June 27th, the first year of the Zhaowu reign of the Tang Dynasty.
Emperor Zhaowu, Chen Huai'an, personally led an army of 20,000 vanguard troops from Zhuozhou City, marching north towards Youzhou City.
At this time, the city of Youzhou was filled with a tense atmosphere, with everyone on edge.
"Report—"
"Reporting to the General, the imperial army has already marched to the outskirts of Youzhou City and is currently assembling, making final preparations before attacking the city!"
The news that the imperial army was at the gates of the city was immediately relayed by messengers to Luo Ping'an, the rebel commander who was guarding Youzhou.
Inside the rebel army's central command tent, Luo Ping'an, the garrison general of Youzhou, clad in gleaming armor, sat in command of the central army, gazing at the battle simulation sand table before him with an air of strategic mastery.
When he heard the news that the imperial army was at the city gates to quell the rebellion, he panicked and almost jumped to his feet. The composed and shrewd image he had carefully cultivated vanished in an instant.
Luo Ping'an, feigning composure, asked, "Have you ascertained how many troops the enemy has, who is leading them, and what siege weapons and equipment they are carrying?"
The messenger reported, "General, according to the reports from the scouts at the front, the number of imperial troops and enemy forces appearing outside Youzhou City is approximately 20,000, mostly light cavalry and heavy cavalry. It should be... it should be the former Iron Pagoda of Longcheng."
"Currently, no large siege weapons have been detected being carried by the enemy, nor have any red-coated cannons or Shenji battalions been observed among them."
After a pause, the messenger continued, "As for the enemy's commanding general, the scouts have not yet ascertained who the specific commander is."
"However, among the enemy troops, the scouts discovered flags bearing the character 'Zhao'!"
"The Zhao character flag?"
Upon hearing this, Luo Ping'an raised an eyebrow and said with some confusion, "I've never heard of a general with the surname Zhao in this court. Could he be a remnant of the previous dynasty?"
With that, Luo Ping'an raised his hand and ordered, "Investigate again, report back!"
"Your subordinate obeys!"
Soon, the messenger hurriedly left.
Luo Ping'an kept talking about the general surnamed Zhao, pacing back and forth in the central command tent.
Finally, he suddenly stopped and said sternly, "Left and Right Guards, follow me to the walls of Youzhou. I want to see which general in this Great Tang Dynasty dares to attack the city with only 20,000 troops, 20,000 light and heavy cavalry!"
"This general wants to see how his Iron Pagoda cavalry crossed the moat and scaled the walls of Youzhou City!"
......
At the same time, outside Youzhou City.
The 20,000-strong vanguard of the Imperial Guard did not rush to attack the city. Instead, some cavalry surrounded the city while others dismounted to fight, using existing equipment to build a flying bridge to cross the moat of Youzhou City.
Clad in silver armor and wielding the Dragon Gallant Silver Spear, Zhao Zilong stood proudly on horseback before the three armies, his sharp eyes never leaving the walls of Youzhou.
It's not hard to see that Zhao Zilong had already started thinking about a plan to break through the city!
As for Emperor Zhaowu Chen Huai'an, who was personally leading the expedition, he was handling government affairs in the central military tent at this time.
He had just received an urgent message from the rear, informing him that the army led by Duke Pang Xianchu of Jin had left Jinan Prefecture and was heading towards Zhuozhou City.
With Zhao Zilong in command of the three armies, Chen Huai'an could confidently entrust the frontline battles to Zhao Zilong, freeing up his time to handle government affairs.
The hour of Wei (1-3 PM).
On the outer bank of the moat outside Youzhou City, simple flying bridges have been assembled. Auxiliary soldiers are gathering in an orderly manner, ready to carry the flying bridges into the range of the rebel army's crossbows on the city wall and span the moat across the two sides, preparing for the army's attack on the city.
On the city wall of Youzhou, the rebel leader Luo Ping'an, surrounded by his generals and personal guards, climbed the wall and looked down at the actions of the imperial army outside the city.
From the moment Luo Ping'an stepped onto the city wall, his gaze was drawn to the silver-clad, heroic figure on the opposite bank of the moat below the city.
He immediately recognized the man as the Zhao general from the imperial court whom the messenger had previously reported.
Luo Ping'an, relying on the tall and sturdy city walls of Youzhou, and the fact that the imperial army outside the city lacked large siege equipment and had no Shenji Battalion or Red-Clothed Cannons to assist him, appeared fearless in the face of 20,000 imperial troops.
He even shouted to Zhao Zilong outside the city with great interest: "Who is coming down to the city? How dare you lead your troops to besiege my Youzhou City? Have you lost your mind?"
Outside the city, Zhao Zilong, who was thousands of steps away, could clearly hear Luo Ping'an's shouts from the city wall, and could even see the enemy commander standing on the crenellations with his naked eye.
Faced with the provocative questioning of the enemy general Luo Ping'an, Zhao Zilong, mounted on horseback, replied with a resounding voice: "I am Zhao Zilong of Changshan, here to quell the Youyun rebels by imperial decree of Emperor Zhaowu of the Great Tang Dynasty."
"You lot, why don't you leave the city and surrender immediately, or you will be spared death!"
Hahaha!
On the city wall, Luo Ping'an laughed loudly and unrestrainedly, saying, "Zhao Zilong of Changshan?"
"I have traversed the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun for decades and have never heard of a person named Zhao Zilong in Changshan County. Could it be that you are the groom who led the horses and putted the stirrups under the command of Prince Zhao Liu Xinwu, and now, thanks to Liu Xinwu's rise to power, you have become the General Who Conquers the North of the Great Tang Dynasty?"
"You think you can persuade this general to surrender?"
snort!
Luo Ping'an snorted coldly and continued, "Why don't you take a piss and look in the mirror? Who do you think you are, daring to boss me around like this general?"
Even if your master, Prince Zhao Liu Xinwu, were to come, this general would not give him any face.
"To tell you the truth, my reason for leading my troops to garrison Youzhou City and resist the imperial army advancing north is to uphold justice and purge the court of corrupt officials."
"The tens of thousands of troops within Youzhou City are all a righteous army, a kingly army!"
Luo Ping'an declared righteously, "On the contrary, it is you fools, deceived and instigated by a muddle-headed ruler and treacherous ministers, who should surrender to my army in time. I will spare your lives because you have been deceived."
"otherwise--"
Luo Ping'an changed the subject: "The elite troops and powerful crossbows in Youzhou City will ensure that you never return and die without a burial place!"
"Luo Ping'an, what trouble are you trying to quell, and whose traitors are you trying to purge?"
Suddenly, an untimely voice rang out outside Youzhou City.
His voice was like a booming bell, authoritative without being angry, and seemed to carry the force of thunder, so that the soldiers of both armies inside and outside Youzhou City could hear it clearly and distinctly.
As the words fell, a tall figure clad in golden armor and wielding a Longquan sword rode up gracefully, only reining in his horse at the edge of the moat.
The person who arrived was none other than Emperor Zhaowu Chen Huai'an, the founding emperor of the Tang Dynasty, who had just finished dealing with important military and political affairs and had come on horseback to inspect the front lines.
Even more coincidentally, just as he arrived here, he overheard Luo Ping'an, a rebel general from Youzhou, making remarks about "pacifying the rebellion," which immediately ignited Chen Huai'an's anger.
And so, in front of the soldiers of both armies, he asked Luo Ping'an, the leader of the rebel army in Youzhou, what difficulties are you trying to quell, and whose traitors are you trying to eliminate?
Wow!
These words caused an uproar at the scene.
Between the two armies facing each other on both sides of the moat of Youzhou City, inside and outside the city, the 20,000 Imperial Guards of the imperial court need no introduction; everyone knows Emperor Zhaowu Chen Huai'an, who has personally led the expedition.
The rebel soldiers outside Youzhou City were mostly former soldiers from the Longcheng Southern Expedition. Many of them had followed Prince Jin on his southern campaigns and naturally recognized him as one of only two people in the entire dynasty who could wear golden armor.
Therefore, when Emperor Zhaowu Chen Huai'an, who was personally leading the expedition, appeared outside Youzhou City on horseback, the rebel soldiers stationed on the city walls of Youzhou City immediately began to stir.
A sharp-eyed soldier shouted incredulously, "Yes, it's the Emperor!"
"That's right, it really is the Emperor! I recognize the Emperor's golden armor!"
"I see clearly now, it is indeed the Emperor!"
"......"
In an instant, the soldiers guarding the city walls of Youzhou City began to lean out of the crenellations, just to catch a glimpse of the emperor's majestic countenance. There was no trace of their tense and war-prepared posture left!
Even Luo Ping'an, the rebel general stationed in Youzhou City, was startled by the sudden appearance of the current emperor on the front lines of the battlefield outside the city.
Luo Ping'an, the commander of the rebel army in Youzhou, had already heard the news that Emperor Zhaowu Chen Huai'an was personally leading the expedition.
However, to his surprise, Chen Huai'an, who was already the emperor of the current dynasty and the supreme ruler, actually had the courage to stand on the front line "alone" (at this time, Emperor Zhaowu Chen Huai'an was only protected by a few Jinwu Guard soldiers behind him) and face the ballistae and catapults on the walls of Youzhou.
Doesn't Chen Huai'an fear death?
Was he not afraid of being riddled with arrows by the crossbows on the walls of Youzhou City, or of being smashed into a meat pie by the catapults on the walls?
Even Luo Ping'an, the commander-in-chief, was caught off guard by Chen Huai'an's sudden appearance, which gives an idea of the restlessness and unease among the soldiers guarding the Youzhou city walls.
"Luo Ping'an, tell me, whose troubles are you trying to quell, and whose treacherous officials are you trying to eliminate?"
Just as Luo Ping'an on the city wall was stunned, another majestic voice resounded inside and outside the Youzhou city wall, like a thunderbolt from a clear sky.
What terrified Luo Ping'an even more was that the Imperial Guards soldiers beside Emperor Zhaowu Chen Huai'an began to repeat this phrase over and over again—
"Luo Ping'an, whose troubles are you trying to quell, and whose traitors are you trying to purge?"
"Luo Ping'an, whose troubles are you trying to quell, and whose traitors are you trying to purge?"
Each question was like a thunderclap in Luo Ping'an's ears, making him feel uneasy and causing him to notice that the rank-and-file soldiers around him were beginning to look at him with suspicion.
yes!
When Luo Ping'an delivered the "Proclamation Against the Rebels" written by He Kuan, a strategist from the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun, on the drill ground, he compared the current emperor Chen Huai'an to a monarch who was deceived by treacherous officials.
The anti-rebel army in Youyun region claimed that their targets were Li Jingyu, Minister of War, Chang Yuchun, Duke of Wei, and Pang Xianchu, Duke of Jin.
Now, the current emperor has appeared outside Youzhou City and publicly questioned Luo Ping'an about whose troubles he is trying to quell and whose treacherous officials he is trying to eliminate.
In this way, even if these frontline soldiers in Youzhou City were foolish, they would have to consider the legitimacy of their so-called uprising to quell the rebellion and purge the emperor's inner circle under the call of their commander Luo Ping'an!
Emperor Zhaowu Chen Huai'an's mere presence outside Youzhou City, uttering just that one question, was equivalent to a hundred thousand soldiers to the rebel troops inside the city!
"He's an imposter! This man dares to impersonate the current emperor! Everyone should kill him!"
To be fair, Luo Ping'an was quick-witted. He immediately turned red in the face, stood on the city wall of Youzhou, raised his arms and shouted, "Men! Fire arrows at this general! Shoot this treacherous traitor who dares to impersonate the current emperor outside Youzhou!"
"Release the arrows!"
Although, at the crenellations of the city wall less than a hundred paces away from Luo Ping'an, several crossbows were lined up and set up, with arrows as thick as spear shafts already nocked on the firing racks and the bowstrings pulled back to the position where they could be fired at any time.
However, not a single soldier obeyed Luo Ping'an's orders to cock the crossbow and fire the longer-range, more powerful arrows at the "imposter emperor" outside the city.
The rank-and-file soldiers on the city wall all looked at their commander, Luo Ping'an, with puzzled expressions.
"What, you fucking want to rebel?!"
Upon seeing this, Luo Ping'an was first stunned, then flew into a rage.
He rushed over to one of the ballistae, drew his ring-pommel sword, and held it to the neck of one of the archers, roaring, "Shoot the arrows! I, the general, will let you shoot!"
"General, standing below the city walls is the Emperor!"
The soldier with a knife to his neck spoke with a sob in his voice, as well as a natural fear of imperial power and the emperor.
yes!
Standing outside Youzhou City is none other than the founding emperor of the Tang Dynasty, Emperor Zhaowu Chen Huai'an, who has been benevolent to the people of the world since the beginning of his rebellion and the establishment of the country!
He not only reduced taxes by half for the people, but also implemented the imperial examination reform in the Tang Dynasty, giving scholars from all over the country the opportunity to become officials. He also vigorously promoted agricultural reform, distributing unclaimed land equally among the poor, and...
These soldiers stationed in Youzhou City include not only those who followed Prince Chen Huai'an of Jin in conquering the world, but also those who have directly or indirectly received the favors of Prince Chen Huai'an. Their families are also directly or indirectly receiving the favors of the Tang Dynasty and the benevolent rule of Emperor Zhaowu Chen Huai'an.
Humans are not plants or trees; how can they be without feelings?
Although these ordinary soldiers hadn't read many classic texts, they still knew which dynasty was good and which emperor was a wise ruler.
Now, they simply cannot bring themselves to harm Chen Huai'an, the founding emperor of the Tang Dynasty!
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