This is the problem of morale, Sun Tzu said in the Art of War, do not chase after the poor, this is the truth, even if the enemy can be easily eliminated, if you swear to resist, then the damage may not be small.

In later generations, many small countries gave themselves a very simple security strategy, as long as they maintain their force beyond a certain level, and the cost of conquest is higher than the benefit, then those big neighbors will not dare to act rashly, and people will not want to really burn the jade, so they will naturally not fight you.

But for the defenders of the city, this is the torment, generally beaten to the city, for the classical city is a very painful thing, because in this era, the city is a consumer-oriented city, except for a little handicraft, do not produce any return, unlike the later generations, can rely on a variety of feedback to give back to the countryside, and most of the wealth is concentrated in the countryside, at least a large amount of food and other things in the countryside.

As a result, an army with the most basic combat effectiveness, in the face of an incoming enemy, as long as it has a little combat effectiveness, will desperately try to block a certain pass, preventing the enemy from driving straight outside the city.

That is to say, the general siege war, is the defense of the city side of the combat effectiveness is very insufficient, dare not go out of the city to fight, and the people outside the city will basically not be polite, first let go of the robbery of the people outside the city, not to mention the food to the enemy, but also to stimulate morale, and even said that the population of this era is concentrated outside the city, if you can catch the relatives of any key people in the city, it is simply a great benefit.

Of course, a small number of people with a very low bottom line will also expel and drive the surrendered troops or local people to rush the city, or carry sacks full of soil and pile up the hillside under the city.

That's really a dirt slope that is going to be piled up with corpses.

Therefore, once there is a siege of the city, it must be cowardly and stupid people in the city, and they are still outside the city with the intention of killing and looting, and they don't know what will happen during the siege, but if they want to hold the city, either they will run out of the enemy's food and let them retreat by themselves, or they can be stable by relying on the reinforcements of friendly troops.

It is almost impossible to expect the defenders to defeat the enemy by themselves, the reason is very simple, people have the initiative, when to fight, where to fight, how many people to fight, whether it is a feint or a real attack, and you have to deploy troops all over the city, which weakens the so-called material and city wall advantage of the defender!

Although all aspects of the city, from the Governor's Mansion to the Six Divisions to the town guards and eunuchs to the officials at all levels, the discipline and ability values are extremely poor, but one thing is known, once someone attacks the city, they cannot open the door at will, otherwise, everyone will run out of the city, and the defenders will also run away, what is the morale of the army?

Closing the city gates, for the individual defenders, means either fighting to the death and getting some money, or refusing to fight and being killed by the overseers composed of the family members.

And if you open the city gate and let people leave, then it is equivalent to another option in the bottom of your heart, run away, blend in with the common people, and escape out of the city.

And now, except for some "valuable" high-end people, others can't get out, but if you want to get out, it must be related.

If it was usual, Zhang Dai gathered those literati lackeys, and it was easy to go through the back door, but today he encountered a special situation, it turned out that the city of Nanjing was so urgent now, and everyone did not see outsiders, but desperately let themselves pack and leave, and there was only one in ten thousand who could get a voucher for going out.

Zhang Dai hurriedly wrote a door sticker delivery, but no matter which one he didn't bother to take care of, at this time, the concierge received a cramp in his hand, where do you care about the virtue of a literati?

I went to my fellow villagers or people I knew for help, but it was too late.

A cow who has the ability, the connection, the money and the power has already run away for the first time!

But Zhang Dai is most familiar with these cattle people, you say that you are not angry.

There is no other way, but I met a nephew, although the distance is a little far away, but in the end I also know myself, respectfully please yourself on the boat to rest, although the gentleman has arrived, even if the corpse mountain and blood sea have been beaten outside, but also in this flower boat to play, it is really not like it.

Of course, as a sensitive literati, he still looked at the document handed over by Hou Fangyu.

"This town is deeply talking about the Ming Dynasty Shijue, Tongzhen Shanhaiguan, for a while, Li rebelled and advocated chaos, gathered millions of people, rampant all over the world, and Xuankou Jingshi ......"

"The town lives alone outside the pass, the soldiers are exhausted, the tears are dry and bloody, and the heartache is silent...... Saddened by the revenge of the monarch's father, he swore to capture the thief and behead the Taimiao, and thank the spirit of the first emperor ......"

"This town is stabbing and vomiting blood, there is no time to repent, and will want to rebel and chase north, sweep away the fishy atmosphere, suitable for the two emperors of Zhou and Tian, and the eunuch Wang Feng of the secret meeting escorted the fifth prince of the first emperor, and the thorn stock is remembered, and the name is entrusted to the orphan, and the sect is Lai ......"

"This town looks up and down, just when the riots are being cut down and the people are saved, and the day is also the day when the sky responds to the people. Led the civil and military ministers, a total of righteous deeds, take the eighth day of the eighth month of the year, push the crown prince, the suburbs of heaven and earth, Gong Deng, Jianyuan Qianlong, show the news ......"

"Mobilize 3.6 million officers and soldiers on land and water, go straight to the southern capital, and then destroy the imperial capital...... If you can understand the time and look at the wind, the grass and trees will not be damaged, and the chickens and dogs will not be surprised. Dare to have a back to obey and rebel, love the current selfish kindness, forget the old master of the Central Plains, according to the danger, resist my royal division, that is, supervise the iron cavalry pro-conquest, go to the nest, the old and childish do not stay, both men and women are punished! ”

These Juanxiu boys have almost a few thousand words, Zhang Dai glanced at ten lines, and he was already frightened when he saw the first line, but at this time, he looked at it slowly with instinct, and the more he looked at it, the more frightened he became, and that Hou Fangyu was happy in his heart, feeling that he had never been so awesome in his life, and when the matter in Nanjing was decided, he didn't have to do anything first, but operated slowly, it was best to open a imperial examination, first accept dozens of his protégés, complete a small goal, and then, well, naturally, he was slowly promoted.

As the son of an old oilman in officialdom, Hou Fangyu knows that the kind of person who is suddenly promoted to a high position is the cannon fodder used by big people to shake off the pot.

If you want to become a high-ranking official like his father who calls the wind and rain in the officialdom and can do nothing even if he causes a big disaster, the first thing is to have a group of people who will be loyal to orders even if he is not in his position.

Of course, there are a lot of standards in this, and the usual constant money and filial piety is the most basic, and the delivery of intelligence at critical moments is also so-so, the most important thing is that the master has something, but you have to risk death to come forward to bear the crime, and the family is ruined and you have to bite me!

In ancient times, this was all based on the friendship of fellow villagers and classmates in the same year, as well as the bond of doing bad things together, or other factors.

Of course, there are more excessive, it is said that in later generations of Western politicians, those who have no background, need the support of the financial owner, the financial owner is about to fly high, usually ask him to go to a small island, there is usually a room on the island, the room is basically a naked Lori, and then naturally what to do, the financial owner video, the politician snapped, in this way, at the lowest cost, reached the most satisfactory agreement between the two parties, and the politician can get the most powerful support from the financial owner, And the financier is not afraid that the politician will dare to leave him and fly alone.

Everyone rejoiced, and they were so happy.

Of course, this is all legend.

Zhang Dai shouted at this time: "Virtuous nephew, what does this mean, you are writing this article, it is simply %...... It's a big rebellion, what does Ling Zun think, don't panic, even if the thief enters the city, this hundred-year-old Nanjing, those martial artists are not allowed to be presumptuous, the world of the Ming Dynasty is still owned by our literati! ”

Zhang Dai naturally couldn't imagine that Hou Fangyu was an inner ghost who colluded with people in advance, and thought that this young man was just afraid of being implicated or something after the siege battle, so he wrote an article in advance to please those thieves.

Hou Fangyu laughed and said, "I'm afraid that my connections are not enough to convince the public, but I happened to meet my uncle, and this is the day to give my uncle a fortune." ”

Zhang Dai hurriedly said: "What are you talking about, once this thing is spread, not to mention that your reputation for a lifetime will be ruined, even your father's reputation will be over." ”

Hou Fangyu said: "This is not necessarily, my father is naturally waiting to enter Nanjing, and then I will be mixed with an official and a half-position, and I need a person with a reputation in Shilin like my uncle to help me, as for what official, I want to go back and say to that Xiao Zuo, the position of Shangshu is naturally guaranteed, this is the throne of hundreds of thousands of taels of silver a year, sit for a few years, why can't my uncle be rich in the world?" ”

Zhang Dai said: "How can I care about such external objects." ”

With the status of the Zhang Dai family's wealth, hundreds of thousands of taels of silver, it is really possible to raise it by gritting his teeth, of course, his focus is not here.

"Of course, how can my uncle care, but this Shangshu is not a trivial matter to benefit one party, and the merit is immeasurable."

Zhang Dai said: "Virtuous nephew, that Zuo Liangyu's family rebelled, you are not afraid of being implicated, are you still thinking about being an official here." ”

Hou Fangyu smiled and said, "Uncle doesn't know that Zuo Liangyu was originally promoted by his father, otherwise how could he be today?" And today, when people from outside the city come in, it is natural for us to come forward to administer the government, this is an opportunity, as for these cysts in the city, they are naturally all raided! ”

Zhang Dai still didn't understand what he meant at first, and after waiting for a while, he said, "You...... What do you mean? ”

"This time the army is a joint operation of our generation, otherwise, how could Zuo Mengeng enter Jinchuan Gate so easily."

Due to the incompetence of the Ming officials, they could not notify this matter as soon as possible, and issued a wanted warrant for Hou Fangyu, but they tried their best to impose a curfew on the whole city, except for each household to send a man as cannon fodder, they were not allowed to move around, and they were not allowed to go out of the city.

Therefore, although it was a night, it was impossible for Zhang Dai to know the role Hou Fangyu played in it.

Of course, now I know.

Zhang Dai's eyes widened and he said, "Do you have a collusion in it?" Don't you know that the prince is a fake! The real prince and several kings, all of whom live in the imperial capital intact, have just gotten married, and it is impossible to leave the city! ”

Hou Fangyu said with a smile: "I know, of course I know, I also know, this Nanjing City, this Jiangnan, how many people have gone to the imperial capital, met the prince, and by the way discussed the price of refuge with the thieves in the imperial capital, I dare to say, there must be people who have received money from the imperial capital and are ready to rebel at any time, if I don't start early, this Ming dynasty will be finished." ”

Zhang Dai said angrily: "If you do this, you will cause chaos in the world, and the Ming Dynasty will not be kept like this!" I ......"

He just wanted to say that the purpose of his trip was the crisis of the imperial capital, and according to this, Jiangnan was indeed too dangerous.

Compared with the old time and space Manchu Qing Dynasty, the so-called strategy of borrowing troops to suppress bandits is actually a huge reduction in the legitimacy of the regime, although my Qing Dynasty is full of virtue to use the strategy of slaughtering scholars, and took out the silver that Chongzhen had been looking forward to for countless years, in fact, only one-tenth of these silver is enough to help Chongzhen defeat any enemy.

"I found the person and sent it to Wuchang," Hou Fangyu's face turned hideous, and with great pleasure, he said: "Isn't that what happened, Chengzu won the world in Jinchuanmen back then, and it should be lost in Jinchuanmen today." ”

Zhang Dai said sadly: "What you said is simply a shamble, if the world is in chaos, it will be a melee at the end of the Han Dynasty and the end of the Tang Dynasty, and it may not be you who will win the world in the end." ”

Hou Fangyu shouted: "Of course, where can Zuo Mengeng beat the imperial capital, where can he beat the thieves in Sichuan, but this big tomorrow is picturesque, and it can't be taken away like this, I would rather smash it than give it to those thieves in the imperial capital!" ”

Looking at Hou Fangyu's ghost-like face, Zhang Dai regretted it very much, regretted why he got on this boat, where is this flower boat, but a proper thief ship, is it too late for me to go down now, but immediately said kindly: "Actually, this trip is also for the affairs of the imperial capital, virtuous nephew, I know your suffering, the imperial capital, perverse, difficult to write, only comparable to the Shang Sui Yang, I am about to come to the imperial capital, tell this matter, convene all kinds of literati, and discuss the plan, you have made such a fuss, you shouldn't make such a fuss." ”

Hou Fangyu was overjoyed and said, "Then what plan do you have?" ”

Zhang Dai said proudly: "The people of the imperial capital, good wealth, short knowledge, and not close to scholars, as long as we promise, as long as the prince is sent to Nanjing, and he is enthroned as the emperor, we will give them a lot of silver, and if they can, we will give this army every year." ”

Hou Fangyu smiled and said: "This is strange, Senior Zhang, why are you so sure that the people of the imperial capital are so short-sighted and willing to do so." ”

Zhang Dai said: "I saw ...... in the imperial capital."

He treated the scholars in the imperial capital with all kinds of nothing, burned dead chickens and did not give them to the poor, and the daily chaos on the street was extremely chaotic, even the big-footed women could run around in a grand manner, and the most terrible thing for Zhang Dai was that they dared to walk hand in hand with men!

There is no harm if there is no comparison, and when he returned to Nanjing, although he was still wandering around the street to inquire about the news, the timing of his arrival was too bad.

(End of chapter)