Outside the house, Li Li pressed her whole body on top of the man, her face flushed red, and tried to use all her strength to subdue the man, but the man still struggled fiercely. On the other hand, another woman from the camp jumped on him and tied him up three or five times.
, sitting on the ground honestly.
When Xian Ruxing and Zhu Houcong came out, they saw a group of people surrounding them and interrogating them. They couldn't help but wonder: "What's wrong?"
After struggling to walk over, he said quite proudly: "Xiangu, we caught two people with evil intentions. When these two people first came here, one pretended to be mute and the other pretended to stutter. They gestured back and forth but didn't speak. At that time, everyone didn't think much about it, but it turned out just now
The grandma of the Li family accidentally spilled hot water on them, good guy, she blurted out in Jiangxi dialect!"
"Grandma Li thought it was strange and told me about it. I leaned over and took a look, and they actually had knives in their arms! They must be either human traffickers or robbers. Fortunately, we reacted quickly!"
Xian Ruxing raised his eyebrows, squatted down and asked the two men, "What are you doing here? Just you two?"
It stands to reason that the criminal would have to quibble when his identity is revealed, but strangely, these two people remained silent.
More like a large fork.
What are you doing? Filming "Aquaman"?
Xian Ruxing's mind was filled with questions.
Zhu Houcong, on the other hand, frowned when he saw it and said in a deep voice: "Short-handled trident, are you a military household?"
The so-called "short-handled trident" was a conventional weapon in the Ming army at this time. For short-distance soldiers, daggers and waist knives require more raw materials and have higher requirements for users. Although the trident does not look good, it is easy to carry.
Convenient and more lethal.
The two men were identified and quickly denied it. When they opened their mouths, their accents were revealed.
Xian Ruxing touched his chin, and a ridiculous thought flashed through his mind that he couldn't even believe.
Jiangxi, army...
"Are you from Prince Ning?"
Meaning, I couldn't help but take a breath of cold air. I held the weapon in my right hand, pressed it firmly against one person's neck, and said sternly: "How many more people do you have? Tell me!"
Facing the threat of death, the two of them did not dare to hide anything anymore and could only tell the truth.
After listening to this, Xian Ruxing sighed in his heart, what is this?
It turned out that the news of Anlu taking in refugees reached Prince Ning's ears, and the whereabouts of Li Jie were not concealed. Prince Ning couldn't sit still after learning that Prince Xing's Mansion and the local magistrate were helping the Fei clan.
Originally, according to his plan, after raising troops in his hometown of Jiangxi Prefecture, he went directly northward by water to capture Yingtian Prefecture, which was later known as Nanjing. As the capital of the Ming Dynasty, Yingtian Prefecture was not only of great strategic significance, but also the southern hub of the entire Ming Dynasty. Once it was breached
, can be said to be unstoppable.
But the prerequisite for doing this was that other southern officials did not resist. Originally, with the precedent of "Jingnan", King Ning was confident that most of the officials would no longer be willing to interfere with the housework of Lao Zhu's family. However, Anlu
This incident made him somewhat undecided. If on the way to attack Nanjing, the enemy attacked from behind, he would probably fall short in the end.
Therefore, after thinking about it, King Ning decided to divide his troops into two groups. One hundred thousand troops would march north to conquer Yingtian Mansion, while another fifty thousand troops would march westward to annihilate Huguang.
But don't underestimate these 50,000 people. As I said before, the local defense in the Ming Dynasty was extremely lax, and the phenomenon of empty pay was very serious. For a relatively large state like Anlu, it would be good to have seven or eight hundred soldiers and horses.
Fifty thousand people entered Anlu, which was almost overwhelming.
Xian Ruxing could not have imagined that because of the effort he put in to speak out, this small move would cause such a big commotion by fluttering the butterfly's wings.
Now, according to what these two scouts said, King Ning's troops will be able to reach Anlu Prefecture in one day. The person leading the troops is King Ning's clan brother Zhu Chenting. By then, no one in the entire prefecture will be able to get a good result.
.
Thinking of this, Zhu Houcong did not dare to stay longer, and immediately asked Xian Ruxing to get on his horse and hurried back to the city.
Xian Ruxing turned around and looked at the old and weak people who were hesitant to speak. The young man was slightly stunned, and then waved his hand helplessly, "Let them follow, lead the team with great effort, and arrange to enter the palace directly after entering the city."
Xian Ruxing thanked him quickly, exchanged a few words with Fei Jin, and left with Zhu Houcong.
…
Zhizhou Prefecture.
Xu Zhizhou was half-lying on a chair, with a reddish complexion. He took a sip of "white grain wine" under the service of his concubine Ji. This wine is a local specialty of Huguang. It is made from a mixture of rice and sorghum. It has a mellow and sweet taste and a long aftertaste.
In the past, Xu Zhizhou would never have done this kind of thing like drinking during the day, given his timid temperament. However, he recently met a big happy event, and he was really happy.
Because he took the initiative to take in the refugees and solved the trouble for the imperial court, Xu Zhizhou received many awards. Even the Shangguan informed him that he would probably go to Beijing directly next time he was promoted.
Zhizhou is already a fifth-grade and fourth-grade official in the capital. Thinking about it makes you happy.
Speaking of which, after living in Huguang for so many years, I feel a little bit reluctant to leave suddenly. Although Anlu is not as wealthy as Jiangnan, it is densely populated, rich in products, and quiet...
Xu Zhizhou was sighing with emotion when suddenly, the steward's anxious voice came from outside the door: "Master, Crown Prince Xing is here, and he is bringing the royal family's chief minister with him. He wants to see you urgently. He said, he said... Prince Ning has called.
!”
"Bang." Xu Zhizhou couldn't sit still and fell directly to the ground. He got up in embarrassment, pushed away the concubine next to him, and said tremblingly: "How is this possible! Hurry, bring people in!"
When Zhu Houcong saw Xu Zhizhou, he frowned because he was smelling of alcohol. However, the situation was urgent, so he explained it calmly, and then showed him the captured scout. In this way, Xu Zhizhou was considered
Completely convinced.
"What should I do?" He looked bitter and paced back and forth in the lobby. Suddenly something occurred to him and he quickly said: "By the way! I'm going to find someone to go to Wuchang Mansion for help now! King Chu happened to be in Wuchang too, and he was going back and forth.
It’s only four or five days, even if Prince Ning comes, we can always hold on for four or five days!”
"Xu Zhizhou," Zhu Houcong glanced at him with a complicated expression, "do you think the people in Wuchang Prefecture wouldn't know if 50,000 people came to Anlu from Jiangxi Prefecture?"
Xu Zhizhou was stunned and blinked blankly.
Zhu Houcong sighed, "I'm afraid that the current King of Chu has already tacitly approved of King Ning's actions."
"Then..." Xu Zhizhou had no choice but to hesitate for a long time and said: "If the boy from the Fei family is handed over..."
"It's useless. What Prince Ning wants is to solve Anlu's major problem." Zhu Houcong interrupted impatiently, his heart filled with disgust for Xu Zhizhou. At this time, he couldn't help but think that such a person could be a fraud.
Fifth Rank Official, how many moths are there in the entire Ming Dynasty?
No longer paying attention to this waste, Zhu Houcong turned around and asked the man beside him: "Does Yuan Changshi have any insights?"
The man of Yuan sex was named Yuan Zonggao. He was a Jinshi in the third year of Hongzhi. He had been with King Xing when he came to the vassal more than twenty years ago. He had an upright and honest personality and was very trusted by the palace.
He thought carefully and said slowly: "Your Majesty, although 50,000 people seem to be too many, if Anlu wants to hold on, it shouldn't be a problem for a month or two. The reinforcements from the court will probably arrive by then. As long as we persist,
There is no way out."
In ancient times, there was actually no good way to siege a city. It was mainly based on the word "siege". The city ran out of water and if you couldn't stand it, you opened the door and surrendered.
At this time, Xu Zhizhou also came to his senses and said with a sad smile: "Reinforcements? As long as King Ning takes Yingtian, the whole country will have to think of ways to protect Yingtian. How can there be time to care about us? Even if the imperial court wins, at least
It will take a year and a half before I can free my hands, and I'm afraid my bones will be cold!"
His face was pale and his eyes kept moving, as if he was making a decision.
Zhu Houcong was such a fine person that he naturally understood what he was thinking and said coldly: "Xu Zhizhou, are you thinking of abandoning the city and running away? Don't blame me for not reminding you. I am just a vassal king. I have taken back military power since I became an ancestor.
Later, I stayed in the vassal territory just to continue the royal bloodline, but you are an official of the imperial court. If you really do that thing of throwing away your armor, according to the "Great Ming Law", you will know the result."
"Your Majesty, you are joking..." Xu Zhizhou laughed dryly, then sat back and said nothing.
There was dead silence in the room, and after a while, a soft female voice sounded.
"Well... how about I say a few words?"
Xian Ruxing suddenly spoke. Originally, she was not qualified to attend such an occasion. However, Zhu Houcong probably believed in the other party's identity as a "cultivator". Even though Xian Ruxing had said before that based on his combat power, he should not be able to defeat ordinary peasant women.
She did.
Although Yuan Zonggao had not communicated much with Xian Ruxing, he had always been gentle, so he still said, "What advice does Master Xian have?"
Xian Ruxing glanced at the map Zhu Houcong brought, and said slowly: "I wonder if many of you have read "The Art of War" by Sun Tzu. There is a passage in it that left a deep impression on me. As the saying goes, 'roll up your armor and move forward, staying away day and night, double the road'
Travel at the same time, strive for profit within a hundred miles, and capture three generals.'"
None of them are military attachés and have only a little knowledge of the art of war. I know that this sentence means that soldiers move forward lightly and rush for hundreds of miles day and night. In the end, they will definitely be defeated.
"This is how marching is. As long as there is a rush, the stronger ones in the team will arrive first, and the weaker ones will arrive later. If we include equipment, food, grass, uniforms, and supplies, it would be good if one-tenth of them can come here in the end. According to those two
The scout said that the general wanted to capture Anlu in advance in order to achieve meritorious service. They only spent two days in Wuchang Prefecture for repairs. The distance from Wuchang Prefecture to Anlu is at least two hundred miles, so..."
"So what?" Zhu Houcong's heart was pounding when he heard this, and his eyes were filled with brilliance as he stared straight at the girl.
Xian Ruxing smiled slightly, "So why don't we strike first and take the initiative to kill the rebellious officials and traitors!"