September 12th, Luoyang, Guardian Hall.
After a long period of silence, the Beigong finally convened a grand court meeting. Explosive news was announced one after another during the court meeting.
Taiwei Hua Xin was promoted to Taifu, Weiwei Dong Zhao was transferred to Taiwei, and Shizhong Xin Pi filled the vacancy of Weiwei, and finally at the age of sixty he was promoted to one of the Nine Ministers.
The title of former general Man Chong remained unchanged, and he was granted an additional 1,400 households for his contributions in coordinating military affairs and commanding the generals to defeat the Liaodong army twice.
Previously in Yingzhou, the top three people who had made contributions were determined as follows: General Wen Qin of the Left Yulin Army had his fief increased by 1,000 households, Liu Ye, the Right Supervisor of the Privy Council, had his fief increased by 800 households, and Xin Pi, the Guard Commandant, had his fief increased by 800 households. The rest of the people who were granted the titles of marquis or marquis of Guannei due to their merits, numbering as many as a hundred.
Generals such as Tian Yu and Xianyu Fu were given additional fiefs, and Xu Shu, Lu Yu and Pei Qian were each given an additional 200 households.
This is the benefit of being a Shizhong.
Whether it was the previous expedition to Huainan, the expedition to Longyou, or the expedition to Liaodong, the imperial attendants, who were close to the emperor, also received the credit of being advisors, which made the nine ministers and ministers in the court envious.
What's wrong with two hundred households? The title can be passed down from generation to generation, so who would think it's too little?
After all, the entire Liaodong was recovered, and Yingzhou, which included seven counties and kingdoms, was newly established. There was no problem with such rewards. However, the rewards for Man Chong, Wen Qin, Liu Ye and Xin Pi made the ministers think deeply.
After the specific number of additional towns was announced publicly by Zhongshu Ling Liu Fang, some discussions and sighs could be heard from the ministers in Jiade Hall.
It should be noted that the rewards for military merit in this expedition to Liaodong have already doubled.
During the previous expedition to Longyou, General Cao Zhen, who was in charge of the military affairs, was given an additional 2,000 households, and Zhang He, who was ranked second to Cao Zhen, was given an additional 1,000 households.
If the doubling is not counted, the result of this expedition should be that Man Chong had an additional 700 households, Wen Qin had 500 households, Liu Ye and Xin Pi had 400 households each, which is indeed a bit less than the previous two times.
However, all the ministers who followed the expedition showed no signs of surprise, so they were treated promptly and efficiently.
There was no other reason, it was just that Gongsun Yuan was too weak to fight, and to call him a show-off was a bit of an exaggeration. The biggest difficulty was actually in the long-distance march and the transportation of food and grass.
……
While the court in Luoyang was bustling with activity, the atmosphere in Shanggu County, the northernmost part of Youzhou, was completely different.
Ke Bineng escaped from Quanzhou at midnight on the 9th, passing through Yongnu, Luxian, Changping, and Junduxing, and fled to Guangning near Shanggu County at noon on the 12th.
In three and a half days, the total distance covered was nearly 600 li, setting a new record for the largest cavalry march in Youzhou. If we look at the maps of later generations, we can see that they were chasing from Tianjin all the way to Zhangjiakou.
Of course, Jiang Wei, Cao Zhao, and Cao Shuang who followed behind them did not do nothing. Compared with the Xianbei cavalry, the Wei Central Army Cavalry had better armor, better horses, and better morale and physical fitness. Seriously speaking, the three of them still had a chance of winning.
However, Kebi Neng's 2,000 Xianbei light cavalry were eager to return home and traveled day and night without any intention of fighting. They just kept running northwest. It was already difficult for Jiang Wei's cavalry to catch up with them, and it was even more difficult to attack and force them.
The three and a half days of long-distance pursuit was an extremely severe test for Kebi Neng and Jiang Wei, Cao Zhao and Cao Shuang.
On the afternoon of the 9th, Kebi Neng ordered the looting of towns along the way in order to obtain food and grass supplies. However, as soon as the cavalry was dispersed, before they had time to attack and plunder, they saw the Wei cavalry chasing them from afar. Kebi Neng did not dare to stop at all and had to continue on his way.
However, with such a high-intensity march, falling behind is inevitable. Both Kebi Neng and Jiang Wei face this problem.
On the 9th and 10th, the Xianbei cavalry kept falling behind and were killed by the Wei cavalry that followed behind. On the morning of the 11th, Kebi Neng wanted to ambush the Wei cavalry in the valley between the mountains and prepared for a long time, but when the Wei cavalry arrived, he chose to retreat and did not dare to fight, and turned his horse to continue to march north.
If these Xianbei people had never seen how the Wei army fought, they might still be willing to charge forward. But the light cavalry under his command had seen the military parade in Daixian and Tuyin, and they knew the power of the Wei cavalry's charge, so they were not willing to fight to the death.
The army had no will to fight and only cared about fleeing northward, and Ke Bineng was helpless.
On the evening of the 11th, Jiang Wei, Cao Shuang and Cao Zhao had already discussed and decided to gather the horses among the troops and put together a cavalry of 1,400 men each with two horses. The rest of the cavalry was led by Cao Zhao to provide support from the rear.
The Wei cavalry fell behind, let alone the Xianbei people? Those who fell behind were either killed or fled into the forest. According to the estimates of Jiang Wei and others, Kebi Neng was lucky to have 1,200 people.
At noon on the 12th, on the southeast side of Guangning City, Jiang Wei and Cao Shuang finally decided to charge. But at this time, a rider from Kebi Neng's army in the north slowly walked out of the formation.
"Which general is on the opposite side!" When He Lian was still more than twenty feet away from the Wei cavalry formation, he jumped off his horse, holding the reins in one hand and waving the other hand.
"Brother Boyue, how about we wait for him to come over?" Cao Shuang pulled the reins, and the warhorse under him stepped on its front hooves restlessly.
Jiang Wei shielded his eyes with one hand and looked out, while with the other hand he raised his whip and pointed it at the man: "In my opinion, Ke Bineng will not be able to escape this disaster today. Let him come over and see what he can say. If we can make him surrender without a fight, perhaps our army can save some casualties."
"That's right." Cao Shuang nodded, and signaled his personal soldiers to lead the Xianbei people on the opposite side over. They knelt down and saluted at a distance of two meters, not daring to move forward.
"He Lian?" Jiang Wei took a closer look at the man's appearance and walked a few steps forward to He Lian, angrily cursing, "You thief! You and Ke Bi were able to get away from me that night. Did I do anything wrong to you two? Why did you run away like this?"
He Lian knew he was in the wrong, so he kept kowtowing, mumbling something indistinctly, perhaps in Xianbei language.
Cao Shuang stepped forward impatiently, kicked He Lian who was kneeling on the ground, then squatted down and pressed He Lian's chest with his right knee, grabbing He Lian's chest and asking:
"What can I ask you to do? Do you want to surrender or fight? Don't waste your time using Ben as a pastime. I have been chasing you for more than three days and I have lost my patience. You must know that swords have no eyes!"
Tears flowed from He Lian's eyes, and he said in a hoarse voice: "General, we just want to go home. We have never intended to go against the Wei Dynasty. Why can't you let us go?"
"Let you go?" Cao Shuang laughed in anger. He stood up, bent over and pulled He Lian up. He wiped the tears from He Lian's face and patted He Lian's face hard with his palm: "Okay, although you and Ke Bineng are disloyal to the Wei Dynasty, although you and Ke Bineng are deserters, I will still let you go."
"Get on the horse and return to your camp." Cao Shuang took the reins from the guards and put them in He Lian's hands. He then turned around and shouted, "Order all the troops to prepare to charge!"
"Yes, sir!" After receiving the order, the personal guards rode their horses to inform the cavalrymen. He Lian, of course, also understood what Cao Shuang said. He knelt beside Cao Shuang again, hugged his legs and begged.
Jiang Wei understood Cao Shuang's intention and knew that Kebi Neng was stubborn and would not change his ways. He walked up to He Lian and said, "There is no other way today. There is no turning back. Go back to your camp and tell Kebi Neng to die." (End of this chapter)
