Huan Rong

Chang'an has a long history and was first built in the Western Zhou Dynasty.

King Wen of Zhou built Fengjing, and King Wu of Zhou built Haojing, which was collectively called Fenghao in later generations. It was the capital of the Zhou Dynasty and the first city in Chinese history to be called "Jing".

After the prosperity of the Western Zhou Dynasty, the Eastern Zhou Dynasty gradually weakened.

In the early period of the Spring and Autumn Period, the struggle for hegemony, and the later period of the Warring States Conquest, the King of Qin swept Liuhe, unified the world, and set his capital in Xianyang.Chang'an became a township in the capital of Qin, and it was the fiefdom of Lord Chang'an, the clan of Qin.

Qin II died, Chu and Han fought for hegemony, Han Gaozu defeated the overlord of Western Chu, and established the Central Plains.

The Western Han Dynasty established the country with Chang'an as its capital.

Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty ordered Prime Minister Xiao He to preside over the construction of the capital, rebuild Changle Palace on the basis of Qin Xingle Palace, and then build Weiyang Palace.

By the time of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the national power of the Western Han Dynasty reached its peak, and the North Palace, Gui Palace and Mingguang Palace were successively built, and Shanglin Garden was expanded in the west of the city, Kunming Pool was excavated, and other palaces were built.

At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, all heroes rose together.

After the Three Kingdoms, the Western Jin Dynasty unified briefly.After the Yongjia Rebellion, the Five Hus moved inward and occupied the Central Plains, and Chang'an was successively occupied by several Hu regimes.

During the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the power of the Di tribe was once strong, and the system was proclaimed emperor, with Chang'an as its capital.

Qin's Wubao suddenly emerged, first went to Yecheng, then Chang'an, expelled the regime established by Murong Xianbei and the Di people, and unified the north.

The Qin family also chose Chang'an as their capital, rebuilt the palace on the basis of the Gui Palace, and built a city in the city.The weather in Chang'an is gradually recovering, and the population of the capital is gradually increasing. However, due to years of war, the population in the north has dropped sharply. At this time, Chang'an City still has a large gap with that of the Han Dynasty.

The Qin family entered Chang'an and decided to vigorously develop production. However, natural disasters and man-made disasters continued, and the harvest of grain and wheat in the Northland was poor or even non-existent year after year.

Although there are grains brought in from the South and the Western Regions, it is really difficult to support the rations of hundreds of thousands of troops and provide relief to the victims of disasters in the country.

Huan Han's army marched northward in a big way, pulling out several cities in a row. Their own combat effectiveness was one thing, while the lack of food and unstable morale of Qin's soldiers was another.

If there were no successive years of natural disasters and Qin had sufficient food, Huan Rong would never have made the Northern Expedition easily.Even if he wanted to, Xi Yin and Xie An would not agree.

The Qin State was short of food, and the soldiers and the common people could not eat enough.In the face of heavy soldiers, the balance of victory will naturally gradually tilt.

If there is no shortage of food in the Qin State, the soldiers and the people can have enough food and clothing. In terms of personal combat effectiveness, it is actually higher than that of Huan Han soldiers.Especially the cavalry of the Qin State swept across Monan and drove out the bandits, which was really a tough nut to crack.

Huan Rong is determined to fight, but it's not impossible.

But in this case, the casualties of both sides will increase several times or even dozens of times. In the end, the victory will be decided, but the strength of the Han Dynasty will be greatly damaged.

"Destiny?"

Standing under the city of Chang'an, Huan Rong couldn't tell what mood he was in.

joy?

Or is it mixed with a bit of bitterness?

In order to restore China, the north and the south must be unified.

In order to repay the only little private thoughts, he and Qin Jing once made an agreement under the account.

Today, when things came to an end, he became uncertain again.Comparing your heart to your heart, if it is him, can you really abandon everything?

Huan Rong clenched his saber tightly, gritted his teeth hard, and tasted more bitter taste in his mouth, faintly mixed with the taste of rust.

"Your Majesty, Emissary Huan has arrived at the tent."

"Brother is here? Please hurry up."

His thoughts were interrupted by the eunuch, Huan Rong shuddered, and slapped his face forcefully, forcing himself to put aside his complicated thoughts.

This scene happened to be seen by Huan Shixiu who entered the account.

Emissary Huan raised his eyebrows in surprise, and after bowing his hands and saluting, he asked curiously, "Is Your Majesty worried?"

"Indeed." Huan Rong didn't deny it, but he didn't intend to explain it in detail. Instead, he spread out the map, pointed to the location of Chang'an on the map, and said, "Brother, Chang'an City is high and deep, easy to defend and difficult to attack. The soldiers in the city can They are good at fighting, and there are tens of thousands of young and strong men who can be recruited. If we want to attack by force, the casualties will definitely be heavy."

When talking about siege, Huan Shixiu immediately became serious.

"What Your Majesty said is very true. If you want to go to this city, you need to make a long-term plan."

When Jia Bing came to see him, Huan Rong and Huan Shixiu were discussing the strategy of attacking the city.According to Huan Shixiu's opinion, it is best to launch a strong attack first to find out the bottom line of Chang'an.

"I got the news that Qin has heavy troops stationed on the border. In order to prevent changes in the middle, the siege battle needs to be cautious, but it must be resolved quickly."

It is easy to say, but it is extremely difficult to do.

At this time, Chang'an was no better than Jiankang, but it also had a population of several 10.It is really a bad idea to fight by human life alone.

The best way is to defend the city with solid troops, encircle the city without attacking it, wait until the food in the city is exhausted, people's hearts are unstable and even chaos arises, the Han army takes advantage of the situation to advance, and the city can be easily taken down.

This plan is good, but the risks to be taken are not small.

Qin Jun and Qin Jiu stationed troops on the border, which was a shortcoming of the Qin soldiers before, but now it has become a knife hanging over the heads of the Han troops.

After a long delay, the Qin army in Bianzhou went south in a large scale, and the Han army was likely to be attacked by the enemy. All previous victories would be wiped out, and the Northern Expedition fell short.

Even if he is undefeated, if he confronts the Qin army head-on, what he worried about before will still happen.

The strength of the two armies has been greatly damaged, and it will take time to recover.

Gaoche and Wusun, who were driven to Mobei, saw the right time and feared that they would go south again.Hu, Sanhan, and Yidi from the Western Regions will all be ready to move.No matter how ambitious the assassins and generals stationed in the local area are, the unification of the North and the South will eventually come to naught, and the two Han regimes may also fall apart.

This is not alarmist.

In history, Fu Jian is a bloody example.

Although the situations are very different from each other, who can guarantee that the worst will not happen?

Huan Rong's concerns were not unreasonable, Huan Shixiu fell silent for a while.

Jia Bing pondered for a moment, no worry on his face, but a slight smile, and said: "Your Majesty may have forgotten that the brother of the Stone Thorn Envoy is in Chang'an."

Hearing this, Huan Rong couldn't help being taken aback.

"Bingzhi is talking about Shi Mian?" As far as he knew, Shi Mian was in Bingzhou and had not yet arrived in Chang'an.

In addition to the encirclement of Qing and Bingzhou's assassins, one of the important reasons why Jizhou's assassin surrendered was that Shi Mian took the seal given by Huan Rong and lobbied in person.

"It's not Shi Mian." Jia Bing shook his head, "It's Shi Li."

Shi Mian, Shi Shao's younger brother, fled to the south with him.His real name was Shi Xu, but later he changed his name to Shi Mian for the convenience of traveling in the north and avoiding suspicion.

The Shi Li that Jia Bing said was the elder brother of the two, who fled north together back then and didn't want to be separated on the way.Shi Shao and Shi Mian fled to Yandu with the refugees, while Shi Li took his family to Weixing.

It can only be said that gold can shine everywhere.

In terms of ability to make money, Shi Li is no better than Shi Shao, but he is also a leader among others.

Before Huan Rong ascended the throne, Shi Li had gathered a group of small businessmen to walk on the border between the two countries.

Most of these people were refugees, from the north to the south, narrowly escaped death, with their heads pinned to their waistbands.When encountering bandits, I never had the idea of ​​paying money to avoid disaster. I 100% picked up a knife and went on it.

With a relentless vigor, Shi Li's caravan gradually gained a reputation and became a small-scale "bandit merchant" that few bandits would dare to provoke.

As early as the Xian'an period, the Shi brothers had contact.

After Huan Rong ascended the throne, the two sides moved more frequently.Shi Mian went north several times, and he was able to open up the situation smoothly, which was inseparable from Shi Li's help.

Jia Ke went to the Western Regions, and Shi Mian couldn't get away from Bingzhou. Shi Li took the initiative to sneak into Chang'an, thinking that Huan Han should respond.

Because he had never had anything to do with the Huanhan court, and he traveled north and south under a pseudonym, and he had household registration documents signed by officials from the north, and when he brought medicinal materials into Chang'an, he did not arouse any suspicion at all.

"Your Majesty, Mr. Shi Lang is on good terms with Qin Changshi Qian Fang. It was reported earlier that Chang'an's imperial court is empty, the old people in Xihe are suspicious, and the newly recruited tyrants have gone to and fro during the Xiahou Clan's rebellion."

When Jia Bing spoke, he paid attention to the change of Huan Rong's expression, and his voice became slightly aggravated.

"The Qian family is a relative, and his various actions obviously have the intention of abandoning the city and fleeing north. People in the city are fluctuating, and I am afraid it will be more serious than expected."

"If it can be used, it will definitely help our army break through the city."

Huan Rong frowned, pondered for a long time, and said, "According to Bingzhi's intention, how should we act?"

"Returning to Your Majesty, I think that we can adopt Huan's assassin's intention and send troops to attack the city first to test the strength of the troops in the city. And try to send letters to Lord Shi Lang, spread rumors, and do lobbying."

"In addition, when Liangzhou's assassins arrive with their troops, they don't need to participate in the siege. First, go north and take Yongzhou to prevent the Qin army from going south."

Jia Bing first analyzed each item, and then put forward targeted suggestions.

When the monarch and his ministers were talking, Xi Chao met him outside the tent.

Called into the account, he proposed a siege strategy to Huan Rong, which coincided with Jia Bing.Seeing Huan Rong's strange expression and knowing the reason of the incident, Xi Chao and Jia Bing looked at each other, suddenly feeling "confidant".

The plan was initially decided, and Huan Rong raised his account immediately, summoned the accompanying civil and military personnel, and discussed the matter of ordering troops to go to war.

After the discussion was over, a collared scops owl flew into the camp, broke into the tent, and landed in front of Huan Rong.

After the scops owl, there is another dove, which is slightly smaller and darker in color than Mrs. Li's.There is a silk rope wrapped around the pigeon's leg, which is usually not easy to find.

It happened that Jia Bing stayed in the tent, recognized the pigeon, and immediately took out the incense ball on his body, and sure enough, he saw the pigeon cooing twice, flapping its wings and flying towards him.

"Your Majesty, it should be a letter from Mr. Shi Lang."

The two birds landed one after another, without Huan Rong calling, they searched for the rattan cabinet at the corner of the tent, got in, and pulled out a cloth bag together.

"It's really perfect."

Huan Rong grumbled, unfolded the silk rope in a unique way, and spread it on the table, it turned out to be a palm-sized, rectangular silk cloth.There are petty small characters written on it, and you need to look carefully to make it clear.

After reading it, Huan Rong handed the silk cloth to Jia Bing.

After browsing through the contents of the letter, Jia Bing said with a smile, "Your Majesty, God help us."

In the ninth year of Taiyuan, June, Renxu

The drums and horns under the city of Chang'an sounded together.

Amidst the shouts, the Han army rushed out and stormed the four gates of Chang'an.

A stone catapult was set up on the military cart, and huge boulders and broken logs flew towards the top of the city roaring.

The soldiers carried the ladder and rushed to the bottom of the city without fear of death. When one end was hooked to the city wall, they quickly climbed up.

Not to be outdone, the defenders in the city splashed arrows like rain, boiling water and boiling oil.Another huge boulder whizzed out from behind the city wall, and fell near the chariot in the blink of an eye, and some fell on the chariot, throwing up large pieces of sawdust.

The battering ram was pushed in front of the city gate, and the soldiers wrapped thick ropes around their waists, shouting loudly, pulling sharpened giant logs and smashing them at the city gate.

The Han army's attack was extremely fierce, one wave after another, as if they were tireless; the Qin army's defense was also tight, and so far no Han army has been allowed to climb to the top of the city.

The two armies were evenly matched.

The same bravery and toughness, vowing not to retreat half a step.

From early morning to evening, the four gates of Chang'an are still as stable as a rock.The Han army was not without gains. The soldiers who attacked the east gate once climbed to the top of the city, but they couldn't stand for long, and were driven down by the Qin army.

In the middle of Youshi, the Han army retreated after Mingjin.

Different from the siege, the Han army moved in an orderly manner, covering each other without any panic, and did not give the Qin army a chance to sneak attack.

Back at the camp, Huan Rong raised the account again, all the civil and military officials discussed until late at night, and when they saw the war damage after the inventory, they all frowned.

Compared with hundreds of thousands of troops, more than a thousand people are not many.

However, this allowed everyone to see the strength of the Qin army, and they completely put away their underestimation of the enemy, and no longer dared to be complacent about the previous battle results.

In the next few days, the Han army only besieged but did not attack, and sent a large number of cavalry to cut off the commercial roads of Chang'an one after another.

The Qin army attacked several times and killed several groups of cavalry.

However, the Han army exceeded 30, and such results would not be of much use.In the end, Chang'an was completely cut off from the outside world, and the army and people in the city could only rely on the previous food reserves to survive.

The Han army did not attack again, but the life in the city was getting sadder every day.However, there were rumors that the Queen Mother of Qin was not in the palace, and the relatives of the emperor had secretly fled north, planning to abandon Chang'an.

The rumors spread more and more fiercely. Although they would not cause chaos immediately, they would shake people's hearts and start to give rise to doubts.

Shi Li didn't contact the outside of the city anymore, it was a fluke to be able to send the pigeon before.As rumors spread in the city and people's hearts changed, he began to lie dormant and did not make any bigger moves to avoid arousing suspicion.

At this moment, the gate of Chang'an Palace opened, and Qin Jing, dressed in strong and sharp clothes, galloped out with a few cavalry, went straight to the bottom of the city, and boarded the top of the city.

The morale of the defenders was greatly boosted, the sound of "Long Live" sounded from the top of the city, and there was even the sound of war drums.

The sound alarmed the Han army surrounding the capital.

Knowing that it was the Emperor Qin who came to the city in person, Huan Rong got up and went out of the tent, boarded the gate, and ordered Dian Kui to drive in front.

"Open the camp gate."

One of the emperors of the two countries stood on the top of the city, wearing black armor and a black helmet, full of evil spirits; the other stood under the city, wearing black clothes and jade belts, and wearing twelve slits.

Looking at each other, neither of them spoke.

Just in time for a gust of wind, the five-element flag roared violently.Obviously there were no horns and drums, no shouts of soldiers, but the atmosphere was even more chilling.

After a long time, Huan Rong cupped his hands, and Qin Jing clasped his fists.

One person saluted at the bottom of the city, and the other respected at the top of the city.

For a moment, the air seemed to freeze.

This is respect for the strong.

Boom, boom, boom!

Heavy drums rang through the earth, joined by long horns.

The soldiers tapped their spears and spears to the ground, their voices became louder and louder, merged into the sound of swords and shields, and their pride went straight to the sky.

Fighting on the battlefield is to restore China.

No matter who wins or loses, history will remember that today in front of Chang'an City are all descendants of Yan and Huang. Both the Han army and the Qin army are the sons of the Han family, heroes in troubled times.