Tiantang Splendid

In the heavy rain, Xingyang defenders lined up and walked out of the city gate in batches, and set up temporary simple camps under the supervision of naval cavalry, while the heavy armored infantry entered the city under the leadership of Liu Rengui, and completely took over Xingyang defense.

Zheng Rentai didn't dare to make any fuss, handed over his defense honestly, cooperated wholeheartedly, and at the same time assisted the navy to appease the people, merchants, and people from all walks of life in the city, and soon stabilized Xingyang City.

……

In the main hall of Zheng's mansion, Liu Rengui sat in the middle, Zheng Rentai was accompanied by the Prime Minister, and the rest were waiting outside the hall.

Holding the teacup in his hand, Zheng Rentai opened his mouth to speak, but he stopped talking, finally turned into a long sigh, shook his head, and took a sip of tea.

In the past, the sweet tea was sweet, but it was full of bitterness in the throat...

This time, the Shandong aristocratic family stood in line with the King of Jin who wanted to enter the court to regain the central power that had been lost since the two Jin Dynasties, and even had to recruit private soldiers to support Tongguan, and tied up with the King of Jin to fight hard. Create new glories. After all, since the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the Guanlongmen faction has occupied the core of power and seized the interests of the world. It really made the Shandong family salivate and hate like mad.

But who would have guessed that the fate is not as good as man's calculation, and now it ends in a defeat, and can only beg for mercy, and it is not known what the future will be...

Compared with the bewildered Zheng Rentai, Liu Rengui is naturally full of ambition and high morale.

Looking at the teacup in front of him, he didn't intend to pick it up and take a sip, but asked with a smile, "I don't know what the Duke's plan is?"

Zheng Rentai glanced at the cup of tea in front of Liu Rengui, sighed softly, and said: "Ms. Zheng made a mistake before, was deceived by others, and did something wrong. She didn't dare to refute it brazenly, and just waited for His Majesty to deal with it. As for the moment, naturally only His Majesty's orders are to be obeyed, General Liu has orders, and the Zheng family will never disobey."

Now that the matter has come to this, then completely abandon King Jin and draw a clear line of boundaries, instead of vacillating towards Qin Muchu, otherwise after being used by others, he might be thrown aside and stepped on again .

Standing in the wrong line is the biggest taboo of the aristocratic family, but it is not the end of the road. At worst, it will take dozens or even hundreds of years to turn around and manage, waiting for the situation to change.But if you stand wrong and make mistakes again and again, that is the way to death, and the wise can't do it.

If you make a mistake, just correct it.

Liu Rengui tapped his knuckles on the table twice, with a friendly smile and a sincere tone: "The Duke is a smart man, and dealing with smart people is really comfortable and refreshing... If that's the case, then I will ask the Duke to keep him close." The defenders in the city should take a short rest and set off for Luoyang in three days. If Luoyang can be captured, His Majesty will be pleased and will reward you."

Zheng Rentai cursed secretly in his heart, and on the face he was embarrassed: "This... It's not that I don't want to obey the order. I really have no power. The young and strong people near Xingyang have been sent to Tongguan by me before. The army was killed by General Liu's Hu Ben and suffered heavy losses, with corpses strewn across the field. How could there be any strength left to attack Luoyang? General Liu needs to be considerate of this matter. In my opinion, it is General Liu who leads the army in front to take charge of the fortification. My organization The manpower will support from behind, and Zheng will supply all the food, fodder, ordnance, and supplies, and if there is any mistake, let him deal with it!"

Now that the Zheng family has split internally, one of the three branches of the direct line is about to be wiped out, and the strength of the remaining two will also be greatly damaged. If they take on the heavy task of attacking Luoyang and lose another wave, how many people will be left?
I am afraid that there is no need for His Majesty to suppress it, the Zheng family of Xingyang has already been destroyed...

Even the food, fodder, ordnance, and supplies for the navy had to be raised bit by bit, almost draining the entire family. After all, when supporting Tongguan before, there was no room left.

The current Zheng family is almost exhausted...

But Liu Rengui still failed to understand, shook his head, and said in a deep voice: "The Shandong family supported the rebellion of the King of Jin, and there is no forgiveness, and their crimes should be punished. Whether the Zheng family in Xingyang was deceived by others or was disloyal and treasonous, you still need to see clearly. ...To put it bluntly, it still depends on the Zheng family in Xingyang being able to learn from their mistakes and change their ways for the better, the Duke of the county must not think that this will eventually consume the Zheng family."

Since you are on the wrong team, how can you change it if you want?

You have to show sincerity.

Zheng Rentai hesitated in his heart, picked up the teacup to drink water again, his mind was not in the mood.

This Liu Rengui's words are nice, but his methods are vicious. It is clear that he wants to push the Zheng family of Xingyang to the front line.

But this is a blatant conspiracy, even though they are clear to each other, there is really not much room for evasion.

After thinking for a long time, he finally nodded slightly under Liu Rengui's burning gaze, and said: "General Liu is right. Since the Zheng family of Xingyang made mistakes first, it is natural that they should show their loyalty to His Majesty with the attitude of admitting their mistakes and repenting. The death of children and the extinction of the family inheritance will not hesitate!"

Hiding is impossible, how could Liu Rengui let the Zheng family of Xingyang go easily?

Moreover, judging from the current situation, the probability of King Jin's success is almost non-existent, and his defeat will only happen sooner or later. The Zheng family of Xingyang wants to completely cut off the connection with King Jin, so that they will not be liquidated after their defeat. No matter how much they pay The price is also worth it.

In the final analysis, Li Chengqian's national policy is only "suppressing the powerful", not "cutting off the powerful". Since the Zheng family in Xingyang has done its best and exhausted its fuel, what is there to continue to persecute?
Undoubtedly, because of this, he will escape a catastrophe in the future...

Thinking of this, I felt a lot more relaxed, and continued: "It's just that Yu Chigong is now in Luoyang, supporting the Shandong private army across the Yellow River. Although the main force under his command stays in Tongguan, after all, his combat power is unparalleled, and General Liu needs to support him. My subordinates It is true that the casualties of soldiers are not spared, but if it delays the navy's strategy, it is not beautiful."

First, private soldiers were recruited to enter Tongguan, and then the Battle of Banzhu was defeated. Now that Xingyang City has been destroyed, the Zheng family's army in Xingyang is depleted, and the hastily formed army is full of mobs.
You want to consume me, yes, but you can't just watch me being slaughtered, can you?
Liu Rengui raised his eyebrows, and said in a deep voice: "Don't worry, the county lord, Yu Chigong's subordinates are all field troops, and they will be handed over to the last general. You just need to be responsible for the siege of the city. As long as you capture Luoyang City, it will be a great achievement."

Zheng Rentai breathed a sigh of relief, nodded and said, "Good!"

Just like Xingyang, the army near Luoyang was almost completely withdrawn, and only a group of mobs remained in the city. As long as Liu Rengui restrained Yuchi Gong, it would not be difficult to capture Luoyang.

……

Randomly, Zheng Rentai gathered the army and sat down for a while to reorganize. The number of people who could fight was between six and seven thousand. In order to express his trust in Liu Rengui and prove that he had completely surrendered to Li Chengqian, he even transferred all the troops in the city to the outside of the city, leaving only More than a thousand people guarded Zheng's ancestral hall and ancestral house, and handed over the entire Xingyang City to Liu Rengui.

Then they used all the food, fodder and armaments in the treasury to equip these mobs, rectified them, and went straight to Luoyang.

As a result, as soon as the troops were dispatched, they received news from the scouts that Yu Chigong had abandoned Luoyang and led his troops back to Tongguan...

Zheng Rentai didn't feel relaxed because of this.

Although the loss of soldiers and generals that might be caused by storming Luoyang was avoided, after the capture of Luoyang, the real tough battle was at Hangu Pass.

With Liu Rengui's ruthlessness and ruthlessness, I'm afraid that the soldiers and horses he put together with great difficulty will become the "death squad" to attack Hangu Pass...

But even so, what can he do?

We can only hope that this battle will end quickly, leaving a trace of heritage for the Zheng family in Xingyang, and then as a "hunting dog" to contain the Shandong family, and giving some room for development, the Zheng family in Xingyang can recover some vitality.

That's all.

No matter what, the Zheng family in Xingyang will completely bid farewell to the ranks of the world's top aristocrats, and thus become a second-rate or even third-rate family...

……

Liu Rengui naturally didn't care about Zheng Rentai's feelings. He was able to capture Xingyang City and completely open up the line from the canal to the Yellow River, so that the navy's land and water armies could enter the Yellow River and approach Tongguan unimpeded. Half of the strategic goal has been completed.

After Zheng Rentai was driven out of Xingyang, Liu Rengui sat in the city and completely took over the defense, and then sent someone to Huating Town to deliver a letter, asking Su Dingfang to send additional reinforcements.As long as Luoyang is captured, the army can go straight to Hangu Pass. Even if they can't break through the pass for a while, they can completely control the Shanmen Gorge.

When the navy can cross the Hangu Pass and Tongguan is safe, how can King Jin make trouble?
The situation is very good.