Dawn of the Empire

Chapter 66 The Abandoned Sea (5)

After Zhou Dingchen finished reading the letter of persuasion from the Liao people, all the generals were silent, and Tong Guan couldn't see any joy or anger on his face. After a long time, he sighed: "A crippled body has been favored by the officials and entrusted to Hebei Province. It is a heavy responsibility. In one night, hundreds of thousands of troops were killed, and the officials did not take responsibility for it. The king's favor is as vast as the sea, and it is difficult for the miscellaneous family to repay the situation. How can you be a second minister who is not as good as a beast!" Looking around at the generals, he said in a deep voice: "The Liao people are powerful, and the isolated city is difficult to defend. What do you think?"

Including Wang Yan, Sima of the Marching Army, all the generals bowed together and said loudly: "I am willing to die for the deployment!" "Swear to live and die with Hejian!" The clang sounded like gold and iron, and someone even glared fiercely at the messenger from the Liao Kingdom, which made the Han official's legs go weak in fright.

"Marshal, let someone kill this man!" Feng Mei raised her leg and kicked the Han official, and drew out her waist knife.

"Wait a minute," Tong Guan waved his hand, and said in a deep voice, "It's not rude to come here, and the miscellaneous family will use him to bring a letter back."

The trembling Han official was taken down first, Tong Guan turned to Zhao Xingde, and said in a friendly manner: "Mr. Zhao is the leader of articles hand-picked by the official, and he can write a reply letter for the miscellaneous family, directly reprimanding him. It’s not true, show my righteousness!”

The eyes of all the generals followed Tong Guan to look over, Zhao Xingde hurriedly bowed and said: "I will stick to my wish, I dare not follow my orders!"

Tong Guan immediately ordered the scribes to bring pens, inks, papers and inkstones, and Zhao Xingde swiped a brush on the spot in the palace where the yamen was deployed, and a thousand words were written in an instant.Zhou Dingchen and other civil officials and scribes also nodded secretly, thinking that this person has the talent to rely on horses to write, no wonder the commander-in-chief looks at him differently.

Tong Guan read a few lines of Zhao Xingde's reply letter, frowned and said: "Mr. Zhao's article is certainly good, but he is still polite. The Yelu family does not cultivate benevolence and righteousness, and the captive Yelu Deguang was killed by my righteous people in the Central Plains. A son betrayed his father, an uncle betrayed his nephew, and a brother betrayed his brother, write them all down!"

Zhao Xingde followed the order and added the content of scolding the Khitan court. He felt that the words were already very strong, and it was not like a normal reply.

After Tong Guan read it, he pondered for a moment, and then said: "The female leaders of the Liao Kingdom have been in charge of politics, and the palace has been dirty and chaotic for generations. Xiao Yanyan and Han De's "treacherous" love is still the most important. Half-brothers fight for the throne, ridicule the world, and write up all these scandals!" All the generals burst out laughing.

Zhao Xingde complied with the order and wrote about these speculative scandals, and modified the diction a bit, Tong Guan was satisfied.

In the reply, many things were kept secret by the Liao people, but they were used as jokes in the Central Plains, which angered the Liao people so much that the generals ridiculed them, and they also wanted to die with the city in their hearts.

Sure enough, the Han official who was lucky enough to keep his ears took the letter back.When the Khitan generals heard half of it, they cursed one after another.Regardless of Yelu Dashi's dissuasion, Liao general Xiao Da showed the scribe who read the letter and the Han official who delivered the letter first. One word: "If you don't surrender this city, you will be slaughtered!"

At the top of Hejian City, there was still some warmth of spring a few days ago, but it was still cold in the blink of an eye.The night wind was cold, Zhao Xingde sneezed.It was within his expectation that the Liao people wrote back.But when I actually saw it, I was still a little apprehensive.In Hejian City, from the generals to the soldiers, there was no way out, and they were not as preoccupied as usual. When they met, some people still grinned, as if they were relaxed after they had finished their affairs.

Sitting alone under the crenel embracing his knees, Zhao Xingde looked up at the starry sky.Wang Yan once wanted to arrange a follower for him, but was rejected by Zhao Xingde, he was not used to having people follow him when he went in and out.The Liao people seem to be gaining momentum, and they are quieter than usual tonight.Even quieter than Bianjing.Zhao Xingde reached out his hand and took out the sachet that Li Ruoxue gave him. This fiancée had never even had a physical relationship. He couldn't help laughing at himself, and put the sachet in his arms.The cold wind was biting, what would happen to her if she died in Hejian City?Keep the festival for me, or marry the prime minister?When I came to this world, did I just walk around like this?

He was just thinking wildly, feeling a little sleepy, his eyelids drooped, and he fell asleep leaning against the cold battlement until someone pushed his shoulder.

"Zhao Canjun, it's windy here. If you're tired, you can go to the enemy's platform to rest." Su Wenyu kindly said.

"No, after resting for a while, I didn't feel sleepy anymore." Zhao Xingde declined, and he went to the enemy's platform, so that a group of soldiers didn't have to sleep.

Seeing that Su Wenyu's expression was a little strange, Zhao Xingde wondered, "What's going on?"

"The military letter written by Zhao Canjun today has been spread throughout the battalion, and everyone has scolded him so much! I, Su Wenyu, are lucky to meet and join the army!"

"It's just the advantage of talking and talking, it's not as good as fighting the stubborn enemy with the hands of the generals!" Zhao Xingde said sadly, "This letter has angered the Khitan people, but it has hurt everyone."

Su Wenyu said with an excited expression on his face: "Where did Zhao Canjun say that, I waited for the children of military households, and my grandfather died in battle. I have received the grace of the country. Isn't it better than an eunuch?"

Zhao Xingde was silent.

Suddenly, Su Wenyu looked towards the direction of the pier, and wondered: "It's the third watch, why are there still lights?"

Zhao Xingde also looked over there, a few lanterns were faintly moving, he hesitated and said: "It must be some general who is patrolling the pier."

Right next to the lantern, Xin Xingzong asked for instructions with a hesitant expression: "Are you really going to scuttle all the other ships?"

Tong Guan's face sank and he said: "If you don't break the boat, how can you inspire the soldiers in the city!" He lived on the top of the tallest official ship and watched with his own eyes the soldiers of the Zhenbei First Army mooring the other ships. The ship at the dock was scuttled, and he breathed a sigh of relief just now, and ordered: "Set the dock on fire! Anchor and leave the port!"

Xin Xingzong's face changed slightly, he didn't dare to question, he just led the soldiers down to follow orders.Zhou Dingchen, the secretary in charge, whispered in Tong Guan's ear: "My lord, General Han is still in the city, are you really not taking him away?" In the meantime, Zhou Dingchen also gave Han Shizhong a last hand.

"Huh!" Tong Guan's face darkened, and he cursed in a low voice, "This dog that you don't know well, don't mind." He still hated Han Shizhong for taking the initiative to ask Ying to defeat the Khitan cavalry, so that he could not step down, so he had to Turning back to the river.These days, all the generals were a bit obedient to Wang Yan, but Han Shizhong did his best to rectify the Zhenbei Second Army, and fought happily in battle.

Zhou Dingchen's eyelids twitched, and he fell silent immediately.

Xin Xingzong commanded the soldiers to pour kerosene on the wooden docks, trestles, pavilions and other buildings. In an instant, the burning smoke, dust and grass clippings shot straight into the sky. The flames were particularly bright in the dark night. It was dark and looked particularly hideous.The soldiers under his command paddled vigorously, and the building boat gradually left the port and sailed away, leaving only circles of water waves, reflecting the raging fire.

All the soldiers at the top of the city found the fire, and they didn't know why, so they pointed towards the pier. Wang Yan, who was resting in the tower, also hurriedly put on his clothes and looked towards the pier, his face was cloudy and uncertain. One day, a soldier hastily sent a letter and reported a few words to Wang Yan.After reading the letter, Wang Yan's face darkened. Before he could speak, he heard a soldier shouting not far away: "The deployment is gone!"

All the generals were startled, Wang Yan nodded and said: "All arrange for your lord to leave a letter and entrust the defense of Hejian City to me. At this moment, I'm afraid they have already set sail and fled far away." After speaking, he took out the letter and gave it to everyone Will watch.

Zhao Xingde also huddled among the crowd, and with the help of the slight firelight, he could clearly see the content of the letter.It turns out that Tong Guan had long wanted to abandon the city, but he was only worried about the impeachment of Wang Yanshang of Jinyan Mansion, and the heated discussions.After much deliberation, he simply borrowed the hands of the Khitans to kill them, and the whole city of Hejian was destroyed. It was better for him to avoid the capital crime of abandoning the army, not to mention the huge artillery of the Khitans, the Iron Wall Camp All violent soldiers need to be reported to the imperial court so that they can take precautions.As long as Tong Guan can save his life now, with the nostalgia of the officials, maybe he can make a comeback in the future. If he stays in the city, he might really die with the city.In the letter, Tong Guan grandly appointed Sima Canjun Wang Yan as the commanding officer of the Hebei armies, and stayed in Hejian, while he himself returned to the court to ask for help, and reported the situation in Hebei to His Majesty.

"Everyone deploys the adults and runs away!"

This news was like the last straw that broke the camel's back, and immediately made many soldiers feel ashamed. Zhao Xingde's face was also pale, and he stood there blankly. , and now it has become a peach charm to remind people of life.

"Deploy the adults and run away!" Some soldiers were already crying loudly, and not long after, there was already a lot of crying from the top and bottom of the tower, which would be the courage of the army.Zhao Xingde even felt that if the Khitans attacked the city at this moment, would these desperate soldiers be killed without a fight.

"Arrange your lords to run away!" The news spread throughout Hejian City like a prairie fire, and even the fleeing people knew about it. It was as if the sky was falling, and the Khitans were about to massacre the city, and the streets and alleys were full They were full of crying.