On August 23, the news that Meiji was sending troops reached Lishi City, and Zhang Ji's camp fell silent.
In the past few days, Zhang Ji still did not give up the attack on Lishi. He sent knights close to the city tower, attached paper to arrows, and shot rewards into the city. The letter read: "All the soldiers in the city: Chen Longshou and the Grand Master are mortal enemies. As soon as Lishi was broken, his entire family was destroyed, and he defended the city to the death. This is probably what happened. And what happened to the soldiers from outside who followed each other into the fire? Grand Master He once served as the governor of Bingzhou County, and under his command were Lu Fengxian, Zhang Wenyuan and other Bing people who were widely used, which shows that he treated Bing people well. If you die as a rule, you will be rich and noble in life. Anyone who surrenders will be rewarded with honors, wealth and silk. If you can The one who kills the dragon and surrenders his head will be granted the title of marquis by the general, and the city will have thousands of households!"
There was also a reward letter: "Chen Tingjian has been hit by an arrow, his eye is seriously injured, his life is in danger, and everyone doesn't believe it, just go to the city lord's palace to see!" and shot them into the city.
Within a quarter of an hour, many archers appeared on the tower, tying bounties to their arrows and reflecting them back. Someone from Liang picked it up and opened it up. He just added a line of words after Zhang Ji's reward, which read: "If anyone kills Dong Zhuo, he will be killed ten times as much!"
Chen Chongming, who mentioned Danxi's reward, also added a sentence, which read: "The royal court of Meiji has sent troops south, and the counties on the west bank are within easy reach. If you don't believe it, you can go back to the west bank and have a look! Don't tell you to wait. Over and over again, but still homeless!”
The guards in the city had been trapped for nearly a month, so they didn't know anything about the news from the West Bank, but this statement hit the nail on the head. Many Baibo sergeants heard about it and were discussing it privately. Gradually, some sergeants deserted the army and left the team, and they couldn't stop it no matter what.
At this time, Zhang Ji was determined to retreat. Although he was unwilling to do so, he had to sincerely admire the commander in charge of the city. After so many years of fighting in the north and south, he had long thought that he had an iron heart, but he could show his strength to this "dragon". He asked himself that he couldn't do it without taking a step back and uniting the hearts of the people.
That night, Zhang Ji summoned the generals of the Qi army to discuss matters together. When Han Xian, Yang Feng and others walked in, he was wearing a bearskin coat, holding a knife, pointing to the map and pointing to the west bank of the Xihe River. The generals immediately breathed a sigh of relief, and obviously did not want to stay at the city for a long time. .
Sure enough, Zhang Ji saw everyone gathered and said, "The news about Meiji's troops is confirmed. It is said that Liu Bei also brought 50,000 soldiers and horses. The total number of rebels is 100,000. They will go south soon, but Jian Jian After Wei heard the news, he has brought 40,000 Northern troops back to Xia Yang and will arrive at Shangjun in the near future. The Grand Master also ordered me to rush to Fushi as soon as possible. After we meet up, we can fight with the rebel army."
At this point, everyone understood that there was still a fierce battle. Yang Feng asked: "Rescuing the siege is not a trivial matter, but who should I send to break the rear?"
"There is no need to break up the rear." Zhang Ji shook his head and explained: "The city is mostly made up of strong men who have temporarily joined the battle. There are only two thousand guards who can pursue them. I don't know how many guards have been lost in the past month. They must be unable to pursue them. "
So they made a general plan and prepared for a whole day. On the next night, they suddenly relieved the siege and left. At dawn, the guards in the city looked out. The mountains outside the city were empty. The fortresses built around them were burning with the flames and turned into a mess of ruins. On the skyline, the figures of the enemy's rear troops could still be vaguely seen. .
When Xu Shu saw him, he hurried to the Prefectural Mufu Mansion to announce the good news. He ran all the way, panting, and rushed to the door. He saw his wife Cai Yan hanging a white cloth hanging in front of the door. Although it could be seen that it had been washed many times, the cloth was still dry. There are still faint traces of blood on it. Cai Yan was very happy when she heard the news that the city had been relieved. She put down her towel and went back to her room and called out repeatedly: "Ting Jian, Ting Jian."
After a while, Cai Yan came out again and said to Xu Shu: "Ting Jian is calling you to come in and speak softly. He has not been resting well these days." Xu Shu nodded, bowed to his wife again, and then walked in slowly. .
As soon as he entered the house, Xu Shu smelled a pungent smell of herbs, and then he discovered that there was a jar of medicinal juice on the bank in the house, but it had obviously become cold. Next to the table, there was a pot of charcoal fire. The flame was slowly burning, and sparks were flying from time to time. Chen Chong was lying beside the pot, holding a wooden staff, sitting there, and smiled at Xu Shu: "Yuan Zhi, Liang Jun is the leader." When did you leave?"
Xu Shu saw that Chen Chong's left eye was being bandaged, and only his right eye was exposed. His face was bloodless, and he couldn't help but feel sad. After he bowed, he slowly said: "Teacher, Liang's army left at night, and now the rear army It’s about five miles away from the city.”
Chen Chong thought for a while and said, "How has the damage been in the city these days?"
"In the past few days, the rebels have not dared to attack hard, and only about thirty people have been killed. In the past month, there have been about 1,600 casualties in the city, which can be said to be very minor."
"How is the damage below the city?"
Xu Shu was speechless for a moment, so he asked: "What do you mean below the city?"
"Of course it refers to the Baibo Army. How much damage do you estimate they have suffered?"
Xu Shu thought for a while and replied: "I have watched the stove smoke in the past few days, and it has decreased by nearly 20%. I must have lost at least nearly ten thousand."
Chen Chong sighed after hearing this, and said: "Probably Xuande's army has arrived at Meiji as I said. The war is imminent, and we should not be here anymore. Yuanzhi, you go and summon everyone to the gate tower, we will go there to discuss military."
Xu Shu was greatly embarrassed when he heard this: "Teacher, you are ill now, so it's not convenient for you to do this!"
"If the armies are defeated and the whole army is wiped out, you and I won't even be inconvenienced. Go quickly!"
When Xu Shu walked out of the room, Cai Yan walked into the room and looked at Chen Chong without saying a word. Knowing that she was angry, Chen Chong stood up with a wooden stick and said to her gently: "After I leave, you have a good rest. It is best to stay with Zhenji and the others for a while. I will feel relieved."
"I'm worried."
Chen Chong couldn't answer, so he had to hold his wife for a while, wait for her to soften slightly, and then answer with a kiss.
Cai Yan lightly hammered his chest and sighed: "You are really not a good husband."
The two said goodbye, and Chen Chong walked forward with his wooden stick, but he soon ran out of energy. After walking for a while, he could only rest on the road. When Xu Shu called the people together, he was still walking slowly under the tower, simply The crowd went down to meet him and talked with him below the city.
Chen Chong made a long story short. The general idea was to select fifty people to go with him and the rest to stay. Firstly, he still did not relax the defense in the city to prevent Zhang Jijun from returning to the city and suddenly breaking through the city. Secondly, he arranged for people to go to Taiyuan County, first to Zhaoyuwu. The county mobilized troops and food and made long-term plans.
After giving the instructions, Chen Chong asked Chen Qun again: "Have you ever snatched Yuande's body back?" Chen Qun wiped away tears when he heard this, and he replied: "The Liang people buried him in the mountain. I remember where they buried him. I will wait for him." Then they took people to dig him out, tidy up his clothes, and bury him properly."
At noon that day, Chen Chong and his party brought dry food and ran along the mountain road to the north in the direction of Meiji. Chen Chong was too tired to ride a horse, so he could only ride a chariot. The speed could not be increased. It was estimated that it would take two or three days to complete the journey. Rushed to Meiji.
After leaving Lishi City, which was burned into a wasteland, the woods on the left and right sides of the mountain road gradually became lush again. Chen Chong leaned against the wall of the car, feeling dizzy from the jolt. There was a faint stinging pain in the injury on his left eye, but he did not make a sound. Instead, he used his right eye to look at the trees in the mountains. He saw the autumn leaves falling, a group of southbound geese flying in the sky, and the faint silhouettes of wild beasts among the forest leaves. He couldn't help but think of the past time and sighed: " Climb high and look at the nine states, and the wilderness is divided into long stretches. The lone bird flies northwest, and the separated beast descends southeast."
At this time, a ball of fire suddenly appeared at the foot of the mountain ahead. The knights who served as scouts shouted loudly and rushed towards it. Suddenly there was a loud noise of people, mixed with the barking of dogs. When Chen Chong saw Jin's car stopped, he asked the driver in confusion why. After a while, the driver came back and reported: "It's an old man with eight middle-aged people. They said they have something important to see the envoy."
"Did they say who they were?"
"I asked, but they refused to say anything, but they were also searched. They were unarmed and did not carry any sharp weapons."
"Then let's meet."
Not long after, the knights gathered around Chen Chong, and nine middle-aged and elderly people wearing sheepskin clothes walked to the front of the car, and were pressed against their necks and chest ribs with white blades of knives by the soldiers. They all looked like farmers who had been working for many years. .
The leader was an old man, about sixty years old, with gray beard and hair, and a dark and skinny face. Chen Chong looked at him with his right eye and felt that he looked familiar, as if he had seen him somewhere. The old man also looked Chen Chong up and down, looked at Chen Chong's left eye wrapped in gauze, he sighed, led everyone to kneel down and salute Chen Chong, and said repeatedly: "Sin, sin, sin."
At this time, Chen Chong remembered that he had seen this old man when he was going to and from Wa Shi. Compared with the others, the way he looked at him was neither admiring nor angry, which was quite strange, so he remembered him. So he said, "My husband is Bai Bo's old man."
Wang Mao nodded and said: "I am not only the old man of Baibo, but also the commander-in-chief of the Yellow Turban in Bingzhou." As soon as he said this, the knights around him became very nervous and held the handles of their swords. Chen Chong quickly stopped them and looked at them carefully. Wang Mao got out of the car with a wooden stick, helped him up, and asked: "Why did the prince come here to wait for me?"
"I came to the Dragon Head here to ask for a pardon."
"Pardon?"
"I hope the dragon head will absolve my tribe of the sin of rebellion. They are really ignorant and deceived, and they did not intend to rebel. If the dragon head is willing to forgive them, I can lead them back from their lost ways."
Chen Chong looked at him, pointed at his left eye, and smiled at Wang Mao: "Now I almost lost my sight because of this, and I even killed my brother Yuan De for this. It is well known that I dare to pardon you, and you dare to surrender." ?"
Wang Mao naturally said: "Dragon Head is magnanimous, and we are naturally willing to surrender. In troubled times in life, after all, there are only a few people like Dragon Head. Ordinary people have to risk their lives to treat each other and push others with narrow-mindedness, so they act abnormally. We still hope Dragon Head forgives me. Dragon Head holds a grudge that will never go away. I am willing to give my life in exchange for Dragon Head’s forgiveness.”
After that, he kowtowed to the ground and waited for Chen Chong's reply. He listened to the silence for a long time, and finally replied: "I will only pursue Han Xian and Yang Feng for this matter, so the prince can rest assured."
Wang Mao was overjoyed. He raised his head and saw Chen Chong take out a wooden slip with the four characters "Yingchuan Chen Chong" written on it. He took it in his hand and saw that the handwriting was dim. It had obviously been for some time. He heard Chen Chong slowly say: "Four years ago, I made this agreement with the people of Baibo, and it still remains today. This is the pardon order."
