Can I get to the other side?.

Chapter 451: The Siege of Chang'an! Jia Xu scolds his ministers!
After sending people to send Princess Liu Ying away from Chang'an, Jia Xu ordered the implementation of a policy of fortifying the city and clearing the countryside, and blocked off the city of Chang'an, strengthened its defense facilities, and allowed only entry but not exit.

At the same time, he also expanded the city defense forces and recruited young and strong people from the people.

These unusual actions taken by Jia Xu soon attracted the attention of officials in the court, and everyone was extremely puzzled.

Ministers kept asking Jia Xu what he was planning to do, but Jia Xu turned a deaf ear to the officials' inquiries and doubts and continued to act on his own.

Weiyang Palace, Xuanshi.

Fa Zheng handed a list of names to Jia Xu and said, "In the past seven days, we have recruited 2,400 young and strong men. All of them have been handed over to General Gao for training."

During this period of time, he has been actively recruiting young and strong men to join the army.

As the capital, Chang'an City had a considerable population.

Although the imperial court had recruited soldiers many times before and most of the young and strong men had already joined the army, thanks to the riots caused by Cao Cao's migration of the people to the south last time, many people fled all the way to Guanzhong after the rebellion, so some young and strong men could still be recruited at this time.

"Too little."

Jia Xu frowned upon hearing this, and was very dissatisfied with this number. "With such a small number of people, how can we defend Chang'an City?"

"Continue to recruit, raise the standard of military pay, and recruit as many people as possible before Ma Chao's bandit army arrives."

“Recruit as many as possible!”

"Also, go and urge the Metallurgical Bureau to supply weapons and armor. There must not be any shortages!"

Although Jia Xu looked exhausted, he still forced himself to stay alert.

He has been almost sleepless these days.

There is not much time left for Chang'an now. Enough manpower must be recruited before the enemy army arrives.

He did not ask these new recruits who had not been trained or tempered in battle to repel the enemy, but only hoped that Chang'an would not be captured by Ma Chao before the main army returned to support!

"Yes, Zhongshu Ling."

Fa Zheng bowed slightly and agreed, then hesitated for a moment and asked, "Besides... the doubts of the officials in the court are getting louder and louder. Some even started to say that the Minister of the Central Secretariat was plotting a rebellion."

"Do you want to find a reason to explain it?"

Although Jia Xu was the emperor's confidant and the person appointed in charge of logistics, all matters big and small had to be decided by him when the emperor was not in court. But what he was doing now was too confusing.

They are expanding the city defense forces, clearing the fields, and blockading Chang'an City without giving any reason. What are they planning to do?
"It's not necessary."

Jia Xu was looking down at a secret report in his hand. His brows furrowed even deeper, and then he turned his hand and pressed it on the table.

"Go and do your work, don't waste time."

Hearing this, Fa Zheng felt helpless, but he didn't say anything more and turned to leave.

But at this moment, there was a burst of noise coming from outside the room.

Seems to be shouting something.

Fa Zheng walked quickly out of the Xuanshi Hall to check, but came back soon after, looking a little panicked.

"Minister of the Secretariat, all the officials in the court are outside!"

He was shocked as soon as he went out, because standing outside the Xuan Room were the ministers of the court!
Moreover, the ones leading the charge were Fu Wan and Yang Biao, ministers with great seniority. If they had not been stopped by the guards, they would have probably just barged in.

Hearing this, Jia Xu snorted coldly, stood up and walked straight out of the Xuanwu room, and Fa Zheng hurriedly followed him.

There was a lot of noise outside the room.

"Where is the Minister of the Central Secretariat? Why is he avoiding me?"

"We want to see the Minister of the Central Secretariat!"

"Yes, why are we locked down in this city and not allowed to go out? Give us an explanation!"

"My mother is seriously ill in my hometown, and I want to go back to visit her. Why can't I leave the city?"

“This is dictatorship!”

……

The officials were arguing endlessly.

Jia Xu's move to blockade Chang'an City in recent days has caused dissatisfaction among many people, and the key is that he didn't even give an explanation.

Even though Jia Xu held a high position in the court, it was unreasonable to blockade the city of Chang'an without any reason.

So today all the ministers came to the palace to see Jia Xu.

The guards stopped the group of ministers, their faces filled with embarrassment, not knowing whether to take action or not.

Just when the ministers were about to break through the guards' obstruction, a somewhat fat figure walked out of the Xuanshi Hall.

It’s Jia Xu!

As soon as Jia Xu showed up, the ministers, who had been making a lot of noise, suddenly fell silent and didn't dare to move forward.

Because at this time Jia Xu's expression was as cold as ice.

It makes people feel afraid when they look at it.

He swept his stern eyes over everyone, and then shouted, "You are planning to rebel by trespassing into the palace!"

This one sentence made all the ministers present panic.

Jia Xu still had his authority. Not only was he in charge of the Embroidered Uniform Envoy, he was also ordered to stay in Chang'an and had the power to execute first and report later.

The emperor is not here, but he has the final say in Chang'an!

At this time, Cui Yan, who was in the crowd, stood up. He was not intimidated by Jia Xu's rebuke. He first bowed his hands and saluted, then said, "Minister Zhongshu, we did not intend to break into the palace."

"It's just that the Minister of the Central Secretariat has made a variety of puzzling decisions recently, and has refused to see anyone. We have nowhere to appeal, so we had no choice but to come to the palace to ask for an audience. When Your Majesty returns triumphantly, we will report to Your Majesty for the crime of trespassing."

"But right now, we hope that the Minister of the Central Secretariat can give us an explanation as to why he suddenly blocked Chang'an City and recruited soldiers on a large scale."

"Is this also the will of His Majesty?"

Cui Yan's words were flawless. He lightly revealed the incident of breaking into the palace and turned the blame towards Jia Xu.

The main reason he came here today was for this matter.

The orders that Jia Xu had issued in recent days were really puzzling, and he vaguely felt that there was some unspeakable secret involved.

"General Cui is absolutely right."

Fu Wan also spoke slowly, looking at Jia Xu with his cloudy old eyes, and said, "Chang'an is the imperial capital, and the Minister of the Central Secretariat has sealed off the city and recruited soldiers without saying why. Such actions may lead to misunderstandings and even panic among the people."

"Recently, rumors have begun to spread in Chang'an that Your Majesty is not doing well on the front lines. This is unacceptable..."

"Is that what Yang Gong said?"

Fu Wan threw the conversation back to Yang Biao.

Yang Biao's expression stiffened when he heard this. In fact, he didn't want to get involved when the ministers broke into the palace to see Jia Xu today, but Fu Wan insisted on dragging him in.

Seeing that everyone was looking at him, Yang Biao had no choice but to choose his words and said, "Well... I think the Minister of the Central Secretariat may also have his own difficulties."

"But as ministers, if the court really encounters any difficulties, the Minister of the Central Secretariat might as well tell us so that we can work together to find a solution. After all, hiding it from us is not a solution."

"What do you think, Minister of the Secretariat?" Yang Biao did not want to offend Jia Xu, nor did he want to lose face in front of the officials, so he chose to say something reasonable.

However, he was somewhat curious about what Jia Xu had concealed. Could it be that something really happened to the emperor at the front line, so he needed to impose martial law in Chang'an to prevent chaos?

Everyone's eyes were focused on Jia Xu.

Upon seeing this, Jia Xu understood that if he did not explain the reason today, these ministers would not give up.

"Ugh……"

After sighing deeply, Jia Xu raised his head and said calmly: "Since you all want to know the reason, I won't hide it."

"The court is indeed facing difficulties at the moment, but it has nothing to do with the front line, and even less to do with Your Majesty. The war on the front line is going smoothly, and Your Majesty is also safe and sound."

“We are the ones who are having real trouble.”

Jia Xu's words stunned the ministers.

Are they having difficulties?
Cui Yan frowned and asked, "What does the Minister of the Central Secretariat mean by this?"

Read the error-free version at 69shuba! 6=9+shu_ba is the first to publish this novel.

Jia Xu said calmly: "Eight days ago, I received news that Ma Chao joined forces with the Qiang people and launched an army of hundreds of thousands to invade Yongzhou, intending to take Guanzhong directly."

"Just two days ago, Ma Chao led his army to break through Xiaoguan, and now the enemy is heading towards Chang'an."

"That's why I blockaded Chang'an and recruited soldiers."

After Jia Xu finished speaking, the whole audience fell silent.

Everyone's expression was dull.

Ma Chao led an army of 100,000 to attack?
And they have already entered Xiaoguan? !

After a brief silence, the ministers suddenly looked horrified and became confused in an instant.

"How come that villain Ma Chao still has so many troops?"

"Yes, didn't Ma Chao escape? And the Marquis of Guanjun had previously massacred the Qiang people's royal court. Where did they get so many troops?"

"All the troops of the imperial court have followed Your Majesty to fight against Cao Cao. Now Chang'an City is unguarded. How can it possibly resist an army of more than 100,000?"

"Why did the Minister of the Central Secretariat reveal this news so late?"

"It's over! It's over! It's too late to escape now!"

"What a good thing!"

All the officials were in a panic. No one could remain calm in the face of this news. There were hundreds of thousands of enemy troops!

How can Chang'an resist with its current military strength?

Jia Xu saw all their reactions and sneered in his heart. He was not surprised at all.

He knew these guys would react like this.

After Cui Yan came to his senses, he could not help but step forward and said to Jia Xu angrily: "Why did you conceal such important news?!"

"You received the news eight days ago. We had so much time to evacuate Chang'an!"

In anger, he even stopped addressing Jia Xu by his official title.

Fu Wan's expression was also very ugly. He suppressed his anger and said, "Does the Minister of the Central Secretariat think that Chang'an can withstand the attack of a hundred thousand troops with its current military strength?"

"That's an army of 100,000! Chang'an only has 5,000 soldiers. No matter how many soldiers we recruit, we can't stop so many enemies!"

At this moment, he also understood why Jia Xu wanted to fortify the city, clear the fields, recruit soldiers and lock the city. This madman actually planned to defend Chang'an!
What is the difference between this and a mantis trying to stop a chariot?
Dong Zhong was even more anxious and could not help but say, "Stop arguing! Let's retreat now before the enemy attacks us!"

"It will be too late if we don't retreat now!"

Jia Xu just said that Xiaoguan was breached two days ago, and Ma Chao's troops will reach Chang'an City in no time!

It's still not too late to evacuate now!

"retreat?"

Jia Xu seemed to have heard something funny. "Do you want to hand over Chang'an City to the traitors and foreigners, and expose your Majesty's back to the enemy's blade?"

When these words were spoken, the expressions of Cui Yan, Fu Wan and Dong Zhong all froze.

And Yang Biao sighed.

As the saying goes, old people become more shrewd. As soon as he heard the news, he understood why Jia Xu wanted to blockade the city of Chang'an.

Chang'an City cannot be lost.

Jia Xu blocked the news in order to tie them all together and not give them a chance to evacuate!

Cui Yan and others also came to their senses at this time and understood Jia Xu's purpose and plan, and their faces looked very ugly.

If they had known about this earlier, they would have had time to evacuate. Even if they did not evacuate themselves, they would have been able to send their clansmen and children out of Chang'an City.

But now it is simply impossible.

We can only live and die together with Chang'an City!
Many people cast angry glances at Jia Xu, and they were so filled with hatred that they wanted to rush forward and eat him alive.

This vicious fat man!
Jia Xu ignored everyone's gazes and said calmly: "I have told you the truth. Now we have no way out."

"Whether for the sake of your own families, the Han Dynasty, or His Majesty, Chang'an City must not be conquered."

"But you don't have to worry too much. I have already sent someone to pass a message to His Majesty. As long as we hold on to Chang'an, His Majesty will lead the troops back to support us in no more than a month. By then, the siege of Chang'an will be lifted, and you will all be heroes!"

"Don't you all want to be listed in Lingyun Pavilion? Now the opportunity is in front of you, it depends on whether you can grasp it."

Jia Xu's inspiring words did not have any effect at all, and the ministers were still filled with hatred.

In just one month, only a few thousand soldiers and horses could defend Chang'an for a month under the siege of an army of one hundred thousand?
What a fantasy!
Even if you are listed in Lingyun Pavilion, you have to be alive to enjoy the glory and wealth. What's the point of going in after you die?

To bring honor to the family? To protect the descendants?

Once Chang'an City is broken, given Ma Chao and the Qiang people's hatred for the imperial court, the entire city will be slaughtered by Ma Chao and the Qiang people, and it will be questionable whether their family can survive!
Even if I could reach the third floor of Lingyun Pavilion, it would be meaningless!

Just when everyone was silent, the sound of footsteps was heard and everyone looked in the direction of the sound.

The person who came turned out to be Yuan Xi.

Yuan Xi, dressed in military uniform and holding a sharp weapon, stepped forward and bowed to Jia Xu, saying, "Minister of the Central Secretariat, the scouts just reported that the enemy was spotted a hundred miles outside the city."

"I have ordered the city defense troops to stand by on the city wall."

Not many people knew about Ma Chao's invasion, and Yuan Xi was one of them because he was in charge of the city defense army.

This former rebellious son of the Yuan family, now the Prime Minister of the Han Dynasty, did not hesitate at all after hearing the news, but simply said that he was willing to lead the troops to guard Chang'an until the last moment.

The courage he displayed surpassed that of most of the officials in the court.

"it is good."

Jia Xu nodded, glanced at everyone, then strode down the steps and walked out of the palace.

Fa Zheng and Yuan Xi followed closely behind.

(End of this chapter)