In the evening, everyone returned to Yongfengli.
Yuchi Jin took Lin Heier and Yan Keshu to play with a group of women, mainly to help Lin Heier get out of the shadow of the past as soon as possible.
But then again, Yuchi Jin, this scourge, disguised as a man, was simply so charming that not only Yan Keshu suffered greatly from her, but even the young ladies in Liang Zun, Shen Ji, and Xu Kan's families were all bewitched by her.
Not long after, Yang Zaixing and Jing Ming also came back and immediately reported to Zhu Li the information they had learned today.
"Envoy, we received an important piece of information today. I wonder if we can use it." Yang Zaixing looked at Zhu Li and spoke directly.
"What news?" Zhu Li looked at them suspiciously.
Yang Zaixing glanced at Jing Ming, who understood and said, "In Pengcheng, there is actually another person who is very dissatisfied with Shi Pu. This person is called Li Ninggu, and he is a judge under Shi Pu. Both Li's father and son are dissatisfied with Shi Pu. If we unite with Li Ninggu, will it be easier to achieve our goal?"
"Judge?" Yan Keqiu, who was standing beside Zhu Li, looked a little solemn when he heard this. "He is an official who catches thieves and adulterers. Even if he is dissatisfied with Shi Pu, what can he do?"
"He has no soldiers. Even if we help him take power, can he solve the difficulties faced by the people of Xuzhou?"
Faced with Jing Ming's proposal, Yan Keqiu raised doubts, and even Han Zhong did not quite agree and shook his head slightly.
Seeing that the two civil officials disagreed, Yang Zaixing was a little discouraged and muttered, "This Li Ninggu's father is Li Sun, the current Right Palace Attendant."
Looking at Yang Zaixing's expression, Han Zhong felt a little amused. He also knew that Yang Zaixing felt aggrieved. The information he had worked so hard for a whole day to get turned out to be useless. It would be strange if he was not discouraged.
After thinking for a while, Han Zhong comforted him, "General Yang, don't worry. The Right Imperial Attendant is an official who advises the emperor. He has no real power and can provide little help to Li Ninggu. Moreover, in the current court, Tian Lingzi is all-powerful. Officials like the Imperial Attendant can be dismissed with a single word."
Since Yan Keqiu disagreed, Zhu Li didn't know what to say. He seemed to have thought of something. He remembered that there was a record about Li Ninggu in Zizhi Tongjian. It seemed that in the end, the father and son died or were imprisoned.
Because Li Ninggu failed in his attempt to poison Shi Pu and was killed by Shi Pu, Shi Pu then bribed Tian Lingzi to put his biological father Li Sun in prison. Fortunately, someone spoke a fair word for Li Sun, otherwise, he would probably have died.
Since this road was blocked, there was no point in talking any more, so Zhu Li immediately changed the subject and asked, "Zaixing, how is Chen Gong's situation now?"
As soon as Yang Zaixing heard Zhu Li change the subject, he knew that the news was completely useless, and quickly replied: "It is almost the end of the year, and the confrontation in Xiao County remains the same, and there has been no conflict."
"I'm afraid that Chen Gong and others will have a chance to rush to Xiao County for support only after the New Year. Now they are still staying in the Pengcheng military camp. Apart from training the guards every day, they basically just lie there doing nothing." Yang Zaixing said weakly.
"What about the news from Shang Rang? Is there any further follow-up?"
"Yes." This time it was Jing Ming who answered. He was a more formal spy leader, while Yang Zaixing was only a guest. Naturally, he knew much more information than Yang Zaixing, and it was more comprehensive.
"General, we have further inquired about the distribution of Shang Rang's forces. Shang Rang's general Li Hanzhi has deployed his troops on the west side of Dinggong Mountain, Li Dan has stationed his troops at the Bian River, and Shang Rang is personally in charge of Li Tangbin, Huo Cun, etc.
The three parties responded to each other and put pressure on Xiao County. "
At this point, Jing Ming thought for a moment and added, "In addition, we have also found out about Zhu Wen. Although Huang Chao could not capture Chenzhou, Zhu Wen could not do anything to Huang Chao. Now Zhu Wen has sent people to ask for support from Li Keyong, the governor of Hedong. It is estimated that Li Keyong will lead his troops to attack Huang Chao in the spring."
Zhu Li frowned when he heard this. He didn't want to meet Li Keyong the most.
The main concern is Li Cunxiao. If Li Cunxiao is with Li Keyong and they encounter each other, Zhu Li may be able to escape. But he is afraid that the people around him will not be able to be saved. He cannot afford this loss.
Fortunately, Li Keyong's target was Huang Chao, and Zhu Li was dealing with Shang Rang, so it shouldn't be such a coincidence that they met.
"Who do you think Chen Gong and his team will face, Shang Rang, Li Dan, or Li Hanzhi?"
This issue is very important. Shang Rang does not have many powerful generals under his command, but two of them are very troublesome. One of them is Li Hanzhi, and the other is Li Tangbin. One of them is brutal and brave, and the other is brave and courageous. Neither of them is easy to deal with.
Upon hearing this, Jing Ming said without hesitation, "General Chen and his men will probably face off against Li Hanzhi. Shi Pu will also divide his troops into three groups in Xiao County. General Chen will station his troops on the east side of Dinggong Mountain to face Li Hanzhi directly; Liu Zhijun will station his troops on the Bian River to confront Li Dan; Shi Pu will personally be stationed in Xiao County to lead Li Shiyue and others to resist Shang Rang."
"The one recruiting soldiers in Pengcheng now is Zhang You, who is a close confidant of Chen. Since General Chen has joined Zhang You's army, he will most likely reinforce Chen after the spring and confront Li Hanzhi."
Upon hearing this, Zhu Li frowned even more tightly. Who is Li Hanzhi? In this era, there are not many famous generals, but Li Hanzhi is definitely the best.
Li Keyong once compared himself to Dong Zhuo and Li Hanzhi to Lu Bu, which shows how fierce Li Hanzhi was.
Li Keyong was not a man who had never seen a fierce general. Li Cunxiao was trained by him. Even he described Li Hanzhi as Lu Bu. How could Chen Gong, Shen Ji and others deal with him
Of course, when two armies fight, the stronger the general, the more victory is not guaranteed. However, in the era of cold weapons, the role played by an unrivaled general is greater than that of dozens of machine guns and should not be underestimated.
Yan Keqiu noticed Zhu Li's expression and asked in confusion, "Why is the general frowning? Is there something wrong?"
Zhu Li looked around at everyone and said, "Li Hanzhi's courage is no less than Zaixing's. Chen Gong and his men are definitely not able to handle him. I'm worried that they may lose their lives instead of achieving any credit."
Upon hearing what Zhu Li said, Liang Zun, who was standing by, immediately bowed and asked, "General, I request your permission to go and deal with Li Hanzhi."
"Envoy, please let me go. I want to see how powerful Li Hanzhi is." Yang Zaixing was not slow at all. When he heard Zhu Li making an analogy with him, he naturally felt dissatisfied and immediately asked for the order.
Looking at the two of them, Zhu Li waved his hand and continued, "After the New Year, I plan to go there myself. Zaixing will go with me, and General Liang will stay here."
Liang Zhan seemed a little disappointed when he heard this. Zhu Li glanced at him and comforted him, "When we get to Shuozhou, the general will have to take action. Li Hanzhi is no mediocre fighter. We must plan carefully and not rashly lose anyone."
Since Zhu Li had made this decision, no one else had anything to say. Although Yan Keqiu did not agree with Zhu Li taking the risk, he tried to persuade her privately, but it still did not change Zhu Li's decision, so he had to give up.
The world was in turmoil, smoke of war was rising everywhere, the saints were in hiding, and warlords were rising up. The second year of Zhonghe came to an end in such a background.
With the presence of Zhu Li and others in Yongfengli, the New Year was celebrated very happily. Even at the end of the year, every citizen received New Year's money, five taels of silver each. Of course, this was the money obtained from selling Gao Pian's treasures and jades.
The first month of the third year of Zhonghe.
When Li Keyong attacked Taiyuan, Zheng Congdang led his family and took refuge in Shuozhou under the protection of generals Wang Chan and Xue Wei.
Shuozhou general Zhou Dewei, together with Wang Chan, stationed at Shiling Pass; Huo Qing handed over the Yinshan Legion to Zhang Guihou, and then, together with Xue Wei, led his troops to station at Ningwu Pass; with the addition of Yanmen Pass guarded by Zhang Guiba, Li Keyong's momentum to the north was thus blocked.
From then on, the states in Hedong Road, with Taiyuan as the dividing line, Shuozhou, Yunzhou, Daizhou, Xinzhou and Lanzhou belonged to Zhu Li; all the areas to the south were under the control of Li Keyong.
In February, Han Jian, the governor of Weizhou, was defeated by Zhuge Shuang due to a riot in the rear when he was attacking Zhuge Shuang. On his escape, he was killed by his officer Le Yanzhen. Le Yanzhen returned to Weizhou and proclaimed himself as the regent. He wrote to the court and requested approval.
March is a good time when spring flowers bloom and the earth revives.
Li Keyong, the governor of Hedong, failed in his attempt to advance northward, so he ordered his general Li Cunxiao to garrison Taiyuan. He himself returned to Jinyang with his troops. At the request of Zhu Wen, he led his troops south, preparing to deal a fatal blow to Huang Chao.
However, things did not go as planned. Zhuge Shuang, who had just defeated Han Jian, used the road blocking as an excuse to prevent Li Keyong from marching south. Li Keyong had no choice but to return to Jinzhong and take a detour south. The round trip took more than twenty days.
In the same month, Yang Xingmi, the governor of Luzhou, led an army of 20,000 eastward to attack Bi Shiduo and others who occupied Jiangdu.
At the beginning of the month, Zhu Li and Yang Zaixing disguised themselves as Chen Gong's subordinates and, under the leadership of Xuzhou Guoyi Duwei Zhang You, advanced to support Chen's camp on the east side of Dinggong Mountain, preparing to fight Li Hanzhi.
Dinggong Mountain belongs to the Maoshan mountain range and is a peak of Maoshan.
Shang Rang's general Li Hanzhi led nearly 30,000 troops and stationed at the foot of Dinggong Mountain. He was vigilant against Chen and ready to go north to support Shang Rang at any time.
The reformed army under Chen's command had less than 5,000 men. Even with the reinforcements led by Zhang You, there were only less than 8,000 guards. Together with his close guards, there were only 10,000 guards. Even if he was given the courage to take the initiative to attack Li Hanzhi, he would not dare to do so.
In fact, neither Li Hanzhi, nor Li Dan who was stationed at the Bian River, nor even Shang Rang who was at the gates of Xiaoxian City had any desire to attack. They were all waiting for news from the direction of Chenzhou.
This situation is exactly what Zhu Li and others do not want to see. Without a major war, there will be no military merit; without military merit, how can they support Han Zhi to take the throne; if Han Zhi does not take the throne, how can they control Xuzhou; if they cannot control Xuzhou, then improving the current living conditions of the people of Xuzhou will be just empty talk.
However, not long after arriving at the east side of Dinggong Mountain, Zhu Li's worries were dispelled, because he discovered that Li Hanzhi had a bad habit, which was that no matter what, he would always bring people to provoke Chen at intervals, such as challenging him to a fight, yelling and so on.
So far, nearly ten of Chen's generals have been killed by Li Hanzhi. Now, whenever Li Hanzhi comes, he will close the gate of the camp and hang up a sign of no fight, as if he is determined to never fight again. No matter how Li Hanzhi shouts and curses outside the camp, he will not show up.