Chengdu, Prince Shu's Mansion.
In the palace in the backyard of the palace, King Li Shun of Shu put his arms around the slender waist of his beloved concubine Luo Lan, opened his mouth, and accepted the fruit handed over by Luo Lan. Needless to say, Meng Lang laughed obscenely and acted wildly during this period.
Luo Lan shyly said angrily: "Your Majesty, please spare the slave family. I heard that a minister compared the slave family to Yang Yuhuan, saying that it is a disaster for a beauty and a disaster for the country. If you don't wake up in time, the king may repeat the same mistakes as Emperor Ming of Tang Dynasty. . The slave family does not want the king to be stigmatized, so we also ask the king to stay away from the slave family in order to set the record straight."
After saying that, Luo Lan broke away from Li Shun's arms, with tears in his almond eyes and a sad look on his face. Her charming appearance makes her even more lovable.
After hearing this, Li Shun laughed and hugged Luo Lanfu into his arms again to comfort him for a while. Then he snorted coldly and said, "Those old people are still clinging to the past. They stare at the humble people with the standards of saints every day, and they don't even look at what they are." Things. Take Chu Lihan for example. He looks worried about the country and the people all day long, and is heartbroken. In fact, isn’t he secretly having several concubines in succession? Such an old man is not afraid of falling apart. Love Concubine, there is no need to worry, the struggle in the court is not about right or wrong, only about success or failure. As long as I send a large army to capture Zizhou, and then send troops north to capture Jianmen Pass, all the rumors will no longer exist."
Li Shun is right, everything in life is like a chess game, and a man can never turn back. Most things in the world only focus on success or failure, not right or wrong. If you succeed, there will naturally be flowers and thousands of people singing your praises. If you fail, all kinds of slander and suppression will naturally follow. King Zhou of Shang was like this, and Emperor Yang of Sui was even more like this. But whether there are flowers on the road or people are lost in the wind and snow, people can only move forward bravely because there is no way back.
Several hundred miles east of Chengdu, General Xianggui, who had just been appointed by the King of Shu Li Shun not long ago, led more than 200,000 rebel soldiers, heading towards Zizhou. The mighty team was like a long dragon, marching on the road in eastern Shu.
During the march, the prime minister ordered his troops to march into the city and loot the dozens of prefectures and counties he passed along the way. The reason he gave was that these prefectures and counties had a secret conspiracy with Zizhou and wanted to harass the rear of the army when it attacked Zizhou.
In fact, anyone with a discerning eye can see that in these prefectures and counties, some people who were loyal to the Song Dynasty had fled to Zizhou long before the rebels came east. Most of the people who stayed in the prefectures and counties had no escape or were unable to escape. He was a man who surrendered to the rebel army. How could he dare to harass and cause trouble in the rear of the rebel army?
There are two reasons why Xianggui did this. First, when the Shu Kingdom was first established, the rebel soldiers had no military pay. In order to maintain the morale of the army, Xianggui had no choice but to allow the soldiers to loot property in the prefectures and counties along the way and use it as military pay. This behavior is similar to Liao soldiers' "grazing valley". Secondly, he also used this determination to frighten the defenders of Zizhou and show his determination to capture Zizhou.
Although Xianggui's ability to lead troops in battle is not as good as Zhang Yu, Wang Cormorant and others, his grasp and adjustment of the situation, as well as his speculation on the superior's intentions, are unmatched by others.
After more than ten days of hard march through mountains and rivers, the army finally arrived at the border of Zizhou. After choosing a place to set up camp, Xianggui sent scouts to explore Zizhou's terrain and city wall defenses. At the same time, soldiers were sent to recruit a large number of nearby people to cut wood to make ladders and siege equipment.
After everything was prepared, Xianggui summoned the army generals to the central army tent for a military meeting. Determine the strategy of siege on the west, north and south sides of Zizhou City. Leaving the east gate alone is also to break the determination and will of the defenders. "Surrounding three and missing one" is a common tactic for siege, and it is also a very practical tactic. After arranging the order of the siege and many other matters, he asked the generals to prepare and launch the siege the next day.
Dark clouds were pressing down on the city, and the city was about to be destroyed. Inside Zizhou City, facing the siege on three sides by more than 200,000 troops outside the city, the defenders inside the city naturally did not dare to neglect, but there was not much panic in the hearts of the people. This was because their magistrate It's Zhang Yong.
Zhang Yong was a Jinshi in the second year of Duangong in the Song Dynasty. He was appointed magistrate of Zizhou in the first year of Chunhua. It has been almost four years now. Zhang Yong is an official with a very sensitive political sense. As early as the third year of Chunhua before Wang Xiaobo's uprising, when there was a severe drought in Xichuan and victims were everywhere, Zhang Yong had already noticed the hidden dangers brought by the refugees, and how he could not handle such hidden dangers well. the dangers it will bring.
Zizhou is the largest city in Shu after Chengdu. It is more prosperous and wealthy than other state capitals. Many victims of the disaster in Xichuan rushed to Zizhou City after they had no hope of entering Chengdu.
Faced with these homeless victims, Zhang Yong did not close the city gates to prevent them from entering like the officials in Chengdu. Instead, he opened the city gates to let the victims enter. In addition to calling on the gentry and officials in the city to donate food and porridge, In addition, these victims were also arranged to work in some workshops and reclaim wasteland. This gave these victims a glimmer of hope and greatly alleviated the conflicts between the victims and the people in the city.
The good governance of Zizhou Prefecture caused more disaster victims to flock in. Zhang Yong divided these victims into different categories. Those who were physically strong were either incorporated into the army as soldiers, or formed a civilian team to dig canals, divert water, and build city walls.
These measures taken by Zhang Yong did not seem surprising at the time, but now they appear to be a proactive and long-term move. As expected, those who are good at fighting have no great achievements.
Even with such careful planning and layout, Zhang Yong felt huge pressure when facing the more than 200,000 troops outside the city. He rushes around every day to coordinate reinforcements, food and equipment from various places.
Zhang Yong is good at politics but not at military affairs. Militaryly, the command of generals such as Lu Bin, the Xichuan inspector who had escaped from Chengdu, naturally greatly reduced Zhang Yong's pressure.
Lu Bin was defeated and fled while defending the city of Chengdu. Although he had the excuse of "preserving his strength to contain the enemy", he now naturally knows better that if Zizhou is captured by the rebels again this time, no excuse will be possible. With his life saved, he could only gain a chance by fighting to the death.
The next morning, the November weather was already freezing. Ten miles west of Zizhou City, the rebel army formation slowly pressed towards the west wall of Zizhou City.
On top of the western city of Zizhou, the defenders were carrying bows, arrows and stones back and forth, waiting for the bloodshed to come. Looking at the dark military formation slowly coming closer and closer under the city, the soldiers guarding the city had their mouths dry with nervousness, and they kept panting heavily to relieve the pressure.
Wearing armor and a general's helmet, Lu Bin held a knife and walked on the corridor at the top of the city, followed by a group of generals. After inspecting several city walls, Lu Bin came to the rebel army to attack the western city wall. He constantly boosted the morale of the soldiers and at the same time ordered strict rewards and punishments to stabilize the morale of the soldiers.
In the central formation of the rebels below the city, Xianggui, guarded by a group of soldiers, rode forward, observing Zizhou's defense, and at the same time commanding the direction of the siege team. Originally these were matters for his generals, but now Xianggui has to personally direct them.
The reason why this happened was not because Xianggui was tyrannical and overstepped his authority, but because during the eastern expedition to Zizhou, King Li Shun of Shu did not arrange for the veterans to be powerful in the army in order to suppress their power. They are all promoted newcomers.
Although the promotion of newcomers restrained the further expansion of the power of the old ministers, the shortcomings of the newcomers' military command abilities were further amplified on the battlefield. As a last resort, Xianggui had to personally lead the generals to command the siege.
