Chapter 224 Fence
After hearing these words, Li Yuanhui's expression gradually became serious.

The Yangzhou Military Governor's Office is currently full of talented people.

Among them, the Chief Secretary Guo Fenghe was able to coordinate the overall situation and keep it in good order.

Li Qinglian, the military advisor, was good at military strategies and offered many suggestions.

Military officer Xie Xun was in charge of military law and miscellaneous affairs, and never missed anything.

Zhang Fu, the chief clerk, is in charge of the storage of grain and salaries, making the transportation worry-free.

In terms of military generals, although it seems that there is a lack of generals who can stand on their own, Li Yuanhui actually knows very well that the growth attributes of these talented men under his command are absolutely maximized.

Not to mention Zhu, Xu, and Chang who are super potential stocks, even the two generals, Guard General Xiao Shizhi and Eagle General Chen Zhen, who Li Yuanhui could not associate with any historical celebrities, were actually talented people who were well versed in military tactics and good at commanding the army.

Li Yuanhui even felt that in terms of future achievements, as long as they were given equal opportunities, these two people might not necessarily be inferior to Xu Chang.

This does not include the two brothers-in-law of the Zhang family, the generals of the navy, Lu Qin, Zhou Ben, Yin Gong, He Gui and others.

But the man in front of him, Li Baishi, who calls himself Zhongli Savage, can hardly be found under his command.

In his previous countermeasures, Li Baishi gave Li Yuanhui three suggestions.

Among these three plans, two were exactly the same as Li Yuanhui's own plan, and the one that included waiting for his father and brother to pass through the Jiaohan Pass in the east while he led the army north to the Central Plains was even more daring.

As for Jiangdong and Jingzhou, Li Yuanhui and his staff did realize that they did not have the ability to completely destroy both of them for the time being.

The situation among the three is a bit like a three-way confrontation, and Jianghuai's own war potential is not enough to support a war to destroy the country.

For the big question of destroying the Jiangdong regime, there are many high-scoring answers from predecessors that you can copy.

In this time and space, Cao Wei destroyed Eastern Wu, Dayan destroyed Southern Wei, and Li Yuanhui himself had even more homework in his mind.

Much the same.

Most of them integrated the resources in the north to form an overwhelming strategic advantage over Jiangdong, and then launched several attacks simultaneously.

There is one key point in both of these experiences, which is to occupy the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. As the saying goes: "Wang Jun sailed down to Yizhou, and the royal aura of Jinling faded away."

Both Wang Jun and Yang Su led their fleets downstream and, relying on their superior military strength and geographical advantages, defeated the Southern Kingdom's navy in one fell swoop.

Although Yizhou is in the hands of the Li family, Jingzhou is not there.

Therefore, if you want to take over Jiangdong with the three counties of Jianghuai, you basically have to rely on luck and metaphysics. This is why Li Yuanhui placed Zhu Yuanzhang himself in Liyang.

Because this is one of the few examples of integrating the south before expanding to the north without integrating the north.

If Li Yuanhui did not have a father and an elder brother who made a name for himself in the northwest, he would definitely have taken this path and would have taken over Jiangdong first regardless of the consequences.

But Guanzhong was about to fall into the hands of the Li family, so there was no need for Li Yuanhui to risk being attacked from both sides by attacking Jiangdong.

Instead, he should prepare to send troops to the Central Plains to support his father and brother.

After the Li family occupied Guanzhong, there was no doubt that the next step would be to go east through Qiaohan and spy on the Central Plains.

Therefore, it is meaningless for Li Yuanhui to fight Jiangdong to the death. The Central Plains is the kingdom. The biggest advantage of the Li family now is that they can seize the Central Plains from two sides.

Therefore, with limited information, he was able to propose the most suitable direction for Li Yuanhui to advance. This is enough to show that Li Baishi's level is definitely not inferior to Li Qinglian and Guo Fenghe.

Li Yuanhui immediately stood up and said, "Mr. Li is very resourceful. Your speech today is like a revelation to me. I have benefited a lot from it. I would like to appoint you as the secretary of the Governor's Office. What do you think?"

Li Baishi stood up and said, "Li is not talented and has little knowledge. I have not achieved anything. I dare not take on this important task. I am honored by the governor's trust. Li is willing to go to Qiao County and persuade Liu Yuanqing to join the general to serve as a vassal."

Li Yuanhui smiled and said, "If that's the case, I'll leave it to you, sir. Shixiang, you take a team of cavalry and escort Mr. Li to see Liu Yuanqing."

Luo Shixiang cupped his hands and said, "I obey your command."

Li Baishi bowed and said, "Governor, I will go north with General Luo. Please wait for good news."

Li Yuanhui also bowed and said, "Then I'll leave it to you, sir."

Li Baishi, escorted by Luo Shixiang, headed north to Xiang County, the seat of Pei County.

At this time, Xiang County and the surrounding Taiqiu, Jianping, Feiting, and Dang County under the jurisdiction of Liang County all fell into the hands of the Xuzhou righteous army. But Liu Yuanqing, who claimed to be a descendant of Emperor Gao of Han, was a man of honor.

Before entering Pei County, a strict military order was issued, saying that this was the hometown of his ancestors and that looting and harassing the people were strictly prohibited. Therefore, the Xuzhou righteous army did not really carry out large-scale looting, but only seized the county treasury.

He used the grain from the government treasury and the granary to supply the more than 100,000 troops under his command.

The more than 100,000 people under his command were not all able-bodied men, most of them were families following him.

This is also the reason why he could not defeat the Wagang Army.

There are only 30,000 to 40,000 able-bodied men, and the rest are all the elderly, the weak, women and children. How can we fight?
The problem facing Liu Yuanqing now is a very difficult one: how to feed more than 100,000 people?
Originally, he wanted to capture Xuzhou, open the granaries to release grain, and comfort the people. Then he would coordinate with Cao Yuanjing in Jiangdong and establish an offensive and defensive alliance with the Wagang Army.

But he didn't expect that the people on the Wagang side had no martial ethics and directly sent a large army to cut off his retreat.

Now, Donghai and Langya, where he started the rebellion, and Xia Pi, which he later captured, have all fallen into the hands of the Wagang Army. Many rebel soldiers have left the Xuzhou rebel army and joined the Wagang because their families have fallen into the hands of the Wagang.

In desperation, Liu Yuanqing could only lead the remaining troops westward and temporarily settle in Pei County.

Afterwards, Wagang sent envoys several times in succession, one to appease and the other to warn.

Liu Yuanqing was so angry that he wanted to throw these envoys into the cauldron and cook them, but Lu Xun and Sun Lingxiu both advised him not to act on impulse.

"Wagan used to be known as the leader of the anti-Yan heroes, but now he has become a running dog of the Yan court, making things difficult for us. Not only does he break his promise, but he also treats us as guard dogs. I am really angry."

After the Wagang envoy left, Liu Yuanqing immediately got angry. He stood up and smashed the cup, wishing he could chase after the envoy and kill him with his sword.

The envoy of Wagang brought two messages. The first one was that after the wheat is ripe, Pei County must allocate some to the Wagang Army, otherwise there will not be enough food in Xia Pi and other places.

The second sentence is that Pei County should keep a close eye on Li Yuanhui in Jianghuai, and wait until the autumn harvest to send troops to seize Huainan as a test.

After Lu Xun and Sun Lingxiu nodded in agreement, the Wagang envoy left triumphantly.

Liu Yuanqing was almost furious.

Lu Xun was from Zhuo County, and was born into the famous Fanyang Lu family. However, the family was prosperous, and there were nobles and lonely ones. Even though his branch was relatively declining, he still used the relationship between his family members to get him a position as the county magistrate of Tan County.

Sun Lingxiu, a native of Langya, was born a Taoist priest and had a great reputation in the East China Sea and Langya areas.

Liu Yuanqing was from Pengcheng. He was a heroic man and a chivalrous man since he was young. In his early years, he followed the army to the east to attack Goguryeo. He narrowly escaped death in the first expedition.

He was called up again for the second time, and he took his fellow villagers to the mountains to become bandits, in the Nishan and Mengshan areas.

As his fame in the mountains grew, he gradually got to know people like Lu Xun and Sun Lingxiu.

Later, the imperial court imposed heavier taxes and labor service on Xuzhou, which caused the people to be resentful. At the same time, there were wars everywhere in the world, which made several people see the opportunity.

So they gathered together and rebelled.

At that time, Liu Yuanqing felt that the Wagang Army was the vanguard of the anti-Yan movement and the hope of all the righteous men in the world. Although they had been recruited, he would definitely not attack the Xuzhou righteous army, which was also composed of righteous men.

Lu Xun and Sun Lingxiu both advised him that the Wagang gang was very ambitious and cooperating with them would be like courting death and he needed to be on guard.

The result was that Lu Xun and Sun Lingxiu were right.

Pei Minzhi and Cui Wei sent a letter asking for help. After Wagang got the reason to send troops, they acted swiftly.

There was no response at all to the Xuzhou rebel army.

Liu Yuanqing, who was still under siege in Pengcheng, was filled with righteous indignation, and had no choice but to march westward to Pei County.

However, Wagang became spirited again at this time, saying that Wagang was also a righteous army, and we were all from the same roots, so we should not be so anxious to fight each other. You Xuzhou righteous army should just stay in Pei County, and we will not come to fight you.
This time they came to ask for autumn grain again, which made Liu Yuanqing furious.

"Yuanqing, a little impatience can ruin a big plan. Most of the rebels who followed us in the uprising came to Wagang because their families were there. Although Pei County is not big, it is enough for us to settle down. Wagang will not rashly attack Pei County in order to follow the logic of Xuzhou. We can take this opportunity to clean up our troops for the future."

Lu Xun and Sun Lingxiu had to persuade Liu Yuanqing in every possible way before they could hold him down and prevent him from getting angry.

But they soon felt that what they said above was in vain.

Someone from Jianghuai is coming.

(End of this chapter)