Prince of Song Dynasty

Chapter 914 Undercurrents in the Inner City
Then, Tuobashi sent 500 troops to the outer city wall and began to deploy defenses.And each of the four city gates sent 1000 guards and 3000 guards to guard the prisoners.Tuobashi and Yan Yishan each led [-] people to block the inner city gate, but they would not attack the city for a while.

Coupled with the secret propaganda and help of the spies from the Ministry of Security, in the evening, the outer city of Guazhou City has generally restored order, but the people are still full of wariness against the army of the Xiangfu Kingdom, and they dare not come out behind closed doors. The streets and alleys are extremely deserted.

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Two days later, Yang Jiye led an army of [-] Xiangfu Kingdoms and [-] Long Family troops to Guazhou. A large camp was set up inside and outside the city. The camp stretched for ten miles.

Yang Jiye was not in a hurry to attack. After learning about the current situation from Tuobashi, he immediately sent people to shoot [-] empty arrows at various locations in the inner city. Each arrow was attached with a letter calling for surrender. The words were sincere and very provocative. force.Cao Xuefei, as if he was facing a great enemy, immediately commanded his cronies to search the city and retrieve the leaflets from Xiangfu Kingdom. However, the news had already spread, and because the call to action on the Hexi Corridor Imperial List had been surnamed by the people of Guazhou as early as a month ago. It is widely circulated, so the people in Guazhou City originally lacked hostility towards Xiangfu Kingdom. This situation naturally affected some soldiers of the Guiyi Army in Guazhou. In addition, they are now trapped in the inner city, which makes the inner city The morale of the [-] defenders became even lower. Cao Xuefei was terrified by this, so he had to send the most loyal and reliable people he thought were the most loyal and reliable people to serve as supervisors in each battalion to prevent the army from mutinying.At the same time, Duanmu Zhongren, who has great prestige and influence in the middle and lower civil and military officials in Guazhou, makes him most afraid or vigilant.Therefore, he decided to kill Duanmu Zhongren as soon as possible.

On the second day, Yang Jiye officially launched an attack on the inner city of Guazhou. Because from Suzhou to Guazhou, there was a long desert road in the middle, and heavy siege equipment could not be carried any longer. The substantial threat to the inner city of Guazhou was relatively limited, but the giant siege guns and crossbows displayed by the Xiangfu army still caused serious damage to the Guazhou defenders.

In addition to the forceful attack, Yang Jiye also ordered harassment tactics to be carried out day and night in the city, with occasional propaganda attacks. Cao Xuefei led the Cao family and a group of confidants to command the troops to support them hard. Another bitter battle was over, and shouted at night. The sound of killing disappeared, the blood was still wet, and the world was once again occupied by wind and sand. Cao Xuefei climbed to the top of the inner city, looked at the military camps of the Xiangfu Kingdom, who lived in houses or tents, and thought about the only way out for the Cao family. .If his most beloved son, Cao Zhongheng, whom he regards as the successor of the Cao family, was not killed by the other party yesterday, perhaps he might choose to surrender.But now he was surrounded by hatred in his heart, but he wanted to fight to the death, unless Yang Jiye was willing to kill the thief Yan Yishan who killed his son.

Thinking of this, Cao Xuefei glanced over the civil and military officials around him, and then settled on a middle-aged scribe, and said: "Liu Jiaxin, you will go out of the inner city as an envoy, and tell Yang Jiye that if he is willing to kill Yan Yishan, I will open the door and offer the city. Otherwise, I will fight to the death."

The middle-aged scribe named Liu Jiaxin turned pale, and was about to resign, when Cao Xuefei snorted coldly and said, "Don't worry, that Xiangfu Kingdom is inherited from China, not a country of barbarians, and will never be beheaded at will."

Liu Jiaxin sighed in his heart, and said: "I will definitely live up to my lord's mission."

Yang Jiye met Liu Jiaxin, the envoy sent by Cao Xuefei, on the tower of the outer city wall of Guazhou. After hearing Liu Jiaxin say that the premise of begging him to surrender was to kill Yan Yishan, Yang Jiye smiled and shook his head, and said bluntly: "How can this commander do this?" This kind of self-destruction of the city wall, today I killed Yan Yishan who surrendered to my Xiangfu in order to make you surrender Cao, how can anyone surrender to my Xiangfu country in the future?"

Without waiting for Liu Jiaxin to speak again, Yang Jiye said again: "Since ancient times, there have been many feudal lords in the Western Regions, and there have been endless wars. The unlucky ones are only innocent people. His Majesty, the Emperor of Xiangfu Kingdom, wants to make this Hexi a long-term peace and prosperity, and return to the prosperous situation in the prosperous Tang Dynasty. Lord of Guazhou, if you donate the city to accept soldiers, this commander will protect your Cao family's wealth and honor, even in the imperial court, your Cao family will have a place. His majesty, the emperor of Xiangfu country, will use his mind and courage. It is not impossible to confer the title of marquis and general. If the Cao family does not agree, the day when our army breaks through the city will be the day when the clan will be wiped out. Please also ask the envoy to bring the words of my commander to you. Cao Xuefei."

Liu Jiaxin lowered his voice and said bitterly, "Shuai Yang..."

Yang Jiye stood up and said loudly: "See off the guests!"

At sunset, after the envoy of the Cao family left, Yang Jiye stood quietly on the tower of the outer city wall under the setting sun. At his feet was the lonely city standing in the long yellow sand. The setting sun dragged him and the shadow of the city wall. It's been so long...

Yesterday, he met Kou Minglu, the envoy of the Ministry of Security in the Western Regions branch. The latter told him that the Duanmu Zhongren Society and Zhong Sanhe Society in the inner city, and the Ministry of Security jointly created an opportunity to break the city.So he is waiting.

"I am also a son and daughter of the Han family. If I have to, I will never meet with the Guiyi Army. However, if Duanmu Zhongren and the others are defeated, and Cao Xuefei insists on not surrendering, then.....it will be very difficult for me to prevent Xiangfu Kingdom from dominating Hexi Cao’s family has returned to the rebel army, so we have no choice but to kill him!”

Yang Jiye looked at the tower of Dongchengmen facing the inner city of Guazhou in the depths of the main street, and made up his mind. He stretched out his hand to wrap up the cloak that was rolled up by the wind and sand, and was about to turn around and return to the camp. When he turned around, he saw Tang Xingwu rushing towards He came with a serious look on his face, Yang Jiye couldn't help raising his eyebrows, Tang Xingwu has always acted prudently, and he has never walked in such a hurry before, presumably something important happened.

Tang Xingwu walked quickly to Yang Jiye, first saluted the military, and then said solemnly: "Commander, on June 26, the Hehuang Tubo set up a trick to lure Han Hu soldiers into attacking Wu Sheng's army and set up an ambush, causing heavy casualties to the Lanzhou White Tiger Army. The army was destroyed, the regiment commander Han Hu and the chief of staff Wu Changqing died for the country, and on June 27, Hehuang Tubo Yingcheng Lin Buchi led an army of [-] troops to encircle Lanzhou."

Yang Jiye's expression changed slightly, and he said: "June 27th, today is July [-]th, how many troops were there in Lanzhou City at that time?"

Tang Xingwu said: "Yang Yanguang, the deputy commander of the White Tiger Army, led two thousand troops of the White Tiger Army, and there were only [-] people in Lanzhou." Aside from the painful look on his face, there was not even the slightest loss of composure.

Yang Jiye closed his eyes slightly, hiding the pain, worry, and sadness in his heart. After a while, he slowly opened his eyes, and he had regained his composure. He shook his head and said, "Lanzhou is hanging out alone. The nearest Shengzhou and Liangzhou are five hundred miles away. Besides, it will take at least six or seven days for the reinforcements to arrive once the messenger is gone, not to mention that there are only 5000 people in Shengzhou and 1 people in Liangzhou, and they dare not move without authorization.”

Tang Xingwu sighed in his heart, Yang Jiye is so loyal.Yang Jiye seemed to know what Tang Xingwu was thinking, sighed and said: "Whether it is my son or someone else's son, since he joins the army and defends his family and country, he must have the consciousness to die in battle. It's not that this commander doesn't want to save My son is only concerned about the current situation, even if I am in charge of the country's troops for His Majesty, there is nothing I can do."

Tang Xingwu felt that it was natural for Yang Jiye to say these words, and his heart was shaken by it.

In the inner city of Guazhou, Cao Zhongzheng came to the front of Duanmu's family compound, got off his horse and walked straight to the gate of Duanmu's house.The servant guarding the gate of Duanmu's house knew Cao Zhongzheng, knew that he was the nephew of Cao Xuefei, the lord of Guazhou, and also one of his master's many students, so without waiting for him to say more, someone went in to inform him. He sat in a wing room.

Before Cao Zhongzheng could sit still, he heard footsteps, and he quickly got up to greet him.After a few breaths, a middle-aged scribe strode in.Cao Zhongzheng recognized that the visitor was Duanmu Zhongren's eldest son, Duanmu Shu, he hurriedly stepped forward, cupped his fists to greet him, and said, "Senior brother, are you safe here?" However, only Duanmushu is strict and not easy to get along with. Cao Zhongzheng did not expect that Duanmushu would come to meet him.

"Don't worry about it." Duanmushu bowed back with his fists cupped, and said, "I don't know if Junior Brother Cao is here, what can I teach you?"

Such a straightforward style made Cao Zhongzheng a little embarrassed. In front of this kind of person, all the skills in dealing with others seemed useless.Wasting time will only lead to further dislike from the other party. .

Cao Zhongzheng suppressed the embarrassment in his heart, and said with a smile: "My lord will hold a banquet in the mansion tonight, entertaining the wealthy and famous people from the Guazhou family, and specially ordering the younger brothers to invite the teacher and senior brothers. I also invite the teachers and senior brothers to give me some noodles. Come." As he spoke, he took out an invitation card from his sleeve and offered it with both hands.

Duanmushu took the invitation, he didn't say whether to go or not, he just asked: "Why did your lord envoy host the banquet suddenly?"

Cao Zhongzheng said with a worried face: "It is for the purpose of discussing the defense of the city and repelling the Xiangfu army outside the city. The teacher is a great Confucian in the Western Regions, so the special order must invite the teacher and senior brothers to come."

Duanmushu looked at Cao Zhongzheng meaningfully, and replied: "I will report to my father. I think it has something to do with the safety of Guazhou, and my father will definitely bother me then." He refused to say any more nonsense.

"Thank you, senior brother." Cao Zhongzheng expressed his thanks quickly, facing Duanmushu, he also felt that he had nothing to say, so he left immediately.

"Discuss the matter of defending the city and defeating the enemy?" In the study, Duanmu Zhongren pondered for a long time, then turned to Zhong Sanhe next to him and said, "Do you think Zhong Sanhe wants to go or not?"

(End of this chapter)