Seeing Deng Feng flee south with his remnants, Liu Xiu judged that Deng Feng most likely wanted to escape to Xinye and regroup in Xinye. Xinye was Deng Feng's home base, and Liu Xiu would not give Deng Feng a chance to return to Xinye.
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Because of the obstruction of Jiantan's troops, Deng Feng's troops were forced to change their escape route and make a large circle. Liu Xiu sent Cen Peng with an army of 50,000 people to rush to Xinye to block Deng Feng's route to Xinye.
Liu Xiu guessed the actual situation correctly. Deng Feng planned to retreat to Xinye. However, Cen Peng led his army to enter Xinye first.
After arriving in Xinye, Cen Peng was also shocked by the tragic image of Xinye.
The bustling and bustling Xinye, the largest city in southern Nanyang back then, has long since disappeared without a trace, replaced by devastated buildings and ruins.
This is because Yan Guang has already led people to repair many buildings. Otherwise, the scene in Xinye will be even more miserable.
Seeing Xinye's appearance, Cen Peng couldn't help but sigh secretly. No wonder the people of Nanyang hated Wu Han so much. Wu Han indeed went too far when he was in Xinye.
Before Liu Xiu sent Cen Peng out, he specifically told him that after arriving in Xinye, he should do his best to help the people in the city and repair the buildings in the city.
Cen Peng kept Liu Xiu's instructions in mind. Not long after he led his army into the new field, Yan Guang came over. Seeing Yan Guang, Cen Peng was overjoyed. With a smile on his face, he bowed his hands and saluted, saying: "Mr. Yan!"
Yan Guang returned the salute and said: "General Cen!"
Yan Guang, who was in Xinye, also heard about some of the battles ahead and knew that Deng Feng was defeated in Duxiang. He asked: "General Cen came to Xinye this time to intercept Deng Feng?"
Cen Peng said seriously: "The first is to intercept Deng Feng, and the second is to repair Xinye. Your Majesty has always been thinking about Xinye and sent Peng here, hoping to restore Xinye to its original appearance as much as possible."
After hearing this, Yan Guang nodded happily and said, "That's great! With the help of General Cen's tens of thousands of soldiers, Xinye City will be restored to its original state and it will be just around the corner!"
Cen Peng suddenly thought of something, reached into his arms, took out a silk edict, handed it to Yan Guang, and said: "This is the edict given to Peng by His Majesty before Peng left."
Yan Guang hurriedly took the silk edict and read it carefully.
This edict is more like a letter of self-blame for Liu Xiu, taking all the blame for the destruction of Xinye City on himself. From beginning to end, only Wu Han, who actually destroyed Xinye and committed the massacre, was blamed.
Not mentioned.
Seeing this, Yan Guang couldn't help but secretly smile bitterly. Uncle Wen's character has never changed. He will spare no effort to protect the people he likes and appreciates. He would rather take the blame on himself than Wu Wu.
Han pushed it out.
At the back of the edict, there was compensation to Xinye, and all taxes in Xinye would be exempted within five years. After Yan Guang finished reading, Cen Peng said: "Your Majesty means to post this edict in Xinye. Peng feels that it is not very
That’s right!”
Cen Peng didn't think there was any problem with the following content, exempting taxes for five years, but the content at the beginning of the edict was simply the emperor's self-incriminating edict. Posting it in the form of a public notice in Xinye would too undermine the emperor's majesty.
Yan Guang thought for a while and said with a smile: "General Cen, just do what your Majesty wants!"
Under normal circumstances, the emperor would indeed not take all the blame on himself, but would blame it on his ministers, who would stand up as scapegoats.
But the actual situation is that the ministers made mistakes, and the emperor really has no responsibility at all? Does Wu Han's courage to massacre the city in Xinye really have nothing to do with the emperor's connivance towards him?
Therefore, there was no big problem when Liu Xiu promulgated the edict of sinners, but Yan Guang could not bear to understand that he did not mention Wu Han in the edict of sinners.
Cen Peng thought for a moment, nodded, and ordered his Majesty's edict to be transcribed on a notice and posted in a prominent place in Xinye.
Yan Guang said with deep relief: "If we want to restore Xinye to its original state, more people need to come to Xinye. Your Majesty exempts Xinye from taxes for five years. This will attract many people to settle in Xinye!"
Cen Peng sighed: "After such a long battle, not only Xinye, but also all parts of Nanyang are devastated. It is really heartbreaking to see!"
Yan Guang changed the topic and asked: "General Cen, what do you think your Majesty will do with Deng Feng?"
His words stunned Cen Pengwen. Now that Deng Feng had only been defeated and had not been captured alive by his own side, how could he deal with it?
Seeing his doubts, Yan Guang shook his head with a smile and said: "Your Majesty has a strong foundation. Even if you suffer one or two defeats, it will not have much impact on your Majesty. And Deng Feng's foundation is only in Nanyang County."
Even when he was at the height of his power, the foundation of the earth was very weak, and a single defeat was enough to make him irrecoverable and never have a chance to turn around."
Cen Peng looked at Yan Guang for a moment, burst out laughing, and said with admiration: "Although Mr. Yan is not in the army, he sees things very clearly!"
After a pause, he shook his head and said, "I don't know how Your Majesty will deal with Deng Feng. The key depends on what Deng Feng does."
Yan Guang asked: "What did General Cen say?"
Cen Peng said seriously: "Your Majesty has always been kind. If Deng Feng was willing to give up resistance and lead his troops to surrender, your Majesty would most likely spare him, at least not take his life. But if Deng Feng is stubborn, he will die."
If he carries it to the end..." At this point, he shook his head and said, "I'm afraid even the gods can't save him!"
After he finished speaking, Yan Guang fell into silence. After a long while, he said quietly: "I understand."
Next, Yan Guang led Cen Peng to get familiar with the current situation in Xinye City. He saw that many people in the city were yellow-faced and skinny from hunger. Cen Peng transferred food from the army and distributed it to the people in the city.
The day after Cen Peng led his troops to Xinye, spies came to report that Deng Fengzheng led the remaining troops to Xinye. When Cen Peng learned of this, he immediately led his 50,000 Han troops out of the city to form a battle posture.
Deng Feng's army and Cen Peng's army only had a small-scale fight outside Xinye City. Seeing that the Han army was outnumbered and had strong soldiers and horses, Deng Feng knew that he was outmatched and immediately ordered the entire army to retreat.
Deng Feng's army tried to escape back to Xinye, but was blocked by Yancen's troops and forced to run back. Finally, Deng Feng led the remaining troops to Yuyang. Yuyang is located between Xinye and Wancheng, next to Feishui, and is also an important town in Nanyang.
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Liu Xiujun and Cen Peng's army approached Yuyang from the north and the south, forming a trap to outflank Yuyang.
At this time, Deng Feng had no way to escape, either to fight or to surrender.
Deng Fengjun also had internal disagreements over whether to fight or surrender.
Some soldiers had been defeated in a series of battles by their own side and had fled. They were disheartened and had no fighting spirit. These soldiers all advocated surrendering to the Han army.
However, most of the soldiers still took the lead in the battle and believed that their side still had a chance to turn defeat into victory.
Before the Han army arrived in Yuyang, Yan Guang and Deng Zijun came to Yuyang first. Because of Deng Zijun's relationship, Yan Guang met Deng Feng smoothly.
At this time, Deng Feng had lost his former glory. His face was streaked with black and white, stained with blood and dust. The armor on his body was also stained with blood and covered with a layer of dust.
Seeing Yan Guang and Deng Zijun, Deng Feng forced a smile on his face and said: "Mr. Yan, Zijun!"
Yan Guang first bowed his hands and saluted, then straightened his body and asked, "What are Yuan Zhi's plans now?"
Deng Feng raised his eyebrows, laughed, and asked: "Mr. Yan, do you think I have been defeated?"
Yan Guang sighed secretly and said meaningfully: "Yuanzhi, in the battle of Duxiang, your tribe, Yancen's tribe, and Dong Xin's tribe fought together, but they couldn't win. Now that only the remnants of your army are left, can we still win?"
Hearing this, Deng Feng's face suddenly darkened. He stared at Yan Guang intently and said word by word: "So what Mr. Yan means is that I should lead my troops to surrender to Liu Xiu now?"
As he spoke, a cold light flashed in his eyes, and the murderous aura in his body only increased.
Seeing this, Deng Zijun said anxiously: "Brother, Zi Ling is right! Now that eldest brother is going to surrender, Liu Xiu will definitely not kill him. If eldest brother continues to fight, the consequences...the consequences..."
She couldn't speak anymore, her eyes were wet and red, and there was a layer of mist in her eyes.
During this period, Deng Zijun has been following Yan Guang to clean up the mess in Xinye and saw many scenes that she had never seen before.
In order to compete for a piece of dry food, the hungry people in the city did not hesitate to fight, wishing to kill all the people around them so that they could monopolize a small piece of dry food. Some people were even so hungry that they did not hesitate to dig out the corpses buried in the ground and gnaw on them.
After seeing it too much, her heart became numb. She also matured a lot and was no longer the little girl who was sheltered by her two brothers.
Seeing his younger sister crying anxiously, the cold light in Deng Feng's eyes dissipated, and the murderous aura in his body also dissipated. He looked at his younger sister and said quietly: "Brother will not surrender! Even if the battle ends with one soldier and one soldier, the eldest brother will not surrender." We must continue the fight and seek justice for the tens of thousands of people who died in vain in Xinye!"
Deng Zijun said: "Brother, no one is willing to continue fighting now! Moreover, Liu Xiu has issued an edict that will exempt Xinye from taxes for five years. I believe that Xinye will soon regain its prosperity!"
"It's too late!" Deng Feng said solemnly: "Can Liu Xiu resurrect the tens of thousands of people who died? Can he recall the souls of those who died in vain? Now he is standing up hypocritically, but what was he doing when Wu Han massacred the city? "
At this point, Deng Feng's eyes turned red. The people of Xinye who died in vain could no longer survive, nor could his beloved woman. Now there was nothing else in Deng Feng's heart but hatred.
Deng Feng ignored the persuasion of Yan Guang and Deng Zijun and made up his mind to fight Liu Xiu to the death. Taking advantage of the opportunity before the Han army arrived in Yuyang, he sent a letter to Nanyang counties to recruit troops again.
But this time, Liu Xiu's strategy of removing salary from under the cauldron worked.
Now people all over Nanyang have heard that as long as Nanyang belongs to the Luoyang court, all counties in Nanyang will be exempt from taxes for two years, and after two years, a tax of 15 per cent will be implemented.
These two policies were too tempting for the people of Nanyang who had suffered from the disaster of war and were burdened with heavy wages.
People still support Deng Feng emotionally, but physically they will no longer fight Liu Xiu or fight the Han army for Deng Feng.
In addition, after learning about the preferential policies of the imperial court towards Xinye, the people of Nanyang immigrated to Xinye one after another. Even people outside Nanyang began to migrate to Nanyang.
With the imperial court paying special attention to Nanyang, Nanyang has shown signs of prosperity.
Under such circumstances, people are of course more willing to live and work in peace and contentment. Who is willing to raise their head and follow Deng Feng to rebel against Liu Xiu and ruin their good life?
