The prefect of Qingzhou Prefecture, Wang Xiangyun, and King Heng Zhu Youche, discussed the city defense at the Heng Palace. Wang Xiangyun was about fifty years old, with a thin face and a very light look. After Wang Xiangyun was nervous about Zhang Zhun's arrival, he calmed down. Even if he was panicked, it was useless. In fact, he was actually a little pessimistic about the situation in the Ming Dynasty and had no intention of planning how to deal with Zhang Zhun's attack. To be precise, he no longer had confidence in the court.

In the past, there was only chaos outside the Central Plains and Pass, and the government troops moved back and forth, demolished the east wall and repaired the west wall, and could barely deal with it and continued to support it for a few years. Now, even Shandong is in chaos. Shandong connects Northern Zhili and Southern Zhili. Once controlled by the rioters, Northern Zhili and Southern Zhili will be divided. The court will be finished. Faced with such a situation, as an official of the Ming Dynasty, he is just dying. He wants to do more, but he is powerless.

King Heng Zhu Youche was chubby and covered in fat. It was fine to sit in the chair, but if he stood up, the fat on his body would be shaking piece by piece. It is said that King Fu of Luoyang is the fattest, but King Heng Zhu Youche felt that he was fatter than King Fu of Fu. King Fu of Fu was only more than 300 kilograms, and he had 400 kilograms. The bed he slept in was particularly reinforced, otherwise he would be crushed by him.

In fact, the vassal kings of the Ming Dynasty only had two things in their lifetime, one was to eat and sleep, and the other was to play with women. They "divided the feudal without giving land, no titles but did not respect the people, and did not take care of the people." Simply put, it was to raise a group of pigs. These pigs could not leave their pigpens, otherwise they would be killed. Therefore, every vassal king in the Ming Dynasty had a lot of children. There was no way, all their energy could only be used to do piston exercises.

"What should I do?" At this time, Zhu Youche no longer cared about the calmness and majesty that the prince should have, and asked in a panic. He didn't want to be the first vassal king to be killed. The people of Shaanxi have been making trouble for so long, and no vassal king has been killed. This precedent must not start in Shandong!

"Your Majesty, don't panic." Wang Xiangyun said with a calm expression. In fact, his heart was also very ups and downs. He was originally the Censor of the Supervisor, and later transferred to the prefect of Qingzhou Prefecture, but he actually didn't know much about military affairs. Wang Xiangyun actually had no good defense plan for Zhang Zhu's arrival. Now in Shandong, people who understand military affairs, including the governor Zhu Dadian, all went to the Central Plains battlefield. In Qingzhou City, there was only one general who was busy waiting to die. To be honest, Wang Xiangyun himself was not confident enough to be in charge of that waste general, so it would be better to go to the battlefield and command himself.

In Qingzhou City, including the Hengwang Mansion Guard, there are about 6,000 defenders. Six thousand people guard a city, which should be more sufficient. Moreover, the Hengwang Mansion Guard is equipped with relatively good equipment, and the training is relatively frequent and has a certain combat effectiveness. In addition, each city gate of Qingzhou City is also equipped with twelve cannons. This is not found in other cities. Only towns with vassal kings can be treated like this.

The problem is, this person is Zhang Zhun!

They still know a little about Zhang Zhun's deeds. In just one year, this man started out as a broken military household, turned his hand into clouds and turned his hand into rain, and made such a big achievement. To put it bluntly, no one is Zhang Zhun's opponent at all. Even the Tartars are not Zhang Zhun's opponent, so how could they be Zhang Zhun's opponent?

In desperation, Zhu Youche had to tentatively say: "Send someone to ask Zhang Zhun to see what he wants? See if there is room for improvement. If he just comes to ask for some money and food, it is not impossible to discuss."

Wang Xiangyun nodded and said obscenely: "Okay! Bei Zhi immediately sent someone to contact Zhang Zhun."

Immediately sent someone to hang from the top of the city to negotiate with Zhang Zhun. The envoy quickly found Zhang Zhun and conveyed the meaning of Zhu Youque and Wang Xiangyun: As long as Zhang Zhun is willing to leave Qingzhou City, they are willing to pay a certain price. Materials less than 100,000 taels of silver can be agreed on the spot. Of course, the premise is under the conditions of secret.

"Three hundred thousand taels of silver!" Zhang Zhun offered the price without thinking.

"It seems that there is only war." Zhu Youcai said helplessly after receiving the messenger's reply.

Three hundred thousand taels of silver are indeed a bit difficult for the Heng Palace. This is equivalent to moving most of the money in the Heng Palace. How could he bear it? After all, the Heng Palace is a prince of a side branch, not a direct prince like the Zhu Yi Sect of King Lu. It does not have so much land, not so much source of income, and cannot accumulate so much silver!

More importantly, if he gave Zhang Zhun this gold and silver, it would be like a thief. If the amount was too large, it would be easily noticed. If Chongzhen pursued him, he would be done. Collusion with a rebel is definitely a huge crime for the vassal kings. Usually, when the royal guards are moved, the people around him will be included in the book, let alone collusion with a rebel? Anyway, they will be done, so they can only fight hard.

Last July, when the Tartars invaded for the second time, King Zhu Yu (yu) of the Tang Dynasty responded to the imperial edict, saying that he was raising an army to serve the king, and he brought a 500-man royal guard to serve in Beijing. As a result, he was arrested as soon as he left the royal palace, and the royal guard was disarmed. He was subsequently demoted to a commoner by Chongzhen on the charge of moving the royal guards in an attempt to rebel.

In the impression of the royal family, Chongzhen said that he was full of benevolence, righteousness, morality, great benevolence and love on the surface, but he was actually a very sarcastic person. Many ministers described him as mean and rude. In the edict of the king's responsibility, it was clearly stated that the vassal kings could lead the army to serve the king, but in the end, he resigned. When the emperor was to speak in a golden word, he said that he would regret it, let alone verbal promises.

Zhu Youche didn't want to be as unlucky as Zhu Youjian. If the secret negotiations with Zhang Zhun were exposed, Chongzhen would probably find an excuse to punish him. Now there are rumors in the court that Chongzhen would impose taxes on the royal nobles and deduct everyone's salary. He also called it "to everyone donate and overcome the national crisis together." However, the royal family did not buy it.

For this reason, several princes had already written to write a letter to cry, and they were so pitiful that they were all crying. The whole family was wearing tattered clothes and went to the Taimiao to cry. Some were said to have fainted and looked like they looked. Even Empress Dowager Yian Zhang Yan was alarmed and had to remind Chongzhen in a tactful way. Zhu Youche was unwilling to cry in Taimiao, but he was unwilling to be caught by Chongzhen.

However, if you don’t give money, Zhang Zhun will be siege the city!

How many days can the six thousand defenders last?

"Mr. Wang..." Zhu Youcai had to look at Wang Xiangyun.

"Prince, I am willing to live and die with Qingzhou City." Wang Xiangyun said obscurely.

Of course, this expression cannot make Zhu Youqi feel relieved. Because the meaning in Wang Xiangyun's words is very clear: Prince, I don't know how long I can hold on. I actually don't have the confidence to defend the city. However, I will definitely hold on until the last moment. In short, I will die here and will not escape. Before the war began, Wang Xiangyun was already so unconfident. How could Zhu Youqi have reason to be happy? It doesn't matter that Wang Xiangyun wants to die, he doesn't want to die!

There is no way, I can only stick to the support.

Qingzhou City is not very far from Jinan Prefecture, only less than 300 miles away. The road between the two cities is also quite smooth. As long as you have a few days to support, the army of Jinan Prefecture should arrive. King Heng is in the city. If a prince is lost, all officials at all levels in Shandong will be ruined. I believe that officials at all levels of Jinan Prefecture dare not take it lightly.

Wang Xiangyun then ordered the whole city to defend. His defense deployment was as follows: with the most elite guards of the royal palace, guarding the East Gate, and cooperating with the twelve cannons to block the attack of the Hu Ben Army. He estimated that Zhang Zhun's key attack direction should be at the East Gate. Other second-rate troops defended the other three city gates respectively. At the same time, there was a reserve team of about a thousand people left in Wang Xiangyun's hands. Although he did not know much about military affairs, he also knew that there would be reserve teams for war and that he could not spread all the troops out in one go.

In addition, Wang Xiangyun also ordered the wealthy families outside the city to organize their servants and other families, mix them with the local regiment training in Qingzhou Prefecture, to prepare to fight the Hu Ben Army to die. Wang Xiangyun was surprised to find that the group of people had a total of three or four thousand people. Their main task was to start street fighting with the Hu Ben Army when the Hu Ben Army entered the city.

If the number of people in the Hu Ben Army is not large, street fighting will be used to consume Zhang Zhun's vitality and force Zhang Zhun to retreat. If the number of people in the Hu Ben Army is large, set fire to Qingzhou City. Anyway, Zhang Zhun can't get anything. If you don't want to give you 100,000 taels of silver, you will give you a piece of white land. I have to say that Wang Xiangyun's plan is still very decisive, with the attitude of strengthening the wall and clearing the wilderness.

Because Zhang Zhun poses too great a threat to Laizhou Prefecture and the four laws are so resolute, many wealthy families in Laizhou Prefecture fled to Qingzhou City one after another. These people still hate Zhang Zhun quite a bit. They are indeed not likely to reconcile with Zhang Zhun. Therefore, their respective servants should be able to fight to the death with Zhang Zhun.

The sky gradually became brighter. Yuan Xinyong observed the movements on the city wall and found that he had not responded for a long time. So he frowned and said to Zhang Zhun: "Governor, it seems that they are not ready to agree to your conditions."

Zhang Zhun nodded casually and said calmly: "Then prepare to attack the city!"

"Bang bang bang!"

"Bang bang bang!"

"Bang bang bang!"

The sound of the Hu Ben gun immediately rang out in a dense manner.

The dense rain of bullets swept towards the defenders on the city like a storm. The whistling Minnie bombs kept hitting the battlements, splashing a little bit of fire. The exposed Ming troops were immediately beaten and lay on the battlements on the spot, without any movement. Some Ming troops even fell directly from the city and fell into the moat, splashing water.

Since there is a Heng Palace in Qingzhou City, it is an important vassal king. Therefore, the moat of Qingzhou City is also particularly wide, five or six meters wide. The river is also quite deep. Because it is the living water brought from the Beiyang River, the flow rate is quite fast. Without the help of the suspension bridge, it would not be able to pass. After all, the city of Qingzhou was safe and sound. This moat, which is both wide and flowing, played an important role.

"Bang bang bang!"

"Bang bang bang!"

"Bang bang bang!"

The Ming army on the top of the city also kept firing. The muskets they used, regardless of whether they had any effect or not, would first fire. Relying on the advantage of the large number of people, the counterattack of the Ming army was also very lively. As a result, there were constant gunfires. The thick smoke generated when the black gunpowder was fired will soon cover both sides.

"Bangbangbangbang!"

"Bangbangbangbang!"

"Bangbangbangbang!"

At the same time, the defenders' cannons also began to bombard.

There are twelve cannons at the east gate of Qingzhou City. In general, there are rarely so many cannons in the palace. The reason is that there is a Heng Palace here. For the sake of the prince's safety, the defense of Qingzhou City has been specially reinforced, and these cannons are also specially installed. With the rumbling sound of cannons, solid bullets kept falling down and falling into the Hu Ben Army. After all, the Folang machine cannon is a cannon with a long range, which poses a certain threat to the Hu Ben Army.

"Swap the bullet!"

Someone shouted anxiously on the top of the city.

The mother-subborne bullet is a grape bullet, which is generally called the mother-subborne bullet within the Ming army.

The gunners hurriedly replaced the mother bullets and continued to fire.

"Bangbangbangbang!"

"Bangbangbangbang!"

"Bangbangbangbang!"

Another continuous burst of cannons.

A large number of projectiles were poured out and landed on the positions of the Hu Ben Army.

Due to the quite dense projectiles, some of the soldiers of the Tiger Ben Army suffered casualties.

"Sniper!"

"Suppress the enemy's artillery fire!"

Zhang Zhun said calmly.

"Bang bang bang!"

"Bang bang bang!"

"Bang bang bang!"

The snipers of the Hu Ben Army kept firing and shooting, specifically shooting at the location where the cannon was located.

"puff!"

"puff!"

"puff!"

The gunners of the Ming army continued to fall under the shooting of Minnie bombs.

The reserve gunner next to him wanted to go up, but was knocked down again.

"Bang!"

A cannon fired again.

Several more people on the Hu Ben Army were hit and blood was flowing.

However, no one retreated and continued to shoot at the top of the city. Zhang Zhun had sufficient consideration for the twelve cannons in Qingzhou City. If you want to take over Qingzhou City, it would be impossible not to pay a certain amount of casualties. At least there is a vassal king here! Emperor Chongzhen is so proud of his face, so he must not sit and watch the vassal king fall into his hands.

In fact, although the cannons of the defenders were powerful, they were very powerful, but they only had twelve gates and were loading at a slow speed. When part of the firepower of the Hu Ben Army was concentrated on the cannons, the gunners were a little unable to support them. After all, their courage was limited. When it comes to fighting, they were far inferior to the Hu Ben Army. Seeing their companions falling down constantly, the others did not have the courage to come up. Soon, the cannons on the east gate were suppressed. Occasionally, one or two fired, but they could not play a big role.

"ladder!"

"superior!"

Zhong Wuying waved his hand vigorously.

Twenty Tiger Army soldiers immediately carried ten bamboo ladders and leaned towards the city gate.

Due to the influence of the moat, they must cross the moat before approaching the city gate. If you want to cross the moat, setting up a ladder is undoubtedly a good way to do it. Don’t have too many ladders, just let the soldiers of the blasting team behind you go down the ladder and go through the city gate hole. As long as the blasting is successful and the collapsed city wall can fill the moat.

"Blasting Team!"

"superior!"

When Liu Jixiang saw the ladder team set out, he immediately waved his hand.

The one who followed the ladder team was naturally the blasting team he organized himself.

Under the cover of fierce firepower, five blasting team members carried explosive packs and quickly stepped forward.

The Ming army on the top of the city saw someone approaching the city wall through the black smoke and immediately realized that there was danger. So they tried their best to concentrate all their firepower and shoot densely outside the city. When the distance was within twenty feet, the firepower of the defenders was still relatively fierce. A bunch of projectiles fell on the empty fields, and countless dust was splashed. The soldiers of the Tiger Army carrying bamboo ladders kept falling down, and the bamboo ladder was thrown next to them. The five members of the blasting team had to stop moving forward temporarily.

"Bang bang bang!"

"Bang bang bang!"

"Bang bang bang!"

On the side of the Hu Ben Army, gunfires were naturally heard constantly, trying to suppress the Ming army at the top of the city. The Ming army's grenade guns were still quite lethal in a short distance, especially so many grenade guns gathered together to form a very dense rain of bullets. It is really not easy to pass through these pieces of bullet rain and successfully send the explosive packs to the bottom of the city gate hole. Especially in front of it, there is a huge roadblock of moats.

Under the attack of Minnie bombs, the Ming army at the top of the city continued to fall. Their casualties were much more than the Huben army outside the city. However, under the supervision of Wang Xiangyun, the defenders in the city were still persisting. There were still new forces to supplement them. There were more than 5,000 defenders, a reserve team of 1,000, and three or four thousand regiments and servants. Even if there were more casualties, someone could still make up for the vacant positions.

Among all the defenders, the most fierce counterattack was the guards of the Heng Palace. The main ones guarding the east gate were the guards of the Heng Palace. The structure of Qingzhou City was also relatively advanced, with many gun holes. The guards of the Heng Palace were hiding behind the gun holes to shoot. Due to the cover of battlements, the Minni bullets of the Hu Ben Army were not easy to hit them. Of course, they could not pose too much threat to the Hu Ben Army outside the city.
Chapter completed!