Five Dynasties River Mountains Fengyue

"I know Wang Zhaoyuan, a member of the Privy Council."

"Wang Zhaoyuan..." Shi Congyun thought carefully. He had never heard of this name, but he knew that the Privy Council was the Prime Minister's military affairs of one country. It must be the most important department, even more important than the three provinces.

Because it manages a country’s major military affairs, the Ministry of War used to do it, but the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms fought too many wars, and the Ministry of War’s standards were too low, and the response was not enough, so the Privy Council of the same level as the three provinces was directly in charge of military affairs.

It stands to reason that it should be a very important historical figure. The prime minister is a major military event in a country, why doesn't he have any impression of it?

"What kind of person is it?" Shi Congyun asked.

Speaking of Wang Zhaoyuan, the three of them showed disdain on their faces: "Reporting to King Qin, he is a monk."

"Monk?" Shi Congyun was even more surprised that a monk could still be a privy envoy.

"He used to be a monk." Sun Yulian explained: "He used to be a monk, and later he took refuge in Dongdu monk Zhiji as a boy.

After the first emperor entered Shu, he rewarded those monks for dinner. Wang Zhaoyuan was favored by the first emperor and stayed to serve the lord.After the king succeeded to the throne, let him be in charge of the privy envoy.

Those of us who followed Gao Zu all the way to kill, got the official salary, he, a man from Shu, did nothing, and actually became a privy secretary, and even came up with random ideas, let me wait to die..."

The more people talked, the more angry they became, but Shi Congyun heard something. The three of them specially emphasized that Wang Zhaoyuan was from Shu.

I have more confidence in this attack on Shu.

So he arranged for people to take the three of them down, take them to dinner, and settle down in the army, and let them serve as guides for conquering Shu.

......

Back then when Zhao Kuangyin conquered Shu, he gave an order to win over the northerners. Shi Congyun always felt that Lao Zhao did not do well, and the Shu people are also human. Why did you only win over the northerners?

Now I have some aftertaste, this is the disintegration and intensification of conflicts.

There must be great contradictions in Shu now.

Whether it is the former Shu or the later Shu, they were all established by outsiders. The current vassal emperor Meng’s family is from Hebei. The people who came to him to complain were from Shanxi and Shaanxi; Li Hao, the prime minister of Shu, was from Guanzhong and Hezhong.

Most of Shu's power and wealth are monopolized by them.

These people felt that they led troops into Shu, they should be in power, and they should enjoy the support of the people of Shu.

The people of Sichuan don't think so, even if they support it a little bit, surely many people will think why they support you outsiders?Why fight and die for these outsiders?

If you submit to the Great Zhou court and the Great Zhou imperial palace is in the Central Plains, then you only have to pay taxes to the court, and it is still enshrined by the world.

But supporting a separate imperial court in Shu would cost even more, taxes and corvees, expenses for hundreds of officials, building the palace, not to mention a large number of troops, even if the maids who want to enter the palace, Meng Chang of Hou Shu likes Fengyue, and the court ladies in his palace Tens of thousands, but they were all "selected" from the people.

The land of Dazhou is several times that of Shu, not to mention the power, and there are only more than 1000 court ladies in the Daliang Palace (this is related to Guo Wei, who has greatly reduced royal expenditure).

Those are all borne by the people of Shu.

So whether the people of Shu are willing to fight for their lord is a big question.

There must be a gap between these foreign kings and hegemons and the local people. As long as they are treated differently and win over one side, they can be disintegrated from the inside, and the battle will be much easier.

Zhao Kuangyin chose the group of northerners, that is, the generals and soldiers who entered Shu at the beginning, probably from Shaanxi, Shanxi, Guanzhong, and Hebei. He may think that those people were important officials and generals in the later Tang Dynasty, with many talents.

Shi Congyun never thought of trying to win them over. It is normal for Zhao Kuangyin to have that kind of view, because limited by the times, he himself has seen farther.

There is no difference between the people there, the key lies in the environment.People in Shanxi and Shaanxi were fierce and aggressive most of the time in history. Most of the heroes of Han and Tang came from that area, which was determined by the environment. That area in the north is next to nomads, and they have been fighting against nomads all year round. Live.

But let an old man from Shaanxi live peacefully in the Qinling Mountains for decades, and he will not dare to fight, and he doesn't want to fight. Will his descendants know what iron blood is?

In the same way, if you pull out the Shu soldiers and let them go to the north to fight the nomads for a few years, they will definitely become strong soldiers who can fight.

After all, everyone is the same, the key is that the environment is different.

Zhao Kuangyin probably thought that the soldiers of the later Tang Dynasty would be able to fight, and to win them over, Shi Congyun felt that after decades of comfort, they could still fight.

Li Yangui and Liu Renshan were all great generals in the past, and they were not as vicious as before when they fought against him.

In his opinion, the key is the hearts of the people. If the people of Sichuan are with him and are willing to follow him and fight for him, then how can there be no shortage of people.

At that time, he can directly recruit troops from Shu, go north out of the Qinling Mountains, and go north to fight with the party members for a few years, and he can also become a strong army, so that the pressure on the east of Taihang Mountain will be greatly reduced.

On the same day, Shi Congyun hurriedly brought this great news into the palace to share with Empress Fu.

Afterwards, Empress Fu issued an edict in the name of the regent queen mother, announcing to the world that the ruler of the Kingdom of Shu had plotted against the law and secretly united with the Northern Han Dynasty, intending to attack the Great Zhou on both sides.

As soon as the edict came out, the capital was shocked.

The Great Zhou defeated the Liao Kingdom last year, but now a small Shu Kingdom dared to jump up and say that they would beat them. For a while, the soldiers of the Imperial Army were furious, and the people were filled with righteous indignation, and they all said that they would send troops to attack Shu.

This matter was being discussed in the streets and alleys, and even Shi Congyun intentionally or unintentionally hinted to Lu Duoxun, a scholar of the Imperial Academy, to get some "public opinion" out of him.

Lu Duoxun was an old friend of him, and he was also very smart. He immediately led his students, but he did not know where to find a group of scholars, gathered thousands of people outside Donghuamen, and petitioned the court, saying that the Kingdom of Shu had no eyes. Zunji, who didn't know the heights of the sky and the depths of the earth, dared to say that he wanted to beat them. As a big country in the Central Plains, he wanted to fight against them because of the army.

After that, many military generals also petitioned in the court, saying that they should not be cowardly in the face of Shu's provocation, but should retaliate, although Shu has not bitten yet.

When Lian Shi Congyun went out with his wife, he could hear the common people talking about Shu's plan to attack them on the street. He felt that Da Zhou should send troops immediately and not be used to it.

Shi Congyun really didn't expect that even public opinion in the public would support sending troops this time, and what he didn't even expect was what would Wang Zhaoyuan, a member of the Privy Council of Shu Kingdom, and their lord think?

Still feel that "If you don't kill the thieves, the king's industry will also die. If you just sit and wait for death, who will cut it?" So why don't you fight them?

Shi Congyun couldn't guess what Meng Chang and Wang Zhaoyuan were thinking, but this undoubtedly gave Da Zhou an excellent reason to send troops, and it could also unite the hearts of the people. The soldiers and civilians are full of indignation, you want to hit me!That Lao Tzu is the first to act first.

After several days of preparation, at the court meeting in early February, the Empress Dowager Regent was dressed in a splendid attire, glamorous and dignified, and took out the imperial edict with the seal of the three provinces and the Privy Council, and read it out in front of many ministers, without even letting the eunuchs come. .

First, he listed the crimes of the Shu Kingdom, and then reprimanded them for overestimating their capabilities. Finally, he announced that Da Zhou would send out a righteous army to attack the Wudao Shu Kingdom. Recruit envoys face to face, lead the army, order generals, and choose a day to go out.

With an edict, a major event was immediately settled.

Later, Tao Gu, Lu Duoxun, and Temporary Jurun of the Imperial Academy issued a call to action, informing the world of Shu's fault and the reason for sending troops in the Great Zhou Dynasty.

This set of operations is like flowing water, and Shi Congyun has become more and more fluent in using it.

Afterwards, the capital cheered, and the morale of the generals was high. On the one hand, they only defeated the Liao Kingdom last year, which made them full of confidence.

At the beginning of February, Li Chuyun and Li Hanchao also returned to the capital, and Shi Congyun immediately made arrangements for the overall war......

Chapter 269, Sending Troops

The grass grows and the warbler flies in the sky of February. Outside the city of Bianliang, tens of thousands of troops are waiting.

This mobilization is completely different from last year's battle with Liao.

At this time, after six years of military expansion, the Daliang Imperial Army had reached over 17 in number. Although such a huge army was far from the strength of the peak period of the Han and Tang Dynasties, it should not be underestimated.

After all, Shu, Jiangnan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan, Guizhou, Shanxi, Liaodong, Hetao, Hexi Corridor, etc. are not in our hands. Raising so many soldiers is already a very large scale.

Shi Congyun summoned generals from all walks of life to the capital, especially Li Chuyun and Li Hanchao, who he had placed in Jiangling and Tanzhou for training before, played a role.

After returning, Shi Congyun specially hosted a banquet to receive the visitors, but the food was very simple.

Inquire about Jingzhou with the two of them, and ask them how the army is trained.

Both Li Hanchao and Li Chuyun swore that the soldiers in Jingchu had been trained well and were ready to fight. The entire south, because Jingchu, roughly later Hunan and Hubei, was in the middle of the world, a place where the north and south communicated, no matter whether they went south or north. , east and west have to go through, so the intensity of the war is much more intensive than other places in the south.

As a result, the combat readiness of Jingchu's soldiers must be much better than that of Shu, which has not fought for decades. This is also one of the reasons why Shi Congyun asked Li Chuyun and Li Hanchao to stay in Jiangling and Tanzhou (Changsha).

Moreover, these places are close to the east gate of Shu Kingdom, so it is very convenient to mobilize troops.

This east gate is the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River, which is familiar to people in later generations. This road is not easy to walk. The familiar battle of Yiling, which created the situation of three-legged confrontation in the world, took place in this section.

People are familiar with the burning of Qibaili Lianying, Baidicheng Tuogu, etc. all happened in this section.

It is the east gate of the Kingdom of Shu, so Shi Congyun paid special attention to it after taking Jiangling and Tanzhou two years ago, and left Li Chuyun and Li Hanchao there to train soldiers.

"The soldiers in Jingzhou are better at fighting than someone thought." Li Chuyun said to Shi Congyun excitedly: "They are especially good at water warfare."

Shi Congyun nodded, and said to Li Chuyun: "You come and go in that place, there is always chaos, and there is no less fighting, just practice more.

This time, I want you to lead the army on the East Road. The troops from Jiangling and Tanzhou, plus the navy from Sichao and the troops from Long Jie, will give you a total of 3 people. Go west from Jiangling and go up the Yangtze River. Then take Kuizhou (Fengjie) and Chengdu directly. "

Li Chongjin was very surprised, "Marshal, this..."

In terms of seniority, Li Chuyun is not as good as Si Chao, Wang Shenqi, Wang Zhong, Shao Ji, Dong Zunhui, Luo Yanhuan and other generals who have followed him from the beginning, and naturally he is not as good in military exploits.

Now among these people, except for Wang Shenqi who left the three towns of Heyang, everyone else is still there. Li Chuyun probably never thought that Shi Congyun would let him take command.

Historically, the evaluation of Li Chuyun was very polarized.

On the one hand, because of his cruel methods, he has no moral bottom line in doing things; on the other hand, because he loves the people very much, in the end, he also stood up for ordinary people in his downfall, offended the generals in the court, and his official career was interrupted, and he died in depression.

His methods are cruel. For example, in order to scare the enemy, he picked out the fattest prisoners from the enemy, killed them directly and let the soldiers share the meat to scare the enemy, so that the enemy surrendered directly.

He loves the people. For example, he not only restrains the army, but also sympathizes with the people. He also stands out because his superiors personally bully the people. As a result, when he wins many battles and his career rises, he ruins his life.

That's why the evaluation of him is so polarized.

I got along with Li Chuyun a lot, but Shi Congyun admired him very much, all of this was related to his situation.

His cruelty and his love for the people are all related to his experience.

He experienced the Zhang Yanze Rebellion when he was young, and later became a general under Zhe Congruan of the Jingnan Army. He was appreciated by Zhe Cong Ruan, but was falsely accused by Zhe Cong Ruan's nephew. Maybe he was also afraid that his nephew would retaliate against him after his death.

The Jingnan army is located in the northwest, not only is it difficult, but also the ethnic environment is responsible, there is a mixture of Dangxiang people, Han people, Qiang people, Shatuo people, etc., the situation is special, the situation is cruel, and the people are in hardship.

Li Chuyun, who has been in such a place for a long time, understands the cruelty of the world, the sophistication of the world, and the treachery of human nature. He does not have as many moral constraints as the southern and eastern generals and officials, because in such a cruel place, it is really "noble is The epitaph of the noble man", the grass on the grave can be several meters high.

But on the other hand, it is precisely because he struggled in such a cruel environment, had no luxury, no food, no comfort, and lived and died with people who were almost all soldiers for a long time. difficult.

As a result, Li Chuyun is extremely two-faced, not only between cruelty and kindness, but also in the political arena.

Knowing how difficult it is to survive, on the one hand, he tried his best to please his superiors, desperately longing for a place to settle down and live well;

In the final analysis, everyone has their own difficulties and sufferings, and one cannot jump to conclusions based on just one result, let alone in this age.

Only those who have experienced suffering can understand those who are also in suffering. If you talk to people like Li Yu and Meng Chang about the suffering of the people, no matter how you say it, they will not understand.

Shi Congyun patted him on the shoulder, "I believe you, first of all, because you are capable of fighting. Among the many generals under my command, you are the type who can stand alone. You must be capable.

Secondly, you understand the suffering of the people and the difficulty of survival, so you will not casually attack the people who are also in suffering like other generals.

You fought with me all the way, and you have always restrained your soldiers and cared for the local people.You come to lead the army, I am relieved when I enter Shu this time, the veterans in the army, the arrogant soldiers, I believe that you have your own means after fighting in the northwest for so many years. "

"Marshal!" Li Chuyun knelt down on one knee with excitement, his eyes were a little red: "my father is a general of the Tang Dynasty (later Tang Dynasty, the one used by Li Ke). Dead, no bones left.

Afterwards, Chao Gang collapsed, and since then, his family has been in decline, wandering around to make a living, without a foundation to rely on, and originally came to Beijing from Zhe Gong (Zhe Cong Ruan), just to make a living and support the family, but he didn't expect the commander to follow him one after another. Give someone such a chance.

Certainly will live up to the high expectations of the commander-in-chief! "

Shi Congyun nodded. Among his generals, Li Chuyun was probably the most difficult one. Wang Zhong and Shao Ji had historian backgrounds, and Dong Zunhui's family was ruined, but he could rely on his uncle Gao Huaide. Gao Huaide's father was King Qi. Posthumously presented to the King of Qin.

Wang Shenqi is an outsider who moved to Luoyang from western Liaoning, but he also settled down.

Li Chuyun traveled around with his family to seek survival. He ran from Shaanxi to Henan. The main reason was that he was afraid of revenge from Ruan's nephew. Now that Shi Congyun let him lead an army alone, he really regarded him as a direct descendant. .

In this way, his future will be guaranteed in the future, and he will have a place to stand.

.......

The next day, at a meeting in the Prince's Mansion, Shi Congyun announced the arrangement for the dispatch of troops.

The army is divided into two routes, the North Route and the South Route.

Shi Congyun personally led the North Route Army, with a total of 2 soldiers, with the horse infantry as the main force, the Longjie cavalry, the Tiger Jie infantry, and the Shenhuo army.

The leading generals are Wang Quanbin, Shao Ji, Gao Huaide, Fu Zhaoyuan, Pan Mei, Han Lingkun, Murong Yanzhao, etc., and the privy envoy Wei Renpu is a staff officer and is responsible for logistics deployment.

The South Route Army is headed by Li Chuyun, with a total of 3 people, including the Jiangling and Tanzhou garrisons, the Crane Army, the Iron Cavalry Army, the Yulangzhi Army, and the Shenhuo Army. In addition to the general Li Chuyun, there are also Li Hanchao, Luo Yanhuan, and Si Chao. Wang Huan, Dong Zunjiao, etc. also arranged for a military supervisor Cao Bin, and Prime Minister Wang Pu was responsible for the deployment of logistics supplies.

Shi Congyun thought about it in his heart. He assigned almost all the young generals to Li Chuyun, except Li Hanchao, who was stationed in Jiangling.

So the old generals were all on his side, and almost all the young generals were assigned to Li Chuyun's command. At the same time, Cao Bin, the supervising army, was arranged to provide double insurance to prevent them from burning, killing and looting after they entered Shu.

This arrangement did cause some disturbances. Some people questioned on the spot that Li Chuyun was not qualified enough, and it might be inappropriate to let him lead the army alone. It might be better to let Si Chao, Wang Shenqi and other veterans.

This kind of thing is common in Shi Congyun, and he was not angry. He used Li Chuyun's previous battle as an example, saying that he was handsome, and then used his own prestige to suppress him, and everyone agreed.

After the arrangements were made, each army took orders and began to dispatch the army.

........

On the other hand, his father Shi Yanchao and Shi Congyun are not going to let him go to war. He has fought all his life, so it is time to enjoy the blessings at home and give him more brothers and sisters with his aunt and sister. Otherwise, no one will want to marry politically in the future.

When it comes to political marriage, the younger sister Shi Congmei's marriage has also been established. After all, the younger sister has also reached the age of marriage, which is not too young in this age.

This marriage was arranged by his mother, mainly because of Shi Congyun's wind, after all, Wei Renpu in the court was the one he needed to win over the most.

He asked his younger sister, and she said shyly that he should make the decision. Girls in this era are almost like this. On the one hand, their parents order and matchmaker’s words; It is difficult for future generations to ensure that the primary goal of bloodlines is not cut off.

Inside and outside Bianliang, there are many poor people who sell their children and daughters. They are all sold to dignitaries as servants. His clothes were ragged and skinny, and he would not be able to support him unless he was sold. Maybe he would become a stutter, and reality forced him.

These things can only be managed after the world stabilizes and the people's living standards rise.

He asked Wei Renpu what he wanted, and of course Wei Renpu wanted it, so he took him to his home to meet his son.