Nanjing was already very warm at the end of April, although it was still in the Xiaoice period, but now the temperature in Nanjing is 178 degrees, and the temperature is very pleasant.

Ma Cheng was wearing more than forty pounds of full-body bright light armor, and he was so tired that he was sweating all the way, and he quickly took off his helmet after dismounting at the door of his home.

Guarding at the gate was a hundred households, and when he saw Ma Cheng coming back, he hurriedly stepped forward and saluted: "Lord Junmen, the last general Ding Wei, is ordered to protect the family of the adults!" ”

Ma Cheng looked at this very strong man in his twenties and asked, "Okay, you guys be careful to defend!" Is my dad back? ”

"Go back to your lordship, Yuanfu returned home half an hour ago, and Uncle is back too!"

The eldest brother also came back, Ma Cheng nodded, handed the helmet to Gu Yong behind him, and then stepped into the house.

Ma Shiying locked himself in the study after returning home, and Ma Luan also entered the study after he came back, and the two didn't know what they were discussing. After Ma Cheng learned from his family, he also came to the study and shouted outside the door: "Dad, I'm back!" ”

The door of the study opened, and Ma Luan, who had a solemn face, stood at the door: "Second brother is back, come in, my father has something important to arrange!" ”

Ma Cheng walked into the house and saw Ma Shiying sitting in the room with a solemn face, Ma Luan closed the door and sat back in his seat without saying a word.

Ma Cheng picked up the teapot on the table and poured it wildly, which quenched his thirst a little, and then Ma Cheng sat under Ma Luan and asked, "Dad, what's the important thing to let my son come back?" ”

Ma Shiying didn't speak, Ma Luan opened his mouth and said: "Second brother, just now my father told me about the morning meeting, and the situation is not optimistic!" ”

Ma Cheng said disapprenously: "What else? It's nothing more than the emperor trying to run for his life! ”

Ma Shiying was stunned when she heard Ma Cheng say this, but she didn't expect this son to have two hits, and he could analyze it before he said it.

"Cheng'er, how did you know that the emperor was going to tour south?"

Ma Cheng scolded in his heart: If you run away, you have to make a southern tour, what face do you need at this time?

"Dad, I have received that holy decree, if it wasn't for the emperor running away, how could he hand over such an important position to his son?"

Ma Shiying sighed and said, "Hey, although the emperor didn't explicitly propose the southern tour, but this posture is almost the same!" ”

Wouldn't it be better for Zhu Yousong to run away like such a waste? Ma Cheng clenched his fists and said: "Dad, let's just wait for the emperor to escape and set up a new monarch, Dad will coerce the Son of Heaven and order the princes, let's rely on the southern capital here to fight a big battle with the Manchu Qing Dynasty!" ”

Ma Cheng came from the later generations, and what kind of loyalty did he have in his heart, but Ma Shiying and Ma Luan were different. Ma Shiying and Ma Luan's father and son were both scholars who had been poisoned by Confucianism, and they were stunned when they heard Ma Cheng want to play Cao Cao's set.

Ma Luan was the first to react, stood up and shouted angrily: "Second brother, what kind of bastard are you talking about, you are trapping your father and brother for disloyalty and unfilial piety!" ”

Ma Cheng rolled his eyelids and retorted: "Big brother, when did you still say such things!" Now in times of crisis, my father, as the first assistant, will stand up and support the new monarch, that Zhu Yousong is not better if he escapes, and when the time comes, his son will repel the Qing army, and his father will go down in history as Duke Zhou! ”

"Fart, are you letting your father be the Duke of Zhou? When Cao Cao is almost the same! Ma Luan pointed at Ma Cheng and scolded.

Ma Luan is a humble gentleman, and he usually has a very good relationship with Ma Cheng, but now he seems to be really angry when he says something like fart.

Ma Cheng is not the second brother before, he is now holding a heavy army and becoming more and more authoritative, and now he is scolded by Ma Luan, and he is also a little angry in his heart: "Okay, big brother, what's wrong with being Cao Cao?" When your father becomes Cao Cao, you are Cao Pi, and your second brother will be Cao Zhang! The third brother is Cao Zhi! Ma Cheng thought about giving Ma Xi eye medicine, and added the last sentence. Cao Pi didn't let Cao Zhi go when he became the emperor, and Ma Cheng has now decided to support the new monarch, so he naturally doesn't want his third brother Ma Xi to have a good time.

Ma Luan didn't hear what Ma Cheng said in the last sentence, but let his father be Cao Cao's sentence clearly, Ma Luan hurriedly hugged his fist at Ma Shiying and persuaded: "Dad, now when the country is dying, we must not listen to the demagogy of the second brother, our whole family is deeply favored by His Majesty the Emperor, and we are about to die for the country at this time!" ”

As soon as Ma Cheng heard that Ma Luan wanted the whole family to die for that Zhu fat man, Ma Cheng was immediately unhappy, you Ma Luan loves to die, but Uncle Ben hasn't lived enough!

"Big brother, you like to be foolish and martyred, don't pull me and my father, anyway, you don't have a son, it's nothing if you die, my son Ma Yuan has just turned three months, I still want to live well!" 53 Chinese Net

Ma Luan's wife Zhang is already pregnant with a child, but it is only more than five months now, but Ma Cheng's statement that he has no son is indeed the truth at present, and now Ma Luan is going to beat Ma Cheng when he hears Ma Cheng's sarcasm that he is not a son.

Ma Shiying saw that the two sons were getting more and more troublesome, and scolded: "Bastard, do you talk to your brother like this?" Don't apologize to your big brother yet! ”

The old man had no choice but to arch his hand and say: "Big brother, my younger brother was dizzy and talking nonsense just now, don't take it to heart, big brother!" ”

After all, Ma Luan is the eldest brother and a scholar, and when he saw Ma Cheng apologize, he quickly said a few words of modesty, so the two brothers stopped arguing.

Although the two of them stopped fighting, the problem was not solved. Ma Shiying's heart was also moved when he heard Ma Cheng say about supporting the new monarch just now, but the perennial education of loyalty to the monarch immediately dispelled this idea. And the most important thing is that the strength in Nanjing is too weak, and it is not the opponent of the Manchus at all.

Ma Shiying got the news from Jiangbei that the four towns in Jiangbei all voted for the Manchu Qing Dynasty except for Huang Degong, and you must know that the three towns in Jiangbei have four or five hundred thousand troops, including Gao Jie's most elite 30,000 cavalry, which is not something that those half-hung guards in Nanjing can deal with.

Ma Cheng saw that the old man was silent, and asked anxiously: "Dad, now the Qing army is in Yangzhou, Jiangbei, and it is estimated that the army will come to the city in ten days, you have an idea!" ”

Ma Shiying thought for a while and said, "Now the emperor is not touring south, why don't you wait first?" ”

As soon as Ma Cheng heard Ma Shiying say this, he knew that he had made a mistake again, Ma Shiying always made this mistake in history, if he hadn't hesitated, there would have been no thing to support Lu and Gui, if he hadn't opened up to the Donglin Party network, it would have been impossible for Zuo Liangyu to lead the troops east, and if it weren't for the constant decision, Zhu Yousong would not have been able to escape without anyone knowing.

Seeing Ma Shiying like this, Ma Cheng asked: "Dad, now I have to give my son a quasi-idea, whether to escape or defend the city?" ”

Ma Shiying hesitated for a long time and asked, "What should I do if I run?" What about Shou? ”

"Dad, if it is decided to flee south, the son will immediately lead troops into the palace to kidnap the emperor, and then let's go to Guangdong with a light car, and make the final resistance there! If it is guarded, my son has already transferred all the guards outside the city into the city, and began to extract grain and grass materials from the surrounding prefectures and counties, and our father and son will fight to the death with the Manchu Qing under the southern capital! ”

Ma Cheng said impassionedly, but Ma Shiying hesitated for a long time but said: "Otherwise, let's make preparations with both hands, you can prepare to defend the city with peace of mind, and send your cousin Ma Qi to Hangzhou to fight the front station for your father, so that we can have a foothold when we go south!" ”

Ma Luan nodded when he heard Ma Shiying say this: "What my father said is very right, and my son agrees!" ”

Seeing Ma Shiying, Ma Luan's father and son were short-sighted, the angry Ma Cheng was really speechless. But he can't help it, Ma Shiying has decided what he can do? There was no way, Ma Cheng had to bow down and take the order.

Ma Cheng sighed after coming out of the study, it seems that later generations are not wrong to say that Nanming is a dead end. There is no talent at all in the entire imperial court structure from top to bottom, the emperor is greedy for wine, the first assistant looks forward and backward, the military department will only fight the same party, the commander of the Yangzhou Military Region plays more ruthlessly, and the country will die if it fails.

Shi Kefa, you yourself died to the point of becoming famous, but what about the people in Yangzhou City? Just because you, Shi Kefa, ignored reality and resisted for a day, let 800,000 people in Yangzhou be martyred for you? Looking at it this way, the water is too cold, and Qian Qianyi is still of some benefit to the country and the people.

"Since you Ma Shiying don't listen to the master, then the master will do it himself!" Ma Cheng gritted his teeth and decided that he would rather be charged with unfilial piety and leave Ma Shiying in Nanjing, after all, Ma Shiying is the first assistant, and the emperor ran away and then ran away, so he still guarded a fart city!

Originally, Ma Cheng wanted to go home to see his newborn son, but at this time, Ma Cheng came out of the study and went to the gate, pulling Ding Wei and instructing: "Ding Wei, you have to protect the family of the governor closely, and if there is any trouble, report it to the governor as soon as possible, do you know?" ”

Ding Wei was originally a descendant of Ma Cheng, and when he heard Ma Cheng say this, he quickly guaranteed that it was impossible for a mouse to enter and exit.

Ma Cheng nodded, rode on the horse and took his own soldiers back to Zhengyangmen, and now Ma Cheng is going to hold a plenary meeting to decide on the general strategy of defending the city.

Ma Cheng now has only 25,000 troops at hand that he can fully trust, of which 5,000 are the absolute main force of the Shenji Battalion, and the remaining 20,000 people belong to the four major general soldiers. And Nanjing has a total of thirteen city gates, starting from Zhengyang Gate clockwise arrangement is Zhengyang Gate, Tongji Gate, Jubao Gate, Sanshan Gate, Shicheng Gate, Qingliang Gate, Dinghuai Gate, Yifeng Gate, Jinchuan Gate, Zhongfu Gate, Shence Gate, Taiping Gate, Chaoyang Gate.

These were fortified gates, and of course five or six more gates had been opened on the city walls for more than 200 years, and they had to be blocked one by one.

Ma Cheng looked at the map of Nanjing, Zhengyangmen and Chaoyangmen are the closest to the imperial city, and the city wall is the thickest and strongest, but outside Zhengyangmen is an unobstructed plain, Ma Cheng estimated that this is the main direction of the Qing army's attack, so Zhengyangmen, Chaoyangmen, and Tongji Gate were handed over to Zhang Guozhu, who was the most combative.

Jubao Gate is the main gate of the southern city, and it is also the main battlefield of the decisive battle, so starting from Jubao Gate, Sanshan Gate and Shicheng Gate are handed over to Ma Bao.

Starting from Qingliangmen to Zhongfu Gate and Jinchuan Gate, this section of the city wall is next to the Yangtze River waterway, and the river network here is not suitable for large corps to fight at all, so it is handed over to Luo Bingran, who is slightly weaker in combat effectiveness.

Finally, it is the Jinchuan Gate, Shence Gate, and Taiping Gate next to the Shogunate Mountain, Xuanwu Lake, and Purple Mountain, which are close to the mountain, and Ma Cheng estimates that it is impossible for the Qing army to attack from here, so leave it to the waste brother Ma Xi.