The Emperor ordered Zhao Tang

Chapter 292 The One Who Won’t Make Mistakes

On the fifth day of the twelfth month, heavy snow fell again in Sanfu. All the cavalry units that were out on the move were withdrawn, and the entire army retreated to the barracks.

The city walls of Dali and Chaoyi were also crumbling.

After entering the winter month, Emperor Li launched waves of offensives. After the heavy siege weapons were used up, Emperor Li was too lazy to use them anymore. He just adopted the simplest hole attack. He led the army to confront Li Keyong, and the rest of the soldiers and civilians dug in many ways, dug tunnels towards the two cities, and dug the city walls, day after day, seemingly without interruption.

All the captured Lingxia, Fan and Han prisoners and the evil army were brought to the front line and staggered forward under the supervision of the enemy. They consumed the enemy's arrows and flints, filled the river and leveled the trench. The Jin army just counterattacked woodenly, killing these defenseless people under the city. The crowd was blocked by the corpses, or they could not attack anymore, so they retreated, and they were met with a bunch of spears, stabbing them to death in front of the trench.

Once driven across the trench, they were never allowed to return.

More barbarians and evil troops gathered around, waiting for their turn to set out under the steel knives around them. The cries and begging for mercy also echoed throughout the wilderness. The large group of soldiers looked at everything in front of them with expressionless faces, but they were just calculating in their minds how many more people were needed to push the defenders to the limit.

Looking at the mountain of corpses gradually piling up on the top of the city wall and the sparse arrows fired by the defenders, the soldiers whispered to each other, it seems that Dali City will be captured soon!
On the mound, the saint sat on a bear-skin stool, looking at the battlefield leisurely and contentedly: "If another ten thousand people come, Li Cunxin will be exhausted. Call Zazhu and prepare to persuade him to surrender."

He was surrounded by numerous officers in bright clothes and on fine horses, all with gloomy expressions.

In the past twenty years, there have been major upheavals and repeated wars. Now, the city of Dali has been destroyed day after day, and it is so weak that it seems like it can be flattened with one foot. The evil barbarians have been attacking for so long and have filled it with more than 20,000 corpses, but they still cannot take it down.

These soldiers returned with the remaining power of the victory at Wuding River, and at first they were still willing to watch the fun. Whether they were villains, barbarians, or defenders, it would be less troublesome and less food consumption if they killed each other. But after waiting for so long, they were impatient and felt a common hatred. As for Dali, why don't we just attack the city ourselves and wipe it out in one fell swoop!
But the saint never listened to the request for battle, and only urged the evil army and the barbarians to attack the city.

Under the mound, Zhazhu led a large group of soldiers and rushed over.

The saint looked around at the Hedong soldiers Li Keyong had sent, and sighed, "If the old thief was willing to be loyal, I could not have appointed him as the governor of the four towns, but I would not have cared about being a Grand Tutor, Prime Minister, or Jiedushi of Hedong. But the old thief is self-righteous and arrogant, and he is blinded by greed. He thinks I can be deceived, stabbed me in the back, and wanted to kill me. Now we have no choice but to fight with force. You should be able to distinguish between loyalty and treachery. The court will not treat you unfairly in the past, and it will not treat you unfairly in the future."

"I have no grudge against the Jin people. It was only because of their contributions that I was patient and retreated again and again outside the city, unwilling to join the siege of Bian... I have done my best for the Jin people! I have done my best for them! I have lived up to God and have let down no one."

"Your Highness..." Before Zhazhu, Tuoba Weicai, Xiao and others could say anything, the saint's face became solemn: "... I have been in this snow for several months. I have never seen my wife and children. The new princess of Concubine Shu is not here either... I am used to it, but my men have been in hundreds of battles and now they can't even rest and catch their breath. They were robbed by the one-eyed dragon and I really have a deep grudge against the Jin people... I surrounded the city against all odds. If we really want to act recklessly, with the broken walls of Dali now, who among my soldiers can't knock them down with one kick? Do Li Cunxin and the others really think they are my opponents? Can they stay in the city for a year or two?"

There were still a few small pearls of seemingly hurt on his face, but the brutality he revealed was enough to make people tremble.

Zhazhu and the others immediately prostrated themselves, repeatedly bowing their heads in the mire: "Great Sage, your mercy and grace, how could we not know it!"

The saint smiled and pulled Zhazhu up. "Give a message to Li Cunxin's troops. Those who are willing to come out and submit to me, below the level of the captain, will be appointed as the Grand Correction Officer, and those above the level of the captain will be appointed as the General, and will be appointed according to their abilities. The deadline is seven days. Ordinary soldiers will receive the same treatment. They are all my family members, the pillars of the Holy Tang Dynasty. If we can save one of them at this time, we can preserve more vitality for the empire, so that they can help me to settle the troubled times, recover the lost territory, and revive the Holy Tang Dynasty in the future. Why should you follow that old ghost, the one-eyed dragon, and fight to the death with such a precious life?"

"………………I couldn't bring myself to do it because I was too soft-hearted. I just couldn't bear to kill these loyal and brave men. The internal strife resulted in a sea of blood and corpses, and Zhu Dalang and his people were laughing so hard that they had stomachaches. What good can we gain from this......"

He patted his numb knees from sitting for so long, shook his head and sighed, as if he was in great pain.

A group of Hedong officers bowed their heads respectfully again: "The saint's love is broad and we are all moved..."

The saint drank a mouthful of hot water and continued, "Seven days. If the traitor refuses to come out after seven days, I will not only kill him, but also exile him, and I will exterminate his entire clan once we have entered Jinyang. By the way, tell Li Cunxin that if he doesn't return to the country within seven days, I will kill him and bury him with the whole city!"

Everyone's heart trembled, and they followed Zhazhu's steps and said, "Your Majesty, how can we not die in retaliation? We will shout out to you from under the city walls, and even if we have to talk ourselves into submission, we will persuade you to return! If that fails, we will capture the city as soon as possible, and even if we shed our blood, we will throw the heads of Li Cunxin and his gang of villains under the throne of the Great Sage!"

Having said that, he walked away proudly, just as you called me and waved.

The saint sat back on the bear-skin stool and turned his head to look in the direction of Tonglingbi.

We have to see, at this point, how many assassins are loyal to you.

Zhazhu just walked faster and faster until he reached the middle of a gathering of evil troops. Several evil officers came forward to salute and curtsey, but Zhazhu kicked them away! He snatched the banner and threw it towards Dali City with a dark face: "Shoot the book, shout!"

Zhazhu looked up and gazed into the distance, meeting the familiar figure on the city wall from afar.

Li Cunxin Li Cunxin.

No, maybe I should call you Zhang Junzheng now.

You are a Uighur shepherd slave in the palace.

I am the sword slave and horse slave of the Turkic origin in the mansion. We have done nothing wrong, and we are loyal to our master. This is the only thing that men with ambition and integrity should do in this corrupt world! But now we each serve our own master, and we have to face each other in life and death!
As a result, the sage stopped the harassment of Dali and Chaoyi, and only persuaded Zhang Junzheng, Li Siben and their troops to surrender. At the same time, he sent cavalry to strengthen the efforts to seize the grain route and raid Li Keyong's camp.

********
In this era, a tug-of-war, whether it is a confrontation in the wild or an attack and defense of a city gate, is doomed to be cruel, boring and long, unless one side has many idiots who often get sick, or the army is one-sided and has no morale and low combat power.

During these days, Li Keyong has not returned to the central army camp.

When they were tired, they would find a sheltered place to rest for a while. When they were hungry, they would just have some biscuits and hot water. When they were impatient, they would go horseback riding, drink tea, or play chess. They would just sit on the tower, by the gate, or under the wall, and watch the two armies fighting and attacking each other's camps.

The generals saw that they were stuck in this hellhole, and they didn't know what was happening in Beijing, Daibei, and Lanshi. Tens of thousands of troops just ate and slept, slept and ate, and occasionally pulled out to fight. They didn't fight a decisive battle, nor did they just leave.

Over the past few months, he has been in a bad mood and has been having ghosts coming out of his head. What is King Li planning?
At this time, Li Keyong was holding onto a tree and feeling nauseous. He was physically nauseous and wanted to vomit. He had been fighting with Li Ye until now, which was really beyond his limit. He couldn't advance, and he didn't want to retreat, so he might as well fight it out!

But this struggle cannot be decided by just fighting hard!
If you want to get out of this unscathed, or at least keep your official position, you have to think hard to deal with things both on the front and in the rear!

He had already surrendered and only asked to be reinstated, but the dog emperor did not appreciate it and only perfunctorily reduced the compensation to three million.

This is a tyrant!

"If I had done this five years ago, I would have ordered all the towns to invade Xijing and kill the emperor!" Li Keyong slapped the tree trunk angrily.

"Now is not the time to be angry." Gai Yu leaned against another tree and reached out to receive the flying snow. "Now we have no choice but to go. Go back and pay more tribute, cede some states and counties, appease them, and then ask the princes to intercede in order to restore the country."

Li Keyong was stunned.

He was really reckless this time.

He didn't expect that his face was worthless in the eyes of the tyrant!
If you dare to point fingers, he will act tough.

unwise!

Li Keyong did feel some regret.

Of course, Marshal Li was definitely not wrong. We can only blame the sage for being mean and ungrateful, bullying the weak and fearing the strong, and not tolerating opposition. He deserved to be fed with red liquid and died. However, Marshal Li was loyal and did not want to pursue the matter to the end, and was unwilling to fight the emperor and father to the end.

"Prime Ministers Zheng Yanchang and Han Wei are also traitors!"

"Now there is discord between the emperor and his ministers, and you should be mediating, but you are just being submissive and silent. If it were ten years ago, such a villain would have been executed long ago. Li Huaiguang, Zhu Wen and my generation were forced into a desperate situation by such a villain, and forced to bear the name of thieves!"

Li Keyong cursed and stamped his feet to vent his anger.

He has now become a clown of the same kind as Li Maozhen. He cannot be intimidated, and he does not have the courage to kill the emperor or fight to the end, so he can only jump up and down.

"If you don't want to fight to the death, you have to leave first." Gai Yu was too lazy to be tactful: "This time, let alone the court officials and soldiers, the whole world has been watching us for several months. How could a saint compromise?"

I can't let go of my face all day long.

Why don't you understand that your face is valuable, but his face is more valuable? Now you are just staring at me, the daily food consumption of tens of thousands of soldiers and horses is an astronomical figure. Once the retreat is blocked or the food supply is cut off, it will be difficult to leave!
Yu originally expected that the imperial guards would be arrogant, and the saint would be young and hot-blooded. He had seldom lost battles in recent years, and he also had the advantage of being a landlord and having more soldiers and horses. He would get angry and seek revenge, and would most likely take the initiative to seek a battle and a decisive battle. At that time, the outcome would be decided in one battle.

If they win, they will press forward and force the imperial court to sign a surrender agreement. If they lose, it doesn't matter, they will just apologize and leave.

Who would have thought that the saint who had driven all the rebels north with inferior forces in the west of Beijing, in Shouyang Mountain, and in Wuding River, who was extremely fierce, would actually stand by and watch in the snow when he was slapped in the face. Every movement and stillness, every move and style on the battlefield was abnormally steady. He took advantage of his own disadvantages and calculations throughout the whole process, leaving himself in a dilemma.

Now it can be said that the initiative has fallen into his hands.

"Damn it, why didn't I chase him to Fengxiang and massacre the court that day!" Li Keyong was frustrated and cursed as he answered the question irrelevantly. For a moment, he couldn't come up with any solution.

He no longer dared to fight a decisive battle because of the unrest in the rear.

There seemed to be no time left for pulling.

The Yan people were ravaging Daibei, Li Zan captured the Kelan army and surrounded Zhelu Ping. I don't know what my brother is thinking, and there are more and more rumors that he wants to usurp the throne. On the other hand, Li Sizhou's troops will cross the Gaoliang River and attack Jinzhou in a few days! And I am still alone in Zuofengyi, and it is hard to give up!

I want to leave, but I am unwilling to do so.

I must rush back to Jinyang in time to prevent unrest and seize power firmly in my hands!

But there was always a voice in his heart telling Li Keyong that if he left now, he would be a poor man returning to his hometown. He came as a subject and will leave as a thief.

Are you just going to take this loss like this?
Just admit it?
Seeing Li Keyong's face becoming increasingly gloomy, Gai Yu reluctantly advised him: "Let's go, let's go..."

Being stripped of one's official position and labeled as a bandit, isn't that the awareness one should have when starting the rebellion?

The emperor has allowed you to clear the court and Chang'an has allowed you to enter. Do you still want to maintain your image as a loyal minister? Is it possible?

How can you be so childish and naive?

Looking at the anxious Li Keyong, Gai Yu seemed to be hesitant to speak.

Could it be that King Li is really so stupid that he has no idea how to advance or retreat, and doesn't understand that he should let go decisively when it's time to do so?
Gai Yu just didn't believe it.

The reason is simple. He has personally experienced the charm of holding the power of the world when awake and being the king of the world when drunk on the lap of a beauty. King Li is in the game and is the best among them. How can he be rational unless he loses a few pounds of blood and is hurt and scared?

Unless one is on the verge of death, how can one be willing to give up power, land, and possessions and be willing to be a lackey?
"Let me think about it again." Li Keyong's brows were almost wrinkled.

Across the vast Guanfu Plain, countless heroes and nobles have fought here for thousands of years. But now, all has vanished into thin air.

Why should I be able to control the victory by myself and think that everything will be in my hands in the end?
How to do?How to do?
How should we attack the Dog Emperor?

admit?

Li Ke was in a state of confusion.

Not far away, a group of generals looked at each other. A Shatuo general finally couldn't hold back and came up to salute: "Your Majesty, the million arrows we brought are almost all used up. The war horses are losing weight due to frequent driving and poor diet. Daibei and Lanshi are still invaded by the enemy, and Jinyang is also... The soldiers are tired and exhausted. The soldiers are thinking about their families and are afraid of this and that... Let's go! Let's fight hard as soon as possible, and then it's over. Even if we can't win, forget it... It's better not to be distracted here and waste so much food and grass, which will make our already poor family situation worse..."

Once someone starts talking, others will follow suit.

"The enemy attacked Daibei, and the foreign troops were in great turmoil."

"There are also rumors that the Shatuo soldiers in Jinyang City are planning to launch a mutiny, support Duke Kening, and cut ties with the king!"

"Now we are stuck in the middle, and it is not so easy to defeat a saint. What is the next step?"

"If the king wants to fight or march, we will follow him. If we just stand there in Guanzhong and do nothing like this, it will only wear out the morale of the soldiers. If the soldiers are unable to move, I will not be responsible! What if something goes wrong and the army starts to make trouble..."

"We are all trusted confidants of the king. We have no other ideas, but we ask for clear instructions!"

"If you want to fight, then just fight quickly. I really can't sit still any longer."

A group of people surrounded Li Keyong and chattered. The impatient ones tugged at Li Keyong's sleeves and almost pulled Li Keyong's arms: "Let's go!"

Li Keyong threw his hands and glared at his trusted generals: "Go? Where to go? Turn the army north now. I, Li Keyong, am not so timid as to be so petty! I don't believe that the dog emperor and the court dare to trap the last main force of Sheng Tang here and fight with me for years! If you want to defeat me, it will take two or three years. Am I made of paper? The damn Sheng Tang is in such a mess! If the dog emperor dares to move, he will have to kill Sheng Tang! If you piss me off, Zhu Dalang and Yang Shouliang from Shanzhou will join forces and I will turn Chang'an upside down!"

Everyone looked at Li Keyong in horror.

It was as if he had just met their king for the first time.

It was not until this moment that they seemed to see clearly what kind of person King Li, whom they had always loyally followed, was.

Li Keyong just smiled coldly: "Until now, he has not called on the allied forces of the princes... In my opinion, he is just betting that I will give in and leave. I have been in the world for twenty years, and my strategy and judgment will never be wrong!"

The generals bowed their heads and said nothing.

Li Keyong paced back and forth in annoyance. Just as he was about to say something, there was a commotion in the camp.

After a while, I saw a few dusty cavalrymen dismounting from a distance: "Urgent military business!"

All the generals couldn't help but look back.

What emergency military business?
Did the owner of Jinyang City change?
The Yan army is at the gates of the city?
The princes of Heshuo rose up in arms?
Everyone felt a sinking feeling in their hearts.

Li Keyong remained calm and just watched several cavalrymen bow down in front of him.

Everyone pricked up their ears to listen, but those knights were whispering beside Li Keyong's shoulder.

After listening to this, Li Keyong was silent for a while and asked them to rest.

Everyone looked at Li Keyong eagerly.

Li Keyong paced for a while, then raised his hand to call everyone to come over. The Shatuo general who had spoken first asked anxiously, "What's the urgent matter?"

Li Keyong shrugged and smiled: "The food supply route has been cut off. Li Sizhou, Geshu Jin, Yin Shouzhi and other 40,000 troops entered Jinzhou and cut off the Fenshui Valley Road."

The crowd was stunned, and then there was a great uproar: "Isn't there still more than 10,000 troops of Xiao Han in Gaoliang River? Is Xiao Han gone?"

Li Keyong's face darkened: "It's still there, but it's the same as if it's gone. There's not much difference."

After saying this, he suddenly threw his cloak away, left with his hands behind his back, leaving the generals looking at each other in bewilderment and talking among themselves.

Damn it, it’s over!

(End of this chapter)