Realizing that the young man in front of him was by no means as gentle and gentle as he appeared, Xia Zhiling was shocked, but felt at ease in his heart.
As a governor of a province, if he didn't have the temperament to fight decisively, the imperial court would not be able to send him here to clean up this mess. And with the current situation in Shaanxi being extremely dangerous, it would be impossible without such a ruthless character.
Thinking that if Wubao County could really be saved, the whole situation would be different. At this time, Xia Zhiling's thoughts became more vivid and he began to seriously think about how to cooperate with Feng Ziying to fight the battle of Wubao.
There is no longer the mentality of just sitting there and waiting for death.
Seeing Xia Zhiling's eyes moving, Feng Ziying also knew that this guy had been inspired by her to have confidence and fighting spirit, so that he could have hope.
Your identity cannot be exposed at will. Xia Zhiling can know it, but you need to keep it secret from others, otherwise you will be really in danger.
After thinking for a long time, Xia Zhiling still shook his head in frustration: "Sir, it's not easy to unite this group of people. These people are all local gentry, and they have more or less connections in the province and even in the court...
…”
"Mr. Xia, is this the time to talk about this? Whether it's the province, I am the biggest in the province now, Lu Chuan, or Sun Yijie, if they dare to go against me on this kind of thing, then they will have to consider it.
I wonder if they, the chief envoys and the censors, can be removed from office. Although I do not have the power to deprive them of their posts, I still have the status of censor of the capital procuratorate. There is no problem in impeaching them. I believe this
At this time, the ministers in the cabinet will not be confused about the importance. As for the relationship between the court and the inside,..." Feng Ziying smiled contemptuously, "Can they be tougher than me?"
At this time, he must have enough momentum to make Xia Zhiling truly convinced of his courage and connections, so that he dares to stand with him completely and not be half-hearted.
Xia Zhiling thought the same thing. At this time, if he was still looking forward and backward, worried that these people would settle accounts in the future, he might as well just wait for death. It was so easy to wait for this person to come. If he didn't take the opportunity to do something with him, he would still wait.
What?
Gritting his teeth, Xia Zhiling nodded heavily: "My lord has taught me a lesson. If this is the case, what are you going to do?"
"In this county, are there any useful people around you, that is, among the government officials and the people?" Feng Ziying asked in a deep voice.
"Wubao is a remote and small county. It certainly doesn't have great talents, but there is an old man in the barracks. He once served in the Yulin Army. Later, he was injured and retired from the army. When he came back to his hometown, I saw that he had some martial arts, and he
He was able to ride a horse and shoot arrows, so he was summoned into the military room to help train the people. Unexpectedly, he would come in handy this time. He defended the city in the past few days. It was all thanks to his good command that he was able to block the siege of the rebel army.
"
Xia Zhiling introduced.
Several people around Feng Ziying, such as Li Guibao, Liu Dingfeng and others, are all outstanding in terms of martial arts and are good at individual combat. However, when it comes to leading troops in battle, they are not good at it. Feng Ziying herself is fine, but it is difficult to survive alone.
Thousands of people are defending the city, and if there are not enough officers around them, trouble will still happen.
"What was this person's original position?" Feng Ziying asked again.
"I served as a general flag officer in the Yulin Army, but my leg was injured when I was raising hundreds of households, so I failed." Xia Zhiling introduced.
Feng Ziying was sure that if what Xia Zhiling said was true, then these hundred-household-level officers were not bad in the Yulin army. They could command hundreds of people in the army. They were barely usable in a city defense battle like this.
Already.
"Okay, if that's the case, then let him lead the Minzhuang and the Yamen. I still have a few available people around me. They are not good at leading troops in battles, but they are good at attacking in critical moments. The other two
Twenty or thirty people will come one after another every day, all of this type..."
Feng Ziying also briefly introduced the manpower on her side, and also put forward some of her own ideas.
"..., you calculate the good fortunes of the country gentlemen in the city who have servants and slaves in their hands, and also classify them according to their attitudes and personalities. I ask them to accurately count the number of people who can be used, and then determine how to do it.
Disposal,…”
There was no doubt in the tone of Feng Ziying's words. At this time, he had completely convinced Xia Zhiling to obey the arrangement.
"Sir, although the Zeng and Qu families have the most soldiers, they are probably the most difficult to deal with. I told them twice the day before yesterday, but they refused to agree." Xia Zhiling looked worried, "They live in
Shuncheng East Street, they echo each other from afar, and they are usually protected by several people from the world. Dozens of people escort them to and from the county government. They also have some connections in the court. If we want to take it hard, I am afraid there will be a conflict. "
"Which family is more rebellious, the Zeng family or the Qu family?" Feng Ziying pondered.
Xia Zhiling was stunned for a moment, then thought for a moment before saying: "The Zeng family is more powerful, but because their son is an official in Shanxi Town, the Qu family is even more unruly and often makes arrogant remarks..."
"Being an official in Shanxi Town? Where do you want to be an official?" Feng Ziying asked coldly.
"I heard that he is a member of the garrison stationed at Laoniuwan Fort." Xia Zhiling said without thinking.
"Oh, Lao Niuwan Fort is garrisoned. I heard that the Tumuts are harassing that front line. The battle is difficult and dangerous. If you don't know how to restrain yourself, you will cause disaster." Feng Ziying said quietly.
Xia Zhiling didn't understand what he meant for a while and looked at Feng Ziying in surprise.
Feng Ziying didn't talk nonsense, just nodded and said slowly: "I know about this matter, and I have my own way of dealing with it. I just ask, if these two families surrender, what other gentry, country squires, soldiers, and servants in the city can be used by me?"
Xia Zhiling perked up, "If these two families can bow their heads and obey orders, then other families will follow these two families' lead, so naturally it won't matter..."
"Okay, this matter has been settled." Feng Ziying waved her hand, "Now let's analyze the rebels outside the city and how to defeat the enemy..."
*********
The old man in brown shirt returned to the house, took a cup of tea handed to him by his servant, took a sip and put it down, followed by two strong men behind him, "Dad, what did Mr. Xia say?"
"What else can I say? It's not just that. He wants to use his own head to gain a reputation for loyalty. Why should we accompany him?" The old man in brown shirt flicked his sleeves and said impatiently: "What's going on outside the city?
explain?"
"The other side said that if you don't leave, you won't be able to leave by tomorrow and the day after. Waitianqi refuses to let go and is already putting pressure on both sides. It is estimated that they will attack the city the day after tomorrow at the most. It has been agreed from outside.
When our group leaves the city, we will first give you half of the silver, and then we will give you the other half when we get to the Xiongyu Ferry..."
The older man said in a deep voice: "But they also said over there that food is not allowed to be taken out. It is too conspicuous. We want those who are left behind in the city to leave them here. When the city is broken, we
The people directly brought their people over to take over..."
The old man in brown shirt sighed, "It's a pity that these three thousand stones of corn are worth it. If we sold them openly, we would get at least twenty thousand taels of silver..."
"Dad, let's do it now..." Another younger man couldn't help but say.
"Stupid! If you suddenly start selling grain at this time, won't it make the county government alert? Outsiders will understand immediately, and I'm afraid they won't buy it, but will come to rob it..." Brown Shirt
The old man glanced at his youngest son.
"These grains are valuable, but now we can only leave them. It is important to save our lives and property. Don't look at these bandits as if they are loyal and loyal. That's because they know that if there is a collapse, they will not be able to get the money."
Now that we have got it, the power of Wailing Sky Flag is much stronger than theirs. Rather than begging for food from the fingers of Wailing Sky Flag, we might as well cooperate in our way and everyone will be happy..."
When the old man in brown shirt said this, he couldn't help stroking his beard and smiling proudly, "Of course, the reputation of our brothers also played a big role, otherwise I think if we don't agree to his conditions this afternoon, the magistrate may not tolerate us.
We walked out of the county government gate."
"Dad, isn't that true?" The young man couldn't help but said: "We have never offended him, and we should be filial to those who should be filial. But we know that we can't defend the city, so we insist on sending us, number 100, to death.
No one agrees,..."
"Hmph, you think that the magistrate is a good person. I watched carefully. He wanted to attack several times. The cripple Wu Er in the west of the city was a dog he raised. He trained the people well. He was in the Yamen
We are waiting outside. Fortunately, our Qu family and Zeng family have some connections. Those who are making a lot of noise have taken advantage of our two families. Otherwise, the magistrate would go to great lengths to force someone to be handed over. Will you hand it over?
pay?"
The old man in brown shirt shook his head repeatedly, "As a father, I still have lingering fears. At that moment, I saw the expression on the magistrate's face changing, and I was deeply afraid that if he turned cruelly against us, we would really not be able to escape."
"In that case, Dad, let's leave tonight." When the two sons heard what their father said, their previous courage quickly melted away. The words of Miemen Ling Yin were not false. If the county magistrate was really
If you want to be ruthless, your own army is really not enough.
"Well, let's go tonight and contact their people. Everything will be done as agreed and to their satisfaction." The old man in brown shirt nodded, "Everyone should change clothes quickly now, while the West City Gate is still open.
Several of our families are guarding..."
Just as he was talking, he heard a noise outside the door, and the old man in brown shirt became furious, "What's the noise? Get out of here and I'll punish you with a cane!"
"Master, Master,..." A domestic slave ran in, panting, "There are dozens of people outside our house,..."
The old man in brown shirt felt nervous, "Who is it? A government official, or a civilian?"
The house slave shook his head repeatedly, "No, he has a strange face, and the accent is not like ours. He has a fierce look, and he wears a bamboo hat to cover the curtain..."
