Chapter 25 The fall of Yecheng

In the twinkling of an eye, it was late autumn and August, and there was a sense of murder in the world, and the bitter westerly wind swept away the dead leaves and grass and rushed to the boundless distance, never returning.I don't know how many helpless creatures will end their lives in this cruel season.Even if they were once full of vitality, swaying in various poses, and showed themselves to the world without any scruples, they could not escape death in the end.Just like this once glorious and suffering city of Ye, no amount of resistance can change the fate of falling. The food is gone, the horses are killed, the bark is stripped, the grass roots are dug up, and the only way to satisfy our hunger is to eat people!But with the current situation in Ye City, I'm afraid they can't even eat people anymore.Besieged by Cao Jun for half a year, the people and soldiers starved to death, died of disease, and escaped countlessly. In order to cover Li Fu's delivery of letters out of the city, a large number were released. After breaking out of the siege, few came back alive. If you indulge in cannibalism, you may not even be able to guarantee the strength of the city's defenders, so how can you resist Cao's army?Although it was on the verge of collapse, the few Hebei troops still continued to stand firm, but everyone knew in their hearts that there was no food inside and no reinforcements outside, and it was only a matter of time before they fell.If there was any hope in Yecheng before Yuan Shang's defeat, now there is no hope, and everyone is fighting for the loyalty and stubbornness of the judge.

This Hebei military strategist has been standing at the top of the city for three days and three nights without eating, drinking or resting.His beard and hair were disheveled and his face looked haggard. He was a little swaying due to hunger and fatigue, but he still held on to the parapet.His bloodshot red eyes are still sharp, and he is still gazing out of the city, hoping for a miracle to happen: maybe Yuan Shang will lead his troops back, maybe the eldest son Yuan Tan can turn his prodigal son back to defend Cao's bandits, maybe Liu Biao of Jingzhou will launch a surprise attack Xu Du, maybe there will be a rebellion in the rear of Yuzhou, maybe even a thunderbolt will fall from the sky and kill Cao Cao, maybe... But all these are unrealistic fantasies.

Suddenly a gust of cool wind blew by, with bursts of rancid smell, pulling the examiner back from wandering thoughts to reality.The trenches beside the city were filled with the corpses of Hebei soldiers. They died fighting to break out of the siege, because they were within the range of the bows and arrows of the two armies. After half a month, no one dared to collect the corpses. Now they are rotten and smelly.It was not because they were ineffective in fighting that they suffered such bad luck, but because the young master who came to support him was unable to attack Cao Jun's camp at all, which ruined their lives in vain.Since Yuan Shang's defeat, Cao Jun's camp has been more and more concentrated in Yecheng, surrounded in all directions, and the Baiyan, golden axe, and military flag captured by Cao Cao are hanging at the gate, constantly impacting the psychological defense of the defenders.Trial and distribution had to face the cruel reality - the Yuan family was about to perish.

"Listen up, soldiers of Yecheng! The guilty minister Yuan Shang has abandoned you and fled to Youzhou...quickly open the city gate to welcome the master...Cao Gong has an order. If you take the initiative to dedicate the city to the court, the court will not be guilty. If you resist, the city will be destroyed. Every day, no chickens or dogs are left in Yecheng... Yecheng soldiers listen to the truth! The criminal Yuan Shang has abandoned you and fled to Youzhou..." Cao Jun's daily persuasion to surrender began again, and this time it was Xinpi who came, riding on a horse and holding high Dozens of soldiers led by Bai Qi stretched their necks and yelled vigorously, all with triumphant expressions.

Seeing this prosperity, the examiner took off his sparrow bow from his waist, and habitually touched the arrows casually, intending to shoot Simpi's horse, but the quiver was empty after touching it, only then did he think that the last batch of arrows had already passed. Shoot out.Then he picked up a stone and smashed it vigorously, the stone just drew a slight arc and fell into the pile of corpses below the city, it was still eight feet away from Simpi.The judge's anger was still there, and he lay on the female wall and yelled: "Xin Zuozhi, you brazen villain! Eat Yuan's salary but flatter the country's traitors, betray the master and ruin the country. How can you face the old man in Hebei? ? I can't wait to eat your flesh and sleep on your skin!"

Simpi vaguely heard his call, and hurriedly rode his horse a few steps forward, raised his head and shouted: "Brother Zhengnan, are you here all right? It has been a lot of hard work defending the city for the past few days. I'm afraid there is nothing to eat in the city! How old is it, little brother?" A good word to advise Brother Shen." "Bah!" The judge cursed again, "Don't talk nonsense! You filthy bastard, who can you deceive with your sweet talk?" The seller wasn't Simpi's original intention, but things have come to this point, just like yellow mud smeared on the crotch, it's either shit or shit.It was useless to defend, so he had no choice but to persuade him with a cheeky face: "Brother Judgment said that I am a traitor for glory...forget it! I admit for the time being that I have betrayed the eldest son, but the Yuan brothers are stupid and violent. What is the Lord protecting him for? Those who know the current affairs are heroes, Cao Gong is under the king's order to conquer, and it is not unjust to surrender!"

"It's nonsense." The judge sneered deliberately, "Cao thief is a rebellious person who narrowed down the emperor to make the princes. Siege of the city and land is for his own self-interest, and a man should be brave. How can such high-sounding words be deceived? The world? Are all the people of the world fools?" Seeing that he refused to listen, Simpi simply looked at the soldiers on the city and shouted: "The people and soldiers in the city are suffering so much, is Brother Shen cruel to let them starve to death? Who has no parents, who has no wives and children? Don't you think about them?" As he said that, he threw away the white flag and cupped his hands, "My little brother is willing to plead for the people of Yecheng, and I hope Brother Shen will open the city and surrender with the sake of the common people..."

These words touched the minds of the soldiers defending the city, everyone was sad, two of them with shallow eye sockets wept on the spot.Seeing this scene, the examiner couldn't help being terrified—it doesn't seem easy to want to die for the Yuan family.The bows and arrows have been shot, and the rolling logs and rocks are gone. Now the city is defended with bricks and tiles removed from the houses and the corpses of soldiers.As long as Cao's army stormed for a few more days, the city would definitely fall, but they refused to attack, and they didn't bother to spend their troops. They only needed to use hunger and fear as weapons.The sense of despair is like a terrible typhoid fever, once it germinates, it will spread rapidly. The soldiers who vowed to defend the Yuan family were infected. Every day, people fell to the city and surrendered, while Simpi, Dong Zhao, Xu You and others are still trying to recruit them. Rebel.People will always have a desire to survive.If things go on like this, mutiny is bound to happen... What should I do?What to do?

Shen Pei gritted his teeth, and suddenly shouted: "Shut up! Don't be so hypocritical, are you pleading for the people of Yecheng? You are doing it for your relatives, but for your own selfishness!" He shook his face and scolded the soldiers, " Come here! Take the Xin family to the city for me!" Hearing this, Simpi's color suddenly changed: "You, what are you going to do?" "What are you doing? Hehehe..." The judge laughed horribly, "I want you to experience the fate of treachery and betrayal!" Seeing his smile, Simpi was terrified: "You, if you dare to touch a hair on them, I will not spare you when the city is destroyed!"

"Hahaha..." The judge looked up to the sky and laughed, "I didn't intend to live at all!" Their quarrel alarmed Cao Ying, and many soldiers surrounded them.But for a while, the city tower was crowded with people, old and young, men and women, all wearing chains and crying.The judge said madly: "Xin Zuozhi, I congratulate you, your married wife has starved to death in prison!" Hearing these heart-piercing words, Simpi was deeply moved. For more than ten years, the husband and wife have been loving each other, but she never thought that she would not see her for the last time until she died... Before he could recover, he saw that the interrogator had arrested a middle-aged woman and held her To the top of the parapet—it is the wife of his elder brother Xin Ping.The woman was so frightened that she burst into tears, she leaned on the wall and watched her brother weeping.

"Sister-in-law!" Simpi yelled hoarsely and his veins burst out, "Shen Zhengnan, what are you madman trying to do!" "What do I want to do? Hahaha..." The judge's two eyes were filled with ferocious light, and he waved his hands lightly at the soldiers beside him - but seeing a flash of cold light, the woman's head fell into the city. "Sister-in-law..." Simpi patted his saddle in hatred, and saw an old man being pushed by a soldier in the city, "Master Uncle! Please stay here quickly..." Before he finished speaking, the white-haired head had already fallen off down. "Ah..." Simpi yelled and fell off his horse, crawled to the edge of the city in embarrassment, hugged the bloody head and cried bitterly, "Uncle...I want to avenge you..." The judge laughed maniacally: "Are you looking for revenge from me? Stupid, stupid, if you hadn't betrayed the land of Hebei, how could you have decapitated them?" He originally wanted to prevent the soldiers from surrendering by killing people, but at this moment Tangled by a strong sense of venting hatred, his behavior became more and more distorted.Seeing this scene, all the family members in the city knew that the end was approaching. The adults cried and the children made noises, and some people wanted to escape but were firmly held down and unable to move.The perpetrators were all judges' private parts. Not only Cao soldiers under the city were heartbroken, but even the defenders on the city were frightened by this cruel scene. Many people turned their heads and dared not look at it again. The judge gave a slap in the face to a crying soldier beside him: "Open your eyes and let me see clearly, this is what happens when you turn your back on your master and surrender to the enemy! Then kill me!" Concubine, put your head against the crenellation of the female wall, and it's a knife without a word. The head of the warm, fragrant and jade-like beauty fell to the ground, and Xin Pi was in so much pain that he cried faintly while holding the blood-stained head.When I was sad, I heard another muffled crashing sound. Looking back, my nephew, who was only four or five years old, was thrown into the city alive.Looking up again, the judge lifted up his two-year-old son again. Simpi was so frightened that he didn't dare to curse anymore, knelt on the ground and kowtowed: "Don't touch my son... let him go! Let him go... ...I beg you, please!" "I spared him? Why didn't you spare Yuan Shi? Hahaha..." The judge threw the child to the bottom of the city, and then laughed wildly, the shrill voice was like crying. Xin Pi scrambled and rushed over, picked up the fallen child and looked at it, the stomach was broken and he died long ago.Father and son were heartbroken by nature, he cried until his heart broke, and shouted up to the sky: "Jian Zhengnan, you are a beast! Why are the Yuan brothers fighting with me and my Xin family... Don't be arrogant, you kill my wife and children , I will kill your wife, children and children when the city is broken!" "Hahaha... woo woo woo..." The judge couldn't tell whether he was laughing or crying, "Kill my wife and children? My two sons were captured by Cao Jun when they were in Guandu. You can ask Cao thief where they were killed. Let's go! As for the wives and concubines, I have already killed them all, and their meat has been shared with the soldiers! Hahaha... woo woo woo...Keep killing! Kill!" Human heads fell down the tower in twos and threes like dumplings, and Xin Pi hugged one and the other, blood was splashed all over his body, and in the end the corpses were all over the place but he couldn't identify them, so he just fell on the ground and cried like a dead man.In order to save his relatives from abandoning the Yuan family, unexpectedly, the whole family died tragically.The judge's throat rattled, and he laughed so hard: "I still want to kill my wife and children, my family is ruined long ago... Hahaha..." No matter whether the soldiers in the city or the city, they have been born and died several times, but no one has witnessed such a thing. The tragedy of human relations, they all lowered their heads and covered their ears, unable to bear to watch and listen again. In a blink of an eye, dozens of people were killed by the sword, and even Xin's family slaves were not spared. In the end, only Simpi's fourteen-year-old daughter was left, whose maiden name was Xianying.Shen Pei knew this girl, when she was in contact with the Xin family, she once praised the girl for being smart.Now he wants to put her to death with his own hands.Seeing that the ground was full of bloody cavities, Xin Xianying couldn't care less about being sad, and shivered with fright.Still unrelenting, the judge picked her up and lifted her over the parapet to show Simpi.But he saw that Simpi had passed out from crying, and was carried back to the camp by several soldiers. The judge seemed a little disappointed, stopped laughing suddenly, touched Xianying's cheek and said softly: "What a beautiful girl, it's a pity that she caught up with this world and was born in the Xin family. Your mother and the others are dead. I don’t want to leave you to suffer in this world, so I’ll send you to see them.” Then he drew out his sword and wanted to kill the girl with his own hands. "Stop!" A shout resounded through the enemy building, everyone raised their eyes and saw a person walking up to the city with bloodstains.In his thirties, about eight feet tall, with a face like a silver basin, eyes like stars, and a curly beard, the person who came was Cui Yan (yan), who once served as the captain of cavalry under Yuan Shao's command. Cui Yan, whose courtesy name is Jigui, is a descendant of a prominent family in Qinghe. In his early years, he was also trained by Zheng Xuan, a master of Confucian classics, and he belonged to the same family as Xi Xi and Guoyuan.After Yuan Shao's death, the two sons competed for the position. Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang tried every means to draw him to their side.Cui Yan was in a dilemma, resigned from office and simply refused to do it, who knew that the brothers could neither provoke nor hide, and Yuan Shang threw him into prison in a fit of anger. Living in Yecheng, he is already a commoner. The judge slowly let go of the child, and glanced at him expressionlessly: "What are you doing here? Who let you up here?" He knew Cui Yan was a righteous man, so there was no sense of resentment in his words. Cui Yan took out a token from his waist and shook it: "I came here on Madam's order, ordering you to pardon the Xin brothers and family!" Yuan Shao's wife and Yuan Shang's mother Liu were also trapped in the city. He was taken aback by wanting to kill Xin's family - if he was allowed to do such a thing, would Yuan's family be able to survive when the city was destroyed in the future?Hurry up and send someone to ask Cui Yan to come out and stop it. Seeing him coming for this purpose, the judge giggled with fingers all over the dead bodies: "It's all here..." "This, this, this, alas!" Cui Yan sighed, "Look at what you have done... Hurry up and collect their corpses into a coffin." "Hmph! I don't know if someone will collect the corpse for me. I will also collect the corpse for others." The trial partner spat. Cui Yan saw him looking like he was going to burn everything, so he hurriedly said in a lecture tone: "Listen, the mistress asked me to talk to you..." "What else is there to talk about? You go back and tell the mistress that I have decided to live and die with Yecheng, and I will not fail the kindness of the first master. Don't say any other useless words." The judge had already guessed that the woman With a greedy heart, seeing that there is no hope of saving soldiers, it is likely that they have the idea of ​​​​surrendering and living. Cui Yan sternly asked, "Jian Zhengnan, are you still awake?" The judge stared blankly at Cao Bing in the city, and after a long time, he murmured: "I also know that the matter is irreversible, but it's not easy for the first master to start a business. How can you have a half-day leisure after fighting in Hebei for many years? But now..." He once He choked up, and then forced out a bleak smile, "The young master led the rescue, and Cao Cao killed him without even seeing his shadow. Hehehe... It's over... But even if the situation is gone, I don't want to let it go Stealing life. I interrogated someone and was treated favorably by the predecessor, so I can only fight to the death to repay my kindness!" Unexpectedly, after hearing his confession from the bottom of his heart, Cui Yan not only was not moved, but instead sneered contemptuously: "If you want to be martyrdom, I will never stop you, but what is the crime of the Xin clan that you slaughtered? The people in the city What's the crime? There have been enough dead people in the past six months, do you want to drag the rest of the people to accompany you to be buried? Don't forget that the wife and the lord's family are still in the city. You want to achieve the name of loyalty, Aren't you afraid that women and children will be killed?" From the judge's point of view, all of this seems to be a matter of course, but he just said indifferently: "In the past, Tian Heng was martyred for Qi, and more than five hundred people died. No one ridiculed him for being stubborn, but he is a martyr of the generation! What's the point of doing filial piety for your son? If I kill Xin's whole family, I'll kill him for being disloyal and unfilial!" "It's a good one to be filial to his wife and filial to his son!" Cui Yan sneered more and more, "Before the first anniversary of the death of the First Lord, Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang brothers turned against each other and fought against each other. Cao Cao got married; Yuan Shang persecuted his brother hard, but he was as scared as a mouse when he met Cao Cao. The enemy could not do his best to save the city left by his father, and put his biological mother in danger. Do you still expect them to be dutiful sons? Why don't you kill them for being disloyal and unfilial?" The judge was at a loss for words for a moment, and after a long silence, he said again: "I don't care if they are filial sons or not, but I will be a loyal minister!" "Loyal minister? I think you are trying to gain fame, and you want to win the name of a martyr with your death!" This sentence was digging into the pain of the interrogation, he gave Cui Yan a stern look, but endured without attacking: "Whatever you say, I am determined to live and die with Yecheng, you don't want to be troublesome as a commoner. People! Coax this man who talks about military plans to the city, and if he dares to come again, he will be killed!" "I have a great order from my mistress, who dares to..." Before Cui Yan finished speaking, the token was snatched away by the judge, and he threw it down the city: "What I say here counts, they are all dying, why do you listen to orders? Get down!" Two personal soldiers held Cui Yan's arms and pushed back, but he shouted: "Judging, judging, you have committed three major crimes. Even if you die, you will only be laughed at forever, and you will not fulfill your reputation as a loyal minister!" "Wait a minute!" The examiner slammed his fire upwards, and raised his sword to stare at Cui Yan. "Tell him to finish his speech. I want to hear what crimes I'm guilty of. I've killed so many people, and I'm not ashamed." It doesn't matter if there's more than one." Cui Yan, who is not afraid of death, stepped on the dead body and walked to the judge, and let the sword pointed at his chest, pointing at the judge's nose and shouted: "The fourth and third princes of the Yuan family have received the country's grace, the first lord The purpose of raising troops is to benefit the world and relieve the suffering of the people. You kill innocent people indiscriminately for the sake of your own name, and you disregard the lives of the people. What kind of loyal ministers are you talking about? This dangerous incident has caused a catastrophe, and the entire family of the Yuan family will die with you. If you can't save the lord's wife and family, what kind of loyal ministers are you talking about? This is the second crime!" The judge couldn't listen to these words at all, he gritted his teeth, and put the sword on Cui Yan's neck, as if he was going to kill him after he finished speaking: "Okay, how dare you say this third case? sin?" "Of course I want to say it!" Cui Yan said without fear, "The reason why Hebei is what it is today is because of your surname Judgment. You are responsible for ruining the country. What face do you have to call yourself a loyal minister?" "Spoken nonsense!" The examiner grabbed Cui Yan by the collar, "I have served two generations of lords with all my heart, how can I ruin Hebei's foundation!" "You are so forgetful!" Cui Yan pushed his hand away, "If you and Guo Tu hadn't each had a master and killed each other, how could Hebei have fallen into this situation? The master wants you to help Yuan Shang recuperate, but there is no such thing as Tell you to sow right and wrong and rule out dissidents! Do you think those who surrendered are wretched, but how much better are you than them? The country is ruined and the family is in danger, don’t you know what you did wrong! If you meet the former Lord again in the future, what will happen See him face to face!" clang!There was a burst of horror in the trial match, and the sword fell to the ground.He took two steps back and leaned against the wall, staring into a pair of terrified eyes, shaking his head constantly: "No... No... I did this for the stability of Hebei, and I wrote a letter to Yuan Tan, Advise him to stop and reconcile as brothers, and ask Li Fu to hand it over to him with his own hands..." Cui Yan didn't allow him to quibble: "The big mistake has already been made, and the remedy is only when the disaster is imminent. It's too late! Abolish the great taboo of the elders and establish the young country. Back then, you shouldn't have encouraged the former master to go against the law. You have committed a serious crime and it is not enough to die. Unfortunately, it is pity to hope for the name of loyalty, but to ask innocent people to suffer with you, isn't this wrong and wrong?" The examiner lowered his head heavily, as if regretting it, but he was stubborn by nature, and then he gritted his teeth and said: "Come on! It doesn't matter if you are a loyal minister, death is not a pity. A wrong step is a mistake, and it is a mistake to lose everything." What's the use of regret? The soldiers listened to the order and prepared firewood for me to accumulate firewood in the most important places in the city. If Cao's army invaded and set fire immediately, we must not leave a tile for Cao's bandits." Cui Yan's attitude towards people was tough enough, and the trial Matching is not only hard but also ruthless. "No!" The minions of the dead soldiers led away. Cui Yan couldn't stop him from blocking from left to right, so he cursed anxiously: "Knowing that I made a mistake and didn't repent, it's really the work of a lone husband and a traitor!" "I also recognize the Dufu Min thief, anyway, I want to deal with the Cao thief to the end!" After saying that, the examiner picked up his sword, regained his fierce look, grabbed Xin Xianying's neck and was about to kill him.At this time, I suddenly heard a commotion outside the city. Looking down, I saw Cao Jun rushing out of his camp, and countless banners rushed to the east. I'm back!" He actually had childish expectations from this. How could Yuan Shang be defeated and come back? Some soldiers ran up the tower in a panic: "The big thing is not good. The guards at the east gate opened the gate to let Cao Jun in!" The reviewer was buzzing in his head—it's over! Just as she was stunned, she felt a pain in her left hand, Xiao Xianying bit him hard, and fled away with her arm free.The soldiers in the city suddenly heard about the great change. Some of them took off their war robes, some of them threw their weapons, and they scattered for their lives. The children disappeared in the crowd. Cui Yan didn't know whether to cry or laugh, and murmured: "War, fight, fight every month, every year! Don't even forget why you fight until the end. Whether it's life or death, Brother Zhengnan is up to you, I I have to go back to the shogunate, and I will rely on Cao Mengde to protect the people of Hebei from now on. Let’s do our own thing and take care of each other..." He gave a deep bow to the judge, and staggered away. "It's finally over..." The examiner was stunned for a moment, but gradually felt relieved, and calmly said to the left and right, "Is there any loyal person willing to die with me?" The lord escaped without a trace, and all the soldiers dared not run away because of the prestige of the judge. Now that Cao Jun has come in, everyone can take the opportunity to be relieved and go to take care of their wives and children. How can they care about him?The soldiers dispersed in all directions, leaving only dozens of Shen's trilogy, and one of the family generals shouted: "Brothers are not as good as pigs and dogs on the wall, I don't care about the Yuan family's affairs! But we disciples eat and drink Shen's family. Dear family, the examiner has shown great kindness to us. Since my lord is willing to die for Yuan Shi, we are also willing to die for you!" "Okay!" The examiner raised his breath and cheered up, "You will be loyal to me!" All the disciples shouted sadly with their weapons in hand, rushed down the enemy building and rushed into Cao's formation against the flow of fleeing people...