First Minister of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 597: Soldiers Arrive at Stone City
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Seeing that Tan Dian was deep in thought, Feng Xuan did not force him to express his position quickly. He still poured and drank slowly, as if he was taking care of Tan Dian.

Tan Dian was also struggling at this time. From a realistic perspective and looking at it rationally, he understood that what Feng Xuan said was true. With just tens of thousands of his followers, it would be absolutely difficult for him to compete with the imperial court in the face of the general trend. , after all, times are different.

What we need to face now is a unified Central Plains dynasty. Tan Dian has not lost his mind, nor is he so arrogant as to oppose the imperial court with the strength of tens of thousands of officials. He has always been wandering on the edge, in Gao Chong's words. To put it bluntly, it is a crazy temptation on the verge of death.

Although he knew that there was a huge difference in strength, Tan Dian was also very dissatisfied. He had always had an unruly personality and had held an official position in the former Sui Dynasty. However, he could not stand the practice of claiming vassal status and paying tribute. He only wanted to continue to show off his power in the mountains as a Wouldn't it be happier for a chief to be dominated by one person?

"Feng Er, you came here to persuade us to surrender in order to save your life. I don't blame you, but there is no way I would agree to this."

Thinking that after coming down from the mountain, he would have to pay tribute and serve as a minister under Feng Ang, and listening to Feng San's instructions, Tan Dian suddenly became firm in his mind. Wouldn't it be like going back to the past hundred years when the Tan family was vassalized by Feng Ang? This situation is absolutely unacceptable to Tan Dian.

"Brother Tan, are you really determined to have your own way?" Feng Xuan's face suddenly became flustered, and he no longer had the calmness and calmness he had before. He thought that Tan Dian would definitely listen to his advice, but he didn't expect that Tan Dian's obsession was so deep. .

"Absolutely impossible," Tan Dian said coldly, "If you try to persuade me again, don't blame me for being ruthless."

Feng Xuan's face turned pale, beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, and he looked panicked and murmured: "If we set the mountain on fire, you and I will inevitably die."

When Tan Dian heard this, he felt irritable in his heart and walked away angrily.

When Feng Xuan saw this, he didn't stop him. Now Tan Dian didn't fall out in person because of their many years of friendship. If he, as a lobbyist, was so ignorant and careless, Tan Dian might really hit him hard.

After all, when it comes to public affairs, Tan Dian hates the government, and privately, Tan Dian hates the Feng family.

Feng Xuan drank alone for a long time, until he was eighty drunk and staggered to the door.

"I have ordered you to take you to the guest room to rest." The guard at the door also heard about Feng Xuan's reputation and did not dare to neglect him, so he helped Feng Xuan down.

The attempt to persuade Pansheling to surrender reached a stalemate. On the other side, Gao Chong led his army to march straight in, directly crossing Wuzhisiling, the boundary mountain between Gaoluo and Luozhou, and entering Luozhou.

The five counties of Luozhou are Shicheng, Zhaoyi, Linglv, Wuchuan, and Nanhe. In fact, only Shicheng, Zhaoyi, and Wuchuan on the coast are the administrative centers. These two or three cities are worth mentioning. The other two cities may be located in remote locations. , or located in the mountains, barren and wild, they have never been taken seriously, and even the government is just a decoration.

Zhaoyi City is in the middle of Luozhou, with Baizhou to the north, and Shicheng, the administrative seat, in the east of Luozhou. Entering Luozhou from Gaozhou, crossing Shilong, the administrative seat of Nanshizhou, you can approach Shicheng.

As early as when he entered Luozhou, Gao Chong had received relevant information about Shicheng. There were only more than 1000 people stationed in Shicheng. The commander was Tan Heng, the son of Tan Dian, 800 of whom were original Luozhou soldiers, and more than [-] of them. They are soldiers in the mountains.

These soldiers can now also be called Tan's soldiers. They originally lived in the vast mountains, and later relied on Tan Palace to survive, listened to his recruitment, and fought for them. Therefore, it is not wrong to call them Tan's soldiers. .

One thousand to one hundred people, this number can only be more or less. Luozhou is already barren. If it were not close to Leizhou and other places, there would be no troops stationed. Although there are 100 people, there should not be more than five combatable soldiers among them. Hundred.

In particular, this place has not fought a bad battle for many years. When Tan Dian fought out of the mountains, he captured Luozhou without much resistance, which can be seen from this.

Five thousand soldiers and horses were stationed outside the stone city. Before the sky darkened completely, Gao Chong led everyone outside the city to observe the city defense.

"Jing Lue, how do you plan to use your troops?" Pang Xiaojie was gearing up and asked a little excitedly: "The general will be allowed to run at will."

He has admired Gao Chong's past achievements for a long time, and now he finally has the opportunity to fight with Gao Chong, and he is very excited.

Gao Chong stared at the city with his hands behind his hands. He turned around and saw Pang Xiaojie's fighting spirit. He just smiled softly and said, "Five thousand soldiers, facing a thousand miscellaneous soldiers, do you still need to ask me how to use my troops?"

Pang Xiaojie grinned when he heard this, "That's true. With just one charge, the general is confident that he can kill them all." But after saying that, his face turned bitter, "But they won't leave the city either."

Gao Chong nodded slightly and looked at Tian Yangming and others, "What do you think?"

Tian Yangming scratched his head, "It's a bit difficult for 5000 people to attack the city. Besides, we also build siege equipment."

Upon seeing this, the deputy general from the Feng family said: "5000 people are not enough to attack the city, so we can only lure the rebels out of the city to fight. However, the person guarding the city is Tan Heng. I am afraid this thief will not easily fall into the trap." .

Gao Chong glanced at Vice General Feng with some surprise. This man was Feng Ang's disciple. He was taciturn along the way and had little sense of presence. However, this short speech contained two contents. One was to lure the rebels out of the city, and the other was to lure the rebels out of the city. Ertan Heng will not fall into the trap easily.

Although Vice General Feng did not speak much, this sentence contained a lot of content, and there were also many capable people in the Feng family.

Gao Chong also nodded in agreement, "Tan Heng is very similar to his father in acting cautiously. Now he is on a defensive posture and will obviously not leave the city easily."

Seeing that Gao Chong agreed with Vice General Feng's words, Tian Yangming thought hard for a while, and then said: "Then persuade him to surrender. Feng Xuan can persuade Tan Dian to surrender, then we can also try to persuade Tan Heng to surrender, if it works."

Hearing this, everyone shook their heads unconsciously, indicating that it was not feasible.

Pei Xingjian stepped forward and gently tugged on Tian Yangming's sleeve, "Brother Ziguang, when my master recruited Qianzhong, if Duke Huiguang had not joined him, would you have left the city without permission and joined him?"

Seeing that everyone didn't agree with it, Tian Yangming felt dissatisfied and was about to talk endlessly.

Hearing Pei Xingjian's words, he immediately choked and glared at him angrily, "It's a war, little brat, don't interrupt."

Pei Xingjian covered his mouth and laughed.

What Pei Xingjian said was very appropriate because of his pure heart. If Tian Zongxian had not announced his surrender back then, Tian Yangming would definitely not have made any independent decisions as a descendant.

Now, by the same token, Tan Dian, the father, is still in Dazhai in the rear, and Tan Heng, the eldest son in the front, should not be able to leave the city and return, unless there is a grudge between father and son.

Everyone outside the city was observing the city defenses unscrupulously, and the people on the city were also panicked.

Tan Heng looked at the Tang army encamping in full swing outside the city with a heavy expression, and his palms holding the handle of the knife were already slightly sweaty.

There were at least 5000 Tang troops outside the city, and the banners they carried were those of military envoys, generals, and governors. Their fighting spirit was high and terrifying.

On the other hand, he was well aware of the quality of the Shicheng garrison. The eight hundred soldiers were basically defeated soldiers left over from the Sui Dynasty. Not only did they have no fighting spirit, they even lacked soldiers and armor. The only people Tan Heng could rely on were the three hundred officers. There are many soldiers, but the number is too small, and the soldiers are not good at offensive and defensive warfare. The strength of the two sides is very different, and it is absolutely difficult to resist.

"Da Lang, why don't I go out of the city and kill for a while while the Tang army is busy setting up camp?" the deputy general beside him said fiercely. Although his words were cruel, judging from his expression, he must be in a heavy mood.

Tan Heng immediately shook his head, "No, there are few of us, it's best to stick around and wait for help. If we venture out of the city, we might fall into a trap."

The deputy general responded in a muffled voice when he heard this.

"Has the messenger been sent?" Tan Heng asked. "The Tang army was dispatched as early as when it arrived outside the city," the deputy general replied, "Are we just waiting here for the old man to come to our rescue?"

"Do you have a better way?" Tan Heng's eyes narrowed and he asked in a deep voice: "The person who came here is not good, but what the purpose is is not clear yet. Everything still needs to be decided by me, Aye. Any People are not allowed to make arbitrary decisions."

The lieutenant had no choice but to agree.

As the sun sets over the western mountains, the last golden glow on the horizon gradually disappears, leaving only an orange-red afterglow.

Shicheng is located in the southwest corner of the Yunkai Mountains. It is high in the north and low in the south. The mountains in the north are undulating, and the sedimentary plains on the south coast are gentle. It is not only the seat of the state government, but also the richest and most potential city in Luozhou.

As long as Shicheng is conquered, Luozhou will be recovered in a certain sense.

Gao Chong stared for a long time, twisted his slightly stiff neck, turned around and left, "Go back and rest, you will take turns on duty tonight, and we will leave the camp at noon tomorrow to fight."

Pang Xiaojie and others responded and were very excited about the next day's challenge.

After Feng Xuan's words, Tan Dian couldn't sleep all night. He always felt that he was a member of the army, and he should not provoke the officials and soldiers by making small troubles in this mountain.

The most extreme thing he did over the years was to respond to Ning Daoming and launch an army to attack Gaozhou and tie up Feng An's troops. However, after Ning Daoming was defeated, he immediately withdrew his troops and returned to the mountains and never came out.

Now that we are back in the mountains, Gao Jinglue probably won't bother to pay attention, Tan Dian thought in his mind, and fell into a daze in the middle of the night.

The moonlight was bright, and the Liao messenger sent by Tan Heng stumbled and finally arrived at Panshe Ridge. After a briefing, he completely woke up Tan Dian from his sleep.

"He, he actually came to attack?" Tan Dian looked shocked.

Then he yelled, "Feng San, it must be Feng San's guy. If he hadn't been a hindrance, the military envoy would have arrived in Guangzhou by now."

The messenger was trembling and did not dare to say anything, so he could only say tremblingly: "Old man, Dalang is still waiting for your rescue."

"I will send troops after dawn, go down." Tan Dian waved his hands anxiously.

The messenger was too busy to say goodbye and leave.

Only Tan Dian was pacing back and forth in the room, restless. Suddenly, he shouted, "Come here, hold the lamp, and bring Feng Er here."

Not long after, the sleepy Feng Xuan was roughly pulled off the bed. Feng Xuan cursed him all the way. He had been famous for many years and was a well-known figure in Lingnan, but these soldiers dared to push him. , the rude words made Feng Er very angry.

Little did they know that those soldiers were all personal guards of Tan Palace. They already knew that Feng Xuan was here to persuade him to surrender on behalf of the imperial court. Now the imperial court actually sent troops to attack Tan Dalang, and made Dao Lao furious. In this case, the soldiers would definitely not Give Feng Xuan a good look again.

Entering Tan Dian's dormitory, Feng Xuan shouted: "Brother Tan, these brats in your clan are so ignorant that they dare to be so disrespectful to me."

There was a roar, and as soon as Feng Xuan finished speaking, Tan Dian pulled out the short knife and stabbed it hard on the desk, "Feng Er!"

Feng Xuan suddenly became excited and said, "Brother Tan, you...".

Tan Dian gritted his teeth and said, "I cared about the friendship back then and allowed you to persuade me to surrender without harming your life. But you did this to me?"

When Feng Xuan heard this, his face was confused, and even more frightened, "Brother Tan, what do you mean? I have never deceived you."

"How do you explain the Tang army's attack on Shicheng?" Tan Dian said angrily: "In Han Chinese terms, are you building a plank road to attack Chen Cang in secret? You came to persuade me to surrender openly and made me relax my vigilance, and then attacked my city behind my back? Are you looking for death? !”

Speaking of the latter, Tan Dian couldn't hold back his anger, grabbed the teapot on the desk and threw it at Feng Xuan.

Feng Xuan had not practiced martial arts for a long time and was over sixty years old. How could he avoid it? With a scream, the teapot shattered to the ground. Feng Xuan covered his forehead with blood oozing out from between his fingers.

"Tan Dian, stop," Feng Xuan shouted in pain.

Tan Dian vented his anger and knew that he could not kill Feng Xuan now. He took a deep breath and shouted: "Come here, bandage him, don't let him die here."

The guard at the door hurriedly came in, cleaned up Feng Xuan, poured a bunch of black powder on him, then tore off a sticky piece of clothing and tied it on Feng Xuan's forehead, and the bandage was completed.

Feng Xuan held back the pain and forced himself to ask: "You said that the Tang army has arrived in Shicheng?"

"Tan Heng just sent someone to ask for help. How could it be false?" Tan Dian snorted coldly: "What's your explanation?"

"No, it shouldn't be." Feng Xuan was also panicked, "The five-day deadline has not yet expired."

"What five-day deadline?" Tan Dian frowned and asked.

Feng Xuan was shocked and could only say truthfully: "Gao Chong gave me a military order. If I can't persuade you to come down from the mountain within five days, I will set fire to the mountain."

Tan Dian was also frightened and said, "It's so cruel."

Then he reacted and spat: "You Feng Er is getting more and more confused as you live. He only threatened to set fire to the mountain in five days. He never said that he would not attack Shicheng. You are doing a lot of harm to people."

Feng Xuan was panicked when he heard this, and his face changed rapidly. In this panic, Feng Xuan suddenly grabbed a glimmer of light and exclaimed: "I understand, I understand, this is what Gao Chong did deliberately, he knew you didn't If they surrender easily, they will send troops to force them.”

After saying that, he struggled to get up and grabbed Tan Dian's shirt tightly, "Dalang, listen to me, you can't hesitate anymore. That Gao Chong is a ferocious god. He forced Ning Changzhen to death in Qianzhong. You Confronting him will not end well."

Hearing this, Tan Dian felt extremely angry and pushed Feng Xuan away, "Don't raise his ambition. I, Tan Dian, have never been afraid of anyone in Luozhou."

Tan Dian's swipe also completely aroused Feng Xuan's desire for survival, and he glared and shouted angrily: "You are seeking death. Even if Gao Chong's conscience found that he would not come to burn the mountain, he issued an order to recruit troops from Lingnan to attack. How would you respond? Apart from other things, how do you deal with the combined efforts of Feng Chenning and the three families?"

Tan Dian was speechless again and just gasped and glared angrily.

"After dawn, you and I will go to Shicheng quickly and explain the situation," Feng Xuan continued. "As far as I know, there are only a thousand guards in Shicheng, and most of them are old and weak. If we go a little later, I'm afraid that my nephew Heng's life will be in danger." It’s not guaranteed.”

"He dares?" Tan Dian suddenly became furious, "If so, I will fight to the death with him."

Feng Xuan had calmed down by this time and was arranging his messy clothes. The pain in his forehead made him palpitate. At the same time, he also felt a trace of hatred towards Tan Dian. He had just narrowly avoided being hit to death.

(End of this chapter)