It was indeed the order of Prime Minister Chen Xun to order Bianliang officials to defend the city to the death. As prime minister, he had the qualifications and power to issue such an order.

After Song Zhi took the top experts of the dynasty and the central ministers to escape with the help of the imperial seal, Bianliang City was leaderless. After Yuan Muzhen left, Chen Xun stepped forward.

However, considering the current situation, it is not easy for the officers and soldiers of the three armies to restrain officials, big and small.

The official surnamed Zhou was killed. Although the official team in front of Chen Anzhi were frightened, some of them were desperate in the face of a life and death crisis.

After a brief hesitation, under the hysterical greeting of the wife of an official named Zhou, they rushed forward to fight Chen Anzhi, vowing to eliminate him as a roadblock.

The results speak for themselves.

The crowded long street soon became more than ten feet of open space.

In this team, both officials and guards became corpses lying in a pool of blood.

Although Chen Anzhi is not at the King's Realm, he is already at the late stage of the Yuanshen Realm. A mere fourth-grade official's subordinates cannot touch him at all.

With the long sword in its sheath, Chen Anzhi glanced at the corpses on the ground, waved his hand, and asked the Chen cultivators following him to cut off the heads of the officials.

His eyes finally fell on the fleeing people around him.

Because of his killing, many people stopped in their tracks.

But at the moment when the killing was completed, they began to run away swarm again, scrambling for the first place.

Chen Anzhi's eyes flashed, but in the end he said nothing. He turned around and jumped up to the house on the street, killing a group of fleeing officials from the roof.

At this moment, in front of the Donghua Gate Tower, a group of imperial ministers in scarlet and purple uniforms were standing. Facing the messy city, everyone's face was full of sorrow.

"Both the officials and the people in the city are in panic at the moment. It is difficult for us to prevent them from escaping Bianliang. It will be even more difficult for them to obey our orders and defend the city."

The speaker was Zhang Yan, the head of the Zhang clan:

"Yuanmu Zhentian came, His Majesty was forced to flee, the Wangjijing people are gone, and the people of Bianliang are broken. This is a more difficult and dangerous situation than in Yanping. How can we deal with the people's hearts?"

Chen Xun, standing in the middle of the crowd, said word by word: "Bianliang must be defended! It is precisely because His Majesty is gone that we, aristocratic families, must protect the territory and the people!"

Han Shu, the great elder of General Han Style, glanced at Chen Xun, snorted contemptuously, and said bluntly:

"For so many years, Prime Minister Chen has been called prime minister, but in fact he is just a sword and pen in the hands of His Majesty. When the cabinet was still there, Prime Minister Chen was excluded from the cabinet, and he was even worse than a sword and pen.

"But even so, Prime Minister Chen is still doing his best to suppress the aristocratic family for His Majesty. There are no less than a thousand officials and generals from the aristocratic family who have been dealt with by your father and son! How is what you do different from Xu Mingliang?

"Xu Mingliang is still a bit smart at least, and he also wants to keep his face. He mostly hides behind the scenes, but in order to please His Majesty, you Chen family don't need any disguise. It's not an exaggeration to say that you are officials with swords and pens.

"You have done so many thankless and bad deeds, and what is the result? A low-income political advisor can ride on your head and do whatever you want. What dignity do you have as a prime minister?

"Now that you are in this situation, seeing the prosperity of a poor family, you are about to face the situation of being cooked by cunning rabbits and dead lackeys. Your Majesty is unreliable, so you just want to make contributions in the national war, rebuild the family's reputation, and rely on the people of the world?

"Chen Xun, if I had known now, what would I have done in the past? The Chen family is no longer tolerated in the family. At this time, you want to be a leader and order the heroes to guard Tokyo. Do you think it is possible?"

Han Shu mercilessly exposed him in front of all the heads and elders of the aristocratic families. Chen Xun's old face turned black, the corners of his mouth twitched for a while, and he was unable to say even a single word.

The Chen family was originally from the bottom of the family. In the early years, the civil and military disputes were fierce. When Xu Mingliang was killing everyone, he also thought of being alone. Unfortunately, the Chen family could give in to Xu Mingliang, but in the end, he could not resist the general trend.

When Chen Xun was selected by Song Zhi to replace Xu Minglang, under Song Zhi's imperial power, Chen Xun could not say a word "no" at all.

The decline of the aristocratic family is a foregone conclusion. In order to prevent the Chen family from being destroyed like the Xu family, and to be able to leave a legacy and maintain a foothold as a scholarly family in a world where poor families are gaining power, Chen Xun had to become a Song Dynasty official.

The minions of governance.

Chen Xun knew very well how many sins he had committed over the years and how much he was hated by the aristocratic families.

He wanted the Chen family to survive forever, but reality increasingly made him realize that he and the Chen family would only make the same mistakes as Xu Minglang and the Xu family.

As a member of an aristocratic family, she seceded from the aristocratic family, and as the emperor's minion, without the emperor's respect and protection, the Chen family no longer had the foundation to establish itself.

After the National War broke out, Song Zhi called on the world to work together as one, saying that no matter how poor the family was, Chen Xun thought that the Chen family had an opportunity.

Given his position as prime minister, as long as he acts fairly, he may not be able to repair the relationship with the aristocratic family.

Unfortunately, this is all wishful thinking on his part.

The Gao Furui incident made Chen Xun understand that it was impossible for the emperor to give up his imperial power.

It is impossible for him not to be on guard against the aristocratic family that has been suppressed by him in an extremely miserable way and is already deeply resentful of him. It is impossible not to spare a hand.

On that day, when he was insulted by Kong Yanhua, the political counselor, Chen Xun realized that in the eyes of the emperor and officials from a poor family, he was really just a biting dog.

Song Zhi still relied on generals like the Zhao family a little more during the National War. After the war, Song Zhi might not be able to do anything to them in the short term despite their great achievements.

But what about Chen?

Mrs. Chen has reached the edge of the cliff, with one foot hanging in the air. If she cannot survive the desperate situation, there is only one way to be destroyed!

Now the emperor has escaped, the Wangjijing people have all left, Bianliang has lost the blue sky and white sun, and Chen Xun has lost the mountains above his head.

He wanted to gather the power of Bianliang, let go of his hands and feet, and fight to the death against the Beihu army in the Central Plains, so that the Chen family could establish meritorious deeds.

For this reason, he would not hesitate even if he died in battle.

However, today, Zhang Yan and Han Shu's attitude made him realize that the family was no longer willing to listen to his orders.

As for officials from poor families, it is even more impossible to let him drive them.

When there is an emperor above him, although it is a big mountain that breaks bones and sucks marrow, he can at least act with the authority of the emperor; without the emperor above him, he is nothing.

He, the prime minister, can be called the most aggrieved, useless and sad prime minister in history.

At this time, who can help him and who can save Chen?

Who else can help him?

Who can save Chen?

Chen Xun said sadly: "Masters, Chen knows that he has committed serious sins and has little virtue. Although he has the title of prime minister, he is not enough to give orders to everyone.

"But the enmity between you and me happened during the peaceful times, when all the princes were from aristocratic families. How could we not know that the so-called peaceful and prosperous times are always the times when power struggles are at their peak?

"The struggle between civil and military forces, and the internal fighting among aristocratic families, are ultimately all because His Majesty wants to centralize power and strengthen the imperial power? The best person in the world sets a chess game, and who among all living beings can not become a pawn? You and I can't help ourselves.

"Now is the period of national war. The enemies we face are aliens outside the Great Wall. Are you willing to let the Northern Hu steal my ancestral land?

"Chen is willing to die to defend Bianliang, why can't you think of the great Qi Dynasty?"

Han Shu sneered: "What's the use of saying these high-sounding words? As a disciple of the generals of Da Qi, Han has to fight on the battlefield with blood. You, Chen Xun, are willing to fight to the death on the city wall. How can I, Han, be afraid of fighting?"

"But you want me, Han Shu, to listen to your orders. I forgive Han Shu for not being able to obey! Chen Xun, ask yourself, what qualifications do you have to command the soldiers and civilians from all over the world to fight?"

Chen Xun opened his mouth, feeling bitter and not knowing what to say.

Zhang Yan answered at this time: "After all, Prime Minister Chen is the prime minister, and he has the right to do so. If Prime Minister Chen can't command the four directions, Mr. Han, how can you? To defend Bianliang, someone must take the lead.

"We are still standing here because we know that Bianliang cannot be lost, and the Central Plains cannot be lost! It is because of the inheritance left by our ancestors that we are willing to fight to the death against the Beihu army!

"In terms of the overall situation, Prime Minister Chen's leadership of the military and civilians is the best choice."

Han Shu turned to Zhang Yan and glared angrily: "Zhang Yan, you are a member of the family, and if you are willing to obey Chen Xun's orders, that is your business!

"As a son of a general, Han has been so miserable over the years due to Xu Minglang's inquiries and your family status. Countless people in the family have been dismissed from office, seized titles, imprisoned and exiled. Today, I am willing to fight with you, regardless of past grudges.

!

"It is absolutely impossible for me to listen to his Chen Xun's instructions, fulfill his great achievements, let him rely on the lives of my Korean children to secure the Chen family's position, and then come to oppress my Korean family after the war!"

Zhang Yan was so angry that his hands were trembling, he pointed at Han Shu, and opened his mouth several times, but in the end he couldn't say anything and could only flick his sleeves fiercely.

After getting to the bottom of it, Han Shu’s words are not unreasonable.

None of us are saints, so how can we expect others to have no selfish thoughts? Even if you are a saint and have a family behind you, you have to think more about it.

While everyone was silent, the situation inside the city gate had deteriorated beyond control.

In order to gather people's and material resources to defend the city, the city gates had long been closed, and officials, soldiers and civilians in the city were not allowed to leave. However, by this time, as more and more people flocked to the city gates, they had already formed a tendency to attack the city gates.

The practitioners from various schools who maintained order found it very difficult to stop them. Many people were knocked to the ground, and they were about to open the city gate.

It is impossible for practitioners from various aristocratic families to kill civilians indiscriminately, but just relying on persuasion and obstruction seems too pale and powerless when the people are panicking and risking their lives.

"Let us out!"

"Why are the city gates closed? Your Majesty has escaped, why are we not allowed to escape?!"

"These officials want us all to die here, can we agree?"

"Rush, rush out!"

"The imperial court cannot defeat the Hu people, but it wants us to be buried with them in Bianliang. What's the point of this?!"

"Rush, rush out. If anyone dares to stop you, fight them to the death!"

"Desperately, desperately!"

"..."

As far as the eye can see, the people are in a state of great excitement.

Under the current situation, they all seemed to have turned into wild beasts, constantly knocking down the children of the aristocratic families who blocked the way, trying to open the city gate with ferocious faces and embark on the road to survive.

Seeing the hordes of cultivators from aristocratic families blocking the city gate, they couldn't help but use their cultivation power to push back the people who rushed in front of them. However, this triggered an even stronger counterattack. They couldn't kill people but were overwhelmed by the crowd.

, the dignitaries from various aristocratic families in front of the city tower all looked as ugly as the bottom of a pot.

"The people's hearts are already out of control. Even if Han is willing to listen to your orders, can you make this city lose confidence and hope, and the flood of panic-stricken people who only have survival instincts can go back and obey the arrangements?"
To be continued...