"It's not too late. The Marquis will make a decision early on. If there is any further delay, other variables may arise!"

In a large house located in the center of Yanlingbu Town, Chen Mingsheng, as the captain who stayed at the Taowu Jitun camp military mansion during the vassal war, and the military guard of the military mansion, was also the one who sent troops to Jinling after the Marquis of Xinchang, Lipu, recruited seven soldiers.

The elite general was standing in front of the case with his head held high, his hand with exposed veins holding the saber at his waist, and he raised his voice to urge the Marquis of Xinchang, Li Pu, to make a decision as soon as possible.

In early summer, the sky was still a little smoky, and the night was already dark. The door of the lobby was closed tightly, and several large candles were burning, exuding the aroma of beeswax. The breeze came in from unknown cracks, blowing the candlelight slightly.

The shaking made the faces of the generals in the hall look quite uncertain.

More than five months have passed since the Jinling Incident. Many things that happened during this period seemed to be like lead-like clouds, weighing on their hearts, making them breathless.

The southern foot of Baohua Mountain was originally located in Jiangcheng County, which belongs to Jingzhao Prefecture. After the Taowu Military Prefecture was established, the land between the southern foot and Chishan Lake was carved out from Jiangcheng County; to the east of Baohua Mountain is the Runzhou Prefecture.

It is located in Dantu County, and to the southeast is Danyang, another large county belonging to Runzhou.

In the past five months, their activities have been in Taowu Jijunfu, Jiangcheng County, Dantu County, and Danyang County.

At first, when he saw that Anning Palace had complete control over the imperial army inside and outside Jinling City, and the bodyguards, Xinchang Hou Li Pu was worried that he would be trapped in a tight siege, so he gave up the Taowu Military Mansion (Qiuhu Mountain) and marched eastward without hesitation, and took the lead to protect his family.

Xiaodong withdrew to Dantu City (Runzhou City).

Rao Geng, the forward general of the Chuzhou Army, led 8,000 elite Chuzhou Army troops to cross the river south to clear the way for the main force of the Chuzhou Army to cross the river. The Marquis of Xinchang, Li Pu, gave up Dantu City near the river and withdrew his family to Nanwu.

Danyang City is more than ten miles away.

When the letter was received, Wang Yang Yuanyan led his 800 silver halberd guards across the river and entered Dantu City. He ordered Li Pu to lead his troops out of Danyang City and march westward in parallel with the forwards of the Chuzhou Army, and with Xu who advanced to the southeastern foothills of Baohua Mountain.

The decisive battle between the Imperial Guards of Nanya under Zhu's command.

In this battle, King Xin Yang Yuanyan won a dazzling victory and a great victory. The Nanya Imperial Army was frightened by the news and became famous all over the world. However, the nearly 7,000 elite dragon and bird troops that Li Pu, the Marquis of Xinchang, had finally assembled were defeated.

, was beaten to a disability, and his spine was completely broken.

What made Xinchang Marquis Li Pu even more embarrassed was that when he and his remaining troops wanted to return to Danyang City to rest and recuperate, Chuzhou Army General Qin Ran, on the orders of Xin Wang Yang Yuanyan, had already led 2,000 cavalry to Danyang City one step ahead and controlled the gates of the four cities.

Xinchang Hou Li Pu and his remnant troops were kept out of the city. Not only did they not dare to take back Danyang City by force, they also watched helplessly as more than 40,000 old, weak, women and children were driven out of Danyang City by Qin Ran.

Li Pu, the Marquis of Xinchang, could only take 40,000 to 50,000 old, weak, women, children, and remnants of troops, like bereft dogs, to retreat to a town called Yanling, more than 30 miles southwest of Danyang City, to rest and recuperate, which is where they were meeting at this time.

Yanling was originally the land of the Wu Kingdom in the Spring and Autumn Period. It was a fiefdom for Ji Zha, the son of the King of Wu. During the Spring and Autumn Period, a city was built, much earlier than the existing surrounding cities such as Jiangcheng, Dantu, Danyang, and Liyang. However, only the city remains.

It was abandoned for more than 300 years. Currently, only the Jizi Temple and the Jizi Tomb named Yanling Ruins remain. Relics can still be found on the west bank of the Shenpu River in Zhenbu.

However, Yanling Town Port is the most important water and land terminal on the Shenpu River. It is the intersection of water and land at the eastern foot of Maoshan Mountain. Silk, rice, paper, ink and other items from the Hangzhou, Huxiu and other states are loaded into Taihu Lake, and large ships are transported along the Yangtze River waterway.

To travel to various places, small boats usually take the Shenpu River, pass through Chishan Lake, and the Qiupu River into Jinling.

Although Yanling is a town, it is much more prosperous than the county town.

In addition to the rows of houses along the town port along the river, the Jizi Temple outside the town was renovated in the past few years by local sages who donated money and food. It now has six courtyards and more than 60 palaces.

Yanling and Longhua Port are collectively called the Twenty-Four Ports of Jinling City.

Every year, up to tens of thousands of large and small merchant ships pass through Yanling, which is also the rice and grain trading center outside Jinling.

In addition to the eleven counties of Jingzhao Prefecture, Jinling City has a population of more than 600,000. In terms of rice and grain alone, six to seven million dan must be imported from surrounding prefectures and counties every year to meet the consumption of Jinling City.

Such a huge consumption of rice grains is partly raised from prefectures and counties through land taxes and taxes, but is distributed through officials' salaries, and part of it is distributed through grain merchants' subordinate counties and Surun Changyang Yue Hangxiu Lake, which is rich in rice grains to the east of Jinling.

The state trafficked rice and grain into Jinling City, together with other bulk materials such as charcoal, cloth, tea and medicine, to meet the material needs of this most prosperous city in the world.

Yanling is one of the bulk material trading and distribution centers outside Jinling. How can the prosperity of Yanling in the past be compared to that of a remote county?

However, after the Jinling Incident, the air in the prosperous areas south of the Yangtze River was filled with tension. Except for the locals, business travel had long been cut off. The boats and sails that used to block the sun on the Xipu River suddenly disappeared.

Falling down sparsely.

The few remaining local ships were directly requisitioned after Xinchang Hou Li Pu led his troops to withdraw.

The Marquis of Xinchang, Li Pu, led his troops to withdraw to Yanling for rest and recuperation, instead of retreating directly to Maoshan, only 20 miles west of Yanling, to defend the area. The main reason was that Yanling had access to both land and water, making it easy to advance and retreat.

In addition, although business travel to Yanling has been suspended since November last year, it was so prosperous before, and there was a lot of grain in the town and surrounding villages.

Nearly 50,000 family members and remnant soldiers were driven out of Danyang City. It was not easy to provide food for so many people. Only in a large port like Yanling could it be relatively easy to collect enough food to support 40,000 to 50,000 old, weak, women and children.

of grain.

Although it is not a big problem to provide food for 40,000 to 50,000 people in a short period of time, it is not difficult to imagine that the Allies calculated such a plan and suffered such heavy casualties. Together with more than 40,000 old, weak, women and children, they were driven out of the city. The morale of the army was weak and the morale of the army was disorganized.

of.

At this time, the Nanya Imperial Army was newly defeated and was hurriedly organizing a new line of defense in Qiuhu Mountain and Jiangcheng City.

After the Chuzhou Army's navy retreated back to Jinling, the main force was seizing the time to cross the river and pass Dantu, advancing westward along the southern foot of Baohua Mountain and approaching Qiuhu Mountain.

If both armies had not had time to look around for the time being, their remnant army might only need more than a thousand elite cavalry to defeat them again and rout them.

Chen Mingsheng knew very well that he would never let them leave easily until King Xin Yang Yuanyan led the main force of the Chuzhou army to capture Qiuhu Mountain and Jiangcheng City and completely control the area east of Jinling City.

In Chen Mingsheng's view, more than 40,000 old, weak, women and children were abandoned at this time. While the Anning Palace was fully prepared to prevent the Chuzhou army from advancing westward and had no time to take care of them, they could still lead 3,000 soldiers to quickly circle to the west of Jinling.

Looking for an opportunity to board a ship and evacuate to Yueyang.

The key is to be fast and make decisive decisions.

Otherwise, if the delay continues, the morale of the army will be further weakened and collapsed. In the end, they may only be able to escape back to Yueyang in embarrassment with thirty or fifty people.

The battle at Jingshan Nunnery directly showed that their previous strategy of uniting with Chuzhou was a complete failure. Zheng Chang, Han Daoming and others escorted the concubine to Yueyang first, and they did not need to bear much responsibility for this, but their power in Yueyang was once the same. The Xinchang Hou Mansion is so embarrassing.

If they can bring three thousand elites back to Yueyang, they can more or less save some face, and more importantly, they can seize more military power. In the autumn of troubled times, three sons are vying for supremacy, and all states are recruiting troops to defend the country. Which place is more important than military power?

If they were only escorted by thirty or fifty guards and fled back to Yueyang like bereaved dogs, let alone Han Qian, Shen Yang, Wang Lin, Gao Chengyuan, Guo Liang, Zhou Pan, Chen Jingzhou and even Li Zhigao would have hated them to the bone. Among all the generals in the line, who would not add insult to injury, and who would take the opportunity to attack them?

What's more, King Tan doesn't like them anymore, not just for a day or two.

Even if the foundation of the Xinchanghou Mansion in Yueyang is still there, and even if the concubine comes to protect them, Xinchanghou Lipu and the others will probably be forced into hibernation for a while by His Highness, so that they can calm down the controversy, right?

Yuan Guowei's slightly aged face looked somewhat pale and weak under the candlelight. It had been a month since the arrow wound on his left shoulder, and it had not fully healed. It was aching now. He had to admit that age is not forgiving. .

Yuan Guowei originally stayed in Yueyang and was responsible for the affairs of Jinyun Tower in Yueyang. However, when Zheng Yu, Zheng Chang, Han Daoming and others escorted the concubine back to Yueyang, he and Lin Haizheng tried hard to persuade King Tan not to take it lightly, but they did not think that King Tan would not take it lightly. They didn't listen to the advice and even scolded them severely.

Because of Lin Haizheng's relationship with Xuzhou, his position did not change, but he was sent to Jinling.

Yuan Guowei is nominally the commander-in-chief of the army in front of him, but everyone knows why he was kicked here. How could Li Pu, Chen Mingsheng and others treat him well, and how could they really leave the task of scolding the detectives to him?

Although Yuan Guowei had a high status, he was completely led by the nose of Xinchang Hou Li Pu in his actions.

There is no way around this.

Although Chen Mingsheng advocated immediately abandoning the more than 40,000 dependents as burdens, Yuan Guowei couldn't bear it when he thought of the faces of old, weak, women and children flashing in his mind. He also thought that Li Pu's actions would result in the death of 3,000 generals. His military morale was further weakened and collapsed, but he couldn't think of any other way to delay it any longer.

Maybe this is a dead end with no choice?

Perhaps this is a desperate situation that makes one unable to struggle?

Yuan Guowei thought sadly that perhaps giving up the large and complex family and dependents would be a cruel but pragmatic choice, right?

At this time, Li Pu was much older than when he met Wang Wenqian in Qiuhu Mountain. His face was also uncertain at this moment, but he did not dare to express his position easily.

He didn't want to leave, but the question was, would the three thousand generals follow him easily?

What if during the march, the morale of the army completely collapses and the generals mutiny?

"At this time, the military attaches at all levels are still obeying the orders of the Marquis, but if the delay continues, it will be difficult for the military attaches at all levels to suppress the restlessness of the generals." Chen Mingsheng could guess what Li Pu was worried about, but just like that, he just We should also advise Li Pu to make an early decision and not miss the last opportunity because of indecision.

Taowu Jijunfu, from the level of the captain, was organized into large and small villages to manage military households.

From the moment the hungry people were recruited, in order to achieve the purpose of controlling the Longque Army, almost all the military commanders of the large and small villages were appointed by the family soldiers of the Xinchang Hou Mansion.

The number of garrison military mansions under the jurisdiction of the Tanwang Palace Hujun Mansion has expanded from the original one to ten. The newly added garrison military mansions are mainly located in Junzhou and Tanzhou, but the core influence of Xinchanghou Mansion has always been

The military gathering in Taowu, including the craftsman's workshop built by Han Qian in the early stage, was completely taken over by the direct relatives of the Xinchang Hou Mansion.

In other words, after Xinchanghou Li Pu returned to Jinling, he recruited soldiers and horses from the military households. Almost all the military attachés and generals above the rank of team leader were from Xinchanghou Mansion.

This is also the key reason why Feng Liao, Jiang Huo and others were unable to stop when Li Pu, the Marquis of Xinchang, decided to conspire with Chuzhou to abandon Han Daoxun. It is also the key reason why Li Pu could barely control this army at this time.

These military attachés and the general's family members, which are relatively small in number, have all been sent to Yueyang.

In Chen Mingsheng's view, this was their last resort in controlling the troops to evacuate to Yueyang. At least relying on these military attachés and generals, they could suppress the restlessness of the lower-level generals and force them to obey orders.

At this time, a primary school student knocked on the door and came in. He walked up to Chen Mingsheng and whispered a few words before leaving in a hurry.

"What happened?" Li Pu raised his tired and bloated eyes and looked at Chen Mingsheng and asked.

"Two Longque Army soldiers escaped from Shaozhou and sneaked into Yanling Port to pick up their children. They were discovered by the soldiers patrolling the camp." Chen Mingsheng did not realize how serious this problem was for a while, but no matter what

He said that they would also detain the deserters from Shaozhou and impose military punishment on them, and it was impossible for two or three deserters to further disturb the morale of the army here. He said, "I ordered people to imprison them. What do you think, Lord Marquis?"

Disposal?"

"Fleeing before the battle will be punished according to military law, you should be executed!" Li Pu frowned, and after a while he said resolutely and ruthlessly. He realized that there were deserters coming, and there might be more and more in the next few days.

The fugitive soldiers sneaked back from Shaozhou, Hengzhou, Tanzhou and Yueyang. If he didn't have thunderous means, things would become more complicated and more difficult.

"These two people fled back to Jinling to protect the family? If so, if they are punished according to military law, the morale of the military will be even more unstable?" Yuan Guowei, who had been silent for a long time, saw that Li Pu was about to kill the intruder without any hesitation, and he hurriedly

Advise.

"In emergency situations, extraordinary methods must be used. Only in this way can we barely maintain the morale of the army." Li Pu has experienced countless storms and waves, and his knowledge is still better than that of Yuan Guowei and Chen Mingsheng, so Chen Mingsheng immediately arranged for people to attack Shaozhou's escaped soldiers.

He used torture, and at the same time strengthened the patrol camp outside Yanling Port, saying, "Tomorrow, all the families and dependents of the generals will be moved to Maoshan!"

Yuan Guowei lowered his head in silence, knowing that Li Pu was determined to abandon his family and dependents at this time.
To be continued...