Vol 2 Chapter 2923: Zhu Di abandoned the three counties of Qingnan and conquered them without blood

Chapter 2923 Zhu Di abandoned the three counties of Qingnan and conquered Qingzhou without any bloodshed (Part 1)

Chapter 2919: Zhu Di abandoned the three counties of Qingnan and conquered Qingzhou without bloodshed (Part 1)

The Qi faction of the Ming Dynasty is no different from other factions. It is a powerful military sect controlled by the military and political power. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is a small warlord. It poses a certain threat to Zhu Di's royal power.

　　When Qi State was merged into Ming State, many generals disagreed. After all, in addition to Zhu Ming, Zhang Ming, who had already integrated into Qin Dynasty, was also an option for them.

 Therefore, in the eyes of many Yellow Turban remnants, Zhu Di, the Ming King, may not necessarily have the pure blood of Da Qin.

It was just that Zhu Tianpeng, the king of Qi at that time, was even more attracted to Zhu Di, the Ming king. He insisted on allowing Qi to be merged into Ming, and no one else could object at all, so the subsequent merger of Qi and Ming came about.

The two countries were initially just a territorial merger, and the political and legal systems were still the same as before. They were merged but the military and political affairs were still separated. That's why Zhu Di repeatedly tried to integrate the Qi clan into the Ming Dynasty, so as to completely integrate the Qi clan into the Ming Dynasty. Take control of Qi's military formation.

Doing this will inevitably affect the interests of many people, and the resistance will naturally be great. The reason why Zhu Di dared to do this is Zhu Tianpeng's support. However, he did not expect that when the merger of the two countries was in full swing, Zhu Tianpeng, the biggest supporters suddenly disappeared.

Zhu Tianpeng's disappearance was undoubtedly a fatal blow to Zhu Di. After all, Zhu Tianpeng was not only his biggest supporter, but also his biggest supporter in promoting Qiming's complete merger. Once he disappeared, not only would the merger not be able to continue, but the situation might actually be... Worse than before the merger.

At that time, Zhu Di also made a lot of promises. In addition to military power, he would also decentralize political power. This appeased the arrogant generals of the original Qi clique, but it also created the Qi clique army that now has military and political power. Door.

Zhu Di was forced to do this because after all, under the circumstances at that time, if heavy profits were not allowed, a large number of generals and their troops would definitely defect.

But if they are allowed to serve as governors and be captured by the military and political forces, then they will be small princes under Zhu Ming's banner. Their own interests are highly bound to Zhu Ming, so naturally they will not defect.

 As for Da Qin? As we all know, Da Qin was extremely generous in money in instigating enemy generals to rebel, but was rather stingy in its promises of rights.

 Either the military power or the political power should be given. It is absolutely impossible to give military and political power together, and it will be downgraded by two levels.

This is naturally not because Ying Hao is stingy, but because the Qin Dynasty has its own promotion system. If he can rise above his own people just by rebelling, it will obviously cause dissatisfaction among many people.

Furthermore, no matter how generous Da Qin is, it is impossible for him to let his subordinates act as small warlords like Zhu Di. Therefore, it is naturally impossible to impress the generals of Qi Dynasty simply by relying on inducements.

Of course, Zhu Di also has a big hidden danger in doing this, that is, these small princes are attached to Zhu Ming to **** blood. Over time, they will form a powerful force and even turn against Tiangang.

However, this will obviously take a long time, but the threat of Da Qin is very close at hand, so Zhu Di would use such a dangerous method.

Facts have proved that Zhu Di's judgment was correct. It was precisely because of his decisive delegation of power that the Qi clan was so united when the Qin Dynasty conquered the Ming Dynasty. Otherwise, a large number of people would definitely be incited to rebel.

But now, under Zhuge Liang's serial alienation schemes, the Qi generals' dissatisfaction with Zhu Di is increasing day by day, and this has directly hit Zhu Di's seven inches.

Although Zhu Di was not on the Qingnan front line, he was well aware of the situation on the front line. He originally wanted to take advantage of the Qin army's shift from offense to defense to expand the results and further weaken the Qin army. However, before he could take action, Zhuge Liang was defeated by Zhuge Liang. A divorce plan made him disgraced.

Faced with such an unexpected situation where people's hearts were unstable, Zhu Di was completely stabilizing the morale of the army. Obviously, he did not dare to start a war easily. For this reason, he not only went to the front line to explain, but also swore to heaven that Zhu Tianpeng's disappearance had nothing to do with him. With one stroke, he made up for the losses of the Qi Department, which temporarily eliminated the doubts and dissatisfaction in the hearts of the generals of the Qi Department.

In this way, the Qingnan battlefield fell into a stalemate. Zhu Di was busy uniting the internal forces and had neither the intention nor the ability to start a war. The Qin army stopped advancing because of a change in strategy.

However, such peace is temporary after all, so while repairing, Zhuge Liang and Su Dingfang are also preparing for war.

One month has passed in a flash, and during this month, major events have happened frequently, but the most important ones are still four things:

First, Bai Qi captured Puyang, and Wei's chief governor, Le Yi, committed suicide, and then led the army to attack Tao.

 Second, Ying Hao captured Xuchang, captured Cao Bin, and formed an outflanking trend against the Yanxi Wei army from the north and south.

Third, after repeated battles, Dingtao City finally fell into the hands of Bai Qi. The retreat of more than 100,000 Wei troops on the western front was cut off, and Cao Cao only led 15,000 cavalry to escape back to Yandong.

The fourth and most important point is that Cao Ren, who was surrounded from all sides and besieged internally and externally, was finally forced to surrender in Kaicheng. The 100,000 Wei troops in Yanxi also surrendered to the Qin army.

 Cao Ren's forced surrender was not only a bolt from the blue for Cao Wei, but also a huge blow to the Ming and Song dynasties, especially the Ming Dynasty, which had huge loopholes in its defense line.

Although the Song Dynasty's defense line also had loopholes, the problem was generally not serious and would not be greatly affected by it. However, the Ming Dynasty was different.

On the Qingnan front in the northern part of the Ming Dynasty, there were more than 300,000 Ming and Song coalition troops distributed. Most of the remaining troops were distributed on the eastern coast to guard against Zhou Yu's navy, so that the military strength in the eastern part of Xuzhou was relatively empty.

Once Cao Wei's 100,000 Wei troops in Yanxi surrendered, Cao Wei still had more than 100,000 troops, but most of them were new soldiers. Obviously, there was no way to block the Qin army in Yandong.

If the Qin army went deep into the hinterland regardless of logistics and consequences, they could directly penetrate Yandong and Xudong. Since they would detour to the Xubei area, they would then form a north-south pincer attack on the Song and Ming coalition forces in Qingnan.

If this is the case, the 300,000 Song and Ming allied troops in Qingnan will follow in the footsteps of the 100,000 Wei troops in Chenliu.

Therefore, when Zhu Di received the news that Bai Qi had captured Puyang and then sent his troops south to attack Dingtao, Zhu Di was frightened and broke into a cold sweat. Obviously, Zhu Di not only realized that the end of Cao's army in Yanxi was coming, but also realized that his own bigger troubles were coming, so he summoned Fan Zeng, Yao Guangxiao, Li Yan and other advisers overnight to discuss.

“Fellow military advisors, do you think Cao Cao can withstand this disaster?”

Zhu Di looked at the crowd and asked, and after Fan Zeng and Yao Guangxiao looked at each other, Yao Guangxiao took the lead and said: "My lord, I'm afraid Cao Cao will be in trouble this time."

When Zhu Di heard this, he became anxious and said quickly: "But didn't the intelligence say that Cao Cao has personally led 20,000 cavalry to rescue Dingtao? With Cao Cao's ability, I think he won't be able to defend Dingtao. "

"But my lord, Xuchang has also been captured. The Qin army has formed a pincer attack on Chenliu from the north, south, and west. Even if Cao Cao can hold Dingtao, he may not be able to evacuate the army under Ying Hao's eyes, and the outcome will not change much. "It's just the difference between the whole army being wiped out and a dozen or two." Fan Zeng sighed.

Hearing this, Zhu Di was stunned, and then fell weakly on the chair.

Zhu Di sincerely hoped that Cao Cao could survive this disaster. After all, if Cao Cao could not withstand it, it would be difficult for him to resist it, so he spared no effort to support Cao Wei. Not only did he send troops, but also the strongest Niu Mo Wang Ye sent over, but he didn't expect that the Yanzhou battlefield had deteriorated to this extent.

"We finally managed to severely damage Zhou Yu's navy and defeat Zhuge Liang's alienation plan. Before we could even take a breath, something happened to Cao Cao again. Is it true that I, the Ming Dynasty, can't escape this disaster?" Zhu Di said with a wry smile.

Once upon a time, when he was saved from the sea of ​​​​fire in Ganyu by an unusually timely heavy rain, he thought that he and Daming were still alive, but he did not expect to be knocked back to his original shape so soon.

Now Cao Cao is about to be unable to hold it any longer, and once the Wei army in Yanxi is wiped out and the Qin army advances eastwards, the 300,000-plus allied troops held back by Zhuge Liang and Su Dingfang in Qingnan will be in danger. .

If Qingnan's army makes a mistake, it will only be a matter of time before the Ming Dynasty is destroyed.

 Zhu Di was naturally unwilling to admit defeat, and the best way to break the situation was to let Chen Liu's Cao army withdraw. But in such a desperate situation, even if he racked his brains, he could not think of any way.

“My lord, Cao Wei is hopeless, but we, the Ming Dynasty, can still be saved.” Yao Guangxiao said in a deep voice.

When Zhu Di heard this, he was immediately shocked and asked quickly: "Does the military advisor have any strategies to teach me?"

 “My lord, the matter has come to this, I can only abandon the carriage to protect the commander.”

Yao Guangxiao's face was more serious than ever, but Zhu Di's heart kept sinking.

 He ​​naturally understood what Yao Guangxiao meant by abandoning his car to protect his commander, but in his opinion, this was tantamount to drinking poison to quench his thirst. It was just the difference between dying early and dying later.

Seeing Zhu Di's silence, Yao Guangxiao understood that the other party also knew what he meant, but he still said: "The so-called abandoning the car to protect the commander means that before Dingtao falls into the hands of the Qin army, our army takes the initiative to abandon the three counties of Qingnan and use space to Change the time and withdraw all the frontline troops to Langya County in the north of Xuzhou to set up defenses, so as to avoid being attacked from the north and south by the Qin army..."

Zhu Di knew that Yao Guangxiao was right. After all, Zhuge Liang and Su Dingfang were both difficult to deal with. If they did not send troops now, they would just follow the Qin army's general strategy of moving first to the west and then to the east. But once the Wei army in Yanxi was eliminated, the Qin army in southern Qing would definitely wait for the opportunity. It's not like he can evacuate if he wants to.

Even so, Zhu Di was still reluctant to give up the three counties of Qingnan.

Even though the three counties of Qingnan have been reduced to small warlords, and the military and political power is not in Zhu Di's hands, they still respect him as the Ming King. But if they all fall into the hands of the Qin army, he may never be able to do it again in the future. Can't get it back.

Moreover, Zhuge Liang's previous serial alienation schemes caused a rift between him and the Qi generals. Although they were later appeased, it does not mean that there were no rifts. If he voluntarily abandoned the three counties of Qingnan, the Qi generals would know about it. We can't collectively fry the pot.

After thinking for a long time, Zhu Di sighed: "But military advisor, even if I am willing to abandon the three counties of Qingnan, the generals on the front line may not be willing."

When Yao Guangxiao heard this, he knew that Zhu Di had made up his mind. However, the biggest obstacle to abandoning the car to protect the commander was not the commander, but the abandoned car, which was the generals in Zhu Di's mouth. He was worried that doing so would force the generals to rebel. Department of generals.

 “My lord, you must not worry about this…”

In Yao Guangxiao's view, if those powerful generals who controlled the military and political power had wanted to rebel, they would have rebelled long ago. However, despite Zhuge Liang's every effort to win over them, they did not rebel. This shows that their ambitions have grown and they can no longer see the consequences. The benefits promised by Da Qin were exceeded.

 In other words, they want to be warlords and emperors rather than rich people and ordinary officials and generals.

If the three counties are abandoned because of weakness, thereby harming their interests, then they will naturally oppose it with all their strength.

But if they temporarily give up strategically for the sake of the overall situation, they still have military power in their hands. If they defeat the Qin army and regain the lost ground in the future, they are willing to bear such costs and risks.

In this way, under Yao Guangxiao's persuasion, Zhu Di decided to voluntarily abandon the three counties of Qingnan, shrink his troops, and shorten the front in order to avoid being raided by the Pre-Qin army due to the emptiness in the rear.

For this reason, Zhu Di once again went to the front line in person to do ideological work on his generals one by one, thereby minimizing the resistance to the withdrawal.

 But at this time, news came that Dingtao had been lost and Cao Cao led the remaining army to retreat into Yandong. This also made Zhu Di realize that there was not much time left for him and he had to speed up.

 (End of this chapter)