When Zhu Yin led the vanguard of the Xuanwu Army to Yuanju County, the main force of Zhu and Wen's army had already set off from Bianzhou.
Between Bianzhou City and Caozhou City, there is only Yuanju County, a decent city. In Zhu Wen's plan, Zhu Yin led his troops down Baigou, and the thunder was dispatched. Before reacting, seize Yuanju County and provide the main force of the army with a bridgehead that can support them to continue to use troops north.
It was the same night when Li Ye received the news of Shangguan's victory over the city, and Zhu Wen also received the news of Zhu Yin's defeat.
Zhu Wen, who was planning to rush from Bianzhou to Yuanju County at dawn the next day, was shocked and had to order the main force of the army to suspend the plan to march to Yuanju County. Camp and stand by.
As for himself, he immediately summoned his confidants and staff, and conducted an emergency military meeting all night long.
The vanguard offensive was thwarted, and the 50,000 soldiers and horses were either beheaded or captured, and less than 30% of them stood out from the encirclement.
Fortunately, the outbreak of the Great War was approaching sunset, and the one-sided massacre of the Xuanwu Army by the Pinglu Army and the Yuanju County Defenders took place after nightfall. As a result, although the Xuanwu Army suffered greatly increased casualties and the proportion of casualties in the chaos, it also Let the Pinglu army fail to completely surround them.
If not, not to mention more than 10,000 people escaped, maybe even 5,000 people would not be able to escape.
Because it was still in Bianzhou City, the military discussion was held in Jiedushi's mansion. In the brightly lit meeting hall, the staff members whispered nervously. Zhu Wen sat in the main seat without saying a word. Although he was not in a state of confusion, his eyes looked particularly frightening, and his face was cloudy and uncertain.
The staff members are all Zhu Wen's confidantes, and they are well aware of Zhu Wen's strategic deployment, and they are of one mind with him, so there is not much difference in opinion.
Everyone agreed that although Vanguard suffered setbacks, lost soldiers and lost generals, 800 Taoist soldiers were defeated and returned, and Zhu Yin was also captured by Shangguan Qingcheng, but it would not affect the fundamentals, and the original battle plan should not be changed.
As the general of the defeated army, Zhu Yin was entrusted with an important task but lost the first battle. He should be severely punished to correct the military law, but he himself is in the enemy camp now, so he cannot be captured and beheaded.
Therefore, the staff suggested that Zhu Wen imprison and kill Zhu Yin's family members, so as to show the soldiers of the three armies his firm will to conquer Pinglu.
Zhu Wen said in a deep voice: "Zhu Yin has been fighting with this commander for many years, and he has made great achievements. Even if he is defeated this time, there is no reason to kill his family members, right?"
Xiao Yucheng, Zhu Wen's mastermind, persuaded with a solemn expression: "We have just pacified the Central Plains. Except for the Xuanwu Army, the other six towns are all conquered and forced to surrender. People's hearts are unpredictable. Although we have a million troops this time, The army is strong and the horse is strong, but after all, it is a battle against King An, so it is not morally right. Now that the main force has not come out, and the vanguard is defeated first, what will the soldiers of the Six Towns think?"
"Don't account for morality" is still a saying that avoids the important and ignores the trivial.
Now the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty is still there, and the Tang Dynasty has not yet perished. Although Zhu Wen sent troops under the banner of attacking the Tianping Army, in fact he wanted to fight against Li Ye's trilogy.
Although the princes and the hundred families had clamored before, Li Ye did not have the luck of Zhongxing Datang at all, and he was sure whether he would be able to achieve the general trend. However, now that Li Ye's general trend has been achieved, this statement can no longer give the princes psychological comfort.
Li Ye, who has become powerful, is still the prince of the dynasty, and he has the military and political power to control the east of Tongguan. In name, he is the only one who can crusade against the feudal towns, and there is no room for the feudal towns to initiate wars.
Now that Zhu Wen and his subordinates are committing crimes, he and his confidants are naturally determined to fight, but what about the six towns in the Central Plains that he just pacified
Even if the Jiedu envoys of the six towns and even the main generals are now basically Zhu Wen's confidantes, they will unswervingly implement his military orders, but what do the many middle-level generals and ordinary soldiers think
Zhu Wen commanded an army of one million to go out, relying on the power formed by the powerful strength of Taoism.
There is only power, and he has no name or reputation.
Power can only make people fearful, but fame and virtue can make people feel happy and surrender.
Li Ye governed Pinglu, and for several years, he was up and running all day long, and Li Zhen and Cui Keli's civil servants worked hard, so that the government was well-organized and the people were harmonious, and the people were grateful. Zhu Wen did not have Li Zhen, Cui Keli, and the civil servant team of Prince An's Mansion.
Although he also has civil officials to manage civil affairs, how can these people compare with Li Ye's civil official group
In the final analysis, Zhu Wen relied on Taoism to succeed, and Taoism does not know how to govern the country.
Seeing that Zhu Wen was still hesitating, Xiao Yu continued to persuade him earnestly: "There is no punishment for defeat. Who will fight to the death in the future? When the vanguard is defeated, the soldiers of the three armies will inevitably fear the Pinglu army. At this time, the commander-in-chief is not strict. They fear the commander-in-chief more than the Pinglu army, and when they are on the battlefield, they will not fight to the death with the Pinglu army!"
Zhu Wen pondered for a moment.
Then he said slowly: "Put Zhu Yin's family members in prison...there is no need to execute them."
Xiao Yucheng prostrated himself on the ground with a puff, and shouted in mournful voice: "Commander! Zhu Yin's family must be killed! Otherwise, it is not enough to make the soldiers of the three armies fear the military law and the commander! Otherwise, it is not enough to show the commander's vow to win this battle. Determination! Otherwise, it is not enough for the three armies to work together and fight against powerful enemies regardless of themselves!"
Zhu Yin closed her eyes in pain.
After a while, his voice was deep and slow, and he uttered a word with difficulty: "Kill."
This word weighs more than a thousand junctures. For Zhu Wen, it is extremely difficult to say it.
He remembered back then, when a group of young people dressed in commoner clothes and carrying wooden sticks, and a package with only one or two shabby clothes left the village together amidst the ridicule of the villagers.
They vowed to stand out in this chaotic world. They said that they would have the same blessings and share the same hardships. They said that they would return home together to enjoy the worship of their fellow countrymen.
A dozen or so familiar faces gradually disappeared during the years of fighting. Their heads were cut off by the officers and soldiers as proof of their military exploits. Their corpses were probably fed to wild dogs and wolves, and their souls wandered in some strange land.
Over the years, even Zhu Cun, Zhu Wen's own brother, died.
When Zhu Wen became the governor of the feudal town, there were only a few people left, and the only one who could make contributions with him was Zhu Yin.
Now, Zhu Yin was captured because of his defeat, but Zhu Wen wanted to stand in the rear and personally order the execution of the opponent's family members.
When the cold horizontal knife brushed Zhu Yin's wife's neck, they were no longer comrades fighting side by side, no longer brothers from the same village, and they would turn against each other—if Zhu Yin hadn't been killed by Li Ye.
Zhu Wen left the meeting hall, he didn't want to stay here any longer.
Seeing Dongtian's white belly, Zhu Wen felt the coolness of autumn.
No one has ever told him, and it was impossible for him to realize before that, from a poor and remote village to join the world to fight for wealth and honor, he would lose so many things that he once cherished, and he would have to pay such a heavy and painful price. Becoming unrecognizable to myself.
...
In the early morning, when Li Ye met Zhang Wence in Wei County, Zhu Wen brought three thousand soldiers under his command and came to the military camp on the border of Bianzhou with Venerable Baihe.
Venerable Baihe originally came to give He Jingcheng the blood grindstone to punish evil under the order of the Immortal Emperor. Because He Jingcheng was "unexpectedly" killed by Li Ye, and the Taoist Immortal Court lacked a leader in the mortal world, he was left here by the Immortal Emperor. While flying in the sky, Zhu Wen asked Venerable Baihe: "When will the next eight thousand Taoist soldiers descend to the realm?"
Venerable Baihe still had the gentle and elegant appearance, and replied with a polite smile: "It's already in the lower realm."
Zhu Wen was certain, "When will I be able to join the war?"
In the battle of Yuanju County, Shangguan Qingcheng defeated Zhu Yin, and the monster monks led by Zhao Batian also defeated eight hundred soldiers. The former is still a close battle, while the latter is purely won by the number of monster monks-Zhao Batian brought two to three thousand real monks.
The seven great sages of the monster race, except for the monkey, each of them has more than 100,000 monsters under their command, collectively called a million monsters. After the beast tide war, many monster monks were killed and injured. Naturally, there are only a few tens of thousands of monsters above the human level who can directly compete with Dao soldiers.
Except for the 8,000 monsters brought out by Li Ye, the follow-up main force will be led by several great sages in person, and arrive at Pinglu through Lingyundu. This is also a problem that Zhu Wen has to face.
"Within seven days." Venerable Bai He smiled warmly, as if he was discussing poetry and music with someone.
Zhu Wen breathed a sigh of relief.
Although this war is divided into two parts, as long as the Taoist soldiers can defeat Li Ye's monster monks, he can easily win the battle.
Venerable Baihe glanced at Zhu Wen, and continued: "There are hundreds of thousands of monster monks. Even if they are only one-tenth of the real world, eight thousand Taoist soldiers can't solve it."
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Zhu Wen frowned, and looked at Venerable Baihe with a bit of anger, "Then what should we do? No one knows when all the monster monks will show up!"
Venerable Baihe smiled like an urchin: "But if one hundred thousand Taoist soldiers descend to the realm, then there is no need to be afraid of the Yaozu."
Zhu Wen was slightly taken aback, "The follow-up Taoist soldiers will go down together?"
Immediately, his face darkened, "Didn't you say before that the capacity of the Kunlun passage is limited, and the Dao soldiers can only descend in batches?"
If the Taoist soldiers can go down together, why should he work so hard
Venerable Baihe said: "It was indeed like this before. But now Li Ye is too powerful, and even the Blood Mopan of Zhu Xie can't do anything to him. The Immortal Emperor had to make up his mind, pay a heavy price, and put everything in the world to rest. Clarify it all at once."
As he spoke, he shook his head and said regretfully; "Immortal Court is able to rule the world, naturally it has the means to suppress the bottom of the box, but it is also a fact that the Immortal Court's control over the mortal world is not as good as before. So this time I am afraid it is the Immortal Court. The emperor made a last-ditch effort, and the price was so high that I might not even be able to imagine it."
Venerable Bai He looked up to the sky and sighed: "However, there is no way out. After all, only when the mortal world is safe, can the fairyland be safe!"
Zhu Wen sneered: "In this way, don't I have to fight, and just wait for the Taoist soldiers to descend?"
Venerable Bai He stretched out a finger and shook it: "Of course not. You can sit and wait, but Li Ye can't. If the main force of the Taoist soldiers has not yet entered the realm, but you are destroyed by Li Ye first, then the Daomen will be lost." The princes who have been assisted, even if the Taoist soldiers go down to the realm, they are just rootless duckweed."
He didn't tell the whole truth.
The Seven Towns of Hebei, Pinglu, and Tianping Towns no longer have the incense to enshrine the Daoist Immortal Court, and the power of the Immortal Court has been greatly reduced. If the incense of the Seven Towns in the Central Plains is lost, the Immortal Court will not be able to effectively maintain the operation of the Kunlun Passage.
As a channel to communicate with immortals, if Xianting wants to open the Kunlun channel, it needs to gather the power of incense from the mortal world. If this power is too small, even if the Immortal Emperor has heaven-defying means, he will not be able to send so many soldiers.
Zhu Wen snorted coldly: "Your Taoist sect claims to be powerful, but in fact it has been delaying things. In the final analysis, to win the world, you still have to rely on the troops under your command."