Tang Dynasty: The seventh rank of official residence, and you will be given the Ten Thousand People

Chapter 24 The sorrowful clouds in Shangyang Palace
"Yes, Mingfu!" Zhou Dianyu bowed and hurried towards the county government office.

Being able to block Li Chong's nearly [-]-strong army with the power of one county and capture the rebel leader was an earth-shattering achievement from any angle.

It is not difficult to imagine that once the victory is reported, Fan Xin's promotion will be certain for his meritorious service, and the surviving officials will also get a lot of glory.

Therefore, Zhou Dianjiao specially modified the newspaper announcing his victory.

When Tangbao from Wushui County was galloping toward Luoyang at an accelerated speed of [-] miles, the news that Li Chong had raised troops finally reached the ears of Yue King Li Zhen.

Hearing that his son had formed an army of nearly 7000 people, Li Zhen Laohuai was delighted. He immediately sold all his property and recruited more than [-] soldiers, and appointed his son-in-law Pei Shoude as the vanguard general to launch an attack on Cai County overnight.

The county magistrate Wang Zhong led 2000 people to resist, but was eventually defeated and killed, and the city fell.

For a time, Li Zhen, the king of Yue, was extremely prosperous, and there was a huge trend of sweeping towards Luoyang like a spark of fire.

Luoyang, Shangyang Palace.

At dawn, the civil and military ministers came to the palace gate and waited for it to open.

Due to the arrival of autumn, many ministers were covered with a layer of fur.

"Brother Wang, have you heard? When Li Zhen captured Cai County, his troops had already expanded to [-]." In front of the palace gate, King Lu Li Lingkui (kui) smiled and looked at the man in front of him.

The man wearing a purple gold crown and black royal uniform is the famous Korean King Li Yuanjia.

At this time, he was very happy. On the one hand, he hoped that Li Zhen and his son could quickly open up the situation and attack Luoyang.

On the other hand, they are considering how to raise troops to respond to Li Zhen and his son.

Seeing Brother Wang's face showing hesitation. , Li Lingkui said confidently.

"Brother Wang, don't worry too much. That boy Li Chong is currently leading an army of nearly ten thousand to attack Wushui County. He must have crossed the Jindi River and entered Puzhou."

"With him holding back the main army of the imperial court, the imperial court will not be able to take care of Li Zhen in a short period of time."

"In my opinion, we'd better raise our troops as soon as possible to respond."

"Keep your voice down!" Li Yuanjia glared at him and lowered his voice: "Now the palace is full of Wu Zetian's eyes and ears. Do you want to kill me?"

Seeing Li Lingkui smiling bitterly, he changed the topic and said with emotion: "I really didn't expect that Li Chong was so capable and actually recruited an army of nearly ten thousand people."

"When he proposed forming an anti-military alliance, I looked down on him. Now it seems that I am blind."

"Yeah, who would have thought that Li Chong would create such a good situation."

"It's ridiculous that Wu Shui County actually wants to block Li Tang's army. It really overestimates its capabilities." Li Lingkui said with contempt.

Li Yuanjia waved his hand: "It's just a snap of a finger to wipe out a small county. It's not worth mentioning."

"But you and I have to put the raising of troops on the agenda as soon as possible, otherwise all the benefits of getting rid of Wu Zetian in the future will fall into the hands of Li Zhen and his son."

"Don't worry, I will arrange someone to deal with Langya King Li Chong as soon as possible."

Looking at the two smiling people from a distance, Wu Sansi's face was extremely gloomy and he cursed fiercely.

Upon hearing the movement, Wu Chengsi glanced at him and said calmly.

"Think twice, you've been a little impatient recently. Go back and reflect on it."

Wu Sansi bowed to show that he had been taught, raised his head and said worriedly.

"Cousin, Qiu Shenji's army has just left Henan Road and is still some distance from Bozhou. What if the two armies invade Luoyang together?"

"Let's wait and see what happens." Wu Chengsi sighed: "Brother, I didn't expect the situation to deteriorate so quickly. Li Chong invaded Puzhou, and Li Zhen occupied Cai County."

"Is it possible that the royal family surnamed Li is making a comeback?"

Wu Sansi hesitated and said: "Cousin, isn't it right? Wasn't Li Chong blocked in Wushui County? How did he enter Puzhou?" Wu Chengsi looked at his cousin angrily and said dissatisfied.

"Stupid, how can the big-ass Wushui County stop Li Chong's army of nearly [-] people."

"Even if the Wushui County Magistrate has three heads and six arms, it's still impossible!"

At this time, the big bell of Shangyang Palace rang leisurely, and under the gaze of civil and military officials, the heavy palace door slowly opened.

"Let's go in and see what the Queen Mother has to say." Wu Chengsi tidied up his court clothes and headed to the main hall of Shangyang Palace with all the ministers.

After everyone stood up, Wu Zetian, who was wearing a black dragon brocade robe, walked to the dragon chair and sat down with Shangguan Wan'er's support.

Upon seeing this, all the civil and military officials prostrated themselves on the ground, shouting like a tsunami.

"I see the Queen Mother, long live, long live, long live!"

"All gentlemen, calm down."

"Thank you Queen Mother!"

The ministers straightened up, and Prime Minister Zhang Guangfu was the first to step out of the queue, cupping his hands and saying in a deep voice.

"To report to the Queen Mother, the court received a report from Tang recently that Yue King Li Zhen and Chen's [-] troops have captured Cai County and are heading towards the center. There is a strong possibility of cooperating with King Langya!"

Upon hearing the bad news, Wu Zetian's heart skipped a beat and her hands clenched together subconsciously.

If Li Chong was the only one to rebel, she might not be so worried.

But it would be dangerous if all the Li and Tang forces in the world rebelled.

You must know that there are many people who want to compete with her for power. Once the trend of Li Zhen and his son cannot be suppressed, these people will follow suit and rise up.

When the world is full of chaos, will she still be able to ascend to the throne of God?
Thinking of this, she frowned and looked at Zhang Guangfu: "I would like to ask you, where is Qiu Shenji's army currently heading?"

Zhang Guangfu said bravely: "The Queen Mother's army has not yet entered Bozhou. It will take three days."

"What, it will take three more days?"

Wu Zetian stood up suddenly and stared at Zhang Guangfu with a pair of phoenix eyes.

It has been more than ten days since Li Chong raised his troops. As expected, he has already broken through Wushui County and entered Puzhou. However, the counter-rebellion army has not arrived yet, so how can we fight this battle?
Zhang Guangfu said sarcastically: "The Queen Mother calms down. I think the top priority is to find a two-pronged strategy to stabilize the situation as soon as possible to prevent it from deteriorating."

Wu Zetian also knew that now was not the time to be angry, so she suppressed the anger in her heart and said to the Minister of War.

"Li Zhen's army has conquered many counties in our Tang Dynasty in a few days. Does your military department have any good strategies to retreat from the enemy?"

Seeing that the Queen Mother asked him for advice, Tan Wenli, the Minister of War, quickly walked out of the queue and said in fear.

"Queen Mother, since ancient times, soldiers have come to block the water and cover the ground. The only way to stabilize the situation is to recruit nearby troops to quickly eliminate them."

"I thought I could let the chief marching officer of Qingping Road lead his troops to suppress Li Zhen first."

"What about Li Chong's army in Bozhou?"

"This..." The Minister of War lowered his head and didn't know what to say. Currently, the only one near Bozhou that could stop Li Chong was Wushui County.

But how can a small county magistrate stop tens of thousands of people?

"So you have no choice." Wu Zetian snorted coldly. Just as she was about to order Tan Wenli to be dismissed from office, she suddenly saw a chamberlain running towards the main hall, shouting as he ran.

"Queen Mother, great victory, great victory..."

(End of this chapter)