Huo Guang was shocked. Liu Tan's expression and even his tone seemed calm, but his eyes were already bloodshot.
He hurriedly said, "Your Highness, don't worry. Jiang Chong handled the situation well and moved the people out before the Xiongnu arrived. Three hundred soldiers were killed and six hundred were wounded."
Liu Tan's surging anger subsided slightly, and he asked in a suppressed tone, "What is Shoujiang City doing? What is Gongsun Ao doing?"
Why did Emperor Wu of Han allow Liu Tan to make Shuofang his capital? Wasn't it because there was a city called Shoujiang in the front? Now, unless he was told that Shoujiang was gone, destroyed, the Xiongnu would have attacked Shuofang.
Huo Guang shook his head: "This is the message Jiang Chong just sent. It doesn't mention the surrender city."
Liu Tan frowned. "It's the fifth day of the twelfth lunar month, and it's already March. Four whole months have passed before the news arrived? What is Jiang Chong doing?"
The Huns marched southwards, and the imperial court did not receive any warning. Were these people planning a rebellion?
However, Liu Tan knew Jiang Chong to some extent. No matter how brave Jiang Chong was, he probably wouldn't dare to delay such a matter, especially since Shuofang City was destroyed. How important was this matter?
But there was no point in speculating now. Liu Tan stood up and said, "No more waiting. You and I will hurry up and take the others away first. Let them take their time."
Liu Tan was about to stand up when he was knocked back by Gungun. Helplessly, he rubbed the panda cub's not-too-hard fur and said, "Okay, stop making trouble. Your dad will be gone for a few days. You can stay with your Zhuzi, okay?"
Huo Guang on the side twitched his mouth. Their prince hadn't even gotten married yet and already had a son who was an iron-eating beast. What a mess.
Gungun held Liu Tan tightly and refused to let go, so Liu Tan made up his mind to pull it off his body.
If it were a normal day, when GunGun acted coquettishly, he would most of the time go along with GunGun's wishes.
But it’s not possible now. He didn’t know what had happened to Shuofang City. He only knew that half of Shuofang City was destroyed. But there was a more important question - what happened to those mines?
The most important ones were probably the iron, copper, and coal mines. The others were relatively okay. The tourmaline mines... to be frank, if they were destroyed, they were destroyed. They were just luxury goods, not enough to affect people's livelihoods. But the others were different, especially the iron mines. If the Xiongnu robbed the raw iron ore...
Hey, it seems that the Huns don’t know how to smelt iron?
Liu Tan was a little unsure. This was his long-held impression. He thought about it and decided not to take the risk. What if the Huns suddenly found a way to smelt iron?
This time Huo Guang did not stop Liu Tan, so they should have hurried over.
Before leaving, Liu Tan repeatedly warned his son to take good care of his iron-eating son, otherwise he would deduct money from his salary. Only then did he leave with a worried look on his face.
When he got on the horse, Gungun ran out of the carriage and followed the little white horse closely.
Liu Tan had it carried onto the carriage, then turned around and rode away.
Although they did not have to change horses but not people along the way, Liu Tan and Huo Guang were exhausted by the time they arrived in Shuofang City.
Jiang Chong had been waiting for Liu Tan at the posthouse. When he saw Liu Tan and Huo Guang approaching, exhausted, he knelt on the ground and kowtowed, saying, "Your Highness, I am guilty. I failed to defend Shuofang!"
Jiang Chong was about to cry as he spoke, partly because the city was broken, and partly because he finally saw hope.
God knows how he managed to get through these days.
Liu Tan dismounted and asked in surprise, "What's wrong with your face?"
At this time, there was a scar on Jiang Chong's left cheek that extended from under his eye to his chin. Perhaps because the wound had not yet healed completely, it looked very hideous, ruining Jiang Chong's originally good-looking face.
Jiang Chong wiped his tears and said, "It was the Xiongnu who hurt me. It was my incompetence."
Seeing him like this, Liu Tan felt that he could no longer be angry. In fact, after so many days on the road, he no longer had that kind of furious feeling, but the hatred that had settled in him was growing stronger and stronger.
Especially after seeing Jiang Chong's face, his hatred for the Huns increased even more.
After entering the posthouse, Liu Tan asked without even having time to wash up, "Why did you send the message so late?"
Jiang Chong said bitterly, "I wanted to send a message to Your Highness right from the start of this incident, but none of the messengers I sent out have returned!"
Liu Tan's expression was serious: "Who did this?"
This matter was much more serious than the southward advance of the Huns. To be honest, Liu Tan was not particularly surprised by the southward advance of the Huns. The fundamental reason for his anger was the slow transmission of information, and the surrender city that was supposed to serve as a defense seemed to be non-existent.
The revenge for the destruction of the city must be taken, but before that Liu Tan plans to reorganize the situation first. If the rear is unstable, there will be no good results in the front.
Jiang Chong whispered, "I haven't investigated it yet. Those sent out are all death squads. Even if they are caught alive, they won't say a word."
Liu Tan sneered, "Of course! I didn't even know there were people who could raise assassins!"
No one except the emperor can have such a group of death warriors, and even the emperor usually does not keep any.
People who have been brainwashed to the point of losing their humanity are rule breakers. If everyone has their own assassins, can everyone's safety be guaranteed?
Besides, where would we need death squads?
Jiang Chong seemed to be hesitant to speak, and Huo Guang suddenly asked, "Was it Gongsun Ao who did this?"
Liu Tan turned his head sharply to look at him. Huo Guang's expression was calm: "Apart from him, I can't think of anyone else who has this motive."
Jiang Chong quickly said, "I think so too. This time, Shoujiang City made a mistake. Not only did they fail to resist the Xiongnu, they didn't even raise a warning. If Your Highness hadn't repeatedly emphasized the importance of scouts, Shuofang City would have been caught off guard."
Liu Tan asked, "How is Shoujiang City now?"
"The Xiongnu bypassed Shoujiang City. It wasn't until they had plundered Shuofang that Shoujiang City learned of the situation. It took them half a month to send anyone over."
Half a month... Liu Tan curled his lips and asked, "Is there any evidence?"
Jiang Chong choked and shook his head: "No."
Liu Tan said, "Then swallow this speculation. General Gongsun is a meritorious official and cannot be slandered at will."
When Liu Tan mentioned the word "meritorious official", he could be said to be gritting his teeth.
In his opinion, the only achievement of Gongsun Ao, the hero, was rescuing Wei Qing from Princess Guantao. As for military exploits... did he have any?
At that time, Gongsun Ao and Huo Qubing set out from Beidi County together. After crossing the border, they split up and advanced their troops in order to encircle the Huns. However, he got lost in the desert, and Huo Qubing had to advance alone and finally annihilated 30,000 Huns.
This is only Huo Qubing. If it were someone less powerful, wouldn't he have been killed by him?
This is not an exaggeration. In history, he once led an army to fight against the Huns with Li Guangli. As a result, Li Guangli was in a stalemate with the Huns, and Gongsun Ao was unable to defeat the Huns' Zuoxian King and lost too many soldiers. After the troops were withdrawn, he was sentenced to death.
You know, how big must the loss be that even Liu Che felt heartbroken?
As a result, Gongsun Ao faked his own death to escape the death penalty at the time. He fled among the people for several years, but was later discovered by accident and finally died in the disaster of witchcraft.
So Liu Tan did not doubt Jiang Chong and Huo Guang's judgment at all, but now there was no evidence, so he could not alert the enemy.
Seeing Liu Tan's unhappy expression, Jiang Chong knew that he understood what was going on, so he nodded heavily and said, "Your Highness and Prime Minister Huo have worked hard on the journey. You should rest early."
Liu Tan, also feeling somewhat exhausted, nodded. Just as he was about to say something, Bi Gao hurried in and said, "Your Highness, a soldier claims to have been sent by General Yin Qi and wishes to see Your Highness."
Liu Tan said expressionlessly, "Gongsun Ao, you really are all-powerful."
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