After returning to the mansion, Zhang Wen ordered a banquet to be prepared, hoping to entertain his nephew.
Originally, he planned to gather his friends and hold a big banquet, but after Zhang Heng's previous reminder, he had no choice but to give it up.
After eating, Zhang Wen personally arranged accommodation for Zhang Heng. After finishing the meal, it was evening. After dinner, Zhang Wen took his nephew to the study room, ready to have a good chat with him.
Zhang Wen had been an official in Beijing for decades and rarely returned to his hometown. He couldn't help asking Zhang Heng some things about his family in Rang County, and Zhang Heng answered them all.
Afterwards, the two talked about the current situation. Like most people, Zhang Wen also believed that as long as Dong Zhuo was eliminated, the great Han Dynasty could still be saved.
Zhang Heng naturally disagreed with this view, but he couldn't refute it. He just echoed it and said a few words.
In this way, the uncle and nephew talked until late at night. Zhang Heng saw that Zhang Wen was a little sleepy, so he wisely got up and left.
After returning to the room, Zhang Heng did not sleep. Instead, he leaned on the desk and looked at the two names he had written in a daze.
Zhang Heng already knew from his uncle Zhang Wen's mouth that after Xu Rong returned to Luoyang last time, he was not questioned, but just closed his mind and thought about his mistakes. After Dong Zhuo led his army on the expedition, Luoyang City's defenses were empty, and Xu Rong was reactivated as the city gate captain.
Speaking of the city gate captain, it is also a very critical official position.
It checks and balances with Zhi Jinwu and the Northern Army Zhonghou, but does not belong to each other. It has the responsibility of commanding the imperial army in the capital.
Of course, now that Luoyang's surname is Dong, the military power is naturally in the hands of Dong Zhuo's younger brothers Dong Min and Li Ru, but Xu Rong can be reactivated, which means that he still has some power in his hands.
When I first entered Luoyang, my eyesight turned dark, but I needed a helper, and Xu Rong was just the right one.
But Xu Rong knew his identity after all. Once his heart fell in love with Dong Zhuo, he would die without a burial place, so this was a risky move.
Zhang Heng thought about it but couldn't make up his mind.
"Forget it, let's test it out first and see if Xu Rong can fight for it."
…
That night, a letter was shot into Xu Rong's house.
Then, Xu Rong, who was sleeping soundly, was woken up by his servant.
At first the servant thought it was someone raiding the mansion at night, but it turned out to be a letter to Xu Rong.
Out of caution, the servant did not open it, but directly knocked on Xu Rong's door.
Hearing the noise, Xu Rong got up from the couch, got dressed and went outside. The servant told him what had just happened, and then handed over the letter.
Looking at the letter in his hand, Xu Rong's face was full of doubts, but when he saw the signature, his whole body couldn't help but tremble.
Because the signature is exactly four words-an old friend of Juan County!
Naturally, Zhang Heng would not use his own name, but these four words were enough for Xu Rong to understand what it meant.
As soon as Xu Rong saw the signature, a huge wave arose in his heart, and the figure in white could not help but appear in his mind.
Mr. Ziyi came to Luoyang?
How can this be!
"You must not tell anyone what happened tonight!"
After Xu Rong placed a ban on his servants, he turned around and walked into the study alone.
Opening the letter carefully, Xu Rong was stunned when he saw the contents inside.
Because there is only one sentence in the letter - farewell to Juan County, I miss you very much, and sincerely invite the general to meet outside the city tomorrow.
"Mr. Ziyi has indeed come to Luoyang..."
Xu Rong smiled bitterly and immediately threw the letter into the candlelight and burned it.
Well, now comes the problem.
Go by yourself or not?
He could understand Zhang Heng's caution, but Xu Rong was still unsure of what to do next.
Dong Zhuo was away fighting, but Mr. Ziyi came to Luoyang at this time, and he definitely had a plan.
If you go, you will be involved in it. Mr. Ziyi must let himself do some things, and you don't need to think about it to know that it will be detrimental to Dong Zhuo.
Don't go, at least they will spare your life. Moreover, after the battle in Juan County, Xu Rong sincerely did not want to be an enemy of Zhang Heng.
To put it bluntly, Xu Rong just wants to sit on the fence and swing. But Zhang Heng didn't allow it and forced him to make a choice.
And Zhang Heng only gave Xu Rong one night to think about it.
…
Xingyang.
Liu Bei stood at the top of the city with a delighted smile on his face, watching Dong Zhuo's army slowly retreat in the distance.
That's right, Dong Zhuo retreated again, this was the second time.
Less than five days after Zhang Heng left, Dong Zhuo started a new round of attack, which was also his second attack.
This time, just like before, after more than ten days of fighting, there was no success.
Although Xingyang is not the most fortified city in the world, the number of people in the city is not much less than that of Dong Zhuo, so it is reasonable that it cannot be defeated.
Of course, as resourceful as Mr. Dong is, he has naturally thought of other ways, such as luring the enemy into fighting, hoping to repeat the victory over the Kwantung Allied Forces last time.
As long as the Guandong bandits are willing to come out, they are not left to their own devices.
But soon, Mr. Dong became disappointed.
He sent people to shout and curse at the city walls, but as soon as these soldiers approached the city wall and before they had time to open their mouths, they were shot to death by Zhang Liao's crossbowmen.
The second time, Mr. Dong learned the lesson and sent people to shout and curse outside the range of the bow and arrow.
But in this era, there were no loudspeakers. If you were shouting curses from two hundred paces away, you couldn't even tell the voice from the other side, but you couldn't even see the mouth shape clearly.
Ever since, in the eyes of the defenders in the city, the Xiliang army was dancing and shouting in the distance, making people laugh like clowns.
Not only did this operation fail to arouse the anger of the Xingyang defenders, but it actually broke their defense.
In anger, Mr. Dong thought of the second move: dig a tunnel!
In fact, this method is much more reliable, but...
Fortunately, the loose soil dug out by the Xiliang army fell in front of the camp.
Guan Yu saw through Dong Zhuo's plan at a glance, and immediately sneered and sent people to dig a trench several feet deep under the city gate.
After the Xiliang army worked hard to dig the tunnel, they went out and saw that they were not in the city, but just under the city gate.
On the city tower, there were countless crossbowmen aiming at him.
After two consecutive defeats, Mr. Dong completely collapsed and simply gave up these useless tactics and continued to lead his army to attack.
After several days of attacking, the attack was still ineffective. With morale plummeting, Dong Zhuo had no choice but to withdraw his troops again. This was the scene Liu Bei saw at the top of the city.
Ziyi said before leaving that the Dong thieves would attack at most two more times. If they failed, they would retreat to Luoyang. Now there is only one attack left.
I don’t know what happened to Ziyi, or whether he successfully sneaked into Luoyang.
Seeing that Zhang Heng had been gone for more than half a month, Liu Bei couldn't help but feel worried.
"Ziyi, if the war continues like this, Thief Dong will have to withdraw his troops in twenty days at most. You have to come back before Thief Dong retreats to Luoyang!"
…
On the south bank of Bian River, Dong Zhuo's army camp was located.
The hard fighting in the past few days made Dong Zhuo very manic. The failure to siege Xingyang twice also made Dong Zhuo a little frustrated.
What makes Dong Zhuo even more sad is that he had a great victory over the Kwantung Allied Forces in the last battle, but his generals suffered heavy casualties.
A breakdown of the casualties suffered by our own senior generals since the war began is simply shocking.
The most brave general in Xiliang, Guo Bang, was beheaded by Zhang Fei in front of the battle formation. Wang Fang, the school captain, was also beheaded by Zhang Fei. Fan Chou was beheaded by Sun Ce. Li Meng, the school captain, was captured alive. Niu Fu, the former army chief, was also captured alive. The two When Dong Zhuo attacked Xingyang for the second time, the Suanzao princes beheaded and sacrificed the flag in front of Dong Zhuo.
Now, under Dong Zhuo's command, only Li Jue, the commander of the Flying Bear Army, his adopted son Lu Bu, and the school captain Zhang Ji were left.
Um...and Zhang Xiu. Because of his bravery in battle, this guy has been appointed as a captain by Dong Zhuo, taking over Fan Chou's previous position, and can be regarded as the commander-in-chief of the first army.
For a moment, Dong Zhuo felt like there was no one available to him.
Coupled with the unfavorable outcome of the war, Dong Zhuo began to think of retreating.
Although he had an idea in his mind, there was no one around him to discuss it.
When he thought of this, he regretted not bringing Li Ru out. In the past, when Li Ru was around, no matter whether he was fighting or retreating, he could always give the direction immediately. He would never be passive, let alone let himself hesitate like this.
"Ahuang, bring me a pen and paper, I want to write a letter to Wenyou."
Upon hearing this, Dong Huang immediately ordered his soldiers to bring paper and pen, and then polished the ink himself.
Dong Zhuo wrote quickly, writing down the current war situation in detail, and sent someone back to Luoyang to ask Li Ru for an idea.
After doing all this, Dong Zhuo ordered to reward the entire army.
Anyway, let’s boost low morale first.
