Chapter 1150 Going to the Battle and Waiting
After February, as the Liang army broke into the heartland of Shu, the course of the war suddenly accelerated.
At this time, the changes in the situation are often calculated in the sky.
Li Xiong had fought a war with his father and brother at least, and knew that it had reached an extremely dangerous moment. When many elite troops in the middle of the country gathered in Hanzhong and Jiangzhou, the emptiness of the hinterland was astonishing.
To put it bluntly, there are no soldiers in the hinterland.
Most of the soldiers and horses from core and prosperous places such as Shu, Jianwei, Jiangyang, Xindu, Guanghan, and Zitong went to Hanzhong. Even the Qiang barbarians from Wenshan, Jinghua, and Hanjia counties were transferred north, and not many were stationed there.
As for the troops in Zhuti, Yuezhi and other places, due to the rebellion of Ningzhou, some counties rebelled against Jin, so General Li Long (son of Li Liu) led the south to Ningzhou to quell the rebellion. The people who were taken away even included some of the Banyan Man, the Liao people and the children of the six counties. They have not returned yet and have no time to come back.
Li Xiong's movements were actually very fast, but it still took about ten days to recruit more than 10,000 troops who could fight to Chengdu. He also led thousands of people who stayed in Chengdu, temporary recruitment of wealthy servants, palace guards, and new barbarians, totaling about 30,000, which was the only force he could use in a short period of time.
Thirty thousand people still look spectacular, but when they don’t look at the whole picture, they are full of bitterness when they look at the details.
There are only a few thousand children in the six counties, and the old and the young are extremely sad.
The one who commanded them was Li Shi, Li Xiong's elder brother, and Li Xiong is fifty-nine years old this year...
"Bojing, can the children of the six counties still fight?" Li Xiong asked, holding his brother's hand.
"Your Majesty, what else can I say? If you can fight or not, you have to fight." Li Shi said: "The descendants of the six counties are rich and noble. Even a small soldier can also be divided into fertile land and pass on their descendants. Now that the country is in danger, how can we not go into battle?"
Li Xiong silently looked at the soldiers lined up behind Li Shi.
There are a lot of "old men" in their forties and fifties. These are the founding troops of the country back then. They were already raised at home, but now they have been recruited to battle again.
"I--" Li Xiong wanted to say something, but he said a lot in his heart, and at the end he could only sigh, "I am ashamed of waiting."
The veterans were speechless.
After a long time, the old man who had a few fingers sighed, "Your Majesty, I can no longer open the bow, so I can only hold this spear and kill the thief for Your Majesty. More than 20 years ago, I got a good land and a beautiful house, and married a wife and had children. I have no regrets in this life. Now that half of my body is buried, what if I give this cheap life to Your Majesty?"
Li Xiong felt extremely uncomfortable after hearing this.
"Your Majesty." Another old man who lacked two front teeth and spoke a little leaked, said, "I have descendants too. This life is nothing precious. Even if you die in battle today, you will make a big profit."
Li Xiong took a few steps closer, patted his shoulder, and said nothing more.
Xuan looked at a soldier on the left again.
This is a 16 or 17-year-old Di Qiang boy with a confused expression. He was born and raised in Shu, but because he was a descendant of the military and civilians from the six counties, the so-called "deeply grateful to the country", he was conscripted.
He was a little incomprehensible because he had a house and land when he was born. He also raised seven or eight large livestock at home and a large pond to raise fish. He had never suffered much since childhood.
Those uncles and uncles said they wanted to repay their kindness with their lives. They could understand rationally but could not resonate with each other emotionally.
He didn't even want to go to war, and he was a little afraid of fighting.
He had never been in battle, and his deceased father rarely mentioned these things in front of him. When he talked about them occasionally, his father's face looked scary, as if it was the most terrifying thing in the world.
Li Xiong swept the boy's face, and he probably understood clearly.
The second generation, and the second generation born in peace, has never participated in the war, and has not even felt the atmosphere of war.
It feels like he is committing evil to recruit them to fight. But when the troubled times begin, who is not like this?
Li Xiong silently corrected the iron helmet on the boy's head.
A helmet is a good helmet, but a soldier is not a good soldier.
Next to the children of the six counties are palace guards and wealthy servants.
Seeing their appearance, Li Xiong was still a little disappointed.
The person who commanded them was the biological sons of General Jianwei Li Qi and Li Xiong.
His face was not very good either, but he had a few longings.
Li Xiong's eyes kept spinning on the palace guards.
These people boasted of bravery and loyalty and righteousness on weekdays, but when they were about to go into battle, their faces turned pale.
Yes, standing guard in the palace is one thing. Not only is it more money and less trouble, but it is also very convenient to be close to home, but it also gives you face if you tell it out.
It is another matter to fight hard. Not only is there no money, it is also extremely dangerous.
They have been living a pampered life for too long, and their wine, sex, wealth and energy have eroded their blood and courage.
As for those wealthy servants, they looked reluctant.
Some of them were trained as military generals, but they may not have all been on the battlefield.
Some of them are just following the master's family to show off their power in Chengdu. They are good at bullying the people. They fight for the lives of those warriors who come out of the dead - how many pairs of pants do you have to change?
Li Xiong didn't say much about these people. He just looked at his son and smiled reluctantly, "Shiyun, now my father and son are on the battlefield together, and it's a good story to tell them."
Li Qi raised his head and said, "Father, my son will fight bravely and defeat the thief."
He was only nineteen years old, and he was very passionate.
The troops gathered outside the city for inspection were boundless, with shining swords and distinct armor. Such a scene was so exciting, and such a powerful military power was so majestic.
Li Xiong was speechless when he heard this. After a long time, he looked at his son with a little apology.
This son grew up in the palace. He has been smart and studious since he was a child. He was generous and generous. When he came back to report after the military investigation, he was very informed and said very well. Li Xiong likes to listen very much, even though his son didn't say anything about it at all, because he saw himself when he was a teenager.
In fact, he still needs experience, precipitation, and insight, but he has no chance. Every family member must lead his troops to fight.
In this world, if a prince does not lead troops to fight or goes out to defend the vassal states, he will be self-destruction.
However, the first time Shiyun led his troops to battle was a life-and-death battle.
This is fate! Just like these soldiers, old, small...
Li Xiong finally looked at the strong and powerful people gathered from the surrounding counties and had just gone down the mountain for less than two years, and was speechless for a long time.
After ordering the rewards, the entire army went to war.
The vanguard governor was the former general Zan Jian, a member of the Banyan Man Zan. However, he had long moved to Guanzhong and was a nobleman from the six counties south, and was deputy to the royal family Li Yu. There were about three thousand people in his army, mainly Fang soldiers.
The governor of the Later Army, Shangguan Dun, was headed by palace guards and wealthy servants, with about 7,000 people, and Li Qi was the deputy.
The central army was about 20,000, mainly composed of the children of six counties, left-behind soldiers from Chengdu and the county soldiers selected by the counties. Li Xiong was personally led by the Taibao Li Shi, General Ren Yan, Wei Bo, Li Yi and others.
Thirty thousand people were swaying, heading eastward to Guanghan.
*******
The Li family and the six counties were passionate and swore to go to war, but the old tribes in Shu had a different mentality.
The prince Li Ban stayed behind the prison, and there were only three thousand guards around him.
Only these guards have been formed for more than a year, and their combat effectiveness is very suspicious.
After the scattered dynasty, Prime Minister Fan Ben, Writer Chang Li, Prince Shao Shi He Dian, Taichang Doctor Qiao Xianzhi, and Sili School Commander Jing Qian quietly gathered together.
When entering the Prime Minister's Mansion, everyone staggered the time to avoid being too eye-catching. Of course, this may be a waste of time. Now Chengdu is a little confused, and people are constantly volatile, and not many people care about them at all.
These people are all major families in Shu.
Fan Ben will not talk about it anymore. Although his ancestral home is Banyan Man, it is all old and now he is like a Han nationality.
Jing Qian is from Zitong and is also from a gentry.
The Changju family is a large family in Jiangyuan.
He Dian was from Pi County, and his ancestors were the Grand Sikong of the former Han Dynasty. He was exempted from office because of his opposition to Wang Mang's crime.
Needless to say, Qiao Xianzhi is a famous family in Shu.
From their identities, we can see that this is a group of old Shu tribes, who were officials of Shu gentry appointed to compromise after Li Cheng's establishment.
The Shu people were very opposed to the rule of outsiders.
This tendency occurred when Liu Yan and Liu Zhang were father and son in the late Later Han Dynasty. As far as Shu Han, conflicts between local tourists always existed.
Li Cheng was also hard to avoid the common people. The nobles of the six counties and the Banyan barbarian forces won over the local geniuses. Can they be convinced? Obviously not.
If possible, the wealthy families in Shu would rather expel all foreigners and build a Shu people's own regime.
But they are also pragmatic. If they can't beat it, they will lie dormant, and if the timing is wrong, they will jump back.
If Liu Zhang and Liu Chan can sell it, can Li Xiong not sell it?
If Shao Xun dies in the future, the world will be in chaos and the Shao family will be sold.
"Your Majesty's Eastern Expedition--" After Fan Ben sat down, he drove out all the servants and maids, then looked at everyone and said, "It's so dangerous."
Jing Qian's eyes rolled and said, "The Prime Minister thinks that these 30,000 people are not good at going to the army?"
"In order to save the 50,000 people in Jiangzhou, and another 30,000 people are spent. This transaction is too bad." Fan Ben shook his head and said, "Luo Yan returned from Badong's defeat, allowing Duan Liang to break into Shuzhong. If this hole is not blocked, there will be people coming in. The people who have already come in burned food and equipment everywhere and hindered the baggage department. If it is not annihilated, Jiangzhou may not be cut off, and the morale of the army will definitely be turbulent. In addition, the Gong family ran around, Banfengman had just suffered a great loss, and people's minds changed. If they win over it, the two counties of Dangqu and Brazil will change color, and the two counties of Ba and Fuling may also be different, and the overall situation will be really bad."
Everyone nodded repeatedly after hearing this.
This is what they are discussing recently. They are all facts. The Li family doesn't deny it, so they hurriedly searched for their old foundation and gathered 30,000 people to block the leak.
"Prime Minister, what are we doing at this time?" asked the young master of the prince.
Fan Ben was silent and stood up after a long time, put one hand behind his back and stroked his beard with the other hand. While walking, he said, "If the times are like this, people's minds will change. However, the battlefield changes constantly, how can outsiders know it all?"
"Sometimes you can win great achievements by turning against the city, but I don't think so."
"What if one day I win the battle? Then we will be in great victory and we will die without any remains. You have a great family and you really don't need to do this."
"Today only--" Speaking of this, Fan Ben turned around, looked at everyone, and said, "Wait."
"If the emperor wins, we will still be Li Jia ministers."
"If the emperor is defeated, we can do something decisive."
"Emperor Liang also needs the great clans in Shu, so he will definitely send envoys to comfort him. Wouldn't it be nice to sit and enjoy the benefits in this way?"
"The Prime Minister is wise." After hearing this, everyone laughed.
Which one of Liu Yan, Liu Bei, Sima Yan, and Li Xiong does not need to appease the Shu clan? Which one didn't make it to them?
Waiting for them to decide the winner and then surrender to the winner is indeed the best way to deal with it.
(This chapter ends)