Great Zhou Empire: Kill Zhao Kuangyin at the beginning

Chapter 419: Defeat Gao Chang (Special thanks to book friend Lu Ruixi for 4 monthly tickets!)

The "golden words" of the Emperor of the Great Zhou to the people of Gaochang that day quickly spread throughout Gaochang. With the iron-clad military discipline of the Great Zhou as evidence, and the testimony of Concubine Jialuo, a princess of Gaochang, the people of the country immediately chose to believe Emperor Chai Zongxun of Zhou.

More than half of the subjects in Gaochang were dissatisfied with the assassination and purge-style rule of Mo Zang and sympathized with the queen and the eldest prince who had always been kind to the people. Now many provincial governors and judges from various states who had previously surrendered to the Mo Zang family because they were afraid of the Mo Zang family's power also turned against them and surrendered as soon as they saw the Zhou army arrive.

Seeing that the expedition against Gaochang was going exceptionally smoothly, Chai Zongxun immediately ordered the Wude Division accompanying the emperor to convey his imperial edict back to Bian Jing, ordering Zhang Qixian, Li Hang and others in the cabinet to quickly select officials to take over the entire territory of Gaochang and the Longxiang garrison to come.

Chai Zongxun led the army and marched for five days. Along the way, there was little resistance from the Gaochang counties and prefectures, and the people surrendered upon seeing the enemy.

It can be seen from this that Mo Zang's perverse actions were unpopular.

On ordinary days, although there were many Gaochang bureaucrats who were afraid of the tyranny of Mo Zang and sang his praises and fawned on him, they were only afraid of his butcher knife.

Now that they saw that the Zhou army had arrived and that the emperor was leading the army in person, they naturally surrendered one after another.

On the afternoon of September 21, the 31st year of Kaixi, Chai Zongxun received a report from the Wude Division sent by Chen Ding in a moving carriage.

After reading the letter, Chai Zongxun looked at Fei Jialuo who was sitting on the chair beside him and said with a smile:

"My beloved, Chen Ding, the pacification envoy of the Wude Division, lived up to my expectations and rescued your mother and brother from the palace five days ago. They are now temporarily sheltering in the dense forests in the mountains north of Gaochang City.

With the abilities of Chen Ding and other Wudesi soldiers, even if the Zang clan didn't send out a hundred thousand troops in the mountains, they would never be able to find them."

Princess Jialuo felt relieved and said:

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for saving my mother and my brother!

I wonder how my father is doing? Is there any mention of it in the memorial?"

Chai Zongxun sighed, held Princess Jialuo's hand, and said:

"My beloved, on September 17th, when Mo Zang discovered that the queen and the eldest prince who were imprisoned in Tantai had escaped, he was horrified and assembled all the troops in Gaochang.

At noon that day, news came out that your father Wang Lusheng had died of illness. According to Chen Ding and the Longxiang Guards who had been hiding in Gaochang for a long time, he was poisoned by Mo Zang's gang! "

When Princess Jialuo heard this, she threw herself into Chai Zongxun's arms and cried:
"Father!"

Chai Zongxun reached out and gently stroked Princess Jialuo's silky and shiny hair, and sighed:

"My beloved, your father has grown old and confused. He actually deposed the eldest prince from the throne and replaced him with his favorite concubine, Mo Zang's youngest son. He also arrested the upright ministers who opposed him, which led to the disaster today.

Since Mo Zang served him closely day and night, it would be easy for him to poison him.

My beloved mother and my brother are safe. The bloodline of the Gaochang royal family is safe and there is someone to offer sacrifices to. My beloved concubine, please do not be too sad. "

Princess Jialuo recalled how she had been loved and pampered by her father, King Lu Sheng, in the Gaochang Palace since she was a child, and her tears fell like pearls from a broken string.

After a while, Jialuo stood up from Chai Zongxun's arms and said through gritted teeth:
"It's all because of this enchantress named Mei Zang who seduced my father. She is truly an enchantress who will ruin our country!

If your majesty's army can capture her during this expedition, I will kill her with my own hands!"

On the second day, Chai Zongxun ordered the army to march at full speed to Gaochang City. In order to prevent the Mo Zang family from escaping again, Chai Zongxun ordered three 10,000-man teams to encircle Gaochang from the north, west, and south, and the main force under his command to surround Gaochang from all sides. At this time, Gaochang City was in chaos because of the sudden death of King Lu Sheng.

Many generals of the imperial guards who were loyal to Lu Sheng and sympathized with the queen and the eldest prince rose up in rebellion against the Mo Zang clan, and a large number of people followed them.

The head of the Mo Zang family, Mo Zang Xiongli, did not expect that so many people would dare to resist him, so he hurriedly led troops with his two sons to suppress the rebellion.

At that time, the city of Gaochang was engulfed in war and many people suffered. The two factions fought each other relentlessly and completely forgot about the huge Zhou Dynasty.

It was not until the morning of September 25, the 31st year of Kaixi, when Chai Zongxun led his army to within just over a day's journey of Gaochang City, that the Mo Zang family received reports from soldiers who had fled back from all directions.

Upon learning that Emperor Chai Zongxun of Zhou had led an army of 90,000 elite soldiers to surround Gaochang City on all sides, everyone in the Mo Zang family panicked.

After discussion, Mo Zang Xiongli, who was the "Grand Marshal", sent out two groups of 50,000 imperial troops each that day, trying to break out to the north towards Kyrgyz and to the south towards Khotan.

Just over three hours after the two Gaochang Imperial Guards set out, they encountered the 10,000-man army of the Great Zhou Army and engaged in battle.

Although the Gaochang Imperial Guards had gradually replaced their armor with plate armor in the past decade, they were still defeated by the "Yan Su Cannon" and "Tiger Dun Cannon" carried by the Zhou Army soon after the battle began.

After just over an hour of fighting, the two Gaochang troops attempting to break out suffered more than 2 casualties. Seeing that the casualties were too heavy and his subordinates were on the verge of collapse, the commanding general had no choice but to order a retreat to Gaochang City.

Chai Zongxun then led an army of 90,000 and besieged Gaochang on September 26, with the imperial camp stationed six miles outside the east gate.

At this time, in Gaochang City, the faction of the younger prince and the faction of the older prince of the Jingmo Zang clan had been fighting for several days. A total of more than 130,000 people were killed on both sides, and 170,000 civilians were killed.

During Lu Sheng's reign, the total military strength of Gaochang was 500,000, including 300,000 imperial guards in Gaochang city.

Today, the number of imperial guards under the control of the Mo Zang family is less than 90,000.

Knowing that they were no match for the Great Zhou army due to internal and external troubles, the Mo Zang family was very frightened. However, they did not expect that the situation would turn out far beyond their expectations. Ever since the queen and the eldest prince were rescued by the Wude Division of the Great Zhou, the situation was no longer under the control of the Mo Zang family.

First, the knowledge that the Great Zhou Empire had intervened immediately ignited the anger and hopes of most of the ministers and people in Gaochang who were dissatisfied with the Mo Zang family.

Second: The queen and the eldest prince were rescued, but the Mo Zang family hastily poisoned King Lu Sheng, which not only prevented the young prince from succeeding to the throne smoothly, but also made more people realize the vicious face of the Mo Zang family.

Three: Emperor Chai Zongxun of the Great Zhou came with Princess Jialuo. Their appeal was unmatched among the people of Gaochang. Everyone with a discerning eye knew that the situation of the Meizang family was hopeless.

Just two days after Chai Zongxun ordered the Zhou army to attack the city, the east gate was captured by a group in the city that supported the eldest prince, and the gate was opened wide to let the Zhou army in.

After the commander of the imperial guards, Chen Jixing, led his troops to break into the city, the other three gates were quickly breached as well.

Faced with the powerful Zhou army and the combined forces of most of the military and civilians in the city, the Gaochang Imperial Guards controlled by the Mo Zang family no longer had the will to resist, and most of them laid down their arms and surrendered. However, after two days of clearing, the Zhou army had completely taken control of Gaochang City.

Mo Zang Hu Tu and Mo Zang Bao Tu died in a street fight. Mo Zang Xiongli was so angry that he did not want to be humiliated by the Great Zhou again, so he committed suicide in his mansion.

After receiving the report, Chai Zongxun, under the escort of 10,000 Wudesi guards, entered Gaochang City with his concubine Jialuo on October 1, the 31st year of Kaixi, and settled in the royal palace, making it his temporary residence.

(End of this chapter)