Sizhou, Yangqu City.
The haze of war has not yet dissipated from this high city.
The wreckage of people and buildings has been cleared away, but the postwar sadness has not been cleared along with it.
The soldiers were stationed on the city wall, their faces sad and silent.
The buildings in the city were charred everywhere, and only half of some houses were left.
The numb woman sat in despair inside the collapsed courtyard wall, looking blankly at the road.
A knight hurriedly passed by on the road without taking a second look at the ruins on both sides.
In the official office, Gao Yan sat in the upper position with a serious look on his face. This wise king, who was known for his generosity, also rarely showed an angry look at this moment.
Tian Zili sat on his left and glared at the man sitting on his right.
Sitting on the right is none other than Dugu Yongye, the former governor of the six states.
Dugu Yongye has a very nice beard. He is tall, but not too burly, and can be considered strong.
His complexion is dark, but his eyes are the brightest.
At this moment, he looked seriously at King Pingyang in front of him, without any awe in his eyes, "Your Majesty, since the enemy has left, there is no need for you to continue to stay here. The war has just ended and thieves are rampant. Your Majesty,
You should return to Shuozhou as soon as possible."
"Your Majesty has entrusted me with Jinyang's external defense. Your Majesty has not dismissed me, so I will stay here."
"Now that the enemy has retreated, there is no need for your Majesty to come to assist me anymore."
Gao Yangyang did not speak, but Tian Zili sneered, "When the general was defeated by Yang Zhong and fled in all directions, why didn't he urge us to leave earlier?"
Dugu Yongye glanced at him and said seriously: "I will lose to Yang Zhong, not because I am inferior to him, but because I am loyal."
"If I could follow the example of a certain general and go ahead and attack the enemy's fortress without hesitation, knowing that the enemy might take a detour to attack Jinyang, I might be able to succeed."
"It's just that I couldn't do such a thing. When I learned that Yang Zhong had crossed the river, I ignored the rest and led people to rush to stop him, but was attacked by him and was defeated."
Tian Zili listened to his insinuations and laughed angrily, "It is really a blessing for Da Qi to have such loyal ministers as the generals. I just don't know what you did when Yang Zhong besieged Jinyang and forced the emperor.
Instead of going to the rescue, you retreated to the hinterland and huddled in defense?"
Dugu Yongye shook his head disdainfully, "What else can I say to people who don't know how to fight?"
He looked at Gao Yan and said, "Your Majesty, there is not much food here. There are more and more defeated troops, and there is not enough food for us. I am afraid that the army will starve tomorrow. Once this army starves, we may not be able to do anything."
Whatever happens, please consider it carefully, Your Majesty."
After Dugu Yongye finished speaking, he stood up and left the inner room.
Gao Yan's face was very ugly. When the other party left, he said: "Is he threatening me? Does he still dare to kill me?!"
Tian Zili's face was not as ugly as before. He said calmly: "This person is close to Your Majesty and has a grudge against General Anxi."
"Besides, he also wants to hold the temple hostage."
"In the past, when he served as a garrison in Heluo, he had the intention of raising the bandits' self-respect. Moreover, this person is the best at pretending. He talks one thing and thinks the other. He is sanctimonious and talks about being loyal to the emperor and the country. In fact, he colludes with the nobles to embezzle money.
If the nobles are unwilling to get close to him, he will find ways to discredit them."
"It was said that he had robbed civilian girls. General Hulu knew about it and wanted to impeach him. He reported General Hulu to the temple, saying that General Hulu wanted to rob his two maids, but he refused to give them.
This caused General Hu Lu to slander him, and both sides had their own excuses."
"But I still believe in General Hu Lu's character more than him."
Gao Yan frowned, "Take the temple hostage?"
"Yes, the current situation in the temple seems to be stable, but due to King Pingyuan, many changes occurred. He gathered his defeated troops and took up residence in Sizhou. The envoy sent by the temple did not show up, but he did not show up. It was clear that he wanted greater official position and power.
.”
"He wants the temple to compete for him and give him more."
Gao Yan cursed loudly, "He led troops to sit in Sizhou, but allowed Yang Zhong to break through easily. His crime is only less than that of Gao Anahu, what kind of reward does he want?!"
"Zili, how should we deal with this person?"
Tian Zili frowned slightly.
The conduct of these noble and powerful generals who founded the country is really worse than the others, greedy, cruel and cruel, but speaking of it, if they can fight, they can really fight.
Although Dugu Yongye was defeated by Yang Zhong, it was because his opponent was Yang Zhong, and in this battle, his own monarch also used his strength. He forced people like Gao Ji to divide the military power, and the city fell and he still sent
People lied to him.
He had no choice but to say: "Your Majesty, Duguzhi currently has more than 5,000 infantry and cavalry people in the city, and he is accepting more and more defeated troops. However, we only brought more than 3,000 people, and they are all local troops, not them.
opponent"
"There is a group of private soldiers beside him, called the vanguard army. There are more than 200 people in this vanguard army. Each of them is a warrior who is one in ten thousand. They wear heavy armor and must be the first to fight. Every time Dugu Yongye fights with others,
, they all use these people as their vanguard, so they can win every time. This time he was defeated by Yang Zhong, but those people were able to protect him and escape successfully, keeping him safe and sound."
"If I fall out with him now, I'm afraid something big will happen."
Hearing Tian Zili's words, Gao Yan sighed, "What should we do? Should we withdraw from the city?"
Tian Zili narrowed his eyes, "We must not withdraw. General Anxi is definitely on his way now. We have to guard this place to welcome his arrival. We cannot let him be blocked in Sizhou."
Gao Yan suddenly had no choice but to retreat and fight again and again.
"Your Majesty, are you familiar with King Pingyuan?"
Tian Zili suddenly asked.
Gao Yan was stunned, "Of course we are familiar, but not too close. King Pingyuan is closer to His Majesty."
"It doesn't matter whether we are close or not, as long as we are familiar with each other."
Tian Zili closed the door and began to conspire with Gao Yan.
That night, a few masters quietly climbed over the wall from the official office, jumped into the darkness, and disappeared without a trace.
The next day, it was bright and clear.
Dugu Yongye put on his armor, and the soldiers were distributed around him, gradually gathering at the entrance of the official office.
Dugu Yongye's eyes were filled with disdain.
A clan that has never fought a war, led by a scribe, wants to suppress itself?
When I was fighting with Emperor Wenxuan, you didn't know where to play in the mud!
King Pengcheng thinks that with Liu Taozi's support, he can be lawless. This is also a delusion!
He is guarding here, and Liu Taozi doesn't dare to lead all the troops to fight. It's hard to say whether he can pass his level. He is not the little guy who will be slaughtered along the way.
When your grandpa sees me, he has to politely call me Grand Governor.
Dugu Yongye cursed secretly in his heart and turned to look at the soldier at the door of the government office. He keenly discovered that the soldier at the door of the government office had changed.
Dugu Yongye walked into the official office surrounded by his pioneer battalion.
The atmosphere in the government office was suddenly different. Soldiers were walking around with cold eyes. These local soldiers changed their past timidity and did not feel scared when they saw me.
Dugu Yongye suddenly felt something was wrong, but he was not afraid.
With all the elites around him, do these dogs still want to surround and kill him? With just over a hundred people, they can slaughter thousands of you!
Under the leadership of a soldier, Dugu Yongye strode to the main house and broke in.
Gao Yan sat in the upper seat, his face no longer showing any anger, but with a smile, looking at Dugu Yongye happily.
Dugu Yongye immediately frowned. Tian Zili stood up in a hurry, walked quickly to his side, and took his hand actively, "General Dugu, you are finally here. In the past few days, I have been wrong and offended."
Please take a seat, please take a seat."
Tian Zili's excessive enthusiasm made Dugu Yongye extremely uneasy.
He still sat down, and before he could speak, Tian Zili hurriedly said: "General Dugu, the king and I led the troops here because of the edict from the temple. Now the temple has not issued an edict for us to leave.
Order, please general, please forgive us for staying here for a while and don’t drive us away.”
"We will never stay too long. General, please don't rush us to leave."
Tian Zili said it very sincerely.
Gao Yan nodded repeatedly, his eyes twinkling.
Dugu Yongye quickly retracted his hand and looked at Tian Zili and Gao Yan warily. As a veteran, countless thoughts came to his mind at this moment.
Why did you lower your head suddenly?
Why did you suddenly change your appearance?
They clearly know that begging has no effect.
This guy definitely has bad intentions. What on earth is he thinking?
Dugu Yongye took back his hand and looked at King Pingyang again. He said helplessly: "Your Majesty, it's not me who urges you, but this foreign governor, well, if your Majesty wants to stay, then just stay for one more day, but
Can’t stay too long”
Dugu Yongye didn't even say anything more, turned around and left.
Seeing Dugu Yongye leaving in a hurry, Gao Yan took out the document in his sleeve in confusion and looked at Tian Zili beside him.
"How come this strategy hasn't worked yet? He has already left??"
Tian Zili chuckled, "This guy is cautious. It seems that you can't be too direct with him. You have to let him guess by himself."
Dugu Yongye left the official office in a hurry and immediately sent people to investigate the situation of entering and leaving the city gate and the official office last night and today.
At night, a soldier placed all the lists in front of him.
Dugu Yongye picked up these lists and compared them one by one.
Finally, he called the soldier who was responsible for keeping an eye on the official office to inquire, and learned that early this morning, several knights who were tired of the journey had entered the official office.
Dugu Yongye quickly looked at the soldier, "What are the accents of those knights?"
The soldier was confused, "How do we know? We have never heard him speak."
Dugu Yongye called the soldiers stationed at the city gate again, and compared with them the knights entering the city. The evidence they showed was Shuozhou soldiers, but the soldiers stationed at the city gate told Dugu Yongye that their accents were similar to those of Shuozhou soldiers.
The Shuozhou soldiers stationed there have a completely different accent and seem to have the accent from Jizhou.
At this moment, Dugu Yongye suddenly panicked.
Jizhou accent?
In and outside Jinyang, there was only one person who had knights with Jizhou accent under his command. Duan Shao, king of Pingyuan, once served as the governor of Jizhou's six states and recruited local knights as his backbone.
The reason why Dugu Yongye dared to be arrogant was because the situation was not obvious yet. He followed Duan Shao and chose not to rush to take sides.
He remembered the reactions of Tian Zili and others.
Could it be that King Pingyuan has chosen to submit to the new court?
They concealed the news and did not tell them, and even begged themselves and showed weakness to themselves, just to let themselves drive them out by force, so that they would lose the chance of relaxation and completely stand on the opposite side of the new imperial court??
Or is this just their strategy?
Are you doing this deliberately, trying to guide yourself in this direction, just to delay the arrival of their general?
Or are they trying to make themselves feel like they are guiding themselves on purpose? Is the purpose or is it to isolate themselves?
For a moment, Dugu Yongye began to think layer by layer in his mind. He thought about it layer by layer. When he finally thought about it, he shook his head suddenly, picked up the wine bag from the side, and took a sip.
The next moment, Dugu Yongye suddenly put down the wine bag.
He looked at the soldiers around him.
"Call the army immediately!!"
At the same time, in the official office, Gao Yan was discussing with Tian Zili how to make Dugu Yongye dare not take action easily and how to delay the arrival of Liu Taozi.
While they were talking, a soldier came hurriedly.
"Your Majesty!! Dugu Yongye is gathering the army!!"
Gao Yan was shocked, "Could it be that he is going to take action?"
Tian Zili calmed down Gao Yan and asked the scouts to continue investigating.
Later, the scouts again brought news that Dugu Yongye led his troops to leave Yangqu and headed towards Jinyang.
Gao Yan was still shocked, "What's going on??"
"Abandoned the city??"
Tian Zili frowned, "This guy is unwilling to take risks and went to find King Pingyuan."
"He will join forces with the King of Pingyuan and follow the King of Pingyuan to do things."
"If King Pingyuan has surrendered, he will directly submit to King Pingyuan and express his attitude. If he finds out that we have deceived him, then he will follow King Pingyuan and continue to defend. In short, hiding behind King Pingyuan will not suffer any loss."
Tian Zili frowned slightly, "If this guy stays with King Pingyuan, it will be even more difficult to convince King Pingyuan to surrender in the future."
But at the moment, Tian Zili couldn't think about what was going to happen in the future. After Dugu Yongzhu left on his own initiative, he hurriedly replaced the other party to collect the defeated troops, strengthen the city defense, and prepare to welcome Liu Taozi's arrival.
On the fourth day after Dugu Yongye left, Liu Taozi led the knights and appeared outside the city.
This was the first time King Pingyang met the rumored Liu Taozi.
Gao Yan was riding a horse and looking into the distance with a smile. Tian Zili was standing next to him. Tian Zili was also very excited. He had not seen his brother for a long time.
When Liu Taozi led the people closer, Tian Zili almost left Gao Yan and went to pay homage to him.
When the two sides encountered each other, Gao Yan took the initiative to dismount to show his respect for Liu Taozi. Liu Taozi was not arrogant and dismounted in return.
"Hahaha, General Liu has a reputation far and wide. I can meet him today. He is really majestic! What a strong man! No wonder he defeated Yang Zhong twice. He is really the number one general in Daqi!"
Gao Yan didn't know much about military affairs. He only looked at the results. He felt that if Yang Zhong could fight all the way to Jinyang, no one dared to stop him, but if Liu Taozi could defeat him twice, then Liu Taozi would be number one.
He held Liu Taozi's hand affectionately, and the nerves that had been tense since leaving Shuozhou seemed to relax a little.
He breathed a long sigh of relief.
"Fortunately, General Liu is here."
Liu Taozi didn't say anything, but maintained her usual indifference.
Tian Zili stepped forward in time, "Brother!"
Liu Taozi nodded and looked at the city again. Tian Zili did not need his intervention and said immediately: "Dugu Yongye is not sure what Duan Shao is thinking. He has already gone to Duan Shao. This person is cunning and has many
Greed is not compatible with the general and is difficult to deal with."
Gao Yan also nodded hastily, "This man is really cunning. He wanted to intimidate the temple in exchange for a reward."
With Gao Yan around, Tian Zili couldn't say many things clearly. When everyone entered the city, Liu Taozi asked Poduo Luogu and Dugujie to take over the local defense.
Sitting in the official office, Gao Yan expressed his admiration for Liu Taozi without hesitation.
"General Liu, the current crisis in the country requires the general to be so loyal and kind to step forward. King Pengcheng has no choice but to do this. Alas, general, don't think that he wants to rebel. King Pengcheng definitely has no such intention."
Gao Yan did not forget to explain to his younger brother.
The three of them had some wine and some meat, and Gao Yan decided to take a rest. He had not had a good rest for several days.
After he left, Tian Zili quickly changed his face.
"Brother!!!"
"Get up"
Liu Taozi helped him up, and Tian Zili wiped his tears, "I learned that my brother was fighting fiercely with Yang Zhong at the border fortress. I couldn't sleep or eat well. God bless me, and that old man Yang Zhong couldn't hurt my brother!"
Tian Zili and Liu Taozi chatted for a while before talking about important matters.
"Brother, our original idea was to let Gao Wei inherit the throne. In this way, whether it is the relatives of the Lou family, the relatives of the Hu family, or the noble military generals, they can accept it. However, when everything was ready, the Queen Mother
Passed away."
Liu Taozi was stunned, and Tian Zili hurriedly said: "I just learned about this news. I haven't had time to send someone to report it to my brother, and it has not spread. Duan Shao is still waiting for the Queen Mother's order.
But the Queen Mother is no longer here. Zu Jue wants Lou Rui to talk to him, but many people think that if Lou Rui goes away, he will join forces with Duan Shao. Duan Shao alone is very scary. If Lou Rui is added to the mix, then it’s okay.
have to??"
"Um."
Liu Taozi nodded slightly.
"Duan Shao is close to His Majesty, but at the same time he is not sure what King Pengcheng wants to do. I will personally go over to persuade him."
"Brother must not take personal risks! He was not alone during that period. He was surrounded by many distinguished veterans, all of whom were at odds with his brother."
"No problem, Duan Shao, just make it clear and let him believe it. The two sides have not reached the point where they have to fight to the death. As for the people around him, they are just pigs and dogs. The trend is favorable. As long as it is beneficial to them, there will be killing.
They can ignore their father's hatred."
Chapter completed!