From beggar to emperor: I am not Zhu Yuanzhang

In the third year of Emperor Xizong's reign of Emperor Guangqi of Tang Dynasty (887), Luzhou City was built.

A messenger from Yangzhou, where the Huainan Jiedushi was stationed, hurried to Luzhou and delivered Gao Pian's personal letter. Yang Xingmi's expression changed drastically after reading the secret letter, and he immediately summoned his cronies for an emergency meeting to discuss.

Luzhou governor's office.

After reading Gao Pian's autographed letter, Yang Xingmi frowned and walked around the room without saying a word. The generals next to him looked at each other and did not dare to ask rashly. However, they seemed to have figured out from Yang Xingmi's expression that something was going on in Yangzhou.

After a long while, his counselor Yuan Xi asked softly: General, this letter...

Only then did Yang Xingmi come back to his senses: "Oh, you should take a look too."

Then he handed the letter to Yuan Xi.

Yuan Xi browsed it quickly and roughly understood the content. As expected, something big happened in Yangzhou.

In the living room, everyone circulated the letter, whispered to each other, and discussed it.

Yang Xingmi held his cheek and asked Yuan Xi thoughtfully: "Sir, what do you have in mind?"

Yuan Xi thought for a moment and said with a smile: "Congratulations, General. Congratulations, General."

Oh, where does joy come from? Yang Xingmi was stunned for a moment.

Yuan Xi analyzed: "Bi Shiduo raised troops to detain Gao Pian, stole the commander's mansion in Yangzhou, and pretended to be Jiedu. This was a heinous crime. Gao Pian's life was in danger. God wanted to give Huainan to the general. This opportunity must not be missed. The general should send troops immediately."

Seeing that everyone still looked puzzled, Yuan Xi said in a more serious tone:

"Killing Bi Shiduo and retaking Yangzhou to ensure peace is an unparalleled achievement. The general must not hesitate. If you delay, you will have long nights and dreams, which will only increase the number of variables."

Yang Xingmi is also a smart man, he knows everything at once, and he already understands what Yuan Xi means.

This is indeed a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Whether Yang Xingmi can turn around depends on whether he can seize the opportunity this time.

Just do it, he immediately ordered the entire city to mobilize, recruit elite troops to prepare for departure, and rush to Yangzhou.

Luzhou City.

Just after daybreak, an emergency mobilization order with the seal of the governor's office was posted at the city gate. Some people in the crowd shook their heads and read: "The traitor Bi Shiduo despised the imperial court and was good at besieging Yangzhou with weapons. He threatened Qu Shuai and gained great power. If you rebel, Jun, the high-ranking official of Fengjie Town in this state, will raise an army and punish the rebel..."

In fact, Yang Xingmi was still very weak at this time, with only one Luzhou city in hand and only a few thousand troops. If these people are dragged into a head-on fight with Bi Shiduo, it will indeed be a risk.

But the situation was urgent, and Yang Xingmi had no time to hesitate. He could only gather his troops and set off.

He knew in his heart that this was a big gamble. If he won, Yang Xingmi would be lucky; but if he lost, he would die without a burial place.

Before leaving, Yang Xingmi left Dai Yougui, Gao Xu, Cai Chou and others to guard Luzhou, and he led Yuan Xi, Tian Kai, Tao Ya, Liu Wei and others to Yangzhou.

When the troops arrived at Hezhou (now Hexian, Anhui), Yang Xingmi borrowed some troops from Sun Duan, the governor of Hezhou, and gathered 1 people to rush to Yangzhou overnight.

From this, we can see that Yang Xingmi was stretched thin. He had less than [-] troops, and he had to ask others to borrow troops. This shows that starting a business is not easy.

The troops rushed to Tianchang and met Lu Yongzhi who had fled here. What a coincidence.

When Lu Yongzhi saw Yang Xingmi's banner, his expression suddenly changed. Thinking of all the conflicts he had with Yang Xingmi in the past, he felt anxious, fearing that Yang Xingmi would add insult to injury at this time. He rolled his eyes and thought of an idea.

I saw Lu Yongzhi dismounting from his horse and running towards Yang Xingmi, wailing as he ran:

"General Yang, you are here, your savior."

Lu Yongzhi, an old magician who is worthy of being a movie king, cried out with tears and snot in his nose: "Bi Shiduo rebelled against the superiors, kidnapped the lord, stole Yangzhou, and publicly called himself Huainan Jiedu. It is a heinous crime. My lord is as kind as a mountain to the general." , General must capture the traitor and rescue the lord."

Yang Xingmi has already seen through Lu Yongzhi's tricks. Do you want to use me as a spearman? Do you think you can continue to dominate after rescuing Gao Pian? joke.

Yang Xingmi asked Lu Yongzhi: "What is the situation in the city now?"

Lu Yongzhi replied: "Bi Shiduo has taken control of the entire city, and his lord is under house arrest. He has claimed to be the military envoy of Huainan, and is currently strengthening the defense in an attempt to defend Yangzhou."

"How many troops does Bi Shiduo have?" Yang Xingmi was most concerned about this.

"There are probably more than 1 people. However, this thief has contacted Gaoyou Town General Zheng Hanzhang and Xuanzhou Observer Qin Yan to conspire to cause rebellion. Zheng Hanzhang's 3000 people are rushing to Yangzhou. Qin Yan has not made any movement yet."

With the information provided by Lu Yongzhi, Yang Xingmi had an idea. It seemed that Bi Shiduo was still not confident. The top priority was to rush to Yangzhou to intercept Zheng Hanzhang's team.

After making up his mind, Yang Xingmi ordered Lu Yongzhi to lead his troops as the vanguard and open the way back to Yangzhou.

When they arrived forty miles away from Yangzhou, they encountered a surrendering force. They were the men of Bi Shiduo's general Zhang Shenjian. Because he had a falling out with Bi Shiduo, Zhang Shenjian led his troops to surrender to Yang Xingmi in anger.

The real name of this divine sword is Zhang Xiong. Because he likes to use swords and never leaves his hand with the sword all day long, he is nicknamed "Zhang Shenjian". As time goes by, no one knows his real name, and everyone in the world calls him Zhang Shenjian.

Immediately afterwards, several groups of troops returned one after another, and Yang Xingmi's men quickly grew to 7000. Zhang Shenjian also brought the food and grass from his hometown for Yang Xingmi's use.

Besides, Bi Shiduo in Yangzhou City also heard the news of Yang Xingmi's invasion. Old Bi was a little panicked and quickly sent his son to Xuanzhou (today's Xuancheng, Anhui) to ask for help from Xuanzhou observer Qin Yan. He promised that as long as he defeated Yang Xingmi, he would welcome Qin Yan as the lord of Huainan. As soon as Qin Yan heard this, he sent three thousand troops to rescue Yangzhou. When Bi Shiduo saw that Qin Yan himself was not coming, he felt that Qin Yan was not sincere, so he wrote a letter asking Qin Yan to cross the river in person to join his army.

Qin Yan couldn't resist, so he had to lead an army of [-] people by boat down the river to Yangzhou, and jumped into the fire pit of Yangzhou. After entering the city, Qin Yan claimed to have the right to know the affairs of the Huainan Festival, which meant that he was temporarily acting as the Huainan Festival Envoy. Bi Shiduo was appointed as the marching commander, and Lao Bi officially retreated to the second line and served Qin Yan as the leader.

Soon after Qin Yan entered the city, Yang Xingmi's army also arrived outside Yangzhou City.

Yang Xingmi chose to garrison in Shugang (now northwest of Slender West Lake in Yangzhou) and settle down first. Shugang is a mountain range in the northwest of Yangzhou, stretching for more than [-] miles. It has been a natural barrier for Yangzhou since ancient times. When the northern troops attack Yangzhou, they must first take Shugang. From a high position, they can have a clear view of the city's dynamics.

Yang Xingmi set up eight camps outside the city to besiege the city. Qin Yan, who didn't know the truth, hung up a no-war sign and closed the city to defend himself.

The siege of the city lasted for a long time, and as the food in the city became less and less, and there was an immediate danger of running out of food, Qin Yan couldn't sit still. Bi Shiduo and Qin Chou were sent with eight thousand troops out of the city to fight for Yang Xingmi, but they were killed by the Crouching Tiger Camp who was waiting for him, chopping melons and vegetables. They returned with a heavy defeat. Qin Chou died in the battle, and seventy-eight out of ten soldiers died. The city soon ran out of food, lacked food and drink, and people were separated. People even resorted to cannibalism in order to survive.