Chapter 45 Chapter Forty-Five

"Father, please listen to my daughter," Yan Jin said calmly, "It is Chen Taishi and Tian Junrong who want to kill these people, not you, Daddy! If you don't kill them now, not only our Xu family will die because of Chen Taishi Under the knife, those innocent people will not be spared. Brother Chen Taishi has ruled Xichuan since then, many officials and people have suffered because of this, and the affluent Chengdu has been devastated in an instant. In the past six months, you have contacted the court several times at the risk of exterminating the nine clans What is the purpose of the conquest army? It is not to hand over Xichuan to the virtuous Lord Ming, so that the people here can live and work in peace and contentment. Right now, Chengdu is surrounded by groups. Kindness ruins great things! The innocent deaths of these thousands of people may be exchanged for the happiness of hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians in Chengdu, which is more important, please think twice." Xu Geng was speechless when his daughter spoke.He didn't marvel at how profound the truth Yanjin said, after all, he knew clearly the stakes in it.But after all, she is still a child, how can she comprehend to such a degree, and how can she be as decisive as cold steel in the center of such a chaotic situation?

The city was becoming more and more depressed, and the poor people starved to death one by one. The market well in Nancheng was already like a cemetery, with corpses scattered here and there, emitting a stench. After Wang Yao entered the city, he begged to see Chen Jingxuan with the best dog meat.Chen Jingxuan hadn't seen the dog Tu Wangyao for a long time, so he asked him about the current situation of the Yongping Army outside the city.Wang Yao then informed Wang Jian's army of the "situation" in detail, saying that Yongping's army was exhausted and food was exhausted, and when the imperial court issued an order to stop the troops, Wang Situ already wanted to withdraw his troops.Chen Jingxuan breathed a sigh of relief, thank God, the imperial court ordered Wang Jian to stop the army, and restored the old man's official title.It seems that Wang Jian's retreat is only a matter of time.Just give the old man a month to breathe, then contact Pengzhou, and catch Wang Jian by surprise, Chengdu is still my old man's!Chen Jingxuan thought about it, and naturally relaxed his guard against Wang Jian.This kind of sentiment soon spread throughout the Xichuan Mansion. All the military officers in Chengdu, big and small, had lost their morale, and they were all waiting for Wang Jian's army to leave.

After leaving Taishi Mansion, Wang Yao secretly found Zhang Qianyu, and with the help of Zhang Qianyu and others, he raised grain and sold porridge in the busy city west of the city.When the officers, soldiers and common people in the city heard that Wang Yao was coming from Wang Jian's army, they all scrambled to inquire about the situation outside the city.On the one hand, Wang Yao praised Wang Jianzhi for his ability to govern the army and his love for the people like a son. On the other hand, he counted the brave generals in the Yongping army: Xichuan fierce general Shan Xingzhang who surrendered to Wang Situ; Wang Zongbi who won the lance, Hua Hong who broke 8,000 to 70,000, and Wang Zongji, Wang Zongyao, and Wang Zongkan who bravely won the three armies... I could hear the people who came to buy porridge in amazement, and the soldiers who came after hearing the news said: I can't swallow the porridge in my mouth: Oh my god, I have been fighting against such a "heavenly soldier" these months. How can I be invincible if this continues?

An old man in a tattered silk robe wiped rice grains from his messy beard and asked Wang Yao, "Young man, do you think we poor people will have food if Wang Situ enters the city?" Wang Yao patted himself on the stomach: "Look at me, I'm just a servant in Wang Situ's army, but I have enough to eat every day! You don't know that Wang Situ is not only good to the soldiers, but also to us poor people. He himself came from a poor family! If it wasn’t for the fact that you urbanites have no food to eat, I would have taken the opportunity to earn a few pennies, so why would I come here just to eat and drink?”

"Oh... yeah!" "It would be great if Wang Situ could go to the city to rescue us sooner..." "At that time, I could drink porridge like this every day, thick..." At noon on this day, the sunlight over Chengdu was too harsh to keep one's eyes open.The ghost-headed sword in the executioner's hand fell "cangcang" along with the cries of the bound children.Xu Geng just felt dizzy.At the end of the hour, the square in the south of the city was covered with blood, and these innocent souls flowed towards the Jinjiang River along with the dirty blood and the mud in the ditch.

With the support of his generals, Xu Geng slowly left the execution ground.He sighed sadly: How many times will we have to suffer through these terrible years?The green-maned and thin horse dragged its master back to his residence in the west of the city.When he arrived at the house, Xu Geng took the rein and stayed there for a while, but finally, he still didn't go in.He wanted to relax by himself, perhaps the only way to calm down the panic just now.He thought of Mochi, where lived an expert, perhaps he could relieve the boredom in his heart.He sighed that Feng Xin is the only one who can feel at ease in cultivating readers in such a complicated situation!

There is a stone-bottomed square pool in the north of Chengdu. According to legend, it was the place where Yang Xiong washed his pen and ink in the Han Dynasty, so it is called the ink washing pool, also known as the ink pool.One mile to the north, there is a vegetable garden. Xu Geng has been here before, and he knows that Feng Juan often spends time leisurely irrigating the garden and planting vegetables here.The small hermit hides in the wild, and the big hermit hides in the city.In Chengdu, a city full of swords and swords, Feng Xinzhi is definitely not someone who can be a hermit safely.

Xu Geng walked along the path along the ridge of the field to the thatched hut in the distance, but a child who looked like a book boy walked in front of him.Before Xu Geng could speak, the book boy asked, "Are you here to see my husband?" "I'm here to find my old friend, Mr. Feng." "My lord came at such an unfortunate time, Mr. has been suffering from severe cold and fever for the past few days and cannot see guests." "This... trouble little brother to go back and tell my elder brother that it was Xu Geng who came to visit." "My husband specifically confessed that even the best old friend Xu Cishi is missing."

Xu Geng was turned away, and had to return angrily.At this time, the sun was hanging lazily over Wudan Mountain, and Xu Geng saw two people walking towards him one after the other not far away.As he got closer, Xu Geng recognized that the person in front was Zhang Qianyu who entered the city under Wang Jian's secret order.He was trying to avoid Zhang Qianyu these few days, but he didn't want to meet him here.He could only bite the bullet and stepped forward, lowering his voice: "Why is General Zhang here?" Zhang Qianyu looked around: "This is not a place to talk, let's talk in the pavilion in front." After speaking, he led Xu Geng and a fat man with a mustache behind him to the Ziyun Pavilion by the ink pool.There are overgrown trees around the Ziyun Pavilion. From a distance, you can't detect the situation inside the pavilion at all.Only then did Zhang Qianyu introduce the fat man to Xu Geng: "This is Wang Situxin's confidant sent into the city."

"The younger one is Wang Yao, who makes a living by slaughtering. He used to specialize in delivering dog meat to Grand Master Chen, but now he has turned to the light and surrendered to Wang Situ." Xu Geng nodded dully: "Then why are you two looking for me today?" "I want to meet Grand Master Chen and advise him to open the city and accept the surrender as soon as possible." Xu Geng was taken aback and was speechless for a while. Wang Yao also said: "General Zhang and I had a careful discussion yesterday. Now Situ has been besieging the city for several months without any achievements. If there is no strange move, I am afraid that the grand master will continue to be deadlocked. The people will suffer a lot!" He glanced at Xu Geng and saw Xu Geng Sweat dripped from his forehead, "Although General Zhang's move is a risky move, I think it is worth taking the risk. If it succeeds, it will be a merit that will be praised for generations to come. After thinking about it, I am willing to go with General Zhang!"

Xu Geng tried his best to calm himself down.He knew that he was powerless to dissuade them.I hope this matter goes well, otherwise, I will definitely be involved.After thinking about it, he put his mind to one side: "How can I help you two?" Zhang Qianyu said: "Going this time, I'm close to death. I'm afraid something unexpected will happen. But if something unexpected happens, all previous efforts will be wasted. I would like to ask my lord to send someone to my main camp and tell the city to set up defenses. The guards of the northern city have been slack for many days now. If we take the opportunity to attack , can be successful in one fell swoop." Xu Geng's heart was pounding, he just nodded instinctively and said: "Okay! I'm going to fight it out..." Back home, Xu Geng deeply felt that the matter was serious. If it was revealed, the whole family would surely die.If you let others go out of the city to deliver letters, it is better to let your two sons risk their lives out of the city.In this way, if Wang Jian could not succeed in attacking and Zhang Qianyu failed to persuade the Grand Master, his two sons Yanqiong and Yangui could also escape to death by luck, and they could continue the incense of the Xu family in the future... Just like that, Xu Yanqiong and Xu Yangui went out of the city overnight holding the false order issued by their father.After seeing Wang Jian, he reported all the defenses at the gates of Chengdu, and also told the ins and outs of Zhang Qianyu's plan to surrender Chen Jingxuan.Wang Jian was overjoyed as he held in his hand the detailed map of Chengdu defense that Zhang Qianyu almost bought with his life.He remembered that when he was still in the Zhongwu Army, Zhang Qianyu came all the way from Chengdu to follow him, and survived hundreds of battles; after occupying Langzhou, Zhang Qianyu even advised him to respect the emperor.Facts have proved that this person has extraordinary insight, and Wang Jian trusts him even more.After the establishment of the Yongping Army, Zhang Qianyu was no less than Zhang Jie, Tian Wei and other old Xuzhou generals in terms of military merits, but this man not only did not seek fame, he was more willing to stay at ease as any general in his own army.How could such a loyal and strategic talent not make Wang Guangtu happy!But now, Zhang Qianyu did not ask for his own consent, arbitrarily claiming to meet Chen Jingxuan. In this way, the day of a full-scale attack on the city cannot be postponed for a moment. Today, today is the full-scale attack! At this time, the Yongping Army had already besieged Chengdu with heavy troops and dug trenches for fifty miles around the city.Wang Zongyao's troops stationed at the east gate, Wang Zongji and Hua Hong took turns attacking the city at the north gate and south gate respectively, and Wang Jian's army was stationed in the west of the city.One hundred thousand Yongping troops lined up outside the city of Chengdu, with more than a thousand horses and hundreds of generals preparing their armor and ready to march.Wang Jian rode on his mount in military uniform, looking at the countless elite soldiers and generals, he couldn't help but feel excited. "Xichuan has no way! The emperor ordered me to conquer it!" Wang Jian slashed his sword, and his loud voice spread to every corner of the battlefield. I have made great military achievements! I, Wang Jian, have not been able to give you any rewards, and I have suffered a lot for all the brothers in these years!" Tens of thousands of soldiers on the battlefield did not say a word, only Wang Jian's voice echoed. "Brothers from all families, as the saying goes, you can raise soldiers for a thousand days and use them for a while. Now is the time for you to show your talents! Chengdu City is the world's granary. There are countless silks and satins, and gold, silver and jewels are all over the city! Take Chengdu with me today, and you will have meritorious soldiers tomorrow. The governors and Jiedu envoys can be seated in turn, and the gold, silver and beauties in the city can be divided equally!" Wang Jian stopped here, looked at the team with high fighting spirit, and shouted passionately: "Brothers! ! Siege!" "Siege! Siege! Siege!" Tens of thousands of soldiers shouted in unison, and the sound shook the ground... At this moment, Tian Lingzi and Chen Jingxuan were already panicked by the shouts of killing outside the city.Tian Lingzi hated and feared Wang Jian.Back then, in order to win over these five warriors, he adopted Wang Jian and others as adopted sons.Never thought that the new master would ascend the throne, except for Han Jian who led Huazhou, Li Shitai, Zhang Zao, and Jin Hui all risked their lives to follow Wang Jian, the youngest of the Eight Capitals of Zhongwu. "The eighth thief king!" Tian Lingzi cursed fiercely in his heart, now that he has full wings, he actually wants to drive Bengong to a dead end!He didn't expect that the two small people around Wang Jian would dare to persuade him to surrender, and he felt indignant: "Bring those two people to me with knives!" Chengdu has two cities, inner and outer. Wang Jian's army launched round after round of fierce attacks on the west gate of the outer city. Projectiles made of sulfur and flames flew into the city like arrows, and the entire street in the west of the city was already on fire.Chen Jingxuan stood on the wall of the inner city, looking at the sea of ​​flames in the distance, and hearing the sound of fighting from all directions, he couldn't help but tremble with fear. Four knives and axemen, with four gleaming steel knives supported Zhang Qianyu and Wang Yao one by one to the top of the city.Zhang Qianyu's face was still rosy, as if he had just been drunk.He saw a group of soldiers surrounded the two of them at the top of the wall, their faces were already covered with dust, he guessed it was Xichuan Jiedu envoy Chen Jingxuan and the former Tenth Army's admiring envoy Tian Lingzi. "I've seen Taishi Chen and Junrong Tian." Chen Jingxuan saw Wang Yao who was delivering dog meat to him at a glance, and he yelled angrily: "You man! It's fake that you came here to deliver the meat, and it's true that you and Wang Guangtu are lying to each other!" "Teacher, you enjoy wine and meat every day. Have you ever thought that the innocent people in Xichuan are in dire straits? How can a villain kill a dog? But there is a piece of advice: the sooner the grand master surrenders, the more people in Xichuan will be less The curse on you..." "Shut up!" Chen Jingxuan was furious, "Cut him off!" With a flick of the steel knife, Wang Yao's head fell to the ground!This sudden change made Zhang Qianyu's heart tremble with fear, and cold sweat flowed down his back... The muscles on Chen Jingxuan Tuqing's face twitched slightly: "Are you also a lobbyist sent by Wang Jian?" Zhang Qianyu tried to stay calm and calm: "No way. I, Zhang Qianyu, entered the city with my master on his back, just to rescue the two adults!" Tian Lingzi sneered: "You treat me as a three-year-old child, and let you talk nonsense?" "Why don't you believe in the appearance of the army? You should know that my lord has thousands of people who are eloquent, high-ranking and powerful, and those who sacrifice their lives? I Zhang Qianyu is not as eloquent as Zhou Boya and Zheng Yaya, but I am just a warrior. In terms of background, he is not as good as the former captain of the Zhongwu Army, nor is he my son, but a small soldier; in terms of courage, he dare not compare with generals such as Zhang Jie and Tian Wei. My lord is wise, why did you send me to come to you?" Tian Lingzi, who spoke so wisely, was speechless: "Then...then I am not related to you, why did you save me, and how did you save me? " "How dare I climb the ranks of the army? You are my lord's benevolent father. The love between father and son is so deep, but today they meet each other. I can't bear it!" The edge of Zhang Qianyu's hair was blown a little by the gusts of wind, and he But he changed the subject, "Jun Rong, the city of Chengdu will be destroyed every day. If you are captured by those generals of our army who are not afraid of death, I am afraid that even if my lord intends to rescue you, it will be difficult to fulfill the relationship between father and son." He turned to Chen Jingxuan again, "The Grand Master has always loved the people. If the iron cavalry leveled the city of Chengdu and the people worked hard, how could the Grand Master bear to see it?" Chen Jingxuan was silent.Tian Lingzi suddenly shouted angrily: "After talking for a long time, you are still the lobbyist sent by Wang Ba! You keep saying that you are the people! The court has already announced the cessation of troops. If Wang Ba has the people of Chengdu in his heart, how can he attack the city until now?" Qianyu laughed: "Military capacity, do you still hope that the imperial court will protect you for the rest of your life? I think back then, when the late emperor was alive, you were in control of the military and commanded the wind and rain inside and outside the court. It was only because Yang Fugong embraced the new lord and ascended the throne that you had to borrow Xichuan The place to take refuge for a while. The imperial court has attacked Xichuan several times, is it true that the emperor has any hatred between the emperor and the army?" Tian Lingzi's heart skipped a beat. In the past, when Wansui Jin was still the King of Shou, when did he pay attention to this prince who had no backing? If he said hatred, Wansui Jin might indeed hate himself.But if he admits that he has offended the emperor in private, then he has offended the world and won't get any support from public opinion.Ling Zi gritted his teeth: "I am an old minister who has gone through three dynasties, and I have been favored by the emperor. How can the emperor hate me?" "This is it! Since the emperor never hated the military capacity, it must be Yang Fugong who wanted to put the military capacity to death. Not long ago, the imperial court failed in the conquest of Hedong, and it must have lacked military strength, so they had no choice but to retreat. In the future, if the imperial court recovers, Yang Fugong will be able to tolerate it." Junrong and Taishi? And if the world is in chaos, how can you deal with the world's powerful Xichuan with Junrong?" Zhang Qianyu said a series of taboo words, but both Tian Lingzi and Chen Jingxuan understood that it was the truth.Wang Jian's strength is still far behind Zhu Wenwen and Li Keyong. If one day Jinbian competes, no matter who wins the Central Plains, he will covet the fertile soil of Sanchuan.Seeing that Lingzi was silent, Zhang Qianyu said again: "My lord and Jun Rong's father and son are deeply in love, and everyone in the world knows it. It is only because the emperor's order is difficult to disobey that this is why we meet each other. Now Luocheng is about to be broken, if Jun Rong voluntarily surrenders , my lord thinks that the kindness of the past will definitely treat you two kindly. Forgive me for one more word, only my lord can have the strength to occupy this city of Chengdu." At this time, Chen Jingxuan was still a little lucky.Before Zhang Qianyu came, he had already ordered the city guards to fight desperately out of the city.The trapped beast is still fighting, not to mention he still has tens of thousands of soldiers, although the famine is unbearable, there are many brave men among them.If they withstood Wang Jian's attack and got Pengzhou's reinforcements, they might be able to hold on for a while.But at this time, Tan Ma came to report: "Report to the grand master, the guards of the east city and the south city have repeatedly left the city to face the defeated generals, and now they have no choice but to close the city gates and wait for the grand master's orders." "Wait for my order?" Chen Jingxuan was furious in his heart, "I have never led an army in command, and these battle-tested generals are not the enemy's opponents!" Suddenly, another scout came to report: "Report to the grand master, General Song, the defender of the northern city, went out to fight in the city, and was... killed by Wang Zongji... Now the enemy is in a hurry to attack the city, and the city is about to be lost!" Chen Jingxuan Zhang Da He opened his mouth, dumbfounded. Zhang Qianyu finally breathed a sigh of relief.Just now he tried to calm down, but he was worried after all: if the lord's siege made a slight mistake, it would be a small matter for him to lose his life, but his recklessness might ruin the major event of the Chengdu Battle! "Grand Master, your situation is over, please make a decision early!" Chen Jingxuan became furious, rounded his arms and slapped Zhang Qianyu on the face, and immediately, a mouthful of blood trickled down the corner of Qianyu's mouth.Chen Jingxuan said angrily: "I want you to be buried with Chengdu!" After that, he pointed to the big cauldron boiling with oil under the city tower, and ordered the left and right: "Come here, throw this person into the cauldron and blow it up with me!" The left and right swordsmen and axemen threw steel knives on Qianyu's neck and were about to take him away. "Slow!" Qianyu struggled away, and laughed at Chen Jingxuan and Tian Lingzi, "The Grand Master wants me to be buried for a city, you really think highly of me!" He stuck out his tongue and licked the blood that had not yet solidified at the corner of his mouth, "If the Grand Master , Jun Rong insisted on going his own way, and struggled for at most two hours. Not to mention the Luocheng built by Gao Qianli, even the Twelve Li Jincheng built by Zhang Yi would be razed to the ground. At that time, not only the two lives would be lost, but the whole city The common people will not let you go when they go to hell...hahaha..." After finishing speaking, Zhang Qianyu looked at Chen Jingxuan again from the corner of his eye, then turned around, strode away, and walked down the city.The boiling oil in the cauldron under the city roared, and the smoke filled the distance, and the sound of killing shook the sky. Tian Lingzi closed his eyes in pain, with a look of despair on his face.When he opened his eyes, he saw several big men carrying Zhang Qianyu towards the oil cauldron.Tian Lingzi shouted to the city with the last bit of strength: "Slow down! Put him down!" Turning his head, he murmured to Chen Jingxuan: "Even a small lieutenant under his command has such courage, Wang Bazhen is a hero in troubled times! Brother, I think it's better to open the city and surrender in order to save the lives of the whole city!" Chen Jingxuan looked helpless, let out a long breath, and nodded fiercely.