Northern Dynasties Imperial Industry

Outside Xiangyang City, Liang Wang Xiao Qing stood at the front with a solemn expression, and behind and on both sides of him were the civil and military officials of Xiangyang. Everyone had tense faces, making the atmosphere here extremely depressing.

A team came slowly from the south to the north. The sergeants all walked in silence. The carriage in the center of the team carried the coffin of King Shaoling. In front of the carriage, Xu Heng, a former official of King Shaoling, was also dressed in plain linen. He was holding a linen flag to summon souls. His hair was loose and his feet were barefoot. He sang songs to summon souls as he walked.

This scene is particularly sentimental and makes people cry. Originally, the people holding flags and summoning souls should be the children and grandchildren of the deceased. However, the eldest son Xiao Jian, the third son of King Shaoling, died when Jiankang Taicheng was conquered by Hou Jing. The second son Xiao Que was surrendered by Hou Jing because of his bravery. When accompanying him on a hunt, he tried to shoot Hou Jing with his bow but failed and became a thief. The third son Xiao Chu was killed and was killed in the rebel army in the battle of Qichang.

Up to now, Prince Shaoling has lost his breath and all his subordinates' power has disappeared. After being poisoned, his body was abandoned in the wilderness. Only one old official was left to collect his body and send it to Xiangyang. Even ordinary people with children and heirs can still summon spirits with white flags. However, King Shaoling's soul summoned not only ma banners, but also broken banners, which meant that he had no descendants, and he himself had a bad death.

When the team carrying the coffin appeared in sight, Liang Wang Xiao Jin suddenly burst into tears. He cried sadly and wailed: "God, how can the Liang family be singled out! The national thieves have not been eliminated, and the domestic thieves have appeared again. It is unlucky for you, and all your relatives will suffer..."

Hearing the king's lamentation and wailing, the people in Xiangyang also cried bitterly, and for a while a mournful cry sounded throughout the south of Xiangyang City.

After welcoming the body of King Shaoling into Xiangyang, King Liang did not order an immediate burial. Instead, he temporarily placed his coffin in the Xishan Buddhist Temple in Xiangyang, and ordered officials and people to go there to worship.

The reason for making this arrangement was certainly not because King Liang had a particularly deep affection for his uncle, Xiao Lun, but because he wanted to make the fact that King Xiangdong poisoned his brother known to the public, so that the world would know the cruelty of his seventh uncle.

This went on for many days, and as the spring weather got warmer, Prince Shaoling's coffin could no longer hide the rotting stench of his body. Prince Liang still did not give any new instructions. Cai Dabao, his close confidant in the palace, had no choice but to enter the palace to ask for instructions. .

"Qiguan killed his nephew two years ago and his brother this year. In order to monopolize power, he has gone crazy. After all, he and I can't be at odds with each other. If we can't get rid of him, I won't be able to last long!"

Upon hearing Cai Dabao's request, King Liang frowned and said bitterly: "Right now, his army is fighting Hou Jing's rebellious army in Yingzhou, and he has no time to pay attention. If the military crisis in the east eases a little, he may have to turn around. Attack me. In order to save myself, I want to take this opportunity to send troops south and capture Jiangling. It can be used to pledge strength and boost morale."

As a close confidant of King Liang, Cai Dabao could naturally guess what he was thinking. After hearing this, he said: "Now Yong Mansion is protected by General Li of the Western Dynasty, and no one in eastern Hunan dares to commit a minor offense. And now the marquis Jingguo's thieves In order to harass and fight in eastern Hunan, we have not lost any important points. If I attack suddenly, no matter what the evidence is, I will inevitably be suspected of aiding the thieves! Moreover, the body of King Shaoling is rotten. If he goes with the army, it will be even more ominous! "

Hearing Cai Dabao's objection, King Liang sighed again and said: "I am also very doubtful about everything Cai Canjun said. Although Li Boshan has a close personal relationship with me, he is still a general of the Western Dynasty after all, and he has his own way of dealing with matters." The decision will not be based on my own interests. Take the purpose of sending Liuguan to Jiangling this time. If the Yong family wants to be at peace for a long time, it must not rely on external forces! The body is gradually decaying, so I plan to bury it in Xishan for the time being, carve a wooden body and march with the army, and then hold a grand funeral after Jiangling is captured!"

King Liang only answered two of the three questions raised by Cai Dabao. As for sending troops at this time, it would inevitably be suspected of helping the thieves, but he did not respond at all. It can be seen that he was eager to attack Jiangling. He just wanted to kill the King of Xiangdong preemptively. As for whether it would create an opportunity for Hou Jing's rebels to take advantage of However, he completely ignored and didn't care.

When Cai Dabao heard this, he couldn't help but sigh secretly in his heart. He still didn't want to sit back and watch the king act his own way, so he opened his mouth to advise again: "The main force fighting against the thieves in Yingzhou at the moment is the Ningzhou foreign army commanded by Xu Wensheng, not Jiangling's original force. The backbone of the army. Wang Sengbian, Hu Sengyou and other veteran generals are still in the town. Even if our army is dispatched, we may not be able to shake the Jiangling city defense! What's more, such a big plan is beyond the power of Yongfu. Why don't you inform Mianbei? …”

"No, absolutely not! I just said it, Li Boshan can't believe it! I know Cai Shenjun, you are very polite to him, but don't forget, Yong Mansion is where you work! This matter still needs planning, but it is You must not tell Li Boshan. I am only discussing this with Cai Canjun. If he knows, I am afraid that we will no longer be able to work together!"

Before Cai Dabao could finish what he said, King Liang immediately turned down his face and firmly opposed letting Li Tai know and participate in this matter.

In addition to wanting to pre-emptively resolve worries in his plot to Jiangling, he also hoped to expand his own power and reverse his situation as a puppet of the Western Wei Dynasty in one fell swoop.

If Li Tai of Mianbei was informed, if he felt that this plan was feasible, he would only use his own troops as the main force, while his Xiangyang troops would only be auxiliary, and they would not have any say in sharing the final spoils.

Of course, the greater possibility is to directly stop the King of Liang from doing this. After all, Jiangling is the main force against Hou Jing's rebellious army at the moment. With the troops of the King of Eastern Hunan supporting him in the front, it will also help Li Tai consolidate the Han Dynasty he occupied. land, and continued to expand into Jiangbei and Huainei.

Not to mention that King Liang was planning how to deal with King Xiangdong. Soon after King Shaoling's body was transported to Xiangyang, Li Tai also learned the news.

He couldn't help but sigh that Xiao Laoqi really dared, and he seemed to be a little disrespectful of everyone's intelligence. If you really want to hide it, you should hide it well. If everyone wants to say that you didn't do this, it's not a moral issue, it's a fucking IQ issue!

Xiao Laoqi's operation was within his expectation. It was nothing more than an operation to break through the bottom line again. Li Tai has no intention of making a big splash out of this for the time being. At the moment, his strategy against Jiangling is still to penetrate like a gentle spring breeze instead of making trouble in a big way.

As for the corpse of King Shaoling, it came to Xiangyang, which is also a good opportunity for Liang Wang Xiao Qi. If it can be run well, it can also increase the popularity and appeal of Liang Wang. His father, Prince Zhaoming, was originally the direct descendant of the Liang family, and his reputation was not bad. Now that the family and country are suffering and in turmoil, there must be some people in the Southern Liang Dynasty who miss Prince Zhaoming even more, so they are close to the king of Liang.

So Li Tai also sent someone to Xiangyang to express his condolences, and wrote some of his views in a letter and sent it along with him. Soon after this incident, it was their turn in the Western Wei Dynasty to have a feast again. Emperor Yuan Baoju, who had been lingering on the bed in recent years and was in poor health, finally died in March of Yangchun.

Even though the emperor was just a puppet, his death was also a national event.

However, the battle between Jiangling troops and Hou Jing's rebellious army in Yingzhou is currently going on, and the battlefield is only one step away from the Handong area. In order to prevent the war from spreading to the Jingzhou General Mansion, Li Tai needs to stay in Mianbei and have no time to return home. Go to funeral.

When he thought that his cousin Cui Qian had followed him to Jingzhou and never returned, Li Tai ordered Cui Qian to return home for the funeral on behalf of the General Manager's Office. While having a meal, he went home to see his family.

Regarding Yingzhou, after Xiao Yi, king of eastern Hunan, ordered Wang Sengbian to lead an army to drive away Xiao Lun, king of Shaoling, last year, he left his son Xiao Fangzhu as the governor of Yingzhou to stay there. Soon after, Hou Jing sent his general Ren Yue to lead an army into Xiyang and Wuchang in Kou Ying Prefecture.

At this time, Xu Wensheng, the governor of Ningzhou in Nanliang, summoned tens of thousands of horses from the territory to go north to Jiangling to defect. The King of Xiangdong appointed Xu Wensheng as the governor of Qinzhou and marched east to fight Ren Yue.

There was a great battle between the two sides. Ren Yue was unlucky and retreated to Xiyang. Hou Jing personally led troops to garrison Jin Xi in support of Jin Xi. As a result, the king of Nankang, Xiao Huili, and others attempted to launch a coup. However, they were defeated by Hou Jing's confidant Wang Wei. Calm down.

In short, during this period, Hou Jing was internally unstable and unfavorable in his external expansion. At the same time, millions of stones of grain and grass in Huainan were burned, so he sent an envoy to Mianbei and offered such high conditions to Li Tai, hoping to get his help.

When the time came this year, the King of Eastern Hunan sent another army to help. Xu Wensheng and other armies conquered Wuchang and moved forward one step further. Ren Yue asked Jiankang for help because of the unfavorable outcome of the battle, and Hou Jing personally led the army westward for reinforcements. In fact, it was also because the grain and grass in Huainan were robbed, and the Sanwu land was deeply troubled, and it was difficult to support Hou Jing's large rebel army around Jiankang, so they moved westward with the intention of supporting war with war.

After Hou Jing's army arrived in Xiyang, they confronted the Jiangling troops led by Xu Wensheng and set up forts along the river. Xu Wensheng led his troops to attack and won the first battle, forcing Hou Jing to retreat to camp in defeat.

Because Xu Wensheng's army was strong and Hou Jing heard that the defense in Jiangxia city behind was empty, he sent his generals Song Zixian and Ren Yue to lead hundreds of fine cavalry around Jiangbei to attack Jiangxia in the rear.

The general of Jiangxia is Xiao Fangzhu, the son of the King of Eastern Hunan and the governor of Yingzhou. He is only a fifteen-year-old boy who knows nothing about military affairs and spends all his time playing in the mansion. Bao Quan, the general sent by the King of Eastern Hunan to assist his son, only flattered and flattered him, relying on the fact that Xu Wensheng's army was nearby and did not build city defenses. When Song Zixian and others attacked, they successfully captured Jiangxia City.

After Jiangxia City was defeated, Xu Wensheng and other troops suddenly lost their rear route and the armies were in chaos. Hou Jing also took advantage of the situation to attack, defeated his army in one fell swoop, and directly occupied the entire territory of Yingzhou.

When the news that Yingzhou was conquered spread, various parties had different reactions to the news. Xiao Jin, the king of Liang in Xiangyang, was overjoyed. Taking advantage of the fact that the king of eastern Hunan was in dire straits, he immediately issued a proclamation announcing that the king of eastern Hunan He was charged with killing his clan members and other crimes, so he gathered all the troops to kill this family traitor!