The three of them sat side by side on the slope, looking up at the starry clouds in the sky and the meteors streaked across the sky. The night breeze blew by, and the noise of the camp in the distance and the howling of wolves on the Gobi Desert seemed to become a blurred background, and the three of them sat silently under the starry sky, enjoying this rare tranquility.

"If only I could sit here forever. Don't worry about anything, don't think about anything. This must be the realm that the monks are pursuing. When I look back, I would suggest that those mountain monks come to this Gobi Desert to cultivate. I feel that there is no better place to cultivate the mind than here. Wang Yuan chuckled softly.

Gongsun Lan sneered and said, "You are talking nonsense, how to practice on this big Gobi? How can it be better to escape in the mountains and forests? Besides, what's the use of you posting these feelings? You can't become a hermit in your life, and if you become like that, everyone in the world will be a hermit. ”

Wang Yuan laughed and said, "Yes, I'm just a layman. I like good food, I like to drink and listen to music. If you tell me to be a vegetarian every day and be bored in a no-man's place every day, then you might as well kill me. ”

Gongsun Lan smiled: "You don't hide it. It's a pity that you can't even live up to this wish. Over the years, when have you really been idle? In your life, I am afraid that it will be difficult to have a time to be idle. It's pathetic to think about you. ”

Wang Yuan sighed: "Yes, I myself feel quite pitiful, I am like a spinning top every day, and I don't know what to do." But I don't regret it, and recently I've become more aware of the importance of power and responsibility. The world is in chaos, and someone will always save the people from this boiling soup. I used to put my hopes in others, but then I realized that I had to rely on myself. That's why I'll never be idle. ”

Gongsun Lan looked at Wang Yuan quietly and said: "Maybe the time for peace in the world is coming, and after this victory, maybe it will be the time for peace in the world." ”

Wang Yuan smiled bitterly: "I hope so." But where is it so easy? To tell you the truth, although my brother and I are planning with all our strength in this war, it will happen in heaven, and who can know what the will of heaven is? And even if this battle is won, that person should not be underestimated. Such a tragedy happened to the Cui family, and the financial resources and manpower of the wealthy families in Jiangnan are not a joke. Ruo Yu knew how great the appeal of their Cui family was, and that day, their Cui family only made a little scheduling, and mobilized hundreds of big ships to transport our army back to Chengdu, which was just a small test. With the financial resources and appeal of several wealthy families in the south of the Yangtze River, it is not a problem to recruit 350,000 troops. That's the enemy. ”

Cui Ruoyu heard Wang Yuan mention the matter of the Cui family, her face showed sadness, and she clenched Wang Yuan's palm.

"You know what? The most painful thing for me is that I have to fight against these conscripted people when I raise troops to save the people of the world. I don't know how many people are going to die at my hands, and that's the last thing I want to see. But there was no turning back, so I had to do it. My heart is really uneasy. Wang Yuan sighed again.

"Erlang, don't think about it too much, it's useless to think about it now. You have already made efforts, but something has happened to the Cui family, and Li Mao's treacherous plan succeeds, and there is no way to do it. The people were deceived, and that was the only way. Those who do great things must not think too much. Is it possible to turn back if you don't make a rat trap? Besides, you're right, there's no way back. Gongsun Lan comforted.

Wang Yuan sighed speechlessly, and the atmosphere was silent for a while.

Cui Ruoyu suddenly spoke: "Erlang, maybe I should show up and expose the conspiracy between Zheng Qiushan and the imperial court, and expose the true colors of the two beasts of my Cui family, in that case, I don't know if it will be useful." ”

Wang Yuan frowned and pondered for a moment and said, "Maybe you really should do this." After this battle, I began to arrange this. Maybe exposing this matter will make the Jiangnan Hao family wake up and the people come to their senses. Anyway, it's worth a try. But I'm afraid, once these wealthy families participate in the battle against Li Heng and Li Pu, they will not be able to stop. Once something begins, it's a point of no return. ”

Gongsun Lan thought so, frowned and was silent. The three of them fell silent again, sitting quietly and not speaking. Wang Yuan's gaze turned to the southern sky. It was starry and deep and quiet. But Wang Yuan knew that under that calm starry sky, he was afraid that it was already a place where blood and flesh were flowing in the flames of war. Under Chang'an City, Li Mao and Li Hui and Li Pu should have already handed over their soldiers and horses.

……

When Wang Yuan and Gongsun Lan Cui Ruoyu were meditating under the starry sky, as Wang Yuan expected, under the city of Chang'an, a huge war was unfolding. Beginning in mid-June, a few days after receiving the news that Wang Yuan had sent someone to send the Hui army that had withdrawn from Chang'an to Fengzhou, Li Heng, Li Pu, Li Jian, and others led an army of 60,000 troops from Ningzhou to the east, marching violently towards Gyeonggi Province.

Although there were still internal disputes, and there were disagreements among several princes around who would be the emperor in the future, in Gyeongju, Wang Yuan's warning temporarily made the princes put the matter on hold for the time being. Wang Yuan is right, if you want to compete for the throne, you must at least drive the person on the throne down and vacate the position, otherwise this quarrel is meaningless, and it will turn into civil strife. At this time, civil strife is not beneficial to anyone, because everyone understands that there is no way back at this time, only to move forward bravely, and Li Mao will never let go of any of them. The common good, from the very beginning, tied everyone together like grasshoppers on a rope, so it is only natural to reach this temporary compromise.

On June 21, Li Heng climbed the city tower, faced an army of 60,000, and recited the well-cooked text that had been memorized by him on behalf of the princes. After that, the princes led the army to march and began the crusade against Li Mao. In only three days, the soldiers and horses of Li Heng and others descended to the three counties of Dingping, Changwu and Binxian and arrived in the north of the city of Pizhou. Pizhou is the first checkpoint to Chang'an, surrounded by Jingshui, Pizhou is a fortified city, but at this time, the imperial court defenders are only 5,000 people, and there is no resistance at all. On the afternoon of June 25, Li Heng and others placed more than 100 Shenwei cannons under the city and began to attack Pizhou. Only half an hour later, the defenders of Pizhou opened the south gate and fled. The crusading army took the western gateway to Chang'an with little effort.

The smooth battles for several days have raised the morale of the soldiers and horses, and several princes are full of confidence and high spirits. That night, they discussed it and thought that the reason why it was so smooth was that their soldiers and horses won the hearts of the people and obeyed the will of the people. The second is that Li Mao really doesn't have too many troops in his hands. After 80,000 Hui soldiers and horses left Chang'an, Li Mao had only more than 30,000 soldiers available in his hands, and he could only defend Chang'an, and he had no time to take care of the surrounding cities.

In view of this, in order to prevent Li Mao from mobilizing troops and horses from Luoyang, Taiyuan and other places to help, the crusade of soldiers and horses should speed up the march, and should not delay the fighters, so that Li Mao has the opportunity to transfer troops to rescue. The previous plan to clean up the surrounding cities of Chang'an and gain a firm foothold needs to be adjusted. Now there is no need to take care of the surrounding state capitals, but should directly attack Chang'an.

The princes reached a unanimous decision, discarding the original plan proposed by Wang Yuan to first clean up more than ten prefectures, counties and counties in the west and north of Chang'an, and directly from Pizhou to the southeast, along the Jingshui River to Chang'an. As for the counties of Yongshou, Qianxian, Liquan, Wugong and Xingping to the west of Chang'an. The counties of Jingyang, Shuoyang, Yunyang, Gaoling and other counties in the north must be the same as Pizhou, with no soldiers and horses stationed at all, and there is no threat. Cleaning up the neighborhood is really just a waste of time. As for what Wang Yuan said, cleaning up the surrounding counties can isolate the enemy in Chang'an, and it can be called the depth of operations, so as not to be harassed by the flanks.

It was on the basis of the above considerations that from June 26, the army left Pizhou and rushed to the northwest of Chang'an along Jingshui like a tiger and wolf. Even when passing through Jingyang and Liquan counties, the crusading army didn't even look at it.

Four days later, in the afternoon of the last day of June. The 60,000 army finally saw the tall towers of Chang'an City under a hot and scorching sun.

An army of 60,000 quickly set up camp outside the western city of Chang'an. Li Heng, Li Pu, Li Jian, and others who couldn't wait began to arrange an attack on Chang'an City the next morning. More than 100 Shenwei cannons, plus more than 600 catapults handed over to Li Heng after the elimination of the Shence Army, began to be arranged outside the west city of Chang'an. It only took a day, and under the urging of Li Heng and others, the siege equipment owned by the crusading army was densely arranged hundreds of steps away from the western city of Chang'an. A vigorous posture of capturing Chang'an City in one fell swoop.

On the morning of the second day of the seventh month, the crusading army was ready to attack the city, and after everything was ready, Li Heng, Li Pu, Li Yong and others came to the city two hundred steps away, and ordered people to shout to the city, asking to meet and talk to Li Mao. According to the general principle of salute first and then soldier in the big **, before the siege of the city, the mouth cannon must be fired. Although it may not be possible to convince the other party to surrender the city, the dream still has to be there, what if it comes true?

Soon after, Li Mao really appeared above the high city tower. The rising sun shone up and down the city, and under the bright sky, Xuanzong's sons finally gathered here for the first time after more than a year. It's just that they used to be of royal blood, and they used to be brothers and courteous when they met, but when they met at this time, they were enemies of each other, hated and hostile, and longed for each other's early end. Driven by the supreme power of the imperial power, the previous masks were torn apart, and there was no longer any need to pretend to love each other, and there was no longer any compatriotism between them.

Li Heng, Li Pu and the others looked at the Li Mao in the yellow robe with fire in their eyes, it was this person who used to be the most ridiculed and despised among them, but at this moment he was wearing a yellow robe that symbolized the highest power of the Tang Dynasty, standing on the high wall of Chang'an City.

"Eighteen Emperor Brothers, farewell to Chengdu, Eighteen Brothers don't come unharmed. Eighteenth brother, what are you doing in that yellow robe? Do you know what our brothers want to do when they lead their troops to Chang'an today? We're here to strip you of your clothes, which don't fit you well. Li Heng shouted at the city in a loud voice.

"Bold Li Hui Li Pu Li Xuan, this is a rebellious and rebellious act, an unforgivable act, do you know what you are doing? In doing so, you are shaking the foundation of the Tang Dynasty and doing things that are happy for relatives and enemies. I think that you have been deceived and that you can be forgiven for your sins, and that you should immediately bear the guilt of repetition, and I may spare your lives. Li Mao scolded coldly.

"Hahaha. Li Mao, you are really shameless, what qualifications do you have to say such things? How dare you call yourself me? Your throne was seized by despicable means, you are a thief who stole the throne, your name is not right, your position is not right, and you dare to speak out against it. It is you, not us, who will surrender immediately. Our brothers are not accustomed to your disregard for the etiquette of your ancestors and the intrigue to seize the throne. That's why I led my troops to fight you. It's a shame that you dare to say such a thing. Li Heng laughed and rebuked loudly.

"Shut up. My throne is in accordance with the will of heaven, and the emperor himself promulgates the holy decree to pass on the throne, how can I not be in the right position? But it is you who have ill intentions, who covet the throne, and who intend to usurp it. Don't you understand? You have fallen for traitors, and Wang Yuan just wants our brothers to kill each other, so that he can reap the benefits. Pity you for not knowing at all, and still regard the thief as a good person. I am saying that you must wake up immediately and take your sins. I promise you that you will not blame the past, and in the future, our brothers will work together to revive the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty, and we will not be able to teach my Li family to seize the country for outsiders. Li Mao's face was gloomy, and she tried her best to suppress her anger.

"Hahaha, it's okay for you to deceive a three-year-old child, but it's true that you want to deceive us. I ask you, where is my father now? Do you still have humanity? Your father was blocked from entering Kyoto, you are an unfilial and unrighteous person, you even dare to disobey your father, how can you be the master of the world? For both fathers and emperors, can we still trust your promises? Do you dare to say anything to revive the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty, and you don't want to think about what you have done? Give my Datang land city to the Hui people, this is your move to revive Datang? Wang Yuan is not the kind of person you think, he supports us to regain the throne, and it is also at our request. Isn't the reason why you slander him because he doesn't want to support you? Won't you be put on the throne? You don't want to sow discord. Don't you look at it, today my army is under the city of Chang'an, we are not here to ask for your forgiveness, nor are we here to listen to your demagogy and bargain with you. If you are not willing to surrender immediately and unconditionally, we will enter Chang'an, and then we will not be blamed for not thinking about brotherhood and blood relatives. ”

Li Heng looked arrogant, stretched out his hand and pointed at the dense siege equipment behind him, and the swords and guns were like Lin Jingqi's battle formation.

Li Mao's face turned pale, and he shouted coldly: "Even so, I have nothing to say, from now on, our brotherhood will be written off, and there will be no brotherhood between us, only you live and die." If Chang'an is broken, I will not have a way to live if I fall into your hands, but once you fall into my hands, you will not have a way to live. It's not that I'm ruthless, it's you who forced me to do this. The people of the world testify that I have done my best to persuade you today. ”

Li Mao reached out and pulled out a long sword from the waist of a janissary guard beside him, and with a wave of his hand, he stabbed and cut off the corner of the yellow robe. With a cold face, he threw out the corner of the robe, and the corner of the yellow robe was like a fluttering butterfly, flying and falling from the top of the city wall.

More than 100,000 eyes in front of the two armies were staring at the small piece of yellow cloth, watching it fall from the city. Cutting off the robe and breaking the righteousness, Li Mao's move is to swing the sword to cut off the righteousness of the brothers, the meaning of the union of flesh and blood.

Li Heng sneered, and without saying a word, he turned back with Li Pu, Li Hui and others. Li Mao at the head of the city also quickly left the city surrounded by the officials and guards.

Li Heng and the others rode their horses to appear in front of the formation, and they had all changed into brand-new armor and were fully armed. Li Heng held a spear high in his hand, stabbed the spear into the sky, and ordered majestically: "Siege!" ”

With this order, the drums in the crusade camp under the city were beating. Hundreds of war drums were slow and then fast, and then resounded like a storm through the heavens and the earth, and even the air became suffocating with the dense drumbeat.

Hundreds of siege engines under the city immediately began to get busy. The sound of the shaft turning was piercing and sharp, and the strained rope creaked. The wooden mechanism also makes a clicking sound when it is stressed. The clatter of countless stones falling into the tossed basket, and the heavy gasps of the gunners and throwers operating the catapult's cannons. These sounds intertwine to create an atmosphere that feels strangely tense.

"Launch!" A red order flag shook rapidly in the air, pointing in the direction of the head of Chang'an City. The next moment, fluffy, clang, boom. Several loud sounds sounded intensively under Chang'an City. Then, you can see countless stones like a heavy dark cloud, thrown from the city to the city, under the sun, they shade the sun to form a huge shadow quickly moved on the ground, and finally, the dark clouds in the sky and the shadow of the ground at the same time shrouded the city head of Chang'an West City.

Countless stones hit the city like a storm, as big as a fence and as small as a fist, as long as the stone hits the body, it can break the tendons and fractures of the person, and the ** burst into pieces. Anyone exposed to the rain of stones, even for a few breaths, would be smashed into meat sauce in an instant. That's all. The storm of stones was also mixed with those exploding thunderbolts, and they landed and exploded, and the earth and stones flew within a radius of Xu Yuan, and flesh and blood flew everywhere.

Wang Yuan's support for Li Heng and others can be said to have been bloody, and a big killing weapon such as a divine power cannon would never be casually handed over to outsiders. Even with the Tiger Squat Cannon, a new generation of siege weapons, but before the Tiger Squat Cannon can't fire bursting shells, God