Because of the defeat of the Hutuo River, Zhu Yunwen really replaced the veteran Geng Bingwen as expected, and made Cao Guogong Li Jinglong replace Geng Bingwen in the Northern Expedition.

When the news reached Beiping, King Yan couldn't help but be overjoyed, and said to the generals: "The son of Li Jiujiang, who is scheming and arrogant, is fierce and discouraged, and is jealous and self-serving. ”

If Zhang Zhaohua is asked to listen to the last sentence, it is clearly to show that Li Jinglong is a cheating father - and this "father" is not his dead father Li Wenzhong, but Emperor Jianwen, who believes in him.

Because Li Jinglong is the son of Li Wenzhong, the nephew of Emperor Gao, and has been familiar with military books since childhood, he was born tall and handsome, and he was loved by Emperor Gao and the new emperor, and because of his arrest of King Zhou, Emperor Jianwen relied on him very much. People with a little discerning can see that Li Jinglong, a child who grew up in a noble family, has never experienced a battle before, and is by no means a person who can be relied on, but Emperor Jianwen seems to have found a backer, and also held a ceremony for him to send the general to the expedition, gave him the axe that represents the majesty of the Son of Heaven, and allowed him to make a special expedition, and also specially awarded him the "rhino belt through the sky", and personally wrote the words "Loyalty and filial piety of the ancestors", expressing the excessive prosperity.

King Yan sneered at this: "Han Gaozu knows people well, but he will have 100,000 soldiers. Only the general Han Xin has the more the merrier, what kind of talent does Li Jiujiang dare to command 500,000 soldiers? I think he is Zhao Kuo's resurrection, and there will also be Zhao Kuo's defeat. ”

King Yan analyzed the reasons for Li Jinglong's defeat to his subordinates, in addition to reading military books and not knowing how to be flexible, there were also "endless government decrees, untidy discipline", "greed but not governance, lack of wisdom and trust", said a little more casually, King Yan actually said: "Li Jinglong is narrow-minded, greedy and scab-"

Among the generals, there are also illiterate rough people, I don't know what King Yan said about this "scab" thing, but most of the thousands of households, all of them have read books, and when they heard that Li Jinglong actually has a habit of scabs, they can't help but look at each other.

"The habit of scabs" is said to be that Liu Yong of the Southern Dynasty likes to eat scabs, and feels that it tastes like eating anchovy. One day, Liu Yong visited his friend Meng Lingxiu, who was suffering from sores, and saw that there were a lot of scabs on the bed, so he actually took them and ate them. Hugh was frightened, so he peeled off all the scabs on his body that had not been peeled off, causing the sores to bleed again. And the more than 200 officials of Nankang County, to whom Liu Yong belonged, regardless of whether they were guilty or not, were to be whipped in turn, and the injuries caused by them were scabbed into scabs for them to eat.

Could it be that Li Jinglong also has a hobby like Liu Yong?

The warriors could not understand the strange behavior of the literati, especially the scholars during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, as long as they thought that there were still people in this world who liked to eat blood scabs, many commanders couldn't help but be disgusted.

Seeing this, King Yan suddenly laughed: "I'm not saying that he is addicted to eating sores and scabs, but that he is good...... This one...... Male—"

Yan Wang just equated the habit of liking men with liking scabs, which shows that Yan Wang is indeed more disgusted with Long Yangzhi's goodness, and as he spoke, he glared fiercely at Gao Sui who was shrinking in the corner, Gao Sui seemed to feel his gaze, and froze there motionless.

King Yan no longer mentioned this, but talked about the problem of grain and grass, and it was not easy for the generals to get to the bottom of it, but everyone seemed to understand that this Li Jinglong was probably different from ordinary people in terms of "greed", not only playing with women and playing strange tricks, but also having the problem of being a man. Although this problem is not illegal, it is indeed disgusting, how can such a person establish prestige among soldiers!

However, before Li Jinglong could set off, on September 1, Guo Liang, the general of Yongping, sent someone to report that Wu Gao, the Marquis of Jiangyin, led Liaodong soldiers and horses into the pass and surrounded Yongping. Yongping is close to Shanhaiguan, is the frontier of Liaodong, originally guarded Guo Liang to surrender to the king of Yan, so that the king of Yan eliminated the worries of the east, can concentrate on attacking the surroundings of Beiping. If Yongping falls, the Liaodong army rushes straight to Beiping, and Li Jinglong rushes from the south and attacks from both sides, the situation in Beiping will be very dangerous.

Therefore, King Yan decided to rush to the aid of Yongping, but his decision actually had objections, because some generals believed that Li Jinglong was about to go north, and he was the biggest threat and should concentrate on dealing with him. And Yongping City is strong, it can hold on for some time, and after dealing with Li Jinglong, it is not too late to go to the rescue.

But King Yan said: "If I stay in Beiping, Li Jinglong will not dare to come." And if I go out of the city, he will definitely come to attack Beiping. If we defend the city, we will actually clearly tell Li Jinglong that our troops are insufficient, and that only when the army is outside and the inside and outside are horns can we break the enemy. ”

Since King Yan made a decision, he summoned Gao Chi and handed over the Great Seal of King Yan to him, "I will rush to help Yongping, you stay in Beiping City and hold on, and you must not go out lightly." When it comes to major matters, listen to your mother's decision-making. The city of Beiping is strong, the battle is insufficient, and the code is more than enough, I heard a few masters say, you have always been able to push sincerity and appoint people, I hope you will use this to resist the enemy, and wait for the army to come back to relieve the siege. Remember, remember!"

Gao Chi still had a look of shock on his face, he couldn't believe that Beiping would soon become a dangerous city, and that he might not get help for a long time, and could only rely on the city to resist the enemy's attack.

"Father, Li Jinglong's army is about to arrive," Gao Chi said, "Why don't you stay behind, but instead send troops to rescue Yongping, a fortified city that is not in danger?"

King Yan saw that Gao Chi's face was pale, as if he had wrinkled into an old bread, but Zhang Zhaohua, who was behind Gao Chi, had a changed expression, and soon revealed a sudden expression.

"Zhang," King Yan said, "Tell me, why should I send troops to aid Yongping?"

Zhang Zhaohua was stunned, and didn't know why King Yan suddenly asked like this, but she still immediately said: "I heard that the soldiers are out of the house, and strange changes are at will." Sticking to the dangerous city is a last resort, and if Li Jinglong's army besieges the city for several months, I will sit back and wait for death!"

The soldiers can't stay in one place for a long time, it seems that they are gathered together with a large number of people and great strength, but in the battle of Guangu, often a strange soldier can defeat a team of hundreds of thousands of people, because the goal is too big, and too concentrated, this is Li Jinglong's way to bring about his own destruction; and it is not advisable to sit in a dangerous city, because often in the movement of the outer line, the soldiers have unlimited room for expansion, and they can also quickly expand themselves in the battles again and again, which is the way of victory for King Yan.

"If Li Jinglong takes advantage of his father's soldiers to attack Beiping," Zhang Zhaohua said: "It is right in my arms." The city of Beiping is strong, and it has not been able to be attacked for a long time, and it has been consumed a lot. And now in winter, the southern sergeants are not tolerant of cold, which is by no means conducive to fighting a protracted war, and if they cannot fight a quick battle, the southern army will naturally be scattered. As long as our side pursues the word 'drag', it can drag down Li Jinglong's army of 500,000. At that time, my father returned to the teacher, and the enemy would be broken by attacking inside and outside. ”

King Yan laughed, stared at her again, and said, "Tell me more, why did I abandon the defense of Lugou Bridge?"

Hearing that Li Jinglong led his army north, King Yan ordered to abandon the defense of Lugou Bridge - Zhang Zhaohua didn't have to think about it at all, and immediately said: "If you look at it in the past, Lugou Bridge is indeed a place to defend. Besides, I gave up the Lugou Bridge to confuse and arrogant Li Jinglong, and made him even more convinced that Beiping was now weak and had no troops to defend, so that he could go deep into the city of Beiping. ”

Yan Wang Dayue pointed at Zhang Zhaohua and said: "If you are a man with such knowledge, under my command, I am afraid that you are even higher than Zhu Neng's officials!"

"Father looks down on women," Zhang Zhaohua said: "Women don't lose to men! Not as good as Mrs. Xian and Liang Hongyu, but they promise to be able to hold Beiping and wait for their father's return!

Zhang Zhaohua was full of confidence, and after the king of Yan left, he asked General Gu Cheng to issue an order in the entire Beiping City, "among the people, the strong men are an army to serve as a defense, the strong women are an army, and the old and weak are an army to drink, feed, pick, and shepherd."

The strong men in the city of Beiping were given weapons, and they caught up with the city every day, and practiced defense - this was Gao Chi's work, he supervised the defense in the city, and also rushed to make weapons; and Princess Xu took the palace people of the palace to join the strong women's army, and like ordinary women, they carried forks, fire hooks, iron pickaxes, fire sickles and lime to the city, Zhang Zhaohua barely took care of the old and weak army, cooking every day, delivering food, water and soup, and under the command of Zhang Zhaohua, he practiced several exercises to carry the wounded.

"React quickly!" Zhang Zhaohua took a few days to teach before he could see the results: "Avoid the arrows, and you can't block the sergeant! If you have an injury in the abdomen, you must lie down, and if you have a wound in the back, you must lie down——"

She has collected a lot of long sticks these days, and these long sticks are put on clothes, which are simple stretchers, Zhang Zhaohua has spent a lot of effort to divide the old and weak army into groups of two and two, and there will be no situation when the time comes. She also taught the doctor of the palace the common sense of simple bandaging of wounds.

"Yong'an," Zhang Zhaohua coldly saw Yong'an who was smoking firewood around the pot, and said: "Go back, it's busy and chaotic here!"

Yongan originally followed Princess Xu's side, but she was sent over in two days, Zhang Zhaohua knew that she couldn't pick up her shoulders and couldn't lift it, and sure enough, she saw her face pale, but Yongan refused to go back, only said that he would do his best to defend the city.

Yong'an is not as good as Yongping in this regard, Yongping really impressed Zhang Zhaohua, she no longer applies powder and rouge, and even her hair is not combed much, wearing a rob skirt, and she really carries stones to the city with a basket with a group of country women. The soldiers knew Princess Xu and Zhang Zhaohua, but they didn't recognize Yongping, and they often stared at Yongping with thief's eyes, and some of them were very reckless in saying things that were not taboo - but Yongping laughed and even scolded the past in local dialect.

Zhang Zhaohua was too busy to ignore her, because General Gu Cheng carefully observed the nine gates of Beiping and found that the geology around the other eight gates of Beiping was relatively hard and stony, but the soil around the Lizheng Gate was soft, and he said that he wanted to prevent the southern army from digging tunnels.

"What should I do?" asked Gao Chi.

"Choose people who are good at listening," Gu Cheng said: "Dig holes like wells near the nine gates, I see that the two zhang are about the same, bury a new urn in it, and select these people who are good at hearing to sit in the urn and listen day and night." If the southern army digs a tunnel, its sound can be heard in the urn within a few hundred steps. ”

Zhang Zhaohua and Gao Chi listened absentmindedly, because they had just received the news that Gu Tong, the eldest son of General Gu Cheng, had been killed—because Gu Cheng had surrendered to King Yan, and Gu Tong's family, who remained in Puding, had been killed for collaborating with the enemy. The north and south are far apart, and even if Gao Chi has the intention to send someone to Puding to collect the corpse, he can't go.

They thought that Gu Cheng didn't know the bad news, and they were hesitating whether to tell him the news at this time - but when Gu Cheng waved his finger at the map of Beiping City, Zhang Zhaohua suddenly saw Gu Cheng's armor.

She burst into tears, and the dazzling white seemed to be pressed into her heart.

Gao Chi also found out, he couldn't help grabbing Gu Cheng's hand, but remembered that King Yan said at the moment when he got Gu Cheng's surrender: "This day Yier will give me too!"

"Beiping," he said, "against all odds, you can hold it!"