Please call me Your Majesty!

Chapter 132: The Huns invade Chang'an, Chu Shizhao is unusually stable

In the simulations so far.

Huan Yi's best ending was achieved at the hands of Chu Shizhao. Regardless of Chu Shizhao's ability, just in terms of his conduct, Chu Shizhao had never stabbed his ministers in the back.

Such a kind monarch is rare.

This seemingly simple requirement is precisely what most people cannot do.

Should people who are so successful that they threaten the ruler be killed, or people who have violated taboos be killed? Most monarchs have to more or less judge the situation before making a decision. Even the most wise lord will still kill someone who hinders his rule.

Some people even know that this person is a loyal minister, but still have reasons to kill him.

Chu Shizhao has surpassed many people simply by not killing his meritorious officials and not purging his generals.

At this moment, Huan Sheng was still wondering why his little sister was so proactive, but after seeing Huan Yi's private actions, he had to obey her wishes and introduced her to Chu Shizhao.

"This is our little sister, the third child." Huan Sheng added, "She is quite smart, but she is a bit lazy at home."

Huan Yi forced a smile and looked at his brother kindly.

She had tried so hard to get on the chariot, but Huan Sheng's words destroyed her image.

Huan Sheng didn't think much of it. After all, he could sense that his sister desperately wanted to marry the King of Jin, but he couldn't lie with his eyes open.

His sister is totally unworthy of being virtuous and kind. When the Prince of Jin marries Huan Yi, he will find out that she is not what he expected and has been deceived. He will go to Huan Sheng to reason with her. What should he do then?

Of course, I have to say something ugly up front. If Huan Yi really gets married to Prince Jin, she will not be returned or exchanged.

Chu Shizhao nodded slightly to Huan Yi.

After so many simulations, it is impossible for Chu Shizhao to say that there is no love between him and Huan Yi.

But the relationship between Chu Shizhao and Huan Yi was more the result of mutual adjustment.

To put it simply, you don't intend to be together at the beginning, but just start living together. If you find that the other person is really good, then you start living together. After a long time, you develop real feelings for each other, and you find that there is nothing wrong with them, then you keep living together.

Moreover, there is no major friction between Chu Shizhao and Huan Yi, but it cannot be said that their relationship is lukewarm. At least Huan Yi's initiative is frightening. Compared with Yin Meiyu's indifferent and self-contained attitude, Huan Yi's love for Yin Meiyu is truly in love with Yin Meiyu, and it is in the literal sense of the word "falling in love with Yin Meiyu".

But the biggest friction between the couple is between Chu Shizhao and Li Fengning. Chu Shizhao and Li Fengning often have differences of opinion, and they are only in agreement when facing outsiders.

So in terms of impression, Chu Shizhao had a deeper impression of Li Fengning.

However, the current Chu Shizhao is different from the past Chu Shizhao.

The mood is different.

In the past, Chu Shizhao chose to marry because he needed to get help from others through marriage.

Whether it is an alliance with the Li family or the Huan family, the ultimate goal is to obtain help from the Jinyang Li family and the Liangzhou Huan family.

Chu Shizhao’s attitude towards marriage has become much cooler now.

He doesn't need an alliance, and he realizes that sometimes marriage is not necessary to get support from others.

He had gone there with a purpose in mind before, but now Chu Shizhao felt that he could bring these people together even without marriage.

He married Huan Yi and Li Fengning.

It's more about my own preferences, and no longer has any interests or needs.

Chu Shizhao smiled at Huan Yi, and they considered each other acquaintance.

In fact, Chu Shizhao has been running around these days, and he is almost being dragged down by the pressure on his shoulders.

The closer Chu Shizhao got to the big families, the more he realized how extensive these people's hidden connections and strengths were, and the more he realized how weak he was.

Fortunately, Chu Shizhao has basically taken control of the three new armies awarded to him by Emperor Yongjin. If he is given more time, he should be able to gather a group of combat-ready forces.

He now had people who openly supported him. If Huan Sheng went to the southeast, he might even be more useful than if he stayed in the central government.

After all, all places that the central government can get involved in have been infiltrated by the big families, and Huan Sheng’s voice alone is not enough. However, if Huan Sheng had military power in the southeast, that would be extraordinary.

Chu Shizhao and Huan Sheng discussed these issues for a while. Chu Shizhao stood up, bowed briefly and prepared to leave.

Huan Yi felt a little reluctant. Although they had known each other for a long time in the simulation, they had just met in reality. No matter how reluctant he was, there had to be a time to say goodbye.

Obviously, Chu Shizhao was talking about trivial matters that had nothing to do with her, but Huan Yi found it very interesting. She felt very happy even if they were just chatting about ordinary things.

When Chu Shizhao walked out of Huan Mansion.

The border of the Great Zhou Dynasty welcomed uninvited guests. The Huns riding on war horses looked into the distance, their clear eyes full of solemnity.

On this thousand-mile-long grassland, the Huns rode their war horses and marched towards the border of the Zhou Dynasty.

They launched offensives towards the Great Zhou Dynasty in many places on the grassland, advancing from four directions from Youzhou, Yuanzhou, Bingzhou and Yanmen, intending to invade the Great Zhou from the south.

On June 9, the 29th year of Yongjin, Cheng Qing, the defender of Jingyang in the Great Zhou Dynasty, did not anticipate the Huns' offensive. Faced with the sudden appearance of the Huns' cavalry, he panicked. He neglected defense and failed to organize an effective resistance. In addition, the Great Zhou Dynasty had neglected wars for many years.

The Jingyang area was on the verge of collapse.

Cheng Qing, who hastily engaged in the battle in the camp, was wearing a general's helmet and a tattered general's robe covered with mud and dirt. He fought with the Huns for less than three days and was defeated.

At that time, in order to resist the attack of the Huns, Cheng Qing knew that the Great Zhou Dynasty was short of military equipment and thought it would be difficult for him to defend the city. So he wanted to turn passivity into initiative and advocated a surprise attack outside the city. At first, he achieved some results and wanted to win a small victory and then retreat back into the city, delaying time and waiting for reinforcements from other places. However, some generals in the city were greedy for merit and thought that since the surprise attack had achieved a small victory, they should pursue the victory. They did not obey Cheng Qing's orders and continued the pursuit on their own initiative.

In the end, it was discovered that the Huns were only pretending to be defeated in order to lure the enemy deep into their territory and lure out the defenders of Jingyang to facilitate the siege.

As a result, the army sent by Jingyang to attack the camp encountered an ambush and was defeated during their blind pursuit.

Cheng Qing was trapped on both sides, cutting off the route back to the imperial court. The entire Jingyang became an isolated place, and it was unknown whether the scouts sent out could inform the imperial court of the battle situation.

On June 10, the 29th year of Yongjin, Jingyang was captured, but Chang'an had just received the battle report that the front line was attacked by the Huns at this time.

Upon hearing the news, Emperor Yongjin was shocked and angry by the sudden war report.

Jingyang is located in a very important position, and is very close to Chang'an. To attack Jingyang is almost the same as to attack Chang'an. The Huns were able to advance so far, so what were the garrisons doing in the places they passed by? Why were they able to bypass the cities and attack all the way to the heartland of the Great Zhou Dynasty?

During the reign of Emperor Yongjin, such wars were rarely encountered. At most, the Huns would come to plunder the border, and it would be fine to tolerate them for the time being. It was impossible for them to launch a large-scale war. But this time, the Huns relied on their mobility and surprise attack to directly attack the most important place of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

The capital is in danger. How should Emperor Yongjin deal with this?
Faced with such a tense situation, Emperor Yongjin hurriedly deployed troops to defend the capital and began to dispatch the three prefecture armies in Chang'an, but found that there were only less than 50,000 soldiers who could actually be used.

Excluding those who were drawing salaries without working, many of the soldiers actually on the roster were old and weak.

Some are veterans who have served in the army for more than 20 years. As they are older, it is unknown whether they still have fighting capacity. Some are new soldiers who have just joined the army and are only about 15 or 16 years old.

On the other hand, the 3,000 new Northern Army troops that Emperor Yongjin asked Chu Shizhao to urgently recruit were the most complete group of young and strong men. However, this army was also a new army, and whether it could go to the battlefield and fight against the battle-hardened Huns was also a question.

At this time, facing the enemy almost at hand, the atmosphere in Chang'an became increasingly dead silent.

After the Huns came directly from Jingyang, they plundered the villagers and burned their houses along the way, and the fire continued day and night.

Many refugees who had fled from other places were crying and wailing outside the city of Chang'an. In order to ensure the safety of Chang'an, all the city gates were closed.

However, facing the suffering of his own people, even if Emperor Yongjin had a heart of stone, he could not remain indifferent. He ordered the defenders to open the city and allow the refugees who were looted and invaded by the Huns to come to Chang'an.

On June 12, the 29th year of Yongjin, the Xiongnu cavalry was already approaching the city, getting closer and closer to Chang'an.

In Chang'an, the ministers who originally thought that the Huns were just ordinary looters began to realize that the situation was not as simple as they had imagined.

Many ministers from southern aristocratic families have already proposed moving south, believing that temporarily avoiding the attack of the Huns is the best option.

Faced with the oppressive feeling of war, wealth and status seemed to have suddenly lost their meaning of existence.

Emperor Yongjin saw the situation and had no choice but to convene a court meeting to discuss the next countermeasures.

This situation is extremely pessimistic.

According to the intelligence provided by the existing scouts, there are at least 100,000 Hun cavalrymen attacking, while the defenders of Chang'an have at most 50,000 soldiers, and these 50,000 soldiers may not be able to guarantee their combat effectiveness.

It was the situation of few soldiers and generals in Chang'an that made all the ministers lose hope in the war. The reason why some people advocated moving south was to prepare a retreat in advance in case the war went wrong.

Chu Shizhao did not expect that the Huns would suddenly attack the Zhou Dynasty. Just as Huan Sheng left Chang'an and headed southeast to quell the rebellion launched by Song Xun, the Huns attacked on the third day.

Faced with the panic situation in the whole city, Chu Shizhao was very clear about the consequences of moving south. Once he moved south, he would never be able to fight back to the north in this lifetime.

The collapse of the Great Zhou Dynasty was a very likely thing.

The outcome of the Song Dynasty's migration to the north is very telling. Losing the north was equivalent to losing the main source of war horses, and the country would always be inferior in future battles.

At this time, the Great Zhou Dynasty had to hold its breath and hold on.

If they could defeat them, it would mean that the Huns were only looting the border and stealing things. If they couldn't, it would be a sign of defeat.

The best case scenario is that the situation will turn into that of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, with only half of the country under their control; the worst case scenario is that the country will collapse directly.

But Chu Shizhao did not think that Chang'an could not be defended.

First, although Emperor Yongjin was adept at political tactics, he at least had normal intelligence and would not do something like Emperor Qinzong of Song did, such as asking a shaman to guard the capital.

Second, the military and political system of the Zhou Dynasty was more like that of the Tang Dynasty. The border troops did have combat capability. As long as these royalist troops were integrated in time and the Huns were frightened, they would retreat without a fight.

All he needed to do was to stabilize the court and bluff the emperor so that the military governors from all over the country would send some troops to support him. As long as Chang'an could not break in and their food and grass were exhausted, he could hold the city.

Chu Shizhao's emotions are stable because he has read the entire history of the Southern Ming Dynasty.

Could a cerebral hemorrhage be more outrageous than that of Emperor Qinzong of Song who suffered the Jingkang Shame or that of Emperor Zhu Ming who was responsible for the Southern Ming Dynasty?

Chu Shizhao's demands are not high, and the emperor is a man who can really keep his promises.

Chang'an had sufficient food. Even though it had few soldiers and generals, the towering city walls and the foundation accumulated over the years made it impossible for the Huns to break through in a short time.

As for the money in the national treasury and the food and fodder that are used up, who should we ask for it from? We should ask the big clans. If the big clans refuse to give, we will send them out of the city to fight the Huns.

As a member of the royal family, Chu Shizhao was still not qualified to attend this court meeting. The last time he was able to attend a court meeting was as a criminal.

As the party being tried, under normal circumstances, Chu Shizhao would not be qualified to participate in the discussion, so Chu Shizhao quietly waited for the outcome of the discussion.

In the Zhou Dynasty, the great families of Jingzhao, represented by the Wei and Wang families, believed that they must resist to the end and not withdraw from Chang'an.

The fame, wealth, and connections accumulated over the years would all disappear as soon as they moved south. This was a result that the major families in the north, led by those in the Jingzhao area, could not accept at all.

The local forces that Chu Shizhao hated in the past showed amazing unity in safeguarding their own interests.

You can have your cake and eat it too, but you can’t eat our cake.

You can hit the emperor, but you can’t hit us.

Chu Shizhao's elder brother Chu Shixu also advocated resistance to the war and defended Chang'an under Wang's persuasion.

Chu Shizhao followed up with a memorial advocating the defense of Chang'an, but the memorial written by Chu Shizhao was even more specific.

The big families are resolute in their attitudes and positions, and no practical plan has been put forward yet. Relying on his years of historical knowledge and experience, Chu Shizhao directly reviewed the details of Yu Qian's defense of Beijing.

In fact, the situations of the two are very similar. No matter how Yu Qian defends, Chu Shizhao can also defend in the same way.

The key is to encourage the collective, hold the main defensive areas, and then continue to increase the strength so that troops from other places can quickly support the capital, so as to give the Huns a feeling that they will be defeated in a long battle and that the more they fight, the more difficult it will be to fight.

When the time is right and the Huns can no longer invade, they will retreat on their own.

However, in actual operation, it depends on whether the government troops can withstand wave after wave of attacks from the Huns.

If it can't withstand the test and breaks at the slightest touch, then it's all in vain.

If there is a flaw in this line, it will collapse.

(End of this chapter)