Win the Ding 1617

Facing these rumors blowing through the streets and alleys of Luoyang like the cold north wind, the officials, gentry and big households in Luoyang city were helpless.Vertex Fiction

As the upper layer of the pyramid of human society in the city, they don't want to hear any legends praising Li Zicheng, or even hear any positive news about them. It is the reason for the negative information. Banban’s history books record how they slaughtered the city and how they killed. However, we must not forget that many of the names of the people who compiled these history books appeared in the second edition compiled by their loyal masters. The minister passed on.

The big difference from previous years is that ninety-nine percent of the rumors about the peasant army that flew into Luoyang City in previous years were distorted, slandered, slandered, and insulted to the peasant army. What the army did was added to the peasant army.However, the various news and rumors in recent months have changed to another kind of content that the common people love to hear.Nine out of ten stories are about how Li Zicheng's troops only punished the rich and rich after they broke through the siege, and did not do anything wrong to the small and kind-hearted people, how they opened warehouses to provide relief to the hungry, and how the poor people burned incense to welcome them and competed for surrender, etc. .There are new legends about Flying into Luoyang City every day, and there are many small stories. The stories are vivid and reasonable, the characters have names and surnames, the plot is vivid and lifelike, and the time and place are all available. People who listen cannot but believe it.

In Luoyang City, a figure whose status and prestige was second only to Fu Wang and his son, and even faintly surpassed him, was quite worried about this situation.This man is Lu Weiqi, who once served as Minister of the Ministry of War in Nanjing.This man is from Xin'an County, Henan Province. In the early years of Chongzhen, he was Minister of the Ministry of War in Nanjing, but was dismissed because of his ineffective suppression of bandits.Among the gentry in Luoyang, he has the greatest reputation and the highest status.

In the past few years since he returned to Luoyang from Nanjing, he established the "Yiluohui", recruited disciples, and wrote books. He is quite a prestigious person among the gentry in Luoyang.He usually gives lectures at the Yiluo Academy he founded, but if there are any major issues in the local area, the officials and gentry will go to him for advice.Or ask him to speak up.So although he has no official position.But it is more effective than the current magistrate on issues of great concern.Although he was not as powerful as Gu Xiancheng who could influence the court's political situation, it should not be underestimated.This was the case for the great gentlemen and rural eunuchs after the mid-Ming Dynasty.

Many of his disciples are important figures among the local gentry, and some of them are the children of local officials' families.Talking about the current chaotic world, Li Zicheng's growing popularity in Funiu Mountain and other situations.I was very moved with my disciples.

One of the disciples said respectfully: "The intruder took advantage of Yang Wuling's pursuit to offer gifts and entered Sichuan. The Central Plains was empty of troops. The officials who sealed the frontier didn't care about the bandits, so they suddenly came to Henan to call on the hungry people. They are hypocritical. It seems that this person It is true that the ambition is not small, it is not comparable to ordinary grassroots. The teacher values ​​the country, can you think of a way to save the corruption of the hometown? If Heluo is not protected, and Li Chuang's feathers are full, the future will be unimaginable."

Lu Weiqi sighed and said: "Not only is the situation in Heluo very dangerous today, but the overall situation in the Central Plains may also be out of control. From my point of view, since the Qin and Jin thieves rebelled, in the past ten years, there have been no less than dozens of leaders of the big stocks. Only Li Zicheng is really scary. It is not terrible for the bandits to rape, kidnap, burn and kill. Rumors spread all over the post, saying that as long as King Chuang does not have to ask for food from the government, he himself will not ask for food from the people for three years. The people are ignorant, and after hearing these deceptive words, they will naturally be willing to follow the thief. It seems like this , the chaos will end without knowing how it will end. Although the old man is worried, but he is not in place, empty words will not help the reality, seeing Heluo disintegrating, Luoyang is in danger, and there is nothing to do!"

Another disciple said: "It is rumored that Niu Jinxing, a member of the Lu family, voted for the intruder, and he is quite trustworthy; he also introduced a warlock named Song Xiance, who was worshiped by the intruder as a military advisor. There is even Li Xin, a member of Qi County, who raised his troops to make trouble. Gathered thousands of thieves and went to Funiu Mountain, and heard that Niu Jinxing advised the intruders not to kill scholars, but to reuse scholars. Li Xin advised Li Chuang not to kill people indiscriminately, helped the victims, and compiled songs for Li Chuang and spread them all over the place. Both of them are now being treated as guests and teachers by Li Chuang, have you heard these rumors?" (Teacher, we are also scholars, can we also consider changing the family? To vote for Li Zicheng? At least temporarily save the lives of the whole family ah!)

Lu Weiqi nodded and said: "Song Xiance was originally a quack warlock, nothing to worry about. The hateful thing is to turn people into thieves, which has never been heard before. Li Yan's generation is the son of Li Jingbai, the old minister of the Ministry of War. He is really a remnant of the eunuchs. Jin Xing is even more despicable, if the two of them are captured in the future, they will not be able to cover up their crimes!"

Seeing this, the disciple knew that the words were not speculative, so he closed his mouth wisely, but secretly planned in his heart.

The first disciple said: "Luoyang is an important feudal land, why don't you ask to see His Royal Highness King Fu..."

However, several civil and military officials who came to the meeting, headed by Wang Yinchang, the branch inspector, had a different opinion. Wang Yinchang took the lead and said: "Recently, rumors in Luoyang City have become more and more popular, saying that King Li Chuang is so benevolent and righteous, he only kills officials but not Harassing the common people, only plundering the rich and not the poor, and no longer paying money and food after being king Chuang, and no longer being oppressed by the government and tyrants. It is said that the foolish people in Nanyang were incited by this, believed it was true, and suddenly forgot about the 300-year rain and dew of the Ming Dynasty, and burned incense to welcome The thieves turned to the thieves in groups. The hungry people in the city are impatient, and they are already in danger. The city of Luoyang is also extremely unstable. I came here today to discuss with reality how to protect the important land of Luoyang. Now the officials and people in Luoyang are unanimously recognized. Only sir can save Luoyang."

Lu Weiqi said: "Since the students came back from office, they have been traveling in the forest, and they only do lectures. I didn't expect that the bandits were rampant, and they were getting worse day by day. I saw that Heluo was not safe, and the land in the Central Plains was sinking. Luoyang is a place that must be contested by military strategists. The location of the ancestor's tomb. Whether it is for the country or home, the students are willing to follow the princes and do their best to protect this piece of land. What do you think and teach?"

The magistrate Feng Yijun said: "If you want to stick to Luoyang at present, you must quickly stabilize the hearts of the army and the people. Once the hearts of the people are gone, and the hearts of the soldiers are changed, everything will be over. The thieves everywhere claim that they will not kill civilians, but only officials and gentry. Once the city of Luoyang is destroyed. Not only the current place If all civil and military affairs are to be killed, I am afraid that the old man will also lose his fortune. What is more important is that His Royal Highness Fu Wang is the beloved son of the Emperor Shenzong, and the uncle of the current emperor. If Luoyang falls and Fu Fan falls, how will all the subjects be against the emperor? Besides..."

Lu Weiqi cut off the magistrate's words and said: "The situation is very urgent at present, please tell me straight up, I don't need to mention other reasons." Say, let the fart go!)

Speaking of which.Everyone stopped making rounds.He directly said what he wanted.Sure enough, as Lu Weiqi expected, the civil and military officials in Luoyang City came here for money and food!

According to the prefect Feng Yijun's words. "Luoyang survives and dies. The local civil and military have the responsibility to guard the soil. It cannot be shirked. However, when the people's minds are in chaos and the army's morale is shaken, the survival of the people depends on His Royal Highness Fu Wang. The people in Luoyang said: "The food in Fu Wang's warehouse is piled up like a mountain, and it is too rotten. Let’s eat again. But our common people live on the streets. A large number of them starve to death every day. It’s no wonder I don’t follow King Chuang!’…”

Chief Soldier Wang Shaoyu interjected: "The soldiers haven't paid their salaries for eight months, and they can't stop scolding behind their backs. They said: 'Fu Wang has so much gold and silver that the strings of money are rotten. We haven't cared about it for almost a year. , Which bastard worked hard to defend the city for him!' I am a general, and I deserve to die for my country. But my soldiers refuse to use their lives, how can I defend the city?"

Wang Yinchang, the branch inspector, went on to say: "At present, the only way to save Luoyang is to ask His Royal Highness Fu to open the warehouse, reward the soldiers with tens of thousands of taels of silver, and give thousands of dans of grain to the hungry people. If this is the last move, then Luoyang must not be defended, King Fu's country must not be preserved, and we will all perish together!"

It turned out that this group of guys made their minds on King Fu, and Lu Weiqi suddenly felt convinced that King Fu was well-known among many clan princes. As the beloved son of Shenzong, his parents planned many ways for him to seize the heir, but failed. So he sent this beloved son to the country of Henan. In order to make up for the shortcomings in his heart, he even gave Fu Wang countless economic compensations. Some people were jealous of the [-] hectares of Wangzhuang land, Yanyin, Chayin, and Huangdian. Describing King Fu's favor in this way, "If you ask in the morning, you will agree in the evening."

After taking out more than a thousand stones of old food from his own home to help the hungry people in the city and preventing them from taking the opportunity to cause chaos, Lu Weiqi, shouldering the heavy trust of Luoyang's civil and military officials and gentlemen, went to the Fuwang Palace to see the Fuwang Zhu Changxun.

A tall and thick red palace wall divides the Fuwang Mansion and the whole city of Luoyang into two worlds.Chongtai is connected to the city, with tall and thick walls. Against the backdrop of the majestic red walls with flying eaves, the square in front of the palace is particularly flat and wide, and those tall stone lions are full of might.

The Ying En Hall, the main hall of the palace, is even more majestic, with yellow glazed tiles shining golden.In the middle of the hall, there is a vermilion sandalwood throne painted with goldenseal flowers, covered with yellow satin cushions.The front eaves are seven feet deep, with bucket arches, flying eaves, painted dust, and four vermilion lacquer pillars that cannot be hugged by one person.On the two pillars in the middle hangs a pair of couplets with red lacquer and golden clouds and dragons: Bliss is full of rivers and rivers, and everyone celebrates together.

Outside the front eaves of Ying'en Hall are three steps of white marble steps.Under the steps is a platform, commonly known as Danchi, paved with polished bluestone, with gilded incense burners, big tripods, and cranes on the left and right.The three sides of Danchi are surrounded by white marble railings and Yunlong column heads, which are exquisitely carved.In front of the platform are seven stone steps.After going down the stone steps, there is a wide stone-paved rain road in the middle, which divides the yard into two halves.Pines and cypresses are planted in the courtyards on both sides of Yonglu Road, and on both sides are wing rooms, commonly known as court rooms.The main entrance of this yard is called Ying'en Gate, which is also five buildings covered with yellow glazed tiles, and there are three six vermilion lacquer gates lined up underneath.Outside the Ying'en Gate is a large square with corridors, bell towers and drum towers on both sides, and the main entrance is Duanli Gate.Between Duanli Gate and Ying'en Gate, there are three arch bridges with white jade railings lined up.

When building the Fuwang Mansion, a stream of water was specially drawn from the Jianhe River in the west of Luoyang City. After entering the city, it flowed underground, and when it reached the courtyard outside the Ying'en Gate, it became a clear stream and was renamed Fushui. Therefore, the three bridges are called Hongfu. Wannian Bridge, referred to as Hongfu Bridge.

"With such a pavilion and palace, I don't know who it will belong to in the future!"

The dejected Lu Weiqi was also disappointed after meeting King Fu.

"You, when it comes to defending the city, you want money, you want money! You don't know the difficulties of the widows, like a money tree and a cornucopia hidden in a palace!"

"Local civil and military forces are responsible for defending the land. If Luoyang falls, the vassal will die and the country will die, and their officials, big and small, who live on the royal salary, will not be able to survive. Even if any of them can escape from the hands of the thieves, they will not be able to escape the law of the country. Mr. The matter of defending the city of Luoyang has come to compel the widows. Isn’t it the responsibility of the local civil and military to defend the city? Since you are a loyal minister, why don’t you urge the local civil and military to guard the city and protect the feudal vassal?”

Fu Wang Zhu Changxun's reprimand was still in his ears, which made Lu Weiqi tremble with fear.

"In the city of Luoyang, there are not only the clan here, but also many officials, rich households, and gentry families. The city of Luoyang is not only owned by the clan, but also owned by the gentry and the common people. Supplying food and grass, rewarding the soldiers, you all need to contribute. Mo Throw all the burdens on the head of the clan! Li Chuang invaded the city. Not only will the clan die and the country will be destroyed, but all your wealth, wives and daughters will also be owned by the bandits!"

However, when Lu Weiqi returned home and was about to tell the civil and military people such as Wang Yinchang, the sub-inspector, how Fu Wang ignored the life and death of Luoyang people and was stingy and refused to pay money and food to defend the city. Thirty thousand silver dollars arrived.

"The old man still has face!"

"Mister's prestige. He is more famous than Heluo. He is more important than Songyue. Even His Royal Highness Fu Wang should take a high look." Wang Yinchang, Wang Shaoyu and others went to see Fu Wang several times, not to mention making money and food, even Fu Wang's palace Never went in.Now Mr. Lu not only went to see Fu Wang, but also sent back the money. Isn't this a great happy event?

Although [-] silver is a bit small, and it is not enough to satisfy the wish, but what's the problem?Something is always better than nothing!

"Students are willing to come forward to appeal, and ask the elders in the city to be willing to donate, at least to make the army full and warm, and have no worries about food, clothing, food, and wages."

Under the appeal of Lu Weiqi, the wealthy and gentry in Luoyang City collected less than 1000 silver and more than [-] shi of grain. To make up for it, those who beat gongs and drums sent the silver dollars and grain to the branch patrol yamen.

Those officers and soldiers who had owed their salaries for a long time, when they saw that someone had brought their salaries, they immediately ran around jubilantly to tell them.Although it has not yet been issued to the hands, the morale of the army has been greatly boosted.

When money and food are handed over, it is natural that there will be losses and losses.After quietly sending someone to send the silver dollars donated by Mr. Lu back to the mansion, Wang Yinchang left 4000 yuan in the patrol yamen, and after Wang Shaoyu's general refused to let him go, he also left [-] yuan. Mr. Feng kept [-], and Mr. Tui Guanwei kept [-], which were discounted by [-]%. When they were distributed to more than [-] officers and soldiers guarding the city, the [-] silver dollars in the account was already less than [-].

"Get ready for broken silver or copper coins! Don't rush to Chongzhen! Get ready to exchange silver dollars!" Officers at all levels yelled when they distributed this generous amount of silver to the soldiers, telling the soldiers to get ready to break up the broken silver coins and get ready. For that white silver dollar.

When it was distributed to each soldier, the average per capita was less than one yuan.

Naturally, the soldiers didn't express much about such behavior, they just responded with waves of curses, ranging from Wang Yinchang's wife stealing a man to raise a man, to Wang Shaoyu's son being unable to excrete normally. There are even many people openly joining forces in the team, preparing to surrender at the beginning of the siege, and then take advantage of the fire to loot the city.Regarding such behavior, Wang Shaoyu, the chief of the security guard, had no choice but to close his eyes and pretend not to know, and left the defense of the city to fate.

However, he had already arranged for his confidants to prepare plain clothes, coils, dry food, horses and other things, and when he found that the city could not be defended, he immediately ran away.

The same approach is already an open secret among the Chinese and military officials in Luoyang City.

. . . . . .

Facing the artillery shells raining down on the city, the officers and soldiers on the top of the city observed the movement with indifferent and empty eyes, trying to keep their bodies as low as possible to prevent accidental injury from being hit by the flying shells.

Zhang Nai's first round of artillery fire was not aimed at the top of the city, but at the sheep and horse wall outside the city.

Although there are some cannons erected on the walls of the city gates, there are more than 30 large and small generals and second generals, and most of them are medium-sized iron cannons of the Franc machine, which hit one to three catties, and have a range of one mile or less.Those three-to-five-jin cannons with a range of more than one mile and the invincible general cannons, as well as the Hongyi cannons, could not be mounted on such a pass.

Compared with the six-pound guns in the city, the eight-pound guns, and the big Francophones equivalent to ten-pound guns, the firepower suddenly paled in comparison. The most important thing is that the gunners all tightened their bodies and lazily hid behind the gun emplacements. Sun counted the sounds of the cannons, and used his ears to distinguish the different sounds of the cannonballs passing through the air and the dull sound of the cannonballs hitting the wall of sheep and horses to distinguish the types of cannons.

Amid the deafening sound of cannons, puffs of thick white smoke rose from the camps below the city, and cannons weighing three to five catties whizzed out of the smoke and hit the walls of sheep and horses.The shells hit the wall of the sheep and horses one after another, causing the city wall to tremble, and bricks and stones flew across the wall.

Zhang Nai's artillery battalion is only three hundred steps away from the sheep and horse wall, which is the best range of all kinds of artillery, and even the worst gunners can directly hit the sheep and horse wall with a little aim.

After firing three rounds of the six-pound and eight-pound guns, they had to stop to dissipate heat. Only those big Franc machines using sub-guns continued to bombard the wall of sheep and horses tirelessly.

Each of the big Franglers that Chen Guoxi sold to Chuangying was equipped with five sub-guns, and another twenty sub-guns were packaged and sent as spare parts to prevent damage and loss.The advantage of the Frang machine over the Hongyi cannon is that these sub-guns can be pre-loaded with ammunition, and they can be loaded into the female guns in turn during battle to fire, and the firing speed is very fast.And because of the use of sub-guns, the Flang cannon has good heat dissipation. Unlike the Hongyi cannon, which has to stop three people after firing three or five shots, it can fire more than a dozen shots at a stretch and then stop to dissipate heat.Since the gunpowder loading amount of the sub-gun is fixed, it is not so easy to explode the chamber.

The big Frang machine continued to bombard the wall of sheep and horses. Under the control of skilled gunners, several cannons adjusted their muzzle angles and aimed at the crenels on the city gate. It was changed to shotgun. If someone dares to face the enemy, he would not mind treating guests to iron broad beans!

"Prepare to attack the city!"

"Prepare to attack the city!"

Seeing that the wall of sheep and horses in the binoculars was riddled with holes, like the teeth of an old man, Liu Zongmin, who was the commander-in-chief of the former enemy today, waved his hand and passed on the general order.

With an order, the pawns who were about to pounce on the city began to move forward slowly with the ladder on their shoulders.

The archers and musketeers who covered the city climb were also called out and stood at the forefront of the queue.The archers twisted the rawhide bowstrings tightly, and the firecrackers carefully looked after the matchlocks and the priming medicine in the medicine pool, waiting for an order, and hundreds of bows and thousands of firecrackers would be aligned A salvo from the top of the city.

"on!"

There was a shout like a thunderstorm, and a powerful shout and roar like the rising tide of the sea came out from the barracks. Tens of thousands of starving people formed a team, holding in their arms the children who had been removed from the nearby houses. The beams, columns, purlins, and other big trees ran straight to the wall of sheep and horses that had been battered by shells.

Although there is no special rule for taking city bricks when attacking the city at this time, and you can go back to rest after taking back a city brick, these hungry people also have a guarantee, destroying the sheep and horse wall in front of them, and throwing bricks Throw stones into the moat, and then throw the wood into the moat to fill up the moat, and they can become infantry, with two meals a day, one dry and one thin.

Under the huge temptation of being able to eat their stomachs, these hungry people did not mind serving as crude human battering rams together with these big logs, turning the wall of sheep and horses that blocked the army's assault road into construction waste that filled the moat.

"Tom!"

"Tom!"

A series of muffled sounds hit the heart of Wang Yinchang, who came here to supervise the battle.The wall of sheep and horses, which was already dilapidated, was no longer able to withstand the impact of this huge force under the crazily and savage impact of tens of thousands of hungry people, and it swayed and fell to the side of the city wall.

Amidst the huge smoke and dust, the hungry people erupted into a burst of joyous clamor.

"Falled! Down!"

"There are steamed buns to eat!"

Amidst the cheers, people kept walking, stepping on the sheep and horse wall that had just fallen to the ground, braving the dust and smoke that had not yet landed, carrying and holding the logs that had just hit the sheep and horse wall, and rushed straight to the nearby The moat at the place.

Behind them, more people were arguing with each other, cursing, taking off their tattered coats, or using straw bags found somewhere, struggling to pack broken bricks and rocks, followed the first wave Behind the shocking people, they ran towards the moat.

Soon, the moat was gradually filled. (To be continued..)

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