Neon Clothes and Iron Clothes

The firmament-like sky gradually darkened, and first the nearby grass and trees, and then the distant Heyang City, all gradually disappeared into the vast twilight. Because it had just passed the fifteenth day, not long after dark, a bright and bright moon slowly rose from behind the ridge in the east, spreading its soft light on the rolling Yellow River, on the open fields, and on the The pontoon bridge on the river, Zhongli City on the sandbank in the river, the raised Mang Mountain to the south of the river, and the layers of military camps outside Heyang City.

After returning to the tent, Wang Wenzuo freshened up a little and waited for the messenger. The messenger was a Baekje man and Wang Wenzuo's old subordinate. After he bowed respectfully, he told everything about the previous events. From the beginning, Pei Judao entered the palace late at night and placed the emperor under house arrest, and issued an edict to King Pei to supervise the country and seize the power of the imperial army controlled by Cui Hongdu and others. Then Cui Hongdu and others led thousands of cavalry to rush out of Chang'an and rushed to Shaanzhou to meet Yiji. After deliberation, Lian Bode decided to cut off the water transportation, and used the canal grain as a basis to compete with Pei Judao for nearly a month. Later, due to the small number of troops, he lost to Ge Dewei and Shaanzhou fell. They burned their grain and destroyed their boats and fled from Shaanzhou. It was not until Wen County that they got news of Wang Wenzuo's army.

Wang Wenzuo twirled his beard and half-closed his eyes. He had already gotten part of what the messenger said from the official reports that came along the way, but they were mainly one-sided and fragmentary. It was rare to find anything as detailed as what the messenger said. , accurate, but I haven’t mentioned what I care about most!

"Is the emperor still well?"

"Reporting to the general, at least before we left Shaanzhou, we did not hear any news about the emperor's visit!"

"Yes!" Wang Wenzuo nodded: "What about Concubine Yang? Where is Yang Xingjian?"

"My subordinates have never heard anything about these two!"

"Yeah!" Wang Wenzuo breathed a sigh of relief. No news at this time is good news. If the emperor is under house arrest, he will most likely be locked up with his most beloved Concubine Yang. If there is no bad news about Concubine Yang, then the emperor will probably live a good life, at least he will not be treated harshly. As long as the emperor is fine, everything can be undone, and there will be more room for maneuver.

"By the way, you said just now that Murong Mu went back to Chang'an and discussed with Pei Judao about exchanging grain for His Majesty's son, and then stayed in Chang'an?"

"Yes, this is indeed true! The day before the city was broken, a messenger from Chang'an brought his handwritten letter. In addition, there was a sachet, which was said to be a gift from the biological mother of the son of the emperor!"

"Sachet?" Wang Wenzuo frowned. He remembered that Li Hong had already had a son with a palace girl, but the emperor didn't think much of this eldest son of a humble concubine, not as much as the daughter Yang Guifei had just given birth to. It was obvious that Murong Mu and the others valued this child more, probably to prepare for the emperor's absence.

"I understand! You've worked hard, please step back and rest!" Wang Wenzuo at least regained his composure on the surface.

About half an hour after Wang Wenzuo gave the order, the besiegers launched a fierce attack first from the east of Heyang City, and then from the west gate... The winter night that was still silent just now was completely broken by the fierce battle in the blink of an eye. , on the city wall that was several miles long, the raging fire flickered on and off; as the stone bullets tore through the night air, roared and hit the city wall, raindrops of broken bricks and broken stones suddenly hit the city wall. It shot in and out from all directions, and fell down one after another. The rolling whirlwind stirred up the billowing dust all over the sky. In the dust shadow, countless flying crossbow arrows, stone bullets, sword shadows, and knife lights intertwined into a terrifying meteor of cold lightning, chasing the bodies of people and horses crazily and greedily, causing muscles to crack and blood to spurt out. And out. The bright moon, which was looking down at the world peacefully from the sky, seemed to be frightened by the fierce murderous aura, and suddenly became dim. And the human voice - sometimes sharp, sometimes depressed, mixed with bursts of screams, was not drowned out by the sound of war drums. It marched tenaciously and persistently on the top of the city, stirring, circling, and Like an invisible barrier, the night attackers' desire to destroy the city was ruthlessly blocked time and time again.

Heyang City, which woke up from its sleep, was besieged from several sides at the same time, and soon fell into a dilemma of being unable to resist, but it still fought back the waves of attacks. While a brutal battle was going on on the city wall. On the canal leading from Chang'an to Shaanzhou, five large wooden boats with awnings appeared. They were linked end to end and followed closely, like five big fish surfing the waves, driving quickly on the water. Under the blurry moonlight, although the situation on the ship could not be clearly seen, judging from the broad flag on the ship's mast and the neat guards on the ship's side, it was not difficult to guess that this was by no means an ordinary fleet. Yes, this is an imperial envoy ship from Chang'an, and King Pei Li Xian and Zhang Wenguan are on board.

After calming down the crowd in front of Zhuque Gate, Li Xian and Zhang Wenguan planned to make some preparations before setting off in two days. But the urgent military information coming from Heyang disrupted everyone's original plans - according to the military information ahead, the army coming from Hebei was more than twenty miles in front and back, with flags all over the field, covering the sky and the sun. It was just one of the large armies. Another large army had already crossed the Yellow River in Hulao, cutting off the road from Luoyang to eastern Henan. The fall of Dongdu was already a matter of time. Therefore, instead of driving Pei Xingjian back to Hexi as originally planned, the Zhengshitang gave him the power to control the entire Guanzhong army and ordered him to lead troops to reinforce the eastern capital. Obviously, this is no longer a question of trust in Wang Wenzuo. Facing such a huge army, anyone must prepare for the worst.

"Did Wang Wenzuo really do what he said, just to assist the emperor and defeat the rebellious ministers, or did he use this as an excuse to raise his troops westward and do unspeakable things?" Li Xian thought silently as he looked at the moonlight outside the window.

The full moon, which fell to the left side of the river, tilted more and more toward the west, and became increasingly hazy and dim. Deep in the reeds, an unknown water bird was disturbed by the ship and made an uneasy cry of "Jie-ge, Jie-ge". Now, Li Xian felt a little tired from sitting. He moved his body, trying to stretch his numb thighs, but his thoughts continued to move forward. He thought that this generous trip could finally reveal the truth and lead Wang Wenzuo to withdraw his troops and return to the court to assist the government. Needless to say; if he was detained by Wang Wenzuo, then his younger brother, elder brother, sister and other relatives who stayed in Chang'an, as well as Those daily friends may never see each other again! And how much he really wanted to see his old friends in Chang'an again, especially in these difficult times! So, what are they doing now? Hiding at home? Or flee to Shuzhong or Longyou? Or are you on your own journey like yourself?

"No matter what, they should be doing what they should do, just like me now!" Thinking of this, Li Xian let out a sigh of relief, and his mood became a lot more cheerful. He squinted his eyes and stared at the blurry front, and began to imagine that after meeting Wang Wenzuo, he would convince him and take him back to Chang'an, thus relieving the country's original crisis. I am now sixteen or seventeen years old. When Emperor Wen was my age, he had already made great achievements in recruiting reinforcements and driving away the Turks at Yanmen Pass. I also want to make some achievements and prove that I am worthy of being a descendant of the Li family!

With this secret encouragement to himself, Li Xian's tense thoughts gradually relaxed. He looked away from a distance and yawned involuntarily. Although he vaguely remembered, what should he do if Wang Wenzuo refused to withdraw his troops? Do you want to draw your sword and kill yourself to show the spirit that a descendant of the Li family should have? His brain, which had become dull at this time, no longer allowed him to think about it further. His eyelids became heavier and heavier, and his head drooped lower and lower on his chest. Finally, he leaned on the desk and fell asleep... It seemed that he only slept for a while, but it also seemed to last for a long time. Suddenly, Li Xian woke up.

"King Pei, King Pei!"

Li Xian opened his eyes in confusion, and when he saw Zhang Wenguan's familiar face, he wiped the corners of his mouth: "What's wrong? What happened?"

"Hulao Pass has fallen!" Zhang Wenguan's face was grim: "Beiguan and Hezhong Pass of the three passes of Heyang have also fallen, leaving only South Pass. We must speed up!"

"So fast?" Li Xian was surprised and completely woke up: "Weren't you fine yesterday?"

"A general is a general!" Zhang Wengui laughed bitterly: "And there has been no war in the mainland for decades. There are no offensive and defensive equipment at all in the city, and there are very few soldiers to fight! When encountering the Northern soldiers, they will collapse at the first touch!" "Then, So what should we do?" Li Xian asked.

"After daybreak, we went ashore and rode horses and rushed to the South Pass of Heyang. I heard that the guard guarding the third pass of Heyang was an old acquaintance of the general, so the general met him once before attacking the city, so there should be someone there A chance to meet him!”

"Okay!" Li Xian nodded: "Just follow Mr. Zhang's instructions!"

Heyang Nanguan.

"We should be able to arrive at Luoyang City tomorrow!" Lu Zhaolin said.

Wang Wenzuo didn't speak, but nodded to the officers at the dock, indicating that they could start crossing the river.

The sky had already broken, and the faint light on the river flickered with the waves, shattered under the pole, and gathered again after the boat passed by. A thousand soldiers had already crossed the river yesterday. Their main tasks were to harass, attack supply lines, and create disturbances. They completed this job very well and played a great help in the capture of Zhongli City located on the sandbank.

Wang Zhaotang was a good officer, brave and tenacious, but he did not have more than 3,000 available troops, most of whom were temporarily recruited homeless people. These people were not reliable at all. When the war begins, with trumpets blaring in the sky and flags waving, they can still shoot arrows and throw rocks. But when the attackers mount the city wall and face each other hand-to-hand, they collapse and flee. One man drops his spear and a thousand People will follow suit.

Of course, there are experienced and reliable backbones in the garrison, but their number is too small. Everyone has the courage to fight against the enemy, but the courage to fight against the enemy is rare. Facing hundreds of thousands of enemy soldiers outside the city wall, it is very rare for the defenders to be able to hold the last South Pass.

"Let's go back!" Wang Wenzuo got on his horse. He had no interest in the rest of the battle. In an ancient metropolis like Luoyang City, the most important and difficult battle was to open a gap in the periphery, not to capture the weak city wall. Judging from the combat effectiveness of the defenders during the battle at Heyang Pass, it was only a matter of day to break the city.

"Yes!" Lu Zhaolin hurriedly mounted his horse. He could feel that the coach's mood was not high, and he could guess what was going on. However, he did not dare to say anything and just followed behind without saying a word.

Back in the tent, Wang Wenzuo began to process the letters. As the army got closer and closer to Luoyang, more and more letters came from all directions expressing respect and allegiance. More and more people seemed to suddenly remember that they had been on Wang Wenzuo's side from the beginning. While scrambling to send letters and gifts, they stated that they would send reinforcements and supplies to participate in the great cause and contribute to their own success. There was endless quarrel over the position in the new court. A few bold people even wrote in their letters that they had recently watched the sky at night and felt that there had been a change in the sky, which was actually a sign of opening up the past and ushering in the future. Li's luck is about to end, but there are new stars and kings in the southeast.

Wang Wenzuo looked through these letters boredly and threw them aside. These new "friends" made him feel more disgusted than his enemies. No matter who is on the throne: Li, Wu, Wang, Zhao, Huang, they will not mind kneeling down and kowtow to the one who offers them the highest price. Maybe one day I will sit on the throne, but at least I won't buy it from them, Wang Wenzuo thought to himself.

"Put all these letters into the box!" Wang Wenzuo clapped his hands and said to Lu Zhaolin.

"Do you need me to reply to each letter?" Lu Zhaolin asked.

"No need!" Wang Wenzuo waved his hand: "Leave your energy to do something more useful!"

"Yes, but the people who wrote these letters are not ordinary people!" Lu Zhaolin said: "If they don't reply, will they misunderstand -"

"You don't have to worry about this!" Wang Wenzuo sneered: "These guys can never be misunderstood. They are like reeds on the wall. Whichever way the wind blows, they will fall! If you have the strength to write a letter, why not write it? The wind blows louder!”

"Yes!" Lu Zhaolin nodded. Just as he was about to put the letter into the wooden box, Acton came in from the outside. He walked to Wang Wenzuo nervously and whispered a few words. Immediately, the tired and bored look on Wang Wenzuo's face disappeared, and he jumped up from the chair: "Take them to the tent immediately, protect them carefully, and don't let outsiders see them. Yes, they must be kept secret!"

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Li Xian was wearing a coarse linen burqa often worn by soldiers, which made him feel uncomfortable from top to bottom - he had never worn such coarse materials. However, he still held back and walked into a tent among several guards. (End of chapter)