Under the cold moonlight, Liu Cong ran away in panic.
He didn't know how many people were around him, and he didn't know if all the civil and military officials in the court had followed him.
He only knew how to run, get to a place where the enemy could not catch up, and take a breath before talking.
When you are defeated, what you need most is a chance to breathe.
On the afternoon of the first day of the twelfth lunar month, Liu Cong changed two horses and arrived in the northeast of Jie County. He met Liu Yang, the king of Changle, who came to meet him.
Liu Yang was once a tutor and an important minister of the clan. He had already arrived in Guanzhong with his tribe and was grazing in the mountains and hills between Fengyi and Shangjun, where he was guarding the imperial family.
This time the Jin army attacked Pingyang, east of Hedong, and he was forced to leave the mountain, bringing more than 3,000 soldiers with him to greet Liu Cong as a vanguard.
"Your Majesty." Liu Yang dismounted from a distance, looking sad.
Liu Cong also dismounted.
I don't know whether it was because he was mentally slack or because he was not in good health. He just felt dizzy and swaying. If he hadn't been supported by his left and right sides, he would have fallen to the ground.
"Your Majesty." Liu Yang was shocked.
The emperor was only in his forties, but his complexion looked worse than that of an old man who was nearly sixty years old.
Liu Cong waved his hand and breathed heavily.
Everyone hurriedly looked for the imperial chariot, but unfortunately, after escaping so far, the imperial chariot had long since disappeared. So they found a carriage from Liu Yang's troops, packed it up roughly, and helped Liu Cong lie down on it.
Liu Cong pushed everyone away and sat quietly on the carriage. After a long time, he raised his head and looked for Liu Yang.
"Your Majesty, I am here." Liu Yang hurriedly stepped forward.
"Liu Qing." Liu Cong took his hand and said: "The civil and military escorts of the Manchu Dynasty went on an expedition. Once they were defeated, there were only about twenty people who followed me here. Many people must have become separated, Liu Qing
Send people to respond quickly, otherwise we might be captured and killed by bandits."
"No." Liu Yang agreed. Before leaving, he couldn't help but say: "Your Majesty, please take care of yourself."
Liu Cong smiled and said: "Liu Qing, if you go, I will have a drink with you and talk about state affairs."
Liu Yang nodded heavily, turned around, mounted his horse and left.
Liu Cong stared blankly at their departing figures, then looked at the two to three thousand defeated soldiers who were following him, as well as the disgraced and dull-eyed courtiers. He felt a tightness in his chest and spit out blood with a "pop" sound.
"Your Majesty." Situ Majing, with quick eyes and quick hands, supported him.
"Your Majesty." The personal guards and generals gathered around.
"Help me lie down." Liu Cong said weakly.
The guards laid several layers of brocade in the carriage and carefully helped Liu Cong lie down.
The carriage moved forward slowly.
"Where are we going? Who will lead the army?" Liu Cong asked feebly.
"Your Majesty, go to Pubanjin. Liu Ce, the general of Zhenbei, will lead his troops and collect the defeated troops along the way." Taibao Hu Yanyan stepped forward and said.
Liu Cong hummed and said nothing more, but tears overflowed from the corners of his eyes.
I don’t know what I’m doing in this life!
When he was young, he studied hard and practiced hard to acquire literary and martial arts. Under the recommendation of the Wang family in Taiyuan, he met Zhu Ji, a doctor from Taichang, which further solidified his intellectual foundation. Hundreds of schools of thought, classics and history books, and everything, he became famous for a while.
.
When he was still young, he was helped by the Wang family of Taiyuan, and he went to Luoyang to make friends with scholars, and his reputation became more and more popular. He even met Jin Emperor Sima Chi, talked about music theory, and even composed music on the spot, and returned home happily.
Looking back, that time was a happy one.
Carefree, talking, drinking, playing music, dancing and even tasting beautiful women all day long.
Were you ambitious at that time? No.
His ambition at that time was just to become famous, integrate into the circle of scholars, gain recognition from high-ranking families, and turn his family into one of the aristocratic families, that's all.
Even my father, through his connections with the Wang family in Taiyuan, wanted to get the position of coach of Zhengwu and accumulate merit for the family so that he could go further.
Everything is a fate.
Liu Cong thought about it and fell into a deep sleep.
When I woke up again, it was already dark and the army was resting on the shore of Suishui.
"Your Majesty." Sikong Zhuji came over. As soon as he saw Liu Cong with disheveled hair, he knelt down and cried: "I almost thought I would never see your Majesty again."
Liu Cong also shed tears, struggled to get up, helped Zhu Ji up, and said: "Zhu Qing, get up quickly, I have hurt you."
Zhu Ji wiped away his tears and sighed: "Why did your Majesty say this? Victory and defeat are common matters for military strategists. Who can say for sure whether there will be a defeat today or a victory tomorrow? Your Majesty must not be sad. The most important thing now is
Just take care of yourself and work hard, and you may not be able to fight back to Kanto."
Liu Cong smiled and said: "My family knows their own affairs, I'm afraid I won't be able to hold on for long."
Zhu Ji was startled and looked at Liu Cong carefully.
At this time, you can still joke about your body. Could it be that you have lost the battle of Wenxi and achieved enlightenment?
Immediately I felt a little sad again.
He had known the emperor for a long time. He was only a teenager at that time, and he wrote a copybook at his home. His pen was sharp and his style was great, which made him have a good impression of this young man.
Sitting down again to talk about various schools of thought, the emperor was astute, wise, and unparalleled in eloquence, which made him feel that he had finally found someone he could create.
The emperor should have spent his life as a scholar in the Luoyang court, and he might even have been able to take up the post of governor in a local area. If his official fortune was prosperous, it would not be impossible for him to become the governor of a state and become the governor.
It’s just that God’s will plays tricks on people.
"I feel more relieved after seeing Zhu Qing." Liu Cong lay back in the car again and sighed: "It's always good to see one more old friend escape."
He is nostalgic for his old friend now.
When I was defeated, I subconsciously wanted to get together with these people.
"It is my decree that the prince supervise the country and entrust all military affairs." After giving this order, Liu Cong closed his eyes again.
On the third day of December, we were only about ten miles away from Pujin Guandong City, and heavy snow began to fall in the sky again.
In the wind and snow, Liu Cong saw Shi Le heading south with thousands of people.
After some questioning, it turned out that Shi Le had quietly left Pingyang and headed for Pujin Pass with thousands of soldiers and civilians who had followed him from Xingxing southward after his expedition.
When they left, there were still many Pingyang officials and nobles who followed them with their families. By the time they arrived at Pujin Pass, the number of people had exceeded 8,000.
Taibao Hu Yanyan requested that Shi Le be beheaded, but Liu Cong refused.
It's already this time, what's the point of pursuing it further?
Besides, Shi Le was not the only one who fled Pingyang, there were many others.
What we need to do now is not to pursue, but to comfort, and to endure for the sake of the country.
In the evening of that day, Liu Cong crossed the river from Pujin Pass and arrived at Hexi County, Fengyi County, with more than 4,000 defeated soldiers, officials, and attendants gathered along the way.
Liu Can defeated the pursuing General Liu Quan of Heqing Town in Yishi County, slowly gathered his troops and retreated to Pujin Pass.
On the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, he crossed the river and arrived in Hexi County to meet Liu Cong.
****
Hou Feihu entered Wenxi on the second day of his victory.
They had already sent out cavalry to pursue them last night, and today they sent out all the rested light cavalry to pursue the remnants of the enemy.
On the third day of the Lunar New Year, he led the main force of the infantry and a small number of cavalry to the north to Pingyang.
On the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, he met Liu Jing, King of Ruyin of the Han Dynasty, who had returned from Wuling Road in the Jiangyi area.
Liu Jing's ten thousand men had no intention of fighting. As soon as the two sides fought, he led his troops and fled.
Hou Feihu did not pursue, but continued northward, rushing day and night to Pingyang - nothing but the honor of capturing the enemy's capital!
On the night of the fifth day of the lunar month, south of Pingyang, the army encountered 14,000 cavalry led by Hanzhong base general Bu Tai who had come south from Guanjuejin. In fact, there were more than 1,000 people from Pingyang who had followed them and fled south.
The two sides met in the wilderness, were defeated in one blow, and fled in all directions.
The once arrogant and high-ranking official was struck by a sword and died miserably on the road.
The once delicate and elegant lady was dragged into the grass by the rebel soldiers and disappeared.
The once charming treasures, gold and silk, were scattered everywhere and no one picked them up for a while.
The noble Liu Han, dressed in brocade, leaned on crutches and cried while fleeing.
The gray-haired lady Liu Han saw someone and asked if she had seen her grandson. During the chaos of war, they got separated.
There was also the Liu Han official who took jade pendants and gold and silk just to exchange for a piece of Hu pancake to satisfy his hunger.
The powerful tribesmen of the noble clans mobilized en masse.
They patrolled along the way and when they saw beautiful women, they laughed and took them away.
I saw that I was picking and choosing the children. Those who looked upright were taken back and raised as slaves, while those who looked ordinary could be used as gardeners or shepherd boys.
The carriage was filled with treasures, armors, and weapons abandoned by the Huns.
Many warriors with some combat experience were also arrested and escorted back to the manor and fortress to arrange and practice their own songs.
Of course, there are many people who want to take revenge or complain. In short, it is chaos, as if it is the end of the world.
Even the passing Jin soldiers sighed secretly when they saw this scene.
The officer also thought silently, if Luoyang was captured by the Xiongnu, would it be like this?
Mr. Liang is so virtuous!
He saved Luoyang. Otherwise, if the Huns rushed in, they would not be able to stop without tens of thousands of people dying.
Even if he escapes from Luoyang, he doesn't know what kind of misfortune he will encounter on the way, maybe he will be the same as the Huns in front of him.
…
Pingyang burst into flames and fell into chaos. Just like this, the entire Pingyang and Hedong boundaries - the enemy and ourselves were intertwined and in chaos. You might encounter an enemy even if you walked for more than ten miles.
On the afternoon of the sixth day of the lunar month, Penngling, the governor of the Black Army, led hundreds of vanguards into Pingyang City and immediately dispersed the evil young men who took advantage of the chaos to loot.
That night, no less than three thousand black soldiers entered the city.
They rushed straight to the palace, defeated a few remaining guards, and took control of the entire palace.
On the seventh day of the lunar month, more than 10,000 soldiers entered the city.
They were distributed in various neighborhoods, controlled various key points, sealed up the treasury, and captured the Hun soldiers who were hiding in civilian homes.
On the eighth day of the lunar month, Yu An led his troops and thousands of troops to go north to the mountainous areas in the north, trying to capture Puzi and other counties.
At this time, a group of dozens or hundreds of Xiongnu soldiers marched southward in a chaotic manner and collided head-on with Yu An's tribe.
Obviously, these were the Huns who had received news of Wenxi's defeat and the fall of Pingyang.
They have no fighting spirit, and they don't know what they want to do or what they should do. They only know that they are defeated and they only know to go home.
On the ninth day of the Lunar New Year, the news reached Shilou Mountain. At that time, Shao Xun had just commanded the army and fought hard for more than ten days. He defeated the Xiongnu Duke Liu Chang of Xihe who was stationed here and killed him.
This was probably the last bitter battle of the year, and it ended with the death of Liu Chang.
Chapter completed!