Chapter 297 Shocking words
After Li Yuanhui and his party entered the city, they felt relieved.

Because all the soldiers on the roadside were wearing uniforms, and their weapons and armor had all been removed, they were no longer prepared for battle.

All the way to the county government office.

"Uncle, how are you?"

Li Yuanhui walked straight into the lobby and greeted Zheng Guo who was sitting in the hall with a smile.

Zheng Guo was less than fifty years old, wearing an ordinary robe. He looked at Li Yuanhui and said with a smile, "It's Silang who is here. So, Li Erlang and Li Sanlang have already led their troops to attack Luoyang?"

Li Yuanhui smiled and said, "My second brother led the troops to Hulao Pass, and my third brother led the troops through Huanyuan Pass, and now they are almost at Yique."

Zheng Guo nodded, "Lord Tang really taught his children well. No wonder he dared to turn against Luoyang. With such talented people like you, your Li family is destined to prosper."

"Uncle, thank you for your praise. It's just luck and chance that helped me and my nephew succeed." Li Yuanhui was very humble.

Zheng Guo waved his hand, and then said: "You dare to enter the city, which shows that you are also a brave boy, not much worse than your two brothers. At the beginning, your eldest sister-in-law even wanted to introduce my family's Twelve Niang to you, but I was wrong at the time. Shandao also told me when he returned to Luoyang that you, Li Silang, acted steadily and had a strategic mind. He has always thought highly of himself. Forget it, it's too late to talk about these things now. Now it's a matter of winners and losers. I wonder how Li Sikong is going to deal with us surrendered people?"

Li Yuanhui clasped his fists solemnly and said, "Uncle, you are too serious. The Emperor of Chang'an is the legitimate son of Emperor Zhaowu, but he was deposed because of his young age. After the death of Emperor Guangping, the legitimate son should be inaugurated. We are following the orders of the Emperor and the King of Tang to restore order and suppress the rebellion, but we are not enemies with your uncle. Your uncle was previously bewitched by them, and now he should lead his troops to correct the wrongs. Why are you talking about punishing him? The King of Tang has already written a letter, instructing us brothers to treat your uncle with respect as a junior, and also said that he wants you to serve as an official in the court. Your uncle can go to Chang'an with Brother Shandao to pay homage to the Emperor, and the rest of your troops can be assigned to various armies to obey his orders."

After hearing this, Zheng Guo also sighed and said, "In this case, I will go to Chang'an to meet the King of Tang."

Li Yuanhui was stunned for a moment, then smiled, "That's best."

Zheng Guo said that he was going to Chang'an to see the King of Tang, not the emperor. He was just stating his attitude. I surrendered for your father's sake. Don't fool me with the puppet emperor.

Xiangcheng was taken over smoothly. There were still more than 7,000 soldiers in the city, as well as a large amount of food, fodder and military equipment.

If the defenders in the city put up a desperate resistance, it would not be surprising that it would take several months just to defend the city.

After Xiangcheng surrendered, the only city in the entire Yuzhou that had not yet surrendered was Xinzheng.

Xinzheng's trouble is bigger than Xiangcheng's, for both sides.

First of all, Xinzheng still has 8,000 soldiers and horses, and they are all elite soldiers capable of fighting, including 3,000 cavalry and 5,000 infantry.

But Xinzheng did not have a large amount of food. With the food for 8,000 infantry and cavalry, the food in the city could only last for a month at most.

Therefore, Li Er left behind nearly 30,000 soldiers and horses, and also contacted Li Yuanhui, asking him to transfer Liu Yuanqing and Xiao Shizhi from Chenjun to Xinzheng area.

Nearly 50,000 troops directly surrounded Xinzheng, and were prepared for a long-term siege. They also wrote letters to persuade the enemy to surrender.

The three defenders in the city, Duan Wuda, Lou Jun and Yuchi Gong, actually didn't want to persist in their hearts. After all, they saw that the Luoyang court was about to be destroyed. But Lou Jun and Duan Wuda had concerns because their fathers were in Luoyang. If they surrendered directly, it might have an impact on their fathers who were generals. At the very least, they could not surrender too quickly.

Yuchi Gong was also a general promoted by Lou Jushi, so he was thinking of his old boss and planned to surrender when he could no longer defend.
However, some things happen very suddenly.

After Li Yuanhui took control of Xiangcheng, he sent his cousin Dou Cong to Wancheng, left his cousin Li Xiaojie to garrison Xiangcheng, and his cousin Wang Yi to garrison Yangdi. He settled the tens of thousands of captives in these three places, and told these relatives to adopt a conciliatory policy, digest these captives, and absorb them into the Western Army. Then he led 30,000 infantry and cavalry north to join the army besieging Xinzheng.

At this time, people in Luoyang City were in panic, and the most panicked were the emperor in the palace and several prime ministers and ministers in the temple.

After all, the city of Luoyang is the most majestic city in the world, with high walls and many passes to protect it.

After all, once the Western Army enters Luoyang, the common people will most likely continue to live their lives, and the lower-level officials and clerks who do the actual work should not be greatly affected.

There is only a decision-making level, and there is no place for them in the new dynasty.

Duan Yihong and Lou Jushi left behind enough troops to guard Hulao Pass, and took all the rest of the troops back to Luoyang. They then submitted memorials to apologize.

According to past practice, the emperor should be more tolerant of such old ministers. After all, these two people have been generals since the reign of Emperor Wen, and have fought in many battles and made great contributions.

Although they were defeated by the Western Army, we shouldn't be too harsh on them considering the past. After all, it has come to this point.

At most, he would be reprimanded by imperial decree, and at worst he would be stripped of his title and demoted.

But the development of this incident was beyond the expectations of most people.

Liang Chongli, formerly a military officer in the Prince of Wu's Palace and now the Minister of the Central Secretariat, was a close confidant of Emperor Murong Yang. When Murong Yang presented a memorial to the emperor, he asked him how to deal with the two generals.

Liang Chongli's words were so shocking that even Murong Wuji, who was also the Minister of the Central Secretariat, was shocked.

"Your Majesty, the Lingzhi Prince Duan Yihong, as a pillar of the country, failed to stop the enemy from entering the territory, and allowed the rebels to invade the heart of Luoyang. He failed to live up to your Majesty's trust. In addition, except for his two sons who were with him, the rest of Duan Yihong's family members were in the hands of the Western Army. In my opinion, the battle of Yingchuan was not simple. Most likely, Duan Yihong cared about his family, so he colluded with the Western bandits and ruined the army to save the lives of his family. In an emergency, severe punishment should be used. I think Duan Yihong, as a general and a king of a different surname, did not think about the country's grace, but colluded with the bandits. He should be executed."

"Although Mr. Lou has preserved his troops, he is also indecisive and wants to preserve his strength. I think we should kill him as a warning to others. Otherwise, the troops will become lazy and afraid to fight to the death."

After Liang Chongli finished speaking, Murong Wuji, who was sitting opposite him, was completely confused and stared at Minister Liang with wide eyes.

In fact, it is like asking the other person, "Do you know who these two are?"

That was Lingzhi Prince Duan Yihong, a trusted minister relied upon by Emperor Zhaowu. Mr. Lou Jushi was a veteran in his seventies who had served as a personal guard to Emperor Taizu Murong Yi and a fierce general who had been with him since the time when the Xianbei Murong Yi ruled the Central Plains.

The reason why these two people are still alive today and have safely survived Emperor Zhaowu's several purges of royal family members is largely because of their loyalty and impartiality. Now they are being killed directly because of a defeat?
Are you okay? The Eastern Army is coming soon.
"Your Majesty, Minister Liang's words are too extreme. Prince Duan and Lou Cheqi are both veteran generals who have loyally served the previous emperors of Great Yan. In this time of national crisis, killing the generals without authorization will surely bring bad consequences."

Murong Wuji still opened his mouth to give advice. Although he let Li Dalang go, he had never done anything wrong to Murong Yang. After all, they were cousins ​​and had a close relationship.

But Murong Yang turned a deaf ear to his words.

Seeing this, Murong Wuji's heart sank, he knew that Murong Yang was really thinking about Liang Chongli's suggestion.

(End of this chapter)