subvert the late Tang Dynasty

Huang Chao's army had left Luoyang City on November 21, the first year of Guangming, and marched westward. On the same day, Li Xuan in Chang'an City appointed his eunuch "Father" Tian Lingzi as the commander of the eight towns inside and outside the Shence Army and various Taoist soldiers. The command system of Madu set up a recruitment envoy, and Yang Fugong was the deputy envoy.Li Xuan ordered Tian Lingzi to lead the left and right shence troops to reject Huangchao in the east and guard Tongguan.

Ru and Zheng, who were retreating to Tongguan, set up the interception and sent Qi Kerang to Chang'an for emergency, asking the imperial court to send a large army for support.

But at this time, there were not many soldiers and horses available in Chang'an City at all. The Shence Army that Tang Taizong Li Shimin used to rule the world has lost its glory.Most of the soldiers in the Shence Army are the children of rich families in Chang'an. They are very good at flying eagles and horses on weekdays and bullying the people. Where have they experienced real war scenes?

When those dudes heard that they were going to go to war, they all trembled in fright and cried with their heads in their arms.For the sake of their lives, most people can only pay more money to hire poor people to replace them and go out on their behalf.

Tian Lingzi was domineering and domineering on weekdays, even the emperor didn't pay attention to it. Now when he heard that Li Xuan sent him to attack Huang Chao, how could he dare to go?Hurriedly appointed Zhang Chengfan, general of the left army and horse army, as the vanguard envoy of soldiers and horses and the envoy of Tongguan, and Wang Shihui, general of the infantry army of the right army, was the envoy of food and materials at the pass.Let Zhang Chengfan lead [-] crossbowmen to guard Tongguan first, and Wang Shihui will lead the grain and grass to follow.

Knowing that Zhang Chengfan's departure was a disaster, he hurried to his home to explain, and then went to bid farewell to Emperor Li Xuan.

Zhang Chengfan exchanged tears and said: "Huang Chao has hundreds of thousands of troops, marching westward with drums, and Qi Kerang relies on the outside of the pass with tens of thousands of hungry soldiers. Even with the addition of more than 2000 troops from Weichen, he still hits the army of Huang Chao with eggs and stones. And the lack of military pay, wouldn't the soldiers be chilled? I hope that His Majesty will send a large army eastward to Tongguan to meet him as soon as possible."

Hearing his sorrowful words, Li Yan had to bite the bullet and said: "Zhang Aiqing just go ahead, let everyone not worry, the army will arrive soon."

Zhang Chengfan couldn't hear Li Xuan's perfunctory, he let out a long sigh, and backed out.

Here Zhang Chengfan's [-] crossbowmen had just left Chang'an, and Huang Chao's army had already occupied Shanzhou (Shaan County, Henan Province). After a little reorganization, the army continued to advance westward.

Zhang Chengfan led more than [-] people all the way eastward, and they were running out of food. They passed by Huazhou and wanted to go to the city to borrow some food.But Zhang Chengfan didn't know until he entered Huazhou City that the defenders in the city had all fled and the residents were only old and weak.When Zhang Chengfan arrived at the treasury, the treasury had been ransacked by the fleeing soldiers and civilians, there was nothing of any value left, only scurrying rats and bats were left in the treasury.

Zhang Chengfan was so angry, he led people to search more than a dozen warehouses in Huazhou, and finally found some grain in a small warehouse in a corner.Finally, being able to cope for two or three days is better than nothing.

It was already the first day of the twelfth lunar month when Zhang Chengfan arrived in Tongguan, and Qi Kerang, who was stationed outside Tongguan, had run out of food. Hearing that the imperial court had arrived in Tongguan, he rushed to borrow food.When we arrived at the gate, we saw Zhang Chengfan's 2000-odd horses and horses. As soon as he mentioned the matter of borrowing grain, Zhang Chengfan smiled wryly and said: "All the rice is enough to make a meal, plus your more than [-] horses and horses." If not, you can only have a meal of porridge."

Not to mention that Zhang Chengfan and Qi Ke made the two of them lament relative to each other. At this time, Huang Chao was not far from Tongguan.Meng Kai, who is now serving as a forward, has already passed Guozhou (now Lingbao, Henan), and is only tens of miles away from Tongguan.

Meng Kai rode on his horse and greeted the generals: "Brothers, work hard and reach Tongguan in the afternoon as much as possible." With a whistle, the soldiers urged their horses to gallop and headed for Tongguan in the northwest direction.

Zhu Wen, who was recuperating in Luoyang City, was recovering from his injuries at this time. In his memory, Huang Chao's army occupied Tongguan and captured Chang'an City in the past few days.He felt a little uneasy, this was a moment that related to the success or failure of the rebel army, how could he calm down and recuperate in Luoyang?

What's more, although Luoyang City is nominally owned by the rebel army, most of the defenders are the original defenders of Luoyang. If the situation in Chang'an really develops as recorded in the history books, he can't guarantee that the defenders of Luoyang will not fall again. One side of the Tang Dynasty.

Zhu Wenwen and Huang Ying tidied up briefly, and took [-] personal guards led by Xu Huaiyu out of the Xuanhui Gate on the west side of the imperial city, heading straight for Tongguan in the northwest.

Huang Ying said: "Third brother, your injury is not healed yet, let's not hurry on our way, my father is in front of us, why don't you worry about it?"

Zhu Wen shook his head and said: "My injury is almost healed. Now is the critical moment. Although with the strength of the rebel army, it should not be difficult to capture Chang'an City, but I am still a little worried. I am afraid that even if we capture Chang'an City, it may not be difficult. It can really overthrow the rule of the Tang Dynasty. After all, the Tang Dynasty has a foundation of nearly 300 years. As the saying goes, a centipede is dead but not dead. As long as the Tang Dynasty survives, there is a possibility of a comeback.”

Huang Ying said in disbelief: "It's not as mysterious as you said, is it? Most of the towns in the Central Plains have taken refuge in the rebel army, and the roads in other important border towns are remote and out of reach. What is in the bag of our rebel army?"

Zhu Wen sighed: "You are thinking too simply. The few towns that surrendered to us are just forced by the situation and have to do so. But they have been courtiers for a long time, and they may not be willing to work for the rebels. What's more, most of them are repeated. Little man, once the situation is not favorable to the rebel army, they will definitely attack us immediately and turn against us."

Huang Ying said, "Then what should we do?"

Zhu Wen pondered for a while, and said: "I don't know either. I just want to get to Chang'an as much as possible before the rebels take Chang'an. I'm afraid that something will happen when the rebels arrive in Chang'an."

Huang Ying asked suspiciously: "With my father in charge, what kind of trouble can happen?"

Zhu Wen shook his head and smiled wryly: "Although Master is the general leader of the rebel army, he may not be able to restrain such a huge rebel army. Chang'an has long been the imperial capital, and although the prosperity of the city may not be comparable to that of Luoyang, it can reach officials, nobles, and royal relatives." There are quite a few family relatives, most of them are rich and powerful families. Most of the rebels came from poor families. After they arrive in Chang'an, they will definitely not easily let go of those dignitaries and relatives of the emperor. Once the rebels start killing in the city, they will If you want to ban it, you may not be able to ban it."

Huang Ying said, "Is it really as mysterious as you say?"

Zhu Wen didn't speak. He couldn't let him say that after the rebel army captured Chang'an, they wantonly killed and plundered the rich merchants, princes and nobles in the city. These are all facts that have been recorded in the history books, right?If you tell her like that, ghosts will believe it.

Seeing that Zhu Wen was silent and looked thoughtful, Huang Ying didn't bother him.She was used to seeing Zhu Wen's expression like this. Zhu Wen would often be in a daze alone, not knowing what he was thinking.But she knew that he was a good man who cared for the people of the world, and that was enough.

Zhu Wen suddenly raised his head and said, "Ying'er, do you think Master will be the emperor?"

Where did Huang Ying think about this question, she thought for a while and said, "I guess not? My father's temperament may not be suitable for being an emperor, but being a general would be good, hehe..."

Zhu Wen shook his head and smiled bitterly: "If you want to be the emperor or not, you may not be able to let him go. There are so many brothers in the rebel army. They are willing to follow Master to fight in the north and south, isn't it entirely for the people of the world? Most people think nothing more than It is to be able to get rich rewards. After the master becomes the emperor, they will become the heroes of the founding of the country. They can hold great power, worship officials and confer titles, and glorify their ancestors. But if the master does not want to be the emperor, how will these people achieve their goals? At that time They will ask Master to be the emperor. Only then can they really get what they need."

While they were talking, they galloped their horses, Huang Ying said with a smile, "Then what do you need?"

Zhu Wen thought for a long time, then sighed: "I don't know, maybe the people in the world can live and work in peace and contentment is the result I want most. I really don't want to live such a life of ups and downs. If I can, I would rather want to be more ordinary and be able to live and work with others." Loved ones stay together for life and grow old together."

After hearing Zhu Wen's words, Huang Ying felt happy and said happily, "When our rebel army captures Chang'an and overthrows the Tang Dynasty, let my father marry us."

Zhu Wen was inexplicably confused. He knew that their marriage could not be as smooth as she imagined. If Zhu Wen really married Huang Ying, history would definitely be rewritten!If that is the case, it is impossible for Zhu and Wen to take refuge in the imperial court anyway, how will history develop?Zhu Wen didn't know, for the existing history, he only knew an outline, that is, a general direction of development. The demise of the Tang Dynasty was inevitable, but not now!

Zhu Wen hurried on, he really didn't know why he wanted to rush to Chang'an as soon as possible, did he really want to change this most critical period of history?Is it to persuade Huang Chao to kill Li Xuan who is about to flee to Xichuan?Ang or want to stop the impending chaos in Chang'an City?Maybe these are all what he wants to do, but with his strength, can he do them?

He doesn't know, but he will definitely do his best to make sure that the Tang Dynasty has no room to stand up. Only in this way can the chaotic history of the end of Tang Dynasty not repeat itself.

At the same time, Qi Kerang and Zhang Chengfan's troops had finished eating the last grain, and the soldiers still felt a little hungry, especially Qi Kerang's troops were even more hungry.There was still no sign of the imperial court's grain transportation team, and Meng Kai's troops were less than ten miles away from Tongguan.

Zhang Chengfan hastily ordered his troops to set up defenses at Tongguan, and Qi Kerang also set up a formation in front of the pass, waiting for the arrival of Meng Kai's army.

Tongguan can be said to be the only way to go west to Guanzhong, and it is also the last line of defense in the capital Chang'an, but can the more than [-] troops in this area really stop Huang Chao's more than [-] troops?