The night is deep and Zhuge Town is brightly lit.
From time to time, fast horses galloped up from a distance, but then quickly moved away.
All the people who could be seen were in a hurry, and the war was still going on.
In the northwest of the town, Li Xuan was riding on a tall horse, thinking about something in his mind, and slowly headed towards the town.
Behind Li Xuan, Zhang Wanyu and Qu Ying had changed into the attire of the royal palace guards in black and blended in with the crowd.
Although the two of them look somewhat heroic, their figures are quite ups and downs. If it were not at night, it would be difficult to hide them.
Qu Ying and Zhang Wanyu were very close to each other, and Zhang Wanyu's face was very ugly. She glanced at Li Xuan with some resentment, and then turned to look at Zhuge Town, which she had never been to before.
The town was already under martial law, and soldiers from Lanxi were guarding every intersection.
The slow sound of horse hooves quickly attracted the attention of many people.
The people who still stayed in the town looked curiously at Li Xuan, who was walking at the front among the crowd, through the cracks in the door, with a hint of wonder, a hint of curiosity, and a hint of admiration in their eyes.
Aware of these glances, Li Xuan nodded gently in response.
In the Battle of Meiling Pass, the news of the victory of the army had spread, and the residents of Zhuge Town couldn't help but feel a little excited and happy.
What was exciting was that they were not far away from this fierce battle, so they could witness it with their own eyes.
Fortunately, their homeland is no longer in danger of war, and they can live in peace.
…
Soon, Li Xuan and his party arrived at the largest courtyard in the town, where Li Xuan now lives.
In front of the courtyard gate, Zhuge Yun, dressed in a green robe, stood in front of the gate.
Seeing Li Xuan's arrival, Zhuge Yun immediately stepped forward and said sincerely, "Congratulations, Your Majesty, for defeating the enemy in one battle and pacifying the bandits. From now on, Wuzhou will be safe and the southeast will be safe."
"Thank you, elder!" Li Xuan got off the horse, and everyone behind him also dismounted at the same time, including Zhang Wanyu.
Li Xuan returned the gift respectfully to Zhuge Yun: "This victory is thanks to the help of the elders and the Zhuge family. He will definitely ask for credit for the Zhuge family in the memorial to the Japanese king!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Zhuge Yun quickly bowed deeply.
With Li Xuan's words, from now on, the taxes in Zhuge Town will be reduced a lot, and the officialdom of the Zhuge clan will be much easier.
"Elders don't need to be polite." Li Xuan quickly supported Zhuge Yun and said gently: "I'm afraid the army will have to rest in the town these days. I also ask the elders to help me. All the expenses will be allocated by the state government. !”
"Don't worry, Your Majesty, I will definitely do my best." Zhuge Yun bowed slightly again, then turned and left with strong steps.
Li Xuan nodded with satisfaction, looked away, and then stepped into the courtyard.
…
The courtyard is spacious, the woods are whirling, and there are invisible piles lurking in the corners.
In the main hall ahead, a young man was writing something with his head down, and there were several officials around handing over documents.
That is Zhuge Minghui, the young master of the Zhuge family, who will attend the Spring Festival next year.
Just as Li Xuan was about to walk towards the central hall, at this moment, the sound of rapid horse hooves sounded.
A fast horse galloped from the east and stopped in front of Li Xuan in a blink of an eye.
A palace guard in black quickly took out a small bamboo tube from his arms and handed it to Li Zhu.
Li Zhu took out the secret message inside the bamboo tube and handed it directly to Li Xuan's hand.
Li Xuan took a look and couldn't help but frown.
He turned his head and glanced at Zhang Wanyu who was standing behind him. Zhang Wanyu noticed Li Xuan's strange gaze, frowned and asked, "What's wrong?"
"There is news from the Muzhou Navy. They have been parked ten miles north of Sanheguan. They will not advance or retreat, blocking all roads around them. My people finally got close to them." After a short pause, Li Xuan said with a frown. : "Strange, why did they stop there?"
"Do you want them to enter Wujiang as soon as possible, and then use Wujiang to kill them?" Zhang Wanyu sneered, and then said disdainfully: "They are not that stupid!"
"According to your original plan, shouldn't they have taken Shanhe Pass by now?" Li Xuan looked at Zhang Wanyu and said lightly: "If I remember correctly, you said before that this time, They broke the promise.”
Zhang Wanyu's face instantly darkened.
Although they had their own reasons for the defeat at Meiling Pass this time, the failure of the navy to respond jointly was also one of the reasons.
Seeing Zhang Wanyu's expression of ignorance, Li Xuan was a little disappointed.
Turning sideways, he looked at Li Zhu and ordered: "Send Miss Zhang to rest. As for the Muzhou Navy, if my guess is correct, they have not only broken the promise, but they may have rebelled now."
Li Xuan's betrayal made Zhang Wanyu's expression suddenly change.
She had never thought of this possibility, but she just never wanted to believe it.
Seeing Zhang Wanyu being brought to the side room in despair, Li Xuan became a little confused.
Zhang Wanyu seemed to know nothing about the fact that she was protected by a spiritual seal.
Of course, she also knew nothing about Li Xuan's attempts to control her through psychological attacks.
Li Xuan pondered carefully, what method can be used to break the spiritual seal of the Empress? It is definitely not possible to do it from the outside, but she must find a way to defeat it from the inside.
Li Xuan had used several methods to test Zhang Wanyu before, but this woman didn't care about herself, Tianyin's beliefs, or ordinary people. Only her brother Wen Fuzhi occupied a place in her heart.
But it's just a place. To break her defenses, Li Xuan must understand what is she thinking in the deepest part of this woman's heart and what does she really care about in her heart.
After thinking about it, Li Xuan walked towards the central hall. Zhuge Minghui, who was sitting at the table, immediately stood up, raised his hands to Li Xuan and said, "Your Majesty!"
Li Xuan raised his head and asked: "What are the statistics of the meritorious service of the various ministries?"
"The number of meritorious doctors from various ministries has been summarized..."
…
In the early morning, in the nave, Li Xuan was wearing a black robe with gold threads and sitting high in the hall.
Li Yuanyi is sitting at the left, and Zhuge Minghui is sitting under him to record.
Qiu Zhenmu and Zhou Shen, Yan Tao and Xu Jian are sitting on the right.
The four of them were all wearing battle armor. Although they had washed themselves, they were still full of murderous intent.
You can even see traces of blood stains on the corners of the soles.
Li Xuan flipped through the battle report in his hand, frowned, and said, "This time, too many people died."
At first, when Fang Fengjin stormed the checkpoint, he carried out a desperate attack that resulted in at least more than a thousand casualties. Later, he led troops into the city. Although many people were immediately and deliberately released, nearly a thousand people still died in the flames. Down.
After the flames burned out, although Li Xuan sent people to chase them later, they suddenly discovered that many Tianyin believers died on the road.
The confusion of hunger, thirst, and confusion caused unknown deaths of many people. Ye Wanwan tried her best to clean up, but there were still large numbers of corpses lying on the roadside.
Li Xuan closed the battle report in his hand and said seriously: "Report the truth according to the regulations of the imperial court. You are not allowed to conceal or conceal the report, and you are not allowed to make any false reports."
The military achievements of the Tang Dynasty include beheading, defeating, and guarding, and various different meritorious deeds, among which beheading is the most important.
But in this battle, not many people actually died under the sword. Most of them died under the hands of ordnance, flames and calculations.
"Don't worry, Your Majesty, your subordinates will strictly review everything, and there won't be any omissions." Li Yuanyi immediately stood up and seriously handed over his hand to Li Xuan.
Li Yuanyi is also a clan member, so he naturally knows what Li Xuan is worried about, and he will make arrangements for what to do.
Li Xuan nodded and said with a gentle expression: "Then I'll trouble you, uncle. You might as well be a little more relaxed with your soldiers' requirements, but you need to be more strict with your generals' requirements."
"I obey the order!" Li Yuanyi immediately handed over his hand.
Li Xuan made it very clear that the merits can be divided more into soldiers, but officers at all levels, especially him, so there is no harm in having less.
"Actually, I am not willing to cause so many killings. It's just that they were too deeply deceived by the Tianyin Sect. If they hadn't braved the rain of rocks and charged madly, they wouldn't have suffered so many casualties." Li Xuan sighed softly. , but his eyes fell on everyone.
Qiu Zhenmu immediately stood up and said seriously: "Tianyin's soldiers are not afraid of death and look crazy. If it hadn't been for the prince's careful calculation, even if we were able to defend Meiling Pass, I'm afraid the final casualties would have been extremely shocking. The reputation of Tianyin’s fierce soldiers is true.”
"This is the work of heaven and earth, not the power of this king." Li Xuan smiled, he finally knew how to deal with possible suspicions among the government and the public.
There was a meteorite falling from the sky back then, but now he doesn't mind a natural strong wind.
"Okay, let's talk about the situation on the mountain road now." Li Xuan became serious. Although the people of Tianyin Sect suffered heavy losses and their morale was broken and they fled, it does not mean that the matter is over. Even this is just another one. start.
"It is reported that the Tianyin Sect has less than 2,000 members. They are gathering and slowly retreating." Yan Tao and Zhou Shen stood up.
"Two thousand, that's the wrong number!" Li Xuan raised her eyebrows slightly.
Zhang Wanyu originally had nearly 2,000 people, and then Fang Fengjin's reinforcements were 4,000. Now there are less than 2,000 left. Doesn't that mean that all 4,000 people were killed in this battle, plus the previous ones? Three thousand, seven thousand died in Li Xuan's hands.
After all his achievements, it would not be too much to give him the rank of General Qian Niuwei.
"Your Majesty, a thousand people escaped into the mountains and fields and never returned to Muzhou." Yan Tao quickly explained.
"The number of people who escaped into the mountains is huge, and they may not only be a thousand." After a pause, Li Xuan looked at everyone and said, "Your Majesty will cultivate more fields in Muzhou in the future. If there are not enough people, be careful. The imperial censor impeached me for killing too many people and hurting the peace of heaven."
"Your Majesty, you are too worried. Now we, the Tang Dynasty, are all over the place, killing everyone in one battle. I don't know if those who died at my hands are those who died. Our skill may be nothing in the eyes of the Central Committee." Qiu Zhenmu handed over his hand.
He comes from a family of military generals and sees these things much more clearly than Li Xuan.
Li Xuan smiled, looked at Qiu Zhenmu and said, "What Brother Qiu said is absolutely true. This battle depends on Brother Qiu and all of you galloping freely. I will definitely praise you in the memorial."
"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Although everyone present was helpless, they all stood up.
Li Xuan was obviously able to share the credit and reduce the court's suspicion for himself.
Although those of them here know that there are some risks involved, who would despise the lack of military merit.
Thanks to the kindness of the King of Nanchang, it will not be easy to get information about this person in the future.
Li Xuan's expression suddenly became solemn, and then he said: "Now I need a general to rush into Jiande Chun'an along the mountain road and directly take Muzhou City. I wonder which of the four of you is willing?"
Retribution comes quickly.
The four people looked at each other, and finally Yan Tao stood up, raised his hands and said, "Let's go to Xiaguan. Xiaguan has served in Wuzhou for many years. I think Xiaguan is more familiar with the terrain of Muzhou than everyone here."
"Okay, it's settled." Li Xuan took a deep breath, and then said: "Then Qi Guang will follow Captain Yan to Muzhou. Most of his people live in Muzhou, and this trip will just stabilize people's hearts... In addition, I also asked my uncle to sit in Zhuge Town, renovate Meiling Pass, and transfer military supplies at the same time."
"I obey the order!" Everyone present immediately agreed with their hands.
"Then there is Sanhe Pass..." Li Xuan said thoughtfully: "Muzhou Navy docked ten miles away from Sanhe Pass, but it was strangely motionless. This is very strange..."
Before Li Xuan finished speaking, footsteps sounded outside the door.
Li Zhu quickly walked in and placed a green chapter on Li Xuan's desk.
Li Xuan opened it in surprise, and then said in shock: "Begging for surrender and peace, the Muzhou navy begged for surrender and peace?"
(End of chapter)
