The Second Master of the Red Chamber

While the fighting was raging at the foot of the mountains on the east and west sides, the situation on Tiewang Mountain was unusually calm.

"Your Majesty! We can't wait any longer, we must send troops immediately!"

Inside Emperor Ningkang's palace, his trusted ministers were divided into two factions.

Emperor Ning Kang naturally also noticed the big commotion at the foot of the mountain.

Some people advocated a joint attack from both inside and outside, sending out the troops in the palace to join forces with the troops down the mountain to attack from both inside and outside, and to break through the two lines of defense of the Infantry Camp and the Beidaying in one fell swoop.

But another group of people insisted on staying put.

"We cannot send troops. The Cavalry Battalion has not yet moved. If we send troops, the palace will be empty-handed and the Cavalry Battalion will attack us. Where will your Majesty's safety be?"

Conservatives are arguing.

I don’t know whether they are really worried about the emperor’s safety or they are afraid that the Cavalry Battalion will come and take their lives.

Emperor Ning Kang also frowned.

He knew that if he chose to attack from both inside and outside with the troops at the foot of the mountain, the Infantry Battalion and the Northern Camp surrounding him would not be able to resist at all. By then, the Emperor would definitely not be able to sit still and would definitely send out the Cavalry Battalion.

Xiaoqi Camp...

This army has always been firmly under the control of his father, and he knows clearly its value.

Moreover, the Imperial Guards are the foundation of the Great Wei, and the Cavalry Battalion is the foundation of the foundation.

Is it worth spending time here?

He also knew why the emperor was not in a hurry to attack him even though he had the upper hand. Firstly, his troops did not have an absolute advantage, and the other party was not sure of taking him down.

  Another reason is that the retired emperor was reluctant to waste the empire's wealth, so both sides tacitly chose to stalemate and decide the outcome through external competition!

If we attack now and cooperate with the troops outside the mountain, our chances of winning are indeed great.

However, even if they win, the entire Royal Guards will be severely damaged...

There are only two troops coming now. If we wait a little longer, not only will the others come, but maybe the capital will be able to free up some manpower.

It seems safer to wait a little longer, but in fact the risk is also very high.

The retired emperor obviously would not sit and wait for death. He must have already called in reinforcements from all over the place. If all the troops in the world were to gather together, Emperor Ning Kang knew that his chances of winning were slim.

"His Majesty!!"

  "Your Majesty also knows that the first to come to help are Baron Xie and Marquis Zhenyuan. Let's not talk about Baron Xie, but your majesty, Marquis Zhenyuan is from Rongguo Mansion!

Not to mention that the Rongguo Mansion has been deeply honored and favored by that side for decades, just take the grandfather of the Marquis of Zhenyuan, the former Duke of the Rongguo Mansion, who was originally the commander of the guards over there.

That was why they treated Marquis Zhenyuan so favorably on his birthday last year.

His Majesty!

Now we are trapped in the palace, but over there, we can move freely!

What if, what if they come down to persuade us personally...

Your Majesty, please don’t forget the Prince’s change…”

A civil official knelt down and cried. His words also made the faces of the civil and military officials present uneasy.

Yes, even the prince can rebel, let alone others.

After all, the retired emperor had been on the throne for too long, and he also had to suppress Emperor Ningkang through moral principles, so they couldn't help but worry about those military commanders rebelling.

They didn't know what would happen to Emperor Ning Kang if he lost the bargaining chips in his hands, but none of them, who had been following him closely, would be able to escape.

Emperor Ning Kang had a gloomy expression, but he didn't say anything else. He said in a deep voice, "Feng Sheng!"

"The minister is here."

"Quickly select 5,000 soldiers and divide them into two groups, attacking from the west and southeast.

We don't seek to kill the enemy, we just need to disrupt their formation. Then we will try to get in touch with Xie Jing and Jia Lian's troops at the foot of the mountain."

"Yes."

Feng Sheng was the commander of the Guard Battalion and also a veteran. After receiving the order, he retreated without saying a word.

……

It was chaos. The entire Tiewang Mountain was in complete chaos.

There was continuous artillery fire at the foot of the mountain, and shouts of killing were deafening. On the mountain, there was also a dangerous battle, with people and horses falling to the ground.

The nobles who were pampered and lived a life of luxury had already taken refuge in the palace of the retired emperor if they were of high rank. The others could only hide in the lower places, trembling in fear and silently praying that the chaotic soldiers would not come to kill them.

The residence of the retired emperor.

While playing chess with the old prince, the emperor was listening to reports from below about the situation outside.

"Can't hold it?"

The emperor looked up at the kneeling Shi Ding, which made Shi Ding break out in a cold sweat.

He was originally the deputy commander of the Cavalry Battalion, but was temporarily transferred by the Emperor to take over the Infantry Battalion. Before, he was only responsible for trapping Emperor Ning Kang, and everything was fine. With many years of experience in commanding the army and the power of the Emperor, naturally no one dared to act rashly.

However, as the chaos broke out below the mountain, the people on the mountain naturally became chaotic as well.

In addition, the morale of the Guard Battalion was high and they suddenly charged out. With the seven or eight thousand infantry battalion soldiers in his hands, he naturally could not trap Emperor Ning Kang any longer.

It was late at night again... The situation on the mountain was so chaotic that even he, a veteran who had seen big scenes, was extremely frightened.

"Where is the prince?"

"His Royal Highness is leading his troops to stop the rebels at the foot of the mountain... As far as I know, His Royal Highness is also outnumbered, and he just sent someone to request military support..."

Previously, in order to cut off Emperor Ning Kang’s external contacts, the retired emperor set up two encirclement circles around him.

One was Shi Ding's infantry camp, and the other was the Beidaying led by the prince.

Now his defense line has been breached, and the Crown Prince seems to be unable to resist. The situation is not good.

The emperor seemed to have realized this as well, and he smashed the chess piece in his hand onto the chessboard, instantly ruining the game.

Prince Su, who was standing opposite him, was not annoyed when he saw this. He silently picked up the chess pieces that had fallen on the table and the kang one by one...

Seeing that the emperor was angry, everyone in the palace was silent.

The emperor was indeed a little angry.

He has always had everything under control and cannot tolerate this out-of-control situation.

What's more, he could not allow that he would not be able to completely control Emperor Ning Kang after the huge mistake made by Emperor Ning Kang in the Crown Prince's surrender.

"Sun Jia."

"Wei Chen is here."

Shi Ding, Marquis of Zhongjing, Sun Jia, Marquis of Zhongyong, and Liu Sheng, Marquis of Zhongyi, were the three deputy commanders of the Cavalry Battalion.

"You lead two thousand elite cavalrymen, together with Shi Ding, to capture that rebellious son for me."

"I accept your order..."

"If you fail again this time, you two will bring your heads to me."

Sun Jia and Shi Ding paused, but did not dare to hesitate. They responded to the order and left.

"The rebellious son is making trouble and making a fool of himself for his twenty-first brother."

The retired emperor looked at Prince Su who was sitting upright opposite him and suddenly said.

Prince Su waved his hands and said, "My brother is joking. His Majesty just made a mistake for a moment. Sooner or later, he will understand my brother's painstaking efforts."

"Really? I'm afraid he'll never understand.

Okay, I'm a little tired, you can go down now."

……

The retired emperor dispatched his trump card, the Cavalry Battalion, and adopted the strategy of capturing the king, and headed straight for the palace of Emperor Ning Kang.

Let’s not talk about whether Emperor Ning Kang can resist or how he can resist.

On the eastern mountainside, Pei Fengnian fled into the command post in a panic with dozens of dusty soldiers.

Before he could sit down, several people hurried into his tent and shouted, "The prince has ordered that the war in the west is getting tense. General Pei is requested to quickly dispatch 2,000 troops to help the prince suppress the rebellion!"

Pei Fengnian paused in mid-air holding the teapot, and suddenly threw it hard to the ground, cursing, "Bullshit, he's in a tight spot in the west, isn't it tight here for me?

Go back and tell the prince that you don’t have soldiers, but you have your life! Damn it, didn’t you see that I just saved my life, and I’m still looking for help…”

  Pei Fengnian, who had just given up a line of defense and had narrowly escaped from Jia Lian's gunfire, was furious. But the man who came was the prince's confidant, so how could he be frightened by the furious Pei Fengnian?

Seeing that he seemed to be disrespectful to the prince, he said sinisterly: "General Pei, this is the prince's personal order, are you sure you want me to reply like this?"

"roll roll roll!"

"Okay, you have guts!" The prince's confidant turned away.

Seeing this, Pei Fengnian's confidant stepped forward and said, "The general has offended the prince's people. Who knows how this person will slander the general in front of the prince when he returns..."

"What else can I do? The soldiers I have have been smashed to pieces by those damn firearms. Where can I get another 2,000 soldiers?"

"The defeat in this battle is not the general's fault. The general has seen the power of the artillery with his own eyes. Wherever it reaches, the night turns into day. The brothers will die if they touch it.

Plus those muskets that have a longer range than our bows and crossbows...

To be honest with you, General, the brothers under me have lost their will to fight. We are sure we can't hold this place!

The general should find a way out for himself..."

As one of the deputy commanders of the Beidaying Camp, Pei Fengnian is naturally not stupid.

In fact, if he had not known the current situation and if he had not been promoted by Wang Ziteng and did not get along well with Chen Zhao, he would have become a ghost under the prince's command long ago.

This time he was ordered to guard the mountain, and he was very relaxed at first.

After all, compared with the densely packed "rebels" in the east, he only had to face a firearms battalion with only a few thousand soldiers.

The number of people was equal and he was defending the mountain, so of course he was not worried.

But when the real fighting came, he realized how wrong he was.

In a battle at the foot of the mountain, the enemy defeated his more than a thousand soldiers without a single blow, and the main general Qian Hu was killed in the battle.

The defeated soldiers who fled back called the other side a divine army sent from heaven, unstoppable, and many of them were scared to death.

Of course he didn't believe it at first, so he decided to lead his troops to see for himself...

Then he fled back like the fleeing soldiers at the beginning.

Of course, as a third-rank military officer, he is naturally not as narrow-minded as the soldiers.

Although he was also shocked by the power of the firearms of the Firearms Battalion, he did not feel that they were unstoppable. On the way back, he was still thinking about how to set up obstacles, organize commandos, and set up ambushes according to the rocky terrain to hinder Jia Lian's climbing.

But after what happened just now, and with the advice from his confidant, his mind naturally started to work.

"what do you mean?"

"General, haven't you figured it out yet? The current turmoil is just a game of chess among the higher-ups. There is no such thing as a rebel army or a loyal army.

No matter who wins or loses, in the end it’s just us soldiers who die.

Previously, the Crown Prince and the Emperor Retired had joined forces, and Your Majesty was in a disadvantageous position. It was wise for the general to side with the Crown Prince.

Now that your majesty's reinforcements have arrived, it is clear that we can no longer resist. And the crown prince is already stretched to the limit, so naturally he can't spare any troops to help the general.

It just so happens that I heard that the Lord Zhenyuan who leads the firearms battalion down the mountain is the younger generation of Wang Jiedu. For the sake of your future, why don't you lead the remaining soldiers under your command to join the Lord Zhenyuan? "

The confidant's words hit the nail on the head.

Although when Tiewang Mountain first started to get chaotic, many people were confused.

But as time went on, even after the retired emperor scolded Emperor Ning Kang in front of the three armies, many people naturally understood the real cause and whole story of this turmoil.

Sure enough, after hearing this, Pei Fengnian's expression changed for a while, and suddenly he hardened his heart and shouted: "You are right! As a general of the Wei Dynasty, if I were to face the enemy, I would naturally disdain to surrender, which is a cowardly act.

  But the Emperor is the sovereign, so does that mean Your Majesty is not the sovereign?

This is not a righteous battle! If thousands of brothers were to die unclearly and meaninglessly just to protect my reputation, it would be my fault, Pei Fengnian!

Gather all the generals and tell them that I have something important to discuss with them... In addition, you go down the mountain in person and meet with the Marquis of Zhenyuan and tell them..."

Half an hour later, Jia Lian, surrounded by the musketeers, arrived at the halfway point of the mountain.

Pei Fengnian ordered the soldiers on both sides to hold up torches, lighting up the entire scene as if it were daytime, and then he came alone to Jia Lian's white horse.

"The defeated general greets the Marquis of Zhenyuan."

Pei Fengnian bowed slightly, but still felt a little uncomfortable.

In terms of age, he is much older than Jia Lian. In terms of experience in leading troops, he has more than ten or twenty years, while Jia Lian has only four or five years at most, so he is as young as can be.

Moreover, in terms of official rank, he and Jia Lian were of the same rank, but now he was asked to surrender to a man who was not higher than him in age, seniority, or even official rank...

Naturally, I feel bad.

Jia Lian rode on his horse and looked around at the officers and soldiers of the Beidaying Camp, and then looked at Pei Fengnian.

After watching for a while, just when Pei Fengnian was wondering if Jia Lian was deliberately humiliating him, Jia Lian clasped his fists and said in return, "Greetings, General Pei!"

Pei Fengnian said with an embarrassed look: "I still remember the first time I met the Marquis, it was at the residence of Wang Jiedu.

The Marquis was younger at that time, but he was already a man of outstanding talent and vigor, which amazed the generals in the Beijing camp like us.

Who would have thought that only two or three years have passed, and the Marquis has grown to such a level, and even personally formed a firearms battalion, which is like a heavenly army and invincible. This really makes me admire and ashamed. "

Since he decided to surrender for the sake of his future and life, now that everything is in Jia Lian's hands, Pei Fengnian naturally knows what to say.

"General Pei, thank you for your praise!"

Jia Lian suddenly said loudly.

“This modest achievement is only possible because of the grace of heaven and the virtue of my ancestors. It is really not worth mentioning.

It is General Pei's actions tonight that can be regarded as true and sensible, and his merits are immeasurable, which makes this Marquis admire him the most!"

Because Jia Lian spoke loudly, many soldiers probably heard it in the quiet environment around him.

"This, this..."

  Pei Fengnian looked a little unhappy. Could it be that Jia Lian was so short-sighted and arrogant that he was determined to humiliate him?

But Jia Lian continued, "This military turmoil is caused by internal strife. If it continues, it will only waste the military strength and national destiny of the Wei Dynasty!

General Pei was in a key position. He was not only able to see the situation clearly, but also did not care about his personal reputation and decisively laid down his weapons to save the lives of thousands of soldiers in the Beidaying and even our Firearms Battalion. This was truly a show of great benevolence and righteousness.

General Pei, please accept Jia Lian's greeting!"

Jia Lian bowed deeply on his horse.

Not only was Pei Fengnian shocked by this move, but even the officers and soldiers who surrendered from the Beidaying camp looked at Jia Lian with admiration and gratitude.

Although everyone understood from the explanation given by their superiors that the deputy commander was right to lay down his arms and surrender at this time...

But looking at Jia Lian and the musketeers behind him who were in uniform, majestic, and with proud faces, they, as fellow soldiers, could not help but feel inferior and ashamed.

Jia Lian's words and statements undoubtedly affirmed them and gave them, the generals, some dignity.

Pei Fengnian also looked at Jia Lian deeply, then bowed his head sincerely and sighed: "I finally understand why your majesty trusts you so much. Your majesty's mind and bearing are beyond the reach of me and others.

I am convinced that I have lost to the Marquis this time."

In the Wei Dynasty's nobility system, dukes and marquises were all of the first rank. From this perspective, it was reasonable for Pei Fengnian to call himself a lowly official.

Seeing that Pei Fengnian looked impressed, Jia Lian felt relieved.

The reason why he made such a statement was that, in addition to the fact that Pei Fengnian's sudden surrender really saved him a lot of effort, he also wanted to subdue these thousands of defeated soldiers and use them for his own purposes.

The current situation is chaotic, and any bit of strength has the potential to play a role.

"The situation is urgent. Your Majesty is in danger on the mountain. I will not dismount to chat with the general. You and I..."

Jia Lian was just about to assign a task to Pei Fengnian when he suddenly saw a rider galloping towards him.

"General, there is a group of soldiers coming from the mountain behind us..."

Pei Fengnian's face changed, and he asked in shock: "Could it be that the Crown Prince heard about this and raised his troops to kill us?"

"For the sake of your safety, please retreat to the army and wait for me to stop you."

Pei Fengnian decided to rebel because he was not optimistic about the prince's side. Naturally, he had to show off in front of Jia Lian, Emperor Ning Kang.

Jia Lian didn't move at all.

In just a moment, two more riders came flying over.

"General, it's not the Crown Prince who is here to kill us, it's Princess Zhaoyang. She brought hundreds of cavalry with her and asked us to clear the way down the mountain..."

"Princess Zhaoyang...how could she..."

Pei Fengnian didn't understand. At this time, the prince had no right to speak. Why did a princess run out instead of staying in the safe place on the mountain?

Jia Lian in front of him laughed and said, "Come on, General Pei, come with me and take a look."

...(End of chapter)