Liyang County is located on the side of the Yangtze River and its capital is Liyang. It is rich in resources and has a large population. It is one of the important cities of the Sui Dynasty. However, in this place, there are three rebel armies, Miao Haichao, Zhao Pozhen and Du Fuwei, who occupied Liyang and Wujiang counties respectively and had a large number of soldiers and horses under their command, as many as tens of thousands of people.
In Liyang, Du Fuwei, wearing a tight suit and followed by several military officers, walked into the gate of the county government office and saw a middle-aged man with an honest face. He looked up and saw him, stood up quickly, and said, "General Manager, you are back?"
"Chief Secretary, you hurriedly called me back, but what happened?" Du Fuwei looked at the Chief Secretary Fu Gongju in front of him. He and Fu Gongju had known each other since childhood and were close friends. Fu Gongju often stole sheep from his aunt's house and gave them to Du Fuwei to eat. Because of the theft case, the government pursued them and the two became bandits. They were only sixteen years old at the time. Now they have finally made some achievements. They occupied Liyang. Du Fuwei was called the general manager and Fu Gongju was the chief secretary. The two had more than 30,000 soldiers and horses under their command, and their momentum was huge.
"General Manager, a powerful dragon has come from the north of Liyang. I'm afraid it's heading towards our Liyang." Fu Gongju smiled bitterly and said, "That's why I asked you to come back."
"Crossing the river dragon? Are the troops there as numerous as those of Miao Haichao and Zhao Pozhen? Their troops added up to about 70,000 or 80,000 people, and they can't do anything to us." Du Fuwei said disdainfully.
"The Begging Army, Li Yu, I wonder if the general has ever heard of it?" Fu Gongju shook his head and smiled bitterly. It seemed that Du Fuwei was very powerful, but in fact, Liyang was in trouble both internally and externally. Internally, Miao Haichao and Zhao Pozhen had already joined forces to deal with Du Fuwei. Outside, Gongsun Shangzhe of the imperial court was leading the army and could enter Liyang County at any time. The reason why Gongsun Shangzhe did not attack now was that he was waiting to wait until the three of them were all defeated before attacking. But now Li Yu led the army south, which made the situation in Liyang County even more complicated.
"Begging for life? Damn it, Liyang County is so small, why are you here?" Du Fuwei looked powerful. Although Liyang County is a county, it is actually just two counties. How many people can two counties support? It's already very chaotic with three forces. At this time, adding Li Yu, I'm afraid things will be even more complicated.
"Yes, Li Yu does not have many soldiers and horses, about 20,000 or so. But those who can kill their way from Luoyang to Nanyang and then to Jianghuai, these 20,000 people are probably elite soldiers and brave generals. We may not be his opponents." Fu Gongju shook his head. Although his own soldiers and horses were large in number, they could still deal with people like Miao Haichao. They had a lot of soldiers and horses, but in fact, they were all refugees and young and strong people who had not been trained. They were nothing like Li Yu's soldiers and horses, who had fought their way out of thousands of troops. Not to mention Miao Haichao, even Du Fuwei might not be his opponent.
"Changshi, are you sure Li Yu's troops are targeting Liyang? And not Jiangnan?" Du Fuwei hesitated and said, "If they are just passing through Liyang, the worst that can happen is that we can just make way for them." This is Du Fuwei. In history, whether it was Jiangdu or the Grand Canal, Yang Guang's ships entered Jiangdu through the Grand Canal, but Du Fuwei did not make any move. He used hundreds of thousands of troops, but could only occupy Liyang and did not know how to fight for the world. This is Du Fuwei.
"It shouldn't happen. Li Yu went south with a clear goal. He wants not only Jiangnan, but also the territories next to Jiangnan." Compared with Du Fuwei, Fu Gongju was more rational. He knew that Li Yu was not just passing through Liyang, but wanted to occupy Liyang.
"What should we do now?" Du Fuwei was good at fighting, but in other aspects, he was still not as good as Fu Gongju.
"It's best to unite with Miao Haichao and Zhao Pozhen to stop Li Yu from leaving Liyang County. Then we can consider other things." Fu Gongju was silent for a while before saying, "After the alliance, we will have more than 100,000 soldiers and horses. When we destroy Li Yu, we can use Li Yu to consume the forces of Miao Haichao and Zhao Pozhen. In the end, we can kill two more of them."
Driving the wolf to swallow the tiger, waiting for both sides to suffer losses, and then the fisherman will benefit, this is the method that Fu Gongju thought of. The method is very simple, that is, to destroy the enemy first, then use the enemy's power to weaken your allies, and then swallow the others together.
After listening to this, Du Fuwei thought about it and finally said, "Okay, let's do this. I will go to Miao Haichao and Zhao Pozhen in person to talk to them. They have been invincible for thousands of miles and have elite soldiers under their command. Only if the three of them unite can we get rid of Li Yu." Du Fuwei finally agreed. He believed that Miao Haichao and the others would also agree to this.
"Alas, we have only entered Liyang not long ago. If we wait for a while and absorb the troops of Miao Haichao and others, we will not be afraid of anything even if Li Yu comes." Fu Gongju was a little unwilling. If it wasn't for the wrong time, there would be no need to compromise with his enemies.
Du Fuwei did not say anything. Even if he defeated Miao Haichao and others, it would not be easy to hold on to Liyang County. The situation in Liyang became more complicated with the arrival of Li Yu, as he was trapped both internally and externally. If he wanted to defeat Li Yu, he had to govern Liyang seriously.
"General, Chao County is ahead. After Chao County, it is Longkang County, and after Longkang County is the territory of Liyang County." Cen Wenben looked at the big lake in the distance with a look of joy on his face. After a journey of thousands of miles, they gave up Luyang County and arrived at Liyang County because Liyang County is a land of fish and rice, the power of the surrounding imperial court is relatively small, and there are even fewer aristocratic families. Here is a fertile ground for the Beggar Army to survive.
"Du Fuwei, Miao Haichao, and Zhao Pozhen don't want us to go to Liyang!" Li Yu laughed and said, "I'm afraid it won't be easy for us to gain a foothold in Liyang!"
"The general loves the people like his own children. Unlike bandits like Du Fuwei, the people of Liyang will surely welcome you to rule Liyang." Xie Yingdeng looked happy. As long as he occupied Liyang County, he could move the people of Xiejiazhuang to Liyang County.
"Maybe!" Li Yu did not say anything. Whenever there is war, the common people are the most unfortunate ones, especially in Liyang. Du Fuwei is better, but Miao Haichao and Zhao Pozhen are both bandits . With these two armies around, the people of Liyang will never have a good life.
"General, there are sounds of fighting coming from a village ahead. Bandits are attacking the village." A scout came running over from a distance and shouted loudly.
"Let's go up and take a look. Tell the brothers to be ready and let these bandits see the power of my begging army." Li Yu raised the long spear in his hand, and the cavalry behind him rushed forward, and the rest of the army followed closely behind. More than 10,000 troops marched in neat steps towards Chao County.