Zhu Nao

Taining.

A group of people gathered in a room, surrounded by a man named Qu Sie, discussing righteously and indignantly.

"Commander, the imperial court's military rations have been arriving for a long time, and the military fields allocated to us are simply not enough to eat. If this continues, the brothers will starve to death! If you want me to say, let's rebel!"

"That's right! Tao Bei only has his direct descendants in his heart, and he doesn't pay attention to us at all! Which season's military rations can't be delayed or delayed? We have no choice but to go to the county to grab food. He actually dared to send someone to ask us Xingshi for his crimes! He didn’t even think about it, what can we do if we don’t rob? Let our brothers starve to death?”

"I heard that Tao Bei dismissed hundreds of officials recently because of Shangguanxian's affairs, and Yedu is full of complaints! Let's simply rise up and pull a few more people to work together, so how about playing the name of the Qing emperor? Kill Tao Bei, let us manage the imperial court! Let the commander make you a general!"

"That's probably inappropriate. Although Tao Gou's death is not a pity, but Yedu is surrounded by heavily guarded troops, we may not be able to defeat it. In my opinion, we might as well go to Yanzhou, occupy Yanzhou City, and call ourselves king!"

"I support it, let's go to Yanzhou!"

These people were a motley army stationed in Taining in Liang State.They were originally Qizhou soldiers, but were later surrendered by the Guangjin Mansion. As the hegemony of the Central Plains changed hands several times, their subordinates also changed again and again.Now although they nominally obey the orders of Liang Guo's court, in fact the court's control over them is not strong.When the army rations were sufficient, they would mix oil with the Liang Dynasty court; when the army rations were short, he would turn into a bandit army and go to the surrounding towns to rob.

Since there were not a few miscellaneous troops like them in Liang State, Tao Bei couldn't spare a hand to rectify them, so he could only turn a blind eye.Whenever they make too much trouble, they will send someone to hold them accountable and appease them.

But this year, their military rations still failed to be distributed on time, and the annoyed officers got together to discuss countermeasures.When it comes to shortness of breath, someone raised his head, and everyone responded one after another, and they began to discuss how to rebel.

The leader of this motley army is Qu Sie.Hearing everyone's indignation-filled suggestions, he was eager to move, but he couldn't help hesitating.

Are you rebelling...

If the military rations don't come again, he seems to have no choice but to rebel.But if there were other ways, he didn't want to go this far.He knew that his army was not strong enough to fight.You must know that Tao Bei has been working hard to weaken the power of these miscellaneous troops, not only withholding their food and grass, but also never giving them all kinds of weapons and utensils.Once he made a big fuss because of the shortage of weapons, and the court finally shipped him a batch of weapons, but in the end they were all broken knives and swords that rusted to the point that they were not much harder than bamboo!

If he really rebelled and fought with Tao Bei's direct army, it would be a disaster...

"Damn it!" Thinking of this, Qu Sie was full of anger, kicked the leg of the table viciously, and cursed, "That turtle bastard named Tao! If he falls into my hands one day, I will kill him!" You can't pull it out and tie it!"

"Yes, yes, yes!" someone beside him echoed through gritted teeth, "Open his stomach and let him watch us knot his intestines with his own eyes. Don't kill him directly, that would be too cheap for him!"

Because they didn't have enough money and food, these miscellaneous soldiers already hated Tao Bei so much that they didn't regard him as a high-ranking general like Lao Shizi at all.

At this moment, someone suddenly ran in from outside.

"Commander!" said the soldier rushing in, "The imperial court of Yedu has come! They have also sent imperial edicts!"

Everyone was discussing the matter of rebellion. When they heard that the court was coming, they quickly shut up.

Qu Sie said unhappily: "Imperial decree? The military rations have not been delivered, how dare you send me some bullshit imperial decree?"

The envoy who delivered the imperial decree should have come in and read it out in person, but he also knew that these miscellaneous troops were not easy to deal with, and he was afraid that he would not be able to get out after entering the barracks, so he only handed over the imperial decree to someone else to send in.

The subordinate presented the imperial decree, but Qu Sie didn't reach out to accept it, but a man sitting in the corner ran up quickly - he was the sacrificial drinker in the army, and the only person in the room who could read.

The sacrificial wine quickly read the imperial decree, showing a look of surprise.

Qu Sie raised his chin and asked, "What did you write?"

The sacrificial wine was not recited accordingly, and those rude words could not be understood.He explained in his own words: "The little emperor—actually the great general, he ordered the commander to lead the troops to go to Henan..."

"What?!" A group of officers in the room jumped up immediately.

"Go to Henan?? To deal with the Shu army?? That bastard surnamed Tao wants us to die again!"

"Damn it, let's rebel!"

"Detain the man who delivered the letter, and cut off his head to sacrifice the flag!"

Qu Sie was also in a hurry: "If you don't give money or food, you still want us to work for him? Tao Gouzi has a good idea!"

The sacrificial wine was taken aback by the momentum of the crowd, and hurriedly waved his hands: "There is food, there is food! I haven't finished talking yet..."

When everyone heard that there was food, they quickly fell silent.

Jijiu explained: "It says that the imperial decree arrives first, and the food and grass are still on the way to be transported. It will arrive in a few days. Before the expedition, the military rations will be [-] shi and the livestock [-] heads. When the command envoy leads the troops on the road, the supplies will continue. shipped."

Everyone showed a surprised expression.

Qu Sie asked suspiciously: "Is it true? Didn't it mean that the treasury was empty? Could it be that he lied to us before? Where did Tao get so much food and grass?"

Said the wine: "It is the grain and grass given by Chen Guo. The imperial court has formed an alliance with Chen Guo to fight against Shu together."

"Oh!" Only then did everyone understand.It turned out to be the food and grass produced by those tyrannical and wealthy people in the south of the Yangtze River. No wonder...

In fact, it's not that they don't know that Liang Guo's court is short of food, but they don't care about it, it's the court's business, let the court's dignitaries worry about it!They only care about how to survive, and they will make trouble if they don't have enough food.

The people in the house looked at me and I looked at you. When they heard that there was food and meat, everyone stopped and no one mentioned the rebellion anymore.

"Commander," someone asked, "Then...are we really going to fight Henan?"

The last time Tao Bei also ordered them to send troops to rescue Shangguanxian, but Qu Sie refused on the grounds that the food and grass had not arrived and the morale of the army was weak.This time when the food and grass were available, it was difficult for them to justifiably shirk.

Qu Sie thought for a while, and asked Jijiu, "Wouldn't the surnamed Tao transfer only one of us? We only have so many people, how can we possibly fight against the Shu army? Who else has he transferred?"

Said the wine: "The imperial decree only said that the general wants to use the whole country to crusade against the Shu army and recover Henan, and the army will be led by General Tian Chou. It certainly does not refer to our troops. But it did not say what kind of army there is."

"Tian Chou leads the army? Hiss..."

Everyone knows that Tian Chou is Tao Bei's confidant general and has been guarding Xuzhou.This time Tao Bei actually transferred all Tian Chou here, which shows that the scale of the expedition must be very large. Tao Bei is probably determined to take back Jiangnan.

Qu Sie thought for a while, and said, "If the rations really arrive in a few days, then... everyone pack up and prepare for the expedition."

Everyone looked at each other.

Someone worried: "Commander, the general has always disliked us. If we really want to go to the battlefield, will they deliberately send us to die?"

Qu Sie said: "Since the whole country is going to attack the Shu army, there are too many people from all walks of life, let's mix in and be smart. Hide when you should hide, avoid when you should avoid, don't hit yourself on the edge of the knife. Besides, even though Jiangnan sent military rations to the imperial court, if we don’t march, the military rations won’t reach us. We can’t starve to death, can we?”

Everyone fell silent, each thoughtful.

As the saying goes, if you have a milk, you are a mother. Just now they were discussing how to kill Tao Bei, but now as soon as they heard that there was food and money, they immediately obediently followed Tao Bei.

At this point, most of the people's spirits had calmed down, and they gathered together to scold Tao Bei and other dignitaries in the court, completely calming down their spirits, and they relaxed physically and mentally.

=====

Xuzhou.

Tian Chou sat at the desk, looking at the spread letter paper on the desk, with a sad face.

This letter was written to him by Tao Bei.

Tao Bei would not explain to those miscellaneous troops which troops he had mobilized for this expedition and what purpose he had, but for Tian Chou, he certainly explained clearly.

An army of 12 was sent to Henan. Tao Bei asked Tian Chou to bring thousands of direct troops to the expedition, but these thousands of people were only used to protect Tian Chou and play a special role, and did not undertake the main battle. 10,000+ people, almost all composed of motley crews.

Tao Bei ordered Tian Chou to repel the Shu army as much as possible and recover the lost ground. At the same time, he also had to consume the miscellaneous troops as much as possible. The more dead the better, the establishment of the miscellaneous army was broken up, and Liang Guo could solve the problem. A serious problem.

Tian Chou didn't feel sorry for these miscellaneous troops, because he also knew that these troops were a heavy burden that Liang Guo could not shake off or swallow.

Many of these miscellaneous troops in Liang Guo were originally from the bandit army.In the troubled times, a group of mobs gathered together, and as their momentum gradually grew, they were merged and surrendered by other people.They have not received much training, have not fought many battles, let alone their combat effectiveness, and even less loyalty.

Tao Bei had long wanted to disband these miscellaneous troops, but the officers of these miscellaneous troops all had their own little ones, who would let go of the power in their hands for nothing?They rely on the army in their hands to domineering and threaten the court. If the court gives them enough money and food, they will be honest;

These people were chronic illnesses left over from years of war, and Tao Bei was really unable to solve them, so he thought of using the excuse of going to Henan to kill people with a knife.

But the abacus is very good, so how easy is it to do?Which group of people here is willing to obey obediently?No!Not all the way!What Tian Chou wants to manage is not just a motley army, he wants to gather seven or eight motley troops together to command at the same time, thinking about it, he feels his head is about to explode!

Seeing his sad face, the soldiers beside him couldn't help persuading him: "This order from the general is really difficult. Tian Gong might as well find an excuse to push it away, saying that the situation in Xuzhou is unstable, and Tian Gong can't get away."

"Push?" Tian Chou rubbed his temples and said, "If Shangguan Xian is still here, I won't be able to pick up this hot potato. Now, who can I push it to?"

The soldiers were momentarily speechless.

Tian Chou had never even been to Henan, so he knew that Tao Bei must have nowhere to go when he assigned him this task.Compared with Xuzhou, Jizhou's safety is more important, and Gao Hong can't escape, so he can only go.

Thinking of Shangguan Xian, the gloomy look on Tian Chou's eyebrows increased a bit.

Although Tao Bei vigorously suppressed Shangguan Xian's faction members after Shangguan Xian's accident, his party members took advantage of the opportunity and gained a lot of benefits.But for Tian Chou himself, seeing Shangguan Xian end up like this, he absolutely did not gloat, only felt sad when the rabbit died.

Earlier when he heard that Shangguan Xian had surrendered to the Shu army, he thought it was incredible.Although their three generals were all Tao Bei's confidantes, but if they insisted on distinguishing between relatives, Shangguan Xian was undoubtedly Tao Bei's closest one.This also led to Shangguan Xian's faction being the most powerful among the three major factions.It turned out that Shangguan Xian would surrender to the Shu army, which was shocking, and Tao Bei's agility and terrific skills were even more jaw-dropping.

Two days ago, he heard news from Yedu again, saying that Shangguan Xian had returned to Yedu alone, and was imprisoned by Tao Bei under the name of Xizuo.After a little analysis, he immediately understood what was going on before and after, and he felt cold all over his body.

It turned out that Tao Bei was only worried that his status and reputation would be affected, so he was so cruel to his former lover!For so many years, Tao Bei has been showing people humility and generosity. Although Tian Chou knew that it was not his true temperament, he was still frightened by his ruthlessness.

As the saying goes, companionship with a king is like companionship with a tiger, and this statement is not deceptive.Even if he is already in a high position, if he makes a wrong step, he will lose everything.

Although Shangguan Xian's lesson from the past gave him more power, it also made him lose his sense of security.He only feels that life is like walking on thin ice, and he lives tremblingly...

The soldiers didn't know what Tian Chou was thinking. Seeing that his face was ugly and his eyes were dull, he couldn't help but concerned: "Mr. Tian is not feeling well? Why don't you go back and rest first?"

Tian Chou came back to his senses.He shook his head, not thinking about the mess, and said with a wry smile: "How can there be time to rest? Go and order someone to investigate the details of these miscellaneous troops and present them to me. I have to prepare for the expedition. "

The soldiers took orders and hurried to go.