Chapter 566 God help me!
What caused the shock was not only Liu Xiu's amazing military record, but also the fact that the banner he was fighting under was very ambiguous.
Revive the Han Dynasty!
Is the Han Dynasty in decline now?
The royal family occupies a stable position in Guanzhong and has a large number of elite soldiers. The rebel army is now at an absolute disadvantage. Another force that is confronting the imperial court is the Liu princes.
What Han Dynasty should be restored?
The implicit meaning of this statement is clearly that no matter whether it is Wang Mang or the princes, I think these people are not capable enough. The fate of the Han Dynasty depends on me!
It is unbelievable that a descendant of a distant clan dared to make such a statement in front of the world.
Liu Xiu pointed his sword at Qi and moved his battles to Hebei, Chen and Xu. Whether he was facing the subordinates of the princes or the rebel army, he won victory after victory.
During the Jingnan Campaign, the princes of Guandong said that their population did not exceed 10,000, their households did not exceed 1,000, and their soldiers did not exceed 100. This was indeed not wrong.
But there are completely different concepts between having no more than a hundred strong and healthy soldiers and no more than a hundred ordinary militiamen.
Among Liu Xiu's subordinates, there were those who followed him all the way from Nanyang County, and those who followed him after arriving in Guandong. Many of them were capable of leading troops to fight. Under the strategic plan formulated by Liu Xiu, they attacked and conquered in all directions.
After many battles, big and small, he continuously annihilated the armies of various princes. Most importantly, he not only used force, but also combined multiple means, and finally won the recognition of the princes in Kanto.
The lesson that the King of Chu, who was invincible on the battlefield, left to the world was truly profound.
Military power can gain the world temporarily, but it will be lost in the end.
So these families gradually came to the front of the stage to support him from behind the scenes. The only problem was
At this point, the imperial court could no longer ignore Liu Xiu's strength.
Especially after Liu Xiu had completely established his foothold, he began to raise the slogan of "reviving the Han Dynasty, restoring the orthodox dynasty, upholding the Liu family, and defending the world."
Although Liu Xiu's forces did not have the political program and slogan of killing Wang Mang and eradicating the evil queen.
But this slogan also questions whether the Chang'an regime is actually controlled by the Liu family!
Who knows whether Liu Xiu's forces will be able to complete the ideological transformation from questioning the princes, to understanding the princes, and to becoming the princes themselves?
Who dares to bet on this?
…
In Yanzhou, as the war went more smoothly, Liu Xiu swept across the five most densely populated states in Guandong, especially Qingzhou and Yanzhou.
Although order has not been restored here, the big warlords have disappeared.
However, Liu Xiu's biggest disadvantage was revealed at this time. He was not a legitimate Han Dynasty member, and the power of the Five Surnames also had its limits. Moreover, it was impossible for him to form an alliance with every powerful person. Even the scholars and powerful people from various states gathered under his command had already begun to fight for power. The factional struggle became increasingly fierce, and they used their own resources to secretly force Liu Xiu to favor their side.
Liu Xiu knew that this was bound to happen.
But at this time, Liu Xiu knew that it was time for him to proceed with his next plan.
After getting out of the dragon trap in Nanyang County, he has now truly become a potential dragon about to take off.
At this time, Liu Xiu should have started to govern the five states, and then slowly unite or suppress the powerful people in the five states, so that these powerful people would provide money, troops and people, and his strength would expand rapidly.
But reality did not give him such an opportunity. The imperial court had already begun sending troops to eliminate Liu Xiu, and was once again caught up in internal strife.
Liu Xiu had to head west.
He held a rally in Xiangying City, where the former Chu State was located, and said, "Now the situation in the world has come to this point. The only thing left is the pseudo-imperial court and my revival of Han. If we defeat the pseudo-imperial court's army, the world will be back on track.
I, Liu Xiu, was originally the eldest son of a distant family. I have been able to reach this point today thanks to the blessing of heaven and the following of heroes.
This is the burden bestowed upon me by God, to shoulder the responsibility of the world.
What else can I say?
The only thing we can do is to respectfully carry out God's decree.
Fengtian Jingnan, right now."
After the oath, Liu Xiu led 50,000 elite troops westward to the first pass in Luoyang - Hulao Pass.
Liu Xiu used the tactic of showing weakness to lure King Liang's army out of the pass, and then defeated them in one battle and successfully entered the main pass of this numerous pass.
He stationed thousands of people here as a base that could be used for both attack and defense.
The reason why the imperial army arrived so late was that after a fierce debate, they finally came to the conclusion that Liu Xiu must be eliminated.
No matter what Liu Xiu wanted to do, whether it was to rebel and become emperor or to enter Chang'an and replace Wang Mang as the ruler himself, it was unacceptable to the royal family, the dignitaries and the officials.
Because Liu Xiu represented a completely different political force!
Once Liu Xiu entered Chang'an, he had his own close relatives and political team who became the new dignitaries. He was also close to the Confucian families in Guandong and had a large number of scholars who could serve as officials.
All of this is a devastating blow to the important figures in the court today.
Now that the situation in the world is gradually becoming more promising, the imperial court is finally willing to make an all-out effort.
He was hesitant when fighting the rebel army and the coalition of princes before, but now he tried to suppress Liu Xiu with a thundering force, which could almost be described as an attack that emptied the family's wealth.
Even Luo Qi, who was now drifting away from Wang Mang, did not raise any objections.
Because in his opinion, Liu Xiu was an extremely outstanding commander, and without using absolute strength to crush him, it was possible that he would be defeated by Liu Xiu one by one.
In order to prevent accidents, Luo Qi also paid special attention to the generals going on the expedition, because he was worried that the somewhat suspicious Wang Mang would let his confidants serve as generals, resulting in one general being incompetent and the whole army being exhausted.
In the end, Wang Mang still had some rationality and simply appointed his own clansmen and confidants as military supervisors.
Luo Qi actually didn't want Wang Mang to intervene at all, but this was impossible. Wang Mang's power was extremely strong. Unless Luo Qi directly split the court apart from the decision-making and executive levels.
After working together for several years, the gentlemanly friendship that once existed between him and Wang Mang was basically lost.
He even directly criticized Wang Mang, saying that since he had limited ability, he should abdicate and let others take over, rather than continue to hold on to power.
Wang Mang, who had suffered a series of setbacks in recent years, faced Luo Qi's accusation and said with some dismay: "Since Wen Qi has said this, who is the wise man who can save the world?
Is he a relative of Queen Mother Zhao?
Or are the Luo family members going to take it upon themselves to save the world from decline?
If so, Mang will abdicate and hand over the position of Grand Marshal to a wise man."
Since I can't do it, then you name someone who can, and I want to see if he can do it.
But if Wang Mang was replaced, the imperial court would not have to deal with the outside world and could just finish the civil war first.
In the end, the matter was shelved, and the imperial army entered the Heluo area, and then marched straight to Hulao. There were eight armies in total, each with 50,000 people, including several thousand armored soldiers, stationed in the cities around Luoyang, blocking Liu Xiu's strategic transfer route.
However, Liu Xiu calmly held Hulao Pass and the surrounding passes and harassed the imperial court's logistics. The daily logistical pressure of 400,000 people was enormous, and cutting off one of them would be a huge achievement.
…
Chang'an.
Luo Qi sat in the room, frowning slightly. As the imperial army marched to Kanto, Guanzhong became less peaceful than before.
Monsters, demons, goblins and monsters began to breed quietly. These things were like weeds and could never be cut off or killed.
Zhao Hede walked in with delicious snacks, looking slender and graceful. Her most distinctive feature was that she was as gentle as spring water, with every part of her body soft and tender, and she swayed gracefully as she walked.
"My dear, are you still worried about the war in Kanto?
Those heading to Guandong are all veteran generals, and their troops far outnumber the enemy troops, so there won’t be any accidents. Perhaps the victory report from Guandong will arrive tomorrow.”
Luo Qi took Zhao Hede into her arms and sighed, "Madam, you don't understand. In front of a true genius, so-called experience is not worth mentioning, especially in war."
There was silence in the room, and Luo Qi had something else to say, which was that the family seemed to be changing from supporting the court to maintaining neutrality.
The fact that the family turned a blind eye to the actions of the princes in Guandong at least shows one thing, that is, the family felt that Liu Xiu could better represent the world than Wang Mang.
"Is Liu Xiu really that good?
If the imperial army really fails, what should I do to ensure a dignified ending?
At least we must save my wife and our child."
…
boom!
Countless meteorites fell from the sky. It was originally a dark night, but these countless rays of light made the military camp bright.
Countless people's faces were filled with despair!
"The Supreme Emperor!"
————
After the emperor attacked Heluo, he was about to capture Hulao. Mang sent 400,000 soldiers and became arrogant. He said to his subordinates: "I sent out 400,000 soldiers. They can shake mountains and shake rivers. They can stop rivers with a whip. How can we not win if we have ten against one?"
When the emperor heard Mang's words, he and his generals laughed at him and said, "The rise and fall of a country is determined by nature. It is not about the number of troops that matters. Mang has ten defeats and I have ten victories. If you dare to attack, my three thousand tiger soldiers will be enough to defeat Mang's army and send it back."
Then they fought in Heluo. There were sparks falling from the camp. It was dark and gloomy at night. The Mang army was terrified. The emperor said, "This is the Su King helping me. I will definitely succeed today!"
He advanced bravely and won the battle in one battle. It was truly a gift from heaven! - "Book of the Later Han Dynasty: Chronicle of Emperor Guangwu"
(End of this chapter)
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