It was not even the fact that the courtiers secretly collaborated with the captives to cause thousands of Xuanwu soldiers to suffer so much tragedy that they were forced to flee and mourn. It was actually the fact that nearly a million hungry people had been trapped in Guocheng for a long time, starving all day long, and surviving only on a small amount of soup. However, the enemy is incompetent, the people are deeply resentful, and the precarious people's hearts are already on the verge of collapse. All they need is a fire to ignite.
In the past, this fire did not burn brightly. On the one hand, the two city walls sandwiching Guo City were guarded by hundreds of thousands of Forbidden Soldiers, who strictly controlled Guo City.
On the other hand, when Wang Xun was appointed as the defense envoy of the capital of Gyeonggi, he considered the problem of the difficulty of controlling the hungry people and selected batches of young men from the refugees who poured into Bianliang into the army many times, constantly weakening the resistance potential of the hungry people.
Under such strict internal control, even if the hungry people caused few troubles in the past four months, they were quickly suppressed by the imperial army every time, without causing any major chaos.
As for the chaos caused by Caopuqiao porridge this time, in addition to the tens of thousands of hungry people involved in it from the beginning, and the momentum was not small, it was mainly caused by the generals who were the main combatants in the army. Begging for peace, even at the expense of depriving the king of military power, he had long been dissatisfied.
The first batch of soldiers sent from Nanhui Gate to Caopu Bridge learned that the people who were thrown to death with bricks and stones by the hungry people were the culprits who secretly communicated with the prisoners and caused the disastrous failure of the Xuanwu army's attack on the camp. They all wanted to take their swords. How can you still go out of your way to suppress the troubled hungry people even if you poke them with a spear a few times?
The hungry people were filled with indignation, and their grievances broke out. The soldiers in each battalion were resentful and passive, and some even directly refused to send troops. Soon, large groups of hungry people were everywhere in the Guo City, destroying porridge and checkpoints everywhere. Houses set on fire.
In the afternoon, the two official warehouses outside Dongshui Gate were occupied by thousands of angry hungry people, and burning, killing, and looting were inevitable. Seeing this scene, Zhu Hang was still full of worries, but Xu Wuqi, Zhou Jing, Zhu Chengjun and others were completely disappointed with such a court, and they believed that it would not be destroyed or established. They had no worries in Bianliang, but their moods were calm.
Because the DPRK and the Central Government intended to control the chaos in Guocheng and strengthen the defense of the inner city wall, they sent many envoys to the gates of the inner city. Xu Huai and the others waited until night before they found an opportunity to enter the inner city. Under the cover of night, Rush to Qingye Lane to see Wang Zhen before leaving.
At this time, the night was getting darker. Through the towering and heavily guarded inner city wall, Xu Huai and the others could see that the fires in the outer (Guo) city had not been extinguished. The night sky was reflected red by the flames, and there were sounds of fighting from time to time. came.
In order to prevent the small number of refugees in the inner city from being disturbed and causing chaos, the hundreds of refugees who had previously stayed in Qingye Alley were driven to no one knows where.
There were two lanterns hanging in front of the gate of the Wang's house. The light was dim. Xu Huai, Zhu Hang and others came to knock on the door. Everything in the front yard was as before. There were two strong servants playing horns in the yard, and others gathered around. Watch.
However, none of Wang Kong, Lu Xiong, and Zheng Shou were sitting in the front yard. This was called Xu Huai, and Zhu Hang's heart suddenly cast a shadow.
"Why did you come here?" After being informed, Wang Kong hurriedly walked over from the inside and ordered others to continue guarding the front yard. He led Xu Huai, Zhu Hang and the others to the back house and peered into the corridor. When there was no one there, he lowered his voice and said sadly: "My husband left at noon!"
Although he had expected this moment, Xu Huai still felt a little uncomfortable when he actually heard the news.
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He accepted it and stood in front of the corridor for a long time. It wasn't until Zhu Hang pushed his shoulder that he woke up and continued walking inside.
In accordance with the king's will, the funeral was not announced secretly, and the news of the death was concealed even at the expense of deceiving the king. At this time, the royal guards were also used inside and outside the palace to control the corridors leading to and from the backyard, and other servants in the palace were still kept in the dark.
Wang Fan, Lu Xiong, Zheng Shou, and Wang Xuan were all in the back house. In order not to expose their flaws, they were all wearing ordinary clothes and had not changed into mourning clothes.
Wang Zhen's body has not been moved to the main room yet, and he continues to lie on the bed in the bedroom. His skinny body is as thin as a piece of paper and covered under the quilt. It has no breath, but it is so quiet that it seems to have fallen asleep - in the bedroom
Several bags of lime have been brought in, which are intended to be used to dispose of Wang Zhen's body.
Xu Huai knelt down in front of the bed, kowtowed, and shed tears quietly.
"Grandpa sat in front of the window and closed his eyes. He thought you would be able to come back before noon to see him one last time." Wang Xuan said with tears in her eyes.
Xu Huai knew that Wang Zhen had too many worries in his heart when he left. He bowed his head in front of Wang Zhen's body and said with sobs:
"Guocheng is in a bit of chaos, and the situation may be difficult to control. If the captive soldiers take advantage of the chaos to rush in at this time, Guocheng will surely suffer heavy casualties, with corpses lying on the ground. However, the captive soldiers rush into the streets and alleys, and Guocheng is surrounded by rivers and canals.
Countless people, whose blood has been aroused in their chests, join forces with the defenders to resist, and they will inevitably suffer casualties they have not suffered since their southern invasion. And time will not allow them to storm the inner city. This will eventually be called Bian.
Liang Debao can also buy more breathing time for Vietnam. If the soldiers sit idly by, on the one hand, it will be difficult for the rebels to do anything between the inner and outer cities. On the other hand, the imperial court will not dare to clear out the enemy, which will only increase the number of troops.
Soothe them to reassure them, and then open the gates of the outer city and drive them out of the city after the Japanese soldiers retreat north, so that they can go south early. This result is better than the hundreds of thousands of people who were massacred when the Japanese soldiers invaded south again! Such a situation
As a result, even if the mediocre people in the temple are asked to be alert enough to the rebels and traitors, it is better than them thinking that they can sit back and relax after the troops withdraw north. Such mountains and rivers can be dealt with by extraordinary means. Fighting fire with fire is really a good idea.
There is no other choice. In addition, Xu Huai may want to publicize the news of your death..."
"My father would rather deceive the king and conceal the news of his death before the Chihu people withdraw their troops. Never announce it!" Wang Fan said.
"My husband's wish is to expel the barbarians and bring peace to the mountains and rivers - the true intention of my husband's will is also to stop us from acting in a conventional way," Xu Huai told Wang Fan. "The public opinion in Guocheng has become boiling.
The husband passed away after the traitor was eliminated. When the news of his death spread, more and more hundreds of thousands of defenders would become jealous. If the captive soldiers dared to invade Guo City at this time, they would encounter more people who would fight to the death - this is already
Before my death, my husband was worried that the news of his death would break the morale of the army. Furthermore, the weather is getting hotter and hotter. Mr. Wang Fanlang, do you really have the heart to seal my husband's body with a lime letter?"
Wang Fan looked at Lu Xiong, Wang Kong, and Zheng Shou and asked, "What do you think?"
The three of them also promised to keep the news of Wang Zhen's death secret before his death, and Wang Fan wanted to hear their opinions.
"Are you sure that the news of my husband's death is beneficial and harmless?" Lu Xiong looked at Xu Huai solemnly and asked.
The situation has become so chaotic that he can no longer see clearly how the situation will develop. Now that he is asked to violate Wang Zhen's will and leave the news of his death, Lu Xiong has a hard time making a choice.
"If I have any selfish thoughts, I can stay in Chushan and watch the rivers and Huaihe Rivers rot," Xu Huai said.
Wang Fan asked again: "What if
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Why can't the inner city be defended if the Japanese soldiers attack us?"
"We won't talk about this time, but we will talk about the withdrawal of the Chihu people this time. When they go south again, is it inevitable that Bianliang will fall?" Xu Huai asked.
"..." Wang Fan, Lu Xiong and others were silent.
This is actually a fact that Wang Zhen saw clearly during his lifetime, and they cannot avoid it.
Xu Huai continued: "If all my calculations were wrong and Bianliang fell this time, but King Jing was with the Western Army's reinforcements in Gong County, would this result be better than when Bianliang fell and Jing Jing was still there?"
Did the king also fall into the enemy's hands?"
Wang Fan glanced at Zhu Hang and knew that what Xu Huai said was right. If Bianliang fell this time, Zhou He, Miao Yanxiong, Zheng Huaizhong, Gao Chunnian, Wu Wenche, Hu Kai and others would all agree with King Jing or not, regardless of whether they agreed with King Jing or not.
To support King Jing, it is impossible to sacrifice the near and far to support King Lu who is blocking Weizhou with the red cavalry.
Only then did Zhu Hang finally understand why Xu Huai had completely ignored the consequences of the chaos in Guocheng.
The situation in Bianliang has already gone from bad to worse. Do they still need to worry about adding any more variables?
"If, as you expected, the captives did not dare to attack Bianliang in a hurry, what should we do next?" Wang Fan continued to ask.
"If the captive soldiers don't take the opportunity to attack Bianliang, they will cross the river and retreat north within the next half month, and the court will also send an order to King Jing to return to the capital," Xu Huai said. "What we have to do is to persuade King Jing to serve the country for the sake of our country."
To be righteous, don’t obey arbitrary edicts!”
"Persuade King Jing to resist the decree?" Zhu Hang asked in shock, "How can King Jing be willing to listen to us?"
As the saying goes, "When generals are away, the emperor's orders will be disobeyed." Zhu Hang was not a rigid person, nor did he think that disobeying an edict must be a treasonous act. Otherwise, he would not have agreed to conceal the news of Wang Chen's death.
Now all the civil and military officials in the dynasty regretted wrongly executing Wang Xiaocheng.
However, they were them, and King Jing was King Jing. Zhu Hang knew that King Jing had been extremely cautious over the years, and had always had deep concerns. He was afraid of being caught by Queen Chen and his family, but he might not listen to their advice.
admonish.
"We secretly escort Princess Yingyun to Gong County. Will King Jing hand over Princess Yingyun?" Xu Huai asked, "There is also an imperial edict to compensate Princess Yingyun and many of the clan's daughters to the Chihu people.
Will King Jing blindly obey such an imperial order?"
"Sometimes it's not whether King Jing wants to do it, but more often he has to do it," Zhu Hang said. "The Japanese troops are withdrawing north. The Western Army has hundreds of thousands of reinforcements in Gongxian and Yanshi areas. How do you tell King Jing to resist?"
Disobeying the order? How can you ask King Jing to resist and disobey the order without losing the morale of the army and the people?"
"Then it depends on whether King Jing wants the morale of the army and the people to resist the barbarians to the death, or whether he wants the morale of the army and the people to beg for peace with the barbarians," Xu Huai said.
"You are saying that with the chaos in Guocheng, the people in the court who are groveling and begging for peace are already afraid in their hearts. If King Jing resolutely refuses to comply with the peace talks and wants to lead his troops to continue fighting against the captives, the court may not necessarily give in to his will.
?" Zhu Hang asked.
"This is just a possibility, but how to do it exactly depends on what King Jing decides to do after meeting King Jing." Xu Huai said.
"Wang Fan, what did you say?" Zhu Hang looked at Wang Fan and asked.
"The news is temporarily blocked from the outside world. I went to the palace to report my father's death!" Wang Fan gritted his teeth and decided to inform the palace of his father's death first, and then see how things will evolve step by step...
