A cold winter month.

The biting cold wind howled on the city walls.

The soldiers guarding the city huddled under the crenellations in the cold, hugging each other with their weapons in hand to keep warm.

Some soldiers with official positions had already hid in the turret, lit a charcoal fire, and were warming themselves comfortably inside.

The patrolling soldiers were the most unlucky. They were patrolling the city walls in the cold wind and had to look south to guard against the rebels who were ready to attack again at any time.

Although the distance was a bit far, the patrolling soldiers could still see the rebels camped in the forest on a hillside in the distance, with no intention of retreating.

At this moment, in the tower on the city wall, the remaining civil and military officials of Jinling City were gathered together.

The person in charge was Ambassador Yang who came from the capital.

Last time, General Ji led his troops into the Hou Mansion and killed many officials. In addition, Li Liangjin rebelled, and officials involved with the Hou Mansion were dismissed from their posts and detained. This resulted in the chaos in Jinling City.

There is a serious shortage of various officials. Otherwise, how could a Jinling city have this Yang Shangshi taking the lead?

Shang Yang was wearing a thick fur coat and was sitting in the city, warming himself on the charcoal fire in front of him. The bruises on his face had not improved yet, but he could no longer bear to grudge Li Xiuyuan.

"Three, three times. The rebels have attacked Jinling City three times. They have completely blocked the inside and outside of Jinling City. Moreover, the rebels have camped outside the city. If this continues, Jinling City will definitely be breached." There was panic in his tone.

, looking very uneasy.

In the officialdom, he can rely on his father's name to do whatever he wants.

But he was not able to deal with such a thing. Once the city was breached, according to the rebels' style, he would definitely have his head chopped off.

At a time when life and death were at stake, how could Commander Yang still sit still? If he had not been able to escape, he would have fled back to the capital alone.

"Sir Yang, before I took up my post, I took a look at the situation of the rebels. Although the rebels have a large number of people, their combat effectiveness is not strong. It is also winter, and they lack siege equipment and food. As long as we rely on the strong walls of Jinling City,

If we hold on for a month, the rebels will definitely defeat themselves."

Next to him, Zuo Qianhu said, not feeling pessimistic about the war in his words.

Commander Yang said angrily: "Defend for a month? Do you mean you want me to stay here for a month? You have also seen the situation of these rebels attacking the city. Let alone a month, Jinling City cannot be defended for ten days."

I don’t even think about how many rebels there are, 150,000, a full 150,000. How many are the defenders of Jinling City? Less than 40,000."

"The rubbish are all a bunch of rubbish. It is said that there are 200,000 troops stationed outside Jinling City? As a result, I found out that there are only 40,000 soldiers, and most of them are old, weak, sick and disabled. If they are asked to guard for a month, I would rather let you protect them.

I rushed out."

"You corrupt officials have emptied the military barracks in Jinling City. When I return to the capital, I must take a copy of you."

As he spoke, he angrily pointed at the officials, big and small, in the tower, and there were also many generals in the military camps.

Upon hearing this, the expressions of these officials and generals all changed, and they did not dare to speak.

"I tell you, if you cannot defend Jinling City, you will all move your heads. Even if you risk your life, you must defend the city. Jinling City is a big city, and the imperial court will not sit idly by. My father knows that I have been

Being trapped in the city will definitely make the housekeeper send reinforcements."

Ambassador Yang said: "If you have any good ideas, please tell me immediately. I am also a very open-minded person. As long as I can defend the city, I will allow it. When the rebels retreat, I will still do it for you."

Please take credit."

"Sir, the rebels attacked too quickly, and the ordnance brought to the military camp is still insufficient. The most lacking are weapons, armor, and arrows. I would like your permission to send a few hundred people out to clean the battlefield to make up for the military needs.

"A general in the army said.

"This is a good idea, but there are not many troops guarding the city. It would be bad if the troops go out in case they are attacked by the bandits. Let the people in the city go. There are so many refugees in the city. Let them die outside the city.

It's not a pity." Yang Shang said with a sudden thought.

A civil servant nodded and said, "This is a good idea. It will benefit the people and is better than wasting soldiers in the army."

"At this critical moment, can Master Fu be released from prison? After all, he is the minister of the Ministry of War and knows some war affairs, which will be beneficial to the defense of the city." The former general said.

Ambassador Yang shouted: "This is absolutely impossible. Mr. Fu is a felon named by Your Majesty. He is involved in Li Liangjin's rebellion. What if we let him out and he liaises with the rebels?"

He is not stupid. If he lets Fu Tianchou out, if he gets the credit and is re-employed by the court, wouldn't he be in trouble in the future?

He will not do anything to help his political opponents.

So he wouldn't let Fu Tianchou have any chance to make a comeback.

About a moment later.

A small official came to the city wall where the refugees gathered and shouted: "Listen, the adults above have spoken. Seeing that you refugees are freezing in the cold and have no food or clothing, the adults have given you a

For work, a small door will open under the city gate later. Anyone who goes out to pick up weapons, armor, and arrows will have food to eat. A pair of armor is exchanged for three bowls of rice, and one weapon is exchanged for one bowl of rice. Ten arrows

Exchange the arrow for a steamed bun."

"Listen, the adults above have spoken."

The clerk repeated the words several times.

Many of the refugees who were huddled under the city wall, covered in blue and purple from the cold, raised their heads when they heard the sound.

"I'll go out to the city and bring back a pair of armor and give you food in exchange for it."

An elderly farmer stood up tremblingly without thinking.

An old woman next to her said worriedly: "There's a war going on outside the city. Can I come back? Let's forget it."

The old farmer said: "I haven't attacked the city for two or three days. It's so cold now that I won't attack the city. I'll go and come back. If I don't eat, I'm afraid I won't be able to survive these days. I can only survive with enough food."

After this winter, the rebels will retreat in the spring next year, and they can rush back to the village to sow seeds. With so much snow this year, next year will definitely be a good year."

"Then you have to keep an eye out, and come back when the momentum is not right." The old woman said.

"Grandpa, come back soon."

A little head poked out from the old woman's arms. It was a little boy.

"My dear grandson, grandpa will make you some steamed buns later."

The old farmer laughed, with the wrinkles on his face piling up. He patted his sweet grandson's head dotingly, shrunk and faced the biting cold wind and walked out of the city without looking back.

Not far away, a farm boy about thirteen or fourteen years old was holding a four or five-year-old sister. Hearing the news, he happily said: "We have food, little sister, let's go and pick up things outside the city."

Eat in exchange for food."

"Okay, there is food to eat. Let's pick up some things and exchange them for food."

The little girl jumped up happily and clapped her hands.

"Let's go together. How about being a companion?"

There were a few older teenagers nearby who came over and suggested.

The farm boy nodded and said, "Then let's go together."

The more people we have, the more courage we have, and the less fearful a group of people will be.

There is also a woman who is holding a crying baby and is separated from her husband. She is now penniless, suffering from cold and hunger, and has no friends in Jinling City. Now she sees many people going out of the city to pick up things in exchange for food.

She hesitated for a moment, then followed everyone out of the city with her child in her arms.

If she doesn't eat anymore, she and her children will starve to death.

Like this, there are still many refugees who venture out of the city to clean up the battlefield just for a bite to eat.

At this moment, in the rebel camp a few miles outside the city.

Li Liangjin's flag was raised high, with three characters written on it: King of Nine Mountains.

He made great progress and proclaimed himself a king long ago. Nine refers to the number of poles, and mountains refer to the country and the country. The king of the nine mountains means that all the mountains and rivers in the world belong to him. Before he captured Yangzhou, he already had the ambition to unify the world.

In the military tent, the leaders of the rebels gathered together to discuss one thing.

Take Jinling City or not.

Li Liangjin sat on the main seat and said angrily: "Why don't you take Jinling City? Didn't you persuade me before that taking Jinling City would mean taking the entire Yangzhou? That's why I followed your advice and gave up taking Yangzhou.

city."

However, none of the leaders in the military tent paid attention to him, and no one responded.

"What? They are all mute and no one can speak?" Li Liangjin said angrily.

Shi Hu grinned, glanced at Li Liangjin, and smiled.

Wang Ze touched his belly with a big smile, like a Maitreya Buddha.

Aunt Hua combed her black hair, her face was calm and thoughtful.

The gorgeously dressed Mr. Chen looked indifferent, as if the matter had nothing to do with him.

None of the four leaders seemed to care about Li Liangjin's anger.

The military advisor next to him, whose pseudonym was Nanshan Weng, was actually Hu Hei, a thousand-year-old fox spirit. He said: "My lord, please calm down. The reason why we don't take Jinling City is because there are still many concerns about it. This is an important city, not as good as the previous one."

For small towns, whether to attack or not, and whether to take or not, you need to think twice before deciding."

"You have been thinking about it for so long, haven't you come up with a reason? I have tried it out. The defenders of Jinling City are weak, with less than 40,000 people. We have more than 100,000 people attacking the city. We only need to swarm them and surround them.

"First, we will definitely capture Jinling City in less than three hours. I don't know what you people are hesitating about. Where has the momentum gone? Shi Hu, aren't you the most fierce?" Li Liangjin said angrily again.

Shi Hu glanced at them, then looked at the other leaders and continued to remain silent.
To be continued...