Fenghou

Chapter 1413 Invitation

In Changfeng Teahouse, Lu Gang handed a letter to Wang Mu. Wang Mu took a look at the letter and was shocked, "It's a letter from His Highness!"

Lu Gang nodded, "His Royal Highness's fleet will arrive at Qiantang Bay in two days. His Highness wants to meet the people of Lin'an. You can post this letter on the headlines tomorrow."

Wang Mu frowned, "Your Highness wants to see the common people, how can you ensure your safety?"

"Of course I won't get off the boat. Your Highness will meet the people on the shore at the bow of the boat. When you pass by Lin'an, you must say hello!"

Dong An pondered for a while and said, "I'm afraid that the imperial court will close the gates of the city and prevent the people from leaving the city under the pretext of being safe."

Lu Gang smiled and said: "This is expected, but can Lin'an City hold the people?"

Both Wang Mu and Dong An laughed, they really couldn't close it, the part of the city wall beside the West Lake had been built for ten years, and there was still a gap of three miles wide.

"I see!"

Wang Mu put away the channel: "It will definitely appear in the newspaper at noon tomorrow!"

At noon of the next day, the "Beijing News" made a sensation in Lin'an City again, and a letter written by Chen Qing was published on the front page.

"After a few years, you can be safe and healthy?——To the people of Lin'an"

This letter is not addressed to the emperor Zhao Gou, nor to civil and military officials, but to millions of people in Lin'an. In the letter, King Yong said that he was patrolling Fujian Road and passing by Lin'an. He came here to visit the people in Lin'an. Meet the people by the Qiantang River.

One stone stirred up waves of thousands of stones, and the people of Lin'an rushed to tell each other that His Royal Highness Yong Wang would come to An. The news quickly fermented, and various speculations spread on the streets of Lin'an. At the same time attack Lin'an.

And he said it with a nose and an eye, and people couldn't help but see the spectacular scene of thousands of sails gathering in Qiantang Bay in their minds.

This time, the emperor Zhao Gou was also extremely nervous. He urgently called the Minister of Political Affairs to discuss the matter and discuss the countermeasures.

Xu Xiantu smiled slightly and said, "In fact, it was written very clearly in the newspaper. He just passed through Lin'an to make an appearance and show his existence. That's all. I don't think you need to worry too much."

Qin Hui shook his head and said: "Xu Xiangguo's thinking is too simple. Coastal defense is our weakest link. If the Western Army's [-] troops suddenly come from the sea and directly approach the city, Lin'an will be unable to resist. This is the most dangerous Yes, isn’t there such a possibility? I think it’s entirely possible, we have to prepare for the worst, Your Majesty, I suggest that we immediately mobilize troops from various places to defend Lin’an.”

The worry in Zhao Gou's heart was similar to Qin Hui's. He pondered for a while, and then asked Zhang Jun, "What do you think of Zhang Aiqing?"

Zhang Jun said indifferently: "Weichen and Xu Xiangguo have the same ideas. There is no need for Chen Qing to sneak attack Lin'an. If he wants to attack Lin'an, he will definitely be upright, write a letter of appeal, inform the world, and then take a step to see. What is a sneak attack on Lin'an? If it's not right, Chen Qing won't do such a stupid thing."

Zhang Jun's words were very frank, which really made Zhao Gou a little unacceptable, but on the other hand, Zhao Gou's heart also fell. He was really afraid that Chen Qing would raid Lin'an, and his troops were deployed around for defense. They couldn't go back to Lin'an within a day, and Lin'an only had [-] troops. If it was true as rumored, Chen Qing led an army of [-] to attack Lin'an by sea, and their troops would not be able to resist it at all.

At this time, Zhu Shengfei also said: "My minister also thinks that the possibility of war is not very high. All kinds of war preparations are required to start a war. We have spies on Jiangbei and Jiangnan West Roads, but there is no news about this. Everything is calm. , and there was also news from the Jingzhao intelligence point that Chen Qing went to Fujian Road for inspection. Based on the time, it was indeed Chen Qing who was on his way back from Fujian Road. Weichen believes that Chen Qing actually wanted to use this opportunity to win over the hearts of the people. .”

"Zhu Xiangguo is right!"

Wan Qixi also said: "Now Lin'an City is almost boiling because of Chen Qing's upcoming arrival. I am afraid there will be a scene that we don't want to see. The city is full of empty alleys, and they all go to the Qiantang River. Your Majesty, we must prevent this from happening."

Except for Qin Hui who believed that the Western Army would sneak attack, the other four ministers believed that the sneak attack would not happen. The emperor Zhao Gou was also convinced by everyone that the possibility of a sneak attack was unlikely, but what Wan Qixie said also made Zhao Gou vigilant. Chen Qing wants to gain popularity and popular support in Lin'an, how can he allow it?
The crowd dispersed, Zhao Gou left Qin Hui and Wan Qixi behind, Zhao Gou sat on the dragon chair and said silently for a moment, "Can you use this opportunity to kill Chen Qing?"

Qin Hui was taken aback. Although he wanted to kill Chen Qing very much, he could tell which was more important. If the assassination was successful, it would be fine, but if it failed, Chen Qing would take revenge, and he would be the first to bear the brunt.

"Your Majesty, Chen Qing must be well-protected, and it may not even be him who shows up. If the assassination fails, he will be given an excuse to go to war. I don't recommend this."

Zhao Gou also realized that he was impulsive in thinking about the problem. How could Chen Qing give himself a chance to assassinate him? He suppressed the impulse in his heart, and said: "Wan Qi Xiangguo reminded me well just now, Chen Qing's move must be to buy people's hearts. , I can't tolerate the situation where thousands of people are empty, please tell me! Is there any way to prevent it?"

Qin Hui glanced at Wan Qixie, Wan Qixie bowed and said: "I have also considered it just now. The best way is to close the city gate. The excuse is to prevent people from crowding and stepping on it. But there is a loophole in the West Lake city wall, so it needs to be closed." The army intercepted there, such as blocking the road with sandbags."

Zhao Gou nodded, and then asked Qin Hui, "What about Qin Xianggong's opinion?"

Qin Hui smiled sinisterly and said: "The humble job recommends a two-pronged approach. Today and tomorrow, we will go door-to-door to inform the people that a war may break out, and tell them not to go out and avoid danger at home. This step will at least make more than half of the people afraid to go out. The second step is Mr. Wan Qi’s plan to close the city gates and build roadblocks on the West Lake, but the reason is not to prevent crowding and stampede, but to prevent wars, people are afraid of death, they will not take this risk to go to the Qiantang River.”

Zhao Gou praised again and again, "That's the decision!"

He immediately ordered: "Call Yan Xin and Yang Yizhong to see me!"

Wang Bo, the county magistrate of Qiantang, came back from the government office of Lin'an Prefecture with a lot of worries, and immediately called his aide, Jia Yingfang, and said to him, "I just received the mission, let us cooperate with the army to conduct door-to-door propaganda, and ask the people not to go out in the morning the day after tomorrow, especially not to go to the Qiantang River Side, tell them that war will break out, in a word, prevent them from going out."

Jia Yingfang frowned and said: "The intention of doing this is too obvious. It is to prevent the people from seeing King Yong, but it will make everyone more disgusted. I'm afraid it will backfire in the end."

"The result has nothing to do with us. We just need to implement the orders from above and go door to door to inform the people. You write a notice first, and I will find someone to copy dozens of copies and post them all over the city."

Jia Yingfang rolled her eyes and said, "I'll write it! Write it now!"

"All the people in the city know that Chen Qing, the king of Yong, wants to seize Lin'an, and he tricks the people out of the city to slaughter them in order to seize the city. His intentions are sinister and must be guarded against. The emperor and the court want to keep the people safe. Please trust the court and stay at home. King Yong's treachery."

A full notice is to let the people believe in the imperial court, not to go out, not to go to the riverside, or they will be massacred by Chen Qing. The whole notice is correct in thinking, clear in purpose, and intimidating. Whether it will have an effect or have the opposite effect is unknown.

(End of this chapter)