In a splendid royal courtyard, Cheng Xianqing was sitting where Emperor Zhongxing used to sit. There were all kinds of fine wines on the gold plate next to him. When Zhu Zhao came in, Cheng Xianqing was holding up the glass cup in his hand.
Drink lightly.
Zhu Zhao glanced at it. In addition to familiar old faces such as Bing Heng, Wu Yan, Feng Mo, etc., there were also many strangers dressed as literati in the hall. Zhu Zhao was puzzled. Where did these people come from? There was another one.
Zhu Zhao thought for a moment and immediately understood the identity of the philistine man who had just put on the emblem of Captain Ten Thousand Households. This man was the only undercover Ke Danzhong of the Holy Sect who had infiltrated the middle ranks of the Qingfeng Army. That is, he was in the city.
Menchu and Minghui cooperated internally and externally, which allowed the Holy Sect of Paradise to successfully attack Tiandu Holy Capital.
But, Minghui, why didn’t he come?
As soon as Bing Heng saw Zhu Zhao coming in, he immediately greeted him with a smile: "Shuai Zhu is finally here, haha, you are the great hero of our battle. Marshal Zhu, these four are Tang Ruoyang, Shangguan Yue, and Jia
Meihe and Tianchun. They are both famous talents in the Holy Capital of Tiandu. They are inspired by the teachings of our empire and respect the power of our army. Therefore, they come here to join us, hoping to create glory together with us. Everyone, this is
This is Zhu Zhao, Zhu Shuai, the undefeated and famous general of our empire."
A few people exchanged pleasantries for a while. Seeing the unnatural look on Tian Chun's face, Zhu Zhao smiled slightly in his heart. These people were either greedy for life and afraid of death, or their families were being held hostage by their side. Otherwise, these people
Literary men who always say that "wealth cannot be fornicated, power cannot be subdued, and poverty cannot be moved" will never defect to their side. But this is good, at least the strength of our side has become stronger.
"Who is this?" Zhu Zhao asked, pointing to a smiling middle-aged man next to Feng Mo.
Bing Heng said quickly: "This is Brother Tong Yan. Even in the entire Eastern Continent, Brother Tong is one of the many merchants. Our empire can reach this point only thanks to Brother Tong's help."
Zhu Zhao suddenly realized. When the Holy Sect of Paradise was first established, due to the blockade of the Qingfeng Empire and inherent deficiencies, strategic materials such as weapons and armors in the army were quite scarce. Although Dongbo also funded some, Dongbo himself had no foundation.
Thick, naturally they cannot support much. At that time, several big merchants such as Tongyan Hu Bichu transported a large amount of embargoed materials to Yangzhou Road through their family smuggling. The methods of these merchants were very wild, not only
The Qingfeng Empire, the neighboring Eastern Japanese Dynasty Tohoku Three Kingdoms and Jinhua Mitsukoshi all had their own business names and sales outlets.
At this time, Minghui, who had a livid face, also walked in. As soon as Zhu Zhao, who was sitting in the seat, saw Minghui like this, he knew that something was definitely up to him. He immediately waved his hand to signal Tang Ruoyang, Tong Yan and others to leave.
, then he gave Zhu Zhaominghui a seat to sit down.
Minghui didn't sit down either. Seeing that Tong Yan and others had walked away, he said with a gloomy face: "Your Majesty, although we have captured Tiandu Shengjing now, there are still elite forces from the Qingfeng royal family in the imperial city.
We are stationed in the outer city and there are remnants of the opponent's Imperial Guard Corps who are still resisting. The Dragon Cavalry Corps near Tiandu Shengjing will arrive at some time. Our situation is not optimistic. However, Your Majesty, look at our soldiers now.
What are we doing? The whole city is full of our stragglers. If the opponent launches a counterattack now, how will we respond?"
"The Qingfeng Puppet Emperor in the Imperial City is simply a clown and is nothing to worry about. As for the remnants of the Imperial Guards, they have lost their military morale and have less than 30,000 troops, so why should they be afraid?" Cheng Xianqing drank gracefully.
He took a sip of wine and said.
"Why should we be afraid? If deployed properly, 30,000 soldiers would be enough to sweep away our disorganized army of more than 200,000. Your Majesty, go out and see what our soldiers are doing right now. Rape in the streets, burn, kill, and loot.
, murder and arson, we are the army, not hooligans..."
"That's enough!" Cheng Xianqing slammed the glass cup in his hand onto the golden plate, and it shattered with a bang. The red wine inside flowed into Cheng Xianqing's hand.
Standing up, Cheng Xianqing looked at Minghui, who had the same expression as his, with a sullen face, and shouted in a deep voice: "Mingshuai, I came to you to discuss government affairs, not to talk about these trivial matters. Our soldiers need to vent,
Meritorious ministers need rewards, and this is enough."
Zhu Zhao's heart tightened. Cheng Xianqing had only lost his temper like this once in so many years because of Yan Lege's outspoken confrontation. At that time, Cheng Xianqing was so angry that he almost had Yan Lege executed on the spot. Now, who knows how Cheng Xianqing will deal with Minghui?
.
"Mingshuai, go and check how our military rations and logistics supplies are prepared immediately. We must leave here and enter Raozhou at noon today at the latest. There are still many trivial things that need you to deal with, so you don't have to stay here.
Here it is." Before Cheng Xianqing could fully explode, Zhu Zhao quickly stood up, inserted himself between the two of them and shouted at Minghui. Then he pushed Minghui out without any explanation.
After pushing Minghui almost out of the door, Zhu Zhao turned around and said to Cheng Xianqing: "Your Majesty, Minghui is such a straight person, and he never speaks."
Cheng Xianqing snorted: "Then you can teach him how to speak."
Zhu Zhao only felt that his forehead was covered with sweat. Although he was a well-deserved military giant in the Holy Sect of Paradise, he was still very clear about Cheng Xianqing's methods. Although Cheng Xianqing was almost an idiot in the military and not very mature in politics.
, but his ability to play with power and conspiracy is far superior to that of himself and others. And there is also Bing Heng who is good at intrigues and assassinations, and he has no courage to resist at all. Others don't know, but Zhu Zhaowei
Cheng Xianqing's absolute confidant, but he knew that many powerful figures in the Holy Religion of Paradise had disappeared mysteriously over the years, and the consequences for those who betrayed Cheng Xianqing would be tragic. Facing such a sinister and vicious leader,
All Zhu Zhao could do was obey.
Cheng Xianqing obviously realized that his tone just now was too gloomy, and he said with relief: "Zhu Zhao, you are all old ministers who have been with me for so many years. I know who you are. Don't worry, I
I will never blame Minghui for this matter, I still have this tolerance for others."
"On behalf of Minghui, I would like to thank Your Majesty for your generosity." Zhu Zhao said quickly.
Cheng Xianqing waved his hand and signaled the waiter next to him to take down all the gold plates, and then said to Zhu Zhao: "Zhu Zhao, what should we do next?"
"Return to Raozhou." Zhu Zhao said without hesitation: "We'd better leave before this afternoon. Although Tiandu Shengjing has been temporarily captured by us, this place is completely a hot potato, and there is no way we can
Garrison troops here, otherwise, whether it is because the internal forces in Qingfeng are competing for status or for other reasons, they will definitely attack here with all their strength."
"Well." Cheng Xianqing agreed with Zhu Zhao's point of view. He and Bing Heng discussed it just now and felt that it was necessary to let go at the right time.
"After Hetao Haotian crossed the Yangtze River and came to Linzhou, they discovered our secret on Yangzhou Road and rescued all 100,000 women from the two places. There are still many people in the church who do not agree with our original methods. If we let them know
The consequences of this matter are bound to be disastrous, so we need to go back and control the situation as soon as possible. The gold, silver and jewelry looted from Tiandu Shengjing this time also need to be disposed of as soon as possible and replaced with strategic materials as soon as possible to prepare for our subsequent battles.
"
Cheng Xianqing's face was a little gloomy. He already knew that Yan Lege and the Hetao cavalry deceived the Longsheng defenders. If it weren't for the rebellious existence of Yan Lege, then Wan Chengdong and Sheng Ma would at least be able to defeat Longsheng County.
After all the women were executed, they taught the Loop army a lesson. As a result, the enemy not only escaped unscathed, but also let themselves fall into the hands of the Loop.
Zhu Zhao obviously knew what Cheng Xianqing was thinking, but he did not dare to say anything at this time, so he could only continue: "Now around Tiandu Shengjing, there are the Dragon Cavalry Army and the Eastern Army of the Qingfeng Royal Family, plus the Zhang family of the Li family.
The number of the upcoming army from Jiahe Hetao will probably exceed 500,000. We have suffered heavy losses this time and can no longer waste our troops here. Therefore, I suggest that the army withdraw to Raozhou as soon as possible and stabilize our situation first."
Cheng Xianqing thought for a while and finally said: "Well, you are right. We must withdraw to Raozhou as soon as possible. However, it is best for the army to delay for a day and wait until tomorrow to hit the road."
Zhu Zhao asked in confusion: "Your Majesty, what does this mean?"
Cheng Xianqing smiled slightly: "We need to tie more people to our chariots. In fact, among those literati, the surrender of these people will bring a great sensation. Besides, we also need to replenish the lost troops.
, and try to collect as much wealth as possible. The empire’s finances are currently stretched thin.”
"What's the current situation in Tiandu Shengjing?" Haotian asked with a gloomy face.
Xuanji quickly said: "My lord, Soul Eater is still continuing to inquire. There should be news soon."
Haotian said nothing, but his face was so gloomy that even Qiu Mu beside him moved his horse slightly to the side.
Luo Xiang sighed slightly in his heart. It was no wonder that Haotian was in such a bad mood. Who made Tiandu Shengjing feel so aggrieved?
Tiandu Shengjing is the leading fortified city in the Eastern Continent. Although it is not as good as Jiayuguan, its defensive strength is comparable to that of Juyongguan and Shanhaiguan. There are nearly 300,000 defenders in the city, as well as countless strategic materials and food.
Ordnance, but the Holy Sect of Paradise only had 300,000 troops, and Minghui at the head was only 50,000 people, and they easily broke through the city gate of Tiandu Shengjing. Although Ke Danzhong, a member of a thousand households, was a spy of the Holy Sect.
, but it would be too embarrassing to let the opponent take down the city wall so easily.
The coward of Emperor Zhongxing also left Hetao completely speechless. As soon as the Holy Sect of Paradise broke through the outer city, he ordered all the soldiers in the outer city to abandon their positions and retreat to the inner city. As a result, before the soldiers from the outside reached the inner city, the inner city had been destroyed.
Minghui captured. As a result, these soldiers had no choice but to retreat all the way into the imperial city. In the process, at least 50,000 soldiers died in the battle. Ma Ying, who defended the east gate, originally had more than 50,000 soldiers under his command.
As a result, after retreating into the imperial city, there were only a little more than 20,000 left. Chi Zhongtian's Yuzhou Army was completely dispersed. Not only did those stragglers not play a role in delaying the Holy Sect of Bliss, but they became the opponent.
The vanguard, burning, killing and looting is actually better than the Holy Sect of Paradise.
Compared with Ma Ying, who was forced to watch the eunuch holding a long knife on his neck and ordered the army to withdraw to the imperial city, and during the retreat, only three of his more than 30,000 men escaped in the end.
More than a hundred people had no choice but to attack Cheng Xianqing's car in the most tragic way. Chi Zhongtian was pierced by thousands of arrows. Huang Jie of the Imperial Guard was undoubtedly much luckier. This usually unknown and taciturn Imperial Border Marquis,
Just after the eunuch who delivered the order finished speaking the order of Emperor Zhongxing, he waved his hand. Before the other party could take the lead, his guards had killed all the eunuch who delivered the order and more than 20 guards, and then tore their bodies.
Throwing it towards the street, he continued to resist, covering the people leaving from the north gate. Of course, these eunuchs and guards were all killed by the Holy Sect in the chaos, which Huang Jie and his men could do
prove.
I have to admit that although the Imperial Guards are basically reorganized, they have fine traditions and a certain foundation, and they have lived up to their reputation as the first army of the empire in terms of combat effectiveness and fighting will. Although they only have less than 60,000 in their hands.
soldiers, and more than 10,000 soldiers were separated, led by Meng Hong to cover the people's departure, but Huang Jie still defended the position in the northwest corner of Tiandu Shengjing, together with Chu Lianfeng, Chu San, Tianfeng Yu and Xiao Du
Together they resisted the attacks of the Holy Sect one after another. Although they could not move forward one step, they at least ensured the safety of more than 100,000 people who had not had time to escape.
In the Holy Capital of Tiandu, although Chu San was ordered to protect the families of Auspicious King Liu Nanqiu, Luo Qing King Liu Nanshu and others from leaving, Liu Nanqiu did not escape into the imperial city. He just sent his wife and daughter out of the city, and he
He took his three sons and only more than 80 servants to fight side by side with Chu Lianfeng and others. As a result, the men in the mansion, including King Zhenjing, King Luo Qing, Duke Jingnan and Marquis Dingbei, also
Following his example, he hastily assembled a team of thousands of people, using his own life to buy more time for the people near Beicheng. When daybreak, the Bliss army gave up the attack, and the people at the city gate were able to escape.
It was almost time. Only then did Meng Hong and others discover that Liu Nanqiu, an old man who was respected as the Imperial Minister of War, had already died on the battlefield. Also lying beside him were the seven or eight sons of Liu Nanshu, Liu Nance and others, as well as Jing.
The three sons of Nangong Ouyang Jingzhong. After this battle, among the meritorious nobles who followed Chu San out of the city, except for young children who were no taller than horseback, the rest were basically women and children.
Although Xingeng's 10,000 cavalry arrived at the north gate in time, Minghui's army also arrived at the same time. In order to cover the people fleeing in panic in the dark night, Liu Zhiya's 5,000 cavalry collided with the 10,000-strong cavalry of the Holy Sect of Paradise.
Because they had to protect the people, the Hetao cavalry could not exert their due combat effectiveness at all. Fortunately, the cavalry of the Holy Sect had only acted as scouts before, and their combat effectiveness was only unsatisfactory. After paying nearly half of the price, the Paradise cavalry was finally helpless.
retreat. In order to contain Minghui's 50,000-strong army, Xinke's 5,000 cavalrymen rushed left and right in Minghui's camp. They waited until dawn when their power was almost exhausted before breaking out. However, at least 3,500 cavalrymen left.
Hundreds of brave cavalry remained on the battlefield, and Ruoyu Hanmei of Yanyu Ninghua Palace also died in the battle.
Looking at the information in his hand, Luo Xiang sighed softly: "Ruo Yu Han Mei, a beauty of a generation, never expected to die in such a way. It's a pity."
Haotian's face finally showed some expression: "Headmaster Ruoyu is indeed a woman who cannot be compared to men. I just don't know how sad Yue Wan will be if she finds out about this matter."
Zhang Yuewan is Ruo Yu Hanmei's direct disciple. Ruo Yu Hanmei never married, and Zhang Yuewan lost her mother at an early age. The two of them share the same love as mother and son. I think Zhang Yuewan will be extremely sad if she finds out about this.
"Military advisor, have you come up with any countermeasures?" Haotian felt that what he needed to be most concerned about at the moment was his next strategic plan.
Xuanji smiled slightly, slammed his riding whip, and asked the horse to go faster so that he could catch up with Haotian's speed. Then he said: "I believe that there are three strategies: upper, middle and lower."