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Chapter 289: Dragons roar in all directions, heroes rise up

On that day, Yuwen Lie led his army through the cliffs. Under the cover of night, 8,000 Tiger Barbarian cavalrymen marched quickly, captured three cities of Chen, killed eleven generals and thirty-seven officers above the rank of colonel, and then conquered the border and headed straight for the State of Chen.

The mighty general Yuwen Lie is famous throughout the world.

Immediately, with the support of Ying Guoxia Mo's lineage, they quickly built a defense line and constructed a mechanical city within the occupied area, fighting to support the war. Anyone from the Chen State who wanted to escape was beheaded.

Outside the city, Yuwen Lie built three Jingguans with the heads of the defeated soldiers of the State of Chen and the heads of the fleeing civilians. The heads were piled up, looking at the gloomy sky with empty, fearful eyes. Crows were circling in the air, wanting to fly down to eat the flesh and blood.

Armored soldiers patrolled the battlefield in groups of three, stabbing every corpse on the ground with their spears, regardless of whether they were wearing armor or a thin layer of cloth. The spear tips pierced into the flesh and pulled out.

The corpse that had been left for too long exploded into a mass of flesh and blood.

Some of them groaned, got up and ran, but were shot by arrows and turned into hedgehogs.

The stench is unbearable.

The smell was so strong that it almost made people dizzy.

Large swarms of flies and mosquitoes were resting on the flesh and blood. The boots were stepping on the rotten flesh and blood, which was slippery and made it difficult to stand. I felt a little nauseous, and I didn't know what I saw, so I started shouting and screaming.

Listening carefully, it seemed that a soldier saw the Giant View and found that his comrade, who he had been bragging about a few days ago, was now swollen and turned purple, with his skin bulging. When he poked it, it exploded.

"vomit…………"

The man couldn't help retching, but no one on the battlefield responded to him.

A soldier saw four people lying there. A man was shot into a hedgehog, with a woman behind him, as well as a young man and a young girl. They were all dead. They were civilians who wanted to sneak away from here to a safe place.

The man was shot by the rain of arrows first, and he tried to protect his wife and children behind him.

The wife fell to the ground and was stabbed to death.

Among the two children, the older one wanted to protect his younger sister, and half of his face was cut by a knife, and then both children were stabbed to death with a gun.

There was no fluctuation in the soldier's eyes. He first stabbed these people with his gun, then drew his sword and cut off all the heads. He threw the headless bodies together and burned them with fire. When the wind blew past, it was like snowing.

Then the heads were piled together.

Jingguan.

The man's, the woman's, the brother's, and the sister's heads were placed in one place, piled up, and clustered together, intimately and passionately.

It’s great that they can be reunited.

The soldier doing this job grinned and thought.

Where will I die?
The heads of these Jingguan were facing the city gate, lifeless, staring straight at the city, as if they were shocked, as if they were saying something.

The sky is grey.

Yuwen Lie conquered three cities and killed all those who refused to submit, and built a Jingguan.

However, he was also strict in governing his subordinates. Any soldiers who harassed the civilians were killed by him.

Even royal relatives and nobles were not spared and their heads were chopped off and sent back to the capital. As a result, the victorious army became more in awe of this famous general, and the people's resentment was also vented.

This story involves struggles, changes, and killings, and involves countless people's tears, pain, and regrets in life, but only a few strokes are recorded in history.

He conquered three cities, built Jingguan, and enforced strict laws.

The place was thus settled and the people no longer rebelled.

——"Yingshi·Biography of Yuwen Lie"

………………

When Yuwen Lie suddenly invaded, there were people in the Chen State asking General Lu Youxian to dispatch troops for support. However, Lu Youxian remained unmoved and was secretly called a cowardly old turtle who even refused to protect his own city when it was invaded.

Lu Youxian seemed unable to bear such pressure, so he turned his troops around and left.

But on the third day, a large army suddenly invaded.

The former regent of Chen State took advantage of Ying State's attack on Chen State to attack the border of Chen State, but he never expected that Lu Youxian's previous departure was just a pretense, and he actually came back and arranged two ambushes, engaging tens of thousands of elite troops in a bloody battle.

They fought for a whole day and a whole night before they gave up.

The regent was unwilling to give in and still led his troops to attack the western border of the State of Chen.

This experienced defender withstood the pressure from the court and held on to the Western Regions, thus preventing the State of Chen from being attacked from all sides and suffering heavy losses in a short period of time.

The wolf king's army came over in a mighty force, and Lu Youxian tried his best to hold on.

Lu Youxian stayed on the battlefield for five or six days without leaving the city wall, shouting loudly to maintain morale. Relying on military formations, city defenses, and Mohist mechanisms, he withstood Xiao Wuliang's charge.

Until the end, the city was not conquered. He even toasted the regent with wine on the city wall, bowed respectfully and said, "Your Majesty, it's been a long time since we last met. Without Duke Taiping, your army is not as sharp as it used to be."

"When you were famous all over the world, I was just a captain under your command."

"Now you want to destroy your homeland, but I am standing in your way."

The Regent was furious.

But he still led his troops to retreat.

Before leaving, the regent looked at the fortress and broke his arrows:
"Lu Youxian, old turtle!"

"One day, I will kill this old turtle and kill the talent!"

After the battle, the Regent withdrew his troops. Lu Youxian fainted on the city wall and slept for three days and three nights before waking up. Just from this battle, his hair had turned half white. He was relieved when the city was defended.

Almost at the same time as the great war in the Western Region.

The Turkic Great Khan Iron Buddha gathered at the border of Ying State.

The node that was supposed to be intercepted by the hidden Seventh King left behind by Jiang Wanxiang and Jiang Su was unable to stop this terrifying military force due to some special reason. The perfect strategy of Ying State collapsed because of the disappearance of the most critical link.

What shocked the whole world was that the Chen State's Night Cavalry actually appeared in the Great Khan's army and raided the Ying State as a guest general.

Just before going to Zhongzhou, Li Guanyi learned about the changes on the grassland from Xue Shuangtao. He only knew that Chen Dingye had cut off the trade route with the Turks, but he didn't know that he secretly sent Ye Zhongdao, the commander of the Yechi cavalry, to the grassland.

The State of Chen formed an alliance with the Khan of the grassland to fight against the State of Ying, but at the same time, Chen Dingye rejected the Khan's request to marry a royal woman to the alliance.

"The alliance between Chen State and the grassland is just to make friends with distant countries and attack nearby countries in order to restrain Ying State."

"If the Great Khan wants to get involved in the Central Plains, even if the Chen Kingdom perishes in ten years, I will cut off the Great Khan's hand. No matter how bloody and morally corrupt the Central Plains are, that is the Central Plains' business."

"It's not the turn of outsiders to interfere!"

The Great Khan laughed and said, "You want me to send troops, but you are also wary of me, Chen Dingye, where in the world can you find such a good deal?"

Chen Dingye and the Great Khan drank wine at the place of the covenant, saying:

"Then you will kill your own father and son."

"Jiang Wanxiang still maintains the trade route with you. Can't you see that he is using the situation to force you to become an invisible ally with him?"

"What Yingguo wants is for you and your son to fight, so that his rear can be stabilized."

The Great Khan remained silent for a long time. He looked at Chen Dingye and thought of the former crown prince in the Western Regions. A strange look appeared on the Great Khan's face. He said slowly, "Father and son killed each other. Do you still regard that man as your son?"

Chen Dingye remained silent for a long time, then sneered, "I only have one son."

"He is not……"

"No."

The alliance was discussed for a long time, and finally the Great Khan said:
"Emperor of the Central Plains, you are right. I cannot let the grassland be torn apart and become a pawn of Jiang Wanxiang of Ying State. However, I will not be your pawn either. Be careful. I may invade your Central Plains at any time."

Chen Dingye said: "I am also like this."

Ye Zhongdao captured two border cities of Ying State, killed six generals, and occupied an area of ​​200 miles.

It seems to be a response to Yuwen Lie's atrocities.

He also killed the army, captured the fleeing civilians, and built a Jingguan.

Mingmo's mechanical technology was weaker than the other two sects and was a little slow, but it still built a fortress camp on the front line. The world was in turmoil, and the Ying and Chen states started to tear each other apart in an instant, biting the world like a dragon or a tiger.

Everywhere, the quantities of salt and iron began to be controlled and alcohol was no longer sold.

Taxes were raised by one third.

The price of food began to rise day by day.

Different cities posted notices requiring restrictions on the movement of civilians and requiring able-bodied men from all regions to go out and perform labor service.

When the states of Chen and Ying were fighting, the Regent Chen Fubi laughed and said, "As expected." He led his troops back and no longer attacked Chen. Instead, he gathered a large army and, when no one expected it, launched a final fierce attack on the heart of the Dangxiang.

Before, when Xue Shuangtao and Li Guanyi were discussing intelligence from around the world, they mentioned that the Regent's army had stopped near the capital of the Dangxiang State. He was just waiting for an opportunity, an appropriate opportunity, an opportunity that would not be interrupted by the State of Chen.

And now, the opportunity has come.

The so-called opportunity is like wind and clouds, and the heroes of the world are like dragons, rising with the trend.

He almost destroyed the country from scratch in two years!

Lu Youxian was cautious and steady, and did not take advantage of the situation to attack Chen Fubi's rear army.

Chen Fubi captured three cities of the Dangxiang Kingdom in the Western Regions.

The city was massacred for three days.

What the soldiers did was not illegal, and Chen Wenmian tried to persuade them, but to no avail.

Chen Fubi became extremely powerful.

The world is in turmoil and the situation is changing.

There won't be any signs of such a change.

After all, after reading all the history books, I can only sigh.

It just happened suddenly. Inside the Zhongzhou Palace, Ji Zichang was looking at the changes in the world, stunned and dazed, feeling the pain of being powerless to do anything. However, he understood why many heroes in history became so decadent in the end.

Because there is not just one hero in the world.

Because all the heroes are waiting for the opportunity.

The situation is overwhelming and there is no way to reverse it.

Ji Zichang suddenly remembered the so-called hero that Li Guanyi mentioned when he first met him. At this moment, he put his palm on the table and whispered:

"A dragon can be big or small, can rise or hide. When it is big, it can create clouds and mist, and when it is small, it can hide its shape. When it rises, it soars in the universe, and when it hides, it lurks in the waves. At this time, the dragon changes with the times, just like a man who is successful and travels across the world..."

"At this time, a dragon takes advantage of the changing times, just like a man who achieves his ambition and travels across the world."

Ji Zichang suddenly burst into tears.

Storms were brewing everywhere. Chen Dingye and Jiang Wanxiang never met again in Zhongzhou. The envoys from Ying and Chen left Zhongzhou one by one and went to other parts of the world. For many people, the world changed after just one night's sleep.

And this time was different from the past, the severity of the situation would increase every day. In the end, people were in a panic, today they heard that a city here was breached, there they heard that a nearby village was confiscated by the army and its people were killed.

Others say that on the day the city was captured, the army's swords were not sheathed and they looted for three days.

As these news were passed around, no one knew whether they were true or false, or how much of them were true and how much were false. All they knew was that these news, which seemed both true and false, disturbed people's hearts and made the people fearful and panic-stricken.

Li Guanyi's troops are also about to leave here.

Wen Lingjun was not angry at what Li Guanyi, a powerful official, did. He was loyal to the Red Emperor's world, not to the powerful families. Instead, he felt a sense of belonging because Li Guanyi gave the Red Emperor's lineage the last dignity.

"My lord, although the Zhongzhou Imperial City is prosperous, it is not a place to fight for the world. No matter how good the words of those royal family members are, some of them are right. This place can blow out the heroic spirit in the hearts of heroes."

Wen Lingjun said: "We should go back."

Li Guan nodded: "Okay."

"Thank you for everything, sir."

The Qilin Army and Tiance Mansion quickly began to mobilize. Li Guanyi went to the academy to pay a visit to his teacher, Master Wang Tong, and to say goodbye to his teacher. The teacher just smiled gently and said a few words to him, then stood up and sent Li Guanyi out of the academy himself.

Finally, he stood in the empty, even desolate academy, watching Li Guanyi go away with a gentle and peaceful expression. The voice of King Gongyang Su came: "Why, you are not feeling well, why don't you go to Jiangnan to recuperate?"

"Qin Wuhou, the teacher of General Tiance, is definitely more comfortable than the academy."

Wang Tong smiled, turned around and walked away slowly, saying: "Twenty years ago, the north wind was blowing hard and snow was falling in broad daylight, and I came here from my hometown; today, the autumn wind is bleak and red leaves are everywhere, and I am seeing my disciples off."

"A scholar studies for his whole life from beginning to end, and he will never leave."

King Gongyang Su turned around and watched the young Confucian scholar walk away. Wang Tong was a little thin, but his back was still straight, and he walked step by step with great determination.

King Gongyang Su laughed: "Hahaha, what a good start and end."

"What a Longmen Wangtong."

He strode forward and walked slowly with the young scholar.

This was the last time Li Guanyi saw Wang Tong.

"Historical Records·Biography of Wenzhongzi" - In the winter of the eleventh year of the Tianqi reign, the Master was ill, and he told King Su: I dreamed that Yan Zi asked the Master to come back and rest. It seems that the Master is calling me. Why must I live forever? I will not get up. " He lay in bed for seven days and died.

The Book of Changes says: "The yellow robe is extremely auspicious, for the culture is in the middle."

His posthumous title was Wen Zhongzi.

Accompany the Confucian Temple.

He had two sons, both of whom lived in seclusion and poverty.

..............................

The time it took the Qilin Army to prepare its luggage was much longer than expected. Of course, there was a reason for this. The people of the world were in a panic. The Qilin Army had been providing porridge to the people for such a long time. Many poor people simply lived near the Qilin Army.

And now the Qilin Army is beginning to leave in a big way.

In the last few days, the price of rice in Zhongzhou City was getting higher day by day. The people from the aristocratic families finally realized the power of the Qilin Army. They became panicked and started to provide free porridge.

"Li Guanyi is planning to take these peasants away!"

"No, no, give them some benefits!"

"Without peasants, everyone wears fancy clothes. How can we still call ourselves a noble family? Without servants, do we have to dress and bathe ourselves? Let's take out the money and open a porridge shop."

The heads of the aristocratic families allocated a large sum of money. They were able to see people's hearts and the general trend. Although they realized it later, they also knew where their foundation was. The Gao family alone contributed a full 500,000 taels of silver.

If I run a porridge shop, I can feed countless people for two whole months.

If we only care about the poor farmers who cultivate the fertile land owned by the Gao family.

They can have two meals a day, and they can eat eggs for every meal. There is a little meat smell, and they can eat two pieces of meat. Every now and then they can have a big meat meal. This is because they really see that they are going to die, so they become ruthless and really generous.

Unfortunately, when the money was paid, the second and third wives started quarreling. Knowing that such a large amount of money had been given, these two beauties, whose fingers were so white without a trace of calluses, felt it was a pity.

He asked for 100,000 taels of silver to buy a kind of rouge that came from the Western Regions.

I heard that when you apply it on your lips, it will be as bright as the sunset and have a slight fragrance.

The staff of the head of the Gao family cannot afford to offend these two beauties.

I had no choice but to accept it.

So the money became 400,000 taels of silver.

Four hundred thousand taels of silver is already a lot.

The original owners of the land under the name of the Gao family, the farmers who are now farming on the Gao family's land, can eat rice and some meat for five days. Although there is less meat, the rice and vegetables are enough to fill them up.

The people are homesick and miss their homeland, and will not leave once they have eaten their fill.

Then when he was about to spread the news, he met the butler.

The housekeeper was the elder brother of the wife of the family head. He looked at the account book, shook his head, slammed the expensive table with his fingers, and said, "Four hundred thousand taels of silver are too much for these peasants to eat. It's really too wasteful."

The confidant of the Patriarch of the Gao Family said, "But the Patriarch is worried that these peasants will be bewitched by the Qilin Army and leave Zhongzhou and join the Qilin Army."

The butler sneered: "The master is still kind-hearted."

"But they don't know that the common people, the mud-legged peasants, are just like dogs."

"When I'm hungry, I'll come back naturally."

"Come, I will manage this money for my brother-in-law. Don't talk nonsense. You know, those people can't be fed too much. They have to be neither too much nor too little, so that they can work for you."

So the four hundred thousand taels suddenly became two hundred thousand taels.

Two hundred thousand taels, although a lot less, is not really too little. Even for the people living on the vast fertile land of the Gao family, it is enough for them to have enough food to eat every day, two meals a day, and a little meat every month.

Then he walked out and met the second wife's brother, the second butler.

I met the young master of the family and my cousin from afar.

I met the manager of the front yard and finally handed over the money. However, the manager who was in charge of porridge took a little, thinking, it doesn't matter if I take a little, it doesn't matter; the fat boss who was in charge of the kitchen took a little, saying, it doesn't matter if I take a little, the people can eat their fill.

Finally, the cook took a little more, and the strong man who carried the porridge took a little more.

The porridge was finally distributed.

When the head of the Gao family went to see, on the first day, there was indeed enough porridge and rice to fill people up. Everyone was given an egg, and there were also lots of vegetables. People all praised the head of the Gao family for his kindness.

The head of the Gao family left very satisfied, but he didn't come to visit for a few days.

It was not until Gao Yingju, the son of the Gao family, realized that the public opinion was wrong that he changed into tattered clothes, covered his face, and went to check privately. He discovered the truth, came back in shock and anger, kicked open the door of the master of the family, and cursed.

Only then did the higher-ups of the family realize that they had given out hundreds of thousands of taels of silver, only to give the people one kind of porridge.

The porridge was so thin and glossy that you could see through it. The rice in it was not only scarce, but also mixed with sand!

Even so, not everyone can eat it.

If you want to eat, you have to be humble and say a lot of nice things.

Then the porridge giver picked up the big spoon, scooped a spoonful and poured it into the air, laughing: "Come and eat!"

Patriarch Gao's expression changed drastically: "The first day!"

Gao Yingju said: "The first day was just a show for you. Even the common people who came to eat were relatives of our family!" He was still a young man, but his voice was somewhat sad and angry at this moment. He raised his head and looked at this magnificent family.

It was during this time of great change that he discovered that the decline of this aristocratic family was not caused by one or two people, but was a process that had been going on for eight hundred years. From top to bottom, all the people surrounding the aristocratic family had long since formed a rotten piece of meat that sucked the blood of the common people.

At this time, the Qilin Army was about to leave, but the people found that the porridge and rice given by the noble families became less and less delicious day by day, while the porridge and rice given by the Qilin Army while they were cleaning up became more and more abundant day by day!
On the last day, a lot of pigs were hunted and the meat was stewed. The delicious smell spread to many places around. Qin Wuhou, who was said by the aristocratic families to be a powerful official and not a good person, actually ate with the people recently.

During this period of time, the families who provided free porridge were all talking about their kindness.

The Qilin Army didn't say anything, but the meals became more sumptuous day by day, which inexplicably made everyone feel uneasy. On the last day, Mr. Wen He took the food and said, "Everyone, please eat well today."

The people's anxiety finally reached its peak, and some people could not help but say:
"This is such a waste of good food."

“We can’t eat it.”

Mr. Wen He, who was a good man in the eyes of the people, smiled and comforted them:
"It's okay, just eat. This is the last treat from the Qilin Army."

“Eat as much as you want.”

He said with regret: "After all..."

"We're leaving."

Then the place was suddenly dead silent.

It was eerily quiet.

(End of this chapter)