Ji Han Liu Zhang

As a monarch, when facing a matter, he will receive many completely different suggestions from his advisers. Some of these suggestions are good and accurate and will lead to victory, while some are bad and terrible and will lead to failure.

Just like now, when flags were lowered and the city gates were wide open in the south of Chang'an City, and it seemed that some people in the city wanted to surrender to Liu Zhang, Peng Ying, a military officer, expressed his opposition, believing that it was a treacherous conspiracy of Li Jue and Guo Si. On the contrary, Zheng Du, who served as a military officer, believed that this was an opportunity, an opportunity that could not be missed. By seizing this opportunity, they could capture Chang'an City and reach Guanzhong in one fell swoop.

Two counselors, two contradictory suggestions.

At this time, as the monarch, Liu Zhang needs to carefully adopt one of the suggestions. This suggestion needs to be correct. Otherwise, if he chooses the wrong suggestion and takes a wrong step, he will fall into the trap set by Li Jue and Guo Si, leading to a great defeat.

Liu Zhang did not make a decision immediately. His eyes swept over Jia Xu and Fa Zheng. The suggestions from Peng Ying and Zheng Du were not enough for him to make a decision. He needed a more capable strategist to make plans for him.

"My lord, this opportunity cannot be missed." Jia Xu said with a bow. His words were exactly the same as those of Zheng Du, the military officer.

"Xu guessed that there must be a rift between the generals in Guanzhong and Li Jue and Guo Si. They were suspicious of each other and wanted to strike first, so the two sides fought in Chang'an City, which led to the current situation where the fire broke out in the city and the South Gate was wide open."

Fa Zheng stepped forward and said, "Mingsir, the situation in the city is just as Jia Jun said. Jia Jun knows people and predicts things, there is no other in the world. The whereabouts of the generals in Guanzhong and Li Jue and Guo Si will not escape Jia Jun's grasp."

Jia Xu, Fa Zheng and Zheng Du all agreed to send troops, only Peng Ying opposed. In terms of numbers and weight, it seemed that Liu Zhang should have followed the advice to send troops. However, nothing is absolute. After all, sometimes the truth is often in the hands of a few people.

However, this time, Liu Zhang planned to follow the crowd and called out to the back, "Zi Jing."

Meng Da, who was standing behind Liu Zhang with his hands behind his back, heard this and immediately stepped forward, turned in front of Liu Zhang, bowed and said to him, "Mingsir."

Liu Zhang glanced up, as if he was watching white clouds and flying birds. He said, "I heard that Zijing is very familiar with Chang'an City. Every brick and tile is still in front of me."

"Yes, I am from Pingling, Fufeng. I lived in Chang'an for a period of time in my early years. Therefore, I am very familiar with the city walls and alleys of Chang'an... I am not bragging, I can walk around Chang'an with my eyes closed." Meng Da boasted and spoke confidently.

Liu Zhang withdrew his gaze from the clouds, smiled and nodded: "Then I'll trouble you, Zijing, to go and see if the news of Chang'an's surrender is true or not. If it is true, you can go to the city gate and open a passage for our army."

"Remember, we don't know whether this is true or not, so you must be careful and don't put yourself in danger."

"Don't worry, my lord. You can't deceive me with just a bunch of bandits... I will help you capture Chang'an and conquer Guanzhong." Meng Da said with great enthusiasm.

Although Meng Da said this, he couldn't help but feel nervous. After all, he didn't know whether the surrender of people south of Chang'an was true or not.

But if it is true, he can get a great achievement, after all, he is the first person to step into Chang'an City. However, if it is false, if he is not careful, he may be trapped in the city and his life is in danger.

Meng Da thought to himself that the order he had received was very risky but also very rewarding, but he would never know the outcome until the very end.

However, Meng Da glanced at Fa Zheng obliquely, and seeing the hint in his best friend's eyes, he felt relieved. No matter what, Fa Zheng would not let him do anything extremely risky. With Fa Zheng's guarantee, how could he not feel at ease?

"Zhongye." After appointing Meng Da as his general, Liu Zhang called Wen Pin and said, "Zhongye, you can be his successor. If things go wrong, you can send troops to rescue Zijing."

Liu Zhang provided a combination of Meng Da in front and Wen Pin behind. At a time when the real news in the city was unknown, it was most appropriate to let Meng Da, a traitor, explore the way.

Finally, Liu Zhang reminded him: "If you take the southern wall, remember not to rush into the city first. Wait until the fighting in the city is over before considering entering the city."

"Yes." Meng Da and Wen Pin each bowed in agreement, then rode away on horseback to lead their troops.

Looking at the receding backs of Meng Da and Wen Pin, Liu Zhang felt relieved for some reason. He felt that the news that the South Gate of Chang'an was wide open and that someone had surrendered must be true, and the city of Chang'an would be his.

"Send an order." Liu Zhang turned his gaze back to the front, where he was attacking the western wall of Chang'an. He issued an order: "Tell Gan Ning, Lou Fa, Yin Pu and others to increase the strength and intensity of the attack and put pressure on the Liangzhou bandits who are still defending the western wall."

"In addition, order Zhang Ren and Zhang Xiu to lead their elite cavalry to circle the city and kill the Liangzhou soldiers who are fleeing the city. Remember not to let Li Jue and Guo Si escape."

Orders were passed down one after another, and heralds followed their orders and left.

Liu Zhang stopped where he was, quietly waiting for the result. Jia Xu, Fa Zheng, Peng Ying, Zheng Du, as well as the local scholars in Guanzhong, Zhang Ji and Wei Kang, were also silent, waiting for the result.

Soon, Guo Si, who was defending the west wall of Chang'an, felt the pressure. The attack of the Shu army suddenly became sharp and fierce, which made him feel a little breathless. However, Guo Si's heart was in a mess. At this moment, he was not worried about the battle situation in front of him. He was more concerned about the situation in the city.

After Li Jue left, the chaotic situation in the city not only did not improve or settle down, but instead it was like adding fuel to the fire. The unrest and chaos in the city became more intense, with columns of smoke rising into the sky everywhere, and the sounds of gongs and drums and fighting resounding throughout the city.

"Chang'an can no longer be defended!" Guo Si came to a conclusion in his mind. With powerful enemies outside and worries inside, how could Chang'an City be defended?

In desperation, Guo Si prayed to the gods, hoping that Li Jue could quell the chaos in the city and defend today's Chang'an City so that he could survive for a while longer.

"Hold it, hold it for you, Nai Gong." Guo Si urged his soldiers to either draw the powerful crossbows or draw the bows to shoot arrows to counterattack the Shu army attacking the city. The longer the battle lasts, the better, giving Li Jue time to quell the rebellious soldiers in the city.

At this moment in the city, Li Jue was in a state of extreme ferocity. His eyes were bloodshot and murderous intent was constantly revealed in his eyes.

As the commander-in-chief, Li Jue disregarded his own safety and repeatedly led his personal guards to attack and kill the rebellious generals in Guanzhong.

After defeating a wave of spearmen under Hou Xuan and Cheng Yin, Li Jue took a short break. He pulled his cousin Li Ying over and ordered him, "Go, tie up the wives and families of Hou Xuan, Cheng Yin, and Liang Xing and bring them to the front. I will kill them one by one in front of them."

Li Jue knew that today's matter would not end well, so he decided to do something to please himself. Facing Li Jue's cold and piercing orders and his ferocious and bloodshot eyes, Li Ying hurriedly nodded and agreed, saying that he would go and kidnap the families of Hou Xuan, Cheng Yin, and Liang Xing.

Li Jue loosened his grip slightly and let Li Ying go.

Not long after, Hou Xuan and Cheng Yin, who were on the opposite barricade, saw their wives and children being tied up in front of the battlefield. Their wives and children were crying loudly in panic, and their cries reached their ears. They were about to die in front of the battlefield.

"Li Jue, what do you want to do?" Cheng Yin left the battlefield and questioned Li Jue.

He deliberately provoked her by saying, "Have you not heard that disasters will not affect your family? If you act like this, I'm afraid you will be laughed at by heroes all over the world and be infamous for thousands of years."

"Tsk." Li Jue made a tsk sound, revealing his scarlet gums. He said in a smug voice, "You are a traitor, a shameless rat. How dare you criticize me?"

"You know that your days are coming to an end, so you should do whatever makes you happy. What people say doesn't matter, and what principles you follow don't matter."

Seeing Cheng Yin's increasingly ugly expression, Li Jue became even more pleased: "Kill them all, leave no one alive. Today I will teach you, the traitorous pig dogs, to be alone and helpless."

Under Li Jue's order, his personal guards attacked the families of Hou Xuan, Cheng Yin, Liang Xing and others with their swords. Then, wailing sounds rang out, echoing in the ears of Hou Xuan and Cheng Yin.

Seeing this scene, Hou Xuan and Cheng Yin almost went crazy. Their emotions pushed them to go forward to rescue their families, but their reason told them not to act rashly. After all, the archers in Li Jue's camp had already drawn their bows and arrows, waiting for them to rush forward and shoot their two main generals.

"Ah..." Hou Xuan roared, "Li Jue, I swear to kill you."

Li Jue, who was standing opposite him, became even more pleased when he heard this. He jokingly said, "Nai Gong is right here, waiting for you to take his life."

Spurred on by Li Jue's unprovoked killing, Hou Xuan and Cheng Yin no longer reserved their strength to fight Li Jue as before. Instead, they set an example by personally leading their personal guards to fight.

For a time, there was chaos in Chang'an City.

Faced with the chaos in the city, Shao He and Dang Jian, two leaders of the Liangzhou Qiang tribe who were lured by Li Jue and Guo Si, were somewhat confused.

The commander of the Shaohe Division asked, "What's going on?"

He was puzzled as to why the generals from Guanzhong, who were his allies, suddenly started to attack the troops of Li Jue and Guo Si, and judging from the fighting between the two sides, it seemed that they were really angry and the situation was one of life and death.

When Qu Shuai from Jianbu shook his head, he sighed, "I don't know... For no reason, I don't know why the two families started fighting."

Commander Qu of the Dangjian tribe was also puzzled. Logically speaking, shouldn't allies help each other?
However, as Qiang people, it is common for them to betray their allies and counterattack their allies. The leaders of Shao He and Dang Jian did not wonder for too long. They just thought that there was a friction between Li Jue, Guo Si and the generals in Guanzhong, or that the uneven distribution of spoils triggered a war.

The leaders of Shao He and Dang Jian quickly turned their attention to the present. When the situation was unfavorable, Li Jue, Guo Si and the generals in Guanzhong not only did not cooperate sincerely, but attacked each other instead. This showed that Liu Zhang, the governor of Yizhou, was bound to win this game. They, the Qiang and Hu who were serving as servants, had to consider a way out.

The Qu Shuai from the Shao He and Dang Jian departments looked at each other without saying a word, and both of them saw the answers they wanted from each other's eyes.

'It's time to moisturize.'

Chang'an is not a place to stay for long. It will be taken by Liu Zhang, the governor of Yizhou, sooner or later. If this group of Qiang and Hu people fall into the hands of Liu Zhang, the governor of Yizhou, they will probably not end up well.

With the same conclusion, the commanders of Shao He and Dang Jian immediately took action. Now the western city wall was under attack and the southern city wall was in the hands of Liang Xing. The closest wall to them was the northern city wall, so they led their Hu cavalry towards the north gate.

While the city was in turmoil, the leaders of Shao He and Dang Jian easily left the north gate. They were planning to leave Chang'an, burning, killing and looting their way back to Liangzhou, but they were unaware that the cavalry of the Shu army was stationed outside the city.

The leaders of the Shao He and Dang Jian tribes did not take it seriously. They believed that they were from Liangzhou and their soldiers had first-rate cavalry skills, which were not something that the mere Shu knights could deal with. So they led their cavalry and charged forward regardless of the consequences. In order to set an example, they even took the lead in charging forward.

Facing the charging Qiang cavalry, Zhang Ren and Zhang Xiu looked at each other, then they looked away, locked onto their respective targets, and led their cavalry to meet them at the same time.

Soon, the commanders of Shao He and Dang Jian found out that they were wrong, and very wrong. The Shu cavalrymen they faced head-on were incredibly powerful, and were apparently superior to them in both riding and cavalry warfare skills.

Here we have to mention Zhang Ren and Zhang Xiu who fought against the commanders of Shao He and Dang Jian. After two or three rounds of fighting with Zhang Ren and Zhang Xiu, the commanders of Shao He and Dang Jian couldn't help but feel their scalps tingling and cold sweat running down their backs. The two men, who had been fighting with swords and guns for many years, knew that they were no match for Zhang Ren and Zhang Xiu. If they fought for a few more rounds, they would have to die here.

As if they had kicked against an iron plate, the Qu Shuais of the Shao He and Dang Jian departments became panicked and they really wanted to escape.

But Zhang Ren and Zhang Xiu would naturally not let the military merit that was about to be obtained slip away, and the two of them pressed forward step by step, each wielding the spear in his hand with great force, stabbing at the leaders of the Shao He and Dang Jian tribes.

Within a few rounds, the leaders of Shao He and Dang Jian fell off their horses as expected, and their souls returned to the underground.

The Qiang cavalry under the command of the two leaders Shao He and Dang Jian, seeing their leaders dead, dared not fight anymore and fled in all directions. For a moment, the ground seemed to be filled with scattered flocks of birds.

"I have always had more dealings with these Qiang and Hu people. Why don't I clean up the escaped Qiang cavalry, and Zhang Xiaoqi can stay here and guard." Zhang Xiu bowed and asked Zhang Ren for permission, and he gave a proper reason.

Zhang Ren nodded in agreement. He cupped his hands and said soothingly, "Thank you very much."

"I dare not." After a humble word, Zhang Xiu led his cavalry to chase after him. (End of this chapter)