Luoyang, Liang Junzhongjun.
This place used to be one of the Seven Nobles of Luoyang, and was the former residence of Yuan Wendu, the internal history order. Yuan Wendu had been empty since he was killed by Wang Shichong. Now it has become the center of the Liang Army, where Qiu He, the general manager of Jiangzhou, stayed.
Coincidentally, both of them were awarded the title of Duke of Lu.
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The north has entered the midsummer season, and the sun hangs scorchingly in the sky without any cover, allowing people in Luoyang City to feel its unparalleled enthusiasm.
The general manager of Jiangzhou, led by General Zuo Xiaowei, Doctor Jiayin Qingguanglu, and Lu Guogong Qiu He, who was wearing thin clothes, sat on a stone chair. Behind him was an old tree, stretching out its branches and leaves with claws and teeth.
The sky casts patches of coolness on the ground.
Qiu He is nearly seventy years old, his beard and hair are all white, but he is still in good health, his voice is like a bell, he can eat and sleep, which is a typical sign of longevity.
He is a Xianbei native and his ancestral home is in Luoyang.
The Qiu family in Luoyang was not a big family, but Qiu He was in good health and had many descendants. He gave birth to fifteen sons alone, and including daughters, there were forty or fifty children.
If everyone in the world was like him, it wouldn't seem to matter if the war continued for a few more years...
From the humid Jiaozhou to the misty and rainy Jiangzhou, and then back north to his hometown of Luoyang, the pace changed a bit too quickly, which made this Luoyang native very uncomfortable.
Even in a shady place outdoors, the sweat was pouring out desperately. Manager Qiu kept wiping away the sweat, and his clothes became wet and stuck to his body. He felt very uncomfortable and at the same time, he lost a lot of his majesty.
The three aides working around him were also very uncomfortable, but they were young enough and could endure it, and were not as embarrassed as Mr. Qiu.
Only Gao Shilian, Sima of Jiangzhou, who joined the army, performed best. He was calm and naturally cool. Well, that's not right. It was because he was very cold because even if he left Xiangyang just one day late, he might have become a prisoner of the Tang army.
The Tang army's advance was too fast, beyond their imagination. The scouts sent by Liang Jun seemed to be in vain. Luoyang had almost just received the news that the Tang army had marched out of Hongnong, and the figures of the Tang army's cavalry had already appeared around Luoyang.
There is no news coming back from Mianchi, Yiyang and other places. It is estimated that even if they did not fall, they are not far off.
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Qiu He kept wiping his sweat with a cloth, looking very embarrassed and a little funny, but his furrowed brows and gloomy expression showed that he was in a bad mood.
His elder, Lu Baisui, was telling him about the current situation in Luoyang, which obviously couldn't be good news.
"There are more than 14,000 households in Luoyang, with a population of less than 30,000. Most of them are women and children. All the young and strong have been conscripted into the army. Most of them have died in the war. The old and the weak have also starved to death in the past two years.
, I sent someone to ask, and it seems that women and children were unable to travel long distances to follow Wang Shiyun to Kansai, so they all stayed behind.
Many of them are gathered around Hongyufang... It hasn't been long since the army entered the city, but many people have already been there... It seems that there is no need for relief..."
Several people had different expressions, but they had expected the tragic situation in Luoyang, but there were only a few women left who had low-level jobs and survived... It really made people have mixed feelings.
Apparently they had just arrived in Henan and did not have a deep enough understanding of the cruel scenes in Henan.
Especially Qiu He, the general manager of Jiangzhou, and Gao Shilian, the Sima of Jiangzhou. They were both born in Luoyang. Now that they have returned to their hometown, the feeling is almost as sharp as a cone.
Gao Shilian thought of his relatives who had disappeared. Even though he had expected it, he felt upset at this moment. He said harshly, "Wang Shichong, Li Mi and his people really deserve death."
In fact, what he really thinks is Yang Guang...and these people are already dead, and they can't hear a few words of curse...
Qiu He recalled the prosperity of Luoyang back then, the excitement when a large family celebrated his birthday, and the groups of relatives and friends who saw him off when he was sent to Jiaozhi.
People always like to reminisce when they get old, so faces appeared in his mind one after another, but he couldn't clearly see their old faces. Rao Shiqiuhe was very worried, so he sighed at this time.
"The prosperity of the past is gone..."
But this was not a good time to remember him, and he only felt a little emotional. As the commander of the army, his indifference took over. After some calculations, Qiu He actually felt a little relaxed.
There are not many small towns in Luoyang, so the food and grass in Luoyang can support more time.
Thinking of this, he asked casually, "How long can the army sustain with today's food and grass? Have you calculated it?"
Another staff member did not hesitate and opened his mouth to come, "Cang Cao reported that all the existing grain and grass can be stored in the warehouse. If we save more, it can be used by the army in April. If there is more time, I am afraid that the morale of the army will change."
After hearing this, several people fell silent.
Four months later... Winter has entered Luoyang. What will happen when food and grass are cut off? Everyone's hearts become heavy.
Will there be a shortage of food? It's not clear yet...
The Tang Army came as fast as lightning, and the first thing that would be cut off would be the army's food route. I just hope... that the Tang Army's cavalry would not be too many to pose a threat to the large army's food transport team.
At this time, Gao Shilian asked: "When did the last grain team from Chengxiu arrive?"
The staff member replied dryly: "One day ago, the food team was supposed to arrive today, but they didn't arrive. They must have returned to take a rest, right?"
In fact, it was not only the grain team that did not come, but also various detective reports about the Tang Army. It is conceivable that the losses of scouts from various departments of the army would be very serious. This was due to their serious underestimate of the combat power of the Tang Army. Obviously they had not yet arrived at this time.
Deeply aware of this.
They just felt that the Tang army arrived too quickly and disrupted their orderly battle plan.
Qiu He wiped his sweat again, and the attendant once again brought a cloth soaked in water, "I am ordering all the ministries to guard the city, and no one is allowed to enter or leave without our military orders."
Also, Shi Lian, send your confidants out of the city to the south to explore the situation in Xiangcheng County. The army's food route cannot be cut off. If there are not many enemies coming, it seems that the army must first ensure that the food route is open."
Gao Shilian responded in a muffled voice. Like Qiu He, he felt a little useless. The enemy's traces were revealed, and the army of more than 100,000 people felt like they were trapped in an isolated city. The blow to morale was immeasurable.
Qiu He had the same idea as him. After entering Luoyang, he still wanted to carefully organize the armies. Now it seems that the action will be accelerated...
While several people were talking, the commander of Qiu He's soldiers came over in a hurry. After a brief salute, he approached Qiu He and whispered in his ear for a while.
Qiu He nodded, and seemed to be sweating more. After a long time, he said in a deep voice: "Bring people here, there are no outsiders here."
A moment later, a soldier covered in dirt was brought in. He was wearing leather armor. In addition to dust, the leather armor was also stained with some blood. I don't know if it was his or someone else's. The sweat mixed with dirt stained his face.
Leaves a trail of traces.
This is obviously a scout who has experienced fighting and fleeing.
He performed a military salute from a distance, and Qiu He waved to him to come closer to speak, and then he walked over cautiously.
"Tell me what you found."
"Reporting to the general, following the order of General Qin, Liu Ying was leading twenty of us to scout in the direction of Mianchi. We encountered the enemy more than ten miles away from Mianchi. The villains fought desperately, but still could not escape. There were too many people.
They all rode horses and followed us for only a few miles before catching up..."
Perhaps recalling the scene at that time, he swallowed several mouthfuls of saliva in fear, his body trembled a little, and his voice trembled.
"Liu Yingzheng and the others were all killed in the battle, and the villain and several others were also pulled off their horses... After waiting there for a full day, someone brought a letter to the villain and let him go...
"
After speaking, he shook his head and took out a crumpled letter from his arms, and the attendant presented it to Qiu He.
Gao Shilian and others looked downcast. What kind of good news could it be to be brought back by the scouts who had been released? It was just to persuade everyone to surrender.
Qiu He lowered his head, looked down, and opened it easily. His brows turned into knots after just looking at the beginning.
This is a letter written by his eighth son, Qiu Xinggong. The first half of the letter is about family affairs, making this letter look more like a letter from home.
Qiu Xinggong followed Hou Junji to guard Hancheng. After surrendering to the Tang Dynasty, he was now serving as Sima of the Youxiao Guard Prefecture there. His eldest brother Qiu Shi was appointed as the General of the Zuo Prison Guards and went to Liangzhou with General Pang Yu.
His younger brother Qiu Xinggan worked in the Shaofu. Except for the three of them, the rest of the brothers had official positions. It can be said that except for the old father, everyone else seemed to be doing well, so that the father did not have to worry about matters at home.
Then... he was persuaded to surrender...
The Luoyang Qiu family all moved to Chang'an before Li Yuan came to power, which is clear evidence that the Luoyang clans have fled.
But this was really embarrassing. Qiu He grabbed the crumpled letter and didn't know what to do for a moment... He couldn't get angry, but he felt quite relieved in his heart.
Separated by the war, family letters have been cut off for a long time, and it is really heart-breaking for a large family to see no one alive or dead.
Especially after seeing with my own eyes the tragic situation in Luoyang today...
The news that his family is still well is undoubtedly great news for him, but as the general manager of Jiangzhou and the leader of the army, he cannot show any joy.
After reading it for a while, he became angry and tore the letter in his hand into pieces, "You thief, how dare you do this?"
He was furious and pointed at the scout and said sternly: "He surrendered to the enemy before the battle and dared to come back and disturb the morale of our army. Take him and kill him."
The scout who finally escaped back lost his head in confusion. Seeing the general's anger, several other people tried to persuade him, but they also knew the opportunity and stopped asking who wrote the letter and what was written.
After a long time, Qiu He calmed down from his "furious" state, looked around at the crowd and said: "Hey, you are using my family as a threat... What a despicable method, how can you make a hero bow down?"
Everyone understood as soon as they heard this, and they all began to praise the general manager for not being concerned about the safety of his relatives. As expected, Gao Shilian said so... Only Gao Shilian secretly sighed, the general manager's family went to Kansai, but where are my family members?
Will there be letters delivered to me in a few days? That would be great, and by then I will have torn them into pieces so that people can’t grasp anything...
This chapter has been completed!