Chapter 1145: Presenting the Imperial Seal

On February 24, Sun Ce announced in Jianye that the Duke of Tang had betrayed his loyalty and secretly accommodated the remnants of the Zhong clan, Yuan Yao and his entourage. The Wu army decided to send troops to attack the Tang Kingdom. On the 25th, 40,000 soldiers of the Wu army crossed the river, landed in Liyang, and then marched in the direction.

A few days later, Sun Ce's army arrived at the foot of Xiang'an City. At this time, Ji Ling had led his troops to station in Xiang'an for many days, and had already raised and thickened the city walls of Xiang'an by more than 20%. At this time, there were already 10,000 infantry soldiers and 5,000 cavalry in Xiang'an City, plus the 5,000 defenders in Xiang'an City. With Ji Ling, a veteran general on the battlefield, facing Sun Ce's army of less than 50,000 soldiers and horses, it can be said that it is impregnable.

As early as when the troops were sent out, just after the army left Jiangdong, Sun Ce had already regretted it. Now his strength is not strong, but he led 40,000 to 50,000 soldiers and horses to attack the Tang army so rashly, which is really unwise, but now he is riding a tiger and it is difficult to get off.

Apart from anything else, even Sun Ce was embarrassed to return his troops just like that. Besides, since they received the news that Yuan Yao surrendered to the Tang army, all the old officials in Jiangdong strongly demanded to send troops to fight against the Tang. In their view, this jade seal was something that their old master had risked his life to get, but it was so easy for Yuan Yao, a prodigal, to give it away, so all the old officials in Jiangdong strongly demanded to send troops to fight against the Tang, and it would be best if they could force Huangfu Chaobo to return the jade seal.

Just when Sun Ce's army began to set out from Liyang, Wu Jing, the governor of Jiujiang in Shouchun, also sent tens of thousands of troops westward, directly approaching Anfeng City, but these tens of thousands of troops stopped less than a hundred miles east of Anfeng, and then never moved forward again. Under the influence of Cao Cao in Yanzhou, several cities close to the Tang army had secretly assembled a group of troops. Their purpose was to rush out and muddy the situation when the Tang army and the Wu army fought each other, so that they would have a chance to make a profit.

Unfortunately, from beginning to end, the Tang army showed no signs of moving, but the cities everywhere had strengthened their defenses and were ready to deal with the attack of the Wu army.

On March 1, Sun Ce's army arrived at the foot of Xiang'an City. Looking at the "Ji" flag flying high on the top of the city, everyone in Jiangdong knew that it was Ji Ling who was defending Xiang'an. For a while, Cheng Pu and Huang Gai and other veterans were so angry that they cried out. Before they could set up the camp, they asked Sun Ce to lead their troops to attack the top of Xiang'an City.

Although Sun Ce has taken over the Sun family for several years and has expanded the territory to four or five counties, he still cannot control the few old ministers left by his father as well as his father, especially in matters related to his father. These old ministers often make trouble, and Sun Ce really can't stop them.

Otherwise, Sun Ce would be crushed by the accusation of being unfilial. Seeing that the two were eager to go to battle, Sun Ce handed over the task of setting up camp to several young generals, and led 10,000 troops with Cheng Pu and others to the city of Xiang'an. Although Xiang'an City is not large, Ji Ling has managed it like an iron barrel in more than ten days. In addition to the original city defense facilities, many other measures have been added. It seems that they want to defend the city first, and they have never thought about going out of the city to fight.

When the army arrived outside the city, they set up their formations and began to attack. The two veterans were not completely blinded by anger and easily sent out the army. Instead, they sent two thousand soldiers to launch a tentative attack on the city. The attack was quickly repelled, and the two thousand soldiers retreated smoothly after losing hundreds of people. Seeing this, the two were so angry that their faces turned black. Sun Ce didn't care too much. After letting the two veterans cool down, he ordered the army to withdraw to the camp and wait until the siege equipment was ready tomorrow before attacking the city.

When Sun Ce's army launched an attack on Xiang'an City, the first wave of Tang army's envoys had arrived in Chang'an City. Guo and Li did not stop them and let the envoys enter the palace to meet the emperor. After receiving the news that Huangfu Chaobo was going to present the imperial seal, the young emperor was so happy that he almost jumped off the dragon throne. Others did not know the role of the imperial seal, but he understood the benefits that the imperial seal could bring to him.

After suppressing his excitement, the young emperor eagerly asked about the source of the imperial seal. The envoy did not hide much and told the emperor the source of the imperial seal in detail.

Although Li Jue and Guo Si were Dong Zhuo's confidants, they could not touch the imperial seal. In their opinion, Dong Zhuo, who was so powerful at the time, did not take the imperial seal for himself, so they had no idea of ​​controlling the imperial seal in their hands. In their opinion, as long as the young emperor was controlled, it didn't matter whether the imperial seal was in their hands or not.

A few days later, the army escorting the imperial seal finally arrived outside Chang'an City as the little emperor had been waiting for. Upon hearing the news, the little emperor immediately ordered the envoy of the Duke of Tang to come to the palace to see him.

Taiji Hall, although it was the main hall of the court in Chang'an, only dozens of ministers were here to meet the envoy of the Duke of Tang with the emperor, including Li Jue and Guo Si and their dozens of trusted generals.

Following the summons of the eunuch on duty, Xun You walked into the hall from outside with steady steps. In his hand was an item wrapped in yellow silk. Everyone knew that it should be the imperial seal.

Ever since Xun You entered the hall, the little emperor's eyes had been fixed on the package in his hand, without moving.

After entering the hall, Xun You respectfully performed the three kneeling and nine bowing rituals, then raised his hands and presented the jade seal. An eunuch next to him was about to come forward to receive it. Who knew that before he could reach Xun You, Li Jue, who was standing in the front row, quickly stepped forward and snatched it from Xun You.

On the other side, Guo Si also came forward to take a closer look at the jade seal. For them, it was just a rare treasure, but they did not notice that the pair of resentful eyes on the dragon throne were staring at the two of them. Or maybe they had seen it, but they didn't care. In their opinion, the little emperor on the dragon throne was just their puppet. Even if he now had three to five thousand so-called Yulin troops, it could not change this fact, so they usually did not have any respect for the little emperor.

After playing with it for a while, the two felt that there was nothing strange, and then threw it to the eunuch next to them, and then they left the hall one after another and left.

For ordinary people, the jade seal is just an ordinary treasure, and its function is to increase reputation. Only those who have reached a certain reputation and a certain title will see a deeper role. Some families that have been passed down for generations will know the role of the jade seal, like Yuan Shu.

Of course, you can also take it for yourself, and when you grow to a certain level, you will discover the role of the jade seal. The premise is that the jade seal can be in your hands for a long enough time, but once your reputation, ability, and strength are not enough to shock the jade seal, it may bring bad luck to the holder. This is the case with Sun Jian and Yuan Shu. Both of them died within less than two years after possessing the jade seal.

But the little emperor is different. He is a real emperor. Even if he was established by Dong Zhuo, he is indeed the emperor of the Han Dynasty, so he can control the jade seal.