On the day of Jiachen in May, the rain that had been falling for nearly ten days finally stopped. Without the sound of pattering for company, Liu Xie soon woke up from his dream.
At this time, the sky was slightly white, and the boundary between heaven and earth was not yet clear. There was only a faint light falling through the clouds, and the water vapor in the wind had not yet dissipated. When Liu Xie smelled the incense that had been burned in the house all night, There is quite an illusion of pen and ink crossing the tip of the nose.
When he tried to stretch his waist, he accidentally touched Mrs. Zhong beside him. He heard his wife moan slightly, turned over in a daze, and then turned her smooth jade back to him. She was obviously not awake yet.
Thinking of his wife's coquettish demeanor last night, Liu Xie couldn't help but chuckle, then quietly dressed and stood up. While instructing the Cangtou at home to cook, he took out a volume of Cui Shi's "Political Commentary" from the bookshelf to read. Since he followed Chen Chong After studying, he has developed the habit of reading every morning.
When the servants brought him rice, Liu Xie pretended not to see it and did not raise his head. The servant glanced at the book in his hand from the corner of his eye, and then secretly looked at the Prince Dai under the light. He was wearing a white round-collared knee-length robe, tied around his waist with a brocade belt decorated with silk thread.
He pulled his hair up to the top of his head and fixed it with a hairpin, revealing his high cheekbones and a pair of extremely bright eyes.
Because he was young, Liu Xie had not yet grown a beard, so his face was as handsome as a crown jade, but he had no elegance at all.
His knees were bent, and although he was kneeling on the mat, his back was straight and his upper body was slightly tilted forward. Even though he was wearing a snow-white robe, he still looked like a ferocious beast that was always ready to fight.
As he retreated from the crowd, he thought: "The prince is worthy of being a dragon. He has just been in Yuan Dynasty for a long time, and people dare not look at each other with green eyes." After the meal, Liu Xie read for another half an hour, and waited until daybreak. , the watchman was ringing outside the door, and Liu Xie knew that the time had come.
He immediately went to the stable to pick up the horse, and rushed to Weiyang Palace with seven or eight sword guards. When he arrived at Beique, he suddenly heard someone calling his name on the roadside. He turned to Chen Qun. He was sitting on an ox cart and smiled slowly at Liu Xie: "Gong Lin, there is nothing much going on today." Well, you are newly married, why don't you rest at home more?" Liu Xie also responded with a smile: "Uncle Changwen, my father and uncle are very strict people. If I don't go to Taiwan to do more work, I'm afraid I will be dead when they come back. We're going to be grounded." Chen Qun laughed when he heard this and said, "That's what I say, but can you compete with Kong Ming?" Liu Xie shrugged and said, "My uncle and I often say that when you see a wise man, you need to think alike. There are wise men in Taichung who are busy. It would be good to just take a look. In the future, if my father asks me what I have gained, I will say that I should make people virtuous!" After saying this, both of them laughed.
After Chen Chong left Beijing, everyone thought that Chen Qun or Liu Xie would take charge of everything in Taichung. Unexpectedly, it was Zhuge Liang who shined. Everything in Taichung was complicated, but he took care of everything and completed it meticulously. After reading through it, he was able to sort out the details of the government affairs, outline the program, and forward it to everyone for discussion. The Taichung bureaucrats said with emotion: "Maybe this is the talent of Wang Zuo given by heaven." When the two entered the palace and arrived at the Tai Pavilion, Sure enough, he saw Zhuge Liang kneeling in the shoulder-high eucalyptus tablets, frowning at an official document. When he saw the two people coming in, he put the document down from his hands and said: "You two came just in time. I have something to do." I want to discuss with you." Seeing Zhuge Liang's serious face, they both quickly sat down to listen seriously.
It turns out that Zhuge Liang discovered that Du Ling ordered Meng Kai to report that quite a few hunters had disappeared in the countryside in recent days, and the troops stationed in the direction of Ziwu Road were supposed to make a routine report every ten days. However, so far they have not done so. There was no news for fourteen days, so he suspected that a large group of bandits might have arisen around Ziwu Valley, so he discussed with the two men whether to send troops.
Liu Xie agreed with Zhuge Liang's judgment. He stroked his chin and said, "I don't have any objections, but we must send troops to find out the banditry and defeat the enemy with one blow. Otherwise, if they are allowed to flee to the countryside, the harm will be even greater." Chen Qun also said Agreeing, he added as an elder: "Leave this matter to Meng Kai. He is familiar with the local geography. It won't be too late for us to send troops after we find out the situation." The three of them discussed this, and Zhuge Liang wrote down his opinions on Meng Kai. At the end of Kai's official document, it was transferred to the chairman of the Shangshu Desk, waiting for Zhong Yao's arrival before making a decision.
Zhong Yao has been suffering from wind ailments occasionally in the past few days, so he usually waits until the afternoon for final approval. Then Zhuge Liang continued to be busy organizing official documents as usual, Chen Qun checked the arrival and departure of the next batch of grain and grass, and Liu Xie looked through the military reports that came from the direction of Yecheng and Fancheng in the past few days.
The three of them were silent. For a while, except for the sound of flipping through papers, only the whispers of the officials could be heard in the pavilion. The people outside the pavilion walked cautiously, and it seemed extremely quiet.
However, at some point, there was a sudden noise outside the pavilion, which made the three of them feel strange. Soon someone ran over from outside in a panic and said, "Oh no, there is so much smoke in the south!" Everyone in Taichung He immediately went out to the stage gate to take a look, and saw that there was indeed a yellow-white smoke cloud rising into the sky outside the palace wall. Although there was an oblique wind blowing, the thick smoke still flew straight and clearly towards the sky.
They were all people who had experienced the battlefield, and when they saw this, they all became surprised and suspicious: This is obviously a specially made smoke smoke used to communicate between armies!
However, observing its position does not come from any of our own outposts, which represents an answer: it is the enemy, and it must be the Shu army!
The three of them looked at each other, with countless thoughts swirling in their hearts in an instant. Chen Qun looked worried. As an elder, he forced himself to stand still and reluctantly analyzed: "Duan Duan said that Chen Cang was fine a few days ago. How could there be an attack from Shu now? Could it be..." Zhuge Liang immediately shook his head in denial. He said: "If the enemy came via Chencang Road, how could they pass through hundreds of miles without making a sound? They must have taken a different route!" Liu Xie also agreed with Zhuge Liang's opinion in his heart, but said in his mouth: "The Shu thieves are here. Well, what's the use of saying all this? The top priority is to lead the troops to defend the enemy first!" When faced with a critical moment, he was the first to calm down. He immediately made a decision in his heart and issued four orders in a row. The first was to impose martial law throughout the city. , citizens were not allowed to come in and out at will. Second, they ordered Huben Zhonglang General Xu Huang to lead the troops to Xi'an Gate. Third, they immediately sent a message to Chen Cang on flying horses to inform Duan Xuan of the danger in Chang'an. Fourth, they asked Zhong Yao to come to the palace to take charge of the overall situation.
After the fourth order was passed, he immediately asked someone to lead the horse, apparently intending to meet Xu Huang at Xi'an Gate. Er Zhuge Liang followed closely behind, grabbed his horse's rein and said, "Wait a minute, I'll go with you." Soon after saying that, he ordered several palace guards to bring the nine-striped dragon flag and banner that symbolized the majesty of the king. He pulled out a Yu Bao covered cart and smiled at him: "Traveling like this can boost the morale of the army." At that time, the citizens in the city didn't know what was going on. They all looked at the strange smoke clouds in the south and kept pointing, thinking it was outside the city. Encountered a fire.
Suddenly, Liu Xie and his entourage were seen leaving the palace in a mighty car, all with surprised expressions on their faces. Some people thought doubtfully, "Could it be that someone is coming?" Then they saw sergeants running back and forth on the street shouting. Realizing that something was wrong, he ran back to the house and locked the door as if waking up from a dream.
After receiving the order, Huben Zhonglang General Xu Huang climbed up the wall first and looked towards the Dragon Head Plain, where he happened to see the figure of the Shu people's vanguard.
These Shu people lined up in a long line on the mountain ridge where they defeated the Liang people. Behind them, the flag of Shu stood like a forest, hunting in the wind, and further away, where it was difficult to see directly, smoke and dust kept rising. , it seems that there are still many cavalry activities under the original.
Seeing the Shu people demonstrating like this, Xu Huang ordered the city to beat drums as a warning, and then ordered the soldiers to rush to the city wall and shout loudly to the south. The drums were beating loudly, and the crowd was loud and the momentum was considerable.
At this time, Liu Xie and Zhuge Liang also arrived at the right time with their people. In addition, there were also some ministers from the Sili Mansion, as well as Chen Deng, Yin of Jingzhao, and Xu Qian, the commander of Chang'an. Liu Xie looked at the enemy situation for a while and asked Xu Huang said: "Xu Hujun, how many Shu thieves do you think have come?"
"I'm afraid there are between 5,000 and 10,000 people, which is similar to our military strength."
"Can we defend the capital?" Xu Huang did not hide anything and said bluntly: "It's hard to say. The enemy troops are coming on horseback, but there is no news at all. They are so elusive and invisible. They must be the elite of Shu. If they attack one gate in the city, they will win." The risk is between the two." Zhuge Liang asked: "What if we hold on for three days and wait for Chencang's reinforcements?"
"That's not difficult. It's just that the bandit army came unexpectedly. It's impossible not to think about it, just for fear that they have other plans." After hearing what Xu Huang said, Zhuge Liang and Liu Xie looked at each other. This was what they were worried about.
At this time, it was seen that more than a dozen riders from the Shu army walked out of the army and walked straight to Xi'an Gate. When Liu Xie saw this, he couldn't help but guess: "Did the Shu thieves send people to challenge? Or to persuade them to surrender?" Just as he was thinking about it, the leading Shu people had already entered within the arrow's range, and seemed to have no intention of fighting immediately. A strong yellow-green war horse, with gems inlaid on the saddle and armor, shining brightly in the sunlight, it looked like a person of high status.
The man walked until about ten feet below the city, cleared his throat, and shouted loudly to the city: "I am Wu Ban, the captain of the Jiangyang School under the palace of the King of Shu of the Han Dynasty. On the order of the King of Shu, I came to invite your army. The person in charge speaks!" After hearing what Wu Ban said, Liu Xie pushed aside the soldiers guarding him, leaned against the wall and shouted: "I am Liu Xie, the crown prince, if you have anything to say, just tell me." Unexpectedly, It was Prince Dai who replied in person, causing a commotion among the Shu people below the city.
But Wu Ban just shook his shoulders calmly, his face looked extremely calm, and he said in a high and clear tone: "Since you are His Highness the Crown Prince, things will be easy to handle. We are going north for this trip, not for anything else, but to serve. The emperor issued an edict ten years ago to come here to pick up His Majesty when he goes south!" As soon as these words came out, everyone in the city was shocked.
When Liu Xie was thinking about how to reply, a messenger hurried up the stairs and claimed that he had an urgent report to the crown prince. Liu Xie suddenly had a bad premonition in his heart.
Sure enough, after the envoy stood still, he said in a hoarse voice: "Your Highness, the emperor committed an attack with a sword, took away the emperor's seal, led a dozen palace people to fight out of the South Que, and is running towards Xi'an Gate!"
