Turbulent Times Chapter 1616: Zhu Can’s Palace and Li Shimin

After news spread that Xu Shiji led the Wagang Camp to capture Maozhu County, the patriarchs of the seven wealthy families in Maozhu County, except for the Shi family who fled with Hong Yibo, the patriarchs of the other six wealthy families brought with them early in the morning Liangcao came to Maozhu County to express his allegiance to the Far East Army.

When the people inside and outside the city heard that it was the legendary Far East Army that occupied the county, they didn't panic at all. Instead, they were delighted and full of expectations.

As early as five years ago, Wang Junlin and Nie Xiaoyu formulated a plan to face the struggle in the ideological field of counties and counties throughout the world, and this plan was vigorously promoted by the Xiaoyu Theater, the Military Intelligence Office and other forces, and the effect was very good obvious.

Last year, Wang Junlin used only 50,000 to 60,000 troops to overthrow Li Mi and Zhai Rang Wagang's forces, which had 400,000 troops, in just two to three months. The victory in the ideological field played a very important role.

In short, the vast majority of the people and even many soldiers under the Wagang forces at that time turned their hearts to the Far East Army, and even worshiped King Qin'an Wang Junlin. In this case, the Wagang Army can win Weird thing.

But because of the shrewdness of Li Yuan and Li Shimin, they even noticed Wang Junlin's struggle in the ideological field, and took a lot of precautions against it. For example, the Xiaoyu Theater was almost forcibly banned in Hedong and Guanzhong. Some good things about Li Yuan were also strictly forbidden to be rumored, and even Li Shimin asked people to make up a lot of evil things about the Far East Army, which were widely circulated among some people and soldiers under Li Yuan's rule.

Therefore, the Far Eastern Army achieved very limited results in ideological struggles in Hedong and Guanzhong. This is also the result of the battle between the Far Eastern Army and the Li Yuan Group in the nearly half a year from last autumn to early spring of this year. It was widely launched or used by the Far East Army, which was one of the main reasons why Li Jiajun was held back internally.

However, in Zhu Can's territory, the Far Eastern Army's struggle in the field of ideology is even better than that under the Wagang Army. It can be said that the people under Zhu Can's rule in Hanzhong and Champion counties are looking forward to the Far Eastern Army's success. Arriving, in their hearts, the Far East Army or even the Heavenly Army sent by heaven, is the people's soldiers, representing the hope of a better life.

And when the Far Eastern Army occupied Maozhu County, Houqiu committed no crimes, not to mention no harm to the people, even if they purchased something, they paid full money according to the market price. Even the food and grass sent by the six wealthy families were paid at normal prices.

So, after occupying Maozhu County militarily, Xu Shiji did not encounter any obstacles, and controlled the entire Maozhu County very easily.

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Hanzhong, Lueyang County.

"The Far East Army is so fast, Xu Shiji led 60,000 troops across Bashan Mountain and captured Maozhu County." In the Tang Army's camp, Li Shimin held the information sent by the messenger, his brows were frowned, and his expression was solemn. .

"Second son, the Far Eastern Army's appearance in Champion County behind Zhu Can is naturally to compete with us, but it is beneficial to the war in front of us." Changsun Wuji said suddenly after thinking for a while.

"That's true." Li Shimin nodded slightly, agreeing, obviously he also thought of this: "There is my Tang army in the north, and the Far East army in the south, not to mention a little Zhu Can, even if the south has already built Liang Xiao Mian, who proclaimed himself emperor, might also panic."

Changsun Wuji said with emotion: "Zhu Can himself has already panicked, and his men and horses can be imagined. We have to fight quickly, before the Far East Army, and occupy more territory in Sichuan and Shu."

Li Shimin nodded, but then shook his head and said: "Of course there is nothing wrong with seizing more territory, but if we can't severely damage the Wagang Camp of the Far Eastern Army led by Xu Shiji, our follow-up plan in Sichuan and Shu It is difficult to deploy, and it will be threatened at any time."

Changsun Wuji's eyes flashed brightly, and said: "The second son thinks that it is more important to severely damage the Wagang Camp of the Far Eastern Army than to seize more counties?"

Li Shimin nodded and said: "That's right, I lost to the Far East Army led by Yuchi Jingde, Li Jing and others in Hedong. Li Jing’s treacherous scheme was due to the fact that the opponent had a large number of troops at the time, and the third was that he was facing the Tiger Battalion, Iron Spear Battalion, and Iron Hammer Battalion of the Far Eastern Army, all of which were old battalions of the Far Eastern Army.”

"However, what we are facing now is that we have only joined the Far Eastern Army for less than a year, and we have more troops than the other side. I'm afraid it will be difficult to appear again, not to mention that only by destroying this Far East Army can we completely control the land of Sichuan and Sichuan, completely connect Guanzhong with Sichuan and Sichuan, and lay down the foundation of the emperor."

Changsun Wuji said solemnly: "What the second son said is reasonable, but the problem is that although Xu Shiji was defeated by Wang Junlin, he was the commander-in-chief of the Wagang camp back then. Being famous all over the world is not easy to deal with, and now that you have the gunpowder weapons and steel plate armor of the Far Eastern Army, it may be even more difficult to fight."

"Zhu Can still has nearly 100,000 troops. If I join forces with Zhu Can..." Li Shimin looked confident.

Changsun Wuji was stunned for a moment, his eyes flashed, and he said solemnly: "It's just that Zhu Can may not believe us."

Li Shimin said with a smile: "Zhu Can was beaten by us and the Far Eastern Army at the same time. He must be in panic and despair, and Wang Junlin has already said that he wants to capture Zhu Can alive and cut him into pieces. This cut off the possibility of Zhu Can surrendering to the Far East Army

, and if I can give him a way to survive, or even promise him glory and wealth, he may not agree. "

Speaking of which, Li Shimin stepped forward and patted Changsun Wuji on the shoulder, and said again: "Of course, Zhu Can is a cannibal, just a lunatic, and some things may not be done according to normal people's ideas." Do it, so I need Wuji to go there personally, so I can rest assured."

Changsun Wuji was a little worried, but he has always acted decisively and considered issues very rationally. He knew that since Li Shimin had already proposed it, he had no room to refuse, so he immediately cupped his hands and said, "Don't worry, second son. Ji must persuade Zhu Can to join hands with our Tang army to deal with the Wagang Camp of the Far Eastern Army.”

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Xu Shiji knew that he was fighting for time with the Tang army led by Li Shimin, so on the second day after capturing Maozhu County, he left 3,000 people to guard Maozhu County. He led 30,000 cavalry and 20,000 infantry directly to Champion County city. In addition, there were 7,000 infantry soldiers left by him in Devil Pass.

However, the more than 2,000 horse thieves led by Kuang Niao quietly left the brigade under Xu Shiji's order before attacking Maozhu County last night, without a trace.

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Just when Xu Shiji led the army to Champion County at a leisurely pace, rumors were already spreading in the city of Champion County, people's hearts were floating, and undercurrents were surging.

"Prince Qin An's army has arrived, and Maozhu County was taken by the Far East Army overnight."

"I heard that the Far East Army opened a warehouse to release grain in Maozhu County. The people have all received the grain and have begun to divide the fields."

"I've also heard that as long as we are under the rule of Prince Qin An, we don't have to be afraid of bandits coming in, and we will be given these bitter fields. When I think about those days, I feel like I'm burning Get up."

These are the sayings that have been circulated among the people of Champion County in the past two days.

As for the generals and soldiers of the Zhu Family Army in Champion County, there were other rumors that were secretly passed on from person to person, and spread throughout the entire barracks within a day or two.

"The Far East Army is invincible. Li Shimin, who came to attack us from the north, is the defeated general of the Far East Army. Li's family and even the seven counties in the east of the river were snatched by the Far East Army. This Li Shimin was driven to us to attack us."

"I've been to Maozhu County, the city wall is no shorter than the county, and there are more than 10,000 people, not much less than ours. It's no wonder that our county can hold it."

"Isn't it? The devil's pass is so dangerous! I heard that General Wang Xiaoer led 10,000 people and was killed by the Far East Army in less than an hour, and he was so scared that he shitted! "

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Whether it's the rumors among the people of Champion County or the Zhu Family Army's barracks in the city, it's not normal that they spread like crazy in just a day or two. , or for a reason.

The so-called three people become a tiger, it has spread a lot, especially when everyone is saying these words, more and more people will unknowingly believe it is true, not to mention these words Most of Nakamoto is true, just a little exaggerated.

Of course, the fundamental reason why the people and soldiers in the city were able to believe these words in such a short period of time was the reason why the Far Eastern Army had already occupied Champion County in the ideological field.

So, in a short period of one or two days, almost all the people in Champion County were looking forward to the arrival of the Far East Army, while the soldiers were already extremely war-weary, and everyone believed in the ogre king Zhu Can The destruction is imminent, and no one wants to work for Zhu Can anymore.

And as the rumors became more and more serious, and commotions continued to occur, some rich and powerful people in the city had other thoughts, and when they had some thoughts, mysterious people soon took the initiative Come and hit it off with them.

The soldiers even secretly hid their weapons and became deserters.

Although the guard Zhao Changshu killed nearly a hundred deserters, deserters continued to appear, and the fleeing trend triggered by rumors became more and more intense. In just two days, half of the soldiers of the Zhu family in the city fled, and three In just two days, there were only more than 10,000 defenders left.

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When the wave of desertion in Champion County City intensified, Shen Guang in a mansion deep in a certain alley in the city was secretly summoning the patriarchs of several big clans and the heads of three gangs in the city to plot a major event.

Obviously, the rumors in the city were created by Shen Guang and the people from Junqing Mansion and Xiaoyu Theater.

To be honest, at first, Shen Guang only wanted to shake the morale of Zhu's army in the city and lower the opponent's morale, but he didn't expect the effect to be so good that half of Zhu's army became deserters.

This gave Shen Guang a bolder idea: before Xu Shiji's army arrived, he would take down the champion county without bloodshed.

In addition to the current situation of Zhu Jiajun in Champion City, his confidence is also because he has nearly a thousand people in the Military Intelligence Office, Xiaoyu Theater and Wulin Guild in the city. , able to gather at least five thousand people.

If these 5,000 people were not enough to overthrow Zhu's army's rule in Champion City in normal times, but the current situation of Zhu's army in the city is already very bad, which gave Shen Guang hope.

What's more, the head of the Shi family led more than a thousand people to follow Hong Yibo, the guard of Maozhu City, to the Champion County City, and gained the trust of Hong Yibo and Zhao Changshu.

Shen Guang's plan first started with the assassination. He personally led a group of masters to assassinate the loyal generals of the Zhu family army. , and when many soldiers of the Zhu family army were not restrained by generals, they either became deserters or became a mess.

So, when Shen Guang led 5,000 people into a sudden uprising with more than 1,000 people in Shi's family, the process went so smoothly that it was unbelievable.

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On the morning of the second day, an army appeared outside the city of Champion County. The ranks were neat, the spears were like forests, and the armor was bright. The red Sui flag was fluttering in the wind. There are three big characters of "Wagangying".

This is exactly when Xu Shiji and Cheng Yaojin led the Wagang camp to fight. Just when Xu Shiji was about to put pressure on the city, and then persuaded him to surrender, and then prepared to use catapults and gunpowder packs for a psychological intimidation war, The city gate suddenly opened from the inside, and Shen Guang led a team out.

Naturally, Xu Shiji knew Shen Guang. After being stunned for a moment, he thought of some possibility and was shocked: "Master Shen, don't tell me that you have already won this champion county city?"

Shen Guang said with a smile: "General Xu, to be honest, before I made this great achievement, I never thought that I could win Zhu Can's county so easily."

Xu Shiji patted his head quite depressed, and Cheng Yaojin next to him said even more depressed: "I said Master Shen, why is it so difficult for our Wagang Camp to make some contributions! Zhu Can has only two A county, your military intelligence government has already won a county."

Shen Guang smiled and said: "Isn't there still Hanzhong County! Besides, the prince has already confessed that the greatest contribution is to capture Zhu Can alive. In Hanzhong, besides Zhu Can, there are also Tang Jun, General Xu and General Cheng led by Li Shimin. If Li Shimin can be wiped out in Sichuan and Sichuan, it will be a great contribution."

Xu Shiji and Cheng Yaojin looked at each other, with some doubts in their eyes. It was a great achievement to capture Zhu Can alive. They knew that they must have contributed a lot to destroying Li Shimin, the Tang army, but Shen Guang said that it was a great achievement. Isn't it too exaggerated? It would be the same if Li Yuan was wiped out.

Shen Guang saw the disapproval of Xu Shiji and Cheng Yaojin, and said with a smile: "The two of you may not know that in the whole world, the person whom the prince values ​​and fears the most is not Li Yuan, nor Xiao Xian from the south, it is this Li Shimin."

Xu Shiji and Cheng Yaojin were shocked when they heard the words, and they looked at each other with seriousness in their eyes, but at the same time, they were full of fighting spirit and excited in their hearts.

These two are crazy about wanting to make great achievements these days. Since Li Shimin's contribution to destroying Li Shimin is so great, they will naturally go all out to work towards this goal. a chance.

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Changsun Wuji, as Li Shimin's envoy, led only ten followers to the outside of Hanzhong County, and was not attacked by Zhu's army. went to town.

Soon the eldest grandson Wuji was taken to Zhu Can's palace.

The Zhu Palace in the city of Hanzhong County is a palace built by Zhu Can, who summoned tens of thousands of laborers and captured a master craftsman who participated in the construction of the Luoyang Palace. .

However, although it occupies a large area, it looks two or three points similar to the Great Sui Palace in Luoyang, but if you look closely, you will find that the Zhu Family Palace is built in a nondescript manner, even in a mess.

That master craftsman participated in the construction of the Luoyang Palace was not wrong, but he was only the master craftsman in charge of the wooden palace. Without other outstanding craftsmen, the Zhu family palace could not create a magnificent momentum at all.

But Zhu Can did not have strong financial resources, and it was difficult to build the magnificence and luxury of the Luoyang Palace.

Changsun Wuji stood outside the palace and glanced at the outline of the whole palace. Although his face was expressionless, he secretly sneered, and when he was led into the palace, the sarcasm in his eyes became more and more serious. Add richness.

In Changsun Wuji's view, the Zhu family's palace looks like a monkey in human clothes.

Not long after entering Zhu's palace, Changsun Wuji heard a woman's miserable cries and begging for mercy from afar.

Changsun Wuji sneered and ridiculed even more in his heart, because he knew that Zhu Can was annoyed and panicked, venting his inner fear by torturing women.

When Zhu Can is angry and frightened, he likes to hit women to vent his anger. The information is not familiar.

Zhu Can is cruel, bloodthirsty, perverted, and crazy, but he is a very smart person, and he is quite good at employing people. Under normal circumstances, he is willing to listen to suggestions from his subordinates and those around him.

In addition, in order to win over the confidant generals below, Zhu Can was very generous. He often rewarded the confidants with money and beauties. The reason why Zhu Can remained loyal.