Although they were scolded by Wan Lei, the sloppy Taoist priest and Zhao Xueer did not leave angrily, but obediently went to the military doctor's office to help. Since there were too many wounded soldiers, Wan Lei was also very busy. While bandaging the wounded, he comforted them with a few words.
, allowing them to recover from their injuries in peace of mind.
Although Wan Lei was well prepared and brought a lot of Tiger Balm into the city, he couldn't help but there were so many wounded soldiers. Soon, most of the Tiger Balm he brought was used up. If this continues, the city will soon be short of doctors and medicines.
Once wounded soldiers do not receive proper treatment, the wounds may become inflamed or suffer from frostbite, and the number of casualties will skyrocket.
Wan Lei was still worried about the lack of medical treatment. This was when a soldier came to report that Master Tie had asked him to go to the tower immediately, and something big had happened again.
Outside the city, something big happened again! Seeing that the attack on the city was fruitless, the enemy pulled out dozens of prisoners from the camp, pushed them to the city gate and lined them up, asking the defender to open the city to accept the surrender. Those dozens of prisoners
This prisoner is not an ordinary person, but a senior general of the Northern Expeditionary Army and reinforcements.
If they are just common people and refuse to save anyone, they will only get a bad name at most. However, among these prisoners are Cao Guogong Li Jinglong, Luancheng Marquis Li Jian, the governor Ping An, and dozens of generals, big and small.
There are even Wan Lei's old acquaintances Baihu Li Dazui and Ma Liubao.
These officials, big and small, have backgrounds and backers. If we really want to kill them without saving them, many people will be offended. I am afraid that not only will they lose their reputation, but they may even lose the hair on their heads. And this is not the most terrible thing.
Yes, the most terrible thing is that among this group of official prisoners there is also a prince-in-law named Geng Xuan.
The so-called prince-in-law, to put it bluntly, is the son-in-law of the emperor's family, a true relative of the emperor. And this Geng Xuan is even more extraordinary. His father is Geng Bingwen, the Marquis of Changxing, and he himself is the brother-in-law of the current emperor. If
Let this ancestor die under the walls of Peking City. Not to mention the black hair on his head, he might not even be able to protect his food.
Precisely because there were so many sensitive people in the hands of the enemy, Tie Xuan threw himself into the trap. He really didn't know what to do for a while, so he had to quickly send people to find Wan Lei. He hoped that Wan Xian's nephew would come up with another clever plan and properly deal with it.
Settle the matter for him.
Wan Lei stood on the top of the city and glanced down at the bunch of official prisoners, rolled his eyes a few times, and then asked knowingly: "Who are these people?"
"They are all noble and important ministers of the imperial court. They joined the army in the Northern Expedition and unfortunately fell into the hands of thieves." Tie Xuan thought that Wan Lei did not recognize the official, so he reminded him in a low voice.
"Your honorable minister?" Wan Lei asked at the top of his voice. The voice was so loud that even the soldiers hundreds of meters away could hear it clearly. However, he had no intention of whispering to Tie Xuan and continued to play loudly.
Words: "Look left and right, no matter how you look at them, they don't look alike."
"My dear nephew, please take a step to speak." Tie Xuan is so shrewd that he has already figured out what Wan Lei is planning. He is just pretending to be stupid and not recognizing the person. It doesn't matter whether the person you brought is the real prince or the fake prince consort, I have no idea.
Sell the account and directly say that they are fakes.
Although this idea of refusing to admit his guilt was a good one, Tie Xuan did not dare to take the risk. After all, the group of people below had special status, and if they did not go well, they would cause big trouble. Therefore, he pulled Wan Lei aside and whispered: "
My dear nephew, this is not appropriate. If the bandit army kills the prisoners in anger, we are afraid that it will be a mistake but not a success."
"Besides this, do you have any other good ideas? If your Majesty is afraid of being involved, let me handle this matter. Anyway, I have already killed a King of Yan, so it doesn't matter if I add a few more charges to my body."
Wan Lei shook his head and smiled bitterly. He didn't know that if these people refused to save them, they would offend many powerful people. However, other than that, he had no other choice.
Besides, even if you agree to the enemy's request to open the city and surrender, you may not be able to get those people back. In addition, as defeated generals who exhausted hundreds of thousands of their subordinates, they deserve to die and honorably "martyr their country". It was better than living without shame as a prisoner. All in all, those people were already dead in Wan Lei's eyes.
Seeing Tie Xuan's silence, Wan Lei took him as his acquiescence and said loudly: "I heard that our Ming soldiers are all loyal and brave men. Now that the Northern Expedition was unfortunately defeated, the soldiers must have died collectively. Those below He must be a fake. Soldiers, do you think so?"
"Yes! My officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty are all loyal and brave men. After a defeat, they will die for their country and will never live in an ignoble way." The new army was obtained by Wan Lei single-handedly. They all agreed with what Wan Lei said.
Nearly ten thousand people on the city tower shouted in unison, and the officials and prisoners below naturally heard it clearly and clearly. The first man in his thirties became anxious and shouted: "What nonsense are you talking about? I am the leader of the court." Mr. Cao Guogong, why don’t you come to the rescue as soon as possible?”
However, except for Li Jinglong, the other generals were silent and seemed to really feel disgraced.
"Huh! Mr. Cao Guo?! Are you worthy?" Wan Lei rolled his eyes at the man and naturally recognized that this guy was the silver-robed young man who had promised to chop off his head. Who would have thought that it would be his turn just a few months ago? This guy has personally tasted the feeling of despair and helplessness behind bars. This is really retributive.
Seeing his enemy's misfortune, Wan Lei felt very happy and said loudly: "These people are pretending to be the adopted son of a loyal minister of the Ming Dynasty and insulting the loyal soul. Soldiers, do you think they should be killed?"
"Deserve to be killed!" Nearly ten thousand new troops shouted. The officials and prisoners below were dumbfounded. People in the city thought that they were fakes, but now they actually wanted to use knives to kill people. This was really a torrent of water rushing over the Dragon King. In the temple, the little ghost defeated the big city god.
"Insert arrows and shoot them to death!" Wan Lei gave the order, and immediately there were nearly ten thousand bows on the city, and they fired angrily at the city. Of course, none of these arrows hit anyone, because those official prisoners It is far out of the range of bow and arrow.
Although Wan Lei wanted to launch a counterattack, he didn't really want to kill these officials. After all, these people were not worth getting his hands dirty.
Although no one was hit by the volley, this scene naturally fell into the eyes of the enemy general. No matter how stupid he was, he understood clearly: the people in the city didn't care about the life and death of these official prisoners. However, he was still unwilling to give in and drew out his sword rest. He reached Li Jinglong's neck and said: "Quickly surrender to the city, or I will kill him."
With the knife on his neck, Li Jinglong obviously did not have the spirit to accept death. He kept begging for mercy and kept shouting to the city to persuade him to surrender. However, Wan Lei ignored him at all and said: "Kill him, kill this liar immediately." If you can chop off the head and throw it up for us to kick, that would be the best thing."
The opponent showed the "useless" spirit of "share my share of the pie", and the enemy general was so angry that his hands and feet were shaking, but in the end he did not cut off the head-on blow, because he did not kill this person just because he wanted to, and the person who kept his word was far away. On a high tower in the Yan army camp, they were always paying attention to the dynamics of persuading them to surrender. One of the monks put down the rosary beads in his hand and said to the man next to him: "It's a pity that you are talented."
"Military advisor, we recognize that boy, he is the thief who killed the late king." A white-faced, beardless man next to the monk gritted his teeth.
"Oh, it turns out it's that person. No wonder, no wonder." The monk shook his head and said: "No wonder the people in Beiping City are determined and refuse to surrender. It turns out it's this kid who is causing trouble. Alas, it's such a pity. Talents are so rare.
.”
"The hatred for killing my father is irreconcilable. I cannot bear to capture the thief right away and cut him into pieces with thousands of swords to honor my father's spirit. Come on, please give me the order and continue to attack the city. No matter how many people are killed or injured, Beiping City must be destroyed."
I will take it down." The young man is the new "King of Yan" Zhu Gaoxu. This guy is as ruthless as his father.
A few months ago, the Yan rebels were defeated and all his brothers and sisters surrendered to the imperial court, but he refused to surrender. While gathering the old buddies left behind by his father, he secretly colluded with the three guards of Duoyan, and now he is blatantly attracting thieves.
, making it clear that the rebellion will be carried out to the end.
Rebellion is rebellion, and the revenge for killing his father must be avenged. A few months ago, Zhu Gaoxu sent people to Changpingyi to capture Wan Lei, hoping to use the enemy's head to sacrifice the flag. However, it backfired, and the people he sent were arrested by the Jinyi guards who were waiting for him.
If you get it right, the loss of troops will outweigh the gain. New hatred is added to old hatred, and now the enemies are extremely jealous when they meet each other!
"Your Highness, there is no need to get angry, let alone go to war. As long as you use a little trick, the guy can be captured by hand." That monk was Dao Yan. Seeing that his master was blinded by anger, he hurriedly persuaded him and turned to the white-haired man next to him.
The man asked: "Eunuch Ma, I remember, that man is just a postmaster, right?"
"Yes, he committed the unforgivable crime of killing the prince and was demoted to a petty official." The man with the white beard is Ma Sanbao, the commander-in-chief of the last secret arrest operation. Not only did many of his subordinates fall into the hands of this oriole, Jin Yiwei,
He himself was threatened so hard by Wan Lei that he almost risked his life. Being disgraced, he was even more ruthless towards Wan Lei.
"Since he is a minor official, things will be easy to handle. We don't need to use troops. We can just use some tricks to capture him manually. Once this guy is no longer in the city, the defenders will definitely lose their fighting spirit and there will be no danger." Dao Yan stood up and walked quickly.
After getting off the tower, we rode horses and rushed to the front of the formation.
"People in the city, listen, we are here to attack Qiu Sui, and have nothing to do with others. As long as you are willing to hand over Wan Lei, we will retreat." As soon as Dao Yan finished speaking, the civil and military generals on the city tower
You looked at me, I looked at you, and finally they all focused on Wan Lei. Obviously, they were deceived.
Surrounded by officials who were ready to make a move, Wan Lei's expression remained unchanged, and he just said to Tie Xuan calmly: "In exchange for the peace of Beiping City with the life of a little Yi Cheng, Lord Tie, this is a very good deal."
"This..." Tie Xuan was speechless. To be honest, when he heard Dao Yan's suggestion, his heart immediately moved. The reason why he didn't arrest people immediately was not because of Wan Lei's great achievements.
But I am afraid that the other party's words will not keep their word. If you hand over the person and the enemy army retreats and comes back, then the gain will not be worth the loss.
Tie Xuan couldn't make up his mind for a moment, and the eyes of all the officials and soldiers were focused on him. Wan Lei was naturally unwilling to leave his fate in the hands of others, and said: "They all say that if you don't do it for yourself, heaven will destroy you.
I have nothing to say about offering me up in exchange for peace. But you'd better think about it, if the enemy army doesn't keep its word and comes back, will the scattered city of Beiping be able to defend it?"
"Ah!" All the recruits secretly shouted, and then a captain of a thousand soldiers stood up and said: "Mr. Wan is the pillar of Beiping City. I will kill anyone who dares to take him!"
"Yes, Mr. Wan has made great contributions to the people. We will kill anyone who dares to harm him." New troops came out to respond, drawing swords and surrounding Wan Lei.
"You, what are you doing? Do you want to rebel?" When a civil servant saw this, he jumped out and shouted.
"If we wanted to rebel, we would have rebelled long ago. Can you stop us?" The commander rolled his eyes at the civil servant, and then said to the people around him: "Everyone, we all joined the army because of Mr. Wan's face. Since the imperial court It's ruthless and unjust, what are we going to do to protect it? Let's go, we'll protect the people in the city and retreat south."
"Yes, we cannot protect the ruthless and unjust court. The government can betray Mr. Wan this time, and they can betray us next time. Brothers, let's go and go alone." Another commander raised his arms and shouted. , attracted countless new troops to respond, with great intention of rebelling on the spot.
The New Army kept making trouble, and Tie Xuan finally understood: the New Army is a group of mobs, and only Wan Lei can suppress them. If Wan Lei is not there, the New Army will immediately turn into an unorganized and undisciplined riot. Army, when that time comes, even if the enemy does not attack the city, the city will be in chaos if it does not attack.
The scene of chaos in the city naturally fell into Dao Yan's eyes. He saw that Wan Lei had thousands of people to support him, and he had become the leader of an army. How could he still be a powerless little postmaster who could easily return the favor? He really couldn't get it. However, he rolled his eyes, tried another plan after it failed, and shouted to the city: "Your Highness has an order, whoever kills Wan Lei and that guy will be the lord of Beiping City, and will be rewarded with ten thousand taels of gold. "
Move to gain advantage, this move is really cruel, those veterans began to get ready to move, their eyes were trained on Wan Lei, as if they saw a pile of golden gold. If not for the dozens of people surrounding Wan Lei, Damn it, they've already drawn their knives.
"Hahaha..." There were people around who were ready to move. Wan Lei looked up to the sky and laughed, saying: "I didn't expect that my life is worth ten thousand taels of gold. Not bad, but I don't know whether the person who has the life to take the money has the life." Spend money. It doesn’t matter. Instead of letting others fight over it, it’s better to settle it yourself!”
As soon as Wan Lei finished speaking, he suddenly pushed away the crowd and jumped towards the bottom of the city. Everyone present was shocked when they saw it. But at this moment, a long rope flew towards the bottom of the city, as if it had eyes. , wrapped around Wan Lei's waist, and then pulled it upward, pulling Wan Lei up again after falling into the air.
"Infinite Heavenly Lord!" The rescuer was none other than the sloppy Taoist Priest. He glanced at the people on the top of the city and said: "God has the virtue of a good life, and people should have a sense of shame. How are those who are ungrateful and repay kindness with enmity different from beasts? !”
"Master, why are you telling these people so much? They only want to get promoted and get rich. Who else, except Brother Wan, has the people in mind. Now they want to destroy the Great Wall and kill hundreds of thousands of people in Beiping City. , what are we going to do to protect them? Military lords, let’s open the south gate and protect the people from leaving the city!" Zhao Xueer also raised her arms and shouted.
"Yes, we are only defending the city to protect the people. Now the government is ruthless and unjust and wants to kill the people. We don't care about the city." The new army responded immediately and retreated to the city. Even most of the veterans followed the crowd and the city Only a few hundred dumbfounded officers and a dozen staring civilian officials were left above.
The garrison on the city mutinied, but Tie Xuan was not frightened at all. With a roar, he drew out his sword and struck it hard on the parapet. Sparks suddenly flew out, and a corner of the parapet was chopped down. The dumbfounded civil servants were frightened to wake up.
When I came over, I heard him sternly giving an order: "The army and the people of Beiping City are united and guard the city together. Anyone who dares to give or receive privately with the enemy will be executed without mercy!"
"It's better to say it than to sing it. Which one of you officials doesn't want to trade my brother Wan's life for a future? It would be strange for you to believe me." Zhao Xueer rolled her eyes at Tie Xuan again, and pulled Wan Lei to go down to the city.
At this time, Dao Yan, who was under the city, felt that the chaos in the city was not enough, so he added another fire: "People in the city, listen, as long as Wan Lei is sacrificed, our army will retreat immediately and release all prisoners of war."
However, this time, Tie Xuan no longer betrayed him, but shouted angrily: "I only know military affairs and nothing else. If you don't retreat, I will beat you until you retreat!"
"Sir, why don't you..." A general judge whispered to persuade him, but Tie Xuan pushed him aside and said angrily: "You want to surrender, right? Well, I will help you. Come on, come on.
He threw him down into the city."
"My lord, my lord, I am an official of the imperial court. You, you can't do this to me." The general judge shouted, but Tie Xuan didn't talk nonsense to him. With a wave of his hand, several sergeants rushed forward to grab him.
He threw it down to the top of the city. He fell freely from the city tower more than ten meters high, and the guy was almost killed by the fall.
After dealing with this subordinate, Tie Xuan did not give up and ordered: "All civilian officials were dismissed on the spot, and all matters concerning the defense of Beiping City were handed over to the military. Those who dare to disobey military orders, those who dare to surrender again, and those who dare to betray their comrades will be punished.
Kill them all without mercy!"
Tie Xuan's murderous words scared everyone present into silence, and no one dared to say a word. The reason why he was so decisive was mainly because he already understood that the enemy was facing a powerful enemy, and it took a lot of effort to gather military morale in the city.
Morale has been ruined in this way. If we no longer use iron and blood methods to govern the army and the people, the city will collapse immediately.
"Okay, okay, okay!" Wan Lei clapped his hands and shouted three good words before saying: "Sir, it should have been like this a long time ago. The most important thing now is not to save the prisoners outside the city. Those who are greedy for life and fear death and die for the city.
Compared with the loyal and brave soldiers, they are nothing. I think that they should be buried with military honors and their families should be given heavy pensions to comfort their loyal souls."
"Yes, bury those who died in the city with lavish burial to comfort their loyal souls!" Seeing that Wan Lei had not left, the New Army also left and returned, and echoed loudly, because most of the deceased were their relatives and friends, and they also hoped that the deceased would have a good journey.
"Okay, just as Nephew Wan Xian said, we will open the hall and hold a memorial ceremony immediately." Tie Xuan naturally followed the good advice. He knew that Wan Lei was making a fuss about the dead to regain the lost military morale, so he walked to Wan Lei
Next to him, he said softly: "My dear nephew, from now on, the city of Beiping will be handed over to you. You can do whatever you want. You don't need to ask me for instructions. I only have one request: defend the city!"
Every move on the top of the city naturally fell into the eyes of Dao Yan below. Seeing that the enemy's plan was fruitless, he shook his head and smiled bitterly, then rode back to the camp. Zhu Gaoxu, who was on the high tower, also saw this scene and saw the people in the city.
He refused to sacrifice his enemy even to death, and became furious and ordered: "Go down here, set up the artillery, and give the city to me to blast the city to pieces."
"Your Highness, this, I'm afraid this is not appropriate. We can blast the city with artillery, but once we break the city, we are unable to defend against the imperial army's counterattack. I hope your Highness will think twice." Ma Sanbao is still somewhat sensible, and Yan Jun
A complete Beiping City is needed as a nest, not a broken city.
"Boom! I would rather lose the city of Beiping than capture Wan Lei and cut him into pieces with a thousand knives to vent his hatred!"