The sunset gradually sets towards the west mountain, the light and darkness of Kunming City alternate, and the color of heavy light is shrouded in the quaint city tower. Vast expanses of smoke still filled the air, and the sound of artillery was still sporadically audible, but the besieging army had gradually withdrawn into the distance and returned to the back of the siege fortifications.

Today, there is no danger in the city defense of Kunming City, and Sheng Yong has left the city wall. He walked outside the Duanli Gate of the Han Palace, patted the dust on his body a few times, took off his helmet and held it in his arms, and walked into the gatehouse.

The huge Han Palace's mansion looks empty. The family members and palace people of the Han Dynasty inside have been withdrawn, and it may be time to go to Dali City at this time.

According to the original strategic deployment, once the enemy army captured the Qujing Military and Civil Mansion, the Han Palace, the Mu Mansion and the families of the soldiers would retreat to the Dali Mansion...... In the future, if Kunming City is in danger and the activities are safe outside the Yunnan Prefecture, they will escort their families, women and children to continue to Lingguan Road and go north to Sichuan to set up political envoys.

As soon as Sheng Yong entered the gatehouse, he heard the sound of reading from the government office next to him, which was the voice of Qi Tai, the "left hand of the iron mask".

Qi Tai is in a different situation with Sheng Yong, Ping'an, and Qu Neng, Qi Tai has been convicted by the imperial court, and he is a sinner written on the inscription of the "Battle of Jingjing"; With the King of Han and the court tearing their faces, several old generals of the Jianwen Dynasty can appear in public, but Qi Tai cannot.

Many civil and military people called Qi Tai "Mr. Li" in front of him, but he was nicknamed "Iron Mask Left Hand" behind his back. Because Mr. Li has been wearing a vice iron mask and writes with his left hand, he claims to be left-handed.

"The way of a gentleman is light but not tired, simple and literate, gentle and reasonable. Knowing the distance and the nearness, knowing the wind, and knowing the subtlety can be compared with the ...... of entering Germany"

When Sheng Yong walked to the door, Mr. Li's reading voice was clearer, but his voice was a little strange and seemed to be choked.

This great talent, who won the first place in the township examination and was admitted to the examination the following year, may have memorized the Four Books and Five Classics backwards a long time ago, but at this time, his voice was always paused, and it sounded very strange.

Sheng Yong walked in the door, glanced at Mr. Li, and saluted with fists.

Mr. Li didn't respond immediately, he turned his head away, as if wiping his tears. Sheng Yong felt even more strange, that boring scripture can make people cry when they read it?

"Today's fighting has stopped for the time being." Sheng Yong hugged his fists and said, "Mr. Li is so interested!" ”

Mr. Li straightened his head, put down the book in his hand, and said: "Before I went to take the entrance examination, one of the books I often read was "The Mean". Whenever my mind is disturbed, I love to read this, I can't remember how many years, always. ”

"I see." Sheng Yong nodded and sat down casually on the Taishi chair next to Mr. Li. Several of them have lived together in Wushan for several years, and they hardly see outsiders, and it is good to have a personal relationship with each other.

Mr. Li said casually in a very indifferent tone: "I remember that I lived in an inn with a dilapidated alley in Jingshi at that time, and it was very convenient to eat, dress and live, not noisy, and the price was low. ”

Sheng Yong exhaled, nodded and listened. After a long day of busy work in the sound of cannonballs, he finally relaxed a little.

There was a reluctant smile in Mr. Li's eyes, "There is a woman who sings in that inn, but she is a good person." ”

"Sell your body?" Sheng Yong smiled casually.

Mr. Li said: "If someone gives enough money, she should be willing." ”

Mr. Li didn't continue, and the two were silent for a while.

After a while, Sheng Yong spoke: "Mr. Li is a good scholar. The article written by Mr. is not only useful to the Yi people, and the Yi people rose up to attack Zhang Fujun, but also to our own people. Today, I asked people to read it out in the four cities, and ordered the soldiers to protect their homes and people, and to guard their hometowns in Yunnan. ”

Sheng Yong paused for a moment and praised: "This article is concise, generous, and heartfelt. There are indeed many people in the world who have a sense of locality, and they are solemn when they hear it. ”

Unexpectedly, Mr. Li said quietly: "Of course, the essay I wrote is not from the heart, if I want to write about my true temperament, I have to write about hatred for my hometown." ”

Sheng Yong was stunned for a moment, not knowing how to respond.

Mr. Li glanced at him and said, "Although you and I have been together in Wushan for several years, there are some things that I have never said...... I lost my father at a young age, and I was not socially fit in as a child, so I was bullied by some neighbors and my peers in private schools. ”

Sheng Yong was a little embarrassed, but Mr. Li opened his mouth and continued: "Back then, my science field was smooth, but the life was bumpy all the way, and there are many things that I still can't let go. But the scriptures of the sages can indeed edify people's hearts, and after I became an official, I no longer cared about hatred and disgust......"

Mr. Li said with a complicated expression: "At that time, I thought that if the political views of the rulers would cause misery to the living beings, it would be contrary to the teachings of the saints.

Therefore, when Jianwen Jun cut the domain, I strongly opposed the persecution of King Yan Taishi in the court, trying to avoid a big war, so as not to suffer the people of the world. I asked Huang Zicheng if he understood what the war disaster was all about? ”

Mr. Li sneered, with self-deprecation in his coldness, "But, later, after the fall of Jingshi City, there are still a few officials and people in various parts of Zhili, remember my kindness?" At that time, I heard that many villagers were looking for me everywhere because there was a reward! Whatever I do for them, it's nothing more than ruin. ”

Mr. Li glanced at Sheng Yong, "The people of the world follow the crowd, as long as they follow the order and teach well, they can be used by me." ”

Sheng Yong was silent for a while, and finally spoke: "Even if you get along with people for several years, you can't necessarily know each other." ”

…… The sun had already set, but it would take a little while for the heavens and the earth to completely darken.

Gu Cheng rode a horse and looked at the city wall of Kunming City for a long time. At this time, the sound of artillery had stopped, the siege of the city had withdrawn, and the dark city gradually returned to its loneliness.

Gu Cheng, who is over seventy-seven years old, has most of his hair and beard white, and only a few gray and black hairs remain, so that he does not have the appearance of crane hair and childish face.

His brow furrowed, and the wrinkles on his entire face were even more alarming. A question lingered in his heart: when would he be able to capture the city of Kunming?

Today, the Chinese army received the exact news from the Guizhou Dusi that the Han Wangjun had set off from Chongqing Mansion and went south, taking the main road of Chongqing and sowing, and it must be marching to Guizhou City! The main road between Chongqing and sowing is a big road, the distance is about 800 miles, when will the Han army reach Guizhou? Half a month, or twenty days?

The general seemed to see Gu Cheng's thoughts, and said in a deep voice beside him: "This Kunming city is like a hard stone, can we go back to Guizhou and fight the rebels with Wu Gaojun from east to west?" ”

Gu Cheng glanced at his generals and said, "What General Li said is not unreasonable, if the decisive battle can be fought in Guizhou, we will concentrate as many troops as possible in one place, this strategy is not bad." ”

He changed his words and said, "However, in Guizhou, if the official army can gather more than 200,000 horses, will the King of Han still come?" ”

The general groaned, this question is really difficult to answer.

Gu Cheng then said: "Yunnan has insufficient troops, and under the siege of the official army, there are dangers; The old man heard that the family of the King of Han had fled to Dali. However, after the Han rebels captured Sichuan very quickly, they came to Guizhou by the main road of Chongqing, obviously a plan to 'encircle Wei and save Zhao', and wanted to force our troops to withdraw from Yunnan.

At this time, the old man relieved the siege of Yunnan and returned to Guizhou, but he fell into the arms of the King of Han and was led back by the nose. As soon as the crisis in Yunnan is solved, why does the King of Han have to go back to Guizhou to fight a decisive battle? In this battle, the king of Han was at a disadvantage, and there was no reason to fight...... His best bet is not to fight. ”

Gu Cheng sighed and said, "If we withdraw, King Han will relieve the siege of Yunnan without spending a single arrow." If this battle is so over, we will only become a laughing stock in Beijing! ”

The general nodded yes.

Gu Cheng said again: "In addition, Guizhou is barren and criss-crossed, and more than 200,000 officers and soldiers are crowded together, and the time is a little longer, I am afraid that there will be a lot of trouble in the transportation of military supplies." ”

The general said: "Guizhou City is stronger than Kunming City, and the number of troops is not less than Kunming City; With Wu Gaojun's strategy, it stands to reason that it should be defended longer than Kunming City! ”

Gu Cheng nodded and said, "That's right." Once we break through Kunming, we can recover the political envoys in Yunnan, and requisition and transfer troops from Yunnan to supplement the needs of the army; At that time, he returned to Guizhou and attacked the exhausted army of the rebels who fell under the city of Guizhou...... If it turns out, it couldn't be better! ”

He thought for a while, and then said: "Whether Zhang Fu can rush to Kunming City in time is also a variable. The old man pondered for many days, and the court's strategy had at least six or seven percent of the odds. ”

The veteran Gu Cheng said that the odds of winning were six or seven percent, but instead of talking nonsense, he was a little cautious. In terms of troops, this army was originally two to three times that of the Han Dynasty's army!

The imperial court reported that this battle mobilized more than 700,000 troops! Although it is not a claim, it is indeed not the case, the official army is severely constrained by the actual situation, and it is impossible to invest so many people...... The number of officers and soldiers who can participate in this battle is probably between more than 200,000 and 300,000, and the variable is only whether Zhang Fujun can participate in the war in time.

There are three main forces of Zhang Fujun, Gu Chengjun, and Wu Gaojun, and the strength is around 100,000 people. There are still hundreds of thousands of people on the Huguang side, and it is simply impossible to put them into the battlefield in time for a month or so; Due to the limitations of roads and military supplies, the Huguang army was expected to have a total strength of 500,000, but it was not able to gather quickly, and only 100,000 Wu Gao's army could be dispatched.

On the side of the Han Wangjun, Gu Cheng's estimate may only be about 100,000 people, and it will be a bit troublesome to transfer more into Guizhou. Moreover, the combined strength of the guards in Sichuan and Yunnan was numerous, and the king of Han had to garrison Sichuan.

However, although the strength of the official army was at least twice that of the rebels, the Han people in Kunming City were young and strong, and the Tusi barbarians on the territory of Yunnan were many who joined the rebels and became enemies of the official army. Gu Cheng couldn't ignore these forces, so he cautiously estimated that the odds of victory were only six or seven percent.

He continued to look at the Kunming City Tower and said, "From tomorrow, it will be surrounded on all sides and continue to attack!" If there is no clever plan, it is an effective way to consume the defenders as soon as possible. ”