The news of the fall of Wujiao Pass and Yique Pass came quickly, and the city of Luoyang became even more chaotic, and the officials of the DPRK and China wept bitterly, but they were helpless about the current situation.

Originally, Zhu Youzhen ordered Zhang Hanlun to rush to Fengxiang to ask for help from King Qi, but because the two places fell too quickly, Zhang Hanlun left Luoyang for less than a day, and he didn't know when he would have to wait until he arrived at Fengxiang, not to mention that King Qi might not send troops to help, even if he sent troops, the reinforcements didn't know when they would arrive.

Since the reinforcements could not arrive for a while, and Zhu Youzhen refused to go to Guanzhong, the most important thing at the moment was to hold on to Luoyang, but now there were not many troops in Luoyang City, even if it was a rabble recruited in large numbers temporarily, its total number was less than 10,000.

What's more, the biggest problem in Luoyang now is not the lack of soldiers and major generals, and more importantly, the hearts of the people in the Liang State have collapsed.

Zheng Yu, the waiter of the Ministry of Rites, once proposed to Zhu Youzhen that he was willing to go to the camp of the Wu army with the heirloom jade seal and other treasures, and surrender to the king of Wu, so as to delay as much time as possible and wait for reinforcements.

Zhu Youzhen asked rhetorically: "With the current situation, if we can really relieve the misfortune of Luoyang, I will naturally not spare a heavy treasure; But I want to know, with Aiqing's strategy, can it succeed? ”

Zheng Yu bowed his head and was silent, and only after a long time did he reply: "I'm afraid not." ”

The ministers around Zhu Youzhen snickered after hearing this.

Zhu Youzhen cried bitterly, not knowing how to respond.

Zhao Yan and Zhang Hanjie, the two emperor's confidants, also began to plan for the future at this time.

The two used to be Zhu Youzhen's cronies, and they controlled the government of Liang State all the year round, and they couldn't escape their interference even to solicit the appointment and dismissal of such an important position; However, at this time, they didn't even have the slightest idea of staying for Zhu Youzhen's funeral.

Zhang Hanjie went to Wang Yanzhang's army to serve as a supervisor, but Wang Yanzhang was defeated and captured, and Dong Zhang surrendered to Wu's army, but he was still in Caozhou at that time, so he escaped.

After returning to Luoyang, Zhu Youzhen ordered him to go to Guanzhong to recruit troops, but after more than a month, he only recruited 1,000 recruits, which was of no use at all.

However, during this period, he secretly sent someone to contact King Qi, so now when the Liang State Mansion is about to fall, his plan is to flee to Guanzhong to join King Qi Li Maozhen.

And Zhao Yan's plan is different from Zhang Hanjie, he has no friendship with King Qi, and he also has no friendship with the Jin Kingdom in the north.

If he took refuge in Wu State, with his infamous reputation in Liang State, Zhao Yan thought that it would be difficult to get Yang Wu's forgiveness, so for the sake of his wealth, he had to offer a heavy treasure to Wu State to save his life.

As for the other ministers of the DPRK and China, at this time, they flew separately when a catastrophe came, and the whole Luoyang was in chaos.

……

Luoyang was in turmoil, but the march of the Wu army was extremely smooth.

After easily defeating Huangfulin at Wujiao Pass, Yang Wu led the army to continue westward.

On the morning of the fourth day after the dispatch of troops, Wu's troops occupied Yanshi without blood; As night was about to fall that afternoon, the army finally arrived at the city of Luoyang.

At the same time, Zhou Ben, who had come from the south, also rushed to the city to meet soon after.

At this point, the Wu army completely surrounded the city of Luoyang, and only waited for the next day to launch a siege battle after dawn.

In the main camp of the Chinese army, Zhou Ben and other generals all rushed to discuss the military situation.

However, before discussing the military situation, many generals, including Yang Wu, were deeply attracted by a heavy treasure that exuded a strange luster.

"Is this the jade seal of the country? Sure enough, it's a treasure! Looking at this prestigious piece in front of him, which has been passed down for more than a thousand years, symbolizing the evidence of the orthodox emperors of China, even Yang Wu felt difficult to breathe at this time.

It turned out that Zhu Youzhen decided to take care of this treasure himself and put it in his bedroom in order to prevent the jade seal from being stolen by the small people; However, what he didn't expect was that even though he had taken precautions, when he got up early the next morning, he found that the jade seal of the country had been stolen and sent to the Wu military camp to invite merit.

The person who stole the national seal and sent it to the Wu military camp to invite merit was Zhao Yan.

"I didn't expect that the hearts of the people of Liang Guo have been corrupted to such an extent, and even the national seal has been stolen to invite credit!" Yang Wu had to sigh.

Zhao Yan is of course Zhu Youzhen's confidant, but he does not have the right to enter and leave the forbidden palace, and the reason why he was able to steal the seal of the country must be the result of his collusion with Zhu Youzhen's attendants, which shows how corrupt the hearts of Liang Guo's people are.

Of course, Liang Guo's heart is corrupt, but this is a good thing for Yang Wu; Especially getting the heirloom jade seal, he was even more excited.

The origin of the jade seal is well known, after the inheritance of the emperors of the past dynasties, it has been a well-deserved national weapon to a certain extent, which can be compared with the legendary Jiuding in ancient times.

In history, after Li Cunqiao destroyed the Liang, the jade seal of the country fell into the hands of the Later Tang Dynasty; After another thirteen years, Li Siyuan died of illness, and his son Li Congke ascended the throne; As a result, Shi Jingjiao colluded with the Khitans for his own ambitions, and led the Khitans to attack Luoyang at the expense of the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun.

Li Congke finally embraced this Baodeng Xuanwu Building since. Burned, since then the jade seal of the country has completely disappeared.

After the Zhou Guo Wei period, he searched for the jade seal of the country but could not get it, so he had to carve the "Emperor Divine Treasure" and other seals on both sides, which were passed down to the Northern Song Dynasty.

Although there has been news of the existence of the jade seals of the country in the Song and Ming dynasties in later generations, after research by all parties, those so-called jade seals of the country have basically been identified as fakes.

The real heirloom jade seal is generally believed to have been completely lost when Li Congke was in power.

At this time, the legendary national treasure appeared in front of Yang Wu completely.

"Ordered by the sky, both longevity and eternal prosperity!" Recalling that it was recorded in the history books that the jade seal had eight characters written by Li Si in seal characters, Yang Wu couldn't help but step forward and hold it in his hand and look at it carefully.

"Tap the King!" Guo Chongtao and the others saw that he was impatient to pick up the jade seal, and hurriedly whispered.

Seeing that everyone was cautious, Yang Wu pretended to be light and light, and said, "Why do you all have such expressions?" Liang Guo has this treasure, isn't it still destroyed by Lonely? It can be seen that the so-called saying 'ordered by heaven, both longevity and eternal prosperity' cannot be believed. Whether the country is prosperous or not, it is in virtue and not in a treasure! ”

But having said that, looking at Yang Wu's face full of excitement, he knew that his mood was by no means so calm.

If the jade seal of the country is really just an ordinary treasure, how can it make future generations think about it, and make later emperors deeply regret that they do not have this treasure? Even many people who ascended to the throne but did not have this jade seal were ridiculed as "white emperors", so that many emperors in later generations had to take various measures to dilute the influence of the jade seal.

Yang Wu held the jade seal in his hand and looked at it for a long time, the eight seal characters written by Li Si can be vaguely seen that it is indeed "ordered by the sky, both longevity and Yongchang", the seal body is engraved with the pattern of "double dragon playing with pearls", there are three sharp wave patterns symbolizing the sea at the bottom, and there are "Great Wei Han Chuan National Seal" engraved by Cao Pi during the Three Kingdoms and so on, which are consistent with the historical records.

It's a pity that Yang Wu has only seen sporadic records in some classics, but he doesn't understand how to identify the authenticity of treasures.

Of course, considering that it was Zhu Youzhen's henchman Zhao Yan who sent this treasure, Yang Wu felt that there was a great possibility that this treasure was genuine.

And even if this treasure is not real, for the sake of the legitimacy of his future accession, Yang Wu will not hesitate to identify it as genuine; Who dares to say that it is a fake, that is, it can't get along with Yang Wu, even if it is to turn around and kill people for this.

Seeing that all the ministers had strong interest in their eyes, Yang Wu immediately smiled and said: "Don't worry, generals, I will put this treasure on the table for the generals to take a good look at, but you can only watch from a distance, and you must not come forward to touch it, so as not to damage it." With that, he gently placed it on the table in the middle of the tent.

The generals stepped forward to watch one by one with curious faces, and there was a hint of excitement in the seriousness, which made Yang Wu couldn't help laughing after seeing it.

As a person of later generations, although Yang Wu attaches great importance to the jade seal of the country, it has not yet reached the point where it is indispensable; And in the eyes of people in this era, the importance of this treasure is great.

This is the jade seal carved by the first emperor with the legendary He's bi, which has been passed down from generation to generation, symbolizing the orthodoxy of supreme imperial power, and now it is actually placed in front of them for them to watch, no wonder they are so excited.

The generals took turns to watch, and it took a long time before they reacted.

I don't know who led the way, but the generals suddenly knelt on the ground, and shouted loudly with excitement on their faces: "The king has this great treasure, this is the order of the king from heaven, and the king is also invited to ascend the throne and be the emperor, in order to inherit the great unification of the world!" ”

Yang Wu was stunned for a moment, and then he reacted.

Indeed, he has been the king of Wu for sixteen years, and it has also been fourteen years since the establishment of the state of Wu.

Although the state of Wu was strong in the past, after all, it was located in the south, and out of political needs, Yang Wu had to continue to serve the Tang Dynasty as orthodoxy, acting under the banner of "reviving the Tang Dynasty", and even issued edicts in the name of "the emperor's holy decree, the decree of the king of Wu".

But in the final analysis, King Wu is not a long-term solution after all, and the one who can really assume the name of orthodoxy still has to be called the emperor.

Now that the destruction of the Liang Kingdom is imminent, the matter of becoming the emperor is indeed on the agenda.

Of course, it is impossible to claim the title of emperor in the barracks now, and it is impossible to be so hasty in such a big matter as being called emperor.

So Yang Wu was stunned for a moment, and then said, "What nonsense are the generals talking about? Lone led the generals to fight for so many years, in order to revive the Tang Dynasty; Now that the Liang State has not perished, how can Lone be called emperor? The generals have to say no more, let's think about how to attack the city tomorrow. After speaking, Yang Wu ordered Cheng Xun to collect the jade seal of the country and keep it well.

The generals also knew that the time had not yet come, so after being reprimanded by Yang Wu, they did not speak again; However, the general's eyes flickered, and they were obviously already thinking about it.

"Now that the Liang State has not been destroyed, the king will definitely not want to be the emperor at this time, but the so-called Liang State is now only one Luoyang City, and it is a matter of time before it falls. However, this persuasion cannot be ignored, and it must be planned well. ”

Many people even thought: "The king only said that the Liang Kingdom was not destroyed, so it is not suitable to be called the emperor; So if the Liang State is destroyed, can you immediately claim the title of emperor? ”

The credit of persuasion has always been great, even greater than the meritorious service on the battlefield, and it is not a miracle that the courtiers who took the lead in persuasion were thus crowned marquis and worshipped.

Of course, Yang Wu has long been the king of the country, and he is not much different from the real emperor, even if he takes the lead in persuading him to advance, he will be much inferior, and it is still impossible to be crowned a marquis and a prime minister, but it is certain to be promoted to a knighthood.

Especially for Kang Yanxiao and other generals who had just surrendered to Wu, they needed to persuade them to improve their status in Wu, so they were extremely active in persuasion at this time.

After Yang Wu reprimanded the generals, he turned his head to look at the envoy sent by Zhao Yan who had been kneeling in the camp for a long time and said: "You go back and tell Zhao Yan that he is the minister of the Liang Lord, but he is in collusion with Zhang Hanjie and others, and he has made a mess of the government. ”

Now that Liang is dying, he can't be loyal to Lord Liang, and Lone is deeply disappointed by this. However, he sent the heirloom jade seal, for the sake of this merit, Lone will spare his life in the future! ”

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your forgiveness!" The person outside the tent was Zhao Yan's henchman, who knelt outside the tent for a long time, and was overjoyed when he got Yang Wu's reply, and hurriedly thanked him.

He didn't know that although Yang Wu decided to spare Zhao Yan's life, it didn't mean that he would let him go easily, at least he didn't want to keep all the belongings he had looted in Liang for so many years, and Yang Wu also hoped to use these things to reward the meritorious soldiers.

After sending Zhao Yan's envoy at will, Yang Wu looked at the generals and said: "Luoyang City is big, but there are not many defenders in the city, and most of them are temporarily recruited rabble, it is difficult for such an army to stop our army. Therefore, tomorrow's siege should not be carried out in any siege, and the siege will be directly besieged from all sides. General Zhou Ben launched an attack from the south, General Li Chengding led his troops to attack from the north, General Zhu Qianyou launched an attack from the east, and General Chai Zaiyong launched an attack from the west......

Yang Wu made siege arrangements at will, and then ordered Chai Kehong to lead the cavalry to block the surrounding arteries to prevent Zhu Youzhen from breaking through and escaping.

After making the final deployment, Yang Wu ordered the generals to deploy according to the military order, but he returned to the camp and ordered someone to take the jade seal to continue watching.

……

In the city, the night was dark, but Zhu Youzhen and the others did not feel the slightest sleep.

At this time, the Wu army was overwhelmed, and Luoyang was already undefendable, and even the most optimistic people knew that the fall of the Liang State was at hand.

Upstairs in Jianguo, there are not many retinues around Zhu Youzhen.

Those court ministers returned home early at this time, either under the pretext of illness or other excuses, and did not want to enter the palace; Even those cronies and attendants are also planning for the future in a panic at this time, and they are not very dedicated to serving Zhu Youzhen.

At this time, there was only one person by Zhu Youzhen's side, but he led troops to resist the Wu army at Wugao Pass not long ago, but was quickly defeated and fled back to control the crane army commander Huang Fulin.