On the western battlefield of Guangling Road, the war was in full swing. With the addition of 10,000 elite cavalrymen from Ji Bei to Wu Zhongxuan, the imperial army had already gained the upper hand. Then, Xu Gong led the elite soldiers from the capital and 20,000 soldiers from Shu to the battlefield. Therefore, the imperial army was like a lion hunting a rabbit in West Chu. Wang Tongshan's old subordinates broke through the defense line at Laodu Mountain and broke the stalemate. The second battle of West Rampart was a foregone conclusion. At this moment, Wu Zhongxuan, as the Minister of War, held a military meeting in a small place called Wutong Town. Other than Song Li, the main general of the eastern battlefield, who was separated by West Rampart, almost all the generals of the imperial army who participated in quelling the rebellion in Guangling Road were gathered in the town. For a moment, the number of scouts and cavalrymen outside Wutong Town was as many as carps in the river.
In the twilight, a middle-aged man dressed in black and wearing a tall hat stood on top of the city wall and looked into the distance. Beside him was a tall young man in iron armor. The latter looked angry and said through gritted teeth, "That Old Wu is really cunning. He knows that he can't command the troops with his identity as the Great General of the Southern Expedition, so he uses his title as the Minister of War to show off. If not, General, as the nominal commander-in-chief of the Southern Expedition, your title is half a level higher than the Great General of the Four Expeditions and Four Towns. Although you are not a permanent general of the imperial army, it is wartime now. Old Wu shamelessly asked you to come to this godforsaken place. Old Wu is detestable, and that Yang Jian is even more shameless. He is also one of the few veteran generals of the Spring and Autumn Period. Not to mention Old General Yan Zhenchun, in my opinion, he is even worse than Yang Shenxing, who was demoted to Northern Liang to drink the northwest wind! "
At this point, the young man was a little puzzled. He lowered his voice and asked carefully, "General, why didn't you say anything today? Do you think what I said is reasonable? "
The middle-aged man who did not wear any armor or official uniform turned a deaf ear. He put his hand on the rough arrow pile on the wall and looked solemn. He looked into the distance. The greenery in the city was thick and the spring breeze was gentle. From time to time, small teams of elite riders belonging to the Nanjiang Border Army in the past would gallop in and out of the small town. Their horsemanship was exquisite, not at all inferior to the Liao Border Army. It was hard to imagine that they were soldiers from a place overflowing with miasma. This guest from Wutong Town who had come from afar was Lu Shengxiang. In the middle and later stages of the Spring and Autumn Period, he was as famous as Chu Lushan, who had taken over Shu with thousands of cavalry. Tang He and Li Chunyu of the Southern Border were inferior to him and Chu Lushan in terms of military achievements and reputation. The original Longxiang General Xu Gong, who had never experienced the fires of war in the Spring and Autumn Period, held this future colleague of his from the Ministry of War in high esteem. He had once praised Lu Shengxiang as "Lu Shengxiang is worthy of being the pillar of the southeast." The young general beside Lu Shengxiang was Guo Dongfeng, who had been feeding horses at Youlu Pass for a long time. He had been the vanguard general during the attack to the south at the beginning of the year. His military achievements were notable and it was said that he was already in the emperor's heart. Regardless of whether Lu Shengxiang was promoted or demoted in the future, Guo Dongfeng's future would not be hindered. The rebellious Guo Dongfeng was used to speaking without thinking and was even more used to being scolded and beaten by Lu Shengxiang. This time, Lu Shengxiang surprisingly did not stop him from speaking rudely. On the contrary, this made this young general, who was aiming to be made a Marquis at the border, feel somewhat uncomfortable. He originally had a bellyful of complaints, but he could not say them. Lu Shengxiang's unusual silence brought great pressure to Guo Dongfeng. His temperament was jumpy and he could only take down the sword at his waist and knock it against the wall.
Guo Dongfeng's gloominess was not completely without reason. The battle of Guangling Road was nearing its end, but the main general, Lu Shengxiang, as the number one person on the southern expedition in name, had first been ordered not to go out at Youlu Pass. Then, with great difficulty, he had put aside the deputy general of the southern expedition, Yang Jian, who was not willing to take the risk and insisted on seeking victory through stability. Lu Shengxiang had personally led the army to attack, but this had caused much criticism in the Great Peace Imperial Court. There were even court officials who had delivered heart-wrenching words. Their choice of words and sentences could be said to be extremely sinister. They did not dare to say that General Piao Yi was unbearable. On the contrary, they only said that Lu Shengxiang was worthy of being called a talented general. He was a talented general and not a talented commander. This clearly meant that Lu Shengxiang was not a problem as a "general" who led an army on his own. However, if one were to say that he was the commander of a southern expedition that needed "generals," then he was not as capable as he wished. Guo Dongfeng hated the old general Yang Qiang because Yang Qiang was truly old and did not have the ambition to expand his territory. He only wanted to make no mistakes and make no contributions. He only had twenty to thirty thousand men under his command, yet he had stuffed 200 or so children of officials from Great peace City into his ranks. This was even more exaggerated than Yang Shenxing's original actions. After all, the latter only accepted children of generals. Yang Qiang's table manners were even worse. It could be said that he did not reject anyone who came. Mixed in with so many embroidered pillows who ran to Guangling Road to fish for military merit, Yang Qiang did not dare to have the slightest desire to advance. Thus, after the old general led his army south, he wanted nothing more than to hug Lu Shengxiang's thigh and make him unable to move. He only wanted to wait until West Chu's power was gone before he could safely take a share of the spoils. It was clear that after Yang Shenxing's example, the experienced and prudent Yang Qiang had no choice but to be even more cautious. Earlier, Guo Dongfeng had seen Yang Qiang's main army advance at a tortoise's pace. The frequent use of scouts and mounted scouts was at the peak of perfection. Guo Dongfeng felt that it could be recorded in the annals of history. Almost every three li, there would be a scout that filled the sky. When he heard that the Beiliang cavalry headed straight for Guangling Road, Yang Qiang's army, which was located to the west of Lu Shengxiang, even though there was still a path of the Ji Province cavalry and a path of Xu Gong's army, Yang Qiang had already given the order to stop advancing. Guo Dongfeng heard that almost half of the 200 or so children of officials had retreated in the name of escorting the provisions of the capital. Because of this, Guo Dongfeng almost laughed his teeth out.
A scholarly man wearing the robes of a military official did not have any retinue following him and walked up the city wall alone. Guo Dongfeng turned his head to look. Although it was an unfamiliar face, he was a third-rank official. His prominent identity was clear. Assistant Minister of the Ministry of War Xu Gong, the pillar of the Gangnam-do Gumu Xu family. After the Minister of War Lu Baijie, who had originally been the leader of the Jiangnan scholars, was "defeated" in Great An City, Xu Gong had undoubtedly become the successor of the Gangnam-do officials in Jingdou. Guo Dongfeng did not have any ill feelings toward this person. Xu Gong and his benefactor, Lu Shengxiang, were in the same boat. Xu Gong had entered the capital to work in the Ministry of War. Before he could even warm the chair of the Assistant Minister of the Ministry of War, he had been thrown to patrol the borders of the two Liao provinces. With great difficulty, he had relied on the string of successful reports from the Great Pillar State Gu Jiantang on the Liaodong border to gain control of military power. This time, he had gone south with a face full of dust. It could be said that if it were not for the fact that Xu Gong had attracted most of the attention of the Imperial Censors in Jingdou, Lu Shengxiang's days would probably be even more difficult. Thus, there was already the joke of the "Assistant Minister of War" in the Great An City officialdom.
Lu Shengxiang's personality was cold. Whether it was in the Spring Snow Building of Guangling Road or in the officialdom of Great An City, he had always had the "good reputation" of being resolute and virtuous. However, when he saw Xu Gong climb up the city wall, he smiled slightly and took a few steps forward. He cupped his fists and said, "Greetings, Assistant Minister Xu."
Xu Gong had a dignified appearance. He had the heroic aura of a warrior on the battlefield, as well as the elegance of a scion of an aristocratic family. Compared to Lu Shengxiang, who did not have a prominent background, Xu Gong was more in line with the image of a scholarly general in the minds of scholars. He saw Lu Shengxiang take the initiative to express his goodwill and also smiled sincerely. "Xu Gong has admired General Lu for a long time. Finally, I can see you in person. Seeing you once is better than hearing a hundred times.
Lu Shengxiang smiled and said, "Ancestor Gu of the Southern Tang Dynasty created the theory of the military situation in 'Collection of Ashes'. I originally thought that the 'great words of the military' had already been said in this book, and that it would be difficult to find a higher view in the world. Only the military book of Chen Zhibao, the King of Shu, could compare. There were no details, big or small, tens of thousands of words, and it taught the generals in the army that everyone should follow the prescribed order and perform their duties. When Assistant Minister Xu entered the capital, I was no longer in the capital. However, coincidentally, there was a military book that Assistant Minister Xu wrote in his early years. At the time, I had nothing to do at You Lu Pass, so I focused on studying it. I benefited greatly and did not feel that time was wasted. Assistant Minister Xu said in his early years that I, Lu Shengxiang, was the cornerstone of the southeast. Previously, I had a deep prejudice against the scholars of Gangnam-do and mistakenly thought that Assistant Minister Xu was one of those rotten scholars who only knew how to talk about war on paper but had little ability. If I had read that military book a few years earlier, I would have said, 'Xu Longxiang is the cornerstone of the southeast.' Even if the world mistakenly thought that you and I were inviting each other, it was fine. "
Xu Gong laughed heartily and said, "To be able to hear the words of Lu Shengxiang in front of me, it is better than thousands of words from afar."
The "from afar" that Xu Gong spoke of was naturally the uproar in the court of Great Peace City. The meaning behind his words was that even if he, Xu Gong, lost his position and left the capital, not being the assistant minister of the Ministry of War, it was not a great matter.
Familiarity at first sight, this was probably referring to Xu Gong and Lu Shengxiang.
Guo Dongfeng interrupted, killing the mood, "Assistant Minister Xu, I heard that the famous Ji Zhou general, Yuan Tingshan, did not come here with you?"
Xu Gong smiled calmly and said, "General Yuan did indeed leave two days earlier than me. However, the main general of the Western Shu infantry, Che Ye, came with me."
Guo Dongfeng chuckled and said, "No wonder when our old General Yang Kui entered the city yesterday, the young and highly accomplished General Yuan was standing next to the minister. What, Assistant Minister Xu came to the city wall today to pay respects to the King of Jing An? "
Xu Gong did not mind this young and brave general's words. He shook his head and said, "The minister will welcome the King of Jing An. I heard that the King of Shu might arrive today, so I came to take a closer look."
Lu Shengxiang said calmly, "Previously, the King of Shu and I worked together to defeat the enemy on the northern battlefield of the Guangling Road. We only saw each other from afar before we parted ways. It was a pity. Today, I am the same as Assistant Minister Xu."
Gu Jiantang, Chen Zhibao, Lu Baijie, Wu Zhongxuan, Lu Shengxiang, Xu Gong, Tang Tieshuang.
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