Chapter 185 Three thousand miles long defense line

The day and night of the sixth day of the lunar month, the hour of Xu (twenty o'clock).\\9vk.com first release\\

Yang Xuangan sat behind the desk, shaking his palm-leaf fan while flipping through the latest news coming from all over the place.

Li Zixiong, Yang Xuanzong, Li Mi, Hu Shidan, Zhao Huaiyi, Kong Yingda, Wang Zhou, Yu Chuo and others sat around. Some looked at maps, some read texts, and some wrote at their desks. Everyone was concentrating on their minds, whispering, or worrying...

Li Yang's Yuanwuben had already spread the news that the people of the Northwest followed and pursued. As soon as the people of the Northwest left Li Yang, all the rebels from Hebei rushed out of the hungry people and attacked Li Yangcang. At present, the situation in Li Yang is becoming more and more chaotic, and with the discontinuation of water, land and grain transportation, Zhuojun will immediately send troops south. Therefore, the time for the Hebei rebels to attack Li Yangcang is very limited. So, do they have enough time to take hundreds of thousands of hungry people to leave? If the Hebei rebels abandoned the hungry people at a critical moment and let the hungry people suffer on their behalf, Li Yang will definitely be full of blood and blood storms in the future. However, this will help Yuanwuben to guard Li Yang and block the army to move south.

Judging from the interests of local officials from Guanlong, such as Dugu Zhen, Yuan Baozang, and the Li family in Zhaojun, Qinghe Cui family and other prominent families in Hebei, since they have to watch the development of the current situation, they have to give Yang Xuangan more time to attack Dongdu, which is very likely to make innocent hungry people a tool to delay the rebellion and fight the rebel army southward.

The foreseeable bloody killing made Kong Yingda extremely dissatisfied. He believed that this was the result of the joint conspiracy between Guanlong and Shandong's great families. He begged Yang Xuangan to take the people as his thoughts and ask Yuanwuben to immediately support Li Yangcang, and form a pincer attack on the Hebei rebels attacking Li Yangcang, thus forcing those Hebei thieves to evacuate Li Yangcang quickly with hungry people.

Yang Xuangan looked for an excuse to refuse. The future of the huge Yang family power is not comparable to the life and death of hundreds of thousands of hungry people. Yang Xuangan would not consider the life and death of a group of common people at all.

The news from the Eastern Capital was encouraging. I wish Yang Xuangan had two wings and flew to the Luoshui River overnight. The news from Henan was also good. Many of the disciples and officials of the Yang family were waiting for Yang Xuangan to raise the flag, and they raised their troops to respond.

There is only one bad news, that is, Tang Yi betrayed. The trouble is that Li Jiancheng happened to take the Xitu Tribute Mission to Linqing Pass, and the two actually joined forces to guard the pass. As for the people in the northwest who had already chased Jicheng, no one cared about it, because the imperial guards had only 300 cavalry and were unfamiliar with the place, and Yang Xuangan's army had nearly 10,000, and there were many sounds. The strength of the two sides was too great. If nothing unexpected happened, the group of northwest wolves followed far behind, waiting for an opportunity to attack and bite a few bites, which did not have any substantial threat to Yang Xuangan.

Just as everyone was discussing whether to continue to attack Linqing Pass tomorrow, Yang Jishan hurried over and showed joy. Yanjin Pass was successfully captured, and the army could cross the river, enter Xingyang County, and run from Xingyang to the Eastern Capital.

In fact, whether Yang Xuangan was blocked from Lin Customs clearance did not affect his entire plan. Yang Xuangan had already estimated all possible changes in advance and had made countermeasures. If Lin Customs clearance was unblocked, the army would be divided into two here. One part entered Hanoi County, crossed the river from Heyang City to attack the Dongdu, and seized Hangu Pass and Tongguan, cut off the connection between Guanxi and Guandong, and used the power of Hongnong Bentang to quickly strengthen the team and search for opportunities to enter Guanxi to fight; the other part crossed the river from Yanjin Pass to Xingyang County, and attacked the Dongdu from Xingyang, in order to form a force of attack on the Dongdu from north to south, and using the forces of Henan to quickly strengthen its own strength is a necessary condition for attacking the Dongdu.

Now Lin's customs clearance is blocked, but Yanjin Pass is still unobstructed. Yang Xuangan immediately decided to cross the river overnight and surround the Dongdu at the fastest speed. After arriving at the Dongdu, he would divide his troops to seize Hangu Pass and Tongguan.

=

People in the northwest used chariots and horses as formations and slept on the ground so that they could fight at any time.

Gao Tai, Qiao Er, Xie Qing, and Fang Xiaoer each brought several people to sneak into the enemy's formation in the night to spy on the enemy's situation. Liu Xuan's two disciples went east along Baigou under the escort of Su Dingfang and a team of elite cavalry to inquire about the military situation of Li Yang. //《》.com》号》号//

At the sixth hour of Hai, Fang Xiaoer sent someone to repay him, and Yang Xuan felt blocked from the customs clearance.

This news made Chai Shao and Song Zhengben excited. The two believed that Jia Lan came from the Sima family in Hanoi, and Chai Shao had a family mission, so whether they accepted Jia Lan's plan or not, at this moment, both of them followed closely. At the critical moment, Shandong people must believe in each other and would not place their lives on Guanlong people.

"General, you must contact Xin Customs Clearance immediately."

Chai Shao was a little impatient. Obviously, Li Jiancheng controlled Lin Customs Clearance, but Li Jiancheng was weak, and there must be Yang Xuangan's accomplices. Once the news of Yang Xuangan being blocked by Lin Customs Clearance spread, those accomplices would definitely lead the army to attack Lin Customs Clearance with Yang Xuangan, and Li Jiancheng was in danger.

Galan glanced at him with a expressionless face. Because the weather was hot, he was only wearing a thin yellow military uniform, with long hair disheveled, and his face was as black as a needle. He was as majestic as a rock. Even if he stood there unarmedly, he still gave people a great pressure.

Chai Shao was determined to continue to make suggestions, but under the galan cold gaze, he forced himself to hold back. Song Zhengben hesitated for a moment, raised his eyes to signal Fu Duanyi standing opposite him. Fu Duanyi shook his head, and then looked at Liu Xuan sitting in front of the map. The old man's eyes were blurred. Although several disciples raised the torches and illuminated the map with slightest glance, the old man still seemed very difficult.

Song Zhengben slowly walked to Liu Xuan. Liu Xuan was calculating with his fingers. The old man was a rare genius. He was not only proficient in Confucianism, but also had some research on Buddhism and Taoism, and was a real generalist. Song Zhengben was about to interrupt Liu Xuan, but he suddenly waved at Galan.

"Is there any news from Li Yang?"

Jialan knew what Liu Xuan was worried about and shook her head slightly.

"Human nature is greedy." Liu Xuan sighed, "The crisis is imminent, but many people turn a blind eye to it and ignore it..."

Galan didn't speak, and a hint of regret flashed through his eyes. If he had made up his heart outside Ande City in Pingyuan County, he would not have brought disaster to the poor hungry people. However, it was too late to regret. His wishes were always beautiful, but the reality was very cruel. With his vulnerable strength and precarious situation today, he could only sigh and burst into tears.

"General, the most urgent task is not Li Yang, but the customs clearance." Song Zhengben reminded carefully.

Jia Lan glanced at him lightly, pondering and silent. Chai Shao and Song Zhengben were both eager to enter Lin Customs clearance to escape from danger, but he had to consider the situation in Hanoi. If Yang Xuangan had a large number of confidants in the river, then Lin Customs clearance would obviously not be able to defend. At this moment, he hurriedly entered Lin Customs clearance, which was equivalent to using the lives of his brothers in the northwest to play a joke, which was very unwise.

"Yang Xuangan must fight to the Dongdu City as fast as possible to seize the initiative." Jia Lan pointed to the map and said to Song Zhengben, "I would like to ask for advice. With Yang Xuangan's current strength, can he have an absolute advantage over Dongdu? If Yang Xuangan's current strength is insufficient, where can he build a huge army in the shortest time?"

Jialan's fingers pointed at Hanoi County, Hongnong County, Henan County and Xingyang County on the map, and then expanded to the periphery, extending eastward from Xiangcheng County where Runan was located to Yingchuan, Liang County and Dong County.

Galan's words hit the key point. There are tens of thousands of left-behind troops in the east. Although Yang Xuangan mainly relies on internal support to capture Dongdu and does not rely on the strong combat power of the army, he must at least have an overwhelming advantage in terms of the number of troops, even if he bluffs, he must behave like a decent person.

Chai Shao walked to the map and drew a circle on the map with his fingers. The circle was Hongnong County, Henan County, Xingyang County and Liang County. "As long as Yang Xuangan arrived here, it would not be too difficult to assemble more than 100,000 troops within a few days."

Hongnong County is the foundation of the Yang family; Henan County is the location of the Eastern Capital, which is densely spread to Yang Xuangan's inner response; Xingyang County is an important town outside the Eastern Capital, and the county magistrate is Yang Xun, the uncle of Yang Xuangan; Liang County is the location where Yang Xuangan served as the governor of Songzhou, and most of the bureaucrats in the county are former officials of the Yang family. There are also aristocrats of the Heluo Han family headed by the Zheng family in Xingyang, such as the Yuan family of Runan, the Chen family of Yingchuan, the Yu family, the Chenliu Xie family, the Songcheng Han family, etc., which are all conservative aristocratic groups with vested interests in the dynasty, and are basically consistent with Yang Xuangan in terms of political stance and interest demands. It can be imagined that after Yang Xuangan raised the flag, they will definitely become firm supporters of Yang Xuangan.

Jialan thought about it and pointed to the customs clearance on the map. "If it was Yang Xuangan, he would be divided here."

Jialan made an analysis. When everything went well, Yang Xuangan divided his troops into two groups in Linqing clearance, and could exert his advantages to the extreme. Not only could he attack Dongdu from front to back, but he could also wait for an opportunity to enter Guanxi. Once Yang Xuangan controlled Chang'an and Dongdu, he would basically win this mutiny, and at the least he could split the Middle Earth and grab half of the country.

Why didn’t Yang Xuangan divide his troops in Liyang? Why didn’t he cross the river in Liyang, but instead went far away, and divided his troops in Linqing Pass and crossed the river in Yanjin Pass? There is a reason.

At the beginning of his succession, he inherited the last wish of the former emperor and devoted all his national strength to move the capital. The first step to move the capital was to build the Eastern Capital. While building the Eastern Capital, in order to defend Shandong, Shang set up a strategic defense line outside the Eastern Capital. This line of defense, which is nearly 3,000 miles long, is actually a trench. Its starting point starts from Longmen in Hedong County, east to Changping County, then goes south through Taihang Mountain to Ji County, and arrives at Linqing Pass. After crossing the river, he goes to Junyi City in Xingyang County (now Kaifeng), and then goes west from Junyi, passing Yingchuan County, Xiangcheng County, Nanyang County, and all the way to Shangluo County, ending at Wuguan. Wuguan is one of the four major gateways in Guanzhong, directly connecting Guanxi and Jingxiang.

This line of defense actually connects the Central Plains and Guanxi into a whole, and isolates all Shandong regions in a broad sense, including Dai, Jin, Hebei, Henan, Jianghuai, Jiangzuo, Jingxiang, etc., and treats Shandong people except Guanlong and Central Plains, that is, Gao Qi and Jiangzuo before the unification of Zhongtu, as illusory enemies.

In a sense, this line of defense represents a fierce and irreconcilable contradiction between the Guanlong people and the Shandong people. After succeeding to the throne today, this contradiction has reached the point where it has to set up a strategic defense line to alleviate it.

Why did the two things of building the Dongdu and defending Shandong cause a defensive line that is nearly 3,000 miles away from the Guanlong people and the Shandong people? There are various statements in the market, but what is close to the fact is the Guanlong nobles' high vigilance against the Shandong aristocratic group that has always controlled the fate of Middle-earth for hundreds of years.

Before the late emperor received Zen, Yuchi Jiong, Sima Xiaonan and Wang Qian jointly rebelled. Among them, Yuchi Jiong, who was in Hebei at that time and Sima Xiaonan in Jingxiang received strong support from the Shandong noble group. Before he ascended the throne, Yang Liang, the Han king who was the chief executive of Bingzhou, actually controlled the military and political power of 52 states including Dai, Jin, Hebei and even Youyan. With the support of the Shandong noble group, including Jiangzuo nobles, he launched a fierce attack on Guanzhong and Zhongyuan, trying to seize the throne.

In the civil war, the late emperor won, and the Guanlong nobles also won, but the Guanlong nobles group suffered two heavy blows. In particular, the Guanlong methods were extremely ruthless. After defeating King Yang Liang of Han, the bureaucrats killed or exiled due to his involvement, had more than 200,000 households and civilians, with nearly one million people. Although the emperor ascended the throne many times, most of the exiled nobles, government soldiers and civilians returned to their hometowns by chance, there were still too many dead people. The Guanlong people suffered the greatest losses, of course the Guanlong people, and the Shandong people involved also suffered losses, but the Shandong nobles hiding behind the scenes suffered limited or unscathed, and even made great profits.

The late emperor and the current emperor knew that the Guanlong nobles also knew that, but the aristocrats in Shandong had been passed down for hundreds or even thousands of years, and had extraordinary influence in Middle-earth. Since the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the establishment and defeat of all dynasties have been inseparable from them. If Middle-earth wants to maintain peace and unity, the empire wants to maintain long-term stability and even have a strong country and strong people, it must win the support of the aristocrats of Shandong. Therefore, the late emperor tried his best to win over and tolerate it. Now, the emperor first built a defensive line that was nearly 3,000 miles long, then moved the capital to Luoyang, and then he couldn't wait to start radical reforms, trying to curb and crack down on the vested aristocrats group, including the aristocrats of Shandong and Guanlong families, and then completely eradicate the biggest disaster that seriously endangers the rise and fall of the empire.

Therefore, in another sense, this defensive line of nearly three thousand miles also symbolizes the bloody battle between the emperor, the central government, the vested interest groups, the reformists and the conservatives.

Yang Xuangan divided his troops at Linqing Pass, or crossed the river from Yanjin Pass to the south, just avoiding the defensive line that stretched across the north and south of the Great River. If he divided his troops from Liyang and crossed the river from Liyang to the south, then he would most likely be blocked by the Hanoi army in Linqing Pass, and blocked by the Xingyang army in Kaifeng and Yanjin. In this way, he would not be able to run to the Dongdu as quickly as possible. He would lose all his opportunities and would definitely be defeated.

The noble bureaucrats basically have some understanding of the role of this defense line. If you want to break through this defense line from Hebei, the best place is to clear customs clearance, so Galan does not need to explain more, and Chai Shao, Song Zhengben and others can fully understand his analysis of the situation.

"If Yang Xuan felt blocked by Linqing Pass and failed to divide his troops into two groups, he would definitely cross the river and enter Xingyang quickly in order to gather more troops in the shortest time and then surround Dongdu with the fastest speed. As long as he could seize Hangu Pass and Tongguan before the Chang'an army left the customs, he could still achieve his expected intention and complete his attack strategy."

As soon as this statement was said, Chai Shao and Song Zhengben couldn't help but look at each other, silently. Jialan's meaning was very clear. Yang Xuangan would not stay at Lin Customs Clearance. On the contrary, Yang Xuangan would cross the river south tomorrow. Therefore, Jialan would neither take the initiative to attack Yang Xuangan meaninglessly nor would he rush to Lin Customs Clearance to meet Li Jiancheng, because he would most likely fall into the dilemma of being attacked from both sides and behind his back.

Song Zhengben hesitated for a moment and asked, "Where will the plan be done with the general's intention?"

Jialan looked at him, then looked at Chai Shao, and asked back, "By your judgment, can Yang Xuangan take over Dongdu?"

Chai Shao and Song Zhengben frowned deeply, and were speechless for a while.

The possibility of Yang Xuangan taking over the Dongdu is too high. If you want to hinder Yang Xuangan from capturing the Dongdu, there are only two conditions. One is that the army in Chang'an came to support before the fall of Dongdu. The other is that this army not only needs to resist Yang Xuangan's fierce attack, but also must hope that Dongdu can hold on for a long time and echo it inside and outside until the emperor and the expeditionary army arrive.

The first condition is still possible, while the second condition is almost impossible to achieve, because the current Dongdu is actually the political center of the empire. Not only the emperor is stationed in Dongdu, but the central government offices are also stationed in Dongdu. The powerful and noble bureaucrats and their families are concentrated here. Especially during the emperor's expedition to Goguryeo, most of the radical reform forces in the empire were under the emperor's side, while the conservative forces basically remained in Luoyang. There is no doubt that these people will support Yang Xuangan, and a considerable number of them are Yang Xuangan's accomplices. They will act as internal supporters to help Yang Xuangan open the door to Luoyang.

After a long time, Chai Shao finally said, "Yang Xuangan can take over Dongdu, but..."

Everyone looked at Chai Shao together, waiting for him to tell the key points.

"The key to defending the eastern capital is not whether you can defend the outer capital, but whether you can defend the palace and imperial city."

The expansion project of Luoyang lasted ten months. It was originally called Tokyo, and later changed to Dongdu. Its architectural layout is basically similar to Chang'an and Daxing City. The city is divided into the imperial city, the palace city where the Central Government is located and the outer city where the nobles and bureaucrats live. The Luoshui passes through the city and divides the eastern capital into two districts. To the south of the Luoshui is the outer city, which is fifty miles in radius and ninety-six fangs; to the north of the Luoshui is the imperial city and the palace city, and half of the southern city where the nobles and bureaucrats live mainly, have thirty-six fangs.

The political center of the imperial capital and the palace city were in the imperial city and the palace city. Only by taking the imperial city and the palace city could Yang Xuangan conquer the Dongdu and win a decisive victory in politics.

Galan's eyes looked at everyone's faces one by one, and finally faced Liu Xuan's eyes.

Liu Xuan stroked his long beard with his hand and said slowly, "If the general wants to do everything, he must rush to Dongdu before Yang Xuangan."

=

=

=


Chapter completed!