Ming Empire

Chapter 90 The Strong Dragon and the Earth Snake
But before Zhu Chuanqi made his move, Cao Yue said unhurriedly: "Datong is the fiefdom of the Daiwang. The imperial court stipulates that the vassal kings must live and die with the fiefdom. We leaders can evacuate depending on the situation, but the Daiwang You can't. If the city is besieged by rogues, we will definitely break through and evacuate when we are short of food and grass, and I hope that His Royal Highness will be able to keep your family business with his own ability!"

Cao Yue's words were a blatant threat, which left Wei Daben and Zhang An stunned.This guy is too disrespectful, dare to say such a thing.However, they also really admired Cao Yue's courage, daring to blackmail acting king Zhu Chuanqi, he was really not an ordinary bull.

"Cao Yue, you are too much, you dare to talk to this king like this," Zhu Chuanqi was suddenly angry, and jumped up like a cat whose tail was stepped on, "You dare to ask this king for money and food, this king will definitely deal with this matter." Report to the imperial court and let His Majesty punish you!"

"It's all right," Cao Yue said indifferently, looking at Zhu Chuanqi, whose face was flushed with anger, "If His Royal Highness is not willing to contribute to the great cause of fighting against the bandits, you must give up your property. If you leave it to the rogues, the humble position will be played with you to let His Majesty know the situation of Datong, and see if His Majesty will punish me, the general who has worked so hard to keep Datong, or you, who have conspired with the rogues, are unwilling to contribute a little The vassal king of Qianliang. Well, it seems that the low-ranking guess is not bad. Daiwang is not worried about the arrival of the rogues at all. It is really possible that he has secretly contacted the rogues, and maybe he wants to use the power of the rogues to aspire to the Ninth Five-Year Lord. "

Cao Yue's words not only shocked Zhu Chuanqi, but also shocked Wei Daben and Zhang An who were watching all this dumbfounded.Cao Yue was outspoken, and he dared to say such treasonous words.

But really don't say it, Cao Yue's words just frightened Zhu Chuanqi.Now is an extraordinary time, the world is in chaos, and Emperor Chongzhen is a very suspicious person. If Cao Yue really plays, and Emperor Chongzhen believes what Cao Yue said, or has doubts because of Cao Yue’s performance, then he will be in trouble up.Cao Yue was a person who couldn't be deduced by common sense. He dared to kill the deputy commander-in-chief without being blamed by the emperor, and finally became a son-in-law.Who knows who will win in the end if there is a fight between the two of them this time.

Furthermore, the army of rogues will arrive in Datong. If Cao Yue's army really escapes from Datong, he must be the one who suffers. Not to mention that the family property is robbed, and the lives of the family members will be lost. The rogues will not let the members of the royal family surnamed Zhu go. .

Cao Yue made Zhu Chuanqi speechless with a few words, and the anger just now disappeared, his face turned green and pale, stunned Wei Daben and Zhang An.The two of them never expected that this respected feudal king in his forties would not be able to hold back a young man like Cao Yue.

It seems that the sentence is really true, those who are stunned are afraid of being violent, and those who are violent are afraid of dying. In troubled times, the person who holds the military power is the prestige.

Zhang An is also a smart person. Seeing that Zhu Chuanqi was intimidated by Cao Yue, he quickly stood up to smooth things over: "Hey, His Royal Highness, Cao Zongbing, don't be hurt by this. His Royal Highness, Cao Zongbing is actually I am anxious about the lack of money and food, and I am afraid that I will miss a major event, so I hope that His Royal Highness can help me a little bit. That... Actually, the miscellaneous family thinks that when the enemy is at hand, everyone in Datong should do their part to resist the bandits. As the saying goes, if you have money, you can contribute money, and if you have the strength, you can contribute. After all, if Datong is defended, everyone’s wealth can be preserved. Although the salary of the miscellaneous family is low, they are willing to do their part to defend Datong, and the miscellaneous family contributes 3000 taels of silver..."

At this time, Wei Daben also stood up and generously expressed his willingness to donate 1000 taels of silver.

Wei Daben has nothing to worry about, and the 1000 taels of silver are almost all of his belongings.

Seeing Zhang An and Wei Daben's appearance, Cao Yue was immediately happy, and before Zhu Chuanqi could react, he opened his mouth and said, "Actually, the main reason we are desperately defending Datong is to protect the Daiwang's family property. Your Royal Highness Dai Wang, in order to prevent you from getting into trouble and to make the soldiers have the confidence to defend Datong, you should let the soldiers and civilians of Datong see your sincerity. I feel that you have to spend at least 50 taels of silver. His Royal Highness’s 50 The taels of silver should be easier to get out than the 1000 taels of the prefect of Wei, right?"

Cao Yue's words made Zhu Chuanqi's face turn green, and he finally couldn't bear it anymore, and left in a rage.

Zhang An and Wei Daben looked at each other again, shaking their heads helplessly.They didn't expect that Cao Yue would ask for so much, and it was 50 taels. They thought that Cao Yue's request for 5 taels was already a great deal, and Zhu Chuanqi would not agree to 5 taels, let alone 50 taels.

"Excuse the sky, pay back the money when you land," Cao Yue smiled and waved to the embarrassed Zhang An and Wei Daben, signaling them not to mind: "Don't worry, His Royal Highness will give generously sooner or later, I really don't believe it He can be an iron cock."

"Cao Zongbing, if you really annoy the king, it might not be a good thing," Wei Daben hesitated, and finally expressed his worries.After the heart-to-heart discussion with Cao Yue last time, he felt that Cao Yue was a man who achieved great things, and he didn't care about trivial matters, so he admired this young man very much.Just because I have great expectations for Cao Yue, I don't want Cao Yue to be ruined at a young age.

Cao Yue's presumptuousness today must have annoyed Zhu Chuanqi. This is a local snake in Datong, and ordinary officials dare not provoke him. Wei Daben was really afraid that Cao Yue would fall into the hands of this local snake.

"Don't worry, after staying for a few days, the Dai Wang should be willing to hand over the money and food!" Cao Yue smiled and didn't care.

Another day later, Li Yan sent a letter to Cao Yue.

In Li Yanzhong's letter, he hoped that Cao Yue would recognize the situation in the world and not make fearless resistance. Now that the rebel army has mastered the general situation of the world, the rebel army is going to destroy the decaying Ming Dynasty. He wants Cao Yue to give up resistance, otherwise hundreds of thousands of rebel troops will be iron hoofed , Datong City will be flattened.

After reading the ultimatum-like letter from Li Yan, Cao Yue smiled and threw the letter into the stove and burned it.

He really didn't believe that the troops led by Li Yan would be stronger than Jiannu. He had fought against Jiannu in the Battle of Songshan, and he had also fought against Jiannu in Shengjing. Those were real Jurchen cavalry.Like Jiannu, the rebel army did not have large-scale firearms. He was confident that with his 5 troops, he could not only defend Datong, but also defeat the invading troops of Li Yan and Liu Zongmin.

Cao Yue also sent a letter back to Li Yan, in which he told Li Yan that his meaning was clearly expressed in the previous letter, but today he will give Li Yan another chance, hoping that Li Yan can assess the situation, Don't get bogged down in the ranks of rogues.He is not afraid of anyone coming to attack Datong, no matter who comes to attack Datong, he has the confidence to defeat the invading enemy.

"If you don't want Hong Niangzi to be a widow, you can follow the advice of the general soldier. Otherwise, you can boldly attack!"

This was the last sentence in Cao Yue's letter, but Cao Yue did not expect that it was this sentence that completely angered Li Yan!
(End of this chapter)