However, these are not the most important. After this battle, the economy of Zhenhuang City was almost paralyzed. With the temperature approaching in June, too many deaths brought about irresistible plagues and diseases. Too many businesses and houses were reduced to ashes in the fire. A large number of refugees had nowhere to be resettled, and wounded soldiers lay on the streets. The continuous rainy weather brought even greater disaster to Zhenhuang. Many corpses that could not be carried out of the city in time were dumped in the sewage, soaked and turned white and smelly, and turned into a pile of rotten meat filled with flies and bedbugs.
Because before Yan Xun left the city, he burned down the imperial granary, and most grain merchants were looted on the night of the riot. Therefore, for a time, Zhenhuang could not even raise food for disaster relief. In less than half a month, a large number of refugees died of hunger. At this critical moment of life and death, the usually docile people of the imperial capital revealed their barbaric side. Robbery occurred frequently. These good people who were forced into desperate situations even dared to rob small armed troops.
In just two days, more than 30 imperial teams sent out to maintain order disappeared without a trace. Only a day later did people find some of these people's personal belongings in roadside ditches. For example, military uniforms, daggers, bayonets, boots, epaulettes, or some more intimate things, such as underwear, treasured purses, severed limbs, gouged out eyeballs, and even bones...
The order of the imperial capital was destroyed in an instant.
Half a month later, the frantic refugees rushed out of Zhenhuang and fled in all directions. However, the Zhao family was powerless to reverse the current situation.
Zhao Zhengde stood on the ruined city wall of Shengjin Palace and smiled helplessly. Then he took the last batch of armed forces and, under the protection of Lieutenant General Song Que, left the devastated city with carriages and horses.
Daxia was founded three hundred years ago, and this ancient city once withstood the blades of countless foreign races.
In the defense of the imperial capital in 633, Emperor Baiwei of Daxia led 8,000 cavalrymen against 200,000 dog-barbarian and wolf-army soldiers, and defended the imperial capital for a month. He finally waited for the reinforcements from the princes and families, and created the myth of refusing to retreat even when running out of ammunition and food.
In 684, the Wolong clan, a powerful family in the eastern part of the empire, betrayed the empire, opened the Baishui Pass, and allowed the coalition forces of the Tang and Song dynasties to enter the country. The enemy army fought all the way and once reached Sanlipo, less than thirty miles away from Zhenhuang City. At that time, the Emperor of Daxia was traveling in the southeast, and there were only the eight-year-old Crown Prince Zhao Chongming and the Queen Mu Hejiuge in the country. At that time, all the civil and military officials in the court urged the crown prince to retreat, but the 27-year-old Muhe Jiuge stood on the top of the city wall with his eight-year-old son for three days, until the flag of the empire flew up Sanlipo and defeated the enemy.
During the Red Tide Rebellion in 741, the city gates of the imperial capital were even smashed by the rebels, but the Zhao royal family did not retreat at all!
735…761…769…
The Zhenhuang Imperial Capital, which had stood tenaciously for so many years, and the Zhao royal family, which had proudly stood on the world's highest plateau for three hundred years without moving an inch, finally left the heart of the empire that they had defended for three hundred years on the morning of the ninth day of June, and retreated sadly to the holy city of Yundu in the northeast.
Although later historians criticized this battle in many ways, they had to admit that the one who accomplished this great feat was the new king of Yanbei, Crown Prince Yan Xun, who had been a hostage in the imperial capital for eight years. With the strength of just one person, and with the help of 5,000 warriors from the Datong Guild, he single-handedly accomplished a miraculous feat that the 300,000-strong army of the Quanrong people, the 580,000 soldiers of the Tang and Song allied forces, and the entire rebel army had failed to accomplish!
The name of Yan Xun spread throughout the country, and the entire Simon land trembled in fear. The lion of Yanbei has finally woken up, and the era belonging to Yanbei has once again begun vigorously in the flames of war in troubled times.
On a gray morning, a horn was blown from the Zhenhuang city wall. The sun slowly rose from the horizon, and the sky was foggy, as if it was going to rain again. More than a dozen warriors in green armor stood on the city wall, looking at the swaying grass on the ground in the distance. There was no one on the empty post road. The old soldier sighed, put down the horn, turned around and walked back.
"No one's here yet?"
A low voice sounded slowly, and the old soldier was startled and looked up. The man in front of me was in his twenties, handsome and very young. He was wearing a black cloak that covered the military uniform underneath, so it was impossible to tell who he was. But the veteran could still tell at a glance that this was a noble general, who was not comparable to an ordinary soldier like himself.
"To reply to the general, no one has arrived yet."
The young man nodded silently, as if he had expected it. He looked at the old soldier's hunched body. At nearly fifty years old, his body could no longer support the military uniform. The double-moon single-line pattern on his shoulders looked a little worn. The young man frowned slightly and asked, "Didn't the 19th Division follow the emperor to Yundu? Why didn't you go?"
"General, I am too old to walk that far. Let the young people have the chance to survive." The old soldier sighed. "I started to serve in the army when I was fourteen, starting as a groom and working my way up to guarding the city gates. I have been guarding the imperial capital for more than thirty years. I cannot flee just because this place is attacked and the people here are fleeing. As long as the city gates stand, I have to stay here."
The young man frowned, his eyes were as deep as the sea, and the light in his eyes was surging, like a sharp sword being forged in a furnace.
The old soldier didn't pay attention and continued to talk: "Besides, my family members all died in this battle. There is no point for me to go to Yundu alone. It is better to stay here. At least I can find someone familiar and see if there are any neighbors whose bodies are not collected and need my help. People should always be buried in peace!"
The young man lowered his head, his face looking somewhat sad. Behind him were large areas of scorched earth and ruins. Once upon a time, there stood the most prosperous buildings and people in the entire continent, with the most majestic towers and the most luxurious palaces in the world, but now they have become history.
"General," the old soldier raised his head, rubbing his hands nervously, a little uneasy. Seeing the young man's gentle expression, he finally asked in confusion, "Why didn't any of the noble vassal lords send troops to the imperial capital for support? Master Zhuge and Lord Wei have returned to their own territories. Is the empire going to split? Is there going to be another war? When will the Crown Prince Yan lead the Yanbei Army to attack?"
"That day will never come!" A calm voice came out slowly from the young man's mouth, but a strong confidence emanated from his words. The young man had a tough face and spoke in a low voice, word by word: "The empire will not split, the Yanbei Army will not attack, and the imperial city will not be destroyed. One day, those who left will come back, and Zhenhuang City will regain its former grandeur and elegance!"
The old soldier was a little dazed, looking at the young man in front of him, and the rumors he had heard these days suddenly collapsed. At that moment, he truly believed the words of the young general in front of him with all his heart. Hope shone in the old man's eyes, and he asked excitedly, "Really? Will they come back? Can I still guard the city gate?"
"You will," the young man turned around and smiled gently, revealing his white teeth. "I allow you to guard it forever. Even when you are a hundred years old, I will send people to carry you to the city gate every day. If you still have descendants alive, I will allow your descendants to guard the gate of the imperial capital for my Great Xia Dynasty. The imperial capital will not perish. As long as I am alive, I will never break my promise!"
After saying this, the young general searched his body and finally took out a silver plate that was burnt black by fire from his pocket. On it was engraved an intricate and delicate pattern of crape myrtle, which is the national flower of Daxia. At this moment, it looked sacred and desolate.
"This is a keepsake."
The old soldier was overjoyed, but then he became a little skeptical. He looked at the young man in confusion and cleverly changed his way of asking, "Excuse me, which division does the general belong to? Can I know the general's name?"
The young man looked up. The sun had already risen above the horizon. The foggy weather suddenly disappeared and golden light filled the sky.
"I am the commander of the Cavalry Battalion. My name is Zhao Che."
The old soldier was startled and his eyes widened. After a long time, the old soldier knelt on the ground with a thud, kowtowed hard and shouted: "I was blind and offended His Highness the Seventh Prince. Please forgive me and spare me this time."
There was no sound in front. The old soldier looked up, but only saw a tall figure on the steps of the city wall. The young prince, sword in hand, disappeared from the top of the city wall step by step, his back straight, like a tree that could support the sky and the earth.
The light was so bright that it dazzled the old man's eyes for a moment. He turned his head and saw a silver plate placed on the blue brick floor in front of him. The crape myrtle flowers were in full bloom, like the warm sunshine in September!
A hundred years later, Bian Tang's Tengyuan Pavilion history book only left the following record of that year: After the revenge incident of the Datong Guild, the Zhao royal family issued a call for conscription, and all the major families returned to their territories, but none of the local princes responded. Emperor Xia had no choice but to order the capital to be moved. Prince Zhao Che guarded the national border, while Prince Zhao Yang volunteered to pursue the Yanbei Army. The Great Xia lineage showed signs of fatigue and could no longer lead the vast territory and the power of the princes in all directions. With the help of our benevolent, wise and intelligent Crown Prince, Bian Tang suddenly became the largest country in the world, and the commercial center of Simon Land began to shift from the north. The merchants of Daxia were unstable and crossed the border into Bian Tang on a large scale. The benevolent, holy, martial, wise and intelligent Crown Prince's all-encompassing talent, brilliant wisdom, extraordinary courage, and righteousness that illuminated the world made him a model of the times, the leader of heaven and earth, and a great blessing for all the people...
Although later historians were highly skeptical of the later records about Crown Prince Li Ce, they believed that Yan Xun's rebellion had nothing to do with him. Moreover, many people firmly believe that the latter words were definitely added by Crown Prince Li Ce himself, because the colors of the ink before and after are completely different. If the first part is a masterpiece of calligraphy that is worthy of admiration, then the handwriting in the second part would make even a child who has just learned to write feel ashamed.
But this cannot deny the authenticity of the previous statement. After the Datong Guild's revenge incident, the huge Daxia Dynasty really went into decline.
Just when the capital of Zhenhuang was facing a terrible disaster that had not been seen in a century, the last team of Yanbei in the inland was still wandering around Qiuping Mountain. On the vast Qiupingshan Plain, a team of ragged but determined-eyed troops were lurking quietly, like a group of hungry wolves, squatting in place, waiting for the best time to send out troops.
Although the major clans did not assist the imperial capital, they all focused their attention on the rebels in Yanbei. It was not until this moment that Chu Qiao felt a little relieved that Yan Xun had given up the post of Southwest Town Governor. The entire Yan family was beheaded by the empire. Yan Xun already had an irreconcilable blood feud with the Great Xia Dynasty, and the Datong Guild was recognized as the leader of the rebellion on the mainland. In this way, the only force that was charged with betraying their master and treason was the Southwest Town Envoy.