Seeing Pan Mei and Cao Han being silent, Zhao Jiong suspected that the generals were slacking off on purpose, and his anger was blazing. He thought for a moment and said in a deep voice: "The city of Jinling has been destroyed, and it all depends on the attack. I have already sent troops to the front of the palace." The guards surveyed the terrain near Youzhou and found that the soil in the southeast corner of Youzhou City was soft and conducive to digging. This was where Cao Qing and Mi Xin's troops were stationed. Cao Qing personally supervised his subordinates and attacked the city in a few days. Inside, Youzhou will be destroyed!"
Pan Mei and Cao Han saw that Zhao Jiong had a sullen face and had even planned how to attack the city, and they did not dare to disobey. Cao Han was even more concerned about whether the attack on the cave was effective or not, it was better than the ant attack like today. By attacking the city, the lives of the generals and soldiers were thrown in vain under the fortified city. After Pan Mei and Cao Han retired, Zhao Jiong became more and more angry as he thought about it. He even threw two teacups. The guards reported that Wang Qian and Dilidu commanding envoy Lizalcan asked to see him, but Zhao Jiong was furious, but he didn't see him.
That night, Cao Han¡¯s soldiers began to dig tunnels. At this time, Youzhou was not as arid as later generations. Instead, the climate was humid, the water was abundant, and it was surrounded by dense lakes and swamps. Cao Han's soldiers dug three feet into the ground and actually dug out several live crabs living in the mud. The soldiers didn't know why, so they presented the crab to Cao Han. Cao Han was cursing the imperial edict for attacking the city in this cave, so he sighed: "Crabs were originally things born in water, but now they are dug up on the ground. This is a metaphor for me." When they live in an inappropriate place, crabs have many legs, which means that the Youzhou army has many reinforcements and they come very quickly. The crab understands that this is God's will for our army to return to the court!"
That night, Cao Han's remarks, which were like those of a magic stick, were actually spread among the Forbidden Army. The Forbidden Army, which was already war-weary and eager to return home after the war in Taiyuan, became even more depressed. Even the Imperial Camp Ban Zhi, who was personally led by Zhao Jiong, also had some excuses. Those who complained, because people's words are fierce and public anger is difficult to offend, just like Cui Han, Wang Qian and other officials who were responsible for the management of Youyan and had the responsibility of monitoring the army, they did not dare to report the matter to the officials. Only Zhao Jiong became more and more courageous with every setback, and was actually led by Jian Zhirui himself, leading the palace squad to urge all the imperial troops to attack Youzhou day and night.
Since the expedition in Taiyuan, the generals have been working hard without rest, and they have slacked off a lot in rectifying their subordinates and investigating the enemy's situation. Originally, Cao Han, Mixin and other generals would send cavalry to monitor the mountain passes in the north of Youzhou to prevent Liao cavalry from infiltrating and sneaking attacks, but these days Cao Han and others Han also ordered the cavalry troops to return to camp, assist Hu Jie's troops in digging tunnels, and said to the soldiers: "The Holy Spirit's golden words have given us caves to attack the city. How can we divide our troops and wander around."
"The morale of the army is getting more and more unstable. Calculating the time, reinforcements from the Liao people will only arrive in these few days. Is there any news about Yu Furengui?" Chen De accompanied Zhao Jiong and other Song Dynasty monarchs and ministers to supervise the battle under Youzhou City and return to the camp. Then he asked Zhang Zhongyao.
"The White Feather Army has passed through Xinzhou," Zhang Zhongyao reported. "After entering the territory of the Liao people, they met Yang Yanzhao who was ordered to transport military supplies. Yang Yanzhao knew that Yu Furengui was coming to rescue his lord from danger, so he did not stop him and sent two The guide will lead them." Chen De nodded when he heard the words and sighed: "The father and son of the Yang family in Daibei are both strategists and magnanimous generals. However, they were born in Hedong, and were squeezed out by the Forbidden Army factions and jealous of the Zhao family and civil officials. , it is difficult to get ahead. The Yang family has always been kind to our Anxi Army, and we must repay it in the future."
Zhang Zhongyao added: "General Yu Fu came to report that since Bai Yu's army broke away from Xiazhou Army and went north, Li Jifeng seemed to be dissatisfied with Bai Yu's army, and Li Jiqian was actively persuading Li Jiyun to attack Dijinze." "Oh?" Chen De said deeply, "These wolves in Xiazhou, after a long time, they will come out to bite people without beating them. The Hussars can approach the north of Dingnan Wuzhou first, and prepare to meet the White Feather Army. It's over now, I will do it myself Deal with these hungry wolves like Dang Xiang Li."
Zhang Zhongyao wrote down Chen De's order and was about to continue to report on the situation of the Western Region's Jiaojun Lianrui and other troops. The Ya army informed Wang Qian outside that he wanted to see him. Before Chen De could answer, he heard loud shouting from outside. It seemed that Wang Qian was reprimanding and stopping him. He entered Chen De's camp as a sergeant. After living in Bianliang, Wang Qian came to apologize, but Chen De ignored him. Unexpectedly, this prince actually persisted and even asked for an audience in the Youzhou army. Chen De gave a wry smile. Now that Youzhou City has been delayed, Wang Qian It is well known to everyone that he fell out of favor in front of the officials. Chen De was not aware of any conspiracy he had, so he waved his hand and ordered him to be brought in.
Wang Qian, wearing a white Confucian shirt, complained loudly when he stepped in: "Brother Chen lives in Jiedu and has a powerful army. How can he treat his old friend like this?" Zhang Zhongyao saw that he was pretending to be crazy and acted like a fool. He smiled and said nothing. Chen De said in a deep voice: " Your Majesty, what you said is wrong. It is the responsibility of the guards. Even if a close relative of Virtue comes to visit, the guards will still prevent him from entering without notification." Wang Qian pretended to be surprised and said: "Seriously, if there is a noble prince who wants to break in. Entering the general's camp and unable to communicate for a while, do you, a guard, want to kill people?" Chen De had no time to engage in combat with him at this moment, his face was as heavy as water, he picked up the teacup and put it down again, saying coldly: "But there is no one in the army. According to the law of marching, not to mention the princes and nobles, even if they are the emperorrelatives, if they rush into the military camp and the guards kill him with swords, there is nothing wrong."
At this time, the atmosphere in the tent was extremely cold. After a long while, Wang Qian just sighed: "Your Majesty, if Brother Chen killsHow can the morale of the army be so shattered if the attack is decisive? "Chen De didn't answer, and just listened to what he said: "In the past, Yang Xiu guessed that Wei Wu wanted to withdraw from the army. He thought he was very smart, ordered his followers to prepare their luggage, and spread this idea everywhere. No matter how kindly Wu treats him, if the military morale is involved, he will be killed immediately. Now Cao Han has dug up crabs in the ground, and his nonsense has been spread throughout the army. He has lost his fighting spirit, and your Majesty has done nothing. The Khitan people are still gathered outside Youzhou, and their vitality has not been lost. The Northern Expedition army has lost its military morale. If something happens, how can it stand up to a fight! If this battle is defeated and the Liao people resent Youyan and his elders for crossing the road to meet the king's master, they will definitely resort to all possible means to retaliate, and the people will suffer! "
Chen De heard that he was worried about the country and the people in his tone, and he felt guilty. For the past few days, he had led the 300 Spanish troops to sit back and watch the Song army fortify the city, almost waiting for the Song army to be defeated by the Liao Dynasty. As a Han Chinese, he just forced himself not to think about the final right and wrong of this matter. Seeing the Song army risking their lives to attack the city lying dead and wounded under Youzhou City, but he knew clearly that all these sacrifices were in vain in the end, Chen De always felt a little ashamed. At this time, he just told himself over and over again: "These It was all what should have happened, I just didn't prevent it from happening. It was not me who drove these soldiers to sacrifice, it was Zhao Jiong."
"Your Majesty didn't punish Cao Han. Maybe he didn't know about it. It's not like what you think, Brother Wang." Chen De said slowly, pondering. Wang Gan's eyes were still sad and he sighed: "This is even worse. Cao Han is making such nonsense, and the officials and the left and right are covering up for him. It can be seen that the one hundred thousand army, who wants to continue to attack Youzhou City, is just His Majesty. With such military morale, if the Khitans come to attack, they will collapse at the first touch." He paused, took a sip of tea, and continued, "In the battle of Gaoping in the past, all the ancestors and ministers of the Manchu Dynasty opposed Emperor Sejong's personal expedition, and the army was banned to control cranes. The capital commander Zhao Chao came forward, and Shizong immediately imprisoned him in Huaizhou. Fan Aineng, He Hui, and others tried to avoid the war. Shizong immediately beheaded them and more than 70 of his army generals, and established military discipline. The imperial military discipline was one of the After that, there will be no one who will not obey you. It is the way of a general to set a strategy and then use all his strength to carry out the attack. How can he control others!"
Chen De listened to him going further and further, talking proudly, foaming at the mouth, and gradually became impatient. He coughed and said: "In this extraordinary time, in an extraordinary place, Brother Wang comes to visit. What is the reason?" Wang Qian was going to have a long speech, but was interrupted by him. He was quite embarrassed and said: "Brother Chen has good eyesight, and he actually saw that I came here with a request." He put down the tea cup in his hand and sighed: "Brother Chen also knows, During this army's northern expedition, the Holy Religion's disciples scouted out the military situation for the court, pointed out roads, prepared wine and food, and even persuaded the Liao army in Youyan to surrender. This was a great effort. If the court could not regain Youyan this time, the Liao people would follow. Revenge is also very terrifying."
"The imperial court has plans to escort the Han people back to the Central Plains in case You Yan is not defeated. Brother Wang, don't you know this?" Chen De said.
"Although the imperial court has this intention, all the states in the Central Plains regard the Holy Religion as evil and have many restrictions on its followers. The people are stubborn and often do things that harm the Holy Religion. Moreover, the people of the Central Plains treat Youyan Han'er There is also a lot of discrimination, so I am begging Brother Chen to allow the Zoroastrian believers in Youyan to transfer to the Central Plains and defect to the states under the rule of the Anxi Army. "Wang Qiu came to Chen De but had no choice. Youzhou could not be conquered. Zhao Jiong's promise to make Zoroastrianism an open faith like Buddhism and Taoism seemed far away. Most of the Khitan nobles believed in Buddhism. In Youyan, The land's restrictions on the Zoroastrian Christians were already very strict. At this time, if they wanted to retaliate against the Zoroastrian Christians for helping the Song Dynasty's Northern Expedition, the methods would definitely be extremely cruel.
Chen De consulted Zhang Zhongyao's opinion with his eyes, and seeing that he had no objection, he nodded and said: "The area in Longyou, Hexi, is vast and sparsely populated, and it is in need of hard-working Youyan Han'er who dares to fight to the death to cultivate it, but these When Zoroastrian disciples arrive at Junzhou under the jurisdiction of the Anxi Army, they must be restrained by the Inquisition, and those ridiculous things like drawing talismans and applying water will be severely punished by the Inquisition."
Wang Qian nodded and said: "The elders of the holy religion in the tribunal have already told me that my Zoroastrian disciples don't bother with those strange things that mess with the gods." Chen De agreed simply, but he was a little embarrassed and said mixed things. With some vague words of thanks, he said goodbye and left.
Zhang Zhongyao said with joy on his face: "Congratulations, lord, we were thinking about how to recruit Youyan Han'er to go to Hexi to reclaim land, and this Wang Qian came to our door. There are no less than two million Han people in Youyan, and many of them believe in Zoroastrianism. The Han people are related to each other. If one Han from Youyan migrates to Hexi in ten stops, it will be a big help to our Anxi Army." He was born in the Yijun Army and has been troubled by the Huhua in the Western Regions for many years. To drive out Huhua, the only good strategy is to immigrate a large number of Han people from the Central Plains to enrich the population, recruit civilian households, and buy slaves, no matter what.
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