At this time, Jinan City was a peaceful and peaceful scene. Although it had just experienced a siege a few days ago, the rebels quickly retreated, and then Xie Cheng led the army to pursue and quell the rebellion. Everyone thought that the reputation
Xie Cheng, who is outside, will definitely be able to defeat the rebels and successfully quell the rebellion, so except for the family whose family member died during the defense of the city a few days ago, everyone is very calm and relaxed.
Yang Shiqi sat casually at a roadside stall, looked at the people walking by, smiled and said to the people in front of him: "The people in Jinan City are living and working in peace and contentment, and I have not heard of any corruption by officials.
, I sent a good errand this time."
The man in front of him was He Yuan, the magistrate of Jinan. He Yuan was also from Changxi. Although he was not Yang Shiqi's hometown, they got to know each other when they were taking the provincial examination together, and they became friends because of similar personalities.
However, He Yuan was admitted to Juren in that subject, and then he was admitted to Jinshi the next year and became an official. Therefore, the two of them had not seen each other for several years. This time they reunited as old friends, so of course they wanted to get together more.
of.
However, Yang Shiqi will never let his friend off because of this. If He Yuan really violates laws and disciplines, he will definitely report it to the truth. But now that Yang Shiqi is so open about hanging out with He Yuan, it can be seen that
Nothing was found.
He Yuan himself had a clear conscience, so he openly went out with Yang Shiqi to gather on the street.
He Yuan said: "The people of Jinan live and work in peace and contentment all because of Emperor Taizu's good strategy of improving people's livelihood, not because of my contribution."
Yang Shiqi said: "Even so, the fact that there is no corruption among officials is because Brother He is a diligent official. When I return to the capital this time, I will definitely recommend Brother He to His Majesty."
Although Yang Shiqi is upright, he is not shy about recommending his friends. Anyway, he has a clear conscience and feels that his friend is really a talent.
Just as He Yuan was about to say something else, he suddenly heard someone say: "Prefect He!"
He looked back and saw that it was a minor official from the Chief Envoy Si Yamen who was greeting him from a distance. After seeing He Yuan, this minor official ignored the etiquette and immediately ran towards him, and then did not wait for He Yuan.
When asked, he said: "Prefect He, Chief Envoy Zhang asked you to go to the Chief Envoy Si Yamen immediately!"
Then the clerk glanced sideways and saw Yang Shiqi, and immediately said: "Yang Yushi is here too? Then go to the Chief Envoy Si Yamen with He Zhifu, Chief Executive Zhang is also looking for you!"
Yang Shiqi and He Yuan looked at each other: Why did Zhang Chen suddenly ask them to come over?
However, since the official said it was an urgent matter, they did not waste time and immediately followed the official to the Chief Envoy Si Yamen.
When Yang Shiqi walked into the Chief Envoy Si Yamen, he saw that among the people present were not only Zhang Chen, the Chief Envoy from the Left, but also Zhuang De, the commander of the Pingshan Guards who stayed behind in Jinan City, and other leading officials in Jinan City.
Zhang Chen was stomping back and forth at this time. When he saw Yang Shiqi and He Yuan walking in, he immediately said: "You two are finally here."
He Yuan asked: "Zheng Buzheng, what happened? Why are everyone here?"
Zhang Chen sighed and said: "The counter-rebellion army led by Xie Cheng suffered a huge defeat."
"We suffered a huge defeat!" He Yuan said in an incredible tone: "How is that possible!"
Xia Zi stood up and said: "If the coach rebels, anything is possible."
He Yuan then said in surprise: "Xie Cheng rebelled? How could he rebel?"
Zhang Chen said: "Don't worry about whether Xie Cheng rebelled or not. The most important thing now is to defend Jinan City!"
"The rebels will definitely attack Jinan again immediately, and this time they will have more troops than last time, and the people in Jinan City must be panicked, and all the troops that can be reinforced near Jinan have been reinforced, and there are no more reinforcements to send. , it’s difficult to defend Jinan City!”
"What do you mean!" He Yuan said: "Jinan City must be defended! Otherwise the rebels can wreak havoc throughout Shandong!"
"Moreover, if Jinan falls, everyone will be responsible for losing the land." He Yuan analyzed the problem from a personal perspective.
In fact, there is no need for his analysis. None of us know that if Jinan falls, although we are all officials from Shandong, Jinan City is governed by the province. Although losing Jinan is not a fatal sin, it is still a serious crime. So we will not Don't worry.
However, Zhuang De said: "There are too few soldiers in Jinan City now, and none of them are the Qianhu that I had led before. If you want to hold it, it would be too..." Although he did not say the next words, everyone also know what he means.
He Yuan said: "Then gather the people immediately!"
Zhang Shen and others also knew that the matter was urgent, and they called him over so anxiously because they wanted to prepare to defend the city immediately. So they all started preparations immediately after hearing He Yuan's words.
Because there were so many things to prepare, they were immediately busy.
Among them, everyone hesitated about whether to tell the people the truth now, but Yang Shiqi said: "Even if we hide it from the people now, when the rebels come to the city again, the people will know it, and they will inevitably be even more frightened, so it is better to tell them now. "
"And if you don't tell the people the truth, then you will have trouble organizing the defense of the city. It would be better to tell the people the truth from the beginning."
Everyone felt that Yang Shiqi's words made sense, so they finally decided to tell the people the truth.
The people were really panicked. Since ancient times, thieves have been swept away and soldiers have been swept away. When rebels invade Jinan City, the people will surely suffer.
However, the rebels had not yet attacked at this time, and there were many officials in the city, so they finally appeased the people and asked them to help defend the city.
He Yuan took the time to say to Yang Shiqi: "Brother Yang, you go first! It is too dangerous to stay in Jinan City. You are not an official in Jinan or Shandong who has the responsibility to guard the land. You are just a censor temporarily sent to inspect the place. You don't have to stay." Jinan City is a dangerous place!”
Yang Shiqi said: "Although I am not a local official in Shandong, since I am in Jinan City now, there is no reason to escape from the city alone!"
He Yuan said: "This is not an escape. It is not your responsibility to stay in Jinan City. How can it be regarded as an escape?"
Yang Shiqi said: "No matter what, I will not leave Jinan like this!"
He Yuangang was about to continue talking, but when his subordinates asked him to make a decision with a document, he could only temporarily stop persuading Yang Shiqi.
But the next day when he had some free time, he persuaded Yang Shiqi to leave Jinan City. Of course, Yang Shiqi refused again.
While the two were talking, suddenly a trembling clerk from the Jinan government office came in with a document for He Yuan to handle.
He Yuan asked: "What's wrong with you?"
The clerk said in panic: "Sir, the rebel cavalry has arrived and has blocked the road out of the city."
