The Black Banner Army didn't stay in Peicheng for long. Fang Jie handed over all the local affairs to Wei Xiting. This man knew what to do to satisfy Fang Jie. This was the second time Fang Jie was promoted like a rocket after Dugu Wenxiu. In fact, it is difficult for ordinary people to adapt to this role change from a county magistrate to a prime minister.
Most people are complaining that they do enough and don’t get enough. Every time they see someone in a high position, they will think that if they are sitting in that position, they will be able to do it, and they will even do better. It was only after I got into that position by chance that I realized that it was not as simple as I thought.
Wei Xiting doesn't have a broad horizon when doing things, but he has one advantage, that is, he knows what Fang Jie wants, and he only needs to run towards this goal.
Relatively speaking, Dugu Wenxiu had a better view of the overall situation than him, so Fang Jie entrusted him with more important matters. In fact, when Fang Jie brought Dugu Wenxiu's mother over from the old house, he was already making arrangements. At that time, Fang Jie knew that he needed someone outside the power structure of the Black Banner Army to do things, because the scope of this matter was too large. Once touched, it may not be as simple as hurting muscles and bones.
At this point, it is impossible for Fang Xie to be careless in doing things.
Although the current Black Banner Army has not fully controlled the entire Southwest in the true sense, the three rivers and mountains have actually been held by Fang Xie in the palm of his hand. Beihui Road, Nanhui Road, and Yongbei Road, although these three roads are still in the hands of local aristocratic families, what else can they do now besides obeying Fang Jie
When Fang Jie went south, he forced them to draw 10,000 soldiers from each province, and the number of cards in their hands became less and less. And through the constant pressure from the north and the south, Huangyang Dao and Ping Shang Dao exerted their strength at the same time, the living space of the big families of the three aristocratic families was squeezed smaller and smaller, and the threat to the Black Banner Army was also getting smaller and smaller.
When Fang Jie was in Yongzhou, he forced the three governors to transfer the people to Pingshang Road, and then sent people to recruit new soldiers in these three realms, fundamentally prying the foundation of the three governors.
If Fang Xie is willing, the Black Banner Army can now take these three ways into their pockets at any time. But Fang Xie does not plan to completely break with all the families in the Southwest for the time being, the purpose of keeping those people is that they still have room to squeeze.
After staying in Peicheng for two days, Fang Jie immediately led his army out. More than two hundred miles south of Peicheng is Jin'an, and because the distance is too close, the scale of Jin'an City is far worse than that of Peicheng. Peicheng is the ancestral land of the Murong family, so the status and power of the mayor of Peicheng seems to be higher than that of other cities. Jin'an, who is close at hand, is especially bullied by Bai Kaishan. With limited troops, he dared not speak out against Bai Kaishan.
Jin'an's geographical location is quite embarrassing. It is only 600 miles from Peicheng to Dali City, and Jin'an is caught in it, so there is no room for development. One is the ancestral land of the Murong family, and the other is the capital city of Nanyan. Jin An is pressed from left to right in the middle, and Ning Hao can only swallow his anger.
It can be said that Ning Hao is the most aggrieved among the city lords of Nanyan. The other city lords are as powerful as the emperors of the earth, especially those city lords far away from Dali City, who can even ignore the government orders of the Nanyan court. But Ning Hao can't do it. He is a person living in the cracks. In order to keep his position as the city lord, he has to be a man with his tail between his legs.
But speaking of it, if it were someone else who was the Lord of Jin'an, he might have been eliminated long ago. It was only because he would show his weakness and humility that Murong Shame would allow him to continue to exist as a meaningless city lord.
Moreover, Ning Hao knows that he is weak, so he knows how to take advantage of the situation. After Murong Shame ascended the throne, he tried to deprive the city lords of some rights in order to concentrate power. Ning Hao is undoubtedly the best candidate for Murong Shame to show the majesty of the emperor. Jin'an is not big, with limited troops, and it is the closest to Dali City, which is something in Murong's hands. If he wants to establish his prestige, there is no more suitable place than Jin'an, and there is no more suitable person than Ning Hao.
Ning Hao knew that he couldn't stop Murong Shame's army, and those city lords who were used to watching theatre, would never lend a helping hand. So at this time, it seems that he has no choice but to accept it passively, but he didn't, he did one thing to keep his position.
He sent people to lobby everywhere, making those city owners firmly believe that he was the first person to be slaughtered by Murong Shame, but definitely not the last person. He made the city lords feel that if he was abolished by Murong Shame without resistance, then he would be the next one. If the city lords did not have a tough attitude on this matter, then they would be gradually eroded by Murong Shame .
In this way, he actually persuaded many people to unite to put pressure on the Nanyan court, forcing Murong shame to change his mind.
Ning Hao knows how to take advantage of his weakness.
So he is still the mayor.
And on the third day after the Black Banner Army broke through Peicheng, the messenger sent by Ning Hao to Dali City entered the Dali Palace in a hurry.
He sent someone for help, and he had to persuade Murong Shame to send troops.
What he had to do was to wait and delay the Black Banner Army.
When Ning Hao stood on the city wall of Jin'an and saw the mighty troops coming from the north with his clairvoyance, he was sure that even if he defended to death, he would never be able to stop the powerful black flag army. Jin'an was inferior to Peicheng, the height and width of the city walls limited the deployment of defensive forces, and the enemy's siege equipment was so well prepared. Under such circumstances, he made a decision without hesitation.
"Du Mu."
Ning Hao looked at the middle-aged man standing beside him and said slowly: "It's up to you whether you can keep Jin'an."
Du Mu clasped his fists together and said, "City Master, this time is no match for the past. The subordinates are sure to delay the Black Flag Army's offensive for three or four days at most. If there is still no reinforcements from Dali City within three or four days, even if the subordinates do their best, I'm afraid it won't help."
"The day that can be delayed is one day. I will think of a way in Dali City. Murong shame knows better than anyone else. Now that the three cities in the north have all fallen, Jin'an is the gateway to Dali. Once Jin'an is lost again, Murong shame will also fall. It's like sitting on pins and needles."
This Du Mu is very famous in Jin'an. Although he is not from a wealthy family and has no great talents, he has always been the most valued person by Ning Hao. It was because of his improvisation and eloquence that Ning Hao's seat of city lord was not taken away. At the beginning, it was this person who, relying on his mouth to lobby the Quartet, united the city lords to put pressure on the imperial court.
"What are you going to talk about?"
Ning Hao asked.
Du Mu sighed and said, "Jin An doesn't have the leverage to negotiate with the Black Banner Army, so if you want to talk, you can only talk about surrender. Let's try it out, try your best to act as if the city lord really intends to open the door and surrender Same. Use the surrender as an excuse to drag it on for a few days."
"Go!"
Ning Hao patted Du Mu on the shoulder: "If you can save Jin'an once, I believe you can save Jin'an a second time. If you succeed this time, I am willing to give away half of everything in Jin'an City from now on. Jin An will reward you."
Du Mu's expression changed, but he still sighed heavily in his heart.
He looked out of the city and murmured in his heart... It's fine to talk about anything, the first thing is... the other party is willing to talk.
…
…
Fang Jie jumped off the back of the white lion, looked at the city a few miles away and asked, "Is there anything famous in Jin'an?"
Chen Xiaoru replied: "Jin'an City is most famous for its lotus leaf chicken. The local native chicken is wrapped in lotus leaves and then baked in special soil. It is said that the taste is unique. It is said that the emperor of the Shang Dynasty designated Jin'an's lotus leaf chicken as a tribute. , I don’t know if it’s the special local chicken or the special soil, anyway, they say that other places can’t make the taste of Jin’an lotus leaf chicken.”
"Take a day off and go to town to eat lotus leaf chicken the day after tomorrow."
Fang Jie smiled and said, the generals burst into laughter. For the current Black Banner Army, they are used to winning. It is said that the city of Jin'an is only five or six thousand, and the population is only six or seventy thousand. If such a small town cannot be dealt with in a fight, there is no need to fight Dali again.
"There is another famous one in Jin'an City..."
Chen Xiaoru smiled and said: "There is a man named Du Mu in the city. He was born as a cowherd boy when he was young. He didn't read any books when he was young, but he was born with a good eloquence and knew how to lobby. The reason why Jin'an City was not swallowed by Murong Shame is because Thanks to this person's lobbying everywhere, Jin'an was preserved under the pressure of the city lords."
"Eating by mouth."
Fang Jie thought of the two famous people who lived by their mouths in history in his previous life, one was the seal of the Six Kingdoms, and the other was the minister of Qin and Wei twice, they were all extraordinary figures.
"This Du Mu was from a poor family when he was a child. He herded cattle when he was young. After he grew up and married a wife, he stayed at home all the time. All the money in the family was bought into books. His life was extremely miserable. He was determined to become an official, but he failed in the exams repeatedly. Second, in the end, there was no food at home, so he asked his wife to borrow from her natal family, but his wife simply went back to her natal family and never came back. But he didn’t bother to care about it. He just studied at home, and when he was hungry, he went to his brother’s house to buy food. Once he was beaten out with a stick by his sister-in-law and became the laughing stock of the village."
Chen Xiaoru was sorting out the news that Xiaoqi School had inquired about a while ago in his mind: "Later, Murong Shame planned to gradually take back the rights of the city lords of each city a few years after he ascended the throne, and the first one was to take Jin An's knife. Ning Hao frowned when he heard the news At this time, Du Mu, who heard about this, asked for an interview outside the gate of the city lord's mansion, shouting that he had a solution. Ning Hao asked who was outside, and someone told him that it was the one who didn't work and even his wife and sister-in-law Look down on Du Mu."
"Ning Hao also knew the name of this person, so he asked people to drive him away, but Du Mu knelt outside the door, saying that the city lord can't do anything anyway, it's better to let him try, the city lord has nothing to lose. Du Mu thought it was true, so he sent Du Mu said, if you can keep my position as the city lord, I will give you glory and wealth. Du Mu got up and left, but he actually persuaded several city lords to jointly write a letter to Murong shame, and Ning Hao's position as the city lord was preserved. "
Fang Jie was slightly taken aback, thinking that there are such people in this era. Du Mu's life trajectory is quite similar to one of the two lobbyists he is familiar with.
"The most interesting thing is that after he succeeded, he was reused. When he went to pick up his wife home, his wife didn't even open the door. In the end, Ning Hao came to the door himself, and his wife believed that he had made a fortune."
Just as he was talking, there were a few soldiers in the distance leading a person over here.
"My lord, someone came out of Jin'anli. He said his name is Du Mu. He has something to see."
Fang Jie couldn't help laughing: "This is the way of defense of City Lord Ning..."
He turned his head and looked into the distance, at the famous Du Mu.
"Tell him, if you want to talk, you can talk. Let Ning Hao prepare 20,000 lotus leaf chickens within two days and send them out. If you can't deliver them, wait for my black flag army horse to step into the city lord's mansion."
"Really want that much?"
Chen Xiaoru was a little surprised.
"Of course, but it's still the same sentence, go to the city to eat!"