After Zhou Dingchen read the letter of persuasion to surrender from the Liao people, all the generals were silent and deployed. Tong Guan's face showed no joy or anger. After a long time, he sighed: "With a disabled body, I have been greatly favored by the officials and was entrusted to Hebei Province."

This is an important task. In one night, a hundred thousand troops were killed, and the officials did not say a word to take responsibility. The king's kindness was as vast as the sea, and it was hard to repay the family's death. How could he be a subordinate who is worse than a beast?" He looked around at the generals.

, said in a deep voice: "The Liao people are powerful and it is difficult to defend the isolated city. What do you think?"

Even the marching Sima Wang Yan, all the generals bowed together and said loudly: "I am willing to die for the deployment of the capital!" "I swear to live and die with the river!" "Sacrifice your life for righteousness, today!" Under the emotion, the voice

There was a clanging sound like gold and iron, and some people even glared at the Liao messenger so hard that the Han official's legs became weak with fear.

"Commander, let me kill this man!" Feng Mei raised her leg and kicked the Han official, and then drew out her sword.

"Wait a minute," Tong Guan waved his hand and said thoughtfully: "It's not polite to come and not return. The Za family still needs to use him to bring a reply letter."

The trembling Han official was taken away first. Tong Guan turned to Zhao Xingde and said kindly: "Mr. Zhao is the leader of articles appointed by the officials. He can write a reply letter for the Za family to denounce his fault and understand me."

Righteousness!"

All the generals followed Tong Guan and looked over. Zhao Xingde hurriedly bowed and said, "If you have your wish, don't you dare disobey me!"

Tong Guan immediately ordered the scribes to bring pens, inks, paper and inkstones. Zhao Xingde wrote on the spot in the palace where the yamen was located, and a thousand words were written in an instant. Zhou Dingchen and other civil servants also nodded secretly, thinking that this person has the talent to write on the horse, no wonder

The commander looked at him differently.

Tong Guan took Zhao Xingde's reply and read a few lines, frowned and said: "Mr. Zhao's article is certainly good, but it is still too polite. The Yelv family does not practice benevolence and righteousness, and the captive leader Yelu Deguang was killed by our righteous people in the Central Plains.

A son rebels against his father, an uncle rebels against his nephew, a younger brother rebels against his elder brother, write them all down!"

Zhao Xingde followed the order and added content to criticize the Khitan court. He felt that the words were already very intense and did not look like a normal reply.

After Tong Guan read it, he pondered for a moment and then said: "The women of the Liao Kingdom took charge of politics and disrupted the court for generations. Xiao Yanyan and Han De's adultery were the worst. Han Chang, a scoundrel, competed with his half-brother for the throne.

, to ridicule the world, write down all these scandals!" All the generals burst out laughing.

Zhao Xingde complied with the order and wrote down these scandalous stories and polished the words. Only then did Tong Guan feel satisfied.

Many things in the reply were kept secret by the Liao people, but were laughed at in the Central Plains. This angered the Liao people, and the generals not only ridiculed them, but also had the intention of sharing the city's death with them.

Sure enough, the Han official who was lucky enough to save his ears took the letter back. After half of the Khitan generals heard it, they cursed one after another. The Liao general Xiao Dabu ignored Yelu Dashi's dissuasion and killed the scribe who read the letter and the Han official who delivered it on the spot.

In order to show the public, at midnight, the Khitan people shot a letter of war on the Hejian City. It only contained ten words: "If you don't accept the surrender of this city, you will be slaughtered and executed!"

At the head of Hejian City, there was some warmth of spring a few days ago, but it was still cold in the blink of an eye. The night wind was cold, and Zhao Xingde sneezed. He expected the Liao people to reply. But when he actually saw it,

Still a little timid. In Hejian City, everyone from the generals to the soldiers had no way out, and they were not as worried as usual. When they met, some people were grinning, as if they had settled matters behind them.

Sitting alone under the crenel with his knees in his arms, Zhao Xingde looked up at the stars in the sky. Wang Yan once wanted to arrange an entourage for him, but Zhao Xingde rejected them. He was not used to being followed when he went out. The Liao people seemed to be gathering momentum, and today

It was quieter than usual at night. Even quieter than Bianjing. Zhao Xingde reached out from his arms and took out the sachet given to him by Li Ruoxue. This fiancée had never even had skin-to-skin contact. He couldn't help but smile to himself and took out the sachet.

She put the bag in her arms. The cold wind was biting. What would happen to her if she died in Hejian City? Should she keep the festival for me, or should she marry the Prime Minister? Is this the only way I came to this world?

He was just thinking wildly, and he felt a little sleepy. His eyelids drooped, and he leaned on the cold battlement and fell asleep until someone pushed his shoulder.

"Zhao Canjun, it's windy here. If you feel tired, you can go to the enemy tower to rest." Su Wenyu said kindly.

"No, I rested for a while, but I didn't feel sleepy anymore." Zhao Xingde declined. He went to the enemy's tower, and a group of soldiers no longer had to sleep.

Seeing that Su Wenyu looked a little strange, Zhao Xingde asked curiously: "What's going on?"

"The military report written by Zhao Canjun today has been spread throughout the camp, and people are scolding me! I, Su Wenyu, am lucky enough to get to know Canjun!"

"It's just a show of words, but it's not as good as the soldiers who kill the stubborn enemy with their own hands!" Zhao Xingde said sadly, "This letter angered the Khitan people, but it also affected everyone."

Su Wenyu said with an excited expression on his face: "Where did Zhao Shenjun come from? We are the children of military families, our grandfathers all died in battle, and we have been favored by the country in this life, how can we not be as good as an eunuch?"

Zhao Xingde was silent.

Suddenly, Su Wenyu looked towards the pier and wondered: "It's the middle of the night, why are there still lights?"

Zhao Xingde also looked over there, and saw a few faintly moving lanterns. He hesitated and said, "It must be some general inspecting the dock."

Right next to the lantern, Xin Xingzong asked with hesitation, "Do you really want to scuttle all the other ships?"

Tong Guan's face darkened and he said: "How can we inspire the whole city's soldiers without burning the cauldron and sinking the boats!" He was sitting on the deck of the tallest official ship and watched with his own eyes the soldiers of the Zhenbei First Army destroying the other soldiers moored at the dock.

After the ship sank, he breathed a sigh of relief and ordered: "Set the dock on fire! Weigh anchor and leave the port!"

Xin Xingzong's face changed slightly. He did not dare to question, so he just led his soldiers down and followed the orders. Secretary Zhou Dingchen whispered in Tong Guan's ear: "Sir, General Han is still in the city, do you really want to leave without taking him?" Han Shizhong once gave

After receiving many benefits from Zhou Dingchen, now that Tong Guan had brought more than two hundred people with him and wanted to escape from Hejian first, Zhou Dingchen finally gave Han Shizhong a hand.

"Humph!" Tong Guan's face darkened, and he cursed in a low voice, "It's okay not to feed this unfamiliar dog." In his heart, he still resented Han Shizhong for taking the initiative to defeat the Khitan cavalry, which made him unable to get off the platform and had to turn back to the river.

These days, all the generals were somewhat obedient to Wang Yan, but Han Shizhong was the only one who tried his best to reorganize the Zhenbei Second Army and went into battle to fight happily.

Zhou Dingchen's eyelids twitched and he suddenly fell silent.

Xin Xingzong commanded his soldiers to pour kerosene on the wooden piers, pavilions and other buildings. In an instant, the burning smoke and grass clippings shot straight into the sky. The flames were particularly bright in the dark night, and Tong Guan's face flickered.

It was dark and looked particularly ferocious. The soldiers under his command rowed hard, and the ship gradually left the port and sailed away, leaving only circles of water reflecting the blazing firelight.

All the soldiers at the top of the city discovered the fire and didn't know why. They pointed in the direction of the pier. Wang Yan, who was resting in the city tower, also hurriedly got up and looked at the direction of the pier with a gloomy expression. At this time, a relative

The soldier hurriedly sent a letter and reported a few words to Wang Yan. After Wang Yan read the letter, his face darkened, and before he could speak, he heard a soldier not far away shouting: "Everyone has disappeared, sir."

!”

All the generals were shocked. Wang Yan nodded and said: "I have all arranged for you to leave a letter and entrust me with the defense of Hejian City. At this moment, I am afraid that I have already sailed away." After speaking, he took out the letter and gave it to everyone.

Will see.

Zhao Xingde also gathered among the crowd and read the contents of the letter clearly with the faint light of the fire. It turned out that Tong Guan had long wanted to abandon the city, and was only worried that Wang Yan of Jinyan Mansion would impeach him and there would be fierce disputes. After thinking about it, he simply decided

It is better to silence them by the hands of the Khitans, and the entire city of Hejian will be destroyed. It is better to escape with one's own body than to commit the death penalty of abandoning the army. What's more, the giant artillery of the Khitans and the fierce soldiers of the Iron Wall Battalion need to be reported to the court. Well,

Take precautions. As long as Tong Guan saves his life now, with the official's nostalgia, he might be able to make a comeback in the future. If he stays in the city, he may really die with the city. In the letter, Tong Guan made a grand appointment

Wang Yan, who joined the army in Sima, was the commander of the armies in Hebei and stayed in Hejian. He himself returned to the court to ask for reinforcements and reported the situation in Hebei to His Majesty.

"Everyone is ready to run away!"

This news was like the straw that broke the camel's back. It immediately made many soldiers feel despair. Zhao Xingde also looked pale and stood there blankly. The article he had written by himself had cut off the livelihood of the entire city's soldiers and civilians. Now it is even more...

It has become a peach charm that reminds people of death.

"Everyone is ready to run away!" Some soldiers were already crying loudly. Before long, there were cries from all over the city tower, and the general was brave. Zhao Xingde even felt that if the Khitan people attacked the city at this moment, these people would be like

Will the dead soldiers kill them without mercy?

"Everyone has been deployed to run away!" The news spread throughout Hejian City like a prairie fire. Even the fleeing people knew it. The people felt as if the sky had fallen. They were mourning for their heirs. The Khitan people were about to massacre the city. The streets were full of alleys.
Chapter completed!