For these rumors that blow all over the streets and alleys of Luoyang like the cold north wind, the officials and gentry in Luoyang City are helpless.

As the upper echelon of the pyramid of human society in the city, they don't want to hear any legends praising Li Zicheng, and even don't want to hear any positive news about them, which is why most of the negative information about Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong and others over the centuries is the reason why they have been recorded in the history books are how they slaughtered the city and how they killed, but we must not forget that many of the names of the people who compiled these history books appeared in the biography of the second minister compiled by the master they were loyal to.

What is very different from previous years is that nine percent of the various rumors about the peasant army that flew into Luoyang City in previous years were distorted, slandered, slandered, and insulted by the peasant army, and even adopted the usual method of grafting flowers and trees and spring and autumn brushwork to add the deeds of the officers and soldiers to the peasant army. But the news and legends of recent months have changed to a different kind of content that the people like to see. Nine out of tenths of them are talking about how Li Zicheng's men and horses only punished the local tyrants after breaking through the siege, and did not commit any crimes against the small people and the kind people in the autumn, how to open warehouses and give relief, and how the poor people burned incense to welcome, and how they competed to surrender, and so on. The legend that flew into Luoyang City, there are new ones every day, and there are many small stories, the stories are vivid and reasonable, the characters have names and surnames, the plot is vivid and realistic, the time and place are readily available, and the people who listen to it cannot believe it.

In Luoyang City, a figure whose status and prestige are second only to King Fu's father and son and even have a faint tendency to surpass is quite worried about this situation. This duke is Lu Weiqi, who once served as the secretary of the Nanjing Military Department. This duke is a native of Xin'an County, Henan Prefecture, Chongzhen served as the secretary of the Nanjing Military Department in the early years, and was dismissed because of his ineffective suppression. Among the gentry in Luoyang, he has the greatest reputation and the highest status.

In the past few years since he returned to Luoyang from Nanjing, he has set up the "Yiluo Society", recruited disciples, written books and said, and is quite a prestigious person among the Luoyang gentry. Usually he usually lectures at the Yiluo Academy, which he founded himself, but if there is any important matter in the local area, the officials and gentry go to him for advice. Or ask him to speak. Therefore he has no official position. However, it is more effective than the current magistrate in matters of importance. Although it does not have the momentum that Gu Xiancheng can influence the political situation of the imperial court back then, it should not be underestimated. This is true of the great gentlemen and eunuchs after the middle of the Ming Dynasty.

Many of his disciples were important figures among the local gentry, and some were children of local officials. talked about the current chaos in the world, Li Zicheng's growing popularity in Funiu Mountain, and other situations. The disciples were overwhelmed with emotion.

One of the disciples said respectfully: "The thieves took advantage of Yang Wuling to pursue and sacrifice to Sichuan. The Central Plains is empty. The officials of the feudal territory did not care about the thieves, and suddenly came to Henan to call on the hungry people. Hypocrisy of righteousness. It seems that this person is indeed not small, and he is not comparable to ordinary grass cowards. The teacher respects the township, can you think of a way to save the mulberry erosion? If Heluo is not protected and sits back and sees Li Chuang's plump feathers, the future will be unimaginable. ”

Lu Weiqi sighed and said: "Not only is the situation in Heluo very dangerous today, maybe the overall situation in the Central Plains will also be out of control. In the old man's opinion, since the Qin and Jin thieves started up, in the past ten years, there have been no less than dozens of large leaders, but Li Zicheng is really terrible. It is not terrible for thieves to rape and burn and kill, but what is terrible is that they do not rape and burn and kill, and I heard that Li Zicheng originally spread the words of 'suppressing the soldiers and reassuring the people' in order to incite the foolish people. Recently, I heard that the thieves spread rumors and posted all over the place, saying that if he followed the king, he would not pay grain to the government, and he himself would not collect grain from the people for three years. The people are ignorant, and when they listen to these demagogic words, they will naturally be willing to be thieves. If it goes on like this, the chaos will not know how to end. Although the old man was worried, he was not in place, empty words did not help the reality, seeing that Heluo was disintegrating and Luoyang was in danger, he was helpless! ”

Another disciple said: "It is rumored that the Lu family raised Niu Jinxing to vote for the thief, which is quite credible; He also introduced a warlock named Song Xiance, who was worshipped as a military advisor by the thieves. There is also Li Xin, who raised people in Qixian County, raised troops to make trouble, entangled thousands of thieves to go to Funiu Mountain, and heard that Niu Jinxing persuaded the thieves not to kill the scholars, but to reuse the scholars. Li Xin persuaded Li Chuang not to kill people indiscriminately, to help the victims, and to compile songs for Li Chuang to spread them all over the country. (Teacher, we are also scholars, can we also consider changing the court?) Go to vote for Li Zicheng? At least I can save the lives of my whole family for the time being! ）

Lu Weiqi nodded and said, "Song Xiance was originally a warlock in the rivers and lakes, and he had nothing to worry about. What is hateful is to throw people into thieves, which is unheard of. Li Yan's rat generation, is the son of Li Jingbai, the secretary of the late Ministry of War, is actually a remnant of the eunuch party, Niu Jinxing is even more well-dressed scum, these two people will be captured in the future, and they will not be able to hide their innocents! ”

Seeing this, the disciple knew that words were not speculative, so he closed his mouth very interestingly, but secretly calculated in his heart.

The first disciple said: "Luoyang is a feudal land, why don't you ask to see His Royal Highness King Fu......"

Wang Yinchang took the lead and said: "Recently, rumors have become more prevalent in Luoyang City, saying that King Li Chuang is benevolent and righteous, only kills officials and does not disturb civilians, only robs rich households and does not harass the poor, and does not pay money and grain with King Chuang, and is no longer oppressed by the official gentry. It is said that the foolish people in Nanyang were instigated by this, believed it to be true, and suddenly forgot the grace of the rain and dew of the Ming Dynasty for three hundred years, and burned incense to welcome the thieves, and threw themselves into groups of thieves. The hungry people in the city are already in danger. In Luoyang City, it is also extremely unstable. Today, I came to discuss with reality how to protect the Luoyang Domain, and now the Luoyang officials and gentry and the people unanimously agree that only Mr. can save Luoyang. ”

Lu Weiqi said: "Since the students returned from the dismissal, they have traveled to the forest, but they only focus on lecturing. Unexpectedly, the thieves were rampant, and day by day, I saw that Heluo was not guaranteed, and the Central Plains was sinking. Luoyang is a place where soldiers must fight, and it is also the location of the ancestral graves of students. Whether it is for the country or the family, the students are willing to follow the princess and do their best to protect this land. What do you think? ”

Governor Feng Yijun said: "At present, if you want to stick to Luoyang, you must quickly stabilize the hearts of the army and the people. As soon as the people's hearts are gone, the army's hearts will change, and everything will be over. The thieves proclaimed everywhere that they would not kill civilians, but only officials and gentry. As soon as Luoyang City was broken. Not only is the local civil and military forces all killed now, but I am afraid that the old gentleman will also be unable to protect his wealth. What's more important is that His Royal Highness King Fu is the beloved son of Emperor Shenzong, and the current holy uncle. If Luoyang is lost, resulting in the fall of the Fu Domain, how can anyone who is a courtier go to the monarch's father? Besides......"

Lu Weiqi cut off the prefect's words and said: "The current situation is very urgent, please tell the old father directly, there is no need to mention other reasons." (The truth is better than you!) Lao Tzu relied on reasoning to fool people into eating rice! If you have something to say, let it go if you have a fart! ）

Speaking of which, for the sake of it. And they were no longer roundabout. Directly said the intention. Sure enough, as Lu Weiqi expected, such a civil and military officer in Luoyang City came here for the word money and food!

According to the words of the prefect Feng Yijun. "Luoyang survives. The local civil and military forces have the responsibility to defend the territory. There is no shirk. However, at a time when the people's minds are in turmoil and the army's morale is shaken, the survival is really determined by His Royal Highness King Fu. The people of Luoyang said: 'The grain in King Fu's warehouse is piled up, and it is so rotten that it can no longer be eaten. But we ordinary people are displaced from the streets. A large number starved to death every day. It's no wonder that Lao Tzu doesn't follow the king! ’……”

Wang Shaoyu, the chief soldier, interjected: "The soldiers have not been paid for eight months, and they are also scolding behind their backs. They said, 'The blessed king has too much silver and gold to count, and the strings of money are rotten.' We haven't cared about it for almost a year, which bastard works for him to defend the city! 'I am a military general, and I should die for the country's loyalty. But my men refused to give their lives, so how could I defend the city? ”

Wang Yinchang then said: "At present, the only way to save Luoyang is to ask His Royal Highness King Fu to open the warehouse, take out tens of thousands of taels of silver to reward the soldiers, and take out thousands of loads of grain to help the hungry." If you don't make this last move, Luoyang will not be able to defend, and the country of King Fu will not be guaranteed, and we will all die together! ”

It turned out that this group of guys hit the idea to the head of King Fu, Lu Weiqi suddenly made up his mind, that King Fu is known as a rich name among many princes of the clan, as the beloved son of Shenzong, his parents planned for him in many ways to win the heir, so he sent this beloved son to the country of Henan, in order to make up for the shortcomings in his heart, but also gave King Fu countless economic compensation, 20,000 hectares of Wangzhuang land, salt introduction, tea introduction, imperial shop, some people are very vinegar to describe the grace of King Fu in this way, "The court invites Xiyun." ”

After taking out more than 1,000 stone of grain from his home to help the hungry people in the city and prevent them from taking advantage of the opportunity to make trouble, Lu Weiqi shouldered the heavy trust of the gentlemen and gentlemen of Luoyang Mancheng, and went to the palace of King Fu to ask for Zhu Changqing, King Fu.

A high red palace wall divides the Fuwang Mansion and the whole city of Luoyang into two worlds. Chongtai Liancheng, the wall is high and thick, under the background of the magnificent and magnificent cornices red wall, the square in front of the palace is particularly flat, and those tall stone lions show their might.

The Ying'en Hall of the main palace of the palace is very majestic, and the yellow glazed tiles shine with golden light. In the middle of the hall, there is a vermilion sandalwood gold wisp flower throne, and a yellow satin seat mattress is laid on it. The front eaves are seven feet deep, the bucket arches, the cornices, the painted dust, and the four vermilion lacquer pillars that one person can't hold. On the two pillars in the middle hangs a pair of vermilion lacquer depicting gold cloud dragon couplets: the well-being is full of rivers and Luo Putian celebrates, Wang Ye Gu Songyue and the country are resting together, not to mention the inlay, and it is to cut people, scenes, and geography.

Outside the front eaves of the Ying'en Hall is a three-level white marble step. Under the steps is a platform, commonly known as Danqi, polished bluestone paving, gilded incense burner, big ding, crane left and right. Danqi is surrounded by white marble railings on three sides, and the cloud dragon column head is exquisitely carved. In front of the platform are seven stone steps. Descending the stone steps, in the middle is a wide stone-paved rain road, which divides the courtyard in half. There are pines and cypresses planted in the courtyards on both sides of the road, and the wings on both sides are commonly known as the courts. The main entrance of this courtyard is called Ying'en Gate, and it is also five buildings covered with yellow glazed tiles, and there are three six vermilion lacquer gates side by side. Outside the Ying'en Gate is a wide square, with corridors, bell towers and drum towers on both sides, and the main gate is the Duanli Gate. Between the Duanli Gate and the Ying'en Gate, there are three white jade carved arch bridges side by side.

When building the Fuwang Mansion, it specially attracted a stream of water from the Jianhe River in the west of Luoyang City, flowed underground after entering the city, and became a bright stream when it arrived in the courtyard outside the Ying'en Gate, and was renamed Fushui, so these three bridges are called Hongfu Wannian Bridge, referred to as Hongfu Bridge.

"Such a pavilion and palace, I don't know who it belongs to in the future!"

The depressed Lu Weiqi was also disappointed after meeting King Fu.

"You, when it comes to defending the city, you ask for silver, you want silver! You do not know the difficulties of the widow, as a cash cow and a cornucopia hidden in the royal palace. ”

"Local civil and military, it is the responsibility to defend the land. If Luoyang is lost, the clan will die, and their group of officials who eat royal money will not survive. Even if any of them can escape the hands of thieves, they will not be able to escape the law of the land. Mr. defended the city of Luoyang to force the widow. Isn't it the responsibility of defending the city and protecting the feudal domain on the shoulders of the local civil and military forces? Since the gentleman is a loyal minister, why not urge the local civil and military to defend the city and protect the feudal domain? ”

Fu King Zhu Changxun's rebuke was still in his ears, which shocked Lu Weiqi's heart.

"In Luoyang City, there are not only the own clans here, but also many officials, rich families, and gentry. The city of Luoyang is not only the country of the domain, but also the squire and the common people. Supplying grain and grass, rewarding soldiers, etc., all need to contribute, don't throw all the burden on the head of this domain! Li Chuang entered the city. Not only did the domain die, but the country was destroyed. Your net worth, wives and daughters will also belong to the thieves! ”

However, when Lu Weiqi returned home and was about to tell Wang Yinchang and other civil and military people about how King Fu ignored the lives of the people of Luoyang and refused to pay money to defend the city, the eunuch in King Fu's mansion arrived with someone to escort 30,000 silver dollars.

"It's still the old gentleman who has face!"

"Mr. prestige. A in Heluo. Heavier than Songyue. Even His Royal Highness King Fu should take a look at it. "Wang Yinchang, Wang Shaoyu and others went to see King Fu several times, not to mention getting money and food, and they didn't even enter the palace of King Fu. Now Mr. Lu not only went to see King Fu, but also sent back the silver, isn't this a great joy?

Although 30,000 silver is a little less, what does it matter? It's always better to have something than nothing!

"The students are willing to come forward and call for the elders in the city to be willing to donate, at least so that the army is fed and warm, and there is no need for food, clothing, food and salary."

Under Lu Weiqi's call, the rich squires in Luoyang City scraped together a total of less than 20,000 silver and more than 1,000 stone of grain.

Those officers and men who had been in arrears for a long time immediately rushed to tell each other with joy when they saw that someone had brought them food and wages. Although it has not yet been sent to the hands, the morale of the army has been greatly boosted.

When money and food are handed over, there will naturally be losses and drifts. After quietly sending someone to send the silver dollars donated by Mr. Lu back to the mansion, Wang Yinchang left 10,000 in the Yamen of the sub-patrol road, and after Wang Shaoyu's general soldiers naturally refused to fall behind, they also left 10,000, the prefect Feng left 8,000, and the Tui Guanwei left 3,000, and when they were sent to the more than 4,000 officers and soldiers guarding the city, the 50,000 silver dollars on the account were less than 10,000.

"Prepare broken silver or copper coins! Don't run away from Chongzhen! Get ready to exchange silver dollars! When the officers at all levels gave the soldiers this vast amount of silver, they shouted one after another, telling the soldiers to prepare to scatter the silver coins and prepare to exchange them for the white silver dollars.

When it came to each soldier, it was less than one dollar per person.

For such behavior, the soldiers naturally did not say much, but just scolded for a while, from Wang Yinchang's wife stealing people to raise men, to Wang Shaoyu's son can not excrete normally, all kinds of explanations, and many people openly connected in the ranks, ready to surrender at the beginning of the siege, and then take advantage of the fire in the city to rob. For such behavior, Wang Shaoyu, the chief soldier of the garrison, had no choice but to open his eyes and close his eyes and pretend not to know, and the matter of defending the city was left to fate.

However, he had already arranged for his henchmen to prepare civilian clothes, coils, dry food, horses and other things, and when he found that the city could not be defended, he immediately pulled out his legs and slipped away.

The same practice is already an open secret among the Chinese military officials in Luoyang City......

In the face of the cannonballs raining down from the city, the officers and soldiers at the head of the city observed the movement with a cold and empty look, and only kept their bodies as low as possible to prevent accidental injury from being hit by the flying cannonballs.

Zhang Nai's first round of artillery fire was not aimed at the head of the city, but at the sheep and horse wall outside the city.

Although there are also some artillery pieces on the city wall, more than 30 large and small generals, two generals, etc., are more medium-sized iron cannons of the Franco, and the range of one to three catties of cannons is one or less than one mile. Those Shenwei invincible general cannons with a range of more than one mile with three to five catties of cannons, as well as Hongyi cannons, are impossible to erect on this kind of fortress.

Compared with the six-pounder guns, the eight-pounder guns, and the equivalent of the ten-pounder guns, the firepower was suddenly dwarfed, and the most important thing was that the gunners all shrunk their bodies, lazily hiding behind the gun emplacements, basking in the sun, counting the cannons, and distinguishing the different sounds of the cannonballs when they crossed the air and the dull sound of the cannonballs hitting the sheep and horse walls to distinguish the types of artillery.

In the deafening sound of cannons, thick white smoke rose from the positions of the camp under the city, and cannons of three to five catties flew out of the smoke and smashed into the sheep and horse wall. One after another, the cannonballs smashed on the sheep and horse wall, causing the city wall to tremble for a while, and the bricks and stones on the wall flew sideways.

Zhang Nai's artillery battalion is only 300 steps away from the sheep and horse wall, which is the best range of all kinds of artillery, and it is the most lame gunner, and a little aiming can directly hit the sheep and horse wall.

After three rounds of six-pounder and eight-pounder guns, they had to stop to dissipate heat, and only those big Francophone machines that used the sub-guns continued to bombard the sheep and horse walls tirelessly.

Chen Guoxi sold these big franc machines to break into the camp, and each gun was equipped with five sub-guns, and another 20 sub-guns were packed and sent as spare parts to prevent damage and loss. The advantage of the Franc machine over the Hongyi cannon is that these sub-guns can be pre-loaded with ammunition, and they can be loaded into the mother guns in turn to fire during the battle, and the firing speed is very fast. And because of the use of the sub-gun, the Franc cannon has good heat dissipation, unlike the Hongyi cannon, which requires three or five cannons to stop three people, and it can shoot more than a dozen cannons in one breath and then stop to dissipate heat. Due to the fixed amount of gunpowder charged, it is not very easy to explode.

The big franc machine continued to bombard the sheep and horse wall with a cannon and a cannon of yang, and a few artillery pieces were also under the control of skilled gunners, adjusting the angle of the muzzle and aiming at the battlements on the city gate, and the guns were replaced with shotguns, if anyone dared to come out to meet the enemy, they didn't mind eating iron broad beans when they broke into the camp!

"Prepare for the siege!"

"Prepare for the siege!"

Seeing that the sheep and horse wall in the glasses has been beaten to a thousand holes, as loose and mutilated as the teeth of an old man, Liu Zongmin, who served as the commander-in-chief of today's former enemy, waved his hand and conveyed the general order.

At the sound of an order, the foot soldiers who were ready to attack the city carried the ladder and began to move forward slowly.

The archers and musketeers who were covering the climb were also called out and stood at the forefront of the ranks. The archers twisted the bowstrings made of raw cowhide tightly, and the musketeers carefully tended to the fireropes and the primers in the medicine pool, waiting for an order to be given, and thousands of bows and thousands of muskets were fired at the head of the city.

"Up!"

Tens of thousands of hungry people were in a team, holding the beams, pillars, purlins and other big trees that had been removed from the nearby houses, and ran straight to the sheep and horse wall that had been beaten by the cannonballs.

Although the camp at this time did not have the rule of taking bricks during the siege in the future, and they could go back to rest if they took back a brick, but these hungry people also had a guarantee, destroying the sheep and horse wall in front of them, throwing the bricks and stones into the moat, and then throwing these logs into it, filling the moat, they could become foot soldiers, two meals a day, one dry and one thin.

Tempted to have enough to eat, these hungry people didn't mind using the big logs as rudimentary battering rams, turning the wall of sheep and horses that stuck in the way of the army's assault into construction waste to fill the moat.

"Tom!"

"Tom!"

A muffled sound smashed on the heart of Wang Yinchang, who had patrolled to supervise the battle. The already dilapidated wall of sheep and horses, under the frenzied and savage constant onslaught of tens of thousands of hungry people, could no longer resist the impact of this huge force, and swayed to the side of the wall.

In the midst of the huge smoke and dust, the hungry people erupted in a roar of joy.

"It's poured! Poured! ”

"There are steamed buns to eat!"

In the cheers, people kept walking, trampling on the sheep and horse wall that had just fallen to the ground, braving the dust and dust that had not yet landed, carrying and holding the wood that had just hit the sheep and horse wall, and rushing straight to the moat not far away.

Behind them, more people quarreled with each other, cursed, took off their already tattered coats, or used straw bags that they had found out of nowhere, and struggled to fill them with broken bricks and stones, and ran towards the moat after the first wave of onslaught.

Soon, the moats were gradually filled. (To be continued......)

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