After Ye Lao led the cavalry around Chaona City, in order to conceal his whereabouts, he slowed down, and several Qiang people who were familiar with the road led them through the mountains and fields.

The scouts of the Han army immediately spotted them.

After receiving the report from the scouts, Zheng Xin ordered his troops to speed up the march and quickly sent the news to the city of Chaona.

Li Hong and his subordinates were surprised when they heard that the Xianbei people had quietly attacked Fanting Mountain.

"I was too careless." Li Hong said with palpitations, "If the Xianbei people use two to thirty thousand people to directly insert themselves into Fanting Mountain, we will be surrounded. I was too careless. ”

"The Xianbei people should consider that we will defend Fanting Mountain with heavy troops to ensure the safety of Guanzhong." Li Wei said, "How do they know that there are no defending troops on Fanting Mountain? Could it be that the news leaked? ”

"Probably we retreated too quickly." Lu Yi said, "We didn't even defend Gaoping City, so we gave up directly, giving the Xianbei people the feeling that we had no better way to meet the enemy than to escape." ”

"The Xianbei people probably think that our reinforcements have not yet arrived, and there are only 20,000 iron horsemen from Lord Koji at present, so they thought of sending a strange army to occupy Fanting Mountain." Yan Rou pointed to the map and said, "Occupying Fanting Mountain, the Xianbei people have blocked our retreat, and we have only one way to die." ”

"If Jade and Gao Ran's army arrives at Fanting Mountain today, we will be fine." Li Hong shook his head and said, "I should be more secure and stay at the three levels for one more day." ”

Hua Xiong smiled: "My lord seems to be overly worried. The Xianbei people only sent 10,000 people to attack Fanting Mountain, which shows that they were suspicious, did not use troops resolutely, and did not have full confidence in occupying Fanting Mountain. In addition, the adult let Zheng Xin's scout battalion and Zhang He's 5,000 foot soldiers go to Fanting Mountain first, which originally meant to let them stick to the choke point, and the adult did not make a mistake at this point. ”

"I don't think it's a problem to rely on the thousands of men and horses of Zheng Xin and Zhang He, take advantage of the terrain, condescendingly, and meet the 10,000 cavalry of Xianbei."

Li Hong thought for a while, and said to Heng Sai: "You take the Fengyun Iron Cavalry, kill from the north gate, and then kill back from the east gate, don't fall in love with the battle, just rush to the camp." ”

"After the Fengyun Iron Cavalry storms the camp, it will definitely attract the attention of the Xianbei people." Li Hong looked at Yan Rou, Xian Yuyin, and Hua Xiong and said, "The three of you led your troops out of the city from the West Gate and rushed to Fanting Mountain overnight to support. ”

Heng Sai and Yan Rou and the others bowed down to receive the order.

"Ling Ming, you, Arc Ding, and Qi Shen took the Black Panther Righteous Servant and followed Lord Yan to Guandai Mountain." Li Hong glanced at Pang De and said with a smile, "When I came, I told you ......"

"Do as you say." Pound smiled knowingly and walked out.

＝＝＝

The soldiers of the Wild Wolf Tribe arrived at the north gate of Chaona City in the middle of the night, and everyone was very tired, and they did not set up camp, but slept on the ground one after another, only to be attacked by the Fengyun Iron Horseman.

Although the Xianbei soldiers did not have time to meet the enemy, they turned on their horses and fled very quickly, and everyone dispersed in a hurry, and rushed into the darkness in a blink of an eye.

The Fengyun Iron Cavalry followed behind the deserters, pursued them relentlessly, and immediately slaughtered into the Helian army outside the east gate.

The trumpets outside the city sounded in the sky, and the sound of killing was everywhere.

Tuoba Feng and Ri Ri deduced that Li Hong would lead people to attack the camp, and hurriedly assembled a large army to prepare to meet the enemy. Seeing that the Xianbei people were gradually stabilizing their positions, Heng Sai immediately commanded the army to rush diagonally and turned around and returned to the city.

"This beast, you don't have to be in such a hurry if you want to die, you don't want people to sleep." Yan Liyou was riding on a war horse shirtless, and when he saw that He Lian couldn't even straighten his waist with a smile, he was so angry that he smoked and scolded.

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In the early morning, Fanting Mountain is bathed in a faint mist, like a fairyland.

Noro commanded the army to move quickly up the mountain. The handsome Mu Tao led 2,000 people through the middle of the woods, galloping along the gentle hillside.

The sound of galloping horses' hooves became more and more violent, and the shouts of the soldiers became louder and louder.

The birds in the woods were frightened and flew into the air in panic, scurrying in all directions.

"Brothers, accelerate, accelerate, rush to the top of the mountain, rush to the top of the mountain......"

Mu Tao looked excited, raised a shield in one hand and a war knife in the other, and frequently looked back and shouted.

＝＝＝

Suddenly, a dense sound of war drums sounded from the woods ahead, and the drums were mighty and wild, resounding through the mountains.

The Xianbei people were shocked and looked up, but they saw the sky full of long arrows calling out, and they could no longer see the clear blue sky.

At this time, there is no way out, only to rush and kill.

"Brothers, kill it, kill it with me......" Mu Tao raised his shield and shouted wildly, "Huh...... Ho ......"

The Xianbei soldiers were fearless and echoed in unison: "Hoho...... Hohoo ......"

"Haste...... Hurry into the ......" Mu Tao hoarse, like crazy, beating the horse and galloping.

"Kill ......"

＝＝＝

"Whew...... Shout...... Whew......"

Countless long arrows let out a thrilling roar, falling from the sky with a bloody murderous aura, like rain, and suddenly shot down a large area of the oncoming Xianbei people.

The howls, the shouts, the neighing of the horses, the crash of long arrows into the trunks of trees, the tearing of arrows into the flesh resounded in an instant, noisy and terrible.

Mu Tao's sat down war horse was hit by several arrows, and after a few neighing sounds, he hit the tree headlong and fell to the ground and died. Mu Tao got up in embarrassment and hid behind a tree, dodging a rain of arrows.

Seeing his subordinates falling to the ground one after another, seeing the corpses strewn across the woods and rivers of blood, Mu Tao roared angrily, and tried to rush out to rescue the wounded soldiers several times, but they were all shot back by the dense rain of arrows.

"Who said there were no Han troops here, who said that? Lao Tzu is going to hack him alive! ”

"Dismount, dismount, don't rush......"

The Xianbei people who followed up couldn't hear Mu Tao's shouts at all, they saw the tragic battlefield, saw the fallen and dead comrades, and rushed to kill even more crazy.

"Kill...... Ah......h

Long arrows are whistling, cavalry is rushing, death is continuing, blood is flowing in the cold wind with the vanished lives one by one.

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Ye Lao stood on the top of the mountain in the distance, his expression grim.

"Haoshuai, there is an ambush in Fanting Mountain?" Xiao Shuai Mu Li is Mu Tao's twin brother, he saw that his brother was in danger, he was so anxious that he jumped and jumped, and he couldn't rush up to support immediately, "Hao Shuai, hurry up and order, I want to go up, I want to go up......"

Ye Lao hesitated. He didn't know how many Han troops there were on Fanting Mountain, and he didn't dare to joke with the lives of his soldiers. Once there were tens of thousands of Han troops in the woods, he rashly broke in with the remaining thousands of people, and the result would be that the whole army would be annihilated. Now that the king's army is under the city, as long as he sends someone back to report the news, the supporting rear army will arrive immediately, so that he does not need to take such a big risk to storm Fanting Mountain.

However, there are very few men and horses left by the Han army north of Liupan Mountain, and at the same time, there is no news that the reinforcements of the Han army have arrived here, is there only one team of enemy troops in front of them?

"Haoshuai, give the order quickly, quickly."

"Okay, you take someone to try again." Ye Lao waved his hand backwards and said loudly, "If there are too many enemies, withdraw immediately." ”

＝＝＝

Mu Li launched a second charge with two thousand iron horsemen.

Having learned the lesson of their first charge, they dismounted as soon as they reached the woods, and quickly approached the bloody battlefield under the cover of shields and the woods.

The first batch of 2,000 iron horsemen who rushed into the woods were almost all killed, and the remaining more than 200 people followed behind Mu Tao Mu Li and continued to rush forward with great momentum.

Rushing out of the woods, it was an open area more than fifty paces away. In the woods opposite, there were suddenly columns of heavily armed Han soldiers.

Anger erupted in an instant.

"Kill, kill, kill the past......"

The Xianbei soldiers were like enraged wolves, staring at blood-red eyes, roaring loudly and running wildly.

"Blow the trumpet, blow the trumpet, tell Hao Shuai, we have found the Han army......"

＝＝＝

"Shoot ......"

With Zhang He's order, the arrows were like locusts, and the Xianbei people were once again drowned in the dense rain of arrows.

＝＝＝

Ye Lao heard the sound of the horn in the woods ahead, and a cruel sneer appeared on his face.

"Let's go, let's kill ......"

He kicked the horse in the belly and was the first to launch.

Six thousand horsemen followed, roaring like a sea of mountains at the sound of a low trumpet.

＝＝＝

Forty steps...... Thirty steps...... Twenty Steps......

Beard raised his sword and knocked the iron helmet on his head, and then he used all his strength to let out an earth-shattering roar: "Brothers, kill ...... Ah......h

"Kill ......"

In an instant, the roar was like a tide, and the Han sabers and axes rushed past the archers, past the shield soldiers, and rushed towards the Xianbei people like a tide.

The two sides fought each other in close quarters, and a bloody battle immediately began.

The fierce killing sound suddenly rose into the sky.

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A red sun erupted.

Li Hong galloped between the mountains and fields with 20,000 iron horsemen, and Helian and Tuoba Feng led 50,000 iron horsemen to chase after them, and the two sides were about a mile apart. The law and day deduction and the banquet Liyou followed behind with the Hu coalition army without hurry.

Pang De, Arc Ding, and Abandonment Shen stood on the high place of the Guandai Mountain, looking at the dust covering the sky and the sun in the distance, and secretly frightened.

"The momentum of Xianbei people is like a rainbow, if it falls down, Chang'an is in danger." Pound said in a low voice, "Although the Lord has the intention to lure the enemy deeper, but in the face of such a powerful enemy army, I am afraid that I have more than enough heart and not enough strength." ”

"No, there must be a way." Qi Shen sniffed a few breaths of fresh air and said with a smile, "The scenery here is good, you can take a look at it, you won't be able to see it later." ”

Pound looked at them and suddenly asked, "Does Yan Liyou of the Wild Wolf Tribe know that you are still alive?" ”

"He knows." Arc Ding said with a smile, "Back then, the adults wanted to let us go back, and hundreds of our brothers were grateful for the grace of the adults not to kill, and volunteered to stay, and only more than a hundred people from the Wild Wolf Clan went back." ”

"You're not from the Wolf Clan?" Pound asked in surprise.

"We're not." Qi Shen's face darkened, and he said, "After our tribe was defeated by Yan Liyou, it was long gone. ”

Pound looked at them sympathetically, but did not say anything. The tribes on the steppe are like this, the weak eat the strong, this is the law of survival of the steppe people.

"Here, my lord has arrived." The arc Ding clamped the horse's belly and rushed down to the top of the mountain.

＝＝＝

Li Hong tightened his grip on the black panther, stopped its speeding body, and asked loudly, "Arc Ding, are you all ready?" ”

"Just wait for the army to pass and immediately set fire to the crown belt mountain." Arc Ding smiled, "Do you remember the fire in the Burial Moon Forest?" ”

Li Hong wiped the sweat from his head, pointed at him and said with a smile: "That fire is too big, I will be punished by God in the future." This time the fire should not be too big, just stop the enemy's pursuit. ”

"Your Excellency said it was late." Arc Ding said embarrassedly, "We were busy in the middle of the night, and we planned to burn all the Guandai Mountain clean." ”

Li Hong shook his head and smiled helplessly: "If you are punished by heaven in the future, I will definitely bring a few of you with me." ”

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He Lian looked at the blazing Crown Belt Mountain in amazement, and shook his head in disbelief.

"King, the leopard has been prepared." Tuoba Feng panted and stopped next to him, gasping for breath, "Ye Lao is done now." ”

"Is there no other way?" He Liantie blushed and asked through gritted teeth, "Is there any other way?" ”

Several subordinates and attendants who followed behind He Lian looked at each other with blank expressions.

"I said it, I said it......" Tuoba Feng said with annoyance, "I said it a long time ago......"

"Don't say it." He Lian blushed, raised his hand angrily and shouted, "I asked you to send more people, why don't you do it?" ”

"My lord, what if there are 20,000 people?" Tuoba Feng pointed to the raging fire in front of him and said angrily, "This fire will burn for at least four or five days." Four or five days later, they were already dead. ”

"How do you know?" He Lian shouted at the top of his voice, "How can 20,000 people fight 20,000 people? ”

"Are all their reinforcements dead?" Tuoba Feng said angrily, "After four or five days, there will be at least fifty or sixty thousand Han troops on Fanting Mountain, and of course they will be dead. ”

"I don't believe it, I just don't believe it." He Lian shouted loudly, "Call Xuhui, go and call Xuhui, there must be a way." ”

＝＝＝

"Rush for time." He Lian paced back and forth restlessly, "We tried our best to use all our forces to attack at the same time on the border of thousands of miles, so we seized such an opportunity, but now we have let the leopards burn down." ”

"Because the leopard took the initiative to abandon the three passes and the two cities, and did not fight in a battle, the Han army north of Liupan Mountain did not suffer any losses, and its strength was well preserved, and the Han army south of Liupan Mountain is now rushing to arrive, and it is estimated that it will be able to reach Liupan Mountain in a few days." He Lian pointed to the fire in the distance, and said angrily, "The leopard's fire just blocked our way, but it gave them time to gather a large army. ”

"In a few days, when we arrive at Fanting Mountain, we will face a resistance of 70,000 Han troops. As a result, not only will we lose the opportunity, but our strategy of attacking Chang'an City will also be greatly hindered. ”

He Lian glared at everyone angrily, patted the map angrily and said: "If you all listen to me, first send a large army to occupy Fanting Mountain, and then attack the city overnight to entangle the leopard, how can this situation occur?" ”

Tuoba Feng lowered his head and sneered. He Lian embarrassed him in public, which made him very unhappy. One of the Ri deductions and the banquet of Liyou looked at the fire that shrouded the crown belt mountain, and the other touched his bare brain, with a serious face. Twilight frowned in thought, not knowing what he was thinking. Xu Ji kept stroking the handle of the knife on his waist, his face expressionless.

The fire in Guandai Mountain really caught everyone off guard.

"If you want to conquer Chang'an, you must first take Fanting Mountain. If we want to take Fanting Mountain, the best chance is to fight him when the leopard army has not yet been assembled and the men and horses are not enough to compete with us. If we lose this opportunity, we can go home empty-handed now, what are we doing here? Let the Han people laugh at our incompetence? He Lian shouted.

"The leopard set fire on fire to the entire Guandai Mountain, and the fire lasted for more than ten miles, and it was basically impossible to expect it to be extinguished within four or five days." He Lian said hatefully, "If we want to continue to attack the Han army and capture Chang'an, we must find another way to rush to Fanting Mountain." ”

He Lian looked at Xu Qi, tried his best to suppress the anger in his heart, and asked in a flat tone, "Is there still a way?" ”

"There is a road, but it is not easy to walk." Xu Hui thought for a moment and said, "It's all small roads, and there are a few streams along the way, and the cavalry can go through, but the hundreds of thousands of livestock that follow us are very troublesome." ”

"Let the soldiers bring more dry food." When He Lianyan heard this, he immediately turned his anger into joy and said loudly, "Quick, quick, let's go!" ”

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After the Xianbei iron cavalry rushed through the arrow array in embarrassment, they were about to start a killing spree, only to find that the Han soldiers who were fighting in the open area suddenly turned around and ran away, fleeing into the dense woods.

The wild boss was overjoyed, thinking that the Han army had seen the iron cavalry killed, and fled in fear, and immediately waved his army in pursuit, but after they went deep into the woods, they were met with a burst of more fierce fire.

The Xianbei people clashed back and forth in the woods on their war horses, not only with limited mobility, but also with obvious targets, and the casualties became more and more heavy.

At this moment, the Han army beat the drums of the charge, tens of thousands of soldiers came out of the woods, and the bloody battle began.

＝＝＝

Ye Lao led his personal guards all the way to fight and stumbled out of the encirclement.

Under his leadership, nearly a thousand Xianbei soldiers fled from Fanting Mountain in embarrassment, but unfortunately, they encountered Yan Rou's army.

The group was immediately surrounded, and after a little resistance, they were tied up one by one.

＝＝＝

Li Hong was very happy when he heard that Fanting Mountain was unharmed and that the Xianbei people were completely annihilated.

"We were expecting the Xianbei people to attack at night, so let's pick a bargain." Zheng Xin said with a smile, "I didn't expect the Xianbei people to be very cunning, and after sleeping at the bottom of the mountain for half the night, they started to attack in the early morning, so we waited in vain." ”

"Do we have big losses?" Li Hong asked with concern.

"Fortunately, we lost more than 2,000 soldiers, but killed more than 8,000 of them." Zheng Xin said, "This time the Xianbei people have suffered enough from the long arrow. They were stuck in the woods, unable to advance or retreat, so they had to watch themselves pierced by long arrows. ”

Li Hong nodded appreciatively.

"Your Excellency set another fire?"

"yes, another fire." Li Hong smiled bitterly, "It's a pity that it's too big, it's a bit counterproductive." Originally, I was expecting to stop them for a while, but now it seems that this fire will not be extinguished in seven or eight days. When the fire is extinguished, the Xianbei people may not cross Liupan Mountain again. ”

"But that's it, it's not a bad thing." Zheng Xin said with a smile, "When General Dong cuts off the back road of the Xianbei people and the Xianbei people turn around and retreat, let's see if there is a chance to destroy the enemy." ”

Li Hong smiled, stunned.

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Li Hong's recital was sent to the North Palace of Luoyang with a fast ride of 800 miles.

After Huangfu Song and Lu Zhi read it, they were happy and worried. The good thing is that Li Hong's strategy has a very good chance of success, and the worry is whether His Majesty will agree?

When the Son of Heaven heard the news, he was really furious.

"He dared to be bold and abandon the three passes and Liupan Mountain without permission. What guarantee did he take to defeat the Xianbei people? Can his head compensate Chang'an City? Can his head compensate my ancestral cemetery? The Son of Heaven shouted angrily, "I told him to defend the three passes, but he didn't listen, and offered such a strategy for destroying the country." I think he wants to die. ”

"Huangfu Song, you immediately go to Anding to replace Li Hong, and by the way, send someone to escort him back to me."

Huangfu Song bowed down and admonished: "Your Majesty, the 60,000 troops of Helian and Tuoba Feng have already appeared at Muxia Pass, as we speculated. ”

"Who said that?" The Son of Heaven was startled and asked loudly, "Really?" ”

"Isn't Li Zhonglang written in the cantata?" Lu Zhi said, "In the face of 120,000 iron horses, Ren Li Zhonglang has great ability, and he can't hold the three levels." ”

"Your Majesty, it is really a helpless move to abandon the three passes, Li Zhonglang's army currently has only 24,000 iron horsemen north of Liupan Mountain, and it is simply unable to resist the crazy attack of the Xianbei people." Huangfu Song said, "Abandoning the three passes, at least you can temporarily preserve your strength." If you fight all the people and lose the three levels, then the gains really outweigh the losses. ”

The Son of Heaven was slightly angry, and asked with a little panic: "The Xianbei people have become 120,000 people in a blink of an eye, can the two Aiqing have a strategy to retreat from the enemy?" ”

"There are two ways." Huangfu Song said, "First, take Li Zhonglang's suggestion, abandon Liupan Mountain, and concentrate the main force to annihilate the enemy south of Liupan Mountain. ”

"No, no, this is absolutely unacceptable. Once Li Zhonglang made a mistake in command, let 120,000 Xianbei people enter Chang'an and destroy the cemetery of his ancestors, how will I face the people of the world? How to face the ancestor column? The Son of Heaven shook his hand again and again without hesitation and resolutely vetoed it, "What is another way?" Say it quickly, say it quickly. ”

"Let Li Zhonglang concentrate the main force, stick to Liupan Mountain, and defend the last barrier in the pass." Huangfu Song said, "If Li Zhonglang's troops march day and night, in two more days, they will successively resist the area of Liupan Mountain. ”

"But holding Liupan Mountain to the ground will not defeat the enemy, nor will it drive the enemy out of Anding and Beidi counties." Lu Zhi said, "Only by eliminating the invading army of the Xianbei people can we recapture the two counties. ”

"Isn't there still Dong Zhuo?" The Son of Heaven said, "Didn't you say that as long as Dong Zhuo captured Lingzhou and cut off the retreat of the Xianbei people, he could drive the Xianbei people out?" ”

"At that time, we did not estimate the loss of the three passes, nor did we estimate that the army of Helian and Tuoba Feng would quickly rush to the three passes and attack the three passes at the same time with 120,000 people." Lu Zhi explained: "According to our past estimates, Helian and Tuoba Feng may not be able to catch up with the three passes in a short time, while Li Zhonglang can calmly gather 100,000 people to defend the three passes. In this case, the Xianbei people must have fought for a long time without success, and after their back road was cut off, they had no choice but to withdraw their troops and leave. ”

But now because Li Zhonglang's army has been unable to assemble for a long time, and the Xianbei people have seized the opportunity, there has been a huge disparity in the strength of the two sides. In order to preserve his strength, Li Zhonglang was forced to abandon the three passes, so that the Xianbei people could quickly occupy all the passes and cities north of Liupan Mountain in a short period of time. ”

"The Xianbei people have an army of 120,000 and the danger of three passes, so they can attack and retreat. Even if General Dong occupied Lingzhou, the Xianbei people could calmly divide their troops and fight back at Lingzhou. ”

The Son of Heaven was dizzy and dumbfounded when he heard this, "So, now even if we have Li Hong and Dong Zhuo, even if we have an army of 130,000, we can't take back the two counties of Anding and Beidi?" ”

"Your Majesty, in the short term, we will definitely not be able to recapture large tracts of land on the north and south banks of the Yellow River." Huangfu Song said worriedly, "Although the Xianbei people brought hundreds of thousands of livestock, they also had a day when they finished eating. When they finished their food, they had to go back to the north bank of the Yellow River, but that would take at least three to four months or more, and ...... then."

Huangfu Song sighed and didn't continue.

"Why didn't Aiqing finish speaking?" The Son of Heaven frowned and asked, "How was it then?" ”

"Your Majesty, we don't have the money to pay the salaries of the front-line soldiers now." Lu Zhi bowed his head and said, "Due to the continuous wars, especially the war in Western Xinjiang, the armaments of the Chang'an arsenal and the border county arsenal have long been exhausted, and now we don't even have swords, swords, spears, halberds, arrowheads, and armor to supply Li Zhonglang's army." ”

The Son of Heaven was taken aback, and then asked, "Aiqing, you haven't told me yet, what will happen then?" ”

"Without salaries, we can owe, but without weapons, how can our soldiers fight?" Lu Zhi said excitedly, "Your Majesty, if this battle continues for a long time, Liupan Mountain will be lost, and Chang'an will fall." ”

The Son of Heaven was shocked, "What about the Luoyang arsenal?" ”

Huangfu Song glanced at the Son of Heaven, and a trace of sadness suddenly flashed in his eyes.

"The ordnance of the Luoyang arsenal is now only enough for the northern and southern armies." Huangfu Song said, "Because the Luoyang Arsenal and the Chang'an Arsenal belong to the imperial court, their ordnance production costs are provided by Dasi Nong. Your Majesty, you also know that the treasury has been in deficit every year in the past few years, and military funds have to be replenished by borrowing from princes and rich people or cutting official salaries, not to mention spending money to make weapons and replenish arsenals. ”

The Son of Heaven probably didn't expect the problem to be so serious, he walked back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back for two steps, quietly glanced at the two depressed ministers, and asked in a low voice, "How long can we hold on at most?" ”

"According to the letter from Lord Jingzhao Yin Gai, although he did his best, he only prepared two batches of weapons for Li Zhonglang, that is, if 100,000 people fight, only one battle can be guaranteed." Lu Zhi replied, "Lord Gai was afraid of affecting the morale of the front-line soldiers, so he didn't tell Li Zhonglang about the situation. ”

"A battle?" The Son of Heaven stared at the small eyes, speechless for a long time, "I am a great Han country, and I only have a weapon for a battle?" ”

"The matter of the Western Xinjiang War will be resolved quickly." Lu Zhi said, "If you want to fight quickly, you must be dangerous. The minister believed that Li Zhonglang's plan to abandon Liupan Mountain and lure the enemy into the depths could be completely adopted. ”

"Nope." The Son of Heaven said unwaveringly, "Absolutely not. ”

"Immediately issue an order to Li Hong and order him to defend Liupan Mountain, if a Xianbei person crosses Liupan Mountain, up to Li Hong, down to the military marquis of all tribes, all of them will be killed!"

"Spread the decree and tell Dasi Nong to come to Shangshutai quickly."

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Dasi Nong Wang Han walked into Shangshutai with a sad face.

"Aiqing, why don't the soldiers have military pay? Why is there no ordnance in the Chang'an arsenal? The Son of Heaven asked in a cold voice, "You borrowed a lot of money from me, what did you do with all that money?" ”

Wang Han was stunned for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, didn't the ministers write in detail on the chapter yesterday?" Your Majesty didn't see it? ”

The Son of Heaven waved his hand angrily and said, "I am busy with the war in the western Xinjiang every day, how can I have time to read the recitals you wrote. Tell me, what are the taxes collected by my Han Kingdom every year? Why has the armament in the arsenal not been replenished for many years? ”

"Your Majesty, the minister was about to tell you this, but Da Si Nong really has no money to buy ordnance." Wang Han sorted out his thoughts a little and said, "This starts with taxes. ”

The taxes of this dynasty can be roughly divided into three types - rent, tax, and tax. Rent refers to the land rent, which is the land tax, and collects grain and manuscripts; Fu refers to all endowments, which are levied on a person-by-person or household-by-person basis, in the form of money; Both of these cases were under the control of the Great Si Nong and belonged to the state. Taxes generally refer to miscellaneous taxes levied by industry or region, mainly in the form of currency, which are managed by the Shaofu and belong to the royal family. Of these three revenues, the endowments managed by the Great Si Nong were used to finance the military expenditures of the dynasty.

The various endowments of this dynasty, from their establishment, collection and use, are all related to the military needs of the state. Among them, the poll tax - calculated and part of the money, which is used for the expenditure of ordnance and military horses, and the supply of military equipment; Substitute service money - more endowment, used for border plugs and guards, supply border defense; Property tax - endowment, which provides for the cost of war when it breaks out. For hundreds of years in this dynasty, the main part of the state's military expenditure was provided by the levies levied on a per capita and household basis. If the taxes were not collected, the imperial court often resorted to borrowing money from princes and wealthy people and cutting official salaries to supplement military expenditures.

The levy refers to the poll tax of people between the ages of fifteen and fifty-six, and the main purpose of the money is to supply ordnance and horses. Most of the taxes collected by the states and counties were handed over to the big Si Nong, and some of them were kept by the states and counties for the repair of the ordnance in the arsenals.

"In recent years, there have been frequent invasions of various Hu tribes outside the Han Dynasty, the continuous rebellion of the Yellow Turban Ant Thieves and the Xiliang Thieves, coupled with the frequent droughts and floods and locust disasters on both sides of the Yellow River in recent years, resulting in a large number of barren fields in various prefectures and counties, displaced people, flooding the cities, and reducing taxes again and again. The income from the calculation of the levy has been sharply reduced due to the war and the increasing number of displaced people, and the current income is not enough to repair the ordnance. ”

"In the best year of the current harvest, taxes were as high as more than 6 billion yuan, but now we have exhausted all kinds of methods, and we have only put about 2 billion yuan into the treasury, which is less than one-third of what it used to be. Your Majesty, now that the treasury is depleted and the deficit is serious, it is difficult to maintain the continuous war, let alone the production of ordnance. When Wang Han said that, his eyes were slightly red, and he wanted to cry.

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"No money?" The Son of Heaven shouted angrily, "Now there are only weapons left in the arsenal to fight a battle, is my Great Han Kingdom so poor?" ”

"Yes, Your Majesty is right, my Great Han Kingdom is indeed not poor to this point." Wang Han replied, "Now, the arsenal of Yanzhou, the arsenal of Yuzhou, the arsenal of Jingzhou, the arsenal of Yizhou, and even the arsenal of Nanyang County still have a large number of ordnance, and there are even a large number of military vehicles such as the iron car, the rushing car, the strong ballista, the crossbow car, and the Wugang crossbow car, which are urgently needed on the front line in Western Xinjiang. ”

The Son of Heaven looked at him suspiciously, then at Huangfu Song and Lu Zhi, and asked, "What Aiqing said is true?" ”

"Of course." Wang Han said.

"Why didn't you tell me? Why not immediately issue a requisition? The Son of Heaven asked aloud.

Huangfu Song and Lu Zhi looked at Wang Han and smiled bitterly.

"Your Majesty, the ordnance of the Inner County Arsenal has not been repaired and maintained for many years, whether it can be used or not, we don't know." Huang Fu Song said, "In addition, it takes a lot of people, wagons, and money to transport these weapons and baggage, but Dasi Nong has nothing but Lord Wang. ”

Wang Han suddenly lifted his clothes and knelt down, and kowtowed again and again: "Your Majesty, for the sake of the country of my Great Han Kingdom, the minister implores Your Majesty to lend another billion money to Dasi Nong to solve the urgent need." ”

The Son of Heaven sneered and said bitterly: "Aiqing, if you don't tear down my Wanjin Hall, it seems that you will not give up." ”

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Huqiang Zhonglang's abandonment of Li Hong to guard the three passes caused a shock in Luoyang, and the impeachment and calls for Li Hong's removal rose higher and higher.

At the same time, the collusion between Zongzheng Liu Yu and Xianbei Murong Feng was also rumored in Luoyang. Liu Yu was forced to plead guilty and asked to go to the official to return to his hometown. The Son of Heaven was very angry and called Liu Yu to the North Palace to scold. The Son of Heaven said: "I originally intended to move you to the position of Tai Lieutenant, but there are people in the court who obstruct you and deliberately spread rumors to frame you. Aiqing is loyal to the country, I know, I believe that Aiqing is innocent. ”

The Son of Heaven rejected Liu Yu's petition and still let him be Zongzheng.

Sikong Xu Xiang, Imperial Historian Yang Qin, Zhongchang Servant Zhao Zhong, Zhang Rang and others wrote to the Son of Heaven, asking the general to quickly lead the Northern Army north to Chang'an and protect the important places in Gyeonggi, and at the same time replace Li Hong with He Miao, a chariot general, and quickly go to Liupan Mountain to defend against the enemy.

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