Luoyang City, which was once prosperous and prosperous, is now only desolate.
The moonlight flowed in the gap in the southern Luoyang city wall, like a silver wound.
In the shadow of the canal, some human-shaped shadows were shaking.
Li Laosi's straw sandals were trapped in the mud and pulled them for a long time but couldn't pull them out. In order not to make the noise too loud to attract the attention of the patrol team, he simply untied the thin rope of the straw sandals.
"Oh, I forgot to take it off first..."
Li Laosi was a little reluctant to leave these straw sandals.
Although the straw sandals are worn and almost worn out, they are still a pair of shoes.
In the Shandong region of the Han Dynasty, there were two types of people who had shoes to wear.
The shoes he finally put on were now forced to throw them away...
Even a pair of torn shoes that the children of the gentry looked down upon.
"Don't gush your broken shoes! Be careful to recruit the patrol soldiers!" Another deserter behind Li Laosi pushed Li Laosi, "Look on the side, be careful to sink into the middle... The bottom of the canal has not been repaired, and it can't be rescued if it is trapped... Don't take us into the ditch...
"I know, I know...
Li Laosi responded in a low voice, then touched the half-bones cup tied tightly in his arms.
This was picked up by him at the burnt Imperial Academy ruins last winter.
Imperial school, that’s all a place that only nobles can go to…
When Li Laosi was in Shandong, he never thought that he would still be able to stand in the Imperial Academy in his life!
When he left his dirty footprints before the Mingtang of the Imperial Academy, he laughed for no reason, so he was scolded by the military academy...
The copper jue fragment in Li Laosi's arms was only half a palm-sized, and the edges were grinding with rammed earth.
He found it under a tree root inside the ruins of the Imperial Academy.
At that time, half a burnt bamboo slip was embedded in the frozen soil layer, but he didn't know the words, so he handed over the bamboo slips and hid the copper jue fragments.
The military academy didn't want the bamboo slips because they were here to loot the remaining property...
When everyone finds the money, they hide it themselves first. If they can hide it, they will belong to them. If they can't hide it, they will be beaten.
Li Laosi was obviously pretty good, hiding this half of the bronze lord.
This thing is worth a little bit of money, he thought.
The inscription on the inner side of the bronze jue was blurred, but if you look at the fire light, you can still see two words.
He asked someone privately and said that these two words were "Yongshou".
The man also said that if this thing is complete, it would be really valuable, but now...
The man chuckled and threw the broken copper ear back to Li Laosi.
However, Li Laosi still felt that he still had the opportunity to exchange this thing for some money, and at least this thing could be useful.
Within the broken copper lord, he was holding a few handfuls of old grains he had stolen when he was helping the camp chef...
Go back, go home, and sell this thing for some money, and then do some small business. If you don’t help, you will have a few days of money for food, and then help others work, farm, and then...
Li Laosi thought of a lot of "and then", and the corners of his mouth couldn't help but rise.
Seven or eight black shadows like Li Laosi slid down the rammed earth slope of the collapsed canal in Luoyang City, hunched over, and slowly touched forward in the shadows.
The canal in Luoyang leads to the outside of the city, and a section of the water gate on the other side of the city wall was destroyed and has not been repaired...
So this is a flaw. Li Laosi and the others have been planning for several days.
A younger young soldier accidentally knocked off a half brick beside a canal, and hit the ground with a slap. It ran from afar in the quiet night, scaring everyone to fall down quickly, not caring about the smell of sludge in the canal.
After a moment, no alarm came out, and these people slowly stood up again and touched the broken water gate.
...
...
In the quiet night, Man Chong still fell asleep.
He has too many things.
Although I am already very tired physically, I find it difficult to sleep because I think too much mentally.
This was not a very warm spring. In the Luoyang government hall, even if there was a brazier, it seemed that it was not lit and could not bring much warmth. The entire empty hall was like an ice cellar. Even if the ice around it was not touched, it was still a bit cold.
Although everyone knows that victory or defeat of military strategists is common, and before the battle is fought, we must first consider what will happen after failure, but everyone understands the truth, but Man Chong really did not expect that this time Cao's army ended up in such a situation!
When Man Chong was stationed in Luoyang, he carefully recalled all the previous strategic deployments. At least in the main road, whether it was division of troops, siege, or transferring to Hedong for combat, it seemed that there was no problem.
The only problematic one is Xiahou.
Xiahou family...
Not very useful!
Man Chong sighed in his heart, but he didn't dare to say it out loud.
After all, even if Man Chong doesn’t understand what U Can U up, No Can NO BB means, he does not have a good comment on Xiahou’s family.
The defeat of Xiahou is equivalent to the complete failure of Cao's army.
To be brave, it is indeed brave, but...
If the Xiahou clan could be stronger, Xiahou Dun, a surprise attack on Taiyuan on the northern road, and Xiahou Yuan, attacking Pingyang, even if Fei Qian cannot be killed with one stick, it will cause chaos in the morale of the cavalry! If this is the case, Fei Qian will be difficult to take care of, and Guanzhong is not just guarding, nor is it not guarding, nor will it not guarding, and there will inevitably be shaken and loopholes in the dilemma!
But even after Xiahou Yuan's death, the situation that was already quite critical took a sharp turn for the worse!
The battle at the Cao Army Camp in Emeiyuan was also defeated too suddenly and too fast, so it was like a snowball on a mountain rolling down, collapsing all the way until now.
I originally thought that this battle would take at least one year, but now I seem to be at the end of the road, and it is also the end of Shandong. This really makes Man Chong a little bit of orange and lemon peel that cannot be used as a paddle.
Now that Cao's army is defeated, such a big gap in the backbone cannot be made up for a moment.
Although Heluo has eight gates to defend, it is not as dangerous as Guanzhong, not to mention that if Hangu Pass is not yet...
If Hangu was locked in his hands, he could still hold on.
But now, even without Hangu Pass, Man Chong must persist, so it is naturally even more difficult.
It is impossible to fight until both sides are ready before they start the battle. The etiquette of the Spring and Autumn Period was abandoned in the Warring States Period, and during the Qin and Han Dynasties, it was even more despicable, as long as it was effective, and the rest was not the same.
Therefore, if Man Chong wants to resist the Cavalry Army in the Heluo area and under Luoyang City, he must be less serious...
The reason is very simple. Even though Man Chong worked hard personally, these Shandong gentry children in Luoyang City only wanted to get rid of this dead land as soon as possible!
As time goes by, with the arrival of spring rain, these Shandong gentry children became more and more anxious after a breath of relief. Because they knew that as long as the rainy day passed, the weather was clear and the ground was re-cracked, the army of cavalry would appear under Luoyang City at any time!
Therefore, no matter how passionate these Shandong gentry children were, they were loyal, filial, benevolent and righteous, and now they hope that they could escape the sea of suffering as soon as possible.
In this case, the more you are from the center of Luoyang, the more within the city, the more chaotic the order becomes. The so-called "sincerity cooperation" of Shandong is actually like a fart, with some taste, but if you really look for it, it will dissipate in the wind.
Those Shandong children who had followed Cao Cao in the West and felt that they could make some achievements during the Western Expedition and then fished for troubled waters either cried every day, were unconscious, or packed their bags secretly, and gave a generous reward to a few servants, so that these servants could keep him back to Shandong.
If it really doesn't work, what's the point of hiding in the mountains for a year or two?
Isn’t it just Beimang Mountain? Just think of yourself as a living dead person!
What's more, some children of Shandong gentry have begun to think about where to live in a place to better cemetery...
When Man Chong got the news, he was helpless.
If he had been a little concerned about managing it before, but now, he is so busy that he is not stuck in the ground every day, so how can he have any spare time to care about these guys' petty treacherous?
In fact, Man Chong didn't hope that these Shandong gentry children could do much effort. As long as they could shut up and help with some miscellaneous tasks, they could still stabilize the morale of the army and perhaps guard for a while.
And these Shandong gentry children's confidence in Cao Cao and the Cao army has dropped to the lowest point, so how could they have the determination to fight to the end?
With such morale among the military, there is naturally no strict laws.
In Luoyang City, I was cautious in dealing with some errands in the city, but most of the children of Shandong were lazy, either sighing every day or trying to make some wine to anesthetize themselves.
The same is true for soldiers. Except for some of the elite Cao family, the morale of other ordinary soldiers is very low...
...
...
"There is almost here in front..." In the canal, Li Laosi pressed his voice and whispered, "As long as you leave the city, you will pick the red silk..."
He groped forward, his rough hands clenched the broken blue bricks on the edge of the canal.
Suddenly, Li Laosi seemed to have touched something.
He stopped, lowered his head, and approached the crack of the blue brick.
He saw an unknown plant growing inside the crack, with a very small flower blooming on it...
The petals are very small and delicate.
Li Laosi stretched his head and tried to smell the fragrance of flowers.
Unfortunately, even in the mud, even if there is any fragrance of flowers, it is covered with fishy smell.
For some reason, he suddenly remembered something, the fire that lit in Xuzhou County, and the burnt smell seemed to have revived in his nasal cavity again.
At that time, he was a grain transporter and saw the Qingzhou soldiers throwing the crying woman into the sea of fire with their own eyes.
That was a woman like a little flower...
Li Laosi gently touched the petals with his hand, then retracted his hand as if he was scalded, then lowered his head and continued to move forward.
After a while, another black shadow came here on Li Laosi's footprints and grabbed the gap of the blue brick where the small flowers grew.
The newest ⊥Xiao⊥Speak⊥Send⊥Six⊥9⊥Book⊥⊥⊥⊥⊥Book⊥⊥⊥First⊥!
The rough and cracked hands pressed the young plant flat, but the shadow had no feeling at all, just moved forward.
...
...
Man Chong couldn't sleep, so he closed his eyes and rested for a while, then opened his eyes again and stared blankly at his temporary office and resting place.
Speaking of which, this place was once a magnificent place beyond the Han Dynasty Palace, but now it is in decline.
This is Situ's Mansion!
The great Han Situ!
If it were still the past, even if Man Chong had the current identity, he would need to respectfully hand over a sign at the gatehouse to ask for a meeting, and then he could have a place to stand in this hall. Maybe he had a place, but it could not be confirmed yet. He would raise his butt and talk back and forth at any time...
But now, Man Chong was lying down like this, lying on his back, and no one said anything about him.
During that fire, the place was lucky to be burned to the point of being barren.
Later, even after Yang's renovation, it was still difficult to restore its former glory.
In front of the hall where Man Chong was, on the screen wall, the broken "Changle Weiyang" tiles could not be completely restored, not to mention the coiled dragon patterns that were originally supposed to be on the eaves, but now there are only some remaining bodies.
This is not the worst...
The worst is in the palace.
It once represented the highest glory and sacred place of the Han Dynasty. Now, it is simply terrible.
When the Xiliang soldiers retreated, they took away all the things they could take away, and even the gold foil on the lacquer pillars were not spared. The palace was even more damaged. The twelve main halls had turned into ashes.
Only a flower pond near the southeast corner has some beams and pillars left. Man Chong has visited it before.
The unburned beam was penetrated into the sky, and the marks of the clouds and thunder patterns were vaguely visible on the charred surface.
It was originally the "Tongtian Liang" named by Emperor Xiaoling, who was specially written by Emperor Xiaoling. It took ten years to transport the giant trees in the southern border from thousands of mountains and rivers to complete the carving. Now the giant beam is burned to pieces, and the amber resin burned deep in the cracks is like the giant beam is crying.
Not only is the precious things in the palace unrepairable, but even the canals of the streets that are not able to restore the old view.
The craftsman responsible for repairing the canals reported that these canals were manufactured by orders in the second year of Yongshou. Among them, the one used to grout bricks is Lishan green paste mud. Not only does it not dissipate in water or crack in the sun, but it also has good adhesion and can fit with the blue bricks and stone slabs. But now this material is not found at all. It can only be bonded with mortar mixed with wood ash, which can only last for a year and a half...
Man Chong looked up slightly and looked at the ceiling of the original Situ Mansion Hall. There were originally twenty-eight constellations drawn by the great craftsmen using the "Nine Dyeing Method". However, after rebuilding, the agility of the past disappeared, leaving only the dull star dots, not like stars, but more like gray-white insects crawling on it.
The city of Luoyang is full of decay and destruction, and the ruins are difficult to repair.
The children of Shandong gentry were disloyal and wanted to escape.
The morale of soldiers collapsed and the supplies were insufficient, so they had to make every effort to plan and design.
All kinds of fatigue made Man Chong's face look handsome, but before he knew it, his face was much haggard, and even there were many fine wrinkles on both sides of his eyes, as if he had been aged more than ten years ago in the past or two months.
Because Man Chong resolutely implemented the order that Cao Cao closed the border and did not allow the children of Shandong gentry to leave, he was often ridiculed and cursed by these Shandong gentry children in secret. Man Chong also ignored these things and just made arrangements silently.
But when it was late at night, he still thought about how it turned out like this?
Is Cao's army so vulnerable?
Compared to Na Fei Qianlai, what is the difference?
Man Chong has also thought about Fei Qian's rise.
The noble imperial power and gentry system of the Han Dynasty had already revealed its desolate nature in front of Fei Qian's cavalry army. But this proves that the governance system of the cavalry army can replace these brilliant achievements accumulated over the three or four hundred years of the Han Dynasty?
Just like the current Luoyang City, the Situ Mansion in front of you, the roaring cavalry army roared over, what can it bring?
Is it the huge beams with broken walls shed tears, or is it the century-old canal destroyed?
This fear of facing the future made Man Chong unable to believe in Fei Qian, the "alien".
Man Chong suddenly turned over and sat up because he heard the sound of rapid footsteps coming from a distance...
...
...
Li Laosi suddenly stepped on something in the mud, and a chill suddenly burst out from his neck.
Because his straw sandals had been trapped in the mud before, he is now barefoot, but the cold mud in the spring night still makes his sense of touch a little dull, and he cannot detect what he has stepped on at the first time.
He bent down, reached into the mud, and groped.
What's this?
This is……
Wooden stakes!
A piece of collapsed wooden stake was tilted in the mud.
Perhaps it was not installed properly during installation, or perhaps it was because of the subsequent reasons that the wooden stake was tilted, so that the tip of the stake was not facing upward, so it could not penetrate Li Laosi's soles.
"What's wrong?"
The dark shadow following behind also stopped and asked in a low voice.
『Here...there are wooden stakes...』
Li Laosi noticed his voice and began to tremble in the night wind.
He should have thought of it long ago!
I have done this job before!
Sharpen the stake and insert it into the trap...
Here, here is a trap!
『Back, back!" Li Laosi was a little panicked, 『There are wooden stakes here! Wooden stakes here! This is a trap!』
He suddenly understood why the water gate of this section of the canal was not repaired!
The shadow that followed the follow-up also became panicked, but soon there was a disagreement. Several people felt that the water gate was in front of them, and escaping was a way out and they didn't want to look back. Li Laosi couldn't find more evidence to prove that this was indeed a trap.
Except for the crooked wooden stake in his hand...
"What if it fell down accidentally in other places?"
A dark shadow asked.
"this……"
Li Laosi was not sure either.
"I won't go back!" A black shadow pushed Li Laosi away and replaced Li Laosi's front position. "We've all walked here! I'm going home! Go home!"
Li Laosi swallowed, and he wanted to go home too.
But……
Li Laosi lowered his head and looked at the wooden stake that had just been pulled out of the mud.
The black dirt remaining on the wooden stake is like dirty blood, and it is like the dead soul lingering.
Several black shadows passed Li Laosi and walked forward.
Li Laosi couldn't help but feel a little lucky in his heart, maybe...