Chapter 192: The height of the temple (Twenty)

After the body was found, Zheng Qi, the second imperial concubine of Kaifeng Prefecture, immediately determined to die for the sake of the death: this was an ugly love murder case.

The major temples in Daliang have more or less heard of the bad deeds of the city, and the noble lady who was afflicted with the affair in the city was even more aware of this matter. Therefore, after Kaifeng Prefecture determined this matter, Daliang completely disappeared from Daliang City, as if it had never existed.

Zheng Qi and the four city wei in the east, west, south, and north did not give up. Since this group of killers could easily kill Yin over the high wall, of course, they could kill many important people without knowing it. Therefore, this group of killers must not be allowed to stay safe in Daliang City. Maybe one day there will be a bigger problem. Wang Zhen of the Chengwei ordered his men to bring more than 20 monks from Tianjing Temple to the yamen. Before interrogation, more than 20 monks suddenly vomited and bleeded at the same time. In less than half an hour, the monks bleeded and died seven times. Zheng Qi was shocked to death when he learned this news. Once the monks died, the death of the monks became a unsolvable case that could never be revealed. He died in the yamen, which even put the Kaifeng yamen in an extremely unfavorable position.

Hou Dayong was not surprised when he heard this news. He had such murderous intent in his heart that day. He only found out that in Tianjing Temple, only Ye Yin and the killed Zhike Monk were spies from Western Shu. The other monks did not know the inside story, so he let the monks of Tianjing Temple go. This time, the monks were poisoned, and it must be because they had an affair with Ye Yin to cover up the scandal.

Wang Pu learned about the Tianjing Temple tragedy and was furious. Wang Zhen, the Chengwei Wang, became a scapegoat and was arrested in prison, waiting for His Majesty's final judgment. At this point, because the matter was not an end, Hou Dayong was naturally moved by such an end.

Daliang City caused storms in the city for these bird matters. On the battlefield on the southern front, the imperial guards of the Great Zhou fought hard in Chuzhou. There were heavy casualties, and the blood of the soldiers dyed the wide moat red. Chai Rong was forced to order the troops to increase Chuzhou.

On February 6, an army set out from Daliang and headed straight for Huainan. The central army flag was embroidered with the word "hou".

After staying in Daliang City for nearly a month, something extremely frustrating happened. Thinking of Chunlan, who would never wake up in the coffin, Hou Dayong couldn't help but feel depressed. Death was like a lamp extinguishing. All right and wrong, sadness and joy were passed by for Chunlan.

After receiving the imperial edict, Hou Dayong left the disgusting Daliang City with 10,000 reinforcements.

To the west of Chuzhou is a big lake, which also ties the trough transportation place. Its location is quite important and is a focus of the competition between the Southern Tang and the Great Zhou. If Chuzhou is lost, the Southern Tang will be in great force north of the Yangtze River. On the contrary, if Chuzhou is not lost, the Southern Tang can have a place in Jiangbei and threaten the Great Zhou at any time.

Zhang Yanqing, the defense of Chuzhou in Southern Tang, was a resolute general chosen by the Lord of Southern Tang. He led his army to defend Chuzhou to death, making Chuzhou almost a replica of Shouzhou City. From the end of the fourth year of Xiande to February of the fifth year of Xiande, Chai Rong took the battle several times, but still did not break through the city walls and the strong city of Chuzhou City. The Great Zhou army suffered great losses and had to increase troops to Huainan for the second time. Most of the chief generals of the imperial guards had followed Chai Rong to fight against the Liao people in the north, so Chai Rong personally ordered Hou Dayong to be the head commander of the reinforcements in Daliang.

The Imperial Guard was a elite tax in the Great Zhou Dynasty. There are four reasons for becoming an elite. First, the weapons and equipment of the Imperial Guard were all borne by the central government. It is no problem to have sufficient military expenditure. Second, the Imperial Guard has the right to select personnel, and there are quite a few brave people in the army. Third, Your Majesty fought east and west, and fought south and north, and always used the Imperial Guard as the main force. The Imperial Guard can be said to be a unit of battles. Fourth, the Imperial Guard was promoted very quickly, and there were several Jiedushi promoted from the Guards and the Hall Front Office. With these four reasons, the Imperial Guard naturally became the Great Zhou army's elite tax. The lieutenant generals and lieutenant generals were all arrogant and arrogant.

The reinforcements were composed of the Palace Front Division and one department of the Guard Division. The Palace Front Division was commanded by Wang Shenqi, the commander of the Right Corner of the Control He, and the commander of Zhang Guanghan, the commander of the Guard Division. Wang Shenqi was one of the ten brothers of Zhao Kuangyin Yishe, and Zhang Guanghan was the confidant of Li Chongjin, the commander of the Guard Division. They had conflicts themselves, but they maintained a high degree of tacit understanding on how to deal with Hou Dayong. In a word, respect ghosts and gods and stay away from them.

Hou Dayong knew this well, but he didn't say it out loud. Along the way, the three of them maintained peace with each other. After twenty days of march, on February 26, reinforcements arrived at the city of Chuzhou.

Wang Shenqi and Zhang Guanghan returned to their headquarters, while Hou Dayong was left by Chai Rong to counsel military affairs. The next day after the reinforcements arrived, on February 27, the Great Zhou army launched a fierce attack on Chuzhou City again. The siege battle was carried out at the same time in Beicheng and Dongcheng. Chai Rong personally supervised the battle in Dongcheng, and Zhao Kuangyin led his army to attack Beicheng.

Chuzhou is a famous city with a long history. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Chuzhou belonged to the vassal states such as Wu, Yue, and Chu.

After the Qin Dynasty unified Huaiyin County, some areas of Chuzhou belonged to Huaiyin County.

At the beginning of the Sui Dynasty Daye (605-618), he went to Huaiyin County and entered Shanyang County, and was rebuilt soon.

In the fourth year of Wude in the Tang Dynasty (621), Dong Chuzhou was established and Shanyang County was governed. In the eighth year, Western Chuzhou was terminated, and Eastern Chuzhou was renamed Chuzhou, and Shanyang County was still governed.

The Southern Tang and the Great Zhou Dynasty were constantly fighting. As an important town close to the Great Zhou Dynasty, Chuzhou set up a defensive envoy, widened and deepened the moat, raised and strengthened the city walls, set up a huge granary, and arranged the most loyal and brave generals to make full preparations to defend the city.

The city wall with a depth of five meters, a width of ten meters, a height of fifteen meters, and a base of ten meters thick became a difficult for the Zhou army to conquer the fortress. The Zhou army had a large number of catapults, crossbows, flying cloud ladders, and rushing vehicles. The weapons were far beyond the reach of the Southern Tang army, and the orders were neat. Most of the imperial guards' generals charged on the front line with arrows, and the soldiers were even more fearless. However, under the fierce resistance of the Southern Tang army of Chuzhou, they could not do anything to this strong city of Chuzhou. After several rounds of strong attacks, many Zhou army bodies stacked under the city wall and in the moat.

The siege continued until the afternoon. There was nothing in the east and north cities, and countless soldiers were damaged. Seeing that it was getting late, Chai Rong ordered the troops to withdraw.

In front of the central army tent, Chai Rong carefully read a bunch of war reports from all over the country. His face was as quiet as water, and he could not see joy, anger, sorrow and happiness. Fan Zhi, Hou Dayong, Li Chongjin, Zhang Yongde, Zhao Kuangyin and other important officials, the general stood on both sides, waiting for His Majesty to speak. After reading the last war report, Chai Rong raised his head and asked Fan Zhi: "Secret Fan, how many soldiers are damaged today?"

"Four hundred dead and countless injured." During the siege, it can be said that everyone was injured in the city, so it was impossible to accurately count the number of injured people.

Chai Rong handles a large number of government and military affairs every day. He also has to supervise the battle on the front line personally, with a hint of fatigue in his eyes. He said: "At the city of Chuzhou, our army has been fighting for more than two months. There are more than 2,000 soldiers who have died in front and behind. There are also many soldiers with broken hands and legs. There are no less than 10,000 soldiers who have lost their combat power. This battle of the imperial guards has chewed hard bones, which is comparable to the Battle of Shouzhou."

Fan Zhi was the prime minister. Although he was on the front line, he was still wearing a purple python robe and a goldfish bag hung on his waist, which looked particularly neat. He stepped forward and said, "Chuzhou is only a small place, and it will be broken for a long time. Your Majesty can send a general, and only need to command ten thousand troops. Zhang Yanqing will be trapped in half a year."

Fan Zhi did not agree with Chai Rongjiu in the army. After all, the king of a country had to deal with too many government affairs, so he could just leave these conquests to the generals, so he dissuaded them from the side.

Fan Zhi was always outspoken in his advice and discussions, but he never tried to persuade Chai Rong to personally expedition. This incident was caused by an incident in the early years of Xiande: At that time, Chai Rong had newly ascended the throne. The Khitan army invaded the Northern Han Dynasty, and the old prime minister Feng Dao tried his best to dissuade Chai Rong from personally expedition. Feng Dao used excessive words and was disliked by Chai Rong. Before Chai Rong went north to meet the enemy, he demoted Feng Dao the five-generation immortal man to the mountain to envoy. Feng Dao couldn't afford to suffer any illness because of this and died a year later.

Fan Zhi knew the whole story of this matter well and knew that Your Majesty had a special hobby of personally escorting, so he had always avoided advice on the personal escorting. This time he besieged Chuzhou for more than two months, and Fan Zhi then tactfully reminded Chai Rong.

Chai Rong heard what Fan Zhi meant. He took a battle report and said to the generals lightly: "The guards and horses commanders ordered Han Lingkun to break through Yangzhou."

Chai Rong fought against Huainan for three expeditions. The wars were mainly concentrated on both sides of the Huainan River. Shouzhou, Chuzhou, Sizhou, Haozhou and other cities were all strong cities on the banks of the Huainan River. However, Yangzhou, south of Chuzhou, is a city along the Yangtze River, which indicates that the Zhou army had crossed the Huainan River and launched an attack on the north part of the Yangtze River. Chuzhou was hanging alone in the Huainan River and had become a turtle in a jar.

When all the generals heard this, they all showed joy on their faces and congratulated His Majesty one after another.

Chai Rong smiled at this time and said to Fan Zhi: "Let General Han temporarily be in charge of the Yangzhou Military Office and beware of the Southern Tang Army going north at all times." Chai Rong glanced at the generals one by one, and finally turned his eyes to Zhao Kuangyin, saying: "Can General Zhao have a good plan to destroy the city?"

Zhao Kuangyin was strong and had a big ears on his face. He looked quite like a veteran Youyan general. He said: "Since our army has broken through Yangzhou and cut off the retreat of the Tang army in Chuzhou, it is better to use the technique of attacking the heart to bring the captured Yangzhou soldiers to Chuzhou, and let them shout to the city, so that the Chuzhou army can know that the situation is hopeless and shake their morale."

Chai Rong refused to comment and turned to Hou Dayong and said, "Prime Minister Hou, what are your plans?"

After Hou Dayong came to Chuzhou City, he secretly thought about a plan to break the city. Compared with the Southern Tang Army, Dangxiang Army, Uighur Army and other troops, the techniques of garrisoning the city and the tactics of defending were much more familiar. Hou Dayong had imagined countless methods of breaking the city, but felt that he was not sure about it, so he honestly said: "What General Zhao said is reasonable, you can try it."

Chai Rong did not continue to solicit opinions and issued an order: "So quickly order General Han to send two hundred surrendered troops in the Southern Tang Dynasty."

On the walls of Chuzhou City, the defense envoy Zhang Yanqing and the military commander Zheng Qiye led the generals to the south gate. Outside the moat under the city, there were a group of soldiers from the South Tang Dynasty who were dismantled from armor. The military commander of Yangzhou was calling for surrender to the city.

When the generals in the city learned that Yangzhou was falling, they all showed fear, and several commanders muttered in a low voice.

Zheng Zhaoye, the chief of the military and horses, was very handsome. He heard what a few people said and cursed loudly: "Raising soldiers for a thousand days is used for a while. Now the country is in trouble. It is the time to use people. How can you surrender easily?" Zheng Zhaoye's whole family is in Hangzhou. If he surrenders without fighting, he is afraid that no one in the family will survive. Therefore, he has long had the idea of ​​living and dying with Chuzhou.

Chunyuliang, the commander of the infantry army, was a native of Chuzhou. He always looked down on the military commander who was a civil servant. He held the hilt of the knife and shouted: "Sizhou, Haozhou, and Yangzhou are all destroyed. Chuzhou is hard to stand alone. If you do not surrender to the Zhou army, it will be useless to die alone." Since the Zhou army's three southern expeditions, the Southern Tang army in the surrender area not only survived, but also had a single official position in the Zhou army, and the people in the city were not disturbed. Chunyuliang did not want to fight to the death.

Zhang Yanqing squinted her eyes and didn't speak.

Another infantry commander Zhang Yanhong cursed: "Chunyuliang, you are a timid villain." Chunyuliang and Zhang Yanhong had a conflict. He pulled out his waist and said angrily: "Zhang Yanhong, I have never finished it with you."

In the city of Chuzhou, there was a dispute between the local faction and the Hangzhou faction. Chunyuliang was the leading figure in the local faction. The defense envoy Zhang Yanqing and the military commander Zheng Qiye were both in the Hangzhou faction. Chunyuliang and other local factions were mostly suppressed in the Chuzhou army. Today, the Zhou army broke Yangzhou and cut off the retreat route of the Chuzhou army and the local areas. Chunyuliang jumped out and sang a stage drama with the Hangzhou faction.

Zhang Yanqing's son Zhang Baogang was twenty years old and was the chief of the Chuzhou Army's personal guard team. He knew the Yangzhou military commander under the city. Seeing that he was captured, he was quite frightened and said to his father in front of him: "It would be better to surrender to the Zhou army, or there might be a way out. I heard that after Liu Renshan of Shouzhou surrendered to Zhou, he became the governor of Yunzhou."

Suddenly, Zhang Yanqing narrowed his eyes and opened a sword light, and a sword light flashed. Chunyu Liang's head had already fallen to the ground. Before everyone could react, another sword light was raised, and Zhang Bao's head also flew to the ground. These two swords were extremely neat. After Zhang Bao's head flew out, his body still maintained a standing posture, and blood gushed out from the ground was like a cluster of blooming red azaleas.

The generals were shocked by these two swords and looked at Zhang Yanqing in amazement. Zhang Yanqing was holding the sword, and blood was still dripping from the tip of the sword. He looked at everyone and said, "We have received the favor of the Li family for the rest of our lives. How can we surrender the Zhou army? From now on, if anyone dares to say the word "super" will be the end of them."

Zheng Qiye, the chief of military commander of the army, knew that Zhang Yanqing was the most popular. Seeing that he had killed Zhang Bao without any mercy, he knew that he wanted to survive and die with Chuzhou. He pulled out his long sword and said, "Chuzhou City is high and the walls are strong, and there is enough food. We will fight the Zhou army to the end." Zhang Yanhong was a member of Zhang Yanqing's tribe. He said in a pirate manner: "The Chu army has only a decapitated general, but no surrendered general."

The generals on the city wall shouted: "I will never surrender to the Zhou army until I die."

Zheng Qiye also felt a little respect when he looked at Zhang Yanqing. The Southern Tang Dynasty was a suspicious person. He sent the chief magistrates to each army to monitor the general's actions as his own representative. The family of the chief magistrate was all concentrated in Hangzhou City. If any general surrendered to the Zhou army, the family of the chief magistrate would undoubtedly die.

Since the governor represents the king of the country and is responsible for surveillance, many governors who do not understand the military formation have mastered the power of each army. As soon as the Zhou army arrived, these governors who were powerful were not caring about the master of the Southern Tang and their families and surrendered the most quickly.

Zheng Qiye is one of the few upright people among these prisoners. When he first arrived in Chuzhou, he had a sharp conflict with Zhang Yanqing. Zhang Yanqing hated the capital system the most. He could not change the court's decisions, so he was extremely cold to the newly arrived Zheng Qiye, treating him as a Bodhisattva, but not allowing him to handle specific matters. Of course, Zheng Qiye was unwilling to become a puppet. After the two of them fought against each other for several rounds, they knew that the other party was not Yi and they took a step back, so that they could not suffer both losses.

However, Zhang Yanqing's actions today also greatly impressed Zheng Qiye. Seeing that there were dozens of yellow dragon flags floating in the wind under the city, Zheng Qiye said to the two behind him: "Go to the city tower and scold Zhou Lord Chai Rong, and scold me hard." He also said to the personal soldiers behind him: "Contain Zhang Baodi's body and go down to prepare a good coffin." Zhang Yanqing heard Zheng Qiye's instructions, and he still looked outside the city with all concentration, with a turbid tears hanging from the corner of his eyes.

The two soldiers ordered to curse the formation were the most famous messengers in the army and also had a famous big throat. They came to the city tower, stood upright after taking a deep breath, and greeted the female family members of Chai Rongdi in a heart-warming manner like cursing women.

Chai Rong and other emperors of the Great Zhou Dynasty changed their faces when they heard such unpleasant and vulgar insults. Chai Rong suddenly turned his head, pointed at the two insulting soldiers, and said to Ma Renyu behind him: "General Ma's archery skills are unparalleled. Let the three armies learn about the general's magic arrow today."

Ma Renyu rode an inconspicuous five-colored horse to the moat. He took down two bows and arrows and held them in his hands. He looked at the angle and shot them. The two arrows flew up the city tower like meteors, shooting on the throats of the two big throats, and the curses stopped.

The Zhou army was greatly inspired and thousands of people shouted together.

Hou Dayong knew the archer Ma Renyu in the Battle of Gaoping. When the Black Eagle Army killed Zhang Yuanzheng, the most powerful general in the Northern Han Dynasty, Ma Renyu was guarding behind Chai Rong. He jumped out and fired thirty arrows in a row, making the Northern Han army frightened. At this time, Ma Renyu shot the enemy a hundred steps away. The great power and the essence of archery skills made Hou Dayong secretly amazed, thinking: Ma Renyu's archery skills are not inferior to Liu Heigou.

At this moment, Hou Dayong also jumped out of his horse. He came to the moat, pulled the bow and shot, and two iron arrows flew straight to the flag guard sergeant. The two arrows were like lightning. The Chuzhou flag guard sergeant was shot to the ground without reacting at all.

The Zhou army soldiers saw the magic arrow again, and they were very satisfied and their voices were thunderous.

This person was Liu Heigou, the first archer of the Black Eagle Army. When he saw Ma Renyu's archery skills, his palms were itchy, and he also shot two arrows. The Zhou army soldiers did not stop calling, and Liu Heigou fired two arrows again, but these two arrows were shot at the high-flying Chuzhou army flag. Because the distance was too far, Liu Heigou was not 100% sure, so he even fired two arrows. In the city, the soldiers outside the city watched the Chuzhou army flag, and saw the eagle-feathered arrows flying by, and the military flag fell down swayingly.

Zhang Yanqing and other generals looked as if dead, and the three armies of the Chuzhou army were collectively silent.
Chapter completed!