Water Margin: Lu Bu sits on Mount Liang

Chapter 1084 The Last Way, Mother and Son

Analyze Jinfu.

"There are no more soldiers! Just look at how many pieces I can be split into. Take them all away and send them to the army!" A powerful voice roared.

The usually heroic Yelu Dezhong was furious. He slapped the table excitedly, "bang, bang, bang". The decorations on the table jumped up with every slap.

Yelu Dashi, who was standing opposite, blushed and said, "If you don't have soldiers, go and attack them. What good are the 20,000 soldiers in the city?"

He waved his arms endlessly: "Master Guo has 10,000 soldiers in Huairou, and Xiao Gan in the south has gathered the defeated soldiers and transferred troops from the Xi tribe. All together, there are only 30,000. How many elite soldiers are there?"

He took two steps forward and spat at Yelu Dezhong: "How do you want me to fight?" He pointed at his forehead and said: "Do you think my head is strong enough to resist the troops of Qi?"

The atmosphere in the room seemed explosive. The maids and servants serving around hung their heads and dared not utter a word. The two bodyguards guarding outside also moved away to avoid being implicated in the quarrel between the two.

In the hall, the sitting figure looked around, and after a while, he sighed during a break between the two people's conversation: "Stop arguing, both of you. If you continue like this, who can help? You should calm down and sit down to discuss things."

Perhaps it was because they had stirred too much just now, the two men walked back to their seats with heavy breathing and sat down. The argument was not entirely about the issue of military strength, but the Qi army in the Jizhou area was like a sword hanging over their heads, making it hard to breathe. Even if Yelu Chun's envoy had not been expelled some time ago, they knew what would happen next.

"What do you think we should do next, Prime Minister Li?" Yelu Dashi took a breath and sat down, his chest rising and falling violently. "Xijin City is big, I can't defend it with the troops I have now. Either you give me troops, or I'll ask for help from someone else."

He turned to look at Yelu Dezhong and said, "Why don't you, the Imperial Uncle, come out to take charge of the defense?"

Yelu De looked at him again and snorted, "I have lost to the Qi bandits twice, and I no longer have the same spirit as before..." He paused and sighed, "I guess most of the generals in the army don't obey me, so I'd better not embarrass myself."

After they finished talking, they looked aside, their eyes flashing with a different kind of light.

Li Chuwen drooped his eyelids and looked unhappy. He could see that the two people with the surname Yelu were forcing him to speak.

Indeed, no one in Nanjing Road is willing to serve as a soldier and eat food, but this does not mean that there is no source of soldiers. It's just that this last method will offend people and ruin their reputation. The two bastards in front of them probably don't want to offend everyone at this time in exchange for their reputation, so they don't speak up. After all, defending the city still depends on the reputation they have accumulated before to boost morale, and I...

"Don't worry, both of you." Li Chuwen's mouth twitched, and he made a final struggle: "How about we gather all the ministers together with Your Majesty to discuss it?"

"Your Majesty is not in good health. He was even upset a few days ago because of the diplomatic mission to Qi. How could he attend the court? Prime Minister Li is not unaware of this." Yelu Dezhong said calmly: "The ministers in the court are trying their best to dispatch supplies and food. If they get together, they will quarrel endlessly, which is a waste of time and energy."

"That's right." Yelu Dashi nodded. "The generals in the city are also stepping up their efforts to urge the repair and defense of the city walls. Why should we ask them to put aside more important matters and come to discuss such a matter? Now is the time to cut the Gordian knot."

"If Prime Minister Li has any solution, please teach us." Yelu Dezhong stood up and bowed to the ground.

Yelu Dashi stood up and said, "Your Majesty appointed you as prime minister because you are a man of great talent. I have no other choice. Please help me, Prime Minister Li."

Bow with both hands and bow downward.

…Damn it.

Li Chuwen felt like he wanted to bite something, so he forced a smile and said, "Hurry up, both of you. We are all on the same boat now. How dare we not try our best?"

Then he said with a forced smile: "I do have a method that can raise tens of thousands of soldiers, but this method still needs cooperation. I just wonder if you two are willing to lend a hand."

Yelu Dezhong and Yelu Dashi looked at each other and nodded together: "What are you talking about, Li Xiang? If there is a way, we two will certainly be willing to do it. Please tell me the way, Li Xiang."

Li Chuwen's eyes softened, and his expression was unclear: "I have two ways. One is to sign a military order, asking all the men aged 13 to 60 in all the cities under our command to sign the order to join the army and act as guarantors for each other. But if someone escapes, the guarantor will be considered guilty and executed according to the law."

Yelu Dashi and Yelu Dezhong did not show any strange expression on their faces and listened calmly.

"The second is the monk soldier order and the amnesty order. There are many warrior monks in the major temples now, and Qi State destroyed Buddhism a few years ago. It is not difficult to persuade them to send monk soldiers to join the army. What is difficult is the nobles in the city."

Li Chuwen glanced at the two of them and said, "The royal family and nobles in the city have hundreds or dozens of slaves in their homes. If they were gathered together, they would have more than 10,000 soldiers. However, these people are unruly and my words may not work..."

"Leave it to me." Yelu Dezhong said directly: "I will go and negotiate with them. If they don't comply..."

He glanced at Yelu Dashi and said, "I don't think it's necessary to keep people like him who are destroying the imperial thieves."

Yelu Dashi nodded and said, "That's right. I will lead the troops to arrest him."

Li Chuwen was relieved at this moment: "It's great that you two are willing to do this. We should act immediately without delay."

Yelu Dashi and Yelu Dezhong got the results they wanted and stopped being pretentious. They watched Li Chuwen sign the decree and contact the temple.

The two of them immediately led their troops to recruit slaves in the city. Some royal family members relied on their status to refuse the order, so Yelu Dashi led his troops into the palace and chopped off their heads with a knife. Then Yelu Dashi gathered the royal family together and told those who refused to obey to be stripped of their royal status. Only then did everyone obey his orders.

On the other hand, Yelu Zongdian, Zongyun and other four brothers began to conscript young and strong men in the surrounding cities and counties by signing military orders. For a time, the cries of pleas were endless, and there was even a tragic situation in the Yanjing area where there was no intact man in the streets.

After a busy period inside and outside the palace, this time there were another 70,000 to 80,000 troops.

Yelu Dashi ordered Yelu Fuding, Xiao Worila and others to intensify their training. For a while, the shouts of killing were deafening near Xijin Prefecture.

……

The autumn wind sweeps away the summer heat, bringing a chill.

Yelu Xinile, the governor of Datong Prefecture, was wearing armor and standing on the city wall with his hands behind his back, frowning as he looked at the vast fields in the distance.

Black figures appeared at the end of the field of vision, and the yellow dust rising into the sky made people feel worried.

As the sound of the horns blew into his ears, Yelu Xinile frowned on his serious face: "We have reached Datong Prefecture so soon..."

In mid-summer, news came that bandits from Qi had invaded Xijing Road. Now, in just three or four months, they have invaded the hinterland from the border, threatening the heart of Xijing Road.

"Surrender at the sight of the enemy..." Yelu Xinile said bitterly. Calculating the time, the Qi army was probably rushing on the road, collecting surrenders, sorting out the surrendered areas, and then continuing on the road, repeating this cycle over and over again. Not only did they lose two people, but they also gained a lot of surrendered soldiers and horses from Xijing Road.

He also wanted to defend Xijing, but Wu Yanguang took away 80% of the troops in Datong Prefecture, and now there are not many soldiers left. He didn't know if he had the ability to defend Datong Prefecture with so few men, so surrender...

It is not known whether the Qi thieves will make his prince surrender.

Yelu Xinile felt bitter in his mouth. He had originally hoped that the Uighurs and Xixia would send reinforcements, but when he heard that the grassland people had invaded the neighboring country in the west and stirred up the situation of the Three Kingdoms, he was completely stunned. When his father, the emperor of Xijin Prefecture, sent him an order to find a way to defend Xijing, and the south could not support his troops, he was completely disappointed and felt a little unwell.

There may be some land outside the Great Wall in the north of Xijing Road, and there are also some troops. However, the situation here is more complicated than other places. Those troops only obey Wu Yanguang, and he, who is left behind in Xijing, cannot mobilize them at all. He can only watch the approach of the Qi army. If it weren't for his biological mother Zhao Zhaorong in the mansion, he really doesn't know what he can do.

Now that a long time has passed, the battle reports that should have been delivered have finally arrived. One third of the land in Nanjing Road has fallen into the hands of Qi State, and it is on the verge of destruction.

After a while, there were footsteps coming from behind. Yelu Xi Nilie turned around numbly and saw that it was the guards at home coming over: "Your Highness Prince Jin, Zhaorong asks you to go back."

"...My mother is looking for me?" With a look of sorrow in his eyes, Yelu Xinile seemed to have just woken up from a dream, and ordered the guard Xiao Daoning behind him: "Stay here, and notify me if the Qi bandits attack."

The guard responded respectfully.

Yelu Xinile went down the city wall with his personal guards, mounted his warhorse and galloped all the way back to the palace. There were much fewer servants in the palace now, and they were all sent to the labor camp by the Prince of Jin to carry supplies for defending the city. Fortunately, he had found some maids before for fear that his mother would be troubled. Even so, the huge Prince of Jin's Palace looked a little deserted.

Walking hurriedly across the blue brick floor, the fourth prince of Yelu Yanxi walked all the way to the Buddhist temple at the back of the mansion. Since coming to Xijing and living in her son's mansion, Zhao Zhaorong has never shown up in public, and has been chanting scriptures and praying in this Buddhist temple all day long.

The crisp sound of wooden fish came into my ears, along with the murmuring sound of chanting.

Yelu Xi Nilie gently pushed open the door of the Buddhist hall, the scent of sandalwood filled his nose, and he looked at the figure kneeling on the cushion: "Mother, are you looking for me?"

The murmuring sound of chanting did not stop. As a son, he knew that she would not stop until she finished chanting, so he could only suppress his anxiety and wait.

clatter--

After the wooden fish struck its last note, Zhao Zhaorong put down the Buddhist beads in her hand, stood up, turned around and looked at her son: "The Buddhist temple is a quiet place, let's go out and talk."

Yelu Xinile hurriedly turned around and opened the door. After watching his mother walk past him, he closed the door and followed Zhao Zhaorong.

The cool autumn wind blew, and some leaves fell.

Zhao Zhaorong looked up at the trees in front of her and asked, "Are the troops from Qi coming soon?"

"Yes, they just arrived today." Yelu Xinile lowered his head and said, "I can see them from a distance from the top of the city wall. The scouts reported that the Qi bandits are setting up camp."

"Are you confident that you can win?" Zhao Zhaorong reached out to push aside the branches and tilted her head slightly.

"...No." The son smiled bitterly and then quickly said, "But don't worry, mother. I will find a way to get you out of the city and away from those barbarians."

"Where can we go if we leave the city?" Zhao Zhaorong shook her head, stopped, and looked up at the yellowing green leaves: "It's just another fate of being hunted down."

Yelu Xi Nilie took a step forward and opened his mouth, then lowered his head: "...It's my child who is incompetent."

"I don't blame you." A faint female voice came over, Zhao Zhaorong turned and looked at her son: "If you really want to blame someone, your father should be the one to blame."

"Mother..."

Yelu Xi Nilie had a complicated expression. He cried out, not knowing what to say. Finally, he sighed, "You'd better pack up now before the Qi army arrives to send you out. I don't want you to be humiliated again."

Zhao Zhaorong was stunned for a moment, then she reached out to touch her son's bald head and smiled: "Those humiliations are nothing, and the Emperor of Qi is not the kind of person who bullies women..."

After a pause, he said, "If it is impossible, surrender. Mother may be able to save our lives."

Yelu Xinile raised his eyebrows and hesitated for a moment before speaking: "...Daribo?"

Zhao Zhaorong nodded gently: "After all, we have been through hardships together for a period of time, and there is some affection between us. She should come to protect you and me."

After a pause, he said, "But I'm afraid I'll have to live under the gaze of others from now on."

"...I, let me think about it." Yelu Xinile said with a thoughtful look on his face.

Zhao Zhaorong did not try to persuade him, but said calmly, "No matter which path you choose, your mother will be with you."

The son stood there for a while and nodded heavily.

Seeing that he couldn't come up with an idea, Zhao Zhaorong turned around and moved with lotus steps: "You go to the top of the city first, I will go to the Buddhist temple to chant sutras and pray for blessings."

Yelu Xinile agreed and then turned to walk outside.

The situation outside the city did not change much. People could only watch from afar as the military camp began to rise. Scouts were fighting back and forth on the field below the city. The cavalry in black uniforms gradually gained the upper hand, causing the people on the city walls to panic.

It's already afternoon.

The atmosphere in Datong Prefecture became even more solemn. The soldiers and generals who came and went all had sullen faces. Xiao Daoning, who was guarding the city wall, felt his heart beating violently. From time to time, he looked towards His Royal Highness the Prince of Jin who was a little further away. He moved his lips several times but could not make any sound.

The sun was shining brightly and the autumn wind blew, causing the flag representing the Liao Kingdom to flutter. Yelu Xinile frowned and looked outside, but his eyes were unfocused and he didn't know where to look.

A thin cloud of dust rose up, and the rumbling sound of horse hooves came from afar. The people on the city wall were in a panic for a moment, and the Fourth Prince, who was thinking about something, was awakened.

Below, more than a hundred cavalrymen in black armor were approaching quickly. Leading the way was a general riding a silver fist-flowered horse, wearing silver armor and a white cloak with three phoenixes embroidered on it.

Some familiar...

Yelu Xinile squinted his eyes, thinking quickly in his mind, then slowly opened his eyes wide, took a step forward, clung to the wall, and looked down carefully for a while: "Ah-li-qi!"

He squeezed out each word from between his teeth, and veins bulged in the hands of the King of Jin as he gripped the wall.

"This guy... surrendered to the enemy?!"

Damn, I probably haven't had enough rest recently, my head feels throbbing and painful

/(ㄒoㄒ)/~~
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(End of this chapter)