Wu Jie, the guard at the gate of Hanzhong City, saw a group of troops coming outside the city. At first, he thought they were Hanzhong guards returning from a victorious battle.
He thought about it carefully. It would take more than a day to pull the grain cart from Hanzhong Mansion to Lueyang, no matter how fast it went.
They have just set off, and including the time for other armies to assemble, they still cannot reach Lueyang.
When the army got closer, the city gate guard could see clearly.
These people wore khaki linen clothes, and most of the soldiers held spears in their hands.
The most obvious difference is that the army did not fly under the banner of the Ming Dynasty official army.
This was the first time he saw this kind of flag, with a red background and a yellow Great Wall on top.
Wu Jie immediately realized that this was a thieves in yellow clothes attacking Hanzhong Fucheng.
He immediately ordered the city gates to be closed tightly, and at the same time asked his close servants to ride fast horses to inform the prefect of Hanzhong that the king was in Taiwan for support.
There are less than a thousand defenders on the four walls of the city, and the young men and women in the city must be mobilized to defend Hanzhong City.
The servants held the flag and rode fast horses through the streets.
Wang Zhongce was preparing to go to Prince Rui's Mansion when he saw a soldier riding a fast horse galloping on the street.
When the people around him saw him, they hurriedly ducked to prevent themselves from being hurt.
There were still many people running quickly into the city from the north gate.
They ran and shouted: "Hurry up and go home to hide, the rebels are coming."
Wang Zhongce was shocked when he heard the news.
He quickly grabbed a commoner who was running from the north city gate and asked, "The rebels are coming. What is going on?"
This commoner was about to curse, but when he saw Wang Zhongce's official uniform, he quickly suppressed his curse.
He coughed twice before quickly introducing the situation.
"I was just preparing to leave the city this morning. As soon as I arrived at the city gate, I saw a strange army coming outside the city.
They wore common linen clothes, and the army marched in an orderly manner, unlike the chaos of the officers and soldiers who left the city two days ago.
Now we have surrounded Hanzhong Fucheng and are preparing to attack the city.
I have to go home quickly and hide with my wife and children to avoid being affected by the military disaster."
After the man finished speaking, he immediately ran home while Wang Zhongce was thinking.
When Wang Zhongce heard the news, he did not go to Prince Rui's Mansion and returned home immediately.
The third entrance to the big house facing the street in Beicheng has the name Wang's Medical Center written on it.
There are many gourds hanging outside the hospital, with the names of the medicines engraved on the gourds.
On the left side of the gate, there is also a note of thanks from the people with thumbprints from the people.
Wang Zhongce walked into the room and ordered: "The hospital is closed now, and all the staff are making medicine for injuries."
A handsome man with a sallow complexion wearing a wide robe, a man's bun on his head, and a sallow complexion walked out of the inner courtyard.
She clamped her throat and tried to make her voice rougher.
"Second brother, what happened?"
When Wang Zhongce saw her coming out, he immediately dragged her into the inner house.
He reprimanded in a stern tone: "I'm not telling you not to come out if you have nothing to do.
If you are seen by others, our family background can't protect you at all, and even the main family can't protect you.
You are wearing makeup, what should you do if it rains?"
Wang Zhongce then explained in a soft tone: "In the past, I was only worried about those big shots, but now the rebels are here again.
Don't know yet what will happen.
But you believe me, second brother, I will try my best to protect you in the future."
Wang Zhongce finally warned: "Wenjun, please don't go out in the near future. Even if you hear some bad news about me, don't go out.
Relying on the reputation my father has accumulated in the past, the rebels will not touch our family as long as they have some conscience.
You and your sister-in-law hide, and don’t panic if something happens."
Wang Wenjun heard his second brother seem to give his last words.
She asked in a panic: "Second brother, what are you going to do? We can't do anything too dangerous.
What was the end of such a powerful person like Gaozu?
You must not stand out, you do not have the ability of my great-grandfather."
Wang Zhongce puffed up his chest and said loudly: "A man should do something and not do something.
I will do my best to ensure your safety and not allow you to be harmed by rebels.
I'm sure, you don't have to worry."
Wang Zhongce went to the housekeeper and sister-in-law again to explain everything that needed to be explained.
…
The prefect of Hanzhong, Wang, received news of the rebel siege in Taiwan.
He was so frightened that he rolled off his chair.
"How is this possible? The thieves in yellow are blocked in Lueyang. How can they reach Hanzhong?"
The steward helped Wang Zaitai and reminded him: "Sir, all the officers and soldiers in Hanzhong City have been transferred out by you.
Now there are no troops in the city to defend the city, how can we stop the thieves in yellow?"
Wang Zaitai reacted immediately and ordered anxiously: "Quick, take only the gold, jewelry and cultural relics, and we will escape by boat from the Han River."
There is a dock next to the Han River in Nancheng, Hanzhong. He received news that there were not many thieves in yellow.
The rebels surrounded them from the east and west directions of Beicheng.
As long as you run fast now, you can escape from Hanshui River.
Wang Zaitai went straight to the south gate with his confidants and family members.
The prefect king's escape in Taiwan was tantamount to making it clear to the gentry that Hanzhong Mansion could no longer be defended.
The gentry with a keen sense of smell also took action immediately and rushed to the pier outside the south city gate with their families.
Wang Zaitai came to the dock.
As expected, I didn't see the thief in yellow coming here.
He immediately asked his servants to rob a large passenger ship docked at the pier.
Using his status as prefect, he forced the boatmen to sail southward to Huguang along the Han River.
This ship was followed by many small boats, all of which were gentry from Hanzhong Prefecture.
As soon as the passenger ship walked out of the dock for more than 300 meters, it saw that the Han River had been blocked by many small boats.
On the bows of these small boats were the flags of the thieves in yellow.
Li Qingmu saw a ship approaching and asked the soldiers to call out immediately.
"The Han River has been blocked. Please stop the boat for inspection."
Wang Zaitai was so frightened that his hands were shaking and he was stumbling when he spoke.
"Rush, rush, rush...go, he, he, they...the boat, the boat is small."
The steward understood what he meant and immediately asked the rowing coolies to speed up and rush towards these small boats.
"fire."
The squatting cannon on the boat immediately fired solid shells.
The caliber of the Huzhong gun is very small, and the power of the shells is not great.
But the power of the cannonball can easily smash through this wooden passenger ship.
The roaring sound of cannons is extremely intimidating to ordinary people.
The boatman in charge of the helm was so frightened that he scrambled.
Passenger ships sail directly across the Han River.
Li Qingmu directed the soldiers to board the ship and capture the passenger ship.
When the gentry at the rear saw that the Han River had been blocked, they were frightened and immediately rowed back.
Li Qingmu didn't chase them either. His mission was to block the Han River.
…
Wang Zhongce rushed to Prince Rui's Mansion. He was very familiar with Prince Rui, and the guard of Prince Rui's Mansion let him in directly.
Entering the palace, Wang Zhongce saw King Zhu Changhao and his wife packing away their belongings.
He stepped forward and immediately tried to dissuade him: "Your Highness Prince Rui, everyone in Hanzhong Mansion can run away, but you can't run away.
Now you can only spend money to recruit young men to defend the city.
Only when Hanzhong Mansion is safe and secure can you be fine.
Even if you run out of Hanzhong, His Majesty the Emperor will imprison you in Fengyang to guard the imperial mausoleum."
At this moment, the palace guards ran in and reported: "Your Highness, we can't escape. The Han River has been blocked by the yellow-robed thieves. The prefect and the king were captured by the yellow-robed thieves in Taiwan."
King Zhu Changhao of Rui turned pale with fright. He looked at Wang Zhongce like a drowning man grabbing the last straw.
"I know Mr. Wang's talents, so I will give you one hundred thousand taels of silver, and the palace guards will also be under your command.
I just hope that you can guard Hanzhong City, and the safety of my king and the people will be left to you, Mr. Wang."
"His Highness must come forward to have enough appeal to recruit people to defend the city."
Wang Zhongce, in order to calm the hearts of King Rui, said: "Your Highness King Rui, the thieves in yellow must have taken Lianyundao to attack Hanzhong City by surprise.
They could not carry much food and grass. Even if they occupied Bao County, the food and grass would not be enough to feed the army for several days.
The walls of Hanzhong City are tall and hard, as long as we hold them for a while.
The officers and soldiers in Lueyang will also support us if they get the news.
We will win when the time comes, and with you boosting our morale, I will be more confident of victory."
After Wang Zhongce finished speaking, he picked up Rui Wang Zhu Changhao and walked out.
"The situation is urgent, please forgive Zhong Ce for being rude."
Wang Zhongce went out and shouted: "King Rui recruits young men to defend the city with everyone."
Wang Zhongce took King Rui's money and used the good name of the Wang family in Beicheng and King Rui's appeal to start recruiting young people.
Five thousand young men were quickly recruited, and the Hanzhong Guard's arsenal was opened to arm the young men.
Wang Zhongce led his troops and immediately rushed to the north wall where the yellow-robed thieves were mainly attacking.
Wu Jie walked out of the barbican in person and came to greet them.
When the two met, they felt the ground was shaking, and the tall northern city wall in front of them collapsed.
