After laughing, Zhao Jiu supported Wang Boyan and turned to look at the Zhai brothers who had already realized something: "You two have worked hard here. In a few days, there should be volunteers from Ruzhou and Nanyang to replace General Niu... I don't want you to do anything else. Protect Mr. Wang for me and save Luoyang, which is a contribution to this battle!"
Although they had come to their senses, the Zhai brothers were still shocked by what they heard. However, they did not dare to ask any more questions. They could only nod their heads and say yes, and saluted to Mr. Wang.
Wang Boyan, who had dismounted, did not immediately respond to the Zhai brothers, but only bowed to Emperor Zhao and said, "Your Majesty, the south bank of the Yellow River, from Chang'an to Bianliang, has been the backbone of the world since ancient times, and Luoyang is the heart of China... The so-called living in China and facing the world refers to this place... I am a minister of the country, and I have been ordered here. I must live and die with Luoyang. Your Majesty, just go west with peace of mind."
Zhao Jiu nodded.
He knew that the original meaning of "China" was the Central Plains or the capital. After Yan and Huang, during the period of Yao, Shun and Yu, the country was probably established and expanded in the Luoyang Basin. Therefore, this word can specifically refer to Luoyang in many ancient books.
However, this is not the time to worry about these academic issues, nor is it the time to be moved by the determination in Wang Boyan's words... After all, at this point, Zhao Jiu himself is prepared to sacrifice his life for the sake of his son, so no matter who is below the prime minister, at least on the surface, they should be prepared to give up everything.
Of course, the shouting for life and death right now is not just perfunctory and disguise, because the war is right before our eyes, and if it really comes to that, anyone may be forced to make a decision... That is when the fake can no longer be real, and the real can no longer be fake.
In a word, let’s talk about all these emotions after the war.
So, Zhao Jiu just nodded and jumped on the horse, but then he seemed to remember something and looked at the Zhai brothers.
The Zhai brothers all woke up, and then the eldest Zhai turned his head and nodded slightly towards the city behind him which was not covered by the city wall. Then a young knight with a scar on his face came out of the wall with his horse, knelt down to Zhao Jiu, and introduced himself as Zhai Cong, the eldest son of Zhai Jin. Then he led about soldiers from the two capitals, dozens of auxiliary soldiers, and a dozen mule carts into the team.
Seeing this, Zhao Jiu no longer hesitated, simply left Luoyang behind and continued heading west.
To be precise, he was heading southwest. He did not take the road through Mianchi and Shanzhou... which was across the river and would be too easy to be discovered by the Jin army's scouts... Instead, he followed the Luo River south of Luoyang City and went upstream from the south of the Erxiao Mountains.
In this way, Wang Boyan moved into the Luoyang Palace, and a brand new Jinwu flag was raised on the ruins of the Luoyang city. However, Zhao Jiu stopped marching and marched for more than ten days, passing through the Luoshui trail in the south of Guozhou and the north of Shangzhou, and finally arrived at Lantian, an important town in Guanxi.
Upon arriving here, Zhao Jiu joined forces with Huyan Tong's troops who had arrived here earlier, and also took over the thousands of bronze masks and flags left by Han Shizhong... At this time, this troop of more than 4,000 imperial soldiers put on Han Shizhong's iconic bronze masks and took the flag of Han Shizhong's general Xu Shi'an. Under the cover of Huyan Tong's troops, they continued to move westward and arrived in Chang'an on April 18th.
At this time, a large army had already gathered around Chang'an City. In addition to the Jingzhao defense troops originally organized by Yuwen Xuzhong, troops from Xihe Road, Qinfeng Road, and even Xingyuan Prefecture had all arrived. The left army of the Imperial Camp of Han Shizhong, which had arrived from Wuguan Pass, and the various units of the Imperial Camp Central Army, which had arrived from the main road on the north side of Mount Xiao, had already deployed and stationed on both sides of the Wei River.
When they reached Baqiao, Huyan Tong went directly to Weibei to join Wang De's troops. At this time, only one "Xu Shi'an's troops who were good at defense" came to Chang'an... As Yuwen Xuzhong was the prime minister who stayed behind, it was naturally difficult for him to go out to greet them, and he couldn't even go out of the prime minister's residence.
However, Zhao Jiu met Zhang Jun and Zhang Deyuan, the transport envoys of the five routes of Bashu, who were wearing green robes to greet him inside the city gate.
"Officials!"
When Zhang Jun saw Zhao Jiu, he resisted the urge to bow, and only when he was in the city did he rush forward to face him. "I heard on the way that the emperor had entrusted his son to Yiyou, it was really..."
"Don't talk about that." Zhao Jiu continued to rein in his horse and entered the city without paying any attention. "Just tell me how you got here so quickly? What's the military situation in northern Shaanxi?"
"I was very ashamed last time because of the spring rain. I have been handling affairs in Xingyuan Prefecture (Hanzhong) since then, so I came very quickly this time..."
"How many soldiers did you bring?"
"10,000 in Xihe Road, 10,000 in Qinfeng Road, 10,000 in Xingyuan Prefecture... I wanted to recruit the various tribes in Qingtang, but they are all waiting and watching."
"It doesn't matter...Last time, because the spring rain hadn't arrived, Lou Shi didn't see you for a month in Tongguan. I'm afraid that they didn't take you into account this time. Of your 30,000 troops, at least 20,000 are extra variables."
"I am ashamed. Bashu previously provided Nanyang with money and food, and the Western Army has only been rebuilt for a year. These 20,000 soldiers may not have the 4,000 or 5,000 elite soldiers that the government has brought..."
"I just put this together, and I don't know whether it's good or bad, but since we're talking about the money and food from Bashu, 30,000 soldiers, and the three routes of troops in northern Shaanxi... with so many soldiers, will the military pay and logistics be sufficient?"
"Sufficient." Zhang Jun responded immediately. "While I was on my way here, I asked Zhao Kai to collect money, grain, and supplies from Bashu at all costs. Not only did he advance Bashu's money and grain for two years, but he also called on the wealthy families in Bashu to donate money and supplies..."
Zhao Jiu suddenly stopped his horse and asked seriously: "Won't it cause a popular uprising?"
"I think this battle is of great importance. If we lose, I'm afraid we won't be able to save Bashu, so I can't care about it." Zhang Jun also stopped his horse, but he gritted his teeth and said earnestly. "And I set an example by forcing my ancestral property and land to be sold to a wealthy merchant in Xingyuan Prefecture. I got 500 taels of gold, which I also brought with me... Everyone was speechless."
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