"Your Majesty, it's not good, our army's retreat has been cut off!" A scout hurriedly came to report to King Xigui.
King Xigui hurriedly reined in his horse: "What's going on? Who cut off our army's retreat?"
The scout replied: "In the canyon our army just passed by, as soon as the soldiers and horses passed by, countless large rocks rolled down the mountain, sealing the cliff! General Wen, who is in charge of the rear, is leading the rear army to clear the retreat!"
King Xigui glanced at Mr. Wu and cast a questioning look. Mr. Wu pondered for a moment and replied: "Your Majesty, I'm afraid that this is an ambush by the imperial troops. General Wen is trying to open the way alone. I'm afraid that the effect will be very little, and there is still the danger of being ambushed! If our army is delayed here, , the imperial army returns, the army is in danger!"
"Then what should we do now?" King Xigui understood what Mr. Wu meant, and he also knew that the current situation was worrying.
"Go back to your lord! Recall the rear army and don't let it stay behind. Our army should pursue it quickly without delay! Transfer from Chuxiang to Beidi as soon as possible. When the time comes, you can contact Beiyi, or you can retreat through Sichuan and back to Xigui , is the best plan!"
King Xigui nodded when he heard the words: "Mr. Wu's words make sense. Send an order to General Wen to ignore the retreat and catch up with the army quickly. Don't fall into the danger of being alone!"
The scout received the order and hurriedly turned around to deliver the order.
Mr. Wu waited for the scouts to leave, then reined in his horse and approached King Xigui: "Your Majesty, cutting off the retreat may be the beginning of the imperial court. If our army continues to advance, it may be in danger!"
"In your opinion..." King Xigui also realized the seriousness of the situation at this time.
"In my humble opinion, there must be an ambush set up by soldiers and horses from the imperial court. We just have to wait for the siege of the prince. By then, our army will not be able to look at each other, and we will be in danger! If I don't let you take the first step under the banner of the prince, even if there is an ambush, there will be an ambush. Block it for the prince!" Mr. Wu said with clasped fists.
Upon hearing this, King Xigui stared at Mr. Wu for a long time and asked, "Mr. Wu, I cut off your arm back then, but you still have resentment?"
Mr. Wu quickly replied: "Your Majesty is as kind as a mountain to this villain. One of his arms is because he failed to protect the Fourth Young Master. How dare I have any resentment!"
"How dare you..." King Xigui sighed and said, "You still blame me in your heart..."
When Mr. Wu heard this, he didn't say anything anymore. He still understood that talking too much will lead to mistakes.
"At that time, I thought that I had a strong army and a strong horse, and the world was at my fingertips, so I became a little impatient... After that time, I also regretted it for a long time. Now with these possessions around me, if you take this opportunity to join the imperial court, I can understand... It's just that , you can go if you want, but if you bring my soldiers and horses to the court..."
Chen Jing's head flashed through Mr. Wu's mind. When the words of loyalty came to his lips, he swallowed them hard. He hurriedly dismounted and changed his words: "Only at the command of the prince."
Seeing Mr. Wu's answer, King Xigui's narrowed eyes relaxed a little. If he expressed his loyalty and said that he would not rebel, it meant that he wanted more soldiers and horses. How could he keep him? If you don't show your loyalty and only want to bring a small number of soldiers and horses, you are afraid that you will be rebellious. No matter how many soldiers and horses you have, as long as you go ahead and clear the way, you can't stay!
By answering this way and pushing the choice back to himself, King Xigui felt a lot more at ease.
The words were sinister, King Xigui knew it, and so did Mr. Wu.
"Since Mr. Wu cares about me so much, I don't want to upset Mr. Wu." King Xigui took off the sword from his waist and handed it to Mr. Wu. Mr. Wu was about to reach out to pick it up. King Xigui suddenly loosened his grip and dropped his sword to the ground.
King Xigui sighed and said: "As people grow old, they are no longer useful. They can no longer even hold a sword."
Mr. Wu leaned over and picked up the sword: "Your Majesty is in his prime, and he is not old at all."
"I will give you 10,000 troops and horses to clear the way first! I will lead my army and follow closely. If there is an ambush, I will be there immediately!" King Xigui ignored Mr. Wu's horses. He was old as hell. He gave a direct order and gave him 10,000 troops to open the way first.
"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Mr. Wu replied to his horse. He grabbed the reins with one hand, climbed onto the horse, moved forward first, and stepped aside. This was done for no other reason than to give King Xigui some time to arrange manpower to supervise him. He understands King Xigui best.
King Xigui saw Mr. Wu walking a little further forward alone, and knew what he meant. He felt a little depressed for no reason. After all, he waved back, and two generals stepped forward with guns in hand to wait for orders.
"You two will go with Mr. Wu to explore the road first. If he really does something evil..." King Xigui's eyes showed a fierceness, and then slowly dissipated: "If that's the case... you will only restrain the soldiers and wait. Let me save you..."
"Then Mr. Wu..." a general asked hesitantly.
"Let him go..." King Xigui waved his hand and said slightly tiredly.
Over the years, he has been killing people like crazy and never shows mercy. But it wasn't until he killed Chen Jing that he seemed to understand that he could never kill everyone because anyone might betray him. Thinking of this, King Xigui felt a little sad. Three of his four sons died, and the whereabouts of the only remaining eldest son are still unknown...
"Yes, Your Majesty!" The two men quickly handed over their hands, turned their horses back, ordered their troops and horses, and then chased Mr. Wu.
Mr. Wu put King Xigui's sword on the saddle and rode slowly alone. The two generals on the left and right followed slowly, but he just pretended not to see them.
King Xigui felt a little relieved when he saw the 10,000-strong army marching ahead. When the front army disappeared, the scouts came to report that the rear army had followed, and then they waved and led the army to follow.
…
"Prime Minister Zhou, King Xigui is here!" the scout from the Yulin Army came to report.
Zhou Ziru was taking a nap in the carriage. When he heard the announcement outside the tent, he woke up quickly, opened the curtain and asked, "Here they come? How many people are there? Is the retreat blocked?"
The scout hurriedly replied: "General Mo has already sent a message and the retreat has been sealed. There is no need for the Prime Minister to worry. King Xigui is coming with a large army. The number of people in the vanguard is countless, no less than ten thousand people!"
Zhou Ziru frowned slightly and asked, "How is the military appearance?"
"The army is quite powerful, not the old, weak, sick or disabled!" The scout saw clearly and replied confidently.
Zhou Ziru got out of the carriage alone: "Okay! Pass the order, and the generals in the army, each with a thousand men, will set up an ambush outside Chongqing City, surround them from all sides, and capture King Xigui! Anyone who tips the news will be killed! Be the first to leak it. Behead those who are on the move! Behead those who avoid fighting in battle! Behead those who let the enemy escape! Behead one of the enemies, and you will be rewarded with ten taels of silver based on the enemy's left ear! If you harm your comrades in vain, behead them immediately! Capture the king of Xigui and serve as the commander-in-chief of the Yulin Army. Commander, command the three armies!"
After giving the order, Zhou Ziru clearly felt that the carriage under his feet was much lighter. As it went round and round, the soldiers of the three armies were all gearing up and preparing for a desperate battle.
After a while, all the soldiers and horses around Zhou Ziru were taken away by their respective generals and headed towards Yucheng first, just to grab a good ambush location. Zhou Ziru had only a few thousand direct guards left to protect the carriage, but he fell to the last.
The herald came panting on his horse. Seeing such a situation, he quickly rode forward: "Prime Minister Zhou, after hearing the order, I hurriedly came to check. Sure enough! These soldiers and horses are all competing for credit, so go and occupy it first." He found the ambush place and actually left Prime Minister Zhou here without caring!"
Zhou Ziru opened the car curtain, smiled softly and said, "Master Zhang, I can't help you."
"Prime Minister Zhou, your majesty has great ambitions. It is a good thing to reunify Daqi, but the Yulin Army is like this now...how can these soldiers be used? I hope Prime Minister Zhou will meet with your majesty after returning to the capital and give you good words to rectify the army! "Herald Master Zhang said earnestly.
Zhou Ziru nodded: "Thank you, Mr. Zhang, for reminding me. I know the truth."
After Master Zhang, the herald, left, Zhou Ziru lowered the curtain of the carriage in despair, leaned in the carriage, closed his eyes and began to think. He came to assist the imperial court because he discovered that the once dim-witted little emperor suddenly became aggressive and aggressive. From this, he saw the opportunity for the revival of the Zhou family, and then decided to serve as Minister of Literature to assist His Majesty.
But what happened next was more and more beyond his expectation. First, Yi Xiaodao came out and inexplicably recovered Nanhuai and Donglu. Even the credit for recovering Chuxiang can be said to be almost half-and-half with himself. This somewhat disgraced him, a descendant of the Zhou family.
Xigui raided Sichuan and Shu and leveled the land of Sichuan and Shu in one fell swoop. Now as long as the rebellion of Xigui is suppressed, the two vassals can easily recover. Unexpectedly, at this critical moment, Yi Xiaodao led his army to the north, and the food and grass from the court were delayed, causing him to be defeated and defeated thousands of miles away.
These Yulin soldiers have no ambition to be loyal to the emperor and serve the country, and only care about petty profits. If you Chen Congwei hadn't been in charge a few days ago, I'm afraid they wouldn't even let themselves go. How are they different from grass bandits?
The more Zhou Ziru thinks about it, the more distressed he becomes. Is it because he is not resourceful enough, or is the world really so difficult to figure out? How did the ancestor Zhou Yu single-handedly pacify all countries and establish this great enlightenment?
Just when Zhou Ziru was sitting in the carriage, thinking about it, the carriage had already arrived outside Yucheng. Looking around, it was quiet, but there was no sign of an ambush. But Zhou Ziru knew that these Yulin troops who were eager for quick success had already been ambushing everywhere, just waiting for the arrival of the Xigui army.
"Prime Minister Zhou, we have arrived outside Yucheng, do we want to enter the city to defend?" the guard outside the carriage asked.
"No, just outside the city, we will be the bait to lure King Xigui to take the bait!" Zhou Ziru said firmly.
The guard thought over and over again and persuaded: "Prime Minister Zhou, even if you use it as bait, if the Yulin army is not urgent to rescue, I am afraid that we will not be able to protect Prime Minister Zhou. As the saying goes, a gentleman will not stand behind a dangerous wall..."
"Heh... you do have some truth in what you said." Zhou Ziru smiled and said, "Then I will send an order to open the south gate of Chongqing City. In case of emergency, we can enter the city through the south gate to take shelter temporarily."
Just as the messengers left, dust and smoke billowed from the west. It was obvious that the Xigui army was advancing very fast and was already chasing them.
"Come here, escort Prime Minister Zhou into the city from the south gate!" Seeing the billowing dust and smoke, the guard did not dare to neglect, and quickly ordered to push Zhou Ziru's carriage to escape.
Zhou Ziru did not stop him. Since the opponent had tens of thousands of troops, the distance was really only a blink of an eye.
The Xigui army came from the official road like a tide, and their sharp eyes saw Zhou Ziru's carriage heading south from Yucheng City.
"Mr. Wu, there is a carriage there..."
"It must be Zhou Ziru! The whole army is chasing him!" Mr. Wu was very excited. Although he only had one arm, he galloped very fast and rushed towards Zhou Ziru.
Zhou Ziru looked through the curtain of the carriage and saw a pair of shining steel knives shining on his face...
