The wind froze for a while, and the night that should have been silent was as noisy as day.
In Nanping Prefecture City, the torches are bright, and the stones and bows and arrows are transported to the city wall by the coolies in turn.
Someone outside the city was digging ditches overnight, hoping to temporarily stop large siege machines with wooden wheels from approaching the city walls by relying on the bumpy ground. However, people came and went, shouting and shouting, mixed with the murmur of the overseer waving the whip and yelling and the servants screaming in pain, and it was a mess.
There was no better place in the city. The soldiers were ordered to demolish the houses and transport the wood and bricks to the vicinity of the city gate. Some of these things were used to block the city gate to strengthen the city wall, and some were counted as rolling stones and wood, ready to fight against the army. When attacking, push down the city wall and frustrate the spirit of the rebel army.
Some people were kicked out of their homes, they cried and begged for mercy, and knelt in the rubble at a loss.
As a prefecture city, the people living here are actually relatively wealthy, and basically every household has a little foundation, and some of them have shops under their names, which makes them still have some hope when they hear that the king is swept up in Jingzhou. After all, King Jing and high-ranking officials live here. This should be the safest place in the entire Jingzhou. How can it be turned upside down in a blink of an eye
Those who were related to the servants of the nobles and nobles, shouted a few words in their voices, and were beaten to the ground by a whip.
The first choice for demolition is a few streets close to the city wall, whether it is ordinary people or a shop with a "backer".
Even if he wanted to put money in and beg to be spared, he was pushed away mercilessly.
After all, the house is so big here, and it's clear at first glance. Unless it's on the edge of the demolition area, other houses are gone. Only your family is standing alone in the ruins. A fool knows there's a problem, so how can you communicate
Now, unlike usual, Shangguan will open one eye and close the other.
Once they are pulled down for disposal, the light ones will be put into coolies, and the heavy ones will lose their lives, so as to set an example.
Inside and outside the city, it was as tight as a string, when an order was issued, everyone turned like a spinning top.
If there are not enough servants, they force the people.
It doesn't matter who has paid the money for redemption, or who has served hard labor this year, and they are in a hurry and pull away when they see it.
There is so much physical work to do in and out of the city, and the top is pressing for a while. The army of the king has arrived in Huaxian, and it is less than half a day. Who would dare to sleep at night? The little official who was scolded by Shangguan was bloody, and his temper was vented on the servants and coolies in a blink of an eye.
"In the evening, so many people from Hua County came to vote. We don't have to go door to door in the middle of the night for ready-made labor. What kind of thing!"
One of the clerks scolded, and the other, more mature, stroked his beard and sighed.
"It's not that the above is worried. I'm worried that the rebels will sneak into the city, and no one will be allowed to enter or leave the city."
"That is, not to mention the common people, even the side branch of the Dongcheng Kong family in Huaxian, haven't they been sent away?"
Those who can enter the city are all officials, but unfortunately the magistrates and magistrates of Hua County did not show their faces, only a few small documents came.
The crime of abandoning the city and walking away is not trivial, and it is only at this time that a fool will be hit by the knife, regardless of whether it is from a noble family or a relationship with senior officials in Jingzhou, classmates, classmates, teachers and students of the same year, and so on. portion.
"...I want to say, if it wasn't for nowhere to go, these fat-brained guys wouldn't stick to the city."
"Silence, you don't want to die?"
The clerk who spoke first didn’t take it seriously, and continued to complain: “Forget it, who cares about who now? Like we can still run to Yangzhou when we seize the opportunity, those noble families who go to Yangzhou have to see their faces, Jing Not to mention Wang, where can you go without Jingzhou?"
"Really... I really can't, can I still retreat to Jiangxia?"
"The city wall of Jiangxia is not as high as that of our palace. Besides, General Nie never sells the face of the noble family. He has been stationed in Jiangxia since the Chu Dynasty. Who can shake it? Wang's face is on the line, how else do you want to contribute?"
"Come on, the more I talk about it, the more unbelievable it is."
The little officials rubbed their faces against the cold wind, rubbed their sleepy eyes, and continued to run their errands resignedly.
That night, I don't know how many people looked at Huaxian from afar, and felt panic in their hearts.
The rebel army was like a broken bamboo. No one expected to hit Nanping Prefecture City so soon. Many powerful children in Jingzhou have not been able to react.
At this time, someone in King Jing's mansion came up with a plan.
It can be described as a bright plank road, dark Chencang,
The unpleasant thing is to abandon the city and seize Yangzhou for another site. Anyway, Ning Wang just died, and Ningdi is turbulent.
Hearing this, the nobles of the aristocratic family suddenly changed their color. Their roots were in Jingzhou. If they easily abandoned their reputation in the literary world, their reputation in the literary world would plummet. Even if they didn't talk about integrity these days, they had to put on tops. In the face of the mud-legged rabble like the God-given King, it's already humiliating enough to lose, why don't you flee without fighting
Some people objected, and naturally some people agreed, and the quarrel became a pot of porridge.
King Jing was not seriously injured in the assassination. There were other reasons for pretending that the injury was not healed. He originally thought it was an assassin sent by the Qi Dynasty. Unexpectedly, the assassin came from Yizhou, and Jingzhou was defeated like a mountain. There are still rumors that he was scared by the assassin and would not go out. It is equivalent to King Jing's own face being thrown to the ground and being trampled on. .
That's all, probably because King Jing himself was "not up to the mark", the counties and counties in Jingzhou didn't even pretend to be face-to-face.
If they are willing to send troops to contribute, how could the king of heaven be able to hit Nanping County so quickly
King Jing was so angry that he could not wait to chop off the heads of those corpses. But he didn't think about why everyone believed this rumor as soon as it came out.
- Aside from pretending to be too real, maybe he is the only one who has always had a bad impression.
It's too late to say anything now. King Jing will completely confirm the rumors if he flees without fighting, or stick to Nanping County for the sake of face and give the rebels a good look.
Of course King Jing wanted to choose the latter, and his reputation was like fate. Who would like to be recorded in the history books like a ghost who is afraid of death. But he knew in his heart that this was a momentary anger and boring, and the people of Nanping County were disorganized. It might be feasible to stay for seven or eight days, but they have no reinforcements!
Yangzhou is another good place.
Just as King Jing was struggling with a dilemma, a piece of news struck like a bolt from the blue.
"Your Majesty, the Qi army has crossed the river and has already occupied two cities."
"what?"
Everyone was shocked, is Qi Chao trying to pick up the leak
After experiencing the ravages of the king's army, Jingzhou is a mess of sand, and it is indeed a good time to break through one by one.
King Jing was so angry that he was trembling all over. It wasn't enough for a mad dog to bite at home, and the wolves came in after him.
- Jingzhou is completely over.
Everyone quickly realized this, and couldn't help but lean towards the back road of winning Yangzhou.
"Come on, get ready..."
Before King Jing finished speaking, another urgent report came.
"Your Majesty, Ningdi sent 100,000 troops to Yiping, not far from Jiangxia."
That is one of the junctions of Jingzhou and Yangzhou, and it is also a key point that can be attacked and defended. It is said that Ningdi is guarding against the king of heaven, and at the same time, it also cuts off the road of Jingzhou army's desperate south to seize Yangzhou.
If you don’t go to Yiping, you can take a detour, but abandoning the city means that the rebels are chasing after them. Who dares to delay
King Jing slumped into the chair.
He doesn't think that the troops of Qi and Ningdi are here to crusade the king, and he must be counting on the Jingzhou army to consume the strength of the king, and then take the opportunity to divide up the fat of Jingzhou, and he has nowhere to go, he can only sit in the city of distress .
What is the way to survive this wolf before the tiger
For a time, everyone was speechless and pale, and they truly realized what it means to be embattled on all sides. There is no worst, only a worse situation.
***
"Ah!"
Liu Dan sneezed heavily, rubbed his nose and muttered, "Isn't the water and soil in the south of the Yangtze River colliding with General Ben?"
In just two days, he had run out of diarrhea seven times, and nothing tasted good.
It's not just him, the soldiers under him are more or less uncomfortable, after all, they are all from the north.
If it hadn't been for this dispatch, in addition to Liu Dan, the direct descendant of the bandit general, the army had also temporarily dispatched the Qi Chao navy, who had originally faced off against the Jingzhou army.
"Why didn't those Jinyiwei fall ill? Xu Qianhu and the others were in good spirits, and Gong Jun also took people to Xuanchuan Pass as soon as he got off the boat. He looked like he was traveling for a hundred miles, and there was nothing wrong with him." Liu Dan couldn't think of anything. its solution.
"It's impossible to say." General Liu's personal soldiers said seriously, "Even if the commander of the palace is really unaccustomed to the situation and falls halfway, we don't know."
Liu Dan glared at him and said nothing.
The personal soldier said embarrassedly: "Maybe they practice martial arts, what is the panacea?"
Liu Dan thought for a while, and sent his own soldiers to find Xu Qianhu.
There is no panacea, and there are pills that are often sold in pharmacies. It’s okay to eat this by yourself. It’s a huge expense to provide tens of thousands of troops. Besides, you can’t stop eating it. Who knows how long you will stay in Jiangnan. , it is better to adapt directly.
Anyway, as long as you don't drink raw water, go to the hut a few times to change your appetite.
Xu Qianhu did not give General Liu any face at all, and raised the price by sitting on the ground, and the price of a pill increased tenfold.
Liu Dan was so angry that he almost wanted to hold Xu Qianhu to perform in the martial arts field, but unfortunately his stomach didn't live up to his expectations and began to ache again.
"It's too much to deceive people." Liu Dan cursed, covering his stomach and asking, "What news is there from the commander of the palace? Where did the King of Heaven's Grant hit? What happened to Jingzhou and Yangzhou?"
Even if you have diarrhea, you have to finish the military affairs first.
Although he was a bandit general, he had long been looking forward to making contributions on the battlefield, but when the opportunity came, he found that it was different from what he thought.
Liu Dan felt grief and anger in his heart, squatted in Gong's room for a while, and walked out with numb legs.
As soon as he opened the door, he was pushed back by the guards guarding the door.
"No, General!"
Liu Dan was full of confusion, endured the unspeakable smell in the room, and asked in a rough voice: "Did the king of heaven break through Nanping County, or did Gong Jun discover that the rebel army has a sharp weapon that can break through the city wall? Where can I say, Why are you here?"
The personal soldier said with a complicated expression: "It's the palace commander who has returned."
"I'll come back when I come back. Is this General disrespectful?"
"… If something is missing, it's really hard to see."
Liu Dan was inexplicable and said impatiently, "What are you trying to say?"
"No, this subordinate would like to ask the general to wait a moment, and after finding a purse for you to hang, then let you go out and meet with the commander of the palace and them."
Liu Dan: "..."