Troubled times: Start practicing spiritual practice by taking care of your sister-in-law.

Chapter 615: Sixty-four: The enemy is at the gates, and dark clouds are looming over the city

Walking northwest from Wang'an County, Chen Jun had a smooth journey.

It is not only a smooth road in the geographical sense, but also in the military sense.

After the Zhang, Gao and Yan families were wiped out in Hexi to serve as a warning to others, the noble families in Hexi seemed to have their backbones broken. Not only did they cooperate very little, they even dared not speak harshly.

Wherever Chen Jun went, the people lined the streets to welcome him.

On February 6, Chen's army arrived at Jushan Pass.

This is the last line of defense before Luonan.
After breaking through Jushan Pass, Luonan is less than a hundred miles away.

It's almost like saying the enemy is at the gates.

When Prince Huai came to the rescue and Xu Guozhong forced the emperor to move the capital to Luonan, the coalition forces did not even reach Jushan Pass.

Chen Mo infiltrated the Supervisory Guard in Luonan, and recently he has been frequently reporting intelligence gathered in Luonan, allowing him to understand the situation in all aspects.

The first is Jushan Pass.

According to intelligence, Lu Sheng is determined to defend to the death.

Because Jushan Pass was heavily guarded, including not only the imperial guards, Lu Sheng's private army, but also the army from Xiliang.

When Lu Sheng sent Hui Cheng to lead the troops to destroy Xiliang, he also captured and recruited thousands of Xiliang soldiers. Now all of them have been transferred to Jushan Pass by Lu Sheng.

In addition to these "regular troops", there are also "miscellaneous troops" whose exact number is not yet known, but at least exceeds 50,000.

These more than 50,000 people were prisoners in the prison, and the other were able-bodied men captured by Lu Sheng from Luonan and surrounding counties. In a short period of time, tens of thousands of soldiers were formed and sent directly to Jushan Pass.

This move immediately made Chen Mo and the others think that Lu Sheng was going to fight to the death.

Conscripting men so unscrupulously shows that they no longer want to run Luonan.

There have been large-scale conscriptions of men in history, but those were not carried out in their own base camps, but rather from the periphery of their own influence.

And Lu Sheng directly conscripted young men in Luonan, which made Luonan a mess. It was like a fire in his own house.

However, this also confused Chen Mo, making him think that Lu Sheng and King Chong might be in Jushan Pass.

Chen Mo was not careless. That afternoon, 30,000 Chen troops and 10,000 Yang family rattan armor troops formed a battle formation at Jushan Pass. Fifteen red cannons were all pushed to the front by the Suzaku Guards. As fifteen tongues of fire spewed out and accompanied by loud bangs, the powerful shrapnel shells landed on the important pass of the capital for the first time.

Jushan Pass, which had been silent for nearly four hundred years, was once again engulfed in war at the end of this winter.

It is said that one's own family knows one's own affairs.

Chen Mo thought that Lu Sheng and Chong Wang were in Jushan Pass, but in fact, the two of them did not come at all.

Even the garrison commander stationed at Jushan Pass was just a eunuch of the fifth rank.

Even the generals and commanders in the army were just veterans who were promoted to important positions in times of crisis, and they were not even warriors.

Although there are many soldiers and horses, their fighting power is insufficient.

Take the tens of thousands of "miscellaneous troops" for example. These soldiers were all peasants who worked in the fields. Not only were they not wearing armor, even the weapons in their hands were hoes and sickles they brought from home.

It would be fine to let them do hard labor to repair the city defense, but they encountered the well-equipped Chen army.

The Chen army hadn't even prepared to attack the city yet, but after just a few rounds of artillery fire, nearly half of them ran away, shouting that this was magic and a punishment from heaven, and that Lu Sheng's wrongdoings had angered even God.

Although the regular army was well-equipped, they lost confidence and courage when they learned that the court had not even sent a decent garrison commander. Without confidence, there was no morale.

As Chen Mo officially began to attack the city, one third of the regular army ran away.

When the Chen army attacked the city, even the commander-in-chief and the eunuch ran away.

The people who fought most desperately to defend the city were the prisoners pulled out of prison, especially the death row prisoners.

Because Lu Sheng promised them that as long as they took the head of a Chen army soldier, he could be spared the death penalty.

It’s just a matter of killing Chen Jun, not asking them to defeat Chen Jun, so it’s naturally not that difficult, and the motivation is greater.

However, no matter how hard you try, it's like a mantis trying to stop a chariot.

That night, Chen's army captured Jushan Pass.

On the city gate tower, Chen Mo looked down at the soldiers cleaning up the battlefield. He never expected that they could take down Humen Pass so easily. Immediately, Chen Mo frowned and said, "What are Lu Sheng and King Chong up to? They have so many people guarding the city, but they are not here. Isn't this a waste of their strength?"

Liu Ji and Diwu Fusheng couldn't understand this either.

The previous battle situation should have made Lu Sheng realize that if he did not personally guard the place, he would not be able to stop Chen Jun.

But knowing that Hushan Pass could not be defended, why did they send so many soldiers to guard it? Was it just a waste?

Isn't this just a waste of your energy?
"Sun Meng."

"The end will be here."

"Pick out a small team from the personal guard camp to investigate the front, especially the woods on both sides. Explore them carefully to prevent enemy ambushes." Chen Mo did not relax his vigilance to avoid falling into the enemy's trap.

"Yes." Sun Meng stepped back.

"Xia Zhining, Yue Ruyan, Jiang Li, Wu Yanqing, and Nangong Xian." Chen Mo said.

"I am here." Xia Zhining, Yue Ruyan, Jiang Li, Wu Yanqing, and Nangong Xian each took a step forward.

"Pass on my order. The three armies will stop to rest and move out at noon tomorrow morning to march into Luonan."

"promise"

The news of the fall of Jushan Pass spread to Luonan that night like the wind, and the imperial court was unable to cover up this huge news.

The people in Luonan City were in panic.

As the capital of a country, it should be solemn and dignified, but at the moment it is in chaos.

The most frightened were the ministers.

As an official, they see things more comprehensively than ordinary people.

Throughout history, almost all wars to support the king were fought by ambitious people who wanted to overthrow the current regime or even change the dynasty.

But no matter which aspect, the court will undergo a major reshuffle.

Once the loyalists succeed, they will replace their own people in the three provinces and six ministries.

The current court has undergone two major reshuffles.

Almost all the current civil and military officials are from Lu Sheng, with a small number from the Liang family, and only a handful of them are truly loyal to the emperor.

If Chen Mo breaks in, those who have close ties with Lu Sheng will definitely be liquidated.

All the ministers, whether they were asleep or not, could not fall asleep at this moment. They put on their clothes and rushed to the prime minister's residence to discuss countermeasures with Lu Sheng.

The one who acted the fastest among them was King Chong.

Prince Chong came to the Prime Minister's residence in anger. The guards wanted to inform them, but Prince Chong just broke in and shouted that he wanted to see Lu Sheng.

Lu Sheng knew that King Chong would come, and after hearing the noise, he walked out.

But as soon as the two met, before Lu Sheng could even open his mouth, King Chong started shouting at him, calling out Lu Sheng's name:
"Lu Sheng, what on earth do you want to do? I originally thought that you were arresting able-bodied men recently in order to defend the capital and fight the Chen army to the death, but you sent them all to Jushan Pass. That would have been fine, but you actually sent a eunuch, and I heard that he ran away as soon as the Chen army attacked the city. Did all your generals die? Tens of thousands of soldiers were wasted just like that."

Prince Chong was so angry that he even forgot that he was living under someone else's roof.

But facing the angry shouting of King Chong, Lu Sheng was not angry at all. Instead, he smiled and said, "Don't worry, Your Majesty. Everything is in my humble plan."

King Chong frowned and said, "What on earth are you up to? It has come to this point. Are you still planning to hide it from me?"

"Don't worry, Your Majesty. You will know tomorrow. You have come at the right time. I need your help with something." Lu Sheng said.

What Luonan was most worried about were the civil and military officials, followed by the palace maids in the imperial harem.

Whenever there was a dramatic change in the court, those who suffered were those who had close ties with the royal family. It was very likely that as soon as the army entered the city, they would be transformed from palace maids into slaves.

Those who are luckier will become slaves or private favorites of generals.

Those who are a little bit worse will most likely be abused by the lowest-ranking soldiers, and it will take turns for them to be abused.

The current emperor, Emperor Yong'an, is also in a state of panic.

Even though he was born to a slave when the deposed emperor was still the crown prince, he knew clearly what a loyal representative was.

It would be better if the order to support the king was issued by the central court, requiring local areas to raise troops to support the king.

However, if the local authorities take the initiative and raise an army to support the king and purge the emperor's court without receiving orders from the central government, it is essentially a rebellion.

Chen Mo's "loyalty to the king" obviously did not come from any order from the central government.

If Chen Mo breaks in, there are three possible outcomes for Emperor Yong'an.

The worst outcome is that Chen Mo directly declares himself emperor, in which case he will become a stumbling block and will definitely not survive.

The second outcome will be the same as now, continuing to be a puppet.

His final fate was to become a deposed emperor just like his father.

Emperor Yong'an hoped that he could be deposed. At least he would have more freedom and dignity than being a puppet.

What he feared most was being the first to end up like that.

And this outcome is the most likely.

Chen Mo is neither Xu Guozhong nor Lu Sheng.

Now, most of the world has fallen into Chen Mo's hands.

After eliminating Lu Sheng, there will be nothing in the world that can threaten him, so he will no longer need to "support" the royal family. He can completely change the dynasty and become emperor himself.

On the other side, the Queen Mother's bedroom.

Ever since she learned that her father was captured by Chen Mo and his life or death was in danger, Liang Ji seemed to have suffered a serious illness. She lay in bed in a daze all day and had no energy. After a period of time, her face turned pale and she became very haggard.

But after all, she has been the queen for more than ten years. Even if she has become like this, she still retains her nobility and grace of a superior.

Being able to become the queen and then the empress dowager, Liang Ji was naturally a first-class beauty. In addition, she was well maintained in the palace. Even if she looked haggard and weak, she could still arouse the lust of men.

Just then, a palace maid came in hurriedly, walked around the screen, and her steps became steady again. She squatted beside the bed and whispered in Liang Ji's ear.

On Liang Ji's pale face, her neatly trimmed eyebrows raised slightly, and then she sat up with some difficulty.

When the palace maid saw this, she hurried forward to help her up. After Liang Ji sat up, she put a pillow behind her back.

Liang Ji said weakly, "Lu Sheng and King Chong are not on good terms with each other, and they have their own agenda. I have long anticipated that they are no match for Chen Mo. Now that Chen's army is at the gates of the city, what plans does the clan have?"

"The clan has actually sent someone to contact Chen Mo. The head of the family is still alive, but he has been imprisoned by Chen Mo. And Chen Mo said that if he wants him to release the head of the family, it depends on the sincerity of the clan." The palace maid's answer was irrelevant.

"Sincerity? It's nothing more than asking for money and food." Liang Ji said coldly, and then asked: "How does the family want to express sincerity?"

The palace maid glanced at Liang Ji and then became hesitant.

"What's wrong?" Liang Ji frowned.

"The clan means that we need to prescribe the right medicine. If Chen Mo really breaks into Luonan, the empress dowager needs to pretend to be nice to him in order to rescue the head of the family." The palace maid's voice became smaller and smaller, and she immediately lowered her head after she finished speaking.

Hearing this, Liang Ji was shocked at first, and after further guessing the meaning of this, she laughed at herself: "Pretending to be nice? I think rescuing my father is only one of the things. Preserving the interests of the family is what the clan hopes for."

How could she not understand.

It's just that he wants her to be like the former Princess Huai.

The maid didn't dare to respond.

……

February 7th, early morning.

Luonan welcomed a heavy rain at the end of winter, and the temperature dropped a lot.

The originally bustling capital city was now under lockdown. On the city streets, the doors of every house and shop were closed. Apart from the patrolling soldiers, there was no one to be seen on the streets.

Zhou Mansion in the south of the city.

There were several horse-drawn carriages parked on the street behind the gate. Dozens of armored guards, wearing straw raincoats and bamboo hats, were guarding the carriages, looking at everything around them vigilantly.

Just then, the back door creaked open.

"Hurry up, everyone! Chen's army is about to attack us. The people at the South Gate are ours. Let's hurry up and leave the city through the South Gate!"

A sturdy man named Zhou Qin, wearing a fur coat and a cloak, walked out from the back door.

Zhou Qin is one of Lu Sheng's confidants, a fifth-rank warrior, in charge of the Imperial City Administration, palace bans, and Zhoulu guards.

Logically speaking, at this critical moment, Zhou Qin, as Lu Sheng's confidant, should accompany Lu Sheng and overcome the difficulties together.

But Zhou Qin had long lost confidence in Lu Sheng and believed that Luonan could not be defended.

Taking advantage of his right to guard the South Gate, Zhou Qin wanted to escape from Luonan with his family.

After the whole family got on the carriage, they hurried towards the south gate.

When he met a patrol, Zhou Qin took out the token of the Imperial City Bureau and had a smooth journey.

But when they were about to reach the south gate, Zhou Qin and his men were surrounded by a team of armored soldiers.

The leader of the team was Le, the butler of the Xiangguo Mansion, a fourth-rank warrior.

"General Zhou, where are you going?"

"Oh, it's Butler Le. This general is leading people to guard the South Gate."

"You're going to guard the South Gate with your family?" Butler Le's eyes turned cold and he said, "Prime Minister Lu has ordered that anyone who deserts the battlefield must be arrested. Capture them."

Dozens of other court officials suffered the same fate as Zhou Qin, and were all captured by Lu Sheng's men.

Instead of being executed or thrown into prison, these people were all taken to the Prime Minister's Mansion.

(End of this chapter)