Five Dynasties River Mountains Fengyue

Wu Yue is a vassal of Zhou, but Tang once sent people from the sea to Youzhou to contact him, asking him to attack Zhou from the north. Because it is too far south.

But he felt that there were so many countries behind him, and Zhou Guo would definitely not go to war with him for this small county.

Every time Xiao Siwen thinks of such a calculation, he feels a little proud. It is conceivable that he will either be promoted to the king of the South Court in a few years, or return to the North Court to take up an important position.

Just as he was thinking about the good things in the future, a soldier came in wearing a coir raincoat and said, "My son-in-law, there is new news from the south."

"What news?" Xiao Siwen became nervous for an instant, and asked repeatedly.

"The frontline scouts reported that Zhou Guo has increased his troops in Cangzhou."

"How much more?" Xiao Siwen became nervous.

"Some say hundreds, some say more than 1000, I don't know how many." The soldier was a little depressed: "It's different when the scouts saw it, but it's about a thousand."

"One thousand..." Xiao Siwen paced slowly. This is not too many, not too many, and 1000 people are not enough to go north. It doesn't look like Zhou Guo is going to fight a big war. It's because 1000 people is not a small number. If Zhou Guo didn't do anything, why did he send so many people to Cangzhou?

"Could it be that they want to retake the lost county..." Xiao Siwen pondered for a while, and felt that this was the most likely possibility. They just wanted to retake the lost county, and they didn't mean to fight a big war.

The more he thought about it, the more he felt it was possible, "If this is the case, it makes sense that the Han'er near Cangzhou was building a river."

With such considerations in mind, Xiao Siwen felt relieved, and was not as nervous as before. If they just sent 1000 people to regain the lost county, they wouldn't have to be so nervous.

It was only seven or eight years since Zhou Guo was founded, and their Daliao had dealt with the Central Plains regime for decades. Fighting each other was commonplace, and it was nothing more than another Zhou country.

Then he said, "It's not a big deal, let's do it as usual."

The soldier nodded, and retreated in the rain. Xiao Siwen quickly went to find his daughter, but he didn't take this matter to heart.

.......

the other side.

"Why did you come back so quickly?" Shi Congyun said to the messengers in surprise. Eighty miles away, they arrived early the next morning and brought a guide from Cangzhou.

The lead messenger laughed loudly: "Isn't it because the commander-in-chief will pick our skins off! He escorted people here overnight." Everyone laughed.

"Hahahaha, go and rest." Shi Congyun also smiled, and then told Luqiu Zhongqing beside him: "Take them and distribute them to each army. The forward four armies have a guide and set off immediately without delay."

Luqiu Zhongqing took the order and went down with many guides to make arrangements.

Shi Congyun rode a horse and led many soldiers, Wang Zhong, Wang Quanbin and others up the small hill to the east. From a distance, many soldiers were already lining up at the mountain pass to the north, and the shouting could be heard from a long distance away.

The armor of the cavalry at the front is heavy, reflecting in the morning light, and the swords and guns are flickering coldly. The four iron dragons are ready to go, gathered around the north road, and the flags are slowly fluttering in the morning wind.

On the left side of the avenue is a forest with sparse masson pine trees, and on the right side is a vast field. Ever since he crossed the Yellow River and went south, Shi Congyun felt that it was always a field, and he could not see the fields beside him. deserted.

Shi Congyun asked the local people, and they said that many of these abandoned lands belonged to those rich and powerful landlords. After the disaster of war at the end of Tang Dynasty, the war in Hebei has never stopped, and there will be wars every now and then. The rich and powerful families have fled with their families. , Either went north to the Liao Kingdom, or crossed the Huai River to the south, and many traveled thousands of miles to Shu.

He asked curiously, don't you plant that waste land?

The people in the village told him that he dared not plant because they did not have the title deed from the government, and it would be a serious crime if they were caught.

Shi Congyun was even more puzzled. He remembered that the government once issued an edict to solve this problem. If there is no one to cultivate the land in the world, they can voluntarily plant it. If the original land owner does not return within three years, the land will belong to the new farmer.

So I asked some local people, and the young people were embarrassed and dared not say it. He is also a person with a lot of experience, and immediately understood that there was a problem, so he asked the old man in Xiakou Village.

After asking, I found out that they didn't know that the imperial court had such an edict, and the local governor and county magistrate never said it, and many of the local governor and county magistrates were originally from rich families.

The imperial examinations in the Tang Dynasty were not like those in the later Song Dynasty. The number of talents selected by the imperial examinations was very limited each year, and the proportion was very small. After all, the later Tang Dynasty became a country dominated by wealthy clans and warlords.

After the wars of the Five Dynasties, as long as the smart warlords dared to bully the common people, they did not dare to attack the local clans. The prestige of the central government continued to decline. After all, the local government was basically autonomous. The result of local autonomy was that many officials were powerful local clans. It's theirs.

The officials are for the good of the people, and want the refugees to have land to grow, but in a chaotic world like the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, the emperor still wanted to protect himself, so he didn't have time to care about those.

The so-called imperial power does not come down to the county, and the squires rule the four directions. How can these local big clans allow the land to fall into the hands of the people? It's not theirs anymore.

He also thought that Yongzheng wanted to implement the idea of ​​dividing the land into acres, instead of paying taxes according to the head of the family. is fabricated.

Shi Congyun lamented that there are indeed Huang masters everywhere in this world, and the more troubled times are, the more proud these people are, because everyone depends on them.

After the old people finished speaking, they knelt down and cried, begging him to call the shots, but Shi Congyun fell silent.

He just helped up several old people one by one, then turned and left silently.

He has never thought of himself as a hero, but just a mortal fighting for power and profit in order to protect himself, and he knows that he can't control these things now, and what can he do about things that the officials can't do anything about.

If the world is settled, the Central Guards don't have to deal with foreign enemies with all their strength, and the imperial court doesn't have to compromise with these people in order to fight with all their strength. Perhaps they can turn their guns to deter these gentry and force them to make concessions.

Shi Congyun roughly understood what was going on in his heart and took this matter to heart, and quickly forgot about it.

The meal needs to be eaten one bite at a time, so he should settle the matter at hand first.

Soon the four cavalry brigades in the distance began to set off to the north one after another, and the continuous team became several long dragons. This place is less than [-] miles away from Cangzhou. They suddenly arrived in Cangzhou and then launched an attack suddenly. This was Shi Congyun's early tactics.

At noon, after the armies set off, the remaining armies including Wang Shenqi, Xiang Xun, Dong Zunhui, and Luo Yanhuan also began to follow up quickly.

Shi Congyun's central army was the largest part. The Shenhuo Capital, most of the first wing of Konghe, the second wing of Konghe, and Tianxiong's elite soldiers were all there. He himself led it, with Wang Zhong and Wang Quanbin as his deputy. Start heading north.

On the afternoon of the next day, Shi Congyun's central army arrived in Cangzhou, and all the vanguard troops had already left Cangzhou. According to reports, the last one also left for the west in the afternoon of the same day, only an hour or two away from them.

Han Tong, Zhao Kuangyin and others came to greet him outside the city, and a large number of messengers also rushed to greet him.

Old Zhao still laughed when he saw him, but there was a lot of complexity in his smile, Han Bingyan still treated everyone like that, and those who didn't understand his faults thought he looked down on others.

Everyone invited him to rest in the city, but Shi Congyun refused.

Shi Congyun said to the two of them: "You two have worked hard to clear the waterway for the army, but it is not convenient for us to enter the city with a large army, and a certain plan to continue to the north."

"So fast?" Zhao Kuangyin was surprised.

"Well, the army is very fast. The main force of the Khitan is in the north, and there is no time to go south in a short time. We have to seize this gap." Shi Congyun said, not going to enter the city after speaking, ready to continue to lead the army north.

At this moment, Zhao Kuangyin cupped his hands and said: "The last general has the courage, I am most familiar with the terrain in the north of this pass, and I can serve as a guide."

Shi Congyun was taken aback. He really didn't expect Lao Zhao to say that, but it made sense when he thought about it. Lao Zhao had stayed in Hebei for more than a year and even guarded Cangzhou, so he was familiar with both water and land routes.

Then he nodded: "Okay, please trouble General Zhao."

Then the army did not stop, did not enter the city, passed by Cangzhou and continued to go north until later in the evening, when they bumped into an orderly on the way, the other party excitedly reported to him: "Commander, General Shao led his army to break through the Qianning army this afternoon. More than [-] people have been killed, and the troops have been led to the north, and the garrison of the Qianning army has been captured.

After that, General Shao and others led the army to continue northward. "

Shi Congyun was overjoyed, and asked the messenger to go down to rest, and then called the messenger beside him and said, "Go north immediately, tell Shao Ji, I will remember the credit for him, let him boldly fight north, and take down Duliukou as soon as possible." ! Let the water army be unimpeded.

The army will stay in the Qianning army overnight tonight, and report back immediately if they encounter a strong enemy. "

The messenger took the order and immediately went to convey the order.

Shi Congyun looked at the sky, the sun was about to set, and they had already passed Cangzhou at this time. In the north of Cangzhou, he ordered cruelly: "Tell the whole army that the Qianning army in the north has been captured by our army. When will we arrive tonight?" When will the Ganning army rest?"

After the order was issued, the marching speed of the army immediately increased to a higher level.

The Qianning Army is an army of the Liao Army stationed in the border area. In the north of Cangzhou, it is the place where troops are stationed on the border to defend against the Zhou State. The Liao State advertises that there are 1 standing troops, but in fact there are only more than 1000, and most of them are local recruits. Bing, the Privy Council has known these details for a long time.

It was not surprising that these people could not withstand the surprise attack of the two thousand elite cavalry led by Shao Ji. He deliberately stopped eighty miles north of Cangzhou, and then divided his troops to let the pure cavalry go north quickly for this unexpected effect.

Shi Congyun personally led the team, and the Chinese army did not stop to rest. They drove northward in the starry night. The avenue was wide. On the east side of the road, there was a large field of farmland with wheat ears swaying under the starry sky. I caught up from behind and reported to him excitedly, "Commander, Wang Hong, the governor of Ningzhou in Liao Kingdom, surrendered to General Shi (Shi Yanchao) in Kaesong!"

Chapter 226 : Sneak Attack, Continue Sneak Attack!

That night, Shi Congyun arrived at the Qianning army garrison overnight, and then organized all the troops to set up camp. He slept in a small stone house in the garrison until midnight, with a layer of Korean tiger skins prepared for him by his wives, and fell asleep. not bad.

I woke up the next day, ate some grain cakes and jerky, and finally had time to take a closer look at the Liaoqian Ningjun garrison.

This place is located in the north of Cangzhou. It is surrounded by brick and stone walls. There are sentry towers every fifty steps or so. After that, there are many houses with earthen walls. There are hundreds of them. The school grounds, stables, and storerooms all look like standard military fortresses.

Shi Congyun turned around, and someone outside was busy burying the remains of the corpses left after yesterday's battle. He found that the place was bigger than he imagined. Perhaps the Liao Kingdom's announcement of the 1 Qianning Army garrison was not a bragging. There are more than enough to station [-] people in this place.

It may be that when this place was first occupied, the Liao Kingdom did store up heavy troops here to guard against the Central Plains.

But 13 years ago, the army of the Liao Kingdom entered Kaifeng and proclaimed itself emperor in Daliang. After that, the Central Plains did not rise up, and the dynasty changed every few years. The internal strife continued, which made the confidence of the Liao Kingdom soar. At the beginning, it was paid so much attention to. This kind of place where the sky is high and the emperor is far away will soon decline if it is not taken seriously.

Afterwards, the commander Wang Shenqi left behind came to see him with the prisoners, and told him the general process of the battle. Yesterday Shao Ji was the vanguard and led a thousand elite cavalry to directly raid the Qianning army garrison.

At that time, the Liao army was not prepared at all. The front gates were all wide open. Two on each side for a total of four, and three more asleep.

Shao Ji led the army to enter, and there was chaos in the city. There was no resistance at all. Shao Ji took the lead, and then all the soldiers rushed into the control gate in an instant. After killing more than 90 people, the rest surrendered one after another.

Of the 800 captured and beheaded in the end, more than [-] of them surrendered.

Shi Congyun was overjoyed when he heard this, not only because he took down the base of the Qianning Army of the Liao Kingdom and opened the border gate to the north, but also because the situation here showed that the Liao Kingdom had not yet discovered their intention to attack in an all-out way!

After understanding this, Shi Congyun immediately made arrangements without any delay, and ordered the prisoners of war to detain only a dozen Khitan generals, and release all others. , Immediately call to pass soldiers.

"Pass me an order to leave two battalions of the Sixth Army of Controlling Crane to garrison here, and let the head army quickly bury the pot and cook food. The whole army will go north immediately after lunch, and the whole army will go north to Duliukou!"

"Promise!" A few messengers immediately went to issue orders, and Shi Congyun also had a decision in his heart, and the speed of the soldiers was extremely high.

......

Duliukou is located in the north of Cangzhou. It is about a hundred miles north from the Qianning Army. From Cangzhou to the north, you can directly walk through the canal.

After several months of dredging by the people of Hebei brought by Hantong, the large navy ships can move unimpeded in it.

I was riding a horse and heading north along the avenue beside the canal. This big river is not wide, and it is very difficult for Zhou Jun's large ships to pass through it.

Most of the canals in the south were dug to communicate with water systems, while most of the canals in the north were dug manually because there were no rivers at all, and water transportation was used instead of human and animal power.

Seeing the sun rising gradually, Shao Ji forgot a little bit, and he valued the task entrusted to him by the commander more than his life.

Shao Ji was originally from Hebei, and his grandfather died in a war. His father didn't want to repeat the same mistakes, so he just farmed the land and lived in peace. But one day, the Khitan cavalry went south to attack the grass valley. Khitan under the knife.

At that time, the young Shao Ji knew that he could do anything, but he couldn't live a good life.

He grew up eating a lot of food, and received too much staring and neglect. In order not to let him "eat for nothing", his relatives and villagers did their best to assign him various dirty and heavy jobs. At a young age, he He had no choice but to work hard, and he didn't even dare to talk back, because he had no parents, no grandparents, and he had nothing to eat if he answered. He had suffered such losses several times, and then he learned to be good.

Because he worked tirelessly since he was a child, he had a lot of strength. Later, when the army passed by, he resolutely joined the army.

He was very tall and strong, and was gradually selected by General Shi Yanchao and became a soldier of the historian.

A few years ago when the Khitans attacked Jinzhou in the middle of the river, General Wang Jun and General Shi Yanchao came to their rescue, and he was among them. At that time, he followed General Shi and charged into the battle, repelling the Khitans, and became a confidant of historians.

However, his loyalty to the historian is more out of self-preservation. Only by closely following a big man like General Shi can he guarantee his own safety. That's what he thought at the time.

So he actually wanted to please the young master to protect himself, but he was the most stupid, not as good at talking as Wang Zhong, but fortunately, Brother Yun didn't dislike him, instead he always took him by his side.

But since the Battle of Gaoping, his thinking has been completely different.

On the day of the Gaoping War, he was very unlucky. His horse was shot by random arrows. When he fell off the horse, he lost all hope. In front of the opponent, there is only one dead end.

Just when he was desperate, Brother Yun came back to rescue him, but he was also shot off the horse.

He has cried a lot since he was a child, and he has been treated coldly. No one has ever treated him like this, even at the expense of his life for him. Since then, Brother Yun has become more important to him.

The commander-in-chief always said that he saved him, but Shao Ji knew in his heart that it was always the commander-in-chief who saved him. If he hadn't turned back to take care of him when he beat Brother Yun back then, he wouldn't have been in danger.

However, he is not good at words. Since he was a child, talking too much may cause him no food, so he has always been taciturn. Until now, he is not as good at talking as Wang Zhong, so he buries many things in his heart. Even if he risked his life, he had to complete what Brother Yun had asked him to do.

His current life, wealth, status and power are all given by Brother Yun, he is not stupid, if he is not smart, he would not be able to survive when he was a child.

When they defeated the Qianning army, they basically encountered no obstacles. They rushed in first and the hundred riders drove the unprepared enemies away, and the people behind basically had nothing to do.

At that time, Shao Ji understood why the commander-in-chief stopped the army eighty miles south of Cangzhou, and let them go northward to attack lightly, for this effect!

After understanding, he also knew that he had to fight alone, and he had to rush to the north before the enemy got the news.

The commander-in-chief asked Si Chao and Wang Huan to assist him in the water army. He originally wanted to speed up their new army and let him march without any worries, but slowly Shao Ji discovered that this arrangement had become a burden to the army.

The commander-in-chief may not have thought that the canal in the north and the canal in the south are not the same thing. The big ships can only line up in the river, and the waterway is not wide and travels slowly.

If this continues, it is possible that Duliukou will receive news of the attack on the Qianning Army first.

After much deliberation, Shao Ji decided to disobey the command of the commander in chief, and summoned soldiers from around him: "Go and tell General Si Chao and General Wang Huan, let's go first, let them take their time."

"Ah..." The orderly hesitated, "But the commander told us to advance by land and water."

"It's too late, I can't control that much!

Hurry up, winning Duliu Eloquent is the top priority, and if you go with them so slowly, maybe you have already prepared for that family, go! "

The messenger nodded, immediately turned his horse's head, and went to find Si Chao and Wang Huan.

"Send the order, speed up, the whole army is going north, you must go to Duliukou before dark, don't save horsepower." Two messengers received the order and began to pass the order back, the brigade began to speed up to the north, and the sound of horseshoes on the road Rumble, the sky is full of dust.

Gao Huaide's troops separated from him at a place called Liuhe Town in the north of Qianning Army. Liuhe Town is just on the side of the road. Arrive in Pingshu County, go east from Pingshu County and then turn north, you can reach Wen'an County.

From Wen'an County, crossing a small river to the north, you can reach a small village about fifteen miles east of Yukou Pass.

Yukou Pass is an important pass between Duliukou and Yijin Pass.

Shao Ji and Gao Huaide agreed that he would go northward, take Duliukou, turn east and attack Yukou Pass from the west, Murong Yanzhao would attack Pingshu County and Wen'an County from the east, and Yukou Pass from the east. Form a situation of two-sided attack.

The large group of cavalry galloped along the avenue to the north. Many people who were busy in the fields on the road saw them and ran away in fear.

Shao Ji didn't care about it at all, and ordered the army to continue to go north. It was too late to care about whether to report the letter to the other side, and there was no way to control it, as long as they were faster than the one who reported the letter!