Nine dragons fight for the throne, I don't want to sit on this throne

Sima Yi successfully ascended the throne and became emperor!

But at the same time, the Han Emperor Liu Che was in a very bad mood.

This was the day when Sima Yi ascended the throne.

Han Dynasty, Weiyang Palace.

The Purple Palace was filled with the scent of ambergris, and the twelve golden dragon pillars glowed coldly in the morning light.

The fingers of Liu Che, who were tightly grasping the secret report, had turned blue and white, and the ink on the silk book was blurred by sweat, forming a hideous ink blob.

"Good job Li Shiming!"

The imperial desk was slammed loudly, and the official seal with a bronze animal button rolled down the jade steps.

"Last year when we swore an oath of blood, you spoke so righteously, but now you want to share my kingdom with the Chu thieves!"

The angry Liu Che stood up suddenly, and the nine-ring jade belt around his waist jingled.

Civil servants and generals all knelt down on the stairs, and dozens of trembling figures were reflected on the gilded floor tiles.

Minister of War Wang Huanzhi rested his forehead against the cold brick surface and saw that Prime Minister Chen Pin's cloud-patterned black boots moved forward half an inch.

When this veteran minister straightened his back, his old voice was as steady as a rock: "Your Majesty, calm down. This is exactly Chu Ning's plan to sow discord.

Three days ago, the Black Guards intercepted a secret letter, and the Chu army rushed to Jinyang day and night. He just didn't want the Tang army to intervene in this battle, so he deliberately spread the news. "

There were gasps coming from the hall.

Chen Pin took out a sealing wax box from his sleeve, and the old eunuch standing by took it and presented it to him in small steps.

Liu Che opened the wax seal with an expressionless face. After the silk book was unfolded, he quickly glanced at the contents.

"The Jinyang granary has nine million dan of grain, but Chu Ning wants to concentrate all his troops here. It's obvious that he wants to take Jinyang as soon as possible!"

Chen Pin's old voice suddenly became sharp. "If we really want to join forces with the Tang Kingdom, why do we need to keep all the main forces of the Chu army in Jinyang? In my opinion, this marriage rumor is just a trick to force our army to lose their composure."

Zhang Yannian, the privy councilor, suddenly kowtowed heavily and said, "Prime Minister, you are absolutely right! The Chu army currently has only 60,000 soldiers and horses attacking Jinyang, while the Jin army defending the city has more soldiers and horses than them!"

"Chu Ning must not have much chance of winning, so he deliberately alienated our Four Dynasties Alliance."

Before he finished speaking, Liu Che sneered, "Really? What if Chu Ning really teamed up with the Tang Dynasty in secret?"

Chen Pin suddenly lifted his robe and knelt down, knocking his jade scepter against the bricks and stones, "This old minister is willing to guarantee it with his own head!"

"The urgent military reports from the past three days, which have traveled six hundred miles, show that the Chu army's vanguard has shown signs of running out of food and grass. They deliberately spread rumors of marriage in order to induce Your Majesty to turn against the Tang Kingdom!"

The Minister of War suddenly stepped out on his knees and said, "Your Majesty, this morning the cavalry reported that the defenders of Maple Leaf City discovered that the Chu army's baggage train was transporting food to Qin!"

This sentence was like cold water poured into boiling oil, and the court immediately exploded with whispers.

Liu Che suddenly supported the imperial desk, and his knuckles left white marks on the rosewood - if the Chu army really had enough food, why did they still need to transport food from Maple Leaf City?

Could this really be Chu Ning's evil plot to make him doubt the Tang Dynasty?

Thinking of this, Liu Che snorted coldly: "Since all the signs show that this is a fraud, our army will continue to attack Maple Leaf City!"

"No matter what, we can't let the Chu army from Maple Leaf City go to support us!"

"I'll leave this matter to you, Prime Minister, to supervise it personally!"

As the sun set in the west, the gilded clepsydra dropped its one hundred and eighth copper bead.

When Chen Pin walked out of the palace holding the tiger talisman, the twilight had already dyed his crane cloak.

The sound of hurried horse hooves could be heard outside the palace wall. An express messenger, who had traveled eight hundred miles in an hour, was running towards the Privy Council, carrying a copper tube with a red feather inserted in it on his back.

Thousands of miles away, on the top of Jinyang City, the wolf flag of the Chu army's vanguard was fluttering in the wind.

The setting sun was like blood, dyeing the mottled battlements on the top of Jinyang City red.

When Ji Yingjie leaned over and looked down, holding onto the cold blue brick, the cold sweat from his palms left dark marks on the brick surface.

Under the eight-foot-high city wall, the dark array of the Chu army was spreading in all directions along the moat like a spider web soaked in ink.

Outside the South Gate, thirty whirlwind cannons have unfolded their hideous skeletons, and the cowhide noose has been stretched into a full moon in the setting sun.

The thunder and fire bombs stacked behind each artillery vehicle emitted a pungent smell of sulfur in the evening breeze. The array of torches wrapped in oilcloth extended from the artillery array to the central army tent five miles away, like a fire dragon entrenched on the ground.

The most frightening thing was the three pitch-black behemoths in the center of the artillery array—the "Sky-shaking Roar" made of South China Sea ironwood.

Each launch consumes 300 kilograms of stone bullets. Last year, it was this monster that broke open the Qin State's thousand-year-old city wall.

On the northern plains, 10,000 light cavalry formed a nine-layer linked formation.

The war horses were all covered with face armor, the riders had a small black shield tied to their left arms, and a two-foot-long curved saber hung on their right waist.

These snow-riding horses from Youzhou were paddling their iron hooves anxiously. In the dust they raised, one could vaguely see thirty mobile arrow towers being assembled in the rear, with the crossbows on the roofs flashing a faint cold light.

"The hook-and-sickle spear formation on the east side consists of a group of 100 people, and the spear tips are poisoned."

The Minister of War's voice trembled, and the compass needle in his hand was pointing to the direction of the rising sun.

There were spider-web-like tripwires everywhere, and three-meter-long hook-and-sickle spears were intertwined into steel thorns in the twilight, with a hemp rope soaked in kerosene tied to the end of each spear shaft.

This was the Chu army's killer move against heavily armored cavalry. Once it entangled the horse's legs, it would ignite a flame.

Suddenly, there was a sound of orderly footsteps outside the west city wall, and five thousand shieldmen formed a tortoise shell formation and advanced steadily.

Each black iron shield was engraved with fire-avoiding runes, and the crossbow arrow slots protruding from the gaps were glowing blue.

Behind the shield formation, three thousand archers were inserting arrows into steaming medicine barrels - those were "ghost crying arrows" made from corpse oil mixed with arsenic. Anyone hit by the arrows would fester all over their body and wail until they died.

"Chu Ning is going to crush Jinyang City into dust!"

The Taifu's white beard trembled in the wind, and his skinny fingers traced the city defense map: "The most urgent task is to transfer all the Shenji Battalion to the South Gate, and the west arrow tower needs to be equipped with 300 hard bows!"

Yang Xingye, the son-in-law of the emperor, suddenly stepped forward and frowned, saying, "Your Majesty, the Chu army's deployment outside the city may be a trick!"

"If we follow their arrangements, we will definitely fall into their trap!"

Everyone was shocked when they heard this.

Yang Xingye pointed at the Chu army outside the city and continued, "There are fresh wheel tracks thirty feet behind the south gate artillery array, but the depth is less than three inches, which means that they were not transporting stone bullets but fodder."

"Chun Ning is using evil tricks to force us to lose our composure!"

Ji Yingjie's fingertips unconsciously stroked the night-shining pearl inlaid on the hilt of the sword, which was a treasure presented by the Tang Kingdom when he ascended the throne.

"deliver an imperial order."

Ji Yingjie suddenly clenched his fists. "The guards at the four gates keep their troops still. Let the firemen mix mugwort into the smoke. The fierce fire oil of the Shenji Camp is divided into ten groups to take turns on duty. Check the iron gate of the South Gate three times before midnight!"

The Grand Tutor opened his mouth to offer some advice, but in the end he just sighed and said nothing.

After all, Yang Xingye had dealt with Chu Ning before, and he was the son-in-law of the emperor and the husband of the current emperor's younger sister.

To refute at this moment would not give Yang Xingye any face.

Now, he could only hope that things would turn out as Yang Xingye said.