What Chongzhen and his scholars didn't know was that a warrior was struggling to break through the Jiannu blockade.
Needless to say, this warrior was naturally Yang Ponu. Following Huang Degong's general order, he went south from Xia Town overnight and sneaked to the outskirts of the Jiannu blockade. He did not choose to break through forcefully.
Xia Town sent so many messengers before, but none of them broke through Jiannu's blockade.
Yang Ponu didn't think that his skills were any better than those of the previous couriers, so if he really tried hard, he would most likely make the same mistakes as those previous couriers.
What's more, Yang Ponu has a unique skill.
Yang Ponu grew up in a small village in Lujiang Prefecture.
This small village is close to the Yangtze River, so Yang Ponu has been good at water since he was a child. How good is it? So good that he can catch live fish with his bare hands in the deep water of the Yangtze River!
I even caught a river pig.
In addition, Yang Ponu also discovered a secret about the river water.
That is the coldest time in winter, when the depths of the river are actually warmer than the surface.
In the severe winter when dripping water turns into ice, the best fisherman can only last less than two-quarters of an hour in the river, but Yang Ponu can hold on for half an hour! He can hold on even longer if he wants.
Yang Ponu's secret is to drill into the deep water as much as possible.
Yang Ponu is doing this now. Except for rising to the surface when taking a breath, he spends the rest of his time sneaking at the bottom of the river.
After sneaking intermittently in the depths of the river for almost an hour, Yang Ponu felt that his body was about to reach its limit. If he persisted at this time, he might faint at any time.
Fainting in deep water will result in death.
Yang Ponu immediately floated to the surface of the river.
At this time, the surface of the Yellow River was covered with ice, and Yang Ponu instantly felt frozen to the bone.
Yang Ponu knew that he could not hold on for a moment in such icy water, so he quickly grabbed the ice and rowed towards the river bank. In less than fifty steps from the river to the shore, Yang Ponu was almost completely frozen.
Struggling to climb ashore, Yang Ponu felt intensely sleepy.
Yang Ponu didn't know that this was a shock reaction caused by hypothermia, but he knew that if he fell asleep at this time, he would basically never wake up again, so he bit the tip of his tongue hard and tried his best to keep himself conscious.
After trying his best to climb dozens of steps to the shore, Yang Ponu exhausted all his strength and could not climb anymore.
"It's over, now I have to let down Marquis Jingnan." Yang Ponu's vision went dark before he could finish the thought.
But before losing consciousness, Yang Ponu seemed to hear a faint voice in his ear: "Who?"
What he said was the official dialect of the Ming Dynasty, not Nunu. Now that he was saved, Yang Ponu finally fell asleep with peace of mind.
I don't know how long it took, but Yang Ponu regained consciousness again. He felt that his whole body was warm, just like soaking in the river water after being exposed to the sun for a long time in summer, not to mention how comfortable it was.
"Are you awake?" A sharp voice suddenly sounded.
After hearing this, Yang Ponu got goosebumps all over his body and immediately opened his eyes.
What comes into view is a dim adobe house and a white-faced, beardless man wearing a three-mountain hat.
"Eunuch Gao?" Yang Ponu had a good memory and recognized the man as Gao Qiqian, the eunuch in front of the emperor.
While he was talking, Chongzhen and Zhu Cijiong walked in quickly, followed by Zheng Sen, Huang Zongxi and other scholars.
Seeing Chongzhen, Yang Ponu quickly turned over and sat up, but halfway through sitting up, he fell back to the straw couch. Only then did he realize that his limbs were limp and without any strength.
At that moment, Yang Ponu smiled bitterly and said, "Your Majesty, please forgive me for being rude."
"Don't move." Chongzhen waved his hand and said, "Just lie down and answer."
After a pause, Chongzhen asked again: "Yang Ponu, how did you get in?"
Yang Ponu said: "Back to the saint, the villain came from Fushui in the upper reaches of the Yellow River."
"Impossible." Gao Qiqian shouted, "Although the weather is getting warmer now, the water of the Yellow River is full of ice, so it is still bitingly cold. People can only stay in such cold river water for a quarter of an hour at most."
Lu Jiude then said: "Although Jiannu's blockade on the upper reaches of the Yellow River is not as good as that on the lower reaches, and there are no red barbarian cannons, many sentries have been deployed on both sides of the Yellow River. Therefore, if you want to pass through Jiannu's blockade from the Fu River in the Yellow River,
It takes at least two or three miles to swim, even if you go downstream, it won't be possible in half an hour."
Yang Ponu said: "Back to father-in-law, I have been swimming for nearly an hour."
"You're talking nonsense." Gao Qiqian shouted again, "No one can stay in the river for an hour on such a cold day. You must be lying. Your Majesty, Yang Ponu must have been caught by Jiannu and turned traitor.
"
"Shut up!" Chongzhen shouted with a dark face, "No one will think you are mute if you don't speak."
Gao Qiying shrank his neck and did not dare to say a word. Lu Jiude also quietly took a step back.
Yang Ponu said sincerely: "Go back to my father-in-law, I really didn't lie. The reason why I was able to stay in the river for an hour was because I knew a secret."
Chongzhen asked: "Is it warmer in deep water?"
"Huh?" Yang Ponu was stunned, "The Holy One also knows?"
Chongzhen thought to himself that this was nothing. The water temperature at the bottom of the river was usually around four degrees Celsius.
However, even at four degrees Celsius, people who are not used to winter swimming cannot persist for long. Yang Ponu probably grew up in such an environment since he was a child, so he was able to persist for an hour.
However, the arrival of Yang Ponu provided Chongzhen with an idea.
Zheng Sen thought of it almost at the same time and couldn't wait to say: "Your Majesty, since Yang Bang can always come in from the Fu River of the Yellow River, we can also send couriers out of the Fu River, and even send one or several sampans to infiltrate at night. Students
I don’t believe that Jiannu could really seal off a river several miles wide!”
"Well." Chongzhen said in a deep voice, "Send a sampan to Pizhou tonight! Then let Lu Zhenfei send a courier to Luoyang to deliver a letter to Niu Jinxing via Fengyang Mansion. But how should I write this letter?"
Huang Zongxi said: "Your Majesty, this letter should be written like this, saying that the Ming Dynasty spent a lot of manpower and material resources to attract the 400,000 slaves to the Xuzhou battlefield, and finally created an extremely empty situation in Beijing.
We are going to make a surprise attack on Beijing next time, so we sent a messenger to warn the hypocrites not to compete with me, the Ming Dynasty, for Beijing."
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! "Well, that's a good idea." Chongzhen said happily, "Just warn Niu Jinxing to stay calm."
At this time, Zheng Sen suddenly said: "Your Majesty, the student has something he doesn't know whether to say or not."
"What do you want to say?" Chongzhen said angrily, "Are we going to die together?"
"Yes." Zheng Sen said solemnly, "Students still think that as long as the founding slaves can be recreated and as long as the Ming Dynasty can be rejuvenated, there is nothing that cannot be sacrificed. The people of Daming Prefecture, Dongchang Prefecture and even Jinan Prefecture can also be sacrificed, so
It is not appropriate to use provocative tactics against the puppet and shun troops at this time. When the wheat for the slaves is about to ripen in two or three months, and then the puppets are lured to send troops to Beijing, and at the same time they dig up the embankment of the Yellow River, the slaves will inevitably fall into a desperate situation!"
The entire adobe house instantly became dead silent.
Even Yang Ponu, a small-time boss who doesn’t understand strategy, can see the viciousness of this strategy!
If the Ming army really followed the method Zheng Sen said, they would first let the slaves spend two months and two months of food rations to farm outside Xuzhou City, and then suddenly dig the embankments on both sides of the Yellow River when the wheat was about to mature.
, flooded the wheat fields that the slaves had carefully cultivated for three months with huge floods, and at the same time, the puppet troops sent troops to Beijing...
What kind of situation will the Jiannu slaves face by then? It will really be a desperate situation.
Not to mention how many Jiu slaves would be drowned when the river overflowed, even if they survived, they would be trapped. By then, the Jiu slaves in Xuzhou would not be able to go back even if they wanted to save Beijing.
If the Jiannu slaves in Xuzhou cannot return, Beijing will inevitably fall.
Then all the wheat fields that Jiannu had planted for three months were flooded, and there was no harvest.
As a result, even the food rations for the slave-building army trapped in Xuzhou became a problem.
If this kind of situation is not the end of the world, what can be considered the end of the world?
Yang Ponu looked at Zheng Sen with some fear, wondering how this scholar with thick eyebrows and big eyes could be so ruthless?
Chongzhen turned around and looked at Zheng Sen deeply: "Zheng Sen, do you think this method can really recreate the slaves? It may even be possible to destroy the slaves at once?"
Zheng Sen said: "It is definitely impossible to destroy the slaves, but it is no problem to rebuild the slaves."
"No problem? Then I tell you now, this is just your wishful thinking." Chongzhen snorted coldly, "If we really dig the Yellow River embankment as you said, and at the same time induce the puppet army to send troops to Beijing, we will definitely not build slaves.
As for the situation of running out of water and water, the people in Beizhi and even Shandong will definitely fall into the desperate situation of running out of water and water!"
"This is impossible." Zheng Sen said unconvinced, "Students think this is definitely not the case."
Chongzhen said to Huang Zongxi: "Huang Zongxi, come and tell Zheng Sen why it will be okay to establish slaves, but the people in Beizhi and Shandong have suffered the same disaster."
"Students obey the order." Huang Zongxi bowed his hands and said to Zheng Sen, "Brother Damu, you only thought that the Yellow River flooding down could submerge Jiannu's farmland, and even trap Jiannu, but you didn't think that Jiannu was alive.
, they will withdraw the siege in advance before the river completely overflows."
Zheng Sen frowned and said, "Can a Jian slave run through the flood?"
Huang Zongxi said: "That's because you have never seen the Yellow River burst its banks."
"Then have you seen it?" Zheng Sen said with some dissatisfaction, "What does it look like when the Yellow River bursts its banks?"
"I have really seen it, but it was just a small-scale embankment breach, and it was blocked in the end." Huang Zongxi said, "The water surface of the Yellow River is wide and not deep, so even if there is a gap in the embankment, it will not expand quickly, or it will remain the same."
The small embankment breach I saw was an example. It took three days to expand the gap from more than ten feet wide to more than one hundred feet wide."
"Ah? Three days?" Zheng Sen said in shock, "Is the Yellow River bursting its banks so slowly?"
"Otherwise?" Huang Zongxi shook his head and laughed, "Do you still think that as long as you dig a gap, it can expand to several hundred feet in a short time, and the river can surge down?"
