The Emperor ordered Zhao Tang

Chapter 281 Battle of Wild Boar Ridge (Part )
"Failed! Defeated!"

The rebels who were engaged in local internal fighting and fleeing were in disarray after Tuoba Liufeng led his troops to "retreat".

"Kill!" The shouts of killing shook the sky. In the thick smoke and dust, dense groups of cavalrymen attacked fiercely.

"Swish, swish, swish--" Thousands of arrows were fired at the same time, directly killing some of the fleeing rebels all over the ground.

"Kill!" the infantry shouted in unison.

"Boom boom boom..." Chariots and cavalry charged fiercely. Fu Cunshen stood on the chariot, swinging his spear and stabbing people, knocking the rebels to the ground.

“Boom, boom, boom…” The south wind rises and the war drums sound.

"Swoosh..." Waves of arrows came one after another.

In the fog, the enemy appeared and disappeared mysteriously, and their swords and guns were dripping with blood.

The various battlefield scenes made the retreating or even defeated enemy troops terrified.

"ah!"

"Sima Kanwu is hot again!"

"I surrender, I surrender!"

"I am a good citizen, a good citizen! I have a good citizen certificate, oh no, I have a household registration!"

"Woo woo, good man, please don't kill me."

"Oh my god! We are suffering from Gao Gou!"

"I want to see the saint! I want to see the saint!"

"I am it!" The saint rode the violent beast under his crotch and rushed into the chaotic army, shouting and cursing: "Where is Gao Zongyi! Where is Gao Zongyi! Where is Li Hongdao!"

Of course, you can't pretend to be this tough, that's stupid and suicidal, and it doesn't fit your status as a commander, and your subordinates won't allow you to take risks. But at this time, it's a one-sided attack, and it's a rare opportunity to show off and increase your prestige. As long as you don't rush into a certain area alone, or fight someone one-on-one, it's hard to die.

Therefore, how could a saint sit back and watch? With all the gods and ghosts, interests tied up, power divided, facing danger, saying whatever he wants to the ministers, saying dirty words to the killers, he almost did everything he could to strengthen his prestige and consolidate the foundation of the people's hearts in the empire!

"Da da da..." Li Hongdao was fighting in the chaos.

Until now, he has not given up hope of winning! He has just seen that the commander of the new force is Emperor Li. As long as he kills this kid, he can turn defeat into victory!
"The Dog Emperor!"

"Li Hongdao!"

In the chaos, the two sides met on a narrow road soon and shouted at the same time. However, judging from the military strength, Li Hongdao had only about 2,000 cavalrymen, and was surrounded by tens of thousands of palace troops. Both sides were panting and fighting as soon as they met. Amid the deafening shouts, Li Hongdao and his entourage could not take care of the end, and suffered heavy casualties in the first encounter, and fell without a plan.

Emperor Li, who was firmly protected by the army, held a lance in his hand, which was shaking like a bloody millstone.

"Your Majesty, don't do that!" Xiao Xiu held him by the waist. "If Your Majesty doesn't obey and takes such a risk, who will dare to lead Your Majesty to chase him down in the future? Wait here for a moment, I will go and kill him!"

Surrounded by the generals, the saint's eyes flashed like a wild wolf, locking onto a certain figure. All the anger and resentment in his heart, all the impotent rage, evil thoughts and murderous intentions since he crossed over, at this moment, burst out with a slap and a broken roar: "Li Hongdao!!"

The roar shook the eardrums of Xiao Xiu and He Zongyi, penetrated the battlefield filled with the sound of killing, and entered Li Hongdao's ears!

With a bang, Xiao Xiu was slapped away. When Xiao Xiu's eyes were full of stars, he looked at the saint and said, "Your Majesty, why are you hitting me?" The saint had already made a move as fast as lightning. The horse lance in his hand flew out like a stream of light, and pierced the face of Li Hongdao in the chaotic army from the mist and fireworks. Before anyone could react, Li Hongdao had already swayed a few times, covered his face with blood gushing out with his hands, and fell straight down from the tall Lingzhou horse!
No one expected that the saint would kill Li Hongdao on the spot!

"Thump thump thump..." The sound of messy footsteps of a large group of infantry came from behind, and Sima Kanwu broke through the fireworks.

"The saint is actually in front!" The soldiers pointed with their swords, surprised. Then they felt something was wrong and changed their hands to point.

Li Zan and the rest of the soldiers looked over in unison.

The wind was howling, the sky was dark, and the ground was covered with blood and corpses. In the vast smoke and dust, the saint had disheveled hair, his back was facing the dark sky, he was holding the reins and riding a horse, holding the lance in his hand, holding high the bloody head of Li Hongdao.

Next to him, Xiao Xiu turned away, covering her face with a nosebleed, and no one knew who she was angry with.

In front of the horses, the unruly Shuofang Army and Dingnan Army knelt like a tide, and kowtowed like crazy: "Long live! We surrender! We surrender!"

"Protecting the country is sacred!" Li Zan blurted out.

"Protect the sacred country!!" Soldiers all around raised their arms and soared into the sky.

The name of the Martial Saint became famous from then on.

If Li Shimin could break the formation, why can't I? Of course I can!

I can do better than you.

"Report!" A team of knights came running over: "General Manager Cui Jiahu and Commander Guo Meng have captured Gao Zongyi and are bringing him here tied up!"

"Kneel down!" The soldiers kicked and beat Gao Zongyi to the ground.

The sage rode forward.

"As a Han Chinese, you colluded with the Hu people to cause rebellion. As a subject, you plotted to kill the king and humiliated me on the battlefield. As a descendant of the Yan'an Gao family who was well-read in the classics, you ignored the fate of your clan. This is where your failure lies. A subject who does not punish the enemy is not a subject, and a son who does not avenge is not a son. Repay kindness with kindness, and repay evil with justice. Today I will take your life with my own hands to warn those clowns."

Ta-da-da, the horse's hooves accelerate.

The posture of bringing the sword, the posture of drawing the sword, the posture of using the sword, the posture of pressing the sword, and launching the move - beheading!
The exquisite sword-drawing technique was displayed.

Among the afterimages, Gao Zongyi's screams could be heard lingering. His head flew high up, leaving only his body, gushing blood, still kneeling there.

"Crack!" Another blow of the knife, and the body was cut in half.

"Pension him with death and chop him into paste." Putting the knife back into the sheath, the saint said to Wu Xiong.

"Yes, sir." It was somewhat surprising that the emperor would execute Gao Zongyi directly. Many generals thought that he would take the thief back to the Western Capital to present him as a captive in the Imperial Ancestral Temple.

After killing Gao Zongyi, the sage rode back to the captives.

There were more than ten thousand bandits captured in this area, who were surrounded by the army and made to crawl on the ground.

"Since I ascended the throne, I have been walking on thin ice, always seeking leniency and trying to be accommodating to the towns as much as possible. But how did the warriors of each town respond to me?"

"In the ninth year of Zhenguan, Tubo invaded the east and used you as enemies. You killed and looted as you pleased. Who took you in?"

"In the fifteenth year of Zhenyuan, the Xia Sui army raided the Dangxiang. Who punished the arrogant soldiers and protected you?"

"In the first year of Zhonghe, who allowed you to occupy Xiazhou?"

The saint roared, grabbed another Shuofang soldier by the neck, and held him in one hand: "In the third year of Guangqi, the three towns entered Chang'an. The corpses of ministers and generals filled the streets, the weak branches of the royal family were caught in the flames, and the corpses of the powerful landlords and the common people were scattered on the streets. The court issued an edict to defend the king, but where were you?"

"In the first year of Wende, Yang Fugong slapped me in the face, beat and scolded me wantonly. The Grand Commandant secretly ordered the eight garrisons in the northwest of the capital to submit a petition to reprimand me. Where were you?"

"In the second year of Dashun, the four garrisons attacked Chang'an and plundered the three prefectures. I sent troops to attack them, but where were you?"

"In the second year of Jingfu, Zhu Wen attacked Tongguan. I was fighting in the snow and was shot in the left cheek. Where were you?"

"It was also in this year that I was alone guarding Shouyang Mountain, and the people of Guanzhong fled. Where were you? Where were you during the Shangluo War?"

"Since the Tianbao period, who has repeatedly saved you from danger? Who has transported grain for thousands of miles to protect the border troops? Who has repeatedly tolerated your killing of military governors and beheading of judges? Who has recovered Helong and relieved the great threat to the Western Continent from beasts like you?"

"Have you forgotten everything?" The bones of the man spit out blood as the saint squeezed him to death. He grabbed the second man and said, "You always ask me what I owe you and what you gave me. You want to kill me for your own desires. Have you ever thought about the consequences? Have you ever considered your own worth? I've been wanting to ask you right now. Have you ever thought about it? Have you ever peed on me? If I were gone, there would be many Zhu Mei and Xing Yu in Guanzhong. The army would be everywhere and the barbarians would be spying on us. Famous cities would be reduced to ruins and my beautiful wife and concubines would be dead in the ditches! Are you satisfied with this kind of life?"

The saint slapped the warrior on the face and asked sternly.

The warrior was speechless.

"I was submissive to others, but you hit me hard and pretended to be a loyal subject. You——"

"——Is he a human or a beast?"

The saliva sprayed all over the warrior's face. He was frightened, waving his hands in panic, and trembling, "I am blind and greedy..."

The saint kicked him over and said, "Do you want to live?"

Wufu's eyes were blurred with tears, and he choked up and said, "I think, Great Sage, please don't kill me. Please spare me like you would spare a dog..."

"Are you worthy enough to challenge me as your opponent? Do you think I am Emperor Zhuang?" Suddenly his hand loosened.

"Bullying men and women..."

"No respect for the imperial court..."

"Collaborating with the enemy and betraying the country..."

"Since Jingfu, he has never stopped..."

"From now on, we will deal with the bastard warriors. If there is one, kill one. If there are a hundred, kill a hundred. If there are a hundred thousand, a million, then kill a hundred thousand, or a million!"

The saint pointed forward with one hand: "——And this bastard!"

The curse spread, and the soldiers raised their swords and loaded arrows. Countless steel swords chopped down, countless sharp arrows shot out, and thousands of corpses fell to the ground.

"Killing Sword Oath!"

In July of the third year of Qianning, the Ling and Xia rebels of more than 100,000 were defeated at Wuding River, and 30,000 were killed in battle. After all the warriors were slaughtered, the remaining Tangut captives were dragged to the benches one by one, pressed down, their thumbs chopped off, their heads shaved, and exiled to the evil army.

"Since you are people of certain status in your respective tribes—" The saint glanced at the selected Tangut leaders and said, "Everything is created for its own use. I don't want to commit more sins of killing. This is your last chance. Go back and tell your leader that within fourteen days, come to Wuding River to see me naked and with a sheep. When you come, all the past will be wiped out. Before the time is up, Xia Sui will be the second Henan."

Wang Yanzhang, Shui Wusheng and others listened quietly on the side, feeling their scalps tingling.

The chieftains knelt forward, bowed their heads and said in tears: "The emperor's life is longer than the sun, and his wisdom is deeper than the sea. We swear to heaven that we will never rebel!"

"Stop using such clichés." The saint looked at them expressionlessly.

Everyone couldn't help but feel a wave of fear in their hearts, their bodies trembled, and some people even smelled a foul smell from their crotch, and they were actually frightened to death.

"When we return, we will persuade the people to submit to the Tang Dynasty. If their leaders refuse to obey, we will kill them..."

"You are just a bunch of lowly people. How much do you think you are worth? What's the point of asking you to surrender verbally and call me His Majesty?"

Although Emperor Li's tone was still not improving, the chieftains' fear of death eased after hearing this. They kowtowed and said, "We are all children, both Han and foreign. We can offer everything to the emperor, even if we have to cut out our hearts."

"Well said, if I had known this earlier, how could I have turned you into an army of villains?

"Go back and fight against counter-revolutionaries. If the mission succeeds, send the household registration here, then stay home and don't run around, waiting for the registration. If the mission fails, you are useless, so why bother with me? You might as well die! I will search the mountains and seas and kill every disobedient Tangut and miscellaneous Hu I can find in the north of the pass."

"Understand?"

Everyone rushed to speak.

"It should, it should."

"I have no regrets about coming to China in this life, and I will be a member of the Holy Tang in the next life."

"In addition..." The saint said as he looked at the screaming villains who had just emerged from the oven, "I went to the north for inspection and didn't even have a place to live. I plan to build a city in the north of Xiazhou, with three palaces: Tianxian Palace, Bingxiao Palace, and Ahui Palace. As far as the eye can see, there must be mountains and rivers, forests, oases, deserts, and grasslands. If you are willing to choose a site for me to build these three palaces and a city, I will believe that you have repented."

For a hundred years, they have not paid taxes or performed military service, and have owed the court a lot of money. This time, all the money will be collected. The training palace is just the first step.

The training palace is not bad, the cost is not high, just provide people, and build the city -

"I am willing!" The leader of the Jiga clan said without hesitation: "After killing that foolish leader, the Jiga tribe will serve the Holy Tang wholeheartedly. Your Majesty, there are some good-looking women in the Jiga tribe. I pray that Your Majesty will grant them the honor of working for Your Majesty. They will serve tea and water, wash clothes and sweep the floor beside Your Majesty. There are Jiga Chiyo, Jiga Zeko, Jiga Asuka and so on..."

No one expected that Ji Jiapu, this bastard, would be so decisive. Although they were furious, they had to bow their heads and follow his loyalty.

"The Wuzhi tribe also requests to be granted honors. There are Wuzhi Yi, Wuzhi Yeyue..."

"The Ministry of Internal Affairs also has its own logic..."

"My girlfriend killed Ling Shu..."

"Shut up!" the saint shouted coldly, "Do you think I'm that kind of lustful person?"

Zhao Jia also scolded: "No one in the army talks about women. Let's talk about this matter after we pacify Lingxia."

"Go!" The saint kicked his horse's belly, leaving only the army behind him. He walked away while searching the battlefield and the dead, looting the enemy's wealth, and cheering loudly in the Wuding River. Looking at the blood-red field and the black sky with corpses lying for more than ten miles, he felt that his mental and physical strength had been completely exhausted. His heart was empty, and he didn't think about anything.

This battle, if won, would bring us one step closer to unifying Wancheng, and we would be within reach of the turning point that would change the fate of the Battle of Sekigahara. But for some reason, I couldn't feel happy.

It’s difficult, it’s difficult!

Every step forward requires trekking through blood. How many hurdles do we have to overcome, how many difficulties do we have to encounter, how many scenes do we have to go through, and how many people do we have to kill before we can fulfill our ambition?
The saint really wanted to shout loudly to the Wuding River: "Where are my Guo Ziyi, Li Guangbi, Yue Fei, and Han Shizhong!"

The saint cried in his heart, "My life is so miserable."

If only the Queen was around, it would be great. If Pei Yuhan made the Queen sad, and looked at her angry face, with tears of split personality, maybe she could relax her spirit a little bit... Tired, tired! God,
You, you come on board!
That's it, that's it.

Sincerity is courageous and also has force, in the end you are strong and cannot be bullied!
The road is long and far away, and I will search up and down.

Persist, persist! Persistence is victory!

After an unknown amount of time, he leaned on the Queen's shoulder: "Sister..."

The Queen gently stroked her back, as if to comfort her: "…I may be about to give birth in the next few days…"

"Zundujidu!" The saint, who was like a dead fish, suddenly raised his head and said happily: "Give birth to a son, and he will be the emperor in the future..." He stopped talking and said happily: "Okay, okay, I am very relieved! I have to give Madam a title no matter what. It's a pity that the three concubines are full. Otherwise, how about re-appointing a noble concubine? Do you like it? And make her an inner lady, I think which one is suitable... Madam Wei was the title of an outer lady in Bianliang. You are from Fanyang, how about Madam Yan? Jin is the hegemon, and being named Madam Jin can also reflect my..."

Zhang Hui glanced at him and said nothing.

This man is like a child sometimes. Or are all men like this?

The first one was born during the war, in the Caoye military camp, and it was really... In this life, I will really be his woman from now on...

While Zhang Hui was overwhelmed with emotions, Emperor Li was already thinking about the name of the child. Just as he was about to open his mouth to chat, he saw Lu Yanrang hurried in. He was stunned at first when he saw Zhang Hui and Zhang Yueyi sisters with big bellies, but they were not outsiders, so he said: "Shayuan was defeated. Li Keyong marched into Shayuan, and the royal army was defeated. The guard commander Zhang Xu was shot and died. Shaanxi Jiedushi Wang Congxun and others gathered the defeated army and retreated to Weibei and Hongmen areas, and sent a letter for emergency. Duke Zheng has led his ministers and harem to flee to Fengxiang under the protection of Zhonglang Jiang Zhang Bo, Jingzhao Yin Sun Weisheng, Sili Xiaowei Han Yi and others. The people of Xidu followed one after another, numbering hundreds of thousands."

"How did you lose?" the saint asked with all his might.

"The imperial guards did not listen to the orders of Wang Congxun and Zhao Fu. The external troops were slightly weaker in combat power. After failing to defeat the enemy in more than ten rounds, they lost their morale and were defeated. There are rumors that a military rebellion broke out in Weibei and that the prince was killed by the rebels. This is the memorial."

"That's good. There were no heavy losses. Wang Congxun died in a military riot? Li Keyong's rumor, right? An old fox like him could be overthrown by his inferiors and rebel dozens of times in vain." The saint breathed a sigh of relief and asked while reading the memorial, "What is Li Keyong's current situation?"

"After the victory in the Battle of Shayuan, they have reached the area of Luchi in the east of Meiyuan. On the one hand, they continue to put pressure on the court, and on the other hand, they are ready to attack the king's army in the north and go south to Weishui at any time."

The saint nodded and said in a deep voice: "Send an order to Zhao Fu and Wang Congxun tonight. If the One-Eyed Dragon attacks from the south, just hold on to the main camp. If necessary, Weibei and Chang'an can be abandoned to preserve strength. Everything will be discussed after I return."

Lu Yanrang wrote it down quickly.

"Send a message to Zheng Yanchang. If the situation in Xijing continues to deteriorate, go to Hanzhong and make sure to protect the ministers and my wife and children."

"Send a message to Li Sizhou, Li Yanzhen, Geshu Jin, Yin Shouzhi, and Li Cunxiao. Lead the army to cross Heyang in the north, raid Hedong along the Qinshui River, and besiege Luzhou. If Zhu Dalang attacks, Henan will be abandoned. Let's first compete with the ungrateful dog Du Yanlong."

"Where is Yang Shouliang, the governor of Shaanxi and Guo?" Lu Yanrang reminded.

"I'm afraid his subordinates are just hoping that I will be defeated. After all, I have never treated them as my own people." The saint sneered and said, "After we deal with the one-eyed dragon, we will get rid of this kind of people."

"There is one more thing." Lu Yanrang said, "When they heard that the army had invaded the palace, the remnants of the inner court, Qiu Chengtan, Diwu Kefan, Luo Quanguan, etc., started a rebellion and wanted to massacre the palace and kidnap the prince. They joined forces with Keyong. Fortunately, they were defeated by Lady Zhao, Lady Wei, Zhang Chengye, the Zhonghuangmen and the Nuyu. After a chaotic battle, more than a thousand people were killed. The rest escaped from the palace through Xuanwu Gate and wanted to be a guide."

"As expected, a dog will always eat shit. I really regret not listening to the commander." The sage cursed, "Well, it's good that they didn't cause a big mess. I will settle accounts with them sooner or later."

"Okay, I'll get busy now." Lu Yanrang bowed, turned around and walked away.

After making the corresponding arrangements, the saint sat down on the couch. The expression on his face was like the Buddha statue in the temple. In the dead silence where a pin drop could be heard. Zhang Hui, Zhang Yueyi, and Shi Yuan looked at each other, not knowing what to say. Shi Yuan gently rubbed his head: "Don't be angry, Li Lang."

"It's not that bad actually. I just had to go back to rescue them. This is exactly what Li Keyong wanted. When I go back, they will probably have returned to Hedong."

"Then are we leaving tonight?" Zhang Yueyi sat down next to him, pinched his thigh, and asked.

The saint nodded, then stood up and took Zhang Hui's hand: "I have no choice... I have to make another hard journey. Our child should be born on the march."

After saying this, he turned around abruptly and said, "We can only let the two thieves survive for a while... Pass the order, leave Li Renmei and Li Zan to besiege Tongwan City with the wounded and civilians, and all other soldiers, whether in the south or the north, leave! Follow me back to the Western Capital!"

At this moment, tears welled up uncontrollably in Emperor Li's eyes. He did not wipe them away. He just took a last look at the white walls of Tongwan City and the Wuding River in the mist, and then ran away!

(End of this chapter)