Chapter 1241 The price of losing the bet
Huguan City was already in chaos.
Teams of Wei soldiers continued to move supplies from various treasuries.
Food, weapons, armor…
Carried by people, carried on shoulders, transported by carts...
Everything that can be moved must be moved away, leaving no money behind.
Amidst this commotion, many people in the city became nervous.
A few months ago, the change of ownership of Huguan only involved the military. Most of the people in the city discovered that the flag on the city had been changed almost overnight.
The soldiers guarding the city changed from the Han army to the Wei army.
Other than that, not much has changed.
Of course, it is impossible to say that there is no trace of panic.
But Sima Yi issued a notice in time, telling the people not to panic, and the king's division would not disturb the people.
He even summoned representatives of the city's officials to appease the village elders.
So the Shangdang was quickly pacified.
It can be said that the change of ownership in Huguan was not as alarming as it is now.
“General! General, why is this?”
“General, didn’t you say that Taifu led the army to recover Taiyuan?”
Why does it seem now that it doesn’t look like they are regaining the old territory, but rather like the bandits are counterattacking?
Wei Jun's abnormal behavior was naturally impossible to hide from local snakes.
Some people have even secretly spread the news that the legendary ghost king is leading an army from Hedong.
Some people say that Taifu was defeated in Taiyuan and retreated to Jizhou.
Someone even said that the outcome of the large army led by the Tutor to Taiyuan was unpredictable, including life and death.
The man who led the army southward from Taiyuan was the Guanxiao prince who swept through Bingzhou and Hedong a few years ago.
But no matter what the statement was, it was said that the Han army had already attacked from Hedong and Taiyuan.
Sun Li, who was responsible for staying behind at Shangdang, had a tired look on his face.
I do n’t know if the sinister situation of the party is overworked, or a group of young and old on the opposite side of him has a headache.
“Gentlemen, gentlemen, please be quiet and listen to what I have to say.”
Those who could come to Sun Li were naturally prominent local figures.
Moreover, it must be someone who has donated money and food to Master Wang, and the amount of money and food cannot be too small.
So looking at the entire Huguan and even the entire Shangdang, no one is more concerned about the war situation than them.
Hearing Sun Li finally speak, everyone immediately stopped talking and looked at Sun Li.
Sun Li looked down at the hopeful and eager eyes. He opened his mouth, only to find that his mouth was full of bitterness.
Before the death of the late emperor, he promoted himself to the position of general and chief history, just to make himself assist the general and rectify the country.
But who would have thought that the general would be so miserable?
Although there were rumors in the Xuchang market, the late emperor had already suspected that the Taifu had two intentions and had been dissatisfied with the Taifu for a long time.
But in fact, many veterans of the Wei Dynasty were really dissatisfied with the general for a long time!
Over the years, Taifu has been guarding Luoyang to ward off the Western thieves.
Even always thinking about counterattacking the Western bandits and reviving the Wei Dynasty.
Now, he personally leads the army and goes deep into dangerous areas.
Looking back at the general, what did he do?
The thieves are too powerful. If...if the general and the Taifu can work together to fend off the thieves, this Shangdang land may not be impossible to defend!
Maybe, maybe we can really capture Taiyuan.
How could Taifu fall short in Taiyuan?
“General Sun, please make it clear what you want to say.”
Just when Sun Li was in a state of confusion, someone saw that he was silent for a long time, and finally couldn't hold himself back any longer, so he reminded him.
Hearing this, Sun Li quickly put away his thoughts and spoke again:
“In the past few days, rumors have been circulating in the city, and even I have heard about them. I believe that you all came here to determine the situation of the war.”
"Yeah!"
“What General Sun said is true!”
Seeing this, Sun Li finally showed a bitter smile on his face. He hesitated for a while and then said:
“To be honest with you, regarding the matter of Taiyuan, Taifu has indeed withdrawn his troops from Taiyuan and returned to Jizhou.”
"impossible!"
Before Sun Li finished speaking, someone shouted loudly: "How is that possible! This is different from what the Tutor said at the beginning!"
“How could this happen, General Sun? Are you mistaken?”
The crowd was in an uproar.
Although some people have the worst assumptions in their minds, as long as the news is not confirmed, they must be lucky.
Perhaps Taifu has already conquered Taiyuan and restored Bingzhou?
So this may be the work of Western thieves spreading rumors, right?
By the way, I heard that Thief Feng raised a group of knights and knights.
These guys, in addition to committing murder and arson, are committing numerous crimes, they also often spread rumors.
Perhaps these messages were released by these guys...
Who would have expected that as soon as Sun Li opened his mouth, his hopes would be shattered. It was such a terrible feeling!
It’s hard to accept it all at once.
“General Sun, what about Shangdang? Is Taifu prepared to defend Shangdang? Have reinforcements been dispatched from Hanoi?”
“Yes, yes, yes, General Sun is ready to defend the party?”
“Yes, if you are short of food and money, I can still find a way to help prepare a batch of food and grass..."
Those who said this were obviously planning to commit bloodletting.
It’s just that Thief Feng’s methods are cruel. Considering the tragic situation in Hedong, everyone present must not want the Western thieves to enter Shangdang.
So even if you grit your teeth and bleed some more, it’s not impossible to understand.
“Everyone, everyone,” Sun Li stretched out his hand and pressed down, indicating that everyone should listen to him, “Of course the Taifu has been prepared in advance, but everyone also knows that the Western bandits are powerful.”
At this point, he swallowed and seemed to be organizing his words.
In fact, in the letter sent by the Taifu, he mentioned not to say too much to these people, so as not to cause people's hearts to fluctuate and not be conducive to his retreat.
But Sun Li's temperament was bright and fierce, and he could be regarded as a decisive person. He was never willing to do those deceptive things.
Not to mention that in his eyes, these were firm supporters of the Wei Dynasty, and they also fought hard for this.
If they were just thrown to the Western thieves, wouldn't it chill the hearts of the loyal and righteous people in the world?
Who will dare to contribute to Wei in the future?
So he decided to give these people a chance, a chance to choose.
"As you all know, these bandits from the West are very powerful. Although the Grand Tutor is determined to defeat the bandits, what can he do if God's will fails?"
As he spoke, Sun Li bowed his hands to them:
“Everyone, although I don’t want to raise others’ ambitions, but I am really incompetent in etiquette. I am afraid that I will fail the Tutor’s trust and find it difficult to maintain the Shangdang...”
As if he couldn't speak any more, Sun Li trembled with trembling lips and struggled to utter the last sentence:
“I am brave enough to ask you to make preparations early. Li Dang will try his best to delay the intruders in the West and give you more time to prepare...”
quiet.
Deathly silence.
After a long time, I don’t know if he finally digested these words. A trembling old man used the crutch in his hand vigorously and asked:
“General Sun, what do you mean?”
“Are you really planning to escape?”
Sun Li looked ashamed and did not dare to look at everyone.
He also wanted to defend, but the military order from the Taifu told him to give up joining the party and preserve his strength.
The most important thing is that Sun Li himself knew that Shangdang would definitely not be able to hold on to it.
If the Central Supervisory Army (i.e. Sima Division) can break through Gaoping Pass and hold the gap to the south of the eldest son, maybe they can try again.
Even if Gaoping Pass cannot be captured, as long as the thieves in Gaoping Pass can be held back and prevented from leaving Gaoping Pass, I would still dare to take the gamble.
However, the Central Supervisory Army was defeated at Gaopingguan, and now it is a question whether it can even defend Gaodu City.
I was pinched by the western thieves at most, and it could only be dealt with at most, and Taifu had made a decision. It was difficult!
"General Sun, according to the laws of the Wei Dynasty, losing land is a serious crime. Now you don't even plan to defend it. Haven't you thought about the consequences?"
Seeing Sun Li, he was still speechless.
Many people looked at him with hatred. If it weren't for the fact that the guards and soldiers around him were all armed with swords, there might be someone who couldn't help but rush up to compete with him.
Seeing the anger among the crowd, some smart people quietly retreated towards the door.
His mother’s wife!
Looking at this situation, Sun Deda has already made up his mind and is definitely not willing to stick to the party.
If not, how could you not even take the serious crime of losing land in Wei Dynasty?
Some people left the prefect’s residence and looked back, already cursing in their hearts:
This Cao Wei really has no hope at all!
When the late Emperor was here, even if he continued to lose troops and lost territory, which of his generals would dare to abandon their territory easily?
Even if we can no longer defeat the Han army, we must die to show our determination - either die in front of the battle or die in office.
What now?
The thieves haven't arrived yet, so they're thinking of running away!
"Emperor Wu, Emperor Wen, you are under the underworld. If you know anything, just open your eyes and take a look!"
An old man with a bright head was helped out of the prefect’s mansion and stood on the street, crying sadly:
"The Wei Dynasty has declined to this point. If you have spirits in heaven, please show up and save the Wei Dynasty!"
Since ancient times, all dynasties have given preferential treatment to the elderly of a certain age.
Even if an old man commits a crime, the government cannot do anything to him.
If the law is harsher, the most it can do is make its children bear the sin.
Even if the laws of future generations are more and more perfect, they can only do nothing about some bad old people...
Not to mention that in ancient times, when average life expectancy was generally too short, as long as you reached a certain age, you were considered auspicious.
How can something like auspiciousness be said to be bad?
Right?
So Sun Li had a headache and was helpless when facing this man Rui mourning on the street.
He informed them clearly about the situation in order to make them prepare as early as possible.
Unexpectedly, these people, instead of being grateful to me, would bite me back.
“Forget it, I have done my best, what they decide has nothing to do with me.”
Sun Li let out a long sigh.
As long as you have a clear conscience, that’s fine.
At the moment, I can only comfort myself with a clear conscience.
With military orders like mountains and military conditions like fire, Sun Li naturally couldn't squeeze out too much time and energy to take care of other matters.
The people must have moved away too late.
But of course, all kinds of materials in the treasury can be moved as much as they can.
In the past few years, if Luoyang had not been the capital of the Wei Dynasty and had the largest arsenal and Taicang in the Wei Dynasty, how could the Taifu have been able to sustain it?
But no matter how rich Hanoi and Henan are, and no matter how much grain is stored in Taicang, it is impossible to support so many soldiers.
If it weren't for Xuchang, many veterans would still be sober and advocate ensuring Luoyang's supply of grain and grass.
The army in Luoyang was afraid that they would run out of food during the drought last spring.
This is so, because of the discord between the general and the Taifu, the food sent to Luoyang from various places is still becoming increasingly scarce.
In the future, if the Taifu wants to allocate grain and grass from the court, he may have to rely on the general.
Remembering that the Taifu was attacking the bandits in the front, but the general blocked the grain and grass in the rear, Sun Li felt even more unhappy.
What a good fighter this time, why did the Taifu take such a risk and enter a dangerous place?
Because the food and grass in Luoyang is no longer enough to support a protracted frontal war with the Western bandits, they can only take risks and seize key areas as soon as possible to determine the overall situation.
Get the maximum results at the minimum cost.
It's a pity that in the end, the success fell short. Wei is so powerful!
With this in mind, Sun Li no longer took care of those people, but hurriedly went to personally supervise the delivery of supplies to the army.
At the same time, he also had to take precautions to prevent Guan thieves from suddenly appearing under Huguan City and attacking him.
After all, Guan thieves always like to use cavalry to carry out surprise attacks, so be very careful with this person.
Some people are mourning on the street, and naturally more people will go home anxiously after receiving the news to discuss the next countermeasures.
"Grandpa, what should we do? Judging from Sun Li's appearance, he really doesn't intend to stick to the party anymore."
"When the time comes, if the Western thieves really come, I'm afraid they won't let us go."
The speaker has a frightened and nervous look on his face.
At the same time, there are more people who are regretful:
“If we had known that the Wei people were in such a bad situation, why would we have anything to do with them…”
Before he finished speaking, he was scolded by the old man sitting on the throne:
"Whatever you said! You have done it. Now what does it mean to say such depressing words? Can it save the situation?"
He took a breath and softened his tone at the same time:
“When we decided to do this, what was our intention? Don’t we even remember it?”
Naturally, he wanted the preferential treatment from the Wei people and did not want to live under the harsh rule of the Western thieves.
The old man glanced at everyone and continued:
“Even if we don’t do it, will the Western thieves let us go?”
“It’s only been a few years since the incident in Hedong, why have you forgotten it?!”
Everyone looked at him under the old man's cloudy gaze.
The host of the longhouse mustered up the courage and asked:
“Sir, what should we do now?”
"What should we do? Although Sun Deda has betrayed the great trust of the imperial court and wants to escape without a fight, he is pretty good to us in informing us of the news."
The old man sighed and said, "Shangdang is destined to be unable to defend itself. Sun Deda's intention is for us to follow him."
As soon as these words came out, some people became anxious:
“Tai Gong, then our inheritance is just lost like this?”
“Stupid!” the old man cursed, “When did I say I was going to lose my inheritance?”
"That…"
“Family division!” the old man said seriously, “To be precise, it’s clan division.”
"You, take the people from the eldest house and leave the Shangdang. Everything done in the clan is based on the eldest house. If you leave, even if the West Thief gets angry again, he will not be able to bring down all the people in the other little houses. Kill absolutely."
Looking around at the crowd again, the old man saw what they were thinking:
“I know there are still some of you who don’t want to associate with the Western thieves. If you want to follow the leader, I won’t stop you.”
At this point, he sighed again:
“But our foundation in the Party must be watched by others.”.
Some people heard the meaning of the old man’s words and were shocked:
“Sir, are you saying that you won’t leave?”
"Go? Where to go? I'm so old, where can I go?" The old man sneered, "Do the Western thieves really let things go by the wayside?"
“If no one stands up to let the Western thieves vent their anger, everyone who stays here may have to be buried with him!”
"grown ups!"
“Grandpa!”
…
Everyone could not help crying.
"Why are you crying? I have lived for so long and I have already enjoyed what I should have enjoyed. Get out of here and get ready!"
(End of this chapter)