The so-called "meeting the emperor" was just an excuse to lead his troops to continue marching eastward. Chen Cheng himself knew this, and Wei Li also knew it. After coming out of the Chinese army's tent, Wei Li immediately hit his horse and ran wildly, thinking
He must rush back to report the bad news to General He Jin that the Xiliang people are unwilling to withdraw their troops.
Although Sun Jian has withdrawn now, Yuan Shu still has 50,000 soldiers and horses entrenched in Luoyang. He Jin has less than 2,000 troops, and there are a lot of ministers and royal families around him. In Zhang Yang's 20,000 soldiers of King Qin
Before arriving, neither Yuan Shu nor Chen Cheng could resist He Jin.
Some generals also suggested to Chen Cheng that they should temporarily detain the imperial envoys, or simply kill them, and then send troops to raid He Jinjun stationed in Mianchi to capture both the emperor and the imperial court! However, Chen Cheng rejected these suggestions. He told the generals
He said: "Now that the imperial court is in decline, our army will just press forward with a mighty formation."
So the army continued to move forward along the official road. The further east, the more shocking the situation they saw. It was better near Tongguan. Although the roads on both sides looked dilapidated, there were still some people. When they arrived near Mianchi
, all the villages that can be seen are in an abandoned state, wild dogs are in and out of the villages, but there are no signs of human activity.
Under such circumstances, it is impossible to resupply on the spot. All food and grass need to be carried by the army themselves. Seeing how dilapidated the area around the Luoyang Basin was, Chen Cheng couldn't help but feel in a trance. He vaguely remembered the vicinity of Luoyang.
Although this place is far away from Luoyang, it was still very prosperous back then. Can such a big change happen in just four years?
The surrounding scene dispelled his idea of garrisoning troops in Luoyang. Now Guanzhong itself needs relief and can no longer provide food and grass to Luoyang. The local people are starving to death themselves, where is there any spare capacity to support many troops? There are too many troops left.
If we can't afford it, there are too few troops left and there is insufficient defense, it is better to return to Guanzhong.
At any rate, after two years of development, Xiliang still has some food reserves, which can support Guanzhong, and will not let the ministers and clan members chew bark and grass roots to satisfy their hunger. If they are stationed in Luoyang, the distance for transporting food and grass will be doubled.
The loss is three times greater.
Just as the Xiliang army was heading east, He Jin in Mianchi had received the news that the Xiliang army was approaching. Wei Li knelt on the ground in fear and tensed his body, so that when he was beaten, he would not be able to
It hurt so much. But He Jin, who was sitting at the top, did not get angry after hearing such bad news. Instead, he said tiredly: "I know, let's get down."
Wei Li raised his head gratefully, only to see that He Jin's eye sockets were deeply sunken, his skin was sagging, his eye bags were dark and large, and he no longer looked dignified. He was filled with joy and fear at the same time.
After two months of siege of Luoyang, the officials and people in the city had no fighting spirit. How could they resist the strong Xiliang people?
When he walked out of the door and saw the dejected soldiers and generals, and compared with the Xiliang cavalry he had seen before, Wei Li felt even colder. Now his troops were disorganized, their appearance was not in order, and their equipment was incomplete. The result of the battle was
It goes without saying. He looked in the north direction and thought to himself: Now it depends on whether Zhang Yang can arrive in time.
Half a day later, before Zhang Yang's army arrived, the Xiliang cavalry had already arrived at Mianchi City. He Jin did not flee in panic after hearing that the Xiliang army was approaching, but chose to stick to the city. There was Yuan Shu in Luoyang City to the east.
The army entrenched themselves and ran eastward, where they had to leave the wolf's den and enter the tiger's mouth. At least there was a city wall here in Mianchi that could serve as a barrier.
But this was just He Jin's idea. When they saw the Xiliang people's army appearing under the city, the ministers in the city immediately started shouting like a pot exploded. There was only one request in all, and that was to let Xiliang go first.
The army gave them some food. Tens of thousands of people ran out of Luoyang City, and the little food they carried had long been eaten up. The ministers dug grass roots and gnawed tree bark outside the city to survive. Even the emperor was forced to eat wild vegetables for two days.
.
Everyone was so hungry and dizzy that they couldn't care about anything else. Although He Jin knew that the Xiliang army had bad intentions, he couldn't withstand the heated discussions among the ministers. After killing all the Yuan family members, he shocked the government and the public.
It has been a long time both internally and externally, but with the military defeat, the little bit of prestige established through massacres has been exhausted.
After losing Luoyang, everyone was no longer afraid of He Jin. Although He Jin still had more than 2,000 soldiers and horses, were those soldiers still obedient? This is a question.
Even after the emperor knew that the Xiliang army was coming to Qinwang, he took the initiative to summon He Jin and asked if he could get some food from the Xiliang army. He Jin was the emperor's uncle, so the emperor was very polite to him and said when they met
: "General, all the ministers have been hungry for two days. No matter what, please bring us some food first!"
He Jin's face looked haggard, and he had nothing to say after hearing the words. He just knelt on the ground, kowtowed heavily, and then said: "Nuo!"
Returning to his residence, He Jin sat alone in the room for a while and ordered the soldiers to dress him in the most gorgeous clothes. He put on the hair crown, long sword, and white jade. After dressing up, if you don't notice that there is no trace of anything on his face.
The bloody appearance really has a bit of the old demeanor of scolding Fang Qiu and lashing out at the world.
All the mules and horses in the city had been killed. He Jin looked around and saw that there were no horses pulling the cart. He couldn't help but sigh: "It's a pity, it's still a little bit behind."
No one on the left or right understood what it meant, and He Jin didn't explain it. Instead, he walked to the west gate and ordered the soldiers to open the city gate. When the city gate was pushed open with a "creaking" sound, He Jin couldn't help but feel in a trance.
When he was in Luoyang, he went in and out of the palace many times. Every time the city gate opened, there was the same sound, which was always the same.
Suddenly, he heard the sound of laughter and fighting.
"General, General?"
The cries of the soldiers pulled him out of his memories of the past. He Jin straightened his clothes, then raised his head and walked out like a general.
Zhao Si pointed at Mianchi and Chen Cheng said: "My lord, there are not many defenders on the city. We can rush in at once."
Liu Qian said eagerly: "I'll take the lead!"
"nonsense!"
Chen Cheng glared at Liu Qian, then glared at Zhao Si, and shouted: "The emperor is in the city, do you want to rebel?"
Zhao Sipo was a little unconvinced and thought to himself: Aren't we rebels? Well, even if we are clean now, we were Xiliang rebels before!
However, he was in awe of Chen Cheng. Although he was not convinced, he did not dare to make a mistake, so he lowered his head. After Liu Qian read the edict granting the marriage, she didn't know why, but she seemed to be bolder.
He curled his lips and said, "Even if it's a rebellion, so what?"
Chen Cheng snorted, and just as he was about to speak, he saw the city gate open, and a richly dressed old man led the civil and military ministers and hundreds of soldiers out. He saw that the leader looked familiar, so he asked:
"Who is that person? Why doesn't He Jin come out in person?"
In his impression, He Jin could never be the old man with a haggard face in front of him. Even though Liu Qian had always harbored an unforgettable hatred for He Jin, it took her a while to recognize that person.
The dying old man was none other than He Jin, the former leader of the world's warriors and the great general of the imperial court.
She blurted out: "Why did He Jin become like this?"
After Liu Qian heard that her younger brother Liu Xie was killed by He Jin, she always wanted to kill her enemy. For this reason, she changed her previous lazy style and practiced martial arts hard every day.
She studied hard and maintained the number one ranking all year round. But she didn't expect that after so many years of hard preparation, her goal had become an old man who looked like he couldn't survive for a few days without others taking action.
She said in a tone of half hatred and half pleasure: "Humph, a few years ago, He Jin never imagined that he would have such a day, right?"
Chen Cheng was a little surprised when he heard this. He looked carefully at the old man who was dressed in gorgeous clothes. He could still vaguely see some of his appearance back then. He pondered for a while and then rode forward. Behind him, the guards and soldiers also followed.
.Seeing the cavalry on the opposite side running over, He Jin's expression did not change, but the princes, ministers and soldiers all became panicked.
Because there was no food to eat, these people who fled had eaten all the animals and mounts they had brought with them. Now everyone is on foot, there is no cavalry, and they have been hungry for several days. How can they defeat those wolves on the opposite side?
The tiger-like Xiliang army?
Fortunately, Chen Cheng had no intention of killing them all at the city gate. After approaching, he reined in his horse and jumped off the horse. He took two steps forward and looked at He Jin's aging appearance again.
Chen Cheng was very sad and said: "Four years have passed since we said goodbye in the past. The general's appearance has changed a lot!!"
He Jin also recognized that it was Chen Cheng who had fought with him in Luoyang City, and he was also very surprised. In his memory, Chen Wen was a handsome young man with red lips and white teeth. How could he not see him for several years and become
Such a rough and arrogant look?
But then, He Jin smiled bitterly in his heart. Didn't he himself change a lot? After staying in a poor place like Xiliang for a long time, some changes are normal, isn't it?
The muscles on his face twitched, and he said coldly: "Liangzhou Mu has also changed a lot."
Chen Cheng touched the stubble on his chin to show his majesty and said with a smile: "That's true. General, let's not talk nonsense for now. I heard that the emperor was living here, so I brought my troops to the front.
Come to King Qin, let’s go to see the Emperor right now!”
This is also the intended meaning of the question. He Jin nodded and said: "Liangzhou Mu, please come with me."
While talking, He Jin caught a glimpse of a person next to Chen Cheng staring at him with resentful eyes. He glanced at him casually and saw that the man's skin was like cream. Although he was wearing heavy armor, there was an indescribable expression between his eyebrows.
Style. He Jin thought to himself: Chen Wenzheng is a young man after all, and he did not forget to bring a woman with him when fighting.
