it be that he hid in the deep palace and raised himself for nothing? One day, Li Cunxuan was about to leave the camp again, and Li Cunxian, the envoy of the capital camp, grabbed the war horse and cried and admonished: "The king should respect himself for the world." As for the matter of charging into battle, it should be the duty of the soldiers, and it should be what I, Li Cunxian, should do, not the king's business. ”

In this way, Li Cunmiao was led back to the camp by him. Another day, Li Cunqiao saw that Li Cunxian was not in front of him, so he hurriedly beat his horse out of the camp and said to his soldiers on the left and right: "This old man always hinders the interest of others!" So he led hundreds of cavalry to the camp of the Liang army.

Xie Yanzhang can also figure out Li Cunmiao's character, there is always an ambush of a large number of soldiers waiting for the rabbit, this day there are five thousand fine armor hidden under the river embankment, finally, the rabbit appeared, Xie Yanzhang secretly rejoiced: Sample, I don't believe you don't appear. When Li Cunqiao walked down the embankment with more than ten cavalry,

Suddenly, the ambush soldiers fired four rounds, surrounded Li Cunmiao, Li Cunmiao fought to the death, the guards protected him desperately, and the soldiers outside also charged inside, and finally broke out of the encirclement, but the soldiers around him were almost dead. At this critical moment, Li Cunxian led the rescue soldiers to arrive, and after a fierce battle, the Liang soldiers were killed.

At this point, Li Cunmiao really felt that Li Cunxian's words were contrary to his ears, but it felt like one thing, and how to do it was another, a voyeur and adventurer like Li Cunmiao made it more uncomfortable for him to stay in the barracks honestly than to make people crazy.

People say that He Gui is good at leading the infantry army, and Xie Yanzhang is good at leading the cavalry, just like North Qiao Feng and South Murong, South Murong is jealous of North Qiao Feng, because the two are equally famous, He Gui is also quite jealous of Xie Yanzhang, and always wants to get rid of it quickly, think about it, some people see others stronger than him, not thinking about working hard and surpassing their opponents,

Instead, they often want to kill their opponents in order to make themselves stand out, which was the case before, and still are, because it is often easier to hack an opponent than to surpass an opponent, but they don't know that hacking an opponent often acquiesces to the fact that it is indeed difficult for them to surpass their opponent.

One day, Xie Yanzhang and He Gui were inspecting the battlefield environment in the suburbs, and He Gui pointed to a piece of terrain and said to Xie Yanzhang: "This place has a hill and a flat middle, which is a good place to camp. ”

However, He Gui is not the only one in this world who is proficient in the art of war, and soon after, this place was camped by the Jin people, but He Gui insisted that Xie Yanzhang had an affair with the Jin people.

He Gui wanted to go to war several times, and said to Xie Yanzhang: "The Lord handed over all the troops of the whole country to the two of us, it can be said that the fate of the country depends on us, and now the strong enemy has entered the doorstep, and we are still staying and refusing to fight, is this right?" ”

Xie Yanzhang replied: "A strong enemy invades, they are advantaged to fight quickly, now we are building deep ditches and high fortresses, occupying strategic points, they will not be able to fight quickly, and they will not dare to go deeper, if they are easily engaged, in case there is a mistake, then the general trend will go." ”

After hearing this, He Gui became even more suspicious of him. So he secretly went to the emperor to slander him, and conspired with Zhu Wanggui, who was waiting for Zhu Wanggui, to reward the soldiers, and ambushed the soldiers, and killed Xie Yanzhang and Puzhou assassin Shi Meng Xiancheng and other generals Hou Wenyu in the army, and reported the crime of plotting rebellion.

Meng Xiancheng and Hou Wenyu are also good generals who are good at leading cavalry, but they cannot lead more than 3,000 cavalry, only Xie Yanzhang is Han Xin's army, the more the merrier. When he was killed, everyone deplored it. (To be continued......)