Chapter 824 Don’t abuse your subordinates

Chapter 824 Don’t abuse your subordinates

In Puning Temple in Jiangling City, Wang Bao tried his best to make his expression more sincere. He looked at Li Miao in front of him and almost begged: "Now that your army has arrived outside Jiangling City, Your Majesty still strictly orders us not to be disrespectful and offend Li Marquis. With such affection, how could Li Hou not be moved?

Even leaving aside the disputes between the two countries, Marquis Li stayed in Jiangling for several months, and we and other Jiangling scholars were always attentive, courteous, and friendly to us. Now I don’t know where the provocation started, but Li Hou wants to abandon the people and make us panic and have nothing to do. How can Li Hou show mercy without feeling anything? Today, Your Majesty has sent you a warm invitation to ask Li Hou to accompany you to the palace and teach our people how to repair the old and relieve the war..."

When Li Miao heard that Wang Bao was still imagining that the situation could be saved, he couldn't help but laugh. Then he looked at Wang Bao and said, "Wang Pushe is so courteous, I really don't deserve it. If I don't dare to speak too wildly about the plan of Sheji, but if I only ask about my own safety, I have a few words to give to you."

After Wang Bao heard this, he immediately became energetic, and his eyes when he looked at Li Miao suddenly became fiery. He bowed to Li Miao, and then whispered: "If you can give me advice on how to make a living, Ruo so... As long as I am still alive, I will be deeply grateful for your great kindness!”

Li Miao had spent some time in Jiangling and had some understanding of the spiritual outlook of the people here, so he was not surprised by Wang Bao's reaction.

"You idiot? If the army had not moved, the situation between the two parties could still be saved. Now that the troops have arrived, how can we stop the war with just a few words? This battle is inevitable and no one can stop it!"

He spoke decisively first, dispelling Wang Bao's unrealistic thoughts, and then said: "But you can see the current affairs and scenery of Jiangling. What is it that General Li must take? Where are there no mountains and rivers? Where are there no mountains and rivers?" People? If this is the case, why should we fight for Guangling?

What General Li values ​​​​is the rites, music, classics and principles, and the person with the crown! In the old Yongjia disaster, the Jin family lost its country, and the life and death of your ancestors ended in Jiangzuo. What a great contribution! The rites have been passed down to this day, but the Liang family cannot keep them. If you return to the north, it can be said that the above-mentioned ancestral aspirations and far-reaching virtues will shine through the annals of history, and your name will be passed down to generations! "

"This, this... Your Majesty is treating me very kindly today, and I tolerate it! Moreover, the struggle between the north and the south is not just for a short period of time. The strength of the moment is strong and weak, and each has its own. How can the plan of a hundred generations be determined by the trend of a moment? !”

After Wang Bao heard this, he immediately shook his head, saying that he was by no means a short-sighted person. However, he soon felt that such a refusal seemed too straightforward, so he added: "Today, I have more than 200,000 scholars in Jiangling. The troops working together are far more than the thousands of cavalry outside the city can capture! What's more, we have already realized that the troops of King Qin from all directions will arrive in a moment. General Li, even with hundreds of thousands of elite troops, cannot defeat me! Is it true that General Li can gather this grand armor?"

After Li Miao heard this, he laughed again: "If you want to conquer Tiannan and unify the north and south, even if you have a hundred thousand people, you may not be able to do it. But if you just conquer Jiangling, an army of 30,000 is enough. And if you want to decide your life or death, you can only use half a foot." The edge is more than enough!”

When Wang Bao heard this, he jumped back in fright. He glanced at the armored soldiers who followed him outside the temple and then regained his composure. He looked back at Li Miao and said fiercely: "Now Li Marquis is here. But there are no thousands of troops!”

"But there are many ministers in the city whose lives depend on this!"

Li Miao sneered tit-for-tat, and then looked at Wang Bao and sighed: "Wang Pushe and others didn't know that the disaster was coming, how could I not? The reason why I still stay in this dangerous place is because there are people here who are more dangerous than me." More important things! I know that the collection of books in the East Pavilion of the Imperial Garden is very large, which is the accumulation of several generations of literary works in the Southern Kingdom. If you can protect it and present it to General Li when the city is destroyed, it will be a success even though the country will be destroyed! "

When Wang Bao heard this, his eyes suddenly flashed, but he quickly shook his head and said: "The situation is critical now, and the whole country is fighting. I also need to be ordered by the superiors. How can I stay in the inner garden? Although the Lord's intention is beautiful, , but it’s not something I can use.”

Seeing that Wang Bao was moved, Li Miao added: "General Li's men are all talented and brave men. How can Pushe and other ministers and scribes be able to compete with him? If the Lord of Liang really sent the ministers to face the enemy, he would be overqualified and underused. Can the national security be maintained? Pu She may take advantage of the situation to make a suggestion and bring the family members of the ministers to the inner garden for protection. I can also take advantage of this to enter and occupy the East Pavilion.

If Jiangling can be defended, I will not be able to escape even with my wings. If Jiangling is not defended, and I am here to hold it, the Liang Lord's inner garden can be saved from being looted by the armored soldiers. The scriptures, articles, officials and their families are all brought to life by the thought of Pu She. What is the thought of Pu She? "

"This, this...are you willing to make a covenant with me? You will not cause trouble in the inner garden until the city is destroyed!"

In normal times, Wang Bao would certainly not agree to such an unbelievable and treasonous proposal, but now that the Wei army has arrived at the city, Li Miao has the confidence to bewitch him again and again, making him confused and hoping to find a way to win both the victory and the defeat. ways to protect yourself.

Li Miao's proposal is undoubtedly in line with his needs. The people in the city are currently in chaos, and His Majesty the Emperor urgently needs a way to control the ministers. He gathers the ministers' family members in the inner garden under the guise of protection, but in fact they detain them. I believe that His Majesty the Emperor also Will not refuse. With so many people entering the inner garden, it would be difficult to inspect them one by one, and Li Miao and his entourage were not conspicuous among them.

If Jiangling could be defended, then Wang Bao would have made a meritorious deed by detaining Li Miao and his entourage in the inner garden in advance instead of letting them escape to do evil. If he can't hold on, then as Li Miao said, only the Xiao family will lose, but he has made the greatest contribution to preserving Jiangling culture and the families of hundreds of officials.

Of course, this matter is not without variables and risks, but compared with the huge benefits, this risk is not worth mentioning.

After making an agreement with Li Miao, Wang Bao arranged for the armored soldiers to be stationed here, and he led the others back to the garden to pay homage to the emperor.

At this time, Xiao Yi was busy setting up defenses throughout the city. He felt a little unhappy when he saw that Wang Bao came back alone and did not bring back Li Miao.

Wang Baoze quickly explained: "I secretly plotted against the envoys of the Wei army, but it was just an excuse. No matter how polite I treated their envoys, the Wei people would not retreat. On the contrary, they would only increase their arrogance and think that I, the king and my ministers, would not retreat." I am timid and dare not fight. Now Chengyi is united in resisting the Wei people's attacks, but the battles have been fruitless. Only when we know that our city is strong and the soldiers are strong, can we get twice the result with half the effort by inviting the Wei envoys to negotiate."

After Xiao Yi heard this, his expression softened slightly, and he said in a deep voice: "We must guard the Wei envoy tightly and prevent him from visiting the masses and shaking people's hearts!"

He also knew that there were many weak officials in his court who were not willing to suffer at all. There might be some who could not stand the coercion of the Western Wei Dynasty and secretly defected to him.

After hearing the words, Wang Bao nodded in agreement, and then said: "On my way back, I have seen a lot of chaos in the city, especially the ministers who blocked the streets and built their houses for garrison, making the house chaotic. It is better to gather all the families of the ministers in the inner garden and protect them. Firstly, it can prevent the families from being disturbed by their clans. Secondly, it can make the ministers have no worries and do not have to distract their families. They can gather all the households to strengthen the city defense. !”

When Xiao Yi heard this, his eyes suddenly brightened, he clapped his hands repeatedly and said: "Pu She is a really talented countryman! Wei soldiers have invaded from the south. So far, I have dozens of people discussing the matter, but there is only one person who can discuss matters so impartially." Just one person!"

As he spoke, he took off his sword and handed it solemnly to Wang Bao's hand. He said sternly: "I will leave this matter to Pu She. Don't let any of your family members be left behind! You and others will guard the country for me. I will protect the children of your family as a minister. If I am fine, everyone will be safe!"

Wang Bao took the sword given by the emperor and loudly accepted the order. He turned a blind eye to the angry gazes of the officials in the palace that almost pierced him. He raised the emperor's sword high and exited the palace, starting to carry out this latest task.

When Jiangling City finally became alert and began to deploy defenses to meet the enemy, the armies of the Western Wei Dynasty also met in the wilderness north of Jiangling. Like the biting north wind, they came straight towards Jiangling City.

Li Tai had already prepared heavy troops in Wuning, Xiakou and other cities. Coupled with the main force of 30,000 Jingzhou troops led by himself, 60,000 government troops from the south of Guanzhong, and 20,000 Xiangyang troops led by Liang Wang Xiao Qi, the total was The number of troops has reached tens of thousands.

Therefore, when the army arrived at Jiangling, the entire field north of Jiangling City was filled with black military formations, and the border could hardly be seen. Such a majestic military force is enough to make people despair.

Prior to this, most of the soldiers and civilians in Jiangling City had already known the news that the Western Wei Dynasty was about to invade, and under the leadership of Jiangling civil and military officials, they actively built city defenses. At this time, there were many forces outside the city building fences and fortresses for defense. But when they saw the enemy troops fighting in such a formation, the people were immediately frightened and swarmed back into the city, leaving the entire city in chaos.

Li Tai, who was in the army in the north of Jiangling City, did not order an attack while taking advantage of the chaos. Instead, he ordered the soldiers to start setting up camp, while he and the generals led a group of soldiers to ride forward and circle the city to observe the situation outside the city.

Due to years of war, there were a large number of displaced people in Nanliang. As Emperor Xiao Yi of Liang established his rule in Jiangling, these refugees also gathered in Jiangling. However, the capacity of the city of Jiangling was limited, so most of the people could only stay outside the city and live in shanties outside the city.

Li Tai saw a large shantytown outside Jiangling City. The densely packed shack buildings would make people with trypophobia go numb. Because of the existence of these shantytowns, the entire Jiangling City is visually bloated by more than ten times. Except for the towering city gates and towers, the city wall itself is almost invisible.

Nowadays, these shantytowns have been included in the defense area of ​​Jiangling. However, looking at this posture, it is definitely not that Jiangling's monarchs and ministers are well-intentioned to protect the homeless people outside the city, but clearly want to forge these people outside the city into a barrier of flesh and blood. !

The Jiangling garrison set up layers of fences, ravines and other defenses outside the city in a very short period of time. Of course, this was not because of how powerful their mobilization force was, but because the labor force outside the city was too large. Much more, and at absolutely no cost. There is no need to strictly supervise. In order to survive, the people must work day and night to repair and defend things.

These precautions are not placed in a complete circle outside the residential area, but are distributed layer by layer in the residential area. This means that if the Western Wei troops outside the city want to attack the main body of Jiangling City, they must break through the populated areas outside the city layer by layer!

Li Tai has been in charge of the army for many years, so he is naturally not benevolent, but after seeing the posture of Jiangling City to respond to the enemy, he couldn't help but secretly take a breath.

Historical records record that during the Battle of Jiangling, Lang Zhongshu of the Southern Liang Dynasty, Yin Buhui, supervised the battle elsewhere and was separated from his mother. Her mother died in the war. Yin Buhui spent seven days rummaging through a ditch filled with corpses before he found his mother's body. . Even the families of officials are not immune. You can imagine the fate of ordinary people!

Attacking Bafu on the eve of the Battle of Jiangling was Li Tai's premeditated plan long ago, and it was not just because he had not had the ability to fight against Bafu to a certain extent until this time. Even if he was still not prepared enough, he would still take the risk and give it a try.

Because the Battle of Jiangling in history was an out-and-out catastrophe, the city of Jiangling suffered even more damage than Jiankang during the Hou Jing Rebellion. Whether it was the economy, people's livelihood, or culture, Jiangling suffered heavy losses that almost never recovered during the Sui and Tang Dynasties!

The barbarism and cruelty of the Western Wei Dynasty, and the cowardice and incompetence of the Southern Liang Dynasty were all vividly displayed in this war. The records left in the history books are terrible, but how miserable were the Jiangling people who actually had to endure these sufferings? ?

When people pass by, they leave their names, and when geese pass by, they leave their voices. Li Taixianlai was also thinking about what new changes he could bring to this world after he came to this world? Is it technological innovation, cultural progress, economic prosperity, or military strength and institutional perfection?

But these are too broad and unquantifiable. The small goal he set for himself in the end was not to achieve something on his own, but to do his best to prevent a catastrophe that should have happened, and to lead the completion of this in his own way. A battle of Jiangling!

Even when Shicheng countered Yu Jin, Li Tai only had the calmness to make plans before taking action, but looking at the bloated and chaotic city in front of him, he couldn't help but feel excited: Jiangling, I'm coming, follow me Get out of that catastrophe together!

Because there are large shantytowns outside Jiangling City, the city has expanded greatly outward, with a circumference of dozens of miles. It took almost two hours for Li Tai to ride his horse and look around the city. By the time he returned to the camp, it was already dark, and the first day outside Jiangling City had passed.

Early the next morning, Li Tai began to arrange various siege arrangements. He first asked people to dig earth and plant trees in the open area east of Jiangling City to build a large city fortress. At the same time, he also ordered people to build mountains of earth every few miles around Jiangling City. The Liang sergeant who had a loud voice was recruited and asked to climb the mountain to shout to persuade them to surrender. As for the target of persuading surrender, it was not the monarchs and ministers in the city, but the people outside the city.

"The Lord of Liang, Xiao Yi, is called the king, but he is actually a traitor to the country! In the old years, Hou Jing was in trouble in Jiankang. Xiao Yi abandoned his father and refused to save him. He was unfaithful and unfilial! He rejected Shaoling in Yingzhou, killed Hedong in Changsha, and Shen Yu Zhang Yu in the river, not going to the country when the country is in danger, mutilating limbs first, is unkind and unjust..."

The numerous crimes committed by Emperor Liang Xiao Yi were constantly shouted out by the sergeants on Tushan Mountain. At the same time, General Li's principles of conquest were also shouted out over and over again: "I, Daxingtai, Guandong Road of the Great Wei Dynasty, and General Li, the Duke of Taiyuan, supervise and rule." Master Wang is here to declare his majesty and righteousness! The unscrupulous king can be defeated, but the innocent subordinates cannot be abused!

Today, General Li has built a city for the people, and the people of Jiangling will be safe when they enter the city. They will not be harmed by swords and soldiers, they will be given food and clothing, and their fields will be equalized! You Jiangling scholars and people have no property, so whose country is it? There is no thread on the shoulders, no grain on the belly, no parents to support you, no wife and children to protect you, how can you stay with an unruly king and fail to rule by benevolence and righteousness! Hurry, hurry up, it's too late! "

Today is the National Memorial Day. I would like to express my condolences to the compatriots who died in the Nanjing Massacre. Don’t forget the national humiliation. May our family and country be safe forever! ! ! I will try my best to finish writing the Battle of Jiangling tomorrow, and then turn my perspective back to Guanzhong. . .