Ma Shao woke up the next day and felt confused, of course, it was not just as simple as being drunk, yesterday Tuhuan not only promised to provoke the heavy task of defending the city, but also happily donated a thousand taels of gold and 500 silk horses as a reward for the army. He did not flinch in the face of danger like others, and he was very surprised by the unhappiness of buckling the rope.

But Ma Shao couldn't understand why he accepted the suggestion of Dehuan in a daze, and planned to promote peace by bribing the little emperor of the Southern Dynasty, and did not hesitate to 'sell' his interests to complete the task and keep Yangzhou City. This made him, who has always insisted on honesty and integrity, surprised and disgusted by his own transformation at the moment, but fortunately, there is still the great righteousness of the country and the soldiers and civilians in the city, so that his heart is better, otherwise he will really force himself to jump the city wall for this.

sighed a few times, drank a cup of hot tea, the feeling of headache and splitting subsided slightly, and Ma Shao asked himself to 'go out of the mountain' to preside over the Yangzhou city defense matters properly. Judging from yesterday's talks, Tuhuan does have a certain prestige, and with the prince in his body, he acts more conveniently and smoothly than himself, and he also knows the enemy in front of him very well, and his judgment of the situation is not outrageous.

But Ma Shao also knew that Tuhuan was a figure that the Great Khan had been careful to guard against and deliberately suppress, you must know that according to the practice of the Mongols, the prince was the actual ruler of the region, that is, the hand of the military and government, and had the right to decide on the political affairs of the territory, and command the troops stationed there, and the power was very large.

But the Great Khan of Zhenjin only gave Tuhuan the right to supervise the army, but did not give him the right to command, and attributed all political affairs to the province, obviously eliminating the possibility of his meddling in local military and political affairs. It shows that the Great Khan is not at ease with this brother, and is only happy to let him be a carefree king with food and clothing, rather than taking on the heavy responsibility of guarding the two Huai.

"Do extraordinary things in extraordinary times!" Now that the wood has been completed, Ma Shao can only use this to relieve himself, and he is also doing this out of consideration for the country and the people, and there is no selfishness in it. However, he felt that he should still moderately limit his power, lest he take advantage of this to form a big tail and fight against the court, so that he would really become a sinner of the country.

After thinking about the pros and cons, Ma Shao called his subordinate officials again and asked about the collection of grain and grass and Ding Zhuang yesterday. Because according to the custom, the Wanhu Mansion stationed in the local area often concurrently serves as the state government official here, and the Hangzhou prefect is naturally also led by Badu, and he only claims to be sick, but to hand over the seal letter. Ma Shao could only issue a decree in the name of the provincial governor, and the only officials who could be mobilized were a few subordinate officials who followed the negotiation and a 100-man escort, and he could not rely on the manpower and material resources of the government office, so he could not help but be constrained.

But the result was still beyond Marshall's expectations, the announcement did not provoke a response at all, and the rich families in the city not only did not hand over their private soldiers, but also symbolically sent a few old, weak, sick and disabled. The closure of the warehouse responded positively, but the grain merchants only closed their shops and refused to sell any more grain, but no one transported a grain of grain to the treasury, and he knew that these people saw that the city was besieged and wanted to hoard Juqi and wait for the opportunity to sell it at a good price.

As for Ding Zhuang, when he didn't have a register, there was no basis for the guards under him to want to arrest people, and the people who got the news had already hidden. In order not to make Lord Youcheng's face too ugly, these soldiers had to arrest people on the street, and as a result, they tossed for a long time, making a lot of trouble, and only a few hundred beggars and homeless people were collected, but they were happy to find a place to eat and drink. However, it attracted the questioning of some Confucian scholars and elders in the city, saying that they harassed the people, so that they could not justify it, but provoked a riot.

After listening to the report, Ma Shao's face turned pale and he didn't say a word, obviously without the cooperation of the government and the garrison, it was impossible for him to complete these tasks. What's more, no one takes him as a provincial right-hand man in his eyes, and he doesn't even bother to be perfunctory. And if he acts by force, it will inevitably lead to conflicts with various forces and soldiers and civilians in the city, and who will be unlucky at that time!

"Yu Youcheng, the king of Zhennan led his troops to the palace to ask about things!" Just as Ma Shao was frowning and thinking about how to deal with the situation, a relative came in and said.

"Open the door quickly, and follow the official to the door to greet you!" Ma Shao was overjoyed when he heard this, and immediately opened the door to welcome the guests.

After Ma Shao changed his clothes, he came to the front of the palace hall, only to see the middle door wide open, and the officials and officials of Yangzhou Mansion had been lined up on both sides, and when he led the officials to walk out of the mansion gate, he couldn't help but be taken aback, only to see that there were soldiers on the street standing along both sides of the street to block the entire street, one by one the armor was distinct, the swords and guns were shining, and the flag was the Zhennan Wangfu. At this time, the sound of small horses' hooves came, and a cavalry army could be seen coming in the direction of the government from a distance.

The leading cavalry galloped past, and there was a group of escort cavalry with bows and guns in front of the guard, and then it was the king of Zhennan, and there were two teams of cavalry guards on the left and right, and a large group of cavalry accompanying them. Ma Shao was shocked in his heart, this is a cavalry and an infantry army, there are nearly two thousand troops, far more than the five hundred of the Wangfu Xue Army, he never thought that the Zhennan Wangfu would have such a powerful armament.

However, Ma Shao was relieved, and according to Genghis Khan's military law, in order to hold his officials hostage, he adopted the practice of coercion on the children of officials, and used them to form a cowardly Xue army to ensure the loyalty of the upper and lower levels, so that the cowardly Xue system also became the basis for maintaining the Mongol system. When King Zong left the town, he would also allow him to form a cowardly army with the children of fiefdom officials, but the number would be strictly limited to prevent them from becoming too large and threatening his rule.

However, the military law separately stipulates that the children who are allowed to pledge can bring their entourage, and the children of the thousand households who enter the Xue army can bring ten retinues, the children of the hundred households can bring five, and the children of the ten households and ordinary nobles can bring three. In addition, the children of the nobles at all levels can also bring a brother into the guard. Therefore, the number of people under the jurisdiction of the cowardly Xue army far exceeds the actual establishment, and the cowardly Xue army of the king of Zhennan is also the same, although the establishment is only 500 people, but the number of cowardly Xue Gang's retinue has increased several times.

Ma Shao saw that the number of the cowardly Xue army brought by this dehuan was about two thousand people, but this was not all its strength, and he estimated that the Zhennan Royal Mansion had at least four to five thousand troops armed with the cowardly Xue army as the core. At present, there are 30,000 troops in Yangzhou City, but after several battles, the losses are very heavy, and there are less than 20,000 people, so the strength of Zhennan Wangfu is enough to influence the situation and make him lose control, so he suddenly has a feeling of luring wolves into the room.

Before Ma Shao thought about it, Yuxi Timur had already arrived in front of the ya, turned over and dismounted to greet him, and then took his hand and walked into the palace affectionately. He sat down on the throne of the lord, and asked Marsho to sit down next to his right hand and accept the bows of the officials.

"At present, the southern army is invading the north, our army has suffered setbacks one after another, and the city is in danger. The prefect Batu Wanhu was seriously ill and could not be a director, so the provincial Ma Youcheng took the initiative to take on the important task of defending the city, and invited the king to preside over the military and political affairs. Tuhuan let the officials stand up and said, "This king was ordered by the Great Khan to guard the two Huai and keep a place safe, in this time of crisis, this king should advance and retreat with the soldiers and civilians of the city, and live and die with the city, so he accepted Ma Youcheng's request to preside over the military administration of Yangzhou City, repel the southern army, and hold the city!" ”

"The lower officials and others will obey His Highness's orders and live and die with the city!" After saying goodbye, Ma Shao got up and led the officials to salute.

"Well, then, the king will beat the drum and gather the generals to discuss the defense of the city!" Ma Shao raised his hand to let the officials be exempted from courtesy and said, "Lahuduo, you take the king's token to the military camps everywhere to give orders, and order the officers of more than 1,000 households in the city to go to the government office to discuss matters within the limit of the three-way drum, and those who delay will be engaged in military law!" ”

"Do as the king commands!" Lahudo stepped forward to take the token, and immediately turned around and went out with a group of men and horses, each holding a command flag, and galloped away.

"Drumming!" Tuhuan ordered again, and a moment later, the big drum in front of the government was beaten.

'Knock, knock, knock......' The soldiers standing outside the hall were filled with a solemn atmosphere in the palace, and the dull drum sounded, and the sound beat like a heavy hammer on the hearts of everyone. Ma Shao looked sideways at the king of Zhennan who was playing with the wrench in his hand, and then at the officials under the hall who were like frightened rabbits, one by one cautious, worried about angering him. He realized that His Highness was not as kind as he seemed, and that the officials of the city were very jealous of him.

In addition to being strong and majestic, the three-way war drum also has the meaning of timing, a total of 180 sounds, taking the meaning of a year. Its rhythm is 36 in the front, 36 in the back, and 36 in the middle, a total of 18 breaths, indicating the time with the slow and rapid rhythm of the sound, and the three-way drum is about two quarters of an hour. Although the military camps are scattered all over the city, they are all close to the main road, the traffic is convenient, after the two drums, there are generals panting to come to order, after the three drums, most of the generals have arrived in front of the hall, even the sick Badu has also arrived. When the drumming stopped, several late generals were stopped outside the palace gate.

"Your Highness, there are not many thousand households, Bilaha, and Qi'erchi!" Lahudo stepped forward to hand over the token and announced.

"If you don't get it, you'll be killed!" Tuhuan nodded, took an arrow from the desk and threw it on the ground.

"Yes!" Lahudo picked up the arrow and went out without hesitation.

"Your Highness, now is the time to employ people, please allow them to make meritorious service and atone for their sins!" Two of the three thousand households who were late were subordinates of Brother Du, and the other was the department of Badu, and Brother Du hurriedly stepped forward to intercede after hearing this. Batu, on the other hand, frowned and said nothing.

"Brother Du, you are not strict with the restraints, and you dare to intercede for them, drag them down and beat them with twenty lashes!" He smiled and smiled, his face changed abruptly, and he said in a deep voice.

"Your Highness, the last general knows that he is guilty and is willing to be punished, but they are all generals who can fight habitually, please spare a life!" He was cowardly and stepped forward to hold down Brother Du, and surrounded him to the lower hall to receive the punishment, but Brother Du still didn't give up and pleaded for his subordinates.

"Hmph, there is impunity, no wonder you have been defeated repeatedly. Now remove you from the post of ten thousand households, and wait for the fate! Tuohuan glanced at him and snorted coldly.

"Your Highness, now is the time to employ people, and it may not be conducive to defending the city by changing generals in battle!" Ma Shao frowned, he knew that Tuhuan was so intent on establishing power, but in the blink of an eye, three thousand households fell to the ground, and one million households were dismissed. He felt that it was too much, and got up to plead for them.

"Ma Youcheng, it's not that this king doesn't sell you face, it is precisely because of the current war that military discipline must be taken seriously. If you have the kindness of a woman, how can you control the army and face a strong enemy with one heart! Dehuan still gave Ma Shao a lot of face, and said with a chuckle.

"This ......" As he spoke, Lahudo and a few soldiers were already holding their heads to their lives. Marsho knew that it was useless to say more, so he could only shake his head.

The officials in the hall looked at the bloody heads, listened to the crisp sound of the whip beating the body outside the hall and the muffled snort of the tortured, all of them showed fear, and a few timid officials couldn't help but tremble their legs, and their teeth made a strange 'gurgling' sound.

"Your Highness, the incompetence of the subordinate officials and the lack of command failed to defeat the southern army, so that the city was besieged. At present, he is seriously ill and can no longer help His Highness, so I am willing to hand over the seal letter and obey His Highness's dispatch! At this time, Batu stood up, he stepped forward two steps to salute, and then untied the Yangzhou Mansion seal hanging on his waist, and presented it to the Dao together with the military talisman of the headquarters.

"Brother Du, the southern army is strong, the thieves are scheming, and the defeat cannot be blamed on you. Since you are sick and recuperate in the mansion, there are still good medicinal materials in the palace, and you will send someone to the mansion later, and the king is only temporarily in charge at the moment, and you will return the talisman after you recover. Seeing this, Tuhuan got up and left his seat, took the soldier seal letter and handed it to the guard beside him, and put his hands on it and said softly.

"The lower official has thanked His Highness for his grace of not sinning, and after he recovers, he will serve His Highness before and after he is cured!" Batu thanked him again.

"Okay, Lahuduo will send Badu Wanhu back to the house to recuperate, and then pick up some good medicinal materials and silk silk and send them to the house!" Tuohuan gave Lahudo a wink.

"The evergreen sky is above, the last general is willing to obey the dispatch, and the sword mountain and the sea of fire will never retreat!" At this time, Tuo Liedu also got up and knelt down with two steps, holding the gold medal tiger talisman in both hands to offer the way.

"Turredu, this king knows that you are a fierce general in the army, and you are very brave in battle. Now is the time to employ people, and this king still has a lot to rely on! He turned out to be a tiger talisman, but he didn't accept it, but hung it on his waist again, patted him on the shoulder and said in a deep voice.

"The last general obeys the order, and once he is sent, he will never give up!" Hearing this, Tuo Lie was overjoyed, knelt down again and held Tuohuan's hand, and said with tears in his eyes.

Ma Shao, who was beside him, did not look very good, he knew that the 30,000 troops in Yangzhou City had suffered the heaviest losses in the previous battle, and Du Ge was timid and saved most of the men. But in an instant, Brother Du was dismissed, two cronies were beheaded, and the military power was also taken over by Tuhuan. And Batu and Tuolie saw the opportunity quickly, and automatically handed over their military power in order to protect themselves. And in this way, Tuhuan has subdued all the garrisons in the city......