Tang State, outside the city of Yangzhou.

Zhao Kuangyin swept the momentum and conquered more than a dozen states in the Tang Kingdom, and now in the north of the Yangtze River, only Yangzhou is still holding on.

However, Zhao Kuangyin's expression was not relaxed.

The north of the Zhou State has the tendency of rout, after the loss of Liaozhou, and lost three states one after another, the news from the north said that the Zhou Emperor Chai Rong was worried, often did not sleep for several nights, and now his health is not as good as before.

Chai Rong has issued several summons, ordering Zhao Kuangyin to lead the army north to rescue, but Zhao Kuangyin has not acted for a long time.

He explained to his subordinates that the Zhou State could be defeated at any time, and if he led his troops to the north, the Zhou army would have been defeated, and everyone would be buried with him.

And if he stays in the south, as long as he takes Jiangnan as soon as possible, he will have the opportunity to confront the Liao State across the river, and when his strength is strong, he will find a way to recover the north.

Therefore, Zhao Kuangyin doesn't want to delay a penny now, but Yangzhou is dragging him to death.

He had been attacking Yangzhou City for ten days, and the moat had already been filled, but he still couldn't take the city, which made him very anxious.

To this end, he transferred more than 50,000 horses from other states, and early this morning, reinforcements finally arrived.

On the city wall, Li Sheng looked at the military horses below, gritted his teeth and said, "Our reinforcements haven't arrived yet, but their reinforcements have arrived first." ”

Li Hongyi said silently: "Even if my father sends reinforcements, they will be defeated by the Zhou army, so you don't have to count on reinforcements." ”

Li Sheng punched the city wall hard: "If you had mutinied, how could you have fallen into this situation." ”

"Bastard, the Zhou army is menacing, do you think it's useful to hide in Hangzhou?" Li Hongyi said angrily.

A burst of anger rose in Li Sheng's heart, since Zhang Kaizhan died, he no longer respected Li Hongyi as much as he used to, he took a few deep breaths, and finally calmed down his anger.

Suddenly, he heard the sound of drums under the city again, and the Zhou army came again, and he clenched his spear, ready for a battle of life and death.

The battle continued into the night, when the Zhou army retreated.

In this battle, Li Hongyi was hit by an arrow in his right shoulder.

Back in the camp, he took off his clothes and bandaged his wounds with the help of his own soldiers.

Suddenly, a few small voices sounded, and several soldiers in the tent fell to the ground. Li Hongyi hurriedly got up, his hand just touched the hilt of the sword, his neck was numb, and he fell to the ground like his own soldiers.

Soon, Li Wenxuan walked into the tent, looked at Li Hongyi on the ground, and said softly: "I hope this will make your death not too painful." ”

In another tent, Li Sheng brandished a spear, venting his emotions, and suddenly, the curtain was lifted and Li Wenxuan walked in.

"What's wrong?" Li Sheng put his spear on the ground and gasped slightly.

"I killed Li Hongyi." Li Wenxuan said expressionlessly.

Li Sheng was stunned for a moment, and the spear stabbed at Li Wenxuan, and said angrily: "Why are you doing this? ”

Li Wenxuan dodged the spear and said indifferently: "In order to continue the bloodline." He has done this to you this morning, why should you follow him to death again, but you might as well ...... with me."

"Shut up, you coward who is greedy for life and afraid of death!" Li Sheng didn't spare his hand anymore, and the spear stabbed again and again.

Li Wenxuan sighed, and after dodging a shot, he shot out a quenching flying needle, and Li Sheng fell to the ground.

After that, Li Wenxuan approached several generals one after another, hoping that they would surrender with him, but all of them were refused, which made him very angry.

He couldn't control the army alone, so in desperation, he had to lead his headquarters, open the city gate, and let the Zhou army in.

This night, the city of Yangzhou was full of blood.

Tang State, Jinling.

Like Chai Rong, Li Jing also had insomnia for several nights, his face was pale at the moment, he was haggard, and his eyes were bloodshot.

After Li Hongyi was besieged in Yangzhou, he sent reinforcements one after another, but all of them were defeated by the Zhou State, which made the strength of the Tang State continue to be weakened.

It was obviously the height of summer, but he felt that the dragon chair under his seat was cold.

The ministers of the DPRK and China are also pessimistic, and many officials led by Han Xizai have not been in the DPRK for several days in a row, and Li Jing has not been held accountable.

Now that the State of Zhou is pressing the border, and there are people in the old land of Chu who are in turmoil, and the Jiedu army in various places does not obey orders very much, Li Jing seems to be able to hear the sound of the country collapsing in his ears.

At this moment, a hurried figure entered the imperial study.

"Brother Huang, Wu is marching to Huzhou, we only have 20,000 Jiangyin troops left by Hongyi in Huzhou, I'm afraid we can't hold it!" Li Jingda said urgently.

"Withdraw, withdraw." Li Jing waved his hand tiredly.

"Do you want to give Huzhou away?"

"What else can I do!" Li Jing was furious, but unfortunately his voice was still weak.

Li Jingda pursed his lips, a little displeased.

Suddenly, another footstep sounded, and the young Sixth Emperor Li Yu, the king of Wei, entered the imperial study.

He was originally the king of Wu, but later because Lu Yuan was also named the king of Wu, Li Jing was afraid of offending Lu Yuan, so he added Li Yu as the king of Wei, and changed from the king of the county to the prince.

"Why didn't you talk when you came in?" Li Jing glared at Li Yu and asked.

Li Yu's face was extremely pale, and tears were faintly oozing from his eyes.

"Father, Li Wenxuan's traitor killed his eldest brother and dedicated Yangzhou City to the Zhou army!"

"Li Wenxuan!" Li Jing roared angrily and fainted.

……

As the saying goes, illness is like a thread, in just a few days, Li Jing became extremely weak, although the imperial doctor tried his best to administer medicine, but Li Jing was depressed in his heart, and often vomited blood, which made his condition worse.

For the next period of time, Li Yu stayed in front of the hospital bed, not only to serve Li Jing, but also to bear his anger, he had no complaints about this, and still took care of Li Jing meticulously.

On this day, Li Jing's condition seemed to have improved, he leaned back on the bed and asked Li Yu, "What about your imperial uncle?" Why can't I see him all the time? ”

Li Yu hesitated for a moment and said, "Uncle Huang may be busy with something." ”

"He's busy wooing the ministers, so that he can ascend the throne after I die." Li Jing sneered.

"Father, maybe ......"

"You don't have to speak for him." Li Jing stretched out his hand to interrupt: "Someone is coming, Xuan Han Xizai, Wang Kai, Fu Wen, and Song Qiu are all here." ”

The chief eunuch took the order, and not long after, the four ministers arrived.

Li Jing said in a deep voice: "I'm afraid that time is running out, you and others are all pillars of the country, and after I die, the country still needs you to support you." ”

"Your Majesty......" Song Qiuqi burst into tears.

"Herald." Li Jing exerted all his strength and said loudly: "From now on, abolish the position of Li Jingsui's imperial brother, let him guard the imperial tomb for ten years after my death, and appoint the emperor's sixth son Li Yu as the crown prince, and he will inherit the throne after my death!" ”

"Your Ministers obey!"

"Father......" Li Yu sobbed.

Li Jing looked at him with loving eyes and said with a smile: "Yu'er, I left this mess to you, I hope you can support the country, negotiate peace with the surrounding countries, give up the idea of the Central Plains, and don't learn from ......me."

At this point, the voice paused.

Li Yu looked up and saw that Li Jing still had a smile on his face, but his expression froze.

"Father!"

"Your Majesty!"

Inside the dormitory, from the inside to the outside, everyone knelt on the ground.

In August 953, the Tang Emperor Li Jing died on his sickbed and was succeeded by the emperor's sixth son, Li Yu.

As soon as Li Yu ascended the throne, he sent envoys to the Zhou State, willing to remove the imperial throne and pay tribute to the Zhou State, but unfortunately Zhao Kuangyin refused.

Zhao Kuangyinhu based in Yangzhou, ordered his subordinates to build ships on a large scale, and planned to cross the river to attack Hangzhou. On the other side, the Han State, which was eyeing Wu Yueguo and Fuzhou, saw that the Tang State had an opportunity to take advantage of, and immediately turned to the Tang State to march into the army.

Chizhou Lu Weiyi and Jianzhou Huangfu Sheng secretly reached an armistice, and were also ready to take the opportunity to seize some land in the Tang State, and both of them coincidentally sent envoys to Hangzhou, hoping that Lu Yuan would agree to their use of troops against the Tang State.

In a sense, they all regard themselves as subordinates of the Wu State, and both of them have the same calculation, if they can sit big in the future, and then gradually get rid of the Wu State, if they are defeated in the future, there is such a back way to take refuge in the Wu State.

Lu Yuan was preparing the Dengzhou plan at this time, and he saw the changes in the Tang Kingdom, and now the Tang Kingdom has lost the land in the north of the Yangtze River, and the southward road of Hangzhou is blocked by Chizhou and Hui'an Mansion, and only the three states of Hangzhou, Changzhou and Xuanzhou are left in the north.

There are 40,000 Fenghua troops, 20,000 Jiangyin troops and 30,000 forbidden troops stationed in the three states, with nearly 100,000 troops, and they are all elite soldiers who are good at fighting.

Lu Yuan allowed Lu Weiyi and Huang Fuhui to attack the Tang Kingdom, but only allowed them to attack the south.

And he himself was preparing the Dengzhou plan, while making the Third Army ready for battle, and ordered Yu Xun's Fourth Army to keep an eye on the Yangtze River and not let Zhao Kuangyin cross the Yangtze River.

Lu Yuan hoped that Zhao Kuangyin could stay in Jiangbei as the second line of defense against the Khitans, so he didn't want him to cross the river, and now that Suzhou was in hand, Lu Yuan could directly enter the Yangtze River through Suzhou.

With a strong navy, he intends to gradually control the waters of the Yangtze River, and even if the Liao State hits Jiangbei, he can defend the river.