stubborn thief

Chapter 336 Little Tricks

Ye Bingqian's hands hidden in his sleeves were trembling, his gaze was patrolling the tent, and finally fixed on his saber.

It was a bronze battle sword with a thick ridge and broad blade, and it was especially heavy on chopping and fighting. He once served in the battlefield with his elder brother. This time he was invited to Juerwan. His sword.

It is said that the chieftain of the imperial court must carry weapons, so don't let people underestimate him.

At that time, Ye Bingqian didn't take it seriously, he just regarded it as a heavy decoration, and he didn't hang it on his waist when he walked out of the house, until he heard that his brother Ye Guoqi led his family to station in the Binggou Horse Station, the place where he must go east. He had to use the mantis' arms as a cart before he finally remembered the sword.

Ye Bingqian took out his sword and held it in his hand, and swiped it twice in the empty tent, thinking that he didn't have Xin Qiji's ability and courage, so he changed his hand and put it on his neck, but he didn't have the courage, instead, he felt a little more in his heart out of thin air. Wronged.

'Why, why did such a difficult thing happen to me! '

Just as he put down the sword from his neck, the curtain was lifted by the guards. Liu Chengzong walked into the tent with his head down. Ye Binggan was afraid of seeing him, so he pointed his sword straight in a defensive posture without thinking.

Liu Chengzong frowned, glanced at him suspiciously, walked to the table in the tent and sat down, picked up the inkstone, glanced at him again, and said while grinding the ink: "Okay, take the iron bar and you You can't beat me, put it away."

In fact, Ye Bingqian could no longer afford to think about it. There was a light slap on the tent door, and Fan Sanlang pointed his pistol at him, and another guard stepped forward with a saber. Then he snatched it with his hands.

"The sword is confiscated, so you don't have to commit suicide again, let's go down." Liu Chengzong gave the guard a look, sat on the table and met Shangye Bingqian's flickering eyes, and asked seriously: "Do you really want to live?"

Ye Binggan said that the bastard is not alive anymore, but he heard Liu Chengzong's meaning in a blink of an eye, and said in disbelief: "Marshal...won't you kill me?"

"Why should I kill you?"

Liu Chengzong laughed lightly: "Although it is helpless for the chieftains to surrender me, but if you do something for me, and your brother raises troops to stop me, I will turn around and kill you? Heh... your family pays 48 shi for food, two portions every year? "

Ye Bingqian nodded.

Liu Chengzong showed an expected expression, nodded and put the inkstone beside him and said, "Write a letter to your brother to persuade him that the chieftain of Xining has made great contributions to the country, and I don't want to kill them all."

After that, he got up and walked out of the tent.

He appreciates Ye Guoqi very much, he is smart and aware of current affairs, he can bend and stretch, and he can stand in his own position when there is a big problem... This person has advantages everywhere.

Only, not his people.

"Big guy!"

He had half of his body out of the tent, but Ye Bingqian stopped him and asked, "My brother..."

"The ancestors of your family descended to the Taizu Emperor as military officers of the fourth rank in the Northern Yuan Dynasty, and were awarded small banner officers. They have been loyal for generations to this day, and they have commanded things hereditaryly through their merits. Your brother raised troops in Shangchuankou. I don't blame him."

Liu Chengzong stopped in his tracks, glanced west, and said, "However, if the walls of a house are cracked and repaired, you can live in it, but if the foundation shakes and the beams and columns break, half of the people living in it are waiting to be smashed to death." , Those who escaped didn’t have the hands to build a new house, and in the end, this land, I’m afraid it will be taken away by others.”

"Nowadays, the hearts of the people are rebellious, and the whole world has risen. The people of our country, the dead are devastated, and the living are not able to protect their flesh and blood. Although it is caused by human affairs, it is actually the time when heaven hates its virtue and abandons it."

When Liu Chengzong said this, Ye Binggan was dumbfounded: "This, this..."

Liu Chengzong looked at Ye Bingqian, nodded seriously, and took it for granted: "Emperor Taizu's hadith, your brother vowed to obey the resignation forever, make him obedient, come down within two days, and still keep the position of chieftain Hereditary commander; if he insists on being loyal, I will fulfill him."

Ye Binggan was speechless until Liu Chengzong walked out of the military tent, he was still wandering, and Liu Shizi's ideology made him fall into deep doubts.

Returning to the tent of the commander of the Chinese army, Fan Sanlang saw that he was in a good mood, poured tea and asked with a smile: "The commander-in-chief thinks that Chieftain Ye of Binggou Mayi will be persuaded to surrender?"

Liu Chengzong took the cup and shook his head: "Those who have nowhere to go will come down a step by themselves, but this kind of person who can go anywhere but is determined to die, I'm afraid I can't persuade you to surrender."

He knew this matter well, Ye Guoqi could have avoided taking sides in this war, but since he raised troops at Shangchuankou, left his family and brothers behind, and stood in a situation where there was no way to retreat, He must have already realized that he must die.

For a person like this, any threats about the separation of the family, the advancement of officials, and the safety of brothers will have no effect, and Liu Shizi does not think that his incomplete theory of family, country, and world can play a role in persuading surrender. What a miracle.

So he said with a smile: "It's just a try. This letter is written for living people. Even if you can't persuade people to surrender the national weapon, you can persuade other people to surrender. Not everyone has the same determination to die as he does."

In fact, the most important thing is that his army has marched to the west entrance of Laoya Gorge, which is only forty miles away from Shangchuankou.

This is the narrowest canyon section in the entire Hehuang Valley. Liu Chengzu's vanguard army took the lead in occupying this place, so that the army could pass through it calmly.

This inevitably slowed down his advance. It took two days for the army to pass through the canyon, and it took two days for the heavy artillery from the rear to reach the front line.

What's more, the soldiers of the Zhenhai Camp under Liu Chengzu's command have already disguised themselves as fleeing civilians, and went to the east to check the road conditions and the intelligence of the fortress defenders. Even if they don't send people to persuade them to surrender, Liu Chengzong must stay here for two days.

When Fan Sanlang heard him say that this letter was to persuade living people to read, he suddenly realized, and then he expressed his doubts: "I'll just say, where to make him a hereditary commander."

Xining is impossible, and the Marshal's Mansion does not need to confer hereditary commanders in other places, but if this is just lip service, it will be very simple.

But she did not expect that Liu Chengzong drank his tea and said very seriously: "If he comes to surrender, I will seal him as a hereditary commander, really."

"Where is it going?"

Liu Chengzong pointed to his handsome case casually, and said, "Look west of that map."

Fan Sanlang did as he said and searched on the map. Liu Chengzong's map covered a very large area. Although there was a large blank area to the west of Qinghai Lake, it almost included all the places they knew.

The first thing she saw was Chuaidan, but she thought it was a place for Huduntu to sweat profusely, so she looked to the side from there and asked, "Weiding?"

Weiding is the ancient name of Golmud, but Liu Chengzong shook his head again and said: "I said that the chieftains have made great contributions to the country. Their achievements are guarding the northwest border for generations and acting on behalf of the king in places that are difficult for the court to govern. Whether it's Weiding or not, is there any place I can't get through? Look west."

Liu Chengzong believed in his heart that there would be a battle between the Marshal's Mansion and Huduntu, and allowed Huduntu to live in Tuidan temporarily, so that it would be convenient for them to fight against each other in the future.

Fan Sanlang looked west again, fixed his eyes, looked at the map, looked at Liu Chengzong, there were all sketches over there, and it was the place marked by Shili, she asked cautiously: "Anxi?"

"Hahaha!"

Liu Chengzong held back for a long time, and finally applauded and laughed: "Yes, it is Anxi, Kashgar, Yingjisha, Yecheng, Shache, Hotan, and Kuqa. Those are places that are difficult for me to go to. I will establish achievements in the south of Tianshan Mountains to promote Wanghua. , it is considered that the chieftain has contributed to the country."

That was something Fan Sanlang didn't even dare to think about. She shook her head and didn't say any more, and she didn't have anything else to say... Throw the toast to Xiaoduidan and Delingha, and others may not be willing to go.

Fan Sanlang is not the little girl who knew nothing about military affairs in the past. She knows all the preparations needed for marching and where the battle should start.

Throw the army to Anxi, don't say that the land there still has an owner, even if it is an unowned land, how to rush all the way there is a big problem.

The most important thing is that fighting a battle in the northwest is meaningless to the Marshal's Mansion.

Fan Sanlang felt that Liu Chengzong was very paranoid about the territory, and they lost more than they gained in obtaining the Kangning Mansion. The materials from the south and the support from the north could not be delivered, but they dispersed a large number of talented officials and generals.

If there is another battle to the northwest, it is not a big problem to disperse more manpower. The two wars across the snow-capped mountains and deserts will have very little gains.

She planned to have time to persuade Liu Chengzong that the existence of Yeerqiang and Turpan did not pose a threat to the Marshal's Mansion, but not now.

Soon, Ye Bingqian's persuading letter was written, and he sent it to Shuai Zhang nervously. After Liu Shizi read the letter, unexpectedly, Liu Chengzong asked him to deliver the letter himself.

Ye Bingqian was dumbfounded, he didn't know what Liu Chengzong was thinking for a while, and asked out of nowhere: "Then, the handsome, shall I come back?"

Liu Chengzong was amused, why did he ask such a question, he smiled first, and then stood up and said solemnly after the smile subsided: "I hope you can conspire with me for great things, but your brother is over there, I advise him to help him, It's all up to you, if we meet again, it may be that soldiers are approaching the city, and the journey will be safe."

Ye Bingqian was stunned, nodded slowly, and finally heard Liu Chengzong call the guards to return the sword to him, escorting him out of the control area of ​​the Marshal's Palace army.

Ye Binggan's lips were trembling, not necessarily because of his gratitude, but more likely because of the rest of his life after the catastrophe, he bowed heavily to Liu Chengzong, and then left with the guards.

When Ye Binggan walked away, Fan Sanlang opened the curtain to look, and then asked in doubt: "You just let him go like this, instead of letting him persuade him to surrender under the city?"

"He is a hostage. If you drag him to the city to persuade him to surrender, hold Ye Guoqi up, and perform a show of righteousness and extermination of relatives. If I kill him under the city, what use is there other than making the defenders feel that they are heroes?"

Liu Chengzong shook his head: "Let him go to the city to disintegrate the enemy's fighting spirit. This is also a siege. The army is overwhelming, but the enemy is mistakenly thinking that this is not a fatal situation. There is still a chance to surrender, so they can't fight back."

On the ninth day of February in the sixth year of Chongzhen, Ye Bingqian walked from Laoya Gorge to the upper river beach controlled by the vanguard army of the marshal's mansion, crossed the river ditch where the Tangma scouts of the two armies fought, entered the camp of the Ba Nuan Sanchuan camp, and entered the Binggou Racecourse in the afternoon of the same day .

At this time, the Hehuang Han local army was still gathering at Shangchuankou, and Ye Guoqi, who had left the Hehuang stronghold of the imperial court by himself, was overjoyed to see his younger brother, but the worry on his face was hard to get rid of... Just before Ye Bingqian came back , Ye Guoqi was negotiating with Mo Yujing who had just arrived at Binggou Racecourse about asking for help.

There used to be a fixed number of native soldiers for various chieftains, but beyond the quota, almost every man in the Tujia family was a native soldier in times of crisis.

Under the conscription, nearly [-] local soldiers and war horses gathered here. Although the soldiers were large but not skilled, they were stationed around the camp city, horse farm city, and post city, and consumed more than [-] stones of grain and grass every day.

Most of the troops were recruited as civilian husbands, and several generals discussed with the left-behind gentry to raise food, and transported supplies between the North and South Valleys, but this was still a drop in the bucket.

This year's valley is short of food, and there is no backup. The food and grass they raised are only enough to last for [-] days; it is not yet known when the follow-up reinforcements will arrive.

So even though Ye Bingqian did not die in the hands of Liu Chengzong, his arrival is still not good news for the defenders, on the contrary...he brought Liu Chengzong's ultimatum, two days.

Ye Guoqi read the letter, but he didn't intend to surrender. Instead, Ye Bingqian persuaded him a few words, and Ye Guoqi ordered that Ye's native soldiers take him to the official house in Machangyi City and put him under house arrest, so as not to disturb the morale of the army.

However, no matter whether it disturbs the morale of the army, the defenders have few tactics to choose from. The worst option is to stick to the small town and give up the vast fields outside the city, and the second is to stick to the two rivers in a field battle. There is no other good choice.

In the shadow of a famous tree, Liu Chengzong moved to northern Shaanxi and defeated He Huchen's Ningxia frontier army head-on.

But Mo and Jing have no better way. Later, Lanzhou is deploying troops, food and equipment to provide support to Hehuang, so they can only rely on the river to try field battles.

However, the field battle did not bring them much advantage, because the two tributaries of the Huangshui River facing north and south were only a dozen steps wide.

Mo Yujing selected 1 local soldiers and distributed them to three battalions. On a river, two battalions were distributed with bridges as the fulcrum. They dug trenches and laid mines to construct camps to defend the river bank, and a battalion at the other part of the Erdao River served as a supporting force. In case the front line is unfavorable, it is better to withdraw to Shangchuankou and station in the city for defense.

Ye Guoqi asked the soldiers to send a letter to Liu Chengzong, first to thank him for letting Ye Binggan back, and second, to deceive him, to see if he could delay for two more days, because Liu Chengzu's rangers harassed him on the other side of the river. , causing a lot of trouble to planting landmines.

Unexpectedly, the next morning, the letter had just crossed the Erdao River, and Mo Yujing, who was standing on the dirt hill, had already ordered someone to fire the trumpet.

Through the binoculars, he saw the east entrance of Laoya Gorge ten miles away from the end of the valley. The black army and banners were passing by, like a black mist covered in smoke and dust, divided into several strands, and spread to the entire valley.

At noon an hour later, the main force of the Marshal's Mansion was close to four or five miles away from the Erdao River. Not real.

Soon afterward, you can see the shining reflection of the Mongolian saber, and gradually you can distinguish that the troops encircling the left and right wings are all cavalry, and in the middle is the infantry line with shining armor everywhere.

Until a mile away, the advancing troops sweeping across the valley stopped. Even without the help of binoculars, Mo Yujing could easily identify the enemy's head and torso, which made him relax a little.

The infantry in the middle of the enemy army was not as elite as expected, most of them were wearing mail armor and leather armor, and the flickering armor he saw was just a leather armor's breastplate.

The only thing that surprised him was that in his impression, Liu Chengzong's army should be a frontier army. Why did it look so similar to Beilu?
Then when he raised his head, Mo Yujing was dazzled by the afternoon sun, and he cursed in his heart: Liu Chengzong's little trick!
　Good morning!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)