Chapter 37 Pyeongchang Building

Chapter 37 Pyeongchang Building

Chapter 37 Pyeongchang Building

"Whose general is that? He is so brave." Pei Kuo, the General of the Central Regiment, asked from the top of Pingchang Tower.

This man is about thirty years old, looks resolute and handsome, and has an extraordinary appearance. If Shao Xun were here and observed carefully, he would find that this man has some similarities with Concubine Pei in his eyebrows and eyes.

The war drum that played a huge role just now was beaten by him.

These are all old tricks on the battlefield.

When the war drums sounded, the rebels thought that the defenders in the city were about to attack, so they fled on the spot.

"Coming from the Imperial Street of Pingchang Gate, could they be the hereditary soldiers of Sizhou stationed in Mingtang and Lingtai areas?" Pei Xia looked for a while, couldn't figure out what they were, and replied.

Pei Xia is Pei Kuo's cousin. He is twenty-six years old this year and has not yet entered officialdom.

The Hedong Pei family was a large family, but the one who really stepped onto the political stage was probably Pei Mao in the late Later Han Dynasty. He was granted the title of marquis for leading the generals in Guanzhong to kill Li Jue.

Pei Mao had three sons: Pei Qian, Pei Hui and Pei Ji. These three were honored as the "Three Ancestors" during the Pei family's most glorious period, the Tang Dynasty (which produced 17 prime ministers).

Pei Qian served as Minister of Chancellery during the reign of Emperor Ming of Wei and died in the fifth year of Zhengshi (244).

Qian's son Pei Xiu was an official under the general Cao Shuang. After Cao Shuang's fall, he was an official under Sima Zhao. In the Jin Dynasty, he was granted the title of Duke of Julu and served as Minister of Works.

Xiu Ziying was a famous scholar. Because he was still young when his father died, he went to live with his uncle Jia Chong, and was constantly promoted. At the end of Yuankang, he became Shangshu Zuo Pushe, Prince Zhongshu, and Shizhong Shangshu.

Because his cousin Jia Nanfeng was the empress, Pei Wei held a high position and shared power with Zhang Hua and others. He was later killed by Sima Lun, the King of Zhao.

After this incident, Pei Qian's lineage was severely damaged and no longer the political representative of the Hedong Pei family.

Pei Mao's second son, Pei Hui, courtesy name Wenxiu, was once the governor of Jizhou in Cao Wei. He had four sons: Pei Li, Pei Kang, Pei Kai, and Pei Chuo.

Pei Li once served as a guerrilla general and has passed away. He has two sons, Pei Bao and Pei Cui. This branch of his family later developed in the Xiliang area.

Pei Kang was the Prince's Left Guard Commander, but now retired. He had four sons, Pei Chun, Pei Dun, Pei Shao, and Pei Kuo, and two daughters, one married to Sima Yue and the other to Bian Xu.

Pei Kai had five sons: Pei Yu, Pei Zan, Pei Xian, Pei Li and Pei Xun.

This line originally developed well and had the momentum to succeed Pei Xiu and Pei Wei as the political spokesperson of the Pei family. However, because Pei Kai was too close to Jia Chong and others, and his son Pei Zan was the son-in-law of Yang Jun, he was implicated and suffered a heavy blow. He is currently in a stage of keeping a low profile and licking his wounds.

Pei Chuo, courtesy name Jishu, served as the Minister of the Imperial Court, but was posthumously awarded the title of Changshui Commandant. Pei Xia was Pei Chuo's son.

Generally speaking, among Pei Mao's three sons, Pei Hui's line developed the best, and the "Xijuan Pei" in the Tang Dynasty also developed from Pei Hui's descendants - named because most of them served as officials in the Xiliang area.

Among Pei Hui's four sons, Pei Chuo's branch seems to be not developing very smoothly. However, they are brothers after all, and Pei Kang has taken good care of the descendants of his deceased fourth brother, which is the main reason why Pei Xia stays with Pei Kuo.

"The guards of Mingtang and Lingtai have long dispersed." Pei Kuo shook his head and said, "Most likely they came from Kaiyang Gate."

Pei Xia agreed with what he thought. Most of the Sizhou soldiers were newly recruited and their morale was low. When they heard that an enemy army of 300,000 was coming, many of their troops dispersed and returned to their hometowns under the leadership of their officers. How could they have fought until this point?
Some time ago, my cousin's servant Pei Shiliu came back from the south of the city and said that Mi Huang's troops defending Biyong were well organized and in high spirits, and that their commander Shao Xun was extremely brave and had killed the rebel general Li Yi and fought all the way to the outside of Kaiyang Gate.

Could it be that Mi Huang had done a great deed again this time? If so, he was quite capable. It would be a waste of his talent to be a governor in the shogunate. It would be no problem for him to join the military.

Thinking of this, Pei Xia's heart moved, and he said: "This man must be a general of the Yue Mansion. He is so brave and rare in the world. Brother, why don't you send someone to visit the princess and find out the details of this man."

Pei Kuo glanced at his cousin and nodded slightly.

He knew what Pei Xia meant, and he also knew that Pei Xia was depressed and always wanted to stand out.

Is my brother-in-law Sima Yue a good candidate for service? Pei Kuo did not dare to say so.

Moreover, after experiencing two disasters caused by Pei Xiu, Pei Wei and his son, and the branch of third uncle Pei Kai, the Pei family was already a little scared and was unwilling to take the initiative to participate in the power struggle within the royal family.

As for the choices of their descendants, the elders were not very willing to intervene. As long as it did not bring disaster to the family, betting on multiple options was acceptable - or perhaps, this was a common practice of the aristocratic families.

As for Pei Kuo himself, his sister was the Princess of Donghai, and his second brother Pei Dun also wanted to follow the path of the King of Donghai and be sent out as a governor. It was enough to have these two people in Yuefu. It didn't make much sense for Pei Xia to move closer, but he wouldn't stop him in person.

"After you get off work, go visit your eldest sister and see what she says." Pei Kuo suddenly said.

Pei Xia was delighted, but he controlled his emotions well and whispered, "Yes."

Pei Kuo silently looked at the devastated battlefield, his mind having already flown away to who knows where.

The king's army won many victories, but the situation was still confusing because he knew the morals of those big families too well. ******
The disastrous defeat in the Battle of Jianchun Gate greatly affected the entire war situation.

At least, Lu Ji had lost confidence in field combat.

On the one hand, I doubt myself.

The problem on the other hand was even more serious: the generals had already looked down on him, and after this defeat, who would still listen to his orders?
Sixteen generals including Jia Chong and Jia Leng were killed by Wang Hu, making this Sima of the Taiwei Mansion, who came from a humble family, famous.

At that time, Wang Hu first led his cavalry to charge and killed General Ma Xian, then swept away the defeated soldiers and decisively deployed more than 6,000 light and heavy cavalry to repeatedly ravage them, and then pressed on with the infantry, and finally won the battle.

The bravery and fierceness of the Luoyang Central Army is enough to make people shudder at the mention of them.

Shi Chao, Wang Cui, Qian Xiu and others were no longer obedient, and each led their troops to set up camp, watching over each other. The entire Jizhou army was in a state of panic and anxiety, and had lost the ability to attack in a short period of time, so it had to be reorganized.

If the main force suffered such a crushing defeat, the battlefield on the flanks would naturally not be in good condition either.

As the defeated soldiers from the north and south of the city ran back one after another, Lu Ji knew that Meng Chao had been killed again!

He no longer thought about what this meant to him, he was only thinking about how to stabilize the situation.

"We can't fight any more recklessly." Sima Sun Zheng lamented: "For now, we can only dig deep trenches and build high fortifications to weaken the enemy's spirit, slowly restore the morale of the army, and then plan other things."

He was too deeply bound to Lu Ji to switch to someone else, so he could only think carefully about his next move to avoid causing even greater trouble.

There is still a chance of winning.

Just one word: waste.

"Commander-in-chief, as long as our army does not retreat, Luoyang City will remain tightly surrounded." Sun Zheng said, "With an army of more than 200,000, the loss of tens of thousands of people will not bring the world down. We still have a chance."

"You also know that we have 200,000 troops, and the daily consumption is huge. We rely on the people of Hebei to transport food and grass day and night to maintain the continuous supply of the army." Lu Ji also sighed: "If the stalemate lasts for a long time, the king may lose patience."

"But we can't fight now, and no one is listening to our orders." Sun Zheng said anxiously, "Shi Chao, Wang Cui, Qian Xiu, Gong Shifan and others are no longer under the command of the military governor, and they are still discussing something in private. We can't make any mistakes at this time."

"Secret meeting..." Lu Ji smiled bitterly.

The whole army was defeated. Not only was the commander-in-chief Lu Ji responsible, but were these generals also not responsible?

Seeing that the front army was defeated and many generals were killed in the battle, Qian Xiu was the first to run away, followed by Shi Chao, Wang Cui and Gong Shifan, leaving all the friendly troops behind.

Ironically, it was the Luoyang Central Army that switched sides before the battle and launched a counterattack, which slightly hindered the pursuit of the royal army, otherwise the losses would have been much more than this.

Most of these people were probably discussing how to shirk the responsibility and let Lu Ji bear it all alone.

He seemed to be able to foresee his own end.

More than a dozen generals died in the battle, most of them were scholars from Hebei. How would their families view them?
When the army set out, the people of Yecheng were overjoyed, and some even boasted that there had never been such a grand expedition since the Wei Dynasty. Now that they have been defeated and many people have died, accounts must be settled. Who will speak for themselves when the time comes?

"Don't think too much." Lu Ji raised his head and looked at the blood-red sunset in the sky. After a while, he said, "As long as I am still the governor, as long as the king has not dismissed me, I have the responsibility to lead the troops well."

"Governor..." Sun Zheng's face was gloomy.

"That's it." Lu Ji took a deep breath and made up his mind: "Send people to each camp, talk nicely, and invite all the generals to come. You are right, now is the time to dig deep trenches and build high fortifications, slowly restore the morale of the army. After the reorganization is completed, we will advance step by step and launch the attack again."

"Confidence!" Lu Ji emphasized, "Confidence is the most important. We still have more than 200,000 troops in the east and west. Once we switch to defense, Sima Yi will not be able to defeat us. If the king is impatient or has misunderstandings, I will explain."

"Yes." Sun Zheng agreed and prepared to pass on the message.

Before leaving, he couldn't help but look at Lu Ji again.

The once high-spirited Taikang Zhiying now looks haggard and even a little hunched.

Sun Zheng turned his head suddenly and shed a few tears.

I shouldn't have left Wujun in the first place.

What a misfortune! What a misfortune!

(End of this chapter)