Chapter 89 The Wheel Rolls Down
What followed were three very chaotic months.
The chaos was so thrilling that no one could imagine it.
After Xie Ci received the imperial edict to support the emperor, he immediately led his troops south. At this time, no one cared whether there was any conflict with the old emperor.
The entire area east of Taihang was affected by the war. Xie Ci led his army along the Fen River all the way down to Yizhou, and then passed through Xingzhou, Xiangzhou and Yanzhou. On the way, he encountered the Kuntu Shuo tribe of the Northern Rong. The latter had just defeated the joint forces of the three Jiedushi of Wei, Yan and Yan, and immediately went straight to meet the Shuofang tribe heading south.
The two sides engaged in a fierce battle. In the end, the Kuntu Shuo tribe was defeated by Xie Ci and turned around to flee south.
Smoke billowed, and the battlefield in the melting snowfield was muddy, messy, and charred. Kun Tushuo's troops had gone south to join forces. Xie Ci stopped his horse and looked south. The tender grass that had emerged had been trampled into a mess. The sky was gloomy, and his heart was heavy. After chasing for thirty miles without success, he immediately recalled Su Zhen and Kou Wenshao's troops.
The entire army was panting and taking a short rest to clean up the battlefield. Xie Ci stood on his horse with his spear in hand, his body covered in blood. As soon as he put away his spear, he turned his horse around and galloped back.
In the makeshift medical camp at the rear, Gu Guan was injured, with a deep cut on his right arm.
When Xie Ci came, she had just finished applying medicine and bandaging the wound and sent the military doctor away, her face looking a little pale.
Gu Guan was in a small medical tent at the edge of the room. She was still wearing her red inner garment, and so was Xie Ci. When they heard the news, they were trying on their wedding clothes. They simply took off their thick outer wedding clothes, hurriedly put on their armor, mounted their horses, and inspected the troops.
The journey was hasty and thrilling.
"How are you?"
Xie Ci searched for a long time before he found her. He didn't care about himself, he lifted the curtain and walked in quickly, half-kneeling in front of her.
"It's okay, just a minor injury."
Gu Guan simply cut off the blood-soaked part of her inner sleeve, and Xie Zi sewed two stitches of clean cotton cloth on it for her to use as sleeves. She continued to wear it like that. If it weren't for the wound, she wouldn't have even added sleeves.
There was still some makeup on Gu Guan's face. This time it was not a disguise, but a trial makeup look when the two of them were trying on wedding dresses. There was a bright red flower ornament on the center of her eyebrows, and yellow flowers on her temples. There was a layer of light golden makeup powder on her eyebrows and eyes. It was very thick and beautiful. It had fallen off and rubbed off along the way, but because she didn't use a mirror and didn't look carefully, you could still see a few blushes and a light golden powder on her eyebrows and forehead.
She looked more beautiful than usual, but her body was dirty after the battle, and her face was stained with sweat and slightly pale.
Xie Ci felt a sense of guilt, "Wanwan, I'm sorry..." The bride should have been dressed up and prepared for the wedding. Although it was not his fault, it was not certain whether their wedding could be held in the spring, and they would have to continue the forced march soon. He felt distressed and blamed himself.
Gu Wan glanced at him and asked, "What are you talking about?"
She had indeed adjusted her mindset and was actively and nervously preparing for the wedding, ready to get married and become a bride. However, plans could not keep up with changes, and progress was too fast. She felt that half of her heart was at Shuofang's home and the other half was outside, which was a bit unreal.
But who would want that?
She put on the soft armor vest and the lightweight Mingguang armor that Xie Ci had specially ordered for her. She hugged Xie Ci and he immediately hugged her back. Gu Wan said, "It's okay. I know you're very tired."
She could still lie on the horse's back to rest for a while, and rest the whole time during the rest period. Xie Ci still had to control the entire army's constant communication and had just fought a bloody battle. His feelings for this land and this country were much deeper than hers. At this moment, his face was covered with a faint dark color, his eyes were blue and black, and his eyes were obviously bloodshot. He was very tired.
It's not just physical, it's more of a mental stress and anxiety.
Not only Xie Ci, but also the generals below him, such as Qin Xian, Chen Yan, Su Zhen, Kou Wenshao, Su Wei, Chen Luo, Dou Wu, etc., and even the ordinary soldiers had heavy and nervous expressions.
Gu Wan patted him on the back and said, "Take a break. Leave the rest to me."
Xie Ci couldn't help but let out a deep breath, his shoulders relaxed slightly, he closed his eyes for a while, and nodded vigorously.
There was no bed in the small tent, only a thin layer of dead branches and pine leaves that Xie Zi brought over. Xie Ci lay down on it, closed his eyes for a long time, and finally fell asleep.
Gu Guan tiptoed out, gestured to the guards outside the tent, including Xie Ping and Zhang Qing, and then she ran away.
She rode her horse to find Qin Xian, Su Zhen and other generals and asked them to rest quickly. Qin Xian and others were also veterans and understood the reason. Their eyes were red, but they were silent for a moment and then put down what they were doing.
Gu Guan is now very familiar with the affairs of the army. She took Chen Luo, Su Wei, Kou Zhongyun and others to deal with all the post-war and trivial matters, big and small, such as the wounded camp, battlefield cleaning, camp security, food, etc.
However, there was not much rest time, and Xie Ci only left enough time for ordinary soldiers to rest. He woke up soon and asked the young general Yuan Wenzhao to stay behind to take care of the seriously injured soldiers.
When Gu Guan rode up from behind, Xie Ci was already dressed neatly in heavy armor. Dark clouds were rolling in at the end of the first lunar month. He rode at the forefront of the army, his black and blue cloak fluttering in the wind.
Behind him were generals of all ranks, including Qin Xian and Su Zhen, who were also wearing armor and riding horses.
Everyone looked towards the southwest Nanjing region with gloomy faces, and no one could relax.
The sky was dim, and the distant mountains, hills and fields were all dark black and light blue. Their armored figures were particularly dark, freezing the scene of looking south at this moment, which was very shocking, heavy and touching.
Gu Guan couldn't help but take a deep breath and spurred his horse to gallop over.
Xie Ci drew his sword and pointed it forward: "All troops, listen up! Head south at full speed, follow the Yexi Road straight down to cross the Yellow River, and reach Sishui Pass before noon tomorrow!"
…
Xie Ci led the Shuofang army on a rapid march overnight and arrived at the north bank of the Yellow River before midnight, but could not find a boat to cross the river. So he led his army westward upstream and finally met the messengers of Du Wenyue, the governor of Qizhou.
Qizhou was a small prefecture, established as a military governor's office in response to the Yu Ping Rebellion. It had only 8,000 soldiers. After the Northern Rong army crossed the river, they destroyed several major docks, forcing those who could requisition ships to requisition them, while those who couldn't were completely destroyed. Du Wenyue feared this, and although his forces were small and he hadn't received any imperial decrees to mobilize troops, he dispatched his troops first and recaptured most of the ships from the nearest dock at Cangzhou.
Now the entire area east of Taihang is in chaos. He keeps sending people out to patrol and immediately informs them of the news when he finds the Northern Army heading south.
Xie Ci immediately led the Shuofang army on a quick march to Qizhou. With the help of Du Wenyue, the Qizhou soldiers rowed the boats desperately and quickly carried the 130,000-strong army across the river.
Qizhou is not far from Taihang. In fact, everyone here can faintly hear the deafening sound of a great battle coming from the southwest direction on the other side of the river.
Countless soldiers fought one after another to counterattack Sishui Pass.
The Shuofang Army soon joined in. After crossing the river, the rumbling sound became more obvious. Xie Ci ordered a quick march and the sound became more and more obvious, even more so than the previous Northwest War, which made people dizzy.
Xie Ci was almost the farthest away, but he finally arrived with the Shuofang Army. Chen Luo, holding his imperial seal, rode a horse ahead of him and contacted the attacking army. As soon as the army arrived at the scene, Xie Ci drew his sword with a clang and shouted, "All Shuofang troops, listen to my order! Attack—"
With a shout that shook the sky, Xie Ci put his scimitar back into its sheath and took over the spear. The black army rumbled out and headed straight for the gate!
Gu Guan did not go up. She had a fever, which was a normal phenomenon after the injury, but her wound was right at the joint, and she could not lift her right arm for the time being. She simply retreated to the rear and took charge of logistics together with Qin Ying.
Qin Ying also had a back injury, just like her.
Gu Guan had her arm in a sling, and Qin Ying stood beside her with a sword in her hand. The two of them watched as the tide of soldiers passed by them, and rushed straight towards the gate where smoke was billowing.
It was too far to see clearly, so the two of them stopped and stared at each other for a long time, then sighed at the same time.
Gu Guan pressed the bridge of her nose. Sigh, she still felt a bit complicated and unreal. In her previous life, the new emperor had been abducted, resulting in the death or injury of most of the 500,000-strong army he personally led, the breach of the Guanmen Pass, and the iron hooves of the Hu cavalry trampling across the Central Plains.
The new emperor is the third prince.
Gu Guan has always had very complicated feelings towards the third prince. To say he is bad, he is not completely evil. In the previous life, it was him who overturned the verdict of the Xie family, and he did it under the pressure of his grandfather, Lin Guozhang. This was not only to win over the royalists, but in fact it would not be a big problem if he did not win them over. The main reason was that he felt that the father and son of the Xie family were not like that.
He had opposed it when Lin Guozhang wanted to take action against Xie Xinzhong and his son, but his opposition was ineffective, so he kept silent and did not get angry, and continued as before.
Then, after he ascended the throne, he actually didn't forget about this matter and insisted on issuing an edict to overturn the verdict on the Xie family. He didn't care even if they hadn't changed their father's ways for three years.
But it was also he who asked the eunuch who announced the imperial edict to hint to the women of the Xie family to commit suicide.
That’s right, in their previous life, although Madam Xun and other women had lost their remaining courage by waiting for the imperial edict to overturn the case, and were too tired from suffering to live happily, they were still hinted by the eunuch who announced the edict not to go back.
Because the new emperor was concerned about his new ascension to the throne and the damage to the reputation of the previous emperor and the royal family, he thought it would be better for the women of the Xie family not to return.
He is a very strange person. It seems that he is not living on the same channel as everyone else.
In my previous life, everything happened so quickly. In less than half a year, the Northern Rong had trampled through the Central Plains, and the entire area north of the Yangtze River was engulfed in smoke. In the end, the Northern Rong almost succeeded in establishing a nation, just like the Liao and Jin dynasties.
Gu Guan originally thought that this life was different from the previous one. After all, the old emperor was still alive and well. It was absolutely impossible for him to lead the army out of the pass to fight against the Northern Rong. If the new emperor was not captured, everything that followed would not have happened.
Unexpectedly, the third prince did not become the new emperor, but became the crown prince. However, he was still captured within the country and became a gatekeeper crown prince.
She didn't know what to say for a moment.
well.
Gu Guan felt drowsy and had a headache. As someone who hadn't been sick for a long time, he felt particularly strong after a while. The fatigue accumulated in his bones seemed to come up all at once, and the feeling of discomfort was particularly intense.
She rubbed her forehead, perked herself up and pried open her eyelids, not knowing what would happen next.
…
Next, Sishui Pass was finally broken.
After the Northern Rong army ordered the gates to be opened, fierce fighting lasted for a full thirty days. More than twenty local armies arrived to support the king, with a few thousand men at the least and more than a hundred thousand men at the most. Together with the Eastern Expedition army that had turned around and fought for more than half a month, they surrounded Sishui Pass, Huanyuan Pass and Guangcheng Pass, fighting day and night.
In the end, the two armies that broke through Sishui Pass and crossed the Yellow River from the north successfully broke through the gate and crossed the Yellow River to capture Mengjin Pass, and rushed into the Jingji Plain.
The Northern Rong army had been plundering Zhongdu for over seven days. Knowing they couldn't hold the capital, the Northern Rong were unwilling to take advantage of the situation and occupy Zhongdu, devoting their primary forces to defending the city. The day before the city was about to close, they took their loot and left Zhongdu, splitting into two groups. One group, carrying the spoils, marched northward across the Yellow River, boarding the massive ship they had looted. After a short journey, they sailed downstream for a short while, returning to their base camp. Then, they turned and marched rapidly to reunite with Huyan De, the Northern Rong king.
Meanwhile, another Northern Rong army had been chasing the emperor eastwards, pursuing him relentlessly all the way through Dawu Pass in the old capital plains and nearly catching up to Jiazhou. Upon hearing the news, they quickly turned around and headed eastwards, bypassing the rear of the Wei army and joining the Northern Rong army in front.
The whereabouts of the two armies of the Northern Rong are not the focus for the time being. Sishui Pass was finally broken through, and the Jingji Plain was finally recaptured.
With a loud bang, two heavy doors fell to the ground, and the army behind them couldn't help but cheer excitedly.
But the generals, both big and small, led by Xie Ci, felt heavy-hearted and no one was happy at all. They took a deep breath and immediately led the army through the gate and rushed in without stopping.
Along the way, traces of the Northern Rong army's trampling were visible. All the houses and farmlands had broken doors and walls, and things used inside and outside the houses were scattered all over the place. The farmlands were torn and dragged, and there were traces of blood and corpses splattered everywhere.
The closer you get to Zhongdu, the more obvious it becomes. The Beirong have been here for a month, and the Zifafang outside the city is in a mess.
Finally, we arrived at the east gate of Zhongdu City. From a distance, we could hear the deafening cries and the wailing of the survivors.
Qin Guan, Xie Feng, Xie Yun and others had already returned to the East City Gate upon hearing the news. They were also covered in blood and traces of gunpowder.
The midday sun was shining brightly, but no one was in a happy mood.
Xie Ci looked around the city gate and asked Qin Guan, "Where are the Northern Rong troops? Have they all boarded the ships and retreated?"
Qin Guan's eyes were red with both endurance and indignation. The eight-foot-tall young general, dressed in a tight black suit, choked a little as he spoke, but he tried his best to hold it back, trying his best to keep his voice steady. "Yes! They withdrew from Zhongdu yesterday, carrying all their spoils, and boarded the ship from Pingjin Ferry in a mighty force."
He and Xie Feng, Xie Yun and other most skilled members of the Xie Family Guards and Liuyun Guards relied on their skills to pour kerosene on the ships seized by the Northern Rong, but unfortunately they failed. Xie Feng was also hit by an arrow, which was quite serious. Xie Yun was carrying him back to let his military doctor treat the wound, but after the greetings, he hurriedly handed the person over to Zhang Ying and Xie Zi.
Everyone listened to Qin Guan in silence, including Xie Yun, Xie Feng and others. As he spoke, Qin Guan couldn't help but have tears in his eyes, and so did Xie Yun and others.
When talking about "trophies", Qin Guan paused.
Because these spoils also include living people. Women have always been one of the regular spoils of the Beirong people.
The shrill cries and screams were heart-wrenching. When they were being forced and dragged onto the boat, Qin Guan wanted to kill himself. He was so helpless at that time. He tried to rush out several times, but was held back by Xie Yun.
"All the granaries were empty, except for the Jingxi granary and the Guxian granary. All the grain merchants in the city, big and small, took away everything they could. Anything they couldn't take away was burned down."
Xie Ci, Gu Guan and his group were silent. When they passed through Gu County, they had already seen the black smoke rising into the sky.
"Money, jewels, weapons, uniforms, and all the arsenals were emptied, along with livestock and women."
There were countless large and small ones, and the entire Jingji Plain was in ruins. When the Northern Rong retreated, they requisitioned countless horse-drawn carts and carts, and even the young and strong civilians who helped them carry and push the carts were killed with a single blow if they dared to disobey orders.
There were also thousands of young women, countless ladies from wealthy families and beautiful girls from ordinary families who were dragged out of their homes by the Northern Rong soldiers. There were also palace concubines and beautiful palace maids, whose cries were deafening as they were driven to Pingjin Ferry and dragged onto the boats.
As Qin Guan spoke, he lowered his head and wiped his eyes vigorously. He choked and said, "The fall of the city has little to do with the emperor. There must be an insider. We met with the emperor, but Xun Xun and Sanjie had already escaped."
"On the sixth day of the first lunar month, Pingjin Ferry could no longer hold out. Ding Hui, Marquis of Baocheng, and his son sent a letter via carrier pigeon, reporting that Pingjin Ferry was about to fall."
As soon as the Northern Rong army entered Guanmen, they destroyed all the docks and ships except those they used, and besieged Pingjin Ferry where Ding Hui and his son were for twenty days.
At that time, in the capital, in addition to the 50,000 imperial guards in Zhongdu, there were also 50,000 imperial troops in the Pingjin Camp.
These 50,000 Beijing troops were specifically assigned to guard the Pingjin Ferry Dock.
The Pingjin Ferry Dock was originally set up for the retreat of the emperor's court at the critical moment of the dynasty, like today, so it has a total of 50,000 troops.
During this period, Zhongdu and Pingjindu sent messages by carrier pigeons countless times, but all were shot down. The Pingjinjing army was besieged for a full twenty days. In the end, they really could not hold on any longer and released all the last carrier pigeons in their storage and three carrier hawks that were carefully raised for the last moment.
Finally, two messenger eagles broke through the siege with difficulty and delivered the letter to the old emperor.
The Pingjin Ferry was almost unable to hold out, and only a little over 10,000 soldiers were left.
It just so happened that the Zhongdu city wall was suddenly broken.
It is obvious that there is a spy inside.
No one knew how many spies there were inside, so they immediately stopped the temporarily recruited civilians from approaching the city walls and gates.
But the 50,000 imperial guards were already exhausted to the extreme, while the Northern Rong attacked the city in an orderly and increasingly skilled manner, and it was extremely fierce.
It won't last long.
Then, the old emperor quickly ordered the imperial guards to withdraw, and he went out with the court officials present in front of him. Under the protection of 50,000 imperial guards, he opened the city gate, broke out, and headed straight for Pingjin Ferry.
Qin Guan spoke with tears in his eyes. He had been taught the idea of loyalty to the emperor since he was a child, so it seemed natural for the old emperor to do so. However, he felt very aggrieved!
A surge of resentment was boiling in his veins, clamoring to burst out of his body!
Qin Guan paused for a moment, then choked up as he continued, "Fifty thousand Imperial Guards fought their way out of the siege at all costs, ultimately successfully joining forces with the resolute Pingjin Ferry defenders. They opened the boathouse and escorted the Emperor aboard, ultimately successfully escorting him away, sailing upstream towards the ancient capital, Pingyuan."
There is another key point: "The fighting was extremely fierce along the way. The Imperial Guards' defenses were breached several times. The prince's carriages were all stopped along the way."
Gu Guan was stunned: "Does this mean that all the princes have been captured by Beirong?"
Qin Guan nodded: "This is what we saw."
It was too far away and the fighting was so chaotic that I couldn't see clearly, but an entire section of the prince's carriage was shot down. The scene was almost 100% certain.
Xie Ci and Gu Guan were silent for a while. Xie Ci slowly turned his head and looked around at the mess. The wind was blowing with the smell of blood and the sound of crying. After listening to Qin Guan's last words, the two of them suddenly had a bad premonition in their hearts.
…
The Northern Rong army.
Under the central army flag, the main account.
The victory was complete, the spoils were plentiful, and the morale of the entire army was high and cheerful. Hu Yande, the King of Beirong, was wearing a heavy black armor with a left lapel, and was sitting on the throne couch, his face dignified and cheerful.
When he reported on the little princes, he smiled and said, "These princes and the crown prince, right?"
He pondered for a moment, then laughed twice. "Send a letter to the secondary capital of the Central Plains! Three million taels of gold, three million taels of silver, three million dan of grain, and ten thousand women for the ransom!"
He could include what he had already seized, and if Wei opened two more large granaries, he would need two or three thousand women.
Huyan De laughed heartily. "Let the old Emperor of Wei redeem them quickly! Seven days is the limit. Once the time is up, I will kill them all!"
…
The secondary capital was Jiazhou.
The troops to support the emperor have arrived one after another, and the old emperor is no longer in shock, but the haze still hangs over this ancient secondary capital.
Inside the main hall of the imperial palace, the sounds of weeping, kneeling, and shouting were endless. Some even made desperate protests. However, the old emperor sat on the dragon throne and said in a hoarse voice, "All the princes are in the enemy camp!"
And there is absolutely no way those gold, silver and women can be returned!!
They calculated that opening two more granaries would be enough.
The two granaries were exchanged for all the princes. The emperor sternly said: "Otherwise, how will the clan continue to exist?!"
The emperor insisted on his own way, and finally Jiazhou signed the letter, agreeing to pay compensation and redeem the princes.
…
When the news reached Zhongdu, it was the second day after they broke through Sishui Pass and recaptured Zhongdu.
Xie Ci led his troops to Pingjin Ferry again. When he returned, it was already the afternoon of the next day.
Just came back with this news.
The whole city was filled with crying!
This is different!
It's completely different. Even though we know they won't come back, they are still kidnapped as ransom. This is completely different!
The family who lost their daughter rushed out into the street with their hair disheveled and crying. They picked up kitchen knives and madly hacked at any soldier in military uniform they saw!
"I won't live anymore! I won't live anymore!! Kill me!! Let's die together--"
The young soldier was at a loss, holding his head in his hands and retreating in panic, and was hacked all over. His comrades rushed forward to help him, and everyone retreated while blocking the attack, and no one fought back.
Someone rushed out and hugged his family, slashing with a kitchen knife and even cutting his own people. Finally, he was thrown to the ground, holding his head and crying, his cries shook the sky!
The entire Tongtian Street was in chaos, and Gu Wan rushed out. She had been busy with city affairs all day, her eyes were red, and her dark red cloth was stained with blood. She breathed a sigh of relief. Her injuries had not yet fully healed, but after walking around the city, she didn't feel any pain at all.
She ran out and stood at the street corner of the long alley, dozens of feet away from Xie Ci at the city gate. The wailing in between was deafening and chaotic, and the two of them looked around at everything in shock.
The afternoon sun was blazing, but both of them felt a little cold, especially Xie Ci, who felt dizzy from time to time.
He is also accompanied by Long Qian and Ding Zhen.
Ding Zhen was the son of Ding Hui. After the father and son escorted the imperial carriage onto the ship, they did not follow the ship on its "Southern Hunt" to Jiazhou. Instead, they jumped off the ship and fought fiercely with the Beirong people.
After they have completed their military duties and fulfilled their loyalty as subjects, they will fight to the death until the last drop of blood is shed.
The father and son, with only a few hundred loyal subordinates, used the dock as their base and fought until their swords were worn out and their bodies were covered with countless wounds of all sizes. They fought for a whole day and night, killing many times more Beirong soldiers than them. His father Ding Hui died in the battle, and if Long Zhun had not crossed the Yellow River in time, Ding Zhen would have died as well.
At this moment, his body was wrapped in thick bandages. He supported himself to stand up and mount his horse. He couldn't even put on his armor. He was only wearing a thin dark red military uniform coat. The collar could not be closed, revealing the thick blood-stained bandages.
Ding Zhen slowly knelt on the ground, covered his face with his hands, leaned over the ground, and cried bitterly.
So is Long Qian.
Long Qian is actually a good friend of Pang Huai. They both learned from Master Wen and are almost the same kind of people. He fought a bloody battle to cross the Yellow River and has tried his best and has not closed his eyes until now. He has always been a general with excellent psychological qualities. No matter what he thinks in his heart, it cannot be seen on his face.
But at this moment, big tears fell to the ground, he knelt on the ground in pain, choking and crying.
Gu Wan's heart felt heavy, as if something was weighing down on her. She had always been optimistic and had made a lot of mental preparations, but at this moment she felt extremely tense and uncomfortable.
She wanted to curse, fuck it!
Xie Ci's hands hanging by his side were trembling. He slowly turned around. Gu Guan clearly saw that he had an expression of disbelief, his eyes were filled with tears, and two lines of tears suddenly slid down.
The author has something to say:
Woo woo woo, throw the blade lightly, the wheel of the dynasty has rolled to the lowest point, someone must wake up and transform, and use the most powerful wrist to fight for a new peaceful and prosperous era.
Ah Xiu has tried to write it lightly, there are only two chapters of the lowest point, and at the end I will arrange to rescue them (covering my head)
A huge kiss to you guys! See you tomorrow~ (づ￣3￣)づ╭
Finally, I would like to thank the "unknown squirrel spirit" for throwing the mine, pen refills, pen refills!
^
And all the big babies who irrigated Wenwen with nutrient solution, mujijiji~
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