Chapter 34: Detouring eastwards to Bozhou

It will be winter.

This year there have been constant natural disasters in the Central Plains, first a severe drought and then a large locust. Especially in Henan.

There are countless people who change their sons and eat each other.

Cao Mengde once said: White bones are exposed in the wild, and there is no rooster crow for a thousand miles. Not only in the late Han Dynasty, but also at this time.

The people could not survive and had to become thieves. The bandits are getting stronger and more powerful.

Especially because of the unpredictable climate. It was still late autumn, and suddenly the cold winter weather suddenly hit the Yellow River, which was about to freeze. The countless refugees found it even more difficult to survive, so they became even more crazy.

Li Chuang started in Shanshan, was defeated by Hong Chengchou last year, and left Guanzhong, as far as Henan. Due to natural disasters and man-made disasters, another group of bandits arose in an instant and surrounded Kaifeng at the beginning of this year.

Kaifeng's generals tried their best to resist, but Li Chuang failed and had to retreat.

At that time, Ding Qirui succeeded Yang Sichang as Minister of War, supervising the troops in Henan, Jiangnan and Guanzhong, and was responsible for suppressing bandits. However, Ding Qirui knew nothing about military affairs, could not control the armies of all parties, and was greedy for life and afraid of death. Apart from reaping benefits, he could not do anything at all. For more than half a year, nothing could be done. Instead, Li Chuang and Xian Thief became more and more powerful.

Before Zhao Yu's troops from Liaodong arrived, Kaifeng was surrounded by intruders. The news spread to the capital, which shocked the capital. So Emperor Chongzhen issued an order, ordering Prince Zhu Cihao to set off immediately to Henan to supervise the army to suppress the bandits.

He also appointed Sun Chuanting as the Minister of War to supervise the troops and horses of Shanxi and Shaanxi. He set out immediately to cooperate with the prince and kill the bandits.

The emperor decreed that the prince had no choice but to take the first step before Zhao Yu's troops could wait.

The prince took his cavalry with him and headed to Henan together with Wang Yisheng and Li Geng. Li Yuqing was left in charge of the capital, and the mobilization of grain and grass was entrusted to Zhao Gongming.

The prince said to Li Yuqing: "The messenger sent a message to Zhao Yu and ordered him to attack Henan."

He also said that Zhao Gongming said: "As soon as the food and salary are adjusted, there must be no mistakes."

The two of them promised solemnly.

The prince added: "Since I left the capital, those demons and monsters will definitely take action. The military advisor must keep an eye on the little king, lest these moths ruin the little king's affairs."

Li Yuqing said: "The prince can rest assured. The emperor supports him from above, and he has all kinds of help from below. As soon as he receives food, grass and military pay, he will not be strangled to death. Whatever he does, it is only within the control of the prince."

The prince knew that the emperor and queen supported him. With the help of Li Yuqing, Wang Yisheng and even Zhao Yu, the possibility of failure is too small.

However, the prince was thoughtful and prudent, and said: "Though people like that can't do big things, they are capable of doing bad things, so they can't be careless."

Li Yuqing promised not to mention it.

The prince shook the reins and sighed: "This great river and mountain cannot be ruined under the eyes of the little king... Let's go!"

There was a crackle of the horse whip, and the horse rode away amidst the billowing smoke.

...

Zhao Yu led an army of 50,000 people and meandered all the way. They were about to arrive in the capital in a day or two at most, but the prince sent someone on horseback to send a message.

"The thieves broke into Kaifeng and the emperor was furious... The prince took the order and ran to Henan. He summoned the villain and sent a message to General Zhao. He ordered General Zhao not to go to the capital but to go straight to Henan."

He added: "Lord Zhao Gongming has made arrangements for the supply of food and grass along the marching route."

As he spoke, he took out a roll of maps and said: "Go to Tongzhou first, then turn around and go south, from Gu'an, enter Baoding Prefecture, pass Zhending, Shunde, Guangping, arrive at Daming Prefecture, and attack Kaifeng."

After saying this, the messenger took out another letter and handed it to Zhao Yu, saying: "This is the letter that Commander Li asked to deliver to the general. I dare not read it, but the general will read it for himself."

So he stepped aside.

Not mentioning the march of the army, Zhao Yu stood on the roadside on his horse, opened the letter, glanced at ten lines, and in a few breaths, he read everything in the letter.

After thinking about it for a moment, Zhao Yu handed the letter to Yang He and said, "Read it first."

Yang He felt that Zhao Yu trusted him and expressed gratitude in the letter. He quickly took the letter and read it quickly.

Zhao Yu then asked: "What do you think I should do?"

He added: "Military Commander Li said that the intruders were besieging Kaifeng, and the bandits were heading east to Bozhou. There were bandits from the fifth camp of Gezuo in Liying and Huoshan Districts. The general situation of the bandits was like this. Should they rush to Kaifeng first to defeat the intruders, or take a detour to the east? Next, go to Bozhou to defeat and defeat the traitors?"

Yang He closed the letter, pondered for a moment, and said: "The bandits are no better than the Tatars. The word "liu" can explain everything. If my subordinates only see it, the bandits will rise again, and they must fight to make full efforts."

He looked at Zhao Yu with burning eyes: "The purpose of the letter from Military Advisor Li is very obvious. The general is out, and the emperor's orders are not taken care of. The general has an army of 50,000, so that the general can fight flexibly and not be led by thieves."

"You mean..." Zhao Yu thought for a moment: "When we go east to Bozhou, first defeat the traitors and defeat the left?"

"Of course."

Yang He said: "The intruders are besieging Kaifeng. Kaifeng is an important town in the Central Plains, and its importance is self-evident. If something unusual happens, you should rush to Kaifeng to rescue the siege. However, there is no guarantee that all the intruders will be wiped out. Even if Kaifeng is a battle, If we can wipe out the intruders, then Xian Xian and Ge Zuo will definitely get the news. Once they escape, it will be a difficult task."

"It's better to take a quiet detour first, go east to Bozhou, defeat the Xian thieves and Ge Zuo. The Xian thieves and Ge Zuo know that Kaifeng is important, so they would have never expected that the imperial reinforcements would rush to Bozhou instead of Kaifeng. Without any precautions, they will definitely be defeated."

"Then return to the north and join the prince in the south and north. If they attack each other, the intruder will be defeated."

"In this way, we can catch all the thieves in one go!"

What Yang He said was high-spirited, and what Zhao Yu heard was nodding his head.

"It makes sense!"

He touched his palm and said, "In that case, let's go to Bozhou first."

Then he waved his hand to summon the messenger and said: "I intend to lead the troops eastward, detour to Bozhou, defeat the Xian thieves first, and defeat the left. Then I will send my troops north to attack the intruders with the prince, and complete the victory in one battle."

After explaining in detail, Zhao Yu said: "You will make another trip to the capital to inform Military Advisor Li and Mr. Zhao Gongming of my plan. Please arrange the supply of grain and grass eastward with Military Advisor and Mr. Zhao Gongming."

When the man heard this, he hesitated and said, "But where is the prince..."

"It doesn't matter." Zhao Yu smiled slightly: "The prince knows."

This man breathed a sigh of relief: "I will return to the capital now."

So Zhao Yu's army arrived in Tongzhou. Seeing that the capital was in front of them, they turned south overnight and marched in a hurry all night before entering Baoding Prefecture.

But he said that the messenger rushed back to the capital, found Li Yuqing and Zhao Gongming, and said: "General Zhao intends to lead his troops eastward to Bozhou. He will first defeat the Xian thieves and the left, and then go north to defeat the intruders. Please ask me The supply of food and grass along the way is also known to the prince."

When Li Yuqing heard this, he couldn't help but look at Zhao Gongming and said with a smile: "General Zhao is indeed a good general in war."

"Although Brother Zhao is a newbie, he is also very thoughtful. You didn't say it clearly in your letter. He was afraid that he could see your intention at just one glance." Zhao Gongming smiled slightly and said to the messenger: "You are here again Please take a trip, General Zhao Shen, to rest assured. There will be supplies of food and grass along the way, and I have already prepared them."

After the messenger left, Zhao Gongming said: "Brother Zhao led the troops eastward. With the strength of the Liaodong soldiers and the might of Brother Zhao, if you offer the traitors and rebel against the left, they will be defeated. But the prince does not know that you How will I explain it when the time comes?"

Li Yuqing smiled and said: "The general is out, and the military orders are not obeyed. The prince is a talented man, how can he not know my intentions?"

"That's good. But we still need to inform the prince."

"That's how it should be."

After saying this, Li Yuqing said: "After the prince leaves the capital, the demons and ghosts in the court will start making trouble again."

"There hasn't been any commotion yet." Zhao Gongming laughed and didn't take it seriously: "What's more, the prince doesn't depend on those moths for food, grass and military pay, so what can he do?"

"You can't say that." Li Yuqing sighed: "In this world, the human heart is the most unpredictable. Names and weapons are the most important. Now the prince has stepped onto the stage, and he has been the governor since he first came out, and he has overseen many armies. One hundred thousand. I'm just afraid that those stupid people will slander and slander the prince in front of the emperor, causing the prince to lose the emperor's trust."

Zhao Gongming was slightly startled, and his expression changed: "You mean, they slandered the prince..."

Li Yuqing nodded slightly, with a hint of worry in his eyes: "The prince is in charge of the army and oversees the world. Who doesn't know the importance of this military power? There is also Zhao Shenjiang, a fierce general who is famous all over the world, to help, just in case the emperor is jealous. ..”

"This..." Zhao Gongming couldn't help but scratch his head: "Then what should we do?"

After a pause, his eyes lit up: "You have been with the prince for several years and have entered the palace many times. Why not go into the palace and ask to see the queen?"

Li Yuqing nodded: "That's exactly what I meant."

"Then what's the delay?" Zhao Gongming stood up and said, "I'm going to arrange the supply of food and grass for Brother Zhao during his march. You can quickly enter the palace to see the queen."

So Li Yuqing took the crown prince's token and went to the palace to see Queen Zhou without mentioning it.

...

However, it was said that Zhao Yu and his army were rushing all night. At about three o'clock, the messenger came up and told Zhao Yu that there was no need to worry about food, grass and military pay.

Zhao Yu felt at ease and continued on his way. At dawn, we arrived outside Dingxing City, Baoding Prefecture.

So I found a place close to mountains and rivers and repaired it temporarily. While entrusting the supply of food and grass to Yang He.

The prince didn't know that he was probably preparing to turn things around a few years ago. His trading firm, Zhao Gongming, spread all over the world early on. Whether it’s information or making money, it’s all top-notch convenience.

Counties such as Dingxing, for example, have strongholds where Zhao Gongming manages his trading firm.

Originally, when the army was marching, it had to bring food and grass with it. However, the prince's plan was to provide food and grass from the trading strongholds in the counties along the way. The army only carried no more than seven days' worth of food and grass with them to reduce the load and speed up the march.

Without the encumbrance of food and grass, the marching speed must be fast. Second, there is no need for so many civilian soldiers to transport food and grass. Each soldier can carry seven days' worth of dry food, neatly and tightly.

Yang He led a thousand soldiers. As for Dingxing, he took the dry food that had been prepared and distributed it to every soldier. After another half day of repairs, the army continued on its way around noon.