Chapter 8 Talking on Paper
The siege lasted for more than a month. Although the Yan army was brave, the Goguryeo people were also extremely tenacious. Both sides paid a heavy price.

Liaodong City was originally Xiangping City. After Goguryeo occupied Liaodong, it changed the name of Xiangping City to Liaodong City.

After the reconstruction, the city was square, with two walls inside and outside. There were three gates, east and west gates facing each other, with double-story gatehouses. The city walls had corner towers, battlements, parapets and other buildings, and there was a two-story building in the northwest outside the city, which was magnificent in scale.

Such a strong city, guarded by tens of thousands of Goguryeo people and with sufficient military supplies and food, was not easy to break through from the outside.

Seeing that the siege had been unsuccessful for a long time, Murong Ying finally could not bear it and took action himself. He ordered the making of more than a million cloth bags filled with soil, intending to pile them up to form a fish weir road, thirty steps wide and as high as the city wall, so that the Yan army could climb up and attack.

He also ordered the construction supervisor Da Xi Changning to supervise the construction of an eight-wheeled tower carriage, which was higher than the city wall and placed on both sides of the Yuliang Road, overlooking and suppressing the city.

It is obvious that they are going to use manpower and material resources to conquer Liaodong City.

"How did Sima Xuanwen capture this city back then?" Murong Ying suddenly asked from the high platform.

When the ministers heard this, they all didn't know how to start. It wasn't that they didn't know the story, but they didn't understand what the sage meant by suddenly mentioning Sima Yi.
After all, although Sima Yi himself did not rebel against Wei, his son Sima Zhao was killed by Emperor Xuan of Wei. His reputation and image were far worse than those of Huo Guang of the Han Dynasty.

When this person was suddenly mentioned, everyone was caught off guard and didn't know what the emperor meant by mentioning him.

Seeing that no one answered, the Minister of War Xue Chu spoke up, "Reporting to Your Majesty, Sima Yi's campaign to pacify Liaodong was in the first year of Wei Jingchu. Gongsun Yuan, the governor of Youzhou in Wei, rebelled against Wei and proclaimed himself king in Liaodong. In June of the following year, Sima Yi led an army of 40,000 to attack Liaodong. Yuan's army of tens of thousands built trenches of more than 20 miles, fortified the Liao River tunnels, and resisted the enemy on the west bank of the Liao River. Sima Yi pretended to march south to lead Yuan's army to follow and pursue, while secretly crossing the Liao River and heading straight for Xiangping in Liaodong County, which is Liaodong City in front of us."

"In July, it rained heavily for several days, and the Liao River rose sharply, with water several feet high on the flat ground. Gongsun Yuan relied on the large number of troops and horses to hold the city and rely on the rain, and refused to surrender. Wei general Zhang Jing was frightened and wanted to move the camp and retreat, but Sima Yi beheaded him and showed it to the public, but he still held on."

".After more than a month, the rain stopped. The Wei army launched a fierce attack on the city, with arrows and stones raining down day and night. Gongsun Yuan sent envoys twice to seek peace, but was rejected both times. The city collapsed, and Gongsun Yuan and his sons fled with hundreds of cavalry, but were beheaded by the Wei army on the Liang River."

Murong Ying nodded after hearing this, and then asked again: "Sima Xuanwen was an expert in military tactics and a man of great strategy. He served four emperors, pacified Liaodong in the north, and resisted Shu Han in the west. He was a man of great merit and virtue, but his descendants were rebellious and arbitrarily established and deposed the emperor. In the end, his clan was destroyed. It's a pity that Sima Xuanwen's reputation was ruined. He was far less loyal to the country than the three generations of Zhuge family."

When the top students heard this, they looked at each other in bewilderment. How could they not understand what the emperor meant?
There was also an important official in this dynasty who fought in many battles, served as a general and a prime minister, and his achievements were no less than those of Sima Yi. He was the late Yang Su, who was the Grand Tutor, Minister of the Interior, Duke of Chu, and posthumously named "Jingwu".

His son, Yang Xun, the Minister of Rites, was in Liyang, supervising the transportation of grain and military supplies. Even though the news was delayed, they knew that the grain transportation was delayed.

The emperor was already dissatisfied with the Yang family, and now he would definitely take advantage of the opportunity to take action.

This report was a very obvious signal, instructing the important officials present to be prepared.

However, no one present expected that Yang Xun would take the lead.

Feng Jin, a powerful eunuch from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, walked up to the emperor in small and steady steps and quietly handed him a secret report.

When Murong Ying saw that it was someone from Dongdu, he didn't think much about it and signaled Feng Jin to open it with a look.

When he saw the content above, his face, which had been somewhat high-spirited, immediately turned ugly without any concealment.

Although everyone nodded slightly and didn't dare to look directly, they also felt that the scorching summer day around them suddenly became as cold as the coldest days of winter.

"Hahahaha"

Murong Ying laughed out of anger, then stood up, walked forward a few steps and looked at Liaodong City in the distance. He was lamenting in his heart that this second expedition to the east seemed to be unsuccessful.

Damn you Yang Xun! I will tear you into pieces and turn your bones into ashes!
After returning to the palace, Murong Ying immediately summoned Shangshu Ling Duan Shihuan, Zhongshu Ling Liu He, Shizhong Murong Hui, Yushi Zhongcheng Pei Hongde and other trusted ministers, and immediately sent messengers to recall General Murong Ding and General Duan Yihong, ordering them to return immediately.

A hundred miles away in Huaiyuan Town, in the study of the town commander's mansion, Li Yuan was discussing the situation with several trusted aides.

"Your Excellency is truly a master of foresight. Yang Xun has indeed rebelled. He started his army in Liyang, and must have reached Luoyang by now." "Why Luoyang? If I were Yang Xun, I would go north along the canal to Zhuojun, distribute food along the way, gather refugees, and gather 100,000 people. Then I could capture Yuguan and keep the army out of the pass. When the time comes, the army will be out of food and will collapse."

"Liyang is thousands of miles away from Zhuojun, and there are too many variables. In my opinion, it is better to go west along the river, cross Luoyang, drive straight to Shanzhou, and enter Guanzhong from Puyang. If we can take Guanzhong, it will be difficult for the court to control us."

"Yang Xun neither went north to Zhuojun nor west to Guanzhong, but drove straight to Luoyang. Didn't he set himself up? Luoyang is a strong city, and the rebels must lack siege equipment. Their troops are all forced to work as slaves. I expect they will be frustrated. When the army returns, it will be easy to defeat them. I heard that Yang Jingwu once said that Yang Xun was not stupid. Now it seems that Lord Jingwu can also make mistakes sometimes."

All the staff members were not optimistic about Yang Xun's rebellion this time. They all felt that he had chosen the worst option among the three options.

Li Yuan just nodded upon hearing this, but he never made any judgment on Yang Xun's choice. After several aides left, he turned to the bookshelf behind him and said, "You are so timid. Have you not heard enough after listening for so long?"

Just as he finished speaking, two young men walked out from the bookshelf. They looked to be about sixteen or seventeen years old, and they were Li Yuan's two sons.

The leader was Erlang Li Mingqi, who was tall and strong, with a handsome face and extraordinary bravery.

The third brother Li Xuanqing behind, although younger, is a few points taller than the second brother, and has a more muscular figure, looking very majestic.

"I've seen Aye."

Li Yuan looked at the two of them with a smile on his face and said, "How is it? After hiding over there and listening for a while, do you have any insights?"

Sanlang shook his head upon hearing this, but Erlang spoke confidently: "Replying to Father, I think what you gentlemen said is correct, but a little biased."

"Oh?" Li Yuan was immediately interested when he heard this. "Erlang, can you tell me more about it?"

"only."

Li Erlang bowed, then walked to the map and pointed at it, saying, "Whether going north to Zhuo County or west to Chang'an in Guanzhong, it is a thousand miles away from Liyang where Yang Xun started his army. When Yang Xun started his army, there were no more than 10,000 people, and they were all put together at random. They had no combat experience and lacked armor and weapons. How could such an army possibly pass through states and counties and reach a place a thousand miles away? I'm afraid they would be destroyed on the way."

"Secondly, even if the rebels did not disperse on the road and were able to march a thousand miles, they would still face a problem. Whether it was attacking Zhuo County or Chang'an in Guanzhong, they had to attack by surprise, without the defenders being prepared, in order to succeed. But if they were to march a thousand miles and gather troops along the way, they would have to make a big show, and the defenders would have to be prepared. Once they were prepared, it would be difficult to capture Zhuo County or Chang'an."

"Especially Chang'an. Before the second expedition to the east, the saint specially mobilized 100,000 civilians to reinforce the city walls. It is stronger than Luoyang. The city walls are strong, but Chang'an still has tens of thousands of defenders. As long as they close the gates and hold the city, Yang Xun will have no chance of breaking through."

"Third, Yang Xun's army is composed of local people and laborers from Liyang. They may not have heard of Chang'an and Zhuojun, let alone where they are. It would be difficult for these people who are attached to their land to abandon their homes and businesses and attack a place they have never heard of to sustain their efforts."

"But Luoyang is different. Since ancient times, Luoyang has been the center of Guandong. It is the Eastern Capital that the people are familiar with. It is also the capital of the country in their minds. For them, taking Luoyang means victory and only taking Luoyang means victory."

"I dare to conclude that Yang Xun must be well aware of this, so he will never choose the road that will lead to his death, going north to Zhuojun or west to Guanzhong."

Li Yuan laughed and said, "Erlang, you said that going north and west are both roads that will lead to death, what about Luoyang?"

"It's also a dead end, but if I lead the army, there might be a chance."

"You are still so young, yet you are so arrogant. Are you smarter than Yang Xun?"

Upon hearing this, Li Yuan immediately scolded Li Erlang and scolded him harshly. Then he waved his hand and asked the two brothers to stand outside as punishment.

When the two brothers disappeared, a smug smile appeared on his face again.

Is there a phoenix in my family ready to sing?
(End of this chapter)