bookrandom Chapter 1370 It’s time to return!
Chapter 1370 It’s time to return!
The news of Princess Jincheng's capture not only reached Chu Ning's ears a long time ago, but also reached Li Shiming's ears.
On this day, inside the Tang Dynasty Palace.
At 3:30 pm on July 17, the city of Chang'an was still shrouded in the sultry morning mist, but the three bronze sparrow lamps in front of the Taiji Hall had already burned out.
Li Shiming stepped barefoot on the ice-patterned stone slabs that Qiuci had sent as tribute, and with the gilded and silver-inlaid horsewhip in his hand, he whipped the Jinyang military report into pieces:
"Send an order to Longyou Road to transfer another 50,000 soldiers..."
"Think twice, Your Majesty!"
Changsun Wuji suddenly stepped forward and knelt down, and the goldfish bag on his waist hit the blue bricks with a dull sound.
The back of the purple robe of this minister who had made the greatest contribution to the Lingyan Pavilion was soaked with sweat, but he still raised his head and pointed at the Jinyang City sand table which was three meters square in the hall:
“Our army is not able to send more troops at this moment, and we are unable to rescue Princess Jincheng in time!
But Hou Junji snorted coldly: "Are we just going to let the Chu army kidnap the princess of the capital and do nothing?"
"Humph, if this is the case, not only will it make the soldiers feel disheartened, but it will also make the common people look down on us soldiers!"
This time, Princess Jincheng was kidnapped by the Tang army, which made Hou Junji very angry.
He knew very well that if the matter could not be properly resolved, the Tang Dynasty soldiers would be pointed at and scolded by the people.
For a moment, the hall was extremely quiet, and everyone knew that what Hou Junji said was true!
When the fifth watch gong sounded, the twelve sandalwood screens unfolded one after another in the Linde Hall.
Changsun Wuji dipped his finger into the iced grape wine and drew a three-way chessboard on the jade table: "Chu imprisoned the princess but did not hurt her at all. What they want is not war, but to force me to give up the alliance with Jin."
He suddenly wiped the wine over the line representing the Tang army and said in a deep voice: "Now you can order General Su's troops to station at Fengling Ferry, claiming to mourn for the princess, but in fact keep the troops still and wait for the Jin army and the Chu army to fight to the death!"
"This is a good idea."
Fang Xuanling nodded and said in a deep voice: "The Jin Emperor is like a dragon trapped in a shallow beach. The Tang army's inaction is like removing his last stepping stone."
He suddenly unfolded the Jinyang City Defense Map and pointed out three gaps: "Once the Chu army breaks through these three places, it will be time for us to reap the rewards."
Li Shiming stared at the screen for a long time, and finally narrowed his eyes, with a cold look flashing across his eyes:
"Draft an imperial edict! Order the Honglu Temple to immediately release the news that I am ill due to the loss of my beloved daughter and all military deployments are suspended."
"Also, send a message to Chu Ning immediately and tell him that I have ordered the troops to stop advancing and ask him to return Princess Jincheng immediately!"
Two days later.
The battlefield south of Jinyang City has become a battlefield.
When the Jin Emperor Ji Yingjie was opening the secret letter from the Tang Emperor, the Chu army outside the city was shooting rotten corpses with Huihui cannons.
The sheepskin letter was stamped with Li Shiming's seal, and there was an eight-character red comment on the letter: "The day the princess returns, Chu will be defeated!"
"Good Li Shiming!"
Ji Yingjie threw the secret letter into the brazier and watched the charred word "Li" twist in the flames.
Suddenly, a loud noise was heard from the south of the city; the newly-delivered siege hammers of the Chu army had knocked down the outer wall of the city wall.
He grabbed his sword and roared, "The soldiers waiting for the change of guard in the city should go up immediately, and add 30% more crossbows to the north gate. We must not let the Chu army enter the city!"
At this moment, Ji Yingjie knew that he could not rely on Li Shiming and the Tang army, and placed all his hopes on the tall city walls.
At this time, Chu Ning also received a letter from Li Shiming.
The Chu army camp.
Inside Chu Ning's wolf-head golden tent, twelve tortoise-crane bronze lamps exhaled the oily aroma of mermaids.
He flicked the sealing wax on Li Shiming's handwritten letter with his fingers. The half piece of jade hairpin embedded in the imprint fit perfectly with Princess Jincheng's Nine-Luan Step-Shaped Hairpin on the desk.
"Master Jia, please take a look at this for yourself. This is Li Shiming's handwritten letter!" Chu Ning handed over the letter.
Jia Yu did not dare to delay and immediately stepped forward to take the letter and read it carefully.
"The princess has returned safely, and the weapons have been put down."
Jia Yu scratched the ice cracks on the edge of the letter paper with his fingernail. This was Xuan paper soaked in the cold spring water of Mount Zhongnan. Only the royal family of the Tang Dynasty could use this method to prevent counterfeiting.
"This is clearly a trick of the Tang Emperor. Once our army releases Princess Jincheng, the Tang army will continue to come to Jinyang City!"
"Although the Tang army has stopped advancing at this moment, they are only a few hundred miles away from Jinyang and will arrive soon!"
He suddenly opened the tent curtain and pointed to the beacon towers south of Jinyang City, where three strange purple smoke were rising.
The siege and harassment war became more and more intense.
At this time, Chu Ning's rhino horn ring knocked on the map with a crisp sound, and he was thinking about how to deal with this matter.
Jia Yu advised at the right time: "Your Highness may agree to Li Shiming's request, but you must tell him that it will take some time to pass on the message, and it will also take time for Princess Jincheng to return from our capital!"
"As long as the Tang army does not move during this period of time, Princess Jincheng will be able to return to the Tang Dynasty safely."
"And our army only needs to capture Jinyang City during this period of time!"
Chu Ning nodded slightly.
Counting the time, seven days have passed. In Ji Yingjie's opinion, the Chu army's food and grass should not be enough.
When the fifth watch bell rang, Chu Ning picked up his pen, dipped it in special ink, and began to write a letter to Li Shiming.
The content of the letter was what Jia Yu had just said, asking the Tang army to remain on hold until Princess Jincheng returned.
After finishing writing, Chu Ning took a look at it and handed it to Jia Yu only after he felt that there was no problem.
"Reply to Li Shiming as quickly as possible!"
Chu Ning smiled and said, "Maybe by the time Li Shiming receives this letter, I will have already conquered Jinyang City!"
Speaking of Jinyang City, a cold light and murderous intent flashed in Chu Ning's eyes.
Jin was the dynasty he hated the most besides Qin.
Because Ji Yinghao, one of his best friends, died here.
This time, he wants to avenge Ji Yinghao!
While he was deep in thought, Jia Yu put away the letter behind him and said with a smile: "Your Highness, now everything is ready, only the east wind is missing!"
"It's time to close the big show we arranged for the Emperor of Jin."
"Although we have lost some soldiers during this period, it is nothing to our army."
"The Chu army now thinks that our army's combat effectiveness is just so-so, and even thinks that our army is short of food and grass, which leads to low combat effectiveness!"
"In this final battle, we must let them see how powerful our army is!"
They had already planned the battle to capture Jinyang City.
The so-called shortage of food and fodder was just something they deliberately showed.
In fact, they still had enough food and supplies to last for half a month!
Chu Ning also deeply agreed with this and nodded, saying, "I have waited too long for this matter."
"Ji Yingjie, he has been the emperor for a year, it is time for him to return the throne."
"Whatever he did to Ji Yinghao, I will return it to him exactly as it was."
He looked towards the top of Jinyang City and sneered, "This time, Jin will be destroyed, and I will step on Ji Yingjie's corpse to enter the Jin Palace!"
After saying that, he waved his hand and said, "Okay, send the letter to Li Shiming first!"
"The plan must be executed tonight. We must ensure that everything goes well!"