Outside the capital of Loufan, Zong Zheng's rebels had been besieging the city for more than half a month, but even Zong Zheng knew that his team was actually unable to break through this big city.
His team lacked fighting spirit, did not have enough siege equipment, and had little use for the experience they gained when attacking Yunzhou, so they basically could not attack even if they were surrounded.
Now Zongzheng Xianhe is in a stage where he is riding a tiger and cannot get off. It is obviously impossible for him to accept his fate without having troops, but he also knows that he cannot defeat him.
Therefore, during these days, Zongzheng Xianyou always looked sad.
In fact, it's not that there is no other way, it's just that he doesn't want to do that...
For example, it is not impossible to take his assembled team and not attack the capital, but establish himself as king in the southern Loufan area.
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But in everything, you can't escape a person who refuses to accept his fate.
Originally, he was the one most qualified to be Emperor Lou Fan, but now he has become a rebel. This kind of gap is unacceptable to him.
Moreover, even if he establishes himself as king in the southern Xinjiang area, he will not be satisfied with guarding a mere corner of the land.
Judging from the current inversion of national power between Dayu and Loufan, Dayu's Northern Expedition will be a matter of time.
Since the First World War in Yunzhou, the offensive and defensive postures of both sides have been reversed.
In the southern Xinjiang area, Jianguo and Zongzheng Lianhai are confronting each other from north to south, and they may soon face a fierce attack from Dayu's Northern Expedition army.
When the time comes, he will also guard the country for Zongzheng Lianhai.
The more I think about it, the angrier I get.
At this time, his general Luo Zhi led a man over quickly, bowed down in front of Zongzheng and saluted, and then introduced: "Your Highness, this person sneaked out from the capital and is a monk from Jinlan Temple."
Zong Zheng's face suddenly changed: "What are the monks from Jinlan Temple doing here? Could it be that they want to persuade them to surrender?"
The monk took off the hat he was wearing and put his hands together in salute: "Your Highness, I am not here to persuade you to surrender, but to discuss important matters with Your Highness."
He raised his head and looked at Zongzheng Xianhe and said: "I hold the dharma title Quan, and am a disciple of the presiding master. I came here to see His Highness on the order of the master for the sake of great things."
"Um?"
Zongzheng Xianhe looked at the monk carefully, his eyes full of suspicion and wariness.
An hour later, Zen Master Quanchi left in a hurry, not daring to stay too long in the rebel camp. He wanted to return to the capital before dawn.
"Luo Zhi, what do you think Jinlan Temple's intention is?"
"Back to Your Highness, I suspect there is fraud."
"Well, that's what I think too. There's no need for Jinlan Temple to come to me at this time. It's probably a trap."
"Your Highness has made it clear that no one from Jinlan Temple can be trusted."
Zong Zhengxian nodded: "They just want to trick me into believing that they can cooperate inside and outside. Then they pretend to open the city gate and kill me when I enter the city. They want to kill me, but now this is the only possibility."
Although Zong Zhengxian didn't have a strong person in the God-endowed realm around him, the court didn't know that.
Loutai Mingyu died, but the court did not know the details of how she died.
Therefore, for the time being, we dare not invite powerful men in the Fushen Realm to assassinate Zong Zhengxian. If we lose another one, it will be really unbearable.
Zong Zhengxian asked: "Do you think you can use the trick?"
Luo Zhi shook his head and said: "There is some possibility, but there is absolutely no need to do this. If something goes wrong, the gain will outweigh the loss."
Zong Zhengxian nodded, but still looked a little unwilling.
For most of his life, he seemed to have been in various unwillingnesses.
When Zong Zheng Shiquan became emperor, he was unwilling to do so, but he was afraid of death. Seeing that Zong Zheng Shiquan almost killed his brothers, he immediately swore allegiance.
But even so, he is unwilling to do it every day, he just doesn't dare to show it.
Nowadays, he is becoming more and more unwilling. When people see his face, they can think of the three words "unwilling".
"Your Highness."
Luo Zhi said: "I still want to advise His Highness, even if you don't go to the southern border to capture a piece of the country, you can go to the west, to the southwest, and seize the thirteen cities in the southwest. There are at least three thousand miles of country there waiting for your Highness to capture.
"
"After we gain the southwest, we can communicate with the Western Regions, which has a unique geographical location.
, not only can we avoid the future confrontation with the Jade Kingdom’s Northern Expedition Army, but we can also cut off the Jade people’s return path after they enter Loufan.”
Luo Zhi clasped his fists and said, "Your Highness, please think twice. It's okay not to take this capital."
Zong Zhengxian was silent for a moment and then shook his head and said: "You allow me to think about it again. After all, the army is sieging the city now and it is not without any chance of winning..."
Luo Zhi sighed inwardly, thought for a moment, then clasped his fists and said, "I have one more request, and I hope His Highness will grant it."
Zong Zhengxian asked: "What's the matter?"
Luo Zhidao said: "I want to dispatch a team. It doesn't need to be more than 40,000 people. Then I will send a capable general to lead the army to the southwest. If the capital city can be defeated, this team will take advantage of the situation to capture the southwest. If the capital city
It’s quite difficult here, so we can retreat to the Thirteen Southwest Cities.”
Zong Zhengxian nodded: "Okay, you can just choose your own people."
Luo Zhi breathed a sigh of relief.
After returning, he called his two most capable generals over and told them that there was no point in attacking the city anymore, so it was better to take the southwest first.
They were given 80,000 troops and horses. No matter who asked, they would only say that it was 40,000. They must not reveal anything.
The two men led 80,000 troops to attack the southwest in two directions, trying to persuade them to surrender and strive to capture the thirteen cities in the southwest as soon as possible, so that they could have a place to settle down.
The two subordinates immediately mobilized their troops after receiving the order, but how could such a thing be concealed so easily.
Not long after, Luo Zhi was called to the Chinese army's tent by Zongzheng Xianhe. As soon as he arrived and saw the murderous soldiers on both sides, he knew
After the incident was revealed, I thought to myself, is it worth trying your best for such a team?
After entering the battle, Zong Zhengxian looked at him coldly, but Luo Zhi simply knelt down to apologize.
This matter was obviously reported by someone who couldn't stand Luo Zhi's steady position in command. No matter how careful Luo Zhi was, there was nothing he could do.
But since 80,000 people have already been dispatched, Luo Zhi doesn't care anymore.
If he directly asked for 80,000 troops to be divided, Zongzheng Xianhe would definitely not agree. Forty thousand was the limit he speculated Zongzheng Xianhe would accept.
Now bsp; Now that 80,000 people have gone to the southwest, everyone has a way out. As for how he will be dealt with, Luo Zhi can only treat it as the last time to serve Zong Zhengxian.
Most of the people in this team were recruited by him personally, and his affection for this team far exceeds that of others.
When Zong Zhengxian saw Luo Zhi directly confessing his crime, his face became even more ugly.
"You mobilized such a large team to leave privately, and you dared to lie to me, Luo Zhi, tell me what kind of punishment you should receive?"
"Go back to your highness, your highness is my master. What I did was to deceive you and ignore your superiors. According to the law, I should be punished."
If he had asked for mercy first, Zong Zheng Xianhe would not have been so angry, but when Luo Zhi came up and said that he deserved to die, Zong Zheng Xianhe became very angry all of a sudden.
"Okay, okay!"
Zong Zhengxian said: "Since you yourself know that you cannot escape the death penalty, then I don't need to say anything more. Where are the soldiers? Pull Luo Zhi down and chop him down!"
At this time, it is only right for someone to come to your aid.
But everyone in the big tent looked down upon Luo Zhi, because Luo Zhi came from a humble background and was too strict in running the army. Many noble-born guys had been dealt with by Luo Zhi, and they had long been holding their breath and wanting revenge.
At this time, they saw that Zong Zheng wanted to kill Luo Zhi. They couldn't ask for it, so how could they intercede for Luo Zhi?
Even if Luo Zhi dies and the position of coach does not fall to them, they still won't say a single good word for Luo Zhi.
The soldiers had already come up and were walking out with Luo Zhi on their hands. Zong Zhengxian looked around, but no one responded to his eyes.
At this moment, Zongzheng Xianyou suddenly felt a sense of despair.
So what if we capture the capital?
Is it really possible to rely on this group of losers, this group of guys who only know how to fight privately but not unite, to help Lou Fan regain his glory?
After conquering the capital city, not only did this group of people share all the profits, but people from all the major tribes also came one by one to ask for credit and reward.
Zongzheng Xianyou felt sick when he thought of those scenes.
"Wait!"
Zong Zhengxian shouted.
The soldiers quickly brought Luo Zhi back, and Luo Zhi knelt down again.
"
I have never rewarded you once for your outstanding achievements, so how can I kill you just because you made one mistake?"
Zong Zhengxian said: "Besides, you are not moving troops out of the camp for personal gain. Think about it, you are not seeking a way out for me."
Speaking of this, he actually felt more and more ashamed of Luo Zhi.
The capital city cannot be conquered, and Luo Zhi has tried his best, but he still scolds him every day when he comes back. Isn't Luo Zhi impatient?
None of the people in this big tent could match him, but each and every one of them fell into trouble when Luo Zhi was unable to attack the capital.
"Get up."
Zong Zhengxianhe leaned over and held Luo Zhi's shoulders: "I decided to listen to you and give up attacking the capital and attack the thirteen southwest cities instead."
Luo Zhi's eyes immediately lit up.
"You must have made careful calculations. Eighty thousand people is the minimum force required to conquer the thirteen cities in the southwest..."
Zong Zhengxian sighed.
"You have tried your best for me, but I have been holding you back... I am ashamed of you. I swear in front of you today that military affairs will be decided by you from now on. I
If you continue to meddle indiscriminately..."
Having said this, Luo Zhi had already kowtowed.
"Your Highness, please stop talking. It's my fault. I shouldn't have mobilized my troops privately. I should have discussed this with Your Highness."
"Since you already know where you went wrong, I don't need to say anything more."
Zong Zhengxian smiled and said: "There is a beautiful saying that a man can bend and stretch. Today we will take a step back. If we can strengthen our power in the future, we can take back this capital!"
He patted Luo Zhi on the shoulder: "You can send an order that the army will set off from tomorrow. We will not fight in this capital city, and I will not fight for the throne... Let's go to the Thirteen Cities in the Southwest to live a good life!"
As soon as these words were said, everyone present had different expressions.
Just at this moment, a soldier hurried over and handed over an urgent report with blood stains on it.
"Your Highness, something happened."
Zong Zhengxianhe quickly took the military report, and after reading it for a while, he suddenly yelled, his face turned purple with anger, and then a mouthful of blood spurted out far away.
They were fighting at the front, but a group of people who had agreed to send troops to help him regain the throne actually took the opportunity to seize King Lu's fiefdom. Now Zong Zheng Xianyou is a man who doesn't even have a family.
Princess Lu and others were all arrested. In order to claim credit and reward, those people even planned to send Princess Lu and others to the capital. They were simply crazy.
After hearing the news, the people in the big tent immediately became angry, one by one, as if they were the ones who lost their families and their wives, not Zong Zhengxing.
They shouted loudly that they wanted to fight back, that they wanted to wipe out all those tribes, that they wanted to massacre the city, and that they wanted to exterminate the clan.
Luo Zhi looked at the faces of those people and felt sick in his heart.
"Pass the order."
Luo Zhi glanced at everyone: "If anyone spreads this matter, he will be killed immediately. As long as I know who talked about it in private, don't blame me for being ruthless. If one battalion spreads the word, the other battalion will be massacred, and if the army spreads the word, the entire army will be massacred!"
After he glanced at the unconscious Zong Zhengxian, he said loudly: "Your Highness needs to rest. I am the chief general, so from now on, I will direct everything in the army. Anyone who disobeys the order will be punished without mercy!"
After saying that, he waved his hand: "Everyone goes back and packs up within three days. After three days, the army will set off to the southwest!"
Each of these people was dissatisfied but he did not dare to refute them face to face. Some people muttered something and cursed something before turning around and walking away.
Seeing this scene, Luo Zhi knew that things could get worse.
Now that King Lu's fiefdom has been lost, those guys who are willing to take advantage of the situation may lead their troops to rebel.
"None of these people can be left here."
Luo Zhi looked at the military commander: "Call them back and tell them that King Lu is awake and has something to explain!"
The personal commander immediately ran out and invited back the generals who had gone far away. When these people came back, they were even more unclean.
As soon as he entered the tent, he was greeted by the crossbow arrows that were aimed at him.
That day, dozens of generals were slaughtered by Luo Zhi.
Luo Zhi personally inspected each camp, re-appointed generals, and acted vigorously and resolutely.