Fu Shanhe

Chapter 412: Kaifeng City Falls

Guide Prefecture.

"My lord, we have found the culprit behind this!"

Yue Laosan said excitedly.

There is no impenetrable wall in the world. Large-scale multi-person activities such as digging the Yellow River will definitely leave traces.

"who is it?"

Upon hearing the news, Zhulu King excitedly stood up from his seat, grabbed Yue Laosan's arm and asked.

He has been plagued by rumors recently.

After changing the king's title, it is indeed easier to recruit soldiers, but it won't take long before it's exposed.

There are so many people in the army, no matter how he instructs, some of them are bound to let the cat out of the bag.

So much so that after new recruits join the army, they have to spend a lot of time brainwashing these people.

"It was that bastard King Weiwu who did it!"

"When we were contacting the various rebel armies, the soldiers under King Mighty got drunk and let the cat out of the bag.

It just so happened that their team was operating not far from where the Yellow River burst its dike.

They must have done this, there is no doubt about it!"

Yue Laosan said in a firm tone.

The rebel army was never a united front, but they were temporarily united because of their common enemy, Dayu.

It is common for people to stab each other in the back when interests are at stake.

From the very beginning, they judged that it was done from within the rebel army.

Although the government imposed heavy taxes and levies, no one would be so desperate as to dig up the Yellow River.

In terms of destructive power, the combined power of all these rebel forces is not as great as the Yellow River bursting its dikes.

The momentum mentioned above was huge, but that was only limited to the number of the rebel army. There were not many cases of actually conquering states and prefectures.

Most of the time, we just go around the county town.

It was a tough nut to crack for the rebels.

It was not until the Yellow River burst its banks that countless victims were forced to join the rebel army, and it became easier to capture cities and conquer land.

"Mighty King, I want to..."

A series of greetings came from the mouth of King Zhulu.

All the rebel generals present also greeted the mighty King's eighteen generations of ancestors.

"I have decided to raise an army to attack the Mighty King!"

As soon as the words were spoken, the tent fell silent.

More than a month ago, they were the most powerful force among the rebels, but now they have fallen to the middle level.

On the contrary, the once inconspicuous King Weiwu seized the opportunity to expand his army and became the most powerful force among the Central Plains rebels.

If we launch an attack at this time, our chances of success are slim.

"Your Majesty, no!"

"Raising an army in anger is a taboo in military strategy."

"King Weiwu has committed such atrocities and done such a shameless thing. We should make their crimes known to the world.

By then, people of insight in the world will surely see his true face, and the imperial court will not let him go.

He will be defeated without our help.

The situation in the Central Plains was so serious that the imperial court's encirclement and suppression army was probably on the way by now.

If we send troops to attack King Weiwu now, it will only benefit the court for nothing.

For the sake of our great cause of rebellion against Yu, please be patient!"

Military advisor Su Qianqing hurriedly persuaded.

It seems that the rebel army is developing rapidly and the situation is very good, but compared with the imperial court, they are still weak.

What constrained the imperial court's military actions was not the lack of strength of the government troops, but the fact that they were collecting food.

As long as they have enough disaster relief grain, tens of thousands of government troops can sweep across the Central Plains.

"My king, the military advisor is right.

Now is not the time to settle accounts with King Weiwu. Let's just watch him fight with the government troops and we will reap the benefits."

A group of generals followed suit and persuaded.

Everyone joined the rebellion just to make a living, and few had big ambitions.

But there is one simple truth that they all know - eggs cannot hit stones.

The mighty King is far more powerful than them, so they cannot send troops to fight him.

"That's it!"

“Since you all say so, for the sake of the overall situation, I will let that guy go for the time being.

However, now that the real culprit has been found, there is no need to use the title of Zhulu King.

Pick an auspicious day and change his name back to King Taiping!"

The King of Zhulu went with the flow.

The idea of ​​attacking the mighty King was just a momentary angry remark.

If he really has to send troops to fight, he's not that stupid.

Now King Weiwu is attacking Kaifeng Prefecture and provoking a civil war among the rebels, which is to rescue the imperial court.

As the most wanted criminal of the Dayu Dynasty, he does not have such a fearless spirit of sacrifice.

“Your Majesty, I’m afraid changing your name is not advisable.

The mastermind behind the incident has been found, but that doesn’t mean the stigma against us has been washed away.

We can announce the truth to the world, but we cannot explain it to the court.

The emperor himself issued an imperial decree. Even though the government knew that we were not the ones who dug up the Yellow River, they would still hold us responsible."

Su Qianqing explained reluctantly.

Since ancient times, it has been easy to spread rumors but difficult to dispel them.

In this age of poor information transmission, once preconceived ideas are formed, it is almost impossible to clear up a grievance.

It’s useless to find evidence because they are traitors and cannot explain to the government.

Rebellion itself is a serious crime punishable by the execution of nine generations of the family.

Regardless of whether they dug the Yellow River or not, the imperial court would behead them.

If the government does not issue a statement to refute the rumors, their own explanation alone will not convince many people.

"Humph!"

“Damn you, Mighty King, you better hope you don’t fall into my hands.

Otherwise, I will make you regret coming into this world!"

King Zhulu said indignantly.

The mastermind behind the scenes has been found, but the current situation is the same as if he had not been found.

Even if you know you've made a mistake, the emperor's edict cannot be changed.

The king never jokes. In the feudal dynasty, this was never a joke.

The imperial court determined that it was "King Taiping" who did it, and the people of the world would blame him.

Explaining it to the outside world would at most make the rebels half-believing and half-doubting.

The outside world cannot hear their voices, let alone be able to tell the truth from the false.

……

Kaifeng City.

The rebels once again threw a letter of persuasion into the city.

At this point in the war, the rebels have successfully captured the outer city, and even the inner city walls have been damaged in many places.

The main reason for the delay in taking the city was the chaotic internal management of the rebels, who were busy looting after entering the city.

After they had robbed the outer city, they launched another attack.

King Mighty was already accustomed to all this.

For a team recruited temporarily, it is good enough if they are willing to fight hard, and we can't expect too much in terms of discipline.

Controlling more than 200,000 rebel troops with only one thousand direct subordinates had already exceeded the command limit.

Apart from the intimidating appearance, the actual combat effectiveness is actually mediocre.

But for the rebels, this was not a problem.

Lead the team to fight a few battles, select the combat-capable soldiers and incorporate them into the old camp, and the rest will be cannon fodder.

When the government troops come to attack, fight if you can, run away if you can't.

The old camp must be able to run faster than these cannon fodder.

The imperial court launched several encirclement and suppression campaigns, and each time achieved outstanding military victories, and the rebel army was always wiped out.

The biggest reason is that the core backbone escaped the encirclement and suppression by the government troops.

"Your Majesty, there has been no response from the city yet, I'm afraid we have to choose to fight to the bitter end.

Just give the order to attack the city!"

Cui Laoliu stepped forward and gave advice.

Kaifeng City was indeed weak in military strength, but when it came to a matter of life and death, the wealthy families and princes and nobles in the city still contributed their efforts.

Not only did they send their servants to help defend the city, the princes in the city also gave money and food to reward the troops.

The two sides fought fiercely around the city wall. In order to reduce losses, the rebels chose to persuade the enemy to surrender, but the defenders in the city refused to cooperate.

“I gave them a chance to surrender out of consideration for the mercy of God, but unfortunately these guys didn’t appreciate it.

Since the enemy is resisting stubbornly, there's no need to be polite.

Pass the order down, do not stop fighting for three days after conquering Kaifeng!"

The mighty king gave the order murderously.

Compared with the promotion of officials to higher positions, the rebel army's way of boosting morale was to allow looting and killing.

The means were indeed cruel, but they had no better choice.

Soldiers have no pay and no pension if they die in battle.

Promotions are nonsense; the titles and positions they conferred are all empty silver notes.

Unless you can conquer the world, everything else is just empty talk.

Even King Weiwu himself didn't believe that he could conquer the world.

Having come to this point, we have simply been carried forward by the chaos and do not even have a strategic plan to conquer the world.

"Your Majesty, no!"

“Kaifeng is a world-famous city with great political influence.

If you kill people in the city, it will affect your reputation.

We should learn from the White Lotus Sect's previous experience!"

Master Liu hurriedly persuaded.

He considered himself a ruthless man, but he still didn't dare to do something like massacring Kaifeng.

Among the rebel army, the mighty King is now very eye-catching.

Once the city of Kaifeng is massacred, I am afraid that he will immediately become the number one enemy in the eyes of the court and the gentry.

They have seen Dayu's strength.

If the imperial court becomes ruthless and wants to wipe them out at all costs, the probability of them escaping is very low.

"Master, you are too timid.

The defenders of Kaifeng are resisting stubbornly. How can we shock the world if we don’t kill them?

If we don't scare the enemy into submission, every city we encounter will put up a desperate resistance.

By then, let alone competing for the world, I’m afraid we won’t even be able to conquer Henan.”

General Hawkeye couldn't help but sneer.

He couldn't stand scholars who were good at talking.

He is just giving advice in the rear, but his position in the army is higher than those generals fighting on the front line. How come?

If it weren't for the protection of King Weiwu, he would have sent Master Yidao Liu away long ago.

"Shut up, you naughty monkey!"

"The military advisor is offering advice, so you have no right to speak!"

The mighty king reprimanded immediately.

Although Military Advisor Liu had various shortcomings, he was a rare scholar under his command.

He is good at giving advice and his brain is more useful than those warriors.

In fact, he also wanted to form a civil service team, but unfortunately the literati looked down on him.

Even if they were captured and taken to the camp, they would either remain silent or act crazy and stupid.

He wanted to use intimidation and inducement, but was afraid that these people would pretend to surrender, so he wanted to give them a ruthless blow at the critical moment.

After all, the famous King of Chu was killed by his subordinate civil servants.

With the lessons of the past in mind, he did not dare to use unreliable literati or counselors.

"Your Majesty, there is no need to do this. General Monkey is just being straightforward. It won't cause any trouble!"

Liu Nian'an said with a smile.

Although he said it was no problem, he sentenced the naughty boy to death in his heart.

If someone dares to be so rude to him, he will become a disaster in the future if he is not eliminated soon.

However, this person was a close confidant of King Weiwu and had been by his side since the early days of the uprising.

It was just a small matter of speaking without restraint, at most the monkey would be punished, but it would not shake his foundation.

If you want to get rid of this person, you either have to kill him with a borrowed knife or destroy the relationship between the monarch and his subjects first.

In either case, it cannot be accomplished overnight.

If you can't achieve your goal, there's no need to get involved.

"Military advisor, you are so magnanimous!"

"You should all learn from this, this is what it means to be a tolerant prime minister."

"The anti-Yu cause has just begun. If anyone dares to destroy internal unity, I will take his head!"

As he spoke, the mighty king glared at the monkey fiercely.

The episode was over, and the previous question was simply ignored by everyone.

Liu Nian'an also gave up the idea of ​​continuing to persuade.

Just the spoils from the outer city were not enough to satisfy everyone.

Everyone wants to make a fortune after the city is captured, and the monkey is just the first to jump out.

If you forcibly stop people from getting rich, you will be blocking the path for countless people to get rich.

He had to stay in the rebel army and couldn't stick to his principles.

As for the subsequent impact, few people really care about it because they don’t care about tomorrow.

Liu Nian'an felt completely unsure about starting a business with such a team.

"Rumble..."

A loud bang at midnight ignited the charge horn again.

Under the urging of the supervision team, countless rebel soldiers launched an attack on the city under the enemy's rain of arrows.

The advantage of having more soldiers was revealed at this time.

The rebels could take turns attacking for twelve hours without paying any attention to casualties, but the defenders did not have that many people to rotate.

"The city is broken!"

Accompanied by a burst of shouting, the already panic-stricken city of Kaifeng suddenly fell into chaos.

The servants of the wealthy families in the city were the first to collapse.

Not all servants have received military training.

The servants of ordinary wealthy families are fine fighting alone, but when faced with a war, they are just stronger civilian laborers.

Normally, when I followed my master to the countryside, I would just teach a lesson to the "troublemakers" who didn't pay their rent. I had never seen such a grand scene before.

The fact that we have been able to hold on until now is all thanks to the supervision team.

The cruel casualties made them lose their courage. There were chaotic soldiers everywhere and the supervision team was unable to handle it.

……

Imperial Palace, Yangxin Hall.

"Your Majesty, the Imperial Guards have sent urgent news that Kaifeng Prefecture has fallen!
The governor of Henan, the provincial governor, the provincial inspector and other officials died heroically for their country, and all the members of the Zhou royal family were massacred by the rebels. "

After Zheng Yingyi finished speaking, Emperor Yongning's face suddenly turned pale.

The worst situation finally happened.

In the years since he ascended the throne, the number of registered royal family members in Dayu has decreased by one third.

It alleviated the burden on the court to a certain extent, but this method of reducing the population was somewhat unacceptable.

In addition to being killed by the rebels, many royal family members deliberately chose to hide their royal family identities.

The imperial court imposed many restrictions on the children of royal families, and their rice and salary were often in arrears. If they encountered rebels, they would easily be used as sacrifices.

He was forced to even give up his status as a royal family member. One can imagine how badly Emperor Yongning was regarded within the royal family.

"I, got it.

If you have any other bad news, please tell me all of it!"

Seeing that the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard was hesitant to speak, Emperor Yongning opened his mouth to ask.

The situation is already so bad, it can't get any worse.

"Your Majesty, the Northern Tartars have closed the border!
The Great Wall defense line was breached in one day, and the enemy army marched straight in again..."

Before Zheng Yingyi could finish his words, Emperor Yongning fainted.

Obviously, he overestimated his ability to bear it.

Internal and external troubles came together again, and Dayu was once again on the edge of the cliff.

"Quick, call the imperial physician!"

Seeing the emperor fainted, the eunuch Xu Zhongen, who was in charge of the seal, hurriedly gave orders.

Zheng Yingyi, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard standing by, was so frightened that his face turned pale.

If something happened to the emperor, he, the unlucky guy who reported the bad news, would be dead.

The Jinyiwei's intelligence system had just been rebuilt when it received a series of bad news.

If he had a choice, he wouldn't want to report the bad news.

However, both matters concern the fate of the empire and cannot be delayed in the slightest.

By the time the local government reports the news, it is still unknown how bad the situation will deteriorate.

(End of this chapter)