On the eighth day of March, Chengfu County.
This place is only more than fifty miles away from Bozhou City, and this is the place where Zhao Mi and Yang Yizhong have visited the most since they attacked Bozhou for more than half a year.
Although it is said to be a county town, it is actually a lot of waste. There are many gaps in the city wall. Not even a good brick can be seen on all sides of the city... which is enough to show the intensity of the war here.
The year before last, Zhang Jun and Wang De joined forces here to seize Bo. Although the Jin later went back on their word and took back the land promised to the Song Dynasty, and Zhao Guan's family quickly ordered everyone to retreat, this made Zhang Jun miss the opportunity to enter Kaifeng. No matter what, when I got here, to the bank of the whirlpool, what I drank was the water flowing from Bianjing City.
Only when we get here can we truly reach the Central Plains.
Liu Bang looked at the city. Behind him was an army of 100,000 people. A real army of 100,000 people, including not only the people brought by Han Chang, but also people from Yang Yizhong and Zhao Mi, as well as Zhang Taiwei's soldiers. And the men and horses he brought from the Imperial City Division... To be precise, they were 120,000 and 5,000 horses. Along the Huaihe River, no army was more powerful, and no army had the same morale. It's more expensive.
Because they are the emperor's division, and their coach is the current emperor.
At this moment, the emperor once again rode on the horse with them.
While pulling the reins, he moved his gaze to the slowly flowing vortex river. In front of him was Chengfu County. In contrast to so many people, the city seemed so weak and lonely at this time. , he actually remembered that when he was in Yingzhou, Wanyan Wushu said that he could knock down the city of Yingzhou with one foot. To be honest, this is how he felt when he looked at the city father now.
It’s not that our old Liu has never fought rich battles, and more people have also commanded them, but then and now, there are two completely different feelings... This is the confidence that the Song Dynasty’s soldiers have enough food to give him, the Song’s army The large number of people wearing armor, the elite use of weapons, and the double stirrups that he thought could only be improved by geniuses, the divine arm bow, and the heavy paper-armored artillery carriage. Turning his head upside down, he couldn't think of any other way. Can lose.
At this time, everyone was very excited, especially Xin Ciying. This was the first time for him to go north to such a far away place since he crossed to the south. If the emperor didn't like him reciting poems, we would have a different life. One hundred and eighty poems were written to express his feelings. Although he endured it again and again, he finally couldn't hold it back and said:
"The Wushi River is connected to the Yellow River and connected to the Huai River. Since ancient times, sailors have often used this route to enter the Huai River. This is the meridian of our Song Dynasty...Duchong broke the embankment of the Yellow River, causing the Wushi River to surge. Along both sides of the river, I don’t know how many people have suffered a lot, but when they come here today and see this scene, isn’t it a sign that the Song Dynasty will be prosperous, the country will be rectified, and the sun and the moon will be clear!”
It was already early March, and everything was full of life. There were many fields on both sides of the strait. Many crops planted at this time had already sprouted, with green seedlings and bright red flowers. , and the birds singing in the sky.
All of this is indeed like a picture scroll.
Of course, it would be nice if there weren't so many Qiu Ba around. This group of people stretched for dozens of miles, and they were inserted into this picture, which was a lot more abrupt.
Xin Ciying was excited, but who among the people present was not excited? Many southerners had never been to the north, and many northerners were still young when they went south and could not remember so many things. But everyone knew that along the way, If you keep walking along this river, you will reach Zhuxian Town and Kaifeng City. The river looks endless, but at the other end of it is our capital city. Seriously The capital city.
The generals around him were more or less intoxicated and deep in thought. They were about to use the knife right now. Liu Bang cleared his throat, preparing to make everyone more excited. He would soon be excited, but in his stomach There were only so many things, so he thought about reciting "Man Jiang Hong" again, but he was also afraid that everyone would laugh at him for knowing only one move. After thinking about it, he suddenly remembered a certain poem he heard from Lu Zai. At this time, he used So far, it is quite appropriate.
So he cleared his throat and came out as if he was about to speak. Sure enough, several people heard the emperor's voice and all came back to their senses to see what Zhao Guan's family had ordered.
"The war is about to begin. When I saw this great river and mountains, I felt very restless. I thought that such a great place was taken over by the golden people. I feel both useless and sad."
"Now I will recite a poem to express the depression in my heart. I have to write it down carefully."
This was Xin Ciying's job. Without any further explanation from Zhao Guanjia, he took out the pen and ink he carried with him and looked at the emperor with great anticipation.
After all, the city father was captured in a short while. What the emperor said at this time will naturally be noticed by future generations. If he is heroic, he will be heroic in this battle, and if he is sad, he will be sad in this battle, even if he says something compassionate. Son, it can also reflect the benevolence and righteousness of the king of our army.
I originally thought that the officials didn't like these scenes, but I never thought that he actually brought it up himself, which saved Xin Ciying a lot of effort. After all, if future generations investigate the details of today, they only need to use " To describe it in one sentence, "The father of the city was broken on the eighth day of March," is a bit too dry, and does not suit the taste of Xin Ciying's scholars.
The more romantic the better, the more legendary the better. He put all his expectations in his eyes and fired extremely hot enthusiasm towards Zhao Guan's family.
Liu Bang got goosebumps when he saw it.
"Please read it, officials. I will definitely remember it word for word."
Nodding slightly, Liu Bang only said one sentence, and the people around him were so shocked that they all fell off their horses... Except for Zhang Taiwei, who didn't know a single person, even Guo Yaoshi and Han Chang One of them also looked at him with a puzzled look on his face.
What he read was: "In the past forty years, our country and our country have spread over three thousand miles of mountains and rivers."
This word... is very good, it can even be said to be very good, and it is very appropriate for the emperor to use it here to express it. However, this word should not be pronounced by him, or even by people from the Song Dynasty.
But Liu Bang didn't realize it at all. He finally got into the mood, and saw that the forward troops had already arrived at the feet of Cheng Fu. Without any delay, they fought with Cheng Fu's defenders. He waved his hand and signaled Everyone stop.
There are already enough people. In a place as big as the hand of the city father, even if more than ten thousand people are present, it will not be able to be used. The twenty or thirty thousand people who are going now are enough.
"The phoenix pavilion and the dragon tower are connected to the sky, and the jade trees and their branches are used as tobacco and radish. How many times have you ever seen war?"
Xin Ciying finally regained his breath and looked at Zhao Guan's house hesitantly, but was asked by the emperor:
"Why are you so dazed? Why don't you write it down?"
"If you neglect your own duties, huh, I will betroth you to the old princess and ask her to pay more as a gift so that you can use it as military pay!"
This was not the first time the officials had said this. Not to mention that the old princess was decades older than him, but Xin Ciying himself would not dare to have any thoughts about the mistress of the Qian family.
And if it happened, the emperor would have troubled him for countless generations. Naturally, Xin Ciying would not be willing to accept a young man in his fifties. So even though the emperor told him to sacrifice Hue several times, he always pretended not to hear it, but he also knew that according to the emperor's temper, he could really do such a thing.
Being threatened again at this time, the living room owner didn't know how panicked he was. He quickly grabbed a pen and paper and started to record it. Seeing him like this, Liu Bang nodded with satisfaction.
At this time, the sound of war drums in front could be heard, and the sounds of fighting and mourning coming from the other end could be heard again. Liu Bang watched for a while and saw that the ladder had been set up, and he felt a little safer, so he continued:
"Once you become a captive, you will spend time with your waist down and your temples down."
That's not right... He looked at Zhao Mi with some confusion:
"This city serves as a barrier to Bozhou, and Li Qiong actually sent so many people to guard it? If that was the case, shouldn't you two have taken this place down long ago?"
Commander Zhao looked at the soldiers on the city wall... He didn't think anything was wrong at first, but when he looked carefully, he saw that the number of them became smaller and smaller as they stood further back. There were only three or four rows standing on a city wall. There were only a few people in the last row.
He replied: "To answer your Majesty, Chengfu is close to Bozhou and far from Suzhou. Even if it is captured, it will divide the troops of the ministers and others. Therefore, if Bozhou cannot be captured, capturing Chengfu will actually have no effect on the ministers and others." What’s the benefit?”
On the other hand, he also felt strange: "But every time I come here, it is a tough nut to crack, but this time..."
After thinking for a while, Zhao Mi finally came up with an answer:
"I think Thief Li knew that the officials were coming with an army. The army was so huge that they couldn't stop it, and the city's defenses were weak. That's why he didn't want to waste the lives of the generals here. In this way, it saved us a lot of trouble. Less strength."
This statement makes sense, and it is very likely that it is what Zhao Mi speculated. The city father is going to be captured anyway, so it is a good thing to lose less men and horses after all.
"Then tell the soldiers who are attacking the city about this and ask them to work harder. When we enter the city, we will kill the pigs and make wine."
After receiving the order, the envoy of Zhao ordered others to go and deliver the message. After this interruption, Liu Bang almost forgot what he was going to do. If it weren't for the earnest look on his face, Captain Zhang said:
"The literary talent of the official family is extraordinary. This poem is really exquisite. Today, I am willing to give up my face and ask for a calligraphy painting of this poem. I will take it back and frame it at home, so that the boys at home can learn from it. .”
This flattery is pretty good. Although I didn’t write this stuff, it’s not appropriate to explain it at this time. In case other people don’t know about it, they might just think it was written by me.
"On the most hasty day of farewell to the temple, the temple still plays farewell songs and weeps to the palace ladies."
"good!"
As soon as the emperor finished speaking, Captain Zhang was the first to clapped his hands. A good tragic poem that broke the country was interpreted by the emperor and his ministers into something festive.
Xin Ciying sighed again and again, not daring to disturb the emperor's temper at this time. He just thought that this was clearly written by Li Yu after the Zhao family took away his empire, but now it was used by the descendants of the Zhao family. I don't know whether Empress Li should be happy that the Song Dynasty has fallen to this point, or sad that even if he dies, the Zhao family will give him a piece of wool.
The soldiers attacking the city in front had already received the news from here, and they obviously gained momentum again. The shouts of killing were even louder than before. In just one cup of tea, someone had already climbed up the wall and started fighting with them. People started fighting, and the city gate was not strong to begin with, and it was knocked out by the power of the battering ram. From the looks of it, it would take at least one or two sticks of incense for the city father to successfully capture it. .
This year we won the battle at the outset. Although it was a crushing victory, it was undoubtedly a good start. Once Bozhou City is defeated, Guide Mansion will be nothing more than an isolated city. It can be said that there is no other road to Kaifeng. hinder.
According to the war between the Song and Jin Dynasties, this speed was already very fast, but according to Liu Bang's own opinion, it was still a bit slow. If it hadn't been for the bad things that happened in Lin'an City, he would have been on his way to Bianjing by now. On the way.
Despite this, the news coming from Han Shizhong was that he was often harassed by inexplicable navy troops, and they did not attack him head-on. They were like flies, which made the old boy so angry that he almost vomited blood. He just heard the emperor speculate that it was The ship from Goryeo made him take all his anger out on the Goryeo people, and he searched for the Goryeo people in the Huaidong area and killed them without mercy.
Judging from the time, the envoy he sent to Xixia should be arriving soon. Once the Xia people are stabilized, there will be no other variables in this war, and the outcome will be determined.
Thinking of this, Liu Bang got off his horse. Everyone imitated the emperor's example and jumped off their horses. Seeing Zhao Guan's family walking straight towards Wishui, they didn't dare to show any signs of neglect. One by one, they all followed him. behind.
"The official family..."
Liu Bang waved his hand, and everyone couldn't see his expression clearly. They only heard him say:
"Now that we have arrived at Chengfu, the people from the Imperial City Department will find out where the opening of the troop transportation road is as soon as possible. One more day of delay will lead to one more day of changes, which will be useless to the war."
Zhong Lei accepted with his hands raised. He had already begun to send people to do this a few days ago, but until now, no one sent out has responded. It is not known whether he is dead or not. turn up.
Now that the city father is defeated, there is no other obstacle between the Song Army and Bozhou. If this thing fails again, it will really be his sin.
"Still the old rules, don't touch the people. Those who are willing to surrender should be spared their lives."
I don’t know who this command was directed to, but everyone responded in unison. However, as soon as the words were spoken, Huang Yanjie ran over in a panic.
"The official family..."
Liu Bang didn't look back: "What's wrong?"
The old eunuch looked hesitant. He knew the emperor's temperament very well. He thought about it again and again before saying:
"The city father is broken."
It was faster than expected, Liu Bang said with a smile:
"Good thing."
But soon, Huang Yanjie's words made him stop laughing.
"There is not a single bandit's soldier in the city."
"Huh? That's..."
As soon as the words came out of his mouth, he thought of something and turned around to look at Huang Yanjie, his brows furrowed.
The old eunuch didn't dare to look back and said to himself:
"They are all common people, all people of our Song Dynasty!"
As soon as these words came out, all the generals present looked at each other, and for a moment they didn't know what to think.
The emperor was obviously stunned, but soon he quickly climbed onto his horse and rode directly towards the city father.
The speed is so fast that it shows the anxiety of the Zhao Guan family at this time.
(End of chapter)
