Before dawn the next day, the 10,000 soldiers of the Blood Knife Fort had assembled on the playground. The reason for this early departure is that there is no one on the streets now, and the march will not cause panic among the people. Zhu Yushi, Zhao Hengshan, Li Xiao, Dongguo Wendao, and Cui Xing also went out with the army. The army went out of the west gate and went straight to Xianyang.

Xianyang Taishou Deng Yin Lin Yuan is also a child of Chang'an's official family, and Cui Xing has known each other since childhood, and he was named on the gold list in the same year, and the relationship has always been good. Xianyang is not far from Chang'an, the city is high and deep, with a population of hundreds of thousands, it is the third largest city in Guanzhong, so it has naturally become the first choice of Luo Tianchu. Forty miles away, less than noon, arrived at the city of Xianyang. Deng Yinlin had learned of the attack on Chang'an, and the 4,000 soldiers on Xianyang City were ready to fight. In the middle stood a white-faced general, who looked polite and polite, and his temperament was similar to Cui Xing, it was Deng Yinlin. Luo Tianchu ordered the army to line up, and Cui Xingce stepped forward immediately, saying, "Brother Deng, do you remember the little brother?" Deng Yinlin glanced at him and said, "Isn't this Lord Cui? Deng Yinlin sneered: "Scholarly family, the Cui family of the three generations of gold lists has actually produced a descendant who has joined the bandits, and I really feel ashamed for your Cui family." Cui Xing was not angry, and said eloquently: "Brother Deng is wrong, Jin Country is a country of jackals, tigers and leopards, how many of our compatriots have been killed, if we work hard for Jin Country and don't help the abuse? That would be an insult to our ancestors." The Blood Knife Fort held high the banner of righteousness and waged war against the Jin Kingdom, wanting to save the people from fire and water, and his ambition and courage were admired by Cui, so he swore to follow him to the death! Brother Deng said that everyone was a bandit, and I would like to ask which bandit could break through the two fortified cities of Chang'an and Tongguan in one night? Which bandit could enter the city without committing any crime and exempt the whole city from paying taxes for one year. Heroes don't ask where they come from, there are countless generals and princes who started in white, as long as they can achieve great things, they are kings. ”

Deng Yinlin said: "What do you want me to do?" Surrender is humiliating, but the dark and bright are noble, before you and I had to commit to the Jin country, now the opportunity has come, the Jin army in the east and west of the two fronts frequently lost, the loss of soldiers and countless generals, it is a good time for us to fight back, Brother Deng is full of poetry and books, excellent knowledge, how can you not see the sunset of the Jin country, the general trend has gone, Guanzhong is already the bag of the blood knife fort, the lord of Luobao does not want to frighten the people in the city, let alone hurt his compatriots, so let me come down to persuade him. Speaking of fighting, Brother Deng compares himself to Yan Wushu and Yan Lou Room, how about Han Chang? These three people are all defeated generals under the castle lord, as long as the castle lord orders the siege of the city, how can Xianyang defend it? Even if Brother Deng dies in battle, he will be infamous as a traitor, and the soldiers and civilians in the city will also suffer from the fish pond, and I hope that Brother Deng will think twice. ”

Deng Yinlin thought for a moment and said, "What you said has some truth, but the stakes are so important that I can't reply now." Give me a day to think about it?" Cui Xing said: "Of course, we will retreat twenty miles and wait for Brother Deng's good news." After saying that, he turned around and returned to the team, Luo Tianchu said on the horse: "How sure is Brother Cui convincing him?" Cui Xing smiled: "The big thing is done, the castle lord will retreat." Luo Tianchu said happily: "Okay! Retreat twenty miles and set up a village!"

After setting up camp, Luo Tianchu asked Cui Xing in the big tent: "How did Brother Cui know that Deng Yinlin would fall?" Cui Xing smiled: "I have known him for many years, and we are very familiar with each other, I knew from the beginning that he would descend, and he also knew that I was a lobbyist, so I acted in a play." Luo Tianchu didn't understand: "What do you mean to act in a play?" Cui Xing said: " He is a smart man, his family is rich, he has a wife and concubines, children and daughters, and he will not live and die with Xianyang if he is killed, but he has a very good face, and if he surrenders easily, it will inevitably be unbearable, so I said those words, not to him, but to the soldiers and people in the city, let them know that Taishou surrendered not because of fear, but for the safety of the soldiers and civilians in the city, and let them know that surrender is not shameful, and give moral comfort. Deng Yinlin said that he would use this day to promote my rhetoric, and then surrender would be in accordance with the time. Luo Tianchu laughed and said: "I see, you civil officials still understand civil officials, I can't guess that kind of dumb riddle, just listen to his ridiculous words at the beginning, and you should have a big fight." Cui Xing said with a smile: "There will be good news tomorrow, congratulations to the castle lord for winning Xianyang without a fight!"

Cui Xing's expectation was good, and at noon the next day, a messenger from Xianyang came to the army and presented Deng Yinlin's letter of surrender. The letter roughly reads, "Hearing the words of the public, thinking all night, finally waking up and enlightening." The sinners are willing to open the gates of the city, welcome the lord of the castle into the city, lead the horse and fall on the pedals, and swear allegiance to the death. Luo Tianchu was overjoyed and said, "Okay! Since Deng Taishou is invited, let's go to Xianyang City for a walk." Zhu Yushi said: "How many soldiers and horses do you want to bring into the city?" Luo Tianchu said with a smile: "Just bring ten personal companions, all of them must be capable people, with tall horses, and we can't let the new officials look down on us." Zhu Yushi nodded yes, and went down to prepare. Dongguo asked the knife and said angrily: "I was expecting to be able to fight, but I didn't expect to surrender, it's really boring." Zhao Hengshan also said: "Isn't it, if we surrender like this without a fight in the future, then what are we going to do." Luo Tianchu lowered his face and said: "If you think about this kind of thing, forget it, after entering the city, you will talk nonsense, and each person will be rewarded with two hundred military sticks." "Now Luo Tianchu has the majesty and bearing of a commander, and Zhao Hengshan and Dongguo Wendao can only be willing to obey orders.

At noon, Luo Tianchu and his party led ten cavalry to Xianyang City, the city gate has been opened, Deng Yinlin held the Xianyang seal ribbon in his hand, and respectfully presented it in front of Luo Tianchu's horse: "The criminal minister Deng Yinlin, present the Xianyang seal ribbon, please accept the castle lord with a smile." Luo Tianchu dismounted and helped him up, and said with a smile: "Deng Taishou's thought of benevolence has been freed from the sword and sword, and the blood is like a river, which is the blessing of Xianyang." The seal ribbon also asked Deng Taishou to continue to keep. Deng Yinlin bowed down and thanked him, dodged to the side of the road, and invited Luo Tianchu into the city. The people of Xianyang gathered on the side of the road to pay attention to Luo Tianchu, and when they saw that the legendary Lord of the Blood Knife Castle was actually a handsome young man, they all let out a sound of amazement.

After taking a turn in the city, Deng Yinlin invited Luo Tianchu to a banquet and came to the most upscale "Qin Feng Building" in Xianyang, accompanied by rich officials in the city. The banquet was full of rare game, aged wine, and was very stammering to Luo Tianchu, saying some words of praise and virtue. Luo Tianchu didn't like to act on the spot, and felt that it was too fake, but he could only keep smiling and be polite to everyone, but fortunately, Cui Xing was left and right, and the atmosphere at the banquet was quite harmonious. The others in the Blood Knife Castle sat at another table, shook off their cheeks and swept the food on the table, but Luo Tianchu had an order first, and no one was allowed to drink.

After the banquet, Luo Tianchu said to Deng Yinlin: "Thank you Deng Taishou for your hospitality, military affairs are in the body, it is inconvenient to stay for a long time, let's talk about it another day." Deng Yinlin said: "I know that the lord of the castle is busy, but it's not bad to stay this night." Xia Guan arranged singing and dancing in Chu Yue Tower, and hoped that the castle lord would enjoy the light. Luo Tianchu said: "Next time, I really can't stay for a long time." Deng Yinlin saw that he had made up his mind, and glanced at a rich businessman next to him, who stepped forward with a smile, took out a stack of silver tickets, and said: "The castle lord has worked hard, this is the 10,000 taels of silver tickets that everyone has put together for the castle lord's pastime, and I hope to smile." Luo Tianchu wanted to refuse, but when he saw Cui Xinglian's color, he took the silver tickets, and saw that each one was one thousand taels, a total of ten, and said with a smile: "Ten thousand taels of silver tickets for entertainment, this is really a lot." The wealthy merchant surnamed Zhang smiled: "This is just a small greeting gift, and there will be more places to honor the lord of the castle in the future." Luo Tianchu also smiled: "Then it's better to be respectful than to obey your fate." With that, he picked up the silver ticket. Deng Yinlin and the others said happily: "Thank you for the castle master's appreciation." (To be continued.) )