On the occasion of rebirth Zhou Sui

Chapter 374
In the fourth year of Renshou (AD 604), since Yang Liang, king of Han Dynasty, and Cui Che, Duke of Yan State, issued a proclamation in the name of emperor Yang Guang's father-killing, public opinion was uproar all over the country.

For Cui Che's raising of troops, the Boling Cui family naturally overwhelmingly supported him.

He led the army from Xianyu County to the south, and when passing through Anping County, among the clan's children, those who studied literature brought their own pens and inkstones, and those who practiced martial arts brought their own bows and horses, and they all followed.

When Cui Che claimed to have an army of 20, but in fact 5000 people arrived in Jizhou, as his envoy, Wei Zheng from Julu also first came to Qinghe County, Beizhou (now Qinghe, Hebei).

Qinghe County is the ancestral land of the Qinghe Cui family. It is not far from Zhixindu County of Jizhou Prefecture (now Hengshui, Hebei Province), only [-] miles away. You can walk back and forth in a day on foot with a wheat iron stick.

Cui Che moved to Xindu County, which undoubtedly deepened the Qinghe Cui family's perception of the troubled times.

With his head held high and his chest held high, Wei Zheng shared his interests with the elders of the Cui family in Qinghe:
"Since the annihilation of Qi in the previous Zhou Dynasty, we Kwantung scholars have been repeatedly oppressed, and the first emperor even issued an edict that we are not allowed to forge weapons privately, and we are treated like bandits.

"In the past, when the barbarians were in great numbers, we had no choice but to keep our useful bodies and serve on our knees.

"Now Duke Yan is sitting on the elite soldiers of Yan and Zhao, holding high the banner of righteousness, punishing the riots, in the land of Hebei, who can beat him up!

"Li Jing, the head of a man, the Duke of Yan is marching south with an army of 20, but those who resist will surely become fans!"

In fact, without Wei Zheng's persuasion, the Qinghe Cui family was already dissatisfied with their situation in the Sui Dynasty.

After the fall of the Northern Qi Dynasty, the Kwantung scholars suffered a huge psychological gap.

On the one hand, they flaunt their noble blood, but on the other hand, they have to face the situation that most of the interests in the court are divided by the nobles of Guan Long.

Those nobles from Guan Long have always been looked down upon by the five surnames and seven clans, thinking that they are all barbarians.

For example, Yang Su hoped to marry the Cui family of Qinghe, and asked for the daughter of Cui Zhen for his son Yang Xuanzong. Cui Zhen was only a member of the fifth rank, and Yang Su was a minister of Zuo Pushe and Duke of Yue, and he was a veritable civil servant. the first.

Cui Zhen thought that Yang Su's ancestor had pretended to be the Yang family of Hongnong, so he despised him, spoke disrespectfully and arrogantly, and Yang Su was so angry that he walked away.

The Cui family of Qinghe was dissatisfied with being excluded politically, but only suffered from the stability of the Sui Dynasty's rule, so they swallowed their anger.

Now that Cui Che raised his troops, for the Hebei scholars, he was not only a strong soldier, but also Cui Jishu's grandson, he was also from a famous family, and he was his own person of noble blood.

After Cui Che gained the support of the two noble clans of Fanyang Lu and Boling Cui, only the Qinghe Cui and Zhaojun Li's top families remained in Hebei.

The Li family of Zhaojun and the Cui family of Boling have been married for generations, and they have a close relationship, and they are Cui Che's mother clan.

When Cui Che was in Dingzhou, he had already sent people to Zhaozhou to get in touch with them. However, because Cui Che planned to go directly to Xiangzhou, the Li family of Zhaojun decided to wait and see for the time being. If Cui Che could really defeat Li Jing and win Xiangzhou, Zhaozhou will change its flag.

As for the Cui family of Qinghe, they had to make an immediate decision, because Beizhou was on the way Cui Che had to go to attack Xiangzhou.

After Wei Zheng made a generous speech, he was invited to drink tea in the side hall, and the elders of each house were allowed to discuss on their own.

For a long time, the suzerain of Qinghe Dafang, as a representative, approached Wei Zheng and promised to secretly help Cui Che seize Beizhou, but until Cui Che and Li Jing had a winner, the Qinghe Cui family would not send their children to openly participate.

Wei Zheng expressed his understanding of this, Cui Che was ready to divide his troops to besiege Beizhou from the very beginning, and now Qinghe Cui's willingness to help is already a surprise.

On September 604th in the fourth year of Renshou (AD [-]), Cui Che's vanguard, Mai Tiezhang, led Yinan Khitan with [-] cavalry soldiers, and first came to Qinghe County, the seat of Beizhou Prefecture, and stationed outside the city. Cui Che then arrived .

That night, there was an inner door in the city, and Mai Tiezhang led the army to enter the city. Without much resistance, he captured Qinghe County and captured the governor of Beizhou alive.

After entering Qinghe County, Cui Che immediately ordered people to invite the suzerains of the Qinghe Cui family who were in the county to recall the glory of their ancestors together with them, so as to deepen their mutual feelings.

The next day, the rest of Beizhou's counties surrendered in anticipation. With the secret cooperation of the Qinghe Cui family, Cui Che captured the entire Beizhou without bloodshed.

The top aristocrats such as the Qinghe Cui family and the Boling Cui family are undoubtedly all-round infiltrating the prefectures and counties where their clans are located.

In the local military and political system, their children or in-laws can be seen everywhere.

This is also why Liu Fang, as the governor of Dingzhou, still has to bow his head and obey Cui Che's orders. Dingzhou is already under the control of the Boling Cui family.

On the day when Beizhou was captured, Cui Che replaced Huang Baiji as the governor of Beizhou, and led his army to march south along the Zhangshui River. Guantao County).

In Guantao County, the governor of Maozhou has already fallen into fear.

Even though southern Hebei is densely populated and economically developed, due to the fear of the imperial court, it has been continuously subdivided, resulting in a single state that actually does not have too strong a military force.

Facing the approach of Cui Che's army, the governor of Maozhou urgently asked Li Jing, the governor of Xiangzhou in the southwest, for help.

At this time, Yang Guang's edict not allowing Li Jing to go north to fight Cui Che had not yet been conveyed to Hebei, so Li Jing called his cronies to discuss countermeasures.

Due to Cui Che's rapid arrival, Li Jing only gathered [-] troops from the four prefectures of Xiang, Ming (zhi Yongnian County, now Yongnian District, Handan, Hebei), Wei (zhi Guixiang County, now Daming County, Handan, Hebei), and Wei.

Most of the bureaucrats were afraid of Cui Che's strength and were unwilling to rescue Maozhou, but hoped that Li Jing could stick to Yecheng and wait for the imperial court's reinforcements.

After all, their mission was not to put down Cui Che's rebellion by their own strength, but to wait for the imperial court's counter-insurgency army to arrive. However, Li Jing and others did not know that the imperial court had already formulated a plan to start with Hedong and then Hebei.

Among the crowd, only Li Jing suggested that the army go north, and he said:
"Duke Ming gathered the soldiers from the four prefectures and went north to rescue Maozhou, relying on the city, it is not without the power to fight.

"If you insist on defending Yecheng and ignore Maozhou, it will definitely lead to disaster."

Hearing this, Li Jing said doubtfully:
"Why did the pharmacist say that?"

Li Jing explained:
"Cui Che is a person who likes to play tricks.

"Maozhou is the gateway to the three states of Xiang, Ming, and Wei.

"Now that Duke Ming has dispatched elite soldiers from Ming and Wei prefectures to Yecheng, once Cui Che finds out, after capturing Mao prefecture, he will definitely abandon Xiang prefecture and take Ming and Wei first.

"If Ming and Wei have made a mistake, the soldiers are worried about their families, so they don't have the will to fight.

"At that time, Cui Che will attack Ye City again, and the army will be panicked. How will Duke Ming retreat from the enemy?"

Li Jing was frowning, and he knew what Li Jing said was reasonable, but Maozhou was not a strong city compared to the newly built Yecheng.

(End of this chapter)