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◎ "The Liangzhou Army obeys the order, long live our emperor!"◎
On the morning of the first day of September, Emperor Xingwu's army continued its journey after a night's rest, and was expected to arrive at the bank of the Yellow River in the southeast section of Wuwei in an hour.
As the sound of hurried horse hooves approached, the sentry reined in their horses and stopped before Emperor Xingwu and the Crown Prince, who were walking side by side. They dismounted, knelt, and reported, "Your Majesty, there are still no soldiers guarding either end of the cable bridge ahead. Yuan Zhaoxiong's 70,000 cavalrymen remain stationed outside Luhe Town."
The cable bridge spans the Yellow River. Twenty miles northwest of the cable bridge is Luhe Town, and Wuwei City is four hundred miles northwest of Luhe Town.
Although it is only twenty miles from the Yellow River to Luhe Town, this twenty-mile road is a long and narrow valley road, and it is also the best defensive place for Yuan Zhaoxiong to prevent the imperial army from approaching Wuwei City.
Emperor Xingwu asked the sentries to rest and continued to ride forward.
Qin Hong worriedly said, "Father, Yuan Zhaoxiong could have cut the cableway and stopped us, but he chose to station his troops in Luhe Town. It's clear he wants to wait until your entire army has passed through the valley before attacking. The terrain outside Luhe Town is open, perfect for cavalry attacks. If our army retreats, Yuan Zhaoxiong's cavalry can still pursue us with their speed. By then, the cableway will be narrow, and the imperial troops stranded behind will be slaughtered by them."
Emperor Xingwu said, "That's right, Yuan Zhaoxiong thinks so. But I have my own plan. Don't worry, Hong'er."
Qin Hong nodded. He also believed that his father had been prepared. However, Yuan Zhaoxiong had 70,000 cavalry, while his father only had 40,000 cavalry and 60,000 infantry. It was still too risky for his father to go to the battlefield in person.
An hour later, they arrived at the Yellow River. Twenty thousand cavalrymen crossed the river first, followed by the emperor.
The cable bridge is paved with sturdy wooden boards, and under the bridge is the rushing Yellow River. The river water is turbid and bottomless.
Qin Ren climbed into his sister's carriage on the pretext of having a stomachache.
Qingyang looked at his tanned, thinner third brother and asked in surprise, "Duke Dingguo is willing to let you go?"
Qingyang didn't know how many skills his second brother had learned from Weiyuan Hou Mengji. He only knew that his third brother had been really taught a lesson by Deng Chong this month and no longer dared to find various excuses to be lazy like he did in front of Mr. Wu in the palace.
Qin Ren said with a lucky twist of fate: "Maybe I've been very honest this month and he didn't realize I was lying."
Qingyang laughed: "That's because he doesn't know that Third Brother is afraid of rapids."
As soon as he finished speaking, the carriage went up the cable bridge. Even though the bridge was covered with a thick and solid layer of wooden boards and a long line of soldiers and carriage drivers were walking on it, the bridge still swayed from side to side. Qin Ren was so scared that he sat on the cushion of the carriage, hugged his sister's legs tightly, and closed his eyes tightly.
Qingyang considerately covered his third brother's ears to block out the sound of rushing water coming through the car window.
When the carriage finally reached the shore on the other side of the Yellow River, Qin Ren lay on his back on the mat as if he had escaped death.
Qingyang drew aside the curtain and saw Zhang Su sitting steadily on his horse. In the distance were yellow-brown mountains and a deep blue sky with all the clouds blown away by the wind.
What Zhang Su saw in the car window was the fair face and calm eyes of the little princess, and the decadent figure of the third prince lying there.
"Your Highness the Third Prince should get off the car, otherwise he might be misunderstood as a coward." Zhang Su reminded in a low voice. After all, the army would face the Liangzhou cavalry in another twenty miles.
Qingyang lowered the curtain and kicked his third brother's leg: "Go down quickly."
Qin Ren: "Wait a moment, until you can no longer see the river surface, or I'll feel like vomiting."
Qingyang: "You're already so frightened by the mere sight of a river before we even encounter the enemy. If the army were to retreat from the Yellow River, I would definitely be the first to cross the river. Would you still hide in the carriage and wait to be hunted down by the cavalry?"
Qin Ren opened his eyes and looked at his sister while lying down. Although his face was pale, there was no fear in his eyes. "Stop scaring people. If there is a real possibility of defeat, father will never take my sister across the river."
The emperor may not love the three brothers and force them to accompany him on adventures, but he will never let his sister face that kind of danger.
Qingyang sat down, helped his third brother up, and asked, "So, what do you think, Father has a surefire way to win?"
Qin Ren: "I don't know, but he definitely has it."
The little princess, who wanted to discuss some tactics with her third brother, immediately pushed him out.
Qin Ren was forced to get off the carriage and ride back to Deng Chong.
Seeing that the Third Prince's face was still pale, Deng Chong kindly said, "If Your Highness is really uncomfortable, there is no need to force it."
Qin Ren smiled and said, "It's okay. I'm much better now."
The army marched for more than an hour along the relatively wide and flat valley. After turning a corner, the view in front suddenly opened up. The sky was high and the land was flat. However, between the sky and the earth stood tens of thousands of cavalrymen deployed in battle formations. The military flags fluttering in the wind all had the huge black word "Yuan" on them. Yuan Zhaoxiong, wearing the armor of the commander-in-chief, was waiting in front with his son Yuan Chongguang and several generals on horseback.
When Qingyang pushed open the door and stood on the shaft, he saw that the imperial army had also formed up, with his father's carriage in the center, and the 40,000 cavalrymen accompanying him on both sides.
In early September, the autumn wind in Wuwei was blowing, blowing the weeds on the ground to the south. In the middle of the day, there was no sand or fog, and the vision was so clear that even from a distance of dozens of feet, Qingyang could see Yuan Zhaoxiong's full beard.
At this time, Deng Chong rode out alone, pointing his whip at the Liangzhou troops: "Yuan Zhaoxiong, you are guilty of serious corruption, yet you are disobeying the emperor's order and returning to the capital under the pretext of defending Liangzhou. Now that the emperor has gone to Liangzhou himself, we generals will take over the defense of Liangzhou in your place. You claim to be a loyal minister and a good general, so why don't you come here quickly to confess your crime and accept your punishment?"
Yuan Zhaoxiong dismounted, knelt on the ground, and kowtowed, saying sorrowfully, "Your Majesty, fifteen years ago, I, Yuan Zhaoxiong, followed you in your conquests, braved the ravages of fire and water, and braved no death. After the founding of the state, Your Majesty personally conferred upon me the title of Marquis of Pingliang as a reward for my military exploits. I remember your grace so vividly. How could you, under the guise of a villain, insist on having me killed? I am not afraid of death, but I do not wish to die in such an abject manner. I beg Your Majesty to return to the capital and thoroughly investigate my case and clear my name!"
Deng Chong wanted to curse again, but the censor Zhou Xiangqing stepped forward, unfolded the secret letter given to him by Song Zixiao, and read aloud the evidence of Yuan Zhaoxiong's corruption one by one.
Yuan Zhaoxiong stood up after listening halfway and roared, "Your Majesty, don't listen to them! This is all a frame-up against me!"
Emperor Xingwu said, "Yuan Zhaoxiong, you know clearly whether you are corrupt or not. There is no need to make such a fuss. I repeat, corruption is a capital crime, and disobeying the emperor's order is also a capital crime. However, I, out of consideration for our over ten years of friendship as emperor and subject, have traveled two thousand miles to stand here in person, just to give you another chance to live!"
"I know you've harbored rebellious intentions for a long time, but you've been hesitant to do so out of concern for your wife and children in the capital. Today, I'm telling you, I didn't suspect you when I sent you to Liang Province, and I didn't even consider using your family to hold you hostage when I knew you were planning a rebellion!"
"Come here, send Yuan Zhaoxiong's wife, children and all his family members to him!"
"Yuan Zhaoxiong, I will give you another half hour to reflect. If you still refuse to repent after half an hour, I will treat you as a traitor and punish you!"
After saying that, two carriages rushed out of the imperial army and headed straight for the opposite side.
"Father, father!" Yuan Jie leaned half of her body out of the window and cried to her long-lost father.
Yuan Zhaoxiong couldn't help but take a few steps forward. When Prince Yuan Chongguang saw his haggard mother, he also shed tears.
The carriage stopped, and all the members of the Yuan family threw themselves on Yuan Zhaoxiong and his son, while the coachman turned around and drove away with the empty carriage.
After a tearful reunion, Yuan Zhaoxiong had several concubines and illegitimate children taken away, leaving only his wife Gao, second son Yuan Chongli and daughter Yuan Jie to talk.
Gao and Yuan Jie cried and begged him to surrender, but Yuan Zhaoxiong ignored their women's opinions and looked at his second son.
Yuan Chongli knelt on the ground and asked angrily, "Father, did you really embezzle money?"
Yuan Zhaoxiong's face changed, but of course he couldn't admit it in front of the soldiers behind him.
But Yuan Chongli had already seen through it. Since his father was in the wrong, he tearfully advised, "Father, mother and sister are right. Please surrender. The emperor is a wise ruler. He has promised to spare your father's life before all the civil and military officials and before the two armies. Why should you rebel and bear the eternal infamy of being a traitor to the emperor?"
Yuan Zhaoxiong smiled bitterly, "You think too little of the Emperor. Whether I commit corruption or rebellion, he won't tolerate me. He's only saying he'll let me go because he wants to take back my military power. Once I lose my troops, even if he lets us return to our homeland, he can just pretend to arrange a group of thieves to take our lives. We'll all die whether we rebel or not. I might as well lead my troops and fight him!"
Crown Prince Yuan Chongguang had been by his father's side for the past few years, enjoying the millions of taels of silver his father had embezzled. Naturally, he was completely on the same page with his father. He pulled his younger brother up and said, "Don't be afraid, second brother. The emperor only brought 40,000 cavalrymen, and father has 70,000. With our military strength and the terrain, we can kill the emperor today. Once the emperor dies, the court will be in chaos. His Qin family was able to gain power in troubled times, so why can't you and I support father in conquering the world?"
Gao and Yuan Jie, mother and daughter, were persuaded. Although Yuan Chongli felt that this battle was not as easy as his father and brother said, he was helpless since his father and brother refused to listen to him.
A quarter of an hour later, Yuan Zhaoxiong sent someone to send a group of family members to Wuwei City, leaving the tall and strong Yuan Chongli to accompany him in battle.
Emperor Xingwu could not hear the discussions of the Yuan family and could only wait patiently.
"Your Majesty, half an hour has passed." He Yuanjing, who was staring at the clepsydra, turned around and reported.
All the generals around Emperor Xingwu heard it. Deng Chong clenched the long sword in his hand with a grim smile. Meng Ji looked at the cavalry on the opposite side. The young generals Qin Liang, Qin Bing, Fu Kui and others who were standing behind him also held their heads high and chests puffed out, eager to rush into the battlefield to make merit.
Emperor Xingwu rode forward and finally asked, "Yuan Zhaoxiong, do you admit your guilt?"
Yuan Zhaoxiong: "You are such a tyrant, you are not worthy of our loyalty. Soldiers, kill me!"
Accompanied by the lion-like roar of the charge order, Yuan Zhaoxiong and Yuan Chongguang, father and son, several trusted generals of the Yuan family, and more than a hundred personal soldiers rushed out at the same time. But after rushing out a few feet, Yuan Zhaoxiong realized that something was wrong. Why was it so quiet? With tens of thousands of cavalrymen charging with him, the horses' hooves should have been as loud as drums and the earth should have been shaking.
Yuan Zhaoxiong reined in his horse and turned around in horror.
The 70,000 cavalrymen were still there, but the rows of figures stood still as a mountain.
Yuan Zhaoxiong was stunned, and so were the 100,000 imperial troops. At this moment, Emperor Xingwu's thunderous voice once again rang out from the imperial carriage: "Yuan Zhaoxiong intends to rebel and kill the emperor. Are the soldiers of the Liangzhou army willing to help me fight this thief?"
Like a dragon's roar resounding through the sky, 70,000 Liangzhou cavalrymen dismounted and knelt on one knee, their left hands holding guns and their right fists clenched across their chests. "Liangzhou troops obey the order, long live our emperor!"
One thunder triggered thousands of thunders, which shocked Yuan Zhaoxiong, who was isolated in the middle, so much that his blood boiled and he fell off his horse.
【Author’s words】
Here I come, 100 red envelopes, see you tonight [poor]
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