Water Margin: Lu Bu sits on Mount Liang

Chapter 1081: Jizhou Returns to Qi
Gollum-

Wooden wheels pressed over the ground, heavy vehicles left ruts on the road, the rumbling footsteps echoed in the sky, and the floating yellow soil filled the sky and gradually fell down.

The flags of the white horse and the green ox fluttered in the sky above Yuyang City. The flags embroidered with the Khitan character Yelu were erected on the city wall. Soldiers ran on the top of the city wall with fear on their faces, but still clenched their weapons under the scolding of the generals and then stood behind the parapet.

Yelu Dashi narrowed his eyes and looked at the black figure in the distance with a serious look.

"Big Stone Linya..."

Xiao Bodie's voice came from behind: "The scouts reported that there are nearly 70,000 Qi troops coming, and there are less than 30,000 soldiers in the city, and..."

He looked around and leaned in to speak: "Most people don't want to face the Qi bandits anymore. After the Xi people withdrew, many people talked about surrendering. I'm afraid they will sell us out if we go to war. How can we defend the city under such circumstances?"

The figure in front of him moved his shoulders. Yelu Dashi turned his head slowly, his face expressionless: "Then according to your idea...what do you want to do?"

The guards around did not look at the two men, but just moved their feet to make room for them to talk. At the same time, they stood facing outside, staring at the running figures on the top of the city wall and told them not to come closer. Only the leader walked to the side and behind the captain, holding the hilt of the sword at his waist.

Xiao Bodie looked up into Yelu Dashi's eyes and said, "I know that you, Lin Ya, want to contribute to the court, but Yuyang City is no longer defensible. If you die here, who will be willing to save the country and revive the Liao Dynasty?"

Roars of "Run faster!" and "Pile the stones at the base of the wall, quickly--" kept ringing. Amid the noisy sounds, the atmosphere between the two seemed to ease slightly for a moment.

"...Revival?" Yelu Dashi smiled bitterly, and slowly turned his head to look at the Qi army in the distance: "A few days ago, I still had this confidence, but now..."

He shook his head with difficulty: "I have already sent a letter to Your Majesty asking for help. I hope the court can respond to this. I also hope that my death can inspire Your Majesty's ambition to fight to the death with the Qi bandits."

"Your Majesty? Does he still dare to go to the battlefield?"

"..."

Yelu Dashi remained silent.

The wind blew violently, and the flags above our heads fluttered outwards, making a rustling sound.

Xiao Bodie looked at Yelu Dashi's profile, swallowed his saliva, glanced around nervously, and didn't care that the leader of Yelu Dashi's personal soldiers was staring at him from behind. He just moved closer and said, "Why don't you keep your useful body, Dashi Lin Ya, and lead the elite soldiers back to Xijin Prefecture? There are still many passionate people in the court, and Xijin Prefecture is high and well-stocked, and has many defensive equipment. It is a hundred times easier to defend than Yuyang Prefecture."

"..."

Seeing Yelu Dashi remained silent, Xiao Bodie perked up and quickly advised, "Besides, the soldiers in Yuyang City are no longer trustworthy. Even if Dashi wants to buy some time for the court, it's impossible. As soon as the battle starts, the rebels might open the city gates. By then, all the loyal soldiers in the army will die, and the Qi bandits will easily take over Jizhou. Why bother?"

Yelu Dashi's expression was somewhat moved, but he remained motionless.

The imperial son-in-law thought about it and understood immediately: "Lin Ya, there are few people who can win every battle. The former King of Chu won all his life, but lost his life in one battle. Emperor Gaozu of Han had many defeats in his life, but he won a key battle and created the world for 400 years. You just lost one battle, why are you so depressed?"

"I..."

Yelu Dashi's eyes moved. Xiao Bodie's mouth was dry as he spoke, and he licked his lower lip: "Sacrificing one's life for the country is something anyone can do if they are determined, but there are few heroes who can bear the pressure. Lin Ya, there are not many people the court can trust now, so I hope you can keep your body useful for the country."

Many of the guards around turned around, and the guard leader came over and said, "Lin Ya, Prince Consort Xiao is right. We should not talk about death lightly. In times of national crisis, the Xi people are unreliable, and neither are the Han people. If you die, what should we do?"

Yelu Dashi's eyes finally became smart. He looked at Xiao Bodie, then at the soldiers surrounding him, and gritted his teeth, "Okay, notify Xiao Telie and Xiao Wulila to gather the trustworthy troops. If the enemy's movements are still in the three-way circle and the one-way circle, we will go from there."

Xiao Bodie was overjoyed. The generals guarding the gate in the city were all Yelu Dashi's confidants. They would never open the gate without his order. Now that he had convinced this lord, at least he would not lose his life in Jizhou.

As for the future?

Just survive first.

As soon as Yelu Dashi gave the order, several personal guards ran to inform the generals according to his instructions.

A desolate horn sounded from the horizon. Yelu Dashi looked at the black line at the end of his sight, took a deep breath, glanced at the defenders on the top of the city, waved his hand and called the guards: "You keep an eye on it here, I'll go to the other sides to check."

The guarding general was eager for him to go away, so he quickly agreed. Looking at Yelu Dashi and his guards walking away, he shouted a few times, asking his soldiers to speed up.

He waved and called his confidant: "The commander has left. If he doesn't come back in a while, act according to the plan."

Those who originally had some worries on their faces were suddenly overjoyed. They walked to the sections of the city they were defending and conveyed something to their confidants.

The entire Yuyang City was gradually shrouded in a strange atmosphere, and the soldiers of each army were acting with their own thoughts.

……

The sky is pouring.

Yelu Dashi and his personal guards turned a corner and came down from another section of the city wall as usual. Yelu Foding, who was leading a war horse, was waiting below. When he saw him coming down, he hurried to meet him.

Not many people were paying attention to them at this time. Yelu Dashi put his foot on the stirrup, exerted force, and sat on it with one leg: "Let's go to the west gate."

The personal soldiers at the rear mounted their horses one after another. The horses raised a trail of dust in the city and galloped along the road under the wall.

Outside the city, the horn sounded again.

……

In early summer, the sun is shining brightly, and a warm breeze blows from time to time, unlike in winter. The strange-shaped clouds in the sky are moving slowly, and the birds that were originally flying have long disappeared.

In the fields below, the sound of horse hooves rumbled and the sound of footsteps marched in unison at the shouts of officers. Craftsmen waved their hammers to assemble siege equipment one after another. Soldiers kept coming over and pushed the giant machines with all their might.

Red and black flags fluttered in the wind, and the soldiers below looked at the distant city with longing eyes.

Han Shizhong rode his horse in the army, stretched his iron hand guard, turned his head and looked at He Zhongbao who was following him: "General He, you and I have to pay more attention this time. If we can't climb first, it will be a disgrace in Yuyang City."

"General Han is right." He Zhongbao's tall figure rose and fell with the rise and fall of his warhorse. "Yelü Dashi relied on his large army to defeat us in several battles. Now the tide has turned. It's his turn to taste the humiliation we suffered that day."

The yellow soil raised from the ground spread and rolled backwards in the wind, and a row of figures in black clothes were walking in neat squares.

The two generals chatted with each other from time to time on their horses. Before they had gone half the distance, an order came on fast horses and ran over quickly: "Two generals, the scouts have sent a message that Yelu Dashi opened the city gate from the west and left before our army could surround us.

The defenders at the west gate of Yuyang City have surrendered and hoisted the white flag. "

"Ah?" "Huh?" Han Shizhong and He Chongbao looked at each other in confusion, and then looked towards the city ahead.

A bean-sized black shadow ran back and forth on the top of the city wall. Soon, the large flag with the word "Liao" erected on the top of the city wall was taken down, and several white flags hung from the top of the city wall. When the wind blew, they kept swaying on the outside of the city wall.

"It's so sweet..."

Han Shizhong's eyes widened as he murmured, "These Khitans won't give me a chance to save my face..."

On the first day of summer, the situation in Jizhou, which had been deadlocked for more than a month, underwent new changes. After losing the battle, the Liao army voluntarily abandoned Yuyang City and retreated to the west of Jizhou.

Pharmacist Guo took a detour to the north of Wuzhong Mountain, crossed the river, and quickly turned to Shunzhou along the fields east of Danzhou and returned to Xijin Prefecture.

On the other side, Xiao Gan led the Xi army to retreat southwards, and after gathering a lot of defeated soldiers, he planned to cross the river and escape.

The naval generals who were guarding the river, such as Li Bao, Wei Zhaode and Hu Yanqing, clashed with them.

Xiao Gan deceived the generals in the army and used three thousand Khitan and Han soldiers as bait to attract the attention of the Qi navy. He then took advantage of the situation and crossed the river to the south with the Xi people.

It was also because of Xiao Gan's presence that the navy's attention was attracted, which allowed Yelu Dashi to lead 5,000 soldiers and horses to cross the river successfully and head west towards Nanjing.

The Qi army in Yuyang naturally accepted this gift without hesitation.

Lu Bu watched Zhang Lin classify the official documents, household registers, geomancy maps and other documents in the city, while there were constant orders for cavalry to deliver news inside and outside the city.

Originally, all the officials in the city had surrendered and were awaiting their fate. Many of them were Han people from the north, and they were mentally prepared for the Qi army's invasion, so changing their allegiance did not pose any pressure on them at all.

"Your Majesty, now that the land east of Xiangshui has fallen into the hands of our army, we can slow down our pace a bit."

Wang Zheng raised the bowl, swirled the clear wine inside, and sniffed it: "Once we take over Datong Prefecture, we can let General Du and others lead the army to enter from Xijing Road and threaten the north of Xijin Prefecture. We will go down according to the plan, and then we can easily take over Nanjing Road with one behind the other."

"If that's the case, it's a good thing."

Lu Bu turned around, then went to sit behind the desk in the state government office, picked up the wine and took a sip: "Although we are advancing rapidly along the way to Xijing, I think it will take some time to reach Datong Prefecture. This is a good opportunity to sort out the newly conquered land."

Then, he put down his wine bowl and looked at Zhang Lin and Lu Sili: "There are many Han people in Nanjing Road, are there any who can be used?"

Over there, the man with the same surname Lu smiled and bowed, "Your Majesty, in the past we had many officials in Nanjing Road, but because of the north-south official system, they were excluded and bullied by the northern officials. Now that my Great Qi has invaded, we can use them to govern here. I believe that without the two-sided official system, they will also be willing to serve my Qi country."

Since the Lu family abandoned Liao and defected to Qi, the Lu family's connection with Nanjing Road has not been completely severed. Not to mention the Han family, who are related by marriage, the Ma family, the Zhao family and other big families have also been exchanging letters with them, so what Lu Sili said is certain.

Taking a sip of the wine, Lu Bu remained expressionless, but he was muttering to himself.

He also knew that, let alone the famous and prominent families today, even the aristocratic families of his time were of the same character. When things got chaotic later, there were many brothers who worked for two hostile forces and gave them advice.

The Xun family of Yingchuan was like this. Some of them were under Yuan Shao's command, while others were under Cao Cao's command. He saw them all and had longed to establish friendships with them. Unfortunately, others looked down on them as warriors from border counties. Not to mention himself, even Dong Zhuo could not make the Central Plains nobles look at them in the eye. And now...

"Okay, let the Weiwei contact them about this matter." Lu Bu had a smile in his eyes, holding up the wine bowl, and looked at his cheap relative meaningfully: "When everyone is here, let me take a look."

Lu Sili simply thought that the emperor in front of him wanted to meet the minister who would come to serve him, so he bowed and agreed quickly.

"Very good……"

He said something and put his lips to the wine bowl, the porcelain bowl rose up as the wine went into his mouth, blocking his eyes.

……

The sky was fading away, and further south, raindrops were falling on the ground, getting heavier and heavier.

In the rain, a pair of leather boots ran very fast on the mud. After whispering a few words to the guard standing in front of the gate, the man in tight clothes ran in quickly.

In the distance, the gentle sound of a piano came from the hall. A man in tight clothes ran in, looked at the short-bearded strong man sitting at the top with his eyes closed and clapping to the rhythm, took a breath, and walked forward to salute.

"I, Dang Shixiong, have seen the old lady."

"Um……"

Tong Guan snorted, and a maidservant beside him peeled the fruit and handed it to him. The eunuch opened his mouth slightly and ate it, then spat out the core in his mouth towards the hand in front of him. He then opened his eyes and looked at the soldier in front of him: "What do you say, General Gao?"

The soothing piano music stopped and the room became quiet.

"The Palace Commander is naturally willing to cooperate with the Prime Minister." Dang Shixiong did not dare to neglect him and said in a low voice: "It's just that it will take some time to gather the imperial guards, and the emperor..."

"I will go and talk to the emperor." Tong Guan interrupted with a smile on his face: "Reply to your commander Gao and tell him that if we take over Yanyun, we will not forget his contribution."

"Yes, I will definitely pass on the message."

Tong Guan then stood up, walked to his side with his burly figure, patted his shoulder, and leaned close to his ear: "Tell your commander again, don't delay. Now that the north is weak, it is the best time to establish unprecedented merits. If he wants to seek some blessings for his two sons..."

He patted Dang Shixiong on the shoulder twice: "Understand?"

Dang Shixiong curled his lips and said, "I know, and I will tell the commander-in-chief word for word."

Tong Guan smiled, stretched out his arm and waved, "Go ahead."

"I'll take my leave." Dang Shixiong lowered his head and took three steps back before turning around and running outside into the rain curtain that was neither too big nor too small.

Tong Guan walked to the door with his hands behind his back, breathing in the moisture of the rootless water in the air, looked up at the gray sky and squinted.

"I don't believe it. Most of your territory has been occupied by Qi State. Can you still compete with me? This Yan Yun..."

Turning around and walking towards the seat: "It's still Sa's!"

He spread his hands and waved them: "Continue playing the music."

The piano sounds again.

(End of this chapter)