si-mexico Chapter 612 I Can’t Hold On
Chapter 612 I Can’t Hold On
Emperor Cao De of Wei put on his dragon robe and strode into the court.
The eunuchs were lighting the charcoal braziers, although it was not very cold even in late autumn.
But no matter who you treat coldly, you can't treat the emperor coldly.
The ministers had not arrived yet and the drums had just started beating.
Emperor Wei flipped through the memorials in front of him, but after reading them for a few seconds, he could no longer bear it and angrily pushed all the memorials to the ground.
The eunuchs were so frightened that they knelt on the ground, fearing that they would arouse the emperor's anger.
Cao De's eyes were red and he was breathing heavily, like an angry lion looking for prey to vent his anger.
He was silent for a long time, then pulled out a painting from under the imperial desk, opened it, and looked at it with red eyes.
This painting shows a woman wearing a dragon robe and an imperial crown.
He sent people to Dayan to find a painter who had seen the empress of Dayan, and paid a large sum of money to have him paint based on his impression.
It is well known that Cao De likes young married women.
And the most noble young wife in this world is undoubtedly the Empress of Dayan.
That empress rose from an emperor with little real power to seize national power. She developed Dayan into a great power that dominated the entire northern part of the world, and now she has conquered half of the territory of Qin and Wei.
It is no exaggeration to say that half of the world now belongs to Dayan.
Such a strong woman makes people fascinated every time they think of her.
In the past, he had only heard that the Queen of Dayan was in her early twenties and extremely beautiful, but he had never seen her.
It wasn't until the painter delivered the portrait that he was stunned when he saw it for the first time.
She was so beautiful, standing on the high dragon chariot, overlooking her people, with a loving look in her eyes, but her brows were filled with a heroic spirit that looked down upon the world.
She was tall and looked extremely domineering in her dragon robe, yet she also had the shyness and maturity of a new wife.
The most perfect woman in the world has already taken shape in the mind of Emperor Cao De of Wei.
He dreamed of conquering the State of Yan and capturing the most beautiful young woman in the world alive.
He thinks about it day and night and can't forget it.
But this woman has a husband.
Of course, having a husband is a plus, but her husband is too strong.
It was he who conquered the Kingdom of Yan.
When Emperor Wei thought about the woman he had been thinking about day and night but could not get, and that was stood up and kicked by that man, he was heartbroken and hated Shen Changgong even more.
And now, this man, with an army of hundreds of thousands, annihilated his 500,000-strong army with great momentum, then crossed the Luo River like a divine soldier from the sky, annihilated his army on the river bank, and defeated Cao Xiang.
Maybe in a few days, he would be able to enter Luoyang City and cut off his head and kick it like a ball.
Not only could he not seize his wife by force, but he also had to become a stepping stone for him to unify the world and become one of his achievements in conquering that woman. He was so angry that he wanted to vomit blood.
But when he saw the woman in the portrait, his heart gradually calmed down.
As long as I can look at you, I will be satisfied with everything.
He closed his eyes, placed the portrait on his face, and rubbed it gently.
It’s like caressing the person you love most.
After a moment, he sighed, carefully put away the scroll in his hand, and said to the eunuch kneeling below,
"Clean up this place and put out the map of Wei."
"According to the order."
The eunuchs hurried over, picked up the memorials on the ground, and spread the map on the table.
Soon, the ministers arrived one after another.
When they saw that the emperor, who was usually either late or absent from work, was sitting on the dragon throne in such an abnormal way, they were so scared that they dared not breathe. They quickly stood in their seats, lowered their heads and said nothing.
More and more ministers came to the meeting, but the hall was completely silent.
Another quarter of an hour later, almost everyone had arrived, including the three ministers, but they still stood there without saying a word.
But continuing like this is not a solution.
The general winked at the prime minister and asked him to speak.
The Prime Minister sighed, stood up, and said cautiously,
"Your Majesty, all the ministers are here. Can we begin the morning court session?"
Cao De opened his eyes and said coldly,
"No hurry, wait for someone to come."
"I wonder who your majesty is waiting for?"
"Cao Xiang."
"Prince of Jin? Didn't he go out to fight the Yan bandits yesterday? He shouldn't be in Luoyang right now, right?"
Cao De sighed and slowly said two words,
"Failed."
When the ministers heard this, they were all shocked, and then immediately began to whisper to each other and discuss.
"That shouldn't be the case. The King of Jin led the army out yesterday, saying he was going to attack the enemy at night. We are familiar with the terrain, and it was a surprise attack, so how could we be defeated?"
"Didn't he also go to the Xianzhen Camp? Gao Shun is the best martial artist in the world, so didn't he also break into the Yan army camp?"
"I think what was said yesterday was that the King of Jin was ordered to rescue the besieged Riverbank army, but before he even arrived, the Riverbank army surrendered?"
"That seems to be the case."
"What should we do? How many men has the King of Jin brought back? How many troops are left in Luoyang? Can they stop the Yan army?"
While the ministers were talking, the eunuch's voice suddenly came from the door.
"Prince Jin is here to see you..."
Cao Xiang, wearing armor and carrying a sword, walked up step by step and knelt on one knee to salute.
In the entire court, he was the only one who was qualified to carry a sword to court, which showed Cao De's trust in him.
Cao De said,
"Stand up and tell me yourself."
"Yes, Your Majesty...Yesterday, I led a large army to retake the riverbank camp. I intended to launch a surprise attack on the enemy, but they were well prepared.
The riverside camp must not be lost, otherwise the enemy will be able to come unimpeded.
I will risk my life to attack and fight to retake the camp.
But... I was defeated. The bravery of the Yan army is truly rare. I risked my life to bring back more than 50,000 men."
Upon hearing this, the ministers were furious again.
He brought 150,000 troops with him, but only brought back 50,000. As a result, there were only 200,000 defenders left in Luoyang.
How to fight this?
Cao De asked,
"There are still 200,000 people left. Do you think we can resist the Yan army?"
Cao Xiang immediately said,
"I will do my utmost, even if it means my death, to defend Luoyang City and await the arrival of reinforcements."
"I didn't ask you how you defend it, I asked if you can defend it."
After thinking for a moment, Cao Xiang said bitterly,
“Luoyang City is large, and the defenders are divided among their numbers, so the area they need to defend is too large. However, the enemy can just attack one point, and as long as that point is breached, they can come in.
If it were any other army, I would be confident that I could hold on.
But... the bravery of the Yan army and the advantage of their artillery were rare in history and unmatched. Looking back at the Yan army's sieges, they always captured the city in one day.
I cannot defend it."