Chapter 1168: Tang Army's Unusual Movement
After the army entered Wuguan, Zhao Rui followed Chang'an's order and reduced the army to 10,000 people. The remaining nearly 10,000 people, plus the thousands of people already near Wuguan, were all placed in Wuguan on the east and west sides of Wuguan. In the river valley, however, the Wuguan Valley, which is less than ten miles long and about a mile wide, is crowded with 20,000 people. If it weren't for Zhao Rui's preparation, he could secretly accumulate hundreds of thousands of people. Shi Liang, if only relying on the grain of 10,000 troops that Chang'an delivers on time every month, these people would have fled completely.
The more than 10,000 reduced soldiers and the original ordinary people around Wuguan were divided into two groups by Zhao Rui, and were placed on both sides of Wuguan. For this reason, he also specially ordered one to be built in the narrow places at the east and west ends of the valley. A small fort used as an outpost of Wuguan.
Inside Wuguan, Zhao Rui was discussing matters with Ma Jin and Sun Ping. Zhao Rui was now a fourth-rank official of the Tang Dynasty, and both Ma Jin and Sun Ping had become a fifth-rank official. Captain Fenwei and Captain Fenwu. Not only that, the King of Tang also asked Zhao Rui to quietly return to Luoyang after the situation in Wuguan stabilized. In order to reward his achievements in Chang'an in recent years, Huangfu Chaobo decided to reward him with a bronze-level famous general card. This news made Ma Jin and Sun Ping envious.
"You two, the king has sent someone to urge me again, asking me to make arrangements for Wuguan as soon as possible and then return to Luoyang. It is best to go back before the New Year, so that I can reunite with my family and spend the New Year. I think Basically everything has been arranged these days. The Chinese New Year is about to come, so I will leave the matters in Wuguan to you two. I will be back from Luoyang in a month at most, and I will have to work hard during this period. You guys.”
"It doesn't matter!" Ma Jin and Sun Ping both looked at Zhao Rui with envy. The three of them have been working together in the past few years, and their relationship has become very good. This time Zhao Rui can go home to see him. At first glance, both of them were envious, not to mention that the king also prepared a famous general's career transfer card for him.
Zhao Rui also knew what the two were thinking and said: "Don't worry, the king will definitely not forget you. Maybe he will give you a reward next year and the year after that. Of course, we still have to complete what the king has told us. Yes. Now that I have returned to Luoyang, do you have anything to bring to your family?"
"Don't worry, General Zhao. We understand that the safety of Wuguan is left to us. Neither the young emperor nor Zhang Jijun can try to take it away from us. However, we do have something we want to ask the general to take back." With that said, both of them took out a package and handed it into Zhao Rui's hands. These were the belongings they had accumulated in the past few years in Chang'an. As for his family, Huangfu Chaobo sent the salary of more than 500 people to their homes every month.
Speaking of the 500 soldiers who originally went to Chang'an, after several battles, there are now only about 300 left, but these people are now middle- and high-level generals among the 10,000 Wuguan army. Zhao Rui and the others relied on these more than three hundred people to firmly control the army of ten thousand in their own hands.
In fact, Huangfu Chaobo was also very conflicted about the arrangement of Zhao Rui's troops. If he wanted to recruit them back, he would slap the little emperor in the face, and the little emperor would not want them to return. Luoyang. But now the little emperor doesn't trust them and throws them into Wuguan, and there is a large army watching them closely from behind. Now they are in a very embarrassing situation, in a dilemma.
That's why the move was made to recruit Zhao Rui back to Luoyang and reward them with bronze general cards. This was also to appease them. Huangfu Chaobo did not expect that his unintentional initiative would actually contribute to the situation where Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty became a prince. It's just that now, Zhao Rui's troops can only stay at Wuguan for the time being.
…
Time soon came to the spring of 1999. As soon as February arrived, war clouds began to envelope the Central Plains. In early February, there were signs of gathering in the military camps in Yanyu and Yuzhou of the Tang State. Although the generals of the Tang State were cautious,
He wanted to avoid the surveillance of Qi's spies, but Qi's spies still discovered the abnormality from some clues.
Subsequently, this information was sent back to Linzi, the capital of Qi State. In the palace of King Qi, King Cao Cao of Qi looked solemn after receiving the news, and immediately sent people to summon all the civil and military ministers to discuss the matter.
After receiving Cao Cao's order, Qi State Prime Minister Xun Yu, State Lieutenant Cheng Yu, Censor Zhongcheng Man Chong, and Qingzhou Governor Xia Houyuan, Chen Qun, Cui Yan, Jia Kui, Sima Yi and others rushed to the palace.
After everyone arrived, Cao Cao sat on the throne and raised the intelligence report in his hand with a gloomy look: "My dear friends, the news just came back from the Tang Kingdom. The Tang Army has been quietly gathering, and their movements are unknown. However, Judging from the assembled troops, it is most likely to launch an attack on our country, Qi."
"ah!"
Everyone is stunned.
"Is the King of Tang crazy? Now that the spring plowing has not yet begun, isn't he afraid of delaying the first season of food cultivation for the people under his rule?" said Pang Eran, the chief censor;
Xun Yu, the Prime Minister of the State, took the information handed over by the King of Qi, read it carefully, and said: "Now the Tang State has only used war barracks, and they are still gathering quietly. At present, the people in the Tang State still don't know anything about the gathering of the army. , so there is no impact on farming.”
"Your Majesty, I wonder if General Cao Hong, the Prime Minister of Dongping, General Lu Qian, the Prime Minister of Pengcheng, and General Weihong, the Prime Minister of Rencheng, have any information to send back?" Cheng Yu, the state lieutenant, asked in a deep voice;
"No information has been sent back yet, but I have sent someone to inquire."
"The current plan is to remain unchanged in response to all changes. Your Majesty can order the troops and horses of the counties adjacent to the Tang Kingdom to prepare to prevent a sudden attack by the Tang Army." Cheng Yu said;
"In this case, won't Qi delay the spring plowing?" Xun Yu frowned;
"But if we ignore it, if the Tang army does suddenly attack, there is a risk of losing troops and losing ground. It's the lesser of two evils."
Now Sima Yi is the minister of King Cao Cao of Qi. After listening to the words of several important ministers, he said: "What the captain said is reasonable. Not only that, in the opinion of the ministers, in addition to arranging the preparations for the counties, the king also The military camps in the counties of Jibei, Pingyuan, Jinan and Lu must also be ready to send troops to support at any time. "
"There is no problem in preparing the war camp, but civilians and auxiliary troops cannot be recruited for the time being. We cannot delay the first quarter of this year's farming because of some changes in the Tang State." As the Prime Minister of Qi State, Xun Yu had to emphasize again;
"Okay, Chuan Gu orders, the armies of Dongjun, Dongping, Rencheng and Pengcheng are ready, temporarily recruit some auxiliary troops, and always pay attention to the movements of the Tang army on the opposite side; Jibei, Pingyuan, Jinan and Lu The military camps of the counties are also prepared and ready to support at any time. As for the civilians and auxiliary troops, the counties will not recruit them for now." After saying this, Cao Cao sighed helplessly. As a result, this year's war will be over. The first season of farming will definitely be affected. Like the previous four counties, it is good to be able to plant half of the cultivated land. However, as Cheng Yu said, there is no way to choose the lesser of two evils.