The devil is coming

Chapter 924 Break the city!
Emperor Luanjia stayed at Snow Customs for three days;
A group of barbarian nobles headed by the Hailan tribe paid homage to His Majesty the Emperor of Dayan.
The ceremony was grand and the pageantry was unprecedented;
Everyone knows that it is Pingxi Prince's Mansion that Xueyuan is truly intimidated by;
However, Pingxi Palace used a very generous gesture to make Emperor Yan realize what "Weijia Sihai" means.
At least in this regard, the stance of Prince Pingxi's Palace is very clear, and what it has done is extremely authentic. Even Eunuch Wei, who has been accompanying His Majesty, cannot find fault at all.
In fact, since entering Jindong, Eunuch Wei has gradually become accustomed to this "way of getting along";
Before Prince Pingxi announced his rebellion, it was still a vassal town of Dayan and would act according to this set of procedures;
As for some of the details below, you can pretend not to see them.
Emperor Dayan lectured these savage tribe leaders,
The process is basically the same.
Let’s first review the tacit and friendly relationship between Dayan and the Snowfield Savages. Although these savage leaders themselves did not know what kind of “close relations” they had with Dayan and the Yan people before;
But this does not prevent them from nodding like chickens pecking at rice, nor does it prevent them from crawling at the emperor's feet and crying bitterly:
"The great and benevolent Emperor Dayan,
You have finally arrived at the snowfield that has been loyal to the Ji family since ancient times. We have been waiting for you so hard! "
Then,
The emperor reprimanded the snowfield barbarians for their crimes that endangered the lands of the Xia under the instigation of rebels like the barbarian king.
A group of savage nobles immediately swore righteously that they and the savage king had no sworn relationship and did not participate. One savage tribe leader even took off his shirt in front of the emperor and asked the emperor to grant him the punishment of carving a knife. To warn him and future generations.
What they said is actually true, because the Savage tribe that followed the Savage King back then, because King Pingxi blocked the Xueguan Pass, basically all the young men and women in the tribe were transferred to the east of Shanxi;
And their tribe, after being severely damaged by this, was quickly suppressed and annexed by the remaining tribes, and basically no one left;
It can be regarded as the "bad money drives out good money" of the Snow original tribe;
After all, those who followed the Savage King back then could be said to be the elite of this generation of snowy wilderness savages, and those who stayed and did not follow him were, from a historical perspective, inseparable from being "short-sighted."
At last,
The emperor raised his wine glass again, and at the same time gave these barbarian noble leaders the best wishes for a harmonious existence in the territory of Dayan from now on.
The savage leaders took the wine together and knew it was produced by Prince Pingxi after one sip. They solemnly swore with the emperor that the emperor was the star in the snowy field. They would always follow the emperor's footsteps, follow Dayan's footsteps, and always be Dayan's most loyal dog. !
After the ceremony,
Guests are happy.
As for late at night, these savage leaders who had just expressed their loyalty to the emperor during the day knelt down collectively in front of the courtyard where Prince Pingxi stayed to "express their feelings again".
Ok,
Such trivial matters are not enough to explain to outsiders.
Unlike Zhuxia, which has deep-rooted traditional family and country ideas such as strict "mandate of destiny" and "orthodoxy" since ancient times, the savage tribes on the snowy plains have always been in a wild value system of fighting, killing and annexing each other;
Even the Savage King at its peak could not complete the integration of the entire snowfield in time.
Although the barbarians in the desert have declined for a long time, they once had a glorious Golden Horde era and were able to maintain at least a nominal "common master". This is something that the savages simply do not have.
Therefore, the leaders of the savage nobles believe in respecting the strong. If anyone in the tribe becomes more powerful and has more people following him, he will directly attack the original owner or break away from the original tribe to fight for new pastures. This is a matter of course.
Therefore, when Prince Pingxi cooperates with them in acting to the emperor, they will devote themselves wholeheartedly;
But what they really think is,
Why didn't Prince Pingxi just kill the emperor and become the big boss himself? What are Prince Pingxi waiting for?
Thanks to the generous rewards and treatment given by the prince after recruiting savage servants to the customs several times before, they are really eager to take them with him when he rebels, and are waiting for his call!
For this,
Of course the emperor could not be unclear.
On the way Luan drove away from Xue Customs and turned to Zhennanguan,
The emperor, who couldn't stand the fatigue of traveling and traveling, and Prince Pingxi, who always liked to be lazy when he didn't have to,
They were all lying in the spacious carriage specially made by the palace,
face to face;
The emperor ate grapes,
Spit out a grape seed,
Laughing at himself:
"Being an emperor is sometimes like an actor on a stage. You know that you are acting, and your subjects also know that you are acting, but you still have to act seriously.
Show it to the people,
Show it to the world,
Show it to God,
Act for the history books.
Zheng Fan,
Do you find it meaningless? "
"How to say?"
The prince asked while drinking fruit wine with ice cubes.
"For example, a few days ago at Snow Customs, when I summoned the leaders of the savage nobles, did it seem like a waste of effort in your eyes? Do you even think it's a bit ridiculous in your heart?"
"Am I this kind of person in your heart?"
"Ok?"
"If I really want to laugh at you, I will laugh in your face."
"Too."
The emperor was convinced,
continued:
"So, you agree with my approach? Just so that the accompanying historian can add the mention of Snowfield in the history books for my eastward tour?
I think that at least there is history to check. The snowfield, at least from my time, has been my territory of Dayan. Although we don’t have the energy to completely conquer the snowfield now, just as we don’t have enough energy to rule it now. Like a desert;
But after the Xia were unified and there were no internal constraints,
descendants,
If you can't tell the outside world, you can free up your hands to truly occupy and develop the snowfields and deserts.
In fact, this is what I want to do, so that future generations can have a proof of "since ancient times" righteousness before taking action.
Do you think I'm naive? "
"No, I think you did the right thing."
"Really?"
"real."
"But relying on a history book, it is impossible to truly win these territories and make the savages or barbarians bow their heads. In the end, what really depends on it is the fighting of future generations with swords and guns.
Although I am not from Qiu Ba, I also understand the thoughts of Qiu Ba like you.
Hey,
It still depends on whether future generations can live up to their expectations. "
"At least, it left a thought and a buffer." The prince shook the wine glass in his hand and continued, "If you are poor, you will put aside the controversy, and if you are rich, you will have it since ancient times."
When Prince Pingxi said these words,
The emperor was stunned for a long time;
At last,
With a wry smile:
"I always thought I was the most intelligent person in the world."
"Don't think, you are."
"Thank you."
"polite."
"But for a smart person like me, I only understand some things after sitting on the dragon chair. But I suddenly discovered that you really seem to have a very thorough and clear understanding of the dragon chair."
"Oh."
"If this continues, I will think it's a pity that you don't rebel."
……
The Wei River is the current dividing line between Shanggu County and the Chu State. It is also the place where the armies of the Yan and Chu sides interlocked.
The Yan people would rush in and build some small forts on the south bank of the Wei River. Similarly, the Chu people would also build some similar military forts on the north bank of the Wei River.
The story of Prince Pingxi when he was a garrison at Cuiliu Fort has been circulating among the armies of both sides, inspiring today's generals at the junior colonel level of both armies to take desperate risks again and again.
Ma Yang is one of them.
He is a centurion under the Royal Guards of Chu State, but in fact, there are only about twenty people under him now, because before, he was only a corps commander.
However, he decisively crossed the Wei River to attack and killed two Yan army sentries, which was promoted as a military merit.
Now, he was ordered to take his newly recruited people and build a small fort on the north bank of the Wei River. It was not a strict masonry structure. In many places, it was made of earth blocks and supported by wooden boards;
The defense was pitifully low and could only serve as an outpost beacon, and there were two bamboo rafts parked behind the fort, making it easy to escape at any time.
at dusk,
Ma Yang was leaning on the crenel of the small military fort, holding a grass stem in his mouth.
The people below are busy trying to add a little more resistance to this weak fortress as much as possible;
Of course, this is a luxury hope. Once the Yan people here plan to remove their own thorn, they have no other choice but to immediately light a beacon and retreat to the other side;
To stay is to wait for death.
Even though there are soldiers and horses on the other side who can quickly come to support, Ma Yang still doesn't think he has the strength to fight now.
He was very lucky. With the five robes he originally had under his command, he killed two Yan army sentry riders. Two of his men were killed and two wounded, but it was still a profit.
But he was unlucky, and happened to catch up with a young general of the Zhao family who had just been attacked by the Yan people and suffered a big loss, making him his foil.
Therefore, although he was promoted to centurion, the only people under his command were twenty old and weak auxiliary soldiers, who did not look at all like the elite imperial guards of the Great Chu Royal Family;
He was even sent to the north bank of the Wei River to build a fort, obviously to send him into the tiger's mouth.
However, Ma Yang also knew that this was thanks to His Majesty the Emperor's promotion of poor people from Guizhou to high positions in the past two years. The arrogance of the noble gentlemen has long been gone. If it had been back then, even if you did not go against the noble gentleman, the noble gentleman would Once you feel that you are an eyesore, with the Zhao family's banner, even if you are just a collateral descendant, you can easily kill yourself.
Now, at least there is no way out, this is not a desperate situation, and they don't dare to go too far.
As for the following group who continue to consolidate the fortress,
Ma Yang did not stop them, because he knew that this group of people were on the north bank and were already on tenterhooks. Adding a brick and a handful of dirt would make their inner "fort" more secure and prevent it from completely collapsing.
after all,
Who said that now Yan is strong and Chu is weak?
And everyone knows that the Yan army on the north bank of the Weihe River and Shanggu County that they are facing now, and the Yan army as far away as Zhennanguan, are direct descendants of the great Yan Pingxi Prince.
Ma Yang silently took out a few mint leaves from his cuffs, then found a piece of paper, rolled the mint leaves into it, sticky it with saliva, then moved it to a small brazier that had just risen in front of him, and lit it.
immediately,
He changed his position, leaned comfortably in front of the stack, and took a breath.
"Ahem...cough...cough..."
Choking, still choking, the whole lungs were filled with a burning feeling.
it's painful,
But he slowly got used to it.
According to legend,
Prince Pingxi likes to hold one of these in his hand when commanding battles;
Shake off the ashes,
The strong prisoners were wiped out in ashes.
Ma Yang knew that many people in the Chu army were imitating this.
There is nothing hard to admit. I was really convinced by the Prince of Dayan, and that Prince was from Guizhou, which resonated even more with the middle and lower-class soldiers of the Chu army, especially the officers.
just,
What Ma Yang didn't know was that Prince Pingxi was wrapping tobacco leaves instead of mint leaves, and even the cigarette paper was specially made with filters by a small workshop under Prince Pingxi's residence.
Without knowing it, Ma Yang, the centurion of Xiaobao Village who was simply imitating,
Facing the setting sun in the west,
He took another puff,
In exchange for a more severe cough.
……
"Cough cough...cough..."
"Don't learn this." Zheng Fan said looking at the emperor who was coughing because of smoking.
The emperor still held a cigarette in his hand, shook his head and said:
"I was curious about you smoking this thing before, but you said it was bad for your health, so I stopped trying it. It's also good to use a snuff bottle.
Now that I know it, I can’t help it..."
The emperor wanted to say that he might not have much time left, so there would be no need to spare his own life.
"This thing only needs to be refreshing." The emperor reminded, "When I go back, you have to ask me to bring more with me, and then send someone to the capital to deliver it to me every month."
"This is addictive."
"Is this better than five stones scattered?" the emperor asked.
Zheng Fan nodded. Smoking is harmful to health, but it is nothing compared to the popular Five Stone Powder, which is heavy metal poisoning.
"I'll use the money from my inner treasury to purchase this for you, is that okay?"
"It's not necessary, it's not worth the money."
"Okay, I'll take advantage of you. I'm very happy. It's a rare opportunity..."
"Military pay compensates me."
"……"emperor.
At this time, Eunuch Wei came over and whispered: "Your Majesty, please wear this too."
"If I put this on again, I won't even be able to run!"
The emperor said with great resistance.
"Your Majesty..." Eunuch Wei was very embarrassed.
"With all the layers of protection, how could I be so unlucky? You think so, Zheng Fan."
The emperor looked at Zheng Fan who was standing next to him.
When A Ming, who was standing next to Zheng Fan, heard this question, the corner of his mouth showed a hint of helplessness.
"Ji Laoliu, be obedient and put it on. On the battlefield, I have encountered... even the most unfortunate things."
"Your Majesty, let's just listen to the prince." Eunuch Wei quickly advised.
The emperor had no choice but to put another layer of leather armor on his body.
The emperor wore something like gold-threaded soft hedgehog armor to protect himself, and then there was inner armor, and then a layer of Yanjun-style light armor, and then covered with a layer of leather armor.
My body is very weak.
The emperor, who became even weaker because of the empress during his eastern tour,
He had to put his hands on his knees and start breathing.
"Zheng Fan, if my Yan army is all dressed like this, can they fight?" the emperor asked while panting.
"If all my army in Dayan were like your Majesty, there would be no need to fight at all."
"Can't you say something nice?"
"Your Majesty knows that every Yan army in our country, Yan, has fallen into the camp, right?"
"Of course you know, this is our Yan Army tradition."
"The soldiers trapped in the camp must dismount and fight on foot. Everyone can fight fiercely with heavy armor for at least five rounds."
"I'm... I'm so relieved that my country, Yan, can have such a fierce and brave man... Huh... Huh..."
At this time,
The two painters set up their painting stands, sat on the folding benches that came with them, faced the emperor and the prince, and began to paint.
Seeing this, the emperor subconsciously stood up. The prince had no choice but to reach out and lift the emperor's waistband from behind to help him share some of the weight.
Not only that,
The emperor also issued an edict:
"Draw me more bravely."
It means that the emperor allows you to do some artistic processing, at least not to look too different from the person next to you named Zheng.
"According to the order."
"According to the order."
The emperor turned to look at Zheng Fan and asked;
"You arranged it very carefully."
Zheng Fan nodded and said, "It should be."
In fact, it has long been customary for Prince Pingxi to bring a painter with him when going on an expedition. The "Picture of King Pingxi Breaking the Formation" and "The Scroll of King Pingxi Breaking the Thieves" circulated among the people have long been used as door god paintings.
The most widely circulated picture is that of Prince Pingxi sitting there with his legs crossed and eating melon, with the enemy troops crumbling in the distance. People think that posting this on their door can bring blessing from the prince and ward off evil spirits.
immediately,
Zheng Fan looked at the historian standing there and reminded;
"Later, record it truthfully, the history will be clear, don't be careless."
"I accept your orders."
This historian, who had accompanied the emperor on his eastward tour since Yanjing, took the order seriously. After he stood up, he had an upright spirit of writing as much as a sword and taking responsibility for the history!
At this time,
The emperor asked in a low voice:
"Zheng, why don't you say that my behavior is ridiculous and unreliable?"
"Dreams, I understand."
The emperor raised his hand with great satisfaction and difficulty, patted the breast shield on Zheng Fan's chest, and said:
"Yes, you still understand me, unlike Wei Zhonghe, who doesn't understand me as well as you."
When Eunuch Wei heard this, he immediately felt aggrieved and said:
"Your Majesty...slave...slave..."
The prince on one side smiled and said:
"Haha, this is easy to handle. I'll do it on my own and go into the palace to accompany you instead of Eunuch Wei."
"Pfft!"
Eunuch Wei immediately knelt down.
The emperor laughed "haha",
road;
"Look how frightened he was when he heard that you were going to take his position."
Eunuch Wei felt bitter in his heart.
That night immediately came to mind.
Prince Pingxi, who was still a small guard, entered the palace from Tian Mansion late at night, and he led the way;
"Zheng Shoubei, Supervisor of Ceremonies, we really lack talents like you."
then,
Seeing Zheng Shoubei's embarrassed expression, afraid of anger or words, Eunuch Wei thought it would be fun to tease him;
right now,
This moment is that moment.
"Wei Zhonghe, get up. Do you think you are so scared? It's really embarrassing for me."
……
"What's wrong? Are you so scared?"
Ma Yang looked at a subordinate standing there trembling. This subordinate was an old man who was following him.
immediately,
Ma Yang looked in the direction where his subordinate was in a daze,
his look,
It also changed immediately,
Without hesitation, he brought the arrow wrapped in oilcloth to the side of the brazier and ignited it, then quickly raised it and threw it high forward.
The rocket was infused with some energy and blood, split in the air, and scattered sparks;
In this moment of bright scenes,
It was discovered that a large number of soldiers wearing brocade clothes and armor were galloping towards this weak little fortress.
When the rocket is launched,
Almost at the same moment, the guards in brocade clothes below all drew their bows and nocked arrows, and shot them out!
In the small fortress that was caught off guard, people fell on their backs and screamed repeatedly.
At the same moment,
There was also a large eunuch who came roaring with two cyan bolts coming out of his sleeves;
the other direction,
There was also a sword master in white clothes, holding sword energy at his fingertips, and a terrifying sword intent burst out and swept out.
Right in the center,
There is also Liang Cheng, the first general of Pingxi Palace.
Wave an order,
The royal guards charge into the fortress!
Ma Yang was shocked.
This little military fort,
I am old, weak, sick and disabled,
As for me, a little centurion from Guizhou who was squeezed out as soon as he made a meritorious service,
He De He Neng,
I can afford such a battle!
next moment,
He saw another scene that made his eyes split even more.
He saw a man wearing silver black armor, holding a broken knife, and behind the man, there was a large Yanping Xiwang Banner!
a thousand words,
At this moment, Ma Yang felt,
It can only be condensed into a sentence of despair:
"A sin!"
This is a battle without any suspense, if it can be called a battle.
More than half of the Chu people in the military fort were killed or wounded, and the rest surrendered directly. The defender gave up resistance directly, his eyes dull.
However, the Jinyi guards who had already entered the military fort were still deliberately banging their knife edges against each other, and making "huhuhahaha" sounds from time to time, continuing to create an atmosphere of fierce battle.
Prince Pingxi was not the last to go this time.
He walked to the gate of the military fort,
behind,
The emperor, who was wearing several layers of armor and holding a large sword, took difficult steps and finally caught up. Then he used his last strength to rush forward and kicked open the door of the military fort.
The moment the emperor kicked open the door,
The Great Chu fire phoenix flag hanging on the military fort was cut down by the sword master.
Eunuch Wei was extremely excited and raised the Black Dragon Flag of Dayan!
far away,
The historian holds the pen,
It was recorded in the manuscript album with great solemnity:
"On the first day of April in the first year of Ying'an, the emperor patrolled eastward and reached the Wei River;
When the Chu slaves invaded the country on a large scale, the military situation was like fire and the power was like a dangerous egg;
The emperor wore armor and personally held a white blade and led his troops to charge forward.
Fighting day and night,
Retreat the Chu slaves and destroy the city! "
(End of this chapter)