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

Chapter 1682: In front of Ziwei Palace, Li Xuan VS Empress Wu
The surging waters of the Yi River broke through the inner gate of Qixia Gate and rushed directly into Luoyang City.

The soldiers all around fled in a hurry. Only a team of Qianniu Guards was guarding the south gate tightly. Under the command of the team leader, they closed the gate in a panic.

The flood was temporarily blocked outside the door, and everyone just breathed a sigh of relief, but at this moment, the leader of the team suddenly turned around vigilantly, and his face changed drastically in an instant.

"Duo Duo Duo..." Countless crossbow arrows fell from the air in an instant, and in the blink of an eye, all the Qianniu Guards were nailed to death.

The next moment, hundreds of Luozhou Prefecture constables rushed out from the alleys, holding crossbows.

Anyone who was still alive among the Qianniu Guards was shot with an arrow.

At the outermost gate, Liu Zhirou, who had heaved a sigh of relief, walked out with Di Renjie, Yao Chong, Song Jing, Wang Dezhen, Ouyang Tong, Cen Changqian, Yao Lingzhang, Yang Jiong, Du Shenyan, Lai Sui and a dozen others.

Standing at the door, Liu Zhirou turned around and looked at everyone and said, "Okay, everyone, the Qianniu Guards have all been dealt with. There is no need to worry about the Queen of Heaven making a final move."

Everyone fell silent for a moment, especially Wang Dezhen, whose expression was even more complicated.

He went to pick up Ouyang Tong, Cen Changqian and others from prison, but he never expected that Empress Wu, who issued the amnesty decree, actually lied.

When Wang Dezheng came to pick them up, the Qianniu Guards actually arrested him as well.

In the same situation as him was Dou Lu Qinwang, who went to pick up Dou Xuande. Both of them were arrested.

However, compared to Wang Dezheng and others who were escorted to Qixia Gate, Dou Xuande and Dou Lu Qinwang had already disappeared.

"The flood entered the city, and Luoyang was restored." Yao Lingzhang looked up at the sky and said softly, "The chaos of the previous emperors and the demon queen of the Tang Dynasty has finally been quelled today."

"I may have to request a transfer later." Di Renjie suddenly spoke, and everyone looked at him in surprise.

Di Renjie shook his head and said with a look of disappointment, "Prince Peng mentioned to me several years ago that if there is a chance, I should try to transfer to another place. It was because I did not see the situation clearly at that time that I ended up in this situation today. From now on, I will go to the local area to gain more experience."

Everyone fell silent. Di Renjie was the next prime minister favored by both Emperor Gaozong and Empress Wu.

Although he is now also imprisoned in Qianniu Prison, in fact, the punishment he received is the lightest.

Because he was born in Bingzhou.

Emperor Zhongzong was dead, and Empress Wu was obviously waiting to get rid of Li Xuan before re-employing him. But unfortunately, if this was not a big deal before, it would probably be a big problem in the future.

Overcorrection will inevitably lead to overcorrection.

Even with Li Xuan watching from above, Di Renjie was afraid that it would be difficult for him to stay in the center, so it would be better for him to just leave.

Di Renjie turned and looked in the direction of Dingding Gate and said softly, "Prince Peng is about to enter the city."

A loud "boom" suddenly came from the northeast.

Liu Zhirou suddenly raised her head and looked towards the northeast in surprise. She said in disbelief, "That's the location of Luoyang East Water Gate. Could it be that Luoyang East Water Gate has also been breached?"

"The navy under King Peng is about to enter the city." A trace of worry flashed in Di Renjie's eyes.

Everyone fell silent. At this moment, a fierce voice suddenly came from the direction of Qixia Gate outside the square gate: "Kill!"

In an instant, everyone seemed to hear the sound of countless knives and spears piercing bodies.

The entire Luoyang city was covered with blood.

……

With a "creak", the gate of Dingding Gate opened completely.

Su Baotong and Shatuo Zhongyi stood on both sides respectively, and countless black-armored soldiers stretched from the entrance to the exit on the other side of Dingding Gate.

Li Xuan raised his head slightly. On the Dingding Gate, one black-armored soldier after another stood behind the parapet and completely occupied the top of the city.

Li Xuan bowed seriously to Su Baotong and Shatuo Zhongyi, and then rode his horse into Dingding Gate.

Pass through the city wall and go out from the north gate of Dingdingmen. In front of you, the straight Dingdingmen Avenue leads directly to Ziwei Palace.

In an instant, countless sounds of fighting reached Li Xuan's ears, telling him clearly that Luoyang City had not yet been completely pacified.

"What's the current situation in the city?" Li Xuan stopped his horse and turned to look at Su Baotong.

Su Baotong immediately bowed and said, "Reporting to the commander-in-chief, Qixia Gate, Houzai Gate, Hui'an Gate, Anxi Gate, Shangdong Gate, Jianchun Gate, Yongtong Gate, and Luoshui Gate have all been taken. The troops are trying their best to fight their way to Tianjin Bridge and rush into Ziwei Palace. Yan Huaidan is gathering the defeated troops and retreating to Duanmen Gate. There are still many defeated soldiers in the city."

"Cui Ding!" Li Xuan turned around and looked to the other side.

"I am here." Cui Ding stepped out from behind with a bow.

Li Xuan nodded and said, "Now, lead your 3,000 Jinwu Guards to capture the Jinwu Guards' Left and Right Street Envoys. With them as the center, gather the scattered Jinwu Guards in the city, eliminate the rebels and the defeated army in the city, maintain the law and order in Luoyang, and tell the troops that Luoyang City is back under the rule of the Tang Dynasty. Everything should be done according to Tang law. No one should act recklessly in Luoyang City."

"Yes!" Cui Ding immediately bowed, and then quickly led his three thousand Jinwu guards towards the city.

"Zhou Qian." Li Xuan turned sideways, and Zhou Qian immediately stepped forward and bowed, saying, "I am here!"

"Gather them, rebuild the Left and Right Qianniu Guards, contact the Chief Secretary of Luoyang Prefecture, the Magistrate of Henan County, and the Lieutenant of Luoyang County, and order the people not to leave their respective quarters and to assist the Jinwu Guards in pacifying Luoyang City. If necessary, you can follow my order and mobilize the guards to assist." Li Xuan raised his head slightly.

Zhou Qian immediately bowed and said, "Yes!"

The next moment, three thousand Qianniu Guards had already rushed into the city from behind Li Xuan.

Li Xuan pulled his warhorse back, turned around and looked at Shatuo Zhongyi, nodded and said, "Old General Shatuo, I know that the Queen is recruiting 100,000 soldiers in Luoyang City. Where are these people now?"

Shatuo Zhongyi smiled bitterly and shook his head, saying, "How can there be 100,000 people? In three days, we just forced people to fill out the list and forcibly recruit people. Now we have only forcibly recruited 20,000 people in total and distributed them on various city walls. At the same time, Yan Huaidan seemed to have noticed it long ago and replaced the elite troops at each city gate under the city gate. Qixia Gate was breached first, and he led his troops to Qixia Gate..."

The gates of Luoyang city were not breached at the same time. The first gate to be breached was the Qixia Gate.

Afterwards, the Luo River, Yi River, Jian River and Chan River converged into the Luo River at the same time.

The sharp wooden stakes carried by the torrent broke through all obstacles on the Luo River in one breath, and with their last breath, they rushed to the Luo Water Gate.

Immediately following with a loud "bang", the Luo Shui Gate exploded.

Afterwards, the Youtun Guards at the city gate rushed in directly from the Luoshui Gate and then captured the Shangdong Gate.

At the same time, the Left Guard, together with the Right Guard and the Right Leading Army Guard, captured the Jianchun Gate and the Yongtong Gate, and then counterattacked the elite defenders led by Yan Huaidan... They were called elite defenders, but in fact they were just lazy troops who had enjoyed peace for many years. How could they compare with the elite border troops under Li Xuan.

In an instant, they were killed and defeated, and even lost Houzai Gate and the entire west city of Luoyang, and retreated directly towards Tianjin Bridge.

It was at this time that Wang Fangyi broke through Hui'an Gate, which was second only to Dingding Gate.

Finally, Shatuo Zhongyi sneaked into Dingding Gate and directly persuaded the commander of Dingding Gate to surrender.

From then on, all eight gates of Luoyang were broken.

Li Xuan immediately took full control of the entire situation in Luoyang. His eyes fell on the front, outside the Ziwei Palace where fierce fighting was taking place.

That was Empress Wu's last refuge.

Since the battle at Xishi Pass, Li Xuan has been intentionally or unintentionally guiding Empress Wu to where she is today.

Today, it was time for him to face her.

Li Xuan turned sideways and said, "Bo Yu, uncle, let's go."

Chen Ziang and Wang Bo immediately became solemn and nodded, saying, "Yes!"

Li Xuan raised his head and urged his horse forward. Su Baotong, Shatuo Zhongyi, Chen Zi'ang, Wang Bo and others, as well as countless black-armored cavalrymen, followed behind Li Xuan, like a straight black arrow, pointing directly at the Ziwei Palace.

……

"kill!"

"kill!"

"kill!"

Countless soldiers rushed frantically to the south end of Tianjin Bridge, charging fiercely towards Duanmen, and trying to kill their way into Ziwei Palace.

At the north end of Tianjin Bridge, Yan Huaidan sent his men onto the bridge one by one with a cold face, and then watched them being pierced directly by long spears. The entire battle line was quickly forced to the north of Tianjin Bridge.

Suddenly, huge cheers came from the south of Tianjin Bridge.

Yan Huaidan looked up and saw the familiar black banner at a glance.

Unfortunately, he couldn't see Li Xuan in the dense sea of ​​gunfire.

But it's enough.

Looking at the black-armored soldiers who were about to be killed, Yan Huaidan turned sideways to look at the dozen or so personal soldiers under the bridge on both sides not far away, and then nodded heavily.

The next moment, Yan Huaidan's personal soldiers pressed hard on a brick on the outside of Tianjin Bridge.

The bricks immediately sank deep into the ground, and the bricks on both sides tilted instantly.

Almost at the same time, the entire Tianjin Bridge suddenly heard a series of "creaking" sounds, and the entire bridge began to shake completely in an instant.

The soldiers on the bridge suddenly became unstable, but before they could react, they heard a loud "bang" and the entire bridge collapsed instantly.

Countless soldiers fell into the Luo River under the bridge at once.

It was at this time that countless Fuyuan crossbow arrows shot out from the walls of Duanmen, and suddenly, the surface of the river was covered in blood.

One after another, boulders rolled down from the walls of Duanmen directly into the Luo River, splashing countless water and killing countless soldiers.

Corpses floated up from the Luo River.

"The defense of Ziwei Palace is unparalleled in the world, and its reputation is well-deserved!" Wang Fangyi stood beside Li Xuan, looking at the Ziwei Palace opposite, with endless solemnity on his face.

The terrain of Ziwei Palace is the highest in Luoyang City, and the thickness of the city is even higher than the city wall of Luoyang.

The elite city defense equipment placed on it is much stronger than that on Luoyang City.

Not to mention, the Ziwei Palace is not very big, and with its huge military force, its defense makes it rock-solid.

"People's hearts." Li Xuan shook his head calmly, looked up at the Duanmen Gate, and said softly: "Now that Luoyang has fallen, there is only one Ziwei Palace left. The whole world has surrendered, and there is no external help. It won't be long before they collapse on their own."

"Then what are you going to do?" Wang Fangyi looked at Li Xuan and said sideways: "Wait?"

Li Xuan looked at the extremely solid Ziwei Palace in front of him, sighed softly, looked at Wang Fangyi, and said: "Xuan has now summoned the governors of 300 states to send people to Luoyang. He must let them see the big flag with the word 'Zhou' on the Ziwei Palace, and wait for the emperor to return."

Wang Fangyi nodded slightly, his eyes fell on the flashing yellow banner above the Duanmen Gate, and he said softly, "She's here."

……

Dressed in red and golden armor, with a golden dragon-studded helmet on her head, the heroic Empress Wu appeared under the yellow banner.

Yan Huaidan, Wu Sansi, Fan Lubing, Yang Xuanjian, Guo Daiju, Guo Zhengyi, Miao Chuke, Qian Weidao and more than a dozen other important officials of the court stood on both sides of Empress Wu.

Empress Wu's eyes fell on the black banner opposite, she took a deep look at it, and then looked at Yan Huaidan.

Yan Huaidan immediately stepped forward and said loudly, "King Peng, please come forward and listen to my order."

Everyone on both sides of the Luo River looked at Li Xuan.

A hint of contempt flashed across Li Xuan's lips, and he turned sideways to look at Wang Bo.

Wang Bo rode slowly forward on his horse, and the troops immediately retreated to both sides.

Standing on the south side of Tianjin Bridge, Wang Bo took out an imperial edict from his sleeve and slowly unfolded it.

Raising his head, Wang Bo looked at Empress Wu above the Duanmen.

His eyes were full of hatred.

(End of this chapter)