69novels Chapter 245 A fight to the death
Chapter 245 A fight to the death
"Your Highness, I beg for a favor on behalf of my elder brother Shen Yi Zhong." Shen Yixiao said solemnly.
Xia Yu understood that, after all, they were brothers from the same mother.
But Shen Yixiao obviously forgot that they and Princess Shen Yuyao were born of the same mother.
If the Jingnan Rebellion succeeded, Shen Yixiao would naturally be the first to be rewarded, and pardoning Shen Yizhong would be a very normal thing.
"Even if you don't tell me, I naturally know how to deal with it. But if the court knows that it was you who helped our army cross the river, it will inevitably bring disaster to my wife and children."
At this moment, he was somewhat worried about Shen Yixiao's family who were still in Kyoto. Shen Yuyao had repeatedly reminded him to take care of their safety.
"Your Highness, now that all the boats crossing the river are in place, I will hand over the command to Ma Sanbao, and things here will be safe. I will return to Kyoto immediately, send my wife and children and their families out of Kyoto, and then I will be in the palace, waiting to welcome Your Highness."
Shen Yixiao naturally knew that if he stayed in Xia Yu's army, the news would quickly spread to the palace, and his wife and children would be in danger.
The only option now was to quickly return to Kyoto, send his wife and children out of Kyoto, and then go back to the palace to deal with Xia Chongwen.
After all, he was a descendant of a founding hero, so it would not be easy for Xia Chongwen to kill him without any evidence.
"In that case." Xia Yu said, "Then Second Brother must return to Kyoto as soon as possible and send his wife and children out of the city first!"
......
Three days later, a heavy rain came down.
Xia Yu's army has already crossed the Yangtze River and will arrive outside Kyoto in a few days.
Inside the Fengxian Hall of the Imperial Palace, the ministers all had sad looks on their faces, for they knew that Xia Yu's cavalry would soon attack the Imperial Palace directly.
The rapid sound of raindrops outside the hall filled everyone's hearts with sadness and anxiety.
Qi Tai said: "Your Majesty, seeing that Xia Yu's army is about to reach the outskirts of Kyoto, Your Majesty should leave Kyoto as soon as possible."
Seeing Xia Chongwen sitting on the dragon throne, shaking his head and sighing, but never making the decision to leave the palace, Huang Zicheng also advised: "Your Majesty, as long as you have the green mountains, you will never worry about having no firewood to burn!"
In the court, when all the officials saw that the two cabinet ministers Qi Tai and Huang Zicheng both advised Xia Chongwen to take his family and leave the palace, they also expressed their agreement.
Only Hanlin scholar Fang Ziru said: "Your Majesty, I think Your Majesty should personally recruit soldiers in Kyoto to fight against Xia Yu's army."
"I personally recruited soldiers?" Xia Chongwen showed an expression of disbelief. "Do you think the soldiers recruited in a hurry can resist the fierce army of Prince Ning?"
"Yes! I think Your Majesty must not be the first emperor in the world to escape!" Fang Ziru said righteously: "Your Majesty, if you recruit soldiers yourself, there may still be a glimmer of hope!"
"The late emperor also said that Kyoto is the seat of the royal aura. Even though the imperial army has suffered repeated defeats in the four years since your majesty ascended the throne, most of the vassal kings have now completed their reduction of power."
"Now there is only one prince left, Prince Ning. It is darkest before dawn, so Your Majesty should have confidence."
"Besides..."
When Fang Ziru paused for a moment, Xia Chongwen slammed his right hand heavily on the dragon-carved pearwood throne. He stood up suddenly, raised his head and said loudly: "In our Great Xia Dynasty, how could there be an emperor who abandons his country and flees?"
It was Fang Ziru's words that instantly ignited the blood in him.
"Pass on my order, and order Duke Wei Shen Yizhong to lead the troops to defend Kyoto City!"
After saying this, Xia Chongwen looked outside the Fengxian Hall.
It was already noon and the sun was shining brightly after a heavy rain, as if everything in the world was exposed under this scorching sun.
After a while, Xia Chongwen withdrew his gaze, took a deep breath, and slowly sat down.
He said: "It's not that I don't trust you, it's just that this capital city..."
Sighing, Xia Chongwen continued: "My world is here, and the innocence of all the nobles is here too! I will never be the king who abandons his country, as for all the nobles..."
"If the capital falls, we will die!"
All the ministers in the hall responded in unison.
After all the officials in the court expressed their willingness to die for the country, Xia Chongwen felt a little relieved.
After the court session, he kept Fang Ziru and five other ministers.
"The five of you are the people I rely on and trust the most. I naturally have no doubts about your wisdom and loyalty. However, since the Jingnan Campaign, my Great Xia army has suffered repeated defeats. I am deeply confused."
"For the past four years, what I have heard and seen every day are the failures of the imperial army. The Battle of Zhengcunba, the Battle of Baigou River, the Battle of Dongchang, and the Battle of Jiahe. Every failure makes me feel sad."
"Now that I have left you five right-hand men here, I hope that you can work with me to find the problem of the imperial army, so that we can find a way to victory."
"..."
In the Fengxian Hall, Xia Chongwen and five ministers discussed the matter for a full hour.
At noon, the officials of the Imperial Observatory came again and reported: "The White Tiger is moving, and the Purple Star is moving south. This seems to be an ominous sign."
Hearing this, Xia Chongwen's pace in Fengtian Hall began to become irregular. He suddenly turned around and asked Fang Ziru, "Which general is responsible for guarding Jinchuan Gate at this time?"
"Your Majesty, the ones stationed at Jinchuan Gate right now are Prince Gu Xia Zhu and Duke Cao Li Jiujiang," Fang Ziru replied.
Hearing that these two men were stationed at Jinchuan Gate, Xia Chongwen was obviously relieved. He turned around and sat back on the dragon chair, and said softly: "With these two people at Jinchuan Gate, General Sheng Yong deployed in the capital, and Duke Wei outside the city, Kyoto should be safe."
"Now if we recall the troops from Jinan Prefecture, Dezhou Prefecture, Tai'an Prefecture and other places, together with General Shen, we will encircle Xia Yu. Prince Ning will definitely be defeated!" Xia Chongwen was suddenly full of confidence at this time.
At this time, it is the end time.
The hottest time of the year.
The soldiers of Xia Yu's army had not yet received Xia Yu's order to attack. They could only huddle together crampedly under the scorching sun, sweating profusely, but regulating their breathing as much as possible. No one dared to complain.
This shows how strict Xia Yu was in disciplining his army.
They climbed over the mountains of Tongzhou, crossed the hills of Shandong, crossed the grasslands, crossed the Yangtze River, and finally arrived at the feet of the emperor of the Great Xia Dynasty, outside the city of Kyoto!
At this moment, we are only one step away from the final victory.
All the soldiers of the Jingnan Army knew that the next few days would be a life-and-death bloody battle!
After tonight, someone will survive, and someone will die.
But no one is willing to continue waiting in this unknown.
At 3 p.m., the sun began to set, but the heat did not diminish at all.
The faces of Prince Gu Xia Zhu and Duke Cao Li Jiujiang were even more anxious than they were in the court during the day.
Prince Gu is the nineteenth son of the late emperor and the nineteenth brother of Xia Yu.
When he was still in swaddling clothes, Xia Yu once held him in his arms himself.
Now, inside and outside Jinchuan Gate, he and Xia Yu have turned from relatives into enemies.
At this time, Xia Yu's morale was too high and his troops were at the gates of the city. The two men knew that the only way to win this battle was to fight to the death!