Chapter 589 Chapter 12 The Last Hope

The lights flickered. The various weapons of the Seventh Prince of Chang'an either hit the chair or hit the table, Xu Ziling has long since disappeared. Ji Qian and the others were still groping in panic in the dark restaurant, but Xu Ziling quietly left through the back door. This is the best solution he can think of, and only he can extinguish the eight palace lanterns in the hall in the blink of an eye, and easily escape the encirclement when the light turns into darkness. I can't touch the corner of his shirt. Of course the pretentious Seventh Young Master would not publicize such a useless matter, and he could still claim to be a hero who made Xu Ziling's "Yong Qin" flee in fear, so as not to alarm other people.

There is nothing I can do about the deterioration of the relationship with Ji Qian, so I have to ignore it for the time being, and clarify the misunderstanding when the time comes in the future. When he turned into a side alley, he immediately flew onto the tiled roof of the house next to the alley, transformed himself into the vicious "short-lived" Cao San with a grimace, and rushed towards Chi Shengchun's mansion at full speed. Before going to the appointment, Kou Zhong said that he would relay the conversation with Li Shimin to Wang Shichong verbatim.But when he really wanted to do this, Kou Zhongshi realized that it was impossible: not only could he only selectively choose what was suitable to say to Wang Shichong, but he also had to change Li Shimin's original tone of voice and remove the insulting words.

In the inner hall of Cijian General Manager's Mansion, Wang Shichong stood aside and listened to Kou Zhong's report with all his attention. Kou Zhong finally said: "Li Shimin asked me to say such a thing today, the main reason is that I retreated in the face of difficulties. But my lord, don't worry, I am more confident than ever that I can guard Cijian. If Li Shimin really If we take a detour to attack Luoyang, we will raze the camp he left behind, and then flank his army attacking Luoyang. How can a city as strong as Luoyang be captured in a year or so?" He didn't say a word about the bet that Li Shimin proposed but he didn't dare to accept, and he didn't say anything about Zhang Zhenzhou. It's very likely that it was just a plan to alienate, of course, it might be true.As for Li Shimin's strategy, he reported it truthfully.

Wang Shi's face was filled with gloom, and he said in a deep voice: "If we can't capture his stronghold for a long time, wouldn't our 30,000 troops be restrained here by him? If Li Shimin can capture Huiluo, he will even manage Beiman Mountain The grain transportation route from Luoyang to Cijian can be easily cut off, and because he controls the control of the Yellow River, Guanzhong can provide support from the waterway, but there is no problem in grain supply. This is a great disadvantage to us.” Kou Shen was taken aback, and hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, you must not give up Cijian. If Cijian is lost, Shou'an and Yique will be lost, and the blow to our morale will be hard to estimate. Now that the northern sea has fallen into Li Shimin's hands, If the Tang army is allowed to sweep across the southern cities and cut off the connection with Xiangyang, we will be completely passive with only Yanshi and Hulao to the east."

Wang Shichong snorted coldly and said: "I'm not as pessimistic as the young marshal. Hulao and Luokou, Xingyang, Guanzhou, Zhengyang, Bianzhou and Yanshi cities echo each other. The cities on this line are all against me, Wang Shichong. Loyal general guards, Li Shimin thinks it is not easy to cut off my east side. If Li Shiji dares to attack the tiger prison, if he kills himself, as long as I concentrate my troops in Luoyang, if there is something to do in the east, I will send troops from Luoyang to help, Li Shimin How long can it last? When it snows heavily in winter, he can only go back to Guanzhong, and the world will be my Wang Shichong's world at that time."

Kou Zhong said indifferently: "But has the Holy One ever thought that our success or failure will depend on the tiger prison? Is this called desperate, and we can only pray to God and Buddha every day to hope that the tiger prison will not fall?" Wang Shichong shook his head and said, "I have made up my mind. Starting tomorrow, we will withdraw our troops in stages and return to Luoyang. Huiluo is one of our two major granaries, and it has a greater impact on Luoyang's success than Cijian." Kou Zhong got angry when he heard the nameless, stood up abruptly, and said in a deep voice: "One day, the saint will regret this decision. The army is defeated like a mountain. Although retreating is not a defeat, but the loss of Cijian will affect all soldiers' respect for the saint. Confidence also affects their loyalty to the Holy Majesty. Can the Holy Majesty give me 10,000 people, and I, Kou Zhong, will be responsible for defending Cijian for the Holy Majesty."

Wang Shichong looked at him coldly for a long while, then slowly shook his head and said, "I must preserve my troops to defend Luoyang." Kou Zhong sighed and made a helpless expression, then walked towards the exit. Wang Shichong shouted angrily, "Where are you going?" Kou Zhong didn't turn his head back, and said in a deep voice: "Of course I'm going back to Pengliang, to see if there is any chance to take Jiangdu from Li Zitong. Jiangdu is another Luoyang. If it falls into my hands, the boundless sea will be at my mercy. Kou Zhong is rampant, if Li Shimin attacks Pengliang, I will have a bargaining chip to deal with him."

Wang Shichong softened, and sighed: "I have my own difficulties, why don't you sit down and discuss them carefully, and come up with a plan that can achieve the best of both worlds. The young commander is thinking about Cijian, and I am thinking about Luoyang. For example, between Cijian and Luoyang Building two stone forts along the road can not only strengthen the defense to the west of Luoyang, but also avoid the danger of being out of reach like sticking to Cijian." Kou Zhong knew that Zhang Zhi proposed his and Yang Gongqing's earlier ideas to Wang Shichong, but in the end Wang Shichong decided to abandon Cijian because of timidity. Play an active role. Alas! I really don't want to leave the Holy Majesty, just because I have no choice but to be slaughtered by Li Shimin so easily!"

Wang Shichong got up from his seat, walked straight behind Kou Zhong, and said displeasedly: "How can the young commander be willing to stay and help me? Except for the matter of Cijian, it is difficult for me to nod, there is room for discussion on other things." Kou Zhong turned around like a whirlwind, and said decisively: "Okay! As long as the Holy Majesty is willing to let me take full responsibility for guarding the tiger prison, I, Kou Zhong, will live and die with the Holy Majesty, and will never leave halfway." Xu Ziling sneaked into the pool mansion with ease, avoided the guarding dogs and entered the inner house, and even woke up twelve spirits, because he would encounter a master of the magic sect at any time.

When entering the inner courtyard three times, only the front hall is brightly lit, and human voices can be heard, while the middle and back two entrances are dark with no lights. Xu Ziling secretly called God to help me, followed the old way to spy on Chi Shengchun's bedroom, Bai Qing'er went to the empty bed, and the quilt was neatly folded, showing that Chi Shengchun hadn't gone to bed yet.She wondered if Bai Qing'er had practiced some girlish mentality and went to harm others. He quickly entered the bedroom, and with professional eyesight, within a quarter of an hour, he found that the entrance to the basement was in one of the cabinets against the wall, which was covered by clothes, and there was no need for any switching facilities. The wooden ladder in the basement, thinking that it would be so smooth again, made sure that there was no one around, lit a fire and went to the basement.

The basement is Zhang Jianfang, empty, with three wooden cabinets on one side and three solid sandalwood boxes on the other.Xu Ziling opened the cabinets one by one. They contained weapons, medicines, and various gambling paraphernalia. The wooden boxes were full of gold ingots. The three boxes of gold ingots together should be worth more than ten thousand gold, which is enough to buy the entire Mingtang nest. "Great Immortal" Hoover nodded in agreement. Xu Ziling felt bad, and turned to inspect the basement interior walls, floors, and ceilings inch by inch, and soon confirmed that the "Cold Forest and Qingyuan Picture" that Hou Xibai dreamed of was not hidden in this secret room.Immediately, I felt a big headache, and then I realized that it is not easy to be an elegant thief. How can I look for a needle in a haystack in such a mansion with continuous buildings. Suddenly, he thought, the painting is for viewing, will Chi Shengchun hang the scroll in the prominent place of the hall to fill the wall, while he searched for the secret place like a fool? Thinking of this, Xu Ziling quietly withdrew, and after returning everything to the original state, he passed the inner hall of Zhongjin's study and walked towards the brightly lit front hall. Kou Zhong rushed through the city gate, and the gatekeepers paid respects in awe, with high morale. Yang Gongqing and Ma Chang, who had been waiting for him, came up to meet him. Kou Zhong gestured for them not to ask, and said as they walked: "Boy Li is so powerful, he beat me Kou Zhong when he talked too much on a date. Damn it! He must report me for trying to kill him the night before." Revenge of Arrows!" Yang Gongqing and Ma saw that he had a bad look, and they both knew something was wrong. The former frowned and said, "What's the matter?" Kou Zhong stood still more than ten steps away from the gate of the village, looked at the brilliant lights of the enemy camp in the distance, and said dejectedly: "Wang Shichong wants to retreat to protect Luo and Luoyang!" Ma Chang lost his voice: "What? Then Shou'an and Yi Que are going to surrender?" Yang Gongqing was shocked and said: "Then if Zhang Zhenzhou is forced to submit to the Tang Dynasty." Kou Zhong sighed inwardly, he and Yang Gongqing understood Zhang Zhenzhou better than anyone including Wang Shichong, he was completely disappointed in Wang Shichong, if he could assassinate Wang Shichong, he would definitely side with Kou Zhong and Yang Gongqing. But when Wang Shichong abandoned Cijian, he certainly refused to sacrifice his life for Wang Shichong, a despicable, repetitive, and selfish villain. It was a wise move to surrender in exchange for the official title of the Tang Dynasty, and no one can criticize it. Criticize him for half a sentence. If Li Shimin could predict that what he said would make Wang Shichong withdraw his troops and give up Cijian, and one of the consequences of this action would be to make Zhang Zhenzhou, one of the two famous generals of Zheng Jun, surrender angrily. Li Shimin's scheming is really terrible. With a wry smile: "That's why I want to say that Li Xiaozi is amazing." Briefly explain the strategic deployment that Li Shimin declared in advance to the two of them. Yang Gongqing said with a sigh of relief: "Li Shimin's warning is timely, because the news just came from Luoyang that one of our navy was defeated in Mengjin, and the Tang army assembled in Heyang was about to cross the river to attack Huiluo. 20,000 people have landed on the south bank of the Dahe River, captured Heyin, and are now threatening the towns of Hulao, Xingyang, and Guancheng. Li Shimin has proved that what he said was not empty talk." Ma Chang said, "What should we do?" Yang Gongqing said: "Li Zitong still has some strength, enough to threaten our brothers in Pengliang." Kou Zhong smiled bitterly and said: "Now I have to leave and go to Chang'an to help my good brother deal with Shi Zhixuan. It will take about ten days for Wang Shichong to withdraw his troops. After returning to Luoyang, he has no choice but to send you to help Luoyang. A person like Wang Xuanying is here to supervise you. You must seize the opportunity to go to Pengliang to meet up with the brothers. If there is something wrong with Chang’an, I will rush back to Pengliang immediately. Try to see if there is any way to preserve strength and capture Jiangdu .At that time we still had a chance.” Ma Chang said: "If Wang Shichong personally supervises the teacher to help and return to Luo, what should we do?" Kou Zhong shook his head resolutely, patted Ma Chang on the shoulder, and said with a smile: "Don't worry! If Li Shimin can let Wang Shichong go to rescue Luo, he is not the Li Shimin I know. Wang Shichong retreats in an orderly manner, and Li Shimin will never Take the risk of pursuing, and divide the troops into two groups, one to Shou'an and Yique, and join Shi Wanbao to cut off the connection between Xiangyang and Luoyang; Wang Shichong said, do you think Luoyang or returning to Luo is important?" Yang Gongqing said: "Fortunately, our army's family is all in Yanshi, and the Yanshi guard is also one of my people. It is very convenient to escape to Pengliang from there, as long as there is enough time." Kou Zhong was surprised and said: "This will be a big flaw in Wang Shichong's control over his generals. If he leaves all his family members in Luoyang, he will have a lot of worries about betraying him." Yang Gongqing said: "But it is very difficult to implement, and it is not good for the economy. The whole city of Luoyang has 30,000 households and a population of 700,000. Including the army, it has reached saturation. If you add the families of soldiers , the food supply will definitely not be able to cope, so the family members are stationed with the soldiers, which is also a means of stabilizing the morale of the army. Otherwise, just arranging the soldiers to go home regularly to visit relatives is already a very headache." Ma Chang said: "Does the young commander have to go? Or argue with Wang Shichong tomorrow, maybe he will change his mind. It's a pity for the young commander to leave like this!" Yang Gongqing also said: "I can lobby other generals who understand the art of war and strategy to tell this idiot his interests tomorrow morning, and now he will no longer insist on going his own way and bring himself to perish." Kou Zhong sighed: "I understand Wang Shichong too well. He only believes in himself. This is also the characteristic of people in the devil's sect. My last request is to guard him in the tiger's prison, but he perfunctory me by taking time and consideration. Damn it. I don’t want to waste any more time for this kind of person, now my only chance is to take Jiangdu before Li Shimin takes Luoyang, and then ask my future father-in-law to come to help by sea, then I can make Li Xiaozi look good.” After that, go to the gate of the village. Yang Gongqing and Ma Chang followed suit, wanting to speak but speechless. For Kou Zhong's strategic wisdom, the two have long been convinced, and his decision should be the best choice. Kou Zhong suddenly stopped again, and said: "My other brother Ba Fenghan may come to Luoyang to look for me in the next few days, he knows our relationship well, if he can't find me, he will naturally look for Duke Yang." Ma Chang said: "I will pay attention to people. The Luoyang city defense is very tense now. If you don't take care of it, I'm afraid it will be difficult for him to enter the city." Kou Zhong smiled and said: "This kid has more methods than me. You'd better not let the news out, because he is also one of the number one enemies that the Demon Sect wants to win. Don't worry! He has a way to enter the city." Yang Gongqing said: "Young commander-in-chief can rest assured, should we invite him to Pengliang to wait for the young commander-in-chief?" Kou Zhongdao: "This is too much of a waste of him! Please, Lord Yang, pass on a message for me, and ask him to personally protect Lord Yang until Pengliang. With his Stealing Heaven Sword by his side, even if you are trapped by thousands of troops, you still have a chance to break through leave." Yang Gongqing trembled and said, "Thank you, Young Marshal!" Kou Zhongdao: "It is imperative to guard against others. If Zhang Zhenzhou descends to the Tang Dynasty, Wang Shichong's doubts about Yang Gong will greatly increase, so in any case, he must also guard against him. Preserving strength is the only feasible and should be done under the current situation. thing." Grabbing Ma Chang's shoulder again, he said, "Mr. Yang is one of the elders that I, Kou Zhong, respect and love the most. Ma Chang, please wake me up and take good care of Mr. Yang. In the future, we will be able to rule the world, but Xue was humiliated tonight by Shame on Li Shimin." Ma Chang burst into tears, lowered his head and said firmly: "Even if I go through fire and water, I will give the general a chance to see the young commander again." Kou Zhong laughed, and walked towards the gate of the village. Looking at his back as he went away, both of them felt that he had taken away the last hope to defend Luoyang.