On the contrary, the Qing army was greatly motivated because of this battle. Boluo, who had no worries, drew a large number of soldiers from the confrontation front to return to Suiyang. He dug ditches and built trenches, built forts and built brigades, completely cut off the connection between Suiyang City and the outside world.

At the same time, Boluo also launched countless letters of persuasion to the city, no longer emphasizing the massacre of the city. Instead, he assured the people in the city that as long as Liu Tiren is killed and surrenders to the city, the whole city will survive.

The morale in the city was low, and people kept falling out at night and surrendering to the Qing army. The Qing army treated them with delicious food and drinks, and then asked them to surrender loudly outside the city, which made the morale of the soldiers and people in the city lower.

Fortunately, Liu Tiren still has strength, and with the efforts of Hou Xun and the scholars of Yingtian Academy, he could barely maintain the city without breaking.

The Xianjun camp outside Yangzhou City.

Pei Shouzheng turned over and dismounted and handed the reins to his personal soldiers, "You are here to wait, I will go and see the commander-in-chief."

At this time, a person came from the camp. It was Zhang Huai. He bowed and asked, "Is the general who came to Yangzhou garrison Pei Shouzheng?"

Pei Shouzheng hurriedly replied, "The last general Pei Shouzheng came to see the commander-in-chief."

Zhang Huai nodded, "I am Zhang Huai, the guards in charge of the commander-in-chief. Please send someone back to inform the Ming army commander in the city that the commander-in-chief wants to see him. Especially the one named Zhang Huangyan, he must be present."

Pei Shouzheng's face changed slightly, but he quickly bowed and said, "I understand. I don't know where the governor will meet them?"

Zhang Huai said: "The General Manager said that he had heard of the Slender West Lake in Yangzhou for a long time. It is a beautiful scenery in the world. He has never had the opportunity to see it, so he wanted to take advantage of this time."

Pei Shouzheng twitched his lips, looking surprised, "The commander-in-chief wants to enter the city in person?"

Zhang Huai nodded, "I will lead a banner of soldiers to the city with the commander-in-chief and take charge of the commander-in-chief. As for the protection of the periphery, I will trouble the guard Pei."

Pei Shouzheng was silent for a while and said, "Captain Zhang, this general will do his best. But after all, most of the places in the city are occupied by the Ming army, and the West Lake is here. This move is really too dangerous. I hope that Chief Zhang will persuade the general to give up entering the city, or at least choose to be in other places where our army can control."

Zhang Huai smiled bitterly and said, "We can only follow the decision of the Supervisor. The Supervisor said that the tens of thousands of troops outside the city are the greatest guarantee of his safety, and you and I can do our job well."

Pei Shouzheng thought for a moment and bowed, "Then I will go back to the city now and arrange all this in person."

Zhang Huai said: "Then thank you for your hard work in the garrison. Oh, there is another thing that I will congratulate you in advance. The commander has issued your new appointment, so you will be promoted to guerrilla general after that."

Pei Shouzheng looked up with a little surprised expression, "Captain Zhang, is this true?"

Zhang Huai nodded, "This was issued by the Commander-in-Chief himself, but the process is still going, otherwise I wouldn't dare to say more."

Pei Shouzheng breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile on his face: "The General of the General is unforgettable to the great kindness of the General of the General. I thought it would be a blessing to lose Yangzhou and not be dismissed from office, but I didn't expect to be promoted to another level. Leader Zhang, you see that I came in a hurry and didn't prepare any thank you. It's really..."

Zhang Huai waved his hand and said, "This is not going to be promoted in the army. If you are idle in the future, Pei Shoujie, no, you should call Pei Guerrilla. Just give me a good drink."

Pei Shouzheng laughed, "Okay, we will definitely not be drunk and return."

The cool breeze blows, the fallen leaves shine down, and the weather in late autumn is always melancholy.

Zhou Xian climbed up the stairs and walked into a pavilion. Several people who had been waiting for a long time stood up in a hurry. Zhou Xian glanced at him and said to a person with a smile: "Master Shao, long time no see, everything is fine!"

Shao Zongyuan showed a look of shame on his face, "It's a blessing to entrusting the commander, everything is fine."

Zhou Xian nodded, "The few people here have never had the chance to meet before, so please tell the Prime Minister Shao about it!"

Shao Zongyuan nodded and pointed to a middle-aged man beside him and said, "This is General Fuping and General Zhang Mingzhen, who heard that the governor was coming to Yangzhou, rushed over immediately."

Zhou Xian looked up at Zhang Mingzhen, who was strong and had the style of a military general. He smiled and said, "Zhang Mingzhen, Zhang Houfu, Han Kuo once mentioned you to me, he praised you very much!"

Zhang Mingzhen smiled faintly and said, "War side by side with General Han Shen to quell the Huang Binqing Rebellion that day, I still feel excited when I think about it! I wonder where General Han Shen is now?"

Zhou Xian replied: "It should be near Penang Island in Aru Country! The Dutch barbarians are rampant and oppressing our Chinese people. I should teach them a lesson."

Zhang Mingzhen nodded slightly, and he had heard of Nanyang. The court had ordered Zheng Zhilong to wait for an opportunity to recover Taiwan, but he couldn't explain clearly about Nanyang that was farther away.

Shao Zongyuan pointed to a young man standing next to him and said, "This is Zhang Huangyan, and the commander-in-chief asked to be present."

Zhou Xian looked at Zhang Huangyan. He was only in his twenties, wearing a green Confucian uniform, with a medium figure, and bright eyes. He looked at Zhou Xian with a particularly calm and judging attitude, as if he wanted to see through Zhou Xian. "Zhang Cangshui, I finally saw you."

Zhang Huangyan bowed slightly, "The Supervisor knows the students?"

Zhou Xian smiled and said, "Of course. If you don't move your troops and attack Yangzhou easily, you can maintain the peaceful relationship between our army and the Ming Dynasty so far. How can you not know this kind of talent?"

Zhang Huangyan bowed and said, "The General of the Supervisor has praised it, but it is just a matter of fulfilling his duties as a minister. The students have admired the General of the Supervisor for a long time. It is a blessing for the students to meet him today."

Shao Zongyuan introduced other people, generals under Zhang Mingzhen and local gentry in Yangzhou.

After recounting polite words, Zhou Xian said directly: "Houfu, I heard that the imperial army gathered in Zhenjiang and was at the cost of getting Yangzhou. I wonder if Houfu thinks, how likely are you to win?"

Zhang Mingzhen laughed and said, "At present, there are nearly 100,000 troops near Yangzhou, and the commander-in-chief has less than 30,000 soldiers. If a war begins, our army will have a very good chance of winning. But the emperor is thinking about the old relationship with the commander-in-chief and is unwilling to..."
Chapter completed!