The first thousand and ninetieth chapters meet outside the city
Wei Xun was sent to Luoyang by Kai Xiao to be a hostage. As a result, he was sentenced to castration for his unruly behavior towards Yin Lihua, and has been under house arrest ever since.
Now he was summoned to Hanyang by Liu Xiu, thinking that he would finally have a chance to escape the sea of suffering and return to his father. But what he didn't expect was that this time, he would step into the gate of hell.
After Wei Xun arrived in Hanyang, Liu Xiu met him in the military camp. When Wei Xun saw Liu Xiu, his face turned pale, he hurriedly knelt down, kowtowed forward, and stammered: "Wei Weichen pays homage to your majesty!"
Liu Xiu lowered his head and looked at Wei Xun, but did not speak immediately. In the past, he might have had a good impression of Wei Xun, but since that incident, Liu Xiu didn't want to see this person for a second time.
After waiting for a while, he said slowly: "Kui Xun, now your father has colluded with Gongsun Shu and made enemies of the Han Dynasty. What do you have to say?"
Wei Xun was shaken and said hurriedly: "Your Majesty, my father must have been bewitched by a traitor to do such a treasonous act. I hope your Majesty can be accommodating and spare my father."
As the eldest son of Kai Xiao, Kai Xun was also a handsome, noble, cynical and condescending dandy back then.
But now, Wei Xun still looks like he used to. He looks one to twenty years older. His whole body is unhealthy and thin, his cheeks are sunken, and he has no energy.
Liu Xiu said: "Whether Wei Xiao is dead or alive, and whether you, Wei Xun, are dead or alive, it all depends on you now. If you can persuade Wei Xiao to give up resistance and surrender, then Wei Xiao can live, and so can you."
If you can't convince Wei Xiao and he still persists in his stubbornness and resists, Wei Xiao will die and you won't survive."
Wei Xun took a deep breath and hurriedly kowtowed forward again, his body trembling non-stop.
Liu Xiu said: "Now, it depends on how much weight you have in Kai Xiao's mind."
"..." Wei Xun didn't dare to answer, his forehead was on the ground and he didn't dare to lift it.
On the same day, Liu Xiu led his army and set off for Xicheng.
Upon hearing the news of Liu Xiu's arrival, Wu Han and Cen Peng, who were fighting here during the Western Expedition, led their troops to welcome him.
After entering the Han army camp, Liu Xiu asked: "Ziyan, Junran, how is the war in Xicheng now?"
Wu Han and Cen Peng looked at each other and lowered their heads. During this period, their battle was not going smoothly.
The Long army in Xicheng City has a tenacious fighting spirit and fierce resistance. Rongqiu, the guard city of Xicheng, is also extremely difficult to defeat. In the past few days, the Han army has continuously attacked Xicheng and Rongqiu. There have been many casualties among the soldiers, but they have not been able to make any progress.
.
Seeing that neither of them said a word, Liu Xiu nodded and said, "When I went to Xicheng this time, I also brought Wei Xun with me."
Hearing this, Wu Han and Cen Peng were startled at first, and then their eyes lit up. Wei Xun was the eldest son of Kai Xiao, and he was the most valued son of Kai Xiao. With Wei Xun in their hands, they had no worries about whether Wei Xiao would succeed or not.
Submit obediently.
Wu Han was overjoyed and said: "Your Majesty, we can bring Wei Xun to the front of the two armies tomorrow, and use Wei Xun to threaten Wei Xiao and surrender the city!"
Soldiers are cunning. No matter whether the means are despicable or not, as long as they can win and reduce the casualties of their own soldiers, then no matter how despicable the means are, they are still good tactics.
Cen Peng also nodded repeatedly and said: "Tiger poison cannot eat its seeds! Now that Wei Xun is in the hands of our army, Wei Xiao has to be worried."
Liu Xiu also considered this. He nodded and said, "Tomorrow, I will make an appointment with Wei Xiao out of the city to meet him!"
"This..." Wu Han and Cen Peng looked at each other and said solemnly: "Your Majesty, I'm afraid Wei Xiao doesn't dare to leave the city!"
Liu Xiu smiled calmly and said: "As the commander-in-chief of the entire army and the dignified 'King Shuoning', if Wei Xiao doesn't even have this courage, how can he convince the public?"
Wu Han and Cen Peng thought for a while and realized that this was also the case. They nodded together and reminded them sternly: "Your Majesty wants to make an appointment with Wei Xiao, so you need to be more careful!"
The next day, Liu Xiu, accompanied by Wu Han and Cen Peng, came to the front of Xicheng with a large group of Han troops. When he arrived at Xicheng, Liu Xiu raised his eyes to take a look.
There is no moat in the West City, but a wide trench is dug outside the city wall. Inside the trench are erected bamboo sticks and sharp wooden stakes of all sizes. If a person falls in, he will be penetrated in an instant.
This trench basically functioned as a moat, and was even more threatening than the moat, creating huge trouble for the Han army's siege.
Liu Xiu squinted his eyes, knocked the horse's belly hard with both feet, and urged the horse to walk out of his camp.
Wu Han, Cen Peng, Yao Qi, Ji Zun, and Lai She generals followed one after another. Around them, there were more than a thousand carefully selected elite men, each of them holding a half-human hand.
How tall is the long, heavy shield.
When Liu Xiu and others were slowly approaching the front of the west city, the heavy shield soldiers formed a large shield formation in front of them to prevent the enemy troops on top of the city from firing arrows.
When he was still eighty steps away from the west city, Liu Xiu tightened the reins of his horse, stopped, and said to his left and right: "Go to the city and shout to ask Wei Xiao to come out and see me."
A soldier stepped in and responded, urging his horse to march straight towards the city wall. When he was still thirty or forty steps away from the city wall, an arrow suddenly flew down from the top of the city and nailed it to the ground in front of him.
superior.
The Han soldier halted his horse, raised his eyes to the top of the city, and shouted loudly: "Your Majesty is here. Wei Xiao comes out of the city to meet you!"
He yelled three times in a row before a response came from the top of the city: "Wait a minute -"
The defenders on the city didn't dare to delay, so they sent people to the palace to report the news to Kai Xiao.
In the past few days, Wei Xiao has not gotten out of bed, and his health has been getting worse and worse. He has reached the point where he has run out of fuel and is completely relying on the elixir of the golden elixir to survive.
Hearing that Liu Xiu wanted to see him, Wei Xiao slowly sat up from the bed with the help of his attendants.
His eyes were distracted, his arms were stiff and he picked up a bamboo slip from his side, and said in a weak voice: "Wang Yuan sent a letter, saying that he was going to Shu to ask for help from Gongsun Shu. Has he... arrived in Chengdu?
?”
Everyone present looked at each other in shock, and no one said anything. The king is confused! Wang Yuan sent a letter to ask the king for permission to go to Chengdu for help, but the king's approval has not yet been issued, so how could Wang Yuan dare to leave Ji privately?
city?
No one dared to speak. Jin Dan took a step forward, approached Kaixiao, and whispered: "Your Majesty, General Wang is still in Jicheng!"
"He came back from Chengdu?"
"He...General Wang hasn't gone to Chengdu yet."
"Why not go?"
"The king has not yet allowed him to go to Chengdu!"
Wei Xiao's dim and dull old eyes slowly looked at Jin Dan. After a while, he said: "Let him go!" As he spoke, he slowly put down the bamboo slips, then supported his body with both hands, making a gesture.
Get out of bed.
"Your Majesty, what are you..."
"Don't Liu Xiu want to meet me outside the city? Even if I don't go to see him, I still have to go to the top of the city to take a look." An attendant hurriedly helped him up and said to the attendants around him: "Quickly change the clothes of the king.
!”
With many attendants waiting on him, Wei Xiao dressed neatly and rode a carriage to the head of the East City.
Since the beginning of the Battle of West City, this was the first time that Wei Xiao had gone up to the city wall. The appearance of Wei Xiao made the defenders on the top of the city cheer with joy and call them "Your Majesty."
With the support of his attendants, Wei Xiao walked up the city wall and waved to the surrounding Long Army officers and soldiers.
When he reached the city gate tower, Kai Xiao held his arrow stack in his hand and looked out. Sure enough, he saw a group of Han troops outside the city, probably about a thousand people, each holding a heavy shield. Among these Han soldiers
, there were several people on horseback.
As for whether Liu Xiu is among them, Kai Xiao can no longer tell clearly.
He watched for a while, hunched over, glanced left and right, and asked, "Who wants to go out of the city on my behalf to meet Liu Xiu?"
With his current physical condition, it is impossible for him to go out of the city to meet Liu Xiu. Having said that, even if he is not sick, he will not go out of the city to meet Liu Xiu. In Kai Xiao's mind, Liu Xiu is a sinister and despicable person.
villain.
Wei Xiao asked for a while, but when no one answered, an unnatural blush appeared on his face, which was because he was angry.
He was about to ask again when a middle-aged man stepped forward, bowed his hand to Kai Xiao and said, "Your Majesty, I am willing to go."
The middle-aged man who took the initiative to volunteer was not an ordinary person. His name was Zheng Xing, with the courtesy name Shaogan, and he was in charge of offering wine.
Zheng Xing was a famous academic master at that time and even in history. He was the most proficient in "Zuo Zhuan" and made great achievements. He formed his own school.
Starting from the Eastern Han Dynasty, more than 80% of the academic research on "Zuo Zhuan" came from Zheng Xing's school.
Zheng Xing and Jia Kui, another great master, were collectively called Zheng Jia. Their academic school was known as Zheng Jia's School in history and was passed down to generations.
Wei Xiao had surrendered to Liu Xiu very early and regarded himself as a Han minister. He had been running Liangzhou for so many years and had indeed gathered a large number of talented people under his command.
As an academic master, Zheng Xing was not the most outstanding among the ministers under Kai Xiao, which shows that Kai Xiao had a strong talent reserve.
Seeing that it was Zheng Xing who had come out to ask for the imperial tassel, Wei Xiao's expression softened a little. He reminded meaningfully: "Shao Gan, Liu Xiu is cunning and sinister. When you go out of the city to see him, be sure to be careful and don't fall into his trap."
trick."
Zheng Xing cupped his hands and said, "I obey my orders."
Speaking of which, Zheng Xing and Wang Zun have a very good relationship, but anyone who has a good relationship with Wang Zun is willing to be a Han minister from the bottom of his heart, and Zheng Xing is no exception.
It can be said that Wei Xiao was a shrewd man for most of his life. The only stupid thing he ever did was to seek refuge with Gongsun Shu.
This caused a large number of ministers under Wei Xiao to alienate him. Otherwise, with the talent reserve under Wei Xiao, Liu Xiu's Luoyang court would definitely be able to achieve great results.
Zheng Xing left the city and met Liu Xiu. Liu Xiu was surrounded by more than a thousand Han soldiers. When Zheng Xing left the city, he did not bring any soldiers. He met Liu Xiu alone, riding a horse.
.
Wei Xiao did not dare to go out of the city to see him, Liu Xiu was not surprised, but Liu Xiu was a little surprised to learn that the person who came to meet him was Zheng Xing.
Liu Xiu was naturally no stranger to the name Zheng Xing. He was a master of academics and a world-famous scholar-bureaucrat.
When Liu Xiu met with Zheng Xing, he was very polite and treated him with great courtesy. Zheng Xing's heart was originally inclined to the Han Dynasty, but now that his majesty treated him with such courtesy, he was even more moved.
He bowed to Liu Xiu and said, "I have admired Your Majesty for a long time. Today I can see Your Majesty and witness Your Majesty's grace with my own eyes. I will die with peace of mind!"
Upon hearing this, Liu Xiu was surprised and happy, and said: "I have admired Mr. Zheng for a long time. Mr. Zheng will be fine soon."
"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Zheng Xing straightened up. Liu Xiu looked at him carefully. Zheng Xing looked to be in his forties, not even fifty. Although he was a little older, he was very energetic.
His eyes are brighter and his expression is full of energy.
Liu Xiu asked with a smile: "Kai Xiao didn't dare to go out of the city to meet me, so he sent Mr. Zheng here?" When he said this, Liu Xiu's expression was somewhat arrogant.
Zheng Xing bowed and said seriously: "It's not that your Majesty doesn't dare to go out of the city to see His Majesty, it's because your Majesty is seriously ill and can't go out of the city to see His Majesty!"
He respected Liu Xiu as the emperor, but he still addressed Wei Xiao as "King". Now he was still Wei Xiao's minister after all, and he would not treat his monarch like one thing on the surface or another behind his back.
Through this, it is not difficult to see Zheng Xing's temperament.