Chapter 14 Chapter Fourteen

"Brother, did you feel better today?" Wei Ai sat on the edge of the bed.Over the past few years, although Wei Ai has been rushing to take the exam, she knows that she is not a talent for helping the world after all. She only feels that it is a pity that a talent like her brother is buried. "I've taken the medicine you and my little sister made, and it's much better." The two brothers were talking when suddenly there was a commotion downstairs. "What happened?" Wei Zhuang insisted on going downstairs with Wei Ai's support supporting his weak body.

There is a large wine shop in the front yard of the inn.On weekdays, this is an incomparably bustling and splendid place.Officials from the capital, rich merchants from the Eastern Capital, noble relatives from Persia, and students from Silla came and went in an endless stream.The graceful, tall-nosed and blue-eyed Orchid danced thousands of rounds of Huxuan dance, swayed wine and salamander between toasts, and talked about the sea and the sky, making people feel puzzled and returned to the prosperous Kaiyuan. The commotion just now shocked Kong Hou's voice to silence and the beauties to leave. The guests panicked for a moment, not knowing where to go, they all stayed where they were and stamped their feet anxiously.Just as Wei Zhuang entered the front yard, a well-known scholar named Zheng Xu suddenly ran towards him, with a slightly panicked look on his face: "Brother Wei, Tongguan has fallen..."

"What? Tongguan? How is this possible!" In Wei Zhuang's mind, Tongguan, where General Qi Kerang was stationed, was as solid as gold. What's more, he heard not long ago that the emperor asked Zhang Chengfan to lead Chang'an's elite to support Tongguan.But in just a few days, Tongguan has fallen?How is this possible! Zheng Xu helped Wei Zhuang to find a corner and sat down, with a melancholy expression on his face: "General Qi is brave and mighty, but fighting alone can't defeat Huang Chao's 100,000 people!" Wei Zhuang asked suspiciously: "How could it be a lone army? Didn't Zhang Chengfan bring Chang'an's elite rescuers?"

Hearing Wei Zhuang's words, the shopkeeper at the side couldn't laugh or cry: "My guest, you are in poor health recently, and you are resting in the house! We know exactly what kind of soldiers Cheng Fan brought with us!" Then , and told Wei Zhuang the truth about what he saw and heard on the street a few days ago: "In those days, there were always some officers and soldiers escorting poor and weak citizens past outside the store. The crying sounded heartbreaking! I have opened a store in West Market for more than 20 years. To be honest, I don't see many such scenes. .After inquiring, guess what? These poor people were all taken into exile!"

"Expelling the army?" Wei Zhuang was puzzled, "The Shence Army went to Tongguan for assistance, so why should the people be forced to serve as an army?" "Hi! Why don't you say that you are bedridden these days, and you don't know what's going on outside..." The shopkeeper looked around, then lowered his voice and said, "This magic strategy army is all filled by the sons of rich families in the capital. It's in Taiping During the past few years, they were paid salaries, dressed in fancy clothes, and ran wildly on the streets; but this country is about to go to war, can these gentlemen be able to go to the front line? No, this wealthy mansion has spent money to hire these poor citizens Imposter!"

Wei Zhuang couldn't help but sucked in a breath of cold air: "How can such an amazing army break the siege of Tongguan?" "Who said it wasn't! In a few days, General Zhang Chengfan led his troops out to fight. I'm afraid he knows whether this army can fight! I heard that when he left, he bid farewell to the emperor, probably because he was afraid that he would not come back after leaving. Crying and saying to the emperor, "Hundreds of thousands of yellow thieves outside the pass marched to the west. Only Qi Ke let the general starve to death in Tongguan. The minister only led two thousand soldiers to close the pass, and there was no follow-up food and grass to support it." Rejecting thieves, ministers are chilling!'”

"Ah! Poor General Qi, loyal and miserable!" Zheng Xu sighed, "The businessman who fled from Tongguan just now said that General Qi heard that there were only a few thousand starving soldiers to help the 100,000 yellow thieves. He said generously but sadly, Baotongguan, even if you die, you have to fight him once! Saying that, he opened the city to fight. General Qi took the lead and killed two thieves in a row. The Cao army was defeated and retreated five miles after being killed. After a long time, when Huang Chao came, the morale of the grass army regained. General Qi fought alone all afternoon. The soldiers were so hungry that they burned the camp and collapsed. Tongguan. Our remnant soldiers held on to the danger, exhausted their arrows, and moved stones to attack the enemy. Alas! Unfortunately, there are no reinforcements inside and no support from outside. After holding on for several days, Tongguan...is still lost!" Zheng Xu said here , with tears in his eyes.

For several days in a row, the wine shop was no longer lively, and the beauties who accompanied the wine in the Western Regions no longer twisted their charming curves.Occasionally, a few regular customers came, talking about how to fight the final defense of Chang'an City.Some merchants have already decided to flee to other places to temporarily avoid the limelight, and some insist that they have seen Huang Chao, and that Huang Chao's rebel army is from poor people, with strict discipline and no crime against the people in the city... Wei Zhuang I planned to go back to Du Ling's old house to hide for a while, but then I thought about it, Chang'an is the capital of the Tang Dynasty, and the emperor would stay here to fight the Cao army for the final battle.There are eggs under the overturned nest, so where can they escape if they escape?

In the early morning of this day, Wei Zhuang just woke up when he heard the innkeeper downstairs calling him, saying that someone downstairs was eager to see him.Wei Zhuang asked the shopkeeper to lead the visitor to his guest room.The person who came was a big man with a red face. He entered the door and asked, "Who is Wei Xiucai?" "I'm here." Wei Zhuang looked him up and down, but he didn't recognize him, "Dare to ask me who is..." "I'm Zhang Qianyu, a member of Li Shangshu's residence in the Ministry of Punishment. I have important matters to see you."

Wei Zhuang invited Zhang Qianyu into the room dully, and closed the door behind him.But he murmured in his heart: I am not related to Li Shangshu, and now Chang'an is at the point of life and death, at this juncture, how could his disciples find me? Zhang Qianyu saw Wei Zhuang's thoughts, moved closer and lowered his voice, "Brother Wei, the emperor has already left Chang'an overnight! You should run away too!" Wei Zhuang was taken aback: "You... what did you say? The emperor is gone? How is that possible!" "This matter is absolutely true!" Zhang Qianyu said anxiously, "After the fall of Tongguan, it took only one day for Huazhou to be breached by the enemy. The emperor urgently summoned a group of ministers to discuss how to keep Chang'an. All the blame was placed on Prime Minister Mr. Lu, and he wanted him to be a scapegoat. The emperor was forced to dismiss Mr. Lu. Mr. Lu knew that he had become the scapegoat for Tian Junrong and the emperor. After hearing that he returned to the mansion, all thoughts were lost , committed suicide that night by taking poison! My Lord Li heard the bad news this morning and rushed to the palace for emergency, but was told that the emperor and Tian Junrong and his party had already left Chang'an overnight!"

After hearing this, Wei Zhuang thought about it, and felt that what the person in front of him said did not seem to be a lie. "I take the liberty, why do you take such a risk to tell me this big secret?" "Oh, I'm ashamed to say that I've been entrusted by Mr. Zheng!" Qianyu said, "I used to belong to the old general Jin of the Zhongwu Army, and I was recommended by Mr. Zheng to stay in the capital. Not long ago, after Mr. Zheng was dismissed , was relegated to Fengxiang Jiedu Envoy. When he left Chang'an, he asked me to come and bring a word to Brother Wei." "What did Mr. Zheng say?" Wei Zhuang couldn't help but light up when he heard that Zheng Tian had something to bring to him. "Master Zheng said that he has done his best for the task entrusted to him. But the eunuch controls the government, the emperor can't be the master, and he can't even preserve his own status. This matter is really helpless. He also said that Huang Chao's power is like a broken bamboo, so Brother Wei will soon Find a peaceful place, don’t stay in Chang’an.” Qianyu said this, a little ashamed, “It’s all my fault, I have been busy with other things these days, so I haven’t come to bring this message to Brother Wei. Until I found out that the emperor left Chang’an The news, this is when I remembered to look for you!" "Thank you, Your Majesty!" Wei Zhuang said gratefully, "It's just... where are we going to escape now?" The two were talking when someone knocked on the door. Wei Zhuang opened the door and saw that it was Zheng Xu, a scholar. His face was full of anxiety and panic: "Brother Wei, Huang Chao has entered the city! The market downstairs is full of soldiers!" Wei Zhuang panicked: "My brother and sister went to the south of the city at noon and have not come back yet, what should I do! If they are injured by bandit soldiers..." Zheng Xu persuaded: "Brother Wei, don't worry, I heard that although Huang Chao is a grassroots bandit, his generals and soldiers have strict military regulations, and the troops who entered the city earlier did not harm the people." Wei Zhuang walked quickly to the window, opened the window and took a look - only to see that the rebel army was lined up neatly, armored cavalry like a stream, and the road was blocked by heavy baggage, which was endless and endless, and the edge could not be seen at a glance.On both sides of the brigade, the people in the market stood sideways, some watching, some whispering. Not long after, a few tall horses came from afar, leaped over the marching team and rushed forward, sometimes leading the horses to shout.A well-dressed man on horseback who looked like a military academy took the reins downstairs in the inn, and shouted loudly to the surroundings: "The people in the capital know that the King Huang has ordered that my rebel army rise up for the people of the world; the Li family's court is fatuous, and the people suffer Now that our rebel army is entering the city, the army and the civilian family will definitely treat the residents of Chang'an well, everyone just needs to live and work in peace and contentment as before, and don't need to panic." A citizen on the side shouted hello, followed by applause. Wei Zhuang couldn't help closing the window.Although he didn't see the slaughter after Huang Chao entered the city, he was still worried about his third brother and younger sister.For more than forty years, he has been busy with his life inscribing the name of the Yanta, and wasted his young years in the fireworks and wine shops in Luoyang.Perhaps it was because he rarely paid attention to the lives of those rebels who rebelled for their lives.In his mind, there is a traditional concept that has been deeply rooted and cannot be changed, that is: the emperor will always be the emperor, and the thief will always be the thief!Li Tang's life is not easy, and his life will only belong to this magnificent empire. At this moment, he was imagining what kind of mesmerizing feeling that Huang Chao, who was born as a salt merchant, would feel when he came to the most prosperous city in the world.In this bustling market with millions of people and stretches of buildings, he must feel how small he is.Chang'an, Chang'an!In his dream, does Huang Chao really dare to imagine that this is his capital, that he can become the master of this place? yes!Such a city is too huge, too magnificent, and too extravagant!There are boundless people here, and a market full of merchants. Except for the real Li and Tang royal family, who can have such a Chang'an!Looking at the straight Suzaku Street, it stretches to the fascinating Zichen Tiangong.Perhaps at this moment, Huang Chao, who has read poetry and books, will definitely think of the poem written by Lu Zhaolin in the early Tang Dynasty: