The Blood Crown

Chapter 71

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Zhao Fuyi was really relieved that the two of them came back together. If Feng Ye made a mistake under his command, he really didn't know how to face King Jingyuan.

They fully explained everything that happened in Kuizhou. Zhao Fuyi was very happy after hearing this. Although this trip did not fully achieve its goal, it has already planted three troubles for Kuizhou. It was the old Kuizhou Ministry that was about to move, and one of these three outbreaks was enough for them to regain Kuizhou.

At this time, the situation is in their favor, and it is not easy to make a breakthrough under this predicament.

Zhao Fuyi said happily: "You two have made meritorious service in this trip, and you should be rewarded!"

Yan Sikong said humbly: "Thank you, General, but the military situation is critical right now, and thousands of dollars will be wasted every day. I hope you will receive the reward on the day when our army wins."

Zhao Fuyi appreciated Yan Sikong more and more, and praised him a few words. Liang Guang was not very happy to be on the sidelines. It was a bit humiliating.

However, Liang Guang did not show it. He still focused on the overall situation and discussed the siege of the city.

Zhao Fuyi said: "But I don't know how much food and grass are left in Kuizhou. The food and grass for our army are still on the way, and the current food and grass can only last for more than a month at most."

"Kuizhou is only food and grass in March." Yan Sikong said firmly.

"Oh, how did you know?"

Yan Sikong smiled: "At that time, I used food and grass to induce them to surrender, saying, 'How long will Kuizhou's food and grass be enough for you, one year, half a year, or March', when I said one year, half a year, neither Bao Yunyong nor Yang Weiqi Big reaction, but when it comes to March, both of them frowned at the same time."

Liang Guang said in a deep voice: "This matter is of great importance, Master Yan, can you guarantee it?"

"Eighty nine is not far from ten." Yan Sikong said, "The lower officials have roughly calculated that the population of Kuizhou is only 40,000, and the city guards are no more than 3,000. According to the imperial court regulations, the grain stored in Changping warehouse should not exceed 200,000 shi. Having just survived the cold winter, I am afraid that the remaining food is less than 100,000, and Bao Yunyong's rebel army, including his family members, number more than 50,000, and nearly 100,000 people are crowded in the city of Kuizhou, and the food and grass will not last long."

"It makes sense, Mr. Yan is really thoughtful, and he has almost got the food and grass." Zhao Fuyi had the bottom line in his heart, "Okay, it's not too late, I want to inform Di Jiang's army, and we will pull out troops to besiege the city tomorrow."

At this time, Feng Ye stood up and took the initiative to invite two thousand cavalry to set up an ambush on the road from Jingzhou to Kuizhou to prevent the King of Liang from really sending people to help. They are not worried about the waterway. They are upstream and Jingzhou is downstream. Is the King of Liang right? He would be stupid enough to send a navy to save Kuizhou.

Zhao Fuyi approved Fengye, and ordered people to send an informative report to Di Rong, the commander of the Luoyang Ping rebel army, to strike while the iron is hot, and march into the army tomorrow to encircle Kuizhou!

At night, Feng Ye was about to lead the ambush, Yan Sikong was in his tent, pouring wine to see him off.

Holding the wine glass in one hand, Feng Ye pinched Yan Sikong's face with the other, and teased, "I've never seen Lord Yan look so nervous before, why, are you worried about me?"

Yan Sikong said in a low voice: "Fengye, you are going to fight, and you may be the only person who will actually fight hand-to-hand with the enemy in this battle. How can I not be worried."

Feng Ye pretended to be relaxed: "So, you should be happy. I ambushed King Liang and Bao Yunyong surrendered under the pressure. Isn't everyone happy?"

Yan Sikong sighed: "You know what I'm worried about, I'm not in the mood to laugh right now."

Feng Ye smoothed his hair, and said softly: "Kong'er, don't worry about me. I went out with my father when I was eleven years old, and I'm used to the battlefield. Came back safe and sound."

"Even if there are only two thousand soldiers?"

"Even if there are only two thousand soldiers and horses." Feng Ye drank the glass of wine, stretched out his arms and took Yan Sikong into his arms, holding him tightly, "Wait for me to come back."

Yan Sikong grabbed Feng Ye's skirt and closed his eyes: "Don't be reckless when things happen, nothing can compare to your life, you know."

"Ok."

Yan Sikong suppressed the worry and reluctance in his heart, and said softly: "...I will wait for you to come back."

In addition to the 10,000 soldiers and horses brought from Jingshan, Zhao Fuyi’s battalion also had 10,000 soldiers from the Lianghu area, mainly naval forces, and Di Rong’s soldiers and horses from Luoyang happened to be 20,000. But these 20,000 people are all soldiers.

The next day, 40,000 troops marched towards Kuizhou City in two ways: water and land.

For a while, the fields are filled with chariots and horses, and the sails are full of Hengjiang.

Forty thousand soldiers and horses arrived in Kuizhou before dark, chose the sunny highlands to set up camp, blocked all the water and land arteries of Kuizhou, and turned it into an isolated city.

Yan Sikong stood on the high ground of the barracks, looked at Kuizhou in the distance, and felt emotional.

Ten years ago, he was on the top of the city, the Jin army was under the city, a hundred thousand troops were overwhelming, banners covered the sun, and spears were like forests. He was trembling with fear. With the belief and fighting spirit of the people, the city will be destroyed and the people will die.

Ten years later, he was under the city and became the party that attacked the city. Half of the Kuizhou troops were mobs who rebelled, and half were old troops with different ideas. , Which shepherd to follow is not up to oneself. Kuizhou has no determination to fight to the death with them. Its morale has been completely defeated, and its recovery is just around the corner.

In the early morning of the next day, Zhao Fuyi sent Qingqi to the city of Kuizhou to call for battle and persuade him to surrender, which was almost the same as Bao Yunyong's tactics when he took Kuizhou.

Even if there is no change in Kuizhou and they run out of food, they will surrender sooner or later. As long as Bao Yunyong and Yang Weiqi have some brains, they should not push themselves to that corner. After all, Kuizhou is not theirs at all, and besieging the city is inevitable. Dasheng's regular army who did nothing wrong to the common people.

However, it would be extremely unfavorable for them to delay Kuizhou for an extra day, because right now their food and grass are even tighter than that of Kuizhou, and it is difficult to judge the movements of King Liang. unknown.

This game has not yet seen blood, but the lives of tens of thousands of soldiers have been gambled.

A few days later, the battle report came from the front line, and Feng Ye caught the scout that Bao Yunyong secretly sent out to ask for help. After revealing to the scout that the Sheng army had sufficient food and grass and had prepared a long-term siege plan, he pretended to be negligent and let him go ran away.

Zhao Fuyi immediately sent another two thousand elite soldiers to Feng Ye. They have been besieging the city for many days but there is no movement from the King of Liang, which proves that the King of Liang will not send troops at least until they attack the city. Feng Ye sent this scout to ask for help. Without sending troops, Bao Yunyong will inevitably fall into despair. Zhao Fuyi added troops to Feng Ye because he hoped that once Liang Wang sent troops, he would beat him up once and for all.

Zhao Fuyi still sent people to the city every day to call for battle, but Bao Yunyong remained indifferent, fearing that he still had a glimmer of expectation for King Liang, he resisted desperately.

A few days after letting the scouts go, Liang Wang actually sent troops. Before that, most of them thought that King Liang would not send troops, but gave up Kuizhou and went straight down to take Jinling.

When he heard the news that King Liang sent troops, Yan Sikong felt mixed joy and sorrow. He was happy that King Liang lacked courage and made a wrong move, and worried that if King Liang lost too quickly, he wanted to take the opportunity to beat Ge Zhong and even Xie Zhong. Zhongren's plan to get involved in a major treason case may fail.

However, what he is most concerned about right now is Feng Ye's safety, Feng Ye is an important help for him to step into the center of power in the future, and there must be no mistakes here.

Fortunately, Feng Ye was not popular, so he set up an ambush with 4,000 elite soldiers, intercepted 20,000 soldiers and horses of King Liang on Yuanhua Road, and killed 6,000 enemies. Of course, Feng Ye himself lost half of his troops, because the road from Jingzhou to Kuizhou lacked mountains and rivers, and there were no natural conditions for setting up an ambush. It was to force Liang Wang's soldiers and horses back to Jingzhou.

The news of Feng Ye's success was reported back to the camp, but he did not bring his troops back to the camp. In order to prevent King Liang from killing a carbine, he wanted to continue to stay where he was.

Zhao Fuyi was overjoyed and ordered the generals to keep this matter a secret. There are many people in the army, and it is inevitable that spies will get in. Although the victory in the first battle is great news to boost the morale of the army, right now he wants to ensure that Kuizhou will not get the king of Liang to send troops The news pushed them into the abyss step by step.

One month after the siege of the city, due to the delay in the arrival of the continuation of rations, Sheng's army was running out of rations, but Bao Yunyong was still pretending to be dead in the city, and the two sides were stuck in a stalemate.

Zhao Fuyi was anxious in his heart, but kept calm on the face, and sent a team of cavalry to train troops under the city of Kuizhou. The callers also began to shout that King Liang had sent troops south and abandoned Kuizhou.

At this time, Bao Yunyong had been waiting for King Liang for a month, and what the scouts brought back was the news that King Liang was going to send troops to help, but he didn't wait for a single soldier to come, and he didn't even yell. Rumors abounded in the army, guessing that King Liang had lied to them. Such voices intensified over time, until Zhao Fuyi shouted the news that King Liang had gone south at the right time, which just confirmed the conjectures in many people's minds, and instantly Put Bao Yunyong in a desperate situation.

At this time, not only Kuizhou's old troops, but even the rebel army who followed Bao Yunyong from Shu to this place began to be dissatisfied with him. The enemy army besieged the city and was isolated and helpless.

Finally, in the middle of the night on the forty-second day of the siege, the city of Kuizhou was suddenly brightly lit and crowded with people. Zhao Fuyi was awakened in the middle of the night, put on his armor and sword, led his troops out of the camp, and went straight to the city. Yan Sikong felt light, and also woke up. Looking at the abnormal state of Kuizhou City from a distance, he knew that the great event had been accomplished.

It was pitch dark at night, and it was hard to see clearly, but after a while, some cavalry rushed back to the camp, and shouted excitedly from a long distance: "Yang Weiqi took Bao Yunyong's head and surrendered to the city—"

Yan Sikong took a deep breath, a sneer appeared on his face.

The overall situation in Kuizhou has been decided, and Jingzhou is next.

At daybreak, Zhao Fuyi led his soldiers and horses into the city with arrogance and arrogance, and the people of Kuizhou lined up to greet him, obviously hating Bao Yunyong and the rebel army he brought with him for a long time.

Zhao Fuyi had promised that as long as he surrendered, he would forget the past. After entering the city, he did not arrest any rebel generals or rebellious Kuizhou old troops, which relieved the group of people.

Bao Yunyong was dead, and Kuizhou City had been taken. Nearly three months had passed since the expedition. Di Rong and Zhao Fuyi finally lived up to the emperor's orders and wiped out the Shu rebels who had troubled the court for more than half a year.

Then, everything is not over yet, and the more difficult enemy is guarding the Jingzhou Fortress, intending to get involved in the south of the Yangtze River.

Therefore, they didn't have time to celebrate, and when Feng Ye came back, he didn't even bother to drink a sip of water, so he was summoned by Zhao Fuyi to discuss matters.

As soon as he entered the room, Feng Ye looked anxiously. When he saw Yan Sikong, whose face was as calm as a lake and as handsome as a green pine, his frizzy mood seemed to be calmed down in an instant.

Yan Sikong also looked at him, with unconcealable joy flashing in his eyes, even though it was fleeting, Feng Ye captured all of them, the moment the two looked at each other, there seemed to be countless emotions circulating in the air.

Feng Ye knelt down on one knee, cupped his fists and said: "The last general Feng Ye, I have seen the general, and the 2,376 soldiers who retreated from the enemy have all been reorganized into the camp."

Zhao Fuyi laughed loudly: "As expected of a general, you are a good boy!"

"Fortunately not disgraceful!"

"Feng Ye, sit down."

Feng Ye stood up, sat opposite Yan Sikong, and winked secretly at him.

The corners of Yan Sikong's lips are slightly raised.

"What do you guys think should be done with the generals of the uprising army and the old Kuizhou troops?" Zhao Fuyi only summoned Liang Guang, Feng Ye and Yan Sikong.

Liang Guangdao: "Since the general has promised not to blame the past, he must not break his promise at this time, but letting them go just like this is against the holy will."

"Not only is it against the holy will, but if these rebellious officials and thieves are not punished, why should they answer to the people of the world, to the soldiers and common people who died innocently?" Feng Ye said coldly, "We must not let them go."

Zhao Fuyi nodded: "I also thought that's why I asked you to discuss it."

Liang Guang stroked his beard and said, "Kill him secretly?"

Feng Ye shook his head: "If they can't make them confess their crimes in public, then it won't serve the purpose of punishment."

Zhao Fuyi thought for a while, then looked at Yan Sikong: "Master Yan, do you have a good idea?"

Yan Sikong cupped his hands: "The lower officials do have a plan."

"Speaking."

"As the son said, if you don't punish them, how can you convince the public? The lower officials think that their crimes should be thoroughly investigated and made public."

"Isn't this a violation of my promise?" Zhao Fuyi said, "At the beginning when food and grass were in short supply, in order to make them surrender as soon as possible, we had no choice but to make a bad move."

"Don't worry, the general. We keep our promises and don't punish the crimes, but we ask them to take their crimes and make meritorious deeds and lead the troops to fight against King Liang."

Zhao Fuyi clapped his hands and said, "Use the hand of King Liang to kill them."

Yan Sikong nodded: "Among this group of people, there are a few who must be eliminated, such as Yang Weiqi, the main generals of the rebel army, and the Kuizhou generals who participated in the assassination of Kuizhou's garrison. None of them can be left behind. Come, their crimes can be made public, and the general will not be dishonest."

"Okay, let's do it like this. In fact, this matter is not the most important..." Zhao Fuyi pondered, "I just discussed with Di Jiangjun, and I still don't know how to take Jingzhou."

"That's right, Yang Weiqi is still useful. When the time is right, there will be excuses to send them to death. The most important thing right now is King Liang."

"What's the situation in Jingzhou now?" Feng Ye asked.

Yan Sikong said in a deep voice: "Jingzhou is a high city with deep moats (read less), and the soldiers are fine and food is sufficient. With the current strength of our army, even if the food and grass are sufficient, it is unlikely to be captured. If we want to fight safely, we still have to encircle .”

"The king of Liang is expanding his army massively. When he has a large army in his hands, he will definitely send his troops south. At that time, Jingzhou is in front of us. We can only watch him go south. I am afraid that there will be no way to recover." Liang Guang sighed, " Therefore, we can't afford it, and if we can't stop King Liang from going south, we will bear the grace of God."

Zhao Fuyi also said: "We must take Jingzhou before King Liang grows stronger."

The room suddenly fell silent. Right now, it seems that they have no strength to fight against King Liang. Although their military strength is twice that of King Liang, they are short of food and grass. Right now, they can only rely on Kuizhou food and grass to rescue them. If this continues, the only way to retreat is to retreat.

"When will the food and grass arrive?" Yan Sikong asked.

"It should be here at the beginning of the month." Liang Guang said in a deep voice, "I have sent three reminders in a row, but the Datong Mansion is also asking for food, and Cai Shangshu is going around to adjust the food. The situation is not good."

In ancient times, in wars, what was fought was food and grass, and the strength of a country's strength can be verified from the matter of feeding food. Eight out of ten grain shipments means that 40% of the grain shipments will be eaten by the grain transport army on the way, and 40% will be eaten by the grain transport army on the way back. Only 20% of the grain can be delivered to the frontline troops. Every day of marching and fighting is a huge consumption, and now the national power of Dasheng is hardly enough to support such consumption.

This time, the discussion did not come up with a strategy to deal with Jingzhou, so Zhao Fuyi asked Feng Ye to go back and rest.

Now that they have moved into Kuizhou, they naturally don't need to live in tents anymore.

Back in the post house, Yan Sikong hugged Fengye tightly before Fengye could move. It didn't smell good, but it made him feel at ease like never before.

Feng Ye also hugged him back, his voice trembling again: "Kong'er, you miss me."

"I'm worried about you." Yan Sikong said softly, "I've been worried about you every day for more than a month."

"I'm back." Feng Ye said with a smile, "No hair was hurt."

Yan Sikong closed his eyes, opened them again, his eyes had returned to calmness, he let go of Fengye: "Are you tired? Xue Bo went to fetch water, you take a good bath, then eat something, and then Get a good night's sleep."

Feng Ye smiled and said, "I just want to take a good look at you now."

"I'm here with you."

"Really, are you here with me tonight?"

"This is not a military camp, so I can accompany you naturally." Yan Sikong hooked the corners of his lips, "I will accompany you to talk at night by candlelight."

Feng Ye showed a smirk: "Okay, let's 'talk by candlelight'."

Xue Bo waited for Feng Ye to take a bath, washed off the dirt of more than a month, changed into clean clothes, and served hot wine and vegetables.

Feng Ye had eaten the dry rations for the march for nearly forty days, and at this moment he saw the delicacies, so he began to feast on them.

Yan Sikong watched Feng Ye quietly from the side, this radiant and stunning young man, every expression, every picture, he wanted to see.

Feng Ye buried his head in eating for a long time, then raised his head abruptly, and urged: "You eat."

"I have no shortage of food in the camp, you should eat more."

"There is still food to eat, so I need to eat more, maybe someday there will be no food." Feng Ye picked up a large piece of meat and stuffed it into Yansi's empty bowl, "Eat, I don't want you to be hungry."

The two of them swept away all the food, Yan Sikong poured two cups of wine, raised his glass and said: "I drank the practice wine with you that day, and I will also have a celebration wine with you in the near future. Come, Feng Ye, to congratulate you on your triumphant return And return."

Feng Ye laughed and clinked glasses with Yan Sikong, and drank it proudly.

Yan Sikong asked how Feng Ye repelled King Liang's reinforcements, Feng Ye couldn't hold back any longer, and described his bravery to Yan Sikong vividly.

The two chatted late into the night, the more drunken they became, unknowingly, lust sprouted, Feng Ye pushed Yan Sikong to the ground, ravaged those warm lips to his heart's content, wishing to put all the longing and the joy of reunion into I poured all my brains into this lingering kiss.