Chapter 763: The Sound of Drums and Horns Shows Its Sharp Edge (35)

Betrayal of a country that he had served for decades and worked hard for was a painful decision process for Zhou Yuan. Although he had agreed to Cao Tianci before, deep down in his heart, he was not without struggle and hesitation. On one side was the imperial court to which he once served, and on the other was the survival of his children and grandchildren. In the past, Zhou Yuan did not have this mood. He himself also felt that he was a dignified man who could sacrifice his family for everyone. But when he stepped down from all official positions, After returning to his hometown in Fenzhou and getting along for a while, the weakest depths in his heart were finally magnified infinitely, especially the calls of his grandson's sweet-sounding grandpa, which almost made his heart melt. .

Looking at those little faces with pink make-up and jade, Zhou Yuan could never bear the thought of them struggling to survive at the bottom with their faces smeared with dirt, especially in the end, Gao Yuan's cavalry boldly stepped into Tianhe County, and the troops were approaching. When he was in Jicheng, he finally made the final decision to leave Fenzhou and go to Hetao to win the last contribution in his life for his children and grandchildren.

He has now completely given up his illusions about Jicheng. No matter how hard Zhou Yutanfeng struggled, he could not help Dayan, who was about to fall.

In addition to the children and grandchildren of his lineage, the people who went with him to western Liaoning this time were also the old boatmen and their families in the entire shipyard. The four large-scale ships built in the past two years were fully loaded. After they were far away from the Fenzhou coast, the four large-scale ships were The ship met at the predetermined location and headed straight to western Liaoning. Kou Shuguang had already gone back to take care of the relevant matters. Once the ship arrived at its destination, these boatmen would be able to devote themselves to their new work, and Zhou Yuan would naturally have people Welcome him to Jishi City.

The Overwatch Council has been working on this matter for more than two years, and today it has finally yielded fruitful results, which makes everyone in the Overwatch Council. All are beaming.

In Yuyang, Kongde occupied Anlu and marched into Xinhui. After driving the Eastern Expeditionary Army into the Luliang Mountains, troubles came one after another. The first is the rear, the Anlu mining area. The miners are making trouble every day, and the operation of the entire mining area has almost come to a standstill.

In Comte's mind, these miners were restless guys organized by slaves, criminals and homeless people, and they only needed to give them a bite to eat. He can squeeze their labor to his heart's content, dig out more ores for himself, and make more steel. But obviously, things are not as simple as he thought. After he took charge of Anlu, the miners here The riots never stopped.

After some investigation, Conde realized that after ruling this area, Zhengdong Mansion gave miners generous wages and paid them according to their work. The more you do, the more you get, which greatly motivates these miners. This also made it possible that when the Eastern Expeditionary Army controlled Anlu, the miners here were the most responsible. As long as you are willing to work hard, you can make more money. And with money, who would think about causing trouble? ? Ordinary people, after all, are satisfied as long as they have a mouthful of food to eat. What's more, the reward given by the Eastern Conquest Army. It is extremely rich, and there are some miners in it during the past two years. I have saved a lot of money and am preparing to work for another year or two before leaving this place and going to the Hetao where I can buy 180 acres of land and live and work in peace and contentment! I heard that the soldiers of the Eastern Expedition Army who were on duty here often talked about the place in Hetao.

The land there is ridiculously cheap. In the past, as long as you were willing to go, you would be given a piece of land for free. Although it is no longer possible and you have to pay for it, the price of buying a hundred acres of land there is equivalent to 100 acres of land in the mainland. You can buy up to four or five acres. What's the difference between this and giving it away for free?

However, before I woke up from the good dream, Sun De came and the Eastern Expeditionary Army retreated. After Conde came, everything returned to the way it was before. There was no more payment for work, and the little property he had saved before was wiped out. Those Yan Army soldiers were snatched away, and everything was back to where it started. Two years of hard work were in vain, and all the miners were filled with anger, resentment, and hostility.

First, they were passive and sabotage, destroying tools, and then the defenders guarding the place raised their butcher knives unceremoniously. The blood stimulated all the miners. Under the instigation of caring people, armed resistance began in the huge mining area. In the hands of the miners, There were hammers and iron drills. The Yan army stationed here was caught off guard and suffered a heavy blow. Thousands of guard troops were scattered in the huge mining area. They were just like a wave in the sea, which had not yet appeared. The water splash was mercilessly swallowed up.

Kongde, who was fighting fiercely with Ye Zhen, the main force of the Eastern Conquest Army, was shocked when he heard the news. He had to stop his offensive and mobilize his troops to come back to suppress the rebellion. However, when he came back, the rebellious miners had disappeared without a trace. Kongde Helplessly, he found that he had no other choice but to appease the remaining miners, because the mining area still needed to be mined, and he also needed more iron ore and copper to make weapons, so he could not kill all the miners. After symbolically killing several relatives of the rebels, Conde had to process money for the miners, try to appease them, and stationed thousands of troops here to prevent the rebellion from happening again.

But as a result, he was no longer able to organize a large-scale attack on Ye Zhen, and the offensive and defensive momentum was easily reversed. After crossing the Luliang Mountains, Ye Zhen joined forces with Naha and Zeng Xianyi and launched a large-scale attack on Xinhui. counterattack.

Within ten days, Kongde was forced to abandon Xinhui and retreat to Anlu. However, this was already Kongde's bottom line. He had to defend Anlu and the mining area.

At this time, it was already mid-July. At this time, orders from Jicheng arrived to abandon Anlu, and the entire army returned to support Tianhe County, return to Jicheng, and fight Gao Yuan back to Hejian.

Holding this paper order, Kong De wanted to cry but had no tears. He launched the attack from Yuyang and paid the price of thousands of people to achieve the current results. But now, with a paper order, the price he paid before will be wiped out.

Is it so easy to retreat, and to retreat before the two armies confront each other? Will Ye Zhen on the opposite side let him retreat easily?

When Kong De received the order from Jicheng, Niu Ben also stood in front of Ye Zhen. At the same time, another person who was beyond Ye Zhen's expectation also came to his camp. The person who came was Zhao Guang, the special envoy of Zhao Jun general Zhou Changshou, the former chief general of the whole city.

"I understand what the governor means." Ye Zhen laughed and said to Niu Ben: "When you want to sleep, someone sent a pillow. General Niu, Zhou Changshou also sent someone to me, hahaha! You go and rest first, I will deal with this General Zhao Guang first, and see what Zhou Changshou means."

Niu Ben smiled and left.

Yan and Zhao have always been in opposition. Relying on its strong national strength, Zhao has always played the role of bullying Yan. Over the years, the two countries have never stopped fighting big and small. Until now, friction between the two sides still occurs from time to time. What's more, in Dai County, there are 6,000 cavalrymen of infantry who are assisting Zhao Yong and Zhao Qi in a fierce battle. The two sides are fighting in Dai County like a tug-of-war, and half of Dai County has been reduced to ruins.

When Zhao Guang walked into Ye Zhen's tent, he felt quite complicated. A few years ago, when he was the commander of the whole city, Gao Yuan was just a small county lieutenant. With the passage of time, the status of the two sides is now very different. Even in front of a general of the other side, he has to be a subordinate.

And he was once a prisoner of the Fufeng Army, which is the predecessor of the Eastern Expedition Army.

The little character back then has made it big, but he is still standing still, transferred here and there, and finally no further progress. Zhao Guang knows that he once opposed Zhao Qi and was regarded as a thorn in Zhao Qi's side. Now that Zhao Qi is in power, how can he stand out? The only chance to stand out is to let Zhou Changshou rise up and compete with Zhao Qi. This is why he strongly supports Zhou Changshou when he proposes to seize Yuyang.

"General Zhao, please sit down. I wonder what important matter General Zhao has for coming to our camp this time?" Ye Zhen politely asked Zhao Guang to sit down and served tea. He also put down the tiger table and sat in front of Zhao Guang, indicating that the two sides are now only an equal relationship. When you come, you are a guest. I have my own way of treating guests.

Ye Zhen was born in the Ye Mansion. He has been traveling around with Ye Tiannan since he was young. In terms of etiquette, he is always full of aristocratic style. Even if he is about to cut you into pieces, he can still smile and chat with you in the previous moment, and his etiquette is not bad at all.

After he sang this cover, Zhao Guang felt like he was in spring breeze, and the tension in his heart was mostly relieved.

"Zhao came here this time on the order of General Zhou Changshou, and I want to discuss an important matter with General Ye." Zhao Guang pondered for a moment, "General Ye, you and I are both warriors, so I won't beat around the bush but get straight to the point. General Gao's intention to sweep the Yan State is already known to everyone. Now Yan State is ready for war, There are not many soldiers who dare to fight. Hu Yanchao's troops in Langya are now attacking the Xiaoshan Pass. It has been more than a month, but they have not been taken. This shows that Hu Yanchao's troops are indeed extraordinary. Then there is Kong De's troops in Yuyang. General Ye has been fighting with him for more than a month. There have been wins and losses. Naturally, Zhao is not allowed to say more. Then there is Zhou Yu's newly formed army in Jicheng. The others are not worth mentioning. "

"Could it be that General Zhao came here to deal with Kong De's troops with me?"

"General Ye is powerful. He said the purpose of my coming here. Kong De's troops have a total of more than 50,000 people. They have fought with General Ye for more than a month and lost thousands. Now there are more than 30,000 soldiers who can fight. General Zhou intends to help your troops to eliminate Kong De's last troops in Yuyang County, making it impossible for them to return to Jicheng. I think this will be of great help to the great cause of Governor Gao, right?" Zhao Guang said with a smile.

Ye Zhen nodded slightly, "General Zhao's words are indeed true, but I also know that there is no such thing as a free lunch. I won't hide it from General Zhao. With my strength, I don't have enough to swallow up the Kong tribe. General Zhou Changshou is willing to help us. What does he want?" "General Zhou doesn't want much. He only wants Yuyang. Moreover, we can still give Anlu to you. General Zhou also knows that the Anlu iron mine is very important to Governor Gao." Zhao Guang stared at Ye Zhen and said. (To be continued)