On the north bank of Lingzhou Ferry, the lights in the rebel camp were brightly lit. There was silence in the military camp.
After experiencing the great victory in the morning, pigs and sheep were slaughtered in the camp to celebrate. Originally, the rebels were worried. Since they were forced to serve Zhu Zhixiu, most of the rebel soldiers I was very scared in my heart, because after all, it was rebellion.
However, ordinary soldiers cannot control their own destiny, and they dare not disobey the orders of the generals, otherwise they will be executed and their families will be harmed. In this situation, they can only choose to be coerced and just want to survive for now. I don't care about what the future will bring.
At the beginning, the morale of the army was scattered, and so were the hearts of the people. When the imperial troops arrived, everyone was panicked and frightened. However, after the two battles at Lingzhou Ferry, the morale of the army reached its peak. Soldiers They really began to believe that they could resist the imperial army. They really believed that Zhu Zhixiu, who was said by He Jinyi, Ding Guang and others, was the True Dragon Emperor. They would follow the True Dragon Emperor to conquer the world and seize the throne, and win every battle, and even more so in the future. Will be promoted and make a fortune.
He Jinyi and Ding Guang also compared the example of King Yan in the Ming Dynasty when he was in trouble, and told all the soldiers that King Yan was also a vassal king at the time, and he did not seize the country in the end. Because King Yan was the real dragon emperor, even if someone sat down On the throne of the emperor, it is also against heaven and the position is incorrect. God will also help the real dragon emperor to conquer the world.
These words were finally successfully accepted by everyone after the two victories. At the morning celebration meeting, He Jinyi even announced that King Anhua would ascend the throne and proclaim himself emperor soon, and by then soldiers and horses from all over the Ming Dynasty would rise up to respond. The imperial court will soon be finished.
"In the future, you will all be great heroes. You will all live in the capital, marry beautiful women from the capital, live in big houses in the capital, be high officials and generals, and have thousands of hectares of fertile land at home, gold and silver mountains to eat. You will live a lifetime of prosperity and wealth. "He Jinyi said at the celebration party.
Everyone believed it, and everyone fell into madness. They felt that they were invincible and that the imperial army was vulnerable. Soon everyone could be promoted, become rich, and live in big houses in the capital.
However, just when everyone was full of confidence and looking forward to the future, and felt that they had done the most right thing in their lives, everything suddenly changed.
General He received a message from a falcon at the celebration party. Then General He's face changed, and he hurriedly left the banquet with a pale face. Soon after, the banquet was also moved away, and the generals and soldiers were asked to stop Celebrate, stop drinking, and immediately return to camp for precautions.
Immediately afterwards, a shocking news came out of nowhere and began to spread among the military.
"Do you know? I heard that the city of Ningxia was captured by soldiers. Your Majesty... Your Majesty is trapped in the palace. I sent a message asking General He to lead his troops back for rescue."
"What? Such a thing is happening? How is this possible? We won the battle at the Yellow River Ferry, but not a single imperial soldier came. Where did the officers and soldiers come from to capture Ningxia City? What nonsense are you talking about?"
"Hey, I told you that you don't believe it. It's true. Just now, General He and General Ding had a huge quarrel in the tent. The brothers who were on guard at the door heard it and spread the news. They said it was someone called someone sent by the imperial court. Zhang Yanling's Marquis led 3,000 cavalrymen from the Beijing camp and secretly crossed the river at some point. They got into the city of Ningxia and found out their hearts. There were only 5,000 or 6,000 soldiers and horses in Ningxia city, but they had 3,000 cavalrymen from the Beijing camp. They were fierce. It’s fatal.”
"Ah? Is that really true? What should we do? The prince is surrounded, so we need to go back and save him quickly. Why don't the generals send orders to go back and save people?"
"Are you stupid? There are 50,000 to 60,000 soldiers on the other side of the ferry trying to attack. How many people do we have here? Less than 30,000. If we go back to the rescue? At least 10,000 to 20,000 soldiers and horses must be withdrawn, right? Then the ferry here is still
How to defend it? Once the ferry is lost and tens of thousands of imperial troops attack, won't everything be destroyed?"
"Oh, no, it's true. We didn't kill many of their soldiers and horses. We only burned some of their ships today, and their casualties were only over 2,000. They still had tens of thousands of soldiers and horses.
What should we do?”
"Who knows? It doesn't matter if we save or not. It's really troublesome. If we save, the ferry can't be defended. If we don't save, if the prince is captured by that Marquis Zhang, wouldn't it be like having his head pinched?
After digging out our hearts, what kind of war are we still fighting? If the True Dragon Emperor is gone, is he still the True Dragon Emperor?"
"My mother, isn't that right? Don't talk about the prince, if those three thousand cavalry cut off our retreat, we are probably going to be doomed. Crossing the river in front and attacking from behind, how can we beat them? Even if they are
If we don’t attack us, our food and grass are all shipped from Ningxia City. If the food and grass are gone, will we eat mud and drink water from the Yellow River?"
"Yes. It's really troublesome now. Our home has been raided, and we're afraid we're going to die. We can't wait to die. It's General He and the others who rebelled, not us. We don't have to die with them.
Brothers, if we find an opportunity, we have to run away."
"Run? Don't go to the capital, don't become a high official, don't marry the beauties in the capital?"
"I'm afraid you're crazy. You can't even save your life. Do you still believe this? It's all lies. If the prince is really the real dragon emperor, can Mr. Zhang capture the city of Ningxia? That's bullshit."
"Shhhh, keep your voice down. If the higher ups find out, we will have our heads chopped off first. Don't talk nonsense like this..."
"..."
Such words only spread in a small area at first, but soon, they spread throughout the army like a plague. At first, low-level officers were forbidden to talk about it, but later, they couldn't stop it at all, and they didn't want to deal with it anymore, because
They themselves were at a loss as to what to do.
The city of Ningxia was occupied by officers and soldiers, and the prince was also trapped. What is this? Today's victory originally made everyone excited. They floated up into the clouds, but in the blink of an eye they found that the clouds had disappeared. Below is
Abyss.
The high morale stirred up by General He Jinyi today was like fireworks flying into the sky, about to explode into dazzling fireworks, but now it suddenly disappeared into the dark night with a pop.
The soldiers and horses of the rebel battalions were silent for an instant, and there was a dead silence in the military camp. Some of them were just gloomy, panic-stricken and harboring evil intentions.
At nightfall, the lights were brightly lit in the big tent of General He Jinyi, who was fighting against thieves. He Jinyi was sitting behind the long desk with a livid face. Deputy General Ding Guang and seven or eight other main generals in the army were sitting next to the desk with pale faces. In the big tent
The atmosphere was stagnant and suffocating, making it impossible to breathe.
"Everyone, we have been discussing since the afternoon, and arguing endlessly is not a solution. We have to come up with a solution. People in the army are panicked now, and we must make a decision as soon as possible." He Jinyi said in a deep voice.
After receiving Zhu Chixiu's letter of help from Ningxia City at the afternoon celebration meeting, He Jinyi immediately summoned the main generals to discuss countermeasures. However, everyone had differences on how to deal with the matter. There was no end to the quarrel. A consensus was reached. He Jinyi did not intend to wait any longer.
"General, I don't want to make a fuss. However, I cannot agree with the method of the general. Now that the prince is in danger, he sends a message for help. The general should send troops to rescue immediately, but he delays. The general really doesn't know that the general What do you mean? Doesn’t the general want to save the prince?"
A black-faced and long-bearded general said in a deep voice. This person was Ma Changshun, the former commander of the Ningxia avant-garde in the Ming Dynasty. Originally, his official position was the same as that of He Jinyi. After Zhu Chixiu's uprising, Ma Changshun's family members were in the city and he was forced to lead Ningxia. The vanguard soldiers and horses joined the rebels and were appointed commanders of the outposts, a position even lower than that of Ding Guang, Qianhu of Ningxia Wei.
"General Ma, what do you mean by this? Who is unwilling to save the prince? But how can we send troops to rescue the situation here? I have already said that sending troops and horses guarding Qingtongxia Ferry to rescue is the best of both worlds. Didn't you hear?" He Jinyi said in a deep voice.
"It's a joke. The Qingtongxia garrison guarding the upstream ferry only has 5,000 or 6,000 people. Not to mention that the ferry will be empty after being transferred. Even if the officers and soldiers don't know how to force the crossing from Qingtong Gorge, can those 5,000 or 6,000 people break the prince's siege? Can the prince be saved? ?Qingtongxia Ferry is much further away from Ningxia than we are here. It will take at least more than a day to send troops to Ningxia City. This is simply perfunctory. He Jinyi, don’t think that I don’t know your thoughts. You just don’t intend to save the prince at all. Really?" Ma Changshun exposed He Jinyi's lies without mercy.
"Ma Changshun, what are you talking about? Don't forget who you are talking to. I am the general, not the former commander of the Ningxia Guard City. You are slandering the superior officer and talking nonsense." He Jinyi was furious. road.
"He Jinyi, you and I are here to show off. Don't I, Ma Changshun, know who you are? You forced me to follow you on the pirate ship. Now that the prince is in trouble and you refuse to save him, wouldn't the ship capsize? No. After defeating the prince, you still start a ridiculous rebellion?" Ma Changshun sneered.
He Jinyi sneered and said: "Ma Changshun, I know you are not convinced, but who told you that your life is bad? Let me ask you, three thousand soldiers from the capital camp broke through Ningxia City and surrounded the palace. Only a thousand people guarded the palace. Now, do you think this matter can be saved?"
"Why can't we save it? The prince said in his letter that the palace's defense is strong and can hold out for at least three to five days." Ma Changshun said.
"Idiot. Those 3,000 Beijing troops have even attacked the impregnable Ningxia City, but they still can't get into the palace. The palace is as strong as Ningxia City? Three to five days? I'm afraid they won't be able to hold on for even one day. The prince will definitely not be able to save you. You Do you think I'm thinking about myself? I'm thinking about all of us. Can we still mobilize our troops now? Our food and grass are cut off and we have no time to take care of ourselves. How can we save others? Fifty thousand officers and soldiers on the other side are watching with eager eyes. It was lucky that our soldiers and horses blocked the crossing today. War. Don’t you understand? We only have five days left of supplies such as food, grass, arrows, etc., and we are already in danger. At this time, we don’t think about how to preserve ourselves, and we still go to rescue people? It’s stupid.” He Jinyi scolded angrily. road.
"In this case, we should take back the city of Ningxia. Otherwise, wouldn't we be waiting to die?" Ma Changshun shouted.
"Recapture Ningxia City? Do you know the consequences of letting the officers and soldiers cross the river? It's not over in the end. We can't go anywhere now. There is only one way, which is to withdraw overnight and retreat to a place where the officers and soldiers cannot catch up to protect ourselves. This
That's the only way." He Jinyi shouted.
"Where to retreat? Where is the place where the officers and soldiers cannot catch up? Oh, I understand, do you want to join the Tatars? You can imagine it. Our rebellion is our business. If we collude with foreign enemies, we will be infamy for thousands of years.
He Jinyi, you are shameless, old man
You guys need to be shameless. I want to go to you. I want to go back to save the prince anyway. Even if I can’t save the prince, I still want to capture the city of Ningxia. My wife, children and parents are all in the city. He Jinyi wants to surrender to the Tatars.
You go by yourself, I won't go." Ma Changshun said.
"Yes, we will not do that shameful thing. Following the prince to rebel and seize the throne is an internal matter of our Ming Dynasty. We have nothing to say to the Tatars. The Tatars are our mortal enemies of the Ming Dynasty."
"I think the general is hoping that the prince will die so that we can make you the emperor, right?"
Several generals echoed Ma Changshun's words. They had long been dissatisfied with He Jinyi, and they were all forced to rebel. Now they were even more complaining about He Jinyi.
He Jinyi said coldly: "Ma Changshun, Liu Heishan, do you really want to confront me? Don't you listen to my orders? I have tried my best to talk to you, but you just don't listen, right?"
Ma Changshun sneered: "He Jinyi, since the prince is dead, then you, the general, are nothing. What do you mean by your order? Why should we obey your order? We don't care if you sell your ancestors and go to the Tatars."
, Anyway, I, Ma Changshun, am going to take my people to Ningxia City. Let’s go our separate ways, and don’t interfere with the river."
He Jinyi looked gloomy and said nothing.
Ma Changshun stood up and waved his hands and said: "Brothers, if you are willing to follow Ma Changshun to attack Ningxia City, we will send troops tonight. If you don't want to, don't force it. Just follow He Jinyi to join the Tatars and become the grandsons of those barbarian bastards.
Go. I'm going back to the camp to sort out the troops and take my leave."
Ma Changshun turned and left. Several generals also shouted loudly and turned to leave. Ding Guang said hurriedly: "Everyone, everyone, don't do this. If we continue to do this, how can we defend ourselves against the enemy?"
Ma Changshun shouted: "Ding Guang, stop talking nonsense. Who do you think you are? It's your turn to speak."
Ding Guang was about to speak when He Jinyi shouted loudly: "Ma Changshun, do you really want to do this?"
Ma Changshun cursed loudly: "Are you deaf? Didn't you hear what I said? You..."
He Jinyi didn't wait for him to finish speaking. He rose up from the chair, pointed his toes on the long desk and jumped out, unsheathing his sword in mid-air. With a pop, Ma Changshun's body froze in place. When he looked down, there was a bloody knife in his chest.
tip.
He Jinyi drew his knife, kicked over Ma Changshun's body, and cursed: "If you don't drink the toast, you will be fined with wine. Do you really think I don't dare to kill you? You piece of shit."