jdhmnovel Chapter 851 Li Xiaoyi's Ambition
Chapter 851 Li Xiaoyi's Ambition
Jiangnan East Road, Fuzhou.
The famous Nineteen Prefectures of Jiangdong have been engulfed in war due to the selfish desires of the aristocratic families.
In just three days, the aristocratic families in the four states adjacent to Yuezhou were completely slaughtered. By using Wu Sansi's methods of plundering money and food, Li Cunxi was able to gather a large amount of food and grass for the Eastern Expedition Army in just a few days.
Li Kaigu brought five thousand black-armored cavalrymen to Shanyin and met Song Wuji. He originally wanted to take the blame and apologize, but he didn't expect that after meeting Song Wuji, what Song Wuji cared about most was the injuries on his body.
Li Kaigu was deeply moved and felt guilty about this. He expressed his desire to become brothers with Song Wuji for life and death. The two of them swore an oath to Li Cunxi and then became sworn brothers.
Afterwards, Song Wuji arranged for revenge for Li Kaigu, and went to the military camp outside Shanyin City with Li Kaigu to prepare for the next battle to destroy Li Xiaoyi's army.
October had arrived and the weather was cool. Li Xiaoyi was looking north from the military camp in Fuzhou.
None of the envoys he sent to Shanyin County in Yuezhou to collect grain returned.
His army didn't have much food left.
In less than ten days, his army would have to face the Zuo Weiwei and Zuo Longwuwei with empty stomachs.
Given the elite strength of the Zuo Longwu Guard, it would not be difficult for them to defeat the Zuo and Zuo Yingyang Guards in their prime, let alone the hungry Zuo and Zuo Yingyang Guards.
What's more, there are 100,000 Zuo Wei guards who are eyeing us covetously. If a fight really breaks out, they will be killed without a burial place.
"Zhou Ci, please go north."
"Go to Shanyin and ask His Majesty for food and fodder."
Helplessly, Li Xiaoyi had to ask Fang Ruhai's former deputy general Zhou Ci to go back.
As for Yang Dacheng's deputy general Bi Ke, he had already followed Yang Dacheng out to set up camp, forming a pincer attack with his own camp.
Zhou Ci clasped his fists and replied, "General, I'll go right away."
Less than a quarter of an hour after he left, Zhou Ci came back. After entering the tent alone, Zhou Ci's face looked extremely ugly.
"General, I'm back, and I bring you some bad news."
Li Xiaoyi turned around, frowned, and asked, "What's going on?"
"Hundreds of Imperial Guards have arrived from Shanyin. I have ordered most of them to be guarded. I only brought one person with me, and he is outside the camp. Please go and question him, General."
Li Xiaoyi's heart was shocked and he had a bad feeling.
The Imperial Guards are coming from Shanyin, which is not good news.
Something serious must have happened in Shanyin to make the Imperial Guards flee to him for help.
It is very likely that something went wrong with the emperor.
It is even possible that the emperor is dead.
He quickly left the tent and soon saw a down-and-out soldier who had lost one of his shoes and was crying.
"Bring him in!"
Li Xiaoyi pointed at the soldier and said angrily.
The soldier was immediately carried into the tent. Under Li Xiaoyi's repeated questioning, the soldier finally told Li Cunxi about how he broke into Shanyin County.
"What? Li Cunxi conquered Shanyin County and captured the emperor?"
"What do you Royal Guards do for a living?"
Li Xiaoyi grabbed something beside him and threw it on the ground angrily.
He was forced onto the pirate ship by Wu Sansi, and he no longer had the qualifications to get off the pirate ship. That's why he killed people in all directions and spared no effort to defeat Li Kaigu's 100,000-strong army.
Now, look what happened. He was fighting bravely on the front line, while Wu Sansi was captured in the back.
"The emperor has been captured, and we are being attacked from both sides by the enemy. We are also running low on food. If this bad news gets out, within three days, the Left and Right Eagle Guards will be in chaos."
"It's true that the Left and Right Eagle Guards are elite troops, but no matter how elite they are, without food and support, they are useless!"
"Now, immediately mobilize the reliable soldiers and kill all the imperial guards coming from Shanyin. We absolutely cannot let them disrupt our morale!"
A trace of pity flashed in Zhou Ci's eyes.
"General, even if we kill them all, what will happen next?"
"We have no food now, and we even have no emperor. To whom should we be loyal?"
Li Xiaoyi turned his back.
Who are you loyal to?
He also wondered to whom he should owe his allegiance.
But to whom could he be loyal?
Now everyone in the Great Zhou hates him for his life, and Wu Sansi has been captured again. I'm afraid he has been sent to Luoyang by now. Now he only has 150,000 troops left.
"It seems that the only way left is to go south."
"We'll head south to Zhangzhou, passing through coastal counties and prefectures, making a big detour, and finally entering Tubo. At this moment, the only country that can accept us is Tubo."
"If this plan doesn't work... I can only..."
Li Xiaoyi narrowed his eyes, as if he had made some kind of decision.
If he wanted to follow the example of some of his predecessors at the last moment and declare himself emperor, there would be nothing wrong with that.
Wu Sansi can do this kind of thing, and so can Li Xiaoyi.
……
Li Xiaoyi was still concealing the news, but the middle and high-level military officers with a keen sense of smell still found something wrong.
The Zuo Longwuwei Army and the Zuo Weiwei Army entered Fuzhou, one in front and one behind, twenty miles apart. According to the new plan, they moved closer to Li Xiaoyi's army every day.
At the critical moment of the war, rumors suddenly appeared in Li Xiaoyi's army, saying that the emperor had been captured and they were now wandering ghosts.
At the same time as this rumor spread, news of food shortages in the army and Li Xiaoyi's intention to establish independence also spread.
For a moment, countless discordant voices appeared in Li Xiaoyi's camp.
Although Li Xiaoyi tried his best to send people to suppress the rebellion, it was of no avail. Rumors were spreading in the army, and everyone was saying that he wanted to proclaim himself emperor.
Li Xiaoyi had no choice but to use more severe measures to suppress the discordant voices in the army.
Amidst this disharmonious military camp life, the Zuo Longwu Guards finally arrived ten miles outside Li Xiaoyi's camp.
The two army camps were extremely close, so close that scouts did not need to run too far to easily detect abnormal conditions in the other army camp.
Fang Zhe chewed an unknown fruit, spit the dried flesh on the ground, took another bite of the fruit in his hand, and then looked up at Li Xiaoyi's camp in the distance.
"His Royal Highness the Prince of Qin asked us to spread rumors. I didn't expect it to actually work. Li Xiaoyi must be unable to sleep because of the rumors in the army."
"In a few days, the army under his command will go crazy."
"When the time comes, hehehe."
……
Yang Dacheng's military camp.
The General of Chariots and Cavalry of the Great Wu has already met a member of the Imperial Guard from Shanyin County.
After he heard about Li Xiaoyi's robbery and killing of the fleeing imperial guards, he gnashed his teeth in hatred. No wonder it took him several days to find out that the emperor had been captured. It turned out that Li Xiaoyi was the one who interfered.
"How did His Majesty become?"
He suppressed the anger in his heart and looked at the Royal Guards.
This soldier of the Royal Guards looked miserable, with wounds all over his body, and he was staggering while holding his wounds.
"Your Majesty was captured, and we were kindly released by Li Cunxi, the Prince of Qin, to escape south!"