Updated: 2013-06-14

The loss north of the Han River was a fatal blow to Tang Xian. The latest free chapters of the book can be found here. In this way, the Tang army was equivalent to losing half of Jingzhou. And the Tang army became the weakest prince in the world overnight. Whether they will be able to withstand the enemy forces from the north in the next time is still unknown.

Tang Wen, the son of the Tang Dynasty, was fortunate to pass through the area occupied by the army of the King of Hanzhong, and escaped back to Xiangyang smoothly by virtue of his familiarity with the terrain. Tang Xian, who was furious, almost killed Tang Wen who abandoned the army and fled on the spot, but after asking about the process of the offensive and defensive battle, Tang Xian also understood that it was not Tang Wen's fault that Fancheng was taken by the Han army. Under the persuasion of the generals under his command, coupled with the fact that the current Tang Army is really in urgent need of talents, and can be his new talents, so Tang Wen was pardoned.

However, at this moment, Tang Xian is indeed thinking about the future of the Tang Army. Nowadays, half of the northern territory has been taken by the enemy, except for the seven or eight thousand soldiers of the 'Chun' Mausoleum Mansion who are still sandwiched between the Zhao army and the army of the king of Luoyang, and have not been directly attacked by the king of Luoyang, the rest, in the area north of Hanshui, have now become the jurisdiction of the king of Hanzhong and the king of Luoyang.

For Tang Xian, there was a great enemy not only in the north, but also in the south. Don't forget, the southwest is the Shu army. Although the Shu army is now attacking Jiangzhou, seeing that they are weak, how can they not take advantage of the fire to rob?

Because the king of Hanzhong went down the river at night, he broke Fancheng with the help of a large raft. So the Don army began to strengthen patrols in the border strip. In addition, the Tang army incorporated the former Qi army in Jingzhou, and also entered the Han River north of Xiangyang City, preparing to fight the enemy army in the north.

Of course, despite this, Tang Xian knew very well that this would not bring him a guarantee of safety. After summoning the soldiers under his command to discuss, they could not come up with a reasonable solution. In the end, Wang Shizi Tang Wen said a suggestion, that is, to ask for help.

Asking for help, naturally, is to ask for help from other princes. However, looking around, there are not many who have the ability to rescue him, even fewer who have time to rescue, and those who are willing to rescue, Tang Xian doesn't know if anyone will pay attention to it. However, the Tang Army and the Qi Army are now allies, and it is also appropriate to ask for help. But now that the Qi army is surrounded by enemies on all sides, how can it be possible to come to the rescue? Although a letter for help was issued, Tang Xian did not have hope for it.

However, Tang Wen suggested again to ask Zhao Jun for help. As soon as these words came out, Tang Xian and several important ministers of the Tang Army were stunned. Zhao Jun? The Zhao army was the object of hostility to all the princes in the south, and after the Tang army occupied Jingzhou, it placed the Eastern Battalion and 15,000 soldiers in the 'Chun' Mausoleum Mansion at the beginning to guard against each other, how could the Zhao army come to the rescue? Tang Xian and the others even thought that after Tang Wen was defeated, they were frightened by the enemy army.

Tang Wen said this, naturally he has his reasons. Maybe Tang Wenwen has some brains, or maybe because he abandoned the army and fled this time, and he was trying to exonerate himself on the way, so he also had his own reasons for asking Zhao Jun for help.

"Doesn't Zhao Jun have the slightest idea about the south? No, it's not, why didn't Zhao Jun continue south. On the one hand, it is certainly because Zhao Jun's current 'essence' power is invested in the Western Regions. But why did Zhao Jun ignore the great cause of the Central Plains and turn westward? That's because the Zhao army was going south at that time, and it would let the southern princes join forces to fight the enemy. Just like now, if the Zhao army makes a move against Jingzhou, the king of Hanzhong and the king of Luoyang in the north of Jingzhou, and the Chu army and the Qi army in the east will immediately suspend the move and turn to wary of the Zhao army. ”

"Therefore, the Zhao army went westward, but it also watched the southern princes fight in the dark, which greatly consumed the strength of the southern princes. These, whether it is us or the other princes, are very clear, but there is nothing to be done. But this does not mean that the Zhao army has no ideas about the south, otherwise, there would not be a situation where Xiang Yan's group of rebels was accepted by the Zhao army. ”

"Now the area north of the Han River, except for half of the 'Chun' Mausoleum Mansion, the rest of the places are occupied by the Han army and the Luo army, that is, why don't we ask the Zhao army for help on the condition that these areas are dedicated to the Zhao army?"

"Impossible! Giving half of Jingzhou to Zhao Jun is definitely not good......" Hearing this, Tang Xian immediately refused. And there are many people who nod secretly.

"My lord, the minister thinks that what the prince said is a good idea. This land in the north of Jingbei has fallen to the enemy. With our current capabilities, if we want to counterattack, we are only afraid of ...... I'm afraid it's unlikely. According to intelligence, the enemy troops on the other side of the Xiangjiang River are also building boats, preparing to cross the river and fight, and 'want' to go down the river and enter the southern part of Jingzhou. That said, why not ask for a foreign aid for what you can't get back? Tang Xian's important minister Fan Ziyu agreed.

Tang Xian pondered for a while, although he was unwilling, he also felt that only this was the only way to solve the dilemma in front of him. Xinjin was defeated and internally unstable, and the Tang army at this moment still had to face the blow of the Southern Shu Army, and it was impossible not to lower its arrogant head.

Fan Ziyu continued: "The territory of the northern prefectures and counties, except for the three counties that are in the hands of the Zhao army, almost all of the rest are in the hands of the Han army and the Luo army. If the Zhao army wanted to obtain these places, it naturally had to 'engage' the Han army and the Luo army. This is also good news for us. Of course, Fan Ziyu still has some potential words to say, that is, if Zhao Jun is pulled in, this area north of the Han River will no longer have anything to do with the Tang Army. Of course, if the Tang army can defeat the Zhao army, it will be another matter. But this kind of opportunity, except for the defeat of the Zhao army in the Western Regions, the rest is almost impossible.

"I just don't know if Zhao Jun will do it! Zhao Jun has always had intentions against the south. But because one wants to fight among the southern princes, the other is that the 'fine' forces are all in the Western Regions. With the south, Zhao Jun has always been in a wait-and-see state. However, if there is a chance, Zhao Jun will still do it. And Zhao Jun, what is lacking is a reasonable reason to go to war, this opportunity, we provide, think about it, Zhao Jun should make a move. ”

As they expected, the letter of help sent to the Qi army did not receive a timely reply. Murong Cheng, the king of Qi, is now busy with both hands and feet, and he can't even protect his own territory, where is there time to rescue the Tang army. However, the important ministers under Murong Cheng also understood that the longer the Tang army held out, the better it would be for the Qi army. After all, it was the King of Luoyang and the King of Hanzhong who attacked the Qi army, both of whom were the elder brothers of the King of Shu. If Jingzhou is gone, then the west of the Qi army will border the territory of the Three Kings, in other words, the west and south of the Qi army will once again appear the scene of the siege of the former Yongjun army.

What is different from the past is that in the past, the Yong army besieged his side, and Situ Lei, the king of Yong, still had to worry about the Zhao army in the north. But now, Zhao Jun will 'fine' invest his strength in the Western Regions, so the strength of the three parties to jointly besiege him will be much greater.

Therefore, Murong Cheng still sent someone to Tang Xian to reply to the letter, asking Tang Xian to insist. And after the Qi army drove the Chu army out of Yangzhou, it would go west to assist the Tang army. After all, the two have a common enemy. The Shu army, which was attacking Jiangzhou, also threatened Jingzhou. In this way, it can be regarded as giving Tang Xian a psychological comfort and encouragement.

"Tang Xian asked us for help? It's really funny, in the past, the Tang army set up the East Battalion in the east of the 'Spring' Mausoleum, with more than 15,000 garrisons, deliberately guarding against us, and now they are asking us for help? Lord Feng, this Tang army should give us benefits when he asks for help, we are not his allies, and we will not rescue him for free. After receiving Tang Xian's letter of request for help, Feng Ziming summoned everyone to discuss.

Feng Ziming smiled lightly: "The condition given by Tang Xian is to cede Jingzhou Prefecture north of Hanshui to us. ”

"What? That's ridiculous, isn't it? These areas have basically been occupied by the Han army and the Luo army, and it is no longer his Tang Xian's, what is he fighting to cede to us. After talking for a long time, we have to fight by ourselves. If this is the case, it would be better to join forces with the Han army and the Luo army to carve up Jingzhou. Many generals shook their heads again and again.

Wu Shang, the general of the Sixth Janissary Army stationed in Yuzhou, who was in charge of the military in Yuzhou, said in a deep voice: "It seems that Tang Xian wanted to give us a reason to go to war, and deliberately released this slogan, so that it would be more reasonable for us to go south, and even directly throw the responsibility to himself." ”

Feng Ziming nodded and said, "That's true, the situation of the Tang Army is very bad now. The war in the north of Jingzhou also exceeded our expectations, and we expected that the north and south would have to stalemate for a period of time before ending with the defeat of the Tang army. didn't want to fight, the coalition forces in the north first stormed Anseong, attracting a steady stream of troops around Fancheng to Anseong. Then the army of the king of Hanzhong actually went down the river and attacked the city at night. In just over ten days, the Tang King lost half of Jingzhou. Miscalculated, miscalculated. I should have known that I should have sent more people to think about the westward movement of the northern army. "Saying that, there is still a trace of regret.

Wu Shang naturally understood what Feng Ziming wanted to say, and said with a wry smile: "Lord Feng wants to say that the Tang army was defeated so quickly, not to mention that the northern coalition army occupied a vast area, and also collected a large number of prisoners of war." In this way, it is indeed not in our interest to allow the northern army to recover its war losses quickly. ”

"However, Lord Feng, you also know that only the Sixth Army of the Praetorian Guard is stationed in the entire Yuzhou, and the rest are local county soldiers and government soldiers, which cannot support the needs of the war at all. In particular, it is necessary to go to war outward, to open the front line on the territory of the enemy, which is more costly for us. ”

"In addition, the basic strategy set by the lord at the beginning was to sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight, and not to 'intervene' in it. If we 'intervene' this time, even if the Tang army gives an excuse, I am afraid that other princes will notice us. Especially when it comes to the king of Hanzhong and the king of Luoyang this time, in case they suffer heavy losses, whether they will unite with the Shu army and restore the appearance of the old Yongjun army is also extremely unfavorable to us. Although their tripartite company is far inferior to the Yongjun army in the past, it is also the beginning of the union of the three princes, which is extremely unfavorable for us. ”

Feng Ziming nodded and said, "What General Wu said is reasonable, and it is not a loss to be appointed as the general of a town by the lord." ”

The Praetorian Guard is newly built, and half of the generals and colonels are from the Military Academy, and the rest are also from the Pro-Guard Army. But most of these generals have something in common, that is, they are young. Receiving Feng Ziming's affirmation, Wu Shang couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Although he is a general of the town army, the soldiers are not under the command of Feng Ziming, but he also knows that Feng Ziming was newly appointed by King Zhao and is a capable minister in the Zhao army.

Feng Ziming continued: "Actually, Feng Mou has the same meaning as General Wu, he does not participate in the battle in Jingzhou, and still sits on the mountain to watch the tiger fight, and must not attract the attention of the southern princes to us. It is in our best interest to let them fight among themselves. Although it was indeed beyond our expectations that the King of Hanzhong and the King of Luoyang would take the northern part of Jingzhou so quickly, it did not cause us much damage. ”

"Besides, for Jingzhou, the king of Hanzhong and the king of Luoyang, the younger brother of the king of Shu, are also eyeing each other, and now the king of Hanzhong and the king of Luoyang have joined forces to play such a big formation, and the king of Shu will be willing. If we 'intervene', the three of them will indeed unite against us, as General Wu had feared before. If we don't 'intervene', the three of them are afraid that they will fight among themselves because of Jingzhou and Jiangzhou. ”

"So, we're not responding?" One person said with a little pity, "It's a pity not to 'interfere' with such a good opportunity." ”

Feng Ziming smiled: "Don't 'interfere'? How can it be. If we don't 'intervene', that is, we will not lead the army to Jingzhou, but it does not mean that we will do nothing. ”

"Jingzhou is in turmoil, and there are people in Jingzhou who are all over the place, which is what we need. The Lord has now laid down a lot of territory in the Western Regions, and it will be even bigger in the future. In these places, the proportion of Han Chinese is almost zero. Therefore, in the land of the Western Regions, there is a shortage of manpower, and we are here to accept the homeless. Come to think of it, in Jingzhou in the west, no matter who it is, will not stop us, and will not dare to stop us. ”

"Secondly, the 'Chun' Mausoleum has not yet been conquered by the combined forces of the King of Hanzhong and the King of Luoyang. In addition to the fact that there are 8,000 'elite' Tang troops in it, it is also related to the fact that the King of Luoyang wants to use this place as a buffer against us. Since this is the case, we will bring these 8,000 trapped Tang Army officers and soldiers over. They are also the source of garrisons that the Western Regions lack. ”

"As for the 'Chun' Mausoleum, send people to consult with the King of Luoyang, and they will share it with us. And inform the king of Luoyang that my Zhao army is in the land of Jingzhou, and it is used as a boundary, and each other must not be violated. I expected that Luoyang Wang Situ Hao would not disagree. ”

Wu Shang nodded and said, "This is very good, and the matter of accepting the displaced people is under the jurisdiction of the governor." But we are responsible for winning over the Tang army in the east of the 'Chun' Mausoleum. ”

Feng Ziming said with a smile: "Come to think of it, General Wu is going to use the Xiang Yan and others that we accept." ”

Wu Shang nodded and said, "Lord Feng is really extraordinary, and he can guess it." Indeed, after this Xiang Yan was attached to our army, I also found that this person was extraordinary and could be reused. No, the Tang army who won over the 'Spring' Mausoleum Mansion can also make a great contribution to him, and it is also a good thing for him. ”

"Lord Feng, since the actions of the King of Hanzhong and the King of Luoyang are not in our favor, although we cannot directly 'intervene' in the affairs of the Tang Army, we can still secretly help the Tang Army in order to achieve the goal of delaying the alliance between the King of Luoyang and the King of Hanzhong." The governor of Yuzhou said in a deep voice.

"Lord Li's words are very much in line with my wishes, we can't support the Tang army otherwise, but in the past, we attacked Yuzhou and captured a lot of armor and equipment, which did not meet the needs of our army's officers and soldiers, and we were going to return to the furnace and recast. But now it seems that it is extremely suitable to sell it to Tang Jun. However, we can't make an assertion on this matter, and Feng sent a message to the Lord urgently. By the way, when it comes to collecting refugees, Master Li has to think a little more. ”

Xiangyang, Tang Wangfu.

"Zhao Jun can't support, he didn't want to fight, Zhao Jun didn't have any intention of the prefecture and county in the north of Jingzhou. It seems that our idea has not been achieved. Now that the situation of our army is not good, what advice do you have? Tang Xian, who was a little old, said in a low voice.

In this regard, Tang Wen was also a little helpless, although he asked Zhao Jun for help, and the idea of pulling Zhao Jun in was him, but he was also powerless for Tang Jun's current situation.

Fan Ziyu said: "Don't worry, lord! Although the Zhao army failed to send troops as we expected, they also promised to support them secretly. No, their battalion 'traded' with us for the armor and equipment we urgently needed. Now, because of the loss north of the Han River, we have not only lost our territory, but also lost a large number of soldiers and armor. Since the Zhao army can 'trade', this is already superior to the enemy army in the north for us. ”

Tang Xian smiled bitterly: "Ziyu, don't comfort me, Zhao Jun promised to 'trade' with us, but where does the money come from?" If you don't have money, how can you 'trade' it? Because we had to resist the coalition forces from the north, we had to recruit young men again to train our soldiers. The 'spending' of this has almost bottomed out in our treasury. ”

"Second, the 'trade' of this armor and equipment is by no means something that the commander of the Zhao army and local officials stationed in Yuzhou can decide, and they cannot 'trade' with us without the permission of King Zhao. Even if Feng Ziming, who is now sitting in Yuzhou, although he was newly appointed by Zhao Jun and is in charge of the overall situation of Yuzhou, he does not dare to buy and sell armor equipment with us 'privately'. ”

Fan Ziyu said in a deep voice: "According to the envoy of Zhao Jun, Feng Ziming has already asked King Zhao for instructions, and if you think about it, it is not a big problem. Because the people they make us 'trade' are the displaced people and refugees in the country. Because of the war, people are displaced everywhere, and it is difficult for us to settle down, and it is even very likely that we will become a disaster in the local area. And King Zhao's expedition to the Western Regions was precisely the lack of Han people to assimilate the people of the Western Regions. In this way, for us and Zhao Jun in Yuzhou, the problem is solved. ”

Yes, it was the displaced people and refugees in the Tang Army's land that Feng Ziming used to 'trade'. Although the Zhao army could accept the Jingzhou refugees in the southwest of Yuzhou. However, once the kings of Tang, Luoyang, and Hanzhong found that the people were flowing into Yuzhou in the east, they would definitely stop it. After all, everyone knows that the number of people is a basic indicator of the strength of a prince.

Tang Xian naturally also considered this problem, but now he has no way out. Moreover, these displaced people and the south are like 'chicken' ribs to him. If it is allowed to wander within the territory, it will inevitably cause disaster to the locality. In this case, it is also a good way to exchange it for what you need.

The problem in the territory of the 'Chun' Tomb Mansion was also resolved under the consultation between Zhao Jun and the King of Luoyang. Zhao Jun was one step ahead of the king of Luoyang, and sent Xiang Yan to pull away the 8,000 'elite' Tang troops in the territory of the 'Chun' Mausoleum, and then immediately agreed with the Luoyang King Dacheng to divide the 'Chun' Mausoleum Mansion. Seeing that Zhao Jun had no intention of targeting Jingzhou, it was not unacceptable to divide half of the 'Chun' Mausoleum Mansion with Zhao Jun.