"Grab the money! He's blatant money grabbing! ”

Taiyuan City Garrison Mansion, after listening to Du Yingtang's report, Wu Fu slapped the table and scolded angrily.

Xia Zhixian on the side was also angry: "Hmph! 13,000 stone of grain, 47,000 taels of silver, he really dared to open his mouth. ”

Wang Zhong also said angrily: "I just robbed him of 200 pieces of glass utensils and 1,300 taels of silver, and when it came to his mouth, it turned out to be 500 pieces of utensils and 3,000 taels of silver. ”

Hearing these words, Wu Fu, who was already angry, became even more angry, pointing at Wang Zhong and scolding angrily: "You still have the face to say, if you hadn't set up troops to loot and rob him, how could you have caused such an incident?" ”

Wang Zhong's neck shrank, and he hurriedly took a few steps back, lowering his head and not saying a word.

"Humph!"

Wu Fu flicked his sleeves, sat back in his chair, and looked around the hall with a dark face.

"Tell me, what are you going to do now?"

Xia Zhixian took the lead in standing up and arched his hand: "Lord Futai, immediately convene the gentry in the city, ask them to contribute money and food, and mobilize the people in the city to defend the city together, he is just a thousand soldiers and horses, we can mobilize 20,000 people, plus the defenders in the city, the government servants, the gentry and so on, there are 30,000 troops available, as long as the three armies unite as one, they will be able to block the dog thief outside the city." ”

Wang Zhong also hurriedly stood up: "Lord Futai, what Lord Xia said is extremely true, the Qin thieves are only thousands of people, we only need to give enough food and wages, and then tell the people in the city that the Qin thieves will slaughter the city after entering the city, and let the people use their lives to defend the city, and they may not be able to keep the Qin thieves out." ”

"My lord, the lower official seconded the proposal."

"Seconded under the mark."

Under the court, Shanxi sentenced Miao Wanzhong, Taiyuan General Li Du and others came out to second.

Wu Fu didn't respond, only frowned and fell into deep thought.

At this time, a general suddenly came in from outside the door, it was Fan Gao, the Taiyuan garrison, who was panting and clenched his fists and said, "I have seen Lord Futai under the mark." ”

Wu Fu frowned: "What's the matter?" ”

"Lord Qiqi, there are rumors in the city suddenly, saying that General Soldier Wang killed Qin Chuan's people and robbed him of his money, he came to Taiyuan just to seek justice, as long as General Soldier Wang and the princes and gentlemen in the city give him enough money and food, he will retreat."

"If not, when he enters the city, he will definitely loot many palaces and gentry in the city, and he also said that he will kill all the princes and squires, and then burn the IOUs of each master."

"The news has spread in the city, the prince of Jin and the prince of Ninghua, and many squires are rushing here, and it is estimated that it will arrive."

"Huh?"

Wu Fu's face changed.

"There are spies in the city." Wang Zhong blurted out.

Du Yingtang, who had been silent, said lightly: "He originally had a few border troops who didn't collect at night, and after the border troops in the area of Yatouguan and Laoyingbao surrendered to him, they didn't collect more at night, and those people helped him cultivate a lot of spies, Shouyang City was attacked by his spies from the inside, and Taiyuan City was naturally indispensable." ”

"This ...... Quick, send someone to investigate the spies strictly. ”

"Lord Futai, Taiyuan City is so big, how easy it is to find out a few spies, not to mention, the top priority now is to discuss how to deal with Qin Chuan."

"Nowadays, everyone in Taiyuan City knows that Qin Chuan is only here for money, and after entering the city, not only will he not slaughter the city, but he will also help them kill the gentry clan and burn the IOU.

"So, I hope Lord Futai will think twice."

Wu Fu thought for a moment, and then asked with a dark face: "Master Du, do you mean to give him the money and grain that the Qin thief asked for?" ”

Du Yingtang lowered his head: "What the lower official means is that it is better to ask Lord Futai to discuss with His Royal Highness the Prince of the World, the Prince of Ninghua and the squires in the city before making a decision." ”

Wu Fu frowned and remained silent.

At this time, there was a sudden noise outside the door, and a guard ran in in a panic: "My lord, His Royal Highness the Prince and the Prince of Ninghua are here, and many squires in the city are also here, clamoring to see you outside." ”

Wu Fu waved his hand: "Let them in." ”

As soon as the words fell, a large group of people rushed in, led by Zhu Minji, the king of Ninghua.

"You can't let the Qin thieves come in, no matter what method you use, in short, you can't let the Qin thieves enter the city!"

As soon as Zhu Minji came in, he danced and shouted loudly.

"Yes, you can't let the Qin thieves enter the city!"

"If he enters the city, the squires in the city, and all the adults here, will be finished."

The squires behind also shouted.

In the chaos, an old man with white hair and silver beard walked out on crutches, arched his hand towards Wu Fu at the top, and said, "I've seen Lord Futai."

"Deng Lao, why are you here?"

Wu Fu hurriedly stood up and saluted back, and then walked out to support the old man.

This old man is terrible, he has been an official to the left waiter of the Ministry of Rites, countless protégés, and one of his sons is the right waiter in the Ministry of Officials, and one is in the Imperial Court of the Zuo Yushi, and the rest are officials in various places, which can be described as a high-ranking official, and he is quite energetic in Taiyuan and even Shanxi.

The old man gently brushed away Wu Fu's hand, and said without being salty or indifferent: "Lord Wu, Taiyuan City has been besieged for six days, why don't you see reinforcements?" If the Qin thief came to seek justice, why didn't he return his money to him so that he could be taught to withdraw from the army? ”

"Ugh."

Wu Fu sighed helplessly: "Elder Deng, it's not that the juniors don't ask for help, but the generals in Yanmen Pass, Jiaocheng, and Wenshui are afraid of the Qin thieves and dare not come to the rescue. ”

"As for why you didn't give him back the money...... Alas, he didn't want a small amount. ”

As he spoke, Wu Fu glanced at Du Yingtang, who hurriedly interjected and brought in the amount of money and grain that Qin Chuan asked for.

After listening to Du Yingtang's words, the squires who had just arrived were in an uproar.

Soon, scolding such as "dog thief, cockroach thief, anti-thief" was endless.

Even the old man, who originally looked calm, was so angry that his beard straightened, and he scolded with a cane: "A bold thief, he dares to take it by force under the bright world, what is the difference between his behavior and that of a thief?" How is it different from rebellion? ”

Zhu Minji, the king of Ninghua, and Zhu Xianxuan, the prince of the king of Jin, were even more angry, and they jumped and cursed in the direction of the north of the city.

When the scolding subsided a little, Du Yingtang on the side interjected: "Everyone, now that the situation is urgent, let's discuss whether to fight or make peace first, if there is a war, can you be sure to turn Qin Chuan away?" If so, are you willing to pay for food and peace? ”

Hearing Du Yingtang's words, the people present suddenly quieted down, and then turned their eyes to him.

Du Yingtang complained bitterly in his heart, after today, I am afraid that everyone in Taiyuan City will think that he has a good relationship with Qin Chuan, and even think that he is Qin Chuan's person.

"Ahem, what Lord Du said is extremely true, everyone, the top priority is to discuss whether to fight or make peace first." When the atmosphere was weird, Wu Fu spoke up.

Only then did everyone retract their gazes, and then began to discuss.

It didn't take long for the people present to be divided into two factions, one was the main battle faction, advocating that the dog thief in Qinchuan must not be allowed to succeed, 13,000 stone of grain and 47,000 taels of silver is not a small amount, they can mobilize the people, relying on the city wall and even the streets and alleys in the city to block each other.

The other faction is naturally the Zhuhe faction, these people are extremely pessimistic about defending the city, based on the fact that Qinchuan's Guan Emperor's army is invincible, and it has not tasted defeat since its establishment, and even Dongnu has been defeated under them one after another.

It is impossible for the defenders in the city to beat the other side, not to mention that the opponent's firearms are large and powerful, and no matter how many defenders there are, it is in vain.

The most important thing is that the rumor has already spread in the city, even if the people in the city are mobilized and the villagers are recruited, they may not try their best to defend the city, and it is possible to rebel against the battle.

If the Qin thieves attacked, everyone present would suffer, and many squires in the city would inevitably end up with ruined families.

Instead of gambling with your life, it is better to spend money directly to buy peace, anyway, everyone will give a little bit and always make up enough money.

At the beginning, the number of the lord and faction was still very small, and the voice was very weak, but they could fight for it, and some squires with strong family backgrounds also began to feel that defending the city was a big gamble with little chance of winning, and if they lost, their families would be ruined, so they fell to the lord and faction one after another.

At noon, the Lord and faction gradually gained the upper hand, and even Zhu Minji fell to the Lord and faction.

Zhu Minji knew that he and Qin Chuan's Liangzi could no longer be separated, and if the other party entered the city, he would definitely die.

Therefore, he would rather spend money to buy peace than gamble.

Wu Fu asked people to cook a few homely meals, and let this group of people eat in the garrison mansion, and only when they were full did they have the strength to continue arguing.

During the meal, the gang slapped the table again and again, and after everyone was full, they began to lift the table again, and the sleeve tube almost stepped forward to dry the rack.

In the evening, a report suddenly sent a message to the garrison, saying that the imperial army of Shouyang City was less than thirty miles away from Taiyuan City, and it would be able to meet Qinchuan at noon tomorrow.

Moreover, the Guandi army on the other side of the south is assembling in the south of Taiyuan, and there are faint signs of marching into Taiyuan.

Receiving this news, the main peace faction, which had already gained the upper hand, suddenly overwhelmed the main battle faction, and even Zhu Xianxuan, the son of the king of Jin, agreed to negotiate peace.

After weighing it, Wu Fu decided to negotiate peace.

Du Yingtang and many people present secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Anyway, let the squires in the city pay for it, as long as they can negotiate peace, they can save their lives.

But then another problem arose: as soon as the decision was made to negotiate peace, the gang began to cry out for poverty, and they all wanted others to donate more money and food so that they could save some money.

This problem is even more difficult to deal with than war or peace.

Du Yingtang took the lead in donating five hundred taels of silver, Wu Fu, who had always been honest, also donated one hundred, and the rest of the officials and generals also expressed their willingness to donate money and food, so the squires didn't quarrel so fiercely.

But this problem is not easy to solve, these people quarreled from the evening to the beginning of the lanterns, and from the beginning of the lanterns to the sound of the three watches, and still did not come out with a reason.

In the end, it was Wu Fu and Zhu Xianxuan who were in charge, and calculated the family property according to the number of acres of land and the number of shops and workshops in each family, and then donated proportionally.

It wasn't until midnight that the amount of money to be apportioned by each family was finally decided.

Then, they began to prepare money and food overnight.