serious man in the red chamber

Chapter 204 Lost
study room

Mr. Yang Ge hurried in with a memorial in hand.

As soon as he entered the door, Yang Ge was stunned.

The windows of the upper study were all open, and at this time the emperor was standing by the window, looking up at the distant sky.

Just as Yang Ge was about to step forward to salute, Dai Quan, who was standing aside, gave him a wink and shook his head slightly.

Elder Yang Ge hastily stopped in his tracks.

Emperor Jianwu turned around slowly, looked at the chapter in his hand, and said nothing.

After a silence, Mr. Yang Ge said: "Qizou Your Majesty, this is a statement from the Manchu Qing envoy Ebi sent by the Ministry of Rites. .”

Emperor Jianwu pondered for a moment, and said: "Let's talk first, let's talk about it when the information from the Criminal Division and the Zhenfu Division arrives."

Elder Yang Ge: "Yes."

At this time, Emperor Jianwu sighed, "Jia Hu moved too fast, I haven't thought it through yet. Tell me, how should I deal with Wang Ziteng?"

Elder Yang Ge hesitated for a moment, and replied: "There are laws in the imperial court, and the cabinet will summon the Ministry of War, the Metropolitan Procuratorate, Dali Temple, and the Ministry of Punishment to conduct a joint trial according to the law, to give an explanation to the government and the public, and to return Uncle Zhongrui's innocence."

Emperor Jianwu gave him a deep look, and said weakly: "Wang Ziteng violated the law, so he should be punished. What I am worried about is the war in Luzhou Prefecture."

Elder Yang Ge clarified the emperor's intentions, so he no longer kept secrets: "Your Majesty's holy ministers and others understand. Just then, the minister followed the chief assistant to the Ministry of War. According to the military report of Duke Ning, the Ministry of War made a push. As long as you don't show up There is a major change, the army should have besieged Hefei City yesterday, and there will be no problems if the old man and Duke Ningguo preside over the siege battle."

After a pause, "In order to ensure nothing goes wrong, the cabinet and the Ministry of War discussed and sent the imperial edict to Anhui in an expedited four hundred miles. With the buffer of more than ten days, Ning Guogong and the others must have completely controlled the situation."

Emperor Jianwu sighed, and said to Dai Quan: "Send the imperial edict to Anhui in four hundred miles." After finishing speaking, he hurried out.

Half an hour later, a team of criminal officials escorted the imperial envoys who delivered the order and rushed out of the capital from Guang'anmen. They had to pass through Shanxi, Shaanxi and Henan provinces before finally entering Anhui province.

The sun is shining brightly, the sky is clear, and the warm sunshine shines on the city of Hefei, but the rebels of the Cao Gang are like falling into an ice cave, with terrified expressions on their faces!
I saw that there were countless wooden city earthen barriers outside the city overnight, completely encircling Hefei city. On the earthen hills, the officers and soldiers were setting up artillery.

On the city wall, Yang Kaiwu was holding his clairvoyance and looking at the military camp five miles away. Since he learned that the partial division that went north to attack Fuyang was attacked by the Yongwei Battalion, he ordered the city to be strengthened, and elite soldiers were mobilized from all over the city.

A large number of fortifications were built outside the city, and he urged his confidants to break through Jixian Pass as soon as possible and attack Anqing.

However, Jia Hu's action was too fast. It took only half a day to wipe out more than [-] of his main forces in Lu'an. The channel completely reversed the situation of the battle.

He had already realized the strength of the frontier army, but he didn't expect that the Yongwei Battalion would be so fierce. In less than two days, the fortifications he built outside the city were pulled out, and the fort was built overnight.He has already inspected all seven city gates. There are at least 30 officers and troops outside the city, and he cannot leave, but he does not plan to leave. He is strong, and his food storage can last for a year, so why run away?
Even if the city of Hefei is destroyed in the end, he will make Jia Hu pay a heavy price and make Hefei the cemetery of the Yongwei Camp, where he will be buried with his dead grandson!

Thinking of this, Yang Kaiwu swept away his anxiety for many days, looked at the officer gunner who was adjusting the artillery, and shouted: "Fire the artillery! Destroy the opponent's artillery!"

But at this moment, several pillars of fire shot up to the sky from the earth hill, and then a section of the city wall was hit by two shells, and the flames burst into flames. Countless people were blown up, and some people fell into the sky from the air. After entering the city, screams were heard immediately.

"Fight back! Shoot back!" Yang Kaiwu yelled.

The rebel gunners lit their cannons one after another and fired back at the officers on the hill.

It's a pity that all the shells fell on the ground a few feet away from the mound, and the smoke and dust that soared into the sky was obviously beyond the range of the artillery.

On the earth hill, the muzzle flames of black holes shot out, continuously bombarding the city wall!

The artillery fire from the officers and soldiers seemed to be more intense, and they were accurate. Almost all of them hit the city wall. One shell hit the tower behind Yang Kaiwu, and a fire ignited. Yang Kaiwu's face sank.

The rebel gunners immediately panicked and fired back.

The deafening sound of cannonballs sounded again from the artillery positions of the officers and soldiers. In the thick smoke and dust, dozens of shells whizzed and smashed towards the city wall!
This time, not only Yang Kaiwu's expression changed, but all the rebels' expressions changed as well.

The shells hit the city wall, and it seemed that the entire city wall was shaking and trembling. The shells stirred up countless gravels, and when they were hit by the fragments, they were either dead or disabled. Immediately there were screams and panicked cries on the city wall.

"Master! Our artillery can't hit them!" A rebel leader shouted.

Many people followed up and shouted:

"You can't fight like this!"

"How can we hold on to such a beating!"

The official artillery on the earth mountain was still firing, and a shell hit the crenel, overturning the old-fashioned artillery directly, and the surrounding rebel gunners were bloody and bloody from the stirred-up gun mount fragments, fell to the ground and wailed .

After screaming and panicking, Yang Kaiwu realized that no one could stand on the city wall, and except for some people left to watch, everyone else withdrew.

Amidst the whistling sound, the official army's artillery came one after another.
On the archery tower of the Chinese army camp, eunuch Zhao was scanning the battlefield quickly through his clairvoyance. Sure enough, the artillery of the rebel army could only hit two and a half miles, which greatly boosted his confidence.

Three days ago, when he saw the city defense map transferred from the governor's office, he was stunned. How to fight?
Hefei City is located on the shore of Chaohu Lake, and the Nanfei River flows through the city. It has always been an important administrative center and military center in the Jianghuai area. It has been a battleground for military strategists since ancient times.In the first year of Honghua, it was destroyed by war.

In the 15th year of Honghua, Emperor Honghua decreed to mobilize the manpower and material resources of 34 prefectures and counties in Anhui, Henan, and Hubei, and consumed 31 taels of silver to rebuild Hefei City. The city walls were all built with big green bricks. At this time, Hefei City The surrounding area is about 7000 miles long. The west and southwest walls are all built on high ground, and the height of the city wall is about two feet and four feet; It is about four feet eight feet wide.

The east moat is about two feet deep and the river is 42 feet wide; the west moat is two and five feet deep and about thirty feet wide; the south moat is two and three feet deep and more than thirty feet wide; The face width is 35 feet.The river flows around the city.

There are seven gates and three water passes in the whole city. There is a hopeful tower on the gate, and a turret is also built. You can see the tall tower from ten miles away.

Not only Eunuch Zhao was stunned, but Yun Guang, Xie Qiong, Yang Dayong and others were also stunned. How can such a wide moat be filled?
How to attack the city without filling the moat?

It's just, how many lives have to be filled in? !
Yesterday, Li Guogong Liu Fang rushed to Daying, after some discussions, he decided to attack on all sides and focus on Weiwu Gate.

The southwest of Hefei City is high, and the east is the lowest. There are two gates in the east, Weiwu Gate on the left and Shiyong Gate on the right.

In addition, artillery fire was used to suppress the rebels, and the junction between the Baohe River and the Nanfei River was filled.

Eunuch Zhao turned his clairvoyance to the back of the fort again. The [-] criminals were arranged in five huge square formations, with a distance of a hundred steps between each square. As long as you throw five bags of dirt into the moat, you can get rid of your guilt and become a good citizen.

"Ugh-"

The sound of the low-pitched horn resounded through the sky and the earth, and the first phalanx began to rush towards the moat!

Soon, the cannons on the city wall rang out, and clusters of cannon fire fell on the open space. Dozens of criminal soldiers fell under the cannon fire.

The gunners on the dirt hill adjusted their gun positions to aim at the crenel, and the Xiyi artillery sprayed out a large group of flames, and immediately a dozen rebels were blown down to the city wall.

Looking down from the city, you can see the densely packed army of criminals carrying mud bags rushing towards the moat.

Yang Kaiwu has led the defenders to the top of the city, and the criminal army has gradually entered the firing range of the firecrackers. He immediately gave the order to shoot: "Shoot!"

The flames shot out from the muzzles of each gun, shooting countless bloody arrows at the front of the sinners, and they all fell down screaming!
Most of these firecrackers were seized from Wang Ziteng, and some were made by the artisans of the Yan Gang. Another row of firecrackers raised their firecrackers and fired at the same time!
The criminal army was knocked down piece by piece.

The artillery on the earth hill kept shelling the city wall to cover the criminal army.

Soon, the archers behind the rebel musketeers also started shooting. Arrows rained down from the top of the city, causing huge damage to the criminal army who was about to rush towards the moat. The casualties were extremely heavy, and the dead bodies piled up by the moat quickly. , the blood flowed into the moat, staining the river red.

The artillery on the earth hill was still spraying artillery fire, some of them were blasted on the city wall, and some had already landed on the crenel. From time to time, an old-fashioned artillery would be overturned. Although it did not bring much casualties to the rebels, it dealt a serious blow The morale of the army also caused many criminal troops to rush to the moat, and the guilty troops kept throwing mud bags in their hands into the moat.

Yang Kaiwu's face turned pale. He never expected that these former subordinates would be so brave. They rushed to the moat in the first wave and threw the mud bag into the moat. If they had this fighting power in the past, let alone Anqing , Hubei and Henan have already been won.

At this time, the second phalanx began to charge, and Yang Kaiwu waved his long sword and shouted loudly: "Shoot, shoot them to death—"

The first wave of criminal troops rushed over and formed a scattered queue behind the earth mountain. Eunuch Zhao glanced at it and was secretly startled, more than half of it was lost.

But the most indispensable thing now is the criminal army. After the [-] are exhausted, there are still [-] to [-] in the prisoner-of-war camp at the foot of Dashu Mountain, and a passage can always be filled.

Thinking of this, eunuch Zhao put down his clairvoyance, turned around and walked down the archery building, towards the big tent of the Chinese army.

In the big tent of the Chinese army, Jia Hu was sitting in front of the handsome table, looking down at Wang Ziteng's letter. As he read it, his expression changed, he raised his head, and asked Wang Ziteng's soldiers standing beside him : "What the hell is Wang Ziteng going to do?!"

The soldier murmured and replied: "When you return to the Duke, our general said that the soldiers have been fighting for half a year, and most of them are exhausted. Moreover, the Battle of Chuzhou consumed a lot of equipment, and the Jinling side has not replenished it yet. , we have nothing to do. Our general also said that you can’t eat hot tofu in a hurry, you can’t rush for success, you have to be steady and steady.”

General Jia Hu took the case: "Is he teaching me how to fight?"

The soldier was startled, and his legs softened and knelt down: "The Duke of the country has a deep understanding of military strategy, and he has won so many victories. Naturally, he should understand that what he fights is money, food, and backup. Since the Duke led the army After entering the customs, the Jinling side changed the supply of food and grass for our army from monthly to every half a month. The ordnance that should be replenished also found various excuses for not supplying on time."

After a pause, "Because of this, our army has been unable to defeat the rebels in Chuzhou for a long time. Nowadays, many of the weapons used by our brothers are still seized from the rebels."

Jia Hu was startled: "You mean, Jinling City deliberately didn't supply you with food, grass and equipment!"

The soldier nodded: "In order to suppress the rebels, our general killed so many gentry and offended so many people."

Jia Hu: "Why didn't you report it to the court?"

The soldier: "The capital is too far away, and the news is not smooth. And even if it is reported to the court, it will eventually be necessary for Jinling to solve the food, grass and equipment. Not only can the problem not be solved, but it will also offend people. It will become more and more difficult."

Jia Hu seemed to realize something, and then a cold light flashed in his eyes: "Prince Teng guessed that the imperial court would call him to Beijing for questioning, so he delayed reporting to the imperial court. The day the imperial envoy came to the barracks with the imperial decree, the army was defeated At that time, not only will the previous crimes not be investigated, but Prince Teng will also be rewarded generously to appease the morale of the army."

The soldier's voice trembled: "Grandpa, I, I, you are humble and don't understand what you mean."

Jia Hu: "Okay, okay. Tell me, what's going on in Chao County?"

The soldier hesitated for a moment, and replied, "Except for people, everything is lacking. Food will run out in four days."

Jia Hu was stunned for a moment, and asked, "The situation is so serious?"

The soldier: "The army stormed Chao County for two days and two nights, and suffered heavy losses. Some wounded have died due to lack of medicine. There is a lot of resentment in the army."

Jia Hu snorted, picked up the letter irritably, looked at it, thought for a while, and said: "No matter what, the army cannot collapse." After speaking, he raised his head and shouted: "Lin San."

Lin San responded and walked in.

Jia Hu: "Go and invite Supervisor Zhao."

Lin San replied, "Supervisor Zhao is just outside the big tent."

Jia Hu waved his hand.

Lin San turned around and walked out.

After a while, the curtain was raised, and Supervisor Zhao walked in. Seeing Wang Ziteng's soldiers kneeling there, he was startled for a moment, and then said, "What's the matter, Commander?"

Jia Hu shook the letter in his hand: "Look at it, Wang Ziteng's letter."

Eunuch Zhao took the letter and looked at it, then frowned: "What does this Prince Teng want to do? Why don't you break through Chao County as soon as possible and come to join forces?"

Jia Hu glanced at the soldier, motioning him to tell Eunuch Zhao.

The soldier didn't hesitate, and repeated the matter again.

Eunuch Zhao was shocked when he heard this, his face turned pale.

Jia Hu: "Chao County is nearly 170 miles away from here, and we can catch up with the allocation of food now."

Eunuch Zhao nodded.

Jia Hu: "Lin San."

As soon as the words fell, Lin San walked in: "Master."

"Tell Jia Lian to transfer [-] shi, grain and rice to the prince." Jia Hu took out a token from his bosom.

Lin San: "No." He took the token with both hands, and led Wang Ziteng's soldiers out.

After a while of silence, Eunuch Zhao spoke up: "Wang Ziteng has a good plan!"

Jia Hu was startled for a moment, then smiled: "It's better to tell His Majesty immediately."

Eunuch Zhao nodded, turned around and walked out quickly.

Jia Hu smiled, in the final analysis, it was the Supreme Emperor who made a hindrance, otherwise Zhang Shangwen would not dare to do this, if he did not kill Xia Shouzhong, did not seal the Dragon Head Palace, he would cut off the Supreme Emperor's power forever.

This pair of father and son will eventually tear their faces apart.

Sighing silently, Jia Hu took out Lin Daiyu's letter from his bosom again and read it.

As the old saying goes, if you are born in Chongqing, you will be born in Luzhou with iron.

Luzhou refers to Hefei today.

The moat in Hefei is very wide, but no matter how wide or deep it is, with the efforts of more than [-] criminal troops, the connection between Baohe River and Nanfei River was finally filled on the third day.

However, Jia Hu was not in a hurry to attack the city, but planned to blow down the city wall by digging tunnels to bury explosives.

Inside the big tent, Jia Hu circled two places on the map with a pen, one is Wuwei Gate, and the other is Shuiximen, which is the city wall of Xiaoximen.

Suddenly, there was a commotion outside the big tent, Jia Hu frowned, and put down his pen in displeasure.

Then, eunuch Zhao hurried in: "Wang Ziteng's army was defeated by the rebels!"

Jia Hu was surprised, the prince was defeated? !

　After thinking about it, Wang Ziteng still has to keep it, and everything needs to be changed later.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)