Being in the Central Plains, it is obvious that the situation is beginning to become anxious again.
If we say that at the beginning of the Northern Expedition, the Tang army was as powerful as a rainbow. They left Tongguan, defeated Luoyang, crossed the Yellow River, and surrendered to Zhucheng.
Especially Gaocheng and Baozhou, which were expected to surrender, were controlled by Yuan Ting and failed to meet many people's expectations.
In addition, Kublai Khan personally arrived in Yanjing to take charge, and the news spread, which made many northern scholars who had already planned to surrender to Li Xia calm down and continue to wait and see.
If this stalemate continues and the Tang army runs out of food and grass, the entire war situation is likely to reverse again.
Including Zhending Mansion, which was ready to respond to the Tang army, was also in a dilemma.
The current situation is that Gaocheng has not surrendered smoothly, and Wu Gudai, the king of Hejian in the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty, has led his troops to surround Zhendingfu City.
In the south, Zhangde and the two daimyo mansions had not yet been captured, and Zhang Hongdao's troops were again restrained by Ahema.
In other words, Zhending Mansion has become an isolated city...
September 15th.
The sky was just bright, and the cavalry of the Yuan army rushed to the city wall on horseback, shouting at the high-flying Tang flag.
"Traitors in the city, listen!"
Some of the soldiers guarding the city raised their bows to shoot, but Shi Di raised his hand to stop and allowed the Yuan cavalry to finish.
"The Great Yuan is the destiny, and those who dare to betray the Great Yuan will not have a good end. You no longer need to expect reinforcements. The Dong family in Gaocheng secretly colluded with the Li thieves, and Zhang Hongfan found out that the entire family of 257 people has already
They were all beheaded!”
On the top of the city, Dong Wenyong heard this and seemed to be hit hard, as if he was about to fall off the city wall.
He held on to the battlements and tried his best to hold himself up. In an instant, his face was like gold paper, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.
"Dong Gong!"
People around him hurriedly stepped forward to help him, making a mess.
But the Yuan troops below the city were still shouting.
"Now His Majesty has personally come to Yanjing to take charge, mobilize the army, and will soon defeat the Li thieves and pacify the four directions. I hope you don't make a mistake, just kill Wang E, Wang Yun, Dong Wenyong, Shi Gang and others, and submit
Your Majesty, please be merciful and let bygones be bygones..."
With a few "swish" arrows, arrows were shot from the top of the city towards the Yuan soldiers. Some of them missed and some were blocked. The Yuan soldiers galloped away on horseback and shouted several times elsewhere.
leave.
After that, Wu Gudai ordered his troops to attack the city.
After finally defending the city until noon, the Yuan army's offensive slowed down a bit. Shi Di and Shi Qi went down to the top of the city to have a meal and complained a few words in a low voice.
"You also saw the chaos in the morning. Why do I feel that surrendering to Li Xia will not end well?"
"Dong Wenyong surrendered to Li Xia long ago, but in the end the Dong family was still gone."
"Zhang Jiulang was also ruthless. He killed more than two hundred people at once."
"Thinking about it this way, the second brother's concerns about not surrendering to the Tang Dynasty are correct. If one person is not good enough, the entire family of historians will be executed."
Shi Qi suddenly lowered his voice and said: "To be honest, I regret a little. We surrendered too early."
Shi Di glanced around and responded: "It's indeed too early. Even if we wait until Li Xia arrives before surrendering, can he still kill us?"
Of course, the two of them are just complaining at the moment, and they don't dare to do anything if they are really asked.
But if this situation continues and they lose confidence in the Tang Army, it will be hard to say.
Suddenly, there was a shout from the top of the city.
"General, look! What is that..."
~~
"How is Dong Gong?"
"I'm too sad, I'm afraid it will take some time to recuperate."
"Thank you, doctor."
In the steward's house, Wang Yun saw off the doctor and then returned to the lobby. What he felt was a gloomy atmosphere.
He sighed and said, "Everything in the world is unpredictable."
"Yes." Shi Bang said: "I didn't expect that I could conquer Zhending, but Dong Wenyong failed to do so, and ended up with this result."
Wang Yun glanced at him and remained silent.
As for Wang E, he was sitting there, tugging at his beard, with a sad look on his face, almost balding his beard.
"If I want to go again, people will feel restless and afraid of changes in the city."
Just as he was talking, Shi Qi rushed in quickly, with a look of surprise on his face.
"I'm coming!"
Shi Gang stood up suddenly and asked suspiciously: "What's coming?"
"The Emperor of the Tang Dynasty's Holy Edict...the Holy Edict is here!"
Shi Qi was so excited that he couldn't speak clearly.
He is a type of person who is easily shaken. After being persuaded by Shi Gang, he decided to surrender to the Tang Dynasty and become a high-ranking official. When the situation suddenly changed, he worried about his family's life. But now that Li Xia's decree has come, he can be more excited than others.
"Where is the oracle?"
"Behind... His Majesty has sent someone..."
Shi Gang couldn't wait any longer and hurried out. He saw a group of elite men with bloodstains on their armor standing in the courtyard. The leader was Huo Xiaolian.
"General Huo?!"
Huo Xiaolian turned her head and glanced, her eyes clearly filled with indifference, as if she didn't like Shi Gang very much, but she still managed to squeeze out a smile.
With such a coping smile, he met Wang E and Wang Yun respectively.
"You all know your righteousness and have turned from darkness to light to save the elders of Hebei Province from the disaster of war. On behalf of your majesty, I would like to express my greetings and thanks to you."
Wang E and Wang Yun were both stunned for a moment by these words. They looked at each other and secretly said that this is indeed a country of etiquette. They could sense the polite and benevolent demeanor of their king even before they met.
"The general's words are serious. The guilty minister has now returned to the Holy Dynasty. I hope your majesty will not give up."
Huo Xiaolian said: "Your Majesty has heard about the Dong family's move out of Gaocheng, and believes that the situation in the north is not suitable for a stalemate. Now he has personally led his elite troops to cross the Yellow River, hoping to relieve Zhending from the siege, so as to prevent the heroes from feeling cold."
Wang E and Wang Yun were stunned again.
What surprised me this time was Li Xia's mobility.
Li Xia was able to deal with the situation decisively as soon as it became apparent that something was wrong, obviously not intending to give Kublai Khan a chance to counterattack...
~~
Zhangde Mansion is governed in Anyang City, and Li Xia is currently stationed outside Anyang City.
At dusk, several fast horses rushed into the camp from the west. Zhang Hongdao dismounted and hurried to the big tent to see him.
Li Xiazheng was talking to Zhang Wenjing. After hearing the report, Zhang Wenjing planned to avoid it.
"Since your fifth brother is here, there is no need to avoid him."
Zhang Wenjing then sat down again and said, "I thought if I avoid it, you can scold him."
"I don't scold him."
"How about I say a few words to him?" Zhang Wenjing asked with a smile, looking a little naughty.
Li Xia turned to look at her and couldn't help but smile.
"what ever."
After a while, Zhang Hongdao hurriedly entered the tent and said: "I pay homage to your majesty. I am not going to be successful in the northern expedition. Please forgive me."
Li Xia was tearing up a piece of dried meat and eating it, but didn't reply when he heard the words.
Zhang Wenjing glanced at him and said, "Fifth brother, why don't you tell me how disadvantaged you are?"
"I have neither conquered Mengmen Pass nor Zhangde and the two famous mansions."
"The terrain at Mengmen Pass is steep, and Ahema has sufficient troops. It's understandable that you can't attack it for a while. What's going on with Zhangde and the second mansion of the name?"
Zhang Hongdao always faced Li Xia and said: "The commander-in-chief of the Yuan army who is now serving as the envoy to Zhangde, Daming and other roads is You Xian. Although this man is not a famous general with outstanding military exploits, he is actually very talented."
Zhang Wenjing pretended to be a noble concubine and said: "This trend is not good. If the fifth brother can't attack, he will say that the talent is high. Everyone will have an excuse in the future. There are so many cities in the north that your majesty needs to come personally to each one?"
After being taught a few words by his sister, Zhang Hongdao had no choice but to suffer in silence.
Li Xia took a sip of water and said: "You Xian is indeed a man of some ability. When Brother Meng wanted to march south, only You Xian persuaded Brother Meng, saying that the roads in Shu were dangerous and it would be difficult to supply food and grass for the march, so it was by no means a foolproof strategy.
It is better to take Jianghan directly from the southeast of Tongguan, form an encirclement of Bashu, and cut off its contact with the Song Dynasty. It is a pity that Brother Meng did not listen, otherwise I might have died in Sichuan and Shu."
Zhang Wenjing said: "It's easy for him to say, but is Xiangyang of the Song Dynasty so easy to get?"
"In any case, to be able to suggest that Xiangyang should be taken first to destroy the Song Dynasty ten years ago shows that You has a very high strategic vision."
"If he had high vision, he would have surrendered the city as early as possible."
"Perhaps he is just waiting for me to come to surrender in person?" Li Xia said: "I have sent a messenger into the city, let's wait and see what happens."
Zhang Hongdao responded: "I also sent someone to persuade You Xian to surrender, but he refused to see him. Does your majesty know that You Xian once surrendered to the Song Dynasty?"
"Huh? Tell me."
"I just heard this from a prisoner recently. You Xian was in Xuzhou when he was a child. When he was young, he accompanied the Mongolian army on the southern expedition because of his proficiency in Mongolian. Later, he was captured by the Song army. Song general Liu Shihe appreciated his talent.
So he surrendered and took him to garrison in Huaibei. However, one night, You Xian and his deputy Tian Seng lived unprepared. They abandoned their wives and children, escaped from the Song army camp, and ran back to Mongolia."
Li Xia pondered for a moment and said, "Abandoning his wife and children? It seems that he was really optimistic about Mongolia at that time."
Zhang Hongdao obviously despised You Xian and said: "I think You Xian has been flattering the Mongolian Lord."
"How to say?"
"There is something that my father told me. During the Youxian expedition, Brother Meng gave him wine to practice. He refused to drink, saying that he was determined to die on the battlefield. In order to avoid delaying the military plane, he quit drinking. But in fact, he was clearly very
Addicted to alcohol."
"Why is he like this?"
"My father was also surprised at the time. He must have deliberately shown it in front of Brother Meng." Zhang Hongdao added: "He is indeed loyal to Mongolia. After Li Fen's rebellion, many letters from Li Fen's family in which the princes contacted him were copied, but
There is no travel display.”
"Is this strange?" Zhang Wenjing asked: "Isn't it because You Xian was the only one who didn't contact Li Fen?"
"You also know that even Sixth Brother only wrote letters to persuade Li Fen to abide by his loyalty, and was also suspected. But You Xian really has never contacted Li Fen once."
"Why do you pay special attention to this?"
"Well, during Li Fen's Rebellion, someone accused You Xian of having exchanged letters with Li Fen, which was suspected of conspiring. Later, when the letter was found, Kublai Khan handed the complainant over to You Xian, but You Xian did not kill him.
And he speaks openly without fear of slander to show his loyalty."
Finally, Zhang Hongdao concluded: "Therefore, it is said that this person will not surrender. Even if he surrenders, it may not be credible."
After discussing for a while, Xin Ma returned to camp, but he had met You Xian from Anyang City.
"how?"
"Your Majesty, You Xian said he is willing to surrender, but he wants to see Your Majesty outside Anyang City."
"No!"
Zhang Hongdao stood up suddenly and said: "You Xian must be pretending to surrender. Your Majesty cannot go to see him..."