The general responsible for guarding the Changle Gate on the southernmost side of Chang'an also participated in the banquet of Emperor Qingping that day.
Each of these senior generals at Qinmenguan was Xu Zonglun's confidant. Military generals are different from civil servants. They have to jointly defend against the enemy and completely obey their superiors. Over time, the relationship between superiors and subordinates can easily become unbreakable.
What's more, Xu Zonglun has always been an extremely qualified general.
Qinmenguan is different from border gates and prefectures. The guards at the border gates are far more free when the emperor is far away; the guards in the prefectures and prefectures do not have much heavy military affairs, and their daily life is much more nourishing.
It's just that they have such a difficult pass, and life is the worst.
Before Xu Zonglun came, they lived a very hard life on weekdays, needless to say.
However, after Xu Zonglun became a guard at Qinmen Pass, the situation changed.
He looks like a warm and jade-like temperament, he is literate, and he treats his subordinates well. More importantly, he fooled the officials who came to visit in Beijing to turn a blind eye to their generals who were greedy for some money and some empty pay.
In the beginning, it was just a few generals who tried to greed for a point or two. Gradually, everyone knew that as long as they didn't go too far, General Xu would not stop them from improving their lives.
These guards at Qinmenguan were more or less grateful to General Xu. Gradually, a few were picked by Xu Zonglun and became his henchmen.
So this time, General Xu gathered these people and told them his plan before His Majesty summoned them. The generals responded immediately, and none of them were reluctant.
Before, they just followed the general to make money at the Qinmen Pass, and when the general's big event is completed, they have the opportunity to increase their officials and become nobles. Do they still use it to guard the pass for a few days
The generals were somewhat eager to try.
And what happened these days has also well verified their conjecture.
They were stationed outside Chang'an City, and as long as they guarded these eight city gates, they didn't need to worry about other things. When the people in the city saw such a huge army, they didn't dare to take any action lightly. There were also officials and wealthy businessmen who were afraid of fighting, so they made plans for their future, and tried every means to bribe them and put money into their pockets.
But after a few days, they tasted a lot of sweetness.
At the same time, General Xu also expressed something to them.
Chang'an was already extremely wealthy, and it was peaceful for more than ten years. No major battles were fought, and the treasury was extremely full. In the past few days, General Xu has repeatedly sent food and grass rewards to them outside the city, and distributed them. Even the lowest-ranking soldiers can receive a few coins as rewards. .
On such a day, even Qinmenguan could not catch up with the Chinese New Year.
No need to do anything, there will be a lot of rewards to take, even if it is a general, it will relax a lot after a few days.
This is the case outside Changlemen today.
When the general stood up, it was already three poles in the sun. After a brief rectification, he inspected the guards outside the city gate, and then went up to the city tower leisurely.
Except for the soldiers on duty, the other soldiers were all waiting in the camp to take turns. However, they had tens of thousands of troops outside the city gate, and the city gate could not be as big as it was. To this day, the entire battalion had never been on duty.
This will make it approaching noon, and the soldiers who have nothing to do have set up pots outside the camp and start cooking on the fire.
The guard sat down on the tower.
The lieutenant standing above the tower saw him sit down, and he came forward to chat with him.
"General, is there any news in the palace that when will the Fourth Highness ascend the throne of the prince?" he asked.
The guard gave him a slow look.
"What's the hurry?" he said.
The lieutenant smiled.
"What's the hurry?" he said. "These few days have been so leisurely, and my subordinates are not in a hurry. I just wish I could live such a life for the rest of my life."
When the general heard this, he laughed a few times.
"It doesn't work either," he said. "Stay here every day, where will you be promoted?"
When the lieutenant heard it, his eyes lit up.
"That's true," he said. "But my subordinates don't want to be promoted, and they go back to Qinmenguan to guard them."
The master glanced at him and sneered.
"Qinmenguan?" he said. "How big is Qinmenguan? How big a general can it hold?"
The lieutenant immediately understood what he meant.
"The general said..."
Seeing him ask this question, the general nodded his head.
"General Xu promised long ago," he said. "We won't let us just go back to the Qin gate after it's done."
There was nothing to do, the lieutenant heard this, and then he asked with interest: "Then did General Xu say, where should we go?"
The commander paused, but did not speak.
This kind of package was naturally made by General Xu when he privately informed them of the plan and asked them to cooperate and help. At that time, General Xu said that after the completion of the matter, the sage will definitely dispose of the entire Yongning Gongfu, and at that time, Yongning's wife's family will not be able to stay.
The elder brother of Duke Yongning's wife is the guard of Yumen Pass.
Yumen Pass is a border gate, which leads directly to the Western Regions. It is not only peaceful all year round, but also has several prosperous business routes.
General Xu said at the time that after dealing with the Shen family, he handed over the vacated Yumen Pass to them.
They all knew these words in their chests, but they also knew that they would never be allowed to spread the word until it was done.
The Lord will hesitate.
When the lieutenant looked at his situation, he knew that he knew what he had in mind, but it was hard to say it.
The lieutenant smiled and said: "What is the general afraid of? The subordinates have always been serious. Besides, it is a sure thing for the Fourth Highness to ascend to the throne. What else do we have to fear?"
The Lord will know this is the truth.
The lieutenant continued: "What's more, we are guarding here now, Chang'an City can't even fly into a fly, there will be no variables. You can tell your subordinates, and your subordinates may have some ideas in mind, if you don't tell the third one personal."
The general was shaken.
"Then you can do it," he said.
The lieutenant nodded.
"General Xu said, after things are done..."
His words came to an abrupt end.
The lieutenant's eyes widened.
He saw a sharp arrow flying through the air, and when no one could react, it suddenly tore the tranquility in front of him.
The arrow suddenly pierced the main general's throat and nailed him heavily to the stone wall of the city tower.
He didn't even have time to close his eyes, so he lost his breath.
As if at the same moment, the sound of swords piercing the flesh, the sound of hurried footsteps, and the sound of fighting and screaming came from under the tower.
The lieutenant stared blankly at the city gate.
I saw a troop in black armor, the number was not very large, and there was no sound of shouting. As they walked, they could only hear the sound of armor colliding, like ghost soldiers gushing out of the underworld, quiet and swift, killing people like numbness.
And not far away, the soldiers' camp actually caught fire. The fire was so great that some soldiers fled from their tents in a panic. Some soldiers tried to fight against the black armor army, and before they could drop the sword, they died under the blade.
In just a moment, most of the soldiers in the camp were captured, and the battle between the two armies seemed to be over before the actual battle began.
The lieutenant stared blankly into the distance.
Then I saw a man and a horse standing quietly more than ten meters away.
The man sat on the black horse, dressed in a black robe, tall and tall.
He was carrying a bow on his back, and at a glance, he knew that it was him who had just killed the commander with one arrow.
The lieutenant suddenly came back to his senses, and hurried down the city tower.
Under the tower, there is the sound of fighting and fighting. Before taking two steps, he encountered a wounded soldier on the stairs who was about to come up to report.
"General!" said the soldier hastily. "There are so many of them, we can't stop them!"
The lieutenant asked hurriedly: "What about the other gates? Our camp is in the southernmost part, so it must be the first to bear the brunt. You immediately find a few people, stand out from the siege, and report to the other gates!"
The soldier kept shaking his head.
"General, someone has come to the west gate just now!" he said. "The other seven gates... Half an hour ago, they were silently controlled by them, and they didn't even have time to send out the signal!"
The lieutenant was stunned.
"Who is leading the troops?" he asked in a daze.
The soldier wiped his face.
"Say it's... King Guangling, the Yanyun Iron Cavalry he brought!" he said. "Now the other seven gates have been guarded by them. The person who reported the letter said that the King of Guangling must be entering the city through Changle Gate... He is going to enter the imperial city!"
—
In just an hour, all eight gates of Chang'an were broken.
Qinmenguan's soldiers had not fought for many years, and they have been much more relaxed these days. Today, when Yanyun's iron cavalry attacked, they even opened fire to cook in advance. Yanyun's iron cavalry attacked from the northernmost city gate, first attacked the city gate, locked the city gate, and then controlled Qinmenguan's army outside the city, catching turtles in the urn. After capturing a city gate, Yanyun's iron cavalry split into two groups, attacked the city gates on both sides, and finally gathered outside Changle Gate, killed the defenders, and took down Changle Gate with ease.
The battle report was immediately sent to the fourth prince's case.
His hands trembled uncontrollably.
"... Mr. Xu." After a while, he raised his head and said to Xu Xiang who was standing in the imperial study. "They came to report that Xue Yan hit Changlemen."
Xue Yan did not enter the other seven city gates. Xue Yunhong knew that it was not those city gates that blocked Xue Yan, but Xue Yan sealed those city gates to trap them in Chang'an City.
Xu Xiang did not speak for a while.
Xue Yunhong stood up suddenly.
"How could Xue Yan know the news, how could he have soldiers!" he said angrily. "Master Xu, you promised me that there will be no omissions and no omissions!"
Xu Xiang endured Xue Yunhong's anger in silence.
What happened today was something he didn't expect. The soldiers at Qinmen Pass, he didn't plan to really let them do anything, but it was just a shock.
… But now, the shock and deterrence did not work, but it attracted a real wolf.
Xu Xiang clearly knew that no one could save them now.
They took a risky move, and Xue Yan was the end of life and death. Now that Xue Yan has broken this game, it is naturally them who are going to die.
And this, Xue Yunhong is also clear.
He breathed heavily, and after a while, he opened his mouth again.
His voice was hoarse.
"Master Xu, I can't die," he said. "I can't die in Xue Yan's hands."
Xu Xiang naturally knew.
The one in front of him was left by his daughter, and it was also the only common blood of their Xu family and the royal family.
If he is born, the Xu family will still have a chance, and if he dies, the Xu family will be at the end of the road.
"...I will make arrangements immediately," he said. "Be sure to let His Highness leave Chang'an safely."
Xue Yunhong nodded, but then he shook his head again.
"Not enough," he said.
"Now at the last moment, I not only want to live, but I also want to let Xue Yan's relatives, Rangjun's family, and Rangjiang's family all die."