Chapter 733: Return to Righteousness (Part 1)
On the first day of November in the third year of Shengui (319), nearly 30,000 troops have gathered under the city of Shaanxi County. Grain carts can be seen as far as the eye can see, light cavalry can be seen everywhere, and drums are beating. It can be heard everywhere, and the flags are blocking the sky...
No matter how stupid you are, you know that the Jin people are afraid of going to war, and they will take down Shaanxi County no matter what.
Liu Han led Yi Hou Pu Hong to hear the news of Wang Mi's defeat at Qili Stream, and immediately retreated to Hongnong County, the capital of Hongnong County, to wait and see - before, Wang Mi was worried that others would occupy Shaanxi County, but now It seems that the worry is in vain, I am not stupid.
The Qiang people who were originally farming and herding in Hongnong counties also began to slowly gather together, as if they wanted to fight hard, but also seemed to have other agendas.
In short, after several years of persistent westward expansion, the situation in Hongnong has undergone earth-shaking changes.
Hedong County, across the river, naturally also received the news.
On this day, Pei Dehou left Dayang and went to Wenxi.
He had to go.
There are thousands of troops stationed in Dayang, and the guard general is named Shihu. If there was still some military discipline in the past, as the situation changed, the military discipline in this department became worse and worse, and more and more things disturbed the people.
A few days ago, Pei Dehou, who came to inquire about information under the pretext of escorting grain and grass, was robbed - he heard that he was a member of the Pei family, so to save face, his clothes were stripped off, but no one was hurt.
As a last resort, Pei Dehou went to borrow clothes and trousers from his acquaintance Wubao Shuai, collected some information, and returned in a hurry.
In the evening, he arrived near the líng bridge.
A large number of soldiers gathered here, numbering no less than three thousand.
Pei Dehou subconsciously felt something was wrong.
He remembered that the people guarding this place were supposed to be soldiers from the Five Huns. Why have they been replaced now?
The new defenders wore the same clothes they wore when they were working at home and farmed, which were all miscellaneous and tattered. It was still very thin, and I shivered when the cold wind blew.
"Mr. Wei?" Suddenly, Pei Dehou looked at someone, who vaguely looked like Wei Zhan of the Wei family in Anyi.
"Who are you?" Wei Zhan was whispering to someone. He turned his head and said hesitantly.
“I’m glad that Pei Dehou has met Duke Wei.” Pei Dehou took a few steps forward and bowed in salute.
Wei Zhan nodded.
He had never heard of this person, so he must have a low status among the Wenxi Pei family. This could be seen from his double-character name.
In addition, he is also a little worried that the person who claims to be a descendant of the Pei family is fake. What if it's the secret room of the imperial court? At this critical moment, there is no harm in being cautious.
Seeing that Wei Zhan ignored him, Pei Dehou was not annoyed and continued northward past Dianshi Ban - this is the tunnel connecting the north and south of Zhongtiao Mountain. There are gorges and ravines on the east and west sides, and a road is built in the middle, as if The bridge is ordinary, so it is also called "Qiao Bridge".
At nightfall, he came to Yuyuan in Zhongtiao Mountain and stayed overnight at Wubao Shuaijia, who was a descendant of another branch of the Jia family in Pingyang. He did not live well in Zhongtiao Mountain. Hundreds of farming and herding families gathered together and attached themselves to the Wei family in Anyi.
When Pei Dehou arrived, Jia Gui gathered five hundred people and were waiting to go down the mountain.
Seeing them fighting with open fire, Pei Dehou was a little surprised and asked: "Where do you want to go?"
"Pei Jun doesn't know yet?" Jia Gui was a little surprised and said: " The imperial court has an order to rush south to assist Shaanxi County."
Pei Dehou was stunned, pointed to the east, and said, "Then why go east?"
The terrain of Yuyuan is higher, and there is Yu nearby. The city was sealed by Yu Zhong, the so-called Beiyu, that is, the Jin State used the road to attack Guo - Hongnong of the Guo State on the south bank of the Yellow River.
Jia Gui blinked, then smiled helplessly after a moment and said, "How long have you been out?"
"More than half a month." Pei Dehou replied.
"No wonder." Jia Gui suddenly realized, and then said: "I won't tell you much, I will find out when I get back. Tonight, there are three thousand soldiers in several Wubao, intending to take Yucheng in one fell swoop."< br>
To the south of Yucheng is Dianshi Ban, which is the road up the mountain. It is the road Pei Dehou took when he came, which is more than ten miles long.
To the north of Yucheng is Yuban, which is the way down the mountain. "The land is extremely steep" and is twenty miles long.
After going down the mountain, walk more than 30 miles north-west to Anyi, the county town of Hedong.
The Huns rebuilt the ancient city of Yu many years ago, storing grain, equipment and other military supplies, and at the same time controlling this key mountain tunnel.
Jia Gui and others said they wanted to capture Yucheng. There was no doubt that this was a direct rebellion. Pei Dehou was frightened when he heard this and asked hurriedly: "Has the situation changed?"
" The barbarians are all gone..." Jia Gui said mysteriously.
Pei Dehou seems to have some realization.
Seeing that he understood, Jia Gui stopped talking nonsense and said, "I'm going east first. After everything is done, I'll have a drink with you."
"Are you sure?" Pei Dehou couldn't help but ask. sentence.
Jia Gui laughed and said, "Someone opens the door."
After that, he got on his horse and left directly. Hundreds of people followed closely behind, with solemn expressions.
Pei Dehou secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
There are about two thousand miscellaneous Hu soldiers guarding Yucheng. Although these people fought, their daily expenses depended entirely on the supplies from the surrounding forts and manors. Over time, even chores such as woodcutting, cooking, washing horses, and mowing and drying grass were all taken care of by each fort in turn.
It can be said that if the local snakes have bad intentions, these Huns soldiers may die without knowing how. It would be too easy to trick them.
******
In the middle of the night, Anyi is as quiet as water.
In the city gate cave, more than a hundred soldiers gathered.
The leading military academy gritted his teeth and waved: "Open the door!"
The sergeants looked pale, but they did not dare to disobey the military order, so they had no choice but to open the south gate. The soldiers who had been waiting outside poured in like a tide.
The military academy stepped aside and quietly wiped away the sweat.
The soldiers defending the city are all locals.
Living in Anyi, how many people can avoid the influence of the Wei family?
Not to mention ordinary households, even powerful people will inevitably succumb.
A powerful man has soldiers and food, but lacks political background. When something happens, he has to help the nobles to settle things. Over time, it basically becomes a state of dependence.
The Wei family is the heaven of Anyi, it’s that simple.
You may have offended the county magistrate and fled to Zhongtiao Mountain. Nothing may happen. But if he offends the Wei family and goes to hide in the mountains, he might be captured by a Wubao commander like Jia Hou and presented to the Wei family.
The reach of the aristocratic family is so deep that outsiders can hardly imagine it.
Unless the local soldiers are favored by the county magistrate or prefect and their families and relatives are brought into the city for protection, they really cannot withstand the persecution of the local top families.
In the past, there were many Xiongnu and Zahu soldiers stationed in Anyi, and the local nobles were still afraid. Now that all the soldiers have been transferred, and the front line has been losing consecutive battles, the situation is quite unfavorable, but the situation is very different.
To put it bluntly, the Wei family could rebel before, but they didn't dare and couldn't bear the consequences, but now they have no scruples.
After the large group of troops poured into the city, they directly surrounded the prefect's mansion.
The killing sounds got louder and louder. Soon, the soldiers of the Taishou Mansion were killed and dispersed, and the Wei clan members rushed into the mansion.
The prefect Yin Ping, his hair disheveled, was pulled off the bed.
"Wei Daoshu rebelled?" Yin Ping pretended to be calm and looked at the soldiers who rushed into the bedroom.
No one talked nonsense with him, he was knocked to the ground, tied up, and escorted out of the prefect's mansion.
Yin Ping’s wife Zhang sat tremblingly on the bed, her eyes full of fear.
The remaining sergeants looked at each other and rushed forward, pressing Zhang under him and ravaging her in turn, venting their joy.
There is a military camp in Anyi City with two thousand sergeants. They used to be Huns, but have been transferred away and replaced by young men recruited locally. Just two days after arriving, Jin Hui hurriedly stood up and saw a large number of soldiers pouring into the street.
"Zhao Hei, take care of your people and don't act rashly." A high-pitched shout sounded outside.
A dark-faced man in the military camp was stunned, and responded loudly: "No."
After saying that, he immediately turned around, hit the panicked banker with a riding crop, and shouted: "Go back to the camp, go back to the camp!"
"Zhang Liu, the master of the house has done it anyway, take care of your servants and don't help the tyrants." Someone shouted again on the street.
"Yes." Zhang Liu led his more than 300 soldiers to disperse, returned to the barracks, and sat on the ground, with his sword unsheathed and his bow strung, in a state of alert.
"Wang Zhu'er..."
Shouts kept coming and going. In an instant, the restless sergeants were calmed down and went back to camp to wait for dawn.
Liu Congruo wonders if he will regret it when he sees this scene.
These local snakes overturned the grassroots political power of the Liu Han court overnight, causing the county and city of Anyi to change color instantly.
Of course, he should have known about the power of the aristocratic families for a long time, but he did not dare to take action against them, because that would lead to endless internal friction and give others opportunities.
In today's world, everyone has to compromise. No one can have an absolute advantage, and no one can do whatever they want.
******
Unlike the Anyi mutiny, Wenxi County was captured almost without bloodshed.
The county magistrate himself removed the Han flag and replaced it with the Jin flag.
On the afternoon of the second day of November, the Pei family messenger arrived in Dongyuan County. The county magistrate summoned two thousand men without any nonsense, beheaded all the hundreds of drunk soldiers in the city, and then closed the city gate. Anyway, return to Jin.
Almost at the same time, Pei sent thousands of cavalry to intercept the messenger on the post road from Wenxi to Zhiguan, and persuaded the baggage convoy to return.
Most of the convoys transporting grain and grass to Zhiguan came from counties in Hedong.
As the number one wealthy family in Hedong, Pei's orders are no worse than those of the prefect. Seeing what the Pei family did, they were surprised and realized something, so they all went back to their homes - it would be great if they could send less food out, since the Pei family would be the one to support them if the sky fell.
Of course, some people stayed, and this was a highly motivated family.
The Pei family sent people to gather them together, then dig trenches on the post road, cut down trees and set up fences, and build forts to hold them for a long time.
From a military perspective, this is the food route for the defenders at Duanzhi Pass.
On the evening of the second day of the Lunar New Year, more than a thousand armored warriors from Wenxi Pei's old house arrived at Hankou and built forts and camps here as the second line of defense.
As a result, the more than 10,000 Xiongnu troops who fought desperately to resist the Jin army in Wangwu Mountain not only lacked food, grass and equipment, but also seemed to be locked in a huge cage.
From a broader perspective -
The Pei family controlled Wenxi and Dongyuan counties, stationed troops at Hankou, and cut off the grain road of King Liu Xian of Quyang;
The Wei family controlled Anyi, the county town, and captured Yucheng, the general grain platform in the tunnel of Zhongtiao Mountain. Wei Zhan, the head of the Wei family, personally went south and built forts on Zhongtiao Mountain to stop the enemy forces in the direction of Dayang and Hongnong. Return to Hedong;
The Xue family of Fenyin and the Liu family of Jiexian have not launched yet, but they will soon, almost in the next few days...
Liu Han's war situation in Hedong and Hongnong , showing a tendency of erosion.
(End of chapter)