Chapter 354 Longwei Pass

Amidst the billowing dust and smoke, several riders rushed to the front of Longweiguan City, verified their identities, lowered the suspension bridge, crossed the city gate, and continued to ride north for more than ten miles to Taihe City.

Taihe City is located on the top of the Buddha Peak in Cangshan Mountain. The name of the city in Yi language means "city built on the hillside".

The city stands majestically on the foothills, looking down at the knights riding their horses.

Luo Feng from the Nanzhao King's Pavilion also led hundreds of officials to wait at the city gate, with a humble face and a longing look to the south.

The people of Taihe City also gathered around and stretched their necks. They heard that the envoys who had requested peace from the Tang army for the third time were coming back today, and they were eager to know the result.

Everything comes down to three, and if the Tang army rejects it this time, then there will only be one fight.

"Report!"

The knight dismounted from his horse when he was far away and ran towards the city gate, shouting: "Yang Zifen has returned from an envoy under the king's order!"

Ge Luofeng stepped forward in person, supported Yang Zifen with both hands, and asked, "What did Xianyu Jiedushi say?"

Yang Zifen slowly prostrated himself on the ground and said, "I am ashamed to have placed such great trust in Your Majesty."

"well!"

Ge Luofeng sighed heavily.

Yang Zifen cried loudly: "Xianyu Zhongtong refused to accept surrender. He only said that he would destroy Taihe City with a large army and massacre the whole city on the day of the destruction!"

"City full of massacre?!"

Following this exclamation, the people all over the city became frightened and started talking in all directions.

Geluofeng lowered his head for a long time. Suddenly, he burst into tears, bowed his head toward the northeast of Chang'an, and asked painful questions.

"I, the Meng family, settled the five imperial edicts for the Tang Dynasty, guarded the two rivers, relieved the worries of the king and father, and calmed the invasion of Bianyu. However, the treacherous sycophants brought trouble to the court, and the generals made false claims. In the past, Zhang Qiantuo bullied him in every possible way, but in the future, there was Xianyu

Zhongtong is greedy for merit and slaughters my people, what should we do?! What should we do?!"

"Your Majesty, just fight him." Duan Jianwei stepped forward to help Ge Luofeng up and shouted loudly.

"But in Nanzhao, a tiny place, if the king rebels, how many lives will suffer?"

Duan Jianwei said: "The Lord will humiliate his ministers and die, but we are not afraid of death. The army is approaching. Only by working together and fighting desperately can we have a chance of survival."

The leaders and generals of Nanzhao were inspired and stepped forward one after another and shouted: "We are not afraid of a battle with the Tang army!"

Ge Luofeng then wiped away his tears and put on a determined look. He turned to his officials and people and nodded slowly and heavily.

"Then fight."

On the ninth day of the tenth lunar month, King Nanzhao set up an altar in the Vajra City on top of the Buddha's summit to offer sacrifices.

He told Emperor Tianhou Tu his grievances and asked Heaven and Earth whether the battle could be won.

"If the Tang Dynasty accepts me, it will still be my king and father. If I don't accept it now, it will become my enemy. But can our small country of Nanzhao defeat the Tang Dynasty?"

After asking, Geluofeng kowtowed until blood flowed, and the whole city wept. For a time, Cangshan Mountain and Erhai Lake were also sad.

In the sky, the large dark cloud that came from afar finally covered the sun.

"God answered me?"

Ge Luofeng looked up and cried with joy.

"Have you seen everything? God has answered me that Nanzhao will win."

"Must win!"

"Must win!"

…

Zheng Hui stood among the crowd and was gradually infected by the atmosphere. He began to hope that the people in the city could be spared Xianyu Zhongtong's massacre.

He knew Xianyu Zhongtong fairly well and knew that he was a man who would massacre the city of Taihe to appease the king's anger for the sake of his future.

"Mr. Zheng."

Yang Zifen walked over and whispered: "I was on my mission to the Tang Army camp this time, and I heard some news about you."

Zheng Hui said in surprise: "Please tell me."

"I heard that Xianyu Zhongtong has reported to the Tang court that you have rebelled against the Tang Dynasty..."

"No." Zheng Hui responded hurriedly and said: "There are countless officials captured this time, and there are also many officials who were awarded Nanzhao officials. Am I on the list?"

Yang Zifen shook his head and said, "Xianyu Zhongtong only reported to you."

"Why?"

"Your Majesty has written a letter of surrender."

"But that's a letter of surrender." Zheng replied: "Nanzhao surrenders. This is the best ending to the whole thing."

Yang Zifen smiled and said: "Mr. Zheng, you can be a capable minister, but you cannot be a powerful minister. The surrender of Nanzhao to the people of the two countries is the best outcome. But where should the majesty of the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty be placed?"

Zheng Hui had no time to think about this. His mind was buzzing and he could only think of his family.

Not long after, Ge Luofeng summoned people to ask Zheng to come back.

"Mr. Zheng, I have heard about your story. It's all my fault." Ge Luofeng said frankly, "I asked you to write a letter of surrender on my behalf. Actually, I wanted you to serve me, but I really didn't expect this.

It will ruin your family. The saint... he has always been very generous in the past."

Zheng Hui was still tense at first, but when he heard the last sentence, he burst into tears.

"Sir, you and I were once officials of the Tang Dynasty, and I was in the same situation as you. Zhang Qiantuo bullied me, just like Xianyu Zhongtong bullied me."

As he spoke, Ge Luofeng stepped forward, his voice raised a bit, and said: "Today I dare to fight against the Tang Dynasty to protect my dignity and my people. Sir, do you dare to help me?"

From "Magistrate Zheng" to "Mr. Zheng" and then to "Mr.", with the changes of these three titles, Zheng Hui's state of mind was also very different. He only passed the Ming Dynasty and was the most inconspicuous in the Tang Dynasty.

existence, but was taken so seriously in Nanzhao.

Being able to be highly regarded by Ge Luofeng only for his political achievements in Xilu County is in line with the saying, "Thousand-mile horses often exist, but bole does not always exist."

He raised his head and trembled his lips.

"Dare to die for the king!"

~~

October 13th.

The Cangshan Mountains stretch continuously, and in the southwest of Longweiguan, there is a peak named "Shaoyakou".

Tang Jun is hiding here.

A group of horses rode around Cangshan Mountain and entered the Tang army's camp.

Li Sheng, who was in charge of the sentry, strode towards Wang Zhongsi.

"Jie Shuai, Xue Lang is here."

Diao Bing and Diao Geng didn't look like a Tubo soldier. They were not taken away by Xue Bai. They were worried in the camp. When they heard this, they were overjoyed and stood up to greet him. They were so excited that they rushed in front of Wang Zhongsi and were dragged away.

later.

The two brothers didn't have a bad temper in front of these Helong athletes. They followed behind them honestly and breathed a sigh of relief when they looked over and saw that Xue Bai was fine.

Xue Bai, who was still in the dust, had already whispered a few words to Wang Zhongsi, and then the two of them walked through the big tent.

"Jie Shuai must have clearly seen the terrain of Longwei Pass. Isn't it difficult to attack?"

"Yes, the difficulty of solving the problem is no less than that of Stone Castle City,"

Wang Zhongsi walked straight to the map he drew.

"Look, there is the East Erhai Lake, Xicang Mountain, and the West Erhe River in front of the pass. It's like a hard stone with nowhere to eat."

"Jie Shuai has no way to attack the city?"

"Our light army is moving quickly. We have neither food nor weapons, so we cannot attack by force. We can only attack by surprise, either crossing the Erhai Lake or climbing over the Cangshan Mountain. The army is short of leather bags, so I have ordered Wang Tianyun to cross the Cangshan Mountain and attack from both inside and outside.

Longweiguan."

Xue Bai was surprised and said: "Wang Tianyun has already set off?"

Wang Zhongsi said: "The military situation is like a fire, so we set off naturally."

"The dangers of Cangshan Mountain are difficult to overcome. Even if we succeed, I'm afraid there will only be one soldier out of ten." Xue Bai said: "I have a small plan, but I don't know if it can be used?"

"you say."

"I persuaded a Tibetan slave to enter Longwei Pass and open the city gate for us."

"Tibetan slave? Can you trust me?"

Xue Bai pondered briefly and said: "I am 30% sure."

"Okay! As long as I'm 10% sure, I'll give it a try." Wang Zhongsi said, "Let's talk about the plan."

"..."

Less than half an hour later, Wang Zhongsi wrote a military order, recruited a general, and ordered: "Send a few of your most capable people to catch up with Wang Tianyun and give him this military order."
To be continued...