Chapter 447: Old friends will eventually meet again
After passing Qiu'an County, there is Luomu Mountain, which is what the locals call it. In fact, Luomu Mountain is a branch of the Langru Mountain Range. The mountain is not high but quite steep. The food and fodder obtained from the Chen family was enough for a team of 5,000 people for a month, so Fang Jie could rush to the Langru Mountains to join King Xujun without any distractions.
Although I am not familiar with this area, I have gradually regained some familiar feeling.
After five days of rapid march, the troops and horses entered Luomo Mountain and decided to rest for a few days.
"Crossing Luomu Mountain is the rebel west camp."
Cui Zhongzhen's remaining soldiers pointed at the map and said: "The rebel west camp was presided over by Meng Wansui, one of Li Yuanshan's Seven Tiger Generals. When it was first established, it had 200,000 troops, and the current strength is probably even more. Meng Wansui's status in Li Yuanshan's army is higher than that of Yin Poshan. The terrain here is very important, and Li Yuanshan chose him to guard this person, which shows that he is very cautious in using troops, guarding the cities and official roads, and rarely taking the initiative. Use troops against our troops on Langru Mountain."
"Is he a person who doesn't seek merit but seeks no faults?"
Chen Bishan asked.
The soldier shook his head. After all, he didn¡¯t have much contact with them.
"Let's rest today."
Fang Jie ordered: "Send scouts across the mountain and explore carefully. See how big the area blocked by the rebel west camp is. If you can go around it, go around it and try not to provoke it. After all, it is an army of hundreds of thousands. If the rebels The area controlled by the army is too large, so I will send someone to contact Prince Xu first and then discuss it. "
He waved his hand and said, "Bring Sun Kaidao up."
The soldier agreed and went down to take out Sun Kaidao from the cage. He has been locked up these days and has actually lost a layer of his human form.
"I humble myself to pay homage to the general."
Sun Kaidao knelt down, the iron chain on his hand clattering.
Fang Jie found a place to sit down, glanced at Sun Kaidao and asked, "You are a smart man. You know why I want to lock you up without me telling you. Now the army is about to cross Luomu Mountain, and the prison car cannot pass. So you need to Find a reason for yourself to live, I have no interest or energy to let others carry the cage. "
"Humble job"
Sun Kaidao has really suffered a lot these past few days. He hasn't eaten enough and hasn't washed his face. He looks extremely haggard and embarrassed. He raised his head, glanced at Fang Jie and then quickly lowered his head: "I confessed my guilt but I was really selfless! I was wrong because I didn't make it clear to the general."
"explain!"
Fang Jie looked at him and said.
"The Chen family is a big family in Luo County. Although the place where my humble position is located is quite far away from Qiu'an County, I have heard a lot about the Chen family's actions. When the general leads his army to Qiu'an County, if he wants food and grass, he can only go to the Chen family's idea. If the general Knowing that the eldest daughter of the old lady of the Chen family is married to Prince Xu, will the general still be willing to attack the Chen family? It is true that if the general comes to visit, he may not be able to borrow food, but this is a clue! "
Sun Kaidao raised his head and said seriously: "Sun wants to assist people who want to achieve great things, not an ordinary person who has the intention to achieve great things but has no courage to achieve great things. Why is the general angry? First, because he is humble and did not say anything To be honest. The second reason is that the general has a good personal relationship with Prince Xu. Because of this second point, the general will most likely not attack the Chen family. "
"But have you ever thought about it, general? After the imperial army suppressed the rebellion, even if Prince Xu made up a lot in the past two years and made some achievements, your majesty cannot pretend to forget that the 700,000-strong army was buried in the northwest. So what Prince Xu is doing now is just to barely save his life. When the time comes, he will not be able to take away his title and be demoted to a commoner. Although Prince Xu is not to blame for the defeat of the Western Expedition. On him."
"The Chen family also has a daughter who is married to Pei Guo, the governor of Luo County. This person is Li Yuanshan's loyal lackey. In order to protect themselves, the Chen family sent a lot of money and food to Pei Guo, otherwise Pei Guo would be so kind as to send two thousand The rebels are guarding the Chen family? No matter what, the Chen family will not end well after the war. If the general has any involvement with the Chen familyat least he will be deprived of his credit, and at worst he will lose his official position. Your Majesty appreciates it, but you must know that sometimes His Majesty¡¯s decisions are not entirely his own.¡±
"Does the general know what happened in the previous dynasty?"
Sun Kaidao's courage gradually increased. He looked directly into Fang Jie's eyes and asked.
"What happened in the previous dynasty?"
Fang explained the question.
"During the Chongde period of the previous dynasty, the four major surnames rebelled. They occupied almost half of the territory of Dazheng. In order to suppress the rebellion, the Dazheng court almost exhausted its national power. Tens of millions of people were killed or injured in that rebellion. The four major surnames were executed, and those implicated There are countless of them, but after the rebellion, the emperor of Dazheng did not ask anyone to conduct an in-depth investigation.Who colluded with the rebels and closed the case hastily. Not long after, the generals who had done great service in countering the rebellion were reported one after another. Emperor Dazheng dismissed more than a dozen generals and beheaded eight of them because of trivial matters! "
"These people have all made great achievements in fighting the rebellion. The emperor didn't give big rewards, so why did he deal with so many people for trivial matters?"
Sun Kaidao said sternly: "Because the collusion with the rebels involved almost all the aristocratic families in Dazheng. It was precisely because the involvement was so extensive that the emperor of Dazheng did not delve into it and did not dare to delve into it. And those generals have contributed so much that their people Everyone thinks they deserve a big reward, but they forget that when they suppressed the rebellion, they affected the interests of many aristocratic families, and these aristocratic families do not allow meritorious officials to rise quickly. "
"Especiallypeople like you, general, who come from a poor family. In order to calm down the trouble, the emperor can only attack these people who come from a poor family but have outstanding military achievements. The first is to appease the families whose interests have been touched. The second is, Because the emperor is worried that these generals will become a new scourge for the country! "
"In Sun's opinion, Li Yuanshan will be defeated in the northwest battle. However, the court will also be turbulent because of this. Whether His Majesty can control the overall situation Sun said bluntly, it is still unclear! The general should know that behind such a major rebellion, It cannot be separated from the support of big families. Who knows how many families are standing behind Li Yuanshan? The more brilliant the general is in the war against rebellion, the more people will want to get rid of the general. "
"To put it bluntly, the Sui Dynasty is now at a crossroads, and it will not be smooth no matter which way you turn. If His Majesty chooses to praise the meritorious officials, then those families whose interests have been touched will definitely fight back with all their strength. By then, there will be bloodshed in the dark. Feng, even worse than on the battlefield. If His Majesty chooses to compromise with the family, what will these meritorious officials do? If they are unwilling, what decision will His Majesty make in order to control the situation? But it just depends on which way your majesty¡¯s knife is pointed.¡±
"But in Sun's opinion, with the general's current qualifications and prestige, he is one of the first group of people to die."
Sun Kaidao said: "Sun knows some superficial ways of looking at people. He can see that the general must not be an ordinary person, so Sun will follow you, general, and intends to serve you. But because of this, Sun cannot watch the general go." On the wrong path. Regarding the Chen family, Sun was wrong, not in the method but in the method. If the general feels that Sun's crime is unforgivable, then he will deal with it as he pleases."
"You're right."
Fang Jie waved his hand and said, "You made the mistake of not correcting your position."
He walked over, helped Sun Kaidao up and said in a low voice: "You know the past and can see the future clearly, but why don't you know how to live in the world? You have read so many classics and history books, but can you remember how many amazing and stunning stories there are? Do people fall early because of arrogance and arrogance? If you follow me, the first thing you must understand is No matter whether there are 5,000 people in this team now or how many people there will be in the future, I have the final say on who is in what position. of."
Sun Kaidao's expression changed, he lowered his head and said, "I understand the humble position."
Fang Jie took off a piece of hair from his body and said with a smile: "You said you can see that I will achieve great success in the future, but can you see what you will look like in the future?"
Sun Kaidao opened his mouth but stopped. He suddenly understood what Fang Jie meant, so he lowered his head and said respectfully: "Beizi himself cannot see or see what the future will look like, because that is for the general to see."
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Fang Jie originally did not plan to stay on Luomu Mountain for too long. After all, Luomu Mountain was somewhat desolate and the mountain was not suitable for stationing troops. But the news from the scouts surprised Fang Jie!
Prince Xujun is dead.
The scouts went over the mountain to inquire about news, and found out about a big event on the first day. The Sui army on Langru Mountain mobilized in large numbers and set up camp twenty miles away from the rebel west camp. It is said that the two sides had been fighting fiercely for more than a month. The Sui army had few soldiers, but they were all dressed in white and fought fiercely without fear of death. They had won more than ten battles in a row. . It was just because of the huge strength of the rebels that the Sui army was unable to attack even though it gained the upper hand.
The scouts reported that King Xu Jun Yang Kai personally went down the mountain to investigate the situation of the rebels in the West Camp. He was discovered by the rebel scouts. The rebels besieged King Xu Jun in a dilapidated village. King Xu Jun and his guards fought bloody battles for an hour. No battle. Li Xiaozong gathered all the Sui troops on Langru Mountain, wearing white clothes and holding white flags, and vowed to avenge Prince Xu.
Now Li Xiaozong is commanding the Sui army at Langru Mountain!
This news is by no means a good thing for Fang Jie.
After Fang Jie knew the news, he immediately found the two soldiers Cui Zhongzhen left behind and asked them to rush back overnight to see Cui Zhongzhen and ask what happened. If the current Sui army is completely defeated by LiXiaozong took control, and Fang Jie had to make a choice.
In order to wait for news about Cui Zhongzhen, he stayed on Luomo Mountain for six or seven days.
Cui Zhongzhen¡¯s soldiers came back and reported to Fang Jie that they had returned to the army and did not see Cui Zhongzhen. According to rumors, Cui Zhongzhen was imprisoned by Li Xiaozong because of his unfavorable battle. Although he was not executed yet, it was said that he was in a very difficult situation. In addition, the soldiers inquired about something. It is said that after Cui Zhongzhen returned to the camp from Yongzhou, he learned that Prince Xu personally went to inquire about the enemy in the rebel west camp, and took his people to find Prince Xu without rest.
But they only met Li Xiaozong who came back alone, and the body of Prince Xu was not brought back. After returning to the camp, Li Xiaozong discussed raising troops with Mou Liangbi, the Minister of War. However, Master Mou did not agree to send troops rashly, so Li Xiaozong incited the soldiers and emptied the military power of Master Mou.
Then because of a trivial matter, Li Xiaozong killed all the people Cui Zhongzhen brought that day. On the first day of dispatching troops, Li Xiaozong asked Cui Zhongzhen to lead a group of men who broke into the camp to attack the rebels. Cui Zhongzhen fought a bloody battle and killed more than 5,000 enemies. However, Li Xiaozong said that he was not doing well in the battle and was suspected of collaborating with the enemy, so he sent someone to kill him. He was detained. If Cui Zhongzhen had not had a very good relationship with Wanyan Zhongde, the eldest son of Northern Liao, and Wanyan Zhongde interceded for him, he would have been executed by Li Xiaozong long ago.
Now that Mouliangbi has lost power, Cui Zhongzhen is trapped.
Those tens of thousands of Sui troops were all in the hands of Li Xiaozong.
After listening to what Cui Zhongzhen¡¯s soldier said, Fang Jie¡¯s eyes flashed with murderous intent. Although it was fleeting, it was extremely strong.
He stood up and carved a sentence on the big rock on the cliff of Luomu Mountain with his Chaolu knife.
Old friends will eventually meet again
The blade of the knife penetrates deep into the boulder, and the brushstrokes are sharp.