Fengping City is three hundred and sixty miles away from Qingyuan City. As one of the two northernmost cities in Nanyan, this place has always been a strategic location. The city owner Zhu Bingtian also experienced the demise of the Shang Kingdom. Putting on armor and going into battle, it is said that he has the ability to penetrate Yang with a hundred steps.
The Zhu family was originally a prominent family in the Shang Dynasty, and there were four prime ministers and seven generals, and there were countless officials below the fourth rank. Such a famous family is much more deeply rooted than Fu Zhengnan's family. Now the Zhu family not only controls Fengping City, but also a big city in the south of Dali. Zhu Chijian, the prime minister of Nanyan, is considered to be Zhu Chengtian's nephew and nephew, and he is already fifty years old. up.
This kind of big family that controls the court power inside and the military power outside has always been a double-edged sword for the royal family. If it is used well, it will stabilize the country, and if it is not used well, it will be the foundation of destroying the country.
However, the Zhu family never had the intention of taking the Nanyan throne, because they knew very well that the Nanyan emperor's seat was not easy to sit on. Speaking of Murong Hui's position as emperor is a bit embarrassing, the imperial court's orders are still effective in the thousands of miles around Dali City, if it really involves the interests of aristocratic families, the emperor's orders are of no use to the cities.
The reason why they knew that Murong Shame was not the prince of the great merchants at all and agreed to him to be the emperor was because as long as someone became the emperor, they could exploit their interests. And if someone from the local family stood up and proclaimed himself emperor, he would immediately become the enemy of several other families.
It would be a good thing for the families to have someone who is not very strong as the emperor.
Zhu Chengtian was a great general when he was in the Shang Kingdom, but he had a gloomy personality. When the Sui Army fought the Shang Army along the Yangtze River, the Emperor of the Shang Kingdom hurriedly dispatched his troops from the south to Yongzhou to defend the capital. , but Zhu Bingtian refused to leave for a long time. What he worried about was that once he led his troops back, the military power in his hand would be taken back by the emperor immediately.
When Luo Yao led his troops to attack Yongzhou, the Emperor of Shang issued thirteen decrees for Zhu Bingtian to come back, but he did not leave.
Not only him, almost none of the generals in the southern part of the Nanshang Kingdom were willing to lead troops back. At that time, the state of Shang was already on the verge of disintegration. Even without the army of the Sui Dynasty going south, the state of Shang would not last for a few more years. The local wealthy families support their own troops and are not subject to imperial orders. However, the last emperor of the Shang Kingdom was still an idler, and he was obsessed with two things in his life.
One is immortality, and the other is pen and ink Danqing.
Because of the former, he spent at least ten days a month in the alchemy furnace, studying with a group of He tribe wizards how to live forever. In the remaining 20 days, he spent 19 days reciting poems and painting with a group of literati. However, the emperor's calligraphy and paintings are indeed very elegant. During the Taiping period of the Sui Dynasty a few years ago, an authentic painting of the subjugated king of the Shang Dynasty was worth at least 50,000 taels of silver. As for the masterpieces among them, they were even more priceless.
Even if the Sui Dynasty is in chaos now, whoever holds a copy of his authentic works is enough to guarantee a lifetime of food and drink.
Whatever the emperor likes, the people below will follow suit. As a result, the entire court of the Shang Kingdom was filled with smog, and the status of the He people in the Shang Dynasty was higher than that of the Han people. As for the wizards, they were even higher than the officials. It would be a miracle if such a country could last forever.
After the fall of the Shang Kingdom, Zhu Bingtian never left Fengping City. Later, Murong shame usurped the throne, and he was invited to Dali City to attend the grand ceremony, but he didn't go. But even so, Murong shame did not dare to offend this big man with a heavy hand. Over the past few decades, Zhu Bingtian's position has become even more detached. He is now the oldest member of the Zhu family, even if Zhu Chijian, who is the prime minister, sees him, he still has to behave like a junior.
But it happened that such an old man had a good relationship with Fu Zhengnan in private.
It is said that the two of them often get together and swim together, because they are friends who have forgotten their years.
So before leaving, Fu Zhengnan wrote him a letter.
This letter was in Fang Xie's hands, but Fang Xie did not send anyone to deliver it to Zhu Bingtian.
"General, why don't you open that letter and have a look?"
Chen Xiaoru couldn't help asking curiously.
"Look, there is no way for Fu Zhengnan's family to go to that fishing village alive. Since I let him go, I never thought about intercepting him halfway. But this letter is definitely not about persuading Zhu Bingtian to surrender. Yes. Nine times out of ten, it was Fu Zhengnan who reminded Zhu Chengtian what to pay attention to and how to keep Fengping firmly."
"ah?"
Chen Xiaoru was slightly stunned: "This Fu Zhengnan is a bit too courageous. Isn't he afraid that his actions will harm his family?"
Fang Jie smiled: "Such a person always has something in his heart that he can't give up, such as his family, he would rather die than give up. And he and Zhu Bingtian are friends who have forgotten the years, so they would rather offend me than give up This opportunity reminded Zhu Chengtian how to guard against me. He used his own defeat experience as an example to let Zhu Chengtian guard against the mistakes he made."
"It's better to get rid of this person."
Chen Xiaoru said with some unease: "I'm afraid he won't be able to bear the ordinary life, and he always thinks about making a comeback."
"That's not necessarily the case."
Fang Jie said: "He wrote the letter because he thought it was what he should do. So I have some admiration for this man. He is a very clear-cut person. He can die for his family, and he can even give up his family for his friends. People like this are rare, so let me do good deeds and leave a bit of purity for this world."
"Can we really trick Fengping into opening the city gate?"
"Can't be fooled."
Fang Xie said: "Zhu Bingtian is very scheming, he can still wear armor at the age of 70, and has been in the officialdom for more than 50 years. There are not many ways to hide him."
"Then the people we sent to deceive him into sending rescuers are useless?"
Chen Xiaoru was even more puzzled.
Before Fang Jie asked those literati to imitate Fu Zhengnan's handwriting, forged a letter written by Fu Zhengnan and sent it to Feng Ping, asking Zhu Chengtian to send troops to help. The Xiaoqi school with the forged autograph letter had already set off, but because of this, Chen Xiaoru wondered why the general made such an arrangement since he knew he couldn't fool Zhu Bingtian.
"useful."
Fang Jie smiled and said: "There is a kind of person in this world, for certain things, even if he knows he might be fooled, he will still do it. For Zhu Bingtian's sake, Fu Zhengnan would risk offending me and even his family. He wanted to write that letter precisely because he felt that Zhu Chengtian was a friend who could make friends with each other. Such acquaintances and ideas are often mutual. Fu Zhengnan treats Zhu Chengtian with sincerity, and Zhu Chengtian eight out of ten Nine will treat him like this."
"So, even if Zhu Bingtian clearly suspects that this letter is fake, he will still send troops. It is definitely not accidental that what kind of person becomes friends with what kind of person. We broke through Qingyuan City so fast that Zhu Supporting the sky does not know the news, if the city is broken four or five days later, the reinforcements from Fengping City will definitely arrive."
Chen Xiaoru frowned and pondered for a while, and finally understood.
"It's good to have such a friend."
Fang Jie said: "Zhu Chengtian values Fu Zhengnan, so he will definitely send troops to rescue him. As long as his troops leave the city, no matter how many they come out, they are the things we will swallow next. Try our best to kill and injure the enemy's troops outside the city, yes After all, there will be no harm in siege warfare."
"The subordinate understands!"
Chen Xiaoru nodded: "Are we going to set off?"
"Um."
Fang Jie nodded: "Let's go tonight. I asked Chen Dingnan to lead the army out of the city. The first reason is to pretend to confuse the scouts in Fengping City. It took less than three days from the time we besieged the city to breaking the city. Qingyuan City and Fengping City are separated Three hundred and sixty miles, if the news spreads fast enough, three days is enough. After hearing the news, Zhu Chengtian will definitely send scouts here to inquire about Fu Zhengnan's life and death, that's why I let Chen Dingnan Xiahou Go out of the city with Qin Yuan."
"Secondly, it's for marching... Chen Dingnan's troops set out tonight. I asked Xiahou to divide half of the cavalry into his camp. It doesn't look like there are many fewer people. After running for eighty miles, there is a valley beyond the eighty miles. If the troops of Fengping City want to come to support, they must go here. When they just come out of the valley, it is the best place for a surprise attack."
Chen Xiaoru rubbed the corners of his brows, thinking that his thoughts are really not enough to lead the army to fight. Leading the Xiaoqi school to work and leading troops to fight are two different concepts. Chen Xiaoru is smart enough and safe enough, but he is a person with careful thinking, and he can do the work of the Xiaoqi school to the best of his ability. The overall situation is not good enough to lead the army.
"Shall we wait for news?"
Chen Xiaoru asked.
"No wait."
Fang Jie smiled, mysteriously: "There is one more thing, more important than Chen Dingnan leading the army to ambush. Let Wei Xiting come to see me, it's time to ask him how many good things are in the treasury of Qingyuan City."
Chen Xiaoru was really not good at military affairs, so he didn't think much about it. When he left the city lord's mansion, he couldn't help being curious, and finally took out the letter that Fang Jie asked him to put away temporarily, opened it and read it, the more he read it, the more frightened he was. All the predictions are to remind Zhu Bingtian to take precautions. It even mentioned that never send troops to rescue Qingyuan City...
After reading this letter, Chen Xiaoru realized that there was a layer of cold sweat on his back.
…
…
by the Yangtze River
Looking at the rushing river, Yang Jian couldn't help but shook his head: "Back then, I raised troops from the Northeast, fighting all the way, from the Northeast to Jiangbei, then to Chang'an, and then to the Northwest. I have never been to the south of the Yangtze River."
Pu Hu nodded, but did not speak.
At that time, he was fighting beside Yang Jian. The Sui Dynasty first established the country, and its territory was less than half of the current size. The entire south of the Yangtze River was brought down by General Li Xiao during the reign of Emperor Taizong, and all the ways in the southwest were brought down during the reign of Emperor Zhenzong. And the annexation of half of the Eastern Chu, the establishment of the barbarian borders in the north, and the expansion of the Qiang tribe in the west are all the achievements of Yang Dasui's successive emperors.
He could hear from Yang Jian's tone that there was a sense of melancholy, but more of pride.
"The national strength of the Sui Dynasty at that time was not enough for me to continue to march south. Not being able to pacify Jiangnan was my most regretful thing at the time. Later, Mian'er learned how to use people well, and that kid from the Li family was indeed a genius. My son of the Sui Dynasty They are all the generation of tigers and wolves, and the extermination of Nanchen is also a matter of course."
The Mian'er he was talking about was Yang Jiding, Emperor Taizong of the Great Sui Dynasty, whose baby name was Mian'er.
"I have always regretted that Jiangnan was not pacified by myself, so God gave me another chance."
Standing by the river, Yang Jian looked at the warships in the far distance on the river and said, "Even if there are some minor obstructions, so what? It is said that the Yangtze River is a natural moat. My son can jump over it, but I can't?"
Puhu opened his mouth, but didn't say anything.
He just suddenly felt that the taste of fighting with his elder brother seemed to have changed a bit. If in the past, when the eldest brother said such bold words, he would also be agitated with his heart. But this time, there was no grandeur in his heart, only sadness.
south bank of the river
Luo Tu looked down at the knife hanging by his waist, a trace of regret flashed in his eyes.
"It's a pity... I have only cultivated to the seventh level of the Heaven Swallowing Kungfu taught by Li Qingfeng, and I haven't been able to fully absorb Zhan Zhetian's cultivation base. If I can completely absorb it, I should be able to enter the high level of clarity. It is not impossible to enter the near-heaven realm. With my current cultivation base, how can I beat that old immortal?"
Ye Jinnan stood beside him, silent.
"However, I will deal with the matter on the battlefield. To deal with the old man, Tonggu Academy should do something. Wan Xingchen's sword killed all the old perverts on the bright side, and the dark ones should also come out It's a breather. It's a big time... old guys go to hell, it's my turn."
Luo Tu twitched the corner of his mouth and smiled, so flamboyant.