A few days later, Prince Ji could no longer hold back and led his troops to attack Nandu. He and Prince Su fought bloody battles with real swords and guns. The streets of Nandu were filled with the sound of killing and chaos. All the people stayed indoors. Fang Xianye was also trapped in Jin'an Temple, so he had to accompany the emperor every day.
The emperor was indeed at the end of his strength, but he was still holding on, waiting for his two sons to fight until both were defeated, and then he would appear again to deliver the final blow.
Fang Xianye and Eunuch Zhao took care of the emperor together. Master Songyun was well versed in medicine and came every day to take the emperor's pulse and give him medicine.
One evening, the emperor finally woke up from a long day of sleep, looking at the shadows of the trees outside the window with confused eyes. Suddenly, he said to Fang Xianye: "My dear Fang, you said before that you lost your father when you were young. What's the matter?"
Fang Xianye was a little surprised. He bowed and said respectfully, "Your Majesty, when I was young, my family suffered from drought and the fields were barren. Three of the five people in my family starved to death on the way to escape the famine. My father sold me to a rich family as a servant, and I was sold many times afterwards. Fortunately, I met a teacher who took pity on my rough life, redeemed me and taught me how to write, so that I could finish my studies and take the exam."
"What about the teacher? What about you? What about your father?"
"The master died of illness. Later, I went to look for my father and found that he had passed away the second year after I parted from him."
The emperor was silent for a while, then turned around and looked at Fang Xianye. His tired eyes were dull. He said, "You are so calm when you talk about this life story."
"Everyone in the world suffers, not just me." After a pause, Fang Xianye said, "I entered the government hoping that there would be fewer miserable people in the world."
In the past few days, he always answered the emperor's questions very appropriately, neither seeking credit nor complaining, and acting very calmly. The emperor was silent, squinting his eyes and watching the sunlight slowly dim. When only a faint yellow light remained, he said softly, "The sun is going to set."
When Fang Xianye looked up in the direction the emperor was talking, he heard the emperor say, "I know Fang Qing is smart and capable. I have seen your achievements in the Ministry of Revenue and in Yunluo Prefecture, and the reform proposals you submitted are also quite insightful. But Fang Qing, there is no shortage of smart people in this world, what is lacking is the word opportunity."
"If I could live a few more years, your opportunity would be better than it is now."
The emperor's tone was calm, as if he was speaking to him from the heart. Fang Xianye thought that what the emperor meant was that he had originally planned to increase the power of the King of Jin in the next few years, and perhaps he could remove Fang Xianye from the side of Duke Pei and secretly put him under the King of Jin.
But given the current situation, it’s too late to do all this.
"You saved me, and you haven't revealed my whereabouts these days. Song Yun said you are a trustworthy person. He has always been very accurate in judging people, and he was not wrong this time." The emperor said lightly, turned his eyes to look at Fang Xianye, and said: "In this case, I will give Fang Qing this opportunity."
"I have drafted an edict for you. For your meritorious service in saving the emperor, I will confer upon you the title of Marquis of Loyalty and Harmony, and promote you to be the Deputy Privy Envoy and Counselor of State Affairs."
Fang Xianye was stunned. Being promoted to the rank of prime minister as the deputy envoy of the Privy Council and participating in the government affairs was a rapid rise in the career. This was the position he had dreamed of since he entered the government. He immediately kowtowed to express his gratitude. He was surprised and shocked, but his doubts overshadowed his joy.
He always felt that things were not that simple.
The emperor was silent for a while, then said quietly, "I remember that you and General Duan have always been at odds."
After a pause, the emperor seemed to sigh: "General Duan hasn't come back yet."
The ominous premonition slowly grew in Fang Xianye's heart.
The envoy sent by the emperor had naturally arrived at Duan Xu's camp a long time ago, and had naturally "unfortunately" encountered robbers. He survived a narrow escape, but lost the imperial edict and the military token. Duan Xu received the envoy politely, saying that he fully believed in the envoy's words, but he could not see the military token and the imperial edict, and according to the law he could not withdraw his troops.
After settling the messenger, he continued to do what he had to do, as if he had no idea about the Nandu incident. Ding Jin said that the messenger had lost the military order, which was a serious crime. Normally, he should have fled, but he still rode here at full speed to report the news. It seemed that he valued this news more than his own life, so the news must be true.
Shi Biao was a little worried and said to Duan Xu, "The emperor asked us to go back but we didn't. Will he punish us and kill us later?"
Duan Xu crossed his arms and looked at the map on the table with the distribution of troops drawn on it. He answered the question irrelevantly: "Shi Biao, how many casualties have there been since we attacked Youzhou?"
Shi Biao scratched his head. Ding Jin looked at him, shook his head and replied, "Guihe Army had 130,000 soldiers, 3,000 dead and 9,000 wounded. Chengjie Army had 70,000 soldiers, 800 dead and 3,000 wounded. Tangbei Army had 100,000 soldiers, 5,000 dead and 15,000 wounded. A total of more than 8,800 dead and 27,000 wounded?"
Duan Xu nodded and said, "I attacked while they defended. Youzhou has a complicated terrain, and our losses were much greater than Danzhi's. Danzhi was defeated by us and gave up most of the cities in Youzhou, but the main force is still there. Once we withdraw our troops, the thirteen cities in Youzhou that we captured will immediately return to Danzhi's hands. Not only that, it is still unknown whether Jingzhou and Qizhou, which are adjacent to Youzhou, will suffer losses. Then why are our more than 30,000 people injured and why did they die?"
The lives of the powerful people in Nandu are lives, but the lives of those soldiers who died on the battlefield are not lives
Duan Xu didn't say these treasonous words in the end. He just raised his eyes and looked at Shi Biao with a smile on his face.
"My soldiers will not die in vain. No one can make me give up the land I conquered. If I have to lose my head when I go back, I will be the first one to lose it. I will never implicate you. Don't worry."
Shi Biao felt a little embarrassed, and he shouted, "My life belongs to General Duan. I will do whatever General Duan wants me to do. As long as my head is still on your neck, I will never let the General lose his head!"
Ding Jin said coldly: "You just talk big."
Shi Biao immediately blew his beard and glared. Seeing that the two subordinates were about to argue again, Duan Xu turned to Ding Jin and said, "Just now I heard you mention that there is some discussion in the Guihe Army. What is it about?"
Ding Jin recalled this incident and reported it seriously: "Some time ago, the Danzhi soldiers suddenly became extremely powerful and invulnerable. We encountered the greatest resistance since our invasion. Many soldiers in the army are confused. There are rumors about gods and ghosts. The most critical battle of Fujian City is coming soon. I am worried that the morale of the army is unstable."
Duan Xu put his hands together and placed them on his lips, thinking and smiling brightly: "Lu Da's strategy is well implemented."
When he came to the North Bank last time, few Han people knew about Cang Shen. This time, many Han people knew about Cang Shen’s legend. Even when they encountered obstacles in the war, they could think of Cang Shen’s miracles. If he came a few years later, I’m afraid many Han people would be able to recite Cang Yan Jing and believe in its teachings.
"Let's write down the battle rules first. I will talk to them before the war starts." Duan Xu pointed at the map.
The discussion lasted until late at night, Duan Xu, Ding Jin and Shi Biao deduced various possible situations and deployed troops. In the previous battles, their front line was almost completely victorious, but it was also almost all a rout, and the main force of the Danzhi army did not suffer much loss. Fu Jian was the place where Duan Xu chose for the burial of Danzhi, and he wanted to annihilate its main army here.
Duan Xu drew the topography of Fujian clearly. Shi Biao couldn't help wondering how Duan Xu knew so much about Fujian City when he had never been there.
Duan Xu smiled and said, "I said the immortal came to me in my dream, do you believe it?"
Shi Biao looked bewildered. Ding Jin was much more sensible in these aspects. He had come to the North Bank from Nandu with Duan Xu to fight bandits. He had long been accustomed to Duan Xu's mystery. He just patted Shi Biao and said, "Just listen."
After everything was ready, Duan Xu summoned the elite soldiers of the Guihe Army to swear an oath of blood and worship on Xingyun Mountain. It was a sunny day, and countless armored weapons shone brightly in the sun, like a rolling iron sea.
Duan Xu was also standing on the high platform wearing silver-white armor, with the Sword of Breaking Delusion at his waist, striking the armor with the wind and making a clanging sound. The sky was high and the earth was vast, the man in the armor was tiny yet vast, Duan Xu looked at the elite soldiers below the stage and spoke with a faint smile.
"I have led the Guihe Army since its inception. You are all soldiers I personally trained. I am not much older than you, nor am I a pretentious or solemn person. I told you from the first day that the most important evaluation does not come from ourselves but from the enemy. The name of me and our Guihe Army will become the nightmare of the enemy. We will die happily and laugh at them, because they will eventually bleed and cry and kneel down to submit to us."
"We have never lost even one battle. When we were training the Feather Chariot, many of you questioned the point of training such a huge chariot with complicated tactics. But we practiced this tactic year after year until we were proficient in it, so that we still have not lost a battle on the north bank. Danzhi's cavalry is strong, it is true. They, the Huqi people, grew up on horseback. They once relied on their proud cavalry to go all the way south, robbed our 17 states, and slaughtered tens of millions of people. Among these tens of millions of people, there may be our grandparents' fathers, our countless brothers and sisters, but now we are back, we stand on this land, and we will let them taste the fear we once had."
"Some people say that we are afraid of the gods and ghosts of Danzhi. No, we should be afraid of them! Our ancestors who were killed by the Huqi people, their bones are buried under our feet, their ghosts fill the mountains, rivers, lakes and seas. If they can make a sound, it will be deafening and make the Huqi people tremble with fear. If there are really ghosts and gods helping in the world, our strength will definitely be ten thousand times that of theirs, and we will only wait for us to clear their grievances and avenge them!"
"Now 60 to 70 percent of Youzhou is in our hands. Ahead is the last important town, Fujian. After Fujian, it is only a matter of time before we take Youzhou. Where is Youzhou? This is the throat of Danzhi. We can force Danzhi to go straight to the capital. Those Huqi people in the palace must be trembling with fear. If a spear in our hands falls to the ground, they will wake up from their sleep - shouldn't they be like this? They have committed heinous crimes and have enslaved our brothers until now. Can they still sit back and relax and laugh at our uselessness?"
Duan Xu raised his finger and pointed in the direction of Fujian City, and said word by word: "My Daliang army is here, and we will definitely destroy Danzhi and recover the Central Plains to pay tribute to the dead souls!"
The wind carried his voice far away, echoing in the valleys. The soldiers under the high platform raised their spears and halberds, shouting like a tsunami: "Destroy Danzhi and restore China! Destroy Danzhi and restore China!"
Their eyes were burning, their voices echoed in the valley, and the heaven and earth were shaking. Duan Xu's throat felt sweet, and he calmly swallowed the blood that welled up in his mouth, drew his sword and pointed it at Fujian City, saying, "Beat the drum to pass the order, and march at noon."
Ding Jin said yes.
Duan Xu came down from the high platform, patted Ding Jin and Shi Biao on the shoulders, and said, "I won't go to the battlefield until I recover from my injury. I'll leave this battle to you."
The Guihe Army came in a mighty force, like a black cloud, pressing towards the heavily guarded Fujian.
At the same time, in the chaos and fighting in Nandu, the sleeping emperor hiding in Jin'an Temple suddenly woke up from his dream and grabbed Fang Xianye's arm. Fang Xianye turned sideways in surprise and said, "Your Majesty, are you okay?"
The emperor opened his eyes and murmured, "I dreamed of my mother..."
Fang Xianye didn't know what to say for a moment, and then he heard the emperor continue: "When my mother was still alive, Princess Xihe occasionally came to the palace to accompany me. I also held her child - Duan Shunxi. I also held her child."
"All the children are afraid of me, except Duan Shunxi. I guess Duan Shuai has no respect for me or the royal family in his bones." The emperor slowly turned his head to look at Fang Xianye, and a sinister look appeared in his eyes, which were cloudy due to illness. He said, "He still hasn't come back."