Chang'an.
On the tall city wall, soldiers patrolled back and forth.
From time to time, there are evil birds wandering in the air, staring at the cold fortress below.
The eight official roads outside the city gate are now full of traffic jams.
The carriages and pack horses were piled up in a heap as far as the eye could see. The shouts of the coachmen, the lamentations of the peasants, and the scoldings of the warriors were intertwined, making the surroundings of Chang'an even more noisy.
The carriage was piled with food and supplies.
The officials at the gate of the city were running around, some were checking the checkpoints, and some were recording money and food.
In the distant school grounds, another burst of shouts of death erupted.
The dark clouds in the sky are low and heavy.
The roads in the city were also completely blocked, making it difficult for scouts to pass. The doors of every house were closed tightly. Only civilians, officials, and knights were left in the city.
In the Duke's Mansion of Jin State.
Yuwenhu had a serious face and sat solemnly in the upper position, with many confidants standing on both sides of him.
There are scholars holding documents and describing the situation of the army gathering.
"There are 46,000 soldiers in the capital, fully armed, and the Duke of Shu, Chi Jiong, is training the generals."
"The armies of Qin, Long, Ba, Shu and other places, as well as the armies of various vassal states, are all on the way. The estimated strength is 158,000."
"Need food, grass and baggage"
Listening to the scribe's words, Yu Wenhu turned his hands into fists, squeezing and releasing them. His heart was not as calm as his face showed.
The state machinery of the entire Zhou Dynasty began to operate crazily. With a total of more than 200,000 troops, plus the reinforcements from the Turks, the total number of troops for this crusade against the puppet Qi could reach more than 300,000.
It would be a lie to say I'm not excited.
But Yu Wenhu actually felt a little hesitant at this moment.
He went on an expedition this time not because he wanted to fight, but because there were too many factors that forced him to fight.
First of all, he needs military merit to be able to suppress so many tough generals in the country. Others only regard him as a group of tiger and wolf generals with many talents under his command, but no one knows how much it costs to subdue such a group of tigers and wolves.
Secondly, there is also the factor of the Turks outside the Great Wall. The previous few times we cooperated with the Turks to attack the puppet Qi, the result cannot be said to be nothing, it can only be said to be a disastrous defeat.
Unfortunately, the Zhou people managed to bring back a lot of things, but the Turks lost many troops and generals one after another.
This made Ashina Yandu particularly dissatisfied. He believed that the Zhou people did not contribute and were not qualified allies.
Yuwenhu still had to hold on to this ally. Although Dazhou was currently catching up with Daqi in terms of national strength, without the Turks, it was really hard to say whether he would win or lose.
The main thing is that there are too many people here in Puppet Qi who can fight, not just Duan Shao, Luguang, Liu Taozi and a few others, but just randomly find a noble person. It’s hard to say what his character is, but if he can fight and dare to attack, that’s it.
The real deal.
No matter how useless the Turks are, they can at least play a role in pulling the strings.
Thirdly, Liu Taozi put too much pressure on Yongfeng and Yuwenhu looked unconcerned, but only his wife knew what his situation was.
I tossed and turned at night, unable to fall asleep. After the fall of Yongfeng, the original northern front of the Zhou Dynasty collapsed directly. The north of Guizhen completely lost its organization. A large number of forts were unusable, and important trade routes to the Turks were also blocked.
A detour is required.
Every time Yu Wenhu thought about it, he gritted his teeth with hatred.
The scribe spoke very seriously. When he finished speaking, he slowly looked at Yuwenhu, only to find that Yuwenhu was still the same as before, with a straight face, not saying a word, and his mind wandering elsewhere.
Cui You cleared his throat, "Duke?"
Only then did Yu Wenhu wake up. He looked at the people on his left and right, and suddenly let out a long sigh.
"The people of Qi are fierce. They have summoned the army of the world this time. Do you think it is okay to send troops?"
Everyone was immediately shocked, looking at each other and looking at each other.
Cui You frowned and said displeasedly: "My lord! The army has begun to mobilize, food and grass have been stockpiled, and the generals are ready for a crusade, so naturally we can send troops!"
If Yu Wenhu asked this before issuing the order, everyone could still analyze it for him.
But now that the 200,000 troops are ready, you ask whether we should send troops?
Why, do you still want to send them away?
It's okay to gather an army and food and grass to play??
Do we have this kind of family background to play with you?
Yu Wenhu realized that he had made a mistake and hurriedly corrected himself: "I mean, when should we send out troops to attack?"
Cui You said seriously: "The Duke can ask the generals in the country about this matter."
"Duke Sui has just returned to Chang'an. You can ask him about sending troops."
Yu Wenhu snorted and did not give a clear answer.
Everyone once again discussed many matters related to reclamation this year. Soon, the discussion ended and everyone left. Yuwen Hu called his son, General Yu Wenhui, to stop him.
Yuwen Hu stared at the people leaving in the distance, and whispered: "Next time when we discuss important matters, don't let Cui You in again."
Yu Wenhui hurriedly said: "Father, we can hold the power, and Cui Gong has contributed a lot! Besides, his little daughter is now your daughter. How can such a wise minister be left out in the cold?"
"Oh, I'm so kind to him, but he always speaks for those people and doesn't let him wake up, because I'm afraid he can't see the situation clearly!"
"What, you want to disobey?"
Yuwenhui lowered his head and said, "Wei"
"How is the situation here, Emperor?"
"Is there anyone else coming to see you?"
"After the Duke of Sui came back, he went to see him once, but the emperor did not show up. He just asked his entourage to pass on oral instructions and praise him a few times."
When Yuwenhu heard this, he immediately laughed.
"Your Majesty is still very loyal to me. If that's the case, then withdraw some of your troops and don't keep an eye on me so as not to cause any further displeasure."
"only."
"Father, there is one more thing"
"What's up?"
"The man sent by Wei Xiaokuan has not left yet and is still in Chang'an."
Yu Wenhu immediately frowned and looked at him displeased, "Have you met him??"
"I met once and asked about the matter. Father, we can't always avoid seeing him."
Yu Wenhu stared at his son, and finally breathed out, "Forget it, it's his own son."
"What did you say?"
"Just as my father expected, Wei Xiaokuan wanted to come to Chang'an, saying that he wanted to discuss the important matter of sending troops."
Yu Wenhu's eyes did not waver at all.
"He always takes himself too seriously."
"It's as if without him, nothing in the world would be successful."
"Let him go back and tell Wei Xiaokuan that he should continue to defend Yubi City and don't let any Qi people in."
Just as Yu Wenhui was about to say something else, a servant hurriedly walked in, "Follow the Duke to ask for an audience!"
Yu Wenhui had no choice but to say goodbye and walked out of the inner room. As soon as he came to the front yard, he met Yang Zhong, the Duke of Sui, who was walking in.
"Duke!"
Yu Wenhui hurriedly bowed to see him.
Yang Zhong returned the greeting gently and passed by him without saying a word.
Yuwenhui walked out of the door and looked around. After a while, several people ran to him. The soldiers behind him immediately protected Yuwenhui. Yuwenhui waved his hand and told them not to worry.
These people were sent by Wei Xiaokuan.
They have been in Chang'an for a while, but even meeting Yuwenhu has become a luxury, let alone convincing him.
"General, how are you doing?"
Several people stood in front of Yuwenhui, their heads lowered, their expressions tired, and their eyes full of expectation.
Even getting on the line with Yuwenhui almost cost them half their lives.
Yu Wenhui looked at these bright eyes and was silent for a moment.
He didn't know what to say. Sometimes, Yu Wenhui couldn't understand or understand his father's behavior.
But he had no choice.
Father and son, king and minister.
Yu Wenhui pondered for a moment and said slowly: "The Duke is currently discussing important matters. You might as well go back first. After a while, I will advise the Duke and ask him to send someone to contact General Wei directly."
After hearing Yu Wenhui's words, the bright eyes of these people gradually dimmed.
In the back room, Yu Wenhu held Yang Zhong's hand with a smile on his face and asked about his welfare.
"Duke Sui has made great achievements this time. He almost captured the thieves chieftain alive. This really makes the world excited!"
"I have long wanted to come to celebrate your victory in person, but it is not a good time to have a banquet right now. You must have heard that Duke Liang died of illness in the palace. When I heard the news, my heart ached like a knife!"
Yu Wenhu's face was full of sorrow, "Liang Guogong has always been brave and brave, no less than you. He can be called the two pillars of the country. It is really a pity that he died of illness in the palace like this."
Yang Zhong's cold expression immediately relaxed a lot.
He slowly lowered his head and said, "The Duke is right."
"How are you doing recently, Jian? I saw him a few times when he came to pay homage to His Majesty, but I haven't seen him since, and he hasn't written to me. He has been very busy lately?"
"The Duke is busy with important matters. The boy was afraid of disturbing the Duke and delaying the important events, so he didn't write a letter."
"Haha, it's okay, I still like him quite a bit."
The two of them chatted casually, and Yu Wenhu didn't ask the other party's purpose of coming, but just brought up the matter to family matters, and made a fuss at every turn.
Yang Zhong was the first to lose his temper, "My lord, what do you think about sending troops this time?"
"Qie Yu, what do you think?"
Yu Wenhu didn't answer, but asked a question.
Yang Zhong said seriously: "My lord, I think the time to send troops must be advanced."
"oh?"
"Many people say that after autumn, when food is abundant, we can send troops in October and end the war before spring."
"But I personally think it's inappropriate."
"The Duke may not know that there is no white disaster in the frontier fortress this year. The weather in the frontier fortress has actually begun to recover. Even the Yin Mountain has green grass growing, and streams run from the mountain to the foot of the mountain. Liu Taozi began to cultivate the land in the first year of the Qianming Dynasty. This year, With the snow like this, the autumn harvest is sure to be great!!”
"In the past, Liu Taozi could only defend and counterattack. That was because he had limited food and grass and did not dare to summon a large army. He could only attack with a small group of cavalry."
"With this year's autumn harvest, there's no telling how much food supply he will have."
"The other ones are the Han soldiers under his command, or the new soldiers."
Yu Wenhu looked very interested and said, "Continue talking."
Yang Zhong said seriously: "It turns out that Liu Taozi's troops were all border soldiers. They were scattered in various places, and they had places to be stationed. They could defend but not attack. So he trained the new soldiers for his own use, and they were called Hengshuo soldiers. , most of those Hengshuo soldiers imitated us and selected strong men among the civilians. There were nearly 20,000 people. These people had gone through a long period of training, accumulated experience, and had sophisticated armor and weapons! This time We also received a large number of war horses from the Turks."
"These people do not need to participate in defense. They are field troops who can go out to fight."
"I heard that Liu Taozi has now set up military headquarters in Yanyou and other places, called Youyan soldiers, and is training again."
"I'm afraid the number of people will not be less than last time. There are more people there."
"The thief will be revealed. Although this man is not famous, he has experienced hundreds of battles and has more combat experience than Duan Shao!"
"He must be in charge of training new recruits."
"My lord, if we wait until October, these so-called Youyan soldiers will have been trained properly and will be capable of fighting."
"By that time, the number of troops Liu Taozi can pull out to fight without participating in the garrison will reach 40,000!"
"Besides, they have sufficient food and grass at this time, and their troops and horses are strong. If we attack them at this time, I think we can defeat them in time, but we will pay a huge price!"
Yang Zhong spoke quickly. He introduced the situation of the other party in detail, and then said: "Therefore, I ask the Duke not to wait until the autumn harvest. The food we hoarded before is enough for us to send troops in advance, but it will slightly affect this year's autumn harvest. , overall the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.”
"Gather in May and send out troops in June. Before Liu Taozi has enough food and Youyan soldiers have not yet been trained and formed, take back Yongfeng as early as possible, seize Huaishuo Wuchuan, and squeeze them to Jinyang."
Yu Wenhu was a little surprised, "I have never heard of the principle of sending out an army in summer."
"My lord, everything is not static. Everything has gains and losses. If the gains outweigh the losses, then why should there be any hesitation?"
Yu Wenhu said with a straight face, "I know that Qi Yu lost to Liu Taozi twice, and I hate him very much in my heart."
"Admittedly, I hate letting this little Cangtou take away Yongfeng. I wish I could eat his flesh and drink his blood!!"
"It's just that as a commander-in-chief, how can a general rush to send troops because of his own resentment?"
Yang Zhong was stunned.
Yu Wenhu continued: "Zi Yu, you have lost your mind because of your anger."
"This pseudo-Qi country is not limited to Hengshuo."
"Liu Taozi is not the only general who pretends to be Qi."
"What does Liu Taozi mean? Hengshuo soldiers and Youyan soldiers are just trained by him. There are only 40,000 people. I pointed my riding whip in the direction of Yinshan and raised my weapons to charge for me. There were only 20 soldiers. More than ten thousand!"
"Can a mere 40,000 people change the general trend of the world?"
"We have been fighting fiercely with the Qi people at the border for a long time, but who has taken advantage? It is just a loss of troops and generals, and it does not have any benefits for major events."
"Don't limit your sights to the frontiers and the little Liu Taozi. You should pay attention to the general trend of the world. Otherwise, how can you be regarded as a famous general in the world?"
Yang Zhong really didn't know how to refute the other party this time.
He had the intention to scold directly, but he couldn't afford the consequences.
How do you think 40,000 people can change the situation of the world? Now give me 40,000 people to try and see if you can change the general situation of the world.
Yang Zhong took a deep breath and lowered his head, "What the Duke said is right, but although the puppet Qi's current government is in chaos, there are Gao Rui and Gao Jun in the government, and there are many local heroes. If you want to decide the outcome in a battle, you can only I’m afraid it won’t be easy.”
"However, Pseudo-Qi is extremely ill, and even Gao Rui, Gao Yun, Duan Shao, Luguang and others cannot cure him."
"It's just that Liu Taozi is not an ordinary general, nor is he an ordinary minister."
"He created a new system in the frontier fortress, and ordered Wei Shou, Zu Jue, Yuan Xiubo, Tang Yong and others to innovate the system, increase the number of officials, attach importance to laws and regulations, and stabilize people's livelihood."
Yu Wenhu waved his hand and said displeasedly: "I have also heard about the border fortress."
"I heard that he used cruel laws to deal with the people. The punishments were severe and severe, and the people were frightened. A large number of people fled to the surrounding areas. This is Shang Yang's Qin law, and it is a means of self-destruction. What kind of skill is this?
"
Yang Zhong shook his head, "Those who escaped are either thieves or gangsters."
"I personally think that this is definitely not a cruel method of Shang Yang. The science and education are strict, rewards and punishments must be believed, no innocents are punished, no good deeds are not shown, officials do not tolerate rape, people are self-reliant, the Tao does not pick up things, the strong does not invade the weak. This is
The style of Zhuge Wuhou in governing Shu in ancient times!!"
Yu Wenhu couldn't hold himself any longer, and his face became extremely gloomy, "What are you talking about, General Yang?"
Yang Zhong said again: "My lord, I am not flattering the enemy, but Liu Taozi is not an ordinary general. Many of the policies he implemented in the frontier fortress are based on the strengths of each family. They must not be underestimated!"
"It just so happened that the Qi Dynasty was in chaos, with two kings vying for credit, and relatives becoming more powerful. These people had no intention of dealing with Liu Taozi."
"If we leave it alone, Liu Taozi's power will grow stronger and stronger. At present, only the six border states have enlightenment, and Hengshuo Youyan has a strong army."
"In a few years, the land in Hebei will be owned by him, and he will have hundreds of thousands of elite soldiers, almost as big as the Jade Bi!"
Yu Wenhu narrowed his eyes, "Sending troops in advance can solve such a big disaster?"
"Not only that, but we also need to divide our forces."
"Although the Qi people's army is fierce at the moment, their numbers are not large."
The Northern Zhou Dynasty completed military reforms early. There were many Han people in the army. The population was small, but the number of troops was large. The military leaders of the Northern Qi Dynasty were too powerful and opposed all military reforms. As a result, they did not have an advantage in terms of army numbers, but in
In terms of quality, it's hard to say. Anyway, the Northern Zhou Dynasty suffered a lot of losses with its large troops.
Yang Zhong said: "If 200,000 people march together, it will be difficult to break through the enemy. But if we divide it into five armies, led by generals, attack from different directions and involve the attack, the enemy's forces will be forced to disperse. They will
Most of their generals are not in harmony with each other. As long as they fight separately, it is difficult to give unified orders. That is the best time for us to divide and defeat them. Most of their local officials are cowardly and incompetent. As long as our troops arrive, many people will surrender and submit.
"
"My lord, look"
Yang Zhong took out a letter of advice about this expedition from his sleeve and handed it to Yuwen Hu.
When leaving here, Yang Zhong still felt a little lucky in his heart.
What if he just listened?
After walking out of the mansion, Yang Zhong saw the road covered with bloodstains.
Some servants of the Duke's government complained and concentrated on cleaning.
When Yang Zhong asked, the servant just told him:
Several lunatics from Yubi actually killed themselves here.
Chapter completed!