Chapter 740 The End

Chapter 740 The End

Chapter 740 The End
Under the cold moonlight, Liu Cong fled in a panic.

He didn't know how many people were around him, nor did he know whether all the civil and military officials in the court had followed.

All he knew was to run, run to a place where the enemy couldn't catch up with him, and then catch his breath.

When you are defeated, what you need most is a chance to catch your breath.

On the afternoon of the first day of the twelfth lunar month, Liu Cong changed two horses and arrived at the northeast of Lie County, where he met Liu Yang, the King of Changle, who came to meet him.

Liu Yang had once been a Taifu and an important official of the imperial family. He had originally arrived in Guanzhong with his tribe, and was grazing in the mountains and hills between Fengyi and Shangjun, to protect the imperial family.

This time, when the Jin army attacked Hedong and Pingyang, he was forced to come out of retirement, leading more than 3,000 soldiers as the vanguard to meet Liu Cong.

"Your Majesty." Liu Yang dismounted from his horse with a sad face.

Liu Cong also dismounted.

He didn't know if it was because he was mentally relaxed or because his health was not good, but he just felt dizzy and swayed. If he hadn't been supported by people on both sides, he would have fallen to the ground.

"Your Majesty." Liu Yang was shocked.

The emperor was only in his forties, but his complexion looked even worse than that of an old man in his sixties.

Liu Cong waved his hands, still breathing heavily.

Everyone hurried to look for the imperial chariot, but unfortunately, after running so far, it had long disappeared. So they found a carriage from Liu Yang's troops, packed it up, and helped Liu Cong lie down on it.

Liu Cong pushed everyone away and sat down gently on the carriage. After a long time, he raised his head and looked for Liu Yang.

"Your Majesty, I'm here." Liu Yang hurried forward.

"Mr. Liu." Liu Cong grabbed his hand and said, "The entire court accompanied me to the battle, but we were defeated. Only more than 20 people followed me here. Many people must have been separated. Mr. Liu, please send someone to pick them up quickly, or they might be captured and killed by the enemy soldiers."

"Yes." Liu Yang responded. Before leaving, he couldn't help but say, "Your Majesty, please take care of yourself."

Liu Cong smiled and said, "Please go ahead, Liu Qing. I still want to drink with you and talk about state affairs."

Liu Yang nodded heavily, turned around, mounted his horse and left.

Liu Cong stared at their departing figures in a daze, then looked at the two or three thousand defeated soldiers following him, as well as the court officials who were covered in dust and had dull eyes. He felt a stuffy sensation in his chest and spat out blood with a "puff".

"Your Majesty." Situ Ma Jing was quick to support him.

"Your Majesty." The guards and generals all gathered around him.

"Help me lie down." Liu Cong said weakly.

The guards spread several layers of brocade in the carriage and carefully helped Liu Cong lie down.

The carriage moved forward slowly.

"Where are we going? Who is leading the army?" Liu Cong asked weakly.

"Your Majesty, let's go to Pubanjin. General Liu Ce, the General of Zhenbei, will lead his troops to gather the defeated soldiers along the way." Taibao Huyan Yan stepped forward and said.

Liu Cong hummed and said nothing more, but tears were flowing from the corners of his eyes.

I don’t know what I’m doing in this life!
When he was young, he studied hard and learned both civil and martial arts. With the introduction of Wang from Taiyuan, he met Zhu Ji, a doctor of Taichang, and further consolidated his knowledge. He was well-versed in various schools of thought and classics, and became famous for a time.

When he was still a young man, he got help from Wang of Taiyuan and went to Luoyang to make friends with scholars, which made him more famous. He even met Sima Chi, the emperor of Jin, and talked about music theory with him, and even composed music on the spot, which was a great pleasure.

Looking back, that was a happy time.

Carefree, he spent the whole day chatting, drinking, playing music, watching dance and even appreciating beautiful women.

Did you have ambitions at that time? No.

His ambition at that time was only to make a name for himself, integrate into the circle of scholars, gain recognition from prominent families, and make his family one of the aristocratic families. That was all.

Even my father, at that time, wanted to get the position of commander-in-chief in the expedition against Wu through the relationship with the Wang family of Taiyuan, so as to accumulate merits for the family and make further progress.

It's all fate.

As Liu Cong was thinking, he fell into a deep sleep.

When they woke up again, it was already dark and the army was resting on the bank of the Sushui River.

"Your Majesty." Sikong Zhuji came over. As soon as he saw Liu Cong, he knelt down and cried, "I thought I would never see Your Majesty again."

Liu Cong also shed hot tears, struggled to get up, helped Zhu Ji up, and said, "Zhu Qing, please get up quickly. I have caused you so much trouble."

Zhu Ji wiped his tears and sighed, "Your Majesty, why do you say that? Victory and defeat are common in the military. Who can say for sure if we lose today or win tomorrow? Your Majesty, please don't be sad. The most important thing now is to take care of yourself and work hard to govern the country. We may be able to fight back to Guandong again."

Liu Cong smiled and said, "Family members know their own business. I'm afraid I won't be able to hold on for much longer."

Zhu Ji was startled and looked at Liu Cong carefully.

He is still joking about his own body at this time. Did he have a sudden enlightenment after losing the battle of Wenxi?

Then I felt sad again.

He had known the emperor for a long time. He was only a teenager at that time. He wrote a copy of calligraphy in his home. The strong brushstrokes and the style of a master made him like the young man.

Sitting down again to discuss the various schools of thought, he was impressed by the emperor's intelligence, wisdom, and eloquence, which made him feel that he had finally met a promising talent.

Throughout his life, the emperor should have been a scholar in the Luoyang court, and maybe even served as a prefect in a local area. If he had good career prospects, it would not be impossible for him to become a governor or a military governor of a state.

It’s just - it’s fate.

"I feel much more relieved after seeing Mr. Zhu." Liu Cong lay back on the carriage and sighed, "It's always good to see one more old friend escape back."

He is now nostalgic for his old friend.

When he was defeated, he subconsciously wanted to gather with these people. "Pass on my order, let the crown prince govern the country, and entrust him with all military and state affairs." After giving this order, Liu Cong closed his eyes again.

On the third day of December, when we were only ten miles away from Puzhou Guandong City, heavy snow began to fall again.

In the wind and snow, Liu Cong saw Shi Le who was heading south with thousands of people.

After a little inquiry, it turned out that after Shi Le went on the expedition, he had quietly left Pingyang and headed towards Puzhou Pass with thousands of soldiers and civilians who had followed him from Xinxing to the south.

When they left, many nobles and officials from Pingyang followed them with their families. By the time they reached Puzhou Pass, the number of people had exceeded eight thousand.

Taibao Huyan Yan requested to execute Shi Le, but Liu Cong refused.

At this point, what's the point in pursuing the matter further?

Besides, Shi Le was not the only one who escaped from Pingyang. There were many others.

What we need to do now is not to pursue, but to comfort, and to tolerate each other for the sake of the country.

In the evening of that day, Liu Cong crossed the river from Puzhou Pass with more than 4,000 defeated soldiers, officials, and attendants he had gathered along the way, and arrived at Hexi County, Fengyi County.

Liu Can defeated Liu Quan, the pursuing general of Heqing Town, in Yishi County, slowly gathered his troops and retreated to Puzhou Pass.

On the fourth day of the New Year, he crossed the river to Hexi County and met Liu Cong.

******
Hou Feihu entered Wenxi the day after the great victory.

We had already sent out cavalry to pursue last night, and today we sent out all the light cavalry that had just rested, to hunt down the remaining enemies in an overwhelming manner.

On the third day of the Lunar New Year, he led the main force of the infantry and a small number of cavalry north to Pingyang.

On the fourth day, he met Liu Jing, the King of Ruyin of Han, who was returning from Wuling Road in the area of ​​Jiangyi.

Liu Jing's army of 10,000 men had no desire to fight, and as soon as the two sides fought, he led his troops to flee.

Hou Feihu did not pursue, but continued to head north, rushing to Pingyang day and night - nothing is more honorable than capturing the enemy's capital!

On the fifth night, the army encountered 14,000 infantry and cavalry under General Bu Tai of Hanzhong Lei who were marching south from Guanjuejin in the south of Pingyang. In fact, there were more than that, as there were also thousands of Pingyang civilians who followed them to flee south.

The two sides met in the wilderness, were defeated at the first blow, and fled in all directions.

The once arrogant nobles and high-ranking officials were killed by a sharp blade and died tragically on the road.

The once delicate and graceful ladies and noble ladies were dragged into the bushes by the chaotic soldiers and disappeared without a trace.

The wealth and gold that once dazzled the eyes were scattered everywhere, and no one picked them up for a while.

The noble lady Liu Han, dressed in brocade, was leaning on a cane and crying as she fled.

The gray-haired Lady Liu Han asked everyone she saw if they had seen her grandson, because they had been separated during the war.

And there was the Liu Han official who took a jade pendant, gold and silk just to exchange for a Hu cake to fill his stomach.

The troops of the nobles and powerful families moved out en masse.

They patrolled along the way and grabbed any beautiful women they saw while laughing.

When they saw children, they were also picky. Those with good looks were captured and raised as slaves, while those with average looks could be made gardeners or shepherds.

The carriages were filled with property, armor, and weapons abandoned by the Huns.

Many warriors with some combat experience were also captured and taken back to the manor fort to be trained as part of their own troops.

Of course, there were also many people seeking revenge and grudges. In short, it was a mess, as if it was the end of the world.

Seeing this scene, even the Jin soldiers passing by sighed inwardly.

There was also an officer who wondered silently, if Luoyang had been conquered by the Huns, would the scene have been the same?

Mr. Liang is a virtuous man!
He saved Luoyang. Otherwise, the Huns would have rushed in and would not have stopped without killing tens of thousands of people.

Even if he escaped from Luoyang, he didn't know what kind of misfortune he would encounter on the road. Perhaps it would be the same as the Huns in front of him.

……

Pingyang was engulfed in a huge fire and fell into chaos, just like the entire Pingyang and Hedong areas at that time - the enemy and our side were intertwined and in chaos. You might encounter the enemy even if you walked more than ten miles.

On the afternoon of the sixth day, the commander of the Black Legion Army, Bo Pengling, led hundreds of vanguards into Pingyang City and immediately dispersed the evil young men who were looting in the chaos.

That night, no less than three thousand Black Army soldiers entered the city.

They rushed straight into the palace, defeated the few remaining guards, and took control of the entire palace.

On the seventh day, more than ten thousand soldiers had entered the city.

They were distributed in various blocks, controlled various key points, sealed the government treasury, and captured the Hun soldiers hiding in people's homes.

On the eighth day of the first lunar month, Yu An led thousands of soldiers and followers northward to the mountainous area in the north, attempting to take over Puzi and other counties.

At this time, the Hun soldiers, in groups of dozens or hundreds, rushed south in a disorderly manner and collided head-on with Yu An's troops.

Obviously, these were the Huns who had received the news of the defeat of Wenxi and the fall of Pingyang.

They had lost all their fighting spirit, and didn't know what they wanted to do or what they should do. They only knew that they had lost and wanted to go home.

On the ninth day, the news reached Shilou Mountain. At that time, Shao Xun had just taken command of the army. After more than ten days of hard fighting, he defeated Liu Chang, the Duke of Xihe County of the Xiongnu who was entrenched there, and beheaded him.

This was probably the last tough battle of the year, and it ended with the death of Liu Chang.

(End of this chapter)