Ming Dynasty: Tanks blocked the door and you said to me, "Long live Ming Dynasty"

Everyone praised: "It's all thanks to the high prestige and good planning of the Duke! We admire you!"

"Hongyi, quickly gather the soldiers from other counties to Qufu and deploy defenses as soon as possible. There is no time to lose. The enemy army will probably arrive within two or three days!"

Kong Hongyi excitedly cupped his hands and said, "Don't worry, sir. The newly recruited soldiers in other counties will rush to Qufu as soon as possible."

"It is expected that the first batch of troops will arrive at 3 p.m. today."

"very good!"

Kong Yinzhi was overjoyed, but suddenly he thought about something and frowned again.

"We have soldiers, but we don't have enough weapons and armor at the moment. What should we do?"

Kong Zhenlai replied, "My Lord, when we sent people to the other three counties to recruit soldiers yesterday, we asked the blacksmith shops in each county to start working non-stop overnight!"

Kong Yinzhi took a look at the walnuts in his hand and asked, "It's hard to supply so many like this, right?"

Liu Zhongdi stepped forward and volunteered: "Lord Taishan, Rencheng Guard is the closest to Qufu. Although the troops of the guard have been moved to the coast, there should be a lot of weapons and armor left in the arsenal."

"Now that the imperial edict for recruiting soldiers has arrived, I am willing to take it to Renchengwei to purchase weapons and armor immediately. The situation is critical, and I believe that Renchengwei will not stand idly by!"

Kong Yinzhi smiled when he heard this: "This is a great idea! There is no time to lose, prepare your carriage and set off immediately!"

"As you command!"

Liu Zhongdi took the order, put the imperial edict in his arms, and turned to leave the house.

Everything seemed to be going in the right direction, and things were going more smoothly than Kong Yinzhi had expected.

If he continued to recruit soldiers at this rate, by the time the enemy army arrived, he would have at least 30,000 troops stationed in Qufu.

Although the army was formed hastily, Kong Yinzhi believed that there would be brave men if there was a big reward.

At that time, according to the reward method of Qi's army, beheading an enemy will be rewarded with thirty taels of silver. Then the soldiers of his Kong's army will rush into the enemy army like tigers and kill them indiscriminately!

He just didn't believe that the rebel army could resist such a brave Kong family army.

Let alone completely defeating the enemy army, even if we take a step back, there should be no problem in defending Qufu.

It seems that the last trick passed down from my ancestors, the art of coexisting with the enemy, is of no use for the time being.

This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!

God wants to make Kong Yinzhi the first Duke Yansheng in the history of the Kong family who has made great military achievements and is both civil and military!

The more he thought about it, the happier he became: "Come on, let's prepare a banquet!"

How can such a worthy event be celebrated without beautiful women and good wine?

So, except for some officials who were busy, everyone accompanied Kong Yinzhi to drink wine, enjoy singing and dancing, and have fun.

Just now, when we heard that Qufu would be guarded by 10,000 soldiers today, everyone felt much calmer.

To deal with the enemy army, we must of course eat and drink enough to have strength, so everyone ate and drank very hard.

This hard work lasted from noon to night.

Outside the city, the north wind was blowing and snowflakes were flying.

Kong Zhenlai braved the wind and snow and led the newly recruited soldiers to start building fires and setting up military tents outside the city.

He ate a pancake and looked at the brightly lit Qufu city, feeling emotional.

"The snow is falling harder and harder, and the enemy troops are getting closer and closer."

"I wonder if you are so worried that you can't eat or sleep."

At the end, he encouraged himself.

"Well, the Lord let me lead the army, which shows that he trusts me the most."

"I will definitely keep an eye on the four gates for you and defend Qufu!"

Chapter 491: Duke Yansheng would never owe anyone money, right?

Renchengwei was located in Ziyang, the capital of Yanzhou, fifty miles away from Qufu.

In the early Ming Dynasty, it was called Yanzhou Zuowei, garrisoning Yanzhou Prefecture.

The original number of soldiers in Rencheng Guard was 5,600, the same as the regular inland guards.

However, due to the imperial edict to move the troops to the coast, there are currently only 500 soldiers stationed in the garrison.

The remaining commander Xu Jinqian had already received the news that Li Zicheng had led tens of thousands of rebel troops to attack Yuncheng, and ordered 500 guards to guard the four gate towers.

Although I was a little nervous, I had to hold on and wait for help as it was my duty.

At this moment, he was warming himself by the fire and drinking wine in the guardhouse.

Suddenly, a soldier came to report: "Sir, a large number of troops are approaching from the east gate!"

Xu Jingan stood up immediately after hearing this.

"It's snowing heavily, and the enemy army is coming so quickly!"

Instantly he reacted: "Wait... did you say East Gate?"

"Why did the enemy army come from the east gate?"

The soldier immediately replied: "Sir, from what I have observed, it does not look like a bandit army, but more like a convoy."

Xu Jinqian was very curious: "Let's go and see what's going on!"

Soon, he arrived at the East Gate. Looking down, he saw a long convoy arriving at the moat. He was greatly surprised.

Where did this convoy come from in the dark of the night? They even came here in the snow.

Hey! It seems that there are some cars loaded with large boxes.

The more he looked at the box, the more familiar it seemed. Rich families used boxes like this to store their silver.

At this moment, the leader of the convoy suddenly shouted loudly.

"Hey! The officer on duty on the city wall, I'm the magistrate Liu Zhongdi, and I have an urgent matter to deal with! Shutter quickly!"

We all work in the capital and know each other.

When Xu Jinqian took a closer look, he found that it was indeed Liu Zhongdi. He immediately ordered the soldiers to lower the drawbridge and let him in.

"Remember, only let Liu Tuiguan in for now. No one else is allowed to cross the bridge, or else I will shoot you!"

"As ordered!"

After the soldiers left, Xu Jingan was a little puzzled. At this tense moment, why was Liu Zhongdi not in the city but running outside?

Soon, he knew the answer.

Liu Zhongdi heard from the soldiers that the highest-ranking official in Yanzhou City was on the city wall, so he went up directly.

When Xu Jinqian saw him take out the recruitment edict and tell him the purpose of his trip, he was surprised and happy.

He was surprised that the emperor actually gave the Kong family the power to recruit soldiers and build an army. He was even more surprised at the Kong family's appeal, as they could recruit tens of thousands of people in a day!

What made him happy was that with the speed at which the Kong family recruited soldiers, they would soon be able to expand their army to 30,000 or 40,000. By then, they could assign some soldiers to support and guard the Yanzhou city, and he wouldn't have to worry so much.

The two of them talked all the way back to the Rencheng Guard Office.

After the hot wine was served, Liu Zhongdi asked, "May I ask, sir, how many weapons and armors are still in the garrison?"

Xu Jinqian did not answer, but asked: "The Kong family army recruited soldiers very quickly, I believe it will soon exceed 30,000."

"Our Yanzhou city is now short of troops and may be unable to resist the enemy army. I wonder if the Kong family army can provide reinforcements?"

Liu Zhongdi looked embarrassed: "This... This is not appropriate! Your Majesty's edict of recruiting soldiers is to ask the Kong family to build an army for self-defense and fight against the bandits, or to focus on defending Qufu."

Upon hearing this, Xu Jinqian said anxiously: "Reinforce the prefectural city to defend Qufu! Yanzhou prefectural city is the barrier to the west of Qufu. If the prefectural city is not destroyed, the enemy army will not go to Qufu!"

How could Liu Zhongdi agree? "This is a matter of the Kong family's use of troops. As a son-in-law, my words cannot count. I will go back and report to the Duke of Yansheng before making a final decision."

"Let's talk about buying weapons and armor now."

When Xu Jinqian heard what he said, he knew that there was no hope for support. He felt very disappointed and his tone became a little colder.

"The weapons and armors kept in the garrison are a matter of military importance. I have never heard of them being sold outside. I dare not make any decisions on my own."

"Why don't you wait until I submit a letter to the court before giving you a reply?"

Liu Zhongdi was immediately displeased when he heard this: "Xu Tongzhi, here is His Majesty's edict to recruit soldiers. The enemy situation is urgent. In order to protect the foundation of the saint, Duke Yansheng is asking you to buy weapons and armor!"

"Even if this matter is reported to the emperor, it is excusable!"

He pointed at Xu Jinqian and became more and more angry as he spoke.

"If you refuse to cooperate and let the rebels break into Qufu and plunder the Duke of Yansheng's mansion, if the Duke of Yansheng fails, you will become a historical sinner! Not only will you be scolded by scholars all over the world, but His Majesty will definitely not let you off easily!"

"Think carefully, can you afford this?"

He, Xu Jinqian, a third-rank commander, was actually pointed at and scolded by a seventh-rank prosecutor. It would be a lie to say that he was not angry.

But who can blame him for being the son-in-law of Duke Yansheng?

And it seems like what they said makes some sense.

Even if he followed the rules and did not sell, which was not wrong on the surface, the officials of Confucius' school were spread throughout the court and the local areas, and he never knew if they would plot against him somewhere, which would be very dangerous.

However, this kid is too arrogant because he relies on the Kong family behind him. We cannot let him get the weapons and armor easily. We cannot let him get away with it.

Xu Jingan said with difficulty: "Liu Tuiguan, don't get excited. This is the first time I have encountered such a thing. There is no precedent to follow, so it is inevitable that I am not well-thought out."

"Since it's as you said, we should sell these weapons and armors!"

Liu Zhongdi's anger subsided a little after hearing this.

"Humph! Tell me, how many weapons and armors do you have left? How much do you want to sell them for?"

Xu Jinqian was in charge of military preparations. He knew everything very well and explained everything immediately after hearing it.

"Renchengwei now has full cavalry equipment, 100 sets, including war horses, sabers, short crossbows, long spears, and armor, each set costs taels.

10 liang of bird guns, in total;

Armor 20 taels, sets;

Yanling Knife......."

As the prices of weapons and armor were quoted one by one, Liu Zhongdi felt a headache. When he finally heard the total price quoted by Xu Jinqian, he was even more shocked.

"How much more? A total of three hundred thousand taels!!!"

"Master Xu, did you make a mistake with the price?"

The reason for his behavior, apart from the unexpected price, was mainly because he only brought 100,000 taels.

Xu Jinqian said with embarrassment: "Liu Tuiguan, this official has no other choice. You need to understand."

"Although this matter is excusable, it is a violation of the court's rules after all. If we really want to investigate, this official and Ren Chengwei will be in big trouble!"

"This is a risk of being beheaded, and I still have to take care of my other colleagues."

This time, it was Liu Zhongdi's turn to be in trouble.

"But I only brought 100,000 taels with me this time..."

Xu Jingan thought for a moment and said, "Then the Duke of Yansheng can write an IOU to me. I believe that the Duke of Yansheng will never default on anyone's money, right?"

Liu Zhongdi gritted his teeth when he heard this. After all, Duke Yansheng said he had no shortage of money, so he decided to get it done first. "Okay! Pay 100,000 taels first, write an IOU, and I'll give you another 200,000 later."

"make a deal!"

Xu Jinqian was very satisfied. He hid the silver himself first. When the enemy army broke into the city, he would say that the silver was robbed and it would be completely legitimate.

By the time Liu Zhongdi brought all his things back to Qufu, it was already dawn.

"Three hundred thousand taels!!!"

When Kong Yinzhi heard the price, the corners of his mouth twitched.

Damn it, I got stabbed again.

After we defeat this wave of bandit troops, we must get the money back from the court through other means!

Chapter 492: Expand the scope! If we want to do it, let's do it on a big scale!

Today, there are more than 20,000 soldiers stationed in Qufu County.