Chapter 618: The Tiger Son of King Wu

The confrontation at Salt Wharf ended with Yuan Jingyao's surrender. He had to surrender. He could have difficulty making a decision because of the grace that King Wu treated him. However, his soldiers and the low-level officers under him had no worries. Without surrendering, they all chose to save their lives. As a group of soldiers in the north put down their weapons, raised their hands and shouted to surrender, thousands of soldiers finally collapsed.

They put down their weapons one after another and concentrated in the northern open space according to the instructions of the Northern Tang Army. Ten to hundreds, hundreds to thousands, and Yuan Jingyao shouted repeatedly, without any effect. When he drew his sword to kill two people, it aroused a larger wave of surrender. The herd effect was quickly amplified. One person put down his weapons, leading three or four people around him to put down his weapons. Four thousand people surrendered more than 3,600 people, and in an instant, Yuan Jingyao looked around and left less than four hundred people. The situation was hopeless. He had to sigh and ordered: "Let go down the weapons and surrender!"

In the end, the four hundred soldiers put down their weapons, but the Northern Tang army remained motionless and maintained the highest combat readiness state. If there was any movement, they would be out at any time.

Even Yuan Jingyao, who was a little dissatisfied, had to sigh inwardly that the Anxi Army had become as solid as a rock. He was so calm that he even surrendered that all the soldiers had turned a blind eye. He was convinced in this battle. Unless he gave up the Salt Wharf and ran away, he would definitely lose whether he was on the ground or on the water.

Yuan Jingyao took off his battle robe, put his upper body naked, ordered people to tie him up, kneeled in front of the army, and shouted: "The sinner Yuan Jingyao, willing to surrender!"

From afar, Li Baozhen heard the shouting, and then two words appeared coldly on the corner of his lips: "Submit!"

The cavalry of Northern Tang slowly moved closer to Yuan Jingyao's surrendered army. More than 4,000 people knelt on the ground. Teams of cavalrymen stepped past them with cold horse hooves, separating the more than 4,000 people from the weapons on the ground. Then the 4,000 surrendered soldiers lined up in a team of 100 people. Several surrendered soldiers were found to still have short blades hidden and were immediately stabbed to death by the cavalry of Northern Tang without mercy.

．

．

．

．

The wind was cold and the night was deep. Teams of surrendered soldiers were taken away and disappeared into the night. Yuan Jingyao knelt on the ground, his upper body had been frozen to a purple color, trembling. He lowered his head and said nothing.

Li Baozhen slowly urged the horse to come to him, stared at him, and after a while, he asked slowly: "If you surrender, what about your family in Danyang?"

"The King of Wu dared not kill Han Jiangxin."

"What if the son of the King of Wu wants to kill your family?"

Yuan Jingyao felt a tragic cry in his heart. He forgot that Li Yi, the son of the King of Wu, was ruthless and would not attack the family of the defector generals. However, Li Yi, the son of the King of Wu, was cruel and vicious, and killed people without blinking. He surrendered himself, and his family would be unable to protect him.

He gritted his teeth and said, "If the family is not protected, the humble one will marry and live again."

"Hmph!" Li Baozhen sneered and said, "I will not accept your surrender. I will declare you a prisoner of war and release you later. As for whether your family can be saved, please pray to God!"

Before Yuan Jingyao could speak, Li Baozhen waved his hand and said, "Take it away!"

Several soldiers escorted Yuan Jingyao down. At this time, an officer next to him whispered: "General Li, I heard that Yuan Jingyao is good at water warfare and is the talent our army needs, so why not use him?"

Li Baozhen shook his head and said, "This man's wife is the sister of Li Chengshi, the general of Eastern Wu. Li Lin will definitely not kill her. His wife is in the hands of Li Lin, and Li Lin has always been kind to him. From this time, it can be seen that he surrendered because he had no choice but to surrender. Once he was used to lead the navy, he would definitely surrender again, causing us to suffer heavy losses and ruining the general's plan for the southern expedition, so he must not be used."

"Then why not kill him?"

"You can't kill him for the time being. Killing him will cause the surrender of other Southern Tang generals."

"General Li is a great witness!"

All the generals gave thumbs up and praised him. Li Baozhen smiled and pointed his sword at the water village in the distance and asked, "Is there any movement in the water village?"

A soldier happened to come and report: "Report to the general that the officers and soldiers of the water camp are willing to surrender, please include it!"

"Appoint them to put down their weapons and go ashore, and they can accept surrender."

Soon, in the midst of a rushing fire, a group of soldiers raised their hands and got off the boat and surrendered. At this time, a small boat landed. Li Xian, a Sima of Yangzhou, got on the shore and walked up to Li Baozhen with a smile: "Congratulations to General Li for his unleashed blood and seizing the salt pier."

Li Baozhen replied with a smile: "I wonder what the situation of the troops stationed on Hudou Island?"

"I have asked just now that there were two thousand troops stationed in Hudou Island, but now all have been withdrawn, leaving only a few hundred fishermen, and there is no one stationed on the island."

"Very good. I want to ask Sima Li to go to the island and investigate it carefully. It is of great importance. Please don't refuse."

"General Li has an order. How dare I not obey? I will go to the island overnight. The funeral of Yangang can be handed over to me. General Li please return to Jiangdu."

"Then let Sima Li!"

Li Baozhen led his army to escort prisoners of war back to Jiangdu. Li Xian ordered 500 people to guard Yan Port, and led 300 people across the river and headed towards Hudou Island.

．

．

．

．

．

．

Three days later, due to the loss of contact with the Yangang, the army in Jiangnan immediately realized that something had happened to the Yuan Jingyao army in Yangang, and the atmosphere in Jiangnan gradually became tense. King Li Lin of Wu issued an order, ordering the troops in eastern and western Zhejiang to assemble along the Yangtze River. Two thousand warships and 120,000 troops were deployed on the river west of Jiangning. Nearly a hundred carefully dressed up as merchants, mixed into Jiangbei and spy on the information of Jiangbei.

Li Lin's new Wu royal palace is located in Suzhou, but his temporary camp is in Dantu County, Runzhou at this time. On the bank of the Yangtze River, there is a dense group of camps. There is a huge wool tent inlaid with gold wire in the middle of the camp. This is Li Lin's tent.

Like history, Li Lin's separatist rule did not receive support from local governments. He had intended to test the possibility of ascending the throne in Jiangnan and creating public opinion that the saints would be released, but he was unanimously opposed by dozens of local officials, including Han Huan, the prefect of Hangzhou, Li Xiyan, the prefect of Suzhou, Wei Huangshang, and the prefect of Runzhou, Yan Jingzhi, and other dozens of local officials. Li Lin had no choice but to surrender to Li Heng of the Southern Tang Dynasty as his younger brother, and was granted the title of Huainan Road, the Observation Envoy of Jiangnan East Road, the Grand Governor of Yangzhou, and the Grand Marshal of the Eastern Route Army by Li Hengjia.

Although Li Lin did not receive support from local governments, he still used the salt and iron power given to him by Li Longji to monopolize the salt fields in the Jianghuai area, used salt trading to obtain huge profits, and used salt profit to recruit soldiers and build warships, and took all the soldiers and armor of Yangzhou military treasury. In just one and a half years, he recruited an army of more than 100,000 people. Then Li Lin killed Yan Jingzhi, the prefect of Runzhou who opposed him, and seized the two million stones of grain stored in Runzhou by the imperial court. The Jiangzuo was scared, and at least no one dared to publicly resist him.

At this time, in the big tent, Li Lin paced back and forth with his hands behind his back. He was extremely worried. It was not just because of the fall of Yan Port and Jiangyang. He also received news that Yangzhou City was recruiting a large number of soldiers and mobilizing ships. What should Li Qing'an do? Li Lin had a premonition that it was very likely that Li Qing'an was going to attack him. If this was the case, what should he do?

There were some of Li Lin's confidant advisers standing in the tent. Li Bai, his personal aide, sat under the tent. Li Bai was responsible for drafting orders for Li Lin. All the orders issued by Li Lin were recorded and polished. Li Bai had been serving for a year and was respected by Li Lin. Moreover, he could listen to many of Li Lin's suggestions, at least he was very respectful. He often said to people that Taibai's words were golden and jade-like words!

This made Li Bai feel a sense of accomplishment. He had been seeking office for more than ten years and always wanted to realize his ambitions. However, Li Longji only worshipped him as a celebrity, without giving him any chance to display his talents. In the end, he gave him gold to return home and drove him out of the capital, causing him to suffer great setbacks.

Two years ago, Li Bai wrote a letter to his friend Wang Changling, hoping to find a position in Anxi, but Wang Changling had no news. I don’t know if he had not received his letter or if Li Qingan didn’t give him a chance, which made Li Bai feel disheartened and traveled back to Jiangnan and lived in seclusion in Jiangnan until he was invited out by Li Lin three times.

It is precisely because of this unprecedented sense of accomplishment that Li Bai was loyal to Li Lin and assisted him with all his heart.

In addition to Li Bai, there were three Li Lin's confidant advisers, Xue Liu, Li Taiqing and Cai Yin. These three encouraged Li Lin to ascend the throne and created a heavenly prefect for him, and persuaded local governments to support him. They were Li Lin's right-hand assistants. Among them, Xue Liu was in charge of money and grain, Cai Yin was in charge of salt and iron, and Li Taiqing was responsible for giving him advice. At this time, when the three saw Li Lin was worried, they exchanged glances. Li Taiqing stepped forward and persuaded: "Your Highness, don't worry. Even if Li Qing'an has the intention to attack the south, we have the natural danger of the Yangtze River, and there are 100,000 soldiers and thousands of warships. Li Qing'an is a native of the north and does not know about water wars. As long as we guard the natural danger of the Yangtze River, warships cruising in the river, Li Qing'an will not be sure to win."

Xue Liu next to him also advised: "The war in Hebei has not yet settled, and Li Qing'an can only attack Jiangnan in winter. As long as we persist until spring, war in Hebei will begin again, and Li Qing'an has to withdraw his troops. Your Highness does not have to worry. The right time, place and people are not conducive to Li Qing'an. He hastily attacked Jiangnan and will definitely be defeated."

Although the three of them took turns to persuade Li Lin, Li Lin was still worried. He sighed and said, "In summer, I was determined to attack Jingxiang with all my might. The emperor's brother was willing to send troops to help. He didn't make up his mind at that time. If I could make up my mind to fight at that time, now I would be in a relationship with the emperor and could retreat to Shuzhong west. Why should I worry about being afraid here?"

"The father is so unwilling to speak!"

A majestic voice suddenly came from the big tent, and a young and heroic general quickly walked into the big tent. This person was Li Lin's son, Li Yi, the king of Xiangcheng. Li Yi is only nineteen years old this year. He is tall and stout and 8 feet tall. He uses a gilded phoenix tail knife weighing 150 kilograms and a six-stone cloud-piercing bow. He scores a hundred shots and is known as the number one general in Jiangnan.

He wore a golden helmet and silver armor, with a arrogant look, and regretted not taking Jing Xiang down. He stepped forward and bowed and said, "If your father is afraid of Northern Tang, you might as well follow me to watch me practice on the river, and you can see the Northern Army as a native chicken and tiles. My father, please follow me."

If Li Lin had any other basis to fight the Northern Army, it was his son. Li Lin had a blind trust in his son, and even a little afraid. When he first started his army, he went to Runzhou to ask for food, but was severely rejected by Runzhou Prefect Yan Jingzhi. He was so angry that he sent troops to attack. Yan Jingzhi led a thousand regiments to train troops to defend Guazhou. It was Li Lin's tiger son who led 300 people to break through the defense, killed hundreds of people with a big sword, and killed Yan Jingzhi under his banner, which shocked the troops in Jiangnan.

Li Lin trusted his son very much, and he was a lame leg and was inconvenient to command the army. He gradually transferred the military power to his son Li Yi, and almost obeyed his rules in military terms.

Since his son wanted to resist the Northern Army firmly, Li Lin was also frightened and nodded and smiled, "Since Hu'er is ready, I should move forward to watch!"

．

．

．

．

．

．

．

Li Lin boarded the royal chariot he carried by 300 people, and under the escort of the three thousand guards, he led a group of civil officials and military generals toward the river.

Soon, the group came to the Yangtze River and saw vast waves and strong winds on the river surface, almost blowing Li Lin's golden-edged flag.

I saw warships on the river, and hundreds of large ships lined up in two teams, acting in a confrontation between the river. One side was the general Li Chengshi, and the other was the king of Xiangcheng Li Yi. The drums sounded like thunder, and the ships on both sides gradually moved closer, and the shouts of killing were shocking the sky. An old building ship was dressed as Li Qing'an's handsome ship. A large flag above the mast was flying, with three big words "Anxi Li" written on it.

More than a dozen fast ships quickly surrounded the generals and ships around. Seeing that the situation was not good, the coach turned around and wanted to escape. The first fast ship was on the bow. Li Yi bit a horizontal knife in his mouth and held a hard bow in his hand. He pulled out a shovel and arrow, and shot it away, "Swoosh!" with an arrow. The arrow went away like a meteor, and the big rope was cut off in the mast. The sail fell down with a loud bang, causing a loud drum sound. Even Li Lin couldn't help but smile and clap it up. It's not bad! Hu Zi's courage is worthy of being the enemy of ten thousand people.

Li Yi stood up proudly, and he drew another arrow, and shot Li Qing'an's handsome flag with one arrow. The black flag was swept into the air by the wind and disappeared in an instant.

He resolutely ordered: "Shoot the stone!"

Each warship was equipped with a small stone shooter. I heard a loud "bang!" sound. In an instant, Li Qing'an's handsome ship was beaten to pieces. The river water surged in. The big ship struggled a few times before sinking into the river. More than a dozen enemy troops on the ship were also captured by the navy.

At this time, a shout broke out from the river: "Li Qing'an has died at the bottom of the river, why didn't the Northern Army surrender early?"

The Northern Army's warship fled in a hurry, and the Southern Army won a complete victory.

．

．

．

．

．

．

After a moment, Li Yi proudly got on the shore, bowed to Li Lin, and smiled and said, "Father, what have you seen?"

"Yes, your Clippers are indeed very sharp. I'm afraid that Li Qing'an's Northern Army is not that weak either!"

"The father doesn't know anything. On the shore, I admit that his army is indeed powerful, but when he gets into the water, his elite Anxi has become drought insects. The Yangzhou naval army he relies on is nothing more than a newly recruited army. If he lacks training, how can he fight against our navy? They will definitely lose!"

At this time, Li Bai was worried and said, "What if Li Qing'an's army takes the sea route and tramples our retreat?"

A word reminded Li Lin, and he hurriedly said, "Yes! We should not be careless."
Chapter completed!