Chapter 623 The troops are approaching Luoyang City!
Outside the palace.
Cai Yong was all dirty and lying on the dusty ground. His eyes were filled with shame and anger, and he even had the determination to die.
It was a great humiliation that a state minister was thrown out by the emperor in broad daylight.
A gentleman can be killed but not humiliated!
Just now in the hall, the emperor's distrust and anger towards Luo Kong reached its peak, but he merely removed him from his powerful position and gave him the position of Shizhong.
This may seem excessive to future generations.
But in fact it is not so, especially compared with the incident of Cai Yong, it is nothing but a drop in the bucket.
Luo Kong directly kept the emperor in Luoyang. The emperor fought back in anger, and his fightback was very measured, even better than the direct imprisonment of officials.
Although the Shizhong had no real power, he was very noble.
The ministers and officials in the palace simply felt that it was inappropriate not to use Luo Kong at this critical moment.
As for how serious Cai Yong's incident was, according to the concept of monarch-subject relationship at that time, the relationship between Cai Yong and the emperor was basically severed!
It is no exaggeration to say that if a person is more stubborn, he would go back home and commit suicide.
This is because the emperor has the status of the Son of Heaven, and people cannot kill the Son of Heaven. If he were simply the lord, I am afraid revenge would have to be taken directly based on the theory of monarch and subject.
"No, I can't die here. If I can save the books from the Taiping Army, if I can still live to see Wen Ji and Zhen Ji, I want to see them get married. I want to preserve the essence of the world."
The light in Cai Yong's eyes gradually brightened. He climbed up from the ground, but felt that his ankle was injured, and every time it hurt, it was extremely painful.
Suddenly he felt someone supporting his swaying body. Turning around, he saw the palace gates wide open and courtiers coming out one after another. His good friend Qiao Xuan was supporting him.
"Bo Ji, you..."
Looking at Cai Yong's rather embarrassing scene, Qiao Xuan didn't know what to say. He was considered to be in a high position of power, and if he took one more step forward he would become one of the Three Dukes, but he couldn't say anything just now.
"Grandfather!"
Cai Yong did not blame Qiao Xuan for not speaking for him. He held Qiao Xuan's hand tightly and said sadly: "The emperor issued a chaotic order. The Han Dynasty will perish because of it!"
Qiao Xuan sighed and said, "How could I not know? Who among the ministers in the palace doesn't know?
I don’t know whether Dong Zhuo is a loyal minister, but Wushuang Hou must be more trustworthy than Dong Zhuo.
But Marquis Wushuang was loyal to the Han Dynasty but not to the emperor.
The reason why the emperor was so angry was because he was so frightened in his heart. He was so worried that he would die, so he could only vent in this way.
You said something that touched upon his worst fears, do you understand?"
Cai Yong was a little dazed. He had no talent in politics and was far inferior to his good friends.
After hearing this, he could only say blankly: “Maybe.
But once the emperor's order is issued, it cannot be taken back.
Soon all orders will be lost, and even if you regret it, it will be too late."
Qiao Xuan understood what he was saying. Once the Taiping Army surrounded Luoyang, it would be impossible to get out.
At that time, the decree from Luoyang could not be sent out, and the situation in the world would not be controlled by the Luoyang court, and could only be executed according to the decree sent before.
At that time, even if you want to let Wushuang Hou take on the important task again, it will be impossible.
Qiao Xuan looked at the hundreds of messengers rushing out of the palace. They all carried bamboo tubes sealed with beeswax and rode on tall horses. They were so fast that they even dispersed the crowds on the street. He said softly, "It's too late. The messengers from the court have already been sent out."
The reason why there are so many messengers is because the area around Luoyang City is very dangerous.
Among these more than a hundred people, probably only one in ten can actually deliver the imperial edict.
That's why the emperor didn't run away.
Those families who sent their children away united together and organized guards with high martial arts skills to ensure a safe departure.
In fact, they were also fighting for their lives. Staying in the city would almost certainly mean death. This was not a rebellion of the princes. Many things would have to be taken into consideration and they had to follow the previously agreed rules.
The peasant army had no rules and most of the time they would just kill people indiscriminately when they entered the city. Especially the peasant army like Zhang Jue who had incredible military power, who showed no mercy when killing the princes who were loyal to the king. In the eyes of the people in the court, he must be a bloodthirsty devil.
Unless you meet a peasant army leader who has great ambitions for the world and knows the importance of winning over the gentry, he will act respectfully and courteously.
But in this era, even people from poor families were unwilling to follow a pure peasant army. Under such circumstances, the only way to survive was to leave Luoyang City.
As all the messengers left, all the gates of Luoyang City were closed tightly.
The imperial army began to clear the area and implement the strictest martial law policy, even stricter than the curfew.
Rows of soldiers appeared in the streets and alleys, and the elite soldiers climbed to the top of the city walls and began to check the weapons used to defend the city.
The scorching sun in the sky that had been scorching all day was moving towards the west. It was now almost two hours since Luo Kong broke camp and left.
Everyone is waiting for the Taiping Army to appear, which may be two hours later, or even longer.
Looking from the top of Luoyang's towering city walls, one can see figures appearing on the horizon.
With the earth-shaking sound of horse hooves, everyone in Luoyang City knew it.
The Taiping Army has arrived!
Tap tap tap!
The Taiping Army’s flags came from all directions of Luoyang City.
The roads leading to Luoyang were filled with Taiping cavalry, and their formation was extremely luxurious.
There were large numbers of empty horses. Just a quick glance showed that each man had five or even six horses. There were so many war horses that the sky and the earth were covered with dust.
“How many people are there?”
Now the general defending the city understood why the Taiping Army appeared so quickly.
It turned out that they did not stop at all along the way. When one horse got tired, they would switch horses and they were rushing here at the fastest speed.
From the Taiping Army appearing from all directions, it is not difficult to see that they are actually dispersing to block the enemy!
Many people who had left the city before became prisoners of the Taiping Army.
This means that within an hour from the time Wushuang Hou left, these Taiping troops had actually arrived near Luoyang.
The general on the city wall now had only one question: why didn't these Taiping troops stop Wushuang Hou?
Logically speaking, he should be able to catch Wushuang Hou's tail.
But when the Taiping Army arrived, the general found out.
Although the momentum was fierce just now and there was a lot of dust between the sky and the earth, in fact, the number of Taiping troops that arrived was not that large.
This first batch of Taiping troops consisted of only a few thousand people, but at first glance they were all elite cavalry.
The Taiping Army sent thousands of people to bring so many horses for only one purpose, which was to prevent the important figures in Luoyang City from escaping.
If they only rely on these cavalrymen and the bandit leader Zhang Jue does not show up, they will not be able to fight a major battle with the Western Region Iron Cavalry.
Thinking of this, the general defending the city was a little excited. If it were just these 5,000 cavalry, the soldiers in Luoyang city could also fight a battle in the field.
But he thought about it again. Although he was quite confident, he didn't dare to lead his troops out of the city.
He was worried that there was an ambush outside the city. If the elite troops in the city were lost, it would be very difficult to defend the city afterwards, which would be bad.
It is better to defend the city honestly. After all, the people in Luoyang still have support.
The people in the city generally had a fear of the Taiping Army, but under such circumstances, they were still able to share the same hatred of the enemy with the royal family.
The general sent someone to the palace to report the arrival of the Taiping Army, while he continued to observe the situation of the Taiping Army.
Teams of Taiping troops came from the direction of Gong County, and then set up camp under the leadership of Qu Shuai, forming a continuous camp. The camp was built very solidly to prevent sudden night attacks by the Han army.
A journey of a hundred miles begins with a single step. Now that we have come this far, we must be cautious and must not fall into a trap.
As time went on, more and more Taiping troops arrived, battalion by battalion, and soon tens of thousands of people arrived at the city of Luoyang.
These are either cavalry or mounted infantry, and they are both relatively fast.
With the arrival of these Taiping Army soldiers, everyone, whether inside or outside the city, knew that the final battle was about to begin.
No one can escape.
In Luoyang Palace.
News came to the palace one after another. When the emperor first heard that there were only a few thousand people, he breathed a sigh of relief.
However, after hearing the number of people being reported in real-time, the emperor began to look a little nervous.
Resentment towards Luo Kong arose in his heart again. He could have escaped with Luo Kong, but because the so-called Son of Heaven could not escape, he had to stay here.
"hateful!"
His fear of the great terror between life and death was clearly revealed. He even felt powerless to stand. The more selfish a person is, the more afraid he would be when facing such a situation.
…
When Luo Xiao led the remaining Taiping Army to arrive, they were faced with tightly closed city gates.
From the people who had been captured before, Luo Xiao quickly knew what Luo Kong had done, and he immediately burst into laughter, thinking that his younger brother was truly a wonderful person.
As for him taking the Crown Prince away, Luo Xiao didn't care. Even if the Crown Prince ascended the throne in Chang'an, he would only be the Emperor. He probably wouldn't even dare to try for the Son of Heaven.
"Luoyang!"
Luo Xiao rode his horse forward, sighing slightly.
The towering city stood not far away. Luo Xiao had countless thoughts in his mind. To every member of the Luo family, Luoyang was a holy city.
This is the city built by our ancestor King Su himself. It has protected the Zhou clan for a thousand years and is still protecting the family today.
"Fortunately it was me who came to attack Luoyang!"
Luo Xiao felt a little relieved, this city was very important to his family.
Cities are most easily destroyed during wars, and the damage is not intentional, but no one cares, so they naturally suffer all kinds of damage. For example, Xianyang and Chang'an were once very glorious cities, but now they are in decline.
The main structure of Luoyang City will certainly not be destroyed, but those stones are not a city.
The most important thing is the people who live here and the dynasty with great fortune has its capital established here.
On the edge of Luoyang, the Luo River, the sacred river of the Xia Dynasty that contains countless legends, flows endlessly, as if time is eternal.
Luo Xiao bowed towards Luo Shui to express his respect for his ancestor Luo Shen.
Seeing Luo Xiao coming to the city of Luoyang, the generals who had arrived earlier gathered around him, looked at the city of Luoyang in front of them with excitement and said, "Master, are we going to attack the city directly?"
No wonder everyone is so excited. When they followed the Great Sage to rebel, it was just because they were unyielding in their hearts. Who could have thought that this day would come?
We actually reached the capital of the Han court, the holy city of Luoyang?
As long as they could capture the city in front of them, the Han court would almost be destroyed. There was still the emperor in Luoyang City, no, the Son of Heaven!
If these generals had thought of the emperor in the past, they would have certainly been afraid, after all, he was the Son of God.
But not now!
As long as you look at the towering figure in front of you, like a towering mountain, all your fears will disappear.
The Han court has lost its mandate, and the Taoist master is the true mandate!
The emperor in Luoyang City is just a fake emperor.
Luo Xiao shook his head, then laughed loudly and said, "There is no rush to attack the city, there is no army in the world that can come to the king's aid.
Victory will be ours sooner or later.
The so-called manifesto is as sharp as an arrow!
When the Qin Dynasty was destroyed, the princes said: Alas, the Qin Dynasty, its luck has run out!
Now that we want to destroy the last mandate of the Han Dynasty, how can we just resort to violence?
We are not rebelling, but rising up for revolution. How can we represent justice without announcing it to the world?
If we don't announce it to the world, how can we let everyone know that the Han court's failure was due to the loss of the Mandate of Heaven?"
Upon hearing this, all the Taiping Canal commanders laughed loudly in agreement with Luo Xiao.
This feeling of carrying out God's will on behalf of God is so great!
…
In Luoyang Palace.
The palace was quite quiet. The emperor might get angry at any time, and no one dared to offend him.
"Your Majesty, the Taiping Army sent in a manifesto, and ordered the soldiers to read the manifesto loudly outside Luoyang City."
The emperor did not expect that the Taiping Army, a rebellious bandit army, would actually issue a manifesto. He immediately became even more angry and said, "Read it to me!"
"His Majesty!"
How could the envoy dare to read it? Although he hadn't read it yet, he knew there must be nothing good in it. The emperor roared angrily, "Read it to me!"
Seeing the emperor's furious insistence, the envoy could only open it and read it tremblingly.
"Emperor of the Han Dynasty:
I am the Taoist master of Tianyi. I was born with the destiny of heaven. I came to this world to break your destiny.
The Han court has existed for three hundred years. Until your day, yin and yang are in disorder, order is turned upside down, there are incompetent rulers and treacherous officials in the court, the country is in decline, and God no longer favors it. I respectfully carry out God's will and abolish the last old order of the Han court.
This is announced to you.
If you take off your armor and surrender, you can still save your life, but if you go against the will of heaven, your bones will be crushed to dust and your ashes will be scattered, and you will fall into the underworld forever."
————
Jiao wielded the yellow sword and shouldered the world with the courage of a hegemon. When he arrived in Shangluo, he rose from Xingyang and showed the king's demeanor. He was the one who shouldered the world. This was unprecedented. - "Heroes of the Late Han Dynasty"
(End of this chapter)
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