Chapter 169: Disaster (End)

Down the corridor, staff members hurried by with solemn looks on their faces. Several officials greeted him but he seemed not to notice them at all and just hurried into the government office.

"Mr. Li, Mr. Li..."

Before entering the official residence, as soon as the staff saw the guards outside the hall, they knew that Li Zhen must be in the official residence. They could not suppress the urgent matter in their hearts and called out immediately.

"Why are you in such a hurry?" In the official residence, Li Zhen took a sip of tea and looked over slowly.

The aide stopped talking for a moment and stood at the door, feeling a bit unsure of what to do.

In the government office, Yu Zhong narrowed his eyes and looked up and down at his staff. A sharp light flashed in his eyes, but his face remained expressionless. He sat aside and sipped tea quietly.

The aide's expression immediately changed. He laughed dryly, lowered his head, and said politely, "I didn't know that Colonel Yu was here. I am really rude."

"It's okay." Yu Zhong waved his hand and didn't care.

Li Zhen continued to ask: "What's the matter?"

After saying this, although he knew that the staff had private matters to report, in order to show his trust in Yu Zhong, he just smiled and said, "Yu Duxiao is one of us, there is no need to hide what you say, just speak frankly."

The staff member dared not speak directly, so he had to bite the bullet and said: "I just heard from the generals of the imperial army that there seems to be unusual movements of the chaotic army outside the city. I am afraid that Lord Li is unaware of it..."

"Oh, I already know about this matter. Yu Duxiao came here for this matter." Li Zhen waved his hands casually, and then said, "How is the matter I asked you to do?"

The aide hung his head, feeling a chill on his back. He felt as if Yu Zhong was sizing him up, but he didn't dare to look at Yu Zhong, not even out of the corner of his eye. But since Li Zhen had already asked the question, he couldn't evade the question. He had no choice but to step forward in front of Yu Zhong and whisper something to Li Zhen.

Yu Zhong remained calm, his eyes fixed straight ahead, and he looked extremely calm.

Li Zhen's eyes narrowed slightly. Just by looking at the behavior of his staff, he knew that they were deliberately guarding against Yu Zhong. Although he was a little surprised, after hearing what they said about private discussions, he still stood up and bowed to Yu Zhong after hesitating for a while.

"Master Yu, please wait for a moment. I have some personal matters to attend to. I will be back soon."

The aide also smiled apologetically at Yu Zhong, bowed and followed Li Zhen to the side hall.

As soon as he entered the side hall, Li Zhen put his hands behind his back and said with a little dissatisfaction without turning his head: "What's the important matter? Sun He wants to rebel against you? Do you know that this move will cause a rift between Yu Zhong and this old man!"

The staff member did not dare to delay for a moment, bent down, his face changed drastically, and said in a hurry: "Mr. Li, you don't know, the one who is going to rebel is not Sun He, but Ding Badu!"

"What do you mean?" Li Zhen was stunned for a moment, then he covered his eyes.

The aide hurriedly repeated what Lu Yan had said to him, and then said quickly and urgently: "If this is true, then the huge net set up by Xiao Yan must be aimed at you, Lord Li!"

"Is this true or false?" Li Zhen's beard-stroking motion turned into pulling it, but with his usual calm appearance, he remained calm and said, "If you say Xiao Yan wants to keep the enemy at bay, I believe it, but now he has already gone south to Bianliang. How can he control more than 200,000 chaotic troops?"

"It's too late to talk about truth or falsehood." The staff member was very clear-headed and immediately suggested: "Now that Yu Zhong is already in the government office, why don't you detain him for the time being? Even if Dingba City really has unusual movements at that time, it will be leaderless and nothing will happen..."

"Why panic?"

Li Zhen frowned, walked back and forth a few times, and said in a deep voice: "Since there is no real evidence, how can we take the risk? Even if Dingba City really moves, it cannot prove that Yu Zhong will rebel. I have spent so much effort to win him over, how can I destroy him with an illusion? Without Yu Zhong, how can you control Dingba City?"

The staff was very anxious, so they walked up to Li Zhen and advised him, "Mr. Li! There are traces of all this! According to what Lu Yan said, Xiao Yan has made arrangements in all the surrendered armies in Hebei, and the officers and soldiers of several surrendered armies have some friendship with him, especially the Lulong Army! But even so, how could the Lulong Army rebel? It would be fine if we didn't know about these things in Bianliang, but we were kept in the dark when we came here, doesn't it explain everything?"

Li Zhen paused.

The staff member struck while the iron was hot and said, "Xiao Yan has a grudge against you, Lord Li. Once he leaves, the army will rise up in all directions and march south to besiege the city. Isn't it coming for you, Lord Li? At this time, Lord Li, don't hesitate and quickly capture Yu Zhong! The defense of the West City can be handed over to Ding Badu!"

"Don't worry, don't worry. Let me think about it."

Li Zhen was actually a little confused and bewildered. The amount of information was too much and he needed to take a break for a while.

He knew that Xiao Yan might have the ambition to support the enemy for his own benefit, but at the risk of his own accord, he probably just wanted to gain more credit and raise a private army, so he was easily driven away.

As for the rebellion of the Lulong Army and the unruly and uncontrollable Dingbadu and Yichang armies, he simply attributed it to the failure to distribute rewards.

But now it was said that the rebellious army outside the city was not only controlled by Xiao Yan, but even the Dingbadu, Yichang Army and Lulong Army were actually controlled by Xiao Yan, which made him a little unbelievable.

If Xiao Yan really had such strength, he could have split the land and become a king, and ruled Hebei. Why would he still care about keeping the enemy? Why was he forced to leave? And what was the point of besieging Youzhou?
All kinds of questions came one after another, and suddenly Li Zhen felt a little confused and just walked back and forth uncontrollably.

After a moment, he finally calmed down and said, "At this critical moment, we must not panic. There is a disturbance outside the city, and Ding Badu has not yet entered the city. Don't worry, don't alarm Yu Zhong and Ding Badu. Make arrangements as soon as possible and have Lu Yan come to see me quickly. I want to ask him in person."

The aide immediately responded, and then reminded: "Mr. Li, in my opinion, no matter what happens, we should first arrest Yu Zhong..."

"I will be able to steady him."

Li Zhen waved his hand, signaling his staff to quickly bring Lu Yan to see him.

But as soon as the two returned to the official residence from the side hall, they found that it was empty. There was only an empty teacup on the seat where Yu Zhong had just sat, and no one was sitting there.

The aide's scalp suddenly went numb, and he was so anxious that his voice changed. He shouted at the guard at the door, "Where is Yu Zhong?!"

"You, you just went in with Lord Li... Colonel Yu left..." The guard looked confused, not knowing why the aide scolded him.

"It's going to happen!" The staff member's face turned pale and he looked at Li Zhen in panic: "Mr. Li..."

Li Zhenze just kept a sullen face and said calmly: "Order the imperial guards to quickly gather in the west city."

But at this moment, hurried footsteps were suddenly heard from outside.

"Mr. Li, Mr. Li! The rebel army is attacking the city!"

As the noise became more and more chaotic and the voices coming in became more and more frequent, a trace of fear finally flashed across Li Zhen's face.

At the same time, he suddenly remembered.

If his guess was correct, and if Xiao Yan was the leader of the Luoyang mutiny, he had no foundation in the Liang army at that time, but he was able to control thousands of imperial guards. And now, he might really be able to control more than 200,000 people...

By the way, when Xiao Yan joined Liang, he was a former captain of the Tang Dynasty's Bad People...

In other words, Xiao Yan must have a force in his hands that the entire court is unknown to him and can control, and with this force, he may really be able to control the entire chaos in Hebei.

Li Zhen suddenly felt horrified. His thoughts became clearer and clearer, but the more he thought about it, the more confused his mind became.

He couldn't understand why Xiao Yan would continue to work for the Zhu Liang court if he was already so capable? If he really wanted to be loyal to the Tang Dynasty, it would have been enough for him to occupy Hebei...

He turned a deaf ear to the chaos in the outside world and paced back and forth on the spot, but suddenly a line of thought came to him.

Judging from the current situation, Xiao Yan must be extremely ambitious, but he does not even care about the huge Hebei province. Instead, he is determined to serve Daliang, and is willing to endure being forced away.

Abandoning Hebei and serving the Zhu Liang court... This boy, perhaps, was working for the court...

Li Zhen felt a chill on his back. If he thought about it from this angle, all of Xiao Yan's motives would become clear.

Provoking chaos in Hebei would help them secretly control Hebei, so that the imperial court could not get a single needle in. As long as the rebel army was there, the surrendered army in Hebei would not be easily moved. The imperial court would have to rely on the surrendered army in Hebei. If the surrendered army in Hebei was easily moved, unless all the imperial troops in Bianliang were sent out, Hebei would inevitably continue to be in chaos. If one group was taken away, another group would emerge. At that time, even if Hebei was incorporated into the royal territory, it would actually disperse the strength of the imperial troops in Bianliang.

Why did Zhu Wen dream of taking Hebei? It was because Hebei could support tens of thousands of troops. But if he took Hebei, he would have to send most of the Bianliang imperial guards to guard it. At that time, Hebei was in turmoil and the Central Plains was empty. What was the point?
After the thought came to his mind, Li Zhen finally understood.

He thought that the conflict between him and Xiao Yan was not particularly prominent, and there was no need for him to be hunted down and killed by Xiao Yan. However, he was surrounded in Youzhou by the army controlled by Xiao Yan.

Why?

Li Zhen guessed that perhaps it was because he came to Youzhou that Xiao Yan's plans were disrupted and Xiao Yan's plans were ruined!

What a jerk!
Li Zhen couldn't help but sneer. He knew that he had seen through all of Xiao Yan's thoughts, so he was naturally not afraid. If Xiao Yan really had big plans, he would never let the rebel army break through Youzhou so quickly. Otherwise, not only would it be difficult to control the rebel army that entered the city, but without Li Zhen in Youzhou to attract firepower, how could Xiao Yan make arrangements in secret? Did he really think that the imperial army was just a decoration?
If Youzhou is conquered, things will be very different. The surrendered troops in Hebei will become completely chaotic troops on the surface. Even if Xiao Yan has made some arrangements, it will be meaningless!

Thinking of this, he calmly gave orders to his left and right.

"Send someone to give orders to Ding Badu. Youzhou has its own imperial guards. Since the rebel army is attacking the city, they should continue to stay outside the city and guard the camp. Do not let the rebel army take advantage of the opportunity to enter the city with them."

The staff member's expression changed, and he whispered, "Mr. Li, Yu Zhong has second thoughts, how can he accept his fate?"

"It's okay. I know what to do." Li Zhen waved his hand nonchalantly, and then instructed someone: "By the way, I know Ding Badu is brave and valiant. Send a message to Ding Badu's Yu Duxiao. I can defend Youzhou. This chaotic army is like a bandit. Ding Badu can take the opportunity to go out of the city and fight in the field to win the first victory in this siege! If you don't obey, you will miss my chance to fight and you will be punished by military law!"

The staff member's face changed again. He wondered if Li Zhen was crazy. Ding Badu had refused to leave the city to fight in the field before. How could he obey orders at this juncture?

Li Zhen ignored it and just urged the messenger to deliver the message quickly.

After the messenger hurried away, he stroked his beard and laughed, then spoke to his somewhat flustered staff.

"You and Lu Yan are both worrying for nothing. If Xiao Yan really wanted to take charge of the surrendered army in Hebei as a minister of Liang, how could he let Dingbadu lose the righteousness? If Dingbadu really rebelled like the Lulong army, it would be a loss of righteousness. And how could Xiao Yan, as a minister of Liang, take charge of Dingbadu? Since he is acting to the court, he will play it to the end. Without his order, how could Yu Zhong rebel?

But if Yu Zhong dares to disobey the military order, I can strip him of his official title according to military law and turn him into a soldier! Whether Dingba recognizes it or not, I have the power to do so in name only! "

He narrowed his eyes and said confidently, "Since he wants to act, I will stay in Youzhou and play with him to the end. Humph, let's see who can outsmart whom. You little brat, do you think you can plot against me?"

The staff was stunned and said, "But the rebel army has already attacked the city..."

Li Zhen put his hands behind his back and said calmly, "What is there to be afraid of? As long as Youzhou is not destroyed, I will always be in power. The four words "Dai Tian Xun Shou" are like a golden statue. How can Xiao Yan's trick be hidden from me? Don't worry, Xiao Yan dare not let Youzhou fall. Even if the rebel army wants to, he will not move Youzhou. If Youzhou falls, what will Dingbadu and Yichang Army do? Surrender to the rebel army, or fight to the death?"

"This..." The staff member didn't know what to do, but in this situation, he could only listen to Li Zhen. In addition, he was confused by what Li Zhen said, so he just bowed his head and said, "Mr. Li is wise."

"Bring Lu Yan to see me, and call Zhu Hanbin to come with me to the top of the city to watch the battle."

Seeing that Li Zhen remained calm, the staff felt relieved and immediately sent someone to make arrangements.

……

The camps of Dingbadu and Yichang armies were set up near the west and east of Youzhou City. Although they were outside the city, it was very convenient for troops to enter and exit the city gates. Moreover, when the rebel army attacked the city, these two camps almost naturally protected the west and east of the city. Therefore, the imperial guards and guards in the city only needed to strengthen the defense of the south and north of the city.

Li Zhen, along with a group of generals and personal guards, climbed up to the top of the city wall in the south, only to see that the rebel army was attacking at its peak.

However, the rebel army's siege equipment was ridiculous. They only had long ladders and there were no siege vehicles or ladders, let alone trebuchets and other siege equipment.

Seeing this siege that seemed like a joke, even though the number of people under the city was so great that it made people's scalps numb, Li Zhen remained calm and said with a faint smile: "I have already said that Youzhou is as solid as a rock. Tell me, gentlemen, will Youzhou City be breached?"

The staff member had a respectful look on his face and simply said admiringly: "Mr. Li is as good as a god in predicting things. I really admire him."

Zhu Hanbin stood aside with his sword in hand, looking disdainful and silent.

Lu Yan was wearing a hood and remained silent. He had a bold plan, but this was not a good time to discuss it with Li Zhen, so he could only wait.

Li Zhen didn't take it seriously and just pointed out the situation from the top of the city wall.

Just at this moment, someone came with an urgent report.

"Dingbadu to the west of the city has received the order from Lord Li to go out of the camp and fight in the field."

Li Zhen was stunned, somewhat incredulous.

The staff was also surprised, as if they had heard it wrongly.

But not long after, there was another urgent report.

"Dingba is surrounded by the rebel army and seems to be defeated!"

Li Zhen stood up in shock.

Soon, urgent news arrived again.

"Report to Lord Li, the west of the city is in great danger!"

"Ding Badu was defeated and fled south. The defenses in the west of the city are empty. The rebel army seems to want to seize the city!"

Li Zhen was shocked and said angrily, "How is this possible? Dingbadu's 6,000 soldiers are all elite, how could they be defeated by a chaotic army? Impossible, absolutely impossible! It must be a trick!"

But the other generals would never think that there was any trick. They just felt that Li Zhen looked like a fucking bomb. Without waiting for Li Zhen's orders, they led their troops to support Xicheng.

But before they had left for long, urgent news arrived.

"West City is broken!"

The corners of Zhu Hanbin's eyes twitched and he finally couldn't sit still anymore. He held his sword and walked down the city wall.

The staff was filled with fear and shock, and they held up Li Zhen, who was pale and about to fall down.

"Mr. Li, what should we do?"

Lü Yan looked at Li Zhen thoughtfully and said, "Mr. Li, I think..."

But Li Zhen didn't wait for him to say anything. He pushed his staff aside in a daze and took two steps forward. His legs went weak and he fell on the city wall.

“I guessed wrong...

This brat wants me to take the blame..."

(End of this chapter)