"Your Highness, the forward general Qiu Fu was seriously injured in the ambush. The man in the chariot is not the emperor, but someone else pretending to be him." A general knelt in front of the horse and reported urgently.
"What? Why don't you quickly take someone to look for him? You have to dig three feet into the ground to find him for me." Zhu Gaoxu suddenly became furious. He was just imagining how he would humiliate the emperor after he got it, but he didn't get it.
He also accompanied a general, which really meant that he accompanied his wife and lost his troops at the same time.
"Your Highness, there is no need to look for it. Jianwen must still be in Beiping City. This imperial commander is probably just a deception. Let's concentrate our forces to attack Beiping." Ma Sanbao frowned.
"What if he is not in Beiping City, but disguises himself as a soldier and escapes? Shouldn't we let him escape right under our noses?" Zhu Gaoxu is not stupid and has analyzed all possibilities.
"Invite several ministers to ask if the person in the imperial chariot just now is Emperor Jianwen himself. If so, we will disperse our troops to find him. If not, it will definitely be in Peiping. We will gather our troops and try to gnaw down Peiping.
"When Dao Yan said this, he couldn't help closing his eyes and shaking his head. The snowy night battle a month ago left him still fresh in his memory and still frightened.
Soon, several first- and second-rank ministers were pulled out. After several interrogations, the problem was quickly clarified. Zhu Gaoxu learned that the man in the imperial chariot was the emperor, so he dispersed without saying a word.
Go look for him. In short, he has to dig three feet into the ground to find the person.
But he didn't know that the cavalry team just came to meet the emperor and was almost to the west of Beiping City. At this time, Zhang Yujun, who was guarding the south of the city, seemed to have detected that there was an army not far away that was about to enter the city.
Therefore, without saying a word, he led his troops to intercept. The two armies soon met in an open space southwest of the city.
"Master Tie, you protect them and go first, then cut off." Zhao Quanjie picked up the reins of his horse and led his men to stop where they were. The cold wind in the morning light blew across the faces of the soldiers, making them look horrified.
"Brothers, do you still remember why we are soldiers?" Facing the enemy who had already launched a charge, Zhao Quanjie was not afraid at all and raised his arms and shouted.
"Remember, Mr. Wan said that being a soldier is to protect the homeland and the country!" Thousands of cavalrymen raised their arms and shouted. They may not be well-trained, but they are definitely the most qualified soldiers.
"Yes, protect the family and the country!" Zhao Quanjie drew out his musket and waved it: "Brothers, come together!"
"Come on!"
Smoke and dust billowed on the empty land, and the two armies rushed towards each other like two giant dragons. There were no fancy strategies and tactics, only life-threatening hedging and slashing. Those who won by slashing survived, and those who lost died. Xu Huizu did the same.
He was a man who had been in battle for a long time, but this was the first time he saw such a life-threatening soldier.
"Your Majesty, leave quickly." Tie Xuan had no time to watch the battle and urged Emperor Jianwen and his party to leave quickly.
Tie Xuan and his party had just walked a few dozen meters when the sounds of gunshots and swords and screams came from behind. No one dared to look back, nor did they have the courage to look back, because every minute and every second was bought with human blood.
. Soon, the escape team came to the west of the city. Only a small doorway was opened in the Zuoshun Gate, and the other doors were closed.
"Your Majesty, please come into the city." Tie Xuan urged when he saw Emperor Jianwen and his entourage looking at the doorway hesitantly.
"Master Tie, why don't you quickly order the city gates to be opened to invite Your Majesty to enter the city? What's the point of opening only one doorway?" Huang Zicheng was tied to a horse and was very angry. At this time, he couldn't help but complain again.
"Your Majesty, there are not enough defenders in the city. In order to prevent the Yan army from counterattack, all the gates have been sealed. In order to send troops to rescue Your Majesty, we risked leaving this small gate. Please enter the city immediately so that the soldiers can seal this gate to avoid any accidents."
"There are not enough defenders in the city? Then why not protect your majesty when we return south together." Huang Zicheng glared at Tie Xuan, and then said to Jianwen: "Your majesty, it is not clear whether the defenders in the city are enemies or friends. You cannot trade into the city to avoid falling into the hands of thieves.
hand."
Huang Zicheng's worry was not unreasonable, because Emperor Jianwen's imperial guards had been defeated, and there was no one to escort them after entering the city. Then he would really be bullied by dogs.
"Master Huang, if you don't want to enter the city, I will not force you to do so." Being mistakenly accused of having ulterior motives, Tie Xuan became angry and said to Jianwen and his party: "Since you suspect that we, the people of Peiping, have ulterior motives, then this city cannot be entered."
That’s alright, I’ll take my leave and go ahead.”
Seeing Tie Xuan's back riding into the city, Emperor Jianwen's old habit of hesitation recurred. He looked at the dark city gate and did not dare to enter. Xu Huizu also frowned, and then said: "Your Majesty, inside the city
With Lord Tie on guard, the situation is better than outside the city, not to mention that General Sheng has already led his troops south, so even if the defenders in the city have different intentions, they will not dare to go too far."
"What Mr. Xu said is absolutely true. Mr. Tie risked his life to rescue him. His loyalty can be shown to the sun and the moon, and he is definitely not a treacherous person. As for the garrison in the city, as long as your majesty gives a heavy reward to appease him, he will definitely not have any different intentions in life.
"Qi Tai also said that although he and Tie Xuan were a bit disliked, he was not as rude as Huang Zicheng.
"Okay, let's go into the city." Emperor Jianwen had no choice but to ride into the city. However, there were only a hundred people entering the city with him, not to mention the grand scene of hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians welcoming him ten days ago. There were only a dozen unknown generals.
Standing in the city gate, when he saw Emperor Jianwen coming in, he just knelt down to say hello in a symbolic way, and then began to build the gate.
Zhao Quanjie, who was still fighting outside the city, was already fighting fiercely with Zhang Yu's thousands of Yan troops. Seeing that the emperor and his party entered the city safely, the front team covered the rear team and got rid of Zhang Yu little by little.
Due to the entanglement of the army, they began to retreat, not towards the city gate, but to the west.
Zhang Yu was about to lead people to chase him. At this time, the messenger from the Yan Army headquarters had arrived and brought him the news that the emperor was "lost." He suddenly remembered that a group of people had entered the city and felt that those people were probably Jian Jian.
Emperor Wen and his party immediately sent someone to deliver a message to King Yan, informing them that the emperor had entered Beiping City.
Zhu Gaoxu received Zhang Yu's report and saw that although the scattered armies had captured many prisoners, they could not see the emperor, Wei Guogong and others, so he felt that the emperor and his party were probably rescued by the cavalry team not long ago.
He left, so he immediately called back the scattered troops and immediately returned to attack Peiping.
In the city of Peiping, Wan Lei, the real "city lord" of Peiping, explained some trivial matters to the soldiers guarding the city, and then returned to the inn where he had stayed. Before he entered, he saw Zhao Quanzhong, Zhao Quanren, Zhao Quanyi and others standing guard outside.
A long-lost smile appeared on his face. Of course he wanted to reward such a loyal subordinate.
"Brother Wan, you are finally back. We are all worried to death." Hearing Wan Lei's voice, Zhao Xueer rushed out of the inn, looked up and down, and found that Wan Lei was still intact, so she felt relieved.
"Are you also worried about me? I thought you wanted me to die." Wan Lei rolled his eyes at her and asked, "Where is Wei'er?"
"The Grand Master saw the chaos around her and was afraid that she might be lost, so she took shelter outside the city. By the way, you didn't tell us that you were going to fight. Really, it made us worry in vain when the enemy entered the city.
If someone hadn't come to inform us, we would have jumped into the well." Zhao Xueer complained with a look on her face.
"Women stay away from war."
"You just look down on us women." Zhao Xueer was even more unconvinced.
"Go and clean up the room. I'll take a shower and catch up on my sleep." Wan Lei ignored Zhao Xueer. He was really exhausted because the accommodation conditions were so poor during those days in prison that he always stayed at night.
It's because I didn't sleep well.
At this time, Emperor Jianwen and his party were brought back to Xingzai. Since it was inconvenient for the "city lord" of Peiping to come forward, only Tie Xuan and the dozen or so unfamiliar generals went to visit him. Emperor Jianwen looked at the group of strangers below, and suddenly
I was a little overwhelmed. Fortunately, Xu Huizu thought quickly and praised these generals on his behalf to appease the good people. After all, he was living under someone else's roof. If he really wanted to fall out, it would be very worthless.
Tie Xuan also noticed this and knelt down and said: "Your Majesty, I have a merciless request, but I hope your Majesty will do it right!"
"I will definitely reward you heavily for your loyalty to the emperor and the country," Emperor Jianwen said somewhat against his will, because not long ago, he ordered someone to be beaten.
"In order to protect the city of Beiping, the soldiers and civilians of Shuntian Prefecture sacrificed a lot. The humble ministers were bold and asked the Holy One to issue an order to exempt the entire Shuntian Prefecture from taxes for twenty years." Tie Xuan said in a loud voice.
"Okay, I'm sure. Once the enemies outside the city are defeated, I will issue the decree." Jianwen had to compromise. Of course, it was just a verbal compromise.
"Your Majesty, please be kind!" Tie Xuan did not thank him, and more than a dozen of his soldiers also knelt down. It was obvious that they did not believe in the verbal agreement. If Emperor Jianwen did not come up with the "contract" (imperial edict), they would
I have been kneeling down all the time, because this is an issue related to the interests of nearly one million people in Shuntian Prefecture, and it must not be ambiguous.
And the so-called Jun Wu joke is just something to fool the people. The emperor is also a human being, and it is common for him to lie to others. What really counts is the imperial decree with black letters on yellow paper and a big red seal. Look down and kneel down.
Emperor Jianwen also understood that these people could not be fooled, so he had no choice but to say to Huang Zicheng: "Draft an edict immediately."
"Your Majesty, there is no precedent for tax exemption for twenty years in this dynasty. This example cannot be repeated." Huang Zicheng objected. Of course he knew that what Tie Xuan and others did was actually a disguised form of "forcing the palace". If he agreed this time
, what will you ask for next time if the guarantee is not guaranteed?
"There is no precedent for such a disastrous defeat in this dynasty. Mr. Huang, do you know how many people in Shuntian Prefecture lost their lives innocently due to some people's indiscriminate use of troops? As the parent officer of Shuntian Prefecture, I am responsible for guarding the land and bringing peace to the people. Now the people are boiling with resentment.
I am willing to risk my life to ask the imperial court to give me grace, so that the common people can grudge me." Tie Xuan looked directly at Huang Zicheng and said loudly.
"You Tie Xuan, how dare you accuse the imperial court? You are so disrespectful and treasonous." Huang Zicheng was angry.
"What I said is the truth. Whoever uses troops indiscriminately and is defeated like this knows it in his heart. He is in a humble position and speaks softly. He dare not ask for any explanation for the people. He only wants a favor. If the court does not give it, then he has nothing to say in his humble position.
You can say that." Tie Xuan stood up with a roar, and all his subordinates also stood up, then turned around and left.
"Your Majesty, Mr. Tie deserves to be rewarded for his loyalty to the emperor and his love for the people." Seeing that the situation was not good, Xu Huizu immediately made a suggestion.