A thousand-year-old family that began with the Battle of Makino

Chapter 264 Forbearance, Luoyang! ! !
Kunyang's defeat shocked the world. Everyone in the world knew that Daxin was over, and the only areas Wang Mang could control were the narrow area between Luoyang and Chang'an and Bai Xuan's lone army in Dongjun.

Wang Mang wanted the Duke of Bai to send troops south to help the court put down the rebellion, but he refused because the situation in Hebei was corrupt and the Duke of Bai was unable to send troops.

Liu Wang, the former Marquis of Zhongwu, also raised troops in Runan and occupied Runan County. However, Yan You and Chen Mu who retreated from Kunyang did not rush to Luoyang with their troops, but instead went east to Liu Wang.

After the Battle of Kunyang, Liu Xiucai knew that while the New Army was attacking Kunyang, Wancheng had been forcibly captured by the Great Situ Liu Yan led his troops. For a time, his brother Liu Yan had great prestige among the Green Forest Army. rise.

June
Emperor Gengshi entered Wancheng and declared Wancheng as the capital of the Han Dynasty.

On the same day, Liu Xuan awarded more than 100 meritorious clan members and generals.

Taking into account Liu Yan's success in capturing Wancheng and his prestige, and because Liu Yan was also a member of the Liu clan, and they both had similar backgrounds, they were afraid that he would kill him and establish himself as emperor.

Therefore, he conspired with Chen Mu, Liu Ci and others to design a plan to kill Liu Yan, collect all his troops, and kill all his cronies.

When Liu Xiu received the news that Liu Yan was dead, he did not dare to show any emotion, because the Han Emperor sent an envoy to tell him the news in person, and there were dozens of soldiers present.

"Okay, great. I have long heard from my tribe that Liu Yan was plotting to seize power and usurp the throne. I originally wanted to keep a secret message from the imperial court. Now, Your Majesty has the foresight to discover this traitor's move in advance and kill him. It can be said to be a killing move." It is a great fortune for a man to attack decisively."

Liu Xiu laughed as he spoke.

The messenger asked doubtfully: "Liu Yan is your brother, aren't you sad?"

"Hey, the messenger was joking. My father died early. Although Liu Yan is my elder brother, he has been away from home for many years and rarely comes home. Even when he comes home, he either scolds me or beats me.

In the past, I was respectful and close to him because I was worried about not respecting my brother's reputation. Now his rebellious spirit has become very obvious. If I continue to respect him, wouldn't it be disloyal to the great man? Wouldn't it be betraying the inheritance of my ancestors? No disrespect to His Majesty.

Speaking of which, I would also like to thank His Majesty. If it weren't for his piercing gaze, I would have been charged with brother-killing. "

Seeing Liu Xiu talking disrespectfully to his brother, the envoy also lost his ability.

Originally, according to Liu Xuan's intention, he told Liu Xiu the news, which caused him to burst into tears, and then he was killed on the spot on the grounds that he did not report the news as a brother.

Now according to Liu Xiu's wishes, he had long been deeply disgusted with his brother, and it would be inappropriate to kill him again. Moreover, Liu Xiucai led his troops to a great victory in Kunyang, and his prestige was high, so killing him in vain might lead to false accusations.

"In this case, Liu Taichang, no matter what, you are Liu Yan's biological brother, and you still have to punish others to see it. How about this? Please stay away from the house for the next few days until I return to Beijing to report to His Majesty. Let’s see what His Majesty decides?”

"Thank you very much, envoy. Envoy, go slowly. By the way, this is the trophy I captured Wang Yi this time. It is a rare treasure in the world. Please accept it, envoy, and speak kindly for me in front of His Majesty! Of course, if you can allow me to face him in person, Your Majesty, it would be better if you explain."

When the envoy saw the plate of gold that Liu Xiu had handed to him, his eyes lit up and he refused with a smile: "Isn't this bad?"

Liu Xiu held the envoy's arm and said with a smile: "Relax, envoy. These are all captured in battle and are not worth much money. The envoy came from afar and worked so hard. No one can say anything for accepting some tea money."

"Okay, then why don't I just obey your orders instead of being respectful?"

"please!"

Liu Xiu sent the envoy out of the house very respectfully.

The convoy of messengers left slowly, leaving behind dozens of soldiers, guarding Liu Xiu's mansion tightly.

When Liu Xiu returned to his room, he collapsed on the couch and wrapped himself in the quilt. Although there was no sound, the whole room was filled with sadness.

The next day, the generals from Kunyang who received the news that Liu Xiu was under house arrest broke into Liu Xiu's residence and shouted to Liu Xiu: "General, otherwise we will lead our troops to rescue you. This is such a scumbag court. It's okay if we don't wait." We can find a place by ourselves and still stand out,"

"that is···"

This group of fierce generals who had just come down from the battlefield made the soldiers on the side hold their swords tightly.

"Okay, don't talk anymore. I have nothing to do. I was just implicated by Liu Yan. Now that the traitor is being executed, I have also made my attitude clear to Your Majesty. I believe Your Majesty will be able to judge him. I won't say any more."

"But···"

"Feng Yi! Don't talk nonsense!"

When the young general named Feng Yi saw Liu Xiu's eyes, he immediately stopped talking.

"You are all brothers who have followed me for many years. I won't say much more about what is going on now. I just hope that you can train well and not have contact with Liu Yan. This is the best help to me."

Wancheng, Liu Xuan's Palace

"Is this Liu Xiu true or false?" Liu Xuan saw what the messenger reported and everything Liu Xiu said later in the mansion.

Other officials did not dare to speak nonsense. After all, Liu Xiu was a famous general who defeated Xinmang's million-strong army with thousands of men.

"Your Majesty, why don't you call Liu Xiu into the palace and ask him whether he is sincere? Nothing can be escaped in front of His Majesty Long Wei."

Liu Xuan nodded and asked Liu Xiu to be summoned to Wancheng.

A few days later, Liu Xiu arrived in Wancheng. As soon as he saw Liu Xuan, he knelt down to apologize. He did not mention his contribution to Kunyang at all. He also said that although his brother was guilty, although he was not close to him, he was also at fault and would not do anything for Liu Xuan. Acting in mourning.

Liu Xuan saw that Liu Xiu's words were true, so he asked Liu Xiu to offset Kunyang's merits with Liu Yan's crimes, and no more punishment would be imposed. In the days that followed, Liu Xiu ate, talked and laughed as usual. He even held a banquet, drank wine and ate meat. Seeing that Liu Xuan was so humble, Liu Xuan felt a little ashamed.

In the end, Liu Xiu not only was not convicted, but was worshiped as General Polu and Marquis Wuxin.

Not long after, Liu Xiu also married Yin Lihua, the daughter of a wealthy family in Xinye, whom he had longed for for many years, in Wancheng. He acted like he had no ambition.

However, Liu Xiu knew in his heart that even if Liu Xuan was not suspicious of him for a while, he might end up with the same fate as his brother Liu Yan in the future. After all, he was famous and accomplished.

July
Tianshui's powerful Wei Xiao occupied Longxi, Gongsun Shu, the governor of Shu, separatized Bashu, and the governors of Hedong, Shangdang, Hanoi, and Taiyuan declared their allegiance to the Bai Kingdom.

As if he knew that he was about to come to an end, Wang Mang recalled Bai Xuan, who was fighting against the Red Eyebrow Army in Dongjun, and appointed him as Da Sikong. He asked him to lead an army of 200,000 people back to Luoyang westward and stick to it.

Wang Yi was ordered to rush back to Chang'an from Luoyang and appointed as the Grand Sima, and Zhang Han was appointed as the Grand Situ to take charge of all affairs in Guanzhong.

Nine generals were also appointed, all with the nickname "Tiger", known as the Nine Tiger Generals. They led tens of thousands of elite troops of the Northern Army to set up defenses in the Huayin and Huixi areas.

In order to force the Nine Tiger Generals to defend seriously and fight to the death, Wang Mang detained their families in the palace as hostages.

At the same time, he asked Pinglu Hou Bai Wei to stop caring about the barbarians in the north and bring back all the hundreds of thousands of elite troops on the border. However, Bai Wei refused, and instead Bai Wei announced his annexation to the Bai Kingdom. For a time, the Bai Kingdom gained Most of Hebei and the long northern border.

One of Wang Mang's confidants, General Nine Tigers, once managed Wang Mang's private treasury and knew that Wang Mang's private treasury contained no less than 600,000 kilograms of gold and countless treasures.

So the Jiuhu generals discussed and asked Wang Mang to donate money to encourage soldiers, but Wang Mang said that the treasury was empty and was only willing to give each general 40,000 yuan to motivate the soldiers. This caused great dissatisfaction among the Jiuhu generals and soldiers, and they had no intention of fighting.

August
The Green Forest Army rested for nearly three months and believed that the time had come to destroy the Xinmang regime, so they divided their forces into two groups.

One group was led by Wang Kuang and attacked Luoyang in the north; the other group was led by Shen Tujian and Li Song and entered Guanzhong in the west and took Chang'an directly.

Prior to this, Liu Xiu had led his troops to capture Fupo in Yingchuan County, surrendered five nearby counties, and was appointed General Polu and Marquis of Wuxin.

This time, he was not on the list for the expedition, so he understood that Liu Xuan was going to keep him in cold storage. Therefore, with the advice of his close associates, he asked Liu Xuan to cross the Yellow River north and go to Hebei to recruit and surrender the various rebel armies and prefectures and counties there. County tasks.

Liu Xuan did not want to release Liu Xiu at Zhu Kun's suggestion, but Cao Jing, the Prime Minister of the Left who was bribed by Liu Xiu, and his son Cao Xu successfully persuaded him, and finally appointed him as the Grand Sima to cross the Yellow River north to comfort Hebei. States and counties. But he also said that the army was about to go on an expedition and the troops were tight, so he was only willing to give him 3,000 soldiers and horses.

When Liu Xiu saw the three thousand soldiers and horses, all of whom were old, weak, sick and disabled, mules and horses, he was disheartened. On the same day, he wrote a letter declining Liu Xuan's support, saying that he was only willing to take some of his brothers who were willing to follow him.

Liu Xuan smiled secretly and agreed to Liu Xiu's request, so Liu Xiu took several of his brothers, a total of more than 20 people, and rode away.

September
Three hundred thousand troops of the Green Forest Army gathered at the foot of Luoyang City. As early as the end of August, Bai Xuan led 200,000 people to break through the blockades of the rebels along the way and successfully arrived in Luoyang.

At this time, there were only 100,000 defenders in Luoyang, and the rest were deployed by Wang Mang to various defenses.

Bai Xuan, who was full of white hair and stooped, looked at the mighty rebel army under the city and thought in his heart: "Am I wrong? Didn't I implement the New Deal for the sake of the people? Why did so many people participate? uprising?
Why doesn't my family agree with my idea of ​​asking for life for the people, but in the end, it actually wants to be the enemy of the people? So why should I ask for life? "

Thinking of this, Bai Xuan couldn't help feeling uncomfortable, and a mouthful of blood spurted out.

"Envoy!!!" The generals on the side were all panicked. They must know that Bai Xuan is the highest officer in Guandong and the person with the highest official position in Luoyang.

Most of the 100,000 people in Luoyang were brought by Bai Xuan from Dongjun. If it weren't for Bai Xuan's face, how could these people be so easy to talk to, stay away from their hometown, and follow Bai Xuan to Luoyang? It wasn't Bai Xuan who had upheld justice for them and allocated land to them.

Even though Bai Xuan retreated with all the troops in Dongjun, the entire Dongjun did not fall into the hands of the rebels. At this time, they were also fighting with the Red Eyebrow Army who wanted to enter Dongjun.

In their minds, as long as Bai Xuan is still there, the new dynasty is still there, and the New Deal is still there, their fields will not be lost, and they can always have enough to eat.

Bai Xuan fell into a coma on the city wall, which was seen by many people. Even if the generals tried their best to hide it, the lower-level soldiers found out about it, and the morale of Luoyang's defenders fell into a slump for a while.

Wang Kuang, who had just arrived, saw that Luoyang City was in chaos. He didn't know why, but it did not prevent him from seizing the opportunity to attack the city immediately.

Therefore, with the Luoyang defenders unprepared, the command structure not yet determined, and without a leader, Wang Kuang's army launched an attack.

Soon, Wang Kuang's army attacked the city and got into a tug-of-war with the defenders.

After finally storming the city, Wang Kuang naturally would not give up and kept sending troops forward to fill the gaps and replace the exhausted troops.

The battle lasted for three hours, and both sides were very tired.

"Your Majesty is dead!" A funeral message was passed to the defenders. When Wang Kuang's army did not respond, many defenders suddenly lost their combat effectiveness, threw away their weapons, and sat on the ground crying.

Although Wang Kuangjun didn't know what happened, it didn't stop them from continuing the attack.

So Luoyang, this important town and strong city, was actually captured by the rebel army in one day.

When Wang Kuang understood the whole story, he asked people to protect Bai Xuan's body. At the request of Bai Xuan's bodyguards, he obtained the consent of Han Emperor Liu Xuan and sent it to the Bai Kingdom.

Because the senior officials of the Green Forest Army did not want to raise such a powerful enemy as Bai Guo for nothing.

(End of this chapter)