xymnovel Chapter 76: The First Mission of the Three Little Ones Leading an Army Independently
Chapter 76: The First Mission of the Three Little Ones Leading an Army Independently
The battle at Luzhou was not particularly fierce. It was an ambush, and because Liu Jun himself was afraid of death and surrendered, the so-called Shatuo Tiger Cavalry of the Northern Han did not have much will to resist. Some of them surrendered directly, while others turned around and ran away.
Li Chuyun, a civil official, donned armor, mounted his horse, and gave chase. He pursued the enemy all the way to the walls of Taiyuan before finally giving up and returning home. He had killed two thousand men, captured five thousand, and seized eleven thousand warhorses.
Because the Northern Han cavalry were all composed of one rider on two or three horses, Liu Jun had brought out all of his elite troops this time, and now they had all benefited Li Chuyun.
"Your Majesty, don't you... plan to do some exercise?" Wang Lu couldn't help but ask.
Sitting atop the city wall of Luzhou, Zhao Kuangyin, who had been sitting and drinking while watching the show, casually placed his dragon-patterned staff aside and glanced at Wang Lu: "Ha, so what? Now that we're the emperor, do we still have to personally lead the imperial guards?"
"Oh, no, no."
"Hmph, what's wrong? Getting itchy hands, huh? You came out with me, supposedly to fight a war, but we didn't kill a single person. Are you still not satisfied?"
"No, no, it's just... I can't really explain it, haha."
Thus, Wang Lu's personal campaign on the battlefield ended with zero results. He didn't even see a single enemy, let alone kill anyone. Apart from coming to Luzhou to persuade Li Shoujie to surrender, he stayed by Zhao Kuangyin's side the entire time.
As for Zhao Kuangyin, the legendary figure who could single-handedly take the head of a general from among ten thousand soldiers, he was practically a reincarnation of Guan Yu, and even the most powerful general in the novel version of Guan Yu. Throughout the story, that dragon-coiled staff was purely for show.
"You undoubtedly deserve the greatest credit in this battle, and you will certainly be among those rewarded."
"Thank you, Your Majesty. Actually, I didn't do anything. It was all because Li Shoujie considered the overall situation and abandoned the darkness for the light." He didn't really expect to be rewarded for his merits, mainly because he was too young. No matter how much he was rewarded, it would be difficult for him to actually become a high-ranking official.
"Me too, me too, I also deserve credit," Zhao Guangmei said, jumping up and down.
Li Jilong was also standing nearby, but he didn't say anything.
"Of course I won't forget you. You three lads, it's your first time on the battlefield. You've been following me around without doing anything of substance, aren't you unhappy? I'll give you a task. Taking advantage of this great victory, you will lead three thousand elite cavalry as the vanguard to Baiguye in Daizhou. If there's anything you think is worth taking, then take it back."
Zhao Guangmei: "Bai Guye? Second brother, do you know what kind of place that is?"
Wang Lu shook his head; he truly didn't know.
Li Jilong: "It's the state-run iron smelting workshop of the Northern Han Dynasty, right? There are at least several hundred blacksmiths there. Most of the state-run iron smelting and weapon forging in the Northern Han Dynasty are done there. Also, if you're going to Daizhou, you can also visit the Wutaishan Horse Ranch, which is the largest state-run horse ranch in the Northern Han Dynasty. You might even be able to steal some horses there."
"Oh~"
If it were an ironworks, then it would make much more sense to let them do it. Liu Jun himself has been captured by the Northern Han, and even if some remnants of his army escape back to Taiyuan, they certainly wouldn't dare to support Daizhou. It's uncertain how many troops are left in Daizhou, but they probably wouldn't dare to move either.
Therefore, there will be basically no risk in this battle; it's purely a robbery.
"Daizhou, Daizhou... Daizhou is Jianxiong Army, isn't it?" Wang Lu suddenly frowned and asked, "Is the military governor of Jianxiong Army Liu Jiye, Liu Jun's adopted son?"
"Yes, that's the person."
Li Jilong sighed, "I've heard that this man is a fierce general, the bravest warrior in Northern Han. I really wish I could meet him."
Wang Lu's expression was noticeably unpleasant; after all, that was Yang Ye!
Anyone else would definitely not dare to send troops, but with Yang Ye, it's hard to say.
In the future, Li Jilong's military achievements will definitely be no less than Yang Ye's, but you are only eleven years old now, little brother, while Yang Ye is at his most formidable.
It seems that this credit might not be so easy to obtain.
Lu Qiu Zhongqing laughed from the side, "Then I'm afraid young master Li will be disappointed. This time, Liu Jun personally led his troops south, but he was troubled by the lack of good generals to guard Taiyuan. Before he set off, he had already transferred Liu Jiye and his Jianxiong Army to Taiyuan to guard the city."
Wang Lu breathed a long sigh of relief. So, Liu Jiye wasn't in Daizhou, and there weren't many troops left in Daizhou either.
That's more like it, that's how it's supposed to be about taking credit, that's the kind of task that's suitable for the three of them.
Immediately, Wang Lu, Zhao Guangmei, and Li Jilong, the three brothers, accepted the order and left.
Zhao Kuangyin then ordered Li Shoujie to go to the city of Zezhou to persuade Li Jun to surrender, promising that as long as Li Jun was willing to surrender, this uprising could be just a show orchestrated by the emperor and his ministers, with the aim of deceiving Liu Jun.
Whether it can fool people or not, at least it's an explanation. In that case, Li Jun will definitely not be able to remain the military governor of Zhaoyi Army. He will have to go to the capital to take up an official post or retire in Luoyang. However, it is not impossible to consider letting Li Shoujie take over the position of military governor of Zhaoyi Army.
But if Li Jun continues to resist stubbornly and refuses to surrender, there's not much else that can be done but to kill him. However, the lives of the rest of the Li family can be saved.
Li Shoujie knew that Zhao Kuangyin's conditions were already very high, so he happily accepted the order and left.
Immediately afterwards, Zhao Kuangyin issued an edict to Wang Quanbin, ordering him to lead his troops to conquer Liaozhou, so as to completely drive the Northern Han forces out of the Shangdang Basin.
He himself led the Zhaoyi Army and Liu Jun, who was still alive but had been captured, directly to attack Taiyuan, hoping to see if he could surrender Taiyuan without a fight.
However, he himself did not have high hopes for this. The relationship between the Northern Han and the Central Plains dynasties was complicated and difficult to resolve. Legally, it was just that Liu Jun himself was stubborn and still considered himself the legitimate successor of the Han Dynasty, but in reality, it was no longer a dispute over legitimacy.
To a certain extent, this was actually a problem of ethnic conflict between a Han Chinese dynasty and a Shatuo dynasty. After all, Taiyuan was the old stronghold of the Shatuo people. No matter how much the Shatuo people were Sinicized, they wouldn't be completely Sinicized so quickly. At least in Taiyuan, it was definitely the Han people who were Sinicized, not the Shatuo people who were Sinicized.
The Northern Han Dynasty represented the last vestiges of a Shatuo dynasty that had been established and dominated by the Shatuo people since the late Tang and Five Dynasties period. Once the Northern Han Dynasty was gone, the Shatuo people would also be gone, and would be completely integrated into the vast Chinese civilization. After that, there would be no more Shatuo people.
So, to put it bluntly, this was a matter of national subjugation and genus extinction for the Shatuo people, and it was not something that Liu Jun alone could decide to fight or surrender.
When it comes to ethnic integration, unless the ruling class is a minority ruling the majority, how many ethnic groups truly willingly allow themselves to be assimilated? Even if the Shatuo people have become indistinguishable from the Han people in terms of lifestyle, they must have still retained their military habits.
Otherwise, the Northern Han wouldn't have been so difficult to defeat.
There's no need to even think about taking Taiyuan directly. Zhao Kuangyin's military campaign was too swift this time, and his preparations were naturally insufficient. The Song Dynasty was not yet firmly established, and after pacifying Li Jun, he had to immediately head south back to the capital to take charge of the overall situation. He didn't have time to waste with the Northern Han.
However, it was meaningful for him to take Liu Jun for a stroll. Regardless of who succeeded to the throne of Northern Han, it would at least severely undermine the political legitimacy of the successor. Moreover, it would also allow him to plunder other prefectures and counties outside of Taiyuan.
Furthermore, from an emotional standpoint, it was satisfying for him to take Liu Jun himself to the outskirts of Taiyuan to show off his power.
This can be considered a good start for his first battle in the founding of the Song Dynasty.