Chapter Eighteen: Unifying the Army (Part One)

  Youzhou was the seat of the Lulong Jiedushi, and has been a major military stronghold in northern China since ancient times. As early as the Warring States period, this place was the capital of the State of Yan, one of the seven warring states, known as Yanjing. After Qin unified the six states, it was established as Ji County, the seat of Guangyang Commandery. In the Sui Dynasty, it was changed to Zhuo Prefecture, and in the Tang Wu De period, it was restored to Youzhou, which was the rear base for the northern expedition against Goguryeo. During the Tianbao period, An Lushan proclaimed himself emperor here, and after the Anshi Rebellion was pacified, Youzhou was re-established under the control of the Lulong Jiedushi. For more than a hundred years afterwards, it firmly controlled the ten or so states under its jurisdiction, and remained one of the three powerful vassals in northern China.

  Compared to the frequently war-torn Central Plains and southern Hebei, Youzhou was a relatively stable place. The merchants and travelers Li Chengzhong saw along the way all looked very calm, and the common people's lives were also relatively peaceful. As they got closer to Youzhou, more and more farmland appeared, gradually forming large tracts of fields. With the harvest season approaching, the half-green and half-yellow wheat swayed in the wind, rippling like waves.

  Far away from the battlefield and danger, Li Chengzhong greedily looked at the peaceful and serene everything in front of him, with a heart full of joy. There were no towering electric poles, no highways crossing the fields, no piles of plastic garbage, no filthy ditches, and no ubiquitous car exhaust. He took a deep breath of fresh air, and wholeheartedly praised all the way.

  In the distance, the towering city wall of Youzhou City gradually emerged, and its scale was much larger than that of Beizhao and Weizhou. As we walked closer, the city wall was surprisingly built with giant stones, and compared to the rammed earth walls of Beizhao and Weizhou, it was many times more solid. The distant Yanshan Mountains outlined a few wisps of green silk on the horizon, and the sunlight shone on the towering Youzhou City Wall, making this great city shine with brilliant light.

  This is Youzhou, the political, economic and military center of the North, the central location of the entire Yan Zhao land. In just a few decades, this place will become the Southern Capital of Liao State, the Central Capital of Jin State. More than three hundred years later, this place will become the Grand Capital of the Yuan Dynasty, the world's overlord, and truly become the center of the world. Then, this place will serve as the capital of the Ming and Qing dynasties, ruling East Asia for 500 years! Finally, this place will become the national capital in the era when Li Chengzhong comes, a sacred place in the hearts of more than one billion people.

  "What a magnificent sight!" Li Chengzhong muttered to himself, gazing at the massive city before him. The ancient walled cities had a profound impact on people's minds, and the beauty displayed by these enormous, integrated structures was enough to make one become completely absorbed in them. Even the largest metropolises of later eras that Li Chengzhong had seen, with their towering skyscrapers, couldn't compare to the grandeur of this city, wrapped as it was in its majestic walls.

  The grandeur of Chang'an in the Tang Dynasty is why people from all over the world with different skin colors and cultures are fascinated by it, and why travelers passing through East and West feel a sense of awe. The magnificent city walls that stretch for dozens of miles are an important factor. The long city wall is one of the most charming cultural heritages of Chinese civilization, and its unique charm makes Li Chengzhong infatuated with it.

  Most of the brothers in Youdu were temporarily recruited from various states under the jurisdiction of Lulong Prefecture before the war, and except for Zhang Xingchong and a few others, they had never seen such a big city. Everyone's face showed the same expression as Li Chengzhong. This expression was immediately despised by Zhang Xingchong, a military general from a local family who really couldn't bear to see everyone's rustic appearance, so he took the initiative to serve as a guide and lead Youdu into the city, while also inviting the brothers of Youdu to his home as a "landlord".

  Zhang Xingzhong's efforts to persuade ended in failure, leaving him embarrassed as a "landlord". Despite repeatedly emphasizing and explaining his own background and reporting his family name, and even detailing the address of his home at the entrance of the alley, Zhang Xingzhong was still not allowed to pass by the city gate guards. The other side politely but seriously informed Zhang Xingzhong and his brothers that due to the current special situation, all military personnel entering the city must show a permit issued by their main officer. Having no choice, You Dou gave up on visiting and touring the city of Youzhou, and instead went to Zhang Xingzhong's home to drink and celebrate, following the city gate guard's directions, taking a detour around the west of the city, and first reporting back to the Jianzu camp.

  The camp was set up five miles west of the city, and it had long lost its original appearance of having tents lined up along the banks of the Giant Horse River, with soldiers in full vigor. Now there were only a few dozen tents standing inside a simple wooden palisade, which could be seen at a glance. When Jiudou arrived at the camp gate in his ox cart, he saw two soldiers lazily standing guard at the entrance. These two sentries were familiar faces, and they knew several of Jiudou's brothers. Li Chengzhong also recognized them. After exchanging greetings, Wang Dalang was the first to run over and chat with them for a few sentences. One of them immediately rushed into the camp to report the news.

  Before long, several officers rushed out of the camp, and the first one was Commander Zhou Zhiyong. Zhou Zhiyong's eyes were red, and he pulled along the brothers of Youdu, asking them one by one, but only repeatedly choking back tears and saying one sentence: "It's good that you're back! It's good that you're back!"

  Li Chengzhong was promoted to partner by Zhou Zhiyu himself after the battle of Bei State, so Zhou Zhiyu was more familiar with him. After greeting everyone, he pulled Li Chengzhong aside and asked about what had happened. Upon hearing Li Chengzhong's account of Lin Zhong's murder and encounter with the Bian army cavalry, Zhou Zhiyu couldn't help but praise You Dou's cleverness. When he heard about Shao Shuai's seizure of military merit, however, he fell silent for a moment before saying: "Zhou certain is ashamed before all you brothers."

  Li Chengzhong said that he didn't have much hope for this matter, but instead comforted Zhou Zhiyu with a couple of sentences: "The brothers are just a bit angry about it, but they've already let it go. Besides, the Shengde army was defeated by General Xiao, so handing over the captives to him is no big deal. Just relax and don't worry about it, the brothers won't mind." Zhou Zhiyu nodded and said: "The brothers understand the general situation, I have a plan in my heart."

  After finishing speaking, Zhou Zhiyu suddenly remembered that everyone was still outside the camp, so he hastily ordered the officer behind him to arrange for them to rest in the evening. The officer was one of Zhou Zhiyu's personal guards, named Zhao Zaili, with the rank of Peirong Xiaowei, one level higher than Li Chengzhong, but without any real duties or troops under his command.

  Zhao Zaili led Li Chengzhong and others to find a few empty barracks, and designated this place as the Youdu camp. When asked by Li Chengzhong, Zhao Zaili was relatively straightforward and immediately told him about the situation of the Jianzu Camp without hiding anything. After the defeat of the army, Zhou Zhiyuan rushed out of the chaotic army with only seven or eight people behind him, and Zhao Zaili was one of them. Everyone followed Zhou Zhiyuan to pursue General Liu Renkuang, and finally caught up with the central army under the city of Hejian, and then immediately returned to Youzhou. After that, Zhou Zhiyuan set up a camp in the west of the city to gather defeated soldiers. In these more than ten days, some brothers came back one after another. Counting today's arrival at Youdu, there were only 378 people in total. The Jianzu Camp had tens of thousands of people when it went out, but now there are only so few left, which can be described as "nine out of ten tents gone".

  As for the other troops, Zhao Zongyi was not very clear, only heard that the Baodu cavalry was completely annihilated, and the garrison troops of various states were scattered without any leftovers. The Shanhou army and the Yinhulü suffered heavy losses, and are still being reorganized. The elite troops of the Ya Nei army, who suffered heavy casualties, happened to have more survivors because of their strict training and loyal soldiers, and followed the general back to Youzhou. It is said that after reorganization, there will be around 2,000 men.

  To sum up, Lulong Army currently has no more than a few troops that can be deployed on the battlefield. If not for the interference of Hedong Army, Xuanwu Army might have been able to capture Youzhou City in one battle. Even Chengde Army, which was previously looked down upon, was only able to hold its ground thanks to the newly formed Yizi Army led by Liu Shouguang.

  This was the greatest defeat Lu Longjun had suffered in a hundred years, almost emptying his entire household. Commander Liu Renkong fell ill upon returning and did not recover, while the other armies were also disheartened. Except for gathering the defeated soldiers, there was nothing to be done. When the brothers of Youdu heard about this situation, they couldn't help but sigh. Since they had been defeated, it was naturally impossible to have any rewards. The 10,000 yuan that Li Chengzhong and Jiang Miao had obtained in the previous battle at Beizhou were also nowhere to be claimed, and the two of them didn't dare to ask Zhou Zhiyu for it when he was in a bad mood.

  You are all in the camp with nothing to do, so Li Chengzhong made up his mind to go shopping in Youzhou again. Since there is no battalion commander or team officer at present, he is one of the highest-ranking military officers, relying on his familiarity with Zhou Zhiyu, and came directly to the outside of the central army account, wanting to ask Zhou Zhiyu for the city's defense.

  Li Chengzhong was blocked by Zhao Zaili outside the commander's tent and couldn't see Zhou Zhiyu, because this commander had not been in the camp for several days, and it was said that he had been rushing to the governor's mansion. After hearing Li Chengzhong's intention, Zhao Zaili smiled and told him "this matter is easy", then lifted the curtain and entered the tent, after a short while, took out a stack of official documents and asked: "How many people?"

  "Twenty-four!" Li Chengzhong said hastily.

  Zhao quickly picked up the seal and stamped it on the passes, producing twenty-four copies in no time. He handed them over to Li Chengzhong. Seeing that Li looked puzzled at the seal, Zhao explained: "The commander-in-chief has instructed us that everyone is working hard, and those who want to enter the city can go as they please. I can take care of this matter. In the past few days, there's nothing much to do, so if you have a place to stay, you can rest in the city. Everyone just needs to come back once every three days to report for duty. The commander-in-chief also said that the army has suffered a defeat, and countless supplies of food and money have been lost, leaving no extra funds for expenses, so please be understanding."

  With the guards, all the brothers were overjoyed and packed up a bit. In fact, there was nothing to pack, just washing clean in the camp, and they all followed Zhang Xing to Youzhou.

  Li Chengzhong was truly entering a densely populated ancient city for the first time, and he was extremely excited. In Bei State last time, due to the massacre, all the common people were killed, and the city was in ruins, so nothing could be seen of its scenery and human feelings. This time was different, with shops and stalls lined up one after another, people coming and going on the streets, very lively, only there were more beggars on the street, which was really unbearable to see. The whole You Dou was a poor ghost, with no money on him, otherwise he would have liked to try some of the snacks sold by the small vendors on the street.

  Everyone looked around, and Zhang Xingchong came to a small alley after crossing the street. When he got here, Zhang Xingchong's breathing became a bit urgent, and he took three steps as two steps to arrive at a door, "Bang Bang Bang" knocking on the door hard, shouting: "Mother! Mother! Father! Father! I'm back!"