Chapter 95: Those who can stop the thieves from the cave city will be rewarded a thousand taels
Zhang Nai was commanding the thieves to attack the city wall south of Fengxi Gate. He was wearing an arrow jacket and cotton armor, and his face was covered with dust.
After two hours of fierce attack, they were still unable to climb the towering city wall of Kaifeng. The soldiers who attacked the city suffered heavy casualties and most of the ladders were damaged.
The west gate seemed to have been filled in, and a crash car was finally transported up, but the city gate did not move at all, and it was impossible to open it.
He was not a dull person, so he changed his strategy in time and completely gave up climbing the Kaifeng city wall. Instead, he formed a separate team with the archers among the generals and the gunners from the army who surrendered in Luoyang.
Under the cover of improvised light shield vehicles, hundreds of them formed a team in front of the city trench, fired arrows, cannons and cannons, and tried their best to suppress the defenders and civilians on the top of the city.
Those thieves who were not good at using bows, arrows, and guns were sent to dig into the city with the hungry people. They saw that seven or eight bricks had been cut out of the city wall in front of them, and they were struggling to dig in.
Because igniting firewood and crossbow arrows were constantly dropped on the city, and guns and cannons were constantly fired at him. Seeing the heavy casualties among the hungry people, he remained indifferent.
A young leader ran over and said: "Young general, the city wall of Kaifeng is hard and thick, and it is very difficult to dig. In many places, city bricks were dug out, and a stone was buried inside. It is really cunning."
"It's hard to dig, but you have to dig."
Zhang Nai's tone was very firm. He looked at the tragic battlefield ahead and continued: "Deploy another thousand people to go immediately, and use shields to escort the injured brothers down first."
He asked again: "By the way. How is Ding Guobao? Send someone up to replace him and take a rest."
"Leader Ding was injured in two places, but fortunately it was not a vital part. He was commanding the brothers to hide in the city and refused to come down even if he was alive."
Zhang Nai then said in a deep voice: "King Chuang has an order. The attack on the city will take place in these two or three days. There will be no pause for a moment. You must first lead people to bring back the injured brothers immediately, and then organize everyone to take turns to eat."
"yes!"
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"What should we do if we let the thieves dig into the city?"
Huang Shu continued worriedly: "The arrows can't be shot, and the muskets can't be hit. The masonry is blocked by the erected door panels. The thieves have dug into the city wall, but what should we do!"
Gao Mingheng was helpless. Although he threw firewood to light a fire at the beginning, it did have some effect. However, there were many thieves and hungry people outside the city. They rushed up one after another. He saw that the thieves had dug more than a dozen large holes in the north and south walls of the city, and more and more holes were dug by thieves.
Dig deeper and deeper.
"Gather all the warriors you have recruited and prepare to lower the city and drive away a group of thieves. We cannot teach them to dig in so carelessly." Gao Mingheng said solemnly.
Li Guangyi of Ximen Headquarters also said: "The Kaifeng city wall is several feet thick and cannot withstand the thieves digging like this. Even if the city is lowered to drive away the thieves, it can only be solved temporarily and is not a long-term solution."
"well!"
Gao Mingheng sighed and said: "The rescue is only temporary. Didn't Zhang Cheng's army gather to rescue in three to five days? Within three to five days, the thieves still can't dig through the city wall."
At this time, the official Huang Shu said: "Unfortunately, there are not enough horse faces built in the West City. Otherwise, the thieves' cave city could be stopped."
Gao Mingheng glanced at him and said: "What's the point of talking about this at this time. Go and send people to the city to spread the news. Anyone who can think of a way to stop the thieves from entering the city will be rewarded with a thousand taels of silver."
…………
Huang Shu, the official of Kaifeng Prefecture, had previously carried a silver box to recruit warriors. Anyone who volunteered to lower the city to kill the thieves would be given twelve taels of silver on the spot, regardless of the outcome. In the end, seven or eight hundred people signed up, and they were screened and talked about. There are still more than 600 people who want to go down to the city to fight against the bandits. Among them are more than 50 people from the Zhou Palace Guards.
But there is one person who is very special. His name is Zhu Zhicang. He is a descendant of the clan, and this time he also participated in the defense of Xicheng as a soldier.
It stands to reason that a clan member like him does not need to personally participate in the city defense. Even if he needs to go out as a soldier due to his rich family wealth, he will be replaced by the servants of his respective family.
Although Zhu Zhicang's ancestors were born as commoners and the title they inherited was not high, their lives were not difficult and they had enough land to live at home.
However, the Ming Dynasty did not allow the children of these clans to serve as officials or engage in business. Those clans that were larger than princes and princes could still rely on their power to have their subordinates do business on their behalf to increase their income.
However, there is no market for a low-level clan like his, so when it comes to his generation, although they still bear the false reputation of being a clan, their family fortunes have already declined, and they can barely survive by relying only on the fixed salary of the clan. My family's livelihood is also very difficult.
Naturally, Zhu Zhicang's generation could not receive a good education like his ancestors, although they could study in official schools for free and without examination.
However, the family's livelihood was difficult, and they neglected to discipline him. Moreover, Zhu Zhicang had a unique personality. Although he was a scholar, he usually looked like a scholar.
But behind the scenes, he is like a wild boy, wandering around Kaifeng City and playing very well. He is very familiar with the young men in the city, and has also learned some boxing and kicking skills. Although he cannot compare with the thugs from various sects, he is already stronger than them. An ordinary person.
A descendant of the clan like him should not be allowed to roam around the city at will. The most appropriate thing to do is to spend his whole life eating in his own house and waiting to die.
If you feel that life is boring, you can ask the servants in the mansion to go to the city to find some girls from the kilns to relieve your boredom. Even if you like a girl from a certain house, you can directly welcome them to the mansion.
Generally speaking, the government will not directly interfere with such matters, and the court will not care about such trivial matters. As long as they, the clan members, do not participate in rebellion, everything is not a crime.
But Zhu Zhicang could not enjoy these high-level treatment. After all, there were too many children in the Henan clan, and since there were nine people who were crowned princes, it did not matter how many county princes there were.
Let's just say that from the county princes down, they range from the first-rank general who governs the country, from the second-rank general who assists the country, from the third-rank general Fengguo, from the fourth-rank lieutenant who controls the country, to the fifth-rank lieutenant who assists the country. There are countless.
Unless these people have extremely high emotional intelligence, perhaps through family efforts, perhaps through marriage, etc., they can still barely maintain their family's noble and powerful status.
Lieutenant Fengguo was already the last rank in the clan, and was taken very seriously in the early Ming Dynasty. However, by the end of the Ming Dynasty, the descendants of the clan had multiplied and passed on, and Lieutenant Fengguo was everywhere.
Because of this, although Zhu Zhicang signed up to join the social army because his family was poor, which was indeed a violation of the clan's rules, no one reported him. Even if someone did, the government would not have the time to deal with this matter.
His family members went to collect the meager salary that was paid on time, but Zhu Zhicang had his own ideas. He wanted to fight hard for himself and the future.
Disciples of the clan like him can be seen everywhere in Kaifeng cars. Although he is not starving to death, he has long been tired of such a boring life.
He firmly believed that he would be able to stand out and would never remain unknown all his life, so he was the first to sign up to join the first batch of teams descending from the city.