People in the early Tang Dynasty: I compete with Wu Zhao for the throne

Chapter 1670: The long road of blood drops, forcing Li Dan to show up

"Didn't they go to save him?" Li Xuan knelt on one knee in front of Gong Ling and threw paper money into the brazier one by one.

The flames rose instantly, and the firelight illuminated the surroundings.

Under the cover of night, within a ten-mile radius of Hutuo Ridge, countless cavalrymen were patrolling all the time.

Ma Jingchen stood aside with his hands behind his back, and said, "Xue Guwu has been hanging outside Jianchun Gate for half a day, but no one in the city came out to rescue him."

"I'm afraid they don't know how to deal with him." A sneer flashed across Li Xuan's eyes.

Xue Guwu, former general of the Right Jinwu Guard, is currently the general of the Left Qianniu Guard.

One of the participants in the dethronement of Emperor Zhongzong.

"Zhang Qianxu is dead, Wang Xiaojie is dead, Ma Sizong is dead, and there are only a few left now, and he is the most important one." Li Xuan's eyes revealed a hint of hatred.

Zhang Qianxu was recommended to Li Xian by Li Xuan, and many people knew about this.

At least in the eyes of others, Li Xuan made a mistake in this matter. So, it was natural for him to kill those people in anger and shame.

It is precisely because of this that it is understandable that Li Xuan was harsher towards Xue Guwu.

Li Xuan calmed down, raised his head and asked, "How are the various departments doing?"

Chen Ziang stepped forward, bowed and said, "Each unit will charge Luoyang City once every half an hour, with 2,000 cavalry each time."

Li Xuan nodded slightly, pondered for a moment, and said: "After midnight, once every hour, a new group of people will be replaced each time."

"Yes!" Chen Zi'ang bowed and stepped back.

"People in the city are probably also afraid that I will take advantage of the opportunity to do something." Li Xuan stood up, turned and looked towards Luoyang, and said softly: "Nine of the ten gates in Luoyang are moving. The quieter Jianchun Gate is, the less they dare to move."

"Yes!" Ma Jingchen lowered his head solemnly.

Li Xuan smiled, turned around and looked at the tomb of Emperor Zhongzong Li Xian in front of him.

Simple, crude.

Not only Li Xian's tomb, but also Li Hong's tomb later on, are equally simple.

Li Xuan couldn't help but feel a little doubtful.

According to the records of the Ministry of Revenue, the court spent a huge amount of money on Li Hong's tomb.

It is said that the money spent was more than building a mausoleum near Chang'an.

Although it is planned to be spread over the next few years, it should not be as simple as it is now.

Unless, that money is used by someone else for something else.

Li Xuan suddenly felt absurd. Empress Wu actually embezzled the money that Li Hong was going to use to repair the tomb.

Forget it, Li Hong’s incident is over.

Li Xian, Li Xian’s matter will soon be over.

The death of Li Xian was a thorn in Empress Wu's heart that she could not get over. Naturally, she would not build a good tomb for Li Xian on this matter.

"Pass the order down." Li Xuan said, "In the counties around Luoyang, except for soldiers, anyone walking on the road at night must be captured."

"Yes!" Chen Ziang immediately bowed, then turned and left.

Li Xuan collected his thoughts, looked at Li Xian's grave, and continued to sit there and burn paper.

He didn't feel relieved until all the paper money was burned.

Turning around, Li Xuan looked at the entire Gong Mausoleum.

A densely packed military camp capable of accommodating 30,000 people has been fully established.

Further away, on the passages in all directions, small camps have been built on major traffic routes and checkpoints.

Make sure that if something happens, everything can be responded to in the shortest possible time.

Night raids are never easy.

Unless, it rains.

Li Xuan raised his head and looked at the night sky above.

The waning moon is like a hook, and the sky is full of stars.

……

The waning moon sets in the west and the sky becomes slightly brighter.

Chen Ziang got up very early, but when he arrived in front of Li Xuan's tent, there was no one inside.

Soon, Chen Zi'ang arrived at the tomb of Emperor Zhongzong.

Li Xuan was already kneeling on the mat, burning pieces of paper money one by one.

Hearing the footsteps behind him, Li Xuan raised his head slightly and said, "Go check what the grain price is in Luoyang City today?"

"Yes!" Chen Zi'ang bowed solemnly, then turned around and left quickly.

Over the years, Chen Zi'ang has been following Li Xuan and serving as a military officer in the Luoshui Dao. Li Xuan did not hide many things from his subordinates, and he even participated in some secret affairs.

His boss is naturally Yu Ze.

Yu Ze is now in Chang'an helping Li Xuan keep an eye on the retreat, while Chen Ziang follows Li Xuan and takes over everything.

Chen Zi'ang's home was in Suizhou, which was next to Pengzhou. He was considered a fellow villager of Li Xuan and had close relations with a number of Li Xuan's trusted men from Shuzhong.

At 9:00 pm, Chen Ziang finally returned and stood beside Li Xuan, bowing and saying, "Your Majesty, because of your overnight attack on the city yesterday, although it was only a small attack, the price of grain in Luoyang has risen rapidly today, and the people have begun to scramble for grain."

"Yes!" Li Xuan nodded gently and said, "Pass the order down, all armies will continue yesterday's offensive. In addition, from today onwards, build dams to cut off the water supply to the four rivers in Luoyang.

Move quickly, at least tomorrow, let the people in Luoyang City notice the obvious drop in the water level."

"Yes!" Chen Ziang bowed again with a serious expression.

He knew very well that since Xuanyuan Pass was captured, all external channels of Luoyang had been cut off.

It was from that moment that Li Xuan began his full-scale attack on Luoyang City.

In fact, since Li Xuan came to Gongling with great fanfare yesterday to offer sacrifices, rumors in the city have begun to spread widely. The mystery of Emperor Zhongzong's death has been awakened again.

Not only that, Li Mo, who was hiding in the city, had already begun to spread the news that Li Xuan was going to move the tombs of Emperor Zhongzong and Emperor Xiaojing in Luoyang City.

This is no small matter.

In fact, the people in Luoyang City gradually calmed down after the filial emperor Li Hong was buried in Gongling Mausoleum.

When arguing with people in Chang'an, they could also proudly say that Luoyang has the dragon spirit of the Tang Dynasty.

After Li Xian was buried in Gongling, this rumor spread more and more widely.

Some people are even pushing it deliberately.

Now that Li Xuan said he wanted to move Li Xian and Li Hong back to Chang'an, some people in Luoyang city began to get anxious.

Chen Zi'ang could already imagine the anxious looks of some people in the city.

……

Another day and night passed, and Li Xuan's men continued their harassing siege.

In the early morning, dewdrops are just dripping from the leaves.

Chen Ziang walked quickly to Gong Mausoleum, bowed to Li Xuan who was burning paper money and said: "Reporting to the king, the water level of Luo River has dropped by 30%, the people in the city are getting anxious, and the price of grain has risen sharply."

Li Xuan frowned slightly, looked at Chen Ziang and asked, "Shouldn't everything happen so quickly?"

"It's the Yi River." Chen Ziang bowed and said, "A few days ago, before the king conquered the Yi River, the General of the Left Guard, Su Honghui, had already started to build a dam upstream of the Yi River. After the king conquered the Yi River, he continued to build stepped dams, so today, the Yi River no longer flows into the Luo River."

Yishui River is one of the four major sources of Luo River. After Yishui River was cut off, the other three rivers also began to build dams to block water. The water level in the city has dropped significantly.

Li Xuan nodded gently and said, "Very good, go ahead. Also, notify all guards that after midnight tonight, they do not need to harass Luoyang City anymore.

At the same time, I order all generals and lieutenant generals to come to Gongling at noon tomorrow to pay homage to Emperor Zhongzong for the last time."

"Yes!" Chen Zi'ang bowed solemnly and turned around to pass on the order.

After Chen Ziang left, Li Xuan turned around again, burned two pieces of paper money, and then asked sideways: "Do you think that if this is the case, will the emperor show up tomorrow when the king goes to Jianchun's gate?"

Ma Jingchen, who was standing on the side, suddenly became solemn. He finally understood what Li Xuan was doing.

He is forcing Li Dan to show up.

The city had been under siege day and night for the past two days, and the water supply had been cut off. The panic of the people in Luoyang had reached its extreme.

Li Xuan's sacrifice to Emperor Zhongzong was actually a constant reminder to the people in the city that because of the blood feud with Emperor Zhongzong, there would inevitably be a bloody battle in Luoyang City in the future.

It’s even possible that something similar happened, which happened when Emperor Taizong besieged the city for half a year.

In this situation, the people were terrified, the wealthy families were nervous, and the officials were even more anxious to find someone to solve the problem.

It was transmitted layer by layer and could only be transmitted to Empress Wu.

However, it was impossible for Empress Wu to appear on the city wall to meet Li Xuan, so it could only be Li Dan.

But would Empress Wu let Li Dan go to the top of the city wall?

Ma Jingchen bowed his head and said, "It should be possible, but there will be more restrictions. Duke Liang, General Yan, and others will follow."

"Try your best to prevent any accidents from happening!" Li Xuan retracted his gaze and sighed softly, looking at Li Xian's grave in front of him with a hint of pity in his eyes.

Will Empress Wu let Li Dan come forward?
Will Li Dan show up?

Li Xuan's breathing calmed down. Tomorrow will be a very important day.

……

At Jianchun Gate, Wei Yuanzhong walked up to the gate with a worried look on his face. He looked at Yan Huaidan, who was sleeping beside him with a long spear in his arms, the vast fields outside the city, the black military camp at the end of his sight, and Xue Guwu, who was hanging on a long pole and almost dying, in front of the city gate, three arrows away. He asked in a low voice: "What happened yesterday?"

A general stepped forward and said, "Reporting to Doctor Wei, after midnight last night, King Peng's men did not attack the city again."

Wei Yuanzhong nodded slightly, his eyes solemn.

Since he returned to Luoyang, he has now become the Imperial Censor and the Inspector General of the Ministry of War.

Assisted Miao Chuke and Yan Huaidan in defending Luoyang City.

"What do you think? Will Your Majesty come to Jianchun Gate today?" Yan Huaidan's voice sounded from the side, and then he stretched lazily.

"The Queen Mother said, yes." Wei Yuanzhong sighed and said, "It's because we, the ministers, are incompetent. The rebels like King Peng surrounded Luoyang City, and we couldn't defeat him. We had to let the emperor come out to stabilize the situation. It's damned."

"King Peng said that the sacrifice to Gongling will last for three days. As of noon today, it has been three days." Yan Huaidan turned around and looked at the entire Luoyang City. He said solemnly, "The water level of Luo River has dropped by 20% in the past few days. The price of grain in the city has increased tenfold. If the palace does not sell grain at a fair price, I am afraid that the whole Luoyang will be in chaos."

"It's just a drop in the bucket." Wei Yuanzhong shook his head slightly and said solemnly, "Even if there is a lot of food in the two warehouses in the palace, it is not enough for a million people to use for a month. We can only force the grain merchants in the city to take out all the food in their homes. Otherwise, we will have to confiscate their homes."

When Wei Yuanzhong finished speaking, there was an extremely murderous look on his face.

The places with the most grain stored in the city now, apart from the palace, are only the aristocratic families and grain merchants.

Since it is difficult to move against the aristocratic families, the only option is to move against the grain merchants.

Even though these grain merchants have the support of aristocratic families, they will still be the first to be touched when the need arises.

"It won't last long." Yan Huaidan sighed and said, "The main reason why Wang Shichong was able to hold out for half a year was because there were only 400,000 people in the city at that time. Now the population in the city is at least three times that time, and the food... the autumn grain from Jiangnan was not delivered last year."

Wei Yuanzhong's expression also became solemn. Suddenly, a burst of hurried horse hoof sounds came from outside the city, and both of them turned around to look at the same time.

Ma Jingchen, dressed in black clothes and black armor, came to the gate of Jianchun Gate alone on horseback.

He took a deep look at the city wall, then began to put horses on the carriage parked in front of the city gate.

After everything was done, he took out a crossbow from his waist, raised it, and shot an arrow at each of Xue Guwu's left and right feet.

The crossbow arrow pierced Xue Guwu's foot, and blood dripped down his foot.

Ma Jingchen turned around and drove the carriage slowly towards Gongling.

Blood dripped from Jianchun Gate all the way to Gongling.

Wei Yuanzhong and Yan Huaidan, who were standing on the city gate, looked extremely ugly when they saw this scene.

(End of this chapter)