Chapter 61 Chapter 61

In the spring of the second year of Tianfu (AD 902), a battle that affected the trend of the competition between Jin and Bian kicked off on the land of Sanjin.In March, Zhu Wen's general Shu Cong and his nephew Zhu Youning entered Hedong.Li Keyong's general Zhou Dewei had only tens of thousands of soldiers in Hedong, who went out of the city several times to face the defeat and returned home.Afterwards, the Jin army retreated to Jinyang, and the Bian army took advantage of the situation to chase and kill, and drove straight in. The Jin army was defeated and suffered heavy casualties.For a long time since then, Li Keyong has been unable to compete with Zhu Wen again.

From spring to summer, the weather is getting warmer. After killing Li Keyong, Zhu Wen organized his troops and marched into Fengxiang for the second time.At the same time, at the hunting ground outside Jinyang, Li Keyong was planning how to make a comeback.Failure is not terrible, what is terrible is losing lofty ideals, what is terrible is losing the courage to start from scratch. The sky in Saibei is as clear and blue as the flowing water at the source of the river, stretching as far as the eye can see.Looking up at the sky like this reminds people of the grassland in Saibei, where it is as beautiful as a picture scroll:

However, that kind of life outside the Great Wall is only suitable for Shan Yu who aspires to the grasslands, and he, Li Keyong, hopes for the fertile land in the Central Plains in his heart.He must be as noble as a real Li Tang royal family, and be the overlord of Hedong. Suddenly, a group of wild geese crossed the sky, adding a little movement to the tranquil sky.Li Keyong sat on the wooden chair covered with tiger skin in the middle, and said to his beloved son Li Cunxu: "When my father was trapped in the northern part of the Great Wall, he once shot two geese with an arrow under the eyes of the Tatar. Before, others called me Li Guochang's son, and after that, more people called me Feihuzi." Even though the hero didn't mention the bravery of the past, when he saw the flying geese, he couldn't help but want to tell his son, Shatuo The heroes of the clan are self-made, not hereditary.

"The emperor praised you as a father earlier, hehe, hearing this, I am really happy to be a father. Sigh... I hope you can fulfill your long-cherished wish of becoming a father one day..." After hearing this, Li Cunxu got up and saluted his father.Then straddled the horse and galloped to the far away flying geese, and the horse stepped on the dust and drew an arc on the ground-I saw Li Cunxu crawling on the horse's back, bowing with his left hand and drawing an arrow with his right, suddenly turned sideways, and an eagle feather flew straight in sky.Accompanied by fluttering feathers, the geese that were about to fly away suddenly scattered away, and only the last one fell straight down.

Li Keyong, who was sitting at the top, didn't like his son's aggressiveness, but when his subordinates handed over the falling goose to his eyes, he couldn't help being amazed.It turned out that the arrow entered Feiyan's left eye and exited from his right eye impartially. No wonder he didn't even hear a tragic cry. Seeing his son's riding and shooting skills, Li Keyong suppressed the joy in his heart, and said to Li Cunxu: "To be a general, one must be brave, but bravery alone cannot achieve great things." Glancing at the young and handsome son, he asked, "My father lost to Zhu Wen this time. I only hate the lack of food and grass, lack of armor, and weak city. People call you Li Yazi. If you are the commander-in-chief of the Three Jin Dynasties, how will you defeat the enemy?" ? If you are the chief of the Three Jin Dynasty, how can you control the people?"

"Father and king, my son thinks that the wealth of a country does not lie in the storehouse, and the strength of the army depends on the number of widows. The people are all attached to their leaders who are kind to them. Even the heavens will hate the proud and arrogant people. Since ancient times, there are Dao Mingjun who win the world. The faint king lost his country. The father and king can see that Zhenguo Hanjian accumulated wealth, but he took the lead in defeating the bandits in Huazhou; the city built by King Zhongshan was not weak, and finally bowed his head to Zhu Wen. Qin Zongquan, the army under his command was once powerful in the Central Plains, but he was brutal and vicious and lost the hearts of the people. In the end, he could only end up with a decapitated body. There is no poor master in a hegemonic country, and there are no weak soldiers for a strong general. Those who choose literary officials. The father is a wise master, and my son is willing to assist the father to complete the hegemony of Hedong."

Li Keyong was surprised and delighted when he heard the words. He did not expect that Li Cunxu, who was only 18 years old, could make such a generous statement of his age and justice, and he felt deeply relieved.I thought to myself, with this son succeeding me, even if I am immortal Zhu Wen, I can sleep forever in Jiuquan after death. While the father and son were chatting, the Ministry escorted a person to the front. "Your Majesty, the General was patrolling around the hunting ground just now, and seeing this man panicked, he must be a spy sent by Zhu Wen. The General searched him and found a portrait of his father."

"Oh? Present the portrait." Li Ke used to look at the bound spy in front of him: This man has a gentle face and a short stature, and he is not from Saibei at first glance; but what is interesting is that this man is actually wearing the clothes of the Jin army .Li Ke couldn't help but want to laugh, laughing that Zhu Wen sent such a person to act as a spy. Li Ke used the paper to unfold the portrait—it was a painting of himself, sitting on a tiger leather chair, majestic and majestic, with only one eye shining brightly in the painting.Li Keyong couldn't help admiring: This portrait can be said to have both form and spirit, and it is a masterpiece.

"My lord asks you, did you draw this painting?" "yes." "When did you make it, what is the picture book king doing?" "It was done by the villain last night, as my master." "Oh?" Li Ke asked with a smile, "Zhu Quanzhong was just across the table from me when I was in Shangyuanyi, so it's possible that I have forgotten my appearance now?" "The king of Jin has a lot of misunderstandings. My master is not the king of Liang, but the king of Langya in Western Shu." This was beyond Li Ke's expectation.He was silent for a while, and said: "Guangtu, the king of Xishu, is also a hero of Xuzhou! This king admires your master very much, but he has no chance to pay a visit. I don't know how to address you, sir?" He said, ordering his left and right to untie and give seats to the visitors.

The visitor thanked him for his seat: "The villain's name is Chen Zhixiang. He used to be the secretary of my master's sect, and he was also a painter in front of King Langya." "It turned out to be Mr. Chen. I offended you just now. I don't know why Mr. came to Hedong?" "King Langya has heard for a long time that the King of Jin, the Hedong hero, defended his family and defended the country, and was loyal to the Tang Dynasty. Just because he went to West Shu thousands of miles away and had no chance to meet each other, he sent a villain to Hedong alone to paint a painting for the King of Jin, and brought it back to Chengdu. My lord pays respects to King Jin Zunrong. I don’t want to encounter Jinyang’s fighting, and I’m afraid to bother King Jin, so the villain will disguise himself as a Jin army so that he can see King Jin.”

Li Ke smiled and laughed at Wang Jian in his heart. He didn't even send a serious envoy, but even sent a painter to paint his portrait secretly.He couldn't help thinking that not long ago Yang Xingmi in Huainan also sent several painters to paint himself, but because of his dissatisfaction, he killed them all.He unfolded the paper portrait in his hand again. Although the self in the painting was not unrealistic, it made him feel a little displeased.He asked in a somewhat mocking tone: "Sir, if you brought the honor of this king's one-eyed dragon to your master, wouldn't it make people laugh at me?" After finishing speaking, he slowly tore off the drawing paper in his hand twice. Broken, he said again: "Mr., please draw another portrait of this king. If you can still see this eye of this king," he pointed to the blind eye and said, "Sir, it will be difficult to return to Chengdu alive." It's gone!" He thought of the painters sent by Yang Xingmi last time, one painted both eyes bright to please him, the second chose the side profile while avoiding the seriousness, and the third painted it with a The fan half covers one eye.In a fit of anger, Li Ke killed all three of them, especially when he thought of the last painter, who clearly slandered himself as arty.This time, the reason why he didn't get angry with Chen Zhixiang was that this person at least dared to draw his true face, and of course it was because he still had some respect for Wang Jian. Not long after, Chen Zhixiang completed another painting.Li Ke took a look at the ink-stained rice paper, couldn't help laughing and said yes.The flying tiger in the painting is surrounded by several love children, holding an arrow in his hand, and watching the straight and straight of the arrow with slightly closed eyes.This painting not only cleverly concealed Li Ke's blind eye, but also the whole painting is smooth in ink and full of form and spirit. "My lord likes this picture very much! Sir, can you make a copy for me for my lord's collection?" After finishing speaking, Li Keyong stepped down from the chair cheerfully, "Come here! Take two high-quality tiger skins, Troubling Mr. to pass it on to your master, this is my king's kindness..." Chen Zhixiang's hanging heart finally fell to the ground, pounding against his chest non-stop.Fortunately, he lived up to his mission and returned to Xishu with two tiger skins and the portrait of King Jin. When Jin Wang Li Keyong was looking at the portrait hanging on the wall, Wang Jian was eating and sleeping with the soldiers on the battlefield. A few months ago, Zong Ji commanded the vanguard to sweep across Lizhou in a devastating manner. Soon, the flames of war burned to the south of Shannan.An inevitable fierce battle is about to break out on this hot summer day. It leans against the Qinling Mountains in the north and Bashan Mountain in the south.Wang Zongji's first team was stationed in such a long and narrow mountain depression.And the main force of this group of troops is the three thousand elite led by Wang Zongbo, who are stationed a hundred miles south of Yangping Pass.Whenever the bright moon hangs high on the ridge, the whole valley will be covered with lights. "There are three passes in Shu: Yangping, Jiangguan, and Baishui!" In such a night, looking at the Chengguan that is close in front of him in the daytime, Zhou Xiang couldn't help thinking to himself: This is what people call the throat of Shu and the gate of Hanzhong. up.I think back then, Zhuge Kongming went out of Qishan six times, and four times he went out of Yangping Pass and followed the Chencang ancient road to the north.This is indeed a fortress that can be attacked and defended.If the previous victory in Lizhou was a small test, then whether Yangping Pass or even Wuding Pass to the north of it can be broken in one fell swoop has become a key step in reaching Dingjun Mountain.If you get Dingjun Mountain, you can get Xixian County and Xingyuan directly. However, things are not as simple as Zhou Xiang expected.The terrain of Yangping Pass is steep, controlling the lifeline of entering Shu from the northeast to the southwest, with the majestic Qinling Mountains on the north, and the Han River and the Xian River flowing from the south and west—these are the only two roads that can attack this pass at the moment. .According to the plan, Wang Zongbo and several other surrendered generals took on the important task of attacking the city from the south and west.However, Yangping Pass is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and the vanguard troops closed the gates of the village for seven consecutive days and refused to fight. In such a stalemate, King Langya ordered to kill several surrendered generals on the grounds of delaying the battle. Some famous generals in Xichuan. Thinking of how hard it was to recover these people back then, and now that they were sacrificed to the flag by the lord on the battlefield without being killed in battle, Zhou Xiang couldn't help but feel regretful.Although the vanguard is indeed suspected of delaying the fighter, if they attack by force, they are likely to pay a heavy price.They are guilty, but not sinful to death.The lord did this only to warn the soldiers not to be intimidated by the enemy, but it seems a bit overkill. "My lord, General Wang Zongbo is asking to see you." "Oh, please hurry up." As soon as the words finished, Zong Bo was seen walking quickly with high round-toed boots and a tight Hu shirt.The two greeted each other outside the tent, and Zhou Xiang let Zong Bo into the tent.Zhou Xiang walked around behind the desk and unfolded a yellowed sheepskin map on the table.Zong Bo drew the curtain of the big tent, turned around and suddenly knelt down in front of Zhou Xiang: "Mr. Boya, please save Xu Cun's life!"But he immediately realized that Zong Bo's arrival must have something to do with the beheading of those generals. "General, please stand up and say something. If I can help you, Zhou will definitely not refuse." "Sir, I came to disturb you in the middle of the night, so I think you can guess. If I don't fight for seven days, several generals will end up decapitated. I'm also a general, I'm afraid it's at stake..." He said , he sighed, "Oh, it's not that I was unfaithful to the lord, it's because Yangping Pass is extremely steep, attacking the city head-on is no different from death... I'm here today, and I'm begging sir to show me a way to survive..." "Hey, I'm also to blame for this matter. There is no way to attack the city on Yangpingguan West Road and South Road. The most urgent task right now is to quickly find other ways to bypass these two roads... Oh, General, I want to use your reputation to go to the lord , my lord will not treat you like others..." Even though he said that, Zhou Xiang also felt uneasy about Wang Jian's suspicion of his subordinates recently. "Sir, I haven't been in Xichuan for a long time, but I know that you are a man of great wisdom and understanding. Now the lord is using the soldiers, but at the same time trying to restrain them. The lord handed over the Dongchuan soldiers to Wang Zongdi, but did not let him come. Yangpingguan defeated the enemy; the lord asked me to lead the elite as the vanguard, but let Xu Yanqiong and Xu Yangui be the left and right generals. Alas, these two are the brothers of the lord's concubine, and have never led the army. You said, the lord is Let them monitor me, or fight for the post-war...Sir, I trust you, I will tell you from the bottom of my heart, and I hope you can give me some advice.” "Listen to me, general. My lord has great ambitions and uses talented people, and sooner or later he will become a king! However, most of the kings can share adversity and prosperity. If you want to make contributions in troubled times and save your life in peacetime, you must bear in mind that Two o'clock." "I would like to hear the details!" Zong Bo approached Zhou Xiang, his eyes full of anticipation. "Confucius once said, 'Use it to do it, and discard it to hide it'. But there are very few people in the world who can do these two things, and generals can learn from it. In times of war, you must do your best, charge forward, and see death as home. Only in this way can we express the loyalty of a general." "It's natural. There are two worlds of life and death on the battlefield. Every time I rushed to the front, I never thought about coming back alive." "However," Zhou Xiang changed the subject, "whether you can achieve the second point is related to the place where the general lives and lives in peace and prosperity. For example, now, the lord has transferred the two generals Yanqiong and Yangui to your command to obey orders. It's very obvious. If the general has outstanding military exploits and overwhelms the two major generals when discussing meritorious deeds, then it may be difficult to protect himself for a long time..." "This……" "The military exploits are established by the general, but if the general is willing to give up the military exploits, then peace can be maintained forever!" Zong Bo weighed Mr. Boya's words and suddenly realized: "Mr. Xu Cunxie for saving his life!" The moment Zong Bo thanked him, Zhou Xiang's eyes keenly scanned a river on the map. "Yes!" Zhou Xiang said pleasantly, he couldn't hold back his excitement, he couldn't help rubbing his fingers against the unknown river drawn on the map, and thought to himself: "This river originates from Zilong Mountain and flows into the Han River. Follow it and you will definitely find a path that bypasses Yangping Pass. Although Yangping Pass relies on the danger of Zilong Mountain on the one hand, since the river in this mountain can bypass Yangping Pass, people must also be able to bypass it!" Seeing that Zhou Xiang had a plan to defeat the enemy, Zong Bo hurriedly asked, "What's the best plan, sir?" The glimmer of hope that had just flashed in Zhou Xiang's eyes dimmed again at this moment.He muttered: "There is a way to bypass Yangping Pass, but... this move is too risky..." "My lord is eager to rush to Fengxiang. If I fall behind Duke Zhu, the emperor will be in danger! Now that we are stationed at Yangping Pass, we will not move forward. If there is a good way to break through the pass, I will never back down, even if I am close to death." Zhou Xiang nodded in admiration, moved Zong Bo closer, and pointed to the small river on the map: "I plan to send someone to investigate tomorrow. If there is no accident, walking along this river and mountain road should lead to Wuding Pass. If In this way, as long as a daring army is sent to besiege Wuding Pass through this road, the enemy camp will definitely be shocked. At that time, Yangping Pass will be attacked from three sides, and the city can be broken in one go!" "Great plan! I would like to lead my troops there." "The mountain is steep and there are cliffs along the way. I'm afraid that most of the soldiers will be lost on the road. Although this plan is good, it is extremely dangerous. The strength of the general alone may not be enough." "Sacrificing one's life to go to the country's calamity, seeing death as a sudden return! The emperor is at stake, why is Zong Bo afraid to die?"