Tibet

In Chang'an, night fell, Li Fuguo's face was full of excitement, and he trotted and hurried to the harem. In the small hall of the harem, silk and bamboo were melodious. Emperor Li Hengzheng and Queen Zhang were sitting and drinking opposite each other, while a group of maids danced below.

At this time, Li Fuguo rushed into the side hall and shouted: "Your Majesty, there is urgent news from Chengdu. The Supreme Emperor. The Supreme Emperor has died."

Emperor Li Heng was stunned, and the wine glass in his hand clattered to the ground. He suddenly fell to the ground and burst into tears. Queen Zhang quickly put down the wine glass and came forward to comfort her.

Li Fuguo suddenly felt bored. He thought the emperor would shout excitedly, but he actually burst into tears. He had completely forgotten that the emperor and the emperor were not only political opponents, but also father and son.

Father and son are connected, and although they usually fight to the death, when it comes to the real separation of life and death, it is heartbreaking.

Li Fuguo waved his hand and asked the musicians and dancers, who were also at a loss, to retreat.

Li Fuguo stepped forward to persuade: "Your Majesty, people cannot be resurrected after death. I suggest ringing the Jingyang Bell to let the Supreme Emperor go in peace!"

After a while, Li Heng wiped away his tears and said: "Ring the Jingyang Bell and notify the civil and military ministers to gather at Danfengmen Square to pay tribute to the Supreme Emperor!"

The Jingyang Bell is located in the bell tower in front of the Hanyuan Hall. It is the largest bell in Chang'an. The alarm bell will be sounded only for major events, such as the emperor's accession to the throne, the death of the prince, the emperor, or the empress dowager.

"Dong-dong-dong-"

The heavy sound of drums echoed over Chang'an City. Officials at all levels in Chang'an City rushed to the Daming Palace. In fact, most of the officials had guessed the reason. It must be that the Supreme Emperor had passed away. They had received news a month ago that the Supreme Emperor was ill. After that, the court began to prepare for the funeral.

Now that the Jingyang Bell is ringing, it must be the death of the Supreme Emperor.

Thousands of officials and tens of thousands of soldiers lined up in the Danfengmen Square. Eunuchs continued to distribute white linen belts to them. The officials wrapped the white belts around their heads and knelt down to mourn the death of the emperor.

Officials and soldiers wearing Xiao stretched from Danfengmen Square to outside Danfengmen, forming a sea of ​​mourning

The emperor Li Heng immediately issued an order to stay in court for three days, and the whole city mourned.

At night, an army of 20,000 people quickly moved south from Xingzhou, marched day and night in the vast mountainous areas, and passed through the entire territory of Lizhou.

Lizhou is known as the Great Shu Road, and it is more dangerous than Jianmen Pass. The first to bear the brunt is Wuding Pass, but Wuding Pass is in Xingzhou and is guarded by the Helong Army, followed by Sanquan County and Ningqiang. Qipanguan Pass at the junction of counties, then Yangping Pass, and Feixian Pass further down, Jiameng Pass to the southeast after Miangu County, and Dajian Pass to the southwest.

However, the 20,000 Helong troops passed through the pass and headed south without encountering any obstacles. The pass was empty and there were no soldiers to guard it. This was naturally the secret help of the new Lizhou military envoy Qiu Daocheng. He used the excuse to concentrate on training soldiers and sent Lizhou to the south. All the soldiers at each pass were withdrawn to Miangu County, leaving only empty passes, allowing the 20,000 soldiers to move south without any obstruction.

That night, 20,000 troops arrived at Miangu City. This was also a city that must pass through to guard the official road. There was the Jialing River on the right and the official road on the left. They had to enter through the north gate and exit through the south gate.

Although Miangu City is tall and strong, it can be captured if the troops are concentrated to attack. The key is that there are no siege weapons. How can it be possible to carry siege weapons when they have to travel hundreds of miles all the way over mountains and ridges?

The biggest problem was the inability to carry siege weapons. If Ma Chao had ignored Liu Bei when he was guarding Jiameng Pass, and had prepared more strong bows, crossbows, and rolling logs and rocks, Liu Bei would not have been able to capture Jiameng Pass.

The key is that Ma Chao himself has the idea of ​​​​surrender, and finds an excuse to fight Zhang Fei for a few hundred rounds to show his martial arts skills and make the new leader Liu Bei pay more attention to him.

Of course Ma Chao wanted to surrender. The dignified Lord of Xiliang defected to Liu Zhang, but was actually sent to guard Zhaohua City, a small county under remote Langzhou. The east gate of Zhaohua City was Jiameng Pass, and the treatment was worse than that of a beggar.

Absolutely, my aunt can tolerate it, but my uncle cannot!

That’s why it is said that attacking the city is the bottom priority and attacking the heart is the top priority. This is the correct idea for attacking the pass.

Twenty thousand troops arrived in Miangu County. The military envoy Qiu Daocheng led his troops out of the city to welcome the Helong Tang Army. This cannot be called a surrender. Li Ye did not fall out with the court. The two armies were still brothers. Of course, if it was the former commander-in-chief Wang Chen, He would never let the Helong army cross the border. From the first dangerous pass, Qipanguan, it would be difficult for the Helong Tang army to attack.

Wang Chen must get an order from the court before he can switch and let go. As long as Yu Chaoen and Li Fuguo are around, the emperor will never allow the Helong army to go south.

Twenty thousand troops entered Miangu County for a brief rest. Bai Xiaode stood at the top of the city, looking at the mountains in the south. It was still far from Dajian Pass. Bai Xiaode asked: "General Qiu, how is the situation at Dajian Pass now?"

Qiu Daocheng shook his head, "It's a bit bad!"

"What's wrong?"

"General Bai, there have been no caravans heading north for several days. I estimate that Dajian Pass has been closed to travel north. It may be because they are afraid that the news of the death of the Supreme Emperor will be leaked."

Bai Xiaode frowned, "What about going south?"

“There is currently no news about going south, but generally we don’t just cut off one side. If we do, we cut off the whole thing. You can’t go back and forth.

Bai Xiaode secretly screamed that something was wrong. He had to notify Zhang Dian of Jianmen County in advance. What should he do?

After thinking for a moment, Bai Xiaode asked: "General Qiu, does he know who has relatives in the city guarding Dajian Pass?"

Qiu Daocheng thought for a while and said: "There is a guard brigade commander named Fang. He is from Miangu County and everyone in his family knows him."

This morning, a sixty-year-old man led a donkey to Jianmen Pass.

When he just approached Jianmen Pass, he was immediately stopped by the soldiers, "Jianmen Pass has been cut off and no one is allowed to pass. Go back!"

The old man became anxious and quickly bowed and said: "Master Jun, I am from Miangu County in the north. My son is in Jiannan County in front. My wife is seriously ill. I want to inform my son."

The old man spoke the local dialect, and the soldier shook his head, "My husband, it's not that I don't want to help you. If you came yesterday, you can go there. But there are new orders today. No one is allowed to pass, no matter what the reason is. I will let you go without permission." , we’re going to lose our heads.”

"Then can you call Brigadier Fang for me? His name is Fang Qun. He is my relative."

"You wait!"

The soldiers rushed back, and not long after, a low-level general rushed over. His name was Fang Qun, a brigade commander with fifty soldiers under his command. Fang Qun was also from Miangu County.

Fang Qun recognized the old man at a glance and said with a smile, "Uncle Liu San, why are you here?"

The old man said: "Sanlang is currently in Jianmen County. My mother is seriously ill. I want to go to him to ask for money."

Fang Qun was startled, "Sanlang is in Jianmen County? Why didn't I know at all that he didn't come to see me?"

"He was in Chengdu before, but he came to Jianmen County this year to do business. My dear nephew, can you let me pass?"

Fang Qun was a little confused: "I just issued a strict order this morning. No one is allowed to pass through Jianmen Pass, no matter what the reason is. I really can't help Third Uncle!"