When Zhu Yin led the vanguard of the Xuanwu Army to Yiju County, the main force of Zhu Wen's army had already set off from Bianzhou.

In Zhu Wen's plan, Zhu Yin led his troops down the white ditch and dispatched with thunder, which would definitely be able to seize the county before Xue Wei reacted, and provide the main force of the army with a bridgehead that could support them to continue to use troops to the north.

Li Ye received the good news of Shangguan Allure on the same night, and Zhu Wen received the news of Zhu Yin's defeat.

Zhu Wen, who was planning to rush from Bianzhou to Yiju County at dawn the next day, was shocked and shaken, and had to order the main force of the army to suspend the plan to advance to Yiju County, and set up camp near the border of Bianzhou.

And he himself immediately summoned his confidants and staff to conduct an all-night emergency military meeting.

The vanguard offensive was frustrated, and 50,000 soldiers and horses were either beheaded or captured, and less than one-third of them broke out of the encirclement.

It is also a pity that when the war broke out, it was close to dusk, and the one-sided massacre of the Xuanwu army by the Pinglu army and the defenders of Yiju County occurred after nightfall, which led to the fact that although the Xuanwu army suffered a large increase in the speed of casualties and the proportion of casualties in the chaos, it also prevented the Pinglu army from completely surrounding them.

If not, don't say that more than 10,000 people have fled back, but I'm afraid it's impossible to even 5,000.

Because it was still in Bian Zhou City, the military discussion was carried out in the Jiedu Embassy. In the brightly lit conference hall, the staff members exchanged nervous expressions. Zhu Wen sat on the main seat and never said a word, although he was not in a big mood, his eyes looked extremely terrifying, and his face was cloudy.

The staff members are all Zhu Wen's henchmen, and they know Zhu Wen's strategic deployment very well, and they are also of the same mind as him, so there is not much difference of opinion.

Everyone unanimously agreed that although the vanguard suffered setbacks, lost troops, and returned with a defeat of 800 soldiers, and Zhu Yin was also captured by Shangguan Chengcheng, it did not affect the fundamentals, and the original battle plan should not be changed.

Zhu Yin, as the general of the defeated army, was entrusted with a heavy task but lost the first battle, and should be severely punished and punished by military law, but he himself is now in the enemy camp, and he cannot be captured and killed.

Therefore, the staff suggested that Zhu Wen put Zhu Yin's family in prison and executed him, so as to show the officers and men of the three armies his firm will to conquer Pinglu.

Zhu Wen said in a deep voice: "Zhu Yin has followed Ben Shuai to fight for many years, and he has worked hard and made great achievements, even if he is defeated this time, there is no reason to kill his family, right?"

Zhu Wen's mastermind Xiao Yucheng persuaded with a solemn expression: "We have just pacified the Central Plains, except for the Xuanwu Army, the other six towns are all conquered and forced to take the initiative to belong to the feudal towns, and the people's hearts are unpredictable. This time, although we have raised millions of soldiers, and the soldiers are strong and strong, but after all, we are fighting against King An, and we do not occupy morality, and now the main force has not come out, and the vanguard has been defeated first, what will the soldiers of the six towns think?"

"Not taking up morality" is still a way of saying that avoids the important and trivializes.

Now that the Tang Emperor is still there, and the Tang Dynasty has not yet perished, although Zhu Wen sent troops under the banner of attacking the Tianping Army, in fact, he had to fight with Li Ye's troops.

Although the princes and hundreds of schools of thought were shouting before, Li Ye did not have the luck of Zhongxing Datang at all, and he was sure that he would inevitably not be able to achieve the general trend. However, now that Li Ye has become a general trend, this statement can no longer give psychological comfort to the princes.

Li Ye, who has become powerful, is still the prince of the imperial dynasty, and has the military and political power to control the east of Tongguan, nominally speaking, he only has the possibility of crusading against the feudal town, and there is no room for the feudal town to take the initiative to provoke a war.

Now that Zhu Wen has committed the following crimes, he and his henchmen are naturally determined, but what about the six towns in the Central Plains that have just been pacified by him?

Even if the envoys of the Six Towns Festival and even the main generals are basically Zhu Wen's henchmen now, they will unswervingly carry out his military orders, but what do many middle-level generals and ordinary soldiers think?

Zhu Wen commanded a million-strong army to go on the expedition, relying on the powerful power formed by the strong strength of the Daomen.

There is only power, and he has no name or prestige.

Power is only to make people fearful, and fame and virtue can make people happy and surrender.

Li Ye governed Pinglu and slept at night for several years, as well as the exhaustive efforts of Li Zhen and Cui Keli's civil official clique, which led to a situation in which the government was harmonious and the people were grateful. Zhu Wen does not have Li Zhen, Cui Keli, and the civil service team of King An's Mansion.

Although he also has civil officials to govern civil affairs, how can these people compare with Li Ye's civilian clique?

In the final analysis, Zhu Wencheng relied on the Daomen, and the Daomen would not govern the place.

Seeing that Zhu Wen was still hesitating, Xiao Yucheng continued to persuade bitterly: "If you are defeated without punishment, who will fight to the death in the future?" If the vanguard is defeated, the officers and men of the three armies will inevitably have the heart of fearing the Pinglu Army, at this time, the commander is not strict with military law, so that they are more afraid of the commander than the Pinglu army, and when they get to the battlefield, they will not fight to the death with the Pinglu army!"

Zhu Wen pondered for a moment.

Then he said slowly: "Put Zhu Yin's family in prison...... Death is not necessary. ”

Xiao Yucheng fell to the ground in a puff and shouted in a mournful voice: "Great commander! Zhu Yin's family must be killed! Otherwise, it is not enough to make the officers and men of the three armed forces afraid of military law and fear of the great commander! Otherwise, it is not enough to show the determination of the great commander to win this battle! If not, it is not enough for the three armed forces to work together and fight against a strong enemy regardless of their bodies!"

Zhu Yin closed his eyes in pain.

Halfway, his voice was slow, and he spit out a word with difficulty: "Kill." ”

This word weighs more than a thousand pounds, and it is very difficult for Zhu Wen to say it.

He remembered that a group of young men in cloth clothes and carrying wooden sticks and carrying only one or two worn-out clothes had left the village together amid the laughter of the villagers.

They vowed to get ahead in this chaotic world, they said they would share happiness and hardship, they said they would return to their hometown together and enjoy the worship of their fellow villagers.

A dozen or so familiar faces have gradually disappeared after years of conquest. Their heads were cut off by the officers and soldiers as proof of military merit, and their corpses were probably fed to wild dogs and jackals, and their souls wandered in a strange land.

Over the years, even Zhu Wen's own brother Zhu Cun has died.

By the time Zhu Wen became the envoy of the feudal town, there were only two people left, and only Zhu Yin could make contributions with him.

Now, Zhu Yin was defeated and captured for him, but Zhu Wen wanted to be in the rear and personally ordered the execution of the other party's family.

When the cold horizontal knife swept through the neck of Zhu Yin's wife, they were no longer comrades who fought side by side, and they were no longer brothers from the same village, they would turn against each other - if Zhu Yin had not been killed by Li Ye.

Zhu Wen left the council hall, and he didn't want to stay here for a moment.

Seeing the white belly of the fish in the east sky, Zhu Wen felt the coolness of autumn.

No one had ever told him that he himself could not have realized that he would have to lose so many things he once cherished, pay such a heavy and tragic price, and make him unable to even recognize himself by going from a poor and remote village to fight for wealth and fortune.

......

Early in the morning, that is, when Li Ye met Zhang Wence in Wei County, Zhu Wen took his three thousand soldiers and came to the military camp on the border of Bianzhou with Venerable White Crane.

Venerable White Crane was originally only ordered by the Immortal Emperor to send He Jingcheng the Evil Blood Grinding Plate. Because He Jingcheng was "unexpectedly" killed by Li Ye, the Daomen Immortal Court lacked a person in charge in the mortal world, so he was left here by the Immortal Emperor.

While flying in the sky, Zhu Wen asked Venerable White Crane, "When will the follow-up eight thousand Dao soldiers reach the lower realm?"

Venerable White Crane still had the same gentle and elegant appearance, and replied with a polite smile when he heard this: "It's already in the lower realm." ”

Zhu Wen was sure in his heart, "When will I be able to participate in the war?"

In the first battle of Injustice County, Shangguan Allure defeated Zhu Yin, and the demon monks led by Zhao Batian also defeated 800 Dao soldiers. The former was a close battle, while the latter was purely won by the number of demon clan monks - Zhao Batian brought two or three thousand True Human Realm monks.

The seven great saints of the demon clan, in addition to the monkeys, each great sage has more than 100,000 demons under his command, and together they are called millions of demons. After the Beast Tide War, the demon monks suffered many casualties. And the demons above the real realm who can directly compete with the Taoist soldiers naturally account for a small proportion, and now there are tens of thousands in total.

In addition to the eight thousand demons brought out by Li Ye, the follow-up main force will be personally led by several great sages and come to Pinglu through Lingyundu. This is also a problem that Zhu Wen has to face.

"Within seven days. Venerable White Crane smiled kindly, as if he was talking to someone about poetry and music.

Zhu Wen breathed a sigh of relief.

Although this war was divided into two parts, as long as the Dao soldiers could defeat Li Ye's demon clan monks, he could easily win this battle.

Venerable White Crane glanced at Zhu Wen and continued: "There are hundreds of thousands of demon clan cultivators, even if there is only one-tenth of the real human realm, it can't be solved with only eight thousand Dao soldiers. ”

Zhu Wen frowned, looking at the White Crane Venerable's eyes with a little anger, "Then what should I do? No one knows when all the demon clan monks will appear!"

Venerable White Crane showed a naughty childlike smile: "But if 100,000 Dao soldiers are all in the lower realm, then there is no need to be afraid of the demon clan." ”

Zhu Wen was slightly stunned, "The follow-up Dao soldiers want to go to the lower realm together?"

Then he sank his face, "Didn't you say before that the capacity of the Kunlun Passage is limited, and the Dao soldiers can only go to the lower realm in batches?"

If the Dao soldiers can go to the lower realm together, why should he work so hard?

Venerable White Crane said, "This was indeed the case before. But now Li Ye's power is too great, and he can't even help him with the evil blood grinding plate, and the Immortal Emperor has to make up his mind, desperately pay a painful price, and also sort out the affairs of the mortal world at once. ”

As he spoke, he shook his head and lamented, "The Immortal Court can rule the heavens and the earth, and naturally it has the means to press the bottom of the box, but it is also a fact that after the Heaven and Earth are connected, the Immortal Court's control over the mortal world is not as good as before. So this time, I'm afraid that it will be the last fight of the Immortal Emperor, and the price will be so big that I may not even be able to imagine it. ”

Venerable White Crane looked up to the sky and sighed: "But this can't be helped, after all, only when the mortal world is stable, can the immortal realm be stable!"

Zhu Wen laughed: "In this way, don't I have to fight, just sit and wait for the Dao soldiers to go to the lower realm?"

Venerable White Crane stretched out a finger and shook it: "Of course not. You can sit down and wait, but Li Ye won't. If the main force of the Dao soldiers has not yet reached the lower realm, but you are wiped out by Li Ye first, then the Dao Gate will lose the auxiliary princes, even if the Dao soldiers are in the lower realm, it is only rootless duckweed. ”

He didn't tell the whole truth.

The seven towns of Hebei and the two towns of Pinglu and Tianping, there is no incense to worship the Daomen Immortal Garden, and the power of the Immortal Court has been greatly reduced, if even the incense of the Seven Towns of the Central Plains is lost, the Immortal Court will not be able to effectively maintain the operation of the Kunlun Channel.

As a channel to communicate with immortals, if the immortal court wants to open the Kunlun channel, it needs to gather the power of mortal incense. If this power is too small, even if the Immortal Emperor has the means to defy the sky, he will not be able to send so many soldiers.

Zhu Wen snorted coldly: "Your Daomen boast of being powerful, but in fact you have been delaying things, in the final analysis, you still have to rely on the soldiers and horses under the command of this commander." ”