Chapter 302 Duke of Qi

"No, we can't just keep defending like this. There are more than 20,000 cavalry and 80,000 infantry in the city. Even if we can't gain an advantage, we have to get out of the city and fight with the Western bandits. Otherwise, we will be trapped in the city. The morale of the people in the city is low, and it will be difficult to defend the city."

At Shangchun Gate, Murong Fengxian, Wei Xiaoju, Li Yaoshi and other generals watched as the Western Army outside the city was building siege equipment. There was also a large group of cavalry galloping in the direction of Beimang, raising clouds of dust.

As the highest commander in the city, Murong Fengxian, who had just been promoted to the rank of General of the Town Army, frowned and said, "We can't just sit there and wait."

General Wei Xiaoju of the Fujun Army said, "What the King of Zhou said makes sense, but now the morale of the tribes is low, how can we fight?"

Murong Fengxian said: "I will lead the cavalry out of the city and attack for a while, at least to let the defenders on the city and the people inside the city know that Dayan is not over yet, and there are still troops in Luoyang who dare to fight."

Wei Xiaoju nodded and said nothing more. He knew that what Murong Fengxian said made sense, and although both of them were generals with the title of envoy and commander-in-chief of all military forces at home and abroad, Wei Xiaoju was closer to the emperor than Murong Fengxian.

But in the army, Murong Fengxian, who held the title of prince, was obviously above him.

On the one hand, it was his seniority. When Wei Xiaoju had just become a Tiger Guard General, Murong Fengxian was already the Rear General, one of the four generals in the front, back, left and right.

So Murong Fengxian could have made the decision directly, but he still discussed it with Wei Xiaoju before going down to the city to inspect the troops.

Soon, Murong Fengxian led hundreds of cavalry from the camp in the city and galloped out from Shangchun Gate.

Murong Fengxian took the lead and led the cavalry to gallop towards the Western Army camp not far away, then shot several arrows in succession in front of the camp gate, hitting several soldiers guarding the gate.

The cavalrymen behind him saw that their commander never missed his target, so they also threw their weapons towards the western army camp. The soldiers in the camp raised their shields and dodged.

When the Western cavalry patrolling outside the camp saw this, they quickly blew their horns and then went forward to engage in battle.

This small-scale cavalry battle became the first victory of the Eastern Army since the Battle of Yingchuan because of the Eastern Army's surprise attack and the bravery of Murong Fengxian and his cavalry.

Murong Fengxian fired his bow repeatedly, killing dozens of people, and his soldiers also killed dozens of Western Army cavalrymen. Of the cavalry that followed Murong Fengxian out of the city, nearly twenty were unable to return to the city.

But in any case, this small victory greatly boosted the morale of the defenders in the city.

The soldiers on the city wall shouted "Long live the King of Zhou" and "Long live the King of Zhou", and their momentum seemed as if they had won the entire war.

So much so that Li Si specially rushed from the Mangshan camp to the camp outside Shangchun Gate to reprimand the camp owner Tang He who was stationed there, and the camp owner Wang Tong who had suffered a defeat in the cavalry battle.

They are all generals of the Jianghuai Army, so he must be the one to deal with them.

"The King of Tang will set out from Chang'an in early October and will arrive in Luoyang in a few days. You all should be alert and don't let your guard down. There are still 100,000 troops in the city. It's not time for you to slack off. If something like this happens again, once the ladders are built in a few days, you will lead the way to climb the city!"

Li Yuanhui reprimanded the two men and issued an order to all the troops not to slack off. Then he inspected the camps. In the Tianzhushan camp, more than a dozen soldiers who gathered to gamble were beaten with military sticks, and several sergeants who took the lead were stripped of their official positions and became privates.

The camp leader Guo Xing was also reprimanded by Li Yuanhui in front of the entire camp.

The general manager Liu Yuanqing was also reprimanded because many of his soldiers were not dressed neatly, the camp was not organized in a regular manner, and some soldiers urinated and defecated anywhere.

Li Yuanhui's inspection immediately made all the troops in Jianghuai tighten their strings and dare not slack off. In the following days, Murong Fengxian's cavalry would occasionally rush out of the city. Although there was no victory, and even several times they were almost intercepted by the Western Army cavalry outside the city and could not return to Luoyang, the morale of the city was restored a lot after several times, and the soldiers defending the city gradually gained confidence.

But as Li Yuan arrived with an army of 110,000, the outside of the city was surrounded by darkness, with no end in sight. The Western Army's defenses became increasingly tight, with each unit building deep trenches and ravines, and even a water fort was built on the Luo River.

The morale of the Western Army was growing higher and higher.

Li Yuan, with full ceremonial equipment, met his sons at Minchi, and then led his army to the Mangshan camp in the north of the city.

He also publicly summoned his sons and promoted their titles.

The Duke of Qin, the Duke of Jin, and the Duke of Qi.

They are all dukes of great countries. Generally, those who are granted this title are those who have made great contributions to the country.

The performance of the Li sons in the Battle of Yingchuan was naturally worthy of the title, and the significance of these titles was not limited to this.

It is very likely that these titles of dukes were the titles of princes given to his sons by Li Yuan after he abdicated the throne.

It should have been a happy situation for everyone, but Li Yuanhui just couldn't be happy.

Because he is the Duke of Qi, there is a high probability that he will be the King of Qi in the future.

There is nothing wrong with this, after all, it is arranged in the order of the brothers. Qin, Jin, Qi and Chu, these four great countries are the most honorable.

But when he thought about becoming the King of Qi, a thousand Cao Nima ran through his mind.

Whose good man is given the title of King of Qi? Where are there good people?

Me.
But this title has come down, and it cannot be abandoned, nor can it be changed immediately, but Li Yuanhui has made up his mind. He must mention it to his father later, saying that he has a conflict with "Qi", and he started his family in Jianghuai. Shouchun is the old capital of Chu, so he should be Chu. The Duke of Qi can be left as it is, but when he is crowned as a king, he must mention it to his father and leave him the title of King of Chu.
Li Si's face was solemn because he was dissatisfied with the title, but when he saw Li Yuan's face, he nodded secretly in his heart.

Good, not bad, not arrogant when winning, not discouraged when losing, even if he was named Duke, he can still be so calm.
As for the others, their excitement was palpable.

His brother-in-law Chai Rong was conferred the title of Duke of Nangan, Yuwen She was conferred the title of Duke of Liaoxi, and Li Huaizhen was conferred the title of Duke of Zhao.

As for the rest, Zhu Deyu was made Marquis of Zhongli County, Wang Bi was made Marquis of Dingyuan County, Chang Yanheng was made Marquis of Huaixuan County, Zhang Zhen'e was made Marquis of Wujiang County, Zhang Jian was made Marquis of Jiangdu County, Dou Cong was made Marquis of Luyang County, Liu Zongxun was made Marquis of Dangyang County, Li Xiaojie was made Marquis of Xuchang County, Yuwen Xiao was made Marquis of Xuchang County, and Yuwen Jue was made Marquis of Luhun County.
Basically, the places where the Jianghuai generals were granted the title of nobility were all in the Jianghuai counties, while the generals of other tribes were mainly in the Central Plains and Jingzhou.

Dozens of marquises were conferred in one go, basically all the generals who had appeared in the war and had clear achievements were given titles. Even the newly joined Wagang generals were also included.

It was clear that this was a reward for the Yingchuan War. Li Yuan personally rushed to the front line and brought so many rewards, which must have made everyone grateful.

In addition to being shrewd and calculating, Li Yuan also had the ability to win people's hearts and minds silently, and he had the demeanor of an elder. Therefore, the generals in the army, even those from the Jianghuai faction who had never seen Li Yuan before, all sighed, "The King of Tang is kind and strategic, has the demeanor of an elder but is also majestic, and is a true hero."

Li Yuan was secretly shocked when he saw the group of arrogant and brave generals in Jianghuai. The fourth brother was very capable to win over such a group of heroes and use them for his own purposes. The second brother had many brave generals under his command. The brave generals of Wagang were all included in his command. As for the third brother, the unruly people such as the Di tribe and the Bandun barbarians were all under his control.
These boys are quite capable, aren't they? They are indeed my sons.
However, can the boss control these guys?
(End of this chapter)