I'm in the Red Mansion

The emperor was so angry that he ordered his men to drag out the minister who proposed opening the door to welcome the thieves and beat him with a stick.

As for the proposal to confer Wu Sangui the title of King of the Same Character and to rule by dividing the river, it was also rejected by Emperor Tianci.

It's not that Emperor Tianci doesn't want the country to be torn apart, but this proposal is too late.

Now that the rebels are at the gates of the city, how could Wu Sangui agree?

Instead, he was moved by the proposal of joining the Champion Marquis.

As long as they can reach Youzhou, Marquis Guanjun will definitely be able to protect his safety.

Although he arrived in Youzhou, he would inevitably become a puppet of Guanjun Hou.

But it is better to live a miserable life than to die a good death. At least he can still be alive, and he can even still be the honorary emperor.

Therefore, in the end, Emperor Tianci decided to continue heading north and tour Youzhou.

Yes, how could the emperor say he was running away?
He was just on a tour north.

On the second day, Emperor Tianci led his ministers and headed straight to Youzhou.

After Wu Sangui heard this, he became very anxious.

Emperor Tianci must not be allowed to run to Youzhou. Once he escapes to Youzhou, he will not be able to deal with the situation next.

Attack Youzhou by force? That requires the ability to conquer and defeat them.

And attack?

The emperor is in Youzhou, so what does he matter?
He proclaimed himself emperor?
That would be sheer rebellion and would certainly be suppressed by people all over the world.

Next, Wu Sangui led the cavalry and chased after them.

Emperor Tianci was accompanied by hundreds of civil and military officials, even concubines, princes and princesses, so he was bound to be unable to move fast.

As long as he was fast enough, he would be able to catch up with Emperor Tianci before he arrived in Youzhou.

When Jia Cong learned about this, he was dumbfounded.

Emperor Tianci actually wanted to come to Youzhou to join him?

What is this rebel doing? This knife doesn't work!

If Emperor Tianci really came to Youzhou, wouldn't all his previous preparations be in vain?

Do they really want him to be like Cao Cao, holding the emperor hostage to control the princes?

Well, if it really doesn't work, it's not necessarily impossible to do so.

It’s just that Jia Cong felt unhappy.

However, Jia Cong still hoped that Wu Sangui could catch up with Emperor Tianci halfway and solve this trouble along the way.

At the same time, Jia Cong used carrier pigeons to contact Niu Jizong who was defending the capital.

It is obvious that Niu Jizong has some little ideas of his own.

For example, although he tenaciously defended the capital.

However, when Wu Sangui abandoned the capital and headed for Jinan Prefecture to kill the emperor, he did not chase after him to rescue him.

Instead, they are still defending the capital.

Obviously, he felt that it was more important to defend the capital.

He did not have much loyalty to Emperor Tianci.

Jia Cong's sending a letter back by carrier pigeon was naturally a test for Niu Jizong.

He wanted to see what Niu Jizong thought, or whether it was the same as he guessed.

Although Jia Cong moved his family to Youzhou, he still left some staff in Ningguo Mansion in the capital.

After they received Jia Cong's pigeon letter, they quickly delivered Jia Cong's letter to Niu Jizong.

After receiving Jia Cong's letter, Niu Jizong was overjoyed. He quickly wrote a reply letter and asked someone from Ningguo Mansion to send it to Jia Cong.

A few days later, Jia Cong received a reply from Niu Jizong.

In the letter, Niu Jizong only wrote one sentence: I am willing to defend the capital for my lord.

After reading the letter, Jia Cong was sure of Niu Jizon's intention and was very satisfied.

This Niu Jizong really has some ideas in his mind.

However, this idea is to place the bet on oneself.

He also wanted to be credited with following the dragon.

In this case, Jia Cong felt relieved.

Jia Cong was also calculating whether Wu Sangui could catch up with Emperor Tianci before he entered Youzhou.

This is actually just a simple elementary school application question.

Divide the distance Wu Sangui traveled to Youzhou by his average pursuit speed to get the required time.

Then calculate the time it takes for Emperor Tianci to reach Youzhou.

Just compare the time required for the two.

According to calculations, Wu Sangui could catch up with them easily.

Of course, there are variables in reality.

The most important thing actually depends on the information provided by Emperor Tianci.

If Emperor Tianci knew Wu Sangui's pursuit speed, he would definitely speed up.

He might even decisively abandon his ministers and quickly enter Youzhou first.

Under such circumstances, I'm afraid Wu Sangui would not be able to catch up at all.

On the contrary, if Emperor Tianci was completely unaware of it, it would be easy for him to catch up.

Unfortunately, after a series of escapes, Emperor Tianci's intelligence function was completely lagging behind and he did not get any accurate news.

So, five days later.

When Emperor Tianci was still hundreds of miles away from Youzhou, he was caught up by Wu Sangui's army.

Next, Wu Sangui showed his brutal side.

He strangled Emperor Tianci with a bowstring and slaughtered the retired emperor and all the royal family members.

Next, Wu Sangui, with great arrogance, led all the officials and headed straight for the capital.

Now all the royal family members have been killed by him.

He also brought all the civil and military officials back to the capital. He wanted to see if Niu Jizong still had the courage to continue to defend the capital.

What he didn't know was that Niu Jizong had already communicated with Jia Cong.

And on the second day after he killed Emperor Tianci and massacred the royal family, Jia Cong learned the news.

Next, Jia Cong led an army of 200,000 and prepared to march south.

A few days later, Wu Sangui led his army and came to the capital again.

He ordered his soldiers to shoot arrows at the city wall in an effort to persuade Niu Jizong to surrender.

He promised that as long as Niu Jizong opened the city gate and welcomed him into the capital, he would be named the King of Loyalty and Bravery.

Wu Sangui originally thought that Niu Jizong would open the city gate out of fear and trepidation and come to him to apologize.

Unexpectedly, Niu Jizong did not open the city gate.

Instead, he cursed Wu Sangui as a traitor and vowed to avenge Emperor Tianci.

This scolding completely stunned Wu Sangui.

For a moment, he really couldn't figure out who gave Niu Jizong the courage.

Now that the situation is decided, isn't he afraid that his entire family will be executed after he captures the city?

Wu Sangui was furious and immediately ordered his troops to surround the capital.

He swore that after the city was captured, he would cut Niu Jizong into pieces.

Niu Jizong, while leading his troops to defend the city, quickly asked Jia Cong for help.

Niu Jizong soon received a reply from Jia Cong.

In other words, Jia Cong wrote him a letter before he received his request for help.

In the letter, Jia Cong asked Niu Jizong to hold on for ten days.

The Youzhou army has already marched south and will reach the capital in ten days at most.

After receiving Jia Cong's reply, Niu Jizong was overjoyed.

Not to mention ten days, even a month is no problem.

In order to boost morale, Niu Jizong took the initiative to tell the news.

When his soldiers learned that Marquis Guanjun would be able to provide support in ten days at most, their morale was boosted.

At the same time, these soldiers naturally understood what it meant that Marquis Guanjun would lead his troops south to rescue the general.

This means that, by then, all of them will have the credit for defending the city.

Once Marquis Guanjun enters the imperial city, he will surely receive credit for this achievement.

On the second day, Wu Sangui commanded his army to launch a frenzied attack on the capital.

The capital city must be conquered by Wu Sangui.

Because the imperial palace was here, Wu Sangui had no plans to move the capital and build another imperial palace.

He is old and it is unknown how many years he can live. I am afraid he may not live to see the completion of the new palace.

Besides, Wu Sangui had no plan to move the capital. He was planning to be emperor in Kyoto.

Therefore, the capital city must be taken.

If he didn't take it down, how could he ascend the throne as emperor?
However, Niu Jizon's tenacity in defending the city was far beyond Wu Sangui's expectations.

For three consecutive days, Wu Sangui's troops suffered heavy casualties but were unable to make any progress.

As a last resort, Wu Sangui had to slow down the pace of siege.

There is sufficient food and manpower in the capital.

As long as the defenders are determined to defend, it will be difficult to take the city in a short period of time.

Wu Sangui estimated that it would take at least half a year to a year to completely capture the capital.

This made Wu Sangui very angry, but he could do nothing about it.

Next, Wu Sangui prepared to instigate the generals in the city to rebel.

See if we can break into the city by means other than siege.

Unfortunately, at this time Wu Sangui did not know the news that the Youzhou Army was marching south.

Wu Sangui had just crossed the river not long ago. His intelligence in the north of the Yangtze River was not completely blank, but it could be said that he had not made much progress.

Before I knew it, another six days had passed.

On this day, a scout suddenly came to report: "It's bad, Your Majesty, there is a large army approaching from the north, and it is less than 50 miles away from our army."

Upon hearing the news, Wu Sangui's face changed.

I couldn't help but ask: "Where did the army come from, and how many soldiers are there?"

The scout reported again: "General, judging from the flags, this is the army of Marquis Guanjun. The total number of troops is probably more than 200,000."

Champion?
When he heard the name, Wu Sangui couldn't help but take a breath and his face immediately changed color.

Why is Champion Hou here?

Didn’t I promise him the title of King of Zhenbei and let him rule the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun for generations?

He had clearly agreed to it at the beginning, why did he change his mind so quickly?
Thinking of Niu Jizon's determination to defend the capital, Wu Sangui suddenly had a bad feeling.

He had just killed Emperor Tianci and all the royal family members.

Over there, Marquis Guanjun led his troops southward. This must have been planned for a long time, right?

This is using yourself as a knife!
Use your own knife to kill Emperor Tianci and the royal family, and after you are done with him, come out to clean up the mess.

However, his hands were not stained with royal blood, and he became a white lotus instead.

After realizing this, Wu Sangui became furious.

However, because Guanjun Hou had made great achievements in battle, Wu Sangui was unwilling to be his enemy for a while.

Next, Wu Sangui sent an envoy to the Marquis of Guanjun to ask why he led his troops south.

Although he had already guessed it in his mind, Wu Sangui still had a glimmer of fantasy in his heart.

He hoped that Jia Cong's army was not coming because of him. Soon, the messenger brought back the news, but this news disappointed Wu Sangui.

The Champion Marquis led his troops southward, not only for him, but also for the moral reason.

It turned out that Marquis Guanjun actually took out the imperial edict written in blood by Emperor Tianci.

In the secret edict, Wu Sangui was denounced as a traitor and a rebel, and anyone could kill him.

He ordered Jia Cong to lead his troops south to quell the rebellion and kill the traitors.

When Wu Sangui heard the news, he was so angry that his nose almost turned crooked.

Bullshit secret decree. Before Emperor Tianci was caught up by me, he had no idea that I had caught up with him.

He thought he would be able to reach Youzhou in a few days.

Under such circumstances, how could he possibly write the secret decree?
What’s more, it was written in blood?

If you think carefully, there is no doubt that this secret decree must be fake.

This champion marquis has really lost all his dignity in order to uphold justice.

Well, actually the secret decree was actually fake.

But this was Prime Minister Kou's suggestion.

Although the goal can be achieved by directly marching troops south to compete for the Central Plains.

But with this secret decree, they can show more righteousness.

Anyway, a secret decree can be forged at any time, and it’s free and beneficial, so why not do it?
This champion marquis really is here to pick peaches!

At this time, Wu Sangui had actually calmed down.

This matter can no longer be resolved peacefully.

Wu Sangui decided to send a vanguard army to test the ability of Guanjun Hou first before making any further decisions.

It is said that Guanjun Hou is a military genius who is invincible in every battle.

But wasn’t Wu Sangui himself a veteran who had fought in many battles?

In his heart, he was actually not very convinced of the young man Jia Cong.

So, Wu Sangui decided to test it out first.

So Wu Sangui sent out 5,000 vanguard troops to test the situation.

Another 20,000 troops were sent to support them.

Although both sides had hundreds of thousands of troops, Wu Sangui claimed that he had an army of 500,000.

This time, he sent out 25,000 soldiers to test the situation.

If you can't win, you can retreat calmly.

If the Champion Marquis's army is as powerful as the rumors say, they will have to find another way.

But if it was the army of Marquis Guanjun, it was actually exaggerated.

Then Wu Sangui would simply and decisively defeat Guan Junhou's 200,000-strong army.

As long as we defeat them, there will be no rivals in the whole world.

Soon, Wu Sangui heard faint gunshots and artillery fire coming from dozens of miles away.

Wu Sangui felt vaguely uneasy.

But he still felt it.

He sent out a full 25,000 troops. Although the Champion Marquis had an army of 200,000, the battlefield was limited.

It is impossible to arrange an army of 200,000.

Even if the 25,000 troops he sent out could not win or even if they lost on the battlefield, it would not be difficult for them to retreat calmly.

But the sound of gunfire became more and more frequent.

Wu Sangui's inner uneasiness grew stronger and stronger.

Half an hour later, a scout finally brought back news.

"Your Majesty, our army has been defeated! The casualties were too heavy. More than half of the 25,000 soldiers were slaughtered, and the rest are being hunted down by the Champion Marquis' army."

Upon hearing the news, Wu Sangui was terrified.

He couldn't help but ask, "How could we lose so badly? How is this possible?"

"How many troops did the Champion Marquis send?"

The scout replied, "The Champion Marquis has only sent out 10,000 musketeers!"

"what?"

Wu Sangui couldn't help but doubt his ears, he suspected that he had heard it wrong.

He couldn't help but ask again: "What did you say? The Champion Marquis only sent out 10,000 soldiers?"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Wu Sangui said in disbelief: "How is this possible? How did 10,000 soldiers defeat our 25,000 men?"

"Moreover, in such a short time?"

Yes, it took too short a time, just half an hour.

In half an hour, let alone killing 25,000 pigs, even if there were 25,000 pigs there, that many would not be slaughtered, right?

The scout replied helplessly: "Your Majesty, their muskets are too sharp."

"The range is two to three hundred steps away, and the firepower is too dense."

"Our soldiers and horses are falling one after another. We can't get through at all."

"Our bows and arrows can't even get close to them, so we can't pose any threat to them."

"Our army was just a one-sided massacre in front of their musketeers."

The effective killing distance of a rifle is two hundred meters, but that does not mean that the rifle's range is only two hundred meters.

In fact, the range of the rifle is as far as four to five hundred meters.

Hitting the target within two hundred meters can cause huge damage.

But it does not mean that there is no killing power beyond two hundred meters.

As long as it hits the vital point, it can kill people, but its penetration and accuracy are greatly reduced.

Therefore, all the champions had to do was to stand a hundred steps away and fire intensively at them.

The rifle team would be invincible because Wu Sangui's army could not pose any threat to them.

The effective killing range of their bows and arrows is less than one hundred steps, at best seventy or eighty steps or even shorter.

Therefore, when Wu Sangui heard this, he felt a chill in his heart.

He couldn't help but ask again: "Is there only this 10,000-man rifle team in the Champion Marquis' army?"

If they only had these 10,000 rifle troops, they might be able to fight.

Although their firepower is fierce, there are other ways.

After all, Wu Sangui's total military force was as many as 500,000.

Then, Wu Sangui heard the scout say: "General, they have more than just 10,000 musketeers. They have at least 50,000 musketeers."

Hearing this, Wu Sangui suddenly became desperate.

With ten thousand musketeers, they were already powerless to resist.

What's more, the other party actually has as many as 50,000?

Fifty thousand! Even if Wu Sangui put all his five hundred thousand troops there, it would still not be enough to stop them.

Are you going to hit him on the head?
At this moment, Wu Sangui finally understood why the Qing Dynasty, which was so powerful, was defeated by the army of Guanjun Hou.

Even now the Qing Dynasty was destroyed by him.

With such a powerful musketeer team, how could they not be invincible?
With a long sigh, Wu Sangui could not help but order: "Send someone to support the tragic army, and tell them to pack up overnight and retreat tomorrow morning."

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

After the order was issued, Wu Sangui's army of more than 200,000 packed up their luggage overnight and prepared to evacuate.

Wu Sangui had an army of 500,000, but he did not bring all of them across the river.

He felt that an army of 200,000 would be enough to capture the capital.

If there are not enough troops, we can provide support at any time.

Therefore, this retreat was much easier.

As for Jia Cong, he had already received the news that Wu Sangui was leading his army to retreat.

After all, with an army of 200,000, it is impossible to conceal the movement even if one wants to.

At this time, Jia Huan, Liu Xianglian, Fu Cha Chusheng and Wu Shan, the four generals under Jia Cong, all requested to lead the troops to chase and kill them.

They believed that as long as they led a large army to pursue and kill, they would be able to defeat Wu Sangui's army in one fell swoop and inflict heavy casualties on them.

Jia Cong shook his head and said, "No need, let them go. I believe they will retreat across the Yangtze River soon."

At this time, Liu Xianglian couldn't help but ask: "General, this is a great opportunity, why let them go?"

"This is an opportunity to inflict heavy damage on them. General, you must not be too soft-hearted."

Jia Cong smiled and said, "Those on the other side are all my fellow countrymen from Daxia, and they are just serving their respective masters."

"Of course, we cannot treat Wu Sangui the same way we treat the Qing Dynasty."

"Wu Sangui, if his name is not right, then his words will not flow. As long as we hold the righteous position, we can continue to divide and disintegrate them, and there is no need to worry about them."

As soon as Jia Cong explained, the four generals under his command immediately understood what Jia Cong meant.

The reason why Wu Sangui is so powerful now is simply because he is unstoppable and is about to capture the capital and proclaim himself emperor.

Once his momentum is blocked and he is forced to retreat back to Jiangnan, many of the forces that depend on him will leave him.

And if Jia Cong attacks him, he will surely fall apart soon.

Because they were all compatriots, Jia Cong was not willing to resort to mass slaughter to resolve the rebellion.

Instead, he planned to gradually undermine his power and slowly get rid of him.

This is also the way with the least casualties.

After all, this was a civil war, and those who died were all fellow Daxia people, but they just served different masters.

The four generals under Jia Cong's command could all understand Jia Cong's choice, but they were just unwilling in their hearts.

Because if they do this, their military achievements will be greatly reduced.

Seeing the expressions of these four people, Jia Cong could guess what they were thinking.

Jia Cong couldn't help but laugh and said, "Why do you have to do this? There will be plenty of battles for you to fight and plenty of military merits for you to earn in the future."

Jia Huan said discouragedly: "General, Wu Sangui's rebellion will not be a big deal and will soon disappear."

"The Qing Dynasty has also been destroyed. Where is there any war for us to fight?"

Hearing this, Jia Cong couldn't help but laugh and said, "I laugh at you for being a frog in a well."

"This world is very big. The world outside is much bigger than our Great Xia!"

"I'm just afraid that by then you'll be tired of fighting!"

Hearing this, Jia Huan's eyes lit up and asked, "Is it true?"

"really!"

"really?"

"really!"

"Haha, that's great!"

Wu Sangui's army fled, and Niu Jizong soon got the news in the capital.

He immediately opened the city gate and went out of the city with his personal soldiers to welcome Jia Cong.

Seeing Jia Cong, Niu Jizong jumped off his horse, took a few quick steps, knelt on one knee, and bowed, "Greetings, Lord Marquis!"

Jia Cong took a few quick steps forward, hurriedly helped Niu Jizong up and said, "Uncle, what do you mean by this? This is really embarrassing for me!"

Niu Jizong's kneeling made his position clear and demonstrated his loyalty.

Jia Cong's words "uncle" also showed that he had accepted him and brought the two closer. (End of this chapter)