The most prosperous place in the world today is not Chang'an and Luoyang, nor is it Xuchang, nor is it health.
But Yecheng.
When the emperors and ministers of the Jin Dynasty who traveled south were still using bamboo fences as healthy city walls, Yecheng was already bustling with traffic, streets lined with streets, crowds of people rubbing shoulders, and palaces towering into the clouds.
To the west, there are continuous green mountains dotting the background. Qinghe, Dihe, Huanshui, Zhangshui and Gushui winding down from the foothills like five long snakes winding around Yecheng.
The Yellow River, which flows continuously day and night, emerges from the south of Yecheng like a dragon.
When Cao Cao, the king of Wei, attacked the Yuan brothers, he built the Baigou and Licao canals based on Yecheng. Yecheng became a place where water and land meet. The boats were discharged from Yecheng from the Zhang River to the Baigou through the Licao canal. To the north you can reach the northern end of the Hebei Plain, and to the south you can reach the Jianghuai River from the Yellow River.
Whoever controls Yecheng will control Hebei, the Central Plains, and even Jianghuai!
The capital of Jie Zhao was originally the State of Xiang, but in view of the geographical advantage of Ye city, Shi Le used Cheng Xia's plan to build a palace in Ye, and used his son Shi Hong to control it. He assigned ten thousand soldiers, stationed fifty-four battalions, and rebuilt the Bronze Bird. , Jinfeng and Bingjing Santai.
In the second year of Jianwu (336), Shihuying built the East and West Palaces. The base of the platform is two feet eight feet high, sixty-five steps long and seventy-five steps wide. It is extremely majestic.
The palace is magnificent. The roof tiles and walls are painted with bright lacquer, the tiles are decorated with gold, the pillars are decorated with silver, and the bead curtains and jade walls are ingenious.
However, in the prosperous city of Ye, there are everywhere "Chinese" wearing rattan hats and narrow-sleeved, left-straight-breasted Hu clothes with deep eyes and high noses, while the Han people are in ragged clothes and have a yellowish look on their faces from sorrow and hunger.
At this time, in the execution room of the Prince's East Palace.
Prince Shi Xuanzheng looked at Liang Du being tortured with instruments of intoxication, "If you don't do things well, you will be punished. Do you have any complaints?"
Liang Du was sweating profusely, his whole body was naked, and his knotted muscles were trembling, "I, I accept the punishment!"
During the retreat, Liang Du kidnapped more than a dozen beautiful men and women and presented them to Shi Xuan, thus saving his life.
As for Heavenly King Shihu, he had no intention of paying attention to this small defeat.
Last year, Ma Qiu, the governor of Liangzhou and a general of the Jie tribe, attacked Liangzhou and was defeated by the famous general Xie Ai. He killed his generals Du Xun and Ji Yu, and captured 13,000-level prisoners. Ma Qiu fled to Daxia on his own.
This year, he regained his strength and sent general Shi Ning to raise the army and support the army from two states. Ma Qiu regained his momentum and gathered 100,000 troops to confront Xie Ai across the river.
Zhao Chaoye's attention was focused on Liangzhou.
In order to ensure that this battle was foolproof, Shi Hu sent Sun Fudu and Liu Hun to lead 20,000 elite Chinese troops to aid Ma Qiu.
The total strength of Zhao's army reached 120,000, while Xie Ai only had 20,000 infantry and cavalry.
Compared with the Battle of Liangzhou, a small Black Cloud Mountain was naturally not worthy of their attention. Moreover, Prince Shi Xuan deliberately blocked and blocked the news, and no one in the court dared to mention it.
"Winning or losing is a common thing in military affairs. It doesn't matter if you lose once, but you can't lose one after another like that old man Ma Qiu. Do you know that?" Shi Xuan picked up a piece of red-hot iron and walked to Liang Du with a smile.
Before Liang Du could answer, he heard a "squeak" sound, followed by a smell of burning smell.
The guards around him saw this with trembling teeth.
But Liang Du gritted his teeth and did not even utter a scream. Cold sweat fell on his forehead like raindrops, "I know this!"
Before the Western Expedition, Shi Xuan reminded Shi Hu that although Liangzhou is small, it has strong troops. Ma Qiu, a general who has been defeated repeatedly, has lost his spirit and cannot be a general. It is best for Shi Hu or him to command 200,000 Chinese and foreign armies. , killed in one blow.
However, today's Shi Hu has long lost the courage he once had. In the fourth year of Xiankang (338), Shi Hu personally led hundreds of thousands of Zhao troops to attack the Yan Kingdom from all sides. Thirty-six cities in Liaodong surrendered, and the capital Jicheng was besieged. Murong Huang was ready to abandon the city and flee.
However, he persisted under the advice of Prime Minister Feng Yi and others.
The Zhao army continued to attack fiercely for more than ten days, but failed, morale was frustrated, and the soldiers were exhausted. Murong Ke led two thousand elite cavalry to attack them, and they were inexhaustible. The Jie and Zhao armies were frightened, abandoned their armor and fled, and the entire line was defeated.
Murong Ke took advantage of the victory to pursue him and gained more than 30,000 levels.
This battle knocked off Shi Hu's arrogance. From then on, Shi Hu no longer led troops into battle, but huddled in Yecheng, just like Dong Zhuo when he entered Xiwu, and began to enjoy life...
With Jie Zhao at the height of his power, the country's fortunes began to decline.
Ma Qiu was a participant in all the defeats. Miyun Mountain surrendered to Duan Liao. Murong Ke ambushed Ma Qiu's 100,000-strong army and returned in defeat. Sima Yangyu and General Xian Yuliang were captured, and all Duan Liao's troops returned to Yan. .
In the current battle of Liangzhou, Ma Qiu is also defeated again and again...
Shi Xuan advised Shi Hu, but in fact he wanted to command the troops himself and gain military power.
The position of Prince Jie Zhao was not secure. Shi Huhuang indulged in drinking and debauchery, was moody, used excessive punishments, and became more and more suspicious. The previous crown prince, Shi Sui, was often whipped and beaten by Shi Hu for trivial matters. Several times a month, Shi Sui was not as cruel as his father. He liked to eat beautiful women, boiled them with beef and mutton, and gave them to his tribe.
Shi Sui was so angry that he complained privately to his subordinates: "It's hard to be an official. I want to do something outrageous, will you follow me?"
When the incident was revealed, the whole family was massacred by stone tigers. Twenty-six men, women, and children were chopped into pieces and stuffed into a coffin...
Shi Xuan witnessed the entire incident.
Another person who witnessed it was Shi Tao.
At first, Shi Sui, Shi Xuan and Shi Tao were incompatible with each other, but now Shi Xuan and Shi Tao are the same.
Shi Hu obviously dotes on Shi Tao more. After he established Shi Xuan, Shi Hu often regretted it, but the lesson of abolishing the elder and establishing the young made Shi Hu hesitate.
Once Shi Xuan did not go against Shi Hu's wishes, Shi Hu openly said in front of all the ministers: "I regret not establishing Shi Tao."
This sentence put Shi Xuan's position as crown prince in jeopardy. Shi Tao became even more arrogant and continued to provoke Shi Xuan.
Therefore, Shi Xuan fell into deep uneasiness. Once he fell from the position of prince, the tragic death of his brother Shi Sui and his family would be imminent.
"There are not many people as kind as Gu in Zhao nowadays. Don't disappoint Gu again next time." Shi Xuan put down the iron, picked up the wine bottle and drank it all in one gulp.
There was a burn scar on Liang Du's chest, "Thank you so much, Your Highness, there are only two thousand high-powered guards this time, and I will definitely kill all the thieves in Black Cloud Mountain!"
He never snorted from beginning to end, because he knew that the harder he screamed, the more excited Shi Xuan would be...
"You've healed your scar and forgot about the pain." Shi Xuan stretched out his hand and twisted Liang Du's scarlet scar.
Minced meat and blood fell to the ground.
Liang Du's teeth were chattering in pain, but he still held back from screaming.
The guards around him secretly admired him.
"Use your pig brain. You didn't take the Black Cloud Mountain despite all your efforts. How can you take it with two thousand people this time? There are many heroes in the Central Plains. Don't provoke them now. After Rigu ascends the throne, it won't be too late to take care of them. !”
"Your Highness... you are wise." Liang Du complimented.
Shi Xuan seemed to have forgotten the torture he had just suffered from Liang Du, patted him on the shoulder, and laughed and said: "Work hard, and I will be rich and powerful with you in the future!"
