At the end of the Sui Dynasty

Chapter 617

If there are still loyal ministers in the current Sui Dynasty, then Yanmen County Governor Chen Xiaoyi is definitely one of them, and he is the one who devotes himself to death and dies. It is not an exaggeration to call Zhang Xutuo the second.

For example, when Liu Wuzhou rebelled last year, when Li Yuan, who stayed behind in Jinyang, was still hesitating and pretending, Chen Xiaoyi was the first to send troops to attack Liu Wuzhou.He teamed up with Huben Lang and Wang Zhibian to send troops together, and almost put Liu Wuzhou down, but unfortunately he failed because Liu Wuzhou invited reinforcements from the Turks. Chen Xiaoyi and Wang Zhibian lost to the Turkic cavalry, and the latter died on the spot. Chen Xiaoyi led the remnant soldiers to flee back to Yanmen and stick to it.

Afterwards, Liu Wuzhou attacked Yanmen County several times, but was repulsed by Chen Xiaoyi. Liu Wuzhou had no choice but to attack Loufan County near Mayi County first. At this time, Li Yuan, who stayed behind in Jinyang, was plotting to raise troops and had no time to pay attention to Liu Wuzhou. So with the help of the Turks, the latter successively broke through Loufan County and Dingxiang County, and their military power became stronger and stronger.

In order to win the favor of Shibi Khan and gain more support from the Turks, Liu Wuzhou sent all the maids and property looted from the Fenyang Palace to the Turks and dedicated them to Shibi Khan, and Liu Wuzhou got his wish as he wished. The strong support of the Turkic people, and he was named "Dingyang Khan", to put it bluntly, he is the "son emperor" under the seat of Shibi Khan, and the so-called "Dingyang", as the name implies, is to calm down the Yang family. To disgust and insult Yang Guang.

As a loyal subject to the Sui Dynasty, Chen Xiaoyi couldn't help being furious when he learned of this, and swore in public that he would fight to the end with Liu Wuzhou, a national scum like Liu Wuzhou, and never die!

However, what happened next made Chen Xiaoyi feel desperate and extremely angry, because Liang Shidu in Shuofang and Guo Zihe in Yulin also rebelled successively, and they all colluded with the Turkic people without exception.

What made Chen Xiaoyi most angry was that Li Yuan, the highest military commander in the Hedong region, stayed behind in Jinyang and rebelled with him. On the surface, under the banner of "Aiming to Respect the Sui Dynasty", in fact, he was doing rebellion and quickly marched into the army Guanzhong.

So far, the entire Hedong area is full of rebels, only Yanmen prefect Chen Xiaoyi is left alone. Soon, even Yanmen City has become an isolated city, because after Liu Wuzhou captured Loufan and Dingxiang, the soldiers Wei Dasheng turned around and continued to attack Yanmen County. The five counties under the jurisdiction of Yanmen County fell one after another. In the end, only Yanmen City, which was guarded by Chen Xiaoyi himself, was still struggling.

In this way, a lonely official, a lonely city, has been guarding for more than three months, and the city has run out of food, and still prefers to die rather than surrender, so I have to say that Chen Xiaoyi's utter loyalty to the Sui Dynasty is really awe-inspiring Respectfully.

At this time, the sun was setting and the afterglow was like blood.

Standing on the top of Yanmen City, Chen Xiaoyi squinted his eyes and looked at the enemy barracks outside the city. The setting sun stretched the walls of the city and his shadow to the ground far away, looking extremely desolate and peaceful. lonely.

At this time, Chen Xiaoyi looked very thin, and his long-term malnutrition made his face sallow and sallow. The worn official robe seemed to be draped on a skeleton, and when the wind blew, it would cling to the bony body. If the body is tied with another string, I'm afraid he will fly like a kite.

"That's weird, why doesn't Liu Wuzhou, the traitor, stop attacking? And he put on a defensive posture, who is he defending against?" Chen Xiaoyi was full of doubts, thoughtful, and naturally said to himself: "Could it be that the emperor sent troops to help?" ?”

Thinking of this, Chen Xiao couldn't help but his eyes brightened, but soon dimmed again, because in the past half a year, he had sent several groups of people to Jiangdu to try to contact the emperor, but unfortunately they all fell into the sea in the end, and there was no news at all.

Looking at his own lonely shadow, Chen Xiaoyi couldn't help but secretly sighed, now there are rebels all over the place, the roads are blocked, even letters can't be sent out, and the emperor is trapped in Jiangdu, he can't protect himself, how could he send troops to help?

It is now the end of February. In fact, Yang Guang had already been murdered on the [-]th day of the first lunar month. He had been dead for more than a month, but Chen Xiaoyi had been trapped in Yanmen City and had not received any news. Up to now, he still thinks that Yang Guang still alive.

Chen Xiaoyi observed on the top of the city for a while, but couldn't figure it out, so he turned around and drove away, his stomach made a rumbling sound, it was because he drank too much water, a stomach with no food at all was like a bucket, and it was difficult to walk. There was a rattling sound.

"My lord, have some porridge!" A loyal old servant brought a bowl of porridge in front of Chen Xiaoyi.

It is said to be porridge, but it is actually just a porridge and rice soup, and it is a very bland rice soup, with a few grains of rice scattered in it, which is not enough to fit between the teeth.

Chen Xiaoyi took the bowl and brought it to his mouth to drink. The soldiers all around stared straight at him, swallowing continuously.Chen Xiaoyi took a sip, turned around and walked in front of a wounded soldier, squatting down with some difficulty, and brought the bowl to the wounded soldier's mouth.

The wounded soldier's lips were all chapped and skinny, but he pursed his mouth and refused to drink. It wasn't until Chen Xiaoyi spoke in an orderly tone that he opened his mouth and took a few sips, crying, "Thank you, sir!"

"I should thank you, thank you for always accompanying me to guard the city, never leaving." Chen Xiaoyi patted the wounded soldier on the shoulder, then went to another wounded soldier and fed a few mouthfuls until a bowl of " porridge" all finished.

The old servant wanted to remind Chen Xiaoyi to drink himself, so he opened his mouth, but he didn't say anything in the end.

Chen Xiaoyi fed all the bowl of "porridge" to the wounded soldier, and finally licked the bottom of the bowl clean, then handed it back to the old servant, turned and walked into the tower.

The tablet of Zhang Xutuo was enshrined in the center of the tower. Chen Xiaoyi walked up to the tablet, lit three sticks of incense, and bowed respectfully three times.

"General Zhang can't protect the Sui Dynasty, nor can he protect Yanmen City!" A familiar voice suddenly sounded from behind.

Chen Xiaoyi turned around slowly, and found that standing behind him was Captain Zhang Lun, and behind him were ten soldiers who blocked the gate of the tower, and they all looked nervous.

Chen Xiaoyi frowned and said: "Although General Zhang couldn't protect the Great Sui, he died fighting to protect the Great Sui. General Zhang couldn't protect Yanmen City, but he can inspire our soldiers to swear to protect Yanmen City."

Zhang Lun shook his head and said: "General Zhang just encouraged the county guard. The soldiers just want to have food and save their lives. The city has been out of food for more than ten days. The brothers are starving, and the people are also starving. The county Doesn't the guardian know?"

Chen Xiaoyi sighed and said: "Of course I know, won't I also starve with everyone?"

Zhang Lun shook his head and said, "But what everyone wants is not to be hungry, so what if adults are also hungry?"

"What's the high opinion of Captain Zhang?" Chen Xiaoyi frowned.

"Kaicheng surrendered. If you don't surrender, everyone will starve to death. What's the point of defending?" Zhang Lun said lightly.

Chen Xiaoyi said angrily: "You want to surrender to the rebels?"

"Brothers just want to live!"

"What if the officer disagrees?"

Zhang Lun pressed the handle of the knife and said coldly: "Your Excellency, it is best to agree."

Chen Xiaoyi nodded and said: "I understand, but you all seem to be well fed, very energetic and energetic."

Zhang Lun revealed a creepy grin and said, "Because we just ate mutton, two-legged sheep!"

Chen Xiaoyi's complexion changed drastically, and he blurted out: "Beasts, you actually eat people?"

Zhang Lun said with a sneer: "As long as there is a stutter, who will eat people? We are too hungry. The people in the city have already changed their sons to eat. Why should Mr. Chen pretend to be confused? In order to fulfill your loyalty alone Is it really worthwhile for the whole city to be buried with the people of integrity? It may be worth it to you, Mr. Chen, but what about the brothers and the common people? Is it fair?"

Chen Xiaoyi's complexion changed, and finally he sighed and said: "You are right, I am too selfish, I shouldn't drag you to be buried with you, go, those who are willing to leave the city to surrender, go out and surrender, no need to stay with the old man to the death Lonely city."

Zhang Lun said with a sinister smile, "Since you want to surrender, you can't do it empty-handed, so I want to borrow your lord's head."

Chen Xiaoyi lowered his eyes, as if he was not surprised at all, nodded and said: "Then go up and get it yourself." After speaking, he sat down cross-legged, lowered his head, so as not to stain Zhang Xutuo's tablet with blood.

Zhang Lun gritted his teeth, stepped forward, swung his knife and chopped it down towards Chen Xiaoyi's neck.

Seeing that Chen Xiaoyi's head was about to fall to the ground, something suddenly shot down from the beam and hit Zhang Lun's wrist with a crisp sound, and the knife in Zhang Lun's hand fell to the ground in response, causing him to scream in pain and step back, sternly Shout out: "Who plotted against me?"

A figure jumped down from the beam. He was dressed in black and his body was as straight as a pine tree. Under the dim light of the fire, he was about eighteen or nineteen years old. At some point, he sneaked into the city and even hid on the tower without anyone noticing.

Zhang Lun looked at Gao Bufan in surprise, and shouted sharply, "Who are you?"

Gao Bufan said calmly: "Gao Bufan, the name is Changqing!"

Zhang Lun's complexion changed drastically, and he blurted out, "You are the Duke of Qi, Gao Changqing?"

Gao Bufan said indifferently: "Now it is the King of Qi, the emperor's personal appointment."

A strange light flashed in Chen Xiaoyi's eyes, he looked at Gao Bufan suspiciously, and said in a trembling voice, "Really?"

Gao Bufan smiled and said: "There is an imperial decree to prove it, and there can be falsehood."

"Where is the edict?"

Gao Bufan asked back: "Master Chen thinks this king will always keep the imperial decree with him?"

Chen Xiaoyi fell silent for a moment, Zhang Lun's eyes sharpened, and he shouted: "Don't even think about fooling the crowd here, brother, killing him and giving his head to Ding Yang Khan, it must be a great achievement, and the high-ranking officials will have to do it at that time. If you get to ride, you can enjoy endless glory and wealth, so why not be happy?"

Encouraged by Zhang Lun, the soldiers immediately swung their knives at Gao Bufan, trying to hack him to death.

(End of this chapter)