Kunlun Mountain is in the coldest time of the year, the eternal snow adds another layer, only in a few places still retains a little variegated color, the tiger is standing on the back of the cliff, guarding the only road over the mountain, within more than 100 miles before and after, almost uninhabited. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

Zhang Yin, the Marquis of Piyuan, chose to build a city here, in order to make it easy to defend and difficult to achieve, but there is also a big problem, the transportation of grain and grass is extremely difficult, and it is more difficult to hoard grain than to build a city, and now the city has been basically completed, but there is not much surplus grain in the city, and it can barely support more than 1,000 people for the winter.

The more tense the moment, the more serious Zhang Yin's stuttering became, to the point where it was difficult to give orders, so he could only rely on a few personal attendants around him, and then issue orders to the craftsmen of the Western Regions in the city through the interpreter.

But he is like a donkey who has been blindfolded and only knows how to keep moving forward, even if the catastrophe is coming, he still moves forward step by step, still urging the craftsmen to build the last section of the city wall day and night, and only by watching the boulders build up one by one can he feel more comfortable.

Not everyone is as persistent as he is.

The Western Regions Protector Shen Jingshi's governance was in the rear, and he was ordered to summon Deng Cui back to Beijing, but he didn't expect to hear the news of the defeat.

Looking around the entire tiger city, there are less than two hundred real soldiers, and the rest are all craftsmen from all over the world, who whisper in their own language as soon as they are free.

On this morning, the news from the outpost outside the city made Shen Jingshi determined to come to Zhang Yin.

"General Zhang, let's go, we can't delay any longer."

"Huh?" In the stone house, Zhang Yin sat next to the charcoal basin, wrapped in thick fur, and tried not to talk as much as possible.

Half because of the cold, half out of fear, Shen Jingshi's face turned pale, "There is news from the outpost, there are strange cavalry peeping in the distance, there is no one within a hundred miles here, where is the cavalry?" Westerners must have been. ”

"Hmm." Zhang Yin had already heard the news, reached out and held the iron hook, and gently stirred the charcoal in the basin, charcoal is also in short supply, except for a few generals, most soldiers and craftsmen do not enjoy this warmth.

Shen Jingshi was anxious, "The enemy army is coming, and the tiger can't hold the city, so we have to withdraw immediately." ”

Zhang Yin thought for a while, shook his head, and spit out a word: "No." ”

The Western Regions are both protective and in charge of civil and military, nominally the highest governor of Great Chu in the Western Regions, but there is not much real power, since the strength of Great Chu declined, no longer sent troops to the Western Regions on a large scale, and all countries have returned to their own state, Deng Cui can gather an army, relying on his own ability, as for Zhang Yin, the Marquis of Biyuan, directly received the holy decree, built and defended the city in Kunlun Mountain, and did not need to obey the orders of others.

The word "no" made Shen Jingshi furious, knowing that Zhang Yin stuttered, and did not deliberately make a cold and arrogant gesture, he still raised his eyebrows, "General Zhang doesn't want to evacuate, you can, hand over the soldiers in the city to me, I want to take them away, I can't lose here in vain." ”

Deng Cui was defeated, the countries of the Western Regions were shaken, and the Great Chu was definitely not as respected as before, without the protection of soldiers, Shen Jingshi no longer dared to move around in the Western Regions.

Zhang Yin shook his head, "Holy, holy." ”

The old servant next to him explained in a low voice: "Lord Hou is saying that he will wait for the will of the imperial court......"

"I know what he's talking about, I don't need you to talk too much." Shen Jingshi reprimanded, moved a stool, sat opposite Zhang Yin, and softened his tone slightly, "The imperial court's reaction was not so fast, and when the holy decree came, the tiger city had become a flat land." And I can assure you that the will of the imperial court will also be evacuation. ”

Zhang Yin glanced at it and expressed disbelief.

Shen Jingshi patiently explained, "Our Shen family and the Jiang family of the military department are in-laws, my uncle's daughter, married to the nephew of the Jiang military department, and the two families have been connected for many years, so I can hear a lot of news from the court. To tell the truth, the imperial court did not support the construction of a city in Kunlun Mountain, and it was all because His Majesty insisted that he had to send General Zhang and General Deng to the Western Regions. The idea of the imperial court is that the construction of the city is mainly undertaken by the countries of the Western Regions anyway, and it does not cost too much material resources to Dachu, and after the city is ready, it will slowly explain to His Majesty the difficulty of transporting troops and grain from Dachu to the Western Regions, and hand over the Huju City to the most obedient small countries in the Western Regions. As for General Zhang and General Deng, according to the leadership of the city's construction, it will not be affected. ”

Zhang Yin looked down at the red-hot charcoal and did not speak.

"Now that the city has not yet been built, the enemy army has arrived, and it is even more difficult to transport grain and grass, and the situation is worse than expected, the ministers of the court and the central government must persuade your majesty to abandon the city and recall the two generals. No matter how insistent Your Majesty is, there is no other choice in this case, abandon the city earlier, at least not fall into the prestige of the country, if you lose another game in the city, Da Chu will be swept away in the Western Regions, we want to go back to Da Chu, but I am afraid that there will be no way. ”

Zhang Yin took a deep breath, put down the iron hook in his hand, slowly got up, and said: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty believes and trusts me, I, I, I can't, I can't, I can't abandon the city." ”

Shen Jingshi's anger surged up again, and Tengdi also stood up, and said loudly: "Zhang Yin, I know that it was you who gave Your Majesty the idea to atone for your grandson's sins, but you can't atone for everyone's lives, I will take the soldiers in the city away." ”

Zhang Yin did not respond.

Shen Jingshi waited for a while, then stretched out his hand, "Hand over the official seal." ”

The official seal is the key to all problems, Shen Jingshi wants to leave, and most of the soldiers in the city also want to leave, but without the official seal, there will be no formal order, and the retreat will become a fugitive, and after returning to Dachu, he can't explain, and he is likely to be convicted and imprisoned.

Zhang Yin still shook his head, "Holy Decree." ”

Shen Jingshi couldn't bear it anymore, scolded a swear word, and said angrily: "You are harder than the stone that built the city, you have this ability, you can go and repel the enemy army alone." ”

Shen Jingshi brushed his sleeves and left.

The old servant stepped forward and said: "Hou Ye think twice, Shen Duhu's words have some truth, even if the holy decree comes, I am afraid that it will make Hou Ye give up this city." ”

In front of the servant, Zhang Yin spoke more smoothly, but also tried to be as brief as possible, "The Zhang family can't live up to His Majesty's trust again, and if the holy decree doesn't come, I won't retreat." ”

The old servant didn't dare to persuade again, and said: "Then I'll go out and take a look, the people in the city are unstable, and Shen Duhu is in a hurry to evacuate, don't make trouble." ”

Zhang Yin nodded in agreement, and after the old servant left, he sat down on the stool again and continued to burn the fire, thinking only about one thing in his heart: at the current rate, how long would it take to complete the last section of the city wall.

I don't know how long it has been, but the old servant who went out to check the situation suddenly pushed the door and broke in, and said in a panic: "The big thing is not good, the sergeant in the city is encouraged to come and seize the seal!" ”

"Guan, Guan......" Zhang Yinyi was nervous and stuttered more seriously.

The old servant understood his master's intentions, and immediately closed the door and latched it, took two steps back, and looked at the door as if it were going to turn into a monster.

At the knock on the door, the old servant shuddered with fright, and turned to look at his master.

Zhang Yin, the Marquis of Biyuan, picked up the iron gun placed against the wall at some point, held it with both hands, and faced the door, his fur enlarged his body, and he regained a little bit of his youthful majesty.

The old servant was encouraged, and he also went to the wall, took a knife, held it in his hand, and stood in front of his master's side, trembling with fear.

The knocking stopped, someone pushed the door, but it couldn't be pushed, and a voice shouted: "General Zhang open the door." ”

The master stuttered, and the old servant replied on his behalf, "Master Hou asked, what's the matter?" ”

"The enemy army is about to attack, let's discuss the defense of the city with General Zhang."

"Don't lie, I heard you talking, and I want to come and seize the general seal of the Hou Ye. Hou Ye said very clearly, without the holy decree, he will never abandon the city, Shen Du will not be under the control of Hou Ye, he wants to leave, take his own people away, and the other soldiers have to stay. ”

There was silence outside for a while, and suddenly there was a banging knock on the door, and then an angry voice, "General Zhang, we are all people with children and daughters, we still have fathers and mothers to raise, and we can't be loyal to the court with the general, please either hand over the official seal, or write a retreat order, let us leave Huju City." ”

The old servant turned around and glanced at his master again, and replied loudly: "Since you take the court, you should be loyal to the country, how can you retreat lightly?" No matter how strong the enemy is, it can't be taken away easily, and it is even more difficult to escape from the Western Regions. ”

Someone outside said: "This is not General Zhang, it's an old guy next to him." ”

Another said: "Don't listen to his nonsense, General Zhang refused to hand over the seal, because he was afraid that he would not be able to explain to the emperor after returning to Beijing, and his grandson's life would be difficult to protect, so he used us as substitutes for the dead ghosts." ”

Zhang Yin was speechless, and the old servant said: "You don't have to guess, General Zhang usually treats you well, and will not pursue today's matter, you retreat quickly, urge the craftsmen to build the city, and build the last section of the city wall as soon as possible, which is everyone's life-saving asset." ”

The words did not convince anyone, and there was another knock on the door outside, louder, as if it was banging on the door with something.

The door was very thick, and the latch was hard enough, and the people outside smashed it for a while, gave up, and there was a humane: "Just set it on fire." ”

The old servant was shocked, the stone house was not afraid of fire, but the wooden door was not, and there were charcoal and other flammable things in the house.

Fortunately, someone objected immediately, "No, we can't bear the crime of killing the general, not to mention that if the official seal is burned, we won't be able to leave, and if we block it for a few days, there is nothing to eat in the house, General Zhang will open the door and discuss it when the time comes." ”

The people outside dispersed, and the old servant quietly walked to the door, looked through the crack in the door for a while, turned to the master, and whispered, "Someone is watching outside." ”

Zhang Yin sat back on the stool, put the iron gun beside him, watched the charcoal fire weaken, and did not play with the iron hook again.

"We can't last long, it's okay to say that we don't have food, there is no water......" Although the old servant has been defending his master, he hopes that his master can compromise.

Zhang Yin was silent for a long time, and then said: "I'd rather die, I'd rather die than retreat." ”

The old servant sighed softly, took the knife and walked to the door again, and stood by the door, ready to live and die with his master.

When night fell, the charcoal burned out, and the house grew colder and colder, and the master and servant took turns sleeping.

Early the next morning, Shen Jingshi came in person, ostensibly to mediate the conflict between the general and the soldiers, but in fact he was still persuading Zhang Yin to evacuate.

Zhang Yin didn't reply a word, and the old servant occasionally said a few words, and soon gave up.

Zhang Yin, the Marquis of Biyuan, was stubborn, and the sergeants outside began to discuss evacuating on their own, but when they thought of facing military punishment after returning to Dachu, no one dared to leave without shaking their hands.

On the third day, Shen Jingshi came again, "General Zhang, come out and take a look, the craftsmen are running out, and we Chu people are left. ”

The old servant was grumbling with hunger, and his temper was not very good, and he said loudly: "The craftsman is what you let go, see how you explain it to Your Majesty in the future!" ”

Shen Jingshi snorted and left.

In the afternoon, the old servant saw through the crack in the door that the sergeants had brought firewood to the door, his face turned pale, and he turned to the master and said, "Master Hou, we will not die of thirst or starvation, we will be burned to death." ”

"Bi, Bi freezes to death...... Strong. Zhang Yin said this.

The old servant nodded, and said loudly to the door: "If you want to burn, bring more firewood, warm and warm." ”

The firewood was piled up, but no one came to light the fire for a long time, the sergeants passed the buck to each other, and Shen Jingshi refused to do it himself.

At night, the master and servant were thirsty and hungry, and they couldn't sleep, so they sat on the stools and faced each other silently.

"The little lord is really not worth it for the Hou Ye to do this." The old servant was dying, and he told the truth.

"I'm not for him." Zhang Yindao doesn't care if others believe it or not.

Outside, shouts rang out, "The enemy is coming!" ”

The old servant got up, and shouted outside: "No, it's General Deng!" (To be continued.) )