The moon is sparse, the bright moon hangs on the treetops, and a few birds chirping from time to time highlight the haziness and quietness of today's night.
After experiencing a day of fatigue today, Zhu Ling quickly went to bed to rest under Wang Chengen's service. Before going to bed, he explained a few words that the city defense must still be cautious tonight. After receiving Wang Chengen's reply, he quickly expressed his fatigue.
The body fell asleep. In his sleep, he dreamed that he was yelling and scolding with Dorgon, beheading Wu Sangui, drinking with Li Zicheng, and finally reviving the Ming Dynasty.
This was supposed to continue, but suddenly an urgent knock on the door woke Zhu Ling up.
After getting permission, Wang Chengen ushered the visitor in, and then he discovered that it was Zhu Dadian who was wearing armor and asking to see him. Seeing his eager look, he stopped letting him salute and asked, "What happened?"
"His Majesty!"
Zhu Dadian's face was full of pain and he said in a deep voice: "I received a battle report an hour ago that Zouxian County, where Fan Xianchao was guarding, fell. He led his troops and horses to escape back to Yanzhou and waited for his fate."
This news is undoubtedly a bit shocking. Yanzhou in the front, Jining and Qufu on both sides are all fine. Why was Zouxian in the rear suddenly captured? It is somewhat unbelievable, at least it was beyond everyone's expectation.
He quickly asked: "When did the intruders divide their forces to attack? How many people are there? How could Fan Xianchao, who has 10,000 people, be beaten and retreat directly?"
"I was also confused. After asking Fan Xianchao, I learned that this army was not a bandit. Strictly speaking, it was the rebels of our court, Liu Zeqing. He led his troops to attack Zouxian County in the afternoon, and Fan Xianchao could have defended it.
, but Liu Zeqing attacked the city with artillery. In less than half an hour, half of the city walls of Zouxian County were destroyed, so he had no choice but to lead his people to escape from Zouxian County." Zhu Dadian's words were mostly helpless, and no one wanted to
I knew that Liu Zeqing actually had artillery.
Zouxian County is originally a small county, and the city defense is weak. In addition, Fan Xianchao does not have good weapons to defend the city, so he can only rely on his body to block the enemy again and again. But even the strongest body cannot support artillery.
, that one shot can destroy even the city wall, let alone a human body.
"Convene an emergency meeting immediately and let everyone come up with a solution." Zhu Ling had no desire to rest anymore. Now his mind was filled with the news of the fall of Zouxian County and Fan Xianchao's defeat.
"According to the decree."
After a while, all the resting officials were awakened by a rapid knock on the door. Then they knew that something had happened in Zouxian County, and their expressions immediately became panicked, and they hurried over after finishing their work.
When everyone gathered together, Zhu Ling frowned tightly, with a gloom gathering on his face. He first looked at Fan Xianchao and said: "Fan Xianchao, please tell everyone the situation in detail first."
"yes."
Fan Xianchao was obviously extremely displeased and ashamed. He immediately raised his hands and said: "Yesterday afternoon, I led 10,000 troops to garrison Zouxian County. Suddenly I saw dust billowing in the distance. Looking from a distance, I saw a large number of people holding ladders and long ropes.
Dao's soldiers were about to attack the city, and I immediately ordered people to set up bows and arrows and prepare to defend the city. Suddenly I discovered that the enemy's uniforms were very similar to ours. Later, I discovered that the enemy's flag was actually a Liu character. Only then did I realize that the enemy was actually
It was Liu Zeqing, and then the enemy attacked the city with heavy artillery. The general finally knew that he could not hold it, so he led his troops to withdraw."
Having said that, he lowered his head heavily, feeling extremely embarrassed. The arrogance and arrogance of the past had long since disappeared, and all that remains now is unwillingness.
"Everyone has heard that Liu Zeqing, who disappeared before, turned out to have surrendered to the intruders. He actually attacked me, Zouxian County. If Fan Xianchao hadn't evacuated quickly, I'm afraid he would have been blamed." Zhu Ling glanced at the people standing below.
Official, one sentence inadvertently exonerated Fan Xianchao.
"I think." Huang Bodang stood up and said seriously: "Zou County is behind our Yanzhou. Once it falls, if Jining and Qufu are captured at the same time, our Yanzhou will be meat on the chopping board and will be cut into pieces at any time.
.Such a crime must be punished!”
As soon as these words came out, everyone present screamed in surprise. The atmosphere in the scene instantly turned cold, and everyone fell silent.
Zhu Dadian heard what His Majesty meant and came out to excuse him: "Huang Yushi was a little excited when he spoke. Not to mention that General Fan successfully evacuated with almost no casualties. How many people could defend the city just by artillery attack?"
Mr. Huang also went to the battlefield yesterday, but after all, he had never seen the power of artillery. When the cannon came down, the city walls collapsed, which was extremely terrifying."
"Then according to what Governor Zhu said, as long as we feel that the enemy is too strong and we cannot defend it, we can escape. In this way, many generals who left without fighting can be forgiven. Then what else can I, Ming Dynasty, have to defend?
Room? Anyway, the enemy is so strong that they can't defend it, so they'll all run away!" Huang Bodang showed no mercy and immediately started to fight.
"His Majesty."
At this time, Wang Jiayan, who had been listening by the side, came out and said in a deep voice: "Fan Xianchao is guilty and deserves to be punished. He abandoned the county magistrate Yanzhou and was in danger. This crime cannot be forgiven. But it is also meritorious. He did not try to attack the stone with an egg."
, but led the army to retreat very wisely, saving our strength. I expected that Liu Zeqing's army would definitely be no less than 20,000. It would be difficult for any one person to defend against an enemy with several times the number and artillery.
"
After Wang Jiayan's narration, Huang Bodang, who was relatively excited, immediately became much quieter. Especially Fan Xianchao, who was standing in the center, couldn't help but breathed a sigh of relief. Although he ran away without resisting for a long time, he still had a lot of worries in his heart.
Unwilling.
"The fall of Zouxian County is by no means a small matter, but it is not to the point where the sky is falling. Now that Gao Yigong has been defeated twice in a row, morale must be low. Taking advantage of our unpreparedness, Liu Zeqing attacked our rear. What do you think?
How can we solve the current situation?"
Zhu Ling looked at everyone with expressions of hard thinking.
Seeing this, he directly asked Zhu Dadian to speak. Zhu Dadian stepped forward and said thoughtfully: "I believe that the intruders are no longer a threat now. The biggest threat is Liu Zeqing. After all, he has artillery in his hands. Once it is handed over to the intruders to attack,
Yanzhou, I'm afraid it will be difficult for us to resist. Therefore, we will find a way to stabilize the intruders and raise our troops to exterminate Liu Zeqing."
"Having said that, it is extremely difficult to wipe out Liu Zeqing." Wang Jiayan said with a wry smile: "Currently we don't know how many troops, how many artillery pieces he has, and what his purpose is. This forces us not to act rashly."
"So, we can only wait?" Zhu Ling was quite dissatisfied. Could it be that the conclusion drawn from the discussion in the middle of the night was just to wait?
"Your Majesty, I do have a plan, but I can't guarantee that it will work." Liu Junxue stepped out and said.
"Speak first."
Facing the direct gazes of all the ministers, Liu Junxue, who had just become a minister of the imperial court, did not show any fright at all. He said: "If Liu Zeqing can be recruited, that would be the best result. Even if Liu Zeqing cannot be recruited, send someone to find out his purpose.
Some situations such as horses are also excellent.”
After listening to what he said, everyone present suddenly woke up. Yes, Liu Zeqing was afraid that the court would offend him, so he joined the bandits. If he could be convinced that the court would not punish him, maybe he could fight for it.
.
"Then who would be more suitable to send?"
This problem really stumped the ministers. It seemed that Liu Zeqing had no one he trusted in the court. Moreover, this kind of person always believed in himself. In this way, the method he had just thought of was really useless.
Seeing that no one had any idea, Fan Xianchao immediately said: "General, I am willing to go and convince him! Even if persuasion fails, we can still find out his truth."
"You?" Zhu Ling looked at Fan Xianchao, feeling that it was both appropriate and inappropriate.
"After all, the general is also the legitimate son of the imperial court elder, so his status is naturally different from ordinary people. Secondly, I know soldiers and martial arts, and I have the ability to protect myself if I encounter special circumstances."
Fan Xianchao was also eager to make meritorious deeds at this moment, so he was naturally unwilling to give up when he finally encountered this opportunity.
"What are your opinions?" Zhu Ling did not agree immediately, but asked other people first.
"I second the proposal."
The group of people saw that there was no other way but agreed, but they still had doubts about whether Fan Xianchao could succeed.
"You must remember that when you get there, I will lead my troops and horses to wait for you. I will give you a sounding arrow when the time comes. If you find that something is wrong, shoot it immediately. I will lead the army to rescue you immediately." Wang Jiayan was also very worried about Fan Xianchao.
"Safety," he couldn't help but warn.
"Your Majesty and all your lords, please rest assured. Even if persuasion fails, I will definitely get the information back!" Fan Xianchao is a guilty person, so he naturally does not care about his safety. The most important thing at the moment is to perform meritorious deeds.
The next day, there was no movement in the camp, but the camp was filled with joy.
"Liu Zeqing did us a great favor yesterday!" A general said with great joy: "He actually captured Zouxian County and directly encircled Yanzhou. I don't think Chongzhen is happy because all the way back has been blocked.
It’s broken, you can’t escape even if you want to!”
"yes!"
Someone else echoed and said: "Although Liu Zeqing has delayed his time, he still keeps his word after all. I guess he will be a hero in the future."
While everyone was talking happily about Liu Zeqing, Gao Yigong was a little unhappy. He said slowly: "It's hard for this person to be arrogant. I'm afraid that he will be even more unruly after he has made great achievements this time."
"Commander, what are you afraid of?" A man stepped forward and said, "We have already deployed people inside. As long as he dares to resist, we will kill him directly! The soldiers and horses in his hands will naturally belong to us!"