Chapter 694: Cast your name
In Kyoto, on the south gate tower, a group of Han army generals gathered here, listening to Zheng Tai roar:
"The country is in crisis, but there are no loyal or brave people among you? Aren't you usually very capable? Why have you shrunk your eggs now?"
It turned out that this morning, Zheng Tai finally couldn't stand the stone trebuchets outside the city and decided to recruit warriors from the army to go out of the city to attack the stone trebuchets. However, it turned out that none of these Han troops accepted this fatal mission.
What's even more chilling is that when Zheng Tai was roaring here, there was a sudden murmur from the crowd:
"The general is so loyal and brave, why doesn't he lead a team of troops to attack the city?"
Zheng Tai was furious:
"Who, who said this?"
The other generals stepped aside one after another, revealing a general with a scar on his face.
When Zheng Tai saw this man, he choked. It turned out that this man was Zhu Guang, a member of Zhu Jun's tribe and a fierce general.
The most legendary thing about this person was a battle outside the city a few days ago. At that time, he and a group of elite soldiers took a boat through the water gate to attack the Taishan Army camp outside the moat.
But he didn't expect to be discovered by the Taishan Army's lookout as soon as he went out, and the nearby cavalry rushed towards him.
They had no choice but to retreat, but while retreating, Zhu Guang's boat capsized, and all six armored officers, including him, fell into the moat.
Just when everyone on the city thought Zhu Guang was going to die, he suddenly swam up from the water, and was finally pulled up exhausted by Pao Ze.
So everyone in the army got to know this person, this person who could escape from the gate of hell.
Under high-intensity pressure, people will instinctively believe in mysterious people and things.
But today, the Taishan Army emptied the moat. Zhu Guang on the top of the city saw Pao Ze who had fought with him before. They had all rotted in the mud and were covered by a handful of soil from the Taishan Army.
So, Zhu Guang couldn't stand it anymore, and when he heard that Zheng Tai, a member of the aristocratic family, was still barking, he finally started taunting him.
But just when everyone thought Zheng Tai was going to deal with Zhu Guang, they saw Zheng Tai calmly reply:
"Okay, then let me ask you, Zhu Guang, to see what I, Zheng Tai, am like."
Then, he retreated from the city without saying a word.
……
That night, Zheng Tai asked the family witch for fortune at home. After getting the word "big bad luck", Zheng Tai laughed. Then he wore the armor passed down by his father, killed the family witch with a knife, and then cut off his head. Just left the hall door.
In the courtyard outside the hall door, a group of seventy or eighty armored soldiers stood calmly.
Zheng Tai threw the head of the family shaman into the courtyard, read these stories about Zheng's kindness, and whispered:
"This man says that I am very evil, so I will kill him. Only I, Zheng Tai, can end my own evil."
It wasn't loud, but everyone heard it clearly.
Later, Zheng Tai led these people along the street towards Yongmen.
In the dark night, some of the ministers' sons kept coming from the inner area with their troops. They all knew that Zheng Tai was going to attack the camp tonight, so they came to follow him.
They want everyone in the world to know that these young men are still willing to sacrifice their lives and blood for the Han Dynasty.
The crowd gathered more and more, and by the time they arrived outside Yongmen, Zheng Tai's team had unknowingly swelled to 3,000 people, all of whom were elites from various families in the city.
At this moment, they came to Yongmen, where the generals headed by Zhu Guang were already waiting there.
In the dark night, Zhu Guang looked at Zheng Tai with a complicated expression. He did not expect that Zheng Tai was really about to leave the city for a night attack.
He walked up to Zheng Tai, suddenly gave himself a mouth, and solemnly apologized:
"Captain, I, Old Zhu, am convinced of you."
After saying that, the man drew out his knife and stood behind Zheng Tai.
Zheng Tai didn't speak, took a deep breath, and then asked the doorman to open the door.
Looking at the slowly opening city gate, Zheng Tai had his horse bitten and then got on his horse.
After they rushed out of the city, thanks to the Taishan Army filling up the ravines during the day, these people were able to rush toward the Taishan Army barrier outside the west city.
During the gallop, the movements of the cavalry could no longer be hidden, but at this moment the Taishan Army's barrier was already in front of them, and there was no need to hide it.
Just like that, Zheng Tai roared angrily and then poured into the enemy camp.
But in an instant, everyone turned pale because there was no one in Nuo Da's military camp.
At this time, they understood that the plan for the night attack was leaked.
In the darkness, they seemed to hear the sound of countless horses' hooves approaching them, and the situation suddenly reversed.
Zheng Tai's expression changed and he shouted:
"Breakout."
Just like that, a night attack suddenly turned into a breakout.
……
As soon as Zheng Tai and his men left, several riders came running down the street behind Yongmen, one of whom was Yu Fan.
After learning that Zheng Tai had just taken people away, Yu Fan couldn't help but said:
"Suffered."
Then Yu Fan ordered the doorkeepers to close Yongmen.
But the Yongmen officials looked at me and I looked at you, but no one made any move. One of them said:
"Captain Zheng is still outside the city. We have locked him up. It will be difficult for him to come in."
At this moment, Yu Fan was angry and took out Zhu Jun's talisman from his chest and shouted:
"The Marshal Talisman is here, why don't you obey your orders?"
Finally, the doorkeepers carefully inspected the talismans and finally reluctantly closed the door.
Afterwards, Yu Fan ignored the scolding city gatekeepers and ran back to the high building to report the worst situation to Zhu Jun.
……
The high-rise buildings were covered with wooden boards on all sides to prevent ventilation.
In the darkness, Zhu Jun lay alone on the bed and kept coughing.
His right eyelid has been twitching wildly throughout the day.
His long military life made him very superstitious about this, so he asked the tooth soldiers to go out to explore if there were any other abnormalities in the city.
Sure enough, after Yu Fan and the others went out, they quickly brought news to Zhu Jun.
That is, a group of ministers' sons headed by Zheng Tai are going to attack the Taishan Army's camp tonight.
Although Zhu Jun could not get out of bed, his consciousness was very clear. He asked a key question:
"How did you know that Zheng Tai was going to attack the city."
Unexpectedly, Yu Fan and the others laughed:
"Do you need to ask about this? It is said that everyone in the city knows it. Many of the ministers' children have already raised flags in their homes, with the words 'Imperial Report of Victory' and other words written on it."
Zhu Jun was shocked and exclaimed:
"This attack on the city is so important and so careless. The enemy must have made careful plans in Kyoto, and those who are both snake and rat must have betrayed the information to the Taishan Army. And now that everyone knows about it, Zheng Is Tae acting so careless?”
But Yu Fan had a different view. He disapproved of Zhu Jun and said:
"Commander, I don't think that Zheng Tai wanted to go out of the city to attack at night. I heard that he and your clansman Zhu Guang were stiff on the top of the city today during the day, and that's why he said such harsh words when he couldn't get off the platform. The descendants of that generation are all on the cliff. I have never been in danger, so how could I go to danger personally?”
Zhu Jun also relaxed, and he murmured something that others could not hear clearly. In the end, he was still worried and said to Yu Fan:
"Go and explore more. If there are any changes, report to me immediately."
After saying that, Zhu Jun felt tired and asked Yu Fan to get down.
Just after nightfall, Yu Fan came in and Jiao said:
"Commander, then Zheng Tai really led the attack, he is really brave."
Zhu Jun was anxious and realized that the situation was not good, so he asked Yu Fan to catch up, and asked his nephew Zhu Tao to organize the remaining troops to rescue Zheng Tai.
After the two agreed, they turned around and went out. Zhu Tao said to Yu Fan:
"If you catch up, you'll be fine. If you don't, let people close the city gate."
Yu Fan looked at Zhu Tao suspiciously, not understanding what he meant.
In the dark night, with shadows dancing, Zhu Tao said lightly:
"The mistake has been made, so we can't make the same mistake again and again, and we can't let the whole of Kyoto be dragged down by Zheng Tai."
Yu Fan hesitated for a moment and said to Zhu Tao:
"Although I look down on the prince's son, I still admire someone as talented as Zheng Tai. We have to save him. And this is also the commander's order, otherwise how can we explain it."
After hearing Yu Fan's innocent words, Zhu Tao suddenly laughed and shook his head:
"You still don't understand who those ministers are."
Yu Fan hated Zhu Tao's pretentiousness and said seriously:
"Oh, who are they?"
Zhu Tao didn't care about Yu Fan's petty temper, but looked at Nangong high up and said leisurely:
"They are a group of people who can do the most shameless things in the world for their own interests and still speak righteously."
With that, he told Yu Fan:
"Don't you think this is something strange? Why did Zheng Tai suddenly become so violent? Why did the whole city know about this attack on the city? Why did the ministers, who had nothing to do with themselves during the war, Have you never thought about allowing your own disciples to leave the city with their elite troops?”
Yu Fan is not stupid, on the contrary, he has great wisdom. He loves to study the "Book of Changes", although he studied it at first because it has the least number of words in the classics and the least need to read the sentences of famous teachers.
But after he really studied it, he was fascinated by the "Book of Changes". One of the most profound truths he learned from it was that everything is changing and there is no so-called permanence, so accidents and turning points are bound to occur.
So after listening to Zhu Tao's words, he quickly understood and said:
"So they left the city to escape?"
Zhu Tao nodded and shook his head, he said helplessly:
"It's possible, and what I'm more worried about is, is this someone else's certificate of surrender?"
After Yu Fan heard this, he turned around and ran to the stable without saying a word, and then galloped to Yongmen.
The two didn't talk anymore. What exactly was the certificate of surrender?
It might be Zheng Tai, it might be the group of Gongqing's children, it might be some of them, or even more likely, it's Kyoto.
What it is exactly is unknown to outsiders, but everything is left unsaid.
……
The next day, morning.
The Han troops on the city wall were horrified to find that the Taishan Army outside the city had placed hundreds of flags on the ground, and then a group of prisoners were paraded with their mouths tied.
After being escorted around the city of Kyoto, these pampered sons of officials were exhausted and finally returned to the prison camp in relief.
The night attack by the warriors in the city and the annihilation of the entire army was bad news for the Han army, but there was also good news, that is, the Taishan army did not attack the city today.
The Han troops on the top of the city could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
And when people are free, it is easy to think about various things in the past, such as the conditions of the Taishan Army, their fierce offensive, their committed policy of dividing fields and land, and even the news that the entire army that left the city last night was destroyed. Connected all at once.
The morale of the soldiers on the top of the city suddenly weakened.
Now it was unclear whether Zheng Tai was alive or dead, so Zhu Jun could only ask the tooth soldiers to carry his bed and take him to patrol the city wall.
Zhu Jun saw that the morale on the city was low, but he could not say anything with empty words, so he could only have people carry him into the palace.
In the North Palace, the white-haired Zhu Jun looked at Liu Bian, who also had white hair. The monarch and his ministers hugged each other and cried.
Finally, Zhu Jun told Liu Bian that the only solution now was for His Majesty to climb the tower to boost the morale of the army.
Liu Bian regained his senses and understood that the Han Dynasty was on his shoulders. Instead of being willful and shrinking, he nodded in agreement.
On April 11th, Liu Bian ascended the city to reward the troops. In the next four days, every stone was fired outside the city. He still took Concubine Tang to the north, west, south, and east walls to comfort the officials on the city walls. .
Wearing armor and walking heavily, he took the Tang concubine, who was also not good at it, and gave the palace cloth and meals to the officials.
This was the first time for the officials who were fighting in a bloody battle to see the emperor of the Han family. When they saw this young but old-looking emperor, they had mixed emotions in their hearts.
It turns out that this is the emperor they protect, and it turns out that he cares about us too.
As a result, a sense of sacrifice for the emperor gradually spread over the city.
People in this era are never afraid of death, not because they are not afraid of death, but because they do not live long in the first place.
In this fleeting life of only twenty or thirty years, what they care about is spiritual value.
So, at this moment, everyone realized a grand mission.
They will die for the Han Dynasty. If the Han Dynasty is destined to perish, then let's start with them. They are the martyrs of the Han Dynasty.
What a travesty.
While those officials who enjoyed the dividends of the Han Dynasty racked their brains and shamelessly wanted to live, this group of military officials who had never been stained with the glory of the Han Dynasty had to choose to die for it.
On the top of the city, a group of military officers knelt on the ground weeping and kissed Liu Bian's boots, while Concubine Tang put the knitted military uniforms of the maids on them.
The soldiers bit their own hands and wrote their names and family locations on these military uniforms. When they write this information, it means that they will fight to the death because it is about their own and their family's honor.
Liu Bian was also crying. He was moved and felt guilty for these people.
After waking up from madness, Liu Bian is no longer the Liu Bian he was in the past. He no longer looks down on himself, but treats himself as an ordinary person. Therefore, he is aware of the weight of these people's responsibilities.
He felt he couldn't help these people.
Liu Bian saw a gray-haired old soldier who was also crying, and asked:
"Old man, is it worth dying for a big man?"
The old pawn came out excitedly. He knelt down and carefully kissed the soil under Liu Bian's boots. He suppressed his excitement and said:
"I don't know. My grandfather died for the Han Dynasty in the Western Regions. My father died for the Han Dynasty in the Northern Xinjiang. And now I am dying for the Han Dynasty in Kyoto. I hope that my grandson can continue to die for the Han Dynasty. .”
As he spoke, the old pawn tremblingly kissed Liu Bian's boots again, this time the kiss was a little closer.
Listening to the old pawn's words, Liu Bian's heart started to bleed. Suddenly, he felt a chill on his face. When he reached out to touch it, he found it was a snowflake.
So, Liu Bian looked around and saw countless snowflakes falling from the sky to the world.
This April day, it snowed heavily.
Everyone was stunned, and then enthusiastic shouts broke out from the top of the city.
Zongzheng and Liu Yu beside Liu Bian also had tears in their eyes, kneeling and kowtowing in the direction of the Ancestral Temple:
"Heaven will never end our empire."