xymnovel Chapter 5: Leaving the City Alone to Seek Reinforcements
Chapter 5: Leaving the City Alone to Seek Reinforcements
The two children finally understood the origins of this dynasty.
"Li Keyong, the Prince of Jin, supported Liu Rengong to take control of Youzhou and left a thousand men to guard it. The soldiers of Hedong were violent and unruly. Your grandfather punished them according to the law and killed many of them. Who knew that this was a trap to kill people with a borrowed knife."
Although nearly forty years have passed, Gao Xingzhou's calm words still carried a hint of sarcasm.
"After Liu Rengong gained power, he turned his back on the Jin army and refused to send troops to help, citing the need to guard against the Khitan. Li Keyong sent dozens of envoys with letters to rebuke him. Liu Rengong threw the letters on the ground, hurled insults, detained the envoys, and imprisoned all the scholars from Taiyuan who were in Yan, claiming that it was all done by Liu Rengong's grandfather and brothers."
"On the other hand, Liu Rengong took the opportunity to pretend to be a good person and used high rewards to lure and win over Li Keyong's soldiers, and many of his soldiers joined him." (Note 1)
Gao Xingzhou's tone turned grim: "It was under these circumstances that your grandfather went to the front of Prince Jin's army to confront Wang Yanzhang."
The two children were horrified, experiencing for the first time the wickedness of human nature.
Gao Xingzhou finally got back to the point: "The counterattack that De'er used today is the same move that killed your grandfather back then!"
"According to your comrades in the army, in the first duel, your grandfather and Wang Yanzhang fought for three hundred rounds, and the battle was evenly matched all day. After returning to camp, Li Keyong ordered your grandfather to sign a military pledge that he must defeat Wang Yanzhang, or else he and his brothers would be punished together."
"The next day, they fought again. Before fifty rounds were up, Wang Yanzhang feigned defeat. Your grandfather, eager for victory, gave chase and was accidentally shot and killed by a returning spear. Li Keyong showed no mercy, and the two uncles also died under military law."
Gao Xingzhou recalled the day his father and two uncles went to war, only to be struck by the news that all three had died in a single day—a devastating blow. The entire clan donned mourning clothes, and the sound of weeping filled every household.
The two children, imagining the horrific scene, were momentarily speechless with shock. Gao Xingzhou, too, was overwhelmed by the memory, and the hall fell into a deep silence.
After a moment, Gao Xingzhou's mood calmed down a bit: "Liu Rengong appointed your uncle Gao Xinggui as a military officer, placing him under the command of his brothers, and treated him with great care. At that time, I was only twelve years old and could not yet distinguish between good and evil in people's hearts, so I was also appointed as a military officer by his side." (Note 2)
"The following year, Li Keyong personally led his army to attack Youzhou. The men of the Gao family fought desperately and killed more than half of his army."
The child felt quite relieved. His grandfather had gone to help, and it was bad enough that he died at the hands of an evenly matched opponent, but to be involved in a murky conspiracy was just too frustrating.
He then became curious: if his grandfather died unjustly and had an inexplicable connection with the current emperor's ancestors, how could his father serve the current dynasty?
Gao Xingzhou did not directly answer his son's question, but continued to tell a story from the past.
"After becoming an enemy of Li Keyong, Liu Rengong turned to the Liang Kingdom. His ambition remained undiminished, and he intended to annex the three towns of Hebei. However, he was outmatched and was defeated by the combined forces of Xuanwu and Weibo."
"His son, Liu Shouguang, had an affair with his father's concubine, Lady Luo. He had been expelled from the family earlier, but seized the opportunity to usurp the throne and imprison Liu Rengong. This man's ambition surpassed even that of his father. He ascended the throne and declared himself emperor, establishing the Great Yan dynasty."
"At that time, Li Keyong had already died, and his son Li Cunxu ordered Zhou Dewei to lead an army to attack Youzhou. At that time, the late emperor led a detachment of 30,000 troops out of Feihu Pass, pacified the area behind the mountains, and took the three prefectures of Wu, Gui, and Ru."
Gao Xingzhou addressed the founding emperor, Emperor Zhuangzong Li Cunxu, by his given name without any hesitation, yet his tone was full of respect for the late emperor. The one the child knew referred to was Li Siyuan, whose temple name was Mingzong, who had just passed away last year. (Note 3)
"Liu Shouguang ordered General Yuan Xingqin to lead 7,000 cavalry to graze horses north of the mountains and recruit soldiers to support the Khitan. He appointed your uncle as the governor of Wuzhou to provide external assistance."
"Who knew that Yuan Xingqin's troops rebelled on the way and elected him as the acting governor of Youzhou. Because he was afraid of your uncle, he sent someone to bind your cousin and led troops to Wuzhou to recruit your uncle to rebel."
Hearing that his subordinates had mutinied and coerced their commander into taking over, the child was somewhat skeptical. How could soldiers be so disobedient?
Gao Xingzhou sighed. These kinds of things are common, the most infamous being Wei Bojun and his gang. But his son is still young; there's no need to talk to them about these things for now.
"Your uncle refused, so Yuan Xingqin besieged the city with his troops. After more than a month of siege, Liu Shouguang's reinforcements were slow to arrive, and the city ran out of food. Your uncle ordered me to ask Taiyuan for help."
……
In the dead of night, a long rope was silently lowered from the city wall. Gao Xingzhou, in the prime of his life, gripped it with both hands. With each section lowered, he would push off the wall to slow his momentum, and silently slid down to the foot of the wall. (Note 4)
Yuan Xingqin, with limited military strength, did not build a long siege wall to isolate the city from the outside world. Instead, he deployed 7,000 cavalrymen, scattered around the city, with dozens of squads patrolling back and forth, weaving a seemingly impenetrable net. The defenders' decision to fight in the open or break out and escape was exactly what he wanted.
However, after more than a month of defensive fighting, Gao Xingzhou's sharp eyes had already clearly seen from the city wall the gaps in the enemy's deployment, the patrol areas, and the patterns of their intervals.
He was dressed in plain clothes, without any cumbersome items such as spears and bows and arrows, carrying only a waist knife for self-defense.
The trees around the city have been completely cut down, leaving nowhere to hide. If there is a miscalculation, or if the enemy patrols are not conducted according to regulations, there will be no chance of survival if they run into them.
Not far away, on the hillside, the Great Wall stretches out like a giant black dragon with no end in sight. It was this defensive line that held off the nomadic tribes from the north for thousands of years.
March is a season of lush grass and vibrant life. Gao Xingzhou was born and raised here. In previous years, he would ride horses and hunt with his brothers, relatives and friends at this time, which was very pleasant.
At this moment, the enemy was pressing in. Looking around, the enemy camps, hillsides, and the Great Wall were all dark and gloomy. Gao Xingzhou felt heavy and depressed.
Wuzhou is 900 li away from Taiyuan. Without horses, it would take half a month to walk there. Even if the Prince of Jin agrees to send troops to help, by the time they return, will the city still be able to hold out?
Gao Xingzhou had no time to think about the future; escaping the enemy's encirclement was his top priority. He lay in ambush in the dark grasslands, observing the situation ahead. Seeing no enemy troops around, he quickly ran westward.
Before setting off, he did not argue with his cousin Gao Xinggui about why he should submit to Li Cunxu, the Prince of Jin, the son of the enemy who indirectly caused the deaths of his father and uncles.
Because Gao Xingzhou witnessed his cousin gather the powerful clans of the state and solemnly declare: "It is not that I do not want to defend the elders, but now that Lord Liu's reinforcements have not arrived, what can we do? You may kill me and surrender to Jin."
The deceased fathers are no longer here. Why bring your whole family and innocent people on a path of no return because of past grievances?
Gao Xingzhou was still all alone. If he were still a young man, he might have relied on his passion to fight to the death and kill as many as he could, even if it meant fighting to his last breath.
But he is already twenty-nine years old this year. How can he just watch his cousin and his wife, who usually take good care of him, and his well-behaved little nephew who calls him "uncle," suffer misfortune after the city falls?
Without his familiar silver spear at hand and without the heavy armor on his shoulders, Gao Xingzhou felt uneasy. It wasn't that he was afraid of death, but he knew all too well the consequences of not being able to get reinforcements, and he didn't even dare to touch them.
As dawn broke and the rising sun cast its light on Gao Xingzhou's face, it couldn't dispel his gloomy and somber expression. Even though he had successfully escaped the most dangerous enemy patrol zone, he felt no relief whatsoever.
Gao Xingzhou breathed a sigh of relief when a group of soldiers dressed in black military uniforms appeared before him, carrying the banner of "Li, the Governor of Daizhou"—he recognized them as the Jin army that had come to take over the three prefectures behind the mountains.
Gao Xingzhou stepped forward to greet him. A burly general rode up on his warhorse, brandishing a giant axe and shouting, "I am Li Congke, a junior officer under the Daibei Army. State your name, are you a spy sent by Liu Shouguang?"
"Your uncle then surrendered to Jin as a hostage." (Note 5)
Gao Xingzhou seemed to have thought of something happy, and a rare smile appeared on his usually dignified and stern expression.
The two children looked at each other, not understanding what was so great about their father being taken hostage.
A smile involuntarily crept onto Gao Xingzhou's lips as he recalled the joyful times when he and his lord and comrades shared a common spirit, riding horses and brandishing spears, charging through enemy lines.
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Place Name Comparison
Shanhou: The area north of the northern end of the Taihang Mountains and north of the Jundu Mountains.
Wuzhou: present-day Xuanhua District, Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province
Ruzhou: present-day Yanqing District, Beijing
Daizhou: present-day Daixian County, Xinzhou City, Shanxi Province