Establishing a thousand-year family from the nobles of the Western Han Dynasty

Chapter 171 Negotiations break down, military preparations

Wang Mang, who was originally in Chang'an, was very humiliated. He did not expect that the other party would actually refuse. This was a complete win. He successfully captured the Han Dynasty's secondary capital Luoyang without bloodshed and took control of Henan.

The Xin Dynasty, which had lost half of its territory and its barriers, would sooner or later be swallowed up by the Han court. It was just a matter of unification sooner or later.

Although there were warlords, the Han Dynasty was still the overall empire. Liu Xiang was probably equivalent to the emperor of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty at its peak, and he had almost absolute control over the local princes.

The strongest Northwest Army and Youzhou Army are his own guards, and basically no one dares to challenge them.

Therefore, Wang Mang responded quickly, thinking that the other party would suppress him and ask for peace, and then gradually erode Guanzhong. He might not even need to take action, as the successive natural disasters and peasant uprisings would be enough to cause them to destroy themselves.

"Alas... my life is truly a failure, a total failure!" Wang Mang drank to drown his sorrows in his bedroom. No one could understand the pain in his heart.

I'm afraid that even Ying Ziying, the last king of the Qin Dynasty, was not as desperate and angry as he was.

After all, the fall of Qin was a general trend, and it was overthrown by the people of the world. What about himself? From exposing Chunyu Chang to becoming the head of the Wang family, he retired at the height of his career, and then returned to the court to take over as the Grand Marshal.

Gradually, he defeated Xu Hua in the court, gained leadership, was promoted to Prime Minister, Duke of Anhan, and finally to Grand Prime Minister and fake emperor, and finally ascended the throne to become emperor!
This incomparable legend of his life is heart-stirring and worthy of a hero. He also won the reputation of a "saint". He gained both face and substance, which can be said to be almost perfect.

But the situation could not keep up with the changes. Xu Yuan, the commander-in-chief of the Northwest Army who held great influence in the local area, led the Liangzhou Army in rebellion, killed the imperial envoys, and raised his arms.

People from all over the country responded immediately. Xu Min of Youzhou, Dong Chong of Bingzhou, Xu Zhong of Jingzhou and Zhu Chun of Yangzhou joined the rebellion camp one after another.

He quickly seized large tracts of land and confronted the imperial court with hundreds of thousands of troops.

Xu Hua, the head of the Xu family who was far away in Chang'an, also took advantage of the chaos to leave and went to Nanyang to take charge of the overall situation. Xu Yuan's 100,000 Northwest Army followed him south.

Faced with the powerful Liangzhou cavalry, the Chang'an court was simply unable to confront them and had to mobilize most of the troops to be stationed there, close the city walls, defend with all their might, and use all the national strength to slow down the enemy's advance southward.

Thanks to his efforts, the once powerful Northwestern Army was indeed repelled, but at the same time he was also firmly held back and had no time to look east.

It was with this opportunity that Xu Min was able to take over Hebei almost unhindered and infiltrate his influence into Xuzhou and Yanzhou.

After the Chang'an court reacted, it immediately sent troops to fight for the Central Plains, but because it was too late, it only captured one or two counties.

The situation was very unfavorable for Wang Mang, but what did he do?

He tried his best to appease the people and ministers on his side, expanded his military, and refused to give up an inch of territory in order to compete with the Xiang Han regime.

In the end, it was quite effective and changed fate! They quickly captured Yingchuan and other counties, and also kept up with the pace of the Han army in Yanzhou. With the advantage of numbers, they fought back and forth.

At this time, the Xinmang regime was not completely no match for the enemy, because they had a most obvious advantage.

That is the unification of internal forces, without the situation of military separatism, all resources can be deployed, and then opportunities can be found to ignite internal conflicts in the Han Dynasty and cause chaos.

No matter what, he always holds the initiative and there is no unity within the Han Dynasty.

How could he have the chance to emulate Emperor Taizu Gao, Liu Bang, and go east through Hangu Pass, defeat them one by one, defeat the corrupt Han Dynasty and unify the country again!
The subsequent Battle of Ruyin further verified this idea!
Wang Yi defeated the famous Han general Li Yang, shocked the whole of China, and captured Runan, the second largest county in the world, eliminating all his disadvantages on the battlefield.

Originally, the northwestern army in Longxi could threaten Chang'an, but Wang Mang had to deploy a large number of troops to defend it, dispersing his own strength, which was completely unavoidable.

But after capturing Runan, the situation is completely different. We can directly threaten Xinye, the gateway to Nanyang, and pose a threat to Wancheng!

This means that the Han Dynasty will also have to deploy heavy troops to defend Xinye, and will have to think carefully about harassing the area around Chang'an. After all, if you can harass, so can I, and then no one will have peace.

This is also the reason why the Liangzhou Army turned its attack direction to the desert and the Western Regions.

Just when the military was victorious, the treasury was full and everything was going well, Wang Mang enthusiastically began the retro reforms he had been looking forward to all his life!
The intention is to completely change the situation of land annexation, enrich the country and strengthen the army, emulate Shang Yang's reforms in the past, go east to Guandong, and unify the world!
But the reality was the opposite of what he wanted, which poured a bucket of cold water on the new emperor!
It wasn't that wonderful at all. The thing I had been looking forward to for my whole life turned out to be a disaster! I completely offended the powerful landlord class, and even the grassroots people didn't get any good results.

The country declined rapidly and natural disasters continued to occur, so much so that it lost the people's support that had been accumulated over the years.

The whole world missed the Han Dynasty and despised the Xinmang Dynasty. Years of efforts were completely in vain! The Chimei Army revolted and occupied a large area of ​​Henan.

The fiscal deficit can no longer afford an army of hundreds of thousands.

The good situation that they had worked so hard to create was completely reversed. Instead, the enemy Han Dynasty absorbed a large number of refugees and greatly improved its national strength! Now it is even on the verge of extinction.

The once proud new ancestor could only bow his head and seek peace.

"Why? Why is this happening?" Wang Mang felt very frustrated. Although he didn't want to admit it, the fact was clear: he was wrong, very wrong.

He regretted not listening to Zhen Feng's advice and stopping the reform, but it was no use regretting it now, as the matter was done.

We can only put down our stance and beg for temporary peace, and then find a way to make a comeback.

Wang Mang still has the courage to start over again! Didn't he make a comeback after being expelled from the court? This time is no exception, he did not lose!

"Your Majesty, Zhen Feng requests an audience."

As a favorite minister, Zhen Feng had the right to enter and leave the palace freely. He stood at the door of the bedroom.

"Come in." Wang Mang straightened his messy clothes and maintained his pride and dignity as an emperor.

Even though he was at the end of his rope, he was still the emperor!

"Your Majesty's envoy for peace talks is back." Zhen Feng stammered, his face solemn.

"Why? What demands have they made? It's not too excessive. I won't agree to them all. I need some time." Wang Mang was keenly aware of the changes and tried his best to calm himself.

It's only natural. If I were in your shoes, I would want more things too.

But even though the lion asked for a lot, he still had a bottom line.

"No, they refused." Zhen Feng didn't lay any groundwork and went straight to telling him the bad news. He was also shocked when he first heard it.

I didn't expect the other party to give up such a sure-win deal. It seems that they want to unify quickly. Or there may be some deeper reason. After all, the Nanyang court is not under the control of the emperor.

"Hmph, just tell them what they want." Wang Mang still subconsciously believed that the other party wanted more and was deliberately putting pressure on them.

Zhen Feng said slowly: "Your Majesty, they just refused and wanted to kill us all!"

Bang! The wine shop fell to the ground, and the wine spilled.

Wang Mang's expression was stunned, as if all this was beyond his expectations. How could this be possible? Was God so cruel to him that he didn't even have a chance to survive!

"Huh... this Xu Hua, what on earth is he planning? Is he going to kill me?"

He clenched his fists and cursed, saying that the Han court would gain more by agreeing to peace talks, and Liu Xiang would definitely prefer this, and even if there were radicals it would be difficult to make him change his mind.

Then there is only one person who can really make the decision, the Han Prime Minister Xu Hua! The real person in power.

Zhen Feng was also helpless, "Your Majesty, things have come to this point, we can only fight to the death."

He was originally in favor of war, so he didn't feel anything about the failure of the negotiations. A slow death would be worse than a vigorous battle.

At least you don’t have to suffer and can have a good time!

"Well, well." Wang Mang quickly calmed down and felt a surge of nameless anger. Since that bastard Xu Hua wanted to kill him all, he couldn't just sit there and wait to die!
No one is a coward. In the end, it’s just death. What’s the big deal?

"Send an order to summon all officials to court." Under the influence of alcohol, Wang Mang immediately put aside all his worries.

He planned to discuss strategies against the enemy with his ministers. Of course, this was just a statement to everyone that he would rather die than surrender. As for the specific plan, he could only talk to his confidants.

Even he himself doesn't know how many traitors there are in Chang'an!

Weiyang Palace.

All the ministers, each with their own ulterior motives, saluted the emperor one after another. No matter what ideas they had, they had to keep them to themselves. Wang Yi and others who held military power still supported the emperor.

Anyone who dared to be presumptuous would probably die without a burial place, and Wang Mang was happy to kill the chicken to scare the monkey.

"No need to be polite, everyone. I only want to say one thing at this court meeting: Daxin and the Han court are irreconcilable!"

Wang Mang stood at the front, his eyes heavy and determined. He wanted to live and die with Chang'an! Moreover, he couldn't escape. The rebels in Hanzhong were already in full force. Going there would be a way to his own death.

So they can only try their best. Zhen Feng, Zhen Han, Wang Yiping, Yan and Wang Shun are almost the same. Their fate is deeply bound to the new dynasty.

"We are willing to help Your Majesty defend Chang'an and repel the rebels!" The ministers were in high spirits and expressed their loyalty one after another, stating that they would be irreconcilable with the Han Dynasty!
It seemed as if everyone was a loyal minister, but Wang Mang on the stage knew very well that most of these people were acting and that his dynasty was on the verge of collapse.

"The general has returned to the court. I will discuss this with him later. Today I will only say one thing!"

Wang Mang's eyes were cold, and he glanced at the few traitors who had been found to have rebellious intentions, and then said: "During this period, no one is allowed to dare to hinder us, if they dare to have secret dealings with the Han court."

"Hmph... Do you remember Empress Dowager Lu and Madam Qi?"

Hearing this, everyone couldn't help but tremble, because they knew what His Majesty meant.

Back then, Empress Lü turned Concubine Qi into a human pig!
"We, the ministers, will die for Your Majesty!" The shocked ministers gave up the idea of ​​making any small moves. It seemed that Your Majesty's attitude was very firm.

In fact, many people planned to leak information to the Han court, or pretend to open the city gates. To surrender to Liu Xiang, one needs to show his loyalty. As a minister who has rebelled twice, how can he be reused if he does not do something practical?

But now it seems there is no hope.

Next, Wang Mang did not continue, but ordered the court to adjourn, which was the shortest court meeting ever. After that, he quickly summoned five of his most trusted ministers.

"I am incompetent and failed to wipe out the Chimei rebels. Please punish me, Your Majesty!"

As soon as he entered, Wang Yi knelt down. He was one of the few loyal ministers who pledged allegiance unconditionally. His ability was not that strong, and luck played a big role in his victory over Li Yang.

He is a typical example of a general whose fame is greater than his ability, but he is also the only general who can be of great use. At least he can win the support of the people.

In the original historical trajectory, Wang Yi was in a similar situation. He was defeated by the Green Forest Army in Kunyang and returned with a crushing defeat. This is enough to prove that his ability was not strong.

Later, when the rebel army attacked Chang'an, he and his son stayed by Wang Mang's side and eventually died in the chaos. He fulfilled his responsibilities as a subject and lived up to the trust that Wang Mang placed in him when he promised to pass the throne to him.

Wang Mang quickly helped the loyal general up and said sincerely, "What crime have you committed, my dear brother? You have made great contributions to our great Xin Dynasty. Now all this... is still my fault. It has nothing to do with you."

"The Chimei rebels are defending the city firmly, and they have the advantage of time and place. It is normal that you cannot break through. The most urgent task is to stop the Han army."

"I still need to rely on you."

Today, there are still 200,000 elite troops stockpiled at the border of Yanzhou, blocking the elite troops of the Han Dynasty head-on. As long as the enemy cannot come in, the Red Eyebrow Army will be nothing to worry about.

But if they attack from both sides and Wang Xun's defenders are defeated, then that would be a real threat!
If the two sides join forces, they will be unstoppable! The powerful people in Luoyang will also welcome the king's army and will not encounter any resistance.

Although Hulao Pass was a pass where one man could block the passage of ten thousand, it was difficult to stop the advance of hundreds of thousands of Han troops without the best weather and terrain, and Luoyang would probably be captured sooner or later.

But Wang Mang also had the confidence to bite off a piece of meat from the Han army!
"Thank you, Your Majesty. I will do my best to stop the Han army!" Wang Yi was immediately delighted after receiving His Majesty's understanding.

He has actually been under a lot of pressure. He was named the military god of the new dynasty, but he did not have the ability to match it.

Who was the military god of the Han Dynasty that he was benchmarking against? Grand Tutor Xu Yuan, who had been invincible in his early years, had frightened the Qiang and Xiongnu people, and the Northwest Army he personally trained was the top elite.

The contrast with this is really stressful.

"Our dynasty has encountered the most severe crisis, and we still need you to work together! Without any one of us, we will not be able to stop the aggressive Han army."

Wang Mang said in a deep voice that he had already made plans in his mind.

He did not consider all-out defense. These soldiers would be defeated sooner or later. Either the Han army in Hebei and Nanyang would break through the defense line, or the Northwest Army would rush into Chang'an. Offense is the best defense!

In this case, let’s first defend the city and delay the offensive of the Liangzhou army.

Then, gather all the available forces and attack the center of the Han army head-on! Take advantage of their unpreparedness and eliminate the command first.

Only in this way can the battle be fought, the main force will be defeated, and the Northwestern Army will not stay any longer.

(End of this chapter)