On the official road from Chengdu to Jianzhou, more than 200,000 people were evacuating southward. Large and small oxcarts and walking teams were mixed together. The crowds could not be seen at a glance. There were ordinary people, officials and
Their family members, as well as thousands of eunuchs and maids, followed on foot a dozen large carriages, in which were the Queen Mother and the three-year-old emperor. There were also hundreds of large carriages loaded with boxes and cages.
Of course, Ju Wenzhen and other eunuchs from the North Government were also in the procession, immediately following the palace procession. There were not many of them, but there were many carts loaded with property, thousands of them. They were all property they had collected over the years, including the original
The money stored in the cabinet was also taken out and he took it south.
These cargo oxcarts alone accounted for half of the entire cart fleet, and of course there were carts carrying grain and grass supplies, fully loaded with grain and various other supplies.
Twenty thousand Shence Army soldiers are guarding the team on both sides. Currently, there are still 30,000 Shence Army soldiers controlled by Beiya. In addition to the 20,000 soldiers who followed the army going south, there are 8,000 people at Jianmen Pass, and another 3,000 people.
The pioneers have already taken the lead.
They were preparing to retreat to Yuzhou to avoid the Tubo army. The way of thinking of the eunuchs was different from that of normal people. If it was a normal court, it would definitely summon various armies to come to serve the king and resist the invasion of the Tubo people.
But the eunuchs didn't think so. Ju Wenzhen, Huo Xianming and Dou Wenchang all agreed that the Tubo people only wanted money, food and population, and were not interested in land, so they were allowed to plunder. When the plundering was over, they would naturally return home with a full load.
, they will just come back.
As for tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of people being kidnapped by the Tibetans, they will not be sad at all. I am afraid that they will not care about the life or death of anyone except themselves. Apart from their own interests, they will not consider the safety of the country.
and the interests of the people of the world.
At this time, a Shence Army general rushed to Ju Wenzhen's carriage, clasped his fists and said: "To inform Ju Gong, the immortal asked me to tell Ju Gong that Tubo is less than fifty miles away from Chengdu, and it is only more than a hundred miles away from us. Very soon.
We will catch up soon. Xian Weng and Dou Weng want to leave the people alone for the time being. We must speed up and go south."
Ju Wenzhen was also a little scared and nodded repeatedly, "I agree to speed up. If others can keep up, they can follow. If they can't, let them do whatever they want."
The transport team and the palace team sped up, and the eunuchs and palace maids also got on the transport carts one after another. The army began to run away, and gradually separated from the people and officials behind it.
The people behind suddenly panicked. The officials and their families had a little better luck with the big cars and could barely keep up, but the more than 200,000 ordinary people couldn't keep up. They seemed to be abandoned. They cried loudly along the way, and it was extremely miserable.
.........
On the morning of the third day, 20,000 Tibetan troops finally arrived at the gates of Chengdu. Everyone who could escape within the city fled, and the remaining hundreds of thousands of people who could not escape had to resign themselves to their fate.
As the eunuchs expected, the Tubo army knew the weaknesses of Chengdu's city defense very well. They took the lead in breaking through the imperial palace from the Forbidden Garden. There were only dozens of old eunuchs guarding the palace left in the palace. The storehouses were empty, except for some large statues of Buddha and bronze figures.
Except for one item, all other wealth was carried away.
The Tubo army did not seize property or food in the palace, but they found a large amount of food, pig iron, copper ingots and other strategic materials that were difficult to transport away in the Beiya government warehouse and official warehouse.
Surrounded by thousands of cavalry, Shang Dongzan rode slowly on the street. He himself could not have imagined that he could capture the capital of the Tang Dynasty in one fell swoop. Although this was not Chang'an, which was a pity, it was the capital after all.
.
If Zamp can come here to patrol, he will be promoted to a higher level soon. Once his brother retires from the position of prime minister, it will be his turn to take over.
The more Shang Dongzan thought about it, the more proud he became. At this time, Lieutenant General Lun Duosang whispered: "The generals all want to grab it. The general feels..."
"Nonsense!"
Shang Dongzan's eyes widened, "This is the capital, can we destroy it at will?"
Lun Duosang did not dare to say anything, perhaps because he felt that his tone was too strong. Shang Dongzan softened his tone and explained: "It's not that I won't let them loot Chengdu. The main reason is that Zampu is likely to patrol eastward. He must want to see
We can't go to a complete enemy capital, instead of a capital that is riddled with holes by soldiers. We can't even rob some property. After two days of rest, we will go south to Meizhou or Jianzhou, and we can rob as many brothers as we want!"
When Duosang heard that Zanpu would come, he immediately gave up the idea of plundering Chengdu and quickly leaned forward and said: "I understand the general's painstaking efforts and humble duty!"
At this time, a cavalryman rushed over and saluted Shang Dongzan, "General, the Prime Minister has sent an envoy!"
Shang Dongzan did not dare to neglect and hurriedly returned to the palace. Not long after, a Tibetan official was brought to see him. This official was called Duoji, who was the chief officer under the Prime Minister Shang Jiezan.
"Congratulations to General Shang for taking Chengdu and making an outstanding contribution!"
"Thank you Brother Duoji for the compliment. It was indeed a fluke to win Chengdu this time. I really didn't expect that the opponent would abandon the city and flee."
"The other party is a eunuch. It is normal for him to abandon the city and flee. The Prime Minister also expected it."
Shang Dongzan quickly asked: "What did the Prime Minister say?"
Duoji said: "The Prime Minister asked me to tell the general that Chang'an is very likely to send troops to Bashu, and the general should not go south easily."
Shang Dongzan was surprised, "Will Guo Song send troops to Bashu?"
"This is what the Prime Minister said. The Prime Minister said that Guo Song has been plotting against Bashu for a long time and will never give it up to us. The real battle for Bashu has not yet come. The Prime Minister hopes to use Yazhou City as the foundation to compete with Guo Song.
Bashu, don’t worry about Chengdu’s temporary gains and losses.”
Shang Dongzan understood what the prime minister meant. Yazhou City was tall and solid, easy to defend and difficult to attack, and it was easy for the Tibetan army to come over. It was indeed a very good logistical center. Although Chengdu was the capital, there was a huge loophole like the imperial palace, which everyone could defend.
Can't live.
He thought for a moment and said: "I understand what the Prime Minister means. I will send the supplies and food to Yazhou immediately."
Shang Dongzan temporarily gave up the idea of chasing down the Southern Tang troops. On the one hand, he organized chariots and horses to transport a large amount of food and supplies to Yazhou City. On the other hand, he sent spies north to inquire about the enemy's intelligence. As long as the Jin army entered Bashu, he would immediately
You will know.
On the streets of Chengdu, the Tibetan army began to arrest young men from house to house. They needed a lot of young and strong labor to carry supplies to Yazhou.
Zhou Fei and other eighty subordinates lived in the Pingan Inn in the south of the city. The shopkeeper Gao Xiuying took several waiters south. There was only one waiter in the shop, a local man named Ma. Everyone called him Xiao Ma. Xiao Ma hurried to the backyard.
, found Zhou Fei and said: "General Zhou, the Tubo army has begun to capture young men all over the city."
Zhou Fei was startled and asked: "What are you doing to catch a young man?"
"It seems that I want to carry supplies to Yazhou for them, that's what they said."
Zhou Fei stood up and said with a smile: "I was planning to go to Yazhou, but I was afraid that they would be suspicious. Isn't the opportunity coming now?"
"But if eighty young and strong men gather together, they will be suspicious, so it is better to disperse."
Zhou Fei didn't want to be separated from his men, so he pondered for a while and asked: "Are there any workers who are concentrated together?"
This sentence reminded Xiao Ma, and he rolled his eyes and said: "There is a way. Have you dressed up as dock porters? Their attire is to wear black shorts, a black cloth belt around their waist, and a very thick pole in their hands."
, there happens to be a dock workers distribution center in front of you, you guys are squatting over there."
Black clothes are easy to change into. Zhou Fei turned the short coat inside out and it became black. The same goes for the black cloth belt. When the cloth belt around his waist was turned over, it was still black.
“What if it’s just a carrying pole?”
"There's a carrying pole!"
The clerk Xiao Ma quickly said: "We have a lot of them in the utility room, more than a hundred of them! They were forgotten by a hotel guest."
Zhou Fei thought of another point, hesitated and said: "Our accents are wrong, and we don't know anything about this place. If we ask more questions, we will reveal our clues. Why don't you come with us!"
Although they are not in the same system, Zhou Fei is a general after all, and his position is much higher than Xiao Ma. Since Zhou Fei made the request, Xiao Ma did not dare not to comply, so he nodded and agreed.
Not long after, eighty scouts in black clothes, led by Zhou Fei, left the inn from behind. They held poles and ran to the labor distribution center near the City God Temple, led by their assistant Xiao Ma.
There are a large number of workers sitting here every day waiting to be recruited, among which porters are the most numerous. But now it is empty, so the workers have fled.
People were sitting there in small groups, it really looked like the same thing.
After a while, a large group of Tibetan soldiers came over and found a large group of young workers here. They were overjoyed and rushed forward to order them to assemble. It turned out that Zhou Fei had overthought them. The Tubo people did not suspect them at all, and did not care where they were from or what their accent was.
Not to mention, as long as they are strong and able to carry food and supplies.
Eighty scouts were successfully captured by the Tibetan soldiers and taken to the grain depot to carry grain. The Tibetans forcibly captured more than 5,000 young men and more than 1,000 ox carts.
Looking for an opportunity, Zhou Fei whispered to his assistant Xiaoma: "We will cover your escape on the way at night. You go to Jianmen Pass and tell His Highness King Jin that I will take the brothers to Yazhou City and will lurk in Yazhou City."