Great Wei Overlord

Chapter 921 The biggest crisis
Chapter 927 The biggest crisis
Ran Yu roared: "If you want to attack Yudong, you are making fun of your brothers' lives. If I don't stop you, how many of these brothers can survive now? And Luoyang, let's not talk about how strong Luoyang's city walls are. What's more, there is the first battalion of the Shesheng Army left by Zhang Ai, with a total of five thousand heavy crossbowmen and armor-piercing cones. Our armor is like paper in front of the armor-piercing cones. It's no different from dying."

Hearing this, Ji Polu became even more angry. He pointed to Ran Yu and said, "You are a lump of mud that cannot be lifted up."

The word Adou is almost synonymous with mediocrity and incompetence. After hearing what Ji Polu said, Ran Yu's face turned cold.Seeing Ran Yu's expression, Ji Polu's heart tightened.He and Ran Yu are similar in age, and they love each other as brothers.Especially in the past few years, Ji Polu knew Ran Yu's character very well.Everyone in the world praises Ran Yu for being like his father, but this is only one-sided.

The most impressive thing about Ran Min is that he is brave and unstoppable.In fact, Ran Min is not only full of wit and tricks, but also very well-mannered, and of course his political skills are not bad.During the post-Zhao period, its Taiwei Zhang Ju, Sikong Li Nong, Prime Minister Zhang Yu, General Longxiang Sun Fudu, General Zhang Li of Zhenjun, and General Liu Zhu of Zhenxi were all popular heroes.But all of them were quickly defeated by Ran Min.If Ran Min is really as brave and foolhardy as Sima Guang wrote in "Zi Zhi Tong Jian", I am afraid that he will not be able to overthrow Hou Zhao, and let the heroes of the world compete to follow him until death.

However, Shi Hu is a capricious, cruel and heartless person. As the general of the later Zhao, Shi Hu relied on his bravery and was very jealous of the brave generals in the army. Anyone who was braver than him was killed by him.Especially when Ran Long, General Jianjie of Chen Wu's begging army was defeated, only 12-year-old Ran Zhan was left in Ran's begging army.Ran Zhan was very brave, fierce and wise, and he was unparalleled in attack and battle. Ji Zhankui was promoted to General Zuo Jishe, Marquis of Xihua.But when Shi Hu saw that Ran Zhan was deeply loved by Shi Le, he was very jealous. He deliberately ordered Ran Zhan to lead the front troops to attack Liu Yao's army, and then the main force stopped and watched Ran Zhan die in the battle.After Ran Zhan's death, Ran Min was only 12 years old. In this environment, as long as Ran Min showed even the slightest bit of hostility towards Shi Hu, Shi Hu would definitely kill Ran Min.

Judging from Ran Min's character and ability, Ran Min's Wuyong is just his appearance, and his scheming is not deep.In fact, Ran Yu only has the appearance of Ran Min's martial arts. As for Ran Min's scheming, I am afraid that Ran Zhi has only learned a little bit.As for Ran Min's decisiveness and keenness, only Ran Ming can be considered penetrating.

Ran Yu was disturbed when he heard Ji Polu say that he was a Dou.He said in a bit of a daze: "I'm a Dou, so I'm just a Dou in your heart. Well, I'm not worthy of your followers at all, you can use my head to claim credit."

When Ji Polu heard Ran Yu's frustrating words, he was immediately annoyed.Rebellion is a one-way street with no retreat. This era is not the Republic of China in later generations. Warlords from all over the world rebel today, and tomorrow they will send a telegram to support the central government, so they can forget the past.At this time, as long as there is an intention to rebel, it is a capital offense.What's more, Ji Polu not only cooperated with Ran Zhi's troops to calculate Ran Feng, wiped out thousands of Wei's elite cavalry, and then captured Nan, Qingfeng, Fan counties, Hebei Guantao, Shandong Guanxian, and Shen counties without stopping. Wait for more than thirty cities.Now Ji Polu has no way of turning back.

What's more, at this time, Ji Polu couldn't do without Ran Yu. Since Ran Ming saved Ran Wei's fate, and since entering Kaiyuan, Ran's family has been recognized by the northern people.Moreover, the Ran family became the target of the Wei army's allegiance.China is a country that pays attention to the integrity of the name and the well-known teachers. Even if you want to find something, you have to find a good excuse.At this time, Ran Yu is a fig leaf for the broken family. No matter what happens in the future, at this time, even in the Anbei Army, some soldiers choose to wait and see, that is, the Ran brothers are fighting for the country, and they will not help each other.But once Ji Polu dared to get rid of Ran Yu and go it alone, the nature would be different. This was no longer the category of Ran Zhi's hanging people and punishing crimes, but a real rebellion.Just like during the period of the Republic of China, the big traitor Wang Jingwei opposed Chiang Kai-shek almost all the time, pulling him back.With Chiang Kai-shek's strength, it was too easy to kill Wang Jingwei, but Lao Jiang didn't dare at all, because Wang Jingwei was the successor of the revolutionary Three People's Principles designated by Sun Yat-sen.

To put it bluntly, politics is actually simple, it is a process of transaction.The combination of Ran Yu and Ji Polu is actually a transaction. Ran Yu's reputation, he bears the title of prince, and has the world-recognized name of Ran Min's style, which is an intangible political asset.

At this time, Ji Polu calmed down instead, he could not tear face with Ran Yu, he had to maintain their alliance.After a little thought, Ji Polu had an idea.

"Ran Yu, what are you doing?" Ji Polu pointed at Ran Yu and yelled, "You think we are children playing house games, and we stop playing when we are not happy. Ran Yu, I really misread you, I didn't expect that you are a coward! Now that your second child has not come to fight, you are afraid, and when your second child really calls, won't you be so scared that you will pee?"

After all, Ran Yu is still young and can't stand stimulation the most.Hearing this, Ran Yu, who originally planned to accept his fate, suddenly had a rush of blood: "What are you talking about, I am afraid of my second brother? I can beat him when I was 11 years old. Now he can support me for at most twenty rounds. How can you be afraid of him!"

"You're just scared, you're just scared!" Ji Polu said persistently, "You're not afraid, why are you so anxious now, why are you shouting loudly? If you're not afraid of him, you're not complaining here, but going to The barracks stabilize the morale of the troops."

Ran Yu said, "Just go!"

Ran Yu turned around and left. Ji Polu knew that his relationship with Ran Yu had broken down.The only one I can rely on now is myself.

……

The sun is slowly setting, and the afterglow of the setting sun gradually disappears at the end of the earth.Another day of fierce battle, Ran Zhi felt helpless and saddened by the futile battle.In Ran Zhi's military commander's tent, Ran Zhi's four major disciples, Wu Qubing, Zhang Yizhi, Liu Meng, Zhang Zhiqiang, Pei Yu and many other civil servants, advisers and generals gathered together.

"Now that Yecheng has been defeated for a long time, the morale of our soldiers has been demoralized, and the soldiers are exhausted physically and mentally. Moreover, those people from the state of Jin can't hold on to the second brother for too long. Once the second brother's army returns to help, we will be attacked by the enemy, and we will not wait now. I hope that you will work together with the lonely king to come up with a solution." Ran Zhi didn't talk nonsense, and directly addressed the crowd.

"Your Majesty!" Wu Qubing said: "The military department is not the head of the minister. If you are not in his position, you will not seek his own government. The minister is only obedient to the king's order. Please show me the king!"

"Good!" Ran Zhi nodded approvingly to Wu Qubing.Wu Qubing was only the son of a village chief. Due to his background and vision, he was already a bit powerless to manage the government affairs of Ran Zhixiuwu's country.But Ran Zhi just liked Wu Qubing because of his unreserved obedience.

Pei Yu is the elder brother of Ran Zhi's confidant Pei Bi. He was originally an official and minister doctor. This is a fifth-rank official position.It mainly manages the assessment, promotion, rewards and punishments of officials below the fourth rank of the Ministry of Officials.Later, he took refuge in Ran Zhi as the Minister of the Ministry of Officials, in charge of the appointment and removal of officials, examinations, promotions, transfers and other matters.It can be regarded as doing his old job, similar to the first deputy minister of the Organization Department of the Central Committee of later generations.The difference between Pei Yu and Pei Bi's talents is too far, but this person is upright and upright, which has given Ran Zhi's Xiuwu Kingdom a good atmosphere of government.

Ran Zhi's real staff member is Zhang Yizhi, a direct descendant of the Zhang family in Wu County, who is trusted by Ran Zhi, and has a good vision, so he can be called a talent.Zhang Yizhi said: "Your Majesty, what I mean by this minister is that no matter what, we must seize the opportunity. If we wait for Ran Ming's army to return to help and attack Yecheng's defenders back and forth, our army will not be able to leave even if we want to. We must be there." Make a decision within three days, otherwise it will change."

"But in three days, can you conquer Yecheng?" Ran Zhi said: "There are more than [-] family members of the elite soldiers of the Wei Kingdom in Yecheng. Once we conquer Yecheng, even if it is only one day earlier than Ran Ming, our army can turn passive Take the initiative, as long as Yecheng is in hand, with hundreds of thousands of family members of Wei civil and military officials as hostages, the elite of the Wei army will be wary and have to compromise."

When they heard that Yecheng was attacked in three days, these generals showed a look of misery, let alone three days, even 30 days they had no idea.Even Ran Yuanjie, who cared the least about the casualties of his troops, began to worry about gains and losses.Ran Zhi saw the faces of the generals, and knew that this was the biggest problem, and it was not good to force them too hard.

At this time, Zhang Yizhi said: "Your Majesty, in fact, we have all made a mistake. We are too restrained, and instead are passive everywhere. In fact, it is not difficult to conquer Yecheng. It's not that the generals didn't think about that problem, it's just that Fear of taking responsibility."

In fact, as early as Ran Zhi had just occupied the outer city walls and was helpless in the face of Wang Meng's formation of sabers and chariots, Ran Zhi's staff gave Ran Zhi a final plan to break through the city.This action plan, code-named "Lie Yan", is to divide Yecheng into more than 100 squares, and carry out indiscriminate strikes according to the original division of Yecheng Fangli.At that time, although the Saimen knife cart was equipped with a fierce fire oil tank, it only had a range of dozens of steps. This limited range immediately made Ran Zhi's staff see an opportunity to take advantage of it.So a tragic battle plan was introduced, but Ran Zhi didn't implement this plan.Once this plan is implemented, the entire Ye city will become Ran Zhi's enemy, and it will be an unending death enemy.

Because in this plan, it is to concentrate all the trebuchets, ballistas, and eight-ox crossbows in Ran Zhi's army to grab the upper hand in the northwest, concentrate all the fierce fire oil, and carry out a hell-like attack.Street fighting was rarely carried out in ancient times, and there is another fundamental reason, that is, the basic conditions for street fighting were not available inside the city, because urban buildings in this era were mainly made of wood and were extremely flammable.As long as the water is flowing, once it is burned, it will be a street.If it is artificial arson, the consequences are even more serious.Usually in historical records, we often see the words "burning into white ground", which means that once the city wall is breached, the problem of street fighting is actually easy to solve.Big deal, a burst of rockets, coverage indiscriminately, so that the city will be completely burned down.

Although Ran Ming invented cement in this era, and many buildings with reinforced concrete structures were built in Yecheng, most of the people still lived in wooden houses in the traditional way.In Yecheng, more than two-thirds of the houses are made of wood.

Ran Zhi hesitated and said: "But once this plan is adopted, Yecheng will suffer heavy casualties, the lonely king will also lose the hearts of Yecheng, and he will be notorious through the ages. Besides, we will not be able to achieve the goal of disintegrating the elite of Wei State , This will only force them to follow us forever."

Zhang Yizhi said: "It is certain that there will be heavy casualties, but my lord, if you adopt this strategy, will Yecheng still hold on? As for the problem of Yecheng's loss of people's hearts, it is rarely resolved. Luoyang and Chang'an are both The ideal place to set the capital, especially Chang'an, as long as Hangu Pass and Tongguan are well guarded, millions of troops can be stopped outside the pass. There are [-] miles of fertile soil in the pass, so why worry about the great cause? In addition, we have to deal with the large The archery book tells them that if they don’t surrender, they will set fire to the city of Ye, and if there are any casualties, they will have no head with the king, and all the responsibilities are caused by Wang Meng.”

After hearing this, Ran Zhi said with increased confidence: "You all work together with the lonely king, and we will surely win the final victory. As long as we break through Yecheng and kill Ran Ming, I will share the world of Wei with you in the future! On the spot, Ran Zhi added three ranks to all the ministers of civil and military affairs present, and granted Zhang Yizhi the title of Shaobao.

That night, arrow books were shot into the city of Yecheng continuously. The arrow books did not use any gorgeous words, on the contrary, they were all simple words. The arrow books drafted by Zhang Yizhi used very plain words and even a little bit of a literary flavor. Language tells the people of Yecheng a few things.

The first time the army besieged the city was because Ran Ming used despicable means to steal the throne that originally belonged to Ran Zhi. Ran Ming stole the throne without hesitating to waste people and money. Hanging people and punishing crimes; second.After the army enters the city, it will never disturb the people, and the followers of the army will not be punished; third, please stop the residents of the city from following Ran Ming to help the tyrant.Start to meet the army as soon as possible, but if you still persist in your obsession, at noon tomorrow, it will also be an ultimatum, and the determined accomplices will attack indiscriminately.

Yecheng is the capital of the Wei State, and the literacy rate among the common people is the highest among all counties and counties in the country, almost reaching about [-]%.Compared with the national [-]% illiteracy rate, this is definitely the city with the most cultural atmosphere.Therefore, the content of the arrow book spread quickly. Since the arrow book was written in Bianwen, it was easy to read, and a literate person read it once, and those who listened to it would be able to recite it.This is different from the official ultimatum in ancient classical Chinese. Ancient classical Chinese is actually quite coded text without a certain foundation in Chinese. Even if you know all the characters, you can never understand the meaning inside.

Wang Meng discovered it just after receiving the arrow books.This was just a tactic to attack the heart, and Wang Meng didn't take it to heart.But when it was daylight, Wang Meng realized something was wrong.Ran Zhi is definitely not joking now, because the wind direction has changed to the southeast. At this time, hundreds of trebuchet ballistas are densely arranged in the southeast direction. The fire oil collected by the counties and counties is enough to burn the city of Ye.

Wang Meng, as Ran Ming's confidant who stayed in Yedu, coupled with the all-round cooperation of the royal guards, soon got the information.In fact, the Menghuo oil in this era was produced from the self-spraying crude oil wells in Gaonu County, Shangjun County.Since the discovery of oil called Shizhishui in the Western Han Dynasty, it has become a very important military material, whether it is for defending or attacking a city, or for blocking waterways.

Of course, the ancients developed oil very early. In addition to using the characteristics of oil that is easy to burn, they also took advantage of the value of oil as much as possible.Due to the pungent smell and thick smoke produced when the oil burns, they surrounded the three sides of the oil torch with waxed paper, and let the black smoke fall on the oil paper. A thick layer of soot will fall, and then the soot will be sent to the ink-making workshop to become the raw material for ink-making.

In this era, the utilization rate of crude oil is very large.Of course, due to the limitation of technical conditions, except for a few self-flowing wells, domestic crude oil production is very limited.Ever since Ran Ming founded the Zhongnan Development Company, Champa's oil had been discovered. Of course, this kind of thing that was almost regarded as a plague in the local area was regarded as a treasure by Wei.Petroleum refining is actually not too complicated. By cooking, you can get a light yellow mixture of diesel and gasoline that is as good as water.Of course, this refining method is also very backward compared with later generations, and its energy efficiency is poor, but it is undeniable that this has almost become all the lighting of the Wei State. Refined fire oil lighting.

According to Wei Guomeng's reserves of kerosene, the royal guards quickly reported the kerosene that Ran Zhi might get to Wang Meng. Wang Meng was shocked when he saw this number.Because if Ran Zhi searched the counties of Wei County, including Changle County occupied by Ran Yu and Ji Polu, he could get at most more than [-] catties of refined fire oil.

(End of this chapter)