Chapter 280 Not Worrying

Liu Xuanji's choice may determine the direction of the north.

Zhai Rang, who controlled Qingzhou, Yanzhou and most of Xuzhou, naturally had the opportunity to decide the direction of the battlefield in the Central Plains.

Ever since Li Yuanhui launched the Northern Expedition after the spring plowing and marched into Yuzhou, Zhai Rang, who was far away in Linzi, began to pay close attention to the war situation in Yuzhou.

After Li Yuanhui captured Runan County and Chen County, Zhai Rang set out from Linzi and led his army to Puyang in the East County.

Because Hebei was also fighting at that time.

In other words, opportunities emerged in the south, north, and west.

Although they suffered heavy casualties last year, they were defeated by Li Yaoshi's 20,000 new troops.

But in fact, the loss of troops was not much, it was just that the scene was too ugly. After a year of reorganization and recuperation, the Wagang Army had more than 100,000 soldiers, which could be said to be well-trained and well-fed, and morale was restored, almost completely getting rid of the negative impact of last year's defeat.

The opportunities before the Wagang Army were also very tempting.

Li Yuanhui led a large army to confront Eastern Yan in Yingchuan. It was a perfect opportunity to send troops to Huainan from the Huaisi area.

At the same time, Zhao Da sent troops to Bingzhou and crossed the river to the north, which was a good opportunity to seize Jizhou.

Therefore, whether going north or south, there is a chance to seize a piece of fertile land.

There is no need to say much about the prosperity of the Jianghuai area. In the current situation of chaos in the world, the area governed by Li Yuanhui has become one of the few places in the world where the people can have enough food to eat.

As for Jizhou, "it is close to the Yinghai in the east so its resources are sufficient, it faces the Heji River in the south so it is easy to reach, it is surrounded by rivers and plains, and controls the borders of Yan and Qi, so it is known as a metropolis" and "the land is flat and the soldiers are strong, which is a good place for heroes".

In general, the terrain is strategic, the land is fertile, and the population is dense. It is the foundation of the emperor.

So Yang Sui directly suggested that Zhai Rang cross the Yellow River and attack Jizhou in the north.

Fellow villager Xu Maogong also persuaded him that although Jianghuai was rich, it was just a place of wealth. Geographically, it was a place of war. The northern expedition to Luoyang was still an attack from above. But Jizhou was different. That was where Cao Cao became king. How good are you? When the time comes, we can attack Luoyang by sea and then compete with the Li family in Guanzhong.
Cui Xiaotong also advised him, "Since ancient times, no one has conquered the world by going south to the north. They all went north to the south. If you can conquer Hebei now, your great cause will be accomplished."

Zhai Rang was very moved, but hesitant.

Zhao Laoer, who stayed behind in Yecheng, was a little panicked when he learned that Zhai Rang had arrived in Puyang, just 200 miles away from Yecheng.

There are only 5,000 soldiers left in Yecheng, and they are all second-line troops.

If the Wagang Army attacked Jizhou at this time, the possibility of Yecheng being able to be defended would be very small.

So after thinking it over again and again, Zhao Er wrote a letter and asked someone to send it to Puyang on the south bank of the Yellow River.

The letter was of course addressed to Zhai Rang, and its content was roughly: I heard about Zhai Gong's fame a long time ago. When my brother was fighting against the Wagang Army in Yuzhou, he said that Zhai Gong was a hero and that we should not underestimate the enemy.

Now that Lord Zhai has his troops on the river, is he planning to attack Jizhou? I think it is not wise for Lord Zhai to attack Jizhou at this time. First, I already know that Lord Zhai is in Puyang, so he will definitely take more precautions and prepare more arrows. And when my brother hears that you are coming to attack Jizhou, he will definitely lead his troops back to support you.
Therefore, if you attack Jizhou, you will not succeed. Even Luoyang will send reinforcements to support Yecheng.
At the same time, Zhao Er also secretly sent someone to visit Zhai Rang's brother Zhai Hong and gave him a lot of money and property.

Zhai Rang's elder brother Zhai Hong was a short-sighted and greedy person. His eyes lit up when he saw the huge pearl placed on the table by Cheng Zhongde, the second messenger of Zhao.

"General Zhai, this is just a small gift from Governor Zhao. It is not a token of respect."

After Zhai Hong looked at Mingzhu, he snorted coldly: "So, what does Zhao Erlang want to do?" Then Cheng Zhongde began to flatter Zhai Hong and Zhai Rang, and said that the Zhao brothers of Jizhou did not want to be enemies with the Zhai family, and that they had no choice but to fight in the past, each serving their own master. Now that Emperor Zhaowu is dead, the Zhao brothers really hope to make peace with General Zhai's brothers. At the same time, the messenger also persuaded the Zhai family that it was useless to attack Hebei now, as they were already prepared and would suffer losses. General Zhai might as well persuade Zhai Gong to attack Luoyang.

Luoyang is empty now, and it is the capital of Dayan. The jewels in Luoyang are piled up into mountains, which are inexhaustible. There are also tens of millions of stones of grain in Luokou Granary.

The point is that Luoyang now has only tens of thousands of old, weak and sick soldiers as its defenders. If the Li brothers win the battle of Yingchuan, they can take all the treasures of Luoyang away.
Zhai Hong, a country bumpkin, felt itchy when he saw the treasures in Luoyang.

"Are you telling the truth?"

Cheng Zhongde said: "I dare not deceive General Zhai. I am from Luoyang, so I know how rich Luoyang is. Emperor Zhaowu mobilized millions of people to build Luoyang City. There are 120 districts and three markets in the city. The palace is even more magnificent."

The more Zhai Hong listened, the more he was moved. Finally, Cheng Zhongde said, "General Zhai, this small gift is nothing compared to the treasure house in Luoyang."

Zhai Hong finally nodded, "Okay, I understand, I will consider these matters."

After leaving the gifts, Cheng Zhongde left quickly, crossed the Yellow River to the north and returned to Yecheng overnight.

On the other hand, after considering his words, Zhai Hong immediately went to see his second brother Zhai Rang and proposed the suggestion of attacking Luoyang.

"Second brother, Luoyang is the Eastern Capital of Great Yan. Once we capture the Eastern Capital, the whole world will surely surrender. Since the Zhao family in Hebei is well prepared, we will definitely suffer heavy losses if we attack them. But it will be different if we attack the Eastern Capital. Luoyang is the most powerful city in the world, with mountains of treasures. The food in the Luokou warehouse is enough for our Wagang Army to eat for decades."

After Zhai Rang heard this, his first reaction was, "Brother, who taught you this?"

Zhai Hong was stunned for a moment, then smiled awkwardly, and then told him about Zhao Er finding someone to give him a gift. At the end, he said, "I said I would go to Luoyang to fight him, not because he gave me a gift. Luoyang is such a good place, how could he fall into the hands of the Li family for no reason?"

Zhai Rang gave an expression that said, "I knew this a long time ago." Zhai Hong just smiled and didn't think there was anything wrong with it.

In fact, Zhai Rang was also thinking about this problem, because Zhao Er also mentioned in his letter that if Wagang sent troops to Hebei, Luoyang would definitely send reinforcements to rescue Yecheng.
Isn't this telling Zhai Rang that Luoyang is now empty and won't have any defenses, so you can just attack Luoyang?
Otherwise, why would he mention Luoyang in the letter for no reason? Could Luoyang still send reinforcements? Was he trying to fool a fool?

Fundamentally speaking, Zhai Rang is no different from his brother Zhai Hong. After Luoyang appeared in his horizons, he could no longer let go of anything else.

The center of the world, where the emperor resides.

Who wouldn’t want to own such a majestic city?

And now the opportunity is right in front of them.

"Luoyang is empty, the main force is fighting against the Li army of Western Yan in Yingchuan, and Li Yaoshi of Liang County has only 20,000 troops under his command, and he has to divide his troops to look after the troops of Western Yan in Chen County.

Zhao Da of Jizhou is attacking Bingzhou, but he will not be able to take Bingzhou in less than a year or two.

So this opportunity is rare now. Luoyang is empty. With the strength of our Wagang Army, it will take several months to capture it? If we take Luoyang and then attack Hebei, won't Jizhou be ours sooner or later?"

In the meeting hall, facing the objections from his staff and generals, Zhai Rang spoke eloquently and rejected all objections.

In early July, the 100,000-strong Wagang army marched along the Yellow River, directly captured Hulao Pass, and marched into Luoyang.

Zhao Er, who was in Yecheng, two hundred miles away, heard the news and laughed, "It's really like a poor horse clinging to beans in a barn. Wagang is nothing to worry about."

(End of this chapter)