(Thank you for your support all the time! Wuyu will keep working hard! Everyone is welcome to join the novel discussion group and discuss the plot together.)

On August 12th, the Mid-Autumn Festival was about to reach Huangzhou by the Mid-Autumn Festival, but as soon as the battle was fought, the defenders fled in all directions. In the next few days, the Western Expedition army went up the river, and the Qing soldiers along the way either fled or surrendered. They successively conquered many prefectures and counties along the river, and encountered the Qing army resisting in Hanyang County. Hanyang was the important place that must be taken to attack Wuchang.

Unlike the Ming generals at this time, Li Ziyuan, who was born in the Zhongyi Army, was also good at tactics of the Zhongyi Army. He was good at concentrating troops at one point to obtain breakthroughs. He estimated that the focus of the Qing army's defense was in Wuchang. As for Hanyang on the other side of the river, he was just bluffing. Then he ordered the navy warships to sail along the river, concentrate artillery fire to bombard the defenders on the city wall, and at the same time ordered the troops to prepare for siege. More than a thousand Qing soldiers in the city were immediately frightened by the power of the Ming army, but after firing a few perfunctory guns, they fled one after another. The Qing army's garrison Song Yusheng fell into the water and died while running away.

Since the Western Expedition, the tens of thousands of troops led by Li Ziyuan have been smooth sailing. After conquering the counties along the river one after another, they easily captured Hanyang County. On August 19, Sun Xingping, as the front peak, Wang Jiaoquan and others led the vanguard of land to the outside of Wuchang City and set up sixteen camps. The next day, Wang Jiaoquan led hundreds of people to occupy Shuangfeng Mountain, and placed cannons on Shuangfeng Mountain, aimed at Wuchang City, and then began to fire guns into Wuchang City, but the cannons were not close. Although it was a little sparse, after one round of shells fell into the city, it continued to explode violently, destroying many houses in the city.

Perhaps they cannot cut the wooden signal tubes in Jiangbei to time the flowering bullets, but they do not pay so much attention to the shells in the city. They just need to hit Wuchang City, and this will prevent many people in the city from burying them. After all, after the shells land, they often take several seconds to explode.

The explosion sounded from afar and came into his ears from time to time. The explosion sounded awakened Liu Fangming, who was lying on the bed, from his coma. After he was cleared of his consciousness, he suddenly glanced at his son Liu Tiren, and his confidant Zhang Xiaotian stood in front of his bed. Although he just opened his eyes, he had no strength.

For him, who had been infected for several months, he is now in a state of ill illness. As soon as he fell asleep on the bed, he fell into a coma. After waking up again, he already knew very well what his body looked like. He was probably already in a state of ill illness and was hanging with only one breath.

Last year, Zheng Chenggong led his troops to attack Jiangnan. The Qing court appointed Da Su as the general of Annan and led various armies to the south to fight. Liu Fangming, the general of Ningxia, was also transferred to follow the battle. He led the Ningxia Town Army as the right general of the army to fight against the army with the left governor. As Da Su was defeated and died, Liu Fangming, as the general of the left army, also became the only survivor of the army to fight against the army. He was stayed in Wuchang instead of continuing to go south to Jiangning.

However, after staying in Wuchang, most of the soldiers from Ningxia and the soldiers were not convinced by the south, and fell ill one after another, and the troops lost their original combat effectiveness. Seeing that soldiers in the daily army died in a foreign land due to the inability to adapt to the land and the land and the epidemic, he even reported directly to the court: "I was ordered to suppress the thieves, but I was not surprised that the land and the land was not affected, and it was difficult to get sick. The soldiers I brought with me had been trained for a long time and sent me my heart. Now I have arrived in the south, half of them have been damaged by dysentery. When I have not filled the gullies, I dare to ask for a limit to change."

But his memorial was naturally retained. After all, for the Qing Dynasty, the situation in Jiangnan was there, so they naturally could not allow the elite Ningxia Town to stay in Ningxia, so Ningxia Town was still stayed in Wuchang. It was not necessary to stay in Ningning. Every day, soldiers died suddenly. Even Liu Fangming, the general of Ningxia Town, was also infected with evil diseases.

Now, Liu Fangming, who felt that he had not had much time, saw his son and confidant, thought that he had not had much time, and that he had been rejected after several times of writing to request a transfer back to Ningxia, which suddenly felt dissatisfaction that had been accumulated in his heart for a long time. However, although he was dissatisfied, he still asked.

"Have the reinforcements from the management come?"

Once again, Liu Fangming asked, "The Strategy" he mentioned was naturally the ruler of the five provinces, Hong Chengchou. Now stationed in Wuchang, he is a subordinate of Hong Chengchou. Since he learned that Zhang Huangyan's army has fought in the west, he has requested reinforcements from Hong Chengchou in Changsha many times, but he has not received any news of reinforcements until now.

"Return to the army gate, reinforcements... still no news..."

Zhang Xiaotian's face was extremely ugly. There was no news of reinforcements yet. What does this mean? It means that they have been abandoned.

"This old man clearly wants to trap me in a place where death is inevitable!"

Hearing that there were no reinforcements, Liu Fangming immediately yelled, struggled to sit up from the bed, stretched out another finger, and then cursed angrily:

"Well, what a bold old guy. His surname Hong has not sent any troops to rescue Wuchang so far. It is clearly that it will cause me Wuchang to be trapped in the hands of a thief. In this way, Nanchang will be isolated from the Ming army. At that time, the only person with the surname Hong is the local emperor of Nanchang. Even if the court is dissatisfied with him, he will be helpless with him. His surname Hong has a good plan! At that time, no matter whether it is the Ming Dynasty or the Qing Dynasty, as long as he can sit firmly in Nanchang, he can keep his glory and wealth. As for us, we will let that old man sell it! That old man doesn't think about how many evil he did after surrendering to the Qing Dynasty. People in the world want to eat his flesh. The Ming Dynasty will definitely not let him go, hum..."

As he said that, Liu Fangming once again made a violent cough.

"Dad, Lord Hong, I think there are some difficulties for him. You must be confused."

Liu Tiren was shocked by his father's words. He quickly tried to find an excuse for his father. If these words were heard, they would cause the Liu family to be implicated.

"I'm not confused at all. Since Fan Wencheng died of illness, the Hong surnamed has had a disagreement with the court. Now he is ignoring Wuchang and us. He is trying to save himself. We are just a pawn with his surname Hong!"

Liu Fangming, who sat up, spoke and cursed. He not only cursed Hong Chengchou, but in the end he even cursed the court and the emperor.

"... My name Liu Fangming was also a great contribution to the Qing Dynasty, but the court treated me like this. His Shunzhi boy didn't think about it. If it weren't for us, could he sit firmly in the world? Today I actually wanted me Liu Fangming to die of illness..."

This shocked Liu Tiren and Zhang Xiaotian. Both of them looked at Liu Fangming in shock. They really didn't expect that he was so arrogant that he not only cursed Hong Chengchou, but also cursed the emperor. Both of them were so scared by his words that they broke out in a cold sweat.

"This time, let's investigate the death of Hong and the Manchurian Tartars. If you are not careful, you will have to die! "

Listening to Liu Fangming's words, Liu Tiren and Zhang Xiaotian, who were so scared that they could not speak, hurriedly dissuaded them.

"Military Sect, we can't say this nonsense. If we continue, we might lose our heads!"

"Lost your head?"

Liu Fangming sneered, looked at Liu Tiren, Zhang Xiaotian and the others and sneered.

"If you don't say this, you can save your head?"

Listening to the sound of cannons coming from outside the window, Liu Fangming continued.

"Now the Ming army has established a large camp outside the city and will attack the city within a few days. Can we save our lives? Then Li Ziyuan is also a powerful general of the Ming army. With more than 20,000 sick soldiers, how can we defend Wuchang?"

The discouraged Liu Fangming breathed heavily and said.

"This time, we are abandoned sons. There are no reinforcements to the court. As for the Hong side, they are determined to leave Wuchang to the Ming army. We are now dead!"

"Really, it's not possible. It's better to surrender the Ming army than the military! "

Looking at the disheartened military gate, Zhang Xiaotian thought for a while and then said.

"If you surrender to the Ming army, there may be a way out!"

"That's right, let's surrender the Ming army! When Zhang Huangyan entered Jiangxi, he also surrendered everywhere. No matter what, with Ningxia Town, we can not only save our lives, but also seek wealth..."

When Liu Fangming heard his son's words, he couldn't help but feel a little moved. Surrender may be the best choice.

But he was inevitably a little hesitant. He knew his own affairs very well. After the Qing Dynasty entered the pass and surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, he could be said to have made great contributions to the Qing Dynasty. During the quelling of the northwest rebellion, he made many military achievements. His hands were covered with the blood of the Han people. If he surrendered to the Ming army now, would he be settled by others?

Seeing that his father was hesitating and knew that there was no better choice, Liu Tiren and Zhang Xiaotian could not think of any other way when they exchanged their opinions, so they knelt down on the ground at the same time.

"Dad, there is no other way now, let's surrender!"

As soon as Liu Tiren finished speaking, Zhang Xiaotian followed.

"Yes, the military gate, the Qing Dynasty was unkind and entered the pass and thought it would kill countless Han people. We are now returning to the Ming Dynasty, which is also for me Han people!"

Although Zhang Xiaotian, as his confidant, also entered the Han military flag after Liu Fang's name was surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, Zhang Xiaotian still recognized that he was a Han Chinese, and he would even say the word "Han" even more casually. Liu Tiren thought very simply. He wanted to keep his glory and wealth. As for whether the Han Chinese were Han Chinese, it was not important.

Looking at the two kneeling on the ground, Liu Fangming pondered and didn't say anything. After hesitating for a while, he finally spit out the truth and said:

"Surrendering to Ming Dynasty... It is not so easy to surrender. Don't forget that in the second year of Shunzhi, He Zhen, the general of Hanzhong Town, raised troops to rebel against the Qing Dynasty and led 70,000 troops to attack Xi'an, the important town of Beixi. At the same time, Wu Dading, the deputy general of Guyuan Town, also killed He Shiyuan, the general of Guyuan Town, and occupied Guyuan Town to rebel. All parts of Longyou responded. In the crisis in the northwest, it was me who led our Ningxia Town troops as the main force and suppressed the rebellion of Wu Dading in Guyuan nearby. It was our fight to the death that forced Wu Dading to lead his troops to evacuate Guyuan and meet with He Zhen in Hanzhong. Later, he pursued and killed a large number of anti-Qing rebels, and more than hundreds of thousands of people were rioted? We also quelled the rebellion in Ningxia, but it was a way to kill the Ming Dynasty. I'm afraid it wouldn't be that easy..."

Shaking his head, Liu Fangming looked at his son and his confidant kneeling on the ground. After saying this, he was exhausted and panting. After thinking for a while, he said.

"If you want to surrender to the Ming Dynasty, the blood on your hands will not be easy to get away!"

The blood on your hands is hard to get rid of!

For traitors like Liu Fangming who surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, this was the biggest original sin in them. They could be said to be an stigma that could not be washed away, so they naturally had such concerns. However, for the ordinary officials under his rule, they didn't think so much. When the explosions came in the city, it was like thunder for Wu Pinyun, who was the food channel, which made him unable to fall asleep at all. The eyes were even more involuntarily looking into the distance, and the explosions kept pounding in his heart, making him become absent-minded.

"It's time, it's time!"

Once again, when he looked outside the window, he was thinking in his heart when the shelling caused the flames. Just as he was talking to himself like this, someone suddenly asked at the door.

“When is the time?”

Without even looking back, Wu Pinyun knew who was here, Zhao Gongshan, the general of the street patrol officer. Because the two were fellow townsmen and the position of the general officer was also the relationship that Wu Pinyun helped him, the relationship between them has always been very close.

Seeing that Zhao Gongshan had entered the floor, Wu Pinyun said bluntly.

"I'm going to burn the grain warehouse in this city. Do you think I can start?"

Zhao Gongshan, who had just sat down, couldn't help but "ah" and immediately bounced up from the chair and stared at Wu Pinyun in surprise. If this was said by any young man in the city, he might not have been so unexpected. After all, the person in front of him was the grain road. If the grain road was burned, he would be the first person to be held accountable. A person like him who had three ideas in the blink of an eye would have thought of doing such arson and burning food? It was undoubtedly a matter of chopping his own head. His mind couldn't swing for a moment, staring at Wu Pinyun with a startled eyes and staring at Wu Pinyun without knowing what to say.

Seeing Zhao Gongshan's surprised look, Wu Pinyun asked:

"Do you know what Liu Gongming is?"

Seeing that there was disrespect in his tone, Zhao Gongshan nodded and said,

"I heard that he was originally the General of Liugou of the Ming Dynasty. Later, he surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, made military achievements along the way, and then became the General of Ningxia."

"It's just a traitor with Han blood on his hands!"

Wu Pinyun sneered.

"The Ming Dynasty is in the time of Zhongxing. Have you not seen the situation in the past year? The Ming Dynasty first easily defeated Jiangnan, and then Jiangxi and Jiangbei. It can be said that it has made every contribution. Why is this? Isn't it because the hearts of the people in the world are in my Ming Dynasty. The reason why we joined him Liu Fangming was just for a way of life. But if we follow a dark road like Liu, let alone the reputation of this traitor on his body cannot be washed away, even our heads may not be able to be kept."

Zhao Gongshan couldn't understand many things, but just responded "oh" with him. Just like when he first defected to Liu Fangming, it was Wu Pinyun's idea.

After looking outside, Wu Pinyun continued.

"The Han people who died under the surname Liu in recent years have not been a million, but also six or seven hundred thousand. He has countless Han blood on his hands. I guess he will definitely defend Wuchang until he has no choice. At that time, we will definitely die. After all, the commander of the Ming army this time was Li Ziyuan, who was quite cruel. When he was in Nanchang, after he went down to the city, he not only killed all the Qing army guarding the city, but also the Minzhuang who helped the Qing army guard the city, and was also ordered to beheaded by him. If Liu Fangming was determined to defend the city, could we survive?"

Zhao Gongshan has roughly understood this time. In short, Liu Fangming has no way out, and Li Ziyuan is a cruel and ruthless character.

"Oh! So, if we keep going, we will be dead!"

"What is the reliance that Liu Fangming wants to defend now? It is the 600,000 stone of grain in the city!"

600,000 stones of grain were Liu Fangming’s biggest reliance on defending the city. The reason why there was so much grain was because it was the grain collected. However, the grain was cut off from the canal and could not be transported to the capital, so naturally it could only stay in Wuchang.

Looking at Zhao Gongshan, Wu Pinyun continued

"How do you burn this granary to someone named Liu? Do you dare?"

Zhao Gongshan did not hesitate, and he nodded immediately and said.

"It's even burned. Why don't you dare? Without food, the one named Liu can't keep it. Then we can save our lives!"

Nodded and Wu Pinyun said again.

"If you are willing to do it, let's set the fire. Show the people in and outside the city a huge fire. Without food, the morale of the army in the city will be in chaos!"

"No, as long as the morale of the army is in chaos and there is no food, Wuchang will naturally not be able to defend it!"

Zhao Gongshan suddenly became excited.

"It's too easy to burn that grain warehouse. Those goods usually just scare people. When they are at night, they all sleep with confidence, and they just set a fire and burn it all."

Just as he finished speaking, a person walked out of the room next to him. Zhao Gongshan saw that it was Zhang Shuli. He was shocked when he saw someone hearing his words. Zhang Shuli was a servant of the food bureau. He was only recruited last year. Now that people know such a secret matter, he is at ease. When he was about to start, he only heard Wu Pinyun say.

"Don't worry, it's your own people."

Zhang Peng, who knew he had walked around the gate of hell, said with a smile.

"I'll take care of the food when setting fire to burn the grain. Just in time, I have a bucket of tinea oil produced in Jiangbei."

In an instant, Zhao Gongshan also understood that the identity of this clerk was probably not very simple, so there was no need to ask any more questions. The three of them began to plot specific implementation plans under the oil lamp, from where to climb over the wall, burn where to first and then click.

"The well rope must be cut first. Only after the fire is lit will the water be unable to be raised. Such transformation will not be possible with the water in the water tank alone, and the fire cannot be eliminated."
To be continued...