The remaining seven or eight thousand people of King Ning's army bypassed Nanchang and rushed to Poyang Lake at starry night. King Ning's navy was stationed in the lake. Zuo Menggeng's fleet was also anchored here. A group of people boarded the ship and headed straight for Jiujiang.
Jiujiang is the second most important town under King Ning's jurisdiction after Nanchang. It is close to the Yangtze River and can strangle important throat waterways. Its strategic position is very dangerous. Therefore, King Ning sent tens of thousands of troops and hundreds of warships here to provide more food and grass.
It's a bounty, and if you combine two forces into one place, there's still a possibility of a comeback.
The remnants of King Ning's army arrived at Jiujiang City. When they were about to enter the city, Zuo Menggeng had an extra thought and asked King Ning to first send a soldier who looked like King Ning, wearing a python robe, into the city to find out what was going on. King Ning thought that
However, he followed the plan, and sure enough, after the prince drove into Jiujiang City, the city gate was suddenly closed tightly, and only the sound of killing could be heard inside. Not long after, the head of the fake Prince Ning was thrown from the top of the city. Prince Ning was stationed in Jiujiang.
The general appeared at the city gate accompanied by a court official and sternly accused King Ning of betraying the court. King Ning was furious and ordered an attack on the city in desperation. However, a series of tragic defeats had seriously damaged morale. How could there be any hope?
They attacked Jiujiang City in spirit. Several Taibao held down the furious King Ning and led the army back to Poyang Lake like a tide.
Poyang Lake is hundreds of miles vast and is a good place to fight guerrillas, but Prince Ning has great aspirations for the world, so why would he condescend to be a water bandit? He was so angry that he jumped on his feet and scolded those traitors. Prince Ning is indeed not weak against his subordinates, but he
Most of the people who valued him were just flatterers, and they could usually brag. But when it came to a real war, their legs were weak. The imperial army shot the letter of surrender onto the tower, and within half an hour they raised the white flag and resolutely revolted.
Looking at the vast misty lake, King Ning beat his chest and stamped his feet, and his godsons tried hard to persuade each other. They were all King Ning's die-hard subordinates and were like grasshoppers on a rope. Even if King Ning defeated them, they would not end well, even though they tried to persuade them.
I wanted my father to think openly, but I couldn't hide the sadness on my face.
"Father, we are not completely exhausted yet. We still have tens of thousands of soldiers and horses."
"Father, you are what the people want. As long as you wave your arms, the people of Jiangxi will join the army enthusiastically."
Having said that, everyone actually knew that King Ning was finished. It was only a matter of time before he was defeated and captured. Everyone just wanted to comfort him. But after hearing this, King Ning suddenly became excited and said, "I still have a secret."
The buried treasure is just waiting to be used as military pay after the uprising. Take it out to recruit troops. In a few days, there will be an army of 100,000! Huh, they are still a little green to fight with this king."
As soon as they heard that Prince Ning had a hidden treasure, the eyes of the godsons suddenly lit up, and their ability to speak became stronger. They all clamored to regroup and do something big.
After discussion, they planned to divide their troops into two groups. One group would stay in Poyang Lake to deal with the imperial court, and the other group would go to Jingdezhen to recruit troops. Zuo Menggeng was new here and was not familiar with the terrain of Jiangxi, so naturally they wanted to keep him in the lake. "You guys
You want to get rid of me to dig for treasures." Zuo Menggeng is not stupid. He argued hard and insisted on digging for treasures. The other seven Taibao bullied him because he was new and just disagreed. Zuo Menggeng became angry.
, threatened to break up, and now the other Taibao were scared. You must know that Zuo Menggeng’s people account for more than half of the army under King Ning’s command. If they leave, King Ning’s thousands of remnant soldiers will be overturned.
After a lot of fuss and compromise, the two parties finally reached a consensus that they would share the treasure equally after digging it out. Of course, these plots were all carried out in private behind Prince Ning's back.
King Ning's army rested on the lake for a day, and was about to set sail to the east coast. Suddenly, they saw a huge monster appearing in the sky. It had a green face and fangs that were very scary. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be the airship of the imperial army. Everyone was shocked and started shouting.
They hid in the cabin and did not dare to come out, but the airship did not attack them. It just dropped a lot of leaflets in the sky, turned around and left.
Most of the leaflets fell into the water, but a lot of them floated to the deck. King Ning ordered someone to take one and look at it. On it was printed: You have been surrounded by the imperial army. There is no point in resisting. My wife, children and children are waiting at home.
If any of you present it to King Ning, you will be rewarded with a thousand taels of silver and given the rank of general.
Prince Ning was dismissive. Why was he only worth a thousand taels of silver? He had always been very generous to his subordinates. The reward started from ten taels of silver. The annual salary of the eunuchs was also as high as ten thousand taels. He didn't believe that someone would do anything just for a thousand taels of silver.
He sold himself. But the Taibao people didn't think so. What they valued was not the thousand taels of silver, but the title of Commander-in-Chief.
King Ning had twelve eunuchs, four died on the battlefield, and there were eight left. Except for the new twelve-year-old Zuo Mengeng, the other seven had been hanging out together all year round and had a close relationship. At this time
The seven eunuchs slipped aside and started whispering. The seven brothers had formed an alliance to share adversity and wealth. The situation was so unbearable now that it was time to find a good retreat. Jiangxi was surrounded on all sides, and the imperial army was in great power.
There is no way out, the only bright road is to surrender, but it is best to get King Ning's treasure before surrendering, and then kill King Ning. The seven brothers surrender together with their heads. Anyway, the court did not say that they wanted Ning to die.
The king will still be King Ning. When the time comes, no matter which brother becomes the commander-in-chief, he will be able to support the other brothers. At least he can be promoted to a general, deputy general or something. In this way, they can live the same life as Prince Ning's palace.
Life is as happy as when I was a Taibao.
As for what to do with the old twelfth man, the seven brothers unanimously decided to get rid of this stumbling block. Because Zuo Menggeng's biological father was killed by Liu Ziguang, he would definitely oppose surrender. He has many soldiers under his command. If there is a dispute between them, seven brothers
It's hard for a brother to get any advantage, so he must be killed...
A moment later, a man dripping with water climbed onto Zuo Mengeng's ship. He took off his fish skin and came to the cabin. He said softly: "Young Marshal, they have decided to take action."
Zuo Mengeng sneered and said: "These losers really can't bear their temper. If they want to play, I will play with them."
Prince Ning was sitting in the cabin drinking wine when suddenly seven eunuchs rushed in. They all looked panicked and held weapons in their hands. They said in a low voice: "Father, something bad has happened. Zuo Menggeng is planning to rebel. Our troops are not as strong as his.
We have to evacuate immediately." King Ning said in shock: "What, Meng Geng is planning to rebel! Get my dragon-prisoning stick, I won't just sit back and wait to be killed!"
The Fifth Taibao said with tears: "Father, you are a hero on land, but this is Baili Poyang Lake. We can't defeat Zuo Menggeng's elite navy. You and your brothers will retreat first. Lao Liu, Lao Qi and I will
Hold them back, father, you must take care of the dragon body." At this time, there were faint sounds of killing and the sound of weapons clashing outside, and it seemed that the two parties had already started fighting.
The Eight Taibao and the Nine Taibao rushed over, grabbed Prince Ning from left to right, and ran out. Suddenly, the Ten Taibao said: "Wait a minute, please take off the python robe, and I will put it on to attract the pursuers. You and the other brothers will go out."
Treasure, just recruit troops and buy horses to avenge your son."
With tears in his eyes, Prince Ning patted the ten eunuchs on the shoulders and said, "Good son, I did not misjudge you." The ten eunuchs also shed tears and sobbed: "Father..." The scene was very warm for a while.
Touching.
The Fifth Taibao said urgently: "Don't waste time. Except for those in the rear, you have to divide into three groups to confuse the pursuers. Whichever group comes first will be the first to spend money and recruit troops. We can't afford to delay this matter. Let's divide into three groups and escape."
The hope is much greater.”
"But what if I, unfortunately, fall into the hands of the enemy? Even if you escape, you will not be able to retrieve the treasure, so you will not be able to recruit troops. What should I do?" King Ning suddenly discovered this problem and asked with a frown.
road.
"Yes, this may delay father's important events." The fifth eunuch said as if he suddenly realized.
"Okay, this king will tell you where the treasure is buried. Whoever arrives first will get the treasure first and exchange it for silver to recruit soldiers. This important matter cannot be delayed." He took out a treasure map from his arms and explained it to everyone.
stand up.
After listening to Prince Ning's explanation of the treasure map, the expressions of the seventh eunuchs suddenly relaxed, and they all hugged their arms and burst out laughing. The eleventh eunuchs whistled outside, and the sounds of fighting outside suddenly subsided.
, King Ning looked at his seven adopted sons and asked in confusion: "Children, why is this?"
The fifth eunuch's expression changed, he snatched the treasure map from Prince Ning's hand, stuffed it into his arms and said, "Father, I need to lend you something."
Although Prince Ning was a little paranoid, he was not a fool. He had already noticed something was wrong. He slowly backed away and asked, "Xiao Wu, what do you want to borrow from me?"
The Fifth Taibao laughed ferociously and said: "I want to borrow my father's head so that I can use it as a pledge of honor for my brothers."
At this time, King Ning was already close to his throne. Suddenly, he quickly picked up a pair of dragon prison sticks placed next to the seat and shouted angrily: "If you want to rebel, first ask me if I will accept the dragon prison sticks!"
It's okay that he didn't take the prison dragon stick. As soon as he picked up the dragon prison stick, the seven eunuchs laughed again, as if they had seen something extremely ridiculous. They all held their stomachs and wiped their tears while laughing wildly. After a long while, the eight eunuchs stopped.
He stopped laughing and said: "Father, don't show off your three-legged cat skills. Anyone here can take care of you in one go."
King Ning was furious and swung the Dragon Prison Stick to hit the Eight Taibao. However, as soon as he rushed out, the Seven Taibao next to him stretched out his legs. King Ning threw a dog and gnawed shit, and a pair of Dragon Prison Sticks came out of his hand. Before he could
Before I had time to get up, a few feet stepped on my back, and I could only hear the voice of the fifth eunuch: "Don't waste time, Zuo Mengeng will send someone to ask why there is so much noise here in a while, hurry up and get rid of this old man."
Kill the boy!"
Prince Ning burst into tears. These godsons he had raised were just white-eyed wolves. It was useless to say anything now. He could only close his eyes and resign himself to his fate. He only heard the sound of the steel knife slowly being pulled out of its sheath, and then
The knife touched his neck, and he could feel the cold air. The steel knife suddenly swung up, and then struck down with the sound of wind. Prince Ning closed his eyes, but before the fatal blow came, he heard a sound
There was a crisp sound, followed by the clash of weapons and the chaotic footsteps of a large group of people rushing in. The deck of the battleship shook, and there were shouts of killing and the muffled sound of weapons entering the body.
Prince Ning only felt his back loosen up, and those legs were gone. Then Zuo Mengeng's sincere face appeared in front of him: "Father, I am late to save you. Please forgive me."