Chapter 12 Holy Order Unviolation

Zeng Yuanyu lost Hongzhou because Gao Xiang fled from the battle. He wanted to kill a hundred people and rectified the military discipline. However, Gao Xiang had already bought Yang Fuguang, Li Fu and others. Yang Fuguang, Li Fu and others came out to plead for mercy. Zeng Yuanyu had no choice but to order Gao Xiang's 30 military sticks again. The executive sergeant dragged Gao Xiang out of the government office and beat him. Gao Xiang grinned in pain and shouted, "Help!" When the soldiers inside and outside the government saw Gao Xiang's bear, they couldn't help laughing and covering their faces and chuckling.

After the soldiers hit Gao Xiang, Gao Xiang could no longer stand up. Li Fu hurried out and ordered his subordinates to send Gao Xiang back to his house. Gao Xiang cried and was carried away by the sergeant in the mocking eyes of the crowd.

Li Fu returned to the government office and saw Zeng Yuanyu still blushing and reviewing the documents. Zeng Yuanyu found that Li Fu had entered the government office, so he raised his head, cleared his throat, and said, "You are all meritorious ministers of the Tang Dynasty. At present, the pirates in the Central Plains are rampant. Although we lost a few times ago, we must not be discouraged!" The Tang Dynasty still has strong military forces in various parts of the Central Plains, and there are more soldiers in towns outside the Central Plains. We have many strong cities to defend, and the logistics support is much better than that of thieves. I thought about it over and over again and decided not to use troops separately. This time, I will concentrate the troops on the second line of the north and south of the Central Plains to fight against the thieves. According to the latest intelligence, the main force of the Huangchao thieves has recently been concentrated in the area of Xuzhou and Lushan. Zhengzhou and Luoyang are in an emergency. This is a blindfolding method used by thieves. Zhang Zimian's army has been deceived and concentrated the main force on the front line of Zhengzhou. Now I still don't know how to configure Luoyang's troops. It is estimated that there will be news from the court soon. Can you discuss how to deal with the Huang and the bandits now?

The generals in the government office discussed for a while and insisted on their own words. Some said that they should focus on the "suppressing of thieves" on the southern line of the Central Plains, some said that they would launch the main force on the northern line of the Central Plains to pursue and suppress "thieves", and some said that they would deploy troops to protect Luoyang.

Zeng Yuanyu licked his dry lips with his tongue. Just as he was about to speak, a sharp voice came from outside: "The edict is coming--"

The government office suddenly calmed down, and I saw the stone wild boar entering from the outside. This person was Tian Lingzi's confidant, Li Yan's favorite minister, followed by several people, one of whom was Lu Yinzheng, a Chinese scholar. Shi wild boar held the edict and said, "Zeng Yuanyu took the order!"

Zeng Yuanyu quickly left his seat, walked to the stone wild boar, knelt down and kowtowed: "Zeng Yuanyu listened to the order!"

The stone wild boar looked at the imperial edict and read sharply: "I heard that Zeng Yuanyu was suppressing thieves in the Central Plains. Recently, they have suffered setbacks. The yellow nest thief was fierce, and the front of the soldiers pointed directly to Luoyang, the eastern capital, threatening the imperial vein of the Tang Dynasty. I decided to urgently transfer Zeng Yuanyu to Luoyang, the eastern capital, and work with Liu Jingren to set up elite soldiers to defend Luoyang. Zeng Yuanyu is responsible for garrisoning the front line of Luyuan, Yique, Heyin and Wu prison to ensure the safety of Luoyang in Dongdu. In the Central Plains war, Yang Fuguang is the commander-in-chief for the time being, and Zhang Zimian is the vice-in-chief.

After listening to this imperial edict, Zeng Yuanyu suddenly burst into tears. Thinking about his exhaustion and food, he was about to arrange a major event to suppress the thieves in the Central Plains, but he killed a Cheng biting gold halfway. The emperor doesn't know military affairs, but he has to command blindly at this juxta. It's really angry and funny! There must be some troublemaker around him, making trouble, talking and accusing the "suppressing" generals on the front line. The more Zeng Yuanyu thought about it, the more angry he became. He really wanted to fly to Chang'an, Xijing, and chop out all those slanderers before he could get rid of his hatred!

Thinking about it and doing it, Zeng Yuanyu also had to face the reality. He had no choice but to receive the imperial edict from the stone wild boar and whispered, "Zeng Yuanyu received the edict!"

The stone wild boar raised his eyebrows and felt surprised to see Zeng Yuanyu's tears in his eyes and frown. He said, "General Zeng, get up! I think you are unhappy. Are you dissatisfied with the emperor's will?

Zeng Yuanyu quickly explained, "Mr. Shi, that's because I heard the imperial edict and thought that your majesty trusted my ministers so much that he had been entrusted with heavy responsibilities. I was very moved to be so moved. I'm afraid of leaving the battlefield of the Central Plains, and the Huangchao thieves are even more rampant, so I'm really a little worried!"

Shi wild boar came forward, pressed second-hand on Zeng Yuanyu's shoulder, and smiled, "General Zeng, don't worry too much about this. The Central Plains soldiers of the Tang Dynasty are extremely loyal and brave. There will be no problem for Lord Yang and General Zhang to lead the soldiers to kill thieves. You'd better arrange the Central Plains war as soon as possible and go to Luoyang with me!"

Lu Yinzheng also said, "General Zeng, you have made outstanding achievements in the battle between the south and the north, and you are the mainstay of the Tang Dynasty. Now the bandits attack Luoyang, and Xijing shakes. Only when you garrison in Luoyang can you control those bandits!"

Zeng Yuanyu smiled bitterly: "Thank you for your trust in Zeng. The holy order cannot be violated. I'm leaving for Luoyang." After saying that, he turned his face to Yang Fuguang and waved it with his hand. Yang Fuguang knew that Zeng Yuanyu had something to say and hurried over. Zeng Yuanyu took Yang Fuguang to a secret room in the government office. After the two sat down, Zeng Yuanyu whispered, "Fuguang, I guess it will take a long time to go to Luoyang this time. Recently, I have repeatedly analyzed the war between the enemy and us, and felt that the yellow nest thieves gathered heavy troops in the area of Xuzhou and Lulan Mountain, and there must be a big military action. The feeling of marching for many years tells me that the thieves must have insufficient food and fodder and difficulties in supplementing the north of the Yangtze River, so they are likely to cross the Yangtze River in the south. This time, the bandits pointed to Zhengzhou and Luoyang, which was just a bluff. The real purpose was to transfer my main force from the Central Plains to the north, so that I could take advantage of my Yangtze River defense line and cross the south of the Yangtze River. The deployment of the Tang Dynasty in the south of the Yangtze River is quite weak. Now Cao Shixiong, Gai Hong are in Jiangzhou and Hongzhou, and Wang Chongyin and Xu Tangju are in the area of Dongting Lake, which is very fierce. If the main force of Huang Chao goes south to join them, there will be disastrous consequences. Fuguang, you must set up heavy troops on the front line of Jiangling, Ezhou and Chizhou to prevent thieves from crossing the river! Especially in the direction of Jiangzhou, pay special attention!"

Yang Fuguang felt very reasonable when he heard Zeng Yuanyu's words and admired Zeng Yuanyu's military strategy. Politically, three Zeng Yuanyu are not Yang Fuguang's opponents; but militarily, ten Yang Fuguang are tied together, which can't defeat Zeng Yuanyu. Yang Fuguang immediately said, "General Zeng, Fuguang had many misunderstandings about you in the past, but the facts have taught me that you are decent, intelligent and brave, and you are a model of Fuguang's learning! Fuguang will definitely deploy as you say and make every effort to prevent the main force of Huangchao thieves from crossing the south of the Yangtze River!"

Zeng Yuanyu nodded and said, "Fuguang, I believe in your ability. You are also loyal to the Tang Dynasty and will do your best to suppress the thieves. When I arrived in Luoyang, I planned to send a letter to Cao Quanyu in Yanzhou. This person is used to fighting, intelligent and brave, and asked him to deploy some troops to reinforce the Central Plains, which will be directly under your command. Cao Quanyu has a son named Cao Yi, who is good at using a square sky painting halberd. He has the courage of thousands of people, just like the rebirth of Lv Bu of the Three Kingdoms. With the help of their father and son, you must be like a tiger with wings, which will make the yellow nest thief scared!"