Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 416 0411 [Who negotiates without a gun? ] (adding updates for the lord Leidong Nine Heavens)
Sixty miles to the north of Jiangling City, there are no rivers, lakes or mountains, and the surrounding area is flat and open, so there is no way to hide the army.

Zhong Yi, the brother of Zhong Xiang and the prime minister, arrived early with thousands of soldiers and horses.

Not long after, Gu San also came, leading Zhu Ming's three thousand personal guards.

Zhong Yi rode out alone, and Gu San also stepped forward alone.

Zhong Yi said: "At the meeting place, only 6.5 soldiers are allowed each, and no cavalry is allowed. The soldiers are [-] steps apart. The lords of both sides should approach alone, with a distance of [-] steps ([-] meters) apart."

"Yes." Gu San agreed.

Zhong Yi immediately returned on horseback and ran further south to meet Zhong Xiang: "Your Majesty, the Zhu thief's personal guards are all wearing infantry armor. No wonder they can repel the encirclement and suppression by all the officers and soldiers."

Zhong Xiang shook his head and said, "Those infantry armors were mostly captured from the officers and soldiers."

Zhong Yi said: "The Zhu thief has thousands of soldiers, and it is really difficult for our army to win. I think we should abandon Jiangling and rely on the natural danger of the Yangtze River to build more warships and train a navy."

"That makes sense." Zhong Xiang also had the same intention.

As long as there is a navy, even if the Yangtze River cannot be defended, it can retreat to Dongting Lake.

Zhong Xiang said to his son again: "Go and talk."

"Why are you going?" Zhong Ziang asked in surprise.

Zhong Xiang explained: "I am the emperor of the Great Chu, even if we want to talk about state affairs, the old Zhu thief should come here. You are the prince of the great Chu, and you happen to be on an equal footing with that little Zhu thief."

Zhong Ziang felt that this was the reason, so he led the three hundred guards forward.

The large troops on both sides retreated, and the guards stopped for a while.

Ju Ming led all the musketeers, and now there are more than 500 people.The scale of the musket workshop is constantly expanding, and there should be [-] musketeers early next year.

These musketeers wore chain mail inside and silk clothes outside.

The silk clothes are not only for good looks, but also have the effect of preventing arrows. It forms two layers of defense with the chain mail, and basically no longer needs to be afraid of long-range attacks (except for the bed crossbow and the god arm bow).

Zhong Ziang stepped forward and shouted: "I am the prince of the Great Chu Kingdom, and the opposite is the Grand Marshal of Chuanxia?"

Zhu Ming rode a cornucopia and paced slowly: "Why are you here?"

Zhong Ziang said: "The lord is to the lord, and the crown prince is to the crown prince. If you want my father to come forward, you must have the Chuanxia Jinglue envoy to come."

"That's right," Zhu Ming took out his short gun and asked while playing with it, "Do you still have brothers?"

Zhong Ziang didn't understand what he meant: "There are brothers, what does it have to do with you?"

Zhu Ming felt bored in an instant. He planned to kill Zhong Xiang with a single shot, but the fox didn't show up.

Since the prince of Chu is not the only son, it is useless to kill him.

Let's negotiate honestly.

Putting the blunderbuss away, Ju Ming questioned, "My lord wrote to my father last year, saying that he was willing to row across the river. But Jiangling and Zhijiang are both north of the Yangtze River. Why did your father and son turn their backs on what they said?"

Zhong Ziang was taken aback, he and his father really didn't care about this.

"Planning the river to rule is just a general term. Naturally, whoever strikes down the city and the land counts." Zhong Zi'ang's words are not sophistry, his father and son think so.

However, Zhu Ming took out a letter and said with a smile: "His Royal Highness, Crown Prince of Chu, would you like to read it again? It was written in black and white, Zhu Zhong's second family ruled across the river, the Zhu family ruled the north of the Yangtze River, and the Zhong family ruled beyond the Yangtze River." Nan. Your father and son betrayed their promises, and what they say does not count, so I can only lead my own troops to take Jiangling!"

Zhong Ziang was speechless, because this was indeed his Zhong family's fault, so he could only bite the bullet and say: "Your Excellency, wait a moment, the matter is very important, I need to go back and discuss it with my father."

"Go." Zhu Ming said.

Zhong Ziang galloped back and told about the letter.

Zhong Xiang was dumbfounded. When he wrote the letter, he really didn't think about it carefully, but now he came to the truth inexplicably.

"Father, how should I reply?" Zhong Ziang asked.

Zhong Xiang's brains were spinning quickly, and he actually laughed: "Since I have this letter, it is not a loss of face for me to abandon Jiangling, but I am keeping my promise, and I can give an explanation to my subjects. Meat, there is no such thing as spit out for nothing, let the surname Zhu redeem the city with money and food. These two cities, I kept my promise and gave them to him, and he has to spend money to buy them if he wants them!"

Zhong Ziang admired his father, and asked, "How much should the price be? It can't be sold cheaply, and it can't be too expensive. If the price is too high, it will force the surname Zhu to lead troops to attack."

Zhong Xiang thought carefully: "Jiangling is priced at 50 guan and [-] shi grain; Zhijiang is priced at [-] guan and [-] shi grain."

This price is indeed not expensive, it can even be said to be cheap, because Jiangling is too rich.

But the premise is that Zhong Xiang does not take away the population and goods there.

How could it not be taken away?
Even if Zhu Ming spends money, he can only buy two empty cities.

Zhong Ziang went to negotiate again on horseback, explaining Zhong Xiang's request.

Zhu Ming sneered: "You think I'm that stupid lord of Kaifeng, who spent money and food to redeem Yanjing, and ended up buying a few empty cities?"

Zhong Ziang said: "Dingkou will leave some, it is not an empty city."

"Get off the horse!" Ju Ming scolded.

"What for?" Zhong Ziang asked.

Zhu Ming didn't bother to talk anymore and took out the short gun, filled it with ammunition, and then used the poke stick to aim at Zhong Ziang's crotch horse.

At a distance of several meters, although the accuracy of the short blunderbuss is extremely poor, Ju Ming is confident that he can hit it.

If you accidentally hurt Zhong Ziang, you deserve it!

Seeing that Zhu Ming took out the torch and blowing it up, Zhong Ziang became more and more suspicious, not knowing what Zhu Ming was doing.

What happened in the Shaanxi battlefield did not reach Jinghu.

"boom!"

A gunshot sounded like a bolt from the blue.

Zhu Ming aimed at the horse's chest, but unexpectedly hit the horse's neck.

Zhong Ziang fell with the horse, and his right leg was crushed by the horse.

The horse, still alive, lay convulsed on the ground.

Zhong Ziang was frightened out of his wits, his mind went blank, he woke up after being slapped on the face by Zhu Ming, and shouted in panic, "What kind of demon technique did you use?"

Zhu Ming threatened with a short gun: "This is a fire gun, also called a fire gun. Do you know how I defeated the officers and soldiers? I have [-] fire guns under my command, and they can pierce through iron armor at a distance of fifty feet. Be terrified."

"Ten thousand firecrackers?" Zhong Ziang's expression turned ashen.

Zhong Xiangqin's soldiers were approaching two hundred paces away. Zhu Ming put away his firecrackers and mounted his horse, leaving a sentence: "After the summer harvest, I will lead my troops to take Jiangling, so that your father and son can do it for themselves!"

When those personal soldiers arrived at the scene, Zhu Ming had already rode away.

Soon after hearing the news, Prime Minister Zhong also rushed over. Looking at the horse corpse lying on the ground and his son with a broken leg, he couldn't help but ask, "What weapon did the little Zhu thief use to plot? What is the wound on the horse's neck?" Like that?"

Zhong Ziang repeated in horror: "It's a kind of iron rod, hollowed out in the middle. The little Zhu thief called it a musketeer and a firecracker. He has [-] firecrackers under his command, and he can penetrate iron armor fifty feet away. He uses this kind of weapon." Defeat the officers and soldiers. Father, Jiangling must not be defended, this firecracker is unpredictable, and ordinary people are really powerless."

"He has [-] gunfire soldiers. He really has so many magic soldiers. He has already entered Tokyo." Zhong Xiang was shocked and angry. Assassinate and murder me! If I come in person, I am afraid that I will die, and the surname Zhu will definitely take the opportunity to seize Jiangling!"

Zhong Ziang suddenly remembered: "Yes, he asked the child if he was the only child when he met him! If I answered that the child was the only child, then the one who died was not a war horse."

Zhong Yi asked: "Your Majesty, how do you decide?"

Zhong Xiang gritted his teeth and said: "I won't give enough money and food to the city that I built by my ability, so don't even think about taking it for nothing!"

Zhong Yi couldn't help but said: "Brother, why bother to get angry with that Zhu thief? Since he only kills the horse and doesn't hurt the prince, he doesn't want to break his face and leave us some leeway. Jiangling is hanging outside, which is really not conducive to defense. , Just empty out the population and property.”

Zhong asked instead: "How do all the officials think of me when I abandon the cities of Jiangling and Zhijiang without losing a single soldier? How do the believers think of me?"

"Just keep the promise, I have already made an agreement with Zhu thief." Zhong Ziang said.

"Who will believe it?" Zhong Xiang asked.

Uncle Zhong Yi, Zhong Zi'ang and his nephew looked at each other in blank dismay, unable to answer.

Zhong Xiang said: "Zhu Thief recruited refugees in Xiangyang wantonly for reclamation. There must not be much food left. He can only send troops after harvesting the wheat. Let's go back to prepare for the war. Jiangling is a big city with high walls and deep pools. As long as the officials and the people are dedicated It will be fine for a year or so. The more we delay, the more anxious the surname Zhu will be, and sooner or later he will have to spend money to redeem the city, and it will not be the price at that time!"

Zhong Yi hesitated to speak, his brother used to be very persuasive, but now he is becoming more and more unable to be persuaded.

Power confuses people's hearts, and not everyone can bear it.

The Zhong Xiang in history, who did not establish a country and proclaim himself emperor, was equally corrupt, and the situation at that time was even worse.

The three returned to Jiangling and immediately prepared for the big battle.

But soon bad news came from the south, Chu's army was defeated in Hengyang.

The gentry and merchants in Hengzhou, Yongzhou, Daozhou, Guiyangjian, and Chenzhou have completely united and rose up to resist under the leadership of officials and scholars.

Monks and Taoist priests are also joining forces and spreading propaganda everywhere, telling the common people that the Manichaeans want to eat people, and all of them are the reincarnation of demons and ghosts.

The gentry and merchants stopped being stingy, and they all spent money to recruit soldiers, wanting to fight the bell thief to the death.

Most of the people didn't know the situation, and they all believed that statement, and they were willing to work for the government and gentry when the food and wages were sufficient.

Hengyang fought for more than a month, but not only failed to conquer, but the Chu army retreated miserably.

Zhong Xiang was furious when he heard the news, and took his soldiers to the south by boat, and contacted Fang Qifo and the Miao and Yao rebels who were hiding in the mountains.

The Great Chu Emperor Zhong Xiang arrived on the battlefield and personally boosted morale. From the generals to the soldiers, each one was like fighting chicken blood.

The bloody battle lasted for nearly ten days, and it is unknown how many people died.

The town soldiers guarding the city couldn't bear it any longer, and were frightened by the desperate lunatics outside the city.The Manichaeists lurking in Hengyang City took the opportunity to spread their teachings, and said that if they surrendered, they would be able to equalize the rich and the poor, and equal the noble and the humble.

After killing more than a dozen spies in a row, it is still impossible to stop, because the news has already spread.

When attacking the city one day, a group of township soldiers suddenly turned against each other. The soldiers of Dachu took the opportunity to climb up the city wall, and more and more township soldiers turned against each other.

Zhong Xiang took advantage of the victory to advance, and quickly took Leiyang.

Winning two cities in a row made Zhong Xiang even more inflated, completely firming his determination to defend Jiangling.

(End of this chapter)