Chapter 27: King Fu is not in a hurry, I am in a hurry!
In the camp of Zhang Cheng, the commander-in-chief of the aid and suppression campaign, at Kangzhuang Town, on the bank of the Luoshui River, ten miles west of Fugong County, Henan Province. It was just time to light up the lanterns. Strings of lanterns were hung high, and teams of rovers and sentries were patrolling outside the camp.
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At this moment, a group of dozens of horsemen rode into the camp. Zhang Guodong, who was in charge of patrolling the camp, was nearby. He hurriedly stepped forward to ask about the situation, and then led a few people towards the Chinese army's tent.
Zhang Chengzheng was discussing with Wang Yuanjing, Wei Zhice, and Zhang Guangda about the war in Luoyang and Li Ji's encounter. Zhang Guodong came in and reported: "Commander, the brothers who were sent out met the scouts who came from Luoyang to ask for help."
"Oh, how is the war in Luoyang?" Zhang Cheng asked unhurriedly.
He knew that no matter how stingy and stupid Prince Fu was, the city of Luoyang was so strong that it would not be a problem to defend it for ten days and a half. Therefore, Zhang Cheng was really not too anxious about the war in Luoyang.
Zhang Guodong took a few steps forward, placed a letter on the desk in front of Zhang Cheng, and said: "They have brought a joint letter from Lu Weiqi, the Minister of the Ministry of War in Nanjing, and Kang Menghui, the prefect of Henan."
Zhang Cheng picked up the letter, opened it and read it carefully, and said: "The intruders are in a hurry to attack the city, so they urge me to go to Luoyang as soon as possible. In addition, they also sent people to Kaifeng to mobilize the deputy general of Henan Province, Chen Yongfu, to lead troops to rescue Luoyang."
Wei Zhice asked: "What does the commander-in-chief mean?"
Zhang Cheng smiled and said lightly: "Prince Fu is not in a hurry yet. It can be seen that the situation in Luoyang is not that pessimistic. From then on, going west, there is Mang Mountain in the north and Luoshui in the south. There are many ravines, hills and valleys.
Nowadays, most of the intruders are gathered around Luoyang. We are new to Henan and are not familiar with the terrain. We must not advance alone or be ambushed by the bandits."
Zhang Cheng seized a batch of grain and silver from Li Jiyu's camp in the west of Mi County. Although all the grain and grain in Mi County were distributed to the local people inside and outside the city, the silver in Mi County's official treasury was
He brought it back, and it was indeed a great harvest.
Moreover, when the army passed through Xingyang the day before yesterday, they replenished their supplies of grain. Now that they have plenty of money and grain, he is not afraid of staying in Gongxian for a longer time.
Zhang Guangda then continued: "Commander, Li Jiyu in Dengfeng needs to deal with it as soon as possible. I'm afraid something will happen if it's too late."
Zhang Cheng glanced at Zhang Guodong and said: "Guodong, go make arrangements and ask Cheng Fang and Jin Tai to take charge of patrolling the camp. Then call Chen Zhong, Fang Ping and others to come, and let's have a chat while eating."
…………
In Luoyang City, the intruder Li Zicheng has been the center of people's attention since mid-November. The real news and various rumors were mixed and spread throughout the city, causing panic.
Although various official councils in the city issued notices strictly prohibiting rumors, rumors have been suppressed in the past dynasties, and each time they became more and more evil.
In fact, one of the most widely circulated theories is that in the eighth year of Chongzhen's reign, Li Zicheng and his old king Gao Yingxiang failed to attack Luoyang. This time they came to take revenge. When the city was broken, all the people in the city would be massacred.
Of course, there are also some new rumors spreading among the people at the bottom. It is said that King Chuang "only kills officials and does not hurt the people" and other rumors. No matter which kind of rumors, it seems that someone is deliberately spreading them.
Now the intruders have surrounded Luoyang and have been attacking for several days. Although there is no sign of breaking through the city of Luoyang yet, the people in the city are already panicked. Various rumors are flying around and all forces are ready to take action.
The most obvious problem currently facing the officials in the city is imminent, causing fear and worry among the officials and generals in the city, and that is the issue of unpaid wages for the defenders in the city!
On this day, Wang Yinchang, the commander of the Henan patrol army, Wang Shaoyu, the commander-in-chief of Henan Province, Kang Menghui, the prefect, Zhang Zhengxue, the county magistrate, and several local gentry were gathered at the Yiluo Academy of the CCP at the former Nanjing Ministry of War Shangshu Lu Weiqi to discuss the matter of defending the city.
Lu Weiqi once served as the Minister of the Ministry of War in Nanjing. He was the most famous and respected among the gentry in Luoyang City. After he resigned from Nanjing and returned to Luoyang, he single-handedly founded Yiluo Academy, where he lectured and taught scriptures and had many disciples.
Yinchang, the king of military preparations, took the lead and said: "The bandits are attacking the city very urgently today, and the rumors are getting louder in the city. There are rumors that the intruders only kill officials and do not hurt the people. What else?" The gates were opened to welcome King Chuang. King Chuang "Don't pay for food when you come" and "Open the door early to pay homage to King Chuang, and he will discipline everyone with joy".
Nowadays, the people's hearts are showing signs of instability. If the rumors are allowed to spread again, I fear that the ignorant people in the city will be incited by this and believe it to be true, and will forget the kindness of the Ming Dynasty for three hundred years.
The city garrison soldiers have been complaining a lot about the lack of pay recently. Just now, local civil and military officials and several gentry came to our branch office to discuss how to stabilize the morale of the army and protect the important land of the Luoyang vassal.
We discussed it for a while, but the treasury was empty and we were unable to do anything, so we came together to seek advice from Sir. Only Sir can save Luoyang!"
Lu Weiqi put down the tea cup and just said: "The students have returned from their dismissal from Nanjing and wandered in the forest, only to give lectures. I never thought that the bandits would become so rampant day by day. I saw that the rivers and Luo were not protected, and the land was sinking in the Central Plains. Danger, but also worried in my heart.
Luoyang has always been a battleground for military strategists, and it is also the location of the graves of the students' ancestors. Whether it is for the country or their family, the students are willing to follow the princes and do their best to protect this land.
I don’t know, gentlemen, what can I expect from you when you come here today?”
Kang Menghui, the governor of Henan Prefecture, spoke at this time and said: "In the current situation, if you want to hold on to Luoyang, you must stabilize the morale of the military and stabilize the morale of the people as soon as possible. Once the morale of the people is gone and the morale of the military changes, it will be too late.
The intruders claimed everywhere that they would not kill civilians, but only officials and gentry. Once the city of Luoyang was destroyed, not only all the civil and military officials and gentry present here would be killed, but I am afraid that the old gentleman would also be in trouble.
What's more important is that His Royal Highness Prince Fu is the beloved son of Emperor Shenzong and the emperor's uncle. If Luoyang City is breached by bandits and the Fu Domain falls into the hands of thieves, how should we, as ministers, deal with your father? ?
Besides..."
Lu Weiqi didn't want to listen to his big principles, so he cut off the prefect Kang Menghui's words and said directly: "The situation in Luoyang is urgent now. If you have anything to say, please just say it directly. Don't mention those big principles!"
Seeing him like this, Kang Menghui stopped beating around the bush and continued: "For the survival of Luoyang, the local civil and military forces certainly have the responsibility to protect the land, and they cannot shirk it.
However, at this critical moment when the people's minds are in confusion and the military's morale is wavering, the survival of Luoyang City really depends on His Highness Prince Fu.
Nowadays, the people in Luoyang City are spreading rumors that the grain in the warehouse of Prince Fu is piled up like a mountain, and it is too rotten to eat. But the people all over the city are living on the streets, and a large number of them die of cold and hunger every day. In this world, It would be strange if I don't follow suit!'..."
Commander-in-Chief Wang Shaoyu also interjected at this time: "The soldiers have not been paid for eight months, and they often cursed behind their backs.
They all said, 'Prince Fu has so much gold and silver that his strings of money are all rotten. But we haven't had any pay for almost a year. What bastard is still defending the city for him!'
We are military generals, and it is our duty to die loyally to our country, but if these generals under our command are unwilling to sacrifice their lives, how can we defend this huge city of Luoyang?"
Yinchang, the branch patrol king, also continued: "The only way to save Luoyang at the moment is to ask His Highness Prince Fu to open a warehouse again, spend tens of thousands of taels of silver to reward the soldiers, and provide thousands of loads of grain to help the hungry people in the city.
Without this last move, Luoyang will no longer be able to be defended, Prince Fu’s vassal wealth will no longer be preserved, and we and all of us will also perish together!”
Because of the somber tone of the Military Preparation King Yinchang, everyone present felt a sense of sadness, and there was a sudden silence in the room, with only gentle sighs.
Lu Weiqi was also thinking hard. After a long time, he slowly raised his head and asked:
"My lords, why don't you give this pasta to His Highness the King of Blessings?"