In fact, judging from the above two points and his later behavior of protecting the Son of Heaven (the central government), although his character is not as good as Zhang Chengye, Yang Fuguang and others, it is not too bad. It's still conscientious, and it's still a small flaw without a big evil.

Now I often see some film and television dramas and some books, and eunuchs are always called "eunuchs" or "fathers-in-law", but in fact, these two titles are not in the history of the Tang Dynasty, and I don't know if there were in the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Zhang Chengfan was ordered to be in danger, of course he wanted to make a difference, and he did not want to be constrained by Tian Lingzi. So he said to him: "Tian Junrong is a father, and he has a great responsibility, so you don't have to go to Tongguan in person, right?" The saint (referring to the emperor) can't do without you! You can rest assured, there is a humble position, there is Tongguan. ”

Tian Lingzi listened to it, and thought to himself, yes, I'm leaving, what should the saint do? Who can take care of him?

Zhang Chengfan urgently summoned a part of the Shence army to Tongguan, and the selected troops were mainly crossbowmen. The Shence sergeants are all children of rich families in Chang'an, and most of them bribe eunuchs to make a name in the army, and then sit at home to get their salaries. "Raise soldiers for a thousand days, and use them for a while." Now the time has come for them to serve their country.

On the day of the expedition, the parents sent their son, the girlfriend sent their fiancé, and there was a cry in the team. In the early morning of this day, Emperor Li Yi came early, and he climbed the Zhangxin Gate Tower to personally see off the soldiers on the expedition. Zhang Chengfan said his heart to the Son of Heaven: "I heard that Huangchao has hundreds of thousands of people, and the drum is marching west. Taining Jiedu envoy Li Kerang (Li Keyong's younger brother) has led 10,000 people to camp outside Tongguan, and the minister immediately led 2,000 Shence troops to set off. And the military rations have not yet been settled, so let them defend themselves against the thieves. The minister is really chilling. I hope that Your Majesty will urgently urge the elite soldiers of all towns to be our backup, otherwise. We're afraid we won't be able to hold on! ”

Li Yi comforted him and said: "The first line of the Qing Dynasty is the first to go, and the soldiers are looking for it." "It means, "Go first." Reinforcements will arrive soon. In fact, this is like a man deceiving Xiao San, when will the soldiers of Zhuzhen arrive, he has no bottom in his heart.

At the beginning of December, Zhang Chengfan, Wang Shihui, and Zhao Ke led 2,000 Shence troops to Tongguan. Outside the east gate of the city, Li Kerang was leading his soldiers to endure hunger and cold and dig a wide and deep trench to stop the attack of the grass army. Zhang Chengfan was also inspired by his spirit, actively prepared for war, and mobilized more than 100 villagers to carry large stones to the city tower.

this day. The vanguard of the Yellow Nest army to reach the city. "Zizhi Tongjian" said: "The white flag is full of fields, and there is no horizon." From this, it can be seen that the military flag of the Huangchao army is a white flag. I thought: When the Tang government army saw it, they probably thought they were here to surrender, right?

Outside the east gate of Tongguan, Li Kerang led thousands of crossbowmen to line up in front of the large camp, and several charges of the nest soldiers were repelled by dense arrows. Taking advantage of the enemy's retreat, Li Kerang waved his army to cover the past. Suddenly, the sound of killing suddenly rose and shook the valley. It turned out that the main force of the Yellow Nest had arrived. After a fierce battle for several hours, the Taining soldiers could not support it and returned to their own position.

When the soldiers returned to the camp, they were already hungry. But. The cooking classes couldn't open the pot, and after a day's fighting, they couldn't eat. Everyone was indignant: "The court didn't care about our life and death, and fought a bird battle for him." Don't fight! "Don't fight! ”。 The enraged GIs set the camp on fire. In an instant, the flames soared into the sky, and the camp outside the city was completely burned. More than 10,000 people dispersed from the Forbidden Valley. Li Kerang had no choice but to retreat into the city with a few soldiers.

In order to appease the morale of the army, Zhang Chengfan poured all the materials in his treasury and distributed them to the officers and soldiers, saying: "Please all the kings to serve the country hard, and the rescue will arrive soon." (In this case, a white lie is unavoidable.) ）

The soldiers were moved, with tears in their eyes, and said that they swore to live and die with Tongguan! Seeing that the situation was urgent and the situation was serious, Zhang Chengfan sent a note to the imperial court, which read: "It has been six days since the minister left Beijing to Tongguan, and there is no food and salary inside, and there are no rescuers outside, and more than 2,000 people have rejected the thieves and 600,000 people. If the customs defense is lost, the minister is willing to go to the oil pot! And I don't know where the faces of the courtiers will be placed? Hearing that His Majesty is preparing to tour Bashu in the west, Luan Yu will move, and the hearts of the whole country will definitely collapse. At the critical moment of life and death in the Tang Dynasty, the ministers dared to risk death to remind His Majesty and all the ministers to urgently recruit troops to save the guard! In this way, the foundation of Gaozu and Taizong can still be supported. If Huang Chao goes to the same demise as An Lushan, then Weichen will die more valuable than Ge Shuhan! "--Excellent: Advice comes from the bottom of my heart, and the end of the prosperous world screams!

When the Chao army saw that the guards outside the pass had self-destructed the camp, they knew that there was a problem within the Tang government army, and the siege became even more crazy and violent! Rows of ladders, crowds, knives and guns collide, and arrows fly. When the guards ran out of arrows, they lifted up large rocks and threw them down......

Outside the east gate of the city, there is a trench about hundreds of meters long and more than ten meters wide opposite the city gate (this was dug by Li Kerang's department a few days ago. The nest soldiers drove more than 1,000 people to dig and fill in the ditch, and without much effort to fill it up, they rushed to the city gate, but were thrown back by the stones that flew down from the tower.

It was night, the moon was dark and the wind was high, the nest soldiers secretly went to the city gate to set fire, the fire burned the building at once, and after the fire was extinguished, the guards hurried to close the gap......

There is a road between the valleys on the left side of Tongguan that can be cleared in the customs, and it is not allowed to enter and exit at ordinary times, which is called the forbidden valley. After a long time, this place was gradually forgotten by the guards, and no troops were sent to garrison it. Zhang Chengfan didn't know anything about it when he first arrived. However, such a shortcut that could bypass the customs defense was discovered by Shang Rang, the second person in the Chao Army. He led the army under the cover of night and quietly entered.

The enemy's whereabouts did not escape Zhang Chengfan's eyes, and he was shocked: not good, there must be an omission in the valley on the left. The Urgent King will take 800 crossbowmen to the Forbidden Valley to stop the enemy. After Wang Shihui led the troops, he found that it was too late, and countless nest troops continued to pour in, gathering outside the west gate of Tongguan.

The next day, under the attack of the enemy on both sides of the east and west, the defenders, who had run out of ammunition and food, could no longer hold on and were completely defeated. Wang Shihui, the right general of the Shence Army, pulled out his sword and wanted to kill himself, but Zhang Chengfan hurriedly snatched the sword in his hand and said: "The two of us are dead, who should be the debater?" It is better to see the Son of Heaven and hear the truth, and it is not too late to die. ”

So they each brought a piece of the people's garment, put it on, and fled out of the city. returned to Chang'an and reported to the Son of Heaven about the loss of Tongguan. Emperor Li Yi vented all his grievances on Prime Minister Lu Xi. He was removed from all positions. What's going on with Lu? It turned out that he strongly recommended Gao Biao as the commander-in-chief of the bandits. And Gao Biao was derelict in his duties. Let the Huangchao army cross the Huai River. Otherwise, why is Tongguan lost? At least that's what Li Yi thinks. In this way, Lu Xi can be regarded as lying down and being shot.

As soon as the emperor sat in the court, the news came that Huang Chao was marching towards Chang'an. For a time, the hundred officials were terrified, and Tian Lingzi used five hundred troops to escort Emperor Li Yi out of the north gate and escape from Chang'an.

Let's say that Li Kerang escaped from Tongguan with a few cronies, ran all the way, and entered Nanshan. Look at how late it is. Spend the night at a nearby Buddhist temple. After fasting, they were so tired that they fell asleep. There are more than ten monks in the temple, and there is a way that the monks are compassionate, and the four are empty. But the monks here don't look like they're here to practice. All of them have thief eyebrows.

They gathered in a dark secret room, whispering. The monk at the head said: "Now, Li Tang's qi has been exhausted, and the Yellow King should be established." or while they are asleep. Kill them, and then report to the Yellow King, and we will have made a great contribution, and we are expected to be rich. What do you think? ”

The monks nodded in agreement: "Okay." It's a brilliant plan. ”

In the middle of the night, the monks, armed with sharp blades, sneaked into the meditation room where Li Ke had put them to sleep. A burst of sword light fluttered. Flesh and blood flying. In addition to Ji Gang and Hun Jintong who woke up and escaped, Li Kerang and the other four were killed. Pity. The hero Li Kerang did not fall on the battlefield of serving the country, but died next to the Buddha who removed the mortal dust. He was twenty-five years old.

On the fifth day of December in the first year of Guangming (880), on the upper floor of Chang'an City, the red flag embroidered with the word "Tang" in the past was all gone, and the eyes were full of white flags. This is even more chilly in the middle of winter. To the east of Chang'an, Huang Chao rode in a golden carriage, followed by guards wearing brocade robes, draped hair, and tied with a red cloth on their foreheads. Hundreds of thousands of troops embraced each other and entered the city from Chunming Gate. When they arrived at the Taiji Palace, thousands of palace maids knelt down to greet them, calling them "Yellow King". Huang Chao's gaze stayed on this group of flower-like palace maids, trying to restrain the impulse in his heart, and sighed: "This is really providence, providence!" ”

Just when Huang Chao was staring at the palace maids, Li Keyong led the crow army all the way to a pass without stopping, which was called: "Shiling Pass". Li Ke used to look at the sign of the flag on the upper floor of the Guan, and understood that it was a soldier sent by Zheng Congyan, the envoy of Hedong Jiedu. Ordered someone to call the customs to let him go, and the city replied: "Zheng Dashuai has an order, and you must show a pass to enter the customs." ”

Where did Lick get his pass? If it had been before, he would have ordered the siege of the city. But now that he has submitted to the imperial court, he can't do that to friendly troops. had to order the team to make a detour, the target was Taiyuan, and he wanted to ask Zheng Congyan for an explanation in person.

Zheng Congyan went to the city tower and looked down, only to see the red and black crow army lined up in the Nine Palaces Bagua Array, and the majestic general in front of the formation was Li Keyong. Li Ke bowed his hand to Zheng Congyan and said: "The last general will be the emperor of the Son of Heaven and pass by your land, but he was unexpectedly blocked by Zheng Envoy's subordinates at Shiling Pass for no reason, what is the reason? ”

Zheng Congyan snorted disdainfully: "King Qin? Nicely said, you're here to add to the chaos, right? ”

"If you don't believe it, please see, I have a book made by the imperial court." Li Keyong took out a piece of paper and shook it a few times on the top of his head, "Please Zheng Gong give food and salary according to the regulations to fund the military." ”

Li Keyong said it reasonably, Zheng Congyan couldn't come up with a reason to refuse for a while, so he said: "This, this, the state property is not up to me alone, so let's call a meeting of the soldiers to discuss, how about replying to you in a few days?" ”

Knowing that Zheng Congyan was deliberately making things difficult, Li Keyong couldn't help it, so just wait. It took only five days for Taiyuan City to release words: "I'm sorry, on the issue of distributing food and salary, we voted and no more than half of the people agreed to distribute it, so it was vetoed." Now is the era of democracy, it is not easy to be an official, do you want to think of a way elsewhere? ”

Li Keyong almost fainted with anger, and he really treated me like a beggar. If you don't agree to say it earlier, let us be drenched in the rain for five days, what kind of world is this? It's so difficult to serve the country loyally. Forget it, let's go back, don't be the king of diligence! Li Ke's enthusiasm for serving the country with fire is like being poured a basin of cold water on his head, and it is cold to his heart. He took all the men and horses and returned to Daizhou in great frustration.

In the northern suburbs of Chang'an, from the Dongweiqiao camp of the Chao Army, a team of nearly 100 people walked out. In front of the procession was a white flag, and the leader was on a horse, carrying a heavy broadsword on his shoulder. Yes, this person is Zhu Wen. Today, he is going to complete a glorious task given to him by the big boss - the edict to make Zhuge Shuang of the Xiazhou Festival. After walking for more than ten miles, the front was the Liyang camp of the Xiazhou Army.

When he arrived at the gate of the camp, Zhu Wen said loudly: "Brothers soldiers of Xiazhou, listen, I am Zhu Wen, a famous general sent by the Emperor of Great Qi. ”

A soldier went in to report to Zhuge Shuang: "Huangchao sent a person, named Zhu Wen, saying that there is something important to meet the marshal, and they are here under a white flag." ”

When Zhuge Shuang heard this, he was in a very happy mood: Oh, Zhu Wen, I haven't heard of it. Whatever, since he came under a white flag, he came to take refuge in me. Unexpected! It turns out that I, Zhuge Shuang, am famous, and I can be regarded as a well-known figure! "Hurry up, please!"

As soon as Zhuge Shuang saw Zhu Wen, he could see from his experience that he was a non-idle person. So he warmly invited him to sit down and made him a cup of Longjing tea. Zhu Wen doesn't like to drag mud and water when he speaks, he said straight to the point: "You have a good idea of the current domestic situation, right?" The imperial capital of Chang'an is at our feet, and the Tang Dynasty to which you are loyal is completely finished! He said the word "finished" very seriously, "Now there are only two paths in front of you, sir, choose one of the two." The first way is to know the current affairs as Junjie, return to my Daqi, and you continue to be your ambassador of the Xiazhou Festival. The second way? I won't talk about it, you're a smart man, you don't need a hammer to beat a drum. Hey! ”

Zhu Wen is uneducated, but it's still okay to play tricks. A few words made Zhuge Shuang stupid, like falling into a fog: What what? Is he here to surrender me, or is he here to surrender me? After a while, I was a little sober, and my thoughts returned to reality: Zhu Wen's words may be right, it seems that Datang is really about to end. Alas! It's better to come down, and this situation can't be reversed by me. Thinking of this, he nodded at Zhu Wen and said, "Okay, I'm willing to take the first path you said." ”

"That's right."

Subsequently, according to Zhu Wen's request, he wrote a letter of surrender. Zhu Wen took the letter of surrender and got up to say goodbye excitedly, he was anxious to report the good news to Huang Chao, which was a major event related to his future.

In fact, this letter is no different from a blank check. (To be continued......)