When he said this, Zhu Chun and Zheng were startled. The couple's eyes widened immediately and they became a little stupid for a moment.
The two adults were in a daze, as if in a dream. Although they had not seen Zhu Li for three years, Zhu Li was only sixteen years old. Have you ever seen a sixteen-year-old governor? In any case, based on their knowledge, they had definitely never seen one.
Just when they were feeling dizzy and as if walking on clouds, Zhu Li welcomed the three of them into the camp. After they sat down, he told them the whole story. After listening to it, Zhu Chun and Zheng were as if they were sleepwalking. They were so surprised that their son, that silly and straightforward boy, actually became such a high-ranking official.
The two men were born into peasant families. Although Zhu Chun had practiced some martial arts and had some knowledge, his knowledge was not enough to withstand the surprise of a governor falling from the sky.
Not to mention the two of them were filled with surprise and pride, just think about how it was that Budai Monk happened to save Zhu Li's parents.
This monk was not the kind of person who just ate and did nothing. Since he had agreed to Gao Su's request, he would naturally not go back on his word. He extorted some money from Gao Su and headed south towards Chang'an.
He thought that with his status, the coalition forces would definitely not accept him if he went to join them. Since Zhu Li was fighting against the Cao army, he might as well join Zhu Li's enemy army. He would just have to keep a close eye on Zhu Li's movements, and perhaps this would better ensure Zhu Li's safety.
However, he had just joined the Cao army and was a monk, so his status was naturally somewhat detached. It happened that Li Yanzhang betrayed Zhu Li's parents and Zhu Wen planned to get rid of Zhu Li. He thought that the opportunity to sever his ties with karma had come, and he was originally planning to help Zhu Li while he was in danger.
But he didn't expect Zhu Li to be so fierce. He defeated five people by himself and later killed a heavyweight general. The remaining two seemed to be no match for him.
In this way, he had no chance to save Zhu Li, but he then set his sights on Zhu Li's parents. Relying on his status as a grass soldier and his skills, he was able to capture them easily and rescue Zhu Li's parents without any danger.
Zhu Li was very happy to see his parents rescued, and he thanked the monk in every possible way. The monk was not polite and accepted everyone. His torn bag was very magical. No matter how much money was stuffed into it, it would disappear without a trace in an instant. It was simply a bottomless pit. (In the legend about the monk, there is indeed such a saying about his bag, which is not made up by the author)
Since it was not appropriate for his parents to stay in the army, Zhu Li wrote a letter to Guo Qizuo, asking him to send someone to bring his Alang and A Niang to Shuozhou, and at the same time let the little girl Ning'er get rid of her knot.
With her parents around, Zhu Li was naturally no longer afraid of Zhu Wen doing bad things.
The confrontation between the Cao Army and the Allied Forces became increasingly fierce. Zhu Li suggested that Zheng Ting use fatigue tactics against the enemy. In the Cao Army camp, every night, the sleeping Cao Army guards and officers at all levels would be awakened by the sound of gongs and drums. By the time they organized their men and went to pursue, the instigators of the Allied Forces had already run away.
Faced with this situation again and again, Zhu Wen divided his men into three waves and asked them to take turns to rest. Those who were resting had cotton wool stuffed in their ears so that even if the sky fell outside, they could not be woken up. This was how he resolved Zhu Li's fatigue tactics.
As the saying goes, it is impolite not to reciprocate. The coalition forces frequently took action, and the Cao army was not willing to be outdone. The Cao army spread rumors, saying that Zhu Li was originally a member of the Cao army, and now he is in the coalition army but his heart is with the Cao army, and sooner or later he will betray the coalition and help the Cao army defeat the coalition. The rumors were so convincing that people had to doubt the authenticity of the matter. Moreover, it was difficult to do business in partnership, let alone with some bad guys.
A festering warlord partnership.
Facing their rumors, Zhu Li resolved them more simply. He rode alone to the gate of the Cao army camp to challenge them, and even challenged several of the Cao army's fierce generals. The weight of this token of allegiance made the Cao army's rumors self-defeating.
The two sides fought back and forth, using all sorts of ingenious strategies and tactics, and the fight was fierce.
Time passed quickly and it was October of the first year of Zhonghe.
The coalition soldiers had been fighting for a long time without success. It was approaching winter and no other warlords came to join. In addition, the army was short of food and fodder. Zheng Ting decided to reduce the pay of his soldiers by half. Of course, he was only targeting the Fengxiang Army. After all, each Jiedushi was an independent military group. Although Zheng Ting was the commander-in-chief of the camp and the commander-in-chief of the coalition forces, he had no control over the military and political affairs of other warlords.
The other military governors were unaware of Zheng Ting's decision.
In mid-October, Li Changyan, who was then the marching Sima of Fengxiang Army, took advantage of most of the soldiers and instigated them to follow him in an uprising because they were dissatisfied with Zheng Ting's attitude of reducing their pay. A mutiny broke out in the Fengxiang Army, and countless guards surrounded the Jiedushi's camp and forced Zheng Ting to abdicate.
The incident happened suddenly. Zheng Ting realized that he had made a wrong decision and regretted it. But it was too late to say anything now. The army mutinied. The Fengxiang Army, as one of the two most important armies to resist the Cao Army, suddenly lost its function. The original intention of attacking Huang Chao in the south and entering Chang'an to defend the king might fail because of his decision. When Zheng Ting thought of this, he became completely disheartened.
He did not want his former subordinates to kill each other because of Li Changyan's instigation. After all, the Fengxiang Army was founded by Zheng Ting himself, and it was the result of all his hard work during his tenure as the Fengxiang Jiedushi. With such complicated feelings, he made Li Changyan swear in public that as long as the other party promised to fight to the death in the southern expedition to defend the king, he would give up the position of Jiedushi to him, and Zheng Ting would leave alone.
It was just a vow, and Li Changyan agreed without hesitation.
By the time Zhu Li and others learned the truth, the situation was already hopeless. The coalition forces' strength had suddenly been reduced by nearly half, and the situation could not be reversed.
Everyone still had confidence in Zheng Ting, but they had no respect for the newly appointed Li Changyan. Li Changyan, who had just become the governor, was full of energy and would not try to please others. In response to the indifference of other governors, he took his troops and left, completely ignoring his original promise to Zheng Ting.
The coalition forces disintegrated in Weinan. Li Changyan led the Fengxiang Army back to Fengxiang, while the remaining members of the coalition forces were forced to retreat to Fuping due to the reduction of military strength.
Fuping is the red county in Guanzhong, with Yiting City as its seat. The city walls are tall and thick, and the city is rich in food and grass. It is indeed the best place for the coalition forces to deal with the Cao army. (The counties in the Tang Dynasty were divided into ten levels: red, second red, Ji, second Ji, Wang, Jin, upper, middle, lower middle, and lower. The red county was the largest county.)
When Cao's army chased to Fuping, they saw the tall and open city walls of Yiting and had to camp outside the city. They did not dare to attack rashly. Although the Fengxiang army had left, there were still at least tens of thousands of troops in the city. Moreover, the casualties in a siege would be too high. Neither Zhu Wen nor Meng Kai were willing to pay this price.
However, even though they were unwilling, someone else was not happy about it. Huang Chao strictly ordered Zhu Wen and Meng Kai to drive these troops out of Guanzhong before the end of the year, otherwise he would not be able to sleep well. For this purpose, he also added tens of thousands of troops to the two of them.
The siege of Yiting broke out after Huang Chao's order arrived. Countless Cao soldiers carried ladders and pushed battering rams and rushed towards Yiting City. Cao soldiers attacked the city walls on all four sides. The coalition forces on the city walls were also unwilling to be outdone. Fuping was a large county and very wealthy, so there was naturally no shortage of food and grass. In the absence of a shortage of food and grass, Zhu Wen and Meng Kai actually dared to attack the city, and they were happy to see it happen.
For a while
On the top of the city wall, thousands of arrows were fired and boiling oil was poured. Wooden planks and huge rocks fell from the sky in an endless stream. The wailing of people crying for their parents and the clamor of charging resounded through the sky and shook the whole area. What's worse, some people were smashed into meat patties before they could even make a sound.
Nearly 10,000 infantrymen that Zhu Li had surrendered and gathered were put to good use. Zhou Dewei and Shi Yan took turns leading them to the top of the city walls, tempering their will in blood and fire, and tempering their transformation from ordinary farmers to professional soldiers.
To be honest, if it were possible to avoid fighting, Zhu Li certainly wouldn't want to fight. They are all Han people, and killing and damaging each other is the foundation of the Central Plains. Is it easy for a person to live from birth to the battlefield? Their parents have worked hard for years, and some of them can't even last a second before they are completely reincarnated into the underworld. All one or two decades of upbringing are wasted.
However, this war was not under his will. Huang Chao wanted to fight, and Cao's army had to fight. Zhu Li was forced to defend himself, and he had no choice.
------Dividing line------
In August, Zhu Li wrote a letter to Guo Qizuo, asking him to send someone to the army to welcome his parents back to Shuozhou. Guo Qizuo did not dare to ignore Zhu Li's parents.
He has been carefully selecting the people to go and welcome them. Now Gao Yuan is guarding Piantou Fort and Zhang Guiba is guarding Yanmen Pass, and these two people must not be moved. Gao Su is on an expedition to Yinzhou, and his subordinates are already short of manpower, and there is no one who can be transferred.
Huo Qing and Zhang Guihou went far beyond the Great Wall, and no one knew when they would return every time they went on an expedition. It was impossible to predict their return and find them. He was also worried about sending ordinary people to the frontier, so he had no choice but to seek help from Fan Yang.
It was already the beginning of September that Yuchi Jin received Guo Qizuo's request, and this time the matter was nothing else but to go and bring back Zhu Li's parents. For Yuchi Jin, who had put all her heart on Zhu Li, this was a big deal and should not be taken lightly.
But she also has her own plans. Since Zhu Li is a useless piece of wood, she has to put aside her arrogance and use some tricks. It must be said that the women in the Tang Dynasty dared to love and hate, and were as brave as men, and in some aspects they were even better than men.
She took Madam Yuchi and rushed to Shanyang first. After settling her mother in Zhu Li's governor's mansion, she set off with Xie Tianxiong and Xie Tianxiong. Of course, they were accompanied by Yuchi's army, the more than 1,000 elite soldiers brought from Hongzhou to the north.
After more than a month's journey, they had just arrived at Fuping when the scouts brought news, reporting to her in detail everything that had happened during the time Zhu Li was in the south to support the king.
Only then did she know that there was a war going on in Fuping, and the side being attacked was actually the coalition forces that Zhu Li was in. After carefully analyzing Zhu Li's current situation, she decided to keep her troops in place for the time being, and stationed in a secluded place, closely following the war in Fuping. Her more than a thousand people were not too many, but not too few either, and could serve as a surprise force at a critical moment. This was her plan.
However, this wait lasted for nearly more than a month, from early October to November, and the siege of Fuping had not stopped. The reinforcements of the Cao army continued to flow into Fuping, with a momentum of taking Fuping at all costs, which made Yuchi Jin worried.
But with more than a thousand of her people, it would be difficult for them to just rush into the city, let alone go to rescue. Even if they managed to rush in, how many people would be left and what role could they play
Therefore, she had to suppress her uneasiness and continued to wait, hoping that Zhu Li and the others could hold on. The year was almost over and the temperature in Fuping dropped rapidly in late autumn and early winter. If they could hold on for a while longer, the Cao army would not be able to maintain this momentum.