A lowly soldier becomes king, I slaughter my way through the late Tang Dynasty!

Once you have this idea...

More and more people began to pack up their belongings and flee Bianliang overnight.

I don't think Li Rui is bound to lose.

Instead, we cannot place all our hopes on Li Rui.

As the days went by.

Gradually, rumors unfavorable to Li Rui began to appear in the city.

It is mostly a legend that someone who fled from the north witnessed Li Rui fleeing without a fight.

Some say they're heading east, others say west, and some even say they're heading south.

Rumors come in all shapes and sizes, and are inherently full of flaws.

In such a time of widespread anxiety, even the most ridiculous rumors can become unsettling.

In an instant, the number of people fleeing overnight surged!

Bianliang was thrown into chaos once again.

Zhao Hongyin's imperial guards numbered only a thousand men, which was insufficient to control Bianliang, a city of two hundred thousand people.

Thugs, hooligans, thieves, and bandits have resurfaced.

Just like Bianliang before Li Rui entered the city.

The entire city was filled with the deathly atmosphere of a fallen nation.

The order that had been painstakingly established was on the verge of collapse once again.

That afternoon, a deafening commotion suddenly erupted at the north gate of the city.

Two armored soldiers reined in their horses beneath the city walls.

He held a human head up with a gun and shouted loudly.

"Great victory at Baimajin! General Yulong has decisively defeated the traitor Zhang Yanzhe, and his two thousand vanguards have been annihilated!"

The bandit leader Zhang Yanzhe has been executed. The general ordered me to bring his head to the capital!

The moment those words were spoken, the city gate fell into a deathly silence.

The soldiers guarding the city stood frozen in place, dumbfounded, unable to believe their ears.

Until the knights below the city shouted again.

"Lower the basket and take the head up with you!"

Bamboo baskets were lowered down, and heads were pulled up onto the city wall.

All the imperial guards stationed on the north side immediately swarmed forward to be the first to investigate.

Does anyone know Zhang Yanzhe?

"Come quick! Is that him?"

When the blood-stained cloth bag was opened, a mangled, grotesque head was revealed.

One of the Imperial Guard commanders had met Zhang Yanzhe once during a grand court assembly.

He pushed through the crowd and carefully examined it.

His expression immediately changed, both surprised and delighted!

"That's him! Absolutely!"

In a short time.

The city wall defenders erupted in chaos!

"It really is Zhang Yanzhe!?"

"If it's fake, I'll give you my head!"

Everyone was overjoyed!

The sword of Damocles that had been hanging over our heads for the past few days has actually been removed!?

They hurriedly turned around and tried to let the two swordsmen into the city so they could properly admire and praise them.

However, after delivering the message and the head, the two knights immediately rode away.

Seeing this, the Imperial Guards had no choice but to hang up Zhang Yanzhe's head.

As Li Rui instructed, send his head to the capital!

The news spread like wildfire, sweeping across the entire city of Bianliang in an instant.

The news spread from one street to ten streets, and from ten streets to the whole city.

The previously closed gates of the neighborhood were all opened wide.

People flocked out, filling the long street, and rushed to the north of the city to see what was happening.

Zhang Yanzhe's head was already hanging high, being pushed by the Imperial Guards from the north of the city all the way to the south.

When the people saw the head, they had no idea what Zhang Yanzhe looked like.

But seeing this head, everyone believed it.

This is Zhang Yanze!

He is really dead!

He was killed by General Yulong at Baimajin!

"How was he killed?"

Someone asked a question with surprise.

How could the Imperial Guards responsible for delivering the head have known?

But their adoration for Li Rui had reached its peak.

Therefore, without thinking, he shouted loudly.

"How else could they have killed him? General Yulong stood guard on the south bank of Baima Ferry, sword in hand!"

As soon as Zhang Yanzhe and his five thousand rebels arrived, General Yulong went up and chopped Zhang Yanzhe up like cutting melons and vegetables!

Of the five thousand rebels, two thousand elite soldiers were brutally murdered! The remaining three thousand fled as far as they could!

Upon hearing this...

The people were instantly stunned and stood there dumbfounded.

Previously, they were terrified of Zhang Yanzhe and his five thousand rebels, but now, upon hearing of the easy battle, they realized how much they had been afraid.

The more shocked everyone was!

Wasn't it said that with five times the troop strength, the danger was unpredictable?

Wasn't it said that Zhang Yanzhe was a skilled warrior and that General Yulong might not be able to defeat him?

Why is reality different from the legends?

What utter bullshit is Zhang Yanze?

What kind of bullshit is this, five times the number of rebels?

Didn't they still get ambushed and killed overnight, their entire army wiped out, and their heads and bodies separated?

Before the world-renowned Jade Dragon General, they are all trash!

The fear, despair, and dread of national subjugation that the people had been accumulating for days exploded at this moment!

It turned into boundless ecstasy!

"Hahaha, we won! We won!"

"Zhang Yanzhe is dead! General Yulong is mighty!"

"We don't need to breach Bianliang! We don't have to die!"

The people knelt and wept bitterly, the old and weak kowtowed in ecstasy, and the young and strong raised their arms and shouted.

In recent days.

The despair of Du Chongwei's betrayal, the surrender of his entire army, and the collapse of the country was too heavy and too burdensome.

Zhang Yanzhe's large-scale southward march put the officials and people of Bianliang in a very difficult position!

The people of Bianliang had long believed that all was lost and that their only remaining hope lay with Li Rui, a warlord from Hebei.

But no one expected that in this desperate situation, it was actually Li Rui who saved them from the dead end!

Praise arose instantly among the common people, and spread far and wide.

Some say that Li Rui was possessed by a deity, charged into the enemy lines alone, and killed Zhang Yanzhe with a single blow right in front of five thousand rebel soldiers!

Some say that Li Rui performed a ritual on the altar, summoning divine thunder from the heavens, which instantly killed Zhang Yanzhe's two thousand elite troops!

Some say that Li Rui attracted two meteorites, one large and one small, with the larger one killing two thousand elite rebel soldiers.

The small one hit Zhang Yanzhe directly in the face, killing him instantly!

Otherwise, where did the dented blood hole on Zhang Yanzhe's nose come from?

In short.

All the rumors and praise can be summed up in one sentence.

The survival of Bianliang was entirely due to the efforts of General Yulong!

In less than half a day.

An artist has already painted a huge portrait of Li Rui, which is displayed in the north of the city.

Upon hearing this, the people flocked to kneel and worship.

They even offered grain and money as a token of respect.

The scattered morale of the people in Bianliang City was once again restored.

Inside the palace.

Shi Zhonggui, who was drowning his sorrows in alcohol and in a state of utter despair, heard this news.

He was stunned.

He just sat there on the ground, clutching the wine jug.

He remained frozen in place for a full half hour.

His fingertips were trembling slightly.

His eyes were brimming with tears of regret.

Sudden.

Shi Chonggui burst into laughter after his tears.

His shoulders kept shrugging, his hair was disheveled, and he kept emitting unpleasant laughter.

Gradually, the silly laughter evolved into maniacal laughter.

Furthermore, he became even more frenzied.

"Hahahaha! Hahahaha!"

Inside the empty palace, maniacal laughter echoed continuously.

Shi Chonggui raised the wine jug, looked up at the sky, and shouted joyfully.

"With Minister Li, what worries do I have about not destroying the Khitan? What worries do I have about recovering Yan and Yun? What worries do I have about unifying the world?"

Hahaha! Li Qing, Li Qing, come quickly and drink! You and I, ruler and subject, will be remembered for eternity! Hahahaha…”

outside the temple.

The young eunuch silently shed tears.

His Majesty has finally gone mad.

Now, he has begun to fantasize about Li Rui pledging allegiance to him.

Then he led the mighty army of the Great Jin Dynasty, conquered Yan and Yun, destroyed the Khitan, and unified the world.

However, fantasy is ultimately just fantasy.