Zhu Nao

Tao Bei stood on the tower, looking down.A hundred meters away, the black army spread out like a tide, splashing ink on the ground, blackening the ground to the sky.

That was the army of Shu.It is the mighty Shu army.Just two months ago, Tao Bei was still in a dilemma about who he would send to garrison Henan after defeating the Shu army, but now, he no longer needed to be in a dilemma.The Shu army is already standing under the tower of his Daliang capital.

The cold wind was blowing, making Tao Bei's eyes red, but he stared at the army in the distance without blinking.

After an unknown amount of time, the soldiers nearby couldn't help whispering, and Tao Bei suddenly turned around.

The crowd was startled, and quickly fell silent, waiting for Tao Bei's order without daring to breathe.However, Tao Bei didn't say anything.

He walked down the tower, jumped on the fast horse, left the soldiers who were looking at each other, and galloped towards the city.

His own soldiers were also taken aback for a moment, their eyes flickered a few times, and they hastily ordered to the city guard officer: "Close the city gates tightly! No one is allowed to open the city to face the battle without a new order from the general!" After finishing speaking, he quickly mounted his horse and chased Tao Bei away.

……

When Tao Bei returned to the General's Mansion, the mansion was already crowded with people, including his aides, court officials, and all the dignitaries in Yedu.People surrounded the wide road, and the noise almost knocked the roof off.

Suddenly someone saw Tao Bei sharply and exclaimed, "The general is back!"

The noise paused for a moment, and the crowd rushed up and surrounded Tao Bei as airtight as a bucket.

"General! I heard that the Shu army has already fought outside the city, is it true?!"

"General, we can't delay any longer, we must make a decision as soon as possible!"

"General, the hearts of the people in the city are scattered, and the soldiers are tired of fighting. This battle can no longer be fought. Send someone to discuss the terms of surrender with the Shu army! There is still room for discussion!"

"Fart! Whoever dares to surrender to the Shu army, I will be the first to kill him! The city is full of soldiers and horses, food and grass are abundant, but the Shu army is rushing for a long distance. As long as we stick to the end, they will retreat soon!"

"The Shu army has already reached the foot of the imperial city! Even General Tian has surrendered! How can the soldiers have the morale to continue fighting?!"

"The one surnamed Tian has rebelled, and there is General Gao. General Gao will soon bring reinforcements. Don't raise the enemy's morale there, destroy your prestige! With the General and General Gao here, we will definitely be able to repel the Shu army!" "

Everyone was chattering, making Tao Bei's eardrums buzz.People seem to be talking right next to his ear, but they seem to be far away, so vague that he can't hear what they are saying at all.

A few days ago, when Yedu City received news that the Shu army was marching eastward towards Yedu, the dignitaries in the city were divided into two factions, and they were in a daze.

One of the factions advocated that the general situation was over, so that Tao Bei should simply ask the Shu army to surrender earlier, and he could negotiate a good deal for everyone.After Tian Chou surrendered, Tao Bei didn't know whether there was no one available or it was too late to kill him, and he had not yet started to eliminate Tian Chou's faction.Therefore, this faction is mainly composed of Tian Chou's old department and officials who are war-weary and afraid of death.

The other faction advocated fighting to the end and never surrendering to the Shu army.Most of the people in this faction were high-ranking but incompetent people in the Liang court. They knew that once the regime changed, Zhu Nao would definitely crowd them out, and their glory and wealth would no longer be preserved.

It stands to reason that Tao Bei should also be the main combat faction.He was a great general in Liang Guo and the real regent.Once he surrendered to the Shu people, even if Zhu Nao could save his life, it is absolutely impossible for him to hold any power anymore.With Tao Bei's temperament, he would rather die than submit.But for so many days, no matter how fierce the quarrel was, Tao Bei never expressed his position.

Sensitive people have noticed that Tao Bei also seems to be war-weary.In order to avoid the fierce conflict between the two factions, he has not even gone to court.But people would not let him go, so the battlefield of the battle was shifted from the imperial palace to the General's Mansion.

"Great general," an official of the descendant faction persuaded earnestly, "as long as we hand over the emperor and recognize Zhu Nao's throne, we will be able to avoid the flames of war and save all the people from suffering!"

Another official of the main combat faction immediately retorted: "Zhu Zi! How dare you say such outrageous words! Your Majesty is the destiny of heaven. If the country is handed over to the Shu thieves, it will be a disaster for the people of Li and the common people!"

Both sides have raised the banner of worrying about the country and the people, but in fact, what they think about is their own one-third of an acre of land.At this moment, they thought that the little emperor was still worshiping the Buddha in the temple, and they didn't know that the little emperor who was destined for them that day had been led away by Zhang Xuan, the "Taiqing Xuantian Emperor" of the former Xuantian Sect!

Everyone was waiting for Tao Bei to make up his mind. After all, all the government and military affairs in Yedu City were controlled by Tao Bei alone, and no one could avoid him.

However, Tao Bei looked indifferent and remained silent.He pushed aside the crowd and walked towards the mansion.

Everyone was stunned, chasing after him and yelling: "General, what do you mean by not talking?" "

Tao Bei turned a deaf ear to everything, and walked in quickly. Under the obstruction of the guards, he managed to get rid of those dignitaries.

He didn't stay in the mansion for long.He came to the warehouse, took out a jar of drunken immortals, held it in his arms, and soon rode away from the back door and galloped towards the imperial city.

……

After Tao Bei left, his personal soldiers quickly caught up.However, the soldiers' horses were not as fast as Tao Bei's, and he was once thrown off by Tao Bei on the way.Fortunately, he guessed where Tao Bei was going, so he hurried all the way, and finally arrived outside the prison in the imperial city.

Sure enough, Tao Bei was standing outside the courtyard that had been turned into a prison, and he didn't know how long he had been standing there.

The soldiers jumped off their horses and went forward.Tao Bei stared in the direction of the prison in a daze, his face clearly expressionless, but the guards could see the great sadness in his eyes.

The soldiers felt the same way, and suddenly felt a sore nose.He is Tao Bei's confidant, and has always followed Tao Bei around. He knows the current situation of Liang State better than those rich and powerful in the city who are still making trouble.

The dignitaries are still waiting for Gao Hong to lead troops from Jizhou to relieve Yedu, but Gao Hong will not come back, because Tao Bei has never sent a message to Jizhou for help.The Laughing Emperor, who was supported by Tao Bei to the throne, will not come back either.

Tao Bei worked hard for many years, but he ended up betraying his relatives.Why fight to the last soldier?The outcome has been decided.

Tao Bei stood outside the courtyard for a long time, bent down, and gently put the drunk eight immortals who had been in his arms on the ground.Then, he turned and left.

The soldiers were taken aback, and hurriedly chased after him: "Don't Mr. Tao see General Shangguan?"

Tao Bei never drank alcohol, and the drunken Eight Immortals was Shangguan Xian's favorite wine.Tao Bei always prepares several altars in the mansion.Every time Shangguanxian returned to Beijing, Tao Bei would take out the cellar and invite Shangguanxian to drink.

Tao Bei shook his head slowly: "It's gone."

After a pause, he lowered his eyes and laughed softly at himself: "What can I say when I see you? Forget it...that's it."

The soldier looked at him blankly.

Tao Bei walked back to the horse, and was about to get on the horse when his own soldiers hurriedly followed.Tao Bei said, "You don't have to follow me. After half an hour, you can release Shangguan Xian."

The soldiers were surprised and said: "Mr. Tao..."

Tao Bei shook his head and interrupted him.

"I'm sorry..." Tao Bei said in a low voice, "In the future... let's find our own future."

Before the soldiers could answer, Tao Bei had already galloped away.

……

……

Outside the city, the army is still pressing the formation.

Zhu Nao stood on the high ground, looking towards the direction of Yecheng.Besides Jing Zhe and other guards, even Tian Chou was beside him.

Zhu Nao did not order to forcibly attack the city.At this point in the war, there is no need to resort to military action.He sent several envoys to the city every half an hour to shout, and wanted to sit down and negotiate with the people in the city, but no one in the city came forward to make contact.Every time the messenger returned without success.

After a while, they saw another wave of envoys leave the city dejectedly after a long time of shouting to no avail.

Tian Chou took a deep breath and said: "Your Majesty, I would like to go to the city to persuade you to surrender." As a veteran of the Liang Kingdom, the soldiers guarding the city might sell him to save face and let him into the city.

Zhu Nao glanced at him, but shook his head: "General Tian doesn't have to be like this."

Tian Chou didn't want to fight anymore, he really wanted to persuade him to surrender.Zhu Nao didn't suspect him, but just didn't want him to take the risk.

Zhu Nao asked warmly, "General Tian, ​​based on what you know about Tao Bei, what would he do?"

Tian Chou was silent for a long time, and shook his head with a wry smile: "I don't know."

He couldn't imagine that Tao Bei would bow his head and admit defeat, but the general situation was over, and Tao Bei was not such an ignorant person.He really couldn't guess what choice Tao Bei would make.

Zhu Nao was not as impatient as Tian Chou.He smiled and said: "I'm not in a hurry, just wait slowly. If they don't respond after the deadline, let the soldiers camp in place."

Tian Chou took a deep look in the direction of Yecheng, hiding his complicated emotions in his heart.

……

……

Inside the imperial city of Yedu.

Shangguan Xian was lying on the wet haystack, numbly reciting poems and articles that he could still think of.He recited paragraphs out of paragraphs, out of sentences, and confused, but he never stopped talking.If he was imprisoned any longer without saying something to himself, he would soon forget how to speak.

Before he came back, he knew that Tao Bei would not be able to use him again, and he knew that his appearance would make Tao Bei feel like he was sitting on pins and needles.He knows it all.But he still came back, if Tao Bei still dared to use him, he would continue to play for Tao Bei.If Tao Bei didn't dare, then take it as revenge.

The only thing he didn't expect was that he was also imprisoned in the Shu army, and he was also imprisoned when he returned to Yedu, but his life in the Shu army was much easier than here.At least at that time he could still see the light of the sky, and he could use the stick as a spear to practice.But the days in Yedu were dark.

The darkness and long time consumed his will, and he regretted many times why he came back to Yedu.But in one's life, who can have no regrets?

At this moment, there were some noises outside.Shangguan Xian was confined for too long and was extremely sensitive to noise, so he immediately sat up from the haystack.

After a while, a ray of light came in.

He thought it was a palace servant who came to bring him food, but he was surprised that the last meal had not been delivered for a long time, but the sound of heavy footsteps and the clash of saber and belt made him realize that it was not the palace maid who came. people.

He narrowed his eyes, and when his eyes got used to the light a little, the visitor had already walked up to him, took out the key and opened the cell door.

Shangguan Xian stared at the man in a daze for a moment, and recognized him as Tao Bei's personal guard: "It's you."

"General Shangguan..." The guard opened the cell door, "You can go."

Shangguan Xian stood up supporting the wall, and walked slowly in front of him.The soldier's eyes were red and swollen, and his teeth were clenched, as if trying to control his emotions.

Shangguan Xian frowned hard, then slowly relaxed, and asked, "What's going on outside?"

The soldiers tried their best to keep their tone steady, and said word by word: "Two months ago, General Tian surrendered to the Shu army in Henan. Grand Master Zhang fled with the little emperor. Now the Shu army is approaching the city of Yedu."

Shangguan Xian was taken aback.He didn't know how long he had been imprisoned, it seemed that a long period of time had passed, and it seemed that it was only a blink of an eye.A few months is actually not short, but so many things have happened.

The Shu army has come to Yedu?It seems that Zhu Nao and Xie Wuji have been invincible in the past few months, but Tao Bei has been defeated...

The soldiers finally couldn't restrain themselves, and said in a trembling voice: "General Tao, he hanged himself in the Palace of Qinzheng half an hour ago."

Shangguan Xian was stunned.

He was stunned for a long, long time, until the soldiers couldn't help but want to say something more, then he confirmed in a low voice: "Tao Bei is dead?"

The soldier turned his face away, trembling all over.

Shangguan Xian looked at him for a while, then slowly walked out of the prison.

When he walked out of the prison, his eyes were not used to the light, his legs and feet were stiff, and he accidentally kicked a jar of wine at the door, almost tripping over him.The soldiers rushed up to support him.

Shangguan Xian squinted his eyes for a while before he recognized the drunken eight immortals on the ground.He reached out to touch the jar of wine, and said, "Tao Bei has no face to come to see me..."

After all, the personal soldiers are Tao Bei's confidantes. Hearing these words was a bit harsh, but he also knew that this was the truth, so he had nothing to say.

Shangguan Xian picked up the wine jar and took off the wine seal with some effort.He didn't take a sip, just splashed the wine around.

"This is a toast to my wife and children."

"This is a toast to my son who died in battle with me."

"This is a toast to my colleagues who died because of me."

"..."

When there was the last sip of wine left in the wine jar, he spilled the wine on the ground and threw the wine jar out without saying anything.

He turned and walked out.

The soldiers chased after him: "General Shangguan, where are you going?"

Shangguanxian said calmly: "Kaicheng surrendered. Taobei is not fighting anymore, so do you want to resist?"

The soldier frowned, feeling a little uncomfortable, but he didn't stop him.After Tao Bei's death, the city fell into a leaderless situation.In order for Tao Bei to control the power, there is no minister who can act alone in the court.Only when Shangguan Xian came forward, could he preside over the situation.

The soldier said: "But... General Shangguan, why don't you take a look at Mr. Tao?"

Shangguan Xian paused slightly.After a while, he continued to walk forward: "I have nothing to say anyway... just disappear."