The spring of the eighth year of Jingtai passed in a flash. In these three months, Beiliang fought several great victories on the border, and its morale reached its peak, while the Yan army was in despair. With the arrival of Mu Yunhuan's reinforcements, the Yan army

The army became more confident, and the war returned to the previous stalemate stage.

As for the Liaodong battlefield, Zhou Weiran and Wanyan Bi still made no achievements. Luoyun City and the entire Yunjin defense line were impregnable, and more than 100,000 Yan troops fell into a hard and fierce battle with the Liaodong infantry.

The easternmost Pinghan Road was relatively quiet. The Chang family and Ulan Bals would take the initiative to attack when they thought of it. Basically, the thunder was loud and the raindrops were light, and no large-scale war broke out.

In addition to the raging war in northern Xinjiang, fighting between the rebels and officers and soldiers in southern Xinjiang was even fiercer.

At present, there are only a few peaceful states and counties south of the Canglong River. There are small groups of rebels running around in most of them. They will change places after a battle, leaving the officers and soldiers exhausted.

However, these petty thefts did not worry the court, and everyone's attention was still on the front line.

The most important battlefield among them is naturally the line of Changcheng, the capital of Jiuchang Road.

Yuwen Chenghua, Minister of the Ministry of War, personally led the troops on the front line and had nearly 150,000 officers and soldiers under his command.

On a vast battlefield with a width of nearly a hundred miles from east to west and composed of seven or eight cities, the government troops and rebels fought back and forth, causing many casualties.

After Shangguan Taiqing left, Yuwen Chenghua continued to fight and recruit troops, and hundreds of people lost their lives every day.

Although the imperial court was heartbroken by the food and salary consumed by such a large-scale battle, the Shangguan faction was holding their noses and waiting for the day when Yuwen Chenghua's military power would be completely taken away.

But what surprised them was that giving Yu Wen Chenghua one year to put down the rebellion was obviously overestimating him. The Minister of War's defeat came faster than everyone expected~

…

The night was dark, and six or seven figures gathered in an inconspicuous barracks in Changcheng. There were two sturdy guards patrolling back and forth outside the camp gate. Their sharp eyes scanned the surrounding darkness, paying attention to any disturbance. It was obvious that the tent

What confidential matters are discussed internally.

Inside the tent, four or five men in somewhat old military uniforms were staring at the two figures in the middle. These men were all centurions in the army. They were not high-ranking officials. They were just promoted temporarily to make up the numbers.

They all have one thing in common, that is, they were all honest farmers who were forcibly recruited by the government after the war started. With so many officers and soldiers expanded, Yuwen Chenghua did not have so many officers to arrange them, so he

From these people, some capable and capable people were selected to serve as centurions.

One of the two people in the middle was an acquaintance of theirs, who was also a centurion, and the other one they had never met before.

A man in his thirties spoke first: "Old Dong, what do you mean by calling the brothers over? I don't think I've seen this guy before."

To be honest, the government and the army did not allow them to gather in large numbers in private. They came here today and risked being beheaded.

The man named Dong Mu chuckled and said: "Calling everyone here is naturally a matter of life and death. As for this person's identity, let him introduce himself."

Upon hearing that it was a matter of life and death, these people all had expressions of doubt on their faces, but they all still focused their attention on the strange man.

The strange man smiled slightly, bowed his hands towards the crowd and said, "Everyone, you are polite. I am Zhuang Qing, the messenger of King Huai! I have the faith to meet all of you heroes. It is a blessing in my life!"

The young man had a gentle smile on his face. He was specially sent by Chen Tiansheng for this trip. Zhuang Qing, like Ling Gong, was also a scholar, so he looked a bit effeminate at first glance.

When they heard the words "King Huai", everyone's expressions suddenly changed and they stood up immediately. One person even lowered his voice and shouted: "Dong Mu, if you want to die, don't drag us with you. Collaboration with the enemy is a serious crime for the Nine Clan! You kid!"

I really ate the heart of a bear and the courage of a leopard!”

"Sit down, please keep your voice down if you don't want to be heard by the officers and soldiers!" Dong Mu, who was smiling just now, also became stern: "I'm doing it for everyone's good, you really want to work here for the officers and soldiers.

!"

There was an eerie silence in the tent. Several centurions looked at you, you looked at me, and finally they all sat down obediently.

Dong Mu said softly: "Several old brothers, although we have known each other for a short time, we have been friends for a long time on the battlefield. I, Dong Mu, will not speak secretly. I have made up my mind and led my troops to join King Huai. I turned against him.

Fucking officers and soldiers!”

Several people's expressions froze and they looked at each other. They did not expect that Dong Mu, who was usually honest and kind, would say such treasonous words.

"Brothers, how long has it been since we were paid? Oh, we have to fight hard and deadly battles, but we can't pay and eat food to those old soldiers? How can there be such a reason in the world! Don't pretend to me here, who doesn't have it in your heart?

I'm against it, but I just don't dare to do such a thing. Today I, Dong Mu, will take the lead. If you follow me, brothers will still have a way to survive!"

The tent continued to be quiet, and several people's faces began to struggle, while King Huai's messenger Zhuang Qing said with a smile: "We are all poor people, why bother ourselves? Follow King Huai and you will have food.

, you have a life to live, and those who don’t want to fight can leave at any time. Let’s all share the money we grabbed from the rich man’s house, okay?”

Zhuang Qing's words were very straightforward. He didn't make any big principles. He just told everyone simply and clearly that if you follow King Huai, you will have something to eat.

There was silence in the tent for a long time, and finally someone said solemnly: "There are seventy or eighty thousand officers and soldiers in the city. What can we do with just a few people like us?"

"Haha~"

Zhuang Qing smiled disdainfully: "King Huai has gathered hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses outside the city. With a single order, Changcheng will be destroyed, and everyone will die in vain."

Everyone trembled in their hearts, it turned out that the yellow shirt army outside the city had become so powerful.

"Dare you ask this gentleman?"

A somewhat rough-looking man raised his hand awkwardly: "Is there really a way to survive if I surrender to Prince Huai? I just want to go home and see my wife and children."

"certainly."

Zhuang Qing nodded affirmatively: "Who doesn't have a family? If you take Changcheng, you can go home, and King Huai will give you money!"

Everyone immediately started talking quietly, looking quite excited. They had not wanted to fight this battle for a long time.

"Bang bang bang."

Dong Mu patted the table gently and said, "Just give me a nice word, do you do it, or don't you do it?"

Everyone hesitated for a moment, then nodded in unison: "Done!"

"Haha, you are all smart people. You will know how correct this choice is in the future." Zhuang Qing smiled happily.

"What should we do?"
Chapter completed!