"If the deceased return to the earth, what about the Taiping Army?"

In the backyard garden of his residence, Liu Yan, the thirteenth royal highness of the descendant of the Southern Tang Dynasty, was alone drinking wine on the stone table in the garden, muttering the words that made the withered sheep taste for a long time.

As Liu Yan said before, his feelings for the Taiping Army are indeed very complicated, and they cannot be explained clearly in just a few words.

Thirty years ago, when the Great Zhou Dynasty destroyed the Southern Tang Dynasty, most people thought that the bloodline of the Liu family in the Southern Tang Dynasty was wiped out except for the princess Liu Qian and her husband, and was brutally killed by the Great Zhou Emperor Li Ji in the Jiangnan Tiger Forest, but in fact, there is still a trace of Liu's bloodline left in the world, that is, Liu Yan, who was only a few years old at the time.

About thirteen years after the fall of the Southern Tang Dynasty, Xue Ren, an old general of the Southern Tang Dynasty who was loyal to the Liu family, raised troops in the Taiping of the Yangtze River and appointed himself as a general, openly rebelling and wanting to restore the Liu clan of the Southern Tang Dynasty, but he did not want to be frantically encircled and suppressed by the Great Zhou, and finally the army was defeated in Wuhu and almost wiped out.

Afterwards, Xue Ren's lieutenant general, Wu Heng's father, Wu Wei, inherited this legacy, but because he felt that his ability was shallow enough to lead the Taiping army, he tried his best to find the descendants of the Liu family of the Southern Tang Dynasty.

Finally, Wu Wei found Liu Qian and asked her to come forward to preside over the overall situation. You must know that the first generation of Taiping soldiers at that time had been frightened by Dongzhen Hou Liang Qiujing, if there was no respected leader to lead the whole army, I am afraid that the entire Taiping army would be shattered. After all, the Taiping Army at that time did not have Liang Qiuhao, a unique hero in the country, and the younger generation of generals such as Yang Yu and Wu Heng had not yet grown to the point where they could take charge on their own.

It is undeniable that although Liu Qing's biological mother Liu Qian is only a weak woman, she is quite strategic and far-sighted, she prevented the first generation of the Taiping Army from taking revenge on the Great Zhou with the help of frequent rebellion, and taught it to keep quiet and wait for the opportunity. Desperate to eradicate.

Compared with the sharp-edged first Taiping Army, the second generation of the Taiping Army has more than enough strength, but it is not enterprising enough, after all, the leader of the overall power is Liu Qian, a humble woman, therefore, in the years she held power, the Taiping Army almost never clashed with the Great Zhou, and the calm almost made people within the Taiping Army even think that they were going to give up their ambition to restore the Southern Tang Dynasty.

Finally, Liu Qian coincidentally pulled Liang Qiu Hao, the Great Zhou Tiger, into the Taiping Army. The second-generation Taiping Army, which has gradually become accustomed to peace. This force lurking in the shadow of the Great Zhou has finally obtained a leader with unparalleled courage and force. Like a sleeping beast, it gradually showed its fangs and quickly infiltrated Jiangnan.

Accept those who are willing to submit, and remove the stubborn stones that are unwilling to submit. gradually encroached on the power of the Great Zhou in the south of the Yangtze River, which was the three generations of Taiping Army led by the great hero Liang Qiuhao.

However, few people know that in fact, before and after Liang Qiuhao succeeded Liu Qian as the commander-in-chief of the Taiping Army, Wu Wei, the deputy marshal of the first Taiping Army, also found Liu Yan by chance and found the only male of the Southern Tang Liu family in the world.

Why wasn't Liu Yan surprised that Wu Heng could find him? The reason is very simple, because Liu Yan had met Wu Heng's father before, that is, Wu Wei, the deputy marshal of the original Taiping Army. And at that time, Wu Wei persuaded Liu Yan to take over Liu Qian's team, but Liu Yan refused.

“……”

Taking a sip of wine, Liu Yan slowly closed his eyes. Scenes of the past came to his mind.

According to his understanding, on the night of the collapse of the country, the guards and guardians in the palace sought a way to survive and escaped from the palace.

However, unfortunately, there was an incomparably brave young general who was chased and killed by the order of Li Ji, the son of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

Who is that young general?

That is the eldest son of Liang Qiu Gong in accordance with the order of the Son of Heaven Li Ji to conquer the Southern Tang Dynasty, that is, the later former Eastern Town Marquis, the border general, a grassland tribe feared for more than 20 years, even a few years after his death, in the place where he saw his handsome flag fluttering, he still did not dare to act rashly, and he was also Liang Qiu Hao's biological father, Liang Qiu Gong, the tiger of the northern Xinjiang.

The generals who flow with the blood of the Liang Qiu family are all unparalleled fierce generals in the country, this sentence is suitable for Liang Qiu Hao and Liang Qiu Wu, and it is also suitable for Liang Qiu Gong and Liang Qiu Jing, his younger brother who stayed in Jijing to learn martial arts at that time.

Liang Qiugong and Liang Qiujing, a pair of brothers, one participated in the destruction of the Southern Tang Dynasty, and the other personally buried almost the entire original Taiping Army, making the Liang Qiu family famous even in Jiangnan, and even in Jiangnan a few decades later, there are still people who will image these two calligraphy and paintings, and hang them on the portal as door gods, so as to beg for shelter.

And in the face of such a fierce general as Liang Qiugong, how could the guards and eunuchs in the Southern Tang Palace resist? After all, more than ten sons of the Southern Tang Emperor Liu were killed, and only a few of them were guardians of the youngest thirteen princes, Liu Yan, who escaped the pursuit and exile, and finally crossed the Yangtze River to Guangling. Because Guangling was one of the many cities conquered by Liangqiu Gong, the strict military discipline of the Eastern Army's Shenwu Camp made it possible for the people in the city to not be bullied, and the security of the entire city was roughly the same as before. To put it mildly, apart from the fact that the emperor to be worshipped has changed, there is not much difference other than that.

So, those old eunuchs took Liu Yan to settle in Guangling, teaching the little lord to learn literature and martial arts, and on the other hand, inquiring about the news of Liu Sheng, the son of heaven they were loyal to. A few months later, they learned that their allegiance, Liu Sheng, had been forced to die in Hulin by the Great Zhou Emperor Li Ji.

The country is broken, the king is dead, the mountains and rivers are broken!

Several old eunuchs died one after another due to anxiety, and in the end, only Liu Yan was left.

At that time, Liu Yan was only seven or eight years old, and the seven or eight-year-old children knew what to do, but they just sat on the empty mountain and lived on the money obtained from the pawning of the treasures brought out of the Southern Tang Palace.

It wasn't until Liu Yan was around the age of fifteen that he ran out of money that he gradually realized the hardships of life.

At that time, Xue Ren, the first commander of the Taiping Army, had rebelled against the Great Zhou in Taiping, so he was also frantically encircled and suppressed by the Great Zhou Army, and the entire Jiangnan also began to maintain a catastrophe for a full ten years: the angry Great Zhou Emperor Li Ji ordered the Taiping Army to be hunted down.

It's better to kill the wrong one than to let it go!

In order to curry favor with the Son of Heaven and get promoted to become rich, there were many local officials who framed innocent people as the Taiping Army, so that in that decade, the population of Jiangnan plummeted by one percent.

What a staggering number!

In order to hide people's eyes, Liu Yan gave up the noble surname Liu. Changed to the Mo family's ink character as the surname. Because of the years he lived in Guangling, Liu Yan also compared the national strength of the Great Zhou and the Southern Tang Dynasty.

In Liu Yan's view, the reason why he was defeated in the Northern Zhou Dynasty by the Southern Tang Dynasty was that the Confucian style prevailed in China and forced the rest of the schools.

It's not that Confucian scholarship is bad, if it's true Confucian scholarship. The problem was that the academic atmosphere in China at that time was too pompous, but all literati were thinking about how to write in the most ornate words to win the favor of the Son of Heaven. At that time, officials from all over the country could write a book, but they were asked to meet the invasion of the Northern Zhou Dynasty. I'm sorry. The Southern Tang Dynasty has been living in comfort for too long. So much so that he didn't know how to resist the strong troops of the Northern Zhou Dynasty.

Born in sorrow, died in peace, and never experienced what it was to be prepared for danger in times of peace, the Southern Tang Dynasty finally perished. Defeated at the hands of the Northern Zhou Emperor Li Ji, the overlord with great talent and strategy, the two countries were merged into one, and the Northern Zhou Dynasty was renamed the Great Zhou from then on.

And all this is quite far away for him Liu Yan, and even, after gradually reading more and more historical books and wild records, Liu Yan feels more and more that the fall of his Southern Tang Dynasty is inevitable, because his country has become accustomed to peace. Lost vigilance. They forget, forget that the world has not yet been unified, forget that north of the Yangtze River there is still a fierce tiger of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, singing every day, extravagantly and luxuriously; On the other hand, the Northern Zhou. Despite the fierce forces in the north and the strong Qiang in the west, the emperors of the past dynasties still worked hard to govern the country, always hoping that one day they would open up their territory and take a large area of land south of the Yangtze River into their pockets.

In such a comparison, Liu Yan felt that his country was not unjustly defeated, because it was not defeated in the hands of many strong generals in the Northern Zhou Dynasty, but in his own hands.

But then again, as a descendant of the Southern Tang royal family, didn't Liu Yan never think about restoring the country one day?

In fact, Liu Yan did think about it at first, because he was the last male of the Liu family of the Southern Tang Dynasty, and he felt that he needed to take the responsibility of becoming the king of the fallen country. After all, at the moment when his father, Emperor Liu Sheng of the Southern Tang Dynasty, died and many of his brothers died, only he was qualified to decide the direction of the country.

However, Liu Yan gave up.

[The people of the south are under the rule of the north, but the people's livelihood is still better than before.] Those who want to exhaust thousands of innocent people to invade the northern country and destroy their lives? -- Don't make trouble! ]

This is when Wu Wei, the deputy marshal of the first Taiping Army, found Liu Yan to persuade him to take over Liu Qian's team, Liu Yan persuaded Wu Wei in turn.

In Liu Yan's opinion, since the people of the Southern Tang Dynasty lived better under the governance of the Li clan of the Great Zhou royal family than they were under the governance of the Liu clan of the Southern Tang Dynasty, what reason did they have to rebel against the rule of the Great Zhou? Do you have to sacrifice the lives of countless innocent people and fight with the Great Zhou until the lives of the people are miserable and the people are uneasy?

At that time, Liu Yan's attitude was very resolute, he not only rejected Wu Wei's plea to ask him to come forward to preside over the overall situation, but even persuaded Wu Wei to disband the Taiping Army, end this senseless catastrophe, so that the people of Jiangnan can live in peace, after all, if no one takes the lead, the people will not have the courage and strength to resist the Great Zhou court.

In fact, to be honest, although the Taiping Army was created by the old ministers of the Southern Tang Dynasty, Liu Yan did not have a good impression of it, after all, Liu Yan lived in the people of Jiangnan and was used to seeing too many innocent people who were imprisoned or even executed by the government because of the involvement of the Taiping Army. Compared with the two generations of heavenly concubines who were held in the palm of the hands of the Taiping army, that is, Liu Qian and her daughter Liu Qing, Liu Yan can understand the life of the people more, whether it is joy or sorrow, otherwise, he would not say to Wu Wei that he should not cause trouble and drag down the people.

After several attempts to persuade him to no avail, Wu Wei retreated helplessly, and soon after returning to the Taiping Army, he fell ill with a heart disease and died. Before he died, he told his son Wu Heng the secret of Liu Yanshang, the thirteenth royal highness of the Southern Tang Dynasty, who was alive in the world.

So much so that when Wu Heng felt desperate and resentful about Liu Qing's bias towards Liang Qiuhao, when he gave up Liu Qing as the object of allegiance, he invited Liu Yan, a descendant of the Southern Tang Dynasty royal family who lived in seclusion among the people, and used a semi-coercive method.

The night was late, but Liu Yan didn't feel sleepy at all.

It should be said that he had no intention of sleeping, because all his mind was focused on those places in Guangling City where endless fighting shouts were heard.

In the final analysis, he is just Wu Heng's puppet, although he is the current head of the Taiping Army, but he has no authority. The only thing he could do. It is to watch quietly, to see if the Taiping Army will fall tonight.

Ah, he didn't think Wu Heng could win at all. In his opinion, Wu Heng is undeniably a powerful and scheming lord, but this person is too ruthless and has a weak sense of humanity. And in general, if such a guy can't climb to the top, then the end must be extremely miserable.

This kind of thing is not uncommon in history.

Standing up, Liu Yan, who was already drunk, staggered towards the tallest building in the City Guard Mansion. Because it's a puppet. It is impossible for Wu Heng to give Liu Yan absolute freedom. Therefore. When Wu Heng initially asked where he wanted to live in the city, Liu Yan chose the tallest pavilion in the castle guard's mansion.

Because the view there is the best, you can roughly see the whole of Guangling, which can be regarded as the so-called panoramic view. And now. The top floor of that attic has undoubtedly become the best place to watch the two armies clash with each other.

"Heh, the south gate is fighting......"

When the 1,000 people of the Niu Zhu army made a feint attack on the south gate of the city on the order of the withered sheep, Liu Yan had already climbed the tall building, so he drank and watched the whole battle. It was the only thing he could do, because he was nothing more than a puppet.

"Huh? The West Gate also fought...... Is it a plan for the sound of withered sheep to attack the west? After taking a sip of wine, Liu Yan secretly frowned and pondered, secretly surprised why Yi Wu Heng's strategy was attacked by the young and immature withered sheep.

It wasn't until Liu Yan noticed the movement of the guards in the eastern, western, and northern parts of the city. It dawned on him.

"I see...... It turned out that Wu Heng was planning to use the withered sheep to lure into the Zhou army, so that he could catch them all? - Huh? That army is ......"

Liu Yan watched quietly, from the Niuzhu army's thousand-man general Wu Zhen feint to attack the south city gate, to the Niuzhu army's general Wang Jian's feint attack on the west city gate again, and then to the withered sheep led the main force of the Niuzhu army to capture the south city gate. Finally, Wu Heng ordered the defenders of the east, west, and north walls to storm the south gate.

"Wonderful! It's wonderful! ”

With a bitter smile on his face, Liu Yan praised bitterly. Although he didn't know the frightening mutual calculation between Wu Heng and the withered sheep, he could somewhat understand the danger.

If you take one wrong step, you will die without a place to be buried!

Suddenly, his eyes were slightly stunned.

Zhou Jun...... Killed in the city? ”

Squinting his eyes, Liu Yan looked in surprise at the cavalry led by Liao Li into the city and slaughtered in all directions in the city.

"Can it finally be over?"

Liu Yan sighed slightly, after all, in his opinion, once the Zhou soldiers were called into the city, it meant that the Taiping army had lost the advantage brought by the walls of Guangling City.

"Then again......"

After carefully examining the situation in the city, Liu Yan's eyes showed a little doubt, which was immediately replaced by surprise.

"It's not the same as before...... the situation. - Wu Heng, that guy ......"

Obviously, it was Liao Li who led thousands of cavalry and foot soldiers into the city, and it stands to reason that the Zhou army should take the lead, why would Liu Yan say such a thing that has not changed from before?

Perhaps, only Wu Heng can explain this.

Zhang Hong...... Are you dead in battle? - Who killed him? ”

On a street outside the city guard's mansion, Wu Heng stood on the street with many guards on horseback, asking the heralds who came to report the news.

"Back to Wu Shuai, Lord Heavenly General was killed by an assassin...... According to what the Heavenly General said before he came to die, it should be the Mo Fei of the Dongling people! ”

"Oh? Is it the woman Mo Fei and not Jin Ling'er? Wu Heng glanced at the herald with some surprise, and said with a smile, "Ben Shuai thought that since Xie An was here, most of his evil women should also be here...... It turned out to be Mo Fei! ――Zhang Hong is too imprudent! ”

[Too careless...... A dignified member of the Five Heavens will die in battle, is Wu Shuai just saying this to this? ]

From the side, a general of the Taiping Army looked at Wu Heng in astonishment, and immediately seemed to think of something, and couldn't help but step forward and remind, "Wu Shuai, according to reports, Liao Li, the general of the Zhou army, has entered the city...... Don't let this man make trouble in the city! ”

"What's the hurry?" Glancing at the general, Wu Heng said unhurriedly, "Liao Lisuo's troops are only a few thousand, and we have sixty or seventy thousand male soldiers, are you afraid that you won't be able to catch him?" ”

"But......" the general said hurriedly when he heard this, "but the southern city gate is still in the hands of the traitors of the Zhou army and the Niu Zhu army!" -- If we can't recapture it as soon as possible, when the Zhou army's backup arrives one after another, our army may ......"

"Hey!" Wu Heng shook his head and chuckled when he heard this, and said, "This commander still wishes that Zhou Jun would crash into the city and die!" As he spoke, he turned his head and glanced in the direction of the South City Gate.

[Withered sheep, withered sheep, Ben Shuai really underestimated you kid...... I didn't expect you to be able to understand Ben Shuai's plan and act according to the plan, but it's a pity...... Do you really think you've won Ben Shuai? Amusing! ――Even if you are lucky enough to win the game, the battle is still not going as well as the boss hopes? Didn't the Zhou army enter the city because of this? Fool! Ben Shuai just designed to trap and kill Zhou soldiers in the city, no matter which side Zhou soldiers entered the city from, there was no difference! ]

Thinking of this, Wu Heng sighed and muttered with some disappointment, "I want to hunt a tiger, but I don't want to shoot a deer by chance!" - That's it, after all, Liao Li is also the general of the Zhou army...... So far, let's solve the dry sheep and Na Liao first! ”

As he spoke, Wu Heng took a deep breath and said in a deep voice, "Put the signal!" - Kannan Gate! ”

"Order!"

Several guards clenched their fists and took orders, and shot five fire arrows into the sky, breaking through the air.

"It's ......"

Because of Liao Li's arrival, the withered sheep who finally had the opportunity to rest near the south city gate noticed the five fire arrows that broke through the air for the first time.

And just as he pondered the meaning of the five fire arrows, suddenly, there was a clicking sound behind him.

"It'......" the withered sheep looked left and right, looking for the strange voice.

Suddenly, his face changed greatly, because he found that the suspension bridge that had obviously been lowered was actually put away, and then the south city gate, which had been opened, was also slowly closed.

"Boom!" After an extremely thick sound, the south gate finally closed again.

"How is that possible?!" Dry Sheep's eyes widened in disbelief, because he found that the gate was not closed by the Taiping army, but by the soldiers of the Niu Zhu army under his command.

Obviously, he Niu Zhu, a soldier who was still fighting to the death with the Taiping army, turned against him at this moment and gave up the city gate to the Taiping army. During this period, some soldiers who did not want to do so were mercilessly killed by the traitors.

[How can there be a traitor under his own command?!] ]

The withered sheep was frightened and angry, and suddenly, as if he had thought of something, his face changed suddenly.

[Marshal, the last general thinks that Wu Heng is deliberately trying to win you over, if not, why would you expand my Niu Zhu army to 20,000 people?] Isn't this a disguised co-optation? ]

At that time, the words of Wang Jian, the general of the ministry, suddenly appeared in the mind of the withered sheep.

"Oh no......"

In an instant, the withered sheep's forehead was drenched in cold sweat, and there was no blood on his face.

At the same time, Wu Heng seemed to have heard the loud noise coming from the closing of the south city gate, and a slight sneer appeared on his face.

"Because he is a former subordinate of his good brother Wei Hu, he loves Wu and Wu, so he also trusts him, right? - This trust is going to kill you now, withered sheep! ”

After all, Wu Heng's skills are superior!