After passing through Qiu'an County, there is Luomu Mountain. This is what the locals call it. In fact, Luomu Mountain is a branch of the Langru Mountain Range. The mountain is not high but quite steep. The food and grass taken from the Chen family was enough for a team of 5,000 people to meet for a month, so Fang Jie could go to the Langru Mountain Range to meet Xujun Wang without distraction.
Although Fang Jie is not familiar with this area, he has gradually regained some familiarity.
After five days of rapid march, the people and horses entered Luomu Mountain, and Fang decided to rest for a few days.
"Crossing Luomu Mountain, you will find the rebel army's West Camp."
Cui Zhongzhen's surviving soldiers pointed to the map and said: "The Xi Daying of the rebel army is presided over by Meng Wansui, one of the seven tiger generals under Li Yuanshan's command. When it was first established, it had 200,000 troops. The current strength is probably even more. Long live's status in Li Yuanshan's army is higher than that of Yin Poshan. The terrain here is important, and Li Yuanshan chose him to guard it, which shows that he attaches great importance to this person. And this person is extremely cautious in using troops, guarding the cities and official roads, and hardly takes the initiative Raise troops against our men and horses on Langru Mountain."
"Is it a temperament that does not seek merit but seeks no fault?"
Chen Qianshan asked.
The soldier shook his head, after all, he didn't have much contact with them.
"Take a rest today."
Fang Xie ordered: "Send scouts across the mountain and investigate carefully. Look at the size of the area blocked by the rebel army's West Camp. If you can bypass it, go around it and try not to provoke it. After all, it is an army of hundreds of thousands. If the rebels The area controlled by the army is too large, so I will send someone to contact King Xu Jun first and then discuss it."
He waved his hand and said, "Bring Sun Kaidao up."
The soldiers agreed, and went down to lift Sun Kaidao out of the cage. He has been locked up these days, and he has lost a layer of human form.
"Humble duty to meet the general."
Sun Kaidao knelt down, the iron chain in his hand rattling.
Fang Jie found a place to sit down, glanced at Sun Kaidao and asked: "You are a smart man, you don't need me to tell you why I want to detain you. Now the army is about to turn over Luomu Mountain, and the prison cars can't get through. So you need Find a reason for myself to live, I have no interest or energy to let people carry the cage over."
"Humble job..."
Sun Kaidao suffered a lot in the past few days. He didn't have enough to eat, and he didn't wash his face. He looked extremely haggard and embarrassed. He raised his head and glanced at Fang Jie, then quickly lowered his head: "I pleaded guilty to my humble position...but my humble position is really selfless! It's my humble position's fault, I didn't tell the general."
"explain!"
Fang Jie looked at him and said.
"The Chen family is a big family in Luo County. Although the place where the humble job is located is quite far from Qiu'an County, they have heard a lot about the Chen family's actions. The general led the army to Qiu'an County. If they want food and grass, they can only use the Chen family's idea. If the general Knowing that the eldest daughter of the old lady of the Chen family is married to King Xujun, is the general still willing to attack the Chen family? It is true that if the general visits the house, he may not be able to borrow food. But this is the reason!"
Sun Kaidao raised his head and said seriously: "Sun wants to assist someone who wants to achieve great things, not an ordinary person who has the heart to achieve great things but has no courage to achieve great things. Why is the general angry? First, because the humble position did not say To be honest. The second reason is that the general has a good personal relationship with Prince Xu. Because of this second point, the general will most likely not attack the Chen family."
"Have you ever thought about it, after the imperial army quelled the rebellion, even if King Xu Jun made up a lot in the past two years and made some contributions, the 700,000 troops who can conquer the west and be buried in the northwest, after all, His Majesty can't pretend to forget That's right. So what King Xu Jun is doing now is just to barely save his own life. At that time, it is impossible to say that he will take away his title and demote him to a commoner. Although the failure of the Western Expedition is not the fault of King Xu Jun, it is the fault of Duke Xu. on him."
"The Chen family also has a daughter married to Pei Guo, the prefect of Luo County. This person is Li Yuanshan's loyal lackey. In order to protect themselves, the Chen family sent money and food to Pei Guo, otherwise Pei Guo would be so kind to send two thousand The rebels are guarding the Chen family? In any case, the Chen family will not end well after the war. If the general has anything to do with the Chen family... At that time, the general will be dismissed from the credit, and the official position will be lost. Although the general will win His Majesty Appreciate, but you must know that sometimes His Majesty's decisions are not entirely up to you."
"Does the general know about the previous dynasty?"
Sun Kaidao's courage gradually increased, he looked Fang Xie in the eyes and asked.
"What happened in the past?"
Fang asked.
"During the reign of Dazheng Chongde in the previous dynasty, the four major surnames rebelled. They almost occupied half of Dazheng's country. Countless. However, after the suppression of the rebellion, the emperor of Dazheng did not let people investigate deeply who had colluded with the rebels, but hastily closed the case. Not long after, the generals who made great contributions to the suppression of the rebellion were arrested one after another. Someone reported that Emperor Dazheng dismissed more than a dozen generals and beheaded eight of them because of trivial matters!"
"These people have made great military exploits in the suppression of the rebellion. The emperor didn't give a big reward, so why did he deal with so many people through some trivial things?"
Sun Kaidao said sternly: "Because they colluded with the rebels, almost all the families in Dazheng were involved. It was because the involvement was too wide that the emperor of Dazheng didn't go into it and didn't dare to go into it. And those generals have done too much, and their people Everyone thinks that they deserve a big reward. But they forget that they touched the interests of many aristocratic families when they suppressed the rebellion. These aristocratic families do not allow meritorious ministers to rise quickly."
"Especially... People from a poor family like you, General. In order to calm down the troubles, the emperor can only take these people from a poor family but with outstanding military exploits. First, to appease those families whose interests have been touched. Second, because The emperor is worried that these generals will become the new scourge of the country!"
"From Sun's point of view, Li Yuanshan will definitely lose in the Northwest War. But the court will also be turbulent because of this. Whether His Majesty can control the overall situation at that time... Redeeming Sun said bluntly, it is still unknown! The general should know that behind such a major rebellion, absolutely Without the support of the big family, who knows how many families stand behind Li Yuanshan? The more brilliant the general will be in the battle against the rebellion, the more people will want to get rid of the general."
"To put it bluntly, Da Sui is now at a crossroads, and it will not be smooth to turn in any direction. If His Majesty chooses to praise meritorious ministers, then those families whose interests have been touched will definitely fight back with all their strength. At that time, there will be blood and rain in the dark The wind is worse than anything on the battlefield. If His Majesty chooses to compromise with the family, what about these meritorious ministers? Will they be willing? If they are not willing, what decision will His Majesty make in order to control the court? But it depends on which side His Majesty's knife is pointing at."
"But in Sun's view, with the general's current qualifications and prestige, no matter how you look at it, he is one of the people who died at the forefront."
Sun Kaidao said: "Sun knows some superficial ways of observing people. It can be seen that the general must not be an ordinary person, so Sun follows you and intends to serve you. But because of this, Sun can't watch the general go. On the wrong road. Regarding the Chen family’s matter, Sun was wrong, and the fault was not in the method but in the method. If the general thinks that Sun’s crime is unforgivable, then he will deal with it as he pleases.”
"You're right."
Fang Jie waved his hand and said, "Your fault is that you didn't position yourself properly."
He walked over, helped Sun Kaidao up and said in a low voice, "You know the past and you can see the future clearly, but why don't you know how to live in the world? You have read so many classics and history books, but how many amazing ones do you remember? Do people fall early because of conceit and arrogance? If you follow me, the first thing you need to understand is... I have the final say on who is in what position in this team, whether it is the current 5,000 people or how many people there will be in the future .”
Sun Kaidao's face changed, and he bowed his head and said, "I understand."
Fang Jie took off a piece of hair on his body, smiled and said, "You said you can see that I will achieve great things in the future, so can you see what I will look like in the future?"
Sun Kaidao opened his mouth but stopped. He suddenly understood Fang Jie's meaning, so he lowered his head and respectfully said, "What will Humble's future look like, I can't see it myself, because that's for the general to see."
…
…
Fang Jie didn't intend to stay on Mount Luomu for too long, after all, Mount Luomu was a bit desolate and the mountain was not suitable for stationing troops. But Fang Xie was shocked by the news from the scouts!
King Xujun is dead.
The scouts went over the mountain to inquire about news, and on the first day they inquired about a major event. The Sui army on Langru Mountain made a big move and set up camp 20 miles away from the west camp of the rebel army. It is said that the two sides have been fighting fiercely for more than a month. The Sui army has few soldiers, but they are all dressed in white. They fight fiercely and are not afraid of death. . It was just because the rebel army was so powerful that although the Sui army gained power, they could not attack.
The scouts reported that Yang Kai, the King of Xujun, went down the mountain to investigate the enemy situation in the West Camp of the rebel army, and was discovered by the rebel scouts. The rebels besieged King Xujun in a dilapidated village. The war is over. Li Xiaozong took up the Sui army on Langru Mountain, put on white clothes and held white banners, and vowed to avenge Xu Junwang.
Now the Sui army in Langrushan is under the command of Li Xiaozong!
This news is definitely not a good thing for Fang Jie.
After Fang Jie knew the news, he immediately called for the two soldiers left by Cui Zhongzhen, and asked them to rush back overnight to meet Cui Zhongzhen and ask what happened. If the current Sui army is completely controlled by Li Xiaozong, Fang Jie will have to make a choice.
In order to wait for Cui Zhongzhen's news, he stayed on Luomu Mountain for six or seven days.
Cui Zhongzhen's soldiers came back and reported to Fang Xie that they had returned to the army and did not see Cui Zhongzhen. According to rumors, Cui Zhongzhen was ordered to be imprisoned by Li Xiaozong because of his disadvantage in the battle. Although he has not been executed yet, it is heard that the situation is very difficult. In addition, the soldiers inquired about one thing. It is said that after Cui Zhongzhen returned to Daying from Yongzhou, he learned that King Xu had personally gone to inquire about the enemy situation of the rebels in the West Camp. He took people to look for King Xu without rest.
But he only met Li Xiaozong who came back alone, and the body of King Xu Jun was not brought back. After returning to the camp, Li Xiaozong discussed with the minister of the Ministry of War, Mo Liangbi, about raising troops, but Lord Mou did not agree to send troops rashly, so Li Xiaozong incited the soldiers and emptied Lord Mou's military power.
Then because of a trivial incident, Li Xiaozong killed all the people Cui Zhongzhen brought that day. On the first day of dispatching troops, Li Xiaozong asked Cui Zhongzhen to take a Zhechong battalion to attack the rebels. Cui Zhongzhen fought a bloody battle and killed more than 5,000 enemies. Charged up. If Cui Zhongzhen had not had an excellent relationship with Wanyan Chongde, the eldest son of Northern Liao, and Wanyan Chongde would have been beheaded by Li Xiaozong long ago if he pleaded for mercy.
Now that Mo Liangbi has lost power, Cui Zhongzhen is trapped.
The tens of thousands of Sui troops were all in the hands of Li Xiaozong.
After listening to what Cui Zhongzhen's soldiers said, Fang Jie's eyes flashed with killing intent, although it was fleeting, it was extraordinarily intense.
He stood up and carved a sentence on the big rock on the cliff of Luomu Mountain with the Zhaolu knife.
Old friends will meet each other
The blade penetrates deep into the boulder, and the pen is sharp.