Hongnong Yang's family, like the Runan Yuan family, is the top family of the fourth generation and the third duke, just like Yang Biao, the head of the Yang family of this generation, his great-grandfather Yang Zhen, grandfather Yang Bing, and his father Yang Ci were all imperial captains, and he himself also used to worship Situ after Dong Zhuo took the throne. It's just that because he offended Dong Zhuo, he was worried about being framed, so he found a reason to resign and live in seclusion.

And now, Yang Zan finally resigned from his position as Situ and returned to his hometown to live in seclusion because of his collision with Ma Teng. Although Yang Feng also served as a servant in the court, the decline of the Yang family was undoubted.

"This ......" Hearing Yang Biao's words, Yang Zan suddenly showed a tangled expression, and sighed helplessly after being silent for a long time, "But in this situation, what can we do alone?" ”

Hearing this, Yang Biao stroked his beard and muttered, "Although all the guests were dismissed in order to prevent Na Ma Teng from being suspicious, there are still dozens of servants in the mansion, plus the prestige of the family in the city......

Just hearing Yang Biao's words, Yang Zan shook his head and persuaded, "The success rate is too low...... And once it fails, it will definitely be exterminated by Hu Zhen and others, and when the time comes, it will ...... Young's is really finished. ”

"Take a look, if you have the chance......" Yang Biao muttered when he heard this, and then fell into deep thought.

Seeing this, Yang Zan thought for a while and said, "Actually, even if we don't do anything, the Yang family will not decline because of this." That Ma Teng is just a traitor in Liangzhou, and now he is doing that perverse thing in Beijing. Even if there is no crusade, it won't last long. When the time comes, my Yang clan will naturally be able to return to the imperial court......"

"Hmm......" Hearing Yang Zhan's words, Yang Biao responded softly and continued to ponder. Seeing this, Yang Zan was not very common, so he got up and left after giving a salute, but Yang Biao did not have any reaction to this.

Leaving the hall, Yang Zan walked towards the door, as a side clan of the Yang family, he did not live with Yang Biao and the others.

"Uncle." As soon as he came to the courtyard of the mansion, he heard a voice coming, turned his head to look, but saw Yang Biao's son Yang Xian looking at him curiously.

"Virtuous nephew, but you're going to find Ling Zun? He was in the hall, and the virtuous nephew went straight over. Yang Zan looked at Yang Xiu and smiled, his eyes full of doting. Among the juniors of the Yang family today, Yang Xiu's talent is the highest, and he is also the person who is emphasized by Yang Biao and other older generations. They believed that in the near future, Yang Xiu would definitely carry the Yang clan on his back and continue to move forward.

"Thank you, uncle." Yang Xiu replied respectfully, and immediately prepared to go to the hall, but at this moment, Yang Zan called out to him.

Entering the hall, Yang Xiu saw Yang Biao sitting in the first place with a pensive look, perhaps because he was too engrossed, and he didn't even notice his arrival.

"The child greets his father." Seeing this, Yang Xiu could only open his mouth to remind.

Hearing Yang Xiu's voice, Yang Biao, who had been in deep thought, came back to his senses, "It's Ah Xiu, is there something wrong?" Yang Biao asked casually, and at the same time pointed to the position on the side and motioned for Yang Xiu to sit down.

Seeing Yang Biao's absent-minded appearance, Yang Xiu's heart suddenly appeared in his heart, when he saw Yang Zan just now, Yang Zan was a little distracted. Thinking of the current situation of the Yang family and Li Yijun outside the city, Yang Xiu suddenly couldn't help but ask, "Father, do you want to help Li Yijun outside the city take this city?!" ”

"Who told you that?!" Hearing Yang Xiu's words, Yang Biao stood up suddenly, glared at Yang Xiu and asked urgently. Then, without waiting for Yang Xiu to speak, he said to himself in a tone full of blame, "Could it be Boyu?" Obviously, in his mind, there could be no one else except Yang Zhan, who had just discussed with him.

"No one told the child, the child guessed." Yang Xiu said respectfully, and then said the reason why he would guess.

Hearing Yang Xiu's explanation, Yang Biao suddenly smiled bitterly, "You kid, you have been so smart since you were a child, but you can't hide it." ”

As he spoke, Yang Biao said in a solemn voice, "Yes, my father has this idea!" You also know that now Li Wushuang has gone out to merge with the state, trying to win over the thief King Qin. And if Huayin can be taken, then Li Wushuang's troops can directly attack Zuo Fengyi. In this way, the chances of success are greatly increased. ”

Speaking of this, Yang Biao paused and said again, "And my Yang clan is now in decline, if I don't take the initiative to do something, it is very likely to decline." If this is the case, how will I, as the head of the Yang family, face my ancestors in the future? ”

"I wonder what my father has come up with?" Yang Xiu asked with a twinkle in his eyes when he heard this.

"It's not ......" Yang Biao shook his head and sighed, "My Yang clan is a Huayin clan, and Boyu offended Ma Teng before, so how could Hu Zhen not guard against us?" ”

Hearing Yang Biao's words, Yang Xiu fell silent, and seeing this, Yang Biao suddenly smiled, "Okay, this is not something you should be in charge of at your age." ”

Just hearing Yang Biao's words, Yang Xiu shook his head and said, "What my father did is related to the future of the Yang family, as a member of the Yang family and my father's son-in-law, how can I interfere?" After speaking, seeing that Yang Biao seemed to be planning to say something more, Yang Xiu hurriedly said, "And isn't there a way for my father at this time?" If you ask the children to help you think about it, even if it doesn't work, it can be regarded as adding some experience. ”

Hearing this, Yang Biao opened his mouth, but in the end he still did not object to Yang Xiu's words.

At the same time that Yang Biao's father and son were plotting, on the city wall, with a large number of rewards and incentives, as well as Pang De and Liang Xing leading the team to run back and forth to kill the enemy, they finally fulfilled Pang De's promise to Hu Zhen before, and did not let any enemy rush to the city wall.

Just looking at Li Yijun who was slowly retreating, whether it was Hu Zhen, Pang De, or Liang Xing, they didn't have any joy of victory, which was in stark contrast to the soldiers who were constantly cheering on the side.

And under the city, Lu Bu looked at the soldiers on the city wall who were constantly cheering, and suddenly laughed sarcastically, "It's just blocking our army's offensive for half a day, is it worth being so happy?" ”

"The prince of the palace must not despise the enemy, just now the subordinate carefully observed, and found that the soldiers of our army were under the defense of the enemy, and none of the soldiers were able to rush to the city wall. And looking at the morale of the enemy army now, it is also obviously different from yesterday......" Xu Shu on the side opened his mouth to persuade when he heard this.

"Don't worry, I won't despise the enemy, after all, there are more troops in the city than our army......" Lu Bu replied with a smile when he heard this, hmm...... Did he really not despise the enemy?

However, Xu Shu didn't say much about this, after all, although the first siege failed, no matter how you look at it, it seems that his own side has the advantage. In this case, Xu Shu naturally wouldn't deliberately say anything to disappoint the fun.

Subsequently, while ordering the soldiers to rest and cook, Lu Bu summoned everyone to the account to discuss the matter.

"After today's temptation, what do you think?" Lu Bu looked around at everyone and asked.

"Prince, although today's offensive has been blocked, and the morale of the enemy army seems to have improved somewhat. However, the subordinate thought that this was only a temporary matter, and as long as our army continued to strengthen the offensive, it would not be long before the morale of the enemy army could not be maintained, and it would be easy to break the city at that time. Hearing Lu Bu's words, Guan Yu on the side immediately said.

Hearing Guan Yu's words, Cao Xuan on the side also echoed.

Hearing this, Lu Bu turned his head to look at Xu Rong on the side and asked, "What do you think?" ”

"Huifujun, Xia Guan used to serve under Na Hu Zhen in the past, and he knows this person well. His impulsiveness and impulsiveness, although he was known as a famous general in Liangzhou together with Yang Ding, he was just a brave and unscrupulous person. Therefore, Xia Guan also thought that as long as the offensive was strengthened, it would not take a few days, and the Hu Zhen would naturally be in chaos. Xu Rong replied respectfully.

"Have courage and no strategy, are you impulsive......" Lu Bu touched his beard and groaned, then turned his head to look at Xu Shu and asked, "I don't know if Yuan Zhi has any good suggestions?" ”

"The subordinate also thought that the attack should be continued, and at the same time a large number of catapults should be created to weaken the morale of the enemy army." Xu Shu stroked his beard and said with a smile, "In addition, Ma Teng's tyranny has made the people under his rule miserable, so the lower officials feel that it is better to persuade the soldiers in the city to surrender in non-war times, and promise that as long as they are willing to go out of the city and surrender, they will not only be exempted from all sins, but also get a certain amount of money and land." At the same time, you can tell those soldiers that as long as they kill Hu Zhen, they can be rewarded with official rewards......"

At that time, even if no one wants to move, then Hu Zhen will definitely be suspicious. And if a soldier secretly goes out of the city and surrenders, the morale of the enemy will inevitably decline, and it will be difficult to live the heart of fighting to the death. Xu Shu said with a smile.

"Well, you can give it a try." Hearing this, Lu Bu nodded in response. After all, this kind of thing doesn't lose anything, but if it really works, it can make a lot of money.

That night.

Hu Zhen was asleep when he was suddenly woken up by the guards, "What? The enemy is persuading him to surrender?! When Hu Zhen heard the report of the guards, all his sleepiness suddenly disappeared, and he quickly put on his clothes and went up to the city wall.

As soon as I came up, I heard a constant stream of persuasions from the city, the content of which was nothing more than how good the treatment after surrender was, there was land to plant, money to spend, and most importantly, if Hu Zhen was killed......

"Bastard! Shoot them to death with arrows! When Hu Zhen heard this, he immediately shouted angrily.

"General, I've already tried, but I can't shoot them at all." The military marquis who was in charge of the night vigil on the side answered.

"Damn! How did you use such shameless means to shake the hearts of our army?! Hu Zhen scolded angrily when he heard this, and at the same time looked around at the soldiers around him, no matter how he looked at it, he felt that they seemed to be a little impatient. And the most important thing is that Hu Zhen inexplicably felt that when they looked at him, their eyes seemed to be a little different, including the military marquis.

But in this regard, Hu Zhen did not have a good way, so he could only leave a few personal guards to be in charge of monitoring, and at the same time sent someone to invite Pang De and Liang Xing to discuss countermeasures.

It's just that Pang De and Liang Xing don't have a very good way to deal with this, after all, the enemy is shouting outside the range, what can they do to stop it? You can't let the soldiers plug their ears, right?

In the following days, Lu Bu continued to intensify the offensive, and at the same time ordered the soldiers of the Ministry of Engineering to continuously build a large number of catapults to strengthen the suppression of the soldiers on the city wall. Even at noon mealtime, soldiers would be sent to constantly throw stones at the city walls. And at night, there are still all kinds of persuasions.

This made the morale of the defenders of Huayin City more and more low, and it became more and more difficult to resist. Even several times the enemy almost rushed to the city wall, if it wasn't for Pang De and Liang Xing in time, it was likely to be rushed up by the enemy.

Within the prefectural government.

Liang Xing and the three of them sat in their positions with gloomy expressions, and at the same time there was a strong sense of exhaustion on their faces, although the table in front of them was already full of wine and meat, but the three of them didn't have the heart to move chopsticks at all.

"Two of you, if you continue like this, I'm afraid you won't be able to hold on for long." Hu Zhen looked at Pang De and said tiredly. During this time, because of the decline in morale, the soldiers became more and more shaken, especially last night, and even killed a soldier who tried to sneak out of the city at night. Although there was only one person, it was enough to make the three of them vigilant.

Hearing Hu Zhen's words, Pang De and Liang Xing were silent, because they didn't know what to do. Sometimes, boosting morale is a simple thing, but other times, even if you try your best, you won't be able to boost morale even the slightest. Obviously, this is the case with the soldiers of Huayin City now.

The enemy is strong and weak, and even if they are repulsed, their lives are not much better. Because the reward money obtained from the war cannot be bought at all under Ma Teng's rule today. The reason why I joined the army was only because those soldiers couldn't survive anymore, and the army could at least have enough to eat.

In addition, whether it is Hu Zhen, Pang De or Liang Xing, they are all people who were transferred not long ago, and they have no prestige at all for the soldiers under their command. In such a situation, how can their morale be high?

Seeing this, Hu Zhen sighed again, but he didn't say anything more. Speaking of which, there is an easy solution to their current dilemma, and that is to ask for reinforcements. It's just that Hu Zhen obviously can't say this, after all, he just asked for help not long ago, and if he asks for help again in two days, what will Ma Teng think? I'm afraid that even if the enemy forces are repulsed, their fate will not be much better.

And what about Pound and Liang Xing? also don't want to ask for help so soon, although they won't have the same worry as Hu Zhen, but if they really ask for help, then their status in Ma Teng's heart will definitely plummet.

Just when the three of them were at a loss, someone suddenly came to report, saying that someone from the Yang family wanted to see him.

"People from the Yang family? What are they doing here?! Missing! Hu Zhen refused directly without thinking about it. He knew very well why Yang Zan resigned and lived in seclusion, not to mention that there are still two of Ma Teng's descendants here?

It's just that as soon as Hu Zhen's words fell, Pang De on the side said, "General Hu, I heard that the people of the Yang family are all talented, so why don't you ask them for advice." Even if you don't get any results, you don't have much to lose. ”

Hearing this, after Hu Zhen thought about it, he ordered someone to bring the person from the Yang family.

After a while, a young man slowly walked in, "Yang Xiu of the Yang family, meet the three generals!" Yang Xiu said respectfully.